Writan

How does one write successfully? There are many roads to success, but I, personally, think a lot of knowledge about what you're writing helps immensely. For example, I myself had been an internet troll for several years before embarking on this quest.
John Milton studied the classics and epic poetry for ten whole years before sitting down to write Paradise Lost. But years of practice is, well, a lot of work! You want to write now, goddamn it.
That's okay as long as Livejournal is around. Livejournal, proving that just because you can write it does not mean you are a writer.
This thought directly contradicts this woman's (Kate Hickle, I love being on a first name basis with my target) tag line: "If you wish to be a writer, write" which sounds great, in theory. There's one glaring flaw to this thinking, though: I bought stamps. Does that make me a stamp collector? I can make a TV dinner, am I a chef? If simply doing something (regardless of skill, training, talent et cetera) makes a person something then everyone who has ever put a bandaid on someone is a surgeon.
Of course no one would claim something so ludicrous, and this just goes to show most people don't actually understand what being a writer means.

For once I'm enjoying the revising stage. Wait, did I just say that? Lol.

I think it's safe to say if you're enjoying any part of writing it's shit.
Of course I think it's safe to assume that if you're writing, it's shit.

We are all our own worst critics.

Keep this sentence in mind as we continue our journey through this travesty.

I've been sitting here trying to figure out how to rewrite a key scene in my WIP when it's like a light bulb went off. I just started writing and cant seem to stop. I'm on a roll now. I can't believe that I didn't think of starting the novel this way before, it's genius!

>it's genius
>we are all our own worst critics
Wow, even the greatest pieces of literature ever written have sustained harsher critiques than that.
Now she posts her scene, which if she thinks I'm reading all of that dreck she's mentally ill.
So it's about high school graduation (the ceremony bit). You remember that, don't you? The most interesting part of high school ever. Where everyone sits around and pretends like they're losing something they're going to miss. Then it ends and everyone fucks off to the rest of their lives.

Now, let me explain a few things. In high school, you have your cliques;

Maybe you've never experienced mundane, everyday life before. Let me explain it for you:

the cheerleaders, the popular crowd, the football players, drama geeks and the nerds. My friends and I don’t fit into any of those categories.

Oh great, you picked a main character who has no personality or defining characteristics. YOU KNOW ALL THOSE NOTABLE HIGH SCHOOL CHARACTERS? YEAH, WELL I'M NONE OF THOSE. I'M THE TEEMING, UNWASHED MASSES.
Fantastic.
Let's see, now-- dialog, dialog, dialog, dialog-- you know you can advance a plot through something else, don't you? I know, I know, unlikely, but it has happened before.

I couldn’t even form words. Ryan was breaking up with me. After five years together, it was over. It couldn’t be.

Oh wow that's really-- oh shit, fuck me I had a huge yawn that made my temples throb for a second.

Was he looking for Elizabeth?

Weren't you spelling it "Elisabeth" not... Six paragraphs ago? Maybe this is two different characters?

“Nothing.” He clenched the wheel tighter. ‘Bullshit’ I mumbled under my breath. “What did you say?” He asked angrily.

You know when you fail to space shit out it just feels like a list, so your audience is going to read this like it's a boring conversation that no one gives a shit about (which it is).
Let's fix this, shall we?

"Nothing." He clenched the wheel tighter.

'Bullshit' I mumbled under my breath.

"What did you say?" he asked angrily.

That's already better. But it's still drab and lifeless, so I think we could further enhance this by not being a shitty writer banging out every thought that comes into our head onto a keyboard.
Let's try together.

"Nothing," he said, gripping the wheel tighter.

There was an uncomfortable silence. I shifted my weight, trying to fill the void. After that feeble attempt, I grew angry, or perhaps it was disappointment. "Bullshit," I uttered to myself.

"What did you say?" he said, turning to me. I could see the blind, fleeting anger in his eyes.

"Focus on the road you shit," spake I.

See, that wasn't so hard, was it? The guy is creeping on this bitch, so he should probably be angry and guilty both at himself and the situation, so I tried to reflect that in his actions. See how his anger was blind and fleeting? That's because he channeled it, temporarily, at her, but it'd quickly pass and he'd realize he was actually the jerk.
You could do any number of things. I was setting this character up as more sympathetic than a complete villain, but you might find that works better for you.

“I just think that we need to take some time to ourselves, he shifted his body towards me,

Shouldn't he be shifting away? "We need time to ourselves, here let me get closer," is what that says.

What do you think?

I think you're a subpar writer with no real talent or knack for characterization, pacing or dialog. You write everything in that dialog-heavy, meandering postmodern style that no one is going to remember fifty years from now.
In other words, keep at it and you'll have a best seller.

I heard back from my critique partner and the advice she gave me about my edits wasn't really as bad as I first thought it would be.

Oh, well, if you're looking for ass kissing then you better not read my advice. Edits should only be as brutal as they need to be. If you don't want people to be mean to you, you should try harder to not be shit at whatever it is you do.
Take for example what I'm listening to right now. Crazy Train by Ozzie. What can I say about this besides "it's fucking awesome"?
That's because he's not a hack. That's the way it works.

