Time Spent: 1 hour.
Today I continued revising a "Dust From Her Feet" while we drove to Champaign for my mom's birthday. There's so much going on these next few days that I'm stealing time wherever I can, even if it means I have to work in short bursts in the car.
I don't know that I honestly learned much today, but at least I got something done. And revising continues to get easier.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
What a Night!
Time Spent: 4 hours.
WOW! Thanks to Joanna and everyone in her creative writing 2 class for allowing me to join them tonight and talk about my experience as the Writer-in-Residence. I really appreciate your willingness to listen to my ramblings and your great questions. Please feel free (this goes for everyone) to waltz through the archives so you can get a really good account of what this experience has been like for me.
So yeah, tonight I went to Joanna's class to talk to them about the above. That was fun. I was also allowed to stay for the rest of the class and take part in peer review which meant I got to help a few people with their short short stories, yay! (My apologies to Emelie for completely marking up her rough draft, tee hee hee)
They happened to be doing author's readings tonight, and both stories were from the stream-of-consciousness assignment. This was good for me because I've only had to write SOC once, and it was horrible. I didn't understand it (don't ask, I just didn't get it. I was missing something, but I didn't know what it was.) After reading the two stories tonight, I understand it a lot better. So I was a student tonight as much as anyone in the classroom.
WOW! Thanks to Joanna and everyone in her creative writing 2 class for allowing me to join them tonight and talk about my experience as the Writer-in-Residence. I really appreciate your willingness to listen to my ramblings and your great questions. Please feel free (this goes for everyone) to waltz through the archives so you can get a really good account of what this experience has been like for me.
So yeah, tonight I went to Joanna's class to talk to them about the above. That was fun. I was also allowed to stay for the rest of the class and take part in peer review which meant I got to help a few people with their short short stories, yay! (My apologies to Emelie for completely marking up her rough draft, tee hee hee)
They happened to be doing author's readings tonight, and both stories were from the stream-of-consciousness assignment. This was good for me because I've only had to write SOC once, and it was horrible. I didn't understand it (don't ask, I just didn't get it. I was missing something, but I didn't know what it was.) After reading the two stories tonight, I understand it a lot better. So I was a student tonight as much as anyone in the classroom.
For Creative Writing 2
Hey Creative Writing 2!
First, thank you, Joanna, for giving me the opportunity to speak to everyone about my AST and being the Writer-in-Residence! This is very exciting for me, and I hope that some of what I talk about will help inspire the rest of you to do some wonderful things.
See the Applied Study Term Website for the most information regarding the AST. What I am doing for the AST is a little different in that the Creative Writing Applied Study Term is a self-directed and disciplined internship. I don't go anywhere but my home computer to do my work. And it IS work - for this project, I am doing everything a writer does, including research, writing, revising, and submitting. In addition, I'm doing all the school work for the class, a major portion being the journal (and this is it! If you want to look at EVERYTHING I'm doing during the course of the project, just take a look at the archives to the left). Here are a few of the major points for the AST:
+Every AST must be a minimum of eight weeks long.
+The journal is required (you don't have to blog like I'm doing. You don't even have to keep your journal on the computer, it can be old fashioned pen and paper if you like, but you DO have to keep the journal.)
+The AST can be used to fulfill the UIS requirement (like the PAC or LSC courses - and let me assure you, this AST is a lot more fun than either the PAC or LSC I took last semester...)
If you want more information, you can call or email the AST office. They can email you the general guidlines for the creative writing AST and you'll need to meet with them prior to them approving a creative writing AST.
The Writer-in-Residence is something that Joanna came up with. The AST office requires that students have a UIS supervisor and a Field Supervisor for their internships. Joanna graciously told me that she'd be my Field Supervisor, and then proceeded to rip my project proposal to shreds and offer me an alternative - which, BTW, was WAY better than what I had proposed. So instead of just writing a bunch of stories (my boring idea), I'm having too much fun writing a few new stories, but revising six previously written stories in preparation for submitting the MSs to literary journals or publishing companies. I've submitted two MS (children's books) to major publishing companies and have already received my first rejection letter - now THAT'S exciting! In the next few weeks we'll be going to visit the editors at River Styx in St. Louis and The Ninth Letter at the University of IL. And then towards the end of the semester (April 28) I'll be doing a public reading.
One of the best websites I've found comes from Writer's Digest and provides 101 links to help you in your journey as an author:
Writers Digest 101 Best Web Sites for Writers
Here are a couple of my favorite links within the site:
+Once Written.com contains lists of freebies, advice, contests, and daily writing prompts, among other things. This is an excellent site to visit when you have a chunk of free time you can devote to "research" (aka, surfing).
+Writer's Break.com has a ton of advice for authors, and it's all just common sense. You can sign up for a monthly newsletter here.
+Predators and Editors lists the good, the bad, and the truly ugly in the way of publishers, agents, contests, etc. P&E has a link to their (quite thorough) rating system that tells you why a site might get a poor rating. This site has been an eye opener: there is a publishing house that I thought I might like to submit to one day that is on the "avoid" list. After looking at the criteria, I'm wary of even buying a book from this publishing company since they don't seem too concerned about taking care of their authors. This also is handy in that it will usually say if a link is broken or the site hasn't been updated for quite a while.
I can't say enough about Writer's Digest magazine and website. It's been the source of some great information and advice.
Literature Buzz:
This is a great site that lists publishers, online and print lit journals, online and print poetry journals, and other things. The best advice I can give you for this site is be patient and have an open mind. You'll find a lot of broken links, a lot of journals that haven't updated for quite a while, and a lot of scary websites, but there are some really good links too. The literary magazines section alone has over 600 links and I'm still trying to get through all of them. Again, be patient, because you will find something that suits you.
During Creative Writing 2 last Spring (2005), we were given extra credit if we submitted one of our stories to a journal. All we had to do was submit, so I found a journal online,Toasted Cheese, and submitted. By some stroke of luck, my story became one of the Editor's Choice stories in the June 2005 issue:
Beautiful Medusa
First, thank you, Joanna, for giving me the opportunity to speak to everyone about my AST and being the Writer-in-Residence! This is very exciting for me, and I hope that some of what I talk about will help inspire the rest of you to do some wonderful things.
