September 7, 2009 at 9:57 am (Random, blog, college, travel)
Tags: blog, college, dorm, friends, lives of commitment, minnesota
So I think that pretty much every site I use regularly has gone under an overhaul these last few weeks, leaving me perplexed. And by “every site”, I mean like three. But still.
I’m horribly behind in blogging/blog reading/book news, so I’m afraid I’m pretty useless to you right now. I’m even behind in editing. I set down the manuscript two weeks ago and haven’t picked it up since. But hopefully once things get settled here, I’ll be able to pick my normal routine up again.
Classes start Wednesday and I’m really excited! I’m taking a publishing class this semester, and have heard nothing but good things. I’m thrilled about all my other classes, but that one promises to be something special. It’s going to be a busy, busy semester, though. There are still so many things to get under control before Wednesday and hopefully I’ll be able to do so. No promises.
So that’s it for me. I’ve made the northward trek once more, have been astounded by the brilliance of first-years, and am living in a lofted room with no wi-fi, bad lighting, but giant closets (for a dorm). All in all, not a bad start.”
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September 2, 2009 at 11:33 pm (Random, college)
Back on campus and drowning in pre-school year stuff, but will update when things get under control!
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May 9, 2009 at 10:44 am (P/S Novel Contest, Publishing, college, new york, q&a)
Tags: bookstore, college, gold key, novel contest, publish, q&a
Two of the greatest experiences of my week:
1. Walking down to a quaint little used bookstore with huge picture windows. I love used bookstores; they always put me in the best mood.
2. Finishing finals. End of story.
It’s hard to believe that I’m officially done with my first year of college. It’s even harder to believe that I’ll be in New York next week. I should start packing up for move-out, but it doesn’t feel real yet. And also I’m lazy.
I’m vowing to make this a productive summer, however, so keep me to that. I want to read 50 books, write, perfect, and hopefully submit a couple of pieces of short fiction, do some volunteering, hopefully find a job, learn Thai, and, if I can manage it, get some sleep. We’ll see how that goes.
From Elizabeth:
When you talk about publishing, do you mean PUSH will publish the piece as a novel on their website, electronically? Do they ever intimate that they will publish a hard copy for sale?
When I talk about publishing, I mean the traditional hard-copy-on-the-Barnes-&-Noble-shelf kind. That’s why the question of Scholastic taking on a young writer remains up in the air. It’s a big investment of time and money, and they want to be relatively sure, like any good business and any good publishing company, that they can get a return. They also have a name and a brand to protect.
That said, they’ve certainly done it before. Hail Caeser and Magic City are both by Gold Key winners, and I know that there have been a few others.
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April 20, 2009 at 9:24 pm (Creative Writing Class, college, new york)
Tags: college, creative writing, edits, finals, new york, spring
The skies are opening up in Saint Paul, MN, but I can’t really complain. Well, actually that’s a lie. I can complain, and I do, but I shouldn’t. And why not? Because it’s not snowing. We’re coming into an early spring and everyone is all too ready for it. There’s no question why; seeing the new growth budding up is enough to erase anyone’s seasonal depression.
Unfortunate though it may be, this also means that finals are right around the corner. I realized today that I have about fifty pages in new writing to turn in before the end of the year, and another fifty pages in edits for my creative writing portfolio. Considering I have just sixteen days to do all that in, panic should be brewing. But it’s not because I’ve managed to convince myself that it’ll be done, and done decently well, no matter what. Not the best or most productive perspective to adopt, but at least I’m staying positive.
Following finals, it’ll be time for a brief leadership retreat and then New York will rise out of a muggy mid-May afternoon. I can’t say how much I’ll update until then, as I won’t have any writing news to report before the semester’s end. Much luck to everyone with finals, either way. I’ll be sending out good vibes.
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March 28, 2009 at 8:17 pm (Random, college, writing)
Tags: audience, college, earth hour, spring break, writers, writing
I’m at the end of my second week back from spring break and find myself still coasting along with the energy that ten days away gave me. Things are looking up, or at least I’m seeing things with a new perspective.
Jessica expressed a sentiment in the comments section of my last post that I think really rings true for any writer. The words you put on a page, especially when writing fiction, are some of the most honest things you’ll ever come up with. By writing them down you’re essentially saying that you think that arranging words in a given order, or using language in a given way, makes it beautiful. You’re expressing yourself in a way that simultaneously encourages and prohibits interpretation. A writer should never be afraid to offend someone, but, at the same time, they are asserting themselves by saying that they are writers. They are saying that they understand language and culture and people, and, essentially, that they understand themselves. Those are a lot of claims to make.
So naturally any creative writer gets nervous when someone reads their work. Because while we believe in what we’re writing, we always want that piece of confirmation from others. We want to know that we’re good. We want to know that we’re right. This need to express ourselves in a way that others can identify with is what so firmly connects creative writing to visual art.
But who are you really writing for? “Know your audience,” they say, and obviously you must. But, beyond that, why are you writing? Who do you seek approval from? What makes you nervous about putting your work on display? That can shape your work more than anything else. I generally write for the older set of what publishing calls “Young Adults”, but I want my work to be appreciated by my parents and my teachers. And I want, above all, to be able to appreciate it myself. When I produce a good piece, I convince myself that it does all of these things, and it’s the excitement of finding this common ground that allows me to hold up my work for others to see.
So who do you write for?
On another note entirely, tonight is Earth Hour! I hope that you’re able to participate.
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February 24, 2009 at 3:04 pm (Random, college)
Tags: memoir, oscars
Yay for the Oscars. Conclusions for the weekend?
