I have been neglecting my blog, and I am sorry. Finals are now approaching within the next week, though, and then I get a two-and-a-half week break! Hoorayyyy!
Just a note, but I wasn't a winner of NaNoWriMo this year, which, to be honest, I'm okay with.
But it's time to get down to business.
I decided I would try something new, and work on one of my stories that's about halfway finished. It's a story that I've been in love with since I started it in June of 2009, and I've always had a mind to finish it sometime. Except, guess what? Life got in the way.
I have a problem that whenever I try and finish a story, I tend to leave it for something else, or for school, about halfway through the story. I have maybe three or four stories that I've done this to, actually. It could be just that I'm not motivating myself enough to push through, or it could be something else.
I've decided to go to a copy center and print off that one story that I mentioned earlier. I'm going to edit it over break, and then (hopefully) finish writing it. I'm going to see if that's the push I need.
Just checking in.
About Kristine
- kstine
- 20. Student. Former literary intern. YA author wannabe. Editing junkie.
December 9, 2010
October 30, 2010
I haven't posted here in a really long time.
I blame college, heh. Real post will come. Soon.
On another note, NaNo starts the day after tomorrow. Excuse me while I freak out.
On another note, NaNo starts the day after tomorrow. Excuse me while I freak out.
October 3, 2010
C'mon.
It's a little late, but today I'd like to address banned and censored books. And how much book banners infuriate me.
Yes. Infuriate.
After reading this post (click me!), I ache for Risha Mullins, and for her former students. No one should be pushed to the point where they must stop doing what they love because of the opinions of those who don't know the full truth.
What disappoints me the most (and I've blogged briefly about this before) is the ignorance of those who ban books. In one of the articles Mullins links from her blog, degrading her and taking what many blog readers and YA reader would call the wrong side, the writer openly admits not to having read the books in question, but goes on in the next paragraph to poke fun at the plots because they're not "literary" or because they have an actual, honest-to-God connection with teenagers. In fact, when referring to books such as TWISTED by Laurie Halse Anderson or LESSONS FROM A DEAD GIRL by Jo Knowles, the writer had the nerve to say, "Maybe they're appropriate for a course on Early 21st Century Lightweight Pop Fiction for Bored Teenagers, but a college prep course? C'mon." The writer even goes as far as insulting the names that the characters in these books have.
Um. Excuse me?
If you've read my itty bitty profile to the left, you would know that I am a newly-established college student; I graduated from high school in June 2010. I've had my fair share of college prep. I was in the top 5% of my graduating class of over 500 students. I've gotten the top scores on both AP English tests. I got an 800 on the writing section of the SAT, with a perfect score on the essay.
I know my college prep, I can guarantee you that.
I am also a journalism major hopeful. One of my goals as a journalist, whether I become a broadcast journalist or a person who writes in a newspaper or magazine, is to promote understanding, and to inform the ignorant. That is, to know all sides of an argument. To take into account and respect more than just my own opinion. To know what my future children think of a situation, instead of simply deciding for them. To actually read, with an open mind, the books I want to challenge (though that will never happen).
And finally, I am also a teenager. I'm still eighteen, and though I can now be tried in court as a legal adult, eighteen really isn't all that far from seventeen, or sixteen, or thirteen. Eighteen is certainly much closer to the teenage realm than thirty, or forty, or sixty-three-and-a-half. Three of my best friends are still in high school. Those who challenge what books are appropriate for college preparation are challenging the education of my friends, with whom I will have the opportunity to share the future. As a recently alumni-ed high school student, I am the one being affected.
In high school, one of the biggest themes that abounded in classes from English to PE to Calculus was how the lessons we learned in those classes could be applied to the "real world". PE was so we could learn how to keep up our physical health. Math would be used all the time in some way, shape or form. In college, we'd be writing essays all the time; language is everywhere, and we'd better understand it.
But ask any average student (don't ask an honor student--they'll just give you a long-winded answer that, in the end, may not make sense to either one of you, or may take too much thinking to process. Trust me, I was one of them. We're going for to-the-point, gut reaction here) what connection, say, the ILIAD has to what they did that day.
