Fast-Forward to 2012

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*insert CD scratch reel*

A belated New Year to you all. Twenty-Twelve is the year of awesomeness–and awesome movies, I hope. I’m looking at you, The Dark Knight Rises  and The Hobbit! Rumors say Avatar: The Legend of Korra comes out this year. I hope so. I’m about to explode from suspense.

I guess my months-long absence calls for some blog housekeeping and a recap. Life now is sort of like a sentient, overgrown hedge.

Here’s what went down/is up:

  • Academics 

I received two As and two Bs for the Fall semester. Would have liked all As, but I’m not complaining, haha.

This Spring semester will prove a little more challenging due to six harder classes. Melding academics and writing will be an interesting feat. It WILL be done.

  • NaNoWriMo 

Unfortunately, I had to pull out on Week 2, thanks to the above. I drifted away in class (brainstorming plot points) and, as a result, I gradually fell behind in my work.

The requirements were a bit hefty for my academic schedule, but I took away a few valuable lessons from the experience–for example–one should probably on the novel that has 40+ pages of notes (my main WIP, Sentinel of Mirrors) instead of another that took a month to plan (Chaos Standard)).

Let’s say that I came to this realization in Week 2 and switched to my main WIP.

In total, I scribbled up around 9k words between the two novels, for a total of 18k.

I’m trying not to call it a failure, but a much-needed lesson (and kick in the rear).

  • Writing

My main WIP is coming along quite nicely at a snail’s pace. I managed to outline the first book of the duology (SoM), and I’m in the process of rewriting parts I hacked through during NaNo. I don’t love what I’ve done as of yet, but the inner editor needs to be drop-kicked.

I also received Scrivener for Christmas! *confetti* I’ve been working on it like Force times Distance (haha, Physics joke. What?).

I’ll discuss my latest writing adventures in detail later.

  • Reading
I have two trilogies and a series to finish reading.
Back in the day, I slipped right through series like a hot knife through butter. Need to get back to that point (and find a comfortable QUIET reading environment outside of my dorm. Unfortunately, the library doesn’t qualify for QUIET these days, especially at my new school. GAH).
I also need to pick up some Young Adult fiction, again (looking for some library e-books since  A) I’m Broke, B) the university library doesn’t seem to cater to the leisure reading of current books, YA the least. I guess that this should be expected?).
  • The Blog
I am a first-class nooblet when it comes to blogging! I’m always at a loss for topics, since I’m not exactly an expert on writing (and to be honest, writing essays on structural aspects of writing isn’t really my realm, and everyone seems to be hitting that nail, already–which is great, actually. I still have a lot to learn, and won’t have to search high and wide for a lesson =)). My life isn’t remotely spontaneous either.
I do have a few things in mind, though. =)

4 thoughts on “Fast-Forward to 2012”

  1. I feel the same way about my blog, so I’ve just been winging it. I don’t listen to the gurus, I hardly talk about my writing because, honestly, there’s not much to say unless I get excited.

    I didn’t finish NaNoWriMo, either. Not by far. And tell me how Scrivener works, yes?

    And they’d better release the new Avatar series this year! I’m so, so, so excited for that. And the Hobbit, and Dark Knight Rises. Gosh. I also want to watch The Iron Lady and John Carter. Both look promising. =)

    Reply

    • Yeah. I don’t know enough about the speculative genres to give insightful commentaries, so I just talk about personal lessons and issues (sometimes I feel like I’m repeating myself or I’m conceited or something).

      Hmm. So far in (surface level, I guess, haha), Scrivener is pretty cool when it comes to organizing notes and outlining. I like that you can have these and your manuscript in the same project file, and that you can split the screen to view your outline and manuscript at the same time. Apparently, Scrivener can convert your manuscript into the Kindle format (if I’m correct). There are more bells and whistles under the hood to discover, of course, but I’ll be sure to fill you in with a post! So far, it’s uber convenient, but it’s not rocking my world.

      I know! Speculations seem to be bouncing back and forth about the season premiere’s date. Ooh, I haven’t read much about John Carter–guess I’ll check that out. The Iron Lady looks good! The first time I watched the trailer, I immediately knew it was about Margaret Thatcher, hehe (don’t know too much about her, though).

      Reply

  2. You’ve got Scrivener?! Cool. 🙂 I hear great things about that software.

    And hey, I wouldn’t sweat the whole NaNo deal. After all, you did get 18k words out of it–which is better than nothing! Also, six classes sounds pretty taxing. I sure wouldn’t blame you for not getting any/much writing done in the midst of that.

    John Carter looks beautifully realized. I just wish they didn’t have the princess chick say “you may be the only one who can save us” in the 1st trailer they came out with. -__- Talk about cliche! (And OMG, this comes out only 3 days after the final installment of my most favoritest video game series releases: Mass Effect! ^_^ Way too much excitement…)

    Reply

    • I’m trying not to fret too much!

      Yeah … I was kind of turned off by what I’ve seen/read so far about John Carter (very little!). I dunno … I’m reminded of those 70s – 80s fantasy novels with the bikini-clad damsel-in-distress clad hugging tight to the beefcake hero. Which is an unfair assumption. I guess I’ll give it a chance and look into it, hehe.

      Ooh, I’ve heard of Mass Effect. =o Don’t know much about it (shh!). One day (when I can finally buy a console–hopefully soon), I might check it out. Feel like I’m missing out on so many good games (i.e. Assassin’s Creed. Looks like loads of fun).

      Haha, 2012 is too cool so far!

      Reply

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