I Don't Know What To Say

"The night has gone

A part of yesterday

I don't know what to say...

I don't know what to say...."

-"The One That You Love", Air Supply

I've been a very bad writer. *looks guilty*. And it isn't because of the chocolate chip I stole from the cookie jar. You thought I was going to say supermarket, didn't you? >_> I'm not that bad.

Why am I bad, you ask? Well, *shakes head* first of all, I've been neglecting you - my dearest blog! I missed you so much but I had a great big bout of writer's block and...well first let me give you a great big squeeze! *gives blog a great big squeeze*. What I was going to say is that for about two weeks now I had this great er...where's my dictionary? vehement despite against writing. Pourquoi? Why would I, a blogger on writing, suddenly hate (I'm sorry, that's a strong word...vehemently despise) writing? Well. I think it began with my creative writing club. (If this was a TV show, you would see me looking up to the ceiling very philosophically as the image blurs and we go back in time to a memory. Think that 70s show when Fez [sp?] dreams about being awesome). (And yes I know I just used an adverb).

I told the leader of the creative writing club (aka a teacher at our school who is going to get her book published, and not self-published, might I add) that I was going to join ABNA. Maybe. And I heavily stressed on the maybe. She offered to look at my pitch and help me out (mind you this was two weeks ago) and I was all like, "Yeah, thanks. But I might not join." And then she went on rambling about beta readers like I didn't know what they were (of course I know!) And I don't think she got the idea that there was a great possibility I was not going to go in the contest. So then I'm feeling like I don't want to write a pitch anymore because, really, I don't know. I mean, I was going to have help! Great, experienced help at that! But the reason for my reluctance is that I hadn't began editing my Nano at all. And I stress at the at all. Maybe a couple paragraphs, yes. But that was in December. And when I read it back then, I was thinking to myself, "WTF did I write in November? Maybe in a couple of weeks I'll have fresh eyes." So when I got home that very same day, I looked at it again - the first few paragraphs of my Nano - and it looked the same to me. Utter rubbish. So I'm feeling pretty bad now (sorry, I sound like a rambling teenager, and not a sophisticated writer, but I need to let this out) because, did I not add, ABNA was accepting entries THAT VERY DAY. So (sorry for the many usages of that word) I was getting stressed and feeling crazy and delirious, like the Chesire Cat up there (does he creep you out as much as he creeps me out?) I was all like, okay, I'm going to do this. I'm going to edit this bad boy (or maybe it's a girl?) and get it in submission before the time they stop accepting submissions (which is on February 7th). I know what you are doing. You are checking your calendars. You are saying, "But Vanille, it is already the 8th."

And here I hang my head down in shame.

Not only was I so irresponsible as to not warn the poor teacher to not worry about the pitch because I wasn't doing it, but I didn't edit sh*t (sorry for that, I'm stressed). Now, I had excuses. For example, the creative writing club only meets on Mondays (to my knowledge). The next two Mondays after that (including this one) we didn't have school. But there was no excuse for not going to her the other four days in a school week and saying it straight up. Now, my english teacher (whom I shall from now on name Mr. English Teacher) is like THE BAD TEACHER. You know, those notoriously strict, mean, unmerciful teachers. Yeah, we have one. And me and my friend were partnering up for a project I don't know if I mentioned before. We have to make 6 commercials, 3 for Merchant of Venice and 3 for Romeo and Juliet. Now, we have to write scripts, we need actors, and we need to edit this thing by the 23rd. So most of lunch was occupied with that. Then, my biology teacher is relentless and will keep giving us labs and homework. Then I have all my other homework and tests and memorizing two soliloquys for Mr. English Teacher. And to top it all off, I am pretty sure the guy sitting next to me in geometry likes me, but I don't like him at all. How do I know? He asked me if I had a boyfriend, to which I replied, no and I don't want one because they distract me from my academics. And he made that disappointed face. GRR. For some reason, I absolutely despise guys who like me. I don't know, probably because I have to break their hearts. So I'm going to have to get my other guy friend (who just so happens to like me too, my friend tricked him into confessing. It was apparent anyways) to warn the guy sitting next to me not to waste his time on me because I will not give him the time of day. So now I have all this going on and then writing is about the least important thing on my list but for some reason I feel so guilty about it. Then, I didn't rewrite the 2K for the club. I need work on dedication. In fact, I didn't write anything at all. I avoided the Nanowrimo, ABNA website and this blog (sadly) like the plague. I even relented to critique my poor critique buddy's chapter after she's waited all these weeks for it. GAH! I'm so bad.