Most teens you ask will probably have to think about that one for a while. Some may even give you blank looks and shrug. Some may ask, "Are they the band I heard on the radio earlier today?"
To which I give you permission to respond, "Yes." Because fun is fun.
However, hand them LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green, or AS YOU WISH by Jackson Pearce, or GIMME A CALL by Sarah Mylnowski, and give them around a week to read it (because teenagers procrastinate). Ask them for connections. Instantly, they may be able to relate themselves to Pudge in his skinniness, or how they have an enigma of a friend, or how they may have gotten what the wished for, but didn't expect the results. Many of the characters in YA fiction are even preparing to go to college themselves.
You want to teach teenagers about the real world, about preparing for college? Hand them a book. Hand them a book of their times. Hand them something they'll be able to understand. Hand them a banned/censored/challenged book.
Just hand them something real.
Of course, in no way am I saying that that classics such as BEOWULF or HAMLET aren't real. They are great books to learn about in a classroom setting, once you get over all the analyzing and twisted characters and messed-up plots. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every book that I have learned about in my classes. It's just that sometimes, having things laid out from the get-go in a straightforward fashion never hurt anyone. It is almost impossible to misunderstand what is laid out in front of you. Even if it's just one contemporary YA book in a curriculum of nine other classics, having a book that is so easy to connect with can be invaluable to students across the nation. Learning about the effects of rape, the consequences of harmful actions, or even being able to see characters you learn to love curse and kick and scream just as freely as the friends around you connects people to stories, and helps them to understand the themes without digging through unfamiliar language. Books such as SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson are just more accessible.
So if you want kids to read for college prep, to learn about the "real world" they will be surrounded by in college, feel free to give them the "Early 21st Century Lightweight Pop Fiction for Bored Teenagers". It'll teach them much more about the real world than you might think.
C'mon.
Yes. Infuriate.
After reading this post (click me!), I ache for Risha Mullins, and for her former students. No one should be pushed to the point where they must stop doing what they love because of the opinions of those who don't know the full truth.
What disappoints me the most (and I've blogged briefly about this before) is the ignorance of those who ban books. In one of the articles Mullins links from her blog, degrading her and taking what many blog readers and YA reader would call the wrong side, the writer openly admits not to having read the books in question, but goes on in the next paragraph to poke fun at the plots because they're not "literary" or because they have an actual, honest-to-God connection with teenagers. In fact, when referring to books such as TWISTED by Laurie Halse Anderson or LESSONS FROM A DEAD GIRL by Jo Knowles, the writer had the nerve to say, "Maybe they're appropriate for a course on Early 21st Century Lightweight Pop Fiction for Bored Teenagers, but a college prep course? C'mon." The writer even goes as far as insulting the names that the characters in these books have.
Um. Excuse me?
If you've read my itty bitty profile to the left, you would know that I am a newly-established college student; I graduated from high school in June 2010. I've had my fair share of college prep. I was in the top 5% of my graduating class of over 500 students. I've gotten the top scores on both AP English tests. I got an 800 on the writing section of the SAT, with a perfect score on the essay.
I know my college prep, I can guarantee you that.
I am also a journalism major hopeful. One of my goals as a journalist, whether I become a broadcast journalist or a person who writes in a newspaper or magazine, is to promote understanding, and to inform the ignorant. That is, to know all sides of an argument. To take into account and respect more than just my own opinion. To know what my future children think of a situation, instead of simply deciding for them. To actually read, with an open mind, the books I want to challenge (though that will never happen).
And finally, I am also a teenager. I'm still eighteen, and though I can now be tried in court as a legal adult, eighteen really isn't all that far from seventeen, or sixteen, or thirteen. Eighteen is certainly much closer to the teenage realm than thirty, or forty, or sixty-three-and-a-half. Three of my best friends are still in high school. Those who challenge what books are appropriate for college preparation are challenging the education of my friends, with whom I will have the opportunity to share the future. As a recently alumni-ed high school student, I am the one being affected.
