End-of-Month Wrap Up: August

Summer is almost over, guys. And since Autumn means the beach and pretty leaves and gorgeous mountains covered in pretty leaves and misty mornings and fuzzy sweaters and apples and no more peaches and my birthday, I couldn't be more ready! Bring on September!

On the Blog

In all, I published ten posts this month (this being the tenth), which I'm very happy about.

At My Writing Desk

  • I read through my novel's second draft, actually wrote an outline, and began the editing process.
  • I blogged about my writing crisis.
  • I wrote a short story, which I haven't done in a while.
  • And I had several bouts of poetic inspiration (and therefore, of insomnia) and churned out 12 new poems.
Overall, I feel like I've had a pretty good writing month, crises and insomnia aside. Plus, my adorable Fanta-guzzling character from my WIP furnishes me with the perfect excuse to drink copious amounts of orange Fanta, which couldn't please me more.

In the Books

I read 5 books this month. That's not a lot, but all five were amazing, and Pariah is my new favourite book. So I've had a great reading month as well! (So far it's looking like I've just had a good month, period.)

On the Web

With Me and My Life

Are you wondering why my blog post count has increased dramatically (if you call ten posts dramatic) this last month? It's because I've had no life lately.
  • I started school again and am feeling very unmotivated.
  • I've been selling lots of peaches at work and I really hate peaches. All peaches should be burned. I never want to see another peach.
  • I've gone on like 5 shopping trips this month. Like, what even? Oh well, it's all fun.
  • And of course I've been obsessing over my upcoming vacation. #1 perk of being a homeschooler-- you get to go to the beach in September when everyone else is in school.

Coming Soon to the Blog

I'm really bad at actually delivering on what I say I'm going to post, but I do have a few ideas knocking around as drafts right now, including:
  • A post on theme and why your story is important.
  • And another one giving reasons why I won't comment on your blog post.
We'll see if these actually end up happening or not.
So how was your August? Are you looking forward to fall as much as I am? What was your favourite thing you did this month?

An Extrovert's Guide to Survival in an Introvert World (aka the Internet)

Disclaimer: No offence whatsoever is intended towards any persons, living or dead, introvert or extrovert, by this post. Really. Please don't get upset.

 One of the largest and most frequented systems in our universe is the Internet, the original homeland of that rare and mysterious species, the Introvert. Few but these savage natives would dare to venture beyond the planets of Facebook and Amazon into more dangerous areas such as Tumblr and Wattpad. Fewer still would have the courage to own their own personal asteroids, blogs, and Youtube channels. The dangers are simply too great, and so it is that, to this day, the Internet is still primarily populated by the Introverts. (That's why it's called the Internet: Inter meaning the same thing as Intro, whatever that means, and Net meaning home.)

There is, however, another vast species, known as the Extroverts. Members of said species are more often comfortable visiting the Party systems, the Friends Forever systems, and such like, but there is the occasional Extrovert who, burdened with more courage and curiosity than is good for him, sets forth to explore the uncharted territory of the Internet. It is for such a one that this guide was created.

When encountering a Native of the Internet (namely, an Introvert):

  1. Pay attention to the native's behaviour. Contrary to popular belief, not all Introverts are the same. Some, while labouring under the delusion that they are speaking to one of their own species, in their own home world, will act friendly and even goofy, much like an Extrovert does at all times. Others will act stiff and overly-professional no matter who they are talking to and where they are.
  2. Adjust your behaviour accordingly. If the Introverts you encounter act friendly, meet them halfway. If they talk a lot and in all caps, respond in the same manner. If they are sweet but brief and uninteresting, try to imitate them. If they act aloof and condescending, make sure you act even more so, to give the impression that you are superior. In the first three examples, this improves your chance of them liking you. In the last, the Introvert in question isn't going to like you anyway-- might as well make it clear that the feeling is mutual.
  3. Do not inform them that you are, in fact, an Extrovert until they have established that they like you. In most cases, after they have made up their minds (and even gone so far as to tell you) that they think you're a great guy, they will not back out once you reveal you belong to a different species. In the infrequent event that they immediately change their minds and decide they dislike you, don't worry. You don't want to be friends with people who are that racist, anyway.

