Daily blogging kind of fell off and to those of you who read my blog regularly, I am sorry. But, I don't think you exist, sooooo
Literally most of my blog posts have like 3 views. All of them my own.
So, because this isn't a daily blog this is going to be kind of sparse. Tuesday was a writing day.
I can't spend forever noodling, because then I would fail, but I would be so content just noodling. I have written so much crap I won't use.
Color mental illness thing: trash
Therapy session for therapists thing: trash
Afterlife: trash
Language: trash
Suitcases: trash
I am trash and so is everything I have ever written in my life.
So that was Tuesday. Trash.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
THE MOST PRODUCTIVE DAY ANYONE HAS EVER HAD EVER
IN CASE YOU CAN'T TELL I GOT THINGS DONE TODAY. YAAAAAAY!!!!!
Today I wrote for 5 hours in a row. It was super intense. I worked on three pieces and out of those three, one is done, one is halfway done, and the other is so goddamn difficult. I think this project is the most difficult thing I have undertaken in all of my 18 years of life.
I really really enjoy writing, but at the same time I don't. On one hand it's super fun, but on the other hand it is really exhausting. It requires a ton of emotional investment and my god is that draining. This is the most vulnerable I've been in my life. Everything has to have emotion behind it otherwise it's awful, but that kind of makes me want to never ever share what I've written with anyone ever. Even if it's a story that could never logically happen, it's personal. I've put time into it; I have strong emotional ties with it. I don't want just anyone to have that access, my god. At this point sharing what I've written outside of a select group of people would feel as indecent as flashing the whole school during chapel.
Today I also thought a lot about pronouns. I really like them. In my organ story the protagonist doesn't have a name. She is just she. I think it makes her more accessible, personal.
Those are the only thoughts for today. I'm tired. Goodnight.
Today I wrote for 5 hours in a row. It was super intense. I worked on three pieces and out of those three, one is done, one is halfway done, and the other is so goddamn difficult. I think this project is the most difficult thing I have undertaken in all of my 18 years of life.
I really really enjoy writing, but at the same time I don't. On one hand it's super fun, but on the other hand it is really exhausting. It requires a ton of emotional investment and my god is that draining. This is the most vulnerable I've been in my life. Everything has to have emotion behind it otherwise it's awful, but that kind of makes me want to never ever share what I've written with anyone ever. Even if it's a story that could never logically happen, it's personal. I've put time into it; I have strong emotional ties with it. I don't want just anyone to have that access, my god. At this point sharing what I've written outside of a select group of people would feel as indecent as flashing the whole school during chapel.
Today I also thought a lot about pronouns. I really like them. In my organ story the protagonist doesn't have a name. She is just she. I think it makes her more accessible, personal.
Those are the only thoughts for today. I'm tired. Goodnight.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Field Applesauce
Today I sat in a field and drank applesauce because I didn't have a spoon. It was fun.
Something I've learned about myself is that I have a hard time focusing. I knew this before I started my senior project, but OH MY GOD I AM HORRIBLE. I can sit around and think of things for hours upon hours, but when it comes to writing things down, I do it, but very slowly and not well.
I made myself promise I would have 5 full stories by the end of this week. I have, like, maybe half that. Not even. I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just reading and writing and trying to do things??? But it's really difficult???
Today whilst sitting in the field I worked on something that ended up evolving into something else. I had thought I wanted to do a support group for therapists, but I couldn't really get that started. So, I started writing from the POV of a therapist who was way to dependent on the emotional stability of his clients (his name is Timothy) and then that evolved into a support group for people who are overly empathetic and have really really unfortunate jobs. As of now I have Timothy, the therapist who cares WAY too much about his patients, and Ruth, who works at the humane society and is always devastated when the puppies leave her for a new home. Maybe I'll add a cop who feels sorry for the people who he arrests because he knows a lot of them have tough living situations and if they were in different circumstances they wouldn't be this "bad".
I tried to work on the language story, but I don't know how to start it/introduce the concept. Do I start with really simple language and then get more complex as my character (Roger/Nicholas/maybe it's a girl??) becomes more aware? How the effnut do I introduce the concept without blatantly being like "in this world you get a ration of words per year." HOW. I think I need to read Einstein's dream's first.
Some of you (though I doubt there's any one reading this) may be wondering about the survey. I scraped that. I think I am going to rely on my own brain for now. I seem to have enough ideas so far. The problem is getting them down on paper and having the paper say what I want it to say.
I was in a field today because I felt stuck in my space. I need to have less stuff/move around more. Being outside was amazing. The college counseling is probably not the best move unless I am in a room with the door shut. I should probably spend more time at home as school is terrible. I enjoy my classes, but oh my god being in that building when there are only like 15 days left MAKES NO SENSE. WHY IS THERE SCHOOL. I'm slightly irritated by that.
