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 Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 12:22 pm
Haha, well I guess it's good to know that my father isn't the only crazy one in the bunch. I knew that you probably just glanced over my 'labour', Desert. I also find myself trying to type 'realise' instead of 'realize', which is British as well, I believe.
Thanks for all your support. I have to say, I'm kind of impressed with my own ability to pound out so much. Mostly it's a rare day I manage more than 500 words.
I have chapter 22 open and will begin finishing it shortly. I just needed to check in here on gaia and check my e-mail, which I still haven't done. But upon logging into Gaia I saw that I had a trade request.
Trade request? Thought I. What is this? A donation, mayhaps?
But no! Better! I won 8k for the shonen-ai contest I entered. And the girl is going to pay me to write a sex-scene between the two characters. It's literary prostitution...but I don't care. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's writing steamy make-out and love-making sessions without ever being vulgar. In my opinion vulgarity ruins most sex scenes--I mean, Jesus Christo, this isn't a trashy porno. My dialogue in that piece was slightly lack-luster, though. It's kind of like . . . the sort of indie I'm-going-to-say-really-deep-things-out-of-nowhere-that-almost-don't-make-sense approach. And I don't know whether it's just a wholly stupid approach or if I'm just bad at it because it just came out stilted.
Was that whole section innapropriate? Oh well.
I guess it's time to see if my beta has responded to me, which is possible. It is 3 in the afternoon.
It was already almost 2 when I woke up today--and that was because someone woke me up. That's crazy--I only stayed up til about 2. I've staid up til 4 and woken up on my own at 8 before. Who knows.
Now it really is time for me to go. I'll check in tonight to post triumphantly(I hope) that I have finished chapter 22 and put it up.
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Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 12:58 pm
Haha actually, I write American style. I always get told off for writing realize instead of realise.
I just love 'z's and wish there were more of them.
Well done on the win and I hope your steamy sex scene goes to plan hehe.
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DesertRoseFallen Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 4:18 pm
High five! That's awesome. Delicious gold and shonen ai. Truly, a good day.
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:57 am
Well, I am partial to the letter Z but I think the letters C and X should be eradicated entirely and replaced with characters to express the sounds of 'th', 'sh', 'ng' and 'ch.' Because the way they're written makes no sense but C and X can be easily replaced by a combination of S and K. Also, G should only be used to express a hard G and J should be used elsewhere.
I have problems with the alphabet.
But I'm in Michigan right now. I have a wedding to go to at 5 so I need to be back at my Grandmother's by 4 at the latest. Preferably by 3:30 so I don't have to rush. Though I did manage to do my make-up for Prom in about ten minutes--it was pretty impressive. My hair, unfortanately, takes consderably more time. Psht, whatever. It's not like it's my wedding and I'm already prettier than the bride. It would be unfair to make my hair look better.
We're nice to each other in my family.
I am almost done with chapter 22. It just feels like there's nothing easy about what I'm writing. I finish with the pranks and have to go on to writing about sports--which is equally action-packed and, therefore, difficult. Sometimes we have to go out of our comfort zones.
On the bright side I officially ended it with my old Beta. My new beta is fun, relaxed, and prompt, and--best of all--I read one of her fics and liked it. She writes slash, which I obviously have no problem. I mean, my story isn't slash, but I think people who write good slash are just good people.
So I'm doing really well. I will post a few-line update when I do actually post chapter 22.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:36 pm
I posted it! I posted it a while ago but I was so rushed after posting it that I didn't even have time to post an update here. That's how close I was cutting it to when I had to be back to my grandmother's house. As it was we left 15 minutes later than we meant to on my account. Can you believe I left my foundation at home? No liquid foundation, no powder . . . nothing. So I had to find my cousin's and pray it would be the right shade. I don't know when she was ever that tan but it worked.
But that has little to do with writing.
I haven't even sent my new beta her first chapter yet--we start and the end of this week--but we already have a nice relationship. When it comes to writing I'm a hard-a**/flake combo. As a critic and re-reading my stuff I'm a hard-a** but when it comes to actually writing and getting things done I'm a total flake. So her friendly but authoritative demeanor balances me well.
Also, if I'm going to be perfectly honest, it all comes down to something very simple: I like people to like me. She does. She's friendly and personal, and she treats me preferentially. My former beta was somewhat clinical in her approach . . . and I just don't respond well to that. I'm spoiled, I know.
So far this beta has been very prompt--always responding within 24 hours. I like that in a beta. I am a very needy writer. Heck, I put out that chapter on Saturday and I feel a little hurt that no one has reviewed it yet, although someone did add it to her alert list. Of course I'm a rational-enough human being not to be genuinely upset but still. I'm needy.
I end this entry with thoughts on my novel-in-progress. I read some of the dialogue aloud yesterd and while, normally, I read my dialogue aloud and find it charming and amusing . . . it sounded so stale. That worries me, but I accept that it's only the rough draft. On the bright side, my MC has, for the first time, done something completely of her own volition: she bickers. Almost entirely with LI2. Well, entirely with LI2. It seems that an unplanned but all-the-more organic relationship has developed between them. Mostly I just wanted to strike the balance between them of friendship, her eventual interest in him, and his long-time subtle acceptance of everything about her--including her interest in him. So I'm just going to move forward and not worry--worrying is a great way to ruin a story. I will simply continue to write. Heaven knows I'm too close to the story right now to possibly correct any but the most glaring of problems.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 9:52 pm
I talk to myself while writing dialog. Plus, I grew up acting out soap operas with my sister and our dolls...
