Army Weekend

This weekend I got absolutely no writing accomplished… in fact I did not even bring my laptop to Army this weekend because I knew after just one day I would be dead to the world. We had our first PT (Physical Training) test for the year on Saturday and let me tell you, I can still barley move my arms. I am glad the weekend is over because I never feel like I get anything accomplished on Army Weekends.

That said I plan on making up for it during this week because now that my seasonal job is done at the tanning salon, I have this week to take a break from everything and just read and write. AKA: BEST WEEK EVER. I hope everyone’s weekends were grand and that people plan on getting things done this week!!! Oh and sorry for such a lame post but I am tired and like I said can barley move my body parts!

My First Writing Group

I was so nervous when I asked the Librarian where Room B was. This was my first writing group, and I just knew that everyone there would be accomplished writers… who was I to join a writing group when I hadn’t accomplished anything? I find the room and there were ten people sitting at a round table, I took the closest seat to the door. I got there just in time for chessey introductions and I listened to them one-by-one talk about their published writings and their three-book contracts. When it finally got to me, I was fighting the urge to run out of the room but I finally just said “Hi, I’m Tiffany, and I’m new to writing, actually I haven’t written anything, I just want to write someday.” They all just stared at me and a mixture of “well that’s good” and “ah” came flowing in my ears. How embarrassing. As the night went on a woman read the first few pages of her new horror manuscript and a man read a short story he wrote based around five words that a friend gave him, the room fell silent. The person who I’m guessing is the head of the group said “Okay, well tonight was a good night, hope to see you all next week!” and people started piling out of the room. As I picked up my notebook and started to put on my jacket feeling quite stupid and not knowing if I was cut out for this writing thing, and older women stopped next to me and put her hand on my forearm and said “Everyone is new at some point, don’t let these pin-heads blow the candles out on your writing dreams.” she laughed at her comment and walked out before I could even muster up something to say. I said “thank you” out loud and to apparently no one because there was no one left in the room.

I think I will go back to this group next week.

Have you ever attended a writing group? How did it go?

A Breakthrough!

Tonight I sat at my desk for hours watching the first six episodes of Firefly, (awesome by the way), and writing pages and pages of my next story idea… the story I intend to FINISH. Yes, I know… after my last post it seemed like I would never be able to finish even just a sentence… but today I decided that I WILL finish this story. Case closed. So far I’m really loving where the story is taking me. I never thought I would start writing a SyFy story, but now that I think of it… that is my favorite genre. I am excited to get deeper into it… to see where my characters will take me. That’s another thing… it was a piece of cake to to pick out my character names… which never happens. I wonder if this is what I should have been writing all along.

Slacking

Its not that I have been COMPLETELY slacking.. its just that.. okay maybe I’ve slacked a little. I have been super busy trying to re-read a book for the book club that I am in, getting things ready for the three writing groups I joined, and the BF’s family visited..on top of work and getting ready for another Army weekend. The good news is, is that I have tons of projects lined up for the Project of the week, as long as gotten TONS of addresses for my letter of the week, and I also squeezed out one tiny project this week… so I’m not a total failure. Oh yes and I have read two books this week. SO THERE. I accomplished some things. Okay, now that I have convinced myself that I did something lets move on…

I seem to have this problem where, I am writing pages of ideas for one specific story, when a total new story comes to mind and then I start writing details for that brand new completely different story. So basically I feel like I will never finish one story. I don’t know if my brain freaks out and is too afraid to actually finish a book or maybe I’m just not ready to write a book… but I do want to complete one so badly. Does this problem ever happen to you?… How do you stick to just ONE story?

Must Read

This will be a short and sweet post. If you have not read the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins YOU ARE WRONG. Honestly the best SyFy book series I have ever read. You must do it before the movies come out in 2012 because who knows how bad they will butcher it. Also on April 5th a book called “The Girl Who was on Fire” (a book of essays written about the series) is coming out and can help you gain a different insight on all three books. Ok now go… go get the books NOW and let me know how you felt!

