Author: Shoshana

The morning after

by Shoshana, posted in Uncategorized

The insomnia continued all night and I got NO rest last night. Yet this morning I did manage to revise my story – which is now, with page breaks and some edits, twenty-eight pages of solid writing. Solid  by which I mean solid prose. In the end, I realized in the reread that it was a liiiiiiittle too derivative of other things I’ve read/watched before and will probably need a good brushing to get all the ‘reminds me too much of’ away from it.

In the meantime though… yikes. Twenty-eight pages in a very short period of time. And it’s not bad either! A solid short story in one sitting. I’m really proud of this one.

Though… heh, one problem? Main character’s name? Javi. Main girl? Nava. Na+vi = AVATAR. That movie is too much in my head. Name changes ahoy!

Short story explosion- Javi’s story

by Shoshana, posted in Uncategorized

In the spirit of my insomniac-induced writing mania, I submit for your approval the following recounting of this evenings insanity. I took a nap due to having a headache for three hours, woke up at 9:45 and realized  I could get some work done for a while. I went to the little writer’s room for a powder and came out, having an idea for a short story. It was sort of inspired by Avatar, which I saw recently (and was amazing) and by this article I read in National Geographic last month about a tribe in Africa which had no concept of time because they lived in a pre-agricultural, hunter/gatherer society.

Out came a story I’ve named Javi’s Story. It is twenty-five pages, which I wrote in three hours at 9,841 words. I cannot BEGIN to tell you how incredible this writing experience was. The words just seemed to flow out of me and though the story is not unique (how many coming of age stories can be?) I think this one has its own ups and downs. I’m not sure I like the ending, to be honest, but I don’t have the heart to revisit it right now. I jut want it to sit… and be what it is right now. Which is a piece of writing born in a bleery-eyed whirlwind.

The biggest part about all this? It is COMPLETED. Revisions be damned, this one I did beginning to end in one sitting. And that’s a big deal for me. Tomorrow, I will celebrate my birthday with some people, have a good couple of days, and get back to writing the other story I was working on. For now, this one is completed and that’s enough for me.

Now to get to bed. I have to be up in less then five hours.

Old Projects Come Back

by Shoshana, posted in Uncategorized

Tonight apparently is the night of exhausted writing drives, because I got one hell of a push to get into the writing saddle this evening. This is after, of course, falling asleep on the train on the way home from work. When I got in the door, I thought for sure I wouldn’t get a thing done. Who knew I’d be writing for nearly two hours? It’s totally amazing what can happen when you get your second wind.

So recently I tried a new project: getting back to old work. One of my biggest problems, which I may have mentioned before, is often finishing projects. I begin big projects, usually coming up with dozens of characters and large sweeping plots, and then have some serious problems finishing up to the end. I peter out somewhere between the 60-120 page mark, leaving my characters unresolved and a good idea floundering in the land of unfinished plots. This, I decided, had to change, so I started to figure out ways to make that happen.

The answer came to me with a trip to Staples and the expenditure of some serious amounts of paper (and cash). I went ahead and printed out and bound one copy of each of the major stories that I had begun and didn’t finish. This would be tangible proof of the work I had done so far and the projects that I so far had left unresolved. What I ended up with was as follows:

  • One copy of my NaNo project from 2006 (approx. 80 pages)
  • One copy of my NaNo project from 2007 (approx. 90 pages)
  • One copy of my NaNo project from 2008 (approx. 90 pages)
  • One copy of my NaNo project from 2009 (approx. 130 pages)
  • One copy of my project designated Big Pete (approx. 70 pages)

Now each of these except for my NaNo from this year is single spaced, normal fonts, which means that double spaced or in manuscript format they would be a helluva lot larger. Hence, this represents a LARGE portion of the work I’ve put time into in the last few years (notwithstanding work on my large fantasy project, my superhero kids story or any of the dozen short stories I’ve finished and the others I haven’t completed either). All in all, these are the major projects I have undertaken – and they have yet to be finished.

So I sat. And I read through them all. And in the end, I remembered why I wanted to write them in the first place.

What I assessed is that honestly? The work from 2006 is BAD. Some of the ideas are good but the rest of it is pretty bad writing and needs to be overhauled completely. It makes up the first part of a trilogy I continued the next year in NaNo 2007, which is a MUCH better story and a good example of some fast, fun action writing. The third part of the trilogy from the next year is also pretty good, though it needs some work too, and I’m planning on getting to it soon. However, I decided that the 2007 NaNo was the best place to enter back into the writing of these three books and I picked up the file again.

