A Hunger Games Saturday

Today has just been a boring, lazy Saturday.  I listened to an episode of HG Fireside Chat and wrote some Hunger games fanfiction.  That's basically it.  My grandma was over for a bit earlier this morning.  It was nice to see her.  Our Internet has also started going in and out the past hour or two (I think my dad's updating software or something.), so I hope I can get this up without any problems.

I don't think I mentioned this anywhere but Twitter, but I got my second college acceptance the other day!  Now I just need to hear from two more.  I can't wait to finally decide where I'm going and get everything settled.

The End of 2011 and My First Hunger Games Fanfiction

Can you believe Sunday is the start of 2012?  I can't.  I filmed a video earlier today that will be up on my channel tomorrow.  I talked in there about some of the awesome things that happened this year, and things I want to try and do in 2012.  Like I said, that'll be up tomorrow if you want to watch it.  I may do a similar blog post here tomorrow, but I'm not sure yet.  I'll be at my grandma's for New Year's Eve tomorrow, so I'll probably blog about what we're doing there instead (which is why I filmed the video today). 

I haven't done much today.  I did manage to get a small part of the essay for AP U.S. history done, but then my mom called me down for dinner.  I'll probably finish it Monday, since I couldn't think of what to write anyway.  I think I'll be able to focus better on Monday.

As I mentioned earlier in a blog post, I finished writing the first draft of the story I was working on, and I put it away for a while before editing it.  For the past week or so I've been writing Hunger Games fanfiction.  I talked more about this in the video that'll be posted tomorrow because finishing the fanfic is one thing I mention as wanting to do in 2012.  I'm having a lot of fun with it so far, since it's my first Hunger Games fanfiction.

It's going to be a series of one-shots that are in chronological order and have a similar theme.  I'll talk more about it when I start posting it online.  They definitely have a lighter tone than the actual Hunger Games books because I'm focusing on Katniss and Peeta's kids who have much happier lives.  The story I just finished was also a bit dark.  It wasn't incredibly depressing or anything, but I wanted to write something a lot lighter and more positive now.  There is some darkness to it though, especially when the kids kind of think about their parents' pasts.  Actually, I just discovered this but both the story I just finished and this Hunger Games fanfiction are heavily centered around growing up.  Other than that though, they're completely different.

Anyway, I'm going to quite ranting about the fanfiction and go work on it some more!

Christmas and Writing

There's just a little over half an hour left of this Christmas!  I filmed a video earlier that will be up tomorrow that talked a bit about how this Christmas went.  Basically, we woke up extremely early with just a few hours sleep to open some awesome presents, and then over half of the house, including me, went straight back to bed.  It was a great Christmas, but even after waking up for the second time I was extremely tired.  I spent half the day half asleep.

I got some great presents!  I've only been able to use a few so far.  My new Ravenclaw iPhone case got put on my phone immediately, and I've already written in my new Harry Potter planner that's extremely similar to the one I've been using this year.  We also watched Up in the Air, which I got on DVD.  I also got The Princess and the Frog and the Beauty and the Beast DVDs.  If you know of my obsession with Beauty and the Beast, then you'll know I'm extremely happy with that gift.  I also got several other DVDs and some books among various other things.

By far the most exciting part of my Christmas was finishing the first draft of my currently untitled story that I've been working on for months.  I've posted teasers of it over on my writing blog.  It'll be a while before that's posted anywhere though.  I'm going to forget about it for a while and work on some Hunger Games fanfiction.  Then, when that's done, I'll get the story out again and edit the first draft.  I'm so excited to have it finished!  Plus, I've had so many ideas for these Hunger Games one-shots that I'm going to be writing.  I can't wait to get started!

Less Homework, More Writing Time

It's so strange being on Christmas break and not having homework I need to work on.  I have one essay that I have to write for AP U.S. history.  However, it's practice for the AP exam, so we're supposed to write it in forty minutes.  I'm going to wait until after Christmas to do that.  I also have some college stuff to do, but this isn't anywhere near the amount of things I had to do before break.  I am so happy to get a break from all of that and relax for a little bit.