Now you see. And then I still find myself procrastinating - watching movies, TV, playing chess, playing solitaire, staring at the ceiling worrying about everything. So I blamed writing for all my troubles and I just wanted to avoid anything writing related. I still am, but I'm trying to recover. I just need a BREAKK!! Thus my great big bout of writer's block. Errrggghh.

Yes, I'm very bad. And I'm sorry, but there is not going to be a post about writing advice today. The only good news is that I read up to 400 pages on Crime and Punishment, which means I can do my book report and get extra credit. It's actually a very good book. I just don't feel up to telling advice to writers when I myself feel so...not-writer-ish. That would be hypocritical of me to advise you on how to get out of writer's block, when I'm in such a serious bout myself, with no way to get out. Maybe when I do get out, I can tell you my secret. And that won't be so hypocritical. So, sorry. Maybe writing is the cure for this. Maybe I have all this boiled inside me and writing is the way out. But when I tried writing the 2K earlier today, I ended up writing the lyrics to Help! By The Beatles. Oh. *sigh*

I end this on a sigh. Now, I must get to my biology extra credit. What a nerd am I. But I just cannot, cannot write. It's even painful to write this. What is wrong with me?! Maybe in another few weeks, I will be okay. I'll try posting on you, blog. I will not let you go so soon. Maybe in the future, I can look back on this and laugh. Hahaha. My friend laughs when she's nervous. Hahaha.

If there is a psychologist out there, can you pleeease, help me, help me, help mmeeeee..oohhh

After the Break (hopefully it won't be a long one),

Vanille

"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task." ~William James

(P.S. I have about 5 plot bunnies circling my head, and I'm afraid I can't write about them just yet. So here's the only advice for today - advice I'm going to use myself, too. When you have a lot of plot bunnies, write them down in a notebook. Ha. I'm afraid I didn't give very good advice, if you are a writer, you would already be doing that without my advising. Okay, I'll stop now.)

VIVA LA VIDA.
....

Okay, that came out of nowhere.

I'll stop now.

Don't Turn Back Now That We're Here

"Heart don't fail me now!

Courage don't desert me!

Don't turn back now that we're here"

-"Journey to the Past", Anastasia

That list up there could be further from the truth. I wish that was my schedule, you know, surviving meaning eating, watching TV, snacking, reading, then going back to bed. But no, there are so many things to do that - I shall quote my twitter, "I want to do so many things at one time that I end up worrying about which I should do first and result in doing nothing at all." Yes, that is how I'm feeling, dear friends. I'm sorry I haven't properly greeted you, so Bonjour! And hello. I'm sure you were afraid I was going to have that two month absence that could possibly happen, yes, I was afraid of that, too. But here I am. Of the things I worried about doing, I decided to do this first. Well, let us get updated.

The Things I Want To Do All At Once That I End Up Not Doing At All/ The Things Worrying My Mind

