Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Day One, Part 2: gargoyles

Current Page: 7

Page to End On: 8

Approximate Word Count: 2100

Place in Story: Romeo Bright, Word Warrior Type Person, Age Seventeen, Princess of Mercanova, Second in Line to the Throne, has landed in Mercanova after being threatened by a pair of gargoyles who had eaten (not entirely) her parents.

Unexpected Plot Addition: Iago for sure knows that Romeo Bright, Word Warrior Type Person, Age Seventeen, Princess of Mercanova, Second in Line to the Throne, is in Mercanova, because the gargoyles told him.



Yeah. Originally I had assassins kill Romeo's parents and chase her through the door under the stairs into a portal into Mercanova, but I like the gargoyles better. Gargoyles are more fun. These are stupid, but they're also fun.

And I added in a chapter of them reporting back to Iago about how Romeo's around, because Iago has to know. But it's a good scene, so far. And I like it.

I've decided that I'm going to do a jumping first person telling of the story - every chapter or two (or maybe three, when it gets to the bit when Romeo Saves The Day), a new narrator takes over the telling of the story. Romeo handled the prologue and chapter one; Iago is now telling chapter two. I don't know whether it'll be just Romeo and Iago, but I'll find out when I get into the rest of the story.

Yeah. So, so far, I've a villain who is EXTREMELY fun to write (he hates everything, and is the sneering, sarcastic type of bad guy, so his character voice is the sort where you can't decide whether to laugh at him or punch him in the face), and gargoyles who are stupid. I may not meet Demetrius today, but I don't know yet. I'm not past the gargoyles telling Iago that Romeo got away. Iago still has to get pissed and call for backup before I can go back to Romeo and (maybe) Demetrius and Puck and Morgan/ Belarius.

Honestly, when I started this morning, I thought Romeo's voice was really whiny and I didn't like her at ALL, but now I like her. She just got a little list-heavy in the beginning because I needed to pad my word count. It's always in the beginning where the word count padding is needed the most.

But, other than that, I think it is going reasonably well. I mean, I can't say for certain if it'll go consistently brilliantly, because I've only done two chapters and a prologue, so I'm not that far in, but if my calculations are correct, I'm way ahead of where I need to be, which is nice. The NaNo stats say that, since I've done about 2100 words, I'll be done on November 23rd if I keep this up.

However, I'm not sure whether I can actually keep this up, so whether or not I'm actually done on November 23rd remains to be seen. And I'll see what happens... eventually.

Right now, I need to go and do homework and other important educational-y stuff, and not write and see where this story goes (even though as I really, really want to).

Farewell. Until later today.

I may post later. I'm not sure yet.

Day 1: and so it begins

Day:1
Current Page: 3
Target Page: 8
Words (about): 500
Target: 2000
Point In Story: exposition

Yeah, I am not that far in.  I am at the START of page three, so that is why I only have around 500 words.  And since I am only on page three, my exposition is still in progress.  There was a page break at the end of page one to finish the prologue; chapter one began on page two.  Right now... all I am talking about is how Romeo is walking home from the last day of school and getting ready to go to Shakespeare camp, and she is saying what is in her backpack.  The stuff in her backpack turns out to be rather important - she teaches Demetrius sonnets from "Romeo and Juliet," she pokes people with her knitting, and she uses the pen and notebook to create soldiers to beat up Iago.  I am not sure why or how she is going to use her copies of "Othello," "Midsummer Night's Dream," and "Much Ado About Nothing," or how she is going to use the roll of awesomely patterned duct tape.  I do not know what the pattern is, but I know for sure (because I already said) that it is awesome.  But that is what the rest of the novel is for!  Finding out why a female character who is named after an emotional Shakespearean guy who overreacts to everything is carrying around a roll of awesomely patterned duct tape, and finding out what the pattern is on that awesomely patterned duct tape.  I am quite certain they do NOT have duct tape in Mercanova, so I am going to have to figure out a use for that.  And also how to find out how to make her lose her phone and her iPod, since they would interfere with the plot (if she dropped them in Mercanova, someone would for sure pick them up and use them and the whole plot would die because someone could get in contact with them).  And also how to get a small-but-lethal knife into her backpack as well.  As well as some clean underpants.

Anyway.  Details.

BACK TO WRITING!  FAREWELL!!!

I will most likely post later.  When I have more words.  And more details.  And hopefully a pattern on that awesomely patterned roll of duct tape.

And a function for all of her Shakespearean plays.

I hope to meet Demetrius by the end of today.  I plan to at least get Romeo into Mercanova by the end of today.  I do not know whether she will meet Demetrius by page eight or not, but whatever.  I have the rest of the month to figure that out.

Okay, time to go see whether my chorus teacher has returned, and to go to class and sing if he has.  If he has not, TIME TO WRITE SOME MORE!  (and, ya know, do homework, and stuff).  Yeah.  Bye for now.

Monday, October 31, 2011

NaNooooooo!!!!!

