The Writing Life

I'm on summer break at the moment. Right now I'm scoping out new locations to write in, cheap and cozy are preferable, and a tolerant staff who'll let me nurse a green tea for an hour while I scribble are an absolute necessity. Right now I'm figuring out what to do with my novel.
There are certain moments in my draft that I think were just to get me to the next plot point. With limited time to work with I didn't have the leisure to fully unpack and sort through more difficult plot conundrums. With my outline fairly complete, I knew where I had to get to, so in some cases I just hurried up and got there. Now that I have some time to look back over the piece as a whole I know where there are weak spots and where I need to work on the plot.
I also had a brain burst the other day about the structure of the novel. I would actually love to incorporate some of the sketches I've been making for the prequel into the story. However, I wonder if that would unnecessarily complicate the book. Part of me thinks it would really add something to it and perhaps even make the focus more on the relationship between the characters which is my intent. If instead of just hearing vaguely about how the two met, we saw it. We saw the people they were before they met and then we can see the difference they've made in each other.
I'd like to try it. I'm still waiting to hear back from my professor about her thoughts on my manuscript. Part of me is terrified that she is tactfully working out a way to tell me it's not very good. Mostly though I'm just a little impatient. I never share unedited work, so I'm very curious to know what she thinks about the book and what she'll think about my new ideas.
For now I'm planting in the garden and trying to do some work on new stories. A magazine feature I wrote will be in a magazine the end of this month, so some money will also be coming my way. That is a blessed relief: my account has been cleared out to pay for my England trip so I'm almost entirely without cash.
Now I'm starting on my reading list for Oxford and daydreaming about European travel. Daydreams are an inexpensive luxury that make life much more bearable.

The Trouble with Costume Dramas

I've had a sinus infection this week, so I've been languishing in my room watching costume dramas. Historical drama is one of my favorite genres. the problem is, the more I watch them, the more I despair over modern clothing. Sure, some garments (especially those Victorian bustles) are impractical, but the richness of fabrics and delicacy of cuts are incredibly enviable. I keep feeling like I was born in the wrong time-- though I surely would not have been content with much of 19th century society. The modern world seems to have less to discover, less optimistic possibility. It's a very cynical world.
I've been outlining my own work of historical fiction this week, my main inspiration is actually The Childrens Book by A.S. Byatt. The way she wove together history and fiction was breathtaking. I'd love to write a novel like that. It's a period piece that doesn't posture in any way. It moves at such a natural pace and does not over-idealize or scandalize the history it covers.
However, on a more practical level, I have submitted more articles for magazine publication this week. Most of the PR work I've been doing this summer is finished, which is a relief.
No more response from literary agencies, but I keep polishing my manuscript, buffing away at it. I've begun drafting the sequel as well, it's turning out to be a different creature than I originally imagined.
I must venture out into the heat now.

Uncomfortable Plateau

I've reached the point in my summer where I am in a slump. My sleeping schedule is obliterated, I've done some things that can marginally be considered achievements, but I'm not sure how I can best use the next month.My plans for travel are distant, fragmented dreams thanks to circumstances beyond my control.
I've realized that being self-employed is a major test of my self-discipline. My vigor toward freelance writing has diminished somewhat due to the lack of response from many editors. Most are not even courteous enough to reject me. This is something I'll have to get used to, especially if I do want to make part of my living from it in the future.
I've pretty much finished with this round of edits on my novel and I've written a basic query letter and book proposal. However, I've yet to send anything out to anyone. Perhaps it's because while it's still in my hands it's still my wonderful masterpiece. Once it enters the world it could be shredded in an instant.
I know it doesn't have to be ready for immediate publication, it will have to go through more editing even after someone has agreed to represent it, but it's a matter of professional pride I suppose-- I want it to be perfect.
This past week I've made no progress on either my freelancing or my search for an agent. I've been making soap and reading novels. I'll be at the farmer's market next weekend selling some.
So, sorry it's been quiet on this front, I have been a curious mix of busy and idle recently.

