I'm going to be at camp for the next week, and I won't be home most of the following week. You'll have to look elsewhere for your occasional literary and/or geeky fix.
I guess that means it's time to say goodbye, eh?
By the way, I am totally capable of making non-Doctor Who related references. For some reason they are simply the ones that first come to mind. Plus, the fandom makes the gifs and images so goshdarn accessible... You want something else!? *sigh* Fine.
If you really must know, I had the pleasure of seeing Ally, Marlene, and Athena from Charlie and Me over the weekend. As you can imagine, much silliness ensued. There may or may not have been light saber fights involved.
Anywho, Ally gave me a lovely idea! She told me she had gotten up early, made herself a cup of tea, and given herself some time to write. I decided to do the same. I gathered up my favorite Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati mug, the ingredients for a perfect cup of Earl Grey, as well as Ally's graduation gift to me. (This is my cue to gush about how AWESOME my present is.)
Ally got me some "unblockers", or "inspiration dice for writers and storytellers" by Palimpsestic. According to the tag, "these dice feature words and phrases torn directly from a used and abused 1962 copy of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen". Let me just tell you, these things are so cool. They're covered with all sorts of great, story-worthy words ("influence", "horrid man", "young ladies", "conjecture", "evening", etc.)! I tried rolling them all at once, then tried a single roll. I got the word "listen", and next thing I knew I was jotting down character and story ideas at light speed! If you want your own pair, go to http://palimpsestic.etsy.com. (No worries -- I didn't peek, Ally!)
Also, I found a webpage that said this at the top while searching for some background info for my writing.
Is there a novel in every person?
Are there stories that have never been told because they seemed unimportant?
What is the value of the lives of people who will never be famous or have their biographies written?
BIG QUESTIONS. Questions that maybe I'll answer some day.
So! Moral of the story: Writing in the morning is great, and it's even better with tea.
"Super-heated infusion of free-radicals and tannin, just the thing for healing the synapses..."
My sister and I are recovering from a bout of what we'll call seasonal confusion. See, we just spent three days at the beach, and it was COLD. Now I see why the place was practically deserted... Nobody goes to the beach in early June. The ocean is almost as cold as Steven Moffat's heart.
The man DRINKS our TEARS, people. He's cold.
Due to this aforementioned seasonal confusion, I found myself lacking the typical summer cravings (watermelon, strawberries, hamburgers, ice cream, etc.) So when we visited The Bookend Cafe, I did not order a summery drink. Oh no. I ordered an iced pumpkin spice latte. And let me tell you, it was delicious. Totally worth the caffeine headache.
This place was adorable. If you ever visit Delaware, I would highly encourage you to drop in. The combination of coffee, tea, and used books had me on Cloud Nine. The place is super cute and I would love to hang out there every morning, sipping a beverage while I write a best-seller. Unfortunately, I didn't end up purchasing a book, although a few volumes were highly tempting.(HIGHLY tempting. But with college coming, I'm minding my funds and hoarding my Barnes & Noble gift cards.)
Isn't this display *darling*!?
I did my best to read and write while I was at the beach. I got some in, but not as much as I had hoped. Lots of time was spent on the town and at church. The time I did get to myself, I found incredibly hard to write during. I really am stuck this time, guys. So stuck that I'm beginning to fear I'll never get unstuck. I'm Pooh Bear stuck. I'm throwing words at a wall and they aren't sticking. I'm desperate. I need an idea so badly I could cry. Oh bother!
Poor Pooh. :(
I just can't seem to find the story I want to tell. Believe me, I'm praying about it. When I find it, I'll be sure to let you know. Until then, I'll keep writing sweet nothings and wishing for rain (more specifically, brainstorm-induced rain, a.k.a. ideas).
Ladies n' gents, I just graduated on Friday. *cue the fanfare* So much has happened that would be of interest to you readers out there. For example, I won the Great Expectations Award at valediction. My English teacher gave the most amazing speech, wherein I was compared to Austen heroines and presented with so much Pride & Prejudice merchandise I nearly imploded with joy. There was another Darcy encounter (see here and here). It will probably be the last. (Maybe there will be other Austen hero encounters in the future?) We had to sit next to each other for extended periods of time, and I attempted conversation, and... Well, it went something like this conversation, minus the sexual tension. It was just full of AWKWARD.