"Overall, really great ideas and a quick read. Great characterization and I think your writing is improving, you are becoming more comfortable with who you are as a writer. It shows, and i can't wait to read the edits" <--- this makes me smile :)

Great characterization? Fuck.

It seems that every day I sit and stare at an empty computer screen, the cursor just blinking at me. With nothing to write. Its intimidating.

OH LET ME JUST SIT HERE AND STARE AT THE SCREEN LIKE A HUMP, THEN.

I started reading Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts the other day. Right now, I have 4 books in my TBR pile and I noticed yesterday that they are all continuing series. Pagan Stone is the end of "The Hollow" series, Breaking Dawn is the end of Twilight and White Witch Black Curse is the next novel, possibly last, of Kim Harrison's vampire series.

Good grief so that's where you get all your notions from.

Even though, I just bought another book I wanted, I've been wanting to finish the Twilight series for a few months now and it's the cheapest I've seen the book, so in a way I actually saved money.

Spending money is saving money. This is only logic to women.

I'm hoping last night's dream doesn't come true.

Well good thing it was just in your head and not reality, then. You know just because you think something doesn't make it true, right?

Now, that I sit and think about it, its probably due to the fact that my husband and I are trying to get pregnant, but it still seems weird to me.

Gross. More than I wanted to know.
Incidentally, it's just you getting pregnant. Your husband, by definition, cannot get pregnant. He is a man.

It's Friday the 13th. I'm not one to be superstitious but I thought that it was a little weird that the same day that my Writers Digest magazine shows up in the mail with an article on revising/editing your novel, I begin to wonder if writing is really for me?

Uhh--
You are superstitious.

Jealousy rears it's ugly head

its* ugly head. Basic grammar, come on.
Well I think that's it. I kind of lost interest and started doing other shit.

Spelling & Grammar

All right.
Retarded spelling and grammatical spellings and so many spoonerisms I begin to wonder if perhaps this person doesn't speak English as a first language, but all evidence point to an American birth. Just further proof of the failings of the American education system.

I had a dream I failed a SAT like test I was talking.

She-- he-- I don't fucking know-- means taking. Whoever this is does that more than once. Also you can't fail the SAT. You can do poorly, or worse than you expected, but there's no score where you objectively have failed. There is no grade for the SAT, it's just a number.

it kinda sucked because there was long written essays In it I really had no interest in reading >.<

This is taking me back to my Middle English class, where I'd be reading Piers Plowman and wondering why "Love" or "Honor" was capitalized but "fear" (an equally abstract noun) wasn't. The difference here is that Piers Plowman had redeeming features, but this is garbage.

I complained to my teacher Mr missile, (who was in the dream) that I could probably draw, juggle, run better than anyone who passed the test.

"That's very nice, but this the SAT" would be my response.
I never understood this logic, except when I'm using it.

Mr Missile also pointed out that invisible witches still leave shadows.. *wink*

But-- how-- no, no this doesn't make any sense at all!

got home, got to relax for a bit and then worked on my work ;) it's getting to the point where I can feel a body from a flame, or just a impression from moment.

Wow. That was almost poetic.

That and i've been smelling the dead.. figure that one out.

Eww.
My car got broken in to yesterday.

Bastards stole, my stereo, my Burned CDs and case, a USB drive, a handful of pennies and the napkins that where in there. o.o

Punishment for being very naughty when it comes to spelling. Also grammar.

this morning as I was waking, I was learning.. as I do sometimes.. I realized the Symbol for Sol is the Seed in the Egg. and that the Egg was body of Imagination where the see can grow.

Uh-huh-- what? Sol, by which you mean the sun and not... Sol the god, right? Apollo? Well, whatever.

much like the Idea of the Point, then the 2d aspect of the bubble. I learned last night that some philosophy that the 4th dimension is imagination!

I've read this like 15 times now and I still don't fucking get it. This is like Final Fantasy Tactics where I'd run into some shitty, half-ass translated line and it would make literally no sense but I'd try to force it to make sense--
no. Stop, me. It's not going to make sense. Ever.

anyway, In this world and the dream world the, all instances/perceivable information are made up a line.. A Point A to point B.

The dream world all instances are strait line, from point A to point B.

This world however, is the same lines, only the line is crossed.

this cross creates an Extra length that one has to travel from point a to point b. this not only creates an offset vibration, but creates dualism as well.\

Uh-huh-- WHAT?

Woohoo! I got my first natural white hairs in just recently!
granted they are on my beard but still very cool ^___^

Oh that's a really weird thing to be excited-- BEARD? THIS IS A MAN?

Had a dream last night, that I saw 2 unicorns. they where purple and red. kinda small to, almost like donkey unicorns ^_^; still seeing unicorns in a dream, must mean something.. interesting..

You know the earliest report of a unicorn, from a guy named Ctesias, calls it a "horned ass" instead of a horse.