It's ALMOST NANOWRIMO! WOOHOO! This means that I need to grab my NaNoWriMo 2011 journal from that place in the dining room where we keep journal-y stuff, and write and scribble all over the cover before going to school tomorrow to grab the purple pen and start writing myself to the biggest writer's cramp I will ever get ever. WOOHOO! Well, actually, if last year is any indication, I might not get a supermassive writer's cramp, but you never know.& The second year is always the oddest and the hardest.

Well, the second time of ANYTHING is always the weirdest because you're expecting something just like what happened the first time, but then it turns out completely different from what you expected based on the first time. And usually, when you get to the third time, you've realized that you really shouldn't expect anything except a lot of words to come pouring out of you onto a piece of paper or a computer screen. That much, at least, I'm absolutely certain will happen over the course of the next month. Whether those words wind up being the needed word count or not, and whether or not the words are complete bull, is yet to be determined. But they're GOING to happen. And hopefully the sleep I lost last night working on TWO college apps will pay off in preventing me having a stress meltdown from anything college related for the next month. Whether I have a stress meltdown from anything school related will be a different matter. (translation: whether I flip out about not understanding AB calculus because I am writing is going to be a very valid question).

Anyhoo, happy Halloween! Yes, I'm about to leave high school, but that doesn't matter. I'm STILL going trick or treating. And I don't CARE that I'm "too old." I dressed up today, and I'm going to go demand candy from my neighbors later. HAHAHAHAHAAA!!! (of course, the condition from my mom will probably be that I finish all my calculus that's due tomorrow before I actually go, but whatever. And also that I finish the two applications that I need to send in before I go out and get sugar, but whatever. I WILL SIT AND DO IT! I WILL NOT MISS MY LAST YEAR OF TRICK OR TREATING!!!)

yeah, I'm weird. And I'm also hungry. That's fixable, though, and it shall be fixed... later. Probably when I walk home.

Anyhow, I'm a bit nervous about NaNoWriMo. I mean, it IS an utterly lunatic endeavor and I have no idea why I'm doing it again because I haven't had a serious writing binge in a while, so my writing might be rather horrible. Or it could be rather awesome. I don't know. Either one. Or both.

Yeah, I'm hungry. And I'm talking in sentence fragments. This isn't good. Word to anyone who does not know me: if I start talking in sentence fragments, it usually means that I'm really hungry, or that I'm sleep deprived, or that I'm going insane. Or that I'm going insane because I'm hungry and sleep deprived. But I'm not going insane - I'm just hungry and sleep deprived.

See, that is what I don't like about high school and senior year: college applications. I have a hunch that applying to college might be the hardest part about college, at least for most universities (if it is Ivy League, then the academia is harder, and if it is military school, then you are going to get the workout you always wished you had, but five times harder. Which is totally awesome, but it's the reason I'd never survive a military academy. I'm too much of a non-athletic arts kid). Anyhow, the point is, I REALLY hope this lack of time in senior year is going to not translate to college (or only somewhat translate). Because if it did, I would probably go insane. I like having spare time, especially when I actually have no spare time.

Funny how these things work - all humans seem to want is the thing they cannot have. I have no time, so therefore I crave spare time. A character I have to rant to (and about) during a monologue for conservatory wants to be with this one chick because she's super pretty and popular and stuff, but she never liked him back so he liked her more.

Humans are so weird.

And awesome.

Weirdly awesome!

Awesomely weird!

Okay, I really need to get something to eat. I'm becoming incoherent.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Snow! grr...

It snowed yesterday. WHY DID IT SNOW YESTERDAY? I live many, many, MANY miles away from any place that normally gets snow around this time. Why is this year different? I had to walk home in it from my school's production of "Little Shop of Horrors," which is probably partly why it bugged me. But "Little Shop" was really good!

But anyway, this is the first time that I can remember that it has snowed before Halloween, which does not bode well for my costume. I'm not scantily clad or anything, but I'll be cold without something else on, and I don't think it will look right if I have something else on over it. Oh, well. That's life, I guess. Regardless of how much it bugs me, there is still life that must go on.

Anyway, in other news, I have a SECOND COLLEGE APPLICATION IN!! WHOOHOO! And it's for a school I ACTUALLY want to go to! It is, as it transpires (not sure if I've said this already; if I have, please disregard this sentence), the school where my favorite band studied. This is exciting.

I have now discovered the glory of the Common App. Why? Well, I got that application in through the common app; I have two (maybe three) more schools that use it, which means I am essentially done with those. I just have to double-check that they don't have any supplemental stuff (I'm pretty sure at least one of them does). After I do the supplements and the Common-App-Double-Check, I can just click "submit" and it'll go (though we might have to pay something for some of the schools). Anyway, this just leaves two applications to fill out (and, unfortunately, five essays to write between them; however, I have already done one that will apply to both of them. Huzzah!).

And also, I have almost succeeded in knitting a fingerless glove to the knuckles without messing anything up or making it extremely super tight around any of the finger joints or anything unfortunate like that. It's exciting. I'm somewhat proud of myself. And the one glove I'm almost done with actually looks reasonably cool as well! It's self-patterning yarn, so that makes it all cool looking, though it does give the fingers a weird look because you have to do each finger individually. This means you bind off each finger and then tie the yarn again at the base of the next finger, so the pattern goes on but it looks kind of weird because the colors of the fingers are idiosynchratic with the colors of the base of the fingers. But whatever. It still looks cool.

