So I haven't been on Blogger for a while, and it feels like it's been quite a while since I was on my computer at all. But it is a new year, so I suppose resolutions are in order. Not that the time of year makes a difference, but I think it's a good idea to look over the year and set goals, particularly when one has lots of stuff going on. Now's as good a time as any.
So I looked over my goals from last year, and I accomplished some of what I set out to do, but not everything.
So for 2008:
I finished one round of edits, and half of another, so firstly, finish the rest of that editing, and start querying agents.
I've already done a little research into which agents might be a good fit, now I need to narrow it down and organize myself, make sure I know which ones prefer email queries versus hard copy.
Survive my second and third semesters of graduate school (this spring I have two classes, one after the other, on Tuesdays and one on Fridays).
Finish the first draft of at least one of the two big stories I started last year--the urban fantasy or the pirate-ish maybe-YA fiction.
Plan out the plot/story arc for book two of the story I'm currently editing.
Here's to the new year, people.
Happy Writing,
Sabrina
And Writtenwyrdd, thanks for the New Year's wishes in the comments below.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Update
There's a new post just below, but for the curious:
I fixed the link for Writtenwyrrd (from blogspot to typepad). I've also added a few more writers' blogs that I tend to frequent and another agent blog I like to check out from time to time.
Hope it helps.
~Sabrina
I fixed the link for Writtenwyrrd (from blogspot to typepad). I've also added a few more writers' blogs that I tend to frequent and another agent blog I like to check out from time to time.
Hope it helps.
~Sabrina
Milestones, or some variation thereof
Okay, so technically, this is my big news for Thursday, because I didn't touch my computer yesterday. As of this past holiday, I finished the first big round of editing on Hounds, the urban fantasy I've been working on. I had my printed out copy that I'd gone through months ago, making notes and changes, and on Thursday said I was taking a break from my week of school work (seminar papers, oh the joy) to edit for fun.
I finally reached the last page, and then even decided to haul out the other hard copy covered in green ink (I just don't like the look of all that red ink) and editing notes. I actually breezed through the first eight chapters or so on that one, however. It was a copy of the pages as I brought them to my writer's group. After receiving their verbal and written commentary I compiled it all onto my pages and put all those copies into its own folder. From title to "The End." I'd started off incoroprating those changes a few days (a week at the latest) after the meeting where I received them, but then I fell behind, so when I went to incorporate the changes the other day, I didn't have any big changes until chapter 6. Makes the 'I edited eight chapters in one day' claim a little less impressive.
Anyway, that's all good stuff for me. My first semester of graduate school is winding down. I took this past week off work to focus on my papers and research. I feel like the time has gone by far too quickly, though. I have a 4-5 page paper, as well as an outline or some semblance of knowing what I'll talk about, which I can email my Thursday class professor for a presentation on Thursday. Both need to be in by Monday. And the bulk of my time, not spent doing homework for the Monday and Wednesday classes I still had despite the holiday (only the Thursday class was cancelled) was researching for a draft of a 20-page seminar paper which I need by Wednesday.
One week is not enough.
Even this post is a small detour from research on the presence, or lack thereof of "minority" characters in science fiction and fantasy (I use quotation marks because I live in Hawai'i, where African-American, Asian and Pacific Islanders are anything but the minority) for this 5-page paper due Monday. I probably won't get to typing it tonight (I wouldn't want to, even here I feel like my writing is confused and convoluted), but if I have my research done and my notes organized, typing it tomorrow shouldn't be too bad. Then research for the presentation, which I bega last week, and an outline about that, then see about some research on the gendered body of Joan of Arc (for my Wednesday class, Medieval Women Writers, it just sounded like so much fun). But that last will depend on what time I finish the other two tasks. At least, at this point, there's no more required reading for my classes (except this last week in the Thursday class).
(And why does a 5-page paper, or 20-page for that matter, seem like such a big deal when I finished the first drafts of two novel-length works? Not that I'm bragging, I just don't quite get how being able to achieve that, plus the countless other essays I've written as an undergraduate, and still the prospect of these graduate papers fills me with dread.)
