Well…I have broken 10,000 words for NaNoWriMo and then I fell off from writing for a couple of days. There are a lot of reasons: helping my mother move, doing homework for my MFA program, and probably the biggest reason is that I think I want my book to go in a different direction, and it will change a lot. At first I was considering going back to rewrite, but instead I think I am going to push forward with the new idea knowing that the first days may no longer fit.I am taking two courses right now, one is Studying the Craft which focuses on reading books as a writer (probably using Fahrenheit 451 and The Giver which was a suggested pairing and one I really liked) and Story and Concept during which I will write a short story using techniques I will learn in the class. These classes are challenging, so I will not beat myself up if I cannot finish NaNoWriMo in order to apply myself fully to my classes.Priorities! I am still going to work on my novel but I am not going to be in a hurry to finish it just now.I began Starless Sea, and it is entrancing even just a few pages in. I hope I have time to sit and read it this week sometime. We shall see. I found out Erin Morgenstern will be coming for a book tour to a location about 3 hours away, and I am considering going. I get very starstruck, though, and I am afraid I might get weirdly emotional at her. It is a strange issue.
Tag: Writing
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Written Word Wednesday – NaNoWriMo, Falling Behind and Starting Again
Samhain helping me write. -
Welcome November!
Can you believe it is November already? I can’t.
And it being November that means that on top of the writing I will be doing for school I am also attempting NaNoWriMo for the first time. I met my word goal for day 1, and it will be interesting to see how I am able to keep that up as I get into school etc. I have already signed up for a writing event on the 23rd at the Wagnalls Memorial Library. The theme is to write all night in your pajamas, and they will have speakers and snacks through the night. I am looking forward to it. How can you not be inspired by a building that looks like this?
I plan to update and share how my writing is going on Wednesdays for the month of November. Watch out for my Written Word Wednesday posts regarding that if you are interested.
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Ready to Write
I am working on getting myself geared up for NaNoWriMo and starting classes in my new major next week, so I have been looking on Pinterest for inspiration from other writers to get me geared up and ready to go. I have already read through the syllabi for my classes and feel like I picked up some really interesting advice from that.
I am the kind of reader who once I have fallen in love with a book I will read that book again and again. In an announcement for my class English 510: Studying the Craft my instructor Amy Myer advised us:
“Chances are, you’ve all heard that adage that a good writer is a good reader. True. But does that mean to be a good reader means to read all the classics? To read all the yearly award winners? To read book after book after book after book?
No.
To be a good reader is to read widely …within reason. But more importantly than that, it’s reading repeatedly those books that call to you. The ones that told you you want to be a writer. The ones that you read and sigh and say, “I hope I can write like this someday” or “I hope I can craft a story this thrilling someday.”
She would go on to explain that the first time we read a book or story all we read is plot. On second and third readings we can find more and really examine the craft in the piece. For the class we need to choose two books one classic (30 years old or more) and one contemporary and she recommends choosing a book you have read before, as both books have to be read during the course. I have a couple of ideas on which books I may want to use; The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern for my contemporary and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath as my classic. These are subject to change, but were my initial thoughts.
Are there books that you have read again and again? What are they and why do you love them? Are you participating in NaNoWriMo?
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Rest of 2019 Bucket List – Updated With Pictures!!
Wench photo with the Queen!
Get my major changed to creative Writing.
Done!! I am beginning my classes on Monday!! I am so excited and feel so positive about this. I also designed and ordered myself some business cards with my website and social media info on them.
- Attend both days the last weekend of Ohio Renaissance Festival
- Get autographs from Rasputina (Melora Creager)
- Finish Blogtober strong (I get a book if I do)
- Rennie outing to Book Loft?
- Participate and succeed in NaNoWriMo (Are you participating? Link me BetsySnowWhite)
- Photo with Krampus!
- Photo with Santa and the Wenches
- Wench invasion of Columbus and Cincinnati Zoo.
- Wench invasion of Kentucky Dickens Festival
- Set up Christmas trees
- Christmas Party
- Attend Roaring 20s New Year Party
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The State of My State…update.
So…I have spoken with my advisor at school and as soon as I get my personal statement to her I will be officially changed to a Creative Writing major. I am so relieved and excited to get started on the right path for me.
I am also going to do NaNoWriMo this year. I have never even tried this before, but I feel very drawn to write this year. I am trying to decide if I want to share what I am working on here or not. What do you think? Are you interested in reading my very rough drafts? Let me know.