Anyhow, I will have to go to breakfast soon.

Oh, BY THE WAY, for all of you who live in the area who need warmth-inducing clothing for this exceedingly early snow we have just had, let me know. I can and will knit you something if you ask me to.

Yeah, I have to go eat now. And maybe finish that glove. And maybe work on that commission that I am nearly done with and stuff... HUZZAH FOR GETTING PAID!

YAY FOR HALLOWEEN!

Happy early Halloween and super-early NaNoWriMo awesomeness wishes! I do not know about you, but I am EXTREMELY excited to walk around dressed in costume and demanding candy from my neighbors, and then to use the candy as sustenance for writing a novel in a month. It's going to be supremely epic. That is, it WILL be supremely epic, if either of my trick-or-treat buddies decide to message me back to make sure we're actually going... Whatever.

See you later!

Friday, October 28, 2011

NaNo and other ridiculous, over-ranted things

Yes, once again, I'm here to rant about how I'm going to go horribly insane and get really tired while taking on the lunatic operation of trying to write a novel in a month while also trying to survive my senior year.

If you're getting supremely tired of reading about this, tell me in the comments, and I will shut up.

And by 'shut up,' I mean that I'll cease my many posts regarding NaNo until it starts. Then, for sake of my creative writing grade and informing the world (or at least my readers) of my progress on my novel (or my non-progress on my novel), I will be posting every day with progress as of that moment. Yes, this WILL be a daily thing and it WILL be mandatory for my creative writing grade. I think. But for now, I'm saying it IS part of my grade, so YES, I DO have to do it. So if you hate hearing about how I'm going to write a novel, and you don't want to know how the novel is going, feel free to zone out until November.

Okay, on to the ACTUAL RANT!!!

I'm reasonably excited, but also a bit scared as well. See, unlike last year, my world now wholly my own, and I have to actually do something with it. I mean, last year it was loosely based on an N64 Super Mario game (here meaning a bit of the plot was drawn from it, and some of the creatures were taken and given different names. That's it. But I had creatures and I had a goal). This year, the plot is entirely mine, and that's really terrifying. Why? Well, I have sub-plotted to the max, for a start. Secondly, all my characters have been bugging me for their story to be told since AUGUST. I'm scared I'll fail them. (And for all of you non-writers who think I'm insane... you're lunatics). And I'm scared that something will go wrong - that Demetrius will never go for Hero, that Romeo will never save Demetrius, that Puck will never come into his powers, that Morgan will slip up and say something in chapter 12 that isn't supposed to be revealed until chapter 32, that Hero will think Demetrius is just some creepy stranger who randomly shows up and stars reciting sonnets, and not this really hot guy worthy of her affections...

This is what you get when you over-plot. I don't want to simplify, but I don't NOT want to simplify, either. Does that make any sense at all?

Anyway, plot fears aside, my other fear is that I will fail NaNo AND school. I mean, I would be fine with losing NaNo if it meant passing calculus and not screwing up my GPA, but I don't want to screw up my GPA AND not finish NaNo. Really, the ideal situation is that I write during my free blocks and then go home and do all my homework within four hours so I can write some more, but I'm one of those people who dares to take three AP classes AND have a life AND get to bed before midnight (though I have not been wholly successful on that last one), so that's not likely to happen.

Oh, yeah, and musical rehearsal starts November 7th, which is way earlier than we've done before. Which means that I'm NOT going to sleep. Or finish the novel. Or get good grades. Or do a lot of things that I'd really like to do, but won't be able to do because I'M DOING TOO MUCH IN NOVEMBER. Can you tell at all?

Okay, I admit, I AM leaving out that we have quite a few days off from school in November. There's a teacher work day, there's Veteran's Day, and there's Thanksgiving break. I think there's a total of ONE full week in November, if that. Wait... yes, one full week. And that's next week. But next week doesn't ENTIRELY count as a full week of November because there are still two days of October in next week. I can't forget Halloween, because Halloween will provide a lot of the non-healthy-but-I'll-still-eat-it-because-I-feel-entitled-since-I'm-writing-a-novel type of sustenance that I need to survive the ridiculous month ahead of me.

Though, to be quite honest, it will be highly unlikely that, when December finally comes around, I will still have all of my sanity still at a reasonably coherent level, or that I will have very little sleep to catch up on, or that my GPA will still above a 3.0, or that something else in my life will not have been horribly messed up.

But you never know. Surprises are fun. Except when they aren't.

Still, I hope that this will entail a good surprise, like maybe how my math teacher will MAYBE be lenient with the homework, or that my English teacher decides that she will NOT be assigning any books in November, or that all the November tests in Government are cancelled.  You never know.

But they COULD load on ALL the homework possible. And if they do that, I'm quite sure that I won't be the only teenager who wants to sue someone for depriving teenagers for their right (and biological need) to sleep.

Thus concludes my rant for today.

Farewell.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

NaNo Rant

With four days until NaNoWriMo, I've a good excuse to be ranting about the Month In Which I Will Be Getting No Sleep (MoInWhiIWiBeGeNoSle... never mind).