I love this project, but I also feel like I've been neglecting everything/everyone else. So, if you're in GEC, Speech and Debate, Creative Writing, Spectrum, or just in my life and you feel ignored, I'm sorry. It's not you, it's me.
Something I've learned about myself is that I have a hard time focusing. I knew this before I started my senior project, but OH MY GOD I AM HORRIBLE. I can sit around and think of things for hours upon hours, but when it comes to writing things down, I do it, but very slowly and not well.
I made myself promise I would have 5 full stories by the end of this week. I have, like, maybe half that. Not even. I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just reading and writing and trying to do things??? But it's really difficult???
Today whilst sitting in the field I worked on something that ended up evolving into something else. I had thought I wanted to do a support group for therapists, but I couldn't really get that started. So, I started writing from the POV of a therapist who was way to dependent on the emotional stability of his clients (his name is Timothy) and then that evolved into a support group for people who are overly empathetic and have really really unfortunate jobs. As of now I have Timothy, the therapist who cares WAY too much about his patients, and Ruth, who works at the humane society and is always devastated when the puppies leave her for a new home. Maybe I'll add a cop who feels sorry for the people who he arrests because he knows a lot of them have tough living situations and if they were in different circumstances they wouldn't be this "bad".
I tried to work on the language story, but I don't know how to start it/introduce the concept. Do I start with really simple language and then get more complex as my character (Roger/Nicholas/maybe it's a girl??) becomes more aware? How the effnut do I introduce the concept without blatantly being like "in this world you get a ration of words per year." HOW. I think I need to read Einstein's dream's first.
Some of you (though I doubt there's any one reading this) may be wondering about the survey. I scraped that. I think I am going to rely on my own brain for now. I seem to have enough ideas so far. The problem is getting them down on paper and having the paper say what I want it to say.
I was in a field today because I felt stuck in my space. I need to have less stuff/move around more. Being outside was amazing. The college counseling is probably not the best move unless I am in a room with the door shut. I should probably spend more time at home as school is terrible. I enjoy my classes, but oh my god being in that building when there are only like 15 days left MAKES NO SENSE. WHY IS THERE SCHOOL. I'm slightly irritated by that.
I love this project, but I also feel like I've been neglecting everything/everyone else. So, if you're in GEC, Speech and Debate, Creative Writing, Spectrum, or just in my life and you feel ignored, I'm sorry. It's not you, it's me.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Today
Today went pretty well. I know this is supposed to be daily, but I'm just going to edit this tomorrow morning and hope no one sees this.
Goodnight
Ok, so that happened, but we're all good now. I spent most of yesterday working on the same story I worked on before that. The idea is kind of hard to explain and also kind of gross and personal, so I won't share until I have something very close to done. Right now I do have a whole story, but it is crazy rough.
Ideas are really really hard to explain when you don't even really have them out of your head yet. There are some people who are amazing to talk to about ideas, because somehow with their words they take you to a place you hadn't even thought to go with something just by listening well and responding perfectly. However, there are also people who do not do that. So far I just explain things to Ms Franks and Newm and that's about it. They are both magical and pretty much always know what to say.
I've come to terms with the fact that it's ok that I won't always (will almost never) love what I make. It's really hard to get to a point where I think I've done my best work because I pretty much always think there is something else I can do. Yes, I will be proud of things, but more often than not I'm proud of a particular sentence of paragraph that is perfect and I just want everything else to be like that bUT I CAN'T DO IT. Totally fine.
Writing apparently calls for you to be in touch with yourself, which is making for some strange times/thoughts. More on that later. Goodnight for real.
Goodnight
Ok, so that happened, but we're all good now. I spent most of yesterday working on the same story I worked on before that. The idea is kind of hard to explain and also kind of gross and personal, so I won't share until I have something very close to done. Right now I do have a whole story, but it is crazy rough.
Ideas are really really hard to explain when you don't even really have them out of your head yet. There are some people who are amazing to talk to about ideas, because somehow with their words they take you to a place you hadn't even thought to go with something just by listening well and responding perfectly. However, there are also people who do not do that. So far I just explain things to Ms Franks and Newm and that's about it. They are both magical and pretty much always know what to say.
I've come to terms with the fact that it's ok that I won't always (will almost never) love what I make. It's really hard to get to a point where I think I've done my best work because I pretty much always think there is something else I can do. Yes, I will be proud of things, but more often than not I'm proud of a particular sentence of paragraph that is perfect and I just want everything else to be like that bUT I CAN'T DO IT. Totally fine.
Writing apparently calls for you to be in touch with yourself, which is making for some strange times/thoughts. More on that later. Goodnight for real.
