What could it possibly be? Well, for those of you who have done it before, you could probably give a pretty good gander at it. If you haven't, the likelihood is that you probably think this is some weird writing tip or the craziest lucky number ever known. Well, it's neither. It's masochism. That's what this number is.
Today is November 30, 2010. I know I was going to follow the pattern of putting the date in the title but I thought the one above was more appropriate for this particular entry.
Anyways, to the point, short and sweet, no more beating around the bush. Today is the final day of the 50,000 word challenge, NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writer's Month. Have you guessed it yet? As of 9:20 P.M., I completed the challenge with 50,261 words. Now then, as to why this is short and sweet.
I'm in the middle of a chapter.
ThishasbeenAlexiaonfinishingNaNoWriMonowIhavetogetbacktowork.
Bye!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
August 24, 2010
Inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere. You just have to be observant.
Alas, here I am, stuck in the terrible loop of procrastination. And then, I realize that there is a lot I really want to write about. So now it's time to get up and get to work. Starting with blogging(for me, it really is a type of writing. My fingers are still flying across the keyboard and ideas are pouring out.)
So let's look at my recent inspirations that may have actually been more constant then I originally thought:
1) When I'm at work (good ol' Tim Hortons), all I can think about is holding paper and pencil in my hands and getting to it. Writer's addiction. Sadly, since over half of my work days have been dedicated to baking, I can't even take a break dedicated to writing lest the store's food be laid waste to while I'm gone for 15 minutes. In the end, my (only) break works into: 5-10 minutes eating, 10-20 minutes filling out the baker sheet. Obviously, not the environment for writing.
But a good environment for inspiration. Thank you memory. I take a large amount of mental notes when I'm working. Especially when I'm working up front with the rest of the staff. We have a very eccentric afternoon shift and they offer great characteristics for all kinds of characters. But it's not just the staff. Our store is located at a bypass which means a lot of people from out of town come to our store. This gives me the chance to observe different ethnic groups, a wide variety of caffeine addictions, personality types, moods, types of hangovers, physical appearances, language barriers, fashion, conflicts with customers, and conflicts customers share. Is it any surprise that writers like to go to coffee shops?(For more reasons than to just get coffee)
2) What happened while I was procrastinating. This one is far more specific.
It was only a couple of days ago and I was up late as usual. I was think, think, thinking about my story since the Headwaters Writers' Guild meeting earlier. I still couldn't bring myself to write so I tried to distract my mind by playing a game I apparently(according to the save file) hadn't played in almost two years. The PS2 version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone(darn the store for not having Philosopher's Stone). At the time, I didn't think about how long it had been since I had played the game and simply put the disk right in without checking it. And that's where little Harry's nightmarish first day of magical school began. (Personally, mