Novel writing 101

Like the title? I incorporated 101 into the title, since this is post number 101... ok i'll shut up now...

So as I wait here at work for a friend to pick me up I'm going to spend my time (semi) productively; writing a Post, yo. As per my self-enforced rules, I am going to blog about an observation I have made. It may not make for a long post, but we'll see how it goes.

You can tell what kind of novellist a person would be by listening to them tell a story. Naturally this thought has been on my mind due to NaNoWriMo. But it's true. Check out these examples:

• The taller-every-time-they-tell-it-taler: these are the kind of writers who will write a lousy first draft, pretty close to the general flow of things, but really boring. Then with every redraft, the story becomes more and more dramatic, until finally you have a very tall tale indeed. I'd say, as a novellist, this kind of person would be the compulsive redrafter. Some may call them compulsive liars, but generally they see themselves as masterful storytellers, making any topic or event interesting or entertaining.

• The "they said 'hello'... Oh wait, it might have been 'hi...'" teller: these guys are notorious nitpickers. Generally their first draft will take forever to write because they will try to edit as they go, in an attempt to edit-as-they-go. I can safely say, while currently over 15 000 words behind in my NaNo Novel, that this is my type.

• The "OhMiGod I forgot about that part" teller. These guys often think of details after the fact that they have to go back to add in. This happens with a lot of writers, and presumably a lot of story tellers too. I've experienced my fair share of this over the last 17 days, and I'm only on chapter 4...

Anyway, gotta leave it at that. Might edit more in later. I'll add the photo in later too, seeing as this app won't let me post photos :(.
Till then...

Bible reading progress: still on Psalms and Acts. Man, those are long books!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

100TH BLOG POST, YO

I know, I know, I haven't been here in, like, FOREVER. I have my reasons, ok! But we'll get to those later.

It has probably taken me far longer than necessary to reach this goal, and I have to be honest, I spent a lot of time deliberating what I should make this post about. I feel like it should be a defining moment for me, here. A turning point, if you will. Maybe I should have a party? Or, you know, not.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. In general, about this here blog specifically, about other things specifically too. I think my blog needs an overhaul of sorts. I'm not necessarily talking a makeover, although, that might be nice too; I'm talking about the content I post here. It's never very consistent, and I get the constant urge to keep making new blogs in a effort to compartmentalise my assorted ramblings. I don't think this is the answer though... No, I'm going to set myself some guidelines to go by, firstly, to avoid that little trap that so many bloggers fall into, the i've-got-no-idea-what-i-want-to-blog-about trap; and secondly, so you guys can all have at the very least a vague idea of what to expect.

I'm not making promises here, but gosh darnit i'm giving it a darn good go. I'm going back to studying next year (all going well with my application) (more on that story later), and I have no idea how much time I'll have for this kind of thing, since I'm yet to even see a mock-up timetable. I will make an effort to fit it in though, and that will be made all the easier by me forming diligent blogging habits here and now. So, here's a vague mock-up of what I plan to do here:

• 1 weekly post on life in general, in recount format. This is assuming you guys are interested in hearing about my life, which, if you've already hit the follow button, I think we can safely assume.
• 1 observational/speculative post, musings on life, the universe and everything. Or, you know, other things...
• AT LEAST 1 weekly progress report on how my creative pursuits are fairing. Whether it be knitting, painting, violin-ing, anything-else-ing. This will (hopefully) keep me on track.

All of the above posts must contain the following:

• A photograph, relating to/taken on the day/week of the post
• A stat-tag tracking my bible reading progress
• At least 1 other stat-tag.

I feel this is all fair enough, since I have the gall to call myself the CreativeMachine. I figure maybe I should prove to you guys that I am actually somewhat worthy of the title. Ideally, posts will be daily, or at least once every two days, but there's no accounting for what life might throw at me, so I refuse to go about making any more PieCrustPromises*. That habit is one i intend to put behind me. :D

I hope all you guys are looking forward to the new "me"** as I am.