Yesterday
Yesterday went really well. Admittedly this isn't a daily reflection, but whatever.
I woke up in the wee hours of the morning with a half formed idea, more of a feeling really, but I made myself wake up and write. I'm super glad I did. I don't know if I'll use a single sentence I wrote in my sleepy state, but it has the feeling I want one of my other pieces to have, so that was useful.
As it was an A day I had both my class, but after that I wrote until lunch. That was the most productive I have been in all my senior project days. It was grand. I had the only good idea I have ever had in my life. I will expand upon that later, because I don't think it's quite ready yet, but in writing it I realized something.
Literally 99% of what I write is freaking terrible. Just awful. The only reason sometimes what I write is ok is the fact that it has been through various rewrites. That is all. This does not make for a good time whilst writing, but that's ok. Oddly enough I enjoy it.
I woke up in the wee hours of the morning with a half formed idea, more of a feeling really, but I made myself wake up and write. I'm super glad I did. I don't know if I'll use a single sentence I wrote in my sleepy state, but it has the feeling I want one of my other pieces to have, so that was useful.
As it was an A day I had both my class, but after that I wrote until lunch. That was the most productive I have been in all my senior project days. It was grand. I had the only good idea I have ever had in my life. I will expand upon that later, because I don't think it's quite ready yet, but in writing it I realized something.
Literally 99% of what I write is freaking terrible. Just awful. The only reason sometimes what I write is ok is the fact that it has been through various rewrites. That is all. This does not make for a good time whilst writing, but that's ok. Oddly enough I enjoy it.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Sydney and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day
Today was horrible. It sucked like the freakiest vacuum cleaner in the world.
It was appropriate that today was April Fool's day because today was a freaking joke. Only two good things happened. I got tacos, and had literally just ONE idea.
I read Kurt Vonnegut for about half an hour before school. That ended up being super productive because it lead to my only idea/valid thought I would have in the next 24hrs. Ok, so, in Kurt's stories (at least the early ones) you usually read about some one trying to disrupt a dystopia masquerading as a perfect egalitarian society. Reading those types of stories lead me to have a clearer idea of what I want to do with the word ration story. Basically, in this world there will be a band of rebels (I don't want to call them rebels, but I don't know what else accurately describes it???) who are trying to bring down the word ration system by creating a whole new language, so people aren't confined to what they can buy. I don't want to get too cliche, but maybe the govt. that enforces this has some sort of secret?? I don't know, that's almost embarrassing to write. Something along that line would fit though, because without words people can't unify and change things. I might tell the story from the perspective of someone trying to find the underground movement, or having doubting thoughts about their society and then being contacted. I don't know if I like that though. I may still go the Omelas route. More of an observer, no character attachment.
That's all I got done. After that brief shining moment of glory, I got sick. And for some reason I thought that because I didn't have a fever I should stay at school for english. That was the stupidest idea I've ever had. I just wasted that time trying to work in the library and lying down in the college counseling office. So, after english, I hung out with Kylah for a little, tried to motivate, ended up taking a nap with her dog. Then I finally went home.
I picked up the tacos on the way home. They were fantastic. I felt a little better after eating, so I went for a walk to help me get focused. That didn't work either. It just made me more tired. I decided today was not going to work out and I would just work more on other days. So, that's that.
Today was thoroughly disappointing.
It was appropriate that today was April Fool's day because today was a freaking joke. Only two good things happened. I got tacos, and had literally just ONE idea.
I read Kurt Vonnegut for about half an hour before school. That ended up being super productive because it lead to my only idea/valid thought I would have in the next 24hrs. Ok, so, in Kurt's stories (at least the early ones) you usually read about some one trying to disrupt a dystopia masquerading as a perfect egalitarian society. Reading those types of stories lead me to have a clearer idea of what I want to do with the word ration story. Basically, in this world there will be a band of rebels (I don't want to call them rebels, but I don't know what else accurately describes it???) who are trying to bring down the word ration system by creating a whole new language, so people aren't confined to what they can buy. I don't want to get too cliche, but maybe the govt. that enforces this has some sort of secret?? I don't know, that's almost embarrassing to write. Something along that line would fit though, because without words people can't unify and change things. I might tell the story from the perspective of someone trying to find the underground movement, or having doubting thoughts about their society and then being contacted. I don't know if I like that though. I may still go the Omelas route. More of an observer, no character attachment.
That's all I got done. After that brief shining moment of glory, I got sick. And for some reason I thought that because I didn't have a fever I should stay at school for english. That was the stupidest idea I've ever had. I just wasted that time trying to work in the library and lying down in the college counseling office. So, after english, I hung out with Kylah for a little, tried to motivate, ended up taking a nap with her dog. Then I finally went home.