I also failed epically at defending Matt Smiths' portrayal of the Doctor within the same time frame. Eleven, I am sorry... so sorry.
The night after my graduation, I had this moment with my mom:
Since then, I've been alright. Lots of partying, eating, dancing, running around, swimming, being generally crazy. Summer is lovely, and I had forgotten just how wonderful it is. I've been going on my daily walks and making plenty of fun plans, and I'm even leaving for the beach tomorrow! Doesn't that sound like fun!?
The beach is going to mean lots of writing time, as well as reading time, which I am looking forward to. I have no project to speak of. I intend to join my friend Ally over at Charlie and Me with her plans to having a Write Cleanse experience. Other than that, I'm winging it!
Please pardon my online absence; I've been veryvery busy and I had a lot to do, and I didn't have a minute to explain it all to you. I hope to have plenty of fresh, summery stories to share with you when I get back from vacation! Until then, enjoy the start of this magical season. Read at every chance you get. (In case you're wondering, I'm enjoying a borrowed copy of Percy Wynn: Or Making a Boy of Him.) My first summer recommendation for you all would have to be In the Kingdom of the Fairies: A Memoir of a Magical Summer and a Remarkable Friendship (find it here). My mother read it to my sisters and I when we were young and we devoured it.
I'll let you know when I'm back from vacation. There is a possibility of going to a used book/coffee/tea shop, so wish me luck!!!
So I'm just sitting here, watching The Princess and the Frog for probably the 30th time, singing to myself and shopping for graduation gifts for my best friend. I keep eating, even though I didn't get to go on my walk today, but I just love peanuts and peanut butter and food in general so much. (You would never believe it, but I was a picky eater two years ago.) I'm also sitting and waiting for Daniel Vincent Gordh to respond to my tweet.
No activity so far. I'll keep you all posted.
In this wonderful movie, there is this spiffy little ditty called "Dig a Little Deeper". And right in the beginning, Naveen is all: "What we want, what we need, it is the same thing, yes?" And Mama Odie is all: "Is it the same thing!? NO!"
Back to that song. Here it is if you haven't had the pleasure of watching TP&TF.
Besides the fact that this is totally in true in life (desire of the flesh vs. desire of the spirit), this rule totally applies to characters. Every character has something they want, and something they need. The best cases are the ones where they aren't the same thing. Some examples...
The Princess and the Frog: Naveen wants his rich lifestyle, Tiana wants her restaraunt, and they both want to turn human. What they need is love --- which they find in each other! Naveen also needs to become less spoiled, and Tiana needs to see the big picture.
Tangled: Flynn Rider wants a life of luxury. Rapunzel just wants to see the lights that she sees every year on her birthday. What they need is love (it is a Disney movie, after all)! I would also say that Flynn has to learn how to think about someone other than himself (love) and Rapunzel needs to learn how to be independent.
See? They've all got dreams! Desires! Wants! Needs!
Emma: Emma doesn't want to get married. She wants to play a role in other people's love lives and flatter herself. What she needs is a dose of humility... and to see that Knightley is destined to be her man!
"She's right, you know. I'm your man!"
Ella Enchanted: SPOILER ALERT! The ending is such a perfect example of want vs. need. Ella wants to marry Char more than anything, but she knows she needs to keep him (and the country) safe, so she says no. Which, of course, breaks the curse so that she can have what she wants too. ;)
"I was almost as bad in this terrible adaptation of a great book as I was in Daniel Deronda!"
Not every story will have such an explicit contrast between wants and needs. Still, your character MUST have a goal of their own, however small. They may even have multiple goals, or conflicting goals! Either way, every character is after something. (Unless you're Holden Caulfield and would rather wander aimlessly about New York. But I believe he's after love, too.)