See the Applied Study Term Website for the most information regarding the AST. What I am doing for the AST is a little different in that the Creative Writing Applied Study Term is a self-directed and disciplined internship. I don't go anywhere but my home computer to do my work. And it IS work - for this project, I am doing everything a writer does, including research, writing, revising, and submitting. In addition, I'm doing all the school work for the class, a major portion being the journal (and this is it! If you want to look at EVERYTHING I'm doing during the course of the project, just take a look at the archives to the left). Here are a few of the major points for the AST:
+Every AST must be a minimum of eight weeks long.
+The journal is required (you don't have to blog like I'm doing. You don't even have to keep your journal on the computer, it can be old fashioned pen and paper if you like, but you DO have to keep the journal.)
+The AST can be used to fulfill the UIS requirement (like the PAC or LSC courses - and let me assure you, this AST is a lot more fun than either the PAC or LSC I took last semester...)
If you want more information, you can call or email the AST office. They can email you the general guidlines for the creative writing AST and you'll need to meet with them prior to them approving a creative writing AST.
The Writer-in-Residence is something that Joanna came up with. The AST office requires that students have a UIS supervisor and a Field Supervisor for their internships. Joanna graciously told me that she'd be my Field Supervisor, and then proceeded to rip my project proposal to shreds and offer me an alternative - which, BTW, was WAY better than what I had proposed. So instead of just writing a bunch of stories (my boring idea), I'm having too much fun writing a few new stories, but revising six previously written stories in preparation for submitting the MSs to literary journals or publishing companies. I've submitted two MS (children's books) to major publishing companies and have already received my first rejection letter - now THAT'S exciting! In the next few weeks we'll be going to visit the editors at River Styx in St. Louis and The Ninth Letter at the University of IL. And then towards the end of the semester (April 28) I'll be doing a public reading.
One of the best websites I've found comes from Writer's Digest and provides 101 links to help you in your journey as an author:
Writers Digest 101 Best Web Sites for Writers
Here are a couple of my favorite links within the site:
+Once Written.com contains lists of freebies, advice, contests, and daily writing prompts, among other things. This is an excellent site to visit when you have a chunk of free time you can devote to "research" (aka, surfing).
+Writer's Break.com has a ton of advice for authors, and it's all just common sense. You can sign up for a monthly newsletter here.
+Predators and Editors lists the good, the bad, and the truly ugly in the way of publishers, agents, contests, etc. P&E has a link to their (quite thorough) rating system that tells you why a site might get a poor rating. This site has been an eye opener: there is a publishing house that I thought I might like to submit to one day that is on the "avoid" list. After looking at the criteria, I'm wary of even buying a book from this publishing company since they don't seem too concerned about taking care of their authors. This also is handy in that it will usually say if a link is broken or the site hasn't been updated for quite a while.
I can't say enough about Writer's Digest magazine and website. It's been the source of some great information and advice.
Literature Buzz:
This is a great site that lists publishers, online and print lit journals, online and print poetry journals, and other things. The best advice I can give you for this site is be patient and have an open mind. You'll find a lot of broken links, a lot of journals that haven't updated for quite a while, and a lot of scary websites, but there are some really good links too. The literary magazines section alone has over 600 links and I'm still trying to get through all of them. Again, be patient, because you will find something that suits you.
During Creative Writing 2 last Spring (2005), we were given extra credit if we submitted one of our stories to a journal. All we had to do was submit, so I found a journal online,Toasted Cheese, and submitted. By some stroke of luck, my story became one of the Editor's Choice stories in the June 2005 issue:
Beautiful Medusa
Friday, March 24, 2006
Time Spent: 2 hours.
Not a very exciting AST day today. Yesterday while at River Styx, Richard gave me a copy of their 30th anniversary edition and I spent the day reading most of that.
Styx is pretty heavy on poetry. I don't mind poetry, but I'd rather read prose. Poetry takes more concentration than I want to give it. But some of the poems are very good.
This is the second issue of River Styx I've read and I really like this journal. I wish it had more prose, but what it has, even though it's only four or five stories, is very good. The most interesting thing I'm learning from reading journals, particularly this one, is about creative non-fiction. I'm becoming more and more interested in trying to write some of that. I think it would be more difficult; after all, it's truth, but you have to write it so it's interesting. I don't know that my life is that interesting. But it would certainly be worth the effort.
I wish I could say more than this, but like I said above, not a very exciting day. The reading period for River Styx begins May 1, and I think I'm going to submit to it. I know I don't have anything about writing (ha), but I hope my work wouldn't be considered mediocre. Is it bad of me to hope that they'd consider my work more because I've met with the editor? No, seriously, I want any work I do to be considered because it's good. But a girl can dream about getting the easy way out, right? ::snort:::
Not a very exciting AST day today. Yesterday while at River Styx, Richard gave me a copy of their 30th anniversary edition and I spent the day reading most of that.
Styx is pretty heavy on poetry. I don't mind poetry, but I'd rather read prose. Poetry takes more concentration than I want to give it. But some of the poems are very good.
This is the second issue of River Styx I've read and I really like this journal. I wish it had more prose, but what it has, even though it's only four or five stories, is very good. The most interesting thing I'm learning from reading journals, particularly this one, is about creative non-fiction. I'm becoming more and more interested in trying to write some of that. I think it would be more difficult; after all, it's truth, but you have to write it so it's interesting. I don't know that my life is that interesting. But it would certainly be worth the effort.
I wish I could say more than this, but like I said above, not a very exciting day. The reading period for River Styx begins May 1, and I think I'm going to submit to it. I know I don't have anything about writing (ha), but I hope my work wouldn't be considered mediocre. Is it bad of me to hope that they'd consider my work more because I've met with the editor? No, seriously, I want any work I do to be considered because it's good. But a girl can dream about getting the easy way out, right? ::snort:::
Thursday, March 23, 2006
A visit to River Styx
Time Spent: 1 hour (not counting travel time - I don't need the hours that badly...)
Following is a hastily typed transcript of the ?s I asked Richard Newman, editor of River Styx literary journal in St. Louis.
Me: What kinds of submissions do you get?
RN: Submissions come from all over the country and from other parts of the world. About 80% are medicre, 5% are truly bad.
Me: Do you respond personally to submissions?