Then again, I go back to work Monday. Ugh. It wouldn't be so bad except I know I'll still be really busy, school-wise, the next few weeks and work is going to be busy, too. That's okay. I'll hang it there. Just don't be surprised if I look like a zombie by the time Chrsitmas hits (I'm also making two things for friends as Christmas gifts, so those need to be done soon so I can mail them out and I haven't even really begun).
And look at all the love for the parentheses tonight.
Yeah, definitely gonna be a zombie.
Good luck to the rest of you. Happy writing.
I finally reached the last page, and then even decided to haul out the other hard copy covered in green ink (I just don't like the look of all that red ink) and editing notes. I actually breezed through the first eight chapters or so on that one, however. It was a copy of the pages as I brought them to my writer's group. After receiving their verbal and written commentary I compiled it all onto my pages and put all those copies into its own folder. From title to "The End." I'd started off incoroprating those changes a few days (a week at the latest) after the meeting where I received them, but then I fell behind, so when I went to incorporate the changes the other day, I didn't have any big changes until chapter 6. Makes the 'I edited eight chapters in one day' claim a little less impressive.
Anyway, that's all good stuff for me. My first semester of graduate school is winding down. I took this past week off work to focus on my papers and research. I feel like the time has gone by far too quickly, though. I have a 4-5 page paper, as well as an outline or some semblance of knowing what I'll talk about, which I can email my Thursday class professor for a presentation on Thursday. Both need to be in by Monday. And the bulk of my time, not spent doing homework for the Monday and Wednesday classes I still had despite the holiday (only the Thursday class was cancelled) was researching for a draft of a 20-page seminar paper which I need by Wednesday.
One week is not enough.
Even this post is a small detour from research on the presence, or lack thereof of "minority" characters in science fiction and fantasy (I use quotation marks because I live in Hawai'i, where African-American, Asian and Pacific Islanders are anything but the minority) for this 5-page paper due Monday. I probably won't get to typing it tonight (I wouldn't want to, even here I feel like my writing is confused and convoluted), but if I have my research done and my notes organized, typing it tomorrow shouldn't be too bad. Then research for the presentation, which I bega last week, and an outline about that, then see about some research on the gendered body of Joan of Arc (for my Wednesday class, Medieval Women Writers, it just sounded like so much fun). But that last will depend on what time I finish the other two tasks. At least, at this point, there's no more required reading for my classes (except this last week in the Thursday class).
(And why does a 5-page paper, or 20-page for that matter, seem like such a big deal when I finished the first drafts of two novel-length works? Not that I'm bragging, I just don't quite get how being able to achieve that, plus the countless other essays I've written as an undergraduate, and still the prospect of these graduate papers fills me with dread.)
Then again, I go back to work Monday. Ugh. It wouldn't be so bad except I know I'll still be really busy, school-wise, the next few weeks and work is going to be busy, too. That's okay. I'll hang it there. Just don't be surprised if I look like a zombie by the time Chrsitmas hits (I'm also making two things for friends as Christmas gifts, so those need to be done soon so I can mail them out and I haven't even really begun).
And look at all the love for the parentheses tonight.
Yeah, definitely gonna be a zombie.
Good luck to the rest of you. Happy writing.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Writers on Strike
(Dang it. I had this all typed up and then my laptop copped out on me. Anyway.)
I first heard about this a few days ago on Neil Gaiman's blog (scroll down to the first question in bold). I figured I'd share it here for those who didn't know. Since Gaiman writes within both the publishing and media industries, he is affected but not wholly.
Essentially, writers in the media industry have gone on strike, as of Monday I believe. They're protesting in order to receive a portion of teh revenues garnered from DVD sales and internet shows and films. The first shows to be immediately affected are the late night talk shows, like "The Daily Show." These programs rely on up-to-date commentary from that same day, thus have no scripts on back-up. They immediately went to reruns.
Next up are the half-hour comedies, which, although they have scripts, tend to alter them over teh week they're filming (if my understanding is correct). This includes shows like "The Big Bang Theory" and "'Til Death."