This week I am going to see Heels of Horror XII by Nina West on Friday, back to the Renaissance Festival on Saturday, a Halloween party Saturday Night and David Sedaris on Sunday. Whew! This is going to be chaotic fun. I have decided to be one of the gang members from The Warriors, specifically a Bowery Punk. Overalls, a rugby shirt and roller skates for the win!!
My older sister will also be in town this week, so I get to meet her boyfriend who none of us have met. It is going to be a great week.
Any big plans this week?
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Confessions of a Certifiable Word Nerd
I love words. I love the sound of them, learning the meaning of them and the joy of finding just the perfect word when I am writing or speaking. I love to play what my family calls Dictionary games; where you open the dictionary to a random page, find a word you don’t know and tell everyone all about it. I love that moment when I am reading a book and find a word I don’t know. I eagerly run to the dictionary or to google if my dictionary isn’t handy (I prefer the Webster’s Collegiate personally, but Oxford English is nice too!) and find out more about the word, and often write it in my planner if I really like it. My word of the year for last year was pulled straight from Neil Gaiman speaking about his friend Tori Amos, Coruscate which means to sparkle or reflect the light back. As an amateur etymologist and self professed word nerd, I thought I would share with you ten of my absolute favorite words. All definitions are pulled from Google Dictionary because my Websters is not handy at the moment.
- Zeitgeist : noun. origin – German, meaning: the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time. “The story captured the zeitgeist of the late 1960s” Literal Translation: Time Spirit
- Kerfuffle: noun. origin – British, meaning: a commotion or fuss, especially one caused by conflicting views. “There was a kerfuffle over the chairmanship”
- Petrichor: noun. origin – English, meaning: a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather. “other than the petrichor emanating from the rapidly drying grass, there was not a trace of evidence that it had rained at all.”
- Onomatopoeia: noun. origin – Greek, meaning: the formation of a word from a sound associated with what it is named (eg. cuckoo, sizzle)
- Schadenfreude: noun. origin – German. meaning: pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune. “a business that thrives on schadenfreude”
- Metanoia: noun. origin – Greek. meaning: change in one’s way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion. “what he demanded of people was metanoia, repentance, a complete change of heart”
- Susurrus: noun. origin – Latin. meaning: whispering, murmuring or rustling. “The susurrus of the stream”
- Brazen: adjective. origin – Old English. meaning: bold and without shame. “he went about his illegal business with a brazen assurance”
- Hyperbole: noun. origin – Greek. meaning: exagerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. “he vowed revenge with oaths and hyperboles”
- Quixotic: adjective. origin – English. meaning: exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical. ” a vast and perhaps quixotic project”
What are some of your favorite words? Why? What do you love most about words; the sounds, the meanings, the way they feel when you say them?
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She’s an Impostor!
Recently, I was attending a party at my brother and sister-in-law’s house, when a friend of theirs whom I have met a couple of times but never really spoken to asked me what I do. I told him that I am currently working at a bank, and that I am about to finish my degree in English-Creative Writing. He said, logically, “So you are a writer?”. And, my brain froze, I internally stuttered over calling myself a writer. I am roughly two terms away from a degree in Creative Writing and I am hesitant to call myself a writer.
What the ever loving hell is that?
Oh, I know what this is, Impostor Syndrome. That feeling that you are not good enough, smart enough, or enough enough. How can I claim to be a writer? Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Charles de Lint, J.K. Rowling, hell even V.C. Andrews are writers, are authors. I am, what, a dabbler, a student, a learner, but not a writer.
But why not? Why not a writer. I have written poetry and stories since I was old enough to do so. I have hosted a blog on one platform or another since 2008. I have written essays with depth, and meaning. I have grown and learned, and written so much. When do I become a writer then?
In the end I told him I am a writer. I told him about my blog, and how I had just bought my domain. He loved my “brand” and told me that he works in publishing for companies. We had a lovely talk about publishing, self-publishing, and self-promotion. It was nice to get outside validation of some of my choices as a writer.
Because I am a writer.
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Day 1 – Beautiful Freaks Fest
On night’s like this the blood calls
with an ache that pulls from the
marrow of my bones.
The moon impels my limbs to move,
to run, to seek, to rend, to rip.
to HOWL.
So, I sit in the dark of this room.
Chains binding my arms and legs.
That moon staring at me
through a single window;
taunting me and tempting me.
Freedom is here, it says,
Just let go and come play.
I feel the change coming.
I will not fight it off.
The chains will hold.
The chains will hold.
The chains…
Betsy Snow White Bibliophile 