• I stil haven't written the 2k I was going to write again. I know! God has given me two weeks to make up for it and I don't do anything but worry!
• I finally critiqued that mess of a story for my friend because I agreed to. Have I not told you about my critique buddy yet? Long story short, I critiqued her query and she was so happy with my harshness (it was not a pretty query) she wanted me to critique her whole novel, and because I saw some sort of story in the midst of the horrible grammar and punctuation and sentence structure of her critique, I agreed. I told her in my query critique that you want your query to be good, so it will reflect your writing. Well, her unrevised query just about did reflect her writing. I will be talking about one of her mistakes today. But all in all, she's a good person, really, and I like her. And I don't mean to be mean to her, I even consider her as a friend (well, we are on Facebook). So all is not completely lost.
• All the projects. To name a few, I have to make three commercials avec mon amis and that won't be pretty because mon amis get easily distracted, and that distraction resulted in an F on a previous assignment. God help those too trusting! The commercials are supposed to be about The Merchant of Venice, which, after putting on a production of the play with my stuffed animals as characters, actually makes sense to me. Allow me to quote my twitter (again) - "Merchant of Venice isn't as confusing as I once thought...thou hath not as confuddling as ere...I don't think I said that right". Then I have to think up another (stupid) science project. Then I have to research my health project, which is going to be on thyroids (my mom, uncles, and aunt has it, so I'm scared). And then I have to write a story book in French about things I do and don't do in the seasons (par example: J'aime mangez en hiver, mais je n'aime pas nager en hiver [translation: I love eating in winter, but I don't like swimming in winter]). Grrr.
• I want to join ABNA. I'm thinking of submitting my nanonovel, you know, for the heck of it. Problem: I haven't edited TROAP at all, don't have a pitch ready, or anything else. Ah, well. I've been meaning to do that. BIG PROBLEM: Submissions are in TWO DAYS.
• I actually liked Crime and Punishment. Me and Raskolnikov have something in common: We're going insannnnnnnnneeeeeeee!! At least I didn't murder something, though my grades are in jeopardy.
• Get my friend and other friend presents because it's their birthdays!! AHH

Okay, so that's all that has happened. Those are my concerns. Okay, I'm going to make a schedule RIGHT NOW. (Schedules always make me feel safer).

1. After this post (which was also in my to-do list), finish my bio hw and try to read some of the chapter on taxonomy
2. after bio hw, start the french project. but don't expect to finish it all today (it'll come out sloppy)
3. After getting tired with that, conscience should be somewhat calmer. Do any other hw that I have forgotten.
4. Start editing TROAP and start 2k
5. Sunday: Wake up early and cont. edit TROAP and finish 2k
6. If don't finish TROAP by tomorrow, that's okay, submissions still open
7. Get done with all hw today so have time to do all this writing business tomorrow!

Okay, that has cleared my mind somewhat. So, back to the true topic of this post because you all don't really care about my insanity...

The Series of Actions Disorder...dun dun dunnn...

Okay. So as I mentioned, my critique buddy has a problem with this. Allow me to give an example and you try and figure out the problem (hint: the title of this section)

Lila walked to class. She sat down and took out her notebook. The teacher was hairy like a monkey and he sounded like one too. He was Mr. Gorilla, the science teacher. Lila felt like falling asleep. Then when class was over, she walked past a hallway of students and walked into her next class that smelled like peppermint and oil. After school, she went to her car and turned the window down, glad to be out of school, aka, prison.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS?! It was something I saw frequently in my partner's WIP. A character who goes to one class, then to another (I can't reveal any specific details or excerpts since I agreed not to show any of her work to anybody...and I'd like not to be sued, thank you very much) and then to the other. Then she did this, ate this, walked here, sat there. Chit-chatted here then walked there. Oh, quelle horreur! Not only did it not develop the plot or give us any indication of the character's personality, but it was just BORING. You know, I don't care if your MC has science last or if the science teacher's name was Mr. Gorilla (a name that bears a lot of resemblance to my english teacher's). I don't care if she ate pie, but never ate the crusts because she didn't like crusts. I honestly don't care if she grabbed a banana and realized she didn't like bananas and threw it in the garbage. Imagine reading pages of this robotic action! Yikes, indeed, my good friend. I said something about that, in my honest harshness that is neither overly cruel, and certainly not overly sugar-coated.

Now I ask you, my friend. Do you read this when you are editing your WIP? Think closely about it. How much pain did you suffer reading my own crude example up above? Yes, imagine that and reconsider what you are writing. I daresay, if your book was in the library and I picked it up because the book cover was nice (which I should immediately stop doing and I will tell you why in another post) and decided to skim the first few pages. If, my friend, your first few lines were those lines up above, I would surely put your book down and take care to avoid it in the future. And you don't want that, do you? Of course, I can only speak for myself. But I am so certain that agents would do the same, I would bet actual money on it.

Also, there was another irk I had with my partner's manuscript, and that was...

