Remember, remember, the first of November…

It’s National Novel Writing Month!  Yesterday, on November first, I started writing the sequel to the young adult novel last year.  So far, I have 5,021 words.  I need 50,000 by November 30.  So, I’m a little bit ahead right now, which is great because I know that there will be days that I can’t or don’t feel like writing, because my schedule is really full this month already.  For example, I’ve got class this week on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, and I have to work on Tuesday nght.  I’m going to try waking up earlier so that I can get some writing done in the mornings.

Not to jinx myself or anything, but this book is, so far, easier to write than the first one.  Probably because I already know most of the characters really well.  It’s also going to be a different type of books.  While the first was a coming-of-age tale with a lot of romance thrown in, this one is definitely more angsty.  Everyone will be at odds with one another at some point.  It’s senior year of high school, when you make many of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make in your short life.  Where will you go to college?  Stay together or break up?  That sort of thing.  I’m really looking forward to writing all of that.  I think it’s going to be terrific fun!

So if I’m grouchy this month, it’s probably because I’m not sleeping much, and I’m spending my time in the heads of angry teenagers who are determined to get their way at all costs.  And because I am not getting to write as many makeout scenes.  Actually, that is kind of a relief.

And now for something completely different…

As promised, a cute picture of my dog. This is Murphy in his new sweater.

I think these colors suit him, don't you?

In which the writer gets all introspective.

Well, we workshopped my poetry in class on Thursday.  I was incredibly busy at work all day, even working a little late into the evening, so I didn’t have time to get nervous until I actually walked into class.  Then it definitely hit me – we were going to be critiquing my work.  I could see that people had written lots of notes on their copies of my poems.  One of the things we’re supposed to do is write notes as we’re reading before class, and then, after workshop is over, hand them to the author.  That way, the author gets to read a lot of first impressions, questions, comments, etc. about their work.

Only one guy and I were reading.  After an abortive game of rock-paper-scissors, we decided that I would go first.  Our teacher suggested that, before we began the discussion, I should read one of my poems.  I asked for requests, and it was almost unanimous that I should read “Paris, je t’aime.”  Of course they would pick the one with all of the French words I’d have to pronounce.  I tried to read slowly but with vigor, and the actress side of me made it a little bit of a performance.  Of course.

Anyway, we launched into discussion about that poem, and then we talked about several others.  Late into the discussion, I also read “Freshman Year, University of Arkansas, 1995 – 1996.”  The general consensus seems to have been:

• The poems weren’t terrible (hey, surprise!)
• I have a knack for narrative
• I could use more imagery in my writing, and perhaps should try some metaphor exercises
• “Paris, je t’aime” was funny, and I should try writing more comedy
• The poems that were lists of things were strong and kept me away from focusing so strongly on narrative
• I should use what I’ve learned about poetry and apply it to my prose

One classmate asked whether I had written a play (my answer: “I’ve taken playwriting.  Those are two very different things!”) and suggested I should definitely give it a try.  A few others like the specific details of “Freshman Year…” and thought I should get more detailed in description in other works.  The criticism was very constructive and gave me a lot to think about.  No one ever got nasty or hurtful in their comments, and that was such a relief to me.

Overall, I think the workshop experience was extremely helpful.  I was genuinely surprised at the positive response to my poetry.  I’m not being modest here; I figured it was decent but not very good, and a lot of these people have been writing poetry for a long time.  When I got home, I poured over the comments that people had made on their paper copies.  Some were a little more direct on paper than face-to-face, which is understandable.  Still, having that record of people’s impressions will be incredibly valuable when I revisit these poems or write new ones.  And yes, I think I’ll continue to write poetry from time to time, so that I can become more comfortable with making my writing more lyrical.

After we finished with my poems, we went on to the other guy reading that night.  His poetry is almost the polar opposite of what I’d written, like comparing a three-minute pop song (me) with free jazz (him).  It felt good to be able to relax since the pressure was off of me, and I was able to contribute somewhat coherently to the discussion of his pieces.