In high school, one of the biggest themes that abounded in classes from English to PE to Calculus was how the lessons we learned in those classes could be applied to the "real world". PE was so we could learn how to keep up our physical health. Math would be used all the time in some way, shape or form. In college, we'd be writing essays all the time; language is everywhere, and we'd better understand it.
But ask any average student (don't ask an honor student--they'll just give you a long-winded answer that, in the end, may not make sense to either one of you, or may take too much thinking to process. Trust me, I was one of them. We're going for to-the-point, gut reaction here) what connection, say, the ILIAD has to what they did that day.
Most teens you ask will probably have to think about that one for a while. Some may even give you blank looks and shrug. Some may ask, "Are they the band I heard on the radio earlier today?"
To which I give you permission to respond, "Yes." Because fun is fun.
However, hand them LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green, or AS YOU WISH by Jackson Pearce, or GIMME A CALL by Sarah Mylnowski, and give them around a week to read it (because teenagers procrastinate). Ask them for connections. Instantly, they may be able to relate themselves to Pudge in his skinniness, or how they have an enigma of a friend, or how they may have gotten what the wished for, but didn't expect the results. Many of the characters in YA fiction are even preparing to go to college themselves.
You want to teach teenagers about the real world, about preparing for college? Hand them a book. Hand them a book of their times. Hand them something they'll be able to understand. Hand them a banned/censored/challenged book.
Just hand them something real.
Of course, in no way am I saying that that classics such as BEOWULF or HAMLET aren't real. They are great books to learn about in a classroom setting, once you get over all the analyzing and twisted characters and messed-up plots. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every book that I have learned about in my classes. It's just that sometimes, having things laid out from the get-go in a straightforward fashion never hurt anyone. It is almost impossible to misunderstand what is laid out in front of you. Even if it's just one contemporary YA book in a curriculum of nine other classics, having a book that is so easy to connect with can be invaluable to students across the nation. Learning about the effects of rape, the consequences of harmful actions, or even being able to see characters you learn to love curse and kick and scream just as freely as the friends around you connects people to stories, and helps them to understand the themes without digging through unfamiliar language. Books such as SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson are just more accessible.
So if you want kids to read for college prep, to learn about the "real world" they will be surrounded by in college, feel free to give them the "Early 21st Century Lightweight Pop Fiction for Bored Teenagers". It'll teach them much more about the real world than you might think.
C'mon.
September 27, 2010
So.
I'm all moved in to my dorm for college (and have been moved in since Friday, but since then it's pretty much always been BOOMBOOMBOOM something to do! And when there wasn't something to do, I was CRAPCRAPCRAP writing! because I got behind on my word count goal in the process of all that BOOMBOOM--well, you get it. Now, though, my word count is all caught up and I am happy and almost a third of the way (I hope) through the first draft of this novel.
Which is, I must say, pretty damn awesome. (College is already making me swear! AH! But only when it's truly warranted.)
(I just had a total sense of deja vu. Woooo~)
Anyway, by the end of today, my goal is to have a grand total of 15204 words, which would bring me to a total of *fanfare* 8276 words written between last Monday and today. Pretty. Awesome. I haven't written that much in a week in the longest time, and it feels good. :)
Classes haven't started yet, but they do start on Wednesday--eep! Wish me luck, and I hope all of you are doing well. :)
Which is, I must say, pretty damn awesome. (College is already making me swear! AH! But only when it's truly warranted.)
(I just had a total sense of deja vu. Woooo~)
Anyway, by the end of today, my goal is to have a grand total of 15204 words, which would bring me to a total of *fanfare* 8276 words written between last Monday and today. Pretty. Awesome. I haven't written that much in a week in the longest time, and it feels good. :)
Classes haven't started yet, but they do start on Wednesday--eep! Wish me luck, and I hope all of you are doing well. :)
September 19, 2010
I don't know about you...
But I wouldn't want a guy who considers a book about a rape victim to be porn to be determining what books kids in my area should or should not read.
It's just not right.
If there's anything that I feel vehemently passionate against, it's the ignorance that so often goes hand-in-hand with book banning. Every time I hear about an instance of book banning--especially ones that are along the same vein as this one, which, admittedly, most are--it makes me sad that people close themselves off so much against the world and what really happens. Books are tools of understanding, and yet people like Professor Wesley Scroggins seem to be totally missing that point.
