Moving to a new blog. Again.
Hey ladies and germs.
I will be blogging predominately over at the Wizard Dungeon from now on. You will notice some of my entries moving over there (the ones on literary crushes). I have much more fun blogging and nerding out about things. I am the Nerdy Ginge over there. This blog might not be completely dead, I might try to juggle both but for now… head on over.
The site is still being worked out, but I am going to be blogging as it is being worked out.
Check it out for all your nerdy needs! Scabby and I promise to keep you entertained, informed, and probably appalled.
Word of the Week: redo
This week’s word is brought to you by indecision and perhaps ADD And the word, ladies and germs is redo. According to Merriam-Webster online, when one redoes something it means, “To do over” or redecorate, which might fit what is going on my life just slightly. Anyway, Oxford Dictionaries online agrees, although it does add, “Do (something) again or differently” and it is that differently that we will focus on today.
I am an unpublished and therefore untested writer (though I do argue that I did graduate with a BA in English and I did have many exams so in that sense I am quite thoroughly tested!). I am in the process of writing a novel that I do hope to publish one day. The story is one that I am absolutely in love with, and have been told is neat. I even wrote the second novel in the series, because apparently it is going to be a series, for NaNoWriMo prior to finishing the first. I felt quite geeked about the process of writing this.
Then I hit a snag.
And another snag.
And a few more snags.
A plethora of snags if you will.
I moved on to a new story idea, one that enthralled me as much as Chips did. That novel is geared towards the Young Adult audience while Chips is more adult-like in theme and language. Anyway, eventually I felt compelled to return to Chips, as it is my baby. Yet it felt off. I knew I was heading in the wrong direction with it. The premise of the novel still inspired me but I needed to tweak it a bit.
And tweak it I did.
I started over on the novel yet again. According to what I am saving this rewrite/redo/start over it is my fourth time. Again, confidence is soaring as I am in the beginning part of rewriting. I do feel that the new angle I am using for my novel will be a lot better than the previous one. It enables me to explain things better, and it is more realistic the way I am setting it up than previously.
I am excited.
And I am worried. I am worried that I will get quite far and toss it all in the bin again (figuratively speaking as I have kept each attempt at starting this story). And that I will once again attempt a “redo”. This makes me wonder just how many times legit (as in published) authors have redone their stories. I know this is not unusual or unique. Still, it worries me.
I am just the type of person that feels that I do everything wrong. And hey, that is something I am trying to work on.
So that has been what is up in my writing life. Redoing, redoing, and redoing.
Word of the Week: craven
This week’s word is brought to you by Game of Thrones, which I am slowly trudging my way through. It is also brought to you by the sudden inspiration to jump back on the wagon. Anyway, the word of the week is craven.
As defined by Merriam-Webster to be craven is to be “contemptibly fainthearted” or in other words “lacking the least bit of courage”. Do the cravenous (this ought to be a word) lot fair better according to Oxford Dictionaries? Well, no. They find them just as “contemptibly lacking in courage” and “cowardly” as the other site.
The reason I am using the word craven this week is that that describes me to a T. I let my fears get in the way of everything. I let my fears hold me back. This has been alluded to in previous entries of mine. I keep making myself promises that I desperately wish to keep, and then the fear hits. This choking and all consuming fear. With writing, I begin to convince myself that there is no point in bothering. Whatever I write will not be published for the masses unless I do it myself, and even then, it will be nothing but fodder for laughter. This freezes me up. This makes me turn about and run away like a coward. A craven ginger I am.
This blog suffered because of my cowardice. Fear of keeping it up, and then fear that keeping it up would stop me from writing. Then the fear of people actually reading this. Then the terror that if people DID read this they would hate it. Then the worry of everyone having a laugh at my expense. Even writing this is making me feel a little twinge worthy.
However, I will not run away.
I have found that when I blog it feeds my writing. It gets me into the mood to write, and I think it benefits my writing as well. It gives me discipline, guidelines, and deadlines that I need. It opens my mind and suddenly ideas flow into it. It makes me excited to write, too. So that I can write about it.
I am going to stop running. I know I have said this before, but hey. What is life without a little repetition and temporarily broken promises?
I am back.
And in honor of that I am changing the name of this blog from Blathering of a Bibliophile to Craven Ginger. Because, I love the word and I am going to overcome it.
Word.
Failure.
Okay. I have totally failed in the beginning of 2012 with this whole… blog thing. I am going to get back into the swing of things. I miss blogging, and I think blogging helps with my other writing. I will tweak a few things, and I will bring this back.
This is an apology to myself. And a promise.
Hoping I do not break it.
Word of the Week: slump
First off I would like to apologize for my seeming abandonment of this here blog. It was never my intention. I simply fell into a slump, which incidentally is the inspiration for this week’s word. I cannot promise that such slumps will never happen again, but hopefully no0t. Anyway, into the definition.
According to Merriam-Webster slump means:
1 a) to fall or sink suddenly
b) to drop or slide down suddenly: collapse
2) to assume a drooping posture or carriage: slouch
3) to get into a slump
Oxford Dictionaries says that a slump is:
verb
[no object]
1) [with adverbial] sit, lean, or fall heavily and limply
2) undergo a sudden severe or prolonged fall in price, value, or amount
noun
1) a sudden severe or prolonged fall in price, value, or amount of something
* a prolonged period of abnormally low economic activity, typically bringing widespread unemployment
* a period of substantial failure or decline
And there you have it. Expect an entry on Wednesday! I have a new posting schedule apparently.
When bad news strikes and ruins your flow
I woke up today with the promise of writing an awful lot in my YA novel that I am working on. After I ran some errands (getting clay) and worked out, I settled down to write. I reread first scene in the chapter I was working on, and set to work. The words flowed forth from my fingers, onto the keyboard, and onto the screen with ease. I felt sorry for my character, which is what is needed in this scene, and I felt accomplished. Once finished, I rewarded myself with a nap.
