NaNoWriMo: Mental Prepration

So, the beginning of this thing I signed up for is almost upon me.  I'm already feeling like I shot myself in the foot with this.  One thousand six hundred and sixty seven words on average per day is a lot of commitment for an entire month.  The most recent short story that I completed topped out at just over two thousand words.  This is quite a large leap from one to the next.  I hope that I have the material and the willpower to make it through this self-imposed ordeal alive.  

I suppose its beneficial to me that I am a goal-oriented type of person and that there is a definitive goal at the end that I would like to achieve (not to mention the perks of actually attaining said goal).  My plan was/is to write short stories and get them published as often as I could in hopes of getting a foot in somewhere.  I can continue with that plan and also have a completed and actually printed novel as incentive as well if that should happen.  I feel that the likelihood of this actually coming to fruition is about as possible as hitting it big in Hollywood - but maybe I don't have to make it to Hollywood.  Maybe appearing in a Broadway show or even being a local playhouse actor would be okay with me.  Forgive me the acting metaphors, please.  Writing is really something I do enjoy participating in so as cool as it would be to sign a movie deal derived from my New York Times bestselling novel, I would enjoy just having my stuff get out there in some fashion one day.

I would get the same enjoyment from writing a books as I did from designing buildings in architecture.  Your work becomes substance and it has the potential to affect someone or something.  It makes a mark.  That's really why I wanted to teach children as well.  Besides being something I seemed to be rather good at, I wanted to leave a lasting impression on children for the better.  I had one of those teachers who instilled the need to read at a young age and I think its only fair that all children get to experience that teacher at least once.  I hope that one day I'll run into Mr. Washburn and be able to tell him how his efforts so greatly impacted my life.

Anyway, back to preparing the meal for the novel-monster.  Wish me luck.

Exploring: Writing.com

When I first began writing, I looked for a venue where I could compare myself to other writers so I might be able to tell how poor my writing skills were.  That probably sounds a bit strange, but its the truth.  I'm that type of student who writes their paper a few hours before class and receives praises upon compliments of how well written my report was and how much of an enjoyment it was to read.  I'm that type of office employee who write laboriously long e-mails to clients or contractors, simply because I enjoyed doing it.  Although they all seemed to detest using the dictionary to decipher what it was I was saying, they also appreciated that nothing was misconstrued and the information was always plentiful in order to get the job done.  My significant other admits that I occasionally use words that are beyond typical vocabulary and she just glosses over the words that I used that were not readily understandable.  In the eight (or nine, depending on what you read) Multiple Intelligences tests, I obviously fall under the linguistic and logical classifications.  What I needed to know was the thing I thought merely something that I thought or was the thing I thought a reality and something to be sought after?  Enjoy that.

I started writing and posting some of my stories, poems and excerpts to a site called Writing.com in order to try to find an answer.  My question came down to this - Am I good enough to pursue this skill of mine as a career choice or is it merely hobby-worthy?  The users of Writing.com helped me to decide that for myself.

They were all very critical yet beneficial to my pieces.  Their reactions were actually better than I anticipated for two reasons.  The first being that I expected a bunch of elitist punks (you know, the kind you see commenting on CNN posts) ripping on my work and calling me a homosexual for liking words or something.  This was not the case.  The reviewers ranged from site moderators to n00bs and all were equally helpful in their own regard.  Grammar checks, continuity checks, questions about hidden meanings - it was all surprisingly helpful.  The second reason why it was better than anticipated?  The users not only universally critiqued my style and habits, but also honestly enjoyed what I had submitted.  One cannot underestimate the drive that can be found once you've received glowing praise from people worldwide of a similar mindset.