Things I need for National Novel Writing Month:
1. A plot (yes!)
2. a place to write (yes!)
3. something to write with (journal and pens! YES!)
4. Time to write (um... this may be a problem)
5. a reasonably free schedule outside of school (I'm WORKING on it. Hopefully college apps will be done by Halloween. That's what I am planning on, anyway. And if they aren't... this is why some president invented Thanksgiving break)
6. A National Novel Writing Month survival kit (this is somewhat in place. Will work on that).

I think my plot could do with some room for lunacy, but it will have to do. It's the most complex thing I have ever dared do, but I greatly hope that I'll be able to pull it off. For my own sanity and not losing all that sleep for nothing.

Anyway, my National Novel Writing Month Survival Kit currently consists of the following (in case you were wondering):
1. the writing journal (in which I will be writing the novel)
2. pens (with which I will be writing the novel)
3. water. Lots and lots of water.
4. My iPod (I still have to make the NaNoWriMo playlist, but I have time for that)
5. A corner in the library. Unfortunately, unlike last year, my little corner has been claimed, so I'm going to have to find a different one. But there are many corners.
Aaand that is my survival kit this year. Huzzah!

I guess now is the time where I tell you my plot. Or something to that effect. Or something.

Okay, well, here it is.

Romeo Bright is a GIRL who has a way with words. Her parents are assassinated by ninjas from another planet. These ninja assassins chase her through a portal that randomly showed up in the closet under her stairs (unintentional Harry Potter reference!), and she finds herself in this land called Mercanova. Then she meets Demetrius Orsyn when he crash-lands his ship by accident (somewhat-accidental-but-still-obligatory Star Wars Reference; Demetrius is kind of like Han Solo, except different). Then they hang out, and are joined by Puck Ronwa (a fairy pirate!) and Morgan I-don't-have-a-last-name-for-this-character (a wizard).
Morgan knows the territory so he explains what's been going on - first, that Romeo's princess, and second, that Iago's been taking over the country by way of manipulation and force and is probably going to kill the royal family sometime in the near future (Iago's a villain who's in a position of extreme power. He can do that). He knows that Romeo's in Mercanova (the ninjas told him), and he wants her for her words (because she's got an undiscovered talent for making what she says actually happen). Then the four protagonists are attacked by orcs and decide they need to learn how to fight. They also plan on invading Iago's palace sometime in the near future. So they work on doing both *cue chance for romantic subplot between Demetrius and Romeo.*
While commencing Operation Invade Iago's Palace, Demetrius sees Princess Hero on her balcony and pulls a Romeo and Juliet (obligatory Shakespeare plot reference) and starts reciting sonnets (which Romeo, being a Shakespeare nut, has taught him), and distracts everyone *cue pissed Romeo*. Then he gets pulled back and they invade and split up into two pairs, and then Morgan gets captured and the other three leave *cue some sort of magical outburst from Puck, who has never shown the ability of having magical outburst before*.
Demetrius decides the next morning that he is going to be all HEROIC and go off and save Hero, but in doing so he gets himself captured. Both Romeo and Puck realize that they have extreme magical capabilities, and develop them for a few days as well as developing a plan, and go off to rescue Morgan AND Demetrius. Puck gets trapped in Morgan's dungeon when he is looking for the wizard *potential romantic relationship - remains to be seen* and realizes Demetrius is in there as well, which means that Romeo is going to get captured as well (Puck and Romeo split up because of their *maybe* romantic affections for certain parties which they were trying to rescue).
But Romeo is NOT captured; she meets her siblings (Hero and twin brother Sebastian) for the first time, and she and Sebastian do some legit fighting and escape. Romeo is nervous about going back in but Demetrius insists that she goes in anyway because she is a HERO and there is this SWORD that only belongs to a HERO *cue Romeo making an angry pun about how Hero should have the sword because of her name* and that the sword is NEAR and it is about to claim HER and blah blah blah.
Anyway, they go in, save everyone, have a showdown, beat people up, and have a party.
The end.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Post Number Whatever This Is

