What's a HUGE YA book I've never read? Twilight!
I'm not sure how I've gotten away with this for so long, but I'm going to fix this. I'll blog about the novel next week (I'll be done by then) and tell the whole world (a.k.a. my teacher) what I think.
I'm worried about the girly factor, but whatever. I want to see what all the hype is about. I might even enjoy reading about the lovey dovey dove, too! But I don't think so, because I've never been into that sort of thing...
BTW: I saw the movies, and Edward kind of creeps me out. Just throwing that out there.
ANYWAY.
Life is good. I took an unexpected trip to IDAHO this weekend, and that was fun. I also went Rock climbing! It was at an intense indoor place, and I had to tie my own knots for safety! Basically, I was dangling who knows HOW many feet with a rope I tied, and my friend was holding me down with a rope SHE tied! Seriously, the place was legit. The whole thing scared me to death!
And I'm going again next week. No big deal.
I was accepted into the Disney College Program... again! Woo! Program number two, here I come!
My personal writing is kind of lame right now. I'm still waiting for query responses.
Ally Condie visited our class! That was cool. It was neat to hear her talk about her books. I know it's weird, but when I hear about an author, I never think of them as a person I could talk to. To me, an author is a name and a picture, and though they seem down to Earth and legit, they're not in reach. But when Ally Condie came to the class, she was dressed pretty hip, and I realized she was real, and not just a picture with magically created books every so often! I was like, wow... you're like 5 2 or something. Do you ever think about Stephenie Meyer's height? No. You don't. Why? Because you know she's real, and she seems like a real woman, but she's too epic to have a height. I don't know if that makes sense, but the author visits for my ENG320R class are blowing my mind.
Anyway. That was my week.

I re-read favorite childhood novel, and it did NOT stood the test of time. It was interesting to look at the book with a new perspective.
Ridley Pearson's The Kingdom Keepers was released in 2005, and I ATE IT UP! Seriously, I read the thing soooo many times when I was younger. It had a special place on my headboard, and it's the only book I read when I should have been sleeping.
The book is all about a group of kids and their adventures in Disney World. They battle a group of Disney Villains called the Overtakers.
Lets be clear on something.
I love Disney World, and I worked there. This summer, I was working or at the park EVERY DAY for three and a half months, so I know the place pretty well. Somehow, I did not get bored of it.
The book FULL of errors. I'm not talking a few things here and there; the book was totally inconsistent. Tons of things about the Disney Parks were flat out wrong. The characters used the same style of dialogue, even though they were distinctly different personalities. And from what I remember from the sequels, the characters are inconsistent.
But the book is lots of fun!
Ridley Pearson did create an entertaining product, even if it wasn't the most refined thing I've ever read. He seemed to base his facts on kids views of the Disney Parks, and didn't actually write about the true facts. I can see why he did that. Heck, when I was a kid, that's one of the things that made the book so magical. However, the characters bugged me because they seemed like five versions of the same person.
Anyway.
I edited my middle grade short story this week. Mostly everyone's comments were helpful., and I tried to make it stronger. Nothing too exciting.
That's really it.

Last week was a midterm party, though it was only the first wave. Why I have TWO separate waves of midterms, I don't know. Aren't the tests called MIDterms, like the MIDDLE of the term? Or, does it mean MID, as in not in the middle.
Either way, wave one is over. Wave two is coming up in a few weeks.
I love college.

For class, I wrote a sports short story, but decided I hated it at the last minute. I was experimenting with different styles, and came to realize my story was the worst thing I'd ever written! So, the day before the draft was due, I whipped up a unique science fiction concept. The story still allowed me experiment with different elements, and I'll ask the class if they think I was successful. This story is much better, and I feel will help me grow as a writer.

On Saturday, I went to a bookstore and looked in the kids section. A whole bunch of pre-teeny boppers were shopping around, and it kind of made me nervous. Would they like my stuff? Obviously, I'm targeting them and all, but seeing them shopping it's a scary feeling. Okay... I didn't go in and WATCH them, per say. I was in the section and saw what they were doing. Anyway... I noticed almost all of them stopped to look at Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Then again, it was on display at the front, so that probably had something to do with it.

That's all this week. Woooo.

