In Which I Gush

A couple things today.
First and most important is this blog.
I'm getting veeeeerrrrry near one hundred followers which is beyond exciting to me and I think I should do some kind of contest, but while I ponder that, it crossed my mind that I'm such an infrequent blogger and who wants to follow someone so unreliable?

So. With my schedule, I know it would be silly to try to post something everyday or even have a Monday, Wednesday, Friday post like so many of you out there. But I AM determined to do it once a week. At least. To start off with.
Starting with this entry, I am going to post every Friday. The content of these posts? Well, that will just be a surprise! I'm full of random, it's just me, so you should all just be familiar with that! :)
Check in with me every Friday and I *promise* to have something for you!
And I'll see what I can do about a contest, which I've NEVER HAD BEFORE. Yay!!

In other news, I just finished reading Anna and the French Kiss by the amazing Stephanie Perkins. It's her debut novel and I can't even begin to tell you how much I adored this book! The second I finished I wanted to start over again.



My review? AWESOME. AMAZING. MAGICAL.

BUY. THIS. BOOK.

Even if you aren't a gushy romantic like I am, this book is fantastic. It's about independence and love and moving on and forgiveness and friendship...the themes are abundant and it's such a great read.
As if I didn't want to visit Paris enough as it is, this made me want to pack my bags and have my own little romantic adventure in the beautiful city.(Perhaps I should get myself a passport, eh?)
Not to mention(and this is kind of embarrassing)the fact that Anna's relationship with St. Clair echoes my own with someone very dear to me and I felt as though my own life were being played out before my eyes. My poor friend(who knows the situation)was bombarded by text messages with excerpts from the book that were me to a T. Except that I'm 29 and not 17...which is awkward...

Every once in a while, I find a story that inspires me to keep going with my own writing. I knew I wanted to improve my NaNo novel and since finishing Anna, my own ideas have been shooting out of the creative corners of my mind.
I can't wait to get to work!

P.S.

BUY.

THIS.

BOOK.

And enjoy. :)

Things I Learned From NaNo and Other Exciting News!

I won! Yay!!

So. NaNo is over and tonight I cleaned my apartment for the first time in a month. Let me just say...ew.
NaNo was one of the hardest things I've ever done because so much that could go wrong (besides my plot) went wrong.
BUT. I learned some stuff along the way.

1. YES. I can.

2. Consumption of beer is good for creativity.

3. Consumption of excessive amounts of wine is BAD for creativity. Well, it's REEEEAAALLLY good for it but not the next day when you open up your document and think to yourself, 'WTF is this crap? Who broke into my Word and typed up this nonsense???'
Yeah...

4. No one ever took this as seriously as I did so I was struggling to find writing time because I was too nice to turn down shopping/drinking/wedding offers. Because I didn't know how to express just HOW IMPORTANT this was to me.
Live and learn, I suppose.

5. I write best at the kitchen table with a cup of tea and complete silence all around me.

6. I am able to stay up until 5 AM and still make it through work the next day. Yay me. I might have fallen asleep on the floor in someone else's office but....(yes. This happened.)

A lot went wrong during the month of November but I can't wait until next year!


In other news:



I am SO EXCITED to participate in the second annual No Kiss Blogfest on January 2, 2011!! Last year's was a blast and I can't wait to do it again.

Head over to Frankie's page to sign up! Or if you don't want to sign up, be sure to bookmark her page so that you can read everyone else's posts!

And now that November is over...I can't wait to start reading again! :)

NaNo Oh No!

What do you do when you're already WAY too far behind on your NaNo manuscript and you're wondering why you're so full of the worst kind of suckiness but you're still trying to muddle through because by golly, you WILL make 50,000 words by November 30 if it KILLS you(which it might)and all of a sudden you think to yourself: 'If I had written this in first person, everything would make sense and I could do this exactly the way I had it planned in my head'.

Here's what you do: you smack yourself in the face with your hand and possibly any objects lying around that won't do any lasting damage to your face because you're newly single and who wants to date a chick who has an imprint of a stapler across her forehead, right?
Because I can't possibly go back and change everything into first person because I'm just that far behind so it would be stupid and that's what revisions are for AFTER you finish the first draft. Right?

So my question is: would you continue writing in third person simply because that's how you started or would you switch to first person because it's just RIGHT and you know you won't have to muddle through to the end anymore, it will just happen because it's meant to be that way?

WHAT, MY WRITING FRIENDS, SHOULD I DO???

And is anyone else having a nervous breakdown about NaNo? Seriously.

Things I Learned About Myself On Day One of NaNo

1. I have to pee every five minutes. Apparently, my bladder understands the need for procrastination.

2. I have restless leg syndrome. Who knew deadline writing could cause leg spasms??

3. Beer works almost as well as wine in terms of inducing creativity. Or just not actually caring what is being written....

4. This video? HilARious. And a great distraction from all things writing.



5. I'm sweating.

6. Writing is FUN when you haven't done it in almost a year...once you get the hang of it again.

7. Something in my apartment is burning, and I'm pretty sure it's my pants from the heat of my computer because it's been on for so long while I stare at things that say 'I pooted' and such and laugh loudly.