RN: Try to respond in some way, even if it just a "Sorry and Thanks." If they don't get anything from us, then it probably means they're being published, in which case they're happy not to hear from us.
Me: What kind of reading structure do you have?
RN: Might read some submissions aloud in editorial meetings. We also have outside readers who come in once a week or so. There are also a few readers outside the STL area who help a bit. Submission are accepted if they have less than three "no's" given to them.
Me: What do you look for in a submission in order to accept it?
RN: Something that stands out as particularly imaginative or unique, something that has a distinctive voice. Not the usual stuff we get - especially not something that is about writing (for example, a story about a writer, or about the writing process, anything involving writing. They apparently get a lot of those...)
Me: Do you think about your audience when you accept pieces or do you accept what you like and think will work for that issue?
RN: Have a diverse audience, so don't really try to do polls or surveys or pick for the audience. We pick what we like and go with it.
Me: Do you see any advantages to remaining a print journal instead of switching to an online journal? Any disadvantages?
RN: Obviously, the biggest advantage to e-journals is that there's no cost, but most people would rather read something in print when they're in bed at night than sit at their computer and read. Also, I think it's easier to do a themed issue in print.
Me: What are some of the best things about being an editor and what are some of the worst?
RN: Best - it's a lot of fun, the people are great; I've made a lot of friends through other journals and through working relationships here. Worst - Tired of reading other people's work and would rather focus on my own. I'm not up to date on what's already published. The pay is bad. I'm always behind on work here. And we rely solely on funding.
Me: Is there anything you wish you had known before becoming an editor or working at a journal?
RN: How sensitive people are; I would have learned a lot sooner not to send comments on rejections to the authors.
Me: Any final thoughts?
RN: Lit journals are the trenches of the literary world. Publishing is a process. Sometimes the best thing an author can do is to get into the trenches by volunteering to read submissions. Volunteering at a journal is a good way to see what the business is like. See if you can do reading, proofreading, editing, assemblage. Magazines need readers.
Thank you, Richard, for allowing me to see River Styx and taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with me. I learned a lot and appreciate your generousity!
Following is a hastily typed transcript of the ?s I asked Richard Newman, editor of River Styx literary journal in St. Louis.
Me: What kinds of submissions do you get?
RN: Submissions come from all over the country and from other parts of the world. About 80% are medicre, 5% are truly bad.
Me: Do you respond personally to submissions?
RN: Try to respond in some way, even if it just a "Sorry and Thanks." If they don't get anything from us, then it probably means they're being published, in which case they're happy not to hear from us.
Me: What kind of reading structure do you have?
RN: Might read some submissions aloud in editorial meetings. We also have outside readers who come in once a week or so. There are also a few readers outside the STL area who help a bit. Submission are accepted if they have less than three "no's" given to them.
Me: What do you look for in a submission in order to accept it?
RN: Something that stands out as particularly imaginative or unique, something that has a distinctive voice. Not the usual stuff we get - especially not something that is about writing (for example, a story about a writer, or about the writing process, anything involving writing. They apparently get a lot of those...)
Me: Do you think about your audience when you accept pieces or do you accept what you like and think will work for that issue?
RN: Have a diverse audience, so don't really try to do polls or surveys or pick for the audience. We pick what we like and go with it.
Me: Do you see any advantages to remaining a print journal instead of switching to an online journal? Any disadvantages?
RN: Obviously, the biggest advantage to e-journals is that there's no cost, but most people would rather read something in print when they're in bed at night than sit at their computer and read. Also, I think it's easier to do a themed issue in print.
Me: What are some of the best things about being an editor and what are some of the worst?
RN: Best - it's a lot of fun, the people are great; I've made a lot of friends through other journals and through working relationships here. Worst - Tired of reading other people's work and would rather focus on my own. I'm not up to date on what's already published. The pay is bad. I'm always behind on work here. And we rely solely on funding.
Me: Is there anything you wish you had known before becoming an editor or working at a journal?
RN: How sensitive people are; I would have learned a lot sooner not to send comments on rejections to the authors.
Me: Any final thoughts?
RN: Lit journals are the trenches of the literary world. Publishing is a process. Sometimes the best thing an author can do is to get into the trenches by volunteering to read submissions. Volunteering at a journal is a good way to see what the business is like. See if you can do reading, proofreading, editing, assemblage. Magazines need readers.
Thank you, Richard, for allowing me to see River Styx and taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with me. I learned a lot and appreciate your generousity!
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
It's Spring - What's with this Snowstorm?!?!?
Time Spent: 5 hours.
I was supposed to go to campus tonight and talk to Joanna's CW2 class about this project and flash fiction. After tweaking "Styx" for the final draft and working more on "Show You Love," I worked more on prep for tonight. Only to have night classes cancelled at 2:45. Damn. I was really looking forward to tonight!
I was also supposed to meet Dr. Cordell and Joanna on campus for my site visit, which needed to get done two weeks ago. Instead, we did the site visit through email, which was an absolute riot. Now I just need to work on my mid-term evaluation.
Spent the rest of the night preparing a bit for my visit with Richard Newman at River Styx on Thursday, trying to work out questions I'm going to ask him. Talked to Joanna on the phone after the flurry of email and got some ideas to start me out, then thought of some more questions that might be appropriate. I'm nervous about the visit, but also excited. We also moved my CW2 class visit to next Tuesday the 28th. The weather better cooperate...
I was supposed to go to campus tonight and talk to Joanna's CW2 class about this project and flash fiction. After tweaking "Styx" for the final draft and working more on "Show You Love," I worked more on prep for tonight. Only to have night classes cancelled at 2:45. Damn. I was really looking forward to tonight!
I was also supposed to meet Dr. Cordell and Joanna on campus for my site visit, which needed to get done two weeks ago. Instead, we did the site visit through email, which was an absolute riot. Now I just need to work on my mid-term evaluation.
Spent the rest of the night preparing a bit for my visit with Richard Newman at River Styx on Thursday, trying to work out questions I'm going to ask him. Talked to Joanna on the phone after the flurry of email and got some ideas to start me out, then thought of some more questions that might be appropriate. I'm nervous about the visit, but also excited. We also moved my CW2 class visit to next Tuesday the 28th. The weather better cooperate...
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Tinkering with tough pieces
Time Spent: 5 hours, 15 minutes.
I finished my contest story today. The final word count? 746. HA! That'll show THEM to set a minimum word count, LOL.
I also started revising a story I wrote in CW1 called "Show You Love." It's about a woman's pregnancy and the birth of her child. This is the one I talked about revising yesterday for Literary Mama.com, and I've really enjoyed going back through it and seeing how it progressed. I should say I finished revising it, from graded hard copy to computer file. I think I'll let it sit for a few days then look it over again for anything I might have missed.
This story was difficult to revise. I got a REALLY good grade on the final draft, and there weren't many spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors in it. The story itself didn't really need tinkering. What I did though was clean up the passive verbs and made them more active. A lot of what I've read about revising has said to do this very thing, to make the verbs stronger. For example, an original sentence read, "Her stomach was churning, fists flexing, and she started to say whatever came to her mind when it came, instead of making sense." The revised sentence reads, "Her stomach churned, fists flexed, and she said whatever came to her mind whether or not it made sense." The second sentence is much stronger, not to mention less wordy. Yet another great reason to let drafts sit for a while before revising.
I'm still learning to revise. I still don't like doing it, but it's much easier and much more enjoyable now that I have a better idea of what I'm looking for, what I should change. I think - judging from what I've read - that revising is something one learns to do over the course of a lifetime. There's always room for tinkering, but eventually one has to quit fixing and say it's complete. I don't know that this one's complete, but I'm certainly ready to quit tinkering.
On a sort of related note, I just calculated my hours so far for the project. I need 160 clock hours to finish the AST, and I just passed the 100 hour mark today, with 100 hours and 30 minutes. YAY! Which means I've caught up and really DO have the opportunity to get ahead the rest of this week.
I finished my contest story today. The final word count? 746. HA! That'll show THEM to set a minimum word count, LOL.
I also started revising a story I wrote in CW1 called "Show You Love." It's about a woman's pregnancy and the birth of her child. This is the one I talked about revising yesterday for Literary Mama.com, and I've really enjoyed going back through it and seeing how it progressed. I should say I finished revising it, from graded hard copy to computer file. I think I'll let it sit for a few days then look it over again for anything I might have missed.
This story was difficult to revise. I got a REALLY good grade on the final draft, and there weren't many spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors in it. The story itself didn't really need tinkering. What I did though was clean up the passive verbs and made them more active. A lot of what I've read about revising has said to do this very thing, to make the verbs stronger. For example, an original sentence read, "Her stomach was churning, fists flexing, and she started to say whatever came to her mind when it came, instead of making sense." The revised sentence reads, "Her stomach churned, fists flexed, and she said whatever came to her mind whether or not it made sense." The second sentence is much stronger, not to mention less wordy. Yet another great reason to let drafts sit for a while before revising.
I'm still learning to revise. I still don't like doing it, but it's much easier and much more enjoyable now that I have a better idea of what I'm looking for, what I should change. I think - judging from what I've read - that revising is something one learns to do over the course of a lifetime. There's always room for tinkering, but eventually one has to quit fixing and say it's complete. I don't know that this one's complete, but I'm certainly ready to quit tinkering.
On a sort of related note, I just calculated my hours so far for the project. I need 160 clock hours to finish the AST, and I just passed the 100 hour mark today, with 100 hours and 30 minutes. YAY! Which means I've caught up and really DO have the opportunity to get ahead the rest of this week.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Writing with a prompt
Time Spent: 5 hours.
Suddenly I feel like everything I do is turning into one huge blur! What did I do today?
Last week I decided I needed to do some writing prompts to get things going. Had I done anything about it yet? Nope. As I was going through my email to weed through writing contests and calls for submissions, I found one from Writer's Digest about a contest over at Fan Story.com that uses a picture as a writing prompt. It's an amazing picture, and I immediately had an idea for a story. Alrighty then, I can do this. So that's what I spent the majority of my time doing today - writing a new story. The guidelines say that the story has to be a minimum 700 words - that was the tough part. I really, REALLY wanted to make this into true flash fiction (<500 words), but I know I can do it within the required minimum. Might not be much more than that, we'll see. Anyway, I'm going to do my best to finish it up tomorrow so it can sit a day or so before I try to revise it. The contest ends March 25, so I'll have one more submission down by the end of next week. As far as writing goes today, it was very productive and I learned that I really can work with writing prompts.
Since I got out the 101 Best Websites for writers list again on Tuesday, I also spent some time going through a few more of them tonight. Found a couple of neat sites for mothers, the best one is Literarymama.com. I spent a good chunk of time going through the website, which is for mothers who also happen to be writers, or the other way around.
I've been struggling to decide which other stories I'm going to revise and submit. There are a couple that are favorites and I really want to get them out there, but I've found a few places to submit that might be appropriate for them. But I had to decide on two, maybe three, more stories to revise and submit. LitMama was a great place to find - it publishes fiction about motherhood, and I have a couple of stories that deal with that. Finding this got the process going again and I think I'm going to get out one of those stories tomorrow and start revising.
Suddenly I feel like everything I do is turning into one huge blur! What did I do today?
Last week I decided I needed to do some writing prompts to get things going. Had I done anything about it yet? Nope. As I was going through my email to weed through writing contests and calls for submissions, I found one from Writer's Digest about a contest over at Fan Story.com that uses a picture as a writing prompt. It's an amazing picture, and I immediately had an idea for a story. Alrighty then, I can do this. So that's what I spent the majority of my time doing today - writing a new story. The guidelines say that the story has to be a minimum 700 words - that was the tough part. I really, REALLY wanted to make this into true flash fiction (<500 words), but I know I can do it within the required minimum. Might not be much more than that, we'll see. Anyway, I'm going to do my best to finish it up tomorrow so it can sit a day or so before I try to revise it. The contest ends March 25, so I'll have one more submission down by the end of next week. As far as writing goes today, it was very productive and I learned that I really can work with writing prompts.
Since I got out the 101 Best Websites for writers list again on Tuesday, I also spent some time going through a few more of them tonight. Found a couple of neat sites for mothers, the best one is Literarymama.com. I spent a good chunk of time going through the website, which is for mothers who also happen to be writers, or the other way around.