I need to start thinking of actual stuff to post about, aside from stuff relating to how hungry I am (which is boring), how I have a terrifyingly small amount of homework tonight (I didn't think it was possible, but it is, and that's boring too), and how I'm really pumped for NaNoWriMo (because, although I am, it's been way too rehashed).
Anyway, onto a (relatively) new topic. College applications. I'm quite sure that I'm going to actually pull of something resembling completion of at least one college application in the near future. Huzzah! And I do have to finish the common app, which is going to knock out two (maybe three) applications when I finish it. Huzzah!
I'm planning on being finished with all of the applications that are due before January by the end of October. Yes, I know, it's ridiculous to be finishing college applications in October, but it'll probably give me lower stress in January and February, and will let me not freak out about college applications during November.
Yes, I AM planning my life around NaNoWriMo, in case you were wondering, or didn't think so, or something.
Or, at least, I'm planning anything that involves me between November 1st and December 3rd (so I can have a few sanity days before returning to the World of the Normal Student) around NaNoWriMo. Which is, for all intents and purposes, essentially like planning my life around NaNoWriMo. Wait... that's because it is...
Well, it's also planning my life around NaNo, because I'm getting college applications in earlier than the November/ December deadlines (for some schools, anyway), which will affect where I get in, which will affect where I choose to go, which will affect what major I end up choosing, which will affect my education, which will affect what I do for the rest of my life, which will... yeah. I'm essentially planning my life around writing a novel during the month of November.
And the weird thing is (maybe scary thing as well?), I am only realizing that I am essentially affecting my entire future by clearing any deadlines that do not directly pertain to something I have to do for school, for the entire month of November... now. Yeah. EEK!
Well, it isn't like I was not planning on applying early to some schools anyway.
Anyhow, enough about college. And National Novel Writing Month.
Wait... that leaves me absolutely nothing to post about. BOO!
Okay, not absolutely nothing. I can still rant about school, but there is very little to rant about. I have very little homework, and I've already ranted about college. 'Nuff said.
And life is school right now, so there's nothing to rant about in that regard.
Except that my ankle is being stupid for some unknown (though probably exercise-related) reason, and that a jacket that I really like is MIA at school as of today. It's probably in the chorus room. Or the conference room, where I might have left it when I went for a college-essay-editing session. But if I left it in the cafeteria, it's gone for good. Not only is it highly unlikely that I'll ever find it again if I left it in the cafeteria, but if I DO find it again, it'll probably be really dirty and have herpes on it or something. Even if I did leave it in the conference room and someone put it in the lost and found in the cafeteria, it'll still wind up absolutely gross and potentially infected with some disease that no hard-core washing machine will be able to fix. Which will really suck. I like that jacket.
So I'm really hoping that it is in the chorus room, since I might have reasonable cause to be scared to go near it if it wound up in any other location.
Anyhow, I'm supremely pumped for conservatory today. We have it after school, and the last two weeks have been hilariously awesome and awesomely hilarious and hilarious and awesome and other relevant adjectives. And therefore, I'm extremely excited.
However, I am also really hungry, because my friends stole all my goldfish at lunch today, so I have nothing to eat, which means I'll be walking home in a state of cold, hungry, irate grossness in about three hours' time. Unless someone in conservatory has food that they are willing to give me. Which isn't likely, but still.
Anyhow, I have run out of sufficiently entertaining topics to post about. Um... YAY CONSERVATORY!
And... um... food is nice. Unfortunately, I don't have my wallet with me, and even if I did, I don't think I have time to walk to some food-providing place and back in time for class.
Anyway, in other news (for the sake of you being forewarned, in case I actually wind up following through with this), I may or may not post something of a literary nature in the near future.
Speaking of writing (and I SWEAR this will be the last NaNo thing before November), I'll be repeating what I did last year during National Novel Writing Month: daily updates of where I am/ where I need to be/ word counts, etc. But that's in November. And I've run out of every possibly interesting topic I could potentially write about, so I'm going to go now.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Early NaNo woes, and other musings

Well, I had a sudden realization this afternoon, and it's not a good sort of sudden realization. The sudden realization that I have had is that my NaNoWriMo novel is the most ridiculously complex thing I have ever dared to plan out or attempt to write. And I haven't even started writing it yet.
If it's as ridiculously complex as I think it will be, this does not bode well for November.
I mean really, there is every possible ridiculous subplot and character cliche you can possible imagine worked into this ridiculous work of fiction. The main character's really a princess, which she finds out later in the novel as a major turning point. The annoying jerk/ best friend/ tough guy turns out to be a huge romantic. The wizard knows everything, but he doesn't say how he knows everything; he just does. There's a fairy-pirate who's good with a sword and learns how to work his magic, and how to properly plunder, and uses both skills to good avail in the climax. The main character develops a crush on her best friend. The main character isn't the bravest of sorts, but it turns out she can kick serious ass if she needs too (which she does). The bad guy is wily and cunning, and also a complete softy. The main character has a twin brother and a little sister that she never knew existed, and it turns out that she, not the siblings, is the long-lost family member. The main character doesn't realize she's in love with the best friend/ tough guy until he starts reciting sonnets to her sister (at that point, she doesn't know she has siblings, so the other girl bugs her a lot). There's a prophecy. There's a magical sword that only a hero can wield (and the sister, whose name is Hero, doesn't count, because she doesn't do anything except create emotional conflict and fall in love with someone). The plot is set in motion by someone dying and going into a portal. My hero, a female, is named Romeo.
Yeah. This is going to be difficult. But, then again, who said writing a ridiculously complex novel in a month is easy? Who said writing a novel in a month, PERIOD, was easy? Who said writing a novel at ALL was an easy task?
Okay, I'm getting redundant, and you get the point.
Other News:
Yesterday, I finally picked up last year's NaNo novel in an attempt to complete it. I'm not sure how that's going to work out, since I can't find the original notebook and I don't remember the names of the deities they are saving in this section, but whatever. It'll be kind of ridiculous, because the last date on it was March 28, 2011 (the last time I worked on it, I mean. I date my prose so I can tell how much I've done in a day. It's a habit I picked up from NaNo), and I've sort of forgotten about the characters a little bit. And I'm going to have to type it at some point. But more on that when stuff of an important nature regarding this happens.
More Other News:
Do you know something that's ridiculously hard and possibly of no use to novelists, writers, or any creatively inclined high school student who already has all their math credits? CALCULUS. I don't understand it, nor am I going to use it, but I want to have an eighth class that is AP to bump my GPA. And so I can say I *sort of* know calculus.
This goes on the "Reasons Why This November Is Going To Be The Most Ridiculously Stressful Month Of My Life So Far" as number 548.
The other 547 reasons why November is going to be stressful involve college apps, calculus, novel writing, school, sleep, essays, college applications, calculus, novelling, auditions for the musical, auditions for District Chorus... the list is long. And a bit repetitive.
Also, my mother ordered Chris Baty's book, "No Plot? No Problem!" from Barnes and Noble, and it came yesterday. I'm extremely happy. For all of you who don't know, Chris Baty is the initial founder/ organizer of NaNoWriMo, and the book is essentially a NaNoWriMo survival guide for those who don't know how to manage to write a novel in a month and retain their sanity (and for those who do know but still want to buy the book because it's freaking CHRIS BATY, who is possibly one of the coolest people ever - right up there with Johnny Depp - and who's stepping down in January, much to my sadness).
Anyway, I'm going to go crazy over trying to understand calculus now. Hopefully I will understand it by November, so I will be able to breeze through it and somehow still write a novel, pass three AP classes, and still get enough sleep to stay sane.
But, for now, TO CALCULUS!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Of course I'm not... no, yes I am procrastinating