Journalists: unable to resist puns

I'm interrupting my regularly scheduled editing and proposal writing (though I finally figured out how to fix my wonky margins... for now) to bring you a post about an obvious truth:
Journalists love puns. Even on the college level when we try to come up with headlines, the discussion almost always resorts to, "How about a clever pun?" I have seen many admirable examples of headline puns in newspapers, but the recent scandal involving the politician Anthony Weiner needs a post unto itself.
With a name like 'Weiner' the possibility for puns is simply too vast. Now, many newspapers have admirably stayed away from taking such juicy bait, but last night at the grocery store two papers caught my eye. One referred to 'sticking a fork' in Weiner because he's done, intentional or not, one could not help but think of the Oscar Mayer product when faced with this headline. Though it was not quite as good as the Huffington Post's headline "The Roasting of Weiner and the Public Good." Sounds like a community picnic.
Another paper on the stand referred to his 'rise and fall.' How can you print that without knowing the possible connotations? I'm sure everyone in the newsroom had a giggle over that one. That was the point where I rolled my eyes and walked away from the news stand.
Though I must admit that puns are no longer the lowest form of wit; 'your mom' jokes are.

My missing June

I cannot believe it is June 17th. May was such a long languid month, but June is passing me by so quickly I feel as though I missed it. I am not ready for summer to be half over. I realized that my August plans are destroyed by the fact that I have to be back on campus a week early to work on the theatre department show that goes up during the last weekend of September.
This past week I have emerged myself in a new batch of edits on my novel. I've also been trying to read more contemporary mystery novels to see what I'm up against. Last week I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was fairly engaging and enjoyable, but in made me have a mini-panic. The kind of mystery I'm writing is different from what seems to be dominating the market and I don't know if a publisher would find that favorable. I'm a worrier you see.
I think (or rather hope) that my stories will appeal to people that like Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle because they're sort of the voices in my head when it comes to mysteries.
Anyway, as soon as I finish this round of editing, I solemnly vow to start writing my book proposal and finding agents to send the proposal to. Seriously.
Other than that, I'm working on writing press releases for some community stuff. I used to work with the organization and I heard that they were in need so, I offered my services. It's a good experience and some resume padding. Besides, it will get my writing into all the local papers.

Writing like it's my job... because it sort of is

Hooray! One of the pieces I submitted to a periodical this month has been officially accepted for publication. I've been trying to send at least one inquiry and one story per week. Some editors have been very slow at getting back to me.
This particular editor rejected the first story I sent (see below), but has accepted a review I wrote. The best part is, I'll be getting paid ten cents per word-- not a bad rate. The worst part is, I won't be getting paid until November when the issue is published.
Oh the life of a writer: work your tail off now, starve, get paid later. I sent off a story last week that I'm really proud of, to another magazine. I hope that I hear about it soon.

I've also decided to start more seriously seeking an agent now that the second round of edits on my murder mystery are nearing completion. I've also been feverishly working on the sequel. There's some really exciting mysteries for my main team, Victoria and Jacquelyn, to solve, not just one single case as in the first novel. There also may be a new romantic interest for one of them. I wasn't planning it, but the characters just seemed to have chemistry when I was writing a scene the other night. It will lead so well into the third story where I have major things planned.
The best part about this project is that I just enjoy spending time with my characters. Hopefully other people will too. If other people ever get the chance to read them.

My First Rejection Notice

Totally expected. I feel like a real writer now. One of the freelance articles I submitted was rejected. However, the editor gave me a very good reason why which gives me something constructive to work with. It needs, very simply, to be tailored more to the level of familiarity that readers of that magazine have.
He said he looks forward to hearing more from me, so apparently my overall writing style was acceptable, I just need to adjust my level of content.
This, I can do. I have a few book reviews to send in and perhaps I can get to work on a new article that will fit better.
I'm still waiting to hear about another article for a different publication, so hopefully that one will be accepted. Quite honestly, I need the money.

The Pen Name Question

As I'm preparing several pieces to submit to different journals for summer freelancing, I'm faced with a question. I've always been planning to publish my novels under a pen name, simply so if on the off chance they become popular and I have a few nutty fans it will be harder for them to find me and kill me. And because I've always wanted a new name.
However, these magazine articles fall under journalism, which I've already started doing on a college level under my own name. So, should all my journalistic pursuits happen in my real name and all future novel publishing occur under the pen name. Or, should all professional publishing happen under my pen name?
Any advice or opinions?