Unnecessary Details...*shark song*

There was a lot of a emphasis on what the character was wearing. Not only was there particular care into describing what the MC was wearing, but it was depicted in the way up above. Yes, you guessed it...a series of actions. (Example: I put on my purple shorts. I wondered what would go well with this, and I decided on the rainbow striped tank top. Then I put on my orange shoes, and voila! [Sidenote: I advise not to wear this outfit, not in this era, good friend]). Also, there was an emphasis on the specifics of the shirt. Like, it had a picture of Dora the Explorer on it. Unless your character is dressing for a particular reason, for example, she finds herself in Antarctica and I take great effort to describe to you exactly how many layers of clothing she put on. You see, not only do I show you that it is extremely cold outside, but I also give you a sense of what is appropriate to wear in Antarctica (which in that case, would not be purple shorts and a rainbow striped tank top).

I made this mistake in my early writings - too much emphasis on what my characters were wearing when really it didn't matter at all to the story. Nowadays, I would only mention what my characters were wearing if...

• My FMC is going on her first date with love interest and it matters what she is wearing and how long it took her to choose that outfit because she is striving to look her best
• Or I would mention beforehand my character is wearing a scarf (maybe the scarf is blowing in the wind and hits her in the face or something) because later on, it's that same scarf that saves her life (Not sure how, but anything's possible).
• Attire has something relevant to event (i.e. a mask in a masquerade)

So I hope you got something out of that. Remember, what I'm saying isn't right and it isn't wrong either. I'm just telling you something to consider and think about. Maybe, it will even help you out. (I could be the next Shakespeare, Just kidding! Oh, am I jesting.)

Au Revoir, my good friends! Remember, I go to school now and cannot update you as regularly as I used to.

After the Break,

Vanille

"I try to leave out the parts that people skip." -Elmore Leonard

Not Enough To Show I Care

"Ain't got nothin' but love babe

Eight days a week

Eight days a week, I love you

Eight days a week, is not enough to show I care"

-"Eight Days A Week", The Beatles

Ahhh. Before I start, I would just like to say that my nails are painted le colour noir and that I had forgotten how much I hated waiting for them to dry (you can't eat anything!). Now that I've said that, I have brought with me rather, no, very depressing news. I'm going back to school tomorrow. Doom doom doom. And I'm absolutely dreading it. As Dolly Levi says, "Goodbye, goodbye, goodbyeee!"

A quick reflection on my three week break. All I remember most is movies, movies, and more movies. And I remember reading almost all the queries in query shark. I faintly remember going to San Francisco, but that was so long ago, long ago.

I really don't know what this post is going to be about. But I'd like to say I recently hit a OMG-what-if-I-really-suck? moment. I abhor those. Now, my mind's all in flutter like what if I'm not good enough? And it's all confusing, confusing! I don't know how to explain it, but allow me to compare myself to Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment right after he murdered that one lady (I need to catch up on my reading). That's exactly how I feel, but I haven't murdered anybody, I just feel extremely sucky. I look upon my writing with disdain, especially my 2K which I am seriously reconsidering. It's too late now! Tomorrow is school (doom, doom, doom) and I'll have to turn it in! *headdesk*

I want to quote something I said in Steph Bowe's blog when she asked the post about our writings. I said:

My writing? Well, I imagine writing as words floating around in the air and I
have to pick them like I would an apple from a tree to create the most pretty
sentence (or apple pie). And if I get writer's block or lack of inspiration, I
usually end up pacing around the house, trying to find that perfect word that
will get me back on track. I like exploring writing, like different POVs or
genres. I'd like to get published before graduating high school, like you did
Steph, lol. But though I think my writing is knock-your-socks-off-awesome (who
doesn't feel like their baby is the most adorable in the world?)I don't think
it's quite yet ready for the publishing world. I'm still waiting for that
knock-your-socks-off-awesome story, and so far I haven't found it, or it hasn't
come to me. I've been writing since I was little (as most writer's have)and I
think I'm going to pretty much end up writing for the rest of my life.As for a
sample of my writing, why, this comment reflects it quite well. ;)

So yeah, that's pretty much it. Now you know how I write. When I can't find the words, I hit writer's block. Or a wall. (When you're looking for words in the air, you're only lookin' up. I especially hate it when the word is on the tip of your tongue and you know it starts with a certain letter, but you just can't catch it! Oh, yes, look at me all funny but you know exactly what I mean.)

Oh, oh! I know what to talk about now that's totally unrelated to my writing.

Adverbs!

