Multiple times today, I was asked what I did this weekend, and I tried and tried to remember what I spent all that time doing.
I couldn't remember.
So, this entry will be short and sweet due to my memory lapse.
I do remember, however, that I read This Is What I Did by our own Ann Dee Ellis (and by "our own" I mean the professor who told me to make this blog. But I digress.). I liked it. I really liked it. And I'm not just saying that because I'm being graded by the author. I liked Logan and totally related to how he deals with problems.
But most of all I loved his mom.
Oh, Mom.
She was so believable. She wants so badly to be a good mom, especially after the whole "Zyler" incident, but it just... doesn't always work for her.
Poor Mom.
Moving on, this past week we started writing for middle graders.
Side note: I was talking with a friend and she referred to a particular movie as being for "medium kids". I said, "You mean middle graders?" And she had no idea what I was talking about. I was shocked that she had never heard them referred to as "middle graders".
Anyway. We started to write for medium kids, and from those writings I have chosen my favorite piece for the week (I know it's not technically from my writing journal, but the journal just seemed so lackluster this week. So sue me.). It's about school lunch:
"At lunch you have to hurry in so you can sit with the girls instead of the boys because each table has only a certain amount of seats so you want to get there early so you don’t have to sit with the boys. Nikki usually gets there last and has to sit at the boys table and everyone thinks she’s weird. We’re not allowed to share our lunches, which is OK because Jessica might want to trade sandwiches with me but hers looks gross because her parents don’t know that when you put tomatoes on a sandwich you have to put it between the lettuce or else the bread gets soggy and gross. Mary Grace has a lunchables and a soda and I’m always jealous of that because I want a lunchables too. But I have a peanut butter sandwich instead. I have doritos and a capri sun too, but today it’s the strawberry kind and I hate the strawberry kind. Kierra has the fruit punch kind and that’s my favorite, but it’s her least favorite and she likes the strawberry kind best. We talk about how it’s weird that we both have a capri sun that the other one likes but we drink our own juice because we’re not allowed to share."
That first sentence is a bit of a run-on sentence, and to be honest, I actually cut out a bit of it and it's still ridiculously long, but there you go. I like this piece because it is 100% true and 100% fiction.
And, with that little nugget of wisdom, I bid you all goodbye for now, because I have a chemistry test to study for.
(also: looks like this entry is not nearly as short and sweet as I thought it would be. Huh.)
Edit: Forgot to write which middle grade novel I was going to bring to class. Well, here is what I would bring: I would bring a book called The Wright 3, which is a mystery book about three middle grade kids and I absolutely loved it. I wanted to be those three mystery-solving kids. And I was 16 at the time I read the book.
That is all for tonight, folks.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Parentheses
Today was the worst day for finishing anything.
So hopefully this actually gets done.
(it will)
This week, I haven't been reading much, unless you count my chemistry textbook (I don't). However, I did stumble upon something very interesting today. I found a number of old unfinished stories that I have started over the past two years, and that was a delight/horror to read through. It made me think about the little things about writing that make something fantastic instead of just OK.
For example.
"I don't think that will work," he said thoughtfully.
vs.
He scratched his chin. "I don't think that will work."
Neither of these sentences are wrong. They're both just fine, actually. But I have always had a problem with my "tags", as I have learned they are called (learning is magic). One solution I have stumbled upon is called "Just Get Rid Of Them (Or Just Some Of Them)". It's the whole idea of "showing, not telling" and it has made writing a whole lot less stressful. Mostly because I don't have to look at a whole line of he said she saids.
Anyway. This week, my favorite piece of writing was this little scene I did and I like it mostly because it's silly and makes me laugh. And that is a goal of mine.
Here it is.
'POW!
The young man in black fell heavily to the ground. He rubbed his newly-punched face, but got up immediately, stumbling backwards.
Jane advanced. "You're making a mistake, you know."
The man sneered unconvincingly. "Well you're--" he tripped over something large and toppled unceremoniously to the ground in a tangled heap of limbs.
"Haha, YES! He totally fell for it!" Joe shouted triumphantly, getting up off his hands and knees. "No pun intended," he added.
"No..." Jane said, crossing over to the fallen man and dragging him to his feet. She relieved him of the bright purple purse he had tried to make off with. "Good work, Joe. I guess."