I got so much writing done last night and today.  It was great.  It had been months since I'd been able to sit down and get that much written without having to stop and do homework or something.  I'm getting so excited about everything because I'm close to finishing the first draft too.  I'm hoping I'll get it done by the end of the year since I have more time to write now, but if I get caught up in holiday and family stuff it probably won't happen.  Still, I can hope.

Only three more days until Christmas!

Short Writings

I haven't posted much here lately.  I kept meaning to, but I couldn't be bothered to do much the whole weekend.  It's a wonder I got the post about being sick up.  I think that's only because I like the outlet to complain.  Luckily I'm feeling much better now, so I'm finally getting a post up.

Way back towards the beginning to the semester (probably September or October), I wrote a few journal entries in the point of view of the main character of the story I'm writing.  These journal entries aren't part of the actual story.  I just wrote them for the fun of it.  There's no mention of the main characer even having a journal in the story.  However, the entries are supposedly written while the story is taking place.  There are two of them, and neither one really reveals much about the story.  There just normal things a fourteen year old could potentially write in a diary.  I mean, they incorporate events in the story into them, but it's nothing particularly big or spoilery.

In attention to those, I also wrote an incredibly short scene that includes several of the main characters.  This scene involves a field trip they went on several years before the story takes place.  (I never actually specified how old they were, but I picture it as being fifth grade or so.  They're in eighth grade in the actual story.)  This scene is absolutely pointless.  I just wrote it in school because I wanted to write, but the actual story is saved on my computer.

I've tossed around the idea of posting them online.  It could kind of be an extra thing.  I could post them before the story to kind of meet the main character, guess what happens, kind of thing, and then I could post the actual story after.  I don't know.  They're incredibly short (probably less than 500 words each) and basically pointless.  I'm not sure if I should do something with them or not.  Does anyone have any ideas?

Writing Takes Time

I've been writing a story for over a year now.  It takes me forever to finish longer stories.  I wish I had more time to write, but on a good day I usually only get about half an hour to spend writing.  I do manage to write almost every day except when I'm not home (or sick and unable to focus on anything like yesterday and today).  I've been lucky enough to get a bit more time lately.  Not because I actually have more time, but just because I've learned to quit doing other things to write instead.

I'm so happy to almost be done with the first draft of this story.  I know a year is an insanely long time to be working on just the first draft, but I would like to point out that I was working on Avatar: The Next Generation as well for about half of that time.  (That makes it sound a little better.)  I wish I had more time to write, but school and homework just takes up a majority of my time (plus actually leaving my house which has happened more recently).

Once the first draft is done I plan on working on a Hunger Games fanfiction (which I am incredibly excited about) before going back to edit this story.  It'll probably be posted online at some point in the future, but I wouldn't count on that for maybe a year or more.  It'll all just depend on how much time I get to write.

Favorite Genres

Everyone has a certain genre or two that they enjoy reading more than others.  I don't think I can narrow down one particular genre as being my favorite.  Most of what I read is young adult, but I wouldn't really say that's a genre.  If I look through all of the books I own I find a lot of contemporary romance, historical (usually but not always romance), fantasy, and dystopian.  I think it's safe to say that those are my favorite genres to read.

It's not much different when it comes to writing.  What I'm currently working on is a contemporary (but not a romance).  Most of the ideas I have floating around in my head right now are historical.  I have a couple of fantasy ideas, but they're not on my mind as much.  It's no secret that I write fanfiction.  Once I finish my current project, I plan to work on a series of Hunger Games one-shots.  I guess that counts as writing dystopian, although (SLIGHT SPOILERS) I plan on all of them being post-Mockingjay, which means it won't be very dystopian and I'm not making up the dystopian aspect myself so I don't really count that.

What types of genres are your favorite to read and/or write?

