May starts on Thursday? *panics*

Here are some lovely quotes I found while waiting for my files to upload to an ftp server.

To sum it all up, if you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever sent out and set rambling.
You must write every day of your life.
You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next.
You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfume and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads.
I wish for you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime.
I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you.
May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories- science fiction or otherwise.
Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.
-Ray Bradbury

Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.
-William Saroyan

There really are no characters in plays; there are relationships.
-Arthur Miller

First drafts are for learning what your novel or story is about.
-Bernard Malamud

Never tell your reader what your story is about. Reading is a participatory sport. People do it because they are intelligent and enjoy figuring things out for themselves.
-George V. Higgins

Never feel guilty about reading. That's what you do.
-William Safire.

Tell almost the whole story.
-Anne Sexton

When the plot flags, bring in a man with a gun.
-Raymond Chandler

Sounds like fun.

excited!!!

Wow, I'm really exited about writing now.

I really want to write my own story, though I've done a shocking lack of work on it. Also, I was hit with a plot bunny that wants to turn a story that Bahnree is writing into an OC tournament.

So, the people who are participating have a character, or a couple of characters. They write a description of their character, and their fighting style, and maybe a bit of a back story so that the other participants can get a feel for who the character is. Then the characters are paired off in duels, and the writers have to write a fight, wherein his or her characters wins the duel. The trick is, their opponent is writing the duel too, with his or her character winning instead. Then independent judges will pick the best story of the two that are submitted, and the winner will advance to the next round, just like in a real life tournament. Then they are paired with another character, a duel takes place, etc.

*is excited*

This would be really good writing practice, and just, fun! Maybe we'll do it in June or July. Kendra and Stephanie could probably lure in a bunch of people, too. For goodness sake, I might be able to lure in some people, in fact.

Oh! And on the May/PENredux front, Kemendraugh is probably going to be doing the writing with Bahnree and I! I'm happy!

And, it's after midnight. Time to head for bed.

Appearances can be deceiving.

I found this today. I'm not sure when I wrote it, but I think I was feeling stressed. :P It's about a character who doesn't have a written story yet.

Sometimes, when she seems to be handling things so well,

all she really wants is for someone to hold her while she cries herself out.

Sometimes, when she makes light of what's going on,

it's because she's ashamed of how her life sounds like a sob story.

Sometimes, when she says, "I'm going crazy,"

she means it.

Sometimes, when she moves quietly through the room

it's because she's so frail she doesn't want to run the risk of breaking.

Sometimes, she's so still,

because all her energy is going towards staying upright and dry-eyed.

Sometimes, that self-possessed girl in the corner thinking,

is wishing with all her remaining strength that someone would please see what's going on.

Sometimes the obvious is no such thing.

You're A Prayer for Owen Meany!

by John Irving

Despite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspire faith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifest this fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every waking moment, and you prepare with great detail for destiny fulfilled. When you speak, IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS!

Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

You're Ireland!

Mystical and rain-soaked, you remain mysterious to many people, and this makes you intriguing. You also like a good night at the pub, though many are just as worried that you will blow up the pub as drink your beverage of choice. You're good with words, remarkably lucky, and know and enjoy at least fifteen ways of eating a potato. You really don't like snakes.

Take the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid

I laugh in the face of exams. I spit in their general direction.

I woke up this morning thinking;
"Well, if I travel during November, I'm going to have to have a laptop of some kind. Nothing fancy, just one that can handle word processing, a USB port, and internet access. A electric typewriter. But how would I charge it?"

This shows how stressed about exams I am today. My subconscious is occupied with the logistics of traveling during nanowrimo. *grins* Yes, I am in the middle of exam week, if you didn't' know. One week of 7 exams, all of which have been described in my hearing as "third year university level." But who even worries about exams when they're happening? You worry before and then when the days hit you are totally serene. *nods emphatically*

In other news, I'm starting to get really excited about writing in May, but I need to get the world imaged a little bit better in my head. I'll be writing in the very early morning, I think so, so I want to try to stave off the temptation to drop into science fiction. I don't know if that made sense to anyone, but anyhow...

I need to figure out a location for my people, and an era. Oh, I'm so excited! I'm still a little sad that only Stephanie and I are doing PENredux, but everyone seems to be busy with life. Oh, I don't know, maybe we'll find someone else who's willing to try to write 50,000 words in 31 days! *is hopeful*

I am a complete idiot.

I am unable to manage my time. I fritter it away on unnecessary amusements, and then I expect my friends, who have been working hard while I waste my time, to feel sorry for me for not having my work done.

I worry about pointless things.

I'm so stupidly self-centered, all I think about is myself.

I feel sorry for myself whenever anyone talks about what they are able to do and I am not.

I'm rude to people I care about, in a botched attempt to be amusing or to tell them that I care.

When people try to be nice to me I end up throwing it back in their face, my social skills are so abysmal.

I'm so afraid of intruding that I never tell people that I enjoy their company, and then or course they never even think of me.

Sometimes I really hate myself. Sometimes, I really really really hate myself. I fail at life.

"Didn't want you to get your hopes up." "Don't flatter yourself."

So, Bahnree wrote a piece for Restless Hearts, which was a version of Hamlet from the viewpoint of another character. It was very good. Also, our literature professor said that writing some fiction- another chapter, or another viewpoint on a story- about a book that we read this year, would be acceptable as our literature paper. Long story short, she has just received approval to put the story in as her literature paper. *narrows eyes*

However, I said that she should ask the professor about using the piece, so I feel somehow related to the triumph of having a paper done 5 days early. *glee*

I personally, on the other hand, am trying to get the Science dialauge done. I'm certainly farming it out for approval/scorn/assistance to other people, cause I don't like it. *sigh*