Why so sullen? Oh, sure. Adverbs might not be fun in English class (believe me, I know) but here on this blog, I'll try and make it as interesting as I can in my current state of mind.

You know the golden rule in writing, show don't tell? (I'll cover that later when I'm more sane and less dizzy). Well, as I critique in critique circle I see a lot of adverbs. To me, there are two types of adverbs.

• The ones you can show
• The ones you can't show

Allow me to make lists

The Ones You Can Show

frustratingly, protectively, passionately, fearlessly, noisily, rudely, merrily, bravely, calmly, hastily, irritably, obediently, politely, solemnly, wearily

The Ones You Can't Show

absolutely, faintly, exactly, extremely, especially, usually (I've taken these from this post) exceedingly

Do you get what I mean? Let's show the adverb frustratingly

Original: "Oh, geez, I don't know!" I said frustratingly.

Revised:"Oh, geez, I don't know!" I cried, pulling at my hair. But even that pain didn't cover the rising feeling of doom at the thought of school tomorrow.

You see the showing not telling? You get the idea I'm frustrated and that mere thought of school, right?

Let's try another using hastily

Original: I hastiliy put on my clothes and ran out the front door.

Revised: I shoved my pants up, snatched a random shirt from the floor and yanked that on, too. My eyes flashed to my alarm clock. Good grief, late on the first day of school! Stupid clock! I dashed downstairs, having a second to give a quick kiss to my mom and flew out the door like my butt was on fire.

Okay...so not the best imagery, but you get the idea. I showed you hastily instead of telling.

Now, regarding the adverbs you can't show, check back on my post and spot those adverbs. Let's take this example I made up right now,

I am absolutely certain that my first day back at school will heavy my backpack with all its pointless homework.

You see? Maybe you can show absolutely, but I categorize those kinds of adverbs as OK since you can't really show it. (Speaking of advebs, the author of Crime and Punishment uses them like every other sentence!! Oh, well. It was written well before we had all these "writing rules"). There might be people out there who aren't even okay with those kinds of adverbs and say scratch it out all together. Of course, if I scratch out "absolutely" my sentence will still make sense. But I rather like it with the absolutely; it better depicts my disdain.

That's something to keep in mind. Remember, if it's an adverb you can show, then show it for goodness' sake! Some of those adverbs in can't show can be shown like "faintly". But the way I used it in this post I believe is allowed in my book. It's those other adverbs like carefully you have to find a way to show. Now, that wasn't too bad, was it? :)

To digress, I'd like to talk about something popular in romances and that is kisses. If there's one phrase I see when reading those scenes is this:

He/She deepened the kiss.

Nooo! Even somewhere in the Nanowrimo forums, someone said they thought this was overused. And since you saw me put it in this color, you know I agree, too. At first when I read that, I was like, I never seen that before. But if you go out there and read all these WIPs, they are there! Yikesss! Keep that in mine, romance writers. I won't be too happy to see this and if you're on Critique Circle and I see it, you bet there'll be something in my inline critique about it.

Okay, that's enough for today. As always, I wish I have been of some aid to you and your writing. Wish me luck going back to school and especially (ha!) my sore back which will not be happy to have the heavy backpack on it again. (Eeks! I said 'back' way too much. This is one of my pet peeves, but I'm feeling way too confused and dizzy to edit it, all my energy went to adverbs).

After the break, (or in this case my finished winter break)

Vanille

"The founding fathers... provided jails called schools, equipped with tortures called education. School is where you go between when your parents can't take you and industry can't take you." -John Updike, The Centaur, 1963

& just for fun/I couldn't decide which one I liked best

"I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver. Then they would really be educated." -Al McGuire

P.S. I hope I didn't jinx myself with the late example

P.S.2. Speaking of after the break, American Idol's coming back on! I forgot the exact date, but I know it's in this month. Yays! I love the first audition park. Edit: Radio said it's coming on Jan 12! Maybe there is a silver lining to every storm cloud! (or something along those lines...)