ALSO!! For the record, the "SEEKRIT PROJECT" I mentioned may or may not be happening in blog form. I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you about it. Right. So. I had this idea. Since I do a have a heck of a lot of cute little ideas for comic strips and such (what? you... didn't know? I guess I forgot to mention... oops) I thought maybe I should actually go about making them, and then converting them to a distributable format (zine, anyone?) and possibly sell them, or something. Then, I thought, that since I don't necessarily have the largest audience here, maybe I should just do it as a WebComic... or something. Don't get too excited yet, the idea is still just a seed, it has a loooong way to go before being read for such a thing. I know, i mentioned it ages ago, and as such, it should be more ready than it is, but it's not. See next paragraph. I will let you guys know when I have it set up, and I will provide a link. I do have a lot of work to do before then, so don't hold your breath. Please. Don't die on account of my laziness.

Now, I believe I promised you guys some gosh darn excuses.

1. Four words: National. Novel. Writing. Month. For the record, I'm way behind. Like, 12,000 words behind, or something. It's my first NaNoWriMo, and I haven't paced myself very well. Just as a forewarning, you can expect most of these posts, up until November 30, to be fairly short, as I save my word-generating self for the arduous task of writing a novel. Wish me... blessings! and Godspeed of the fingers! and such...
2. Like I said, I spent a lot of time deliberating how I should attack this post. I put it off, because I wanted it to be good, or, at the very least, meaningful. I think I might have maybe achieved that.
3. Procrastination, yo.

Anyway, as per my lovely new rules, here are some stat-tags for your enjoyment:

Bible reading: Currently working my way (very slowly) through both Psalms and Acts. Both fantastic. Reading the Message version, for some reason it seems to hit home a little harder (for me at least)

Absurd T-shirt caption of the day: Haikus are easy. But sometimes they don't make sense. Refrigerator. (lol, get it? it's a haiku :P)

I think that'll do, for nao. Hopefully I'll see you tommorow :D

*Easily made, easily broken - Mary Poppins.

**That is, the new version of me as implied by the ramblings posted here by me.

I really do love you...

It just occurred to me that I might be turning into one of those people who customizes their blog more often than they update it. This simply will not do. SO here you go; a decent-sized chunk of genuine content JUST for you <3

There are a few things I've been wanting to share with you guys, starting with just how much I love you all. I decided to get the sappy one out of the way first XD. It's true, though. You guys keep me coming back here to share stuff with you and include you in my life. Granted, not as often as you or I might wish, but still. I wouldn't be here typing this post to you all right now if this wasn't how I felt.

I cop a lot of flack for being the kind of person who'd rather spend time online relating to people on the other side of the world than spend it relating to people right here face to face. I defend myself for this though. While my social awkwardness has something to do with my preference to spend time alone on the net, largely, that's not what keeps me online for so long. Parties rarely keep me up past midnight - I bail early because they don't excite me. Online, however, over this past year (I think it's been about a year now) since I have started getting into Youtube and became a Nerdfighter (YAY my first nerdfighter anniversary :D) I've developed friendships with people who live in places I'd never even heard of, I collaborate with some of them now on our own youtube channel, I've read many books highly recommended by other nerdfighters and really enjoyed them, and I feel closer to some of these people than I do to some friends irl. I honestly can't think of a single bad thing that has happened to me caused by the internet over the past year*, whereas real life has dealt me a great many blows. I won't share details here, but pretty much every single one of them were caused by, or could have been prevented by my mother. Translation: I need to move out. /whining.

I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to you guys, since while life has been a roller coaster, this is one part of my life which hasn't changed, and it's been like a lifeline at times for me. Thankfully, this roller coaster we call life is currently on the up-and-up, which means I may be loosening my grip a little on the lifeline, now that things aren't so dire.

