Apostrophes and Bibliophiles

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. – Scott Adams

Is it sad that I find literary posters amusing? Click [here] to see Bob the Angry Flower’s take on those dreaded apostrophe rules.

In other news, I printed my NaNoWriMo the other day at the computer lab that I work at (I print everything there because I practically have free printing, my quota is so large), and shock and awe! Somehow, I wrote 177 double-spaced pages in one month. It took me three years to write the prequel. Le sigh.

Oh, and I heard somewhere, I can’t remember where but I have this inkling it was at work, that a mother actually dissuaded her child from getting a book at Toys R’ Us because the toy was cheaper than the book. The bibliohpile in me cries aloud at this. The girl telling the story understood me, and she most emphatically said that a person should never dissuade a child from reading. I ask, why stop at children? I wish people in general would read more often. Perhaps if the people around me were more well-read (such as my neighbor, who likes to say everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that he doesn’t think is cool is “stupid”), then I’d stop worrying about whether my vocabulary is dying or not. Sometimes I worry being a computer engineer has completely drained my creative writing mind.

Anyway, I’m up this late writing because I’ve been studying for my electrical engineering final all day. Which means around midnight, I snapped, and had a solo dance party in my room to work off all my nervous energy. Which means I got my blood pressure up, and even after a quick yoga cool-down, I’m too revved up to go to sleep.

Yet, it seems that writing this last sentence triggered the Sand Man, because my second wind just blew away and I’m exhausted. Good night, you writers, and may the muse be with you.

Big News

I’ve won NaNoWriMo! How exciting. I hope everyone who participated is proud of however much they were able to produce, and that they have donated to the Young Writer’s cause. Even $10 does a lot, so please help! Look me up as worderella on NaNoWriMo for my profile and sample of the text I’ve been working on.

And now, back to studying for finals, writing two surprise essays (gotta love those English teachers…), a couple programs, you know…the usual. :)

Ponderings

Why is it, that during this particular November, I’m getting a lot done? I am, perhaps, the most productive I have ever been, and that’s coupled with the threat of a sinus infection and insomnia. I think it’s because of NaNoWriMo, personally, but that’s just me. There is something very motivating about having that daily goal of 1,667 words looming overhead, just within reach. After talking to people, I realized that I’m using NaNo as a reward each day for completing some task, whether it be a classroom assignment, an important e-mail, or the dishes, among other things.

How many of you are participating in NaNoWrimo?

In other news, I keep finding more writing blogs to read. I have my favorites, such as PODdy Mouth, Miss Snark, History Hoydens, etc, but then those blogs post about and/or quote other blogs, so then I start reading those as well. If you’re interested in any, comment and I’ll list some that have made my second list of favorites.

Who else is excited to see Jim come back to Scranton on The Office tonight?! This girl most definitely is the definition of excitement.

NaNoWriMo

For those of you who are unaware, November is NaNoWriMo (nan-oh-wry-moh) aka National Novel Writing Month. To help celebrate this fact, writers all over the world have joined nanowrimo.org, a website that writers can join and compete to win. The thing is, if you win, you’re really only winning as a writer. Here’s the deal: writers join nanowrimo.org, and by registering, they announce to the world that they’ve accepted nanowrimo.org’s challange to write 50,000 words in one month. For the mathematically inclined, this means each writer needs to average approximately 1,667 words each day during the month of November to accomplish this goal. You win if you get 50,000+ words. If you don’t, you still have words on the page to work with. There isn’t any real prize except the fact that you love writing, you are writing, and in the end, that’s all that matters.

And if you’re curious, yes. This is the first year that I decided to do it. I’ve known about nanowrimo for years, but this is the first time I thought I’d be up to the challange. Funny, how I don’t have time really, and this is when I decide to join, but then…sometimes I feel like I work better under certain types of pressure. And with the completion of The Winslow Charade (the work-in-progress) I was going through some serious writing withdrawal. My NaNo piece this year is the sequel to The Winslow Charade, and I’m really excited about it. The working title of this piece is The Taming of Willem, and it’s about the younger brother of the main character from The Winslow Charade.

If you’re interested in reading, I’m blogging each chapter at . For my fellow NaNo-ers, good luck, and may the muse be with you!

Fairy Tales

Stuck in a rut? Want to begin a new novel (since NaNoWriMo is coming up)? I find that I love fairy tales, and that they have the best themes to make the backbone of any good draft. Tired of the Disney versions? Don’t worry, they are by no means the only and official version of these stories.

Tales of Wonder: folk and fairy tales from around the world.
National Geographic’s Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales: 12 “unvarnished” tales based off a 1914 translation.
Encyclopedia Mythica: focused on the folklore, mythology, and religion from around the world. Split up by region and then by genre.