I've been struggling to decide which other stories I'm going to revise and submit. There are a couple that are favorites and I really want to get them out there, but I've found a few places to submit that might be appropriate for them. But I had to decide on two, maybe three, more stories to revise and submit. LitMama was a great place to find - it publishes fiction about motherhood, and I have a couple of stories that deal with that. Finding this got the process going again and I think I'm going to get out one of those stories tomorrow and start revising.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Preparing to Talk to CW2.
Time Spent: 5 hours.
Ah yes, more catch up. Fortunately, it's Spring Break and I'm on vacation, so I have plenty of time to get caught up. My goal for this week is 25 hours for my AST. I haven't totaled my hours lately, but this should put me slightly ahead of schedule. Which is a great thing. Next week, the crap hits the fan - from here on out I am busy, busy, BUSY with school. Tuesday I'm visiting Joanna's creative writing class to talk about flash fiction and the AST. Thursday we visit River Styx in STL. In about three weeks we'll go to Urbana to visit The Ninth Letter, then the public reading is the 28th of April. And I still have to do all of the AST work (site visit, midterm, final) and my work for other classes as well. Just thinking about all of it makes me short of breath. There's so much to do. PLENTY of time to do it all, that's not the problem. It's just so much, and I really have to pace myself and stay disciplined, or it won't get done. It's got to get done. Breathe in, breathe out. OK, that's a little better. Repeat as necessary.
Sunday I also bought the newest issue of Writers' Journal Magazine. The headlines are great: "Stop Procrastinating" and "Shut Up and Write." Ha. It's like it was specially written just for me. ::snort::: No, I'm sure I'm not the only writer who needs to hear those things. The first two articles were on rejection letters/finding the right publisher for your story - timely, considering I received my first rejection letter for "The Monster Under the Bed" in the mail today. It was actually kind of exciting, as far as being rejected goes, because hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? Jeff said we'd get a photo album or something for all my rejection letters so that when I do get something published, we can look back at them and laugh. I really thought I'd be upset, at least some, but I'm not. I'm surprised I heard back so quickly - they said they looked at it, but honestly, I wonder. ::chuckle::: But that's alright. Anyway - the best thing I read yesterday was "don't take it personally," so I'm not. And the tips on beating procrastination were good as well. I'll need to cut that article out and stick it on every wall of my house, I think.
As I said, next Tuesday I'll visit the creative writing 2 class and talk about some things I'm doing for this project, so that's what I spent a good chunk of time working on. I dug out my WD Writer's Yearbook 2006 from January and made a list of some of the good sites they could look at to help them in their writing endeavors. I'll mention Lit Buzz some (and remind them that looking through all those broken links takes immense patience and an open mind - you know, I'm STILL only about 2/3 of the way through all those links, and that's just the literary journals section. There's a whole section on publishers and ezines in there too). I'll also tell them a little about the Applied Study program and how my project fits into it, then of course I talk to them about my love of flash fiction. I'm nervous about speaking to them, but I'm looking forward to it as well. I think I still have a few more hours of work to do before I'm really prepared, but I have plenty of time to prepare.
But it's good to look at what I've done so far because it shows me exactly what I've been learning from this project. It's shown me what I want to go back and look at again, what I need to look at a first time, and what I can tell them works or doesn't work.
Ah yes, more catch up. Fortunately, it's Spring Break and I'm on vacation, so I have plenty of time to get caught up. My goal for this week is 25 hours for my AST. I haven't totaled my hours lately, but this should put me slightly ahead of schedule. Which is a great thing. Next week, the crap hits the fan - from here on out I am busy, busy, BUSY with school. Tuesday I'm visiting Joanna's creative writing class to talk about flash fiction and the AST. Thursday we visit River Styx in STL. In about three weeks we'll go to Urbana to visit The Ninth Letter, then the public reading is the 28th of April. And I still have to do all of the AST work (site visit, midterm, final) and my work for other classes as well. Just thinking about all of it makes me short of breath. There's so much to do. PLENTY of time to do it all, that's not the problem. It's just so much, and I really have to pace myself and stay disciplined, or it won't get done. It's got to get done. Breathe in, breathe out. OK, that's a little better. Repeat as necessary.
Sunday I also bought the newest issue of Writers' Journal Magazine. The headlines are great: "Stop Procrastinating" and "Shut Up and Write." Ha. It's like it was specially written just for me. ::snort::: No, I'm sure I'm not the only writer who needs to hear those things. The first two articles were on rejection letters/finding the right publisher for your story - timely, considering I received my first rejection letter for "The Monster Under the Bed" in the mail today. It was actually kind of exciting, as far as being rejected goes, because hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? Jeff said we'd get a photo album or something for all my rejection letters so that when I do get something published, we can look back at them and laugh. I really thought I'd be upset, at least some, but I'm not. I'm surprised I heard back so quickly - they said they looked at it, but honestly, I wonder. ::chuckle::: But that's alright. Anyway - the best thing I read yesterday was "don't take it personally," so I'm not. And the tips on beating procrastination were good as well. I'll need to cut that article out and stick it on every wall of my house, I think.
As I said, next Tuesday I'll visit the creative writing 2 class and talk about some things I'm doing for this project, so that's what I spent a good chunk of time working on. I dug out my WD Writer's Yearbook 2006 from January and made a list of some of the good sites they could look at to help them in their writing endeavors. I'll mention Lit Buzz some (and remind them that looking through all those broken links takes immense patience and an open mind - you know, I'm STILL only about 2/3 of the way through all those links, and that's just the literary journals section. There's a whole section on publishers and ezines in there too). I'll also tell them a little about the Applied Study program and how my project fits into it, then of course I talk to them about my love of flash fiction. I'm nervous about speaking to them, but I'm looking forward to it as well. I think I still have a few more hours of work to do before I'm really prepared, but I have plenty of time to prepare.
But it's good to look at what I've done so far because it shows me exactly what I've been learning from this project. It's shown me what I want to go back and look at again, what I need to look at a first time, and what I can tell them works or doesn't work.
Monday, March 13, 2006
A Trip to Borders
Time Spent: 2 hours.