It feels so funny to write this though... I almost feel bad for relying on the internet so much to get me through. Not because you guys haven't been completely dependable for a quick pick-me-up when life switches the suck switch on. More that, it illustrates to me just how much I haven't been relying on God for these things. I mean, I guess I blame my mum for bad stuff that happens as a result of her actions, but if I had depended more on God through those times, maybe my actions wouldn't have fanned the flame to quite the extent that they did. There's no point in fretting over past mistakes though. The only thing I can do now is learn from these mistakes and grow. Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to desert y'all. You'll just be getting less of the i'm-so-down-and-need-to-cheer-up-so-cheer-me-up-internet me and more of the HEY-EVERYONE-HOWS-IT-GOING-I'M-SO-HAPPY-AND-FULL-OF-LIFE me. Which is a good thing. :D

Moving on.

Currently, I am working on my portfolio to get into the Diploma of Graphic Design course I've been wanting to get into for next year. It's due next Friday, so I'm flat out getting everything done, but I reckon I can pull it all together. It's all pretty much planned out now, and all I have to do is now do it, pretty much. Just so you guys know what I'm up to and where I'm at.

There is something else I wanted to mention while I am here. If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll be aware that a few months ago (oh gosh it's been that long already?!) I mentioned that I was working on a SEKRIT PROJECT. Well, the time is coming closer for me to announce it to you all :D so keep watching this space for more details.

To take us out, I've decided to kill the possibility of an awkward, drawn-out sign off by posting some little post-by-post... thingies... I actually have no idea what they're called, but they look like this:

Posts left until 100: 1 (nearly there!)

Bible verse of the moment: Isaiah 54:4 - inspirational

Days until portfolio is due: 10 (eeek!)

*well, other than videos not uploading or getting yelled at for using up our monthly download quota by halfway through the month - it turns out that while that might have been partly my fault, it happened the next month after like, 3 days. It's impossible to watch that much YT in that short amount of time, and no one else was downloading anything big... so we concluded that someone close by was leeching our wireless. We fixed the problem, though, and had no more trouble since. Did you enjoy that pointless tangent-like anecdote? Did you? :P

Microblogging from the tearoom

It's lunchtime folks! That means time for another microblog!
So, what shall I talk about? Of all the topics that affect people on a daily basis, which shall I select to disect and inspect? :P*

Well, first, I'm going to give you one big fat excuse for my lack of presence here in this lovely little online community. It's this thing called life. From being too sick to sit infront of a computer, to being occupied for every waking hour of my day, life has this way of overiding my necessity to jump online and share stuff with you guys. It's not that I don't still love you all, it's that I'd have nothing to tell you if I didn't go out once in a while and actually live :).
Having said that, you should know my next video for SM is filmed, I just need to edit and upload. I will endeavour to do this as soon as I can, life permitting.

Ok my lunchtime has just about come to an end, so I'll be seeing you all soon! Love you all, and I haven't forgotten you, it'll get there eventually...

Kbai!

Posts until I reach 100: 2 (sweeeeet ^_^)