The man in black shook himself. "What the heck just happened?" he asked, outraged.
"You just fell for the oldest trick in the book!" Joe replied with a triumphant grin on his face. "Literally!"
"Would you stop that?" Jane said. "That joke wasn't even funny the first time." She turned her face to the man, still in her vice-like grip. "You tripped over Sloppy here. He was on his hands and knees, waiting for you to run down this way."
The man looked disbelieving. "What? THAT'S how you guys got me? That's so lame!"
"Watch it, buster!" said Joe warningly. "I got you fair and square!"
"Whatever," said the criminal grumpily. "Only old people say things like 'fair and square'."'
So hopefully this actually gets done.
(it will)
This week, I haven't been reading much, unless you count my chemistry textbook (I don't). However, I did stumble upon something very interesting today. I found a number of old unfinished stories that I have started over the past two years, and that was a delight/horror to read through. It made me think about the little things about writing that make something fantastic instead of just OK.
For example.
"I don't think that will work," he said thoughtfully.
vs.
He scratched his chin. "I don't think that will work."
Neither of these sentences are wrong. They're both just fine, actually. But I have always had a problem with my "tags", as I have learned they are called (learning is magic). One solution I have stumbled upon is called "Just Get Rid Of Them (Or Just Some Of Them)". It's the whole idea of "showing, not telling" and it has made writing a whole lot less stressful. Mostly because I don't have to look at a whole line of he said she saids.
Anyway. This week, my favorite piece of writing was this little scene I did and I like it mostly because it's silly and makes me laugh. And that is a goal of mine.
Here it is.
'POW!
The young man in black fell heavily to the ground. He rubbed his newly-punched face, but got up immediately, stumbling backwards.
Jane advanced. "You're making a mistake, you know."
The man sneered unconvincingly. "Well you're--" he tripped over something large and toppled unceremoniously to the ground in a tangled heap of limbs.
"Haha, YES! He totally fell for it!" Joe shouted triumphantly, getting up off his hands and knees. "No pun intended," he added.
"No..." Jane said, crossing over to the fallen man and dragging him to his feet. She relieved him of the bright purple purse he had tried to make off with. "Good work, Joe. I guess."
The man in black shook himself. "What the heck just happened?" he asked, outraged.
"You just fell for the oldest trick in the book!" Joe replied with a triumphant grin on his face. "Literally!"
"Would you stop that?" Jane said. "That joke wasn't even funny the first time." She turned her face to the man, still in her vice-like grip. "You tripped over Sloppy here. He was on his hands and knees, waiting for you to run down this way."
The man looked disbelieving. "What? THAT'S how you guys got me? That's so lame!"
"Watch it, buster!" said Joe warningly. "I got you fair and square!"
"Whatever," said the criminal grumpily. "Only old people say things like 'fair and square'."'
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
In Which I Abuse The Italics Feature
Today, it was very hard to concentrate on anything.
In fact, I think this is the only homework that I've completed today.
...hmm.
Anyway, this week I started reading Hate List by Jennifer Brown. (Readers of this blog won't know this, but I just wasted about ten minutes looking up the author's name. Yeah, I've been distracted today.) This book is terrifying. It's about this girl who fills up a notebook with people and things she hates, and one day, her boyfriend opens fire in the school cafeteria, picking targets from the people mentioned in the notebook.
Told you it was terrifying.
It's a really awful idea to think about, especially since her boyfriend isn't a clear-cut "bad guy". You almost want to root for him. It's well written though. The author takes a horrifying concept that we don't like to think about and makes us think about it. It's an emotional roller coaster, so be forewarned.
I have also been reading Harry Potter. But that's not that surprising, because I'm always reading Harry Potter. Now, don't look at me like that. I'm not one of those types. It's familiar, and I can get absorbed in the Potter universe easily, which is nice after a long day.
And so, here is my selection of writing from the week, because I feel like this just about sums up what I've been going through today:
"Today I don't feel like writing my superhero story.
Because I'm watching Harry Potter.
With Alison.
This is exciting.
But I need to write at least one page.
Every day.
So here I go.
Writing every day.
One page.
It's hard to write when there's Harry Potter going on.
And it's hard to do homework when you could be reading Harry Potter."
So, what I've learned from reading and writing this week:
Don't be afraid to be bold and make your readers uncomfortable.