Though I write, I don't believe I'm the right person to go through a whole post on this. I'm too sad, and I'm afraid it would just escalate into something that I may not be proud of. :P So link time!
It's just not right.
If there's anything that I feel vehemently passionate against, it's the ignorance that so often goes hand-in-hand with book banning. Every time I hear about an instance of book banning--especially ones that are along the same vein as this one, which, admittedly, most are--it makes me sad that people close themselves off so much against the world and what really happens. Books are tools of understanding, and yet people like Professor Wesley Scroggins seem to be totally missing that point.
Though I write, I don't believe I'm the right person to go through a whole post on this. I'm too sad, and I'm afraid it would just escalate into something that I may not be proud of. :P So link time!
- Laurie Halse Anderson (author of SPEAK, the book currently in question)
- Saundra Mitchell
- Myra McEntire
- Veronica Roth
- CJ Redwine
- Harmony Beaufort
There are plenty more about the blog-o-sphere, but these are just to get you started. I have the Twibbon for the Speak Loudly movement on my Twitter, and there's the #SpeakLoudly hastag as well. Support books! And support more understanding.
September 14, 2010
BOO.
Did I scare you? No?
Drat.
Well, hello, blogging world! I've been absent for a while, but I've slowly gotten used to my new (shiny~) computer and am pretty much up and running again, even though I have a bit of a lack in blogging topics and don't have enough material yet to warrant a Teaser Tuesday. However, the evil Blog Muse Eater will not prevail! Because today, I'm going to talk about NaNoWriMo.
So, if you're my writing buddy right now on the NaNo site, you might see that I already have a title up for my NaNo 2010 project. (If you would like to be my writing buddy, CLICK!) A funny thing happened with that title this morning. Before, when I posted that title up, I had a vague idea and thought I had written it down somewhere. Well, apparently not. This morning, I discovered I only had the title, with no notes to speak of.
I was quite upset.
But then I got over it and wrote out what I remembered of the idea in my story idea document, and it turned into something that I am now RIDICULOUSLY excited to write. So that's a super happy ending, though it's not quite an ending yet, seeing as it's still September. I have a while to wait.
Anyway, from now on I wonder if I should just leave little hints like that around, rather than writing out a paragraph of my idea. Because even with that little hint of a title, I got something that I am now really looking forward to, rather than something I just thought of one day and decided was going to be my NaNo story.
Just a musing. I wonder what else my wacko brain can come up with. :)
A question for you: How do you keep track of ideas for the future? How much of the plot do you trust your brain to remember?
Hope you're all well!
August 31, 2010
It's still Tuesday!
At least where I am. So the statement in my last post that I would "post about... something" still stands. Especially since I finished editing a few hours ago and have been sitting around eating vital meals and continuing my project of watching Brotherhood 2.0 videos from the very beginning.
Yes. The VERY beginning. I'm at the beginning of August 2007 now.
If you're not aware, that's a lot of videos. Eventually my brain is going to melt from the level and quantity of awesome I'm seeing.
So anyway, as long as I post this within the next... hm... fifty-six minutes, the statement I made in my last post will be true.
My only problem is I don't know what to blog about. Oy.
(I just spent the last minute spacing out while staring at my computer screen. This may not end well.)
(*Spaces.* I think it'd be fun to be an astronaut. But I'd rather interview people who do astronaut-y stuff. I like hanging out on Earth.)
Oh! In a comment on my last post, Nicole asked what I was editing. As of yet, I haven't really talked about my own writing, so I guess I should get on that. Good idea, and thanks Nicole for the inspiration!
No, what I was editing earlier today was not my WIP. It was actually a short story of, you guessed it, 2,540 words, and I'm editing it for submission to a contest. Yay! I won't be posting it, though, because... well, I'm submitting it to a contest. Yeah. I don't know if it necessarily fits in a YA/Adult genre type thing, but it's realistic fiction. Yup.
