Have you ever...?

Have you ever been listening to some music, and then felt completely inspired by a feeling? Maybe not even music, but if you've been reading something, watching something, experiencing something, and then you get a feeling, and somehow that feeling is something that inspires you so much you can't really express it? Or repress it, as it turns out.

I was listening to some music, and now I have over a thousand words for a new novel ("edit": I actually took a break while writing this post, and am now done with the first chapter, and have 1875 words...heheh). I've decided to make this one sort of episodic, and I won't write it with any sort of outline. At all. Ever. If it's going to have a plot, the plot will happen on  its own, and I'll have to keep it all in my head. If I finish the draft of it, which might be nice but not at all required, I'll probably go into a more detailed editing phase, and go with an outline in order to fill in plot holes.

But for now, I'm just going to be writing on instinct, or, as the Great and Honorable Chris Baty (my hero) says, writing by the seat of my pants. And it's going to be a pants-kicking novel, lemme tell you that, Chris. :D

(Speaking of which, I really need to bug my friend to give me back my copy of No Plot, No Problem. Every month or so, I feel like I REALLY need to read it, if not only because I associate Chris Baty's awesome voice (both in writing and literal voice) with NaNoWriMo, and I think I'm going into withdrawal. So I need to read it, since it's like all his pep talks/news blotter blots/podcasts rolled into one pants-kicking book. Dammit, I want that book back right now!)

So, basically, it's called Travels Through Dreamland (AKA Dreamland). It's about a young man named Robert and a young woman named Tawny (who is actually a goldfish, but still with the same name) exploring dreams. Each chapter is them going to a new dream. Robert takes notes.

And that's about all I have. I suppose it could either be seen as a series of shorts or, if I feel like it, have an arcing plot that goes through all the dreams...or something...nehhh.

I just wanna write some sort of good-feelings-y book. I think. That's the feeling I'm working off, anyway. :) But we'll see. My goal is to not have anybody die this time around. We don't want another Jamie, now do we? :P

Anyway, I hope to continue with this novel. Then I'll really start working on Urban Myth and Eternal Flame (or Triptych or Hitchhiker Cat or whatever I'll be doing for Script Frenzy) once I have some time to actually concentrate. Or not. We'll see. I just really want a break from the Highness/Urban/Eternal world. It's sort of exhausting dealing with those characters, even if I love them to pieces. They like to hang out in my mind. Me, Matt, and Sissy are tight. Which is good, seeing as I've made a promise to myself to get Urban Myth published.

So I'll write that one. I will. I actually, truly, really will. I might just want to write Dreamland first. It's more relaxing than Urban Myth will be, anyway.

I think.

Probably.

:D

(Oh yeah - and I've added two more goals to my master list. :P They are under the creativity section - I realized I didn't really have any journaling goals! Journaling is very important to me, and it's become a part of who I am, but I really want to make a big, big, big goal for that. So I added these two:

- Write 3650 journal pages (0/3650) (This is basically ten year's worth of journal pages assuming I do a page-a-day thing, which I won't.)

- Do a PeJoWriDa (Personal Journal Writing Day), where I take the day and write 50 pages of a journal in one day)

Quantifying Can Be Fun

Yar. So I realized that making goals is easier when you have something quantifiable to measure your progress in. :D Also, if you can make a tally towards fulfilling a goal, it makes you feel like you've made more progress if you have some hard evidence that you're 3/14 of the way through, instead of "well, I think I'm about a quarter of the way through".

So I edited some of the goals I've already made on my master list, and added a way to measure my progress in cold, hard numbers. Keep in mind, absolutely none of these goals are new! They're just ones I've already made and added some numbers to. Yay. I might have to change these later if, once I start working toward the goal, I realize I calculated incorrectly. Heheh. :)

Creativity:

• Take 100 photos of everything I love about the town and surrounding area I live in before I leave for college (pictures taken: 0/100)
• Start and fill up a "collection book" (pages filled: 0/150)
• Compile 10 photo books (each with at least 30 pictures) of the things that mean a lot to me (photos compiled: 0/300)
• Draw something in sequential art (panels drawn: 0/20)
• Think up and create a regularly-updating themed blog for at least 50 posts (blog posts: 1/50)

Health/Personal:

• Become a vegetarian for 31 days in a row or more (days gone: 0/31)
• Live, for 365 days or more, in a place where they normally get sticking snow (days lived in such a place: 0/365)
• Live by myself for 100 days or more (days lived alone: 0/100)