This week was CRAZY!
I mean it! CRAZY! I had a reunion with fellow Disney College Program cast members, and we did some CRAZY STUFF!!!
.....
Okay, we had a bonfire, hung out, watched a scary movie, and a whole bunch of stuff like that. But when you've been doing schoolwork all week, anything else feels foreign. AND CRAZY!
Anyway.
My ENG320R class is fun too! Before I enrolled, I'd pretty much figured out my voice. I'm not PERFECT by any stretch of the imagination, but I know what I like and what I don't.
Soooo... I started out with the mindset that I'd experiment in my class. Do things that pushed my comfort zone, like trying new writing styles and genres. For instance, we had to write a MG short story, so I wrote about sports. I've never written anything about sports before, but I figure the best place to experiment with genres is in the classroom!
But then I realized... there's a reason I've never written sports, or whatever else I was planning to do. I don't like writing it!
Sorry, swimmer story. I really didn't have too much fun developing you.
See? The class taught me something valuable; no more swimmers.
But now, I'm at war with myself. To experiment or develop my current style farther? THAT is the question.
Option two sounds best.

If anyone READS this, comments?

This past week was super crazy!!!! I'm not going to say why, but I'm excited to see how things turn out. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed. Well. Anyway. I bought Matched, and I'm kind of addicted. Actually, I'm only on page 90, but the thing is crazy good. At first, I was thinking the society was kind of cool--heck, I'd LOVE it if someone told me who I was most compatible with! But as I kept reading, I started to get creeped out. The Society = danger zone. I wouldn't want someone to exert that much control over my life. I'm starting to see why Matched is called a dystopian novel. Oh yeah. The book cover? You know how you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover? Well, I did. The Matched cover is awesome, and I love everything about it. I've never fallen in love with a book COVER before... that's kind of weird... but I can't even tell you how much I like this one. Well. That's all I have to say this week.

draft

I read a bunch of picture books this week, and I didn't enjoy each one. In particular, I observed climaxes, watching how the author used and didn't use it. For example, a whole bunch of books didn't have climaxes, or had very weak ones. Sometimes, the story worked; other elements, such as the tone or ideas, were clever enough to keep the book entertaining and engaging. However, other anti-climax stories fell flat on their faces, and were kind of awful. Still, other picture books had clearly defined climaxes, which often made the reading experience more enjoyable.

While reviewing my picture book, I realized I did not have a clearly drawn climax, as it didn't fit my story. However, this ended up being a weakness. With my picture book, I attempted to experiment, zeroing in on a snapshot of life rather than capturing a whole story. While I kept my plot untouched during edits, I realize I never want to do anything without a climax again. I feel the setup works for my intentions, though I never want to attempt an anti-climatic story ever again. In general, it's a really stupid idea, and I now know that through personal experience.

I also read the novel Missing in Action. My first impressions were largely negative, though I completely changed my mind when I reached the ending. The whole thing was full of heart, and I'm excited to discuss the elements of the work in class. Missing in Action made me think about the world in new ways, and I'm eager to hear others thoughts.

Writing Blog, Post One!

For my writing 320R class, I was required to write a picture book. Since I’m unfamiliar with the genre, I took a magical trip to the children’s section of the library and tried to observe the

market. Basically, I read a whole slew of picture books, aiming to gain a better understanding of the craft. Through observing the works, I attempted to understand what worked well and what didn’t. My overall goal was to learn what picture books were like, and my
sampling gave me a general idea.

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner was my favorite, thanks to its unique style and fun storyline. Another good read was Marette on the High Wire, which whisked me away to a realistic fantasy. Of course, I found a few boring books, which I promptly put back on the shelf. Through reading the books, I thought of a style I could develop, and observed picture book elements I disliked.

In my writing journal, I wrote the following passage: Quite frankly, I can’t tell if my picture book is stupid or actually good, so I’m anxious to hear what my class has to say. Basically, I meant that I need feedback from others to gain an honest understanding of my manuscript. I may believe something is well written, but it could actually be awful. I hope the peer-reviewing system helps me produce the best work possible, exposing me to new ideas that will help strengthen my story.

I’m eager for class feedback, and
can’t wait to see how my picture book manuscript improves with feedback!