I would recommend Writing.com to anyone who enjoys anything that pertains to the English language.  If you don't enjoy writing, you are always free to sign up and read the literal infinite amount of work posted to peruse and add to the splendid community of people trying to help aspiring authors.  If you do enjoy writing, but don't know where to go to begin trying for a little more beyond your personal journal, this website can work for you too.  You are allowed to set privacy settings to allow your friends, registered authors or the entire world to read your goods.  I suggest anyone and everyone to give it a shot.  There's something enjoyable to be had for anyone who likes this sort of thing.  If you don't - look into it anyway, you might surprise yourself with one of the many mystery, romance, horror, spy, erotic, adventure, choose-your-own-story works that are available for free.

NaNoWriMo: Continued

So, I've decided which of my twelve to fifteen story premises to use for National Novel Writing Month.  I've chosen it for a few reasons.  

1) It's the one I'm most embarrassed to write seeing how it revolves around vampires.  I'm saddened by the fact that I don't want to write the story because its now cliche to enjoy vampire fiction.  Friggin' Twilight.  My vampires are post-apocalyptic monsters - so its all good.

2) The MC is fairly similar in demeanor to my own and its therefore relatively easy to write his dialogue in freeform method.

3) I have the basic plot already outlined with character names, info and background already written up.  All I have left to do is just sit down and allow the story details and dialogue to interact and I should then be able to blaze through the majority of the 50,000 words.  Hopefully, I come up with a decent title by the end, is all.

4) Once I get this first so-so and rushed story out of the way, I think I might be driven to continue writing other pieces at a proper pace.

Portable Technology Discovery

Just the other day I got fed up with being unable to talk to my girlfriend, got tired of not being able to text my sister, got sick of not being able to have the minutes to even listen to my voice mail, so I upgraded my phone and service to something worthwhile.  I picked up a Nokia E73 which, in essence, boils down to the equivalent of a Blackberry.  I had the choice between the E73 and the Motorola CHARM.  I went with the Nokia because a bit more useful for potentially professional reasons as well as being slightly more aesthetically pleasing.  The CHARM also focused more on touch technology, which I've seen too many people have issues with, so I went with usefulness over trendiness.  Its got nifty little things like assisted GPS that relies on triangulation instead of satellites.  It has a slimmed down version of office software to allow the creation of word documents, workbooks and presentations.  It has a 5 megapixel camera with video and panoramic options, MP3 player, FM radio, IMs, full QWERTY keyboard, access to social networking and all the rest of that other stuff that I'm sure comes standard in all of today's smartphones as well.  Maybe this type of stuff isn't all that impressive to someone who has had this technology for a while now, but to someone like me who has had a basic flip-phone for the past four years - this is amazing.

I've been using it for the past three or four days now and I'm finally starting to understand why people get so oblivious to the real world when they turn on their technology.  Besides food and sleep, this thing can provide you with everything you need.  Actually, you can look up the nearest Japanese steakhouse and order some sushi to go with it, so I guess all this thing is missing is the ability to provide sleep.  Sleep is overrated anyway.

The thing is addictive.  I used to have to (oh no!) sit down at my notebook in order to do my writing, email and facebooking.  I can take a fifteen at work and do all that in the employee breakroom now.  If I had less self control, I could technically do that from the sales floor or while driving like most other people.  It is tempting sometimes, I must say.  Why waste your time being bored in real life when you can entertain yourself?

Its kind of sad in a way.  Once you get something like this, it becomes a tie that you simply cannot sever afterward.  What would you do if you left your phone at home and found yourself lost in an unfamiliar town?  Find a pay phone?  Sure, there might be a few of those left at gas stations or something.  Who are you going to call?  Do you remember their phone number?  Not likely.  There's no contacts button on the payphone.  Call 411?  Sure, but who are you going to contact?  Most likely everyone is going to be as mobile as you are and there aren't any cell phone listed in 411.  So now you're reduced to wandering around trying to enlist the help of nearby people who might know where you are going.  Do you even know where you are going though?  Did you write down the directions or where they saved in your phone?

Items like this seem to only make the differences clear between those who are the Have's and the Have-Not's.  We are constantly being forced to evolve perhaps beyond where we want to go or perhaps even care to go.  Take for instance the recent death of antenna TV or the imminent death of free radio.  Its as if there is some desire to create yet another divide in social classes through the ability to acquire technology.