*wow, I'm a poet and I didn't even realise the fact :P

-- Posted from my iPhone

I guess I owe you guys some 'me' time

One of the joys of having an iPhone is that I can freely blog from my bed at any obscene hour, even while I should be sleeping. So, since I haven't posted properly in forever, here I am.
A lot of you will be aware that I have been sick of late. It has been rather unfun, and plenty frustrating. One thing I now know about myself is that I am terrible at being sick. I hate calling in sick, I hate lying in bed all day, although I don't mind letting people make me tea and breakfast in bed - that, I could get used to :). I hate taking medicine, being told to take it easy, and to get well soon. I hate it even more when all these things don't work, and I end up taking weeks to get better. I'm mostly better now. It turns out sleeping all day is one of he best things you can do while sick. I know, I already said I hate lying in bed all day, but I don't mind sleeping all day. 2 different things. Lying in bed consists of attempting to sleep for hours and failing miserably, resulting in a failure to escape consiousness and in turn, escape the reality of being sick. Sleeping all day, on the other hand, is bliss, because it serves not only as the best cure, but the best escape :)
Moving on... I'm going to take a minute or two to talk about all he awesome tv watching I've been doing whilst incapacitated. Tuesday night was the long-awaited return of NCIS. If you know me well, you'll know this is my current favourite show. Season 7 episode 1 blew my mind. All I'm gonna say. I love that show, and that episode was just... Wow... What can I say? Wednesday night was the premiere of a new spinoff series, NCIS LA. I like the characters, but it has a way to go before it can sit up there next to NCIS on my list of favourite shows. I haven't written it off, it's just too early for me to love these characters and in turn enthuse these plotlines (w00t 2am grammar) as much as I do the original series. I will say this for it though: the characters are built strong and even the toughtest among them seem lovable enough. The one thing that did confuse me was the lack of presence from Macy, who was team leader when the characters made an appearance in the original series before the spinoff. I know there has been a big gap in between, a location change of HQ and such, but I just can't see why she wasn't there.
ANYway, Tonight was Thursday, which meant Glee. We in Australia just got episode 3, so that puts us approximately...is it 2 weeks behind you guys in the states? It was the josh groban episode... Anyway, awesome as always. That was the only show I intended to watch tonight, but the tv stayed on for some reason, and we ended up watching burn notice as well. It has been forever since I watched that show, but it never fails to disappoint. (1 p? 2? ah who knows? For that matter, who cares?)

Ok I might stop there. A huge long post on little other than my tv habits... I need a life. Or do I? With so much awesome tv to watch, who needs a life?
Ignore that. It's the cough medicine speaking, I swear. I'll hopefully be back to normal soon.

Posts left until I reach 100: 3

<3

-- Posted from my iPhone

Ebay Australia

Just wanted to point out the awesomeness of the greeting on the Australian version of popular internet auction website eBay:

I noticed on other versions, it merely says "Welcome" or "Hello" or "Hi".

[insert part where I rant about how wonderful and homely it feels when websites make you feel at home by using your local colloquialisms here]

That's all for now I guess. Bigger post later :)

Posts Left until I reach 100: 4

Tuesday the fifteenth. A day to remember...

For these reasons*:

• I went out with my sister for the first time in ages. We went to the Queensland Art Gallery to see and exhibition on American Impressionism and Realism, which looked at the impressionist movement as a whole, and showed how American and Australian artists contributed and influenced the next generation of artists.
• I read on twitter while waiting to meet up with my sister before going that Patrick Swayze lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. Such a shame. Then, later, I hear that TV-chef-whom-i-previously-had-never-heard-of had also lost his battle with cancer. Really not a good day for celebrities with cancer.
• I finally discovered the problem relating to why I couldn't upload my SnailMates video. It is, if i am not mistaken, in the process of uploading as I type, and will probably be up by the time you read this, so if you're keen to watch me read Sean's letter, click this link.

I'm pretty sure the rest of the day's events were fairly run-of-the-mill. Dan Brown's new book The Lost Symbol came out today. I preordered my copy from booktopia.com for cheap, so i'll be expecting its arrival quite soon. I actually liked Brown's first 4 books, and enjoyed the level of intrigue and suspence he so eloquently employs in order to compell you to keep reading. What i didn't like were his controversial claims about christianity. I know, I know, you've all heard this debate a million times, so I won't go into it, but at least now you know where i stand.

But yeah. Rest of the day, as i said, run-of-the-mill. Got home, showered, tossed a salad, ate in front of the TV, came into my room to check twitter and try for the nth time to upload the video, which is now, JUST THIS SECOND, successfully uploaded. You have no idea just how relieved i am**.

Ok. I'm about ready to post this now, since it is an obscenely late hour for someone like me who has to work in the morning, and also since i've run out of things to say.

Posts left until I reach 100: 5 (omgomgomg)

*YAY dot-point blogs!

