Where I've Been All This Time

Hello there, tiny corner of cyberspace. I've been out of touch for a while, so I just thought I'd let you know why. :)

Believe it or not, I'm sick. (Again.) Why am I sick so much? Is it the stress of the college lifestyle? A lazy immune system? Or am I just allergic to something and don't know it? Anyway, this timing is very inconvenient, as I was supposed to be one of the alternate marshals for graduation, but now it looks like that won't happen. Not while my body is rejecting food, rest, and air. *coughs uncontrollably*

On the other hand, the timing of this nasty bug is miraculous, considering that it waited until after May Term to strike. My college has a 3-week term in May (inventively called May Term), and this year I took my Directing Methods Practicum. I chose and directed a one-act play in our biannual student-directed festival. It was very well received. Go me! :)

I was also in a play, The Insanity of Mary Girard. I was one of five Furies who drive the main character insane. It was a very athletic part, with lots of movement-based work and the weirdest line pattern I've ever seen. For instance, if the line was something like, "She sells seashells down by the seashore," it would be divided up as, "She sells. Seashells. Down. By. The seashore" and my part of the line would be, "seashells." It was doubtlessly the hardest memorization job I've ever done, and one of the most challenging parts I've played. So with all that going on, I haven't had much time for this blog.

I'll also admit that my imagination has also run somewhat dry. I have a hard time imagining either a) anything to blog about, or b) that anything I blog about will sufficiently interest anyone.

I'll work on that. In the meantime, GO SEE THE GREAT GATSBY. Do it. That's an order. I promise you'll like it. :)

You Don't Have to be "Excited" About Failure and Rejection

I read a post the other day at one of my favorite blogs, The Write Practice. I love this blog -- they post digestible writing advice and prompts so that you can practice what you've just read. The post for that day was, "Why You Should Be Excited About Failure and Rejection."

My reaction:
 

On the one hand, I have to admire the genius of that title. It's a lesson in getting people to read on. "I should be excited about failure and rejection? Whaaaaat? How could I be excited about that? I must read it and find out what they could possibly mean!"

I did read it, and they did give their usual dose of great advice: everyone is scared, rejection isn't the end of the world, don't try to be perfect because no one is, use fear as a motivator, and learn from failure. It's definitely worth reading if you need a bit of a lift.

But. That does not mean I have to be excited about failure and rejection.

These days, there is so much pressure on writers: not only write, but to market yourself, build a platform, make your own brand, get the perfect agent -- or to break away from the evil system and be your own boss, go for the self-publishing route, design and format and market and sell your book yourself, etc. There's the pressure to blog, to be likeable, to write likeable characters, to have the most social media followers, to do all this extra stuff until it seems like you have no time to write anymore. No time to be a writer anymore.

It's a lot of pressure. And in today's insanely competitive writing/publishing/social media environment, I think rejection hits a lot harder.

And that's OK.

Achievement Unlocked: Turning 21

My 21st birthday was quite an event.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Heavy drinking. Keg stands. Hangovers. Money blown on fancy drinks or tons of cheap wine...

Well, not exactly. First, my friends kidnapped me from my event for the school newspaper to go to the animal shelter so that I could cuddle a kitten. I did feel a bit guilty for abandoning my Campus Comments comrades at the Free Speech Wall, but meeting the adorable tailless kitten Mojo kind of made up for it. :) If we could have pets in the dorm, I would totally adopt the little guy. :) Then I got the shy black cat Sweety Pie to sit in my lap and be cute, and then we walked Abby, a pit bull/australian shepherd/brindle mix. :))))

Then we went to the Chinese Buffet, which was ok, and I ate a lot of jello. Then there was a readthrough for a play in which I am one of the Furies, a creepy woman whose purpose is to drive people insane. Seriously, though, if anyone is in Staunton, VA from the 8-12th of May, you can see The Insanity of Mary Girard at Mary Baldwin College.

Then, dear readers, was the dressing-sexy-and-hitting-the-bar time. :D

Growing Up With Your Writing

I started this blog when I was eighteen. I'll be twenty-one soon. Those years have been a time of huge transitions. Major life changes, upsets, high points, deadly lows, and insanity. And I've been writing through it all.

Blogging and tweeting has let me find a cool community of young writers who face many of the same problems. As I begin to age out of this group and think of grad school, I'd like to share a bit of what I've learned. I've changed a lot during this time, and so has my writing.

And you know what? That's a good thing.

Rewind to when I first started writing The Book, back when I was fourteen and a high school freshman.

A Blog Award Game!

The fantastic Amanda the Aspiring at Truth, Justice, and Other Stuff was kind enough to let me have this blog award! I have to post seven things about myself, link back to the giver of the award (check), and then pass it on to seven more people. BUT. Since my comments have been rather sparse lately, I will give this award to the first seven bloggers who comment. :)

 

Now for the "About Me" bit:

1. I do a bit of music writing. This is mostly instrumental, with some arranging of songs and setting poems to music. I haven't written much music lately, mostly because I've been distracted by writing words. Lately, the themes that have been circling through my head involve arranging the songs from Caridad Svich's Twelve Ophelias.

Writer Seeks Help with Goals. Urgent!

At least three times a week, my roommate and I make a pact to get up and go to breakfast. Breakfast is served from 7 to 9:30 am on weekdays. She has work at 9 am. I have class at 11 am. We decide to get up at 8, shower, and enjoy the cafeteria's mediocre scrambled eggs and coffee together.

We haven't been to breakfast once this semester.

I don't do very well with goals.

This is a problem I've been meaning to work on for a while. (See what I mean?) I'm supposed to be a writer. We're supposed to be all about goals, right? If so, then I definitely need some help.

Goals are two-part things. What do you want to accomplish, and when? It's not the what that gives me problems. My what is clear: a writer's overarching goal is always, in the words of Chuck Wendig, "I will finish the shit I started." But the when of finishing the shit I started is always a bit...vague.

Flash Fiction Contest Plug!

Hey! So in light of Monday's little flash fiction piece, there's a cool flash fiction/poetry/haiku contest going down at terribleminds.com., blog of Chuck Wendig. It's called "Three Haikus Tell One Story." The rules: you write your haiku story in the comments, Chuck picks his favorite few, and the winners get a free ebook package.

Image credit.

There are already 102 comments, with some pretty interesting stories! I entered as well, but I've probably enjoyed reading them more than I did writing mine. If you want to enter, or just want something cool and different to read, go check it out.

Also, there's a very nice narrative haiku in the current edition of Outrageous Fortune. You should read that, too. Actually, just go read the whole journal. Well, at least the last issue. :) For you undergraduate writers and artists out there, we are also accepting submissions for the Spring 2013 issue! Submission guidelines are here. I also highly recommend reading the past issues to get a sense of the character of the magazine.

Happy reading! Happy writing!