8. I have great friends who keep me on track and tell me to shut the ef up when I send random text messages about Cheese and pooting.

9. I wish I had chocolate.

10. I'm glad I don't have chocolate.

11. I can actually write two thousand words a night if I put my mind to it. And it's not all bad. :)

How is NaNo going for everyone else???

O...M...G...I've Done It

It's been four months since I last posted which is completely disgusting.
So I'll just jump in here like I never flaked out on y'all and make my announcement:

I just joined NaNoWriMo.

For the first time.

Ever.

And I'm terrified.




Not terrified like BOO a monster just jumped out of my closet to eat my eyeballs or anything, but terrified because I'm doing this to help myself and to prove to myself that I can accomplish something I've been wanting to do for years.

So I joined today and I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT I'M GOING TO WRITE ABOUT.
Is anyone else in my boat?
If you want to friend me(PLEASE), my username is Jules11.
I'd love to know who all has joined this craziness with me!

I'm looking forward to it even though I usually don't even get home until around 8 every night of the week which means some long nights for me.

So wish me luck and any advice you NaNo experts can give would be much appreciated!

To anyone who has joined or has done it in the past: How did you come up with an idea?
Have any of you ever just jumped into your writing on November 1st with no idea where you would go from there?

Happy Almost November!!!

Today: Begin

Soon, very very soon, this blog will be about my writing again.

But first, I must welcome a new beginning into my life. While things have been almost unbearable for months now, this beginning has me feeling refreshed, relieved, and excited for all of the future's possibilities.
I am going to enter the world alone, a single woman with big dreams and a fresh canvas that I can't wait to decorate in every color of the rainbow.

I'm in the process of looking for an apartment that is near to my work, family, and friends, a place that I can call mine, a place of comfort and familiarity without the confusion and questions I am confidently walking away from.

And the first item I'm purchasing? A new computer. Any advice in the computer department would be helpful...I'm really only looking to use the internet, write, and store some pics and music. And on the cheap side....I am single, after all, and it's an expensive world!

I'm a little nervous about living on my own, but I have visions of endless writing and reading time dancing in my head, especially since I won't have enough money to go out and spend! Which is fine with me....it's something I need to do anyway. For too long now I've been neglecting my writing.
I've kept up with journaling and some things that have really helped me get through this whole ordeal, but if I want to make it out there in the publishing world, I have to work hard. I can't wait!

I've been around, catching up on everyone else's journies, but I've been absent socially. Working on that too!
I hope everyone else has been doing well and hopefully very soon I'll be posting pictures of my new place!
Love to all.

For the Love of....!!!!

Everyone has heard that love conquers all.

And for a while now, I've strongly doubted that. In fact, I've scoffed at the very thought.
But very recently, I made a discovery: Love truly does conquer all. All doubt, all pain, all anger....it will all vanish if true love is there.

When I say this, however, I do not mean that love for someone else will conquer all of the darkness that hurt and betrayal leave behind. Because how can you love someone else before you learn to truly love yourself?

You can't.

I've been going through such a dark period of my life lately...darker than any other I've faced before.
I've given up the two things I love the most in my life: writing and reading. Because taking part in either activity left my brain boggled and my heart aching. I stopped feeling for these things and I knew it wasn't right.
How can the things I love the most leave me so stressed out?

I couldn't concentrate on fiction because I couldn't relate to it anymore. I had so much going on, so much tension in this very real world, the land of make believe no longer held the magic it once had.

The last time I posted here, one person said something that really made me think.

Candace at Candyland left a comment that stated, 'Sometimes the best stories are our own'.

It's not like I haven't heard that before. But when I saw it written before me, in response to everything I had poured into that one post, something clicked.

I was going about my healing process the wrong way. I couldn't use my current WIPs to get me through this. I couldn't escape into a book the way I used to because I couldn't relate.
You must write the story you wish to read.

And what more could I want to read than the outcome of my current situation? What would help me more than writing through my troubles?

Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Because writing is what I am. It's not just a hobby. It's a way of life. A lifeline.
And I finally grabbed hold of that rope. And I'm pulling myself out of the ravine, one word at a time.

Things won't get better as quickly as I'd like. But they will get better. And thanks to one person who helped me open my eyes, I'm going to get there the only way I know how.

I'm sure you're wondering how this ties into love conquering all. Writing is my one true love. It will always be there, will always be a part of me. Writing is a way of loving myself.
It's not selfish. It's self love. And you must must must have self love in order to make it through life happily.

I still doubt the notion that love will conquer all when used in reference to a romantic relationship or an outside relationship at all. There's always going to be dealbreakers.
But love for yourself absolutely will conquer all. Because I love myself, because I am taking the time to do what is right for me, I know that I will come out of this mess a much better person.

I don't plan on trying to publish what I'm working on right now because it's for me, but at least it will give me practice!

I'm slowly but surely making my way back into the blogging world. I don't feel overwhelmed anymore. Thank you to everyone who left a kind comment, to everyone who paused to think of me,even for a second. Your support means the world!

Until next time...