A Whole New World

"A whole new world

A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no or where to go

Or say we're only dreaming"

-A Whole New World, Aladdin

Bonjour, baby (line from Paris When It Sizzles) and Happy New Year! I hope you had a good New Year's Day. Mine was like a normal day, as per usual. Excusez mon absense. See, we went to San Francisco. Pourquoi? Parce que, we wanted to see my most likely future college - University of California San Francisco. And boy, did we see it. I have to say, it was slightly...depressing. I don't know if it was because of the fog, or that we were on top of a hill surrounded by steep roads plunging down in an all of sudden manner, or the graffiti, or the people wearing gray who just looked sad. But it was just, man, I don't really want to go there. I was thinking I'd be okay with it, since I could work as an intern at Curtis Brown, which they should have in SF since I know Nathan Bransford works in San Fran (I didn't see him :( ). I don't know if interns get paid or not, though I'm thinking not, but I told this to my parents and they were like okay, whatever. And I am very happy I'd get to be an intern because remember my secret when I grow up wish? To be a literary agent? A LITER - *clomps hand over your mouth* Shhh...They don't know yet.

Why, I haven't even told you why my parents are considering sending me there. Remember, I'm to be a pharmacist as a backup job if I fail miserably at whatever I want to be? Well, it turns out that UCSF is "apparently" one of the best pharamacy colleges out there. My definition would be one of the "only" since in my University of California handbook, it seems like UCSF is the only college with any pharamacy related things. *sigh*.

Anyways, I'd just like to report that out of the 19 pigeons that came flying at me, thanks to my great agility, none of them actually hit me. Save for two. :P San Francisco, I'm sorry, but I don't think you're the right city for me. Everytime I go there, I usually end up being quite sad. Maybe it's because we get lost all too frequently. Maybe it's because of all the people pushing me when I walk down the street. Maybe because whenever we go there, my parents are arguing, usually about directions. Though, come to think of it, they do it quite often regardless of the setting. Maybe it's the worn-down buildings, the traffic. Or maybe it's the pigeons with their cocking heads and hungry, snapping beaks. I don't know, but I'm scared for the future-to-be-me if I do end up in UCSF.

Anyways, I always do seem to get off topic, don't I? A little bit more about non-writing related topics. You're probably wondering why the first post of the year has a picture of Jasmine and Aladdin and why the song du jour is A Whole New World. Well, mes amis. I have discovered I absolutely adore this movie. It's been sitting in my DVD cabinet since fourth grade, unwatched for so many years. Only recently have I opened the dusty DVD case and put it in our new blu-ray DVD player (Did I mention we also got surround sound and did I mention it sounds exactly like the TV? Well, to my deaf ears anyway). You know what I realized? I use the words "well" and "anyway" much too often. Haha. Anyways, or should I say, anyhow? I discovered I really like the movie! The plot is amazing, the characters are so distinguishable and hilarious (Genie, I'm a lookin' at you). I love the storyline, and everything. Even if it did have a happy ending, that's alright since all Disney movies do and I did want Jasmine and Aladdin to have a happily ever after. *dreamy sigh*. Wouldn't it be fun to live in that world? *Thinks back to angry Cave of Wonders, hungry children, men selling fish, and maniac advisors like Jafar* Maybe not.

This leads to my topic of the day, which is Happy Endings. This is going to be short and I'll probably dwell on it more seriously in the future, but I'd just like to get some thing writing related in this post so it won't always be about me. On the topic of happy endings, I'll post something I posted on the NaNoWriMo forums.

"Eh. :/Some romance YA novels, like Sarah Dessen's, have happy endings. And it's sweet, but there is something Sarah Dessen does that I really admire. And that is when she does happy endings, there is always still some sort of conflict. Like, someone dying, or a broken friendship, you know?
I don't think that YA books -need- happy endings. It's nice. I don't particularly enjoy happy endings, I find them cheesy and annoying because I know that that is not how it is in real life. But there are some books out there that just have a happy ending and it fits, you know? And it's rare, and only a few talented authors can manage it, but overall, no. I don't want to read a particularly happy ending.
My ending is neither happy or sad. It's kind of inbetween. Which I also like. Because that's how life is a lot."

So you see my stance. And also my username on Nanowrimo (add me! :) ) Let me delve into this a bit more.

