Last Monday I turned in my first large pack of stories to my thesis readers. I want to thank a dear girlfriend for reading some of my newer stories to help me prepare them better for review. It has been a long and tiring process. But I made it and even turned it in at 10am that morning rather than sweating over it all day. But the race is not OVER. I have to generate a brand new story in order to meet my page requirements. While I do not mind creating new work, it makes the time tables very tough. My friends are already sending out MIA messages looking for me. To them I apologize.
Good news I have not slacked off too bad since Monday. I have almost 1000 words on my new story. I will admit I took the weekend off to enjoy my weekend at home for my niece's birthday. However, I will be back at it first thing Monday. March 15th folks, March 15th. Wish me luck. Friends I promise I will try to make it out of isolation sooner or later.
Last Words (no sarcasm) - I LOVE BEING A WRITER.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Revision Breaking My Back
Oh this rewrite may put an end to my streak. It is not going as smoothly as the other revisions, but to be fair it is the newest story. Grrrr I will get through this revision. I am back to writing between 500 - 1000 words a day. This is not terrible but I'd grown into an average of 1500 words a day at least weeks before. The end is near. I will push on. Updates soon.
Friday, December 24, 2010
News on the Eve of Family
This past month has moved extremely fast. I have completed all my coursework to graduate and have madly be working on my thesis. I was not able to complete everything I set out to do this semester, but I still feel accomplished. Taking a full course load and working diligently on my thesis turned out to be almost impossible. This was mostly due to the work load of one of my classes in particular. It was a Lit Theory class, I admittedly tried to opt out of. However, we had a terrific group of students that made the class fun and interesting when we covered some of the most dry material. I did walk away learning more than I expected and got a pretty decent creative project out of it at the end. Thank you Carrie Brecke.
But since the semester ending I have gone into a deep writing coma. I've been able to revise and turn around four of my six stories within a week and half. I hung a huge desktop calender on my wall and marked out deadlines I insisted I meet. And I did. Not having anything else to disrupt me now because the semester was over helped me immensely. But I would like to contribute the majority of my success to my new puppy, Maverick. I don't like posting personal things on my blog because they are often unrelated to my writing or me as a writer. However, this little guys is like my writing buddy. He gets me up out of bed to start my writing day. He makes me take breaks and walk around the block to recharge my inspiration, and he keeps me from distraction by giving me a serious dose of guilt if I crate him too long to leave my apartment. I've done more work on my thesis in this last month than I have all semester. And its a good thing too because I'd really like to graduate this spring!
Other news, I receive two more rejection letters for my fiction this month. I have since revised the story and prefer the new revision to the one I sent out and feel less phrased by these rejections. I am still waiting to hear back on a job I interviewed for in early fall and feel very positive about the outcome. In the meantime, I committed to a part-time teaching internship at College of Lake County and am excited to work with the students there. The director of the English program was one of the most interesting and enjoyable people I've had the pleasure to converse with. I have also secured a part-time development internship at Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. I am thrilled to be involved with this organization and branch out into the development field. Thus, the spring is looking very hopeful and I cannot say enough good things about this December.
I'm glad things have been falling into place so nicely.
I hope everyone has a happy holiday. :)
But since the semester ending I have gone into a deep writing coma. I've been able to revise and turn around four of my six stories within a week and half. I hung a huge desktop calender on my wall and marked out deadlines I insisted I meet. And I did. Not having anything else to disrupt me now because the semester was over helped me immensely. But I would like to contribute the majority of my success to my new puppy, Maverick. I don't like posting personal things on my blog because they are often unrelated to my writing or me as a writer. However, this little guys is like my writing buddy. He gets me up out of bed to start my writing day. He makes me take breaks and walk around the block to recharge my inspiration, and he keeps me from distraction by giving me a serious dose of guilt if I crate him too long to leave my apartment. I've done more work on my thesis in this last month than I have all semester. And its a good thing too because I'd really like to graduate this spring!