So far, I’ve jammed out twenty pages in the last two days. The writing spurt tonight was fueled by considering and thinking about the story all day at work (in between, you know, actually doing something too for my job). I realized that sometimes, a good story doesn’t leave you, you just paint yourself into a scene you don’t know how to get out of and get stuck. In the 2007 story, the characters were just about to go rescue someone in a deep, dark basement full of evil things… and I just lost the thread of it somehow when I was initially doing the writing. In the rereading, I rediscovered the energy of that scene, the hectic race to rescue a fallen friend, and found my way back into the story. So it goes.

The rest of these stories, I hope, will get the same treatment pretty soon. I’m excited to get some energy back into Big Pete as well, even though it is a behemoth. And there has been a few inches of progress on other big project (the fantasy one) due to some help from Scriviner. The project from this year’s NaNo is also plugging away very slowly, though I think I may need to go back and reread because I think I got run over by my plot-bus somewhere and can’t find my way back to where I was going.

All in all, mission to reignite old projects: accomplished. Now maybe the evil Muse will met me sleep.

Priorities

by Shoshana, posted in Uncategorized

This is a bit of a stern post to myself, actually. It turns out that today, I had a bit of an epiphany.

I want to be a writer. So why do I keep letting myself get distracted?

I’m putting together my application for graduate school and realizing that I really love this. I really love writing and doing photography and that there is no reason in the world why I shouldn’t be focusing on this now. Today was sort of the last straw decision: I need to work on writing. A regiment has to be developed and make sure that I’m organized and effective. I’ve been scattered and crazed lately because I’ve been letting myself get distracted by all kinds of nonsense (video games, thinking about other things, money problems) but writing is the most important thing ever to me. So that’s going to be my focus.

New goal: at least half an hour of writing a day. Start small. While I’m working, it’s hard, so half an hour might be it. Maybe an hour. If I can do that, then I’ll be set.

This is the new goal.

PS: Update, I have finished editing my work for graduate school. I’m terrified it’s not going to be good enough, but I’m sending it along.

An interesting question of trust

by Shoshana, posted in Uncategorized

Another thing on my mind, which just occurred to me, is a conversation I had with a fellow writer recently. She had been reading my blog (thanks for your support!) and when we got together for lunch, she asked if I was nervous about writing on my blog about my projects. She asked if I was afraid that someone would come along and steal my stuff if I wrote about it on here.

The answer is: absolutely.

It’s strange that I feel this way, but I feel like I get worried about people reading my things all the time for fear someone will come in and bogart my idea. It’s not like that hasn’t happened to plenty of writers throughout time, but for me, I guess I’m just paranoid. I feel like I work very hard at my writing, and I don’t feel entirely comfortable detailing my work on this blog. So I’m pretty vague about my projects. Even when I give little idea tidbits, I nickname things or I’m pretty oblique about what I’m talking about. The reason is, I don’t feel like anything should be disclosed until its completed and the manuscript is in front of me. So if I ever come across as being vague, I don’t mean to be annoying… I’m just vague for my own personal paranoia.

I’m actually curious, though, since my friend brought it up, if anyone else feels that way besides the two of us. This paranoia keeps me from handing out my work to be read by people a lot; when I pick editors, I’m very specific who I pick. I have friends I pick out very carefully for the job. So I wonder how many other people feel this way? It’s on my mind on this night of much blogging and little sleeping.

Here’s a story I’d like to tell…

by Shoshana, posted in Uncategorized

So here we are again, sleep and I, estranged and unloving bedfellows. We should be snuggling up, enjoying some dreams about sexy television stars (my friends know I’m a sucker for Castiel from Supernatural), but alas, we are parted by silence and unkind stares. That’s a super dramatic way of saying I took a nap this afternoon after doing the last of my holiday shopping (I’m really done, I swear this time!) and now I can’t sleep. So I decided to update here.

My writing has taken a back seat to a big dilemna in my persona life right now. For a very long time, I’d been deciding what to do for a future career. There was always a large part of me that was drawn to law enforcement and another huge, galloping, tremendous part of me that wanted to be a writer. When I entered college, I was sure that no matter what happened, I couldn’t take up writing as a career because there was no future in it. The world is full of people saying that they have a novel that they’ve been writing,  and even those who do get into the business are usually poor, starving things who hope to not be a hack and want to be as big as the big names they’ve always looked up to. Me, I wanted to be able to pay my bills and eat, so I chose to go into film. Yeah, I was real smart. Lookit me. S-M-R-T. End of college and I realize I not only didn’t want to get into film, it wasn’t going to make me happy and I wasn’t motivated by it. So I decided to seek out the things I love in life. That came down to becoming a cop or writing.

Two diametrically opposed notions, right? Most definitely.

I took the police exam, and aced it. Like, flying frickin’ colors. I looked at the possibility that, if I lost weight and got in shape, I could legitimately be a police officer. It’s a good job. It’s something I wanted to be since I was a little girl. It’s a career I can be proud of. There is just one problem.