I'm getting a bit annoyed at those stories that end in complete misery and just leaves me crying and asking, "Why? WHY?!" Titanic, the movie, did such a thing to me. And afterwards, I thought to myself, what a great movie. And it was. Did you know everyone thought it was going to be a flop? So far from the truth. But I digress...now it seems that sad endings are being overused. You know the ones where everyone dies, the woman's left standing is pregnant, blah, blah, blah. Oh, it gets on my nerves! It's like happiness doesn't exist in those stories and I absolutely hate it because though I am a teen and do have my depressed-sighing-why-was-I-born moments, I do also have those rare happy times, too. And to read books of sadness just gives me no hope for my future. Though I'm not saying you should delete all those sad moments and replace them with rainbows, lolipops, chocolate (See's of course), puppies, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things...things. I like those bitter-sweet endings. As stated above, because that's how life is. Sometimes so joyful, you feel like leaping off walls (we are not ninjas, my dear friend) or so depressed you hide out in your room with the blinds closed. It's a balance, yes? Aladdin, I'll excuse. For one thing, he doesn't have parents and was quite poor. And I do enjoy a good happy ending once in a while, which most of the old Disney movies do marvelously (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, though Sleeping Beauty and I need to have a serious talk). As I said, few talented authors can pull it off. I'm afraid I'm not one of them and I'll have to go on doing my speciality, which are bitter-sweet endings with hope mixed in, just to leave the reader drooling. ;)

That's all for that, I'm probably going to revisit this topic later since I don't feel as if I've conveyed myself as I wanted. But a brief interlude before the ending of this post, which I'm afraid will have to end in some degree of misery.

Things I Need To Do

• wash the dishes
• finish reading Crime and Punishment
• WRITE THE 2K FOR MY CREATIVE WRITING CLASS

Yikes! I haven't started it at all. Oh, don't look at me in that way. I've hit a serious case of writer's block. I haven't even wrote anything for my WIP since last year and it pends on 6K. But my WIP doesn't have a deadline. THIS 2K DOES. Why? WHY?! Parce que, I only have one week left in my winter break. Then it is bon voyage, I'm back to prison, aka school. And on the Monday I go back, my creative writing club expects me to have a neat, 2K short story for them. You see, we're going to combine them all and try to publish it, which I don't see happening since we all have such...varying writing styles and genres. But if we do get it published, it may very well be my debut and I want it to be good. Unfortunately, inspiration strikes at the most unwanted times. I think I'm going to get the idea for a most brilliant story on Sunday night next week. So why, POURQUOI VANILLE have I not started? It is a mere 2K, silly Vanille. You can pull 2K easily out from you, why, look how long this post is. *headdesk* I know! I've hit writer's block. I don't know what to write, all I know is that I want to write it good. Unfortunately, I cannot write good if there is nothing to write! So as have probably known, I am currently freaking out. Thus the label, writingwoes.

After the break,

Vanille

Sorry to have left you in such misery. Wish me luck, will you?

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. "

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Help Me If You Can

"Help me if you can I'm feeling down

And I do appreciate you being 'round

Help me get my feet back on the ground

Won't you please please help me?"

-Help!, The Beatles

Help indeed. Le photo du jour couldn't be more correct.

What I have accomplished these past few days:

• eating myself silly
• singing myself silly on the karaoke (Scored 99/100 singing The Beatles)
• playing solitaire
• updating this blog

What I haven't accomplished:

• Writing. Anything.

When I last left you a few posts ago, I told you I had around 2,000 words finished.

I still do.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down. Okay. You know what? Right after I post this, I'm going to write. No getting distractions and chatting on the Young Writer's Society chat rooms. No more internet, period. It's not that I have writer's block or I don't know what to write. It's because I'm lazy, that's it. I know exactly what to write. I am capable of writing, see me write now? I just...I don't know what's gotten into me. What's gotten into you Vanille?! (This is bad, I'm talking to myself).You know, I'm on my three-week winter break right now. One week has already passed, this is the start of my second. When I have to go back...*shudders*...I will be very busy. No time to write, maybe no time to update this blog. Not even on weekends. *sigh*

Also, I have to write a 2K short story for my creative writing club. I haven't done so yet, because I don't know what to write. Every plot I think of cannot fit into a mere 2K, though that's only as far as I've gotten to on my novel! *cries*

Well. I suppose I've already ranted enough on my writing woes. One thing that surprised me today: When I reached my hand inside my bag of hot cheetos, there were practically none left. O_o

Yikes. Anyways today I'm going to be talking about literary lingo. For those of you newbie writers out there who are completely ignorant when you go to these critique groups or writing forums. You find yourself asking stupidly, "What is ___?" Well, I'm about to tell you now.