Just as I said in Saturday's post, we were in STL yesterday (incidentally, missing the tornado that swept through Springfield, wrecking the Southwest to East part of town - I should post pictures we took on our way back from Decatur today. It's a mess here, but as far as I know, no casualties, thank God!) and I went to Borders out by Galleria. This might not seem newsworthy to you, but all we have here in town is Barnes and Noble (which may be closed for a while, depending on the extent of storm damage). So this was my first Borders trip, in a completely different city to boot.
Very productive. They had twice as many writer's resources as B&N - including a copy of River Styx, which I'm visiting next week. YAY! I can actually read the journal and be prepared for the trip, which is all I did today.
Reading print journals has been a good experience for me, helping me to really open my mind. I think I've mentioned that these aren't the sorts of things that I would normally read. Most of the journals say in their submission guidelines that they don't publish genre fiction, which is more in the realm of what I usually read. I have read all the journals I've bought from front to back (well, except for the poetry, I haven't read all of it - I don't want to think THAT much) and there is some really good work, but honestly, I think River Styx is the best one I've read. I got one of the 2005 issues (probably the last one of the year), and there is a story in there about a college dropout who befriends a teenager in a small MA town, and together they explore the little town. It doesn't sound so exciting from my summary, but it was a very good story.
So this was good preparation for my visit to River Styx. I'll be able to say that I have, in fact, read the journal, and that it's good! I may dig through it again for a close read and see if I can come up with some really good questions about "why this particular story?" or "why this author?"
Just as I said in Saturday's post, we were in STL yesterday (incidentally, missing the tornado that swept through Springfield, wrecking the Southwest to East part of town - I should post pictures we took on our way back from Decatur today. It's a mess here, but as far as I know, no casualties, thank God!) and I went to Borders out by Galleria. This might not seem newsworthy to you, but all we have here in town is Barnes and Noble (which may be closed for a while, depending on the extent of storm damage). So this was my first Borders trip, in a completely different city to boot.
Very productive. They had twice as many writer's resources as B&N - including a copy of River Styx, which I'm visiting next week. YAY! I can actually read the journal and be prepared for the trip, which is all I did today.
Reading print journals has been a good experience for me, helping me to really open my mind. I think I've mentioned that these aren't the sorts of things that I would normally read. Most of the journals say in their submission guidelines that they don't publish genre fiction, which is more in the realm of what I usually read. I have read all the journals I've bought from front to back (well, except for the poetry, I haven't read all of it - I don't want to think THAT much) and there is some really good work, but honestly, I think River Styx is the best one I've read. I got one of the 2005 issues (probably the last one of the year), and there is a story in there about a college dropout who befriends a teenager in a small MA town, and together they explore the little town. It doesn't sound so exciting from my summary, but it was a very good story.
So this was good preparation for my visit to River Styx. I'll be able to say that I have, in fact, read the journal, and that it's good! I may dig through it again for a close read and see if I can come up with some really good questions about "why this particular story?" or "why this author?"
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Yet More Research
Time Spent: 2 hours.
As the title of this post suggests, I did more journal research today. I wish I could think of something new to say about it, but that's what the last 16 million posts have been about. I think you probably know the drill by now.
We're going to St. Louis tomorrow and I'll be heading to the Borders out by Galleria to see if they have any interesting journals or writer's magazines there that we don't get in Springfield. Maybe that will prove more interesting than Lit Buzz.
As the title of this post suggests, I did more journal research today. I wish I could think of something new to say about it, but that's what the last 16 million posts have been about. I think you probably know the drill by now.
We're going to St. Louis tomorrow and I'll be heading to the Borders out by Galleria to see if they have any interesting journals or writer's magazines there that we don't get in Springfield. Maybe that will prove more interesting than Lit Buzz.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Journal Research (still...)
Time Spent: 2 hours
Yes, more journal research today. That wasn't the interesting part though.
In my research, I got to this journal: Image: Art, Faith, Mystery, a Christian faith based journal. While I was looking around, I found a link to Seattle Pacific University's MFA in Creative Writing program.
The whole reason for doing an AST, as I understand it, is exploring a career before one actually gets into said career. As someone who isn't going to graduate at the innocent age of twenty-two without any serious job experience, I think this is a fantastic idea. I wish I'd been able to do that with a few of the jobs I've had in the past - I would have known to run screaming from the building and not turn back at the end of the experience. The AST allows one to work in a real setting, not just a plce where one is a "college intern." The student is expected to do real work and learn the job.
So what does this have to with me? For all intents and purposes, I'm an author right now. I'm doing the things authors do - writing, submitting, researching, and learning. Sometimes part of the learning is going further in school, which is what I'd eventually (sooner rather than later) like to do. I'd LOVE to do a MFA in creative writing. See this link to SPU actually made me cry - this is almost the whole of what I'd like to do. I've been torn, the past year or so, about what to do in regards to a Master's degree. I've always felt called to go to seminary, but I'd really love to get that MFA. SPU, as a Christian university, has this philosophy for their CW MFA program: "The low-residency MFA at SPU is a creative writing program for apprentice writers—both Christians and those of other traditions—who not only want to pursue excellence in the craft of writing but also place their work within the larger context of the Judeo-Christian tradition of faith." This is what I want to do!!! And I got so excited, I cried. The low residency program is a plus as well - instead of being on campus all the time, I could do this while still living and working in IL, and would only have to go to Seattle twice a year for the seminars. Sounds perfect. Anyone want to help me convince my husband that I should do it now instead of in two or three years?
So this has been the learning portion of the AST for today. Part of a job is continuing education and it's no different for writers.
Yes, more journal research today. That wasn't the interesting part though.
In my research, I got to this journal: Image: Art, Faith, Mystery, a Christian faith based journal. While I was looking around, I found a link to Seattle Pacific University's MFA in Creative Writing program.
The whole reason for doing an AST, as I understand it, is exploring a career before one actually gets into said career. As someone who isn't going to graduate at the innocent age of twenty-two without any serious job experience, I think this is a fantastic idea. I wish I'd been able to do that with a few of the jobs I've had in the past - I would have known to run screaming from the building and not turn back at the end of the experience. The AST allows one to work in a real setting, not just a plce where one is a "college intern." The student is expected to do real work and learn the job.