What is the sexiest Letter in the Alphabet? Doesn't necessarily have to be the English alphabet.

Seriously? Well most languages have very abstract writing forms so no letter is particularly sexy, at least to me, a sane person. I guess when it comes to pronunciation-- 'λ' sounds luxurious. Even though it's obsolete, 'ゑ' looks neat.
WAIT WHY AM I ANSWERING THIS? Well there you go, readers. My favorite letters. You came here expecting entertainment and-- well you got some letters.
Now there's a lot of posts about dreams, which frankly I don't give a shit about my own dreams let alone the dreams of others.

feeling slightly better today, I'm at work atlest. doing yet another boring day of testing. yay!

>Atlest
fucking Christ.

I had a dream that I was trying to rent the new ratchet and clank game for the PS3

>PS3
>gameWell I grow weary of this foolishness.
GET BENT, ALL.

Drinkin' Some Listerine

All right fgts I want to play some FFXI tonight so let's keep this short and sweet.
Some furry or something, I don't know.

First of all, all hints of depression are poof, gone! I'm joyful, bouncy, and generally chipper; although my stress levels are fairly high. I've papers to right of me, programs to left, websites in front of me -- into the mouth of Hell, coded yon squirrel; April is a month of deadlines.

Wow that's really--

15:43 Have a level 9 Barbarian in Diablo II now. Mm...I love revisiting old games.

Wow that took, I don't know, 15 minutes?
Hey I have a level 5 monk in FFXI. Just saying.

15:13 Started keeping a chronological index of my written journal in a separate comp book. Can now look up key times/events very easily.

I crossed that out for you, friend. Just some editing.
Also I can't imagine having a life so interesting and full of content that I'd need a separate book from the one I'm keeping on it just to index shit. The history book I needed last semester, which covered a period of time from 4000 BC to last year managed to keep its index in the same book. (Admittedly the class was some dumb shit like art history but whatever, required courses).

Saw Watchmen. I approve wholeheartedly, enough that I picked up the graphic novel. Very good piece of literature, and a very faithful rendition on the screen.

>comic book (not graphic novel, don't be a cunt)
>literature
Oh a vlog. Based off your avatar I was guessing you were some kind of 6 foot tall muscular squirrel man, but now that I see your person-- let's watch, shall we?
Huh cool receding hairline, brosef.
"so my friends can see it." YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS, ENJOY YOUR CRUSHING LONELINESS.
"I really have no idea what to say" followed by fifteen seconds of silence. All right, shut the fuck up you deviant.
Jesus Christ all mighty. So you're going to start a vlog (dumbass) and you get in front of the camera, then you remember OH SHIT I FORGOT CONTENT. Here's a protip for you: A SCRIPT YOU DUMB CUNT.

Man, I've been wondering WHAT I could do for aerobic exercise in the confines of my bedroom ever since I started exercising. Since I'm not particularly popular with the ladies right now, the obvious answer is right out.

... Oh ha, ha, I see why you aren't popular with the ladies.

Let's see...ooh! Started playing Dwarf Fortress again.

Yeah tell the girls that. Your dick will be raw.

Oh yes. Tomorrow shall be FILLED with awesome. Doctor Who, XBox 360, movies, board games, and all sorts of other misc.

Dang son, if that party gets any wilder a chess game will break out.
Now he claims a pocketwatch is badass, which it might be, but somehow I doubt anything on him is badass.

Due to the nature of a public (or even semi-public) online journal, I can't REALLY spill my heart out here.

Oh don't be such a fucking baby. You can say whatever the fuck you want on the internet. It's not like anyone knows you personally. It's like writing bad words on a bathroom stall-- no one knows you did it.

A more mature, enlightened, and less wussy squirrel,

But you still are an immature, unenlightened PUSSY. Just by comparison you're less sniveling.
Also for someone so depressed five out of... Thirteen entries start with "today started amazing." Are you sure you're actually depressed? I know I'm not and 90% of all my days start with "WELL I KNOW WHAT TODAY WON'T BE: AMAZING!"
Now he has a post entitled "Thoughts for the Day" which is a regular feature on my blog, in fact (it's in the tags). Usually mine include such gems as "I'LL DRINK THE BLOOD FROM THEIR HEARTS!" and "zeal and fury are rewarded with victory" but I'm sure he's capable of posting some winners, too (ha, ha)

Starfleet Battles is a pretty fun wargame, but takes FOREVER.

Doctor Who is still freaking amazing.

Well you tried, and as they say you only lose when you stop trying (!!)
Of course I'd argue you can lose long before that, but whatever.

Taking a vitamin every morning, making sure I space it far away from my thyroid stuff,

Ha, ha do you know what calcium does to--

so the calcium in the vitamin doesn't nuke the effectiveness of the hormone.

Well fuck you, too.
All right you bore me.
Rare is the day I genuinely dislike one of these fuckers, but this fuck managed. I really don't like him. I mean as an individual, not just because his blog is offending my senses.
He doesn't offer much about his personal life but I get the impression he's a real cunt.