I’m a writer. I wake up wanting to write. I breath writing. I talk about it constantly. I have ideas for stories coming out of my ears. And when I’m not writing, I’m not happy.

If I became a cop, there would be no time for writing, no energy. I would be breaking my head to become the physical specimen that I would need to be to become a police officer. I wouldn’t be able to write, consistently, in any way that would be good when I’d be tired all the time.

So while I was waiting for the local hiring freeze to wear off for the police department, I decided instead to go to graduate school for writing. I came up with some great ideas of where to go. I went to some open houses. I got some great feedback from teachers, from people I spoke to at these schools. It seemed that I could get my MFA, teach, and go forward as a writer and teacher. The idea thrilled me. It made me so happy I can’t describe. Sure, I’d be giving up one dream to live another. It was less sure, however, monitarily. In fact, it meant wagering a lot on how good I might be, and that… is less something I can do with a clear conscience. But I had decided.

Just as I was filling out applications, the police department called to start processing my application. The hiring freeze is over.

So now the dilemna begins. Do I go forward with the police department or graduate school? Which part of my heart do I follow?

I’m still writing. I’m trying to find money for graduate school applications. I am, in fact, working my tail off to get all this lined up by the deadline. I have less than a month to get most of these out and filled out. But the fact is, nothing is for certain. The police department is less certain because of my weight. Grad school is also uncertain because they don’t take everyone. Nothing is for certain but I keep trying anyway so at least one of my dreams can be fulfilled.

Where writing fits into all that, I don’t know. But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up. I’ve just really begun, and I won’t let that go now.

Scrivener is my savior

by Shoshana, posted in Uncategorized

In the ongoing struggle against writer’s block and plot-holes the size of Howitzer tanks, I have started converting over my old projects to my new best writing-buddy, Scrivener. Along with the many other things that I got out of this year’s NaNo, I went ahead and got the best program for writing stuff that I have ever seen! I really love the interface and the side-menus allow me to separate parts of my story so I can edit with ease. I don’t know if you can tell, but I adore this program like madness. I’ve already brought over my large fantasy project and I’m bringing over my monstrosity that I nicknamed Big Pete as well.

If you’re a Mac User and feel like taking a chance on a good thing? Download yourself a free trial usage and then if you like it, pick it up? It does wonders.

Here on the insomnia bus I am, converting files.

It won’t go to my head, promise…

by Shoshana, posted in Uncategorized

So apparently, there’s a little more to this writing-dangerously win in NaNo this year. I got contacted tonight to be featured on the NaNo website’s Q&A section, picture and all. Here’s a link:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3471186

It kind of amazes me that I got put on the website and everything. Getting recognized for writing or for anything related to writing still feels strange to me. I really appreciate what they’ve done with NaNo and giving people a little boost, when they’re struggling to write, is an amazing boon. I actually turned bright red when I read the email asking me to do the Q&A. What a nice surprise!

It’s just redoubled my whole confidence in my writing, honestly. Not that I need someone giving me funny viking hat prizes and such, but as I said before, it’s nice to have someone point at the work you’re putting in and say ‘hey look, you’re working hard, nice one!’ I appreciate that so much from them.

The magic of NaNo and the Glory that is Victory!

by Shoshana, posted in Uncategorized

So there is nothing better in the world, I think, receiving a little bit of praise for something that is not often noticed or recognized as an accomplishment. That’s why I love NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) – it gives writers a chance to bust their chops to produce something in the month of November, 50,000 words in one month, and then get a little bit of a celebration for their accomplishing their goal. When you get down to it, writing is often a thankless creative outlet that can bring nothing but frustration and sleepless nights. This time, however, it has brought a little bit of fun and frolic along with the bouts of rampant creative-inspired insomnia.

For this year’s NaNo, I decided to try a different novel idea than what I had done previously in the past. The last three years, I wrote a trilogy of novels set during an apocalypse with demons and angels in them. This year, its a modern world with ancient and crazy gods. You can see how my  brain works, of course, to destroy the world blatantly in so many ways. I went for something a little more subtle, though, this time (and yes, I can hear you wondering – how are crazy gods actually less destructive? Oh they are!) and the result is a novel called Emerald Fires. This is the working title, of course, but for once in a long time… I think I have something here. I think I have a solid, creative idea that is actually a new take on something old and well-done to death. So the stats go down to this:

As of November 29:

  • Word Count: 52,972
  • Page Count: 149 (in manuscript format)
  • Chapters: 15

This new story is one I’m hoping to continue for the next little while, so I’m postponing the work I planned on doing for the other two huge projects of mine, Exeter and Big Pete (my monstrocities, as I call them).