Thank You, Internet

I'm sure every writer has at least one author that they look up to.  I have quite a few.  One thing about the Internet, is it allows you to learn more about people you wouldn't otherwise know.  Before the Internet, people just read books and didn't really know much about the people who wrote them.  (I assume.  This was before my time...)  Thanks to the Internet, I now follow some of my favorite authors on twitter, read their blogs, and even watch their Youtube videos.  I love it.  Before, authors had a lot of anonymity.  They still can if they want to (although maybe not to the same extent), but they can also interact with readers a lot more.

Not only is this great for the authors, it's also great for the readers and those who hope to become published authors some day.  I love that I can learn more about the people who write such great books.  As someone who wants to be an author, I enjoy learning more about what being an author's really like.  If I'd been born twenty or so years ago I wouldn't have that.  I don't even know if I would have wanted to become an author.  It's entirely possible that I would never have paid attention to the fact that someone put a whole lot of work into each book that I pick up.  I may not have considered writing to even be a career possibility.

The Internet is great for many different reasons, but I am incredibly thankful that it has allowed me to interact with amazing authors that never would have been possible before.  I may even have the Internet to thank for bringing the career of writing to my attention.

Background Music

I know a lot of writers like to listen to music while they write.  Some even create playlists to go along with their books based off of what music they listened to while writing.  I am not like those writers.  When I listen to music, I can't do anything but listen to music.  It's too distracting to me.  I start listening to the music and lose track of what I'm doing.  Or, I completely tune the music out so that I don't even know it's there, but that's only occasionally.  Most of the time the music does nothing but annoy me because I'm trying to focus on something else, and the music is just distracting me.

Don't get me wrong.  I love music most of the time, just not when I'm trying to do something else.  When I listen to music, I want to focus on the music, and when I'm writing, reading, or anything else, I want to be focused on what I'm doing, not music.

Sometimes kids at school try to convince teachers to turn on the radio because it's proven that music helps stimulate your brain and helps you learn and focus.  I can see how that could be true, and I'm sure it works for a lot of people.  But I can't focus on something else when there's music playing.  To me it's the same thing as having a people talking right next to you while you're trying to focus.  Just like with music, that doesn't bother some people, but it does me.  (I hate trying to do homework at school when everyone around me is talking loudly, and I'm one of those people who can't stand when someone starts talking during a movie I haven't seen before.)

Do you like listening to music while writing, reading, doing homework, or anything else, or does it annoy you like it does me?

Female vs. Male Point-of-View

I have yet to write a story with a male main character.  Being female, I just relate more to that point-of-view.  It's familiar to me.  Sure, every girl is different, but there are still a lot of things that usually stay the same from one girl to another.

Someday I may try to write about a male main character, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.  It would definitely be a bit of a challenge I think.  It'd be something new and interesting.  If I do ever write from a male perspective though, I see it as being years from now.

The truth is I really like writing in a female perspective, since I am female.  It's what I know, and it's what I want to write about.  I can't see myself writing in a male point-of-view.  To be completely honest, that doesn't sound as interesting to me although I have no idea why that is.

This is kind of reflected in my reading too.  Almost everything I read is in a female perspective.  It's actually a bit strange that Harry Potter, my absolute favorite series, is just about the only books I read with a male main character.  Other than Harry Potter, John Green books, The Giver, and The Chosen are the only other books I can think of that I really enjoy and have a male main character.  (Although Harry Potter and The Giver are female authors writing male characters).

I may explore writing in a male perspective in the future, but for now, I'm going to stick with my female protagonists.

I Need a Break

I'm am so ready for Thanksgiving break!  I need these five days off of school.  I'm beginning to get really stressed out, and a break will be nice.  I mean most of the stress is coming from college stuff, and I'm going to spend break applying to two colleges.  Still, no school helps take a bit of the stress off, and I think I could the main college-related thing that was stressing me out sorted out today.  So, hopefully it will be an unstressful break for me.  (If my sister succeeds in getting me to go Black Friday shopping, then I guess we can throw the unstressful break out the window.)