We saved the last thirty or so minutes of the class to introduce topics about fiction, which is what we will start covering next class.  Simply listening to the topics that we’re going to cover got me thinking about the novel I’ve already finished(ish) and the one I’m going to start next Sunday (eek!).  While I’ve always thought of myself as smart and well-read, someone who reads and understands everything from literary classics to supermarket trash, I realized in class how little I actually knew or remembered about the fundamentals and history of what is supposed to be my writing focus.  And yes, I realize that’s why I’m in this class, and, on a much larger scale, why I’m doing CAMP.  I just really wish I’d done this whole learning-how-to-write thing sooner, because now I feel like I have a lot to catch up on.

Despite how daunting all of this seems, I’m very excited for us to start working on fiction, and I have a couple of shorter, fiction-only classes coming up really soon that will help supplement what I’m learning in my Intro to CW class.

So, where does this leave me in terms of my own writing?  Frankly, I’m now a little intimidated about the whole thing.  The main takeaway from workshop – for me and my neuroses, anyway – is that I need to inject more poetry into my prose.  It makes sense.  I’m so worried about my writing sounding like I’m sitting around with a thesaurus and a copy of Pride and Prejudice or whatever.  It’s a freaking teen novel, for crying out loud.  But that doesn’t mean the writing can’t be evocative, right?  So I’ve started going through it and throwing in a few well-placed metaphors and focusing on description.  And it’s true – for the most part, my writing lacks those things.  I am hoping to find a good balance of pretty language without veering into overblown prose.

I think another takeaway is that maybe I need to be more confident about my abilities.  It’s so tough for me to feel like I’m good at something creative (which, I realize, is patently ridiculous; I’ve been a creative person my entire life).  It’s not like being good at math, or handling customers, or whatever.  That’s normal and accepted.  But admitting that you’re good at something creative, like singing, acting, or writing, can quickly veer into pretension.  I mean, it’s kind weird to say “oh, I’m working on my novel,” or “I’m a writer” or whatever, because I don’t want to sound like an asshole.  I mean, I still have a regular job and everything.  Plus, it’s not like I’ve ever been published.  I have no proof that anything I’ve written is any good… except maybe some of the poems I just workshopped.   Because I don’t think my classmates were lying when they said they enjoyed them.   And, well, two friends told me they liked drafts of my novel, so that definitely has to count for something.

So I’m going to try to do better about feeling like I’m good at what I do.

And friends, thanks for sticking through all of this focus on writing.  I promise music reviews or fart jokes or pictures of my dog soon.

Hail, Poetry, thou heav’n born maid!

So, in my writing class, we’ve been focusing on poetry.  We’re about to move on to another subject, so this week we have planned a workshop, where five class members would submit five poems to be read and discussed.  Another workshop, focusing on fiction and creative nonfiction, will be held later in the semester.

As my focus is on fiction, I did not initially sign up for the poetry workshop.  Our teacher’s idea was for roughly half of the class to participate in the poetry workshop, and the other half would do the fiction/CNF workshop.  Well, not enough people signed up for this week.  So, this morning, I decided I would participate, so that we have enough poems discuss.

I had already written one poem for a class exercise a couple of weeks ago.  I think it is the first poem I’d written since my vitriol-spewing high school days.  That left four poems to write tonight.  It took about three hours to finish them.  I then converted the file to a PDF and sent it to my group.  It took a lot of courage to send that email, because I’m not a poet.  These poems are really rough, and there are probably typos, and I didn’t even get a chance to have someone proofread them.  There are people in the class who have been writing poetry a long time and who are specializing in it!  Eek!

Anyway, I figured I’d just post them here, too, for the hell of it.

For some frame of reference, here is the title of each poem and the exercise I used as a writing prompt:

1. “‘Criteria,’ for the first time” – this is an enjambment exercise, taken from a couple of paragraphs of the novel I’m writing (I needed to get my fiction in the workshop somehow!)
2. “Punctuation” – this is the poem using examples of synesthesia.
3. “Storage” – a poem inspired by a list of things belonging to a dead person.
4. “Paris, je t’aime” – my stab at a poem using phrases from English and another language.
5. “Freshman Year, University of Arkansas, 1995 – 1996″ – this is my take on a poem where every line begins with “I remember.”