My WIP (referenced in the WIP It Good thing on the left *points*), though, is definitely YA, kind of in a magical realism kind of way. Once the entire concept gets more concrete in my mind, I'll be able to give it a specific genre while actually sounding sure of myself, but right now I'm getting the vibe that it's more contemporary than anything else, but it has one fantastical part to it, so I hesitate to put that label. Therefore, magical realism will work for me. For now.
Once I get more written I may post a couple teasers, but that won't happen until I have around 5 or 10k before I'm comfortable enough with that. Until then, though, I'll leave you with the first line:
This is different for me, since I've never actually written contemp seriously. But yeah! There we go.
UPDATE
Oh, right. Also, in the week or so, I may be scarce when it comes to blogging, or I may blog an awful lot, the reason being that I'm getting a shiny new Macbook Pro on Thursday and I will either be very confused and exploring the nooks and crannies of it OR I will be super excited and want to use it as much as possible while being very confused. :) Just a heads up.
Yes. The VERY beginning. I'm at the beginning of August 2007 now.
If you're not aware, that's a lot of videos. Eventually my brain is going to melt from the level and quantity of awesome I'm seeing.
So anyway, as long as I post this within the next... hm... fifty-six minutes, the statement I made in my last post will be true.
My only problem is I don't know what to blog about. Oy.
(I just spent the last minute spacing out while staring at my computer screen. This may not end well.)
(*Spaces.* I think it'd be fun to be an astronaut. But I'd rather interview people who do astronaut-y stuff. I like hanging out on Earth.)
Oh! In a comment on my last post, Nicole asked what I was editing. As of yet, I haven't really talked about my own writing, so I guess I should get on that. Good idea, and thanks Nicole for the inspiration!
No, what I was editing earlier today was not my WIP. It was actually a short story of, you guessed it, 2,540 words, and I'm editing it for submission to a contest. Yay! I won't be posting it, though, because... well, I'm submitting it to a contest. Yeah. I don't know if it necessarily fits in a YA/Adult genre type thing, but it's realistic fiction. Yup.
My WIP (referenced in the WIP It Good thing on the left *points*), though, is definitely YA, kind of in a magical realism kind of way. Once the entire concept gets more concrete in my mind, I'll be able to give it a specific genre while actually sounding sure of myself, but right now I'm getting the vibe that it's more contemporary than anything else, but it has one fantastical part to it, so I hesitate to put that label. Therefore, magical realism will work for me. For now.
Once I get more written I may post a couple teasers, but that won't happen until I have around 5 or 10k before I'm comfortable enough with that. Until then, though, I'll leave you with the first line:
The plan was simple: Big explosions. No trace of a body. An empty casket at the funeral for the pranking.
This is different for me, since I've never actually written contemp seriously. But yeah! There we go.
UPDATE
Oh, right. Also, in the week or so, I may be scarce when it comes to blogging, or I may blog an awful lot, the reason being that I'm getting a shiny new Macbook Pro on Thursday and I will either be very confused and exploring the nooks and crannies of it OR I will be super excited and want to use it as much as possible while being very confused. :) Just a heads up.
Editing
Today, I'm going to be spending the whole day (maybe) editing and rewriting 2,540 words. It's not a lot, but this is important.
If I finish early, I'll write a post about... something. Stay tuned.
*switches on mood music*
If I finish early, I'll write a post about... something. Stay tuned.
*switches on mood music*
August 29, 2010
Lalala
I'm writing right now. Want to join me?
Oh, and just a heads up to my fellow Basement dwellers, I won't be at the Jackson chat on Wednesday. Well, actually I might go to the UK one... but if there's one in the evening, I can't attend. *sadface*
UPDATE
I feel like I'll just be adding a bunch of stuff to this entry whenever I want today. But now that I've actually typed this out in the entry, I'll probably add something one more time, and then stop. Or I might not add anything at all.
By the way, if you want a dose of AWESOME and OMGSOCUTE, this is the kind of dog I want to get when I grow up (more):
BEEP.
Yes, those pups are the same breed as Bubbles the Nerdfighting Puppy (aka Willy aka John Green's dog). AHHH. Love. ♥
I promise I'm not always this scatterbrained.