Since it was the last day before break, we didn't do much at school today.  I had an AP U.S. history test first thing this morning, but other than that, I didn't do much today.  We're researching for our trend analysis paper (with an annotated bibliography) in AP English, but I don't really consider researching to be hard work (unless you're having trouble finding information).

Our Jostens yearbook representative was in our yearbook class today to show us how to create the portrait pages, but all that required was us sitting quietly and listening to him talk.

I'm way ahead in computer applications, so our teacher asked Ji, Bethany, and me to help her wrap pennies from Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF.  Once we were finished with that, Ji, Alyssa, and I went up to the guidance office since we each had seperate things that we needed to get worked out.  That's when I hopefully got the biggest college-related thing sorted out.  Guys, applying to college can be hard when things don't go right.  I think I go to a great school, but something I didn't learn until this year is that it's sometimes hard to get things figured out because of the small staff.  I've been trying to get this sorted out forever, but our guidance office consists of two people (a guidance counselor and a secretary), and whenever I have time to go in there, they never seem to be in there (hence why I went during class today).  It was starting to get frustrating.  I've never had this problem until this year, since you don't really need to deal with guidance much (except during scehduling times) until senior year.  Hopefully, that's all sorted out though, and as soon as I send in these two applications, I'll be done applying to college.  (Then I just have to be accepted...)

Just like us high schoolers, the middle schoolers weren't doing much today either, so I didn't do much during peer tutoring today.  In the first class I'm in, I helped one girl with math a little bit and helped two boys study for a social studies class.  In the second class, the were watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving while working on a math worksheet that they didn't really need help on, so I spend the whole time just watching Charlie Brown.

We did actually do work in econ today, but it was easy and not nearly enough to take up the whole hour and a half we're in there.  Most of the class was spent doing nothing.

Since getting home, I feel like I've accomplished a lot, but it really doesn't seem like much looking back on it.  I managed to get some reading done, which hasn't really happened in a while.  I got half of a college application filled out, which I'm relieved that it's nearing being done.  I also filmed a video that I was currently in the process of editing before I got in the shower and then started writing (first my story and then this).  I have over twenty minutes of footage, so I hope to get it edited down a lot, which probably won't happen since I can't bear to leave out anything when it comes to books.  As soon as I post this I'm going to get back to editing that, and I'll hopefully have it up before I go to bed, which is looking less likely as it's getting late.

Notebooks and Stories

I don't know what the first story I ever wrote was.  I had a lot of noteboks that I scribbled small notes in here as a kid.  There was one notebook that I had all sorts of "important" stuff in, and I remember keeping it with me almost all the time.  Nothing in it could be classified as a story though.  Don't get me wrong, I came up with stories all the time, but most of them stayed in my own head.  I was a bit older before I actually started writing stories down.

I still have most of those notebooks.  It's interesting to look in them now and see some of the things I wrote.  Sometimes I just have to wonder what was going through my head when I wrote something.  You can definitely tell that I've always had an active imagination.

Even though nothing in these notebooks can really be classified as stories, these notebooks really helped me get to the point where I actually wrote.  In a way, a lot of the stuff is exactly like things I write down when I'm coming up with a story now.  I plan on keeping all of these notebooks (and the ones I use now).  They should be fun to look back on years from now.

A Change of Writing Habits

It's time for another blog post about writing!  Writing hasn't been coming so easily to me lately.  In a past blog post, I mentioned that I usually write at night after I take a shower.  For some reason, that's just when I write best.  Lately though, that hasn't been happening.

The little bit of writing I have managed to do recently all happened at school.  Usually I take a book to school with me to read during those times you aren't allowed to talk (or are but I'm having one of my (many) anti-social moments) and I have homework and things done.  However, the books I've been reading recently aren't exactly books I can or want to take to school (ebooks, larger books, or books I don't want damaged), so I've resorted to writing during these moments.

