For those that don't know, National Novel Writing month is celebrated in November. The idea is that you take the whole month of November and write a novel. It doesn't matter if you finish the celebration is that you got started on a project you enjoy.
And that's how Two Pair was born in 2010. I wrote it in two weeks then spent the next two (technically three if you count that year) years editing it to be sure it was good for publication. And you know the rest of that story. Since then I haven't participated in NaNoWriMo though I would've liked to. The only reasons I hadn't was because I had no ideas. But now that I'm sitting in this corner chair that has exclusively become mine (ask anyone that walks by this corner M/T/W/TH at about three o'clock and they'd agree with you--*hangs up reserved sign*) I've been thinking about the things I could do and have narrowed it down to two ideas: 1. Flynn. <---That's a tentative title, but it was the idea I turned in and co-won for the Hollins Fiction Prize senior year at Hollins. 2. Ride or Die. That title I really like. This one would be a book about a girl that participates in BMX and how she had to deal with being a girl in a male dominated sport as well as dealing with a family that thinks it's too dangerous for her to participate in. Which is a tentative plot, but the general idea is the same. (3. Maybe that novella on Reagan between the Quadruple or Nothing series and what could potentially come after). Now, I' not saying I'll be able to finish one of these in November, especially since two of my really long papers are due that month, but I'd like to get a good chunk of it out of the way. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to do it, no matter which one it is that I work on. I'm great at time management as anyone can say, but 20 page papers can really kick my butt, especially when I think I've said all I need to say in 10.
0 Comments
Note to self, call home more.
Though I really wouldn’t know what to talk about considering I only have classes three days a week. Compared to undergrad where I had a class every day, not much happens to talk about. But that brings me up to the pint of this blog, which is something I’ve been thinking about for a while: How do you make friends in grad school? At Hollins I had my friends from specific classes, friends from World Music, and friends that I hung out with outside of classes; not including the friends I saw whenever I got home for holidays and breaks. But here, making friends is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Not that I find it hard to talk to people, I’ve always been good at that and still find it hard to stop talking when I’m with people, it’s everything else that’s hard. I’m one of the few people that are doing their first semester of grad school ever, but I’m the only one that hasn’t attended ODU or taken similar classes at all. Except for, maybe, three people, everyone around me is older (in their thirties and higher), but they all know each other due to having been in the same classes before or working in the same places. I’m the only one that’s brand spanking new and while I’m friendly with people I don’t really know how to become friends with them. It mostly stems from the fact that we only have class once a week and other than that we all have our own lives. If I’m not in class, I’m working; on novels, stories, my graduate research work, as well as working on Sº4 Magazine. Even then, my program has a collective dinner every Tuesday night at different restaurants around the area and I go to those every Tuesday, engage in as much conversation as I can, and still feel like I’m the odd one out. Maybe it’s because I’m used to going to smaller places in the private schools I’ve attended. Maybe it’s because I’m still not used to Norfolk yet (though I can tell you that with the other drivers around here I’ve managed to get very quick reflexes when driving). I don’t know. If there’s a special formula for this, I’m all ears. Let me start off my blog with a question for you guys; have you ever watched TV for a homework assignment?
*Raises hand* Of course, I have. If you’ve been following my blog since the start, you’d know that I was in a J-Term class called “Writing the Television Sitcom” so I watched a LOT of TV. Mostly 2 Broke Girls, which I ended up writing a script for. Now, I thought it would be the only time I would have the privilege of being able to watch TV for homework. Guess again! *Throws confetti while spinning in a quick circle* For my Com 602 class, I got to watch an episode of Storage Wars and write a blog post about how it pertains to capitalism. (And let me tell you, that was a good blog post, even if I do say so myself. I wont know what grade I’ll get on it later). Enough about that, I’m excited to be able to watch Storage Wars for homework. You know why? Mostly because I love that show. I had seen it once before while channel surfing and had found myself enthralled with it. It’s really fascinating, people auctioning off storage units that hadn’t had their bills paid and then making money off of the items that are inside. Or, trying to, anyway. Now, I would be even happier if it was that I was instructed to watch Chicago Fire or Chicago PD as one of my homework assignments. Especially tomorrow and Wednesday as the new seasons start and I’m going to be missing the first half of each one because we’re going to be driving back from campus at that point. Curse you really short stoplight coming off campus!! *shakes fist*. But that brings me to my second point. The MTV show, Catfish. I’m sure many people have heard of it at this point. Catfishing is when you create a profile or account of some website online and pretend to be someone else for your own personal gain or because you feel the person you’re talking to wouldn’t enjoy the real you. I enjoy that show as well. So much, that I’m going to be writing a paper on it. A 20 page paper. Yes, for my Com 603 class we’re talking about social change. As soon as Catfishing became a thing, or else that it got a name for it in the online realm, it would commonly be known as a con artist in the real world, it created a lot of social change. Not only were people even more cautious online, but they’ve now gone to start researching people they talk to online as well as checking the validity of what is said to them. I’m going to be looking through scholarly journals, databases, and other websites I can find about con artists and adapting it to Catfishing and will write a paper and present a presentation on it. The only reason that I’m studying con artists is because Catfishing is still relatively new, so there wouldn’t be any articles directly on the topic. But I’m excited to start the paper and see how it adapts. This semester in all three of my classes, I have nothing but papers. My first class has two short papers, one long paper, and then a final exam (which is an even longer paper), my second class has an 18-25 page paper that I am to write, and my third class has a 20 page paper that I have to write. (There’s some leeway to the paper for my third class, however). I’m going to be writing papers until I die, at this point but the topics are pretty interesting. The ONLY complaint I have is that I have to write in APA style. I dislike APA almost as much as I dislike Chicago/Turabian style. And allll of my papers have to be in this style. Thankfully I can adapt pretty well and I’ll write enough of them so that I get enough practice, but if I had my choice, MLA is the way to go. *Fist pumps*. So, I’m going to be very busy getting research and writing done, especially as these are going to be the longest papers I’ve ever written. But I’m excited to see how they come about. Also, on my first assignment for my first class, I got an ‘A’! So there’s that for motivation! :) Anyone that saw my post on Facebook earlier saw this blog post coming.