Impression:

• Donate $500 or more to a single charity (money donated: $0/$500)
• Clock 250 volunteer hours or more in 365 days (hours: 0/250, days: 0/365)

Okay, so some of these already were quantified, but I either changed it to an equivalent in smaller units (so it's easier to tally) or I added a tally at the end. :P

Oh! And I started working toward one of the goals today! I made a themed blog that will hopefully update once a week on Sundays. It's specific to my school, and it's about school life as the sort of student I am. But it's under a fake name. That's why my display name is now "Sara", because it's about as close to my name as a fish is similar to a camel. -_- So far, I've done one post - 49 more to go! It's either going to be this blog or another one which I have an idea for (either one that's like "a new fact each day" or "music that goes with pictures"). But hey! That's another red goal! Yay! :D

Goals Master List

TRAVEL:
- Go to somewhere in every normally-traveled continent (2/6) (still need: South America, Europe, Africa, Australia)
- Go to every country in the United Kingdom + Ireland (0/5) (still need: Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales)
- Go to Italy
- Go to Japan for a month or more
- Go to New Zealand and Australia (0/2) (still need: New Zealand, Australia)
- Go back to Wyoming (Grant Teton area)
- Go back to Arizona and Utah (or Southwest in general) and stay awhile
- See more of California - especially the far north and the far south - before I move out of state (new places I've seen since starting this: 6/25) (seen: deYoung Museum in San Francisco, San Diego, UCSD, UCI, full UCLA campus, Westwood in LA)
- Be able to fill a photo book with 100 photos of 100 different National Parks/Monuments/etc. (5/100)
- Go on an overnight train trip through the western United States
- Visit every state in the USA, with a photo from each (state photos compiled: 4/50)
CREATIVITY:
- Take 100 (specific) photos of everything I love about the town and surrounding area I live in before I leave for college (pictures taken: 14/100)
- Start and fill up a "collection book" (pages filled: 0/150)
- Write at least two novel drafts each year! (started drafts: 1/2, completed drafts: 0/2)
- Compile 10 photo books (each with at least 30 pictures) of the things that mean a lot to me (photos compiled: 0/300)
- Get something published not through self-publication or through the school
- Make a book, and use it as a journal
- Draw something in sequential art (panels drawn: 0/20)
- Make 1000 cranes and hang them together (0/1000)
- Think up and create a regularly-updating themed blog for at least 50 posts (blog posts: 8/50)
- Write 3650 journal pages - or ten year's worth of journal pages if I were able to do the page-a-day thing (728/3650) (I need to verify this number)
- Do a PeJoWriDa (Personal Journal Writing Day), where I take the day for myself and write 50 pages of a journal in one day
EDUCATION:
- Take a class in creative writing
- Take a class in photography, drawing, or another visual art
- Become fluent in Japanese
- Learn Mandarin
- Learn at least one of the following: Korean, Cantonese, Arabic, Italian
- Study abroad somewhere! Anywhere!
HEALTH/PERSONAL:
- Become very fit...
- Become a vegetarian for 31 days or more (days gone: 0/31)
- Tell someone I like that I like them
- Go on a date
- Either have or adopt a child
- Live, for 365 days or more, somewhere where they get actual (sticking) snow (days lived in such a place: 0/365)
- Be able to live by myself for 100 days or more (0/100)
- Actually read the books I said I would finish for school (but never did), and then write some sort of follow-up (books read: 0/2, mini-reports written: 0/2)
IMPRESSION:
- Donate blood (I've signed up to do it on Monday, March 17!)
- Donate $500 or more to a single charity (money donated: $0/$500)
- Help take out invasive plants and plant native ones
- Spend a day of walking around wherever I am and picking up trash
- Sponsor a child
- Create some sort of fundraiser for a charity
- Clock 250 volunteer hours in 365 days (hours: 0/250, days: 0/365)
- Adopt an animal from a shelter that is unwanted for some reason
- Donate 1,000,000 grains of rice through FreeRice (grains donated: 3,100/1,000,000)
- Pay for a stranger's meal anonymously
INSANE:
- Go parasailing, hangliding, skydiving, or something that mimics flying through the air!
- Go scuba diving
- Travel by myself to a place I've never been to, outside of any major international cities, where I know nobody and know none of the language, and stay there for two weeks or more
- Show up at an airport with money, passport, and luggage, then take the first flight I can


Key/Status:
- Completed: 0
- In progress: 11
- Haven't started: 39
- Total: 50

Some more goals...eheh?