So, without further ado, here are five poems that will totally blow your mind.

P.S. Please don’t steal them.  Write your own silly poems.  Plagiarism is bad.  End of lecture.

I’ll settle down with some old story…

This page needed a lot of help!

I’m knee-deep in what I’m calling the third draft of my young adult novel (which is tentatively titled the sea between us).  I’m planning to finish this draft by mid-to-late October and send it out to a few select friends for feedback.

My previous attempts at editing were always done on the computer, but I found that I was ignoring some parts of the book and only focusing on favorite passages.  So I printed out the entire thing and I’m taking it one page at a time, writing all of my changes in pen, and then going back and updating in Word.  I’ve had to add a lot, because one of my main (constructive) criticisms during the editing process has been “elaborate here!”  Anyway, I’m just over halfway done with this process, and it’s starting to go faster because the second half of the book is a bit stronger than the first.  The second half has also been more heavily edited.

A couple of months ago, I decided I needed a better, more permanent place to write, so I commandeered the old IKEA couch in the sunroom as a writing station.  I moved a small bookshelf to one side of the couch, and I keep my paper copy of the second draft in it, along with all of my handouts from the creative writing class I’m taking.  I’ve also got a copy of The Elements of Style there, because you should never be more than three feet away from one of those, in my humble opinion.

On top of the bookshelf are three funky orange statues of Ganesha that I got in India.  I just thought they looked nice there, but I recently did a little wikipedia-ing and discovered Ganesha is considered to be the Lord of letters and learning. So I guess that’s a happy coincidence.  I also have a coaster on top of the bookshelf, because I almost always write with a hot beverage (it’s usually a cup of Barry’s tea, but sometimes it’s chai, or hot chocolate, or something stronger).  Since it’s getting colder, I’ve recently added a cinnamon candle, my go-to fall and winter scent.

I am almost always joined on the writing couch by my dog Murphy.  He likes to sit right next to me, preferably resting his head on my ankle if possible.  I usually have the computer in my lap; if not, he tries to sit there instead.  It is really hard to write with a 14-pound licking machine sitting on you.  Because he is my writing buddy, I included him in the book by naming the main male character Eoghan Murphy.

Music definitely helps me focus, so I like to write with headphones on.  Sometimes, I just put on last.fm and play my library, my recommendations, or a specific artist’s station.  Sometimes I use iTunes on the laptop, which has everything we’ve purchased in the last year or so (the rest of our music collection is still on our sick, hibernating desktop computer).  Occasionally I’ll use my iPod, but that hasn’t been updated in over a year (see above reference to sick, hibernating desktop).

I actually made a mix CD for a friend that was taken directly from the book (his review here, which also includes a short synopsis and excerpts from the un-edited, very rough first draft of the novel).  If I were to make an extensive playlist inspired by the sea between us, these artists would definitely be included:

Antlers, The Arcade Fire, Band of Horses, Belle and Sebastian, Bright Eyes, Camera Obscura, Coldplay, David Bowie, Destroyer, The Divine Comedy, Grand Archives, Great Lake Swimmers, Hefner, Jens Lekman, Sondre Lerche, The Lucksmiths, Mates of State, Morrissey,  My Chemical Romance, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Phoenix, Ra Ra Riot,  REM, The Shins, The Smiths,  Super Furry Animals,  Tindersticks, Trembling Blue Stars, The Twilight Sad, We Were Promised Jetpacks… and many more.

As you can see, it leans heavily toward indie rock with some good ol’ fashioned teenage angst thrown in there.  Not only is this my favorite sort of music, but it also figures heavily in the story.  Many of these artists or their songs are actually mentioned by my narrator Emma and her friends, and I got inspiration for the songs Emma’s band writes from these bands (I’m no songwriter).

It’s been fun writing a book that includes so much of my passion for music.  It will be a challenge when I stop writing about these characters and start something new and different.  I don’t really want to pigeonhole myself as the girl who always includes a ton of music references in her books, but it’s gonna be hard to leave them out.