Oh, and just a heads up to my fellow Basement dwellers, I won't be at the Jackson chat on Wednesday. Well, actually I might go to the UK one... but if there's one in the evening, I can't attend. *sadface*
UPDATE
I feel like I'll just be adding a bunch of stuff to this entry whenever I want today. But now that I've actually typed this out in the entry, I'll probably add something one more time, and then stop. Or I might not add anything at all.
By the way, if you want a dose of AWESOME and OMGSOCUTE, this is the kind of dog I want to get when I grow up (more):
BEEP.
Yes, those pups are the same breed as Bubbles the Nerdfighting Puppy (aka Willy aka John Green's dog). AHHH. Love. ♥
I promise I'm not always this scatterbrained.
August 26, 2010
Why Write?
In my time roaming about the cyber world of writer/agent/author/editor/reader blogs, I've come across this question at least once: Why write if what we put into the world won't be remembered past our lifetime?
I don't know about you, but I don't think any true writer can say, at least when they start writing/are the the midst of selling of novel, that the novel they wrote will be "an instant classic" or something that teachers will shove at their students to understand the depth of "real literature". J.D. Salinger didn't sit down and say, "I think I'll write a goddam book today that will influence tons of goddam teenagers and be taught in goddam phony schools everywhere." Or, maybe he did, but I highly doubt it. No author expects to be the subject of school essays, and to even have a place in what book lists would call "great American literature". Some aren't even necessarily comfortable with flirting with the concept; after the success of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Harper Lee never published another book. Heck, she had never even expected the book to sell, and was bracing herself for scathing reviews.
So... why write?
I write stories that might not be remembered past my lifetime because of the things that I'll never expect. And because of the things I do expect.
People like stories. People like the feeling they get when they hear or read stories. Countless times, I have seen agents or literary interns posting on Twitter lamenting the themes and morals that authors throw around in their queries, while all the agents want to know is plot, plot, plot. They want to know what's happening in your story, not what you want to teach the world. As a writer, my intent in eventually becoming published is just to share something with the world, and have a voice in my take on things. I like to make people laugh and to feel. Whether that will be to an audience of five or an audience in a classroom fifty years from now that I may never meet, it doesn't matter. I write because I like to share.
This post isn't really entirely coherent. I hope it is to you.
You never know what will happen. Why write something that won't be remembered after you died, or even while you're still alive? Because it's there, and it's happening. And you never know what may happen in the future.
So, lovely readers, I pose you the same question:
Why do you bother to write when your stories may not even be remembered in the future?
I don't know about you, but I don't think any true writer can say, at least when they start writing/are the the midst of selling of novel, that the novel they wrote will be "an instant classic" or something that teachers will shove at their students to understand the depth of "real literature". J.D. Salinger didn't sit down and say, "I think I'll write a goddam book today that will influence tons of goddam teenagers and be taught in goddam phony schools everywhere." Or, maybe he did, but I highly doubt it. No author expects to be the subject of school essays, and to even have a place in what book lists would call "great American literature". Some aren't even necessarily comfortable with flirting with the concept; after the success of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Harper Lee never published another book. Heck, she had never even expected the book to sell, and was bracing herself for scathing reviews.
So... why write?
I write stories that might not be remembered past my lifetime because of the things that I'll never expect. And because of the things I do expect.
People like stories. People like the feeling they get when they hear or read stories. Countless times, I have seen agents or literary interns posting on Twitter lamenting the themes and morals that authors throw around in their queries, while all the agents want to know is plot, plot, plot. They want to know what's happening in your story, not what you want to teach the world. As a writer, my intent in eventually becoming published is just to share something with the world, and have a voice in my take on things. I like to make people laugh and to feel. Whether that will be to an audience of five or an audience in a classroom fifty years from now that I may never meet, it doesn't matter. I write because I like to share.
This post isn't really entirely coherent. I hope it is to you.
You never know what will happen. Why write something that won't be remembered after you died, or even while you're still alive? Because it's there, and it's happening. And you never know what may happen in the future.
So, lovely readers, I pose you the same question:
Why do you bother to write when your stories may not even be remembered in the future?
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