After that come the hour-long dramas, which generally have scripts through November, but at least some of them don't have scripts for the end of the season, so if the strike doesn't end soon, the last episodes of the season may be affected for these programs. "Desperate Housewives" falls under this category, as would "Heroes," I suppose (and this week's was such a good eipsode).
So here are a few other places with information about the strike:
CNN (from Monday, November 5)
NPR (from Tuesday, November 6)
MSNBC (from Wednesday, November 7)
And here are some pictures from The Guardian.
I first heard about this a few days ago on Neil Gaiman's blog (scroll down to the first question in bold). I figured I'd share it here for those who didn't know. Since Gaiman writes within both the publishing and media industries, he is affected but not wholly.
Essentially, writers in the media industry have gone on strike, as of Monday I believe. They're protesting in order to receive a portion of teh revenues garnered from DVD sales and internet shows and films. The first shows to be immediately affected are the late night talk shows, like "The Daily Show." These programs rely on up-to-date commentary from that same day, thus have no scripts on back-up. They immediately went to reruns.
Next up are the half-hour comedies, which, although they have scripts, tend to alter them over teh week they're filming (if my understanding is correct). This includes shows like "The Big Bang Theory" and "'Til Death."
After that come the hour-long dramas, which generally have scripts through November, but at least some of them don't have scripts for the end of the season, so if the strike doesn't end soon, the last episodes of the season may be affected for these programs. "Desperate Housewives" falls under this category, as would "Heroes," I suppose (and this week's was such a good eipsode).
So here are a few other places with information about the strike:
CNN (from Monday, November 5)
NPR (from Tuesday, November 6)
MSNBC (from Wednesday, November 7)
And here are some pictures from The Guardian.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
When hungers pokin' at ya, pokin' at ya...
Or in this case, words are poking at your brain.
So, I think it would come as no surprise to say that I am a dork for new words, or words in general. I am that peculiar student who makes a list of words they don't know in a textbook, looks up the definition and writes it down.
I am prone to using words like thingamajig, thingamabob, whatchamacallits (haven't had that candy bar for a while though) and gall (usually not in reference to the gall bladder).
Interesting situation for me--a while back I thought I created a word--niggle. As in, "this idea is niggling in my brain." Definition somewhere along the lines of 'to simultaneously wiggle and nudge.' It came with the image of that cartoonish bookworm wiggling about as it nudged ideas or words in the cavern of my mind (yeah, I work with visualization a lot, I keep thinking it's going to help decrease my anxieties). So yesterday or the day before, I was weirdly surprised (not annoyed, but not exactly pleasantly surprised either) to see someone else use it.
And then today, I came across this post by Jessica on Bookends, LLC: The Art of Editing.
It's about the difference between copyeditors and acquisition editors with a link to a Salon article. Pretty neat stuff, and with this second mention of the word, I think I am pleasantly surprised, although I don't think I could explain why in anything even remotely resembling concision.
Then again, that's not new.
I may have to politely disagree with one point, though. In recounting a personal anaecdote, Jessica mentions to this former teacher that schools focus too much on the grammar aspect of writing and not enough about writing good papers as a whole. However, it seems to be a pretty common complaint here, in Hawai'i, that the schools don't teach grammar nearly enough, so students reach high school and don't know how to write properly, or they get to college and don't know. I'm in graduate school now and professors still take a little time in the introductory course to teach us our we should write papers for class. And there are 400-level courses on Modern Grammar. it strikes me as a bit strange to need classesd at this level of education, but at the same time, I am intrigued. I must admit I fall in that category of writer who spells well and can see when a sentence looks "wrong" but isn't able to specifically point to the parts of teh sentence which are lacking.
Anyway, check out the post. I enjoyed it.
And yay to new words, even if they aren't as new as I thought.
So, I think it would come as no surprise to say that I am a dork for new words, or words in general. I am that peculiar student who makes a list of words they don't know in a textbook, looks up the definition and writes it down.
I am prone to using words like thingamajig, thingamabob, whatchamacallits (haven't had that candy bar for a while though) and gall (usually not in reference to the gall bladder).