If any of you out there are writers or are involved in some other creative thing, I’d like to hear about your process.  Where do you write/create/whatever?  What inspires you?  How do you keep from procrastinating?

Homemade Fall Weekend.

urban street bazaar logo

If you’re in Dallas this weekend, I would like to suggest checking out the Urban Street Bazaar in the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff.  It’s a handmade extravaganza with over 85 local vendors.  I’ve gone the last two years, and both times I’ve picked up Christmas presents and some jewelry for myself.  This year, vendors are displaying lots of handmade purses, clothing, soap, jewelry, and decorative stuff for your house/apartment/loft/friend’s couch.  It’s also a great place for people watching (aka playing Cliffie or Not Cliffie?). Come out and support your local artisans!

If you want to make a day of it, then there’s always the Fall Home Tour hosted by the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League this weekend.  We’re doing that tomorrow.  Oak Cliff isn’t just for gang bangers, you know.

Me, I’m just anxious.

This week, my Intro to Creative Writing class is talking poetry.  Specifically, we’re discussing content… stuff like imagery, figurative language, diction, persona, etc.  We are assigned several poems to read that illustrate the different topics, and then we each get to choose one of several writing exercises.  Yesterday, I was reading through the poems assigned, trying to decide which writing exercise I wanted to complete.  Three of the poems were by Ranier Maria Rilke.  One of the writing exercises involved writing a poem about the objects belonging to a dead person.

You may know where I’m going with this.

Remember Rainer Maria?  Yeah, they were “intellectual” and were named after the poet.  I saw them a couple times at Clunk Music Hall (RIP) in Fayetteville, Arkansas, back in the late 1990s/early 2000s.  I thought that Caithlin De Marrais was pretty badass (she sang and played the bass, and she always rocked out), and I really loved some of their songs.

Anyway, they had a song called “The Contents of Lincoln’s Pockets” that was inspired by seeing a display of, well, the contents of President Lincoln’s pockets on the night that he was shot.  So between the Ranier Maria Rilke poems I was reading and the dead person’s stuff writing exercise, I could not get this song out of my head!  I tried and failed to find a good video for it on YouTube.  I did some Googling and refamiliarized myself with a band I haven’t really thought about in several years.  I even talked myself out of doing the dead person’s stuff exercise because I didn’t want to accidentally plagiarize.

But I still couldn’t get the song out of my head.

So, being the total dork that I am, I emailed a copy of the lyrics and a link to the song to all of my classmates.  I, um, haven’t received any replies.

The writing thing.

Last fall, my friend Diana and I decided to write novels for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  Basically, participants try to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November.  I had tried two years before and had given up after only a few thousand words.  But this time, both of us managed to complete our books.

It was a fantastic experience.  Half of the time I was writing, I was drunk, sleep-deprived, or creatively blocked.  I wrote on the couch, at coffee houses, on transatlantic flights, in hotel rooms in Prague and Vienna.  I woke up early and wrote before work, I wrote during lunch, and I wrote while Victor watched countless movies at night.  Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with my characters.  I fell in love with the idea of being a writer.

I’m not going to lie… I also fell in love with the idea of becoming a bestselling author and living the life of luxury.  Logically, I know that’s probably not going to happen.  But Diana liked my book.  And I liked hers.  So, maybe we could actually do this…?

After letting the book rest for a while, I worked on a second draft, using Diana’s constructive criticism.  Some of my writing was pretty bad.  You could definitely tell where I was just trying to get some words on the page.  There were entire sections that were basically unnecessary, and some of the characters were woefully underdeveloped.  But I persevered, finished the second draft, and gave it to another friend.  She liked it too, and she gave me some really great feedback.  I’m currently in the midst of a third draft, after having done a bunch of character work and not a little soul-searching.  And I’m going to write a sequel in November (again for NaNoWriMo).  Heck, I have ideas for possibly two to five more sequels!