Oh, and update! So instead of lugging about my current writing machine (two-year-old 15 inch macbook pro), I have decided to go much more portable which is a Dell Mini – I have gone to the land of the PC for a netbook. The little thing is driving me nuts, though, because the keyboard is smaller than my frickin’ hands, but we’ll see how it works out. I’m looking to upgrade my Macbook Pro anyway, so that will make my old machine a stay-at-home anyway… I just plan on making sure that writing for me is the most painless process possible, and lugging around a 15-inch macbook pro when you’ve got back pain like me? Not painless!

Speaking of painless, for any Mac user? Check out a program called Scrivener for writing. It is fantastic – helps compile everything into manuscript format for you, and on top of that? Helps you keep your research, old drafts, everything. I heartily enjoy it and it made NaNo-ing this year a dream.

Anyway, that’s it for now!

The Muse Visits Sometimes… and Sometimes, She Sets Up a Condo.

by Shoshana, posted in Uncategorized

I’m so happy about how much work I’ve been getting done recently in writing. It has been a very rough few months, personally, with a very drastic moving and preparing for the end of my college career. Things have been very up in the air monetarily and so all of these things are not conducive to me being very productive writing-wise. Instead of letting it get me down, however, the Muse has come down and started tapping me on the head. In fact, I’m pretty sure she’s set up a nice time-share here and is making me industrious.

I’ve been working on several projects and finished one the other day that I’m particularly proud of, all of which I will summarize below, but first I just wanted to say this: sometimes writing is hard. Sometimes, it comes effortlessly. And sometimes, you get into a writing fever that has you so caught up that your heart pounds and you actually feel the burn. This last one happened when I produced a short story recently and honestly, I thought I was some kind of nut until I realized… this happens to creative people. We get into the zone and we put everything into producing our piece of art. I actually sat there, eyes closed, typing as fast as my fingers would go, until I finally realized it was 3AM and I had to go to bed. This is the kid of fugue that I want to tap into more often because the writing I do is stellar. Anyway, on to the breakdown:

What I am Working On:

1) I recently got inspired by reading over a series of pre-teen/children’s books called Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which is being turned into a movie series very shortly. I suppose Hollywood realized that Harry Potter was going to be gone soon and they wanted another cash cow but this series is particularly well-done and I wanted to see what it was like. I bit through the entire series in a week and became very inspired on working on a kid’s concept myself. I think it might be a little age-confused (as in I can’t get the language to match the age market I’m looking to go for) but I really like it. It’s a super-hero genre story for pre-teens and its still in development.

2) The second piece of work which I started and finished within a week was a short story that evolved into a forty-page (single spaced) novella inspired by.. well, lots of things. It really came out of nowhere and became more than I could ever imagine it was going to be. This was the story that I ended up sweating over, as I mentioned above, and when it was finished I felt a sense of accomplishment that I never felt with my other stories. Not only is it a complete story but it creates a world around the characters and brings in elements of different kind of narrative that I love. It integrates the journal of a town sheriff whose town is being overrun by an evil and the journal is found by some vagrants years after, when the town is abandoned and empty and the sheriff long dead. I think its some of the best work I’ve done and very different than anything else I’ve ever put together before.

3) As soon as I finished with that story, the muse apparently wanted to whap me on the brain again because I started up a short story about vampires. I know, I know, everyone is doing vampires lately. Everyone and their brother thinks that because its hot and sexy, we should write more about vampires. The fact is, I wanted to see if I could do it too and do it in a different way than your typical ‘sexified’ vampire stories or, God forbid, sparkle sparkle vampires. I was very inspired by the short story collection that just came out called By Blood We Live, edited by John Joseph Adams. I have read his other collections (The Living Dead about, duh, zombies, and Wastelands, about post-apocalyptic worlds) and his choices in stories have always impressed me, so I’ve put it on my goals to get myself published in one of his collections one of these days. But first, I’m going to focus on getting published at all.

That reminds me, the next goal on my list. I’ve now got two stories, the one I just completed and another one from last semester, that I feel actually could be published. I think I need to get an editor in there to really get the fixing done up on both of them but once they’re finished, I feel that they can both be published and I want to start submitting. So now, the question is submitting where and getting up the damn courage to put my work out into the market. If I don’t, then why the hell am I producing in the first place? And producing, it seems, I am. Short stories are the order of the day, but that doesn’t mean that my major projects, including The Big-Ass Intimidating Project of My Life and a new one which I have nicknamed Big Pete for lack of a better name are on the shelf. Nor does that mean I’m going to throw away my ideas for novels. I just feel short stories are a medium I enjoy and want to focus on that.

That said, novels soon too yes. More work there. I’ve already got seventy pages in Big Pete and I got some inspiration for The Big-Ass Intimidating Project. Even the kids book is sitting on my desktop, just waiting for movement. Now it’s time to get some.

The Muse, she can live here whenever she wants. I’ll keep the place dusted and all cooshy for her.