NaNoWriMo 2013

So in order to plan out exactly what I'm going to do for NaNo this year, I actually have to figure out what the hell I'm going to write. I've got nothing. So I'm taking my day off to think and scheme and get this shit ready. I'm ready for a NaNo win this year. 2013 is going to be the year of awesomeness for me. I won Camp NaNo in April (I set my word count to 10,000 but whatever), I'm getting married, and I WILL win NaNo in November.

And I just got called into work. Ha ha ha. Oh well, more hours, more money.

33 Words and Goals

Last night was the June meeting for Wicked Wordsmiths of the West. During the meeting, we went over our prompt from last month: write a story using only 33 words. Sounds easy? Maybe difficult?

It was a lot easier than I thought. After the meeting in May, I went home and started working on one. My fiance got in the fun and next thing we knew, we had a whole page of them.

“This isn't going to be fun,” I said as I slid onto the hood of the car, kicking off my sandals. I cocked the gun and shot the first zombie between the eyes.

Out of all of them, I used this one. Not because I thought it was particularly better than any of the other ones, but I really like zombies.

1. When we were writing them, it felt a lot like writing poetry. Not that I'm particularly keen on poetry, but it was nice. Here are a few of the other ones.

2. Nothing more that could be done. It was finally over. The wounds from the sword stung like hell. And as the blood ran down my body, I walked off. Into the setting sun.

3. There I stood, back where it all started, back to the beginning of it all. I caused this and I will be damned if I’m not the one to end it all now.

4. Finally, I had everything I ever desired, but I was empty. I still craved even more. I was never going to be fully satisfied until I had claimed everything. That was my curse.

5. The skies swirled and the lights faded. Thunder boomed as lightning struck a nearby oak tree. The Earth cracked as fire shot up to the sky. Heaven and Hell were at it again.

6. “Full steam ahead, Mr. Tin,” she said, placing her goggles on her head. The wind blowing back her hair as she felt the airship gained speed quickly.“Aye, Captain.”
Now this was flying.

For next month's meeting, our prompt is to create a story using the four words we drew at random. My words are: Drive-in Theater, Antiquity, Tattoo, and Sizzle.

I already have a first draft. I'm feeling pretty good about myself.

Also in last night's meeting, we wrote down our writing goals. These are things we're wanting to accomplish before NaNoWriMo starts in FOUR MONTHS (!) It's time we held ourselves responsible because a lot of us are getting lazy (myself included). I'm posting my goals here so I can be held extra responsible, because let's face it, I'm terrible about getting things done. I like making the lists, but never can seem to completing everything on it. Anyways, here we are.

Before November I will...

1. Completely outline my first NaNo novel: Everything Ends.

2. Figure out what I'm doing for NaNo 2013 - not flying by the seat of my pants this year!

Hold me responsible, dear readers (if there are any of you at all).

Rejections

Early 2010 was a bad time for me. That past November I had been forced to move from Athens (which felt more like home than any other place I had ever lived) back to Jackson, Ohio to my mom's. I had recently graduated college and I was without a job and money. While it was inevitable that I would leave Athens, I wanted to do it on my own terms, not like this. Never like this.

Over the years, the pain has gotten easier to deal with, but every once and a while when "Alma Mater Ohio" plays on my iPod or I look through my Facebook pictures, I tear up in the worse way possible. Don't even get me started on always having to miss Homecoming. I don't expect a lot of people to understand an OU alum's everlasting love for her Alma Mater. Ohio University wasn't just a college, it was home. Once a Bobcat, always a Bobcat

This blog post isn't about whining that I can't go back to college. Actually it's about rejection letters. Eventually.

The beginning of 2010 marked the beginning of my grand scheme to get back to Ohio University. The had this notion that I could get into grad school about as easy as I got into college. Turns out, it's actually rather difficult to get everything ready to apply to grad school. The hardest part was finding past professors who could write letters of recommendations. I wanted to go for creative writing. I was wanting to get serious about this crazy writing thing. Now if you know me in real life, you know I graduated with a degree in Psychology. A majority of my "professors" were grad students. And of course those grad students wouldn't be able to recommend me for a spot in the creative writing program. I did eventually get one of my creative writing profs to agree to write a recommendation. She wanted a writing sample and I sent her one. She sent it back with comments. To be honest, I never opened it up. I knew it was bad and I was embarrassed that I sent it. I gave up my dreams of going to grad school for the time being and decided to focus on writing and finding a job instead. But mostly on finding a job.