Interesting situation for me--a while back I thought I created a word--niggle. As in, "this idea is niggling in my brain." Definition somewhere along the lines of 'to simultaneously wiggle and nudge.' It came with the image of that cartoonish bookworm wiggling about as it nudged ideas or words in the cavern of my mind (yeah, I work with visualization a lot, I keep thinking it's going to help decrease my anxieties). So yesterday or the day before, I was weirdly surprised (not annoyed, but not exactly pleasantly surprised either) to see someone else use it.
And then today, I came across this post by Jessica on Bookends, LLC: The Art of Editing.
It's about the difference between copyeditors and acquisition editors with a link to a Salon article. Pretty neat stuff, and with this second mention of the word, I think I am pleasantly surprised, although I don't think I could explain why in anything even remotely resembling concision.
Then again, that's not new.
I may have to politely disagree with one point, though. In recounting a personal anaecdote, Jessica mentions to this former teacher that schools focus too much on the grammar aspect of writing and not enough about writing good papers as a whole. However, it seems to be a pretty common complaint here, in Hawai'i, that the schools don't teach grammar nearly enough, so students reach high school and don't know how to write properly, or they get to college and don't know. I'm in graduate school now and professors still take a little time in the introductory course to teach us our we should write papers for class. And there are 400-level courses on Modern Grammar. it strikes me as a bit strange to need classesd at this level of education, but at the same time, I am intrigued. I must admit I fall in that category of writer who spells well and can see when a sentence looks "wrong" but isn't able to specifically point to the parts of teh sentence which are lacking.
Anyway, check out the post. I enjoyed it.
And yay to new words, even if they aren't as new as I thought.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Drive-by posting
Just a quick post to wave hello and share my good mood.
Much as I wanted to be around CoffeeQuill more often since classes started up (all three require some weekly computer time), that has turned out to not be the case. I am still painfully lacking in time.
But today my schedule was surprisingly free, so I spent the bulk of the day editing.
It's put me in a, dare I say, chipper mood.
I've been saying, here and elsewhere, that "I'm gonna do X and then try to do some editing," which inevitably ended with me finishing X and then being too tired to edit. Today there was no X. Rather the one tiny x was something I could do at any point and didn't really take time away from the editing (just had to print something out that I shall read on the bus for class today).
So as of today, I got past the 'editing chapter from hell' and moved onto what I guess would be the 'editing chapter from purgatory.' I dunno. Got 12 more pages of this one to edit and basically have to call it a day now--my "Love, Terror, and Feminism" class awaits--but still, this bit of progress has put me in a much better frame of mind in regards to my writing than it's been in days, weeks, possibly months (I was really behind with this editing).
Much as I wanted to be around CoffeeQuill more often since classes started up (all three require some weekly computer time), that has turned out to not be the case. I am still painfully lacking in time.
But today my schedule was surprisingly free, so I spent the bulk of the day editing.
It's put me in a, dare I say, chipper mood.
I've been saying, here and elsewhere, that "I'm gonna do X and then try to do some editing," which inevitably ended with me finishing X and then being too tired to edit. Today there was no X. Rather the one tiny x was something I could do at any point and didn't really take time away from the editing (just had to print something out that I shall read on the bus for class today).
So as of today, I got past the 'editing chapter from hell' and moved onto what I guess would be the 'editing chapter from purgatory.' I dunno. Got 12 more pages of this one to edit and basically have to call it a day now--my "Love, Terror, and Feminism" class awaits--but still, this bit of progress has put me in a much better frame of mind in regards to my writing than it's been in days, weeks, possibly months (I was really behind with this editing).
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Another good-bye I'd rather not make
Robert Jordan passed away today.
1948-2007
Links:
John Scalzi
Dragonmount, Jordan's blog
Nielsen Hayden, Making Light
My sympathies to his family and friends.
1948-2007
Links:
John Scalzi
Dragonmount, Jordan's blog
Nielsen Hayden, Making Light
My sympathies to his family and friends.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Good-bye to Ms. L'Engle
I only found out today.
Madeleine L'Engle died last week.
She's one of those writers who...I'm so used to going to the bookstore and the library and seeing her books. It's a little strange, but comforting I suppose, to think the books will still be there, even though she's not.
I learned this through the blogs of Jenny Rappaport and Jennifer Jackson (links on the side).