It is entirely acceptable in some circles on the internet to randomly shout out things like "PARTAY" or, "TALK TO ME". In others, it most definitely is not.

Try to keep your head down in each new area you visit until you have learned the ropes. Once you've hung out for a couple months and gotten to know some people you will have a pretty good idea of what is socially acceptable in that community and what isn't. Just be sure not to send E Mails 1,000 words long to the wrong Introvert friend...

Many Introverts are actually proud of their "freak" status.

While visiting the Internet, you will likely find yourself being referred to by words such as "weird", "freak", "nerd", and "geek" by the other inhabitants. Don't get upset. For most Introverts and inhabitants of the Internet, these are all compliments. If someone calls you "nerd", it usually means he/she likes you and thinks you're actually pretty cool. In fact, it is likely that after spending some time in the Internet system, you will adopt a similar worldview and develop a deep-rooted pride in your "geek" status.

Some clubs and cliques are closed to Extroverts.

This is fine so long as you don't tell anyone you're an Extrovert and your Introvert act is convincing enough. With a little practice and self-control (especially in the way of excessive communication and social interaction), you can bluff your way into almost any community.

WARNING: You will at some point in your travels, whether soon or late, hear hate speech against your own species, the Extroverts. This is unavoidable.

Try to keep your cool. It only makes things worse when you lose your temper, or even when you try to politely correct those spreading such vicious slander. If you feel you must intervene, do not reveal that you are yourself an extrovert. Simply point out that "That's not a nice thing to say", in a way that befits a mild-mannered Introvert.

Sometimes it's best to just come out clean and reveal your true identity.

Not all Introverts are racist. Not all Introverts hate Extroverts. In fact, not all those you meet in the Internet system are actually Introverts at all. If that's your style, you might as well just shout out, "HEY! EXTROVERT HERE!" There may be some natives who will immediately retreat back into their caves to hide, and possibly even a few who will throw rocks and nasty epithets at you, but in general, Introverts are friendly and accepting, as long as they feel comfortable and accepted themselves. The Internet is where Introverts feel most comfortable because it is there where they feel they can be themselves without being criticized. As long as you don't ruin that understanding, accepting atmosphere, you will be welcomed.

Most of the time.
Are you an Extrovert? Introvert? Have you made any good friends who belong to the other group on the Internet? Would you agree that the Internet is more Introvert friendly?

A Writerly Crisis

You were going to get a nice, calm post on theme today. But that fell through because it was taking too long to write I've had a crisis and I need to talk about it. And yes, this might be a bit boring. If you want to skip it, you are entirely welcome to. Maybe we'll talk about theme next week.
So, as many of you know, I finished the second draft of my WIP recently and read back through it this past month in preparation for editing. And before we go any farther, I need to clarify that the "second draft" was a rewrite, not an edit or revision.

Now, confession time. *whispers* I've never done an official edit. Phew, there, I said it. As I just mentioned, I've done rewrites. Which kinda count, but not really. They are two very different things. As I have recently discovered.

I'd been putting off editing for a while, but tonight I got all pumped up and motivated, listening to Audiomachine and Thomas Bergersen, and I was like, "I am so done with procrastination. Let's just edit this thing." So I pulled up Google Docs (yes, I use Google Docs-- so there), placed my hands on the keyboard, and stared at my finished second draft in dismay.

Because it suddenly struck me that after all the writing, the rewriting, the reading about editing, the talking about editing, the thinking about editing, I had no idea how to edit. There were my words sitting neatly in front of me, just as awful as I expected, and I had no idea how to change them. I knew everything I needed to change and fix and polish but I didn't know how to do it.

 A feverish search of Pinterest and Google left me no better off. Apparently no one in the whole history of writing had ever faced this problem before-- or else had never found a solution. Or maybe no one else needed step-by-step incredibly detailed instructions on how to change a single word in his or her manuscript.