A Scene From the Newsroom

We had new editorships for next semester announced tonight, not many surprises, I'll be the Arts editor-- I do get an assistant however (trying not to feel too drunk on the power). After our meeting we found ice cream in the lounge freezer with a note saying it was leftover from an event and we should help ourselves.
After some furtive glances, we were all elbow deep in ice cream, serving and eating it with plastic forks. The sugar boost was the last thing we needed. Soon the group dissolved into stomach cramping laughter as stories of tipsy karaoke were exchanged and bizarre eccentricities rose to the top of our behavior.
Our editor in chief firmly believes that the ice cream was spiked. I know that it is just our way of making the most of our remaining time together. Some of them aren't going to be with us next semester and they will be sorely missed and they'll miss us as well I believe.
I know I should write up my reviews for The Crack in the Lens and Wild Target, but I don't have much time tonight and I just felt like sharing a little of the chaos. It's very special.
I also got to crash a party celebrating one of the professor's new publications tonight. We almost forgot about it, but Meghan (photographer extraordinaire) and I ran over to get a quick interview and snap a few pictures much to the bemusement of the Humanities faculty.

Stephen Sondheim Talks Theatre

Earlier this week I went to see Stephen Sondheim lecture at a local college. Fortunately I was on spring break and the event was open to the public. For those of you that aren't familiar, Sondheim is one the most prolific and ingenious composers/lyricists to grace the musical theatre stage. The conversation was moderated by Frank Rich, a journalist from the New York Times that actually first met Sondheim when he wrote a review of the try-out production of Follies in his college newspaper. The production team stumbled across it and thought it a good assessment, so they met with him.
Student journalist that I am, that is a dream to imagine. I took extensive notes through the night that I will transcribe into an article for my college's paper. Here are some of the highlights of the night, however.
Rich took Sondheim through some "pivotal songs" of his career. They started with "Something's Coming" from West Side Story which was written during rehearsals in 48 hours according to Sondheim. He revealed that the music for "Gee, Officer Krupke" came from another show that Bernstein was working on, Candide. With that song, Sondheim was determined to have the first four letter word in a musical. However, they would have violated obscenities laws if they shipped the soundtrack over state lines, so the final line was changed to "Krup you!" and remains so to this day. It also turns out that Sondheim was not a fan of the movie of West Side, when asked what he thought of it he said, "Really? You really want to know?" The main problem was that he felt that the stage conventions did not translate well to film-- there was no realism or danger.
The next song was "Losing my Mind" from Follies (which is one of my personal favorites, I often entertain myself by singing and banging it out on the keyboard when I can't sleep). He purposefully made it in the style of torch songs such as Gershwin's "The Man I Love." Follies also took five years to get up, he wrote about eleven drafts by 1968, he admitted.
Rich seemed to like to throw out little details to see how Sondheim would react, when discussing Follies, Rich asked him if he discussed his writing with his therapist, "If by any chance you were in therapy...." Sondheim gracefully dodged taking the evening in a personal direction. Later, the song "I'm Still Here" from the show was also discussed. A lighthearted song full of innuendo, "Can That Boy Foxtrot" originally filled that slot in the show, but they decided to put a more serious song in it's place. Even if it didn't stop the show, "The audience will know they've been served a meal..." said Sondheim.
"Being Alive" from Company came next and Rich and Sondheim discussed that though the emotions of such songs are universal, the specific way the lyrics are written makes this a male song in the same way "Losing my Mind" is a female song. Another prickly personal detail was revealed by Rich, who pointed out that Sondheim had 'never been in a committed relationship' at the time he wrote Company. Sondheim said he never thought to himself, "I can write about myself through the guise of Bobby." The themes of yearning for connection are pretty universal, especially in the theatre. "An awful lot of yearning goes on in the theatre," said Sondheim.
A Little Night Music and "Send in the Clowns" came next. Sondheim seemed genuinely surprised that this particular song became such a hit where songs like "Losing my Mind" never did (until Liza Minnelli and The Pet Shop Boys got their hands on it any way).
"Sunday" from Sunday in the Park with George is one of Sondheim's few choral pieces (the opening of Company was the first he ever attempted). The song, performed by a group of people immortalized in a painting finally culminates to the word "Forever." "Forever-- when I wrote that, I cried," confessed Sondheim.
Sondheim said that the biggest failure of his career was Do I Hear a Waltz. It was a failure because unlike some shows that were panned by critics (like Sweeney Todd on it's first outing in London, in spite of it being Sondheim's "Love letter to London."), it was received "politely." What made it a failure was the fact that he wrote it for the wrong reasons, there was "No passion, no blood, no reason to be," Sondheim said.
Near the end of the evening he took some questions that the audience had scribbled on scraps of paper beforehand. His advice for young theatre writers was not to write for Broadway, but just keep writing. He also said that the most creative person he ever worked with was Jerome Robbins, Robbins was creative on many levels, he would apparently even invent games at parties.
What's next for Sondheim? There is a production of Company staring Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert, and Patti Lupone coming up as well as Follies starring Bernadette Peters in DC and Roadshow in London. Sondheim himself is not working on any new shows currently, but writing the sequel to his book Finishing the Hat, his collected lyrics with commentary and essays. The second volume, Look, I Made a Hat will contain "Essays that will irritate a lot of people," Sondheim said.
It was a great evening and now that I've been in the same room as Sondheim, I have one to two degrees of separation from practically everyone on Broadway over the past fifty years. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos, but the entire evening was filmed for an upcoming documentary on Sondheim. He was extremely well spoken and very funny. Even my father, who isn't a huge musical theatre fan (but I dragged him along anyway), was very impressed with him and interested in seeing more of his shows.