But don't forget to let them be comfortable every once in a while.
In fact, I think this is the only homework that I've completed today.
...hmm.
Anyway, this week I started reading Hate List by Jennifer Brown. (Readers of this blog won't know this, but I just wasted about ten minutes looking up the author's name. Yeah, I've been distracted today.) This book is terrifying. It's about this girl who fills up a notebook with people and things she hates, and one day, her boyfriend opens fire in the school cafeteria, picking targets from the people mentioned in the notebook.
Told you it was terrifying.
It's a really awful idea to think about, especially since her boyfriend isn't a clear-cut "bad guy". You almost want to root for him. It's well written though. The author takes a horrifying concept that we don't like to think about and makes us think about it. It's an emotional roller coaster, so be forewarned.
I have also been reading Harry Potter. But that's not that surprising, because I'm always reading Harry Potter. Now, don't look at me like that. I'm not one of those types. It's familiar, and I can get absorbed in the Potter universe easily, which is nice after a long day.
And so, here is my selection of writing from the week, because I feel like this just about sums up what I've been going through today:
"Today I don't feel like writing my superhero story.
Because I'm watching Harry Potter.
With Alison.
This is exciting.
But I need to write at least one page.
Every day.
So here I go.
Writing every day.
One page.
It's hard to write when there's Harry Potter going on.
And it's hard to do homework when you could be reading Harry Potter."
So, what I've learned from reading and writing this week:
Don't be afraid to be bold and make your readers uncomfortable.
But don't forget to let them be comfortable every once in a while.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Tantrums
This week, despite being ridiculously busy, I read two books.
Two whole books!
The first book I read was called The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams. It was heartbreaking. It was one of those books that you hate, get mad at, and potentially throw across the room. But then you tell all your friends to go read that same book because it was "soooo good, oh my GOODNESS". Maybe because we want to see someone else throw a tantrum over a book.
Happyface, by Stephan Emond, was the second book. This book also made me want to throw it across the room, but at the same time it was so funny and real that I had to cling on to it. I even read it in the car. (This gives me a horrible headache that I can't get rid of for at least 20 minutes.)
I didn't feel like I created very good quality writing this week, but I think that was primarily because of all the other things I have been trying to do at the same time. So, lesson number one: Find a time and a place to write and don't do anything else during said "writing time". Seems fairly obvious, but it's an idea that's lodging even deeper in my brain now.
So on that note, here's a piece from my writing journal that I wrote after I realized I needed to get away from every distraction:
"Now, Sloppy Joe and Jealous Jane (as they were known to the general public) would not recommend jumping from a 25 foot building for anyone, but seeing as they could fly, it did not trouble them in the slightest.
You see, Sloppy Joe and Jealous Jane were superheroes.
Not very good ones, mind you (something always happened to bungle the whole operation and someone else would get all the credit for saving the day), but they did have super powers that they used for good. Ergo, superheroes."
I mostly like it because I was able to weasel in the word "ergo".
Two whole books!
The first book I read was called The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams. It was heartbreaking. It was one of those books that you hate, get mad at, and potentially throw across the room. But then you tell all your friends to go read that same book because it was "soooo good, oh my GOODNESS". Maybe because we want to see someone else throw a tantrum over a book.
Happyface, by Stephan Emond, was the second book. This book also made me want to throw it across the room, but at the same time it was so funny and real that I had to cling on to it. I even read it in the car. (This gives me a horrible headache that I can't get rid of for at least 20 minutes.)
I didn't feel like I created very good quality writing this week, but I think that was primarily because of all the other things I have been trying to do at the same time. So, lesson number one: Find a time and a place to write and don't do anything else during said "writing time". Seems fairly obvious, but it's an idea that's lodging even deeper in my brain now.
So on that note, here's a piece from my writing journal that I wrote after I realized I needed to get away from every distraction:
"Now, Sloppy Joe and Jealous Jane (as they were known to the general public) would not recommend jumping from a 25 foot building for anyone, but seeing as they could fly, it did not trouble them in the slightest.
You see, Sloppy Joe and Jealous Jane were superheroes.
Not very good ones, mind you (something always happened to bungle the whole operation and someone else would get all the credit for saving the day), but they did have super powers that they used for good. Ergo, superheroes."
I mostly like it because I was able to weasel in the word "ergo".
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