I don't know where that came from.  Maybe I'll think on it more and delve into it more later when I can afford the brain cells to burn on it.  For now, I guess I've been shoved into being one of those Have's.  However, I don't plan to be one of those people in the bar who need to have their phone in constant six inch proximity to their hands or those people who appear to be schizophrenic but are actually talking to their mother on bluetooth.  Please hit me repeatedly with your car if I exhibit these behaviors.

NaNoWriMo: Let Personal Agony Begin!

During the interview for my job, one of the managers informed me about this website that I should check out if I was interested in writing.  Not thinking much of it at the time, I pocketed the scribbled paper and took the job graciously.  A few days later while trying to find something to occupy my time, I found the little paper tucked away with my new hire paperwork.  I look up the website http://www.nanowrimo.org and find something somewhat interesting online for a change.

National Novel Writing Month is a challenge/contest that takes place during the month of November every year where the participants test themselves by attempting to write an entire novel (or at least 50,000 words of it) between the first and the last day of the month.  Go ahead and do your math.  It's okay, I'll wait :)  Yeah, sure that seems like a doable amount of words to write in a day, right?  Sure.  Can you guarantee you can write that every single day for a month?  Hell no.  So maybe adjust your figures a bit for a realistic amount of days in the month you will be able to write.  Math, math, math.  Got it? Kinda getting silly, huh?  Well that's kind of the point (or so they say).  They actually don't want you to write a masterpiece.  They just want you to write something - "If its a novel to you, then its a novel to us."  This is a great experiment for someone like me.  I am not yet enrolled in school, my significant other is 1200 miles away and I have no money.  What else do I have to do with my time, right?  So here's to me, my sanity and the premise I have waiting around but don't necessarily mind rushing through.  

Oh, almost forgot.  There's prizes for every winner (to be classified a 'winner', one must simply complete the 50,000 words).  Prizes include things such as a free paperback printing of your finished novel for your own use to market yourself to publishing companies.  Sounds a little bit more worth it to someone like me now.  If you want to check my progress (henceforth known as 'how much I'm falling behind') visit My NaNoWriMo Progress.

If It Had a Back Cover, It Would Go Something Like...

After a great cataclysm, the vampyr are born. Humanity has no resistance and can either cower in the corners of their once great empires or fall to the unquenchable thirst. Centuries pass with no resolution in sight. Only one of the vampyr's own kind can hope to be the salvation of humanity's future. However, will it be salvation that he chooses or will the dark embrace prove too strong to resist?

If It Had a Back Cover, It Would Go Something Like...

A journey of two men who will travel the paths of power and redemption.  One man with untold potential must face another who has been given the orders to subdue him.  A tale of hope, power, loss and betrayal can be found here in the sprawling landscapes of a budding empire.  Justice will be wrought in The Twelfth.

Pessimism and Its Usefulness

I have this theory that I live by for my own life.  Its seemed to get me by just fine thus far.  When I've explained it to people, I always seem to get one of two responses/faces.  One that either says they're disgusted with my outlook on life and the other implies how they think its sad to be me.  I respectfully disagree.

I think that if you live in such a manner as to not expect anything, then you will never be upset when things don't go according to your plan.  If you always anticipate the worst, then you can't ever be blindsided by life's downturns.  You can however be delightfully surprised when things do go your way.  So everyday you may encounter one of two things: 1) You will get exactly what you anticipated or 2) You can be happily proven wrong.

Now, please explain to me how that can be misconstrued as a miserable existence.  Its not as if I'm Eeyore and go about my day moping to everyone how depressing life is for me.  I don't know.  I know people read this and look it over from time to time so please converse with me on this.  Based upon my outcome of points #1 and #2, is this really so awful a way to view everyday occurrences?

Haiku

alabaster rose
thrives and grows elegantly
amidst the harsh thorns