Other news, I receive two more rejection letters for my fiction this month. I have since revised the story and prefer the new revision to the one I sent out and feel less phrased by these rejections. I am still waiting to hear back on a job I interviewed for in early fall and feel very positive about the outcome. In the meantime, I committed to a part-time teaching internship at College of Lake County and am excited to work with the students there. The director of the English program was one of the most interesting and enjoyable people I've had the pleasure to converse with. I have also secured a part-time development internship at Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. I am thrilled to be involved with this organization and branch out into the development field. Thus, the spring is looking very hopeful and I cannot say enough good things about this December.
I'm glad things have been falling into place so nicely.
I hope everyone has a happy holiday. :)
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
UPDATE
Last night as I was trying to fall asleep, I received a "rejection" notice for the first fiction piece I ever sent out. Maybe because I was tired, I didn't have the energy to be upset. And yet, in the morning, maybe because I felt reset and neutral, a fabulous side affect of sleep for me, I didn't get upset then either. Then just a short half day later, I received another "rejection" notice, the last of the first batch of poetry I seriously sent out. It was mid-day at this point, around 2:30pm to be loosely exact,and I took a moment to reflect. The insight I ended my reflection with was that I was excited. Excited about rejection, what?! Yes, I am excited because my work is being read this holiday season. And I'm not worried that it may not be exactly what the editors want to unwrap this season, because I know it will be soon enough. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Side note: I'm glad I could spin these rejections for the positive because if not, the serious over-eating that would have been available to me would have just been silly.
Side note: I'm glad I could spin these rejections for the positive because if not, the serious over-eating that would have been available to me would have just been silly.
Friday, November 19, 2010
For Certain
The only thing that can be for certain is uncertainty. This is a daunting realization and admittedly does not apply to everything in life, but many things. It was also a big part of the message Heather Sellers shared at Roosevelt University's Reading Series this past Wednesday. Ms. Sellers was an undergraduate professor of one of my MFA classmates at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. My classmate always talked about her great love for Ms. Sellers as a person and teacher. Upon meeting Ms. Sellers at the reading I soon realized how engaging she could be. She was exuberant and spilling with energy and love of writing. Her discussion of her life and recent memoir You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know was exceptionally honest and inspiring. Her condition, face blindness, she claims has trained her to live the uncertain of a writer well. She says her condition requires her to live in uncertainty constantly and has translated into her ability to let go of the aghast that sometimes accompanies us writers in our lives.
Having Type A tendencies I allow for very little uncertainty, but I've been quietly and admittedly with slight hesitation letting it into my life. After about two or three weeks of this I surprisingly feel a little more happy. That's not to say I haven't or don't have spells of relapse where repressed anxiety takes over for a few minutes, but then it goes away. What a wonderful discovery. Another thing Ms. Sellers talked about was practice. This tid bit had a hint of humor as well as truth to it. She shared that her best students are the athletes and musicians because they know what means to practice. This is such a simple observation, but very true once reflected on for awhile. She playful made fun at the whiny writers that "just can't drag themselves to the pen and paper" and praised those that just do the writing. For anyone with a slight competitive bone I'd think this would spark a nerve with you. Myself, I felt like "wait, I'm the writer this is my sport. I need to keep my game on point." Anything you can tell yourself to get your writing done that day is worth saying.
Having Type A tendencies I allow for very little uncertainty, but I've been quietly and admittedly with slight hesitation letting it into my life. After about two or three weeks of this I surprisingly feel a little more happy. That's not to say I haven't or don't have spells of relapse where repressed anxiety takes over for a few minutes, but then it goes away. What a wonderful discovery. Another thing Ms. Sellers talked about was practice. This tid bit had a hint of humor as well as truth to it. She shared that her best students are the athletes and musicians because they know what means to practice. This is such a simple observation, but very true once reflected on for awhile. She playful made fun at the whiny writers that "just can't drag themselves to the pen and paper" and praised those that just do the writing. For anyone with a slight competitive bone I'd think this would spark a nerve with you. Myself, I felt like "wait, I'm the writer this is my sport. I need to keep my game on point." Anything you can tell yourself to get your writing done that day is worth saying.