+ Slumdog Millionaire is a brilliant movie, which I could watch several more times. If you haven’t seen it yet, do it.
+ Cate Winslet deserves a hug for being so sweet.
+ Hugh Jackman can sing.
And those not relating to the Academy:
+ Carrying small furry animals on the public bus in below freezing weather is not recommended, but possible nevertheless.
+ Writing a ten-page memoir for class is harder than you might imagine.
+ I like sleep too much.
Excited for spring break and for the summer, as always, but let’s focus on the rest of the year.
Better post next time, I promise.
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February 14, 2009 at 1:02 pm (college, new york, travel, writing)
Tags: aristotle, college, library, new york, prompt, short story, st. paul, valentine's day, weather
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!
I woke up this morning to find that I was inside a snow globe. Honestly, the snow outside looks just like glitter.
After a brief warm spell, St. Paul is back to acting like winter. Too bad for the southern girl. But maybe this means I’ll actually get work done this weekend. It’s so easy to get distracted into taking a walk when it’s above freezing out, but a library day sound pretty tempting right about now. And I finally wrote a short story that I’m proud of! It needs work, but it’s nice to have broken through the block. I have all these other ideas now, which always happens when I first emerge from a non-writing slump, but I’m too preoccupied with trivial things like class readings and food. Oh Aristotle, why must you torture me?
But exciting news! Plane and hostels booked for the summer. After finals, New York, here I come!
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February 2, 2009 at 5:49 pm (Creative Writing Class, college, writing)
Tags: cold, link, reading, st. paul
Good news for fiction writers: Adults are reading more.
Made it to campus, as I hope you assumed. Last week was a long one, but the weekend capped it well. Goodness. It’s freezing. Ice on the walks and chimney pipes for mouths. I’ve never seen so much breath.
The cold sucks all the gumption out of me. I still need to find a public space to sit and eavesdrop on conversations. Not because I’m a creeper, but because of Creative Writing. Assignment for Tuesday? Transcribe an actual dialog and then enhance it with authorial comments/stage direction. I love dialog, maybe a little too much, so this shouldn’t be a problem. I just have to create a burst of energy brilliant enough to actually go. Eh. After dinner.
But to all the writers in warmer climes, this would be the perfect chance to flex your interpretative muscle. Or just your privet eye muscles. Whatever floats your boat.
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August 28, 2008 at 10:59 am (college)
Tags: dorm
It’s funny to look back at my first day here, when I was flustered and scattered and homesick, and then to skip forward to today. I was so terrified that I had made the wrong choice–that I had been stupid and rash to want to fly a thousand miles to a school I had never visited. I was afraid that I would come home for winter break and have to say that I couldn’t go back.
Thank the plaid, Scottish Mac gods that this isn’t the case.
Despite paying a painful amount for books, I’m really happy with my classes. I’m extra happy because today my 8am lab was canceled, so I don’t have a class until 1:20. I plan to get my Human Rights reading done and find some place to get postage. It’s time I sent letters home.
No, my room isn’t quite lived in enough for me to call the dorm home. There’s still some stuff to hang up and pictures to get printed. There’s still space that’s waiting for new memories to collect and leave their marks.
But I’d like to send love to the creepy giant squirrels on campus that have no fear of humans, and to the conversations in dorm lounges about tongue twisters and cranberry juice and communism, and to thunderstorms and purple lightning. You’re starting to make Macalester my home.
(And I promise to make my next post on writing.)
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August 21, 2008 at 12:42 am (college)
Tags: college, lives of commitment, mac, st. paul
Greetings from a far different place! It feels a little strange to be writing this from a dorm room in a city that I’ve just now visited for the first time. It feels even weirder to admit that I’m completely starry-eyed over said city, after just barely three days. And yet, honestly, St. Paul isn’t a hard city to fall in love with.
I think that day one of the retreat was pretty rough for everyone. New places, new people, and a hazy coating of jet lag did not make for the very best experience, but perhaps that’s only natural. Everyone admitted that it seemed surreal. That it seemed like the first day of summer camp, or of some strange civic engagement forum.
Tuesday saw us loading up a bus to tour Lake Street, which is one of the greatest places I’ve ever seen. Lunch at Common Roots, an eviro friendly and socially responsible cafe that was started by a Mac alumni, was delicious. Dinner at Safari, a Somali restaurant, was even better.
But it’s not as if the only thing we’re here for is eating. Both yesterday and today served as introductions to the six sites that the Lives of Commitment program deals with, and everyone is wondering which place would be the best fit for them. It really isn’t an easy choice at all, since each site has so many amazing and unique aspects. The question is not whether or not you are going to teach, but instead what age and social group you want to teach, and how you want that teaching to progress.
This introductions to a community support system for refugees and immigrants is one of the most amazing things about the twin cities. I’ve never seen such a fantastic network, especially for teaching. Oklahoma certainly has food banks and tutoring programs for children, and a number of fantastic programs for single, struggling mothers or the homeless, but I’ve honestly never heard of volunteer English learning programs for adults. It transforms so many of the stereotypes and the misconceptions of immigration and of the fiber of society. I’m thrilled to have been introduced to these programs, and excited to have a chance to serve the community in a way that I’ve never been exposed to.
Also, St. Paul is just plain gorgeous. It’s a balance of art and architecture and nature. It’s a town enfolded in lakes and trees and history. I just want to run out and explore the city, and the fact that it feels so safe and accommodating is icing on the cake. Really delicious icing that is magically good for you.
And there were bagpipers practicing in front of the Campus Center this afternoon which was pretty amazing. It’s fun to be a Scot.
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