What might your character(s) be after? How might different characters' desires and needs conflict with others' desires and needs? Here are some suggestions:
You may or may not remember this post, where I talked about an encounter with this guy who looks like Daniel Vincent Gordh (from "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries") and sort of acts like Darcy (although the question of Darcy-caliber-character remains unresolved).
I play good Darcy. Hehe.
Well, there was another encounter. It goes a little something like this...
So, I'm walking into my AP Exam, lookin' like a boss. I wore a dress and everything. Everyone else is wearing sweatpants and I'm all:
I'm gonna be one fly companion, ladies n' gents. I can't save the world unless I feel confident, and there is nothing like a dress to make me feel kick-butt. I'll probably have to pair it with sensible shoes, biker shorts, and wear 20 hair ties on my wrist, but I'll be ready to defeat evil across the galaxy.
ANYWAYS. I walk up to the door and said Darcy character is on the other side. He's just chilling with like 1 or 2 people, like usual. (*cough*BingleyandCaroline*cough*) So this is what I see in my brain:
And I walk in all like:
I'm heeeeeeeeeeeeere.
And he reaches over and pushes open the door. Not a full-out "I'm opening the door for you in a gentlemanly fashion", but it indicated knowledge of my existence and at least some degree of chivalry.
So after my exam, I go to Panera's with mah BFF and I'm all:
HE SORT OF HELD OPEN THE DOOR FOR ME!
Derp derp derp, we eat our food, I file it away in the cabinet titled "Monica Will Not Be Perpetually Single and Sometimes People Are Nice" folder.
Now, fast forward to my second AP Exam this morning.
This time, I wear sweatpants like everyone else cuz I overslept my alarm. First one there anyways. Guidance counselor shows up. She unlocks the door, I come inside, bunches of people arrive. Put my social skills of an agoraphobic lobster to work. Then, as I'm about to head back to the back room to stalk the other people, guidance counselor is all like:
"Can you hold open the door to let people in? Otherwise it stays locked."
Everyone deserts me, and I'm left standing there, waiting for the late kids, with the realization that the closest thing I've ever had to a Darcy moment was a fluke. He held the door because otherwise, me and the three people behind me wouldn't have been able to get in.
Sometimes, I feel pretty unlucky. Like when I find myself falling asleep during prom because I had an allergic reaction to a walnut in the chicken salad (?) and I'm drugged up on Benadryl. Or when my prom date gets a flat tire. Or when I finally get home at nine o'clock at night and literally fall out of my the driver's seat of my dad's truck while balancing a book, a laptop, and a large pizza, muttering to myself, "Ah, the irony of being called Grace" (my middle name), only to be caught in the act by a large dog and accompanying gentleman. To whom I proceeded to say "good evening" in the friendly tone that, according to my sister, is "really weird".
Fortune? She is a strumpet.
Fortune has not smiled down upon me.
I have bruised my back by walking into the chimes in the pit band. I cut my thumb making a milkshake. I ran into an incredibly intimidating girl on the only occasion I have ever in my high school career made the decision to run to class. And yet...
Fortune has smiled down upon me! Because I, ladies and gentleman, have had a flurry of writing activity. Not to mention a lovely day. After my AP English Exam (which was full of little happy surprises for me, which I may not disclose... curse you College Board), I got to eat at Panera's. Mmmmm... My best friend and I then went to Wal-Mart and bought BFF necklaces, a Captain American cup, and a cheese grater. (Long story.) Then, we went to Goodwill and browsed the used books section, which resulted in some dramatic readings of romance novels and Pride and Prejudice in my very best Ricky Collins voice... Like so.
Oh Ricky. *grin*
If you thought I just wanted to tell the world about my life... you're partially right. But there's a moral to the story! Just like the early episodes of Hannah Montana!
"Wow, I learned so much about respecting my family and friends, humility, and how to be a good person. I certainly how this show doesn't become about a materialistic diva that reflects the behavior of the actress who portrays me!"
My point is, I would highly recommend adding little bits of luck in your characters' lives... and short moments of misfortune as well. Good days and bad days are part of life. If your story doesn't balance the two...