Ahaha. More goals to add to my list of stuff I wanna do in my life! ^_^;; I'm also adding a new category, since I think it's also important...although I think some of the stuff in health/personal could also go in this. It's called "impression", which is for the things I want to do to (hopefully) make the world a better place when I leave it than when I found it.

So here are the new additions (I'll make another post after this which will be the "master list" that will get edited):

CREATIVITY:
- Make 1000 cranes, and hang them together (like people in Japan always do)
- Think up and create a regularly-updating themed blog/website/something of that ilk
IMPRESSION:
- Donate blood
- Donate over $500 to one charity
- Help take out invasive plants and plant native ones
- Spend a day of walking around wherever I am and picking up trash
- Sponsor a child
- Create some sort of fundraiser for a charity (ideally: publish a book and donate all/most of the profits to an organization or charity that has some connection to the plot)
- Clock 250 volunteer hours in a year
- Adopt an animal from a shelter that is unwanted for some reason (i.e. too old, a physical/medical problem, deformity, personality trait - but one I feel I can handle)

Whoo! My first "hate mail"! :D

Okay, so it stung a little bit...but hey, a wry little smile still spread on my face after the initial sting began to fade away.

See, I have a bunch of friends who've been really supportive of my writing, and since they all have Facebook...you get the picture, right? I have quite a few friends who post poems and little bits of creative writing in their notes, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon with bits and pieces of stuff for my novels.

And then I get this in my honesty box!

"u kno
i dun think nebody relli cares about ur urban legend or myth or whatnot.... its not that interesting and its pretty damn unoriginal. so if u can stop postin notes and spammin my note box.... then ya....

y not write stories more mature for ur age......."

HAHAHAHAHA YESSSSS FLAME! :D See, this means that somebody cares enough to not ignore my notes, but to actually go through the trouble of ANONYMOUSLY sending me a message telling me that they suck...you get it, right? It means people are at least noticing it.

Kind of like how some authors think the greatest honor is not to win an award or get on the NY Times bestseller list, but to get their books banned. First step to getting banned! Hahahah.

You know...maybe I should post a note in retaliation...hmmmm.

Goals in General

Wow, this whole Big, Fun, Scary Adventure thing has really gotten my mind thinking about goals. I've come across so many people's lists of goals, and seeing what they want to accomplish in a month, in a year, in 1001 days...well, it's gotten me thinking of so many things that I want to accomplish, too!

Now, I don't want to add TOO many things to this year's list, or tweak it any more than I already have - that would just be a little stupid. I also think I should hold off on randomly making one of those Mission 101 lists (the one where you think up 101 goals you want to accomplish in 1001 days - which, as one person calculated, is a period of about 2 years and 9 months), since I don't want to end up with a rushed list (or an artificial one).

So maybe I'll just compile some goals in general...maybe on a special date or something, I'll bring together 101 goals I'd like to do in 1001 days. I mean, 2 years and 9 months is a long time, and will take me out of high school. In fact, if I started today (which I won't), I'll probably have already gotten so used to not being in high school, I'll barely be able to remember it as "present day"! Kind of like how it is with middle school...ahahah. ^_^;;

Perhaps it's because I have to go to school tomorrow after two weeks of winter break, and I'm on a break between an SAT practice test (3 hours and 45 minutes of FUN FUN FUN) and a review math assignment (and I hate math - and have a test on Wednesday) that I feel like anything is possible as long as I write it down as a goal RIGHT NOW...

I don't know.

But it might be nice to write down some goals for...I don't really know what sort of time period. A couple years? By the end of high school? 1001 days? By the end of college? By the birth/adoption of my first child? By the time I die? I don't know. Maybe, for these, I'll try to keep it down to a few years or less. Some of these super-long-term goals seem...a bit daunting. I'm not even sure if I know what to think up for them! (I mean, I'll probably live quite a few more decades, unless I reach an unlikely and untimely demise at, like, 30 or something - which would suck. I DON'T WANT TO DIE AT 30, THANKYOUVERYMUCH.)