Ms. Jackson also included this link on her post: Obituary for L'Engle.
Rest in peace.
Madeleine L'Engle died last week.
She's one of those writers who...I'm so used to going to the bookstore and the library and seeing her books. It's a little strange, but comforting I suppose, to think the books will still be there, even though she's not.
I learned this through the blogs of Jenny Rappaport and Jennifer Jackson (links on the side).
Ms. Jackson also included this link on her post: Obituary for L'Engle.
Rest in peace.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
I am a bad, bad blogger
Life and procrastination got in the way. First, I was just waiting to read all three of the Magic or Madness books by Justine Larbalestier, but after the first two, the third seemed to disappear from my library. Whenever I get a chance to read it, the review will come.
I just finished my first week as a graduate student. One class has weekly responses via a blog, the other two require class emails. I think the first will be harder, though, because it's my Monday class and I really need to work harder at doing the readings before the weekend. Upside, the class blog need only consist of a single paragraph. Second week of balancing class and work starts tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.
In the mean time, since I'll have to get onto the computer more often (turning on the computer, another act that was terribly difficult the past month or two, still not quite sure why), I'll try to update here more often.
I'm still editing the urban fantasy. A friend of mine is sending out his first query letter, so good luck to him. I'm hoping his progress and successes will sort of spur me into action--we've done well to play off of each other's enthusiasm in the past.
More writerly fun to come soon. For now, I'm off to do some editing, then I have one more essay/article to read for class tomorrow and I have work in the morning and early afternoon.
I just finished my first week as a graduate student. One class has weekly responses via a blog, the other two require class emails. I think the first will be harder, though, because it's my Monday class and I really need to work harder at doing the readings before the weekend. Upside, the class blog need only consist of a single paragraph. Second week of balancing class and work starts tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.
In the mean time, since I'll have to get onto the computer more often (turning on the computer, another act that was terribly difficult the past month or two, still not quite sure why), I'll try to update here more often.
I'm still editing the urban fantasy. A friend of mine is sending out his first query letter, so good luck to him. I'm hoping his progress and successes will sort of spur me into action--we've done well to play off of each other's enthusiasm in the past.
More writerly fun to come soon. For now, I'm off to do some editing, then I have one more essay/article to read for class tomorrow and I have work in the morning and early afternoon.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
At least it's a happy day in the world of writing
Irritation and bad mood aside, I've been excited and nearly giddy at the prospect of writing today.
1. In a post a few posts down I mentioned working through a character issue in chapter 7 of the urban fantasy I'm editing. Writtenwyrdd commented with some advice that was quite helpful, and led me down into the fun world of "what if I try it this way, no this way, how about if we add this other twist here..." in order to see which solution would work best.
I get a kick out of that.
Specifically, she brought up the prospect of using a red herring to make my main character think she'd been wrong in her suspicions, only to find out she was right later on, that this guy is not a good guy, though perhaps for a totally different reason than she suspected of him.
I have heard of red herrings, know what they are and all that good stuf, but that's one of those instances that I don't think of its proper name even as I use it. Although, I occasionally notice, "Hey that right there is a handy bit of foreshadowing," after writing something. But yes, so it jogged my memory and now I can go back and really play with that character and the interaction between him and the protagonist.
2. Earlier today I began an AIM conversation with a friend, still ongoing, where she invited me to go clubbing this Saturday. Now to look at me you wouldn't think I'd be much of a dance club-attender. You would be right. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've been in any club, and still have a finger or two left over. And the occasions that I've danced n club even less so.
But I am trying to fight the ever-present urge to give in to my hermitude, and she's my friend and I don't get to hang out with her as much as I'd like (frankly the only people I do spend a lot of time with are my immediate family and my coworkers--all those hours at work, goodness--perhaps a bit too much on both accounts). So I said sure. A couple of minutes later, the exciting prospect came to me.
Even if the night is a bust--too hot and sweaty, expensive drinks, don't want to dance, don't like the music, etc.--I can still use that night as research.
