Huffington Post has a short slideshow of teens Tweeting under the #worstbookever hashtag. Awww. Makes me a little sad to see them throwing shade at some of my favorite books, but I do remember being frustrated by a few during my own high school career. Mostly it was due to disliking the voice or theme or finding the plot resolution unsatisfying; occasionally I just didn't like the characters or the author's views. I still can't really stand Hemingway given how misogynistic I found his works. I think I was the only person in my class who liked SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE, and in fact it's still one of my favorite books.
"Worst books ever" posts make me a bit sad, although I realize that in most of these cases, it's just students venting. Venting's a healthy thing. We all need to do it sometimes. I know I do, though I usually keep it private. But reading these reminds me that sometimes I really miss English and language arts classes, because I did get to read a lot of interesting stuff that I might never have exposed myself to otherwise. What are your thoughts?
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
A few life musings, and some writing progress
Hark! I was a bit undecided about what to post today, but since many people's posting seems to be winding down as the holidays approaches, I figured I'd just do a little personal update.
I finished my semester up about a week ago, and though I only have one left and will need to plan for it in January, I am allowing my mind to not think about school at all now. It has been, as I hoped and expected, extremely refreshing. I have managed to make some decent progress in the novel-that-was-taking-forever-to-start as my creative energies have returned, much to my delight. Don't get me wrong; I've still had some false starts and parts of it feel very drafty. But it's quite a change that I've been able to stare at a computer monitor and relax enough to write instead of wanting to stab my eyeballs with pointy things.
It's funny in light of the fact that so much business elsewhere slows down in December. My school is done for the year, the school where I work just finished its own quarter, and everywhere people are prepping for vacations. I feel I must be crazy to start a new novel, but I find this time of the year invigorating and think I'll be more productive than I have in a while.
I'm taking the next week off, taking my sister to Disneyland since she's home from India this year!, and then driving up north to see my parents from the 20th through probably the New Year (or close to it). It leaves me with an odd feeling that this might be my last blog post of the year, with how busy I'll be up there. All my computer time may be reserved for writing, and even that can be difficult to squeeze in sometimes between obligations and celebrations! But I'm sure I'll squeeze out a post or two as the inspiration strikes.
Also, I will be traveling with the cat. In a carrier. For eight hours. I am not sure how this will go.
I am excited, though! And hope my strange, alien-filled tale will continue to flourish. There's a story-within-the-story, and I'm writing that first, but as I am wont to do, am wordier than is acceptable and getting very into the characters. I fear this will try to become its own novel. No!
2012 is going to bring a lot of events. Aside from finishing up grad school, I'll be working on the novel, probably trying to get some short stories written and published and/or get an agent, eventually searching for a new job (as a librarian for reals this time), maybe traveling, playing maid of honor in the best friend's wedding, and who knows what else. Ack! No, I expect it to be fine for the most part. I hope, for the sake of my sanity. This past semester was stressful enough. Let's look forward with optimism, yes?
Alright, I'll wrap up this short ramble of a blog post and devote myself to thinking of better, and more universally applicable, topics for next time. Happy Holidays and God bless you all! Let me know if you're going to do anything fun, interesting, or unusual.
I finished my semester up about a week ago, and though I only have one left and will need to plan for it in January, I am allowing my mind to not think about school at all now. It has been, as I hoped and expected, extremely refreshing. I have managed to make some decent progress in the novel-that-was-taking-forever-to-start as my creative energies have returned, much to my delight. Don't get me wrong; I've still had some false starts and parts of it feel very drafty. But it's quite a change that I've been able to stare at a computer monitor and relax enough to write instead of wanting to stab my eyeballs with pointy things.
It's funny in light of the fact that so much business elsewhere slows down in December. My school is done for the year, the school where I work just finished its own quarter, and everywhere people are prepping for vacations. I feel I must be crazy to start a new novel, but I find this time of the year invigorating and think I'll be more productive than I have in a while.
I'm taking the next week off, taking my sister to Disneyland since she's home from India this year!, and then driving up north to see my parents from the 20th through probably the New Year (or close to it). It leaves me with an odd feeling that this might be my last blog post of the year, with how busy I'll be up there. All my computer time may be reserved for writing, and even that can be difficult to squeeze in sometimes between obligations and celebrations! But I'm sure I'll squeeze out a post or two as the inspiration strikes.
Also, I will be traveling with the cat. In a carrier. For eight hours. I am not sure how this will go.
I am excited, though! And hope my strange, alien-filled tale will continue to flourish. There's a story-within-the-story, and I'm writing that first, but as I am wont to do, am wordier than is acceptable and getting very into the characters. I fear this will try to become its own novel. No!