I'll get to the point of this, I swear.

I took my first creative writing class in... 2008? 2007? Spring 2008. That's it. It was a creative writing: fiction class. One of our in class writing assignments was to write in the style of a short story we read in class. The story was written in 2nd person. I finished shortly after ten minutes. I was so pleased with myself. It was like one of those things where you go back to read what you've just written and smile, thinking to yourself, "Damn, I'm awesome."

I always felt like this was the only thing worth submitting, so I did. And on January 4, 2010, I took the plunge, submitting my story to Mid-American Review and StoryQuarterly. (I also submitted it to Every Day Fiction in June of that year). June 2, 2010 is when it happen. I got a response from Mid-American Review.

Dear Sarah Baker:
Thank you for sending your work to Mid-American Review. Although we have decided not to accept it for publication, we wanted you to know that we read it with more than the casual amount of interest. 

We hope that you will send more work our way in the future and wish you luck in all of your literary endeavors, including place this submission elsewhere. 

Best wishes,
MXXXXXX CXXXXXXXXX,
Editor

Oddly enough, I wasn't upset. I was proud of myself for doing it. I knew the likelihood of getting published on my first try was very small. I was actually happy. That was the moment I considered myself a real writer. Stephen King nailed all his rejection letters to his wall, I have them saved in my e-mail under the proud folder: Literary Journal Rejections. And now I'm posting them on my blog for the world to see.

A couple days later I got my second rejection.

Dear Sarah Baker:
Thank you for submitting your story "Syllabus Day." 

Unfortunately, it really isn't right for us, and we need to pass on it. Thanks for submitting, and we wish you the best of luck in placing it elsewhere. 

Sincerely,
The Editors
StoryQuarterly

And of course, my rejection from Every Day Ficition.

Dear Sarah E. Baker,
Thank you for your submission to Every Day Fiction. I regret to inform you that we are unable to use it at this time.
Amusing piece, however EDF is probably not the right forum for publication, as this is not a story with plot and character development.
-- MXXXXXXX JXXXX

Well that's a funny way of saying "Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here", but as Michelle points out it doesn't tell a story and is not appropriate for Every Day Fiction.
-- JXXX TXXXXX

We wish you good luck in placing the story elsewhere.
Sincerely,
All of us at Every Day Fiction

When I got them, I was surprised they all were the cookie cutter "insert name and title here" kind of rejections. Every Day Fiction actually took the time to read it and provide comments. I know this isn't all too common, but it felt nice.

For sticking around through my whining, here is the short in question. I will be working on it soon so I can start submitting it again.

Syllabus Day

Good afternoon. And welcome to Psychology 101. Before we start, let’s go over a few things, shall we? You are to show up to class every day. You don’t have any unexcused or “freebie” absences. If you miss one, you will fail the course.

There will be a quiz everyday worth twenty points. These will have nothing to do with what we are talking about either in class or about anything in the field of Psychology. If you fail more than two quizzes, consider retaking the class next quarter because you will fail the course.

As part of your grade, you are required to participate in ten psychological experiments. These experiments will probably be unethical and there is a 99.9% chance that you will come out with psychological damage. If you do not complete all ten experiments or I feel you should have chosen different experiments, you will fail the course.

There will be an exam every two weeks. The exams will not be covered by what we talk about in class. You must buy an old, expensive, obscure book. It is out of print, so you will not be able to buy it. However, if you don’t know what the book says, you will not do well on the exams. If you do not do well, consider retaking the class next quarter, because you will fail the course.

During class, I will give notes that have nothing to do with what we are talking about in this class and I will ramble on about stories from my sad, miserable life. I don’t put notes on BlackBoard and I don’t present a PowerPoint. You are responsible for figuring out what I will ask on the exams. If you don’t, I’m afraid you will fail the course.

There will be no food or drink in my classroom. I know this is a class during lunchtime, but nonetheless, you are here to learn, not eat. If I see as much as a piece of gum in this room, you will fail the course.

