Month: October 2013

Writing Update – October

/ Varza / Leave a comment

As we are on the verge of another NaNoWriMo – I look at those that are going to do it and wish them luck. I have never had the time to do it. I can look at my schedule and know there is no way I could have the time to get it all done. Currently, I am in my 4th month of working on my novel and only about a 1/3rd of the way through. With school, I am lucky if I get a few nights a week. Of course, it doesn’t help that sometimes I need to just zone out and end up falling back into the world of Sims just to get away from it all (cheaper than a vacation).

I am writing though, and that is the important thing. I have added several new chapters to my novel and have fleshed out the story so damned much its beautiful to me. I recently went to a Writers Conference and loved it, I was surrounded by all these people who had achieved the same dream I had. When I had gone, I was kind of trudging through the swamp of my novel but by the end I had become re-inspired to keep going. I even spent several sessions working on background for my story. I love taking this story and making it realistic to the reader. Going over details with my husband because he is a wonderful sounding board for me. I am also feeling more confident in my writing and the story, having had a chance to talk about it to other people outside of my small group of family and friends.

I would recommend conferences to anyone wanting to write because it is a wonderful experience. Maybe one day I can get into a writers group.

What is going on with my story? I have gone from a single person view-point to multiple… 3 females and 1 male. I do feel bad because out of all them, she is having the worst time ever in a story of some really bad times but it is really interesting to write her story. It is interesting fitting the different stories together, making sure the timeline matches up and that you have the details right. You can’t have someone seeing something happen that hasn’t happened yet or too far in the future – I have done this a few times already.

I have also found that some of my characters are unnecessary to put into the foreground and have gone to very minor roles, whereas a minor character that I thought was a throw away one and I thought I would delete now has a major role that is becoming very vocal in the story.

That right there is why I am enjoying this story, because it feels like it has a life of its own sometimes. But I have learned that giving everyone a distinct voice is WAY more difficult than it sounds but it can be fun trying to figure out their personalities.

All in all, it is still going and will finish one day. I really hope so because I have about 10 more ideas for stories I want to work on; including several non-fiction pieces and scripts. I just want to write and maybe something will happen. 😀

 

October = Happy

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October is my favorite month of the year. Not just because the smell of Pumpkin Spice is in the air, though that is an added bonus. I truly can not pinpoint the exact reason why I get giddy each time October rolls around but I do. I start counting down to it as soon as September starts. Each time I see a beautiful orange-red leaf fall to the grass and a cool breeze gives me a shiver, I smile and become a happier person. Even the smell of fall is something that I can not help but love, its crisp and fresh.

As the month progresses, I know it will end in fun a happiness as I begin to get ready to decorate my house for Halloween. A night when strangers come to your home and you give them a gift. Even though it is just a piece or two of candy there is something bonding in the action of saying hello, see a smile on a child’s face as they watch you drop something so small and seemingly insignificant into their bag. Then in just another moment you watch them skip or run off into the night, with their parents in tow, as they visit the next house.

Yes, they are in costume but why not. You get to for one single night pretend to be anyone or anything you want. A dark mysterious creature or a hero – anything. Let your imagination run wild and it is to just have fun. There is no one looking at what you got and judging to see if it measures up to what is popular or telling you that you are celebrating it wrong. Whether you decorate and dress up or not… its your call.

This is also the month where we usher in a period of time that is supposed to be about family, sharing, and togetherness. I adore the time from now until January (minus my finals of course).

We are a good way into the month and I am loving the cold, crisp days but right now I just want to go read a scary story while I sip hot apple cider while sitting under a pile of blankets.

Building Less Stress

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Recently, I took a mini-vacation from the world and just existed within my small realm of life. My computer was broken so I couldn’t use it to distance myself from reality.

I really enjoyed it but it gave me too much time to think and blank out. I became a bit unfocused because I felt like a weight was lifted off of me. The constant flood of whats going on the world ever single day is so incredibly stressful. For this, I am glad I shut down my Facebook and the longer I go without it, the less I want it. Yes, I can’t submit to some contests because you have to do it thru the companies Facebook and I am out of touch with many old friends because I’m not on there anymore. Now, though I have more time, I don’t spend hours upon hours a day reading up on other people’s lives instead of living my own.

This helps in many ways with writing and school. I can only do so much and I had a wonderful brother who reminded me of that. Instead of sitting and watching life go by, I should go out and live it. Now my writing time and my homework time goes by much faster because I am not spending most of it on Facebook playing games and getting into stupid debates about Ben Affleck as Batman (that was my breaking point). Kind of reminds me of that car commercial – with the daughter sitting at home on her computer with all her friends while the parents go out and ride bikes. Since I am planning on getting rid of my smart phone as well, I am going to be even more disconnected and I can not wait. Though I should probably do it soon since it is becoming harder and harder to find a phone that is NOT a smart phone. Let’s come back to that later though because that just stresses me out.

Right now in my life, there is much going on but it all feels like it is happening for a reason. I am sorting through my life and finding those things that matter to me. This is helping me cope better day-to-day. Not knowing everything in the world? It is nice. I don’t need to know everything. I don’t need to get upset about everything. I don’t want to do either of those and I feel like if I keep doing it, I will die much earlier then I want to because the stress will kill me. I am trying to find better things to do with my time, such as sitting on the floor building towers of blocks with my son or reading to him, even if that book is a school book. Maybe soon I will do some of that exercising I keep talking about and keep putting off. I still have run a marathon and/or do a triathlon on my bucket-list.

And here you thought you were going to get a blog post on writing… that is coming, I promise