• WIP=Work In Progress not to be confused with RIP
• MC = Main Character
• MMC = Male Main Character
• FMC = Female Main Character
• SC = Secondary Character not used that often
• IMO = In My Opinion this can go for anything really, but writers tend to politely debate, and so we use this acrony a fair lot
• POV = Point of View like 1st person POV
• YA = Young Adult
• MG = Middle Grade
• SF = Science Fiction
• Fanfiction = A story based on books, TV shows, movies, etc. Harry Potter and mangas are used quite a lot in fanfiction.
• RPG = Role Playing Games, You basically fill out a form for an imaginary character you are going to play, then you and other rpgers will create a story by talking to each other as your imaginary characters.
• Plot Bunny = A plot that has been hopping around your head all day. Usually pops up during a story you are writing. Very bothersome, pestering you with writing them. Often writers send these plot bunnies to Plot Bunny Day Cares, to be picked up once they have finished doing whatever they're doing.
• Mary Sue = A character that is too perfect (nothing can go wrong with them, the odds seem to be always on their side, flawless). Mary Sues are considered to be very cliched, and there can be many variants of them (like writers trying so hard not to make their character into a Mary Sue, they end up making one anyways - this is called an Anti-Sue). They also appear in fanfiction and rpgs. For more information on Mary Sues go here. To see if your character may be a Mary Sue, go here.
• Gary Stu = The male version of a Mary Sue

Well, that's all I can think of right now, if I remember, I'll add more later. My MMC (don't you feel smart now that you know what I'm talking bout?) scored a 26 on the Mary Sue test, which is pretty good, I just need to polish him up a bit. :) But so far, I haven't really gotten to know his personality (because if you've forgotten, I'm only 2K in!). Hope you've gotten a better understanding of literary lingo now.

Also, on that website, they had some pretty funny syndromes which I see often. These are what I'd called another FTSODTP (For The Sake of Developing the Plot). Let me explain: You give your character a syndrome such as antisocial personality disorder so they won't talk to people. It's an easy way to do it, isn't it? Kind of like an excuse. And a lot of these are also bcoming overused.

Anyways, let me include some of them here.

• Changing the spelling of an ordinary name - EG, Alysin, Makynzie, Jayk, Dayve
• Does your character pick up new skills insanely fast? - "It usually takes years to learn this super advanced sword technique, but Mary Sue did it in days! *CoughKurosakiIchigoCough*
• Barbie Doll syndrome - Giving the character the main title for every plot that comes their way, no matter how irrelevant the titles are to each other; Giving them multiple professions/titles that have nothing to do with each other. "Princess Barbie has a medical degree. When she isn't saving the lives of humans, she's cooking top-class dinners at her favorite restaurant and saving the lives of pets everywhere!
• "Rebellious princess syndrome" - Symptoms include complaining about or refusing to wear "ladylike" clothing, refusing aristocratic suitors, generally hating her social position, and possibly even running away to escape marriage."
• Personal fixation/obsession - For example, Darth Vader's obsession with finding Luke Skywalker, Harry Osbourne's fixation with killing Spider-Man in the movies, and Wile E. Coyote's obsession with catching the Roadrunner.

From This Website

These are the ones I found interesting, these are the kinds of things Mary Sue's often have. I'd like to comment on the first and last one. For the first one: Are you noticing that vampires are now being called vampyres, fairies have turned into faeries, and magic is either magyk or magik? Kind of being overused now isn't it... And as for the last post, this is only very Mary Sue if the person has a personal fixation/obsession with someone for no apparant reason. That is horrible! It is one of those FTSODTP things. Eeksa!

That's all for now, folks. My back hurts and when I stretch, it cracks. That is not good. Imma off to write! *arm shoots out to the sky like Superman*

Au revoir, after the break,

Vanille

"If I fall asleep with a pen in my hand, don't remove it - I might be writing in my dreams." - Danzae Pace

P.S. Just keep on ignoring the Read More! things. I'm trying to get it fixed.