2012 is going to bring a lot of events. Aside from finishing up grad school, I'll be working on the novel, probably trying to get some short stories written and published and/or get an agent, eventually searching for a new job (as a librarian for reals this time), maybe traveling, playing maid of honor in the best friend's wedding, and who knows what else. Ack! No, I expect it to be fine for the most part. I hope, for the sake of my sanity. This past semester was stressful enough. Let's look forward with optimism, yes?
Alright, I'll wrap up this short ramble of a blog post and devote myself to thinking of better, and more universally applicable, topics for next time. Happy Holidays and God bless you all! Let me know if you're going to do anything fun, interesting, or unusual.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Playlists post
I'm late with my blog post this week because I've been suffering a bad cold the last few days that has knocked me on my butt and kept me from accomplishing much of...well, anything. So, since my brain and sinuses are fighting me and I always think it's fun when I see other blogs do this, I thought I'd do a playlists post!
I'm not the type of writer who can listen to music when I write (at least not music with lyrics). I like having noise around me, but if there are words, I'll focus too much on them to write my own. Even if those words are in a language I don't know! But I do have mental playlists that help me with inspiration and planning.
Of course, none of you have ever read these books because I'm not published (yet), but oh well.
The first book
The first book I wrote with any seriousness centered on the relationship between a genetically-modified human weapon (who had X-Men-style powers, if we're being honest) and a pacifist revolutionary/war orphan who befriends him after he escapes his facility. It was inspired a lot by Lostprophets and my favorite band ever, Blindside, especially the following songs:
The second and third books
These were both trunk novels that didn't have a mental playlist. Correlation...or causation?
The fourth book
I like to say the fourth book is Trinity Blood meets The Road. A disillusioned mercenary escorts a sick nun to a group of scientists in a world afflicted with a disease that basically turns them into demons or Reavers. Lots of grappling with the beast within for both characters. I listened to a lot of symphonic metal as inspiration, especially E Nomine's "Wolfen (Das Tir in Mir)", which pretty much means "Wolves (The Animal in Me)".
Also of great import were songs like "Mysteria", "Deine Welt", and, since I mentioned Trinity Blood, the theme from that, Buck-Tick's "Dress".
The fifth book
i.e. the barely-in-progress one. This one doesn't have a soundtrack yet, so I'm hoping there is no correlation between lack of that and quality! I think one will come to me as I get more into it, though.
The sixth book
Funny enough, I already have a few mental songs for the book I plan to write next, which is the "What if they were robots?" one I laughed about a post or two back. I don't really watch much anime anymore, but Fullmetal Alchemist is one of my favorite stories ever. I was watching the Brotherhood series and remembered this song from the first series:
And then this song started playing automatically, and some of the imagery starting around 4:50 really struck me:
(No idea what the song is about, though.)
Wow, this post makes it seem like I listen a lot more J-pop than I actually do! I know very little about it, to be honest, but some of it's pretty cool.
Do you create mental playlists for your writing? What are some of the songs you use?
I'm not the type of writer who can listen to music when I write (at least not music with lyrics). I like having noise around me, but if there are words, I'll focus too much on them to write my own. Even if those words are in a language I don't know! But I do have mental playlists that help me with inspiration and planning.
Of course, none of you have ever read these books because I'm not published (yet), but oh well.
The first book
The first book I wrote with any seriousness centered on the relationship between a genetically-modified human weapon (who had X-Men-style powers, if we're being honest) and a pacifist revolutionary/war orphan who befriends him after he escapes his facility. It was inspired a lot by Lostprophets and my favorite band ever, Blindside, especially the following songs:
The second and third books
These were both trunk novels that didn't have a mental playlist. Correlation...or causation?
The fourth book
I like to say the fourth book is Trinity Blood meets The Road. A disillusioned mercenary escorts a sick nun to a group of scientists in a world afflicted with a disease that basically turns them into demons or Reavers. Lots of grappling with the beast within for both characters. I listened to a lot of symphonic metal as inspiration, especially E Nomine's "Wolfen (Das Tir in Mir)", which pretty much means "Wolves (The Animal in Me)".
Also of great import were songs like "Mysteria", "Deine Welt", and, since I mentioned Trinity Blood, the theme from that, Buck-Tick's "Dress".
The fifth book
i.e. the barely-in-progress one. This one doesn't have a soundtrack yet, so I'm hoping there is no correlation between lack of that and quality! I think one will come to me as I get more into it, though.
The sixth book
Funny enough, I already have a few mental songs for the book I plan to write next, which is the "What if they were robots?" one I laughed about a post or two back. I don't really watch much anime anymore, but Fullmetal Alchemist is one of my favorite stories ever. I was watching the Brotherhood series and remembered this song from the first series:
And then this song started playing automatically, and some of the imagery starting around 4:50 really struck me:
(No idea what the song is about, though.)
Wow, this post makes it seem like I listen a lot more J-pop than I actually do! I know very little about it, to be honest, but some of it's pretty cool.
Do you create mental playlists for your writing? What are some of the songs you use?
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