SO ANYWAY! Since I've been compiling all my goals down in this blog, I guess I should continue to add any goals I think up here. Goals, ideas...it seems like a good place. Easier to type sometimes than it is to write in my journal. :P

So...some new goals, in fancy little sections for easy labeling (I hope):

TRAVEL
- Go to somewhere in every non-Antarctica continent (need to go to: South America, Africa, Europe, Australia) (have been to: North America, Asia)...and, if Antarctic travel becomes more widespread, then I'll go there :P
- Go to every country in the United Kingdom (I haven't ever been to Europe, by the way)
- Go to Italy
- Go to Japan for a month or more
- Go to New Zealand AND Australia (not just one!)
- Go back to Wyoming (Grant Teton area)
- Go back to Arizona and Utah (or Southwest in general) and STAY AWHILE
- See more of California - especially the far north and the far south - before I move out of state (either in college or after)
- Be able to fill a photo book with 100 photos of National Parks (or Monuments, etc.) I've been to - but with no more than 1 photo per park (so basically...go to 100 parks)
- Go on an overnight train trip through the western United States
CREATIVITY
- Take photos of everything I love about the town and surrounding area I live in before I leave for college
- Start and fill up a "collection book"
- Write multiple novel drafts each year!
- Compile photo books of the things that mean a lot to me
- Get published (eventually...something...right?)
- Make a book (maybe even the paper, too), and use it as a journal - even if it means writing on LINELESS PAGES (omg... :P )
- Draw some sort of thing in sequential art - even if the art itself sucks
EDUCATION
- Take a class in creative writing
- Take a class in photography or drawing or some sort of enjoyable art!
- Become fluent in Japanese (I've been studying for 5 years - but the classes are too easy)
- Learn Mandarin
- Learn at least one of the following: Korean, Cantonese, Arabic, Italian
- Study abroad somewhere! Anywhere!
HEALTH/PERSONAL
- Become very fit...
- Become a vegetarian for a month or more
- Tell someone I like that I like them
- Go on a date
- Either have or adopt a child (umm...this one is long-term, okay? :P )
- Live, for a year or more, somewhere where they get actual snow (and it would be nice if it stayed on the ground, so I would have to learn how to deal with it)
- Be able to live by myself for an extended period of time (like, not even with a roommate)
INSANE
- Go parasailing, hangliding, skydiving, or something that mimics flying through the air!
- Go scuba diving
- Travel by myself to a place I've never been to, outside of any major international cities, where I know nobody and know none of the language, and stay there for two weeks or more (such as...like...somewhere in rural Africa)

I'll probably edit or add to this later, but I'm 17 minutes late to starting my math assignment. Gaah, I hate math. >_<

12 for 12...eheh?

So like...I know I already have my ten goals for the year (and I've already kind of added more to one of them so I could add some drawing if I wanted - this IS a BFS challenge, after all!)...but I saw some stuff about 365 (or 366, since 2008 is a leap year) and kinda wanted to do that, too...after all, it's a BFS challenge! :)

But then I realized that it was January 4, and it just seemed a little wrong to get involved with a 366 blog on the FOURTH DAY OF THE YEAR. I mean, what would happen to those three pictures from January 1-3? Would I just take an extra three pictures on the 4th? Or would I pick three days for the year when I would take three pictures? Or would I just finish my "year" on the 3rd of 2009?

My OCD-like self, nitpicky as always, decided that this was a bad idea, and I would just end up killing off more brain cells than needed. But since I was looking at the thread about 365 blogging on NaNoWriMo, I happened to stumble upon the second post of the thread, with was about 12 for 12 blogging.

This sort of blog seemed to suit my OCD calendar much better, since it involved taking twelve pictures on the twelfth of every month, and I had a whole 'nother week to prepare for my first day. Now, I have to admit, my obsessive nature is disappointed that I can't start taking pictures RIGHT NOW, but whatever. It should be fun. :)

So in addition to my other goals, I now have this thing. I figure that if I really like it, I can move into 365 blogging for 2009 (or maybe in addition to another 12 for 12 project). Oh, and if I succeed with my twelve pictures on every twelfth of the month, I'm going to put them into one of those iPhoto books that you can get as a holiday present for myself. :D I can't wait!

I've always admired photographers and their stunning pictures. Right now, my calendar for the year is a National Geographic one of twelve national parks. The pictures are absolutely stunning and inspiring, and I can't wait to maybe go somewhere stunning nearby and attempt to take pictures like the National Geographic photographers did. Maybe I'll take a picture of the calendar to share as one of my 144 pictures this year. ;)

Anyway, if anybody reads THIS blog, and wants to see my 12 for 12 blog (which I decided to name "Twelve for Twelve in Coastal California" for lack of anything better coming to mind), then mosey on over here: http://annie-12-12.blogspot.com/

Wish me luck, everyone! I've marked all the twelfths on my calendar in red...but I really hope I remember! ^_^;;

Year of Big, Fun, Scary Adventures (AKA 2008)

Yup. I'm doing it. :D Anyway, here is what I said on the forums for BFS at NaNoWriMo:

"I think I'll do this this year. :) I always mean to make resolutions, but I never write them down or try to make serious goals...so I guess this is a good way to do it.