Well, the title says the truth. I am, indeed, procrastinating on homework. It's a horrible habit and I'm trying to kick it. Sadly, this is not going very well.

The good news is that I can do about half of my remaining work on the computer. The bad news is that the materials (the sheet with the essay prompts and my binder and my notebook) are all in my room, NOT in the room with the computer.

Sigh.

Anyway, in other news, I went to the Renaissance Festival (also known as the Renn Fest) on Saturday. Once again, it was supremely cool and I enjoyed it immensely. And, it being my last year for a while, I actually dressed up this year. Admittedly, my costume was probably the most ridiculous non-Renaissance costume while still attempting to be sort of Renaissance that I could have possibly put together, but I liked it and it was fun. I wore these super huge black fairy wings, a bodice, a lime green tank top, these wide blue patchwork trousers I got in Bern, and a cool blue mask I got in Venice. The only bad thing was that my wings, as I said before, were huge, so I had to walk sideways while in a lot of the stores and I even opted out of going to look at books because of the room I took up while wearing them was disproportionate to the room available in the shop. On the other hand, I was greeted by the King while I was waiting for my friends to finish with the books. That was cool. There was no photo of us two because my friends were in the book store, but it was still cool.

Probably because of the mask and the wings, I was in at least two photos of people taking photos of people who dressed up. I think. I saw at least one for sure because it was sort of close quarters (not awkard, but close enough to not have reasonable doubt that it was anybody else), but the other one was kind of at a distance so the person could have been zoomed in on someone else. Either way, both of the photos occurred while I was eating. I think I was either holding a chicken nugget or I was in the process of biting it when the first of the photos occurred. Yeah, really good photobomb of the subject there.

Anyhoo, what I got at the Renn Fest, in case you were wondering, was a henna tattoo of the Chinese symbol for luck, a pair of really cool leather cuffs that are embossed with Calico Jack's insignia on his Jolly Roger (I think... whoever has the one with the skull and the crossed swords underneath it) and a 'scoop.' The scoop is the forerunner of the hair net and the 16th century's solution for bad hair days for girls (I suppose it could apply to dudes, but I've never seen any photos or paintings or drawings of any guys wearing them, so I don't think so). It's worn on the crown of the head, and the wearer put all their hair inside it, like we do nowadays when you get a bad haircut. It's designed to hold back hair and look really cool because it's all lacy and colorful and stuff. I probably won't be wearing it in the same style of olde, but I like it anyway.

Anyways again, other news still: the musical was announced on Friday. This year, for the first time since our current director has been at our school, we aren't doing a show set in New York. Although I'm glad for the variety of setting, I'm kind of worried about the accents that we will have to pull off in order to successfully do the show without everyone judging us. Why?

The show this year is "Oklahoma."

Although I'm rather psyched about the show, I don't want to be ensemble AGAIN (but, of course, I'll probably wind up being ensemble anyway because I'm not a supremely brilliant singer), I don't know what other part I can pull off. I'm not sure I can do the accent very well without sounding like I'm trying too hard - with accents, it's easy to tell, especially with the Western accent.

Oh, well. November is going to be ridiculously busy anyway, what with NaNoWriMo and AND the musical AND college applications. Maybe that will finally make me lose and/ or ditch the title of being the World's Biggest Procrastinator.

Well, you can never start too early on that sort of thing. I'm going to go do things of an academic nature now.

Well, I'm going to sign off with the intent of doing things of an academic nature. Whether I actually wind up doing them is another matter entirely.

Farewell for now, anyway.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Literary shenanigans (and college)

Well, it's October. Guess what that means? Halloween! The Rennaissance Festival! Cooler weather!

