Writing For 100 Days (Actually, 101)

As a college student, one of the most difficult ideas to wrap my head around was how to sneak my writing into my schedule. During my last semester, I held three jobs: one 15+ hours/week, one 12 hours/week, and one 2 hours/week. In addition to that, I was taking all English classes--including my senior seminar and a fiction workshop. With more than 100 pages to read every night, writing for fun was daunting.

I'll admit it, I did not write a lot that semester. Or any semester of college, in fact. My priority for good grades outweighed my writing goals. 

One of my friends changed this. The entire time I've known him (a little more than a year now), he has been asking me, "Did you write today?" Of course, I would answer, "No, I have a lot of homework..." Glancing at me, he'd respond, "Come on, you have to write." 

When I graduated, he'd come up with an idea: To write every day, and after so many days, to increase that amount. We started at 1000 words and have worked our way up to 2000. I had my doubts at first, but overall it's been a rewarding experience. 

Writing every day no matter what empties me, calms me, gives me something to look forward to at the end (or the beginning) of the day. I can also remember what I've written, which is lucky since I have a hard time keeping track of what my character's look like. It gives me a chance to finish a project--and this I love since writing every day, increasing the amount, would be great for a first draft. Part of my 100 days was spent writing one. 

Yet, keeping on track can be overwhelming, and I am reaching that point now. To have to sit down every day and work on something that that is not as exciting as it once was...drains your spirit. 

101 days of writing--straight, no breaks, no skips--is giving me clarity into what I want my writing routine to look like, for current and future projects. What once was a jumbled mess of "how will I fit it into my schedule?", becomes a way to not only keep myself from getting drained, but also teaches me how to fit writing (the equivalent of breathing) into my work schedule. 

At this point in the process, I am not sure how long I will continue writing for the next 101+ days, but I know I will make every effort. 

#FP - Week Two

Week two is brought to you by these five Friday Phrases, from Friday's past!

• She ran. The portal was on the other side of campus. If she wasn't quick enough, the battle would be lost. Her father would be killed.

• As she wrote in her notebook, she found a small note stuck on the other side of the cover. "Write my story next, please?"

• In the late hours researching, she fell asleep with her head bent, smelling the pages of the book. Marvelous.

• The old man was said to have possessed magic. But on the other side of his fingernails, we found no trace of it.

• He didn’t want to go to sleep. As soon as he closed his eyes, he would witness a nightmare—a hell he couldn’t escape. 

Welcome to My Bookshelf

My current "to read" pile. There are more on my shelf.
I wonder when this will topple over...

As we get to know each other more, I decided it would be interesting to give you a tour of the books on my "favorites shelf." Originally, I was able to fit all of my favorites on it; however, since then my collection of books has grown to encompass the top row of two bookshelves, and, really, no shelf at all.



There are some that have earned their place on my "favorites shelf" more recently. Such as:

• The Essential Don Murray, by Thomas Newkirk and Lisa C. Miller. I bought this book for class with only one thought in mind: "Who is Don Murray and why is he essential?" As I read, it was strange. Don Murray was an old friend. I recognized his advice that had been sparkled across my Twitter feed, my Writer's Digest magazines, and many more books. This collection of essays was so interesting to me and full of good advice.

• This is NOT A Writing Manual, by Kerri Majors. No exercises or anything of the sort to follow. The author presents her journey into the writing world and everything that helped her along the way. After finishing it, I found a list of possible jobs young writers want to go into. When I told one of my friends about this book, she had only one question: Why doesn't the creative writing curriculum at our school make this a required reading?

Other books have made their claim on my shelf, and will remain there. 

• Shel Silverstein. My guess is that the first book of his I received was Where the Sidewalk Ends, since that book is the one that is splitting down the middle. As a kid, I loved to read his poems and fall up into whatever world he created there. Life can be chaotic, especially once reaching adulthood. These remind me to have fun with whatever I'm doing or whatever project I'm working on. I read his book so often when I was little that now when I free write my own poetry, it comes out sounding similar to his. 

• The Barnum Museum, by Stephen Millhauser.  It's a book of Millhauser's short stories, and they are so wonderfully crafted that I want to scream to the world to read them. Yet...then again, he is such a good writer that I want to keep this secret to myself. A lot of it is description, but it's interesting (aka not Nathaniel Hawthorne) description. And its fantasy. 

What do you mean, obsessed with Harry Potter?
(Below is an extension of the favorite's shelf.)

(Sidenote: Harry Potter, my favorite book series, would be on my favorites shelf, except it doesn't have a place on my shelf since it would take up so much of it. It sits on top of my shelf, along with many other books on the subject, an extra Chamber of Secrets DVD, and two VHS's from the first two films.) 

What books are on your favorite's shelf? I would love to hear! 

#FP - Week 1

I have been keeping track of my Friday Phrases, thanks to Timehop!

How about I share them? Every Friday, until I run out (or come up with more!). They will include some that are recent, but most will be older.

Week One

• Eleanor’s voice was calm. “My story will be heard—that time will come. Until then, I wait my turn on the other side of Jessica’s brain.”

digitalblasphemy.com 

• “To get out of the book,” he said, “You have to work your way through the book—to the other side. When it’s the end, you’ll be free.”

• “The other side of the universe is a far drive m’lady, just relax.” Heeding the captain’s words, I pulled my book out and started to read.

• This world was perfect, but not like the other. Touching the mirror’s cold glass, she wondered how she could get back to the other side.

• On the other side of the bookcase, she found no hidden passageway. She found a book that had fallen: the diary of her great grandmother. 

Behind The Title

At the end of my last semester, I sat in my fiction professor’s office to hear his critique on the revision I’d submitted. It was a stroke of luck that I’d been able to submit it in the first place.  

I’d given him the first twenty pages of my work in progress, “Realm.” In the other fiction workshops I’d taken I was required to write anything other than genre fiction, which to me was nothing at all. All of my ideas are fantasy fiction. Currently, my revision is a portal fantasy (so far, untitled) and my work in progress ("Realm") is high fantasy.

Once I listened to what my professor had to say, I grabbed my backpack and turned to walk out of the door.

Except as I stepped out of his office, I stumbled back in, pulled by a great force that could only mean my backpack strap was caught on the latch of the door. One of my classmates sat in the lounge on a couch, her laughter filling the small space. My professor, also laughing, asked, “Are you okay?” and I muttered a quiet, “I’m fine,” before I walked away.

Imagine that, the last encounter with my fiction professor.

I strode down the hall, still laughing, and it wasn’t until I reached the stairs that I remembered something a good friend of mine told me.  

We were in the Writing Center at our school, where I used to tutor. Discussion had popped up (as it usually did, since most of us were English majors) on what our memoir will be titled. She had already come up with hers, one of deep meaning that was based off of a song. I loved the sound of it.

“What about me?” I asked. If I come up with titles, it would have to be first, and I wasn’t about to listen to all of the songs on my iTunes.

Without skipping a beat, half-joking, she replied, “My Awkward Life.”

It’s the same answer she gave me when I asked her what I should call my blog.

True, she meant it as a joke, but to me it was more than that. Everyone’s life is awkward, and moments like this are ones we relate to. And someone who spends the majority of her time staring at a computer screen, playing with her imaginary friends, is about as awkward as you can get.