Maybe my friends are telling me they like it because they are my friends.  But what if they’re not?  What if there is an actual book there?  How do I make it better?  How do I go about getting it published?

My main problem with writing, now that I’ve convinced myself that I can actually do it, is that I’m lacking a lot of the tools necessary to write well.  It’s like trying to build a house with only a hammer and some wood.  I need the the rest of the tools in the toolbox.  I need some freaking nails!  So I applied for a writing program through The Writer’s Garret, a local literary nonprofit.  I had to submit an application, an essay, and a writing sample (I chose the first chapter of my novel).  Lo and behold, I was accepted.

The program is called the Community and Mentorship Program (CAMP for short).  It’s a mix of classes, seminars, peer critique, mentoring (and being mentored), and much of it is self-directed.  I’m “paying” for it by working in my spare time for The Writer’s Garret.   I’ve just started my first class, an intro to creative writing which I desperately need.  I’ve not taken any English or literature classes since high school.  While at the time, I thought testing out of English classes in college was a good thing, but now I realize there was a lot I didn’t learn back then.  Anyway, I’m hoping that CAMP will help me become a better writer. If anything I write for class is any good (or hilariously bad), I’ll post it here.

And in case I haven’t already talked your ear off in real life about my book, it’s a young adult novel, sort of a coming-of-age tale with a healthy dose of romance mixed in.  There’s a plucky Arkansas girl, an Irish boy, a Thanksgiving disaster, some songwriting and concerts, a sassy best friend, the prom, and a Mexican emo kid.  The sequel will be the same kind of stuff, only bigger, better, faster, more! I have a lot in store for these kids.  I’ll probably post an excerpt every once in a while, so please don’t steal it.

Like I said in my earlier post, I’ll be using this blog partly as a writing journal, so feel free to skip over those parts if you’re not interested.  It won’t hurt my feelings.  But if you have some constructive feedback on something I’ve written, then please comment!

Hello again.

Or hello for the first time, if that is the case.

My name is Mandy, and this is my new blog.  I’m starting fresh, folks.  My old blog, while beloved by, well, me, has kind of fallen by the wayside.  So instead of attempting to revive it and head in a new direction, I’m going to just start over.  Clean slate.  Tabula rasa.

I am keeping the title, though.  I have ordinary addictions has been the title of every webpage I’ve ever had, going all the way back to college.  It references the Gavin Friday song “Shag Tobacco,” in case you wondered.  So on this bold, new adventure,  I’m carrying a little piece of the old Mandy along with me.

I’ve been itching to get back into blogging for a while now, but I wasn’t really sure how to start up again.  My previous site was more of a detailing of what I was doing, what I was thinking… and I think that just got stale for me.  So instead, I’m going to write about something rather than nothing. My Twitter profile says that I am a “culture and travel nerd.”  So I think that’s what will fuel this blog.

Culture can mean any number of things to me.  I’m fairly active in the Dallas theater scene, so I might write about a show I saw or an upcoming production.  I love movies and television, so maybe I’ll give a mini-review of something I’ve just seen.  Anyone who knows me is aware of my massive interest in music, so rest assured that I’ll be ruminating on albums or songs once in a while.  I’ve recently begun writing, and I’d like to use this blog partly as a writing and literary journal of sorts.   I might talk about art or fashion or pop culture.  And I’m not sure if this is allowed or not (hey, I make up the rules here, right?), but I’m going to talk about food too.  Food can be a cultural experience.

As for the travel part… yes, I travel frequently.  So I’ll probably write about that too.  But instead of just “Today we saw such-and-such museum, and ooh my feet hurt” or whatever, I’ll try to write at least somewhat intelligently about what I’m experiencing.  But, in keeping with my new style, it’s not going to be a travel diary… more like a topic or two about a place I’ve been.

Oh, and since I’m Mandy, I’m totally going to post cute pictures of my dog if I feel like it.  Or whatever.

So I hope you’ll come along for the ride.  It’s not going to be all srs bsns all the time… it’s just going to be more than what I ate for lunch or how annoyed I am at some inconsequential nothing.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll subscribe to my RSS feed.  xxx