200 Posts

Hooray! About a month ago I celebrated my blogiversary and according to my dashboard this is my 200th post. Thanks to everyone who has kept me going for all this time!
I also find cause to celebrate the fact that I've finished all my papers. It has been rough completing four literature papers in two weeks while trying to keep up with NaNo, the paper and other homework but I have succeeded.
The rest of my week is free from classes, so I can spend it catching up on word count. I also must finish my articles for the next issue of the college paper. For my section (Arts) I write a column about British pop-culture- cleverly entitled "Pop-Culture from Across the Pond"- and I've had a request to write my next column about the upcoming royal wedding. Not exactly pop-culture, but it suddenly has everyone interested in the monarchy, so I will concede to this request.
My write up on the Katty Kay meet and greet as well as my opinions column will be going in this upcoming issue.

Katty Kay and Womenomics

I had a great experience- remember how the other week I was geeking out over getting to interview someone? Well I did and that someone was Katty Kay. She's the co-writer of a book called Womenomics that discusses the ways women work differently than men and how they can chart their own career paths. She's also the Washington correspondent for BBC News. Need I explain my geek-out?
Fortunately- and I say fortunately because it is an intimidating situation for a student journalist- some of the other paper staff came as well and everyone was involved in asking questions. It was my first press conference like situation and I think it went rather well.
Ms. Kay is extremely friendly and personable, some of the other editors and I were able to talk with her at a reception afterwards. She is also extremely passionate about her book and what she does. She's a great role model for myself and all the other women on the paper staff because she has found a balance between having a family and having a career. She's also travelled the world and speaks several languages.
Some reporters from other local papers came to watch us interview her and then ask her a few questions when we were finished.
Afterwards one gave me his card and told me the paper he was there representing may be looking for a new stringer and I should look into it. That's great news. I'm really looking to start doing some freelance work, especially in the summers to start building contacts and honing my skills. I was extremely pleased that he thought I might have a shot at the job and I'll be making contact soon.
Check out Katty Kay's interview on the Colbert Report- she handles him really well!