I'm working on a new story which centers around the proprietor of a dance club, now in disrepair, both Harry and his bar. But it was once quite popular, and I feel scenes within a couple of clubs may appear throughout the story. Even if everything that happens saturday night doesn't make it into this story (and I think we all know it won't), the experience will, through little details that add realism to scenes.
...yay!
Write what you know, right? Well, I don't know much about clubs, due to my lack of going to them. But I've been to a few over the years, and I'll go to this one and it wil all come together as knowledge and information I can pluck out of my consciousness for a particular aspect. Like the smells, or the sounds. Finding the right words to describe that kind of din or the lighting (strobe lights, anyone? we'll find out).
Would it be rude to wander absently over the club, jotting down notes into my little pad of paper.
You never know, even my short discussion with my friend about the possbile dangers of me wearing my glasses onto the dance floor may make it into this story, or some other one.
In any case, I can't predict what the weekend will bring, but the prospect of widening my knowledge base thrills me, and sends me into spirals of writing nirvana.
I love learning new things. I really do.
In other news, although I've been reading her blog for months, if not over a year, I finally read Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier. I've borrowed and reborrowed it from the library, but never got around to reading it. Now I have. I enjoyed it. And I appreciate her use of the multiple viewpoints. Perhaps a more detailed review will be forthcoming, but now I've got to get ready for work. Alas.
1. In a post a few posts down I mentioned working through a character issue in chapter 7 of the urban fantasy I'm editing. Writtenwyrdd commented with some advice that was quite helpful, and led me down into the fun world of "what if I try it this way, no this way, how about if we add this other twist here..." in order to see which solution would work best.
I get a kick out of that.
Specifically, she brought up the prospect of using a red herring to make my main character think she'd been wrong in her suspicions, only to find out she was right later on, that this guy is not a good guy, though perhaps for a totally different reason than she suspected of him.
I have heard of red herrings, know what they are and all that good stuf, but that's one of those instances that I don't think of its proper name even as I use it. Although, I occasionally notice, "Hey that right there is a handy bit of foreshadowing," after writing something. But yes, so it jogged my memory and now I can go back and really play with that character and the interaction between him and the protagonist.
2. Earlier today I began an AIM conversation with a friend, still ongoing, where she invited me to go clubbing this Saturday. Now to look at me you wouldn't think I'd be much of a dance club-attender. You would be right. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've been in any club, and still have a finger or two left over. And the occasions that I've danced n club even less so.
But I am trying to fight the ever-present urge to give in to my hermitude, and she's my friend and I don't get to hang out with her as much as I'd like (frankly the only people I do spend a lot of time with are my immediate family and my coworkers--all those hours at work, goodness--perhaps a bit too much on both accounts). So I said sure. A couple of minutes later, the exciting prospect came to me.
Even if the night is a bust--too hot and sweaty, expensive drinks, don't want to dance, don't like the music, etc.--I can still use that night as research.
I'm working on a new story which centers around the proprietor of a dance club, now in disrepair, both Harry and his bar. But it was once quite popular, and I feel scenes within a couple of clubs may appear throughout the story. Even if everything that happens saturday night doesn't make it into this story (and I think we all know it won't), the experience will, through little details that add realism to scenes.
...yay!
Write what you know, right? Well, I don't know much about clubs, due to my lack of going to them. But I've been to a few over the years, and I'll go to this one and it wil all come together as knowledge and information I can pluck out of my consciousness for a particular aspect. Like the smells, or the sounds. Finding the right words to describe that kind of din or the lighting (strobe lights, anyone? we'll find out).
Would it be rude to wander absently over the club, jotting down notes into my little pad of paper.
You never know, even my short discussion with my friend about the possbile dangers of me wearing my glasses onto the dance floor may make it into this story, or some other one.
In any case, I can't predict what the weekend will bring, but the prospect of widening my knowledge base thrills me, and sends me into spirals of writing nirvana.
I love learning new things. I really do.
In other news, although I've been reading her blog for months, if not over a year, I finally read Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier. I've borrowed and reborrowed it from the library, but never got around to reading it. Now I have. I enjoyed it. And I appreciate her use of the multiple viewpoints. Perhaps a more detailed review will be forthcoming, but now I've got to get ready for work. Alas.
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