About what, probably not. You all were more than likely expecting a recap of our birthday weekend, but I'll save that for another day. *ahem ahem*. ;) This week is the fourth week of classes and for the first time in my life I'm not as confident with my classes as I usually am. It is definitely due o the fact that I haven't taken any communications classes before and I feel like I'm way behind whenever topics I'm not familiar with come up. Especially with the books that I've been reading for my classes. It seems like every single one of my classmates are familiar with them and I'm scrambling to make some sort of understanding of the hundreds of pages I have to read throughout the week and then participate in a class discussion where I don't say anything until I find the topic that I'm the most confident in answering. However, I am getting more confident with the way the classes and discussions work and having things explained to me. My graduate research work is going well, so far all I've done is search through a bunch of databases for ESM (Experience Sampling Method) and how it relates to positivity. Otherwise there's not much to go on there. Then there's the portion that I really wanted to talk about. A few days ago I applied for and have gotten a job as a contributor/writer at Sº4 Magazine. It is an action/extreme sports online magazine that primarily focuses on Surfing, Skateboarding, and Snowboarding for girls. (There is a portion of the site that is for guys). As a contributor I can write about whatever I want in the means of those topics and it is something that I'm really excited to be doing. Going into the action/extreme sports industry is my all-time dream and while it may be something that'd difficult to get into to start a career with, this is my first step. I didn't think I'd ever find something as this to get into it as I always thought you had to live on the West Coast and frequent competitions and expos before you could even get noticed enough to start networking. It will be a god way for me to ultimately get to my dream job at Vans, as one of the affiliates of the sites is Vans Girls and one of the compensations I'll get for writing for the mag is merch from the retailer. The experience that I'd be getting from my Research Assistant job as well as from working with Sº4 is going to make it easier for my dreams to become a reality and I can't wait to see what'll continue to unfold as time goes on. It's been forever and a day since I updated my blog. The last thing I talked about wasn't really me talking, instead it was a video of my speed drawing of one of Mack's characters. Anyone that knows how much I love to draw should get a kick out of the video.
Other than that, everything you all should know I've probably said on Facebook at some point. However, I will indulge everyone that doesn't already know (and there is no offense intended to anyone that doesn't know. I simply chose not to mention some things that have happened because I didn't see the point to. I apologize to granddaddy as I never said I got into ODU, but I didn't tell anyone so you weren't the only one left out). Yes, I applied, got accepted into, and am now a grad student at Old Dominion University which is my father's alma mater. I am in the Lifespan and Digital Communications program which, when I finish, will give me an MA in communications. The program is only four years old, so it's relatively new, which is also why no one has ever heard of it before. I explain it quickly by saying I'm getting a Masters in Social Media because it' a big component of it. Basically, it is a program that focuses on digital communications (TV, music, movies, video games, phones, internet, skype, oovoo, texting, etc.) and how it changes over the course of a lifespan. When I tell people this I always get the question: and what can you do with that degree? To be honest, anything you want. You can go into whatever field you want, essentially, with this degree. You can go into marketing, communications, publication, what have you. That's one of the things that appealed to me about it, that I can go into whatever faction I want after I get my degree. I'm keeping my option open at the moment but my dream is to get into the extreme/action sports industry. (That's only if my sisters and I don't get discovered in California first. *wink wink* *hint hint*) The other piece of good news that goes along with it, which I'm sure a lot of people know by now, I was offered and accepted a Graduate Research Assistantship for the year. I'm going to be assisting in the research and development/beta testing of a research app that is being guinea pigged on two classes that I'm assisting. Cool, right? Other than that there's nothing to report other than the drivers here are ridiculous and I've had to avoid getting into accidents more often than I would like to count. Though on the plus side it's made my reflexes that much better and my ability to be tense when I drive that much stronger. Talk about a double-edged sword. Other than that I have nothing to report because I don't want to bore you all with my classes. (Go to class, do homework, go to class, do homework, go to class, do homework. That's really all I do, thankfully I can multi-task and priorit |
About Me
Loves anything red. Rock music, playing the guitar, drawing, writing, tattoos, and sports are some of my interests and hobbies. I like to laugh, I like to think I'm funny. I talk a lot...just a warning. Archives
April 2017
Categories
All
|