End of Day 4 and The Things I do for Journalism

I'm at about 8 and a half thousand words, still pretty well on track, I have to take Saturday off from NaNo to catch up on papers for my literature classes (maybe next year I should independent study NaNo). So tomorrow I'll be catching up on some reading from said classes and then spending the evening at a writing night with friends upping my word count.
The performing arts department at the college is doing an experiment where they are taking away people's cell phones for 24 hours and they're going to tally all the missed calls and texts that accumulate. My Forensic Speech coach was heading up the campaign, but I was holding firm because I have to commute and need to keep in touch with people for various projects. I'm not on my phone alot and I've unintentionally gone periods of time without my phone (left on the charger, etc), but with a long drive ahead of me tonight, I just didn't want to give up that security.
However, I have the opportunity to interview someone in a few weeks (more on that later) and I like to be well researched on the person I interview. So, I have to read their book asap- my forensics coach happened to have a copy of that book. Basically, I had to exchange my cell phone. As I said to the other editors, "the things I do for the paper..." no one offered to give up their phone as a sign of solidarity.
This interview is very exciting and intimidating, but I'm glad I get the chance to do it. It will look fabulous in a portfolio. I don't want to let out too many details at this time, but I should be able to post a copy of the final article here after it's in print- unlike some college papers, the school doesn't hold the rights to our articles, they let us retain them (thank you!) so it should all be on the up and up, but I'll make sure. Even if I listed the name of the person I get to interview, I doubt many would know it off the top of their head, but my excessive geekery makes this way better than interviewing a pop star or anything like that.
More updates on NaNo and the paper soon.

My Day Off

For the first time in several weeks I have had a morning to myself. Truthfully, I should be camped out at the laudromat with my laptop doing homework between feeding quarters into the machine. Honestly, I probably won't be able to do laundry for another week, but I woke up with a massive headache, so instead I'm camped out in my room. Yes, I'm still working on homework, but I'm also cuddling with my cats and wearing the baggy band tee I sleep in- I couldn't do that at the laudromat... well I'd have to be wearing jeans as well. I should be okay on the laundry thing, I can hand wash neccesary pieces and I just bought a new pack of underwear. It'll be fine.
Truthfully I'm valuing my precious quiet alone time very much. I have been two weeks without any and it's taking its toll. I may start snarling at passerbys and hiding under tables to avoid customers at work. Which I do have to work tonight, so this sweet repose it but short lived.
Now I must get back to listening to The Doors and writing my articles for the paper.

Busy Little Bookworm

Interestingly, my relationship with books has changed somewhat significantly since I started this blog almost a year ago. In a way, books used to be a larger part of my life- instead of going places and experiencing things, I would read about it.
For many reasons, I think this change is a good thing. I'm finally striking a balance between living life and reading life. I've also found that when I'm out living, I become a very slow reader.
As strange (and increasingly reflective) as this blogging project has become, I'd like to thank all my followers and semi-regular readers for sticking around and even commenting sometimes. Now that the summer is over, here is what you have to look forward to for September:

-My review of Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence (I swear Traxy, I just started it today!)
-My review of Mansfield Park for the Everything Austen II Challenge
-Anecdotes and rants from my foray into being an editor on a college paper and being the president of the campus literary society.
-Banned Books Week!
-Possibly some more lessons learned on the archery range (hopefully not painful ones)

I'm not going to be too ambitious, my work, class, and extracurricular schedule is ambitious enough this fall, but I like working my writing muscles a little here and hopefully entertaining anyone that stops by.

Newsroom Commentary

I'm sitting in the campus newsroom, we're putting together the 'Welcome Back' issue so that it is on the stands when everyone moves back in the end of this week. This semester I've moved into an editorial position- Assistant Arts editor to be exact. The current Arts editor is training me to take it over next semester because she'll be graduating.
What's great about being an Arts editor is that so many things are relevant and I have plenty of ideas for things to cover this semester. My column on British Pop Culture is one of my favorite things to do. Book, restaurant, film reviews, local news from museums and new music- all things to write about. My favorite kinds of stories, as I'm often chattering about, involve "real" journalism. Not just reading some information and synthesizing it into an article, but actually going out an experiencing an event, talking to people, performing interviews- that is what I love.
The atmosphere of the room hasn't changed at all in spite of the months we've been away. Our advisor left us tortilla chips and homemade salsa which we eat as we play music and discuss ideas. Slightly yellowed past issues hang from a strip of cork on the wall and the whiteboard has been graffitied by editors that were there earlier in the day. Still, I'm reminded of all the friends that won't be coming through the newsroom tonight, those that have graduated and are off in the world looking for places to be spectacular.
As a misty rain falls outside, I feel very content and settled in for the semester in the newsroom- or as we call it, our second home.