Friday, October 29, 2010
October Closing
It has been several weeks now and I have been in a serious long-term relationship with The Instructions, by Adam Levin. I had an ambitious goal of reading about 100 pages a day to be mostly finished with the 1030 page novel in time for Adam's reading at Quimby's Book Store. I didn't make it past day two. It was very sad. I did continue reading though. I even tried to stay committed to my goal by carrying the book with me everywhere I went. Ben Fountain laughed at me when I told him I wanted to read the book as I traversed around Chicago. (He really did) And I thought, oh Ben Fountain, it will be better than you think. Alas, Ben was right, it was a very trying and annoying thing to whip the book out on buses and trains. It became a constant dilemma of what to take each day given the limited space in my purse and the soreness of my shoulders. (The actual book is lighter than it looks - just 3lbs)
This of course does not reflect the quality of the book. I have been enjoying it. I will say it is very thick in material. This becomes frustrating when I want to stay in scene and am taken out for a stint of background information that will become important a few scenes over. But the stints typically have golden nuggets of information in them that make me smile and carry me along in the book.
I have regathered my momentum and drove back into the book recently. I am just past the 200 page mark. But because I know this relationship is going to be long I want to cheat. Meaning I want to read other books too. This is not an uncommon thing, reading multiple books at at time. However, my type A tendencies make it so I prefer to read one book at a time. Mostly because I do not want to get so far away from one of the many books I might juggle that I have to start over in any one book. (School book not included, yet they are apart of the juggle) I will stay strong. I will make it through all 1030 pages with pleasure and only then will I pick up another "for pleasure" book.
Beyond Book Drama -
I am deep into my new story. I had some trouble getting past a writer's block and fear I would bore my readers with the plot. However, a nice writerly chat with a friend help me see a way out. Her advice, try writing the story in a different medium ie if its fiction your writing try it as a poem etc. Now I'll admit I didnt do that quite, however, I did write some poetry which opened my mind up to where my story could go. I had been thinking about doing different perspectives with this story, but thought it would be too difficult. And she suggested changing perspectives too. And when I finally got some poetry on the page I figured out how the perspective changing could work for me without being too difficult. Now I've been a slave to it and couch sitting. Sometimes I wish the writing process was a little more sexier.
Lastly, AIC volunteer training starts this Saturday. On the list of things to do at training - a museum wide tour. I am excited for this because although I have toured most of the museum myself, having someone go with you that knows everything there might be to know about what your looking at makes it way better.
Now I must part, goodbye October 2010. Never will we meet again.
This of course does not reflect the quality of the book. I have been enjoying it. I will say it is very thick in material. This becomes frustrating when I want to stay in scene and am taken out for a stint of background information that will become important a few scenes over. But the stints typically have golden nuggets of information in them that make me smile and carry me along in the book.
I have regathered my momentum and drove back into the book recently. I am just past the 200 page mark. But because I know this relationship is going to be long I want to cheat. Meaning I want to read other books too. This is not an uncommon thing, reading multiple books at at time. However, my type A tendencies make it so I prefer to read one book at a time. Mostly because I do not want to get so far away from one of the many books I might juggle that I have to start over in any one book. (School book not included, yet they are apart of the juggle) I will stay strong. I will make it through all 1030 pages with pleasure and only then will I pick up another "for pleasure" book.
Beyond Book Drama -
I am deep into my new story. I had some trouble getting past a writer's block and fear I would bore my readers with the plot. However, a nice writerly chat with a friend help me see a way out. Her advice, try writing the story in a different medium ie if its fiction your writing try it as a poem etc. Now I'll admit I didnt do that quite, however, I did write some poetry which opened my mind up to where my story could go. I had been thinking about doing different perspectives with this story, but thought it would be too difficult. And she suggested changing perspectives too. And when I finally got some poetry on the page I figured out how the perspective changing could work for me without being too difficult. Now I've been a slave to it and couch sitting. Sometimes I wish the writing process was a little more sexier.