And, of course, most importantly, final touches for all the preparations that I have been doing since August for NaNoWriMo in November. I must admit, I'm stoked about NaNoWriMo (You could tell? How?), mostly because I want to actually VERIFY this year. That would be nice. But, more importantly, I want to finish my novel this year. I didn't finish the novel last year (it's still in progress and I've barely touched it since April), and I want to finish this novel in a month, regardless of how many words I write, or how many words I go over the goal, or whatever. I WANT TO FINISH THIS, DARNIT!!

Or, rather, I want to start writing NOW so I can stop thinking about whether I should change my heroine's name to Imogen, whether or not I should add in something of hers that the villain wants, and to essentially quench all of those annoying nagging doubts similar to those. I just want to WRITE the darn thing and get it written so I can see how badly I wrote it and apologize to the characters profusely. (yes, I actually regard my characters as real people. Strange, I know.) And I really don't want to wait another month to do it. But I kind of have to. Life is annoying like that.

Anyway, in Supremely Important News: I have OFFICIALLY, as of last night, applied to college. WOOHOO!!! If I wind up being a slacker and not applying to any of the other schools I plan on applying to (not likely, as the rest are the ones that are higher on my "I WANT TO GO HERE" list but have later dates than the one I just applied to), at least I'll have applied to one school, and have the potential for getting in. Maybe. I mean, their GPA is a bit higher than mine, but still. The fact that it's DONE is very nice. That is one less school to worry about.

That means there are six more schools that I DO have to worry about. Brilliant.

I'm actually kind of excited for college. But first, I really want to survive high school.

You know, everyone says the last year in high school is the best, but so far, this statement has been proven utterly UNTRUE. There's more homework, less sleep, and I feel essentially the same as I did last year, just with a bit less anticipation for June because that means I'll be leaving the school that I've spent so much time at. And a bit more stressed out because of all the homework. And also, I am applying to college. You know. The usual stuff.

But I still spend every day in the library, I hang out with the same people I did last year, and I'm still auditioning for a lot of shows. I'm still doing tae kwon do, and I'm still knitting far more than is physically necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

So, really, people, unless you REALLY hate high school and would do absolutely ANYTHING to get out before your senior year, stay in school and don't waste too much time looking forward to senior year (wasting a little bit of time is normal. If you waste too much time, then senior year, especially prom, will most likely fall utterly flat of your expectations, and then life will suck. I mean, some of it's worth it, but please remember to be nice to the little kids and don't kill your grades for nothing).

Still, though. Senior year. I'm still somewhat excited, and, yes, I'm still hoping something crazy epic will happen this year. Maybe I'll get some lead part in a show, out of sympathy for being a senior, or maybe I'll finish NaNoWriMo, edit it for my senior project, and get a publishing deal by the end of the year. Who knows?

Oh, yeah. That's another thing that's different. Senior projects.

For the record, I have absolutely NO idea what I'm doing. I'm still throwing around ideas, and I have a long time to decide, so any suggestions while I'm still sane will be greatly appreciated (preferably nothing that involves too much knitting, too much writing, or not enough sleep).

In the meantime, I'll be in the library or in my room, writing, reading, doing homework, or procrastinating. Or applying to college. Or knitting. Or sleeping. One of those. Most likely.

Guess I should go and deal with some of that now, and stuff...

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Argh, ack, and other a-words (and novels!)

I have returned! I know, I haven't started re-typing the Journal yet. That's mostly because of two reasons:

1. Homework (three AP classes and annoying non-AP homework) and
2. I have forgotten where I put the journal.

It's not here around the computer, but I don't really feel like going on a supermassive quest to go and find it, since I have two tests, two essays, an essay rewrite and a novella to read, all of which are due sometime between tomorrow and October 11th. Well, make that three essays. Yeah, senior year is hard. Therefore, please forgive me if I'm horribly inconsistent with posting in the near future (ahem... until December). I'm liable to be going insane, procrastinating, or doing homework. This is one of the saner moments I have had in a while.

Also, I have college applications to figure out. I'll be working on that mostly this weekend, because I will actually have ample TIME to crank out several essays and update everything that needs to be updated and email the people who are writing letters for me and stuff. This'll be hard, but, then again, who said senior year was easy? And whoever says that deserves a rewind to their first semester of senior year.

Oh, yeah. I'm doing National Novel Writing Month again. I have college applications due by November 1st, November 15th, and December 1st. The earliest deadline is one of the schools I'm only applying to because mother insists I need more fit/ reach schools, so I don't really care if I miss that deadline. I haven't even visited it. Well, I've SEEN it, but I haven't been through the whole shebang of the Official College Tour there.

On the upside, I have almost all of my plot and stuff worked out for NaNoWriMo this year, which is a lot better than last year. I mean, last year wasn't a complete fail, but I didn't verify and I could split the whole thing into five books and nobody would care, because the plot is that expansive. And the characters were good. I liked them, but there was so much I could have done with them.

That's what you get when you base a novel off of a video game. A long story and no snazzy developments. But I'll be working on it... at some piont.

This year, however, I'm completely prepared. Well, MOSTLY prepared. I still have to get some more Shakespeare quotes, but other than that, I think I'm okay. I have all my character names, plot twists, character developments, showdowns, sub-plots, and potential insults that I think I might need. Okay, I could also use some more plot twists of a non-generic variety, but other than that, I'm okay. And I have time to figure this out, right?