So what does this have to with me? For all intents and purposes, I'm an author right now. I'm doing the things authors do - writing, submitting, researching, and learning. Sometimes part of the learning is going further in school, which is what I'd eventually (sooner rather than later) like to do. I'd LOVE to do a MFA in creative writing. See this link to SPU actually made me cry - this is almost the whole of what I'd like to do. I've been torn, the past year or so, about what to do in regards to a Master's degree. I've always felt called to go to seminary, but I'd really love to get that MFA. SPU, as a Christian university, has this philosophy for their CW MFA program: "The low-residency MFA at SPU is a creative writing program for apprentice writers—both Christians and those of other traditions—who not only want to pursue excellence in the craft of writing but also place their work within the larger context of the Judeo-Christian tradition of faith." This is what I want to do!!! And I got so excited, I cried. The low residency program is a plus as well - instead of being on campus all the time, I could do this while still living and working in IL, and would only have to go to Seattle twice a year for the seminars. Sounds perfect. Anyone want to help me convince my husband that I should do it now instead of in two or three years?
So this has been the learning portion of the AST for today. Part of a job is continuing education and it's no different for writers.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Journal Research (more...)
Time Spent: 3 hours, 30 minutes.
Yes, more delightful journal research again today. I'm officially halfway through the litbuzz list, which is nice. Same old same old: more broken links, more dead journals, a few great possibilities. I read a wonderful, brilliant story about a homeless man today, but I didn't bookmark the story itself and so now I have to go through all my history to find this story so I can put a link in here. I'll try to remember to do that another day.
I've started to see more journals that are appealing. I think what will happen is I'll narrow it down to several really promising journals (which I've bookmarked), then go back and study those journals again to decide which ones hold the most promise.
Tomorrow - more reasearch!
Yes, more delightful journal research again today. I'm officially halfway through the litbuzz list, which is nice. Same old same old: more broken links, more dead journals, a few great possibilities. I read a wonderful, brilliant story about a homeless man today, but I didn't bookmark the story itself and so now I have to go through all my history to find this story so I can put a link in here. I'll try to remember to do that another day.
I've started to see more journals that are appealing. I think what will happen is I'll narrow it down to several really promising journals (which I've bookmarked), then go back and study those journals again to decide which ones hold the most promise.
Tomorrow - more reasearch!
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Journal Research
Time Spent: 2 hours.
Just to get this out of the way: Yes, I DO have my 2 disc special edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and I wasn't the first person at Walmart to grab a copy. I'm not the only weird person shopping for HP at 12 am, so there. :-P
So today, more research on journals. I have a feeling I'm going to be doing that a lot until I'm done with this list on Lit Buzz, and as of right now I'm still only about half way through that list. Many more broken links, many more links that have dead journals (or at least not updated for a couple of years), but a few more productive web sites with some really good work.
I'm learning patience right now. I want to just get this submitting thing done and out of the way, but one of the keys to getting published is submitting to an appropriate place and I want to make sure I do that. And I don't want to just submit anywhere, either. I've seen a few journals that have some really good work, then I'll read something that might be considered objectionable by some people or that I find objectionable myself. I know that most journals are going to have something in them that offends someone, but I still want to be careful with what I do.
Just to get this out of the way: Yes, I DO have my 2 disc special edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and I wasn't the first person at Walmart to grab a copy. I'm not the only weird person shopping for HP at 12 am, so there. :-P
So today, more research on journals. I have a feeling I'm going to be doing that a lot until I'm done with this list on Lit Buzz, and as of right now I'm still only about half way through that list. Many more broken links, many more links that have dead journals (or at least not updated for a couple of years), but a few more productive web sites with some really good work.
I'm learning patience right now. I want to just get this submitting thing done and out of the way, but one of the keys to getting published is submitting to an appropriate place and I want to make sure I do that. And I don't want to just submit anywhere, either. I've seen a few journals that have some really good work, then I'll read something that might be considered objectionable by some people or that I find objectionable myself. I know that most journals are going to have something in them that offends someone, but I still want to be careful with what I do.
Monday, March 06, 2006
(Writing) Exercises are Good for Me!
Time Spent: 3 hours.
I should just leave this for tomorrow, but I've caught a second wind and need to make this quick because I need to go to WalMart still. I know, I know, it's late (11:14 pm here in the midwest) but I promised myself that I would buy Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as soon as it came out on March 7. That's approximately 45 minutes. I DO have my priorities, and y'all should have known by now that I'm a huge Harry Potter fan (did you MISS the part about Bloomsbury USA the first ten times I wrote it?).
Anyway - today, researched a few more links, lots more broken ones, a few good ones, a few out of that that hold some promise. You know, there are some really weird people out there...
I also attended my first meeting of SCBWI - Springfield at Barnes and Noble. We did quite a bit at the meeting, but if there was one thing I really got out of it, it was the writing exercises.
I hate writing exercises. I hated them the first time we had to do them in creative writing 1. I hated having to do them in creative writing 3. I hated the few we had to do online for creative writing 2. So it should come as no surprise that I've not done one writing exercise since starting this AST. HA! Well, I should be doing them, because I ALWAYS get something out of it. Tonight was no exception. We had to do two short ones. Lo and behold, I've finally got an idea for that children's book I wanted to write about Fletcher, my nephew ("The Monster Under the Bed" and "The Snowdragon" star all his older siblings). I'm a schmuck, what can I say? So I think tomorrow I'll be signing up for daily writing exercises. See, I learned something brand new. And I'm also going to find all my old writing exercises and see what I can make of them.
Ok, I have to go now. I really DO have to go to Walmart, for stuff other than GoF. but mainly for that! Happy Harry watching!
I should just leave this for tomorrow, but I've caught a second wind and need to make this quick because I need to go to WalMart still. I know, I know, it's late (11:14 pm here in the midwest) but I promised myself that I would buy Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as soon as it came out on March 7. That's approximately 45 minutes. I DO have my priorities, and y'all should have known by now that I'm a huge Harry Potter fan (did you MISS the part about Bloomsbury USA the first ten times I wrote it?
Anyway - today, researched a few more links, lots more broken ones, a few good ones, a few out of that that hold some promise. You know, there are some really weird people out there...
I also attended my first meeting of SCBWI - Springfield at Barnes and Noble. We did quite a bit at the meeting, but if there was one thing I really got out of it, it was the writing exercises.