This is Robert, my TA. He is a graduate student studying Physics. He will not help you. Some days he will teach the class, but I assure you, it won’t be an enlightening experience since he has no idea how to teach a class of undergrads. If you try to ask Robert for help, you will fail the course.

If you have any complaints about this class or my style of teaching, please tell me, but you will fail the course.

Changing Names

To continue on with Everything Ends, I finally found a new last name for the character of Oliver. Up until this morning, Oliver had always been Oliver Davis.

Now I've been working on this story since about 2005/2006. It was around that time. Anyway, in 2010 I started dating a boy with the last name of, surprise, surprise, Davis. In the back of my mind, I told myself, “Maybe I should change it?” It would be weird to have a character with the same last name as my boyfriend. Right? It wasn't like that character was based off of him because the character definitely came first. Well, three years later I’m still dating the boy with the last name Davis and in fact come September; MY last name will be Davis.

I've been more inclined to find Oliver a new last name. If I felt weird about having a character and my partner with the same last name, I definitely feels weird with a character and myself sharing a last name.

So this morning, I got on my phone and Google researched last names. I spent the better part of a half hour reading through a very large list of the most common names in the US. Davis was in the top ten. Baker (my last name now) is in the top twenty. If you’re like me, name a character isn't something very simple. It’s not like I can just throw a first and a last name together and call it a day. When it comes to naming a character, I try to take the same care I would when I will name my children.

I spent that half hour saying “Oliver” in front of hundreds of last names. Oliver slowly became a jumbled lolling mess in my mouth. That’s what she said?

Long story short, Oliver Davis is now Oliver Owens.

I like it. It flows easily.

Back To The Future....I Mean Beginning

I totally had a whole post planned out and then I finally got to the internet, clicked "new post," and forgot all the witty things I was wanting to say. Damn.

Wait. I remember it was about my first NaNo novel (now called Everything Ends).

Right. I'm working on it. Kind of. For last month's meeting for Wicked Wordsmiths of the West (my writing group) I wrote a flash fiction piece that featured my two main characters from Everything Ends: Oliver and Juliet. After I wrote it I figured it would fit nicely in my unfinished novel and the piece even got a good reception.

It was the first time I had ever let anyone read anything I had written (aside from my fiance, of course). WHAT? I call myself a writer and I don't let anyone read anything! What madness is this? Extreme madness, I know. But I'm getting over my fear of getting out there.

Anyway, I have been trying to start at the very beginning and actually outline where I want this to go. I have many, many holes that need filled in and whatnot.

Then there will be the editing. But let's not go there just yet.

I Really Suck At Multitasking

There's hasn't been much writing in the past few days. Or any at all really. I have been trying to work on wedding things to be fair. Writing, I guess, can be done at any time, but my wedding is only three months and seven days away. It's, like, crunch time.

I also really suck at multitasking. It's something that my fiance is always teasing me about. I can barely text more than two people at a time. Not that I get to do that often. Anyway, my whole problem with all these things I need to do, or want to do, is that I can't multitask worth shit.

Take the last few days into consideration. I could have easily divided up my time between reading, writing, and working on wedding stuff. I didn't. I get one thing on my mind and that's what I run with. That is until I get bored and start running with the next thing.

On the plus side, I have an awesome title if I ever want to write a memoir.

Disorganized Hot Mess

Lately I've been suffering from overwhelming-itis. I feel like I have a ton of crap to do, and I want to do it all a once. There's work, plus wanting to write. Not to mention to the desire to read every single book EVER! And then there's the big thing that takes a lot of my free time: wedding planning. Not that I'm actually getting stuff done with that, of course. But I spend most of my time worrying over whether or not I'm going to everything done in time. I have 102 days (thanks The Knot for giving me such a detailed deadline). O_o

The point is, I feel like I have so much to do and not enough hours in the world to complete them all. I'm a disorganized hot mess.

Umm...oops!

I totally forgot about you dearest blog. I'm guessing flowers and a sincere apology isn't going to do it, is it? I blame the internet. Or rather my lack thereof at home. Yeah. I'll go with that.

Seriously blog, you need to kick me in the ass when I forget about you.