This year, I'm probably going to post every day again, for a daily update about where I am in the novel and such. I'm just scared that this year I won't have enough plot to cover 50,000 words. The Shakespeare should help some, but I don't know how much it will help.

That's why I need some good fantasy/ fairy tale plot twists, and maybe some more chances for soliloquies. And maybe some Madonna songs as well, for my villain.

Yes, he's one of THOSE villains, who pretends to do evil acts because he's being manipulated, but really has a talent for singing and a lot of dramatics. Or, rather, he THINKS he has a talent for singing. Like that new kid on "Glee" who has self-diagnosed Asberger's Syndrome (not sure if that is how you spell it) when really she just wants to avoid having any tact whatsoever. And also who is so off-key that even the person with the worst ear in the music world (and maybe a moderate ear outside of it) can tell that she is off. If a song is in the key of D, she will sing it in G. Without tact.

Anyway, the point of that rant is that that character, while completely moronic, is very well-played, and also that my villain thinks he can be the next American Idol (... or Mercanova Idol, as the case may be), but really he will be completely off-key and tone-deaf and comes up with horrendous plans. Unfortunately, he DOES go overboard with the whole I'm-A-Villain-So-I-Must-Dress-Like-It type thing.

I'm SO bad at creating villains.

All right, I'm going off to research Shakespearean monolouges, Shakespearean soliloquies, Shakespearean Quotes, and, best of all (my favorite, at least), Shakespearean INSULTS. And do all that homework that I have to do. And some character stuff. And stuff.

Yeah, I've gotta go.

Bye.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Ridiculosity and resumption of Europe Journal

I must admit, I have been absolutely horrendous about posting consistently. I'm AWARE that I haven't finished posting the Europe Journal (and if you weren't aware of my lack of finishing the posting of the Europe Journal, then... well... I'm telling you now). HOWEVER, that will be fixed this weekend. And hopefully soon thereafter.
Of course, that depends on whether I actually finish the college applications I was planning to do this weekend. And whether I finish reading about the Federalist Papers and judicial review and other government stuff. And stuff of that nature. And all the other occupational hazards of being a senior in high school. I'm aware that I'm not good at posting regularly. I will have you know that it isn't my fault. It's the fault of having enough HOMEWORK to get on my nerves and prevent me from posting. Also, I am out of the habit of posting regularly. That's another thing I will have to fix. Anyway, I hope it'll be fixed.

Anyway, in other news, if I haven't said this before (and I am pretty sure I have), my school's drama department is AMAZING. I just got back from the first black box play of the year, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." It was AMAZINGLY well-performed, especially for a high school show. Maybe it was BECAUSE it was a high school show is the reason why it was so amazing. Anyway, it was really good and I recommend it to EVERYONE who is not doing anything tomorrow night.
It's a very dark show, that's true, but it's a very cool one. Even though the main character dies and the annoying character prevails and all is not essentially well, but it IS well because one of the most tormented characters finally goes free, but whatever. It's complex. And that's what's good about it.

Anyhow, the worst part of senior year has been confirmed: I have lots of homework. It sucks. Although I like doing homework (yes, I'm a dork), I don't like settling down to do it, and it's the sort of homework that I have to sit down and do for around half an hour a day (it's mostly long-term stuff) or else I'll procrastinate until the night before, and then flip out because I haven't done something that's worth twenty percent of my grade. So I DO have daily homework, but yet I don't. It's hard to explain, but it exists, and doing that homework every single day and not trying to BS it is the hardest part. Except for actually doing AP English, and understanding whether or not we actually have stuff to do for AP government. And, when I DO have AB Calculus homework, understanding what it was my teacher said in class that morning. Eventually it's figure-out-able, but not before I've felt very stupid for half an hour because I feel like I should remember the content of the assignment, but I don't.
Hopefully I won't have to do that for the rest of my life.
Hopefully I won't have to ever use Calculus in my future, especially since I'm planning on studying Shakespeare, theatre, literature, and/ or history in college.
Of course, going to college requires applying...
which I have to do tomorrow...
Along with not sleeping in...
And also homework...
And also room-cleaning...

Welcome to high school. I hope this doesn't go on for the rest of my life.
Because that would majorly suck.

I actually don't mind the reading part of the homework. It's the understanding part that I don't like. See, it's not that I don't get some of it. I DO get a lot of it. It's the fact that it's required reading and I HAVE to read it in order to pass and get into a good college and not have to actually use calculus in my future. Not that I would anyway. I don't think writers or actors use calculus. Do they?
I'm not sure.

In other news, I'm tired and I need to sleep.

Also, if I haven't posted this already (I may have, I don't remember and I don't feel like going back and checking), there is a link that you can follow here that is all of the professionally-taken photos of the Shakespeare Camp I was in. The Teen Ensemble (the one I was in) is about 2/3rds of the way down (the photographer intentionally took photos of random blank white things to separate the three groups, and ours is after the second grayish-white photo). There are some good photos of me dying and fighting and stuff. And yeah.

Okay, goodnight.