I picked up the tacos on the way home. They were fantastic. I felt a little better after eating, so I went for a walk to help me get focused. That didn't work either. It just made me more tired. I decided today was not going to work out and I would just work more on other days. So, that's that.
Today was thoroughly disappointing.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Day 2
Today was weird.
I woke up around 7:30, hung around for a little bit, then worked on suitcases for an hour. It was actually really productive. I maintain that about 99% of the actual sentences I wrote today are worthless, but I think I have the feel of the piece? And I like that. I feel that it is really moving forward and changing. It's really difficult to write, and I'm not exactly sure what I want the story to be, but I'll get there. Right now most of what I'm doing is forcing myself to write and seeing where that takes me.
After that I ate and went to school. Before I could start work again I had a meeting during break and english class. I'm really glad I kept english. Not only will it be helpful as I move on, but I can't imagine not taking english while at school. I always look forward to it.
The period after english I read The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas and worked on blue. Reading omelas made me more sure of what I want to do with the quiet story, but I'm still not entirely sure. I talked to Mr Newman later in the day and he recommended a book to read to give me a better idea of how to treat it.
Blue is proving to be difficult. Something I really admire about Kurt Vonnegut's stories is that he doesn't always outright explain to you the ways of the world he is writing about; you just get them as you go. That's what I want to try and do here, but I'm not sure how. I have two different beginnings and both of them feel stilted. Like suitcase, I'm just writing and seeing where I go at this point. I don't expect much. A lot of writing that I end up throwing out and maybe a paragraph that ends up being the basis for the whole story. We'll see.
After school ended, I read more Kurt and spoke with Mr Newman and Ms Franks. As always they were super helpful. Ms Franks reminded me that to make suitcases work I need a definite shift/change somewhere in there. Mr Newman helped out with the survey and recommended I read Einstein's Dreams. I still plan on sending out the survey even though I have my hands full with what I'm writing now. I really want to see if I can write about things pulled from other's experiences, rather than just my own.
I still have yet to make it to a full 5hrs, so tomorrow, ambitiously, I will dedicate an hour of writing time to at least all the pieces that have yet to be touched. I also have yet to develop a routine, but I may be getting there. I don't know. Today was so weird because I don't really know what to do with myself yet. I'm not going to lie, this freedom is a tad overwhelming and I don't know what I am really doing. Right now, I'm just trying to get it done. I don't know what works best yet, but I'll get there. I'm fairly certain this will steadily become less weird.
I woke up around 7:30, hung around for a little bit, then worked on suitcases for an hour. It was actually really productive. I maintain that about 99% of the actual sentences I wrote today are worthless, but I think I have the feel of the piece? And I like that. I feel that it is really moving forward and changing. It's really difficult to write, and I'm not exactly sure what I want the story to be, but I'll get there. Right now most of what I'm doing is forcing myself to write and seeing where that takes me.
After that I ate and went to school. Before I could start work again I had a meeting during break and english class. I'm really glad I kept english. Not only will it be helpful as I move on, but I can't imagine not taking english while at school. I always look forward to it.
The period after english I read The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas and worked on blue. Reading omelas made me more sure of what I want to do with the quiet story, but I'm still not entirely sure. I talked to Mr Newman later in the day and he recommended a book to read to give me a better idea of how to treat it.
Blue is proving to be difficult. Something I really admire about Kurt Vonnegut's stories is that he doesn't always outright explain to you the ways of the world he is writing about; you just get them as you go. That's what I want to try and do here, but I'm not sure how. I have two different beginnings and both of them feel stilted. Like suitcase, I'm just writing and seeing where I go at this point. I don't expect much. A lot of writing that I end up throwing out and maybe a paragraph that ends up being the basis for the whole story. We'll see.
After school ended, I read more Kurt and spoke with Mr Newman and Ms Franks. As always they were super helpful. Ms Franks reminded me that to make suitcases work I need a definite shift/change somewhere in there. Mr Newman helped out with the survey and recommended I read Einstein's Dreams. I still plan on sending out the survey even though I have my hands full with what I'm writing now. I really want to see if I can write about things pulled from other's experiences, rather than just my own.
I still have yet to make it to a full 5hrs, so tomorrow, ambitiously, I will dedicate an hour of writing time to at least all the pieces that have yet to be touched. I also have yet to develop a routine, but I may be getting there. I don't know. Today was so weird because I don't really know what to do with myself yet. I'm not going to lie, this freedom is a tad overwhelming and I don't know what I am really doing. Right now, I'm just trying to get it done. I don't know what works best yet, but I'll get there. I'm fairly certain this will steadily become less weird.
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