I awoke from my nap with ideas brewing in my head on where to take the next part of the chapter. I nearly wept for what my character would go through, and I thought of some asinine scenarios just for the heck of it. I hopped onto my computer and decided to check facebook and twitter–because, that is what every good twenty-first century gal does. Then, I saw some terrible news.
Victor Martinez of the Detroit Tigers tore his ACL during conditioning, and his 2012 season is most likely over. For those of you who do not follow baseball (shame on you!) the season has not even started yet. V-Mart played a key in the puzzle that brought the Tigers to the playoffs last year. He was their designated hitter, and amazing protection for Miguel Cabrera in the lineup. Reading this news caused my brain to fizzle and my desire to write my story trotted right out the window. I find myself trying to stay calm at this baseball news.
This news has made it so I cannot concentrate. It seemed somewhat therapeutic to write about this issue on this blog, which is why I have been able to do so. I am a rabid baseball fan, and I live and breathe the Detroit Tigers in the summer months. In fact, I am going through withdrawals in regards to baseball as we speak. And, I am not exaggerating about how this news totally threw my writing mojo for a loop today.
I am now curious about everyone else. What would or has thrown you for a loop? What sort of news just destroys any desire you have for writing?
Word of the Week: asinine
Today’s word is brought to you by tiredness and random clicking about until I found a work that I remembered that I like, and never use. Now I will be forced to try to use it twice this week. Woo-hoo!
Definition according to Merriam-Webster:
1: extremely or utterly foolish
2: of, relating to, or resembling an ass
And now the Oxford Dictionaries definition:
adjective
extremely stupid or foolish
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!
Editing Help and Advice NEEDED!
One of my goals for the year of 2012 is to make this blog better. Unfortunately, as of late, I have been struggling to come up with ideas on what to blog about. I am reading at a slower pace than I intend to (Stone of Tears is proving difficult for me to get through) and I’m in the process of editing part of one of my novels. Another one of my novels is on a pause because I am stuck and have yet to figure out how to write myself out of the hole I have dug for myself.
Instead of blathering on and on about this though, I am going to ask for advice!
Anyone reading this how do you get in the mood or force yourself into editing? I am in the process of switching a story over from first person to third person. I think I probably should have waited until the end to do this, but the first person stifled me. Now I find myself stifled by all of this editing and changing.
Now and in the future, I will need all the advice I can get on editing… so, I may as well ask and get some now.
Thanks in advance!
Writer Woes
Today I am going to blather on about some writer woes, mostly because I experienced one when I was happily reading. This will be in list format because I am in a bit of a lazy mood today, and fighting a cold that has left me lethargic, forgetful, and resentful of any sort of “tasks” that I set for myself (such as: writing, reading, and job hunting).
- Writer Woe 1: When you have this genius idea. The best idea you have had a while, to help explain an issue in your story. You are so proud of the idea you tell your significant other, you gush about it. You reward yourself with reading for a few hours, and then you come across something in the novel you are devouring that is exactly like the idea you just had. You feel crushed. You wonder how you got the idea just before reading it. Then, you realize you probably knew this was coming up because you are a good reader, and good at foreshadowing. You feel cheated with yourself. You hang your head in sorrow. You mope to your dude while he is at work. You ponder how to move on. And move on you do.
- Writer Woe 2: Everything else is just so much more interesting. You go to sit down to write and you realize HGTV is having a marathon of Income Property, and you have a bit of a crush on the host, Scott. He has something of a Canadian accent, beautiful hair, and a gorgeous smile. He also makes people money! You begin thinking you could run an income property, and how cool it would be if Scott helped you and your dude with it. You think they would make brilliant friends. Then you remember you would probably be too shy and awkward to be on TV and that you do not want to be on TV. Then you realize you have spent hours watching this show and have written nothing.
- Writer Woe 3: Having a cold. Every time you sit up your nose just wants to leak. Or you start sneezing uncontrollably. You sit up on the computer for a little bit, testing the water by playing on facebook or reading blogs. You do this to see how long you can focus, and then suddenly you need to nap. You need to nap because you are not feeling very well, yanno? Therefore, you nap. Then you wake up, and realize you have other things to do. Your nose is still leaking or clogged up, your throat tickles, and your pillow has seen better days. So has your notebook.
- Writer Woe 4: The cat. You have a pet cat, who is usually Mr. Independent, but it never fails that the moment you start feeling your muse taking over or whatever you want to call it, he comes pleading for attention. He is a cat. When he wants attention, he shoves his way onto your lap, and bites your hands if you try to type around him. He glowers at you as only a cat can. He sticks his claws into your legs, digging down deep as if to dare you to keep moving. Panicked, you obey his demands. You pet him, you coo at him, and you treat him like the prince that he is. Unfortunately, this ruins any sort of stride you had, and when he tires of your attention and moves on you find you cannot write anymore. You curse. You moan. You move onto other distractions.
Four Writerly Woes seems like a good place to stop for now. Stay tuned for more! What are some of your woes?
Word of the Week: blather
Well, I am a day late but that is okay. Yesterday, the thought of turning on my computer just made me want to vomit. I might be exaggerating, but that is okay. This blog and a couple of dictionaries bring this week’s word to you! The first dictionary is Oxford Dictionaries.
verb:
talk long-windedly without making very much sense.
noun:
long-winded talk with no real substance.
And onto the Merriam-Webster definition:
intransitive verb:
to talk foolishly at length — often used with on.
Does this mean that I think my blog is filled with no real substance? That all I do is ramble on and on? This might be some food for thought.
