NaNoWriMo!!!! Yes, friends, National Novel Writing Month is a mere two months and four days away! I need a plot...I need a plan... and I don't have one! But I am getting excited.
This year I want to... not get burned out by the end and avoid writing large pieces of fiction for the next year (silly last year, wasted...)
and... to write 75,000 words instead of 50,000. I know it's possible! And I'm definitely going to try.
Now, I'm off to do some plot-hunting. So many options... The next portion of my fantasy novel? A complete reworking of the first part (bending NaNo rules, but so what)? A new plot in a new genre (Southern Gothic, anyone?)? So many choices...so little time! What to write...what to write...
~Katherine
27 August, 2009
13 August, 2009
Imitation
Ok readers, let's test your literary knowledge (or not). Which famous author's style have I imitated (or tried to imitate), in the following paragraph:
"I surveyed closely the bare features of the vista before me. The stark contrast between the brilliant sky and the monotonous earth seemed almost as if someone had taken pieces of two different jigsaw puzzles and pressed them together. Twisted clumps of plants grew up from cracks between the jutting rocks. Past the foremost perspective of barrenness the small plants bore an almost abnormal look of vitality and strength. The idiosyncrasy of the life among the dirt and dust struck me as being almost as odd as the sharp dissimilarity between earth and sky. Yet the pieces of the puzzle still seemed to fit together in a peculiar expression of fatality. Above I saw the harsh beams of sunlight engulfing the heavens. In the earth I saw wilting and burning foliage, killed by the glare of the sun. Nothing in the desert moved, but as the ruthless light of the sun reflected off the dry sands, one could all but see the leaves of the plants bursting into flame as the beams of the sun struck down upon them. "
~Manwathiel
"I surveyed closely the bare features of the vista before me. The stark contrast between the brilliant sky and the monotonous earth seemed almost as if someone had taken pieces of two different jigsaw puzzles and pressed them together. Twisted clumps of plants grew up from cracks between the jutting rocks. Past the foremost perspective of barrenness the small plants bore an almost abnormal look of vitality and strength. The idiosyncrasy of the life among the dirt and dust struck me as being almost as odd as the sharp dissimilarity between earth and sky. Yet the pieces of the puzzle still seemed to fit together in a peculiar expression of fatality. Above I saw the harsh beams of sunlight engulfing the heavens. In the earth I saw wilting and burning foliage, killed by the glare of the sun. Nothing in the desert moved, but as the ruthless light of the sun reflected off the dry sands, one could all but see the leaves of the plants bursting into flame as the beams of the sun struck down upon them. "
~Manwathiel
12 August, 2009
Times New Roman, Size 12
Don't you just love Times New Roman, size 12 font? It irritates me to no end that what I use here on my blog is technically size 13, even though it looks like size 12. I find it difficult to type essays or stories if I'm using anything other than Times New Roman, size 12. Needless to say, I think my TPS English teachers are succeeding with the whole brainwashing thing. The next thing you know I'll be taking be verbs and contractions entirely out of my writing! (I've already started cutting back...eep) But without any more rambling, I'm utterly happy to say that I have grown to like Times New Roman, size 12. Thank you, to my wonderful English teachers, for giving me a love of this font and font size. If I had never taken TPS English I might have continued writing in sundry fonts, none as stylish or as professional as Times New Roman. Stuck in a rut of irregular fonts.
Ooh...I just had a wonderful idea for a poem. I can call it "Ode to Times New Roman, Size 12"
Ooh...I just had a wonderful idea for a poem. I can call it "Ode to Times New Roman, Size 12"
In the Library, Surrounded with Books
I just returned from working in the library. I absolutely love libraries--I always have. Some of my earliest memories include looking through picture books at the library in San Diego. And now I get paid to surround myself with books! As I said, I love libraries...so many books, all around, each with a new and unique story somewhere within the book's printed pages. Books really are powerful tools. People use them to have fun, to sway others, to learn, and much more. Someday I hope to walk into a library and see my name on the spine of a book--or perhaps several books. Wouldn't that feel wonderful?
But even without my name on a shelf, I enjoy spending time in libraries, especially my library. I feel like I know every corner of it, and almost like I'm friends with many of the books. And I need to read more! It's so much fun to hear the kids say "Hi Miss Librarian!" and ask me about new books. I hope that I don't have to quit working there, once school picks up pace. Without a doubt I'd miss my little library. I've practically grown up in the place--I even remember when we got our first two shelves!
Anyway, I'm off to either read or write, two tasks well fitted for a librarian, no?
~The Librarian
But even without my name on a shelf, I enjoy spending time in libraries, especially my library. I feel like I know every corner of it, and almost like I'm friends with many of the books. And I need to read more! It's so much fun to hear the kids say "Hi Miss Librarian!" and ask me about new books. I hope that I don't have to quit working there, once school picks up pace. Without a doubt I'd miss my little library. I've practically grown up in the place--I even remember when we got our first two shelves!
Anyway, I'm off to either read or write, two tasks well fitted for a librarian, no?
~The Librarian
11 August, 2009
A New Page
So, my readers, I all but gave up on my blog, Lost in Middle Earth, a long time ago. But of late I've been wanting to write, without any inspiration, or any inspiring place to do my writing. Thus I've decided to create a new place to muse and pound out my thoughts--my writer's tower, made of words and thought. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with this blog more than my previous one. Likewise, with any luck I'll be able to maintain a certain level of writing style that I never maintained in my old blog (don't expect me to stop rambling, however!).
A brief update on my life: this year I have attained the lovely status of "junior" (or some such thing) in school. I spent my summer doing almost no writing, but plenty of reading and quite a bit of money-earning. Since today is the first day of the school year, it seems a fitting time to start a new blog. I'm looking forward to most (but not all, alas) of my classes... The start of youthgroup also has me very excited. From the look of things, this year could be a wonderful one!
Still writing,
Manwathiel
A brief update on my life: this year I have attained the lovely status of "junior" (or some such thing) in school. I spent my summer doing almost no writing, but plenty of reading and quite a bit of money-earning. Since today is the first day of the school year, it seems a fitting time to start a new blog. I'm looking forward to most (but not all, alas) of my classes... The start of youthgroup also has me very excited. From the look of things, this year could be a wonderful one!
Still writing,
Manwathiel
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