Back to School Preparation

I've dropped off the face of the earth in order to prepare for my upcoming fall semester. A few weeks ago I thought I was ready to start classes again, but now it seems remarkable how close the school year is. I'm in the process of ordering my books, but I doubt they'll be here in time.
This year I'm taking on two positions of authority: Assistant Arts Editor for the college paper and president of the literary society on campus. Even though classes aren't starting for a week and a half I'll be on campus next week helping to set up the "Welcome back Issue" of the paper which I'm working on three articles for. I'm also trying to set up a meeting with the other officers to figure out a way to make an impressive showing at the Club Fair the first week of school. The literary club membership is at a very low dip after this last semester, so coming in as the new president, one of my big goals is to create more interest among the students.
The challenge is: how can I show the student body that we don't sit sipping tea and reading dusty books (all the time), we have a lot of fun and do some cool activities. I'd like us to broaden our scope this year.
I've also had a break through on one of my stories- there is still hope for me yet.

Script Frenzy Halfway Point....

Uh oh. I'm about 20 pages behind. I started out with good momentum, filling pages takes so much less than it did with NaNo. My NaNo was about 250 pages, so 100 pages seemed pretty easy. I scoffed at the task. I scoff no more. My spring semester is extremely busy, this is the last month of classes and there is much to be done before finals. The Greek tragedy I'm in goes into tech next week. I'm also slightly strung out on allergy medication.
Another thing I realized about writing for the screen is that things happen alot faster plot wise than in a novel or even a stage play. A camera angle mentioned as a direction can describe what might take a half a page of text or dialogue. So, I'm at that "Wow, I'm running out of plot" moment I was at around this time in November. Part of my problem is I really like things to be in a semi-presentable state by the time the first draft is finished. Editing along the way is not an option here.
I'd really like to win Script Frenzy this year, but it cannot be my top priority right now. Not even in the top ten actually.
A bit of good news is that I've recieved an editor position on the paper, I'm the assistant Arts editor, but I'll mostly be training to completely take over the old editor's job sometime next spring, she won't be able to do it anymore.
And I have to ask: Was anyone else utterly desolate after the season premeire of Glee? It was terrible. Most of the best characters weren't used and I am tiring of the Sue Sylvester vs Will plot. The writers lean way too much on it. It's reaching beyond irony and breaching the realm of cheap farce.

Since I'm Not Busy Enough Already...

I applied to be a contributor to the popular music and film blog "The Playlist". It's a different style than I'm used to here and in the paper, but it might be beneficial and it's always good to get one's name out. Who knows, one day someone might pay me to write something. *Dreams*
My first article appeared tonight under my real name, not my creative writing name (Odessa). I also realized that I must start watching more contemporary films and reading magazines like Entertainment Weekly.
You can check out the blog here.
And, because I promised I'd mention it: I had the most peculiar pleasure of meeting my friend Lynn's boyfriend last night. His name is Richard and he runs his own comic company, InterVerse Comics LLC. Our conversation started at a very strange point and hit several others before the evening was through and I had to go to rehearsal. Oh, yes, speaking of busy, I'm performing in a Greek tragedy in an outdoor theatre next month.

Hard-Core Journalism?

Today I braved the cold, drenching rain to cover a student protest on the college campus. In spite of the weather, about thirty two students arrived and I recorded some wonderful interviews with students and administration alike.
As soon as the students dispersed to classes and dry shelter, I ran back to the newsroom and possibly beat my record for quickest assembled article.
I feel like a lot of what we do at the college paper, as well as on blogs is just recycling stories that other people have already written. Maybe getting a new perspective or doing extra research, but it's still a lot of sitting in front of a computer. It's not often we get to break something completely fresh and I love it when we do. That's the grass roots, "hard-core" journalism students dream of. Imagining, as Tom Stoppard put it "lying on the floor of an African airport while machine-gun bullets zoomed over my typewriter."
Though not quite to that level, or even to the level protests from my parents' day reached- the tear gas of the Vietnam era- it still felt good to be reporting something live. Whether the protest had the effect the students wished remains to be seen.