You might try this- write the dialog. Just as it comes to you. Just as alternating lines with no tag lines or other markings. Then pop them in later.
Sounds like a fab beta you've got there. HANG ONTO HER. XD
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:53 pm
Thanks for the advice, Savin.
Now, though, I have some distress to convey. Where should I begin?
Let's start with my inability to give myself a moment's rest. What is wrong with me that every single time something in my life goes well I must balance it out by screwing up something else?
I posted one chapter--just one--on time. And I have under a 100 words of the chapter I should have posted on Saturday and what I do have is crap. Complete crap. Am I punishing myself? Because, surely, this kind of behavior is helping no one.
And I tried to do the first audio chapter today--because I'm posting audio chapters of my fic, but it was much harder than I anticipated--and that's after I decided that attempting character voices would be idiotic, especially considering how many of my characters are male and how un-manly my voice is. I sing second soprano, for the love of God.
I'm just flustered now. Maybe it's because I've been away from my living muse for weeks now. I'm fixing that tomorrow, so we'll see if that helps. I guess my biggest fear is that the only thing wrong is that I have a life. Where is the happy medium in writing and living? God, and I have to prep chapter 2 to send to my beta on Thursday. So that will be more time I'm not writing chapter 23.
Perhaps the real problem is that I haven't the slightest clue what chapter 23 is going to be about. Chapter 22 was so structured in my mind. I knew precisely what I was going to write about and what the results of all the scenes would be. I even had a title by a page in. Could I possibly need structure in my writing? That seems paradoxical. Writing is supposed to flow from my fingertips and straight onto the page right? Or is it simply naive to believe that that's how complex, intelligent literature is really formed? Whatever the truth is, I trust my fanfic will teach it to me, and I am glad to be learning this with a piece of compartively little importance.
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:59 pm
Sounds like you need to take time out. Forget about the deadline for a bit, then come back in a few days and start writing again. It'll help, really.
(btw, I'm misreading things today, so if I'm not making sense, sorry sad )
You sound like you're already recognising that no rest is bad, that's a good start. Forcing yourself to have a break can be hard though, but given the options of way too much stress (which leads to sickness) or making yourself not write.. force yourself to take a break.
Writing generally doesn't just 'flow' from your fingertips. Writing your draft/notes does though smile the rest takes lots of editing. At least for me.
Good luck with things, and take it easy, will you?
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 8:44 pm
One thing at a time is the way to go. Draft or record and don't think about one while doing the other.
Sometimes, you have a big night and you have to toss things. 100 words can be redone. Take a break, read a book- all will be well! Just maybe not right away.
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Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 8:21 am
Nefas, Savin, you're great. And right. And, Savin, I always love your avatar.
I don't know how but I somehow managed to put so much stress on myself that I screwed myself up. How do I do this? I just don't know.
I'm on vacation, now, though. I've been here for a week and I'm ready to go home. Unfortunately, I'm here for four more days. This room may be on the beach but it's so small! It's not fit for sharing with three other people. Least of all when one of those people is my father. I love him, really I do, but his incessant need to be right is driving me insane. It's not just that when we disagree he wants me to cave, because that's understandable--I always want the other person to cave. It bothers me, however, that with him it is a need. Also, it seems that he cannot be right unless he can point to someone else and say 'you're wrong.' This would be an infuriating habit even if he were always right, but the fact that he is short-sighted, bigoted, and uneducated just makes it worse.
I love him, really, I do. But the hypocritical way that he expects me to be an strong, independant way but always be weaker than and dependant upon him is also infuriating. He has no respect for other people and far less for their opinions. Of their feelings there need be no special mention.
None of this affects my love for him, but it does make it impossible to livein close confines with hm for long.
I'm ready to go home and move out.
As for writing, I have written some of my original fiction. I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm also feeling good about my working title "River of Stars." It sounds like something you'd want to read, correct? Something with universal appeal. Maybe. It can change if it needs to.
I have some thoughts, some feelings, and a few more pages of my next chapter. I'm not going to talk about how long ago I should have updated because that's just not productive. Beating myself up doesn't help me write any better or any faster.
I have done three chapters with my beta, though, and I love her. She is so great. She is especially good with helping me correct any awkward points in the plot and helping me with my OC's character development. With her help, it will be a smoothe transition. It's one of those things--it's not that I don't know how to write a deep, it's that when I wrote those chapters for the first time FIVE YEARS AGO I was still immature as a writer. I didn't know then how to carry off that kind of transition--how could I? I didn't understand myself, how could I possibly understand my characters? And, as the writer, even five years removed from the inital drafts, I can't always look past the trees to see the forest. I just caught up in how big these trees are and how out of place they look. My beta helps me even things out.
I don't know what I ever did without a Beta. Failed?
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 9:14 pm
Thank you ^^! I try very hard to not have messy Avis!
I stress myself out all the time. It's a writer thing. Doubting oneself is the easiest thing to do next to writing bad vampire novels.
I could NOT spend that much time alone in a small space with my parents. I'd be NUTS. That's why I can't travel with them. It's not a problem when I'm on my wing of the house and they're in theirs, but put us in a hotel room together and it's just... *neck wringing motions*. I so feel your paint.
I love the title "River of Stars", but I do confess, I think there is a sci-fi novel called that... The Wreck of The River of Stars by Michael Flynn, actually.
I voted "other" in your pole. Other = "Books that do not suck."
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