Writing

Spring Slump

These last few weeks have been rather depressing, really. At least that’s how I feel in this immediate second. I know that I don’t really have much to complain about, and my current desire to whine is probably tied to the way my sleep-deprived brain functions on improbable amounts of sugar. Somehow that does not seem to help me feel any better.

People talk about winter as being the time when the blues set in, but for me it is usually the spring. Allergies attack, duties pile up. Before I know it, I am drowning in the desire to lay on the couch and watch embarrassing television for weeks. I consider this year a bit of a victory, because I didn’t completely sabotage my grades during the annual Spring Slump. It’s a small victory, but I’ll take it. I seem to be getting better at battling this with age.

I did a lot of writing this week that I was proud of; a piece on how feminism has failed me, and an impressive cover letter. The computer dumped them both. They don’t exist anywhere. I’ve re-created the cover letter, but I haven’t had the heart to re-create the other.

I shall close this out by resolving to get more sleep and be a cheerful girl tomorrow. Or as soon as I can.

Categories: Life, Writing | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

This Is Why My Marriage is Awesome:

Brian: it’s a penguin emoticon

Me: The penguin of emoticon? What, is that like some new sci-fi thing?

Brian: No, emoticon, like the smiley things you put in e-mail.

Me: OH!! I’m disappointed. It should totally be a new sci-fi thing. And the penguins should tap dance.

Brian: No tap dancing. They fly through space in spaceships, and fight with swords. Obviously.

Me: YES! I’ll bet penguins like it in space, it’s nice and cold. In fact, they left Earth because of global warming, and now they’re in an epic battle for their future against polar bears! You need to make this happen. It’s grounded in science!

Brian: Umm… I don’t think penguins or polar bears have a space program.

Categories: Fiction, Life, Writing | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

Nap Time

I’m here to tell you that my teachers are great, and so are my fellow classmates. This totally happened in class this morning:

Teacher: What do you all want to do today?

Class: Uh, we’re so tired. This class starts too early in the morning! How about Nap Time?

Teacher: Well, since Nap Time is not a possibility, I think we’ll just do a writing assignment.

Ema (in her thick German accent): I was always told that America is the land of possibility. No?

In other, completely unrelated news, I dropped my fountain pen in class today and got ink all over EVERYTHING. Serves me right for being pretentious enough to take notes with a fountain pen, I guess?

Categories: Life, Writing | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

On Writing for Fame

They always say you shouldn’t write to be famous.  You should write because you need to and you can’t help yourself.  You should write because you have something to say.  You should write because you want to perfect your craft.  Never mind the money or the success.  Those are not likely to happen to you anyway, so you should love to write for loving it and not for reward.

While this is true, that without these things you will not succeed when life gets hard and that you will likely never become rich from your endeavor,  it is not the whole truth.  What is at the heart of wanting to write is wanting to share that writing with others.  It’s the desire that something from your imagination will touch the life of someone else.  This is not possible without a modicum of fame.  How can you share your rich inner life with others if no one is listening?  You cannot.  A writer needs readers to complete the cycle, the more readers the better.  It is impossible to seek readers without seeking this notoriety.

You must go into writing knowing that, if you are very, very lucky, you may be able to support yourself monetarily some day.  You must know that you will never become the next J. K. Rowling, reading your work at the Olympics opening ceremony.  You must also seek readers for your work unceasingly, even when all seems lost.  But I declare to you that the quest to become a writer and the quest for fame are intertwined.  There is no one without the other.

Categories: Writing | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

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