An English teacher told me this years ago and I have kept it and put it in my pocket to save for times like right now.
From zero to ten you belong to your parents
From ten to twenty you belong to your peers
At twenty you belong to yourself until you give the rest of your life to your family.
It always seemed strange to me that the for yourself was so short- but right now it's just right. :)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo (aka National Novel Writing Month) is something I have wanted to do for a loooong time. Something about buckling down and writing a damn novel in a month seemed like a fascinating albeit daunting thing. For years I saw friends take part in the joy and agony and creative wordsmithery that was novel writing, but I could never do it myself. There was always some reason or another- I didn't have time, I didn't have an idea, I didn't feel like it... whatever.
This year, however, I have no excuses. I have time, I have a damn good idea that has been rattling around in my head for a while and I actually want to get it out. But how?
When I first signed on I was so jacked! Finally I'd have some work of fiction under my belt! Hadn't I always wanted to try my hand at creative writing in a serious way? Of course! I love fiction!
Then it hit me: I have NO IDEA where to start. All I had were characters and a vague sci-fi idea. I calmed my inner turmoil and thought, okay, so maybe I don't have a plot, but I have characters. That's a start... what next? Setting, okay I can do that... and I did. I wrote out an entire universe in a day. Politics, religions, past wars... it wasn't perfect, but it was a setting. I spent the next day thinking about my characters in my setting and it all began to make sense. A story developed. I wrote a short, 500 or so word scene, just to prove to myself I could. I read it back and hey, it wasn't half bad.
After that I walked away from the typing for a while. Let the ideas simmer (that is, I got sick and forgot to write anything). When I came back to it, I felt... ready. Scared still that I'd have nothing, but I wanted to try. Now I've got two scenes, an outline of the first four chapters, a guide to the universe and seven character bios. It's not much as far as novels go, but it's certainly something- and more than I would have if I'd never tried at all.
So wish me luck, I'm an author now!
This year, however, I have no excuses. I have time, I have a damn good idea that has been rattling around in my head for a while and I actually want to get it out. But how?
When I first signed on I was so jacked! Finally I'd have some work of fiction under my belt! Hadn't I always wanted to try my hand at creative writing in a serious way? Of course! I love fiction!
Then it hit me: I have NO IDEA where to start. All I had were characters and a vague sci-fi idea. I calmed my inner turmoil and thought, okay, so maybe I don't have a plot, but I have characters. That's a start... what next? Setting, okay I can do that... and I did. I wrote out an entire universe in a day. Politics, religions, past wars... it wasn't perfect, but it was a setting. I spent the next day thinking about my characters in my setting and it all began to make sense. A story developed. I wrote a short, 500 or so word scene, just to prove to myself I could. I read it back and hey, it wasn't half bad.
After that I walked away from the typing for a while. Let the ideas simmer (that is, I got sick and forgot to write anything). When I came back to it, I felt... ready. Scared still that I'd have nothing, but I wanted to try. Now I've got two scenes, an outline of the first four chapters, a guide to the universe and seven character bios. It's not much as far as novels go, but it's certainly something- and more than I would have if I'd never tried at all.
So wish me luck, I'm an author now!
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