Lastly, AIC volunteer training starts this Saturday. On the list of things to do at training - a museum wide tour. I am excited for this because although I have toured most of the museum myself, having someone go with you that knows everything there might be to know about what your looking at makes it way better.
Now I must part, goodbye October 2010. Never will we meet again.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
October Notes
For Starters -
October has been brimming with appointments and deadlines. My first poetry publication came out this month at pyrta.com. Please navigate accordingly to enjoy my short list poem "If She Had Lived I Would."
Also, I turned in my first workshop piece this month. I received what I thought to be my best feedback on any workshop story. The consensus was I had a definite beginning that had promise and an end that was poignant, however, the in between did not connect the two well. Endings are half the battle in my opinion and a beginning is never really what you think it is, so I felt comfortable knowing the middle (a seemingly safe spot) is where the work needs to be done. Time will tell if I change my mind on this, as a little voice says writing towards a determined end always has it's pitfalls.
Moving on -
I have become very interested in winning The New Yorker caption contest at least once. I leave the picture open on a web page for most the day just banging my head against my desk for wit. I haven't made the short list yet, but a new opportunity comes every week so I have hope.
A confession -
After I turned in my workshop story I feel off the writing wagon for about a week and half. It felt so good to finish the piece I basked in the satisfaction perhaps too long. I could protest with a of number excuses as to why I dragged my feet for that week and half, but I won't.
Redemption -
I have began working on the second story for workshop this semester again. Also, I completed my second draft revision for one of my thesis stories. It did not expand to the length I wanted, but the story is complete. I will take a complete story over page count any day. So with some tweaks to my first workshop story I think I will finally be ready to submit to my thesis adviser for the first time this semester. The goal is to frantically (with care) revise my other two stories to give to him by the time he hands my first set back.
In Other News -
I am now a proud volunteer of the Art Institute of Chicago. I will be working at the information desk in the Ryan Education Center Tuesday afternoons 1pm - 5pm. Please come visit.
October has been brimming with appointments and deadlines. My first poetry publication came out this month at pyrta.com. Please navigate accordingly to enjoy my short list poem "If She Had Lived I Would."
Also, I turned in my first workshop piece this month. I received what I thought to be my best feedback on any workshop story. The consensus was I had a definite beginning that had promise and an end that was poignant, however, the in between did not connect the two well. Endings are half the battle in my opinion and a beginning is never really what you think it is, so I felt comfortable knowing the middle (a seemingly safe spot) is where the work needs to be done. Time will tell if I change my mind on this, as a little voice says writing towards a determined end always has it's pitfalls.
Moving on -
I have become very interested in winning The New Yorker caption contest at least once. I leave the picture open on a web page for most the day just banging my head against my desk for wit. I haven't made the short list yet, but a new opportunity comes every week so I have hope.
A confession -
After I turned in my workshop story I feel off the writing wagon for about a week and half. It felt so good to finish the piece I basked in the satisfaction perhaps too long. I could protest with a of number excuses as to why I dragged my feet for that week and half, but I won't.
Redemption -
I have began working on the second story for workshop this semester again. Also, I completed my second draft revision for one of my thesis stories. It did not expand to the length I wanted, but the story is complete. I will take a complete story over page count any day. So with some tweaks to my first workshop story I think I will finally be ready to submit to my thesis adviser for the first time this semester. The goal is to frantically (with care) revise my other two stories to give to him by the time he hands my first set back.
In Other News -
I am now a proud volunteer of the Art Institute of Chicago. I will be working at the information desk in the Ryan Education Center Tuesday afternoons 1pm - 5pm. Please come visit.
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