** Well, maybe you do... i really shouldn't assume that you don't... how rude of me... so, if you've ever had that thing where you try something a million times and it doesn't work, and then you discover that the problem was a tiny one that was easy to overlook, and then fix it and FINALLY after all that get it to upload, well then i guess you know how I feel :D

That last one didn't count

Ok, since the last post was a questionaire, I feel like i cheated you guys out of an ACTUAL post about my life. Truthfully, that makes me feel kinda bad. So, if only to eliminate the guilt hanging over my head, here is another, PROPER* blog post.

So today has been fairly good, as far as days off work go. I woke up, decided to check my twitter on my phone, realised my computer was left on overnight when skype went off, spent a good hour and a half chatting to the other two thirds of my collab channel SnailMates before indulging in beef flavoured 2 minute noodles, kept switching back and forth between chatting on skype, checking twitter, watching videos in my sub box and reading blogs until i decided it was about time to film myself opening Sean's letter, went about doing that, watched tv for a while with my sister, tore myself from the screen as my stomach demanded sustainence via a low and dissatisfied grumble, made and ate food as we watched neighbours, the 7PM project and 2 episodes of the simpsons, and then came in here to edit, but decided to procrastinate through the medium of blog post. Longest sentence ever? You decide.

So i was just mentally running through all the possible ideas for a blog post, and realised i don't really have all that much to share. I made a video today, which i have yet to edit and upload to the collab channel. I also, in the past week, finished both The Hunger Games and its sequel Catching Fire. I really badly want to review them as well, but that will have to wait a few days. I don't like reviewing immediately after i finish reading something, because i tend not to look at it objectively enough. For example, I loved the twilight series just after i'd finished reading it. Now, i can't stand the sight of it**. It's always a bad idea to review something just after you're done experiencing it, be it a concert, a play, a movie, a book, or any other creative experience.

As far as my life goes, not much of it is really worth chronicalling here, seeing as it bores even me to think about it. I actually had a friend ask me the other day what i do with my free time, and i shamefully didn't know what to tell him. Like, "oh yeah, i spend hours of my free time reading books, and watching videos on youtube made by people on the other side of the world, and, um, on twitter." It seems like, between travelling to and from work, eating, sleeping and thinking about what to do with the years of my life i still have left ahead of me, there's really not that much else there. Now don't get me wrong. I love all my friends I have online. I guess in a way, i tell you guys more than i'd tell people i know in person.

BUT enough about what i will NOT be writing about here. HERE is supposeed to be the place where I tell you guys MAGICAL and WONDERFUL things from the land down under... with the occasional insect-related anecdote thrown in. Also, i'm meant to inform you guys of NEWS and other things of informative nature that you might display a mild interest in.

Instead, here is where i'm going to end my poor, sorry excuse for a blog post, and hope that maybe, tomorrow's will be better. For, hopefully, i will be back again tomorrow. I actually have a reason to come back here tomorrow and TELL you guys about THINGS that happen in my LIFE. You know, that LIFE thing that i HAVE.

That's about as far as this blog post will allow itself to be drawn out, anyway, so I bid thee farewell.

Until tomorrow.

*DISCLAIMER: blog post may or may not be as proper as originally intended

**which, by the way, i happen to see almost daily, since the pharmacy i work in is across from a bookstore.

Nerdfightastic Questionaire

Ok, so i know this quiz is a few weeks old, but i thought i'd give you guys my answers anyway.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 11:15am to the sounds of Skype going off.