If you read my fanfiction, you know that many of my A:TNG one-shots were written at school.  You also know that I've posted two more of those in the last month or so (even though I hadn't really planned on posting more for a really long time).  Yet it's never been easy for me to write when others are around.  It's too distracting, and sometimes I feel like people are reading over my shoulder, which bothers me.  These one-shots have always been super short, and I think this is the main reason why.  I can't focus on writing anything longer when there are so many people around me.

This semester however I've gotten an abnormally large amount of writing done in class.  I've mentioned before that I'm currently working on this story (but I haven't said much more than that).  Literally every bit of it I've written in the last three or four weeks has been written at school.  What do I do in the evenings when I sit down to write?  Type what I wrote down on paper earier that day, and then sit there attempting to write more but nothing ever comes.

I don't know what is up with me lately.  It's so weird because I've never been able to get this much writing done at school.  I don't know why that's suddenly the easiest place for me to write.  I think it might be the whole distraction things flipped though.  When I'm writing at school, it's usually because my friends aren't in that class, so I don't really have anything to take my mind off writing, but at home I'm getting a lot more distracted.  I don't get much time to do things at home anymore, so I'm wanting to read or get on the Internet or anything but write.  I expect this will change once the play is over.

The next four days are my fall break.  Maybe I can make some progress.

Writing Troubles

I wrote in one of the posts from Sunday that I've been having trouble writing lately.  After thinking about it a bit, I think this is because I've been so exhausted recently.  By the time I get home and have time to write, I'm half asleep.  I have to suffer my way through homework first too, which doesn't help.

Still, I think I'm starting to get into a new schedule, and writing is starting to get easier again.  I'm a lot busier than before, but it's getting to the point where I'm finally adjusting to it.  Let's hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that.

I managed to get a decent amount of writing done in class the other day when we weren't doing anything.  That was the first time in a while that I started writing and didn't stop every five seconds trying to figure out what happens next.  I just hope I can keep this up for a while.  I'm starting to enjoy the time I spend writing again compared to the slight dread I felt when I knew it was going to be difficult.

Writing Romance

I have been having such a hard time writing lately.  I don't know if it's because of lack of time or if it's just plain old writer's block.  All I know it that everytime I sit down to write, it feels like I sit there forever, and I'm lucky if I get a hundred (usually crappy) words down.  That's not what this post is about though.  As much as I would love to complain about that for a whole post, I won't bore you with that.  This post is about writing though.

I love books that have a bit of romance in them.  The book doesn't have to be centered around romance, but I've never found having a bit of romance in a book to be a bad thing.  If any of you have read my writing, you'll know that I haven't written anything that I'd consider entirely romance, but a lot of what I've written has had a bit of romance in it.  Truthfully, the idea of writing something that's just romance is a little intimidating to me.  It sounds way too easy to screw up.

It's a bit difficult to explain why I feel this way.  I guess the short answer is there are so many things you have to be careful of when you write romance.  First, it usually helps if the readers want the two characters together, although this doesn't really have to be the case.  You also have to be careful that you make the relationship happen realistically.  You can't just have them professing their love for each other after only meeting five minutes earlier.  Then, you have to be careful that you don't insert too much pointless drama.  I guess all of this stuff is true no matter what you're writing, but it just seems more intimidating in romance.

My fanficition Avatar: The Next Generation was the first time I really attempted to write romance.  Those who have read it know that there really isn't much romance at all.  The characters are young, and the two couples in the story aren't going to be very serious.  Still, it was the first time I really wrote about relationships that evolved.  I had to write about crushes, starting to date, and the actual relationship in that story.  It wasn't the focus of the story, and it wasn't entirely romantic, but it was the first time I'd ever really attempted something like that.