Anyway, here is a list. I'm going to put 10 items on it, and if I can truly accomplish 5 of them by the end of 2008, I think I'll consider this Big, Fun, Scary Adventure year a success. (I don't know if that's self-assuring or just sad...)

My list (off the top of my head on January 2...oops):

1. Start AND complete the first drafts of two novels by the end of the year - one of which (or maybe even not!) will be a NaNo novel in November. And do at least one of them "properly", with an outline and some ideas of characters, settings, and where I'm going.

2. Participate in and WIN Script Frenzy for the first time. As of right now...I know absolutely nothing about writing scripts. I know I want to write a movie script (I suppose I should refer to it as a "screenplay"), but other than that, I know nothing (not even what it will be about). So I suppose this goal involves figuring out how to go about writing a script and figuring out what I'll be writing about in the few months I have before April Fools' Day.

3. Exercise at least two times a week (and REGULARLY). This is hard for me because of my busy schedule, but I really need to get in shape (at least somewhat) and slim down (at least a little). I'm not fat by any standards, but I'm not stick-like, and I don't really want to run the risk of falling into the opposite extreme.

4. Write in my journal at least once a week with a (weekly) total of seven pages. For EVERY week of the year. Even if I miss one week, I'll consider this goal a failure. I considered doing the "write at least one page every day" thing, since if I really focus I can get a page done in five minutes or less, but I've had some crazy days before. So I figure seven pages per week is more realistic, but gives the same result and is still a bit daunting. I'd better get writing. :)

5. Write at least one short story, concept piece, scene-like short, or other form of creative writing each week. Most of these (or maybe all) can be answers to creative writing prompts - so "lists" or poems count, too. But one per week! (Or more.)

6. Enter at least one writing contest AND submit at least one short story to the school literary magazine. And they can't be the same story!

7. Talk to people more! Be more social! I want to hang out with friends on the weekends instead of keep to myself all the time (or spend time with parents for lack of anything better to do). I guess a quantitative goal would be...at least three social activities per month? I dunno...just...be more social and friendly. :)

8. This one is kinda vague for all reading but me (since it's personal), but become friends with a certain person, or at least talk to them more. I'm really shy, and our circles seem to avoid each other, but I figure I can at least make an effort. By the end of the school year, I want name recognition! >:(

9. Study more! Have homework started by half an hour after I get home, unless something weird happens (like I get sick). Keep an A in English and Japanese for the rest of the year, and it would be good to have an A in one of the three other core classes (Math Honors, AP History, Accelerated Physics). Oh, and not freaking out about grades and school (coughagaincough) would be good, too.

10. Get the job I want for the summer, and have lots of fun during it! :) But even if I don't get the specific job I want, I should still find a way to have fun doing whatever I have to do. And again, be more social with my coworkers, although I guess I already had this goal. :P

Yup-yuuuup. :) Lots of writing stuff! Better snap to it!"

So yeah. In short, with a 1-5 hardness scale (with 1 as the easiest, 5 as the hardest):

1. Two novels (including/plus NaNoWriMo '08) (2)
2. Script Frenzy '08 (3)
3. Regular exercising (twice a week) (3)
4. Regular journaling (seven pages per week) (2)
5. Regular creative writing (one piece per week) (2)
6. One contest + one submission (2)
7. More socializing (2)
8. "Progress" (4)
9. More studying/earlier start on homework/"good grades" (4)
10. Summer job (2)

Eheh. I have no 1's or 5's. ^_^;; I don't know whether that's optimistic, pessimistic, or...whatever...I KNOW! I'll order them in terms of hardness (with 1 as the easiest)! So how about THIS one:

1. Regular journaling
2. Regular creative writing
3. Summer job
4. Two novels
5. More socializing
6. One contest + one submission
7. Script Frenzy
8. Regular exercising
9. "Progress"
10. More studying

I guess this all boils down to better time management. ^_^;; I think the first three will get accomplished in some form or another, with the two novels and Script Frenzy being other likely contenders. I really hope I can accomplish at least one or two of the rest, though, with 5/9/10 being very important to me (especially 9...haha)!

WISH ME LUUUUUUUUCK! 8D