2. How do you like your steak?: juicy medium rare.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Harry Potter 6, originally on my own, but then i ran into another friend from High School who was also seeing it by herself, so we saw it together :P
4. What is your favorite TV show? ugh. So many to choose from. At the moment, NCIS still tops my list... but i REALLY wish they'd fasttrack season 7 already.
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?I've been contemplating this for a while, but I would have to say that splitting my time between Brisbane and say London or New York in such a way that I will never have to live through another winter again would be awesome :D
6. What did you have for breakfast? 2 minute noodles. Beef flavoured. yeugh.
7. What is your favorite cuisine? Italian or mexican and some indian
8. What foods do you dislike? Olives, anchovies, and beef flavoured 2 minute noodles. :P
9. Favorite Place to Eat? Fasta Pasta
10. Favorite dressing? French.
11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Landcruiser Prado (my mum's. I promise I am NOT a soccermum.) BUT when I get a car, i want a Suzuki Swift :)
12. What are your favourite clothes? i'd say my togs, but i lack the body confidence, so i'll stick with spring dresses :D
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? America and England
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Most of the time i have half full tendancies, but if a lot of things are getting me down, i find it hard to ignore.
15. Where would you want to retire? somewhere along the Queensland coastline.
16. Favorite time of day? early afternoon
17. Where were you born? Brisbane, Australia
18. What is your favourite sport to watch? National Rugby League (NRL)
22. Bird watcher? On occasion.
23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night owl by nature, unless work requires me to be up at an early hour, in which case i have to force my night owl to become an early bird.
24. Do you have any pets? The family owns a dog and a cat. Currently I don't have any pets of my own, but I've had my fair share of guinea pigs
25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? I just applied for the diploma of Graphic Design that i want to start next year. Yay?
26. What did you want to be when you were little? when i was three i wanted to be a ballerina
27. What is your best childhood memory? My first trip to the Ekka (aka the Royal Brisbane Show) (ekka = exhibition)
28. Are you a cat or dog person? Cats are easier to share a bed with, and they make great hot water bottles
29. Are you married? No.
30. Always wear your seat belt? Of course. Me, break the law? Never...
31. Been in a car accident? nope
32. Any pet peeves? Too many to name. Mostly related to customers. You get that in retail, i guess.
33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? Hawaiian or Vegetarian.
34. Favorite Flower? Anything that is not stuck on the back of cars (ie. frangipanis) :P Frangipani stickers on cars? Australia says NO
35. Favorite ice cream? Love Potion 31 from Baskin & Robins
36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Hanaichi (japanese) or Salsa's (mexican)
37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? I failed the learners test twice by one point each time.
38. From whom did you get your last email? Probably YouTube :P.
39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Well, for one, i don't have a credit card (probably a good thing) and secondly, i wouldn't even if i did. I has a monie smartz.
40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Not really. I'm a monotonous kinda girl.
41. Like your job? It's nice enough.
42. Broccoli? No thanks. I thought we were trying to SAVE the trees.
43. What was your favorite vacation? Stradbroke Island. Best. Ever.
44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Saddest thing ever? I don't remember the last time i went out for dinner.
45. What are you listening to right now? The freeway and my dad and sister talking in the kitchen.

Time for another insect anecdote !!

~Reader's Note: this post was written a few days ago, but failed to upload. For contextual purposes, the night I am talking about is Sunday 30th of August~

So, last night, my dad got back to Brisbane after 2 weeks working in Papua New Guinea. It was then decided that we would go to our cousin's place for a cup of tea.
After my cousin finished preparing tea for everyone, my mother was on the verge of taking a sip when a fly, out of nowhere, divebombed into her tea.
Apparently, this fly had been buzzing round the room all day, getting slower and lazier as the day went on. As the discussion wore on, it was decided that this fly was a bogan fly. You know, the kind that sit on the couch wearing singlet, stubbies and pluggers, drinking beer all day in front of the footy.

Said Bogan fly has no name.

We wondered what compelled this fly to divebomb in such a fashion. Had he lost the will to live? Did the honey in mum's tea attract him so strongly his weary mind could not resist?

Anyway, boganfly, along with the rest of the tea, was washed down the drain. And there he stays to this very day.

Dearest readers, I wish to honour this fly. If you can think up a suitable name for this sad critter, please leave it in the comments. I seem to have made a habit of naming all the critters I come across, so this time, I'm letting you guys in on the fun :P I'd make it a competition but I got no prize :(. Well, none other than your suggestion will be chosen as the new name for NoNameFly.

Happy Suggesting :)


-- Post From My iPhone