MFA Ranking, Applying, and other nonsense.

2013 GrassRoots

So I'll start off by telling you guys, I'm not sure if I already have, I got the Senior Co-Editor of GrassRoots. For those of you who haven't read this before, it's the job I applied for a while back that is co-running the undergraduate literary magazine at my college. I really wanted this position and for me it's like a dream come true!

I think of this job as, it has always been my dream to see my name in a book and if I can't do that, I want to make others come true and give that to them. (My name does appear in this book through, twice on two of my works and once under staff, a smaller position.) I want people to feel that same feeling I had when I found out my name would be in print! So here's hoping to a great year.

On top of wondering what all is going to come with that job this Fall (my senior year might I add) I have been working on my MFA applications. As anyone out there who has ever applied to MFA programs, you know how stressful this can be. There are so many questions you have to take into account. Do I take the GRE? How much money will I need to apply? Is this program right for me? Will I want to shoot myself living in such a small town, even if their program is ah-mah-zing!? (Yes, there is one of those on my list.)

This is proving to be even more stressful than I had originally thought, and trust me, I thought it was going to be EXTREMELY stressful. I'm now worried that even if I do get into a program what if their stipend isn't enough money to survive off of? What if I end up living on the streets? I can't live in a cardboard house! Urgh!

Only time will tell.

World War Z and Changing Your Story

World War Z. I just saw the movie the other day with the boyfriend and let me tell you, it was great. I literally jumped out of my seat multiple times and I was scared! I'm pretty easily scared at scary movies though, but not what I expected from this. I will say that it was different than the book, but anyone that's read the book knows it can't really be the same because the book doesn't have a main character! But this isn't a movie review blog, so I'll move on.

After watching almost every single movie, I go onto IMDB and read the Trivia section for said movie. If you've never done this before, I recommend it. You can find out really cool things about the movie that you didn't know before. They often put who was originally cast for a role, if it has changed, and who else was considered for roles. It's fun to imagine someone else in the movie!

While looking up the World War Z trivia, one of them really stuck out to me. The original script called for a much more dark ending. However, the studio wanted a different end so the entire third act was rewritten to fit the new ending they wanted. Now this wasn't an early on decision either. This decision was made so late in the game (figure of speech, don't get confused!) that it caused the release date to get pushed back.

In my current work in progress I made the same decision a couple of weeks ago. I'm rewriting the entire last two or three chapters and changing the ending. I'm doing this because, while I'm planning a trilogy, I want to write it so that it can be sold stand alone. I have read lots of articles, and direct advice from agents, that a lot of them are weary about signing on a new writer to a trilogy when they don't know how the first will do. So I'm changing my ending.

This just goes to show how fluid writing really is. It also shows how much power, as writers, we really have. We have the power to shift a story and completely change it if we decide. Sometimes it's required, and sometime we just want to. We can kill, or save, characters. We are in control, and if you aren't happy with what's going on in your writing, you can change it. You can make it what you want it to be.