Inspiration: Las Vegas

picture owned by smemon

Hello all!

I hope all of your holiday's out there were great. This year I spent my Christmas Eve and Christmas in the great Las Vegas. If you have never been there, you should definitely go some day. It's a beautiful town and the atmosphere is amazing.

What's really awesome about Vegas is the inspiration that just oozes out of the town. That's what I want to talk about. Inspiration. Shiny new ideas as the people on AbsoluteWrite call them! While walking down the Strip I saw a man in a mask on top of a bridge and in the flash of the neon lights, the man disappeared. And with that, a shiny new idea came to my mind!

It's funny really how this stuff just comes up in the middle of no where. I want to hear about when weird ideas come up to you. Let me know, because I find it interesting. One of my creative writing teachers once told my class that writers see the world in a different way. The kid part of us never goes away and we never stop day dreaming. So tell me some times when you thought of story ideas!

Also, I start editing my novel from nano last year. Well, started again. For a while I was tired of it, I didn't want to look at it anymore. But my love is back and I'm getting it done!

P.S. In case you were wondering, I did stay in the Paris hotel, but that is not my picture.

Minecraft and Living in Your Own World!

Hello all! As you can see above I do enjoy playing some Minecraft. In fact, I've been doing it quite a bit while reading at the same time. It's a skill I've learned that not many can posses ;). One thing that I find really fun about Minecraft is that I can create things that I'm writing in my story. Buildings, areas, etc. I read on absolutewrite that apparently a lot of people build their characters and what not on Sims, which I ALSO love, but I have yet to try that! It's really fun to be able to walk through a place that I've only made in my head. Seeing it also comes in handy when writing. It's just a really fun way to help my writing, and be a distraction when I need it! I think it'd be really awesome to do it in Second Life, but I don't have that either.

Anyway, I've been editing my WIP progress lately and it's turning out a lot better than I expected! I've added on about twelve pages and I'm not even half way through. The best part is that this is just my first read through so that I can change it from past to present. In case I didn't say specify in my my old post about past or present, I'm going with present. The story just reads so much better now that I've made the decision and I'm really happy with how it's turning out.

On a different note, I'm going to be applying to Grad school soon, EEK! I'm really nervous about this and my sister keeps telling me I need to work on my writing sample, which I know I do, but it's a really scary thought! I can't believe that it's coming so soon! My senior year of college is going to go by so fast I won't know what hit me. Before long, I'll know whether or not I'm in an MFA program and my entire life is going to change. I'm just a wee bit stressed here!

What's going on with your life out there? Inform me! Distract me! I like hearing from others! =]

Past or Present Revisions

Hello all! I know it's been a while since I have updated my blog and I have decided something. Now if I've promised this before, which I may have (I have a terrible memory), call me out on it! Because I'm not sure how often is too often to blog and how long is too long to wait, I'll be posting a new blog on Friday's afternoons. That way you know when to look for it and you'll know that I haven't given up on writing!

Now it's time for the real subject of this post. I've been reading a couple of different books lately that I've won off of goodreads and have been thinking about what I'm writing. My manuscript, as it stands, is written in past tense, however, upon thinking more in depth about it, I wonder if my story should be in past tense.

I know a lot of people don't like present tense because blah, blah, blah, etc. However, the story that my book is telling is a story that isn't one the main character would want to look back and retell, which is basically what past tense is, it's a retelling of the story. I also have some scenes in my book that I feel would be more dramatic, intimate, and sad in present tense.

I have gone on the absolutewrite forums and talked to some people who have helped me come up with the idea to rewrite some chapters in present and see how they turn out. As of right now I'm not sure how I feel about it. I know the chapter I rewrote, the first, is not my favorite chapter in the book, so that may also have something to do with how I feel about it.

Alas, I sit here and stare at my book and basically have... well... look like this...

picture owned by this guy

I feel guilty almost for just letting my story sit as it is right now so I'm trying to work on revising it, but with my brain laughing at me, screaming nonsense, it's hard to decide what I want to do with it. This is the future of my book and manuscript in my hands and I'm just juggling it right now!

Questions, comments, concerns? Please tell me your opinion.