Priorities

How do you keep your life straight? I feel like my days go by at speeds of 38429384398 MPH. I never have enough time to do the things I need to do… and the things I want to do. Also I have a hard time knowing the difference between NEED and WANT. But since I’m trying to be a responsible young adult, I have my own system to keep me on track.. ……….(most of the time.)
I have two Agenda Books. One with things I HAVE to get done, and one with things I WANT to get done. The have-to book normally has things like my work schedule, things I have to do around the house, and writing deadlines, as well as class schedules. While the want-to book has different craft projects, organizing days, and things I want to buy lists. I know it sounds crazy, but it helps me keep my priorities in line. Even though I don’t get everything crossed off either list I at least know that my blue book is more important than my brown book. I really think I would be completely lost without them.. even with my iPhone telling me my schedule everyday! How do you get your priorities straight?

Great Ideas

How do ideas come to you? Mine came at 2:32am. I woke up.. wrote the short version of a plot to a new story… and went back to sleep. Does this happen to you? More often than not my ideas are ridiculous. Once I woke up and wrote down. “Girl is in coma and before she can wake up she has to fix and then dies…” and that’s all I wrote. But last night… I feel like I had such a great idea. Then again something I might think is a great idea..might totally fail… but as long as I like it right? I don’t want to mention anything about my new story, yet. But I’ve got about a ten page plot so far…. and I’m trying to think of character names… (which is the hardest thing for me). What do you do to pick your Characters names?

So today I did my project of the week! I tried embroidering. Now my boyfriend thinks I’m an old lady. It was tons of fun.. and can’t wait to do another embroidery project!! Other than that… I bought some new stationary for my letter of the week, ate a lunchable, and worked hard on my project! Tomorrow I plan on at least naming my main character, and finish reading a book, and POSSIBLY cooking a meal. I also should clean my bookshelf… but I can tell that I won’t feel like doing that..so I won’t. ahhh the luxuries of having my own office….

How did I get here?

Some people always have an awesomely-amazing story about their lives and how they got where they are. I can’t even say I have gotten anywhere…actually, I’m certain I haven’t gotten anywhere, and yet I’m here. Where ever this is. In Columbus Ohio. Studying Creative Writing. Almost done with my military contract. With no direction what-so-ever on what I want to do with my life.

There’s another question. How do you know what you want to do for the rest of your life? I can hardly pick out what I want to eat for lunch let alone what I want to do for LIFE. I have changed my major seven times in the last three years. I should almost be graduated, yet I cannot decide on what I want to do for life. I know some people who knew since Junior High School, and here I am 21 years old, still lost.

So I stuck with creative writing.. even though my Father still thinks I’m studying Computer Forensics, “a job where [I] can make decent money.” I just know that I love to write. I love to read. I have never gotten bored with it and I know I never will. Is it so bad to end up actually liking your job when “you grow up?”

On a more awesome note… I am painting my new office purple, and have already found tons of antiques to fill it with! I’ll update with more pictures as I start to fill the room!!

Writers Block and Amazingness

I found something that I really want.
For some reason I feel like it would help me with my writers block, most likely not, but that still doesn’t crush my dreams of being the owner of this baby.

It’s beautiful, and I’ve always wanted a typewriter.  I feel like if I don’t snatch it up now then all of them will be gone forever. I want it, I want it, I want it! I guess I’ll be eating whatever is in the fridge for the next few weeks so I can save up every penny to buy it. My biggest fear is that, when I do get it, I won’t enjoy using it, because I am so use to a computer keyboard.

Either way, it is pretty and would look lovely in my office.

What do you think can help you get rid of your writers block?

Do you use a typewriter?

Distractions

It’s been a few months…(six)… since I’ve last blogged and I decided that I indeed needed another distraction in my life, so I decided to take it back up.. in this new place, so lets see how it goes before another distraction engulfs me.

Distraction list as of today:

1. School
2. Boyfriend
3. Work
4. Army
5. Hedge Hog
6. Roommate
7. The Gym
8. Cell Phone
9. Learning how to Cook
10. Facebook
11. and now, this blogging thing.

Oh and there is more, but of course I’m happy with stopping at eleven… for all our sakes.