The project I'm writing now is about friendship more than anything else.  Still, the characters are teenagers, so I could avoid romantic relationships completely.  The main character has a crush that, while not entirely important to the plot, is still there, and another character has her first boyfriend in the story.  I didn't put these things in the story to focus on the romance.  They have other purposes.  These kids are fourteen, so I'm not writing about them finding their true loves.  If I was, I'd probably get intimidated.

Maybe someday I'll write something more romantic, but for now, I think I'm going to steer clear of it.  To be honest, I probably wouldn't be writing romance even if I didn't find it intimidating.  Like I said, my current project focuses on friendship, and for the moment at least, I find friendship to be just as interesting of a subject to explore as romance, if not more so.

Writing Routines/Habits

I know different writers have different places they like to write.  Some write at home while some prefer places such as coffee shops (J.K. Rowling, for example).

Me?  I do virtually all of my writing while sitting on my bed.  I've read in lots of different places that doing things other than sleeping on your bed causes insomnia because your head no longer associates the bed as a place just for sleeping.  In spite of this, I still use my bed to read, write, etc.  This is mainly because my room is the only place in the house I can go that's quiet, and I'm not a person who can write when things are going on around me.  The only places to sit in my room are the bed and a very uncomforable wooden desk chair.  Obviously, I prefer the bed.

Most of my writing is done in the evening and/or at night.  While I will sometimes write at random points during the day, I always try and write for a while right after I get out of the shower at night.  I don't really know why I chose that time of day, but it works for me.  I'm a night person, and that's when I feel most awake.  (Maybe it's because of the insomnia caused by using my bed for things other than sleeping.)  I've been trying to write more in the afternoons, but it hasn't been working too well.  I think there's too much going on, and I get distracted a lot more.

I'm always impressed that there are people who can write in busy places or as soon as they wake up.  Those are things I wish I could do, but as of yet, have been unsuccessful.  I'm someone who needs a nice quiet area where I can focus, and I'm definitely not enough of a morning person to successfully write right after waking up.

Quelf: The Most Amazing Board Game Ever Invented

Today's challenge is:  a problem you have had.  I've had a lot of problems.  (Who hasn't?)  One I currently have is finding time to write.  With school, work, homework, and everything else, it's really hard to have time to write.  (The same thing goes for reading.)  I wanted to have A:TNG written by 2011, but it's March, and it's still not done.  That's what I plan to work on over spring break.  We're driving down to Georgia, and most of my time in the car will be spend writing (and reading).

I wanted to mention how incredibly awesome the board game Quelf is.  I first heard about it in this video.  It looked like the funnest board game ever, so I put it on my "want list."  A few weeks ago, I was at Target with my mom and brother and happened to find the game.  I wasn't really even searching for it (techincally).  My mom asked me to watch my brother while he was looking at toys, so I wandered over to the board games to see if it was there.  My mom agreed to buy it, but I didn't really have anyone to play it with.  Then, my grandma announced that she wanted to have a family game night.  I knew immediately that I was bringing Quelf.

A bunch of my family was over at my grandma's tonight, and we had fun playing Quelf for what was probably hours.  We played other games too (like Harry Potter Clue, the original Clue, and some game that was really fun but have never heard before and I can't remember the name), but Quelf was definitely the hilight of the night.  I think it's everyone's favorite board game now.  If you like randomness and doing stupid things, than you'll love Quelf.  If you don't, than you'll probably hate it.  You definitely can't be afraid of looking like an idiot.  During one of the games, I had to wear a piece of paper stuck to my forehead the whole game and have one of my socks inside out.  It's the most hilarious game ever.

Days Until:
Deathly Hallows Part 1 DVD: 30
The Twilight Saga: The Complete Illustrated Guide released: 31
LeakyCon 2011: 123
Deathly Hallows Part 2 Movie: 125
My 18th Birthday: 145
Breaking Dawn Part 1 Movie: 251
Breaking Dawn Part 2 Movie: 615

Books Read in 2011: 7
Harry Potter Reread: GoF 22

Haley