I hate writing exercises. I hated them the first time we had to do them in creative writing 1. I hated having to do them in creative writing 3. I hated the few we had to do online for creative writing 2. So it should come as no surprise that I've not done one writing exercise since starting this AST. HA! Well, I should be doing them, because I ALWAYS get something out of it. Tonight was no exception. We had to do two short ones. Lo and behold, I've finally got an idea for that children's book I wanted to write about Fletcher, my nephew ("The Monster Under the Bed" and "The Snowdragon" star all his older siblings). I'm a schmuck, what can I say? So I think tomorrow I'll be signing up for daily writing exercises. See, I learned something brand new. And I'm also going to find all my old writing exercises and see what I can make of them.
Ok, I have to go now. I really DO have to go to Walmart, for stuff other than GoF. but mainly for that! Happy Harry watching!
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Catching up is hard to do.
Time Spent: 5 hours.
Yeah, that's right, five, count em F-I-V-E hours today. This is what happens when you get behind - you get to play catch up. I think my eyes are bleeding. No, seriously. Or maybe that's my sanity, leaking out in my tears.
Ok, enough melodrama. Like I said, catching up, and I did a lot of it. I spent most of the time researching journals. Last week I found a site called Literature Buzz that has somewhere around 2000 links (no, really) for journals, poetry, etc. It's completely nuts. So I'm thinking this would be a great place to find some journals that might be good places to send MS submissions.
I found a few. I'm not even halfway through the list (I spent a good four hours looking at links and I'm not even halfway - I told you there were a lot of links!) and a good portion of those were broken links, a good portion were links that still had a journal on them but the site hadn't been updated for quite a while. But there were a few good ones that hold some promise. And there are still quite a few more links to go through before I'm done looking.
What else did I do? Oh yeah, wrote a story. A piece of flash that's still untitled, I think. I know what the running title is, but I don't think that's the official title.
I'm putting my fried brain to bed now. Ugh. And I'll be doing this at least one more time during the week, if not twice.
Yeah, that's right, five, count em F-I-V-E hours today. This is what happens when you get behind - you get to play catch up. I think my eyes are bleeding. No, seriously. Or maybe that's my sanity, leaking out in my tears.
Ok, enough melodrama. Like I said, catching up, and I did a lot of it. I spent most of the time researching journals. Last week I found a site called Literature Buzz that has somewhere around 2000 links (no, really) for journals, poetry, etc. It's completely nuts. So I'm thinking this would be a great place to find some journals that might be good places to send MS submissions.
I found a few. I'm not even halfway through the list (I spent a good four hours looking at links and I'm not even halfway - I told you there were a lot of links!) and a good portion of those were broken links, a good portion were links that still had a journal on them but the site hadn't been updated for quite a while. But there were a few good ones that hold some promise. And there are still quite a few more links to go through before I'm done looking.
What else did I do? Oh yeah, wrote a story. A piece of flash that's still untitled, I think. I know what the running title is, but I don't think that's the official title.
I'm putting my fried brain to bed now. Ugh. And I'll be doing this at least one more time during the week, if not twice.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Voice
Time Spent: 3 hours.
I picked up the latest copy of The Writer lit magazine a few days ago and finally got a chance to read it. Lots of intersting things in there, including a great article on creating conflict in children's literature. Other things of interest: "Practical wisdom for beginning writers", an article reviewing a book called Writing Brave and Free, which looks like something I'm interested in reading. The reviewer says it reads as easily as one of those Dummies guides and has excellent advice on everything writing related. And finally, an interview with poet Billy Collins, whose advise to writers on finding their voice is this: "I think you find your voice when you quit censoring yourself. It isn't external. It's inside you. The reason the young writer isn't using it is the voice is being suppressed, usually because of some kind of decorum. I ask young writers to examine themselves. What are you keeping out of your writing? Allowing those things into your writing is ultimately how you find your voice." (The Writer, April 2006, pg66)
The above really struck me because I'm not sure if I've found my voice yet. I have many things I like to write about, some things more than others, but like any writer, I have a desire to be fresh and new with what I'm creating. I don't want to fake my way through writing - by that, I mean I want who I am to come through in my writing, not something I've made up. Yet, is who I am good enough for the literary world? That's been a serious question on my mind lately. When it comes to essays, I am an extremely strong writer, but when it comes to creative writing, I'm not so sure yet. And I'm starting to feel like Carrie Bradshaw, so I'm going to shut my yap about that for right now. At any rate, it demands a bit more looking at.
Other stuff - looked at more online journals. That's about all for today. Tomorrow, more lit journals and some SERIOUS catching up with time - I'm sure you've noticed that I'm several hours behind for the week. I was stressed earlier in the week over a paper for another class. This week, I catch up and get ahead. Or else!
I picked up the latest copy of The Writer lit magazine a few days ago and finally got a chance to read it. Lots of intersting things in there, including a great article on creating conflict in children's literature. Other things of interest: "Practical wisdom for beginning writers", an article reviewing a book called Writing Brave and Free, which looks like something I'm interested in reading. The reviewer says it reads as easily as one of those Dummies guides and has excellent advice on everything writing related. And finally, an interview with poet Billy Collins, whose advise to writers on finding their voice is this: "I think you find your voice when you quit censoring yourself. It isn't external. It's inside you. The reason the young writer isn't using it is the voice is being suppressed, usually because of some kind of decorum. I ask young writers to examine themselves. What are you keeping out of your writing? Allowing those things into your writing is ultimately how you find your voice." (The Writer, April 2006, pg66)
The above really struck me because I'm not sure if I've found my voice yet. I have many things I like to write about, some things more than others, but like any writer, I have a desire to be fresh and new with what I'm creating. I don't want to fake my way through writing - by that, I mean I want who I am to come through in my writing, not something I've made up. Yet, is who I am good enough for the literary world? That's been a serious question on my mind lately. When it comes to essays, I am an extremely strong writer, but when it comes to creative writing, I'm not so sure yet. And I'm starting to feel like Carrie Bradshaw, so I'm going to shut my yap about that for right now. At any rate, it demands a bit more looking at.
Other stuff - looked at more online journals. That's about all for today. Tomorrow, more lit journals and some SERIOUS catching up with time - I'm sure you've noticed that I'm several hours behind for the week. I was stressed earlier in the week over a paper for another class. This week, I catch up and get ahead. Or else!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)