I must be a terrible writer. I'm obviously not creative enough to be an author, I can't even make up a system for editing my novel.. And let's not mention the fact that I'm actually running a writing blog when I obviously know nothing about writing? What am I even doing with my life?
Around this time in my frantic thought processes, my sister walked in to go to bed (we share a room), and when I freaked out and basically screamed at her, "HOW DO I EDIT??" she was understandably not impressed and responded with a grumpy, "I don't know."

And have I mentioned that this is my super writer sister who has edited at least five books in her life time? If she doesn't know how to edit, what hope is there for me? I will never learn how to edit. 20 years from now, I'll still be sitting here staring gloomily at the computer screen, still not having edited a word. I should just give up right here and now.

But I'm not going to.

Why? I'm a writer. Writers write. They don't write perfectly, and they don't know everything. They just write. They suck, they cry, they may freak out and scream at their sisters. But they don't give up. The moment they do, they're no longer writers.

So I'm not going to give up. I'm going to keep going. After some more intensive Google searching, I was able to find some more specific tips on editing that look vaguely helpful, but even if that doesn't help, I'll keep writing. I'll find a solution.

Because I'm a writer. And that's what we do.

What are you struggling with writing-wise right now? Have you been through the whole editing phase? HOW DID YOU SURVIVE?

The Milk Tea Book Tag

The lovely Aimee tagged me for this mouthwatering tag. Thank you, Aimee!

If you notice, this thing has no rules. Which is good, because I perform best when not confined to such narrow things as rules. And because there are no rules, that means I get to name as many books as I want in any given category.

And there's no one to stop me! (Brownie tea points if you understand that reference.)

Tea: the foundation of your reading life

Yup. This is where I started, peeps. Which might explain why I'm so picky about books today. Nothing can live up to Tikki Tikki Tembo, after all.

Milk: a rich, smooth book

Hmm... Rich? Smooth? Lovely prose and deep themes? Now let me think...
Haha. We all knew it had to be this one.

The Silmarillion is not only rich and creamy and easy to drown in (just like milk), it is also my favourite fictional book. Ever. (Which is kinda ironic, since I hate milk.) No seriously, if you haven't read this, go do it.

Sugar: a book you love but is controversial.

I could go ahead and say Silmarillion-- (everybody says it's boring? Like, what even?)

Or I could say The Horse and His Boy-- (people say it's random? It was my second favourite of the series.)

But I already mentioned those, so I'll go with:
Now, admittedly, this is a pretty popular book, so it probably doesn't count but, hey. I know a lot of people who really dislike it-- or simply assume that it's stupid, having never read it. And it is kinda stupid, but I like it anyway.

Ice: A book just for fun.

There are kinda a lot of these, but I'll keep it to two.
This book is hilarious. Just saying.
And this one is probably one of my favourite MG books ever. It's just adorable.

Silk Stocking: a book that's much better than it sounds.

Haha... I like this category...
Obviously. It sounds just about as stupid and cliche and unoriginal as it can get, title wise. And what's with calling things "Calamity" and "Epics" and "Reckoners"? Cheeeeesyyy. But! The book was amazing and awesome (even if it made my story seem like a cheap ripoff). Totally worth my time.

Yingyang: a book with foreign influence

...
Can I go ahead and say Tikki Tikki Tembo again?
*sigh*
This one doesn't really count, because, while it's set in "New Beijing", it does NOT feel Chinese. (Actually, it feels more Japanese to me, simply because the way the author describes Prince Kai sounds exactly like a Manga character.) But I had to go ahead and put it because, well-- I haven't read much else with foreign influence? Unless British counts as foreign? Apparently I need to read more diverse books. I just haven't come across a whole lot of foreign-influenced books that look like my thing.

So that's that then! Thanks again, Aimee.

I tag: A.M, Bailey, Gabrielle, and Lily. Per usual, don't feel obligated to do it if I tagged you and you don't want to, and if I didn't tag you and you do want to, go for it! (And give me a link to your post, maybe?)

Have you ever had milk tea? (It's good.) Have you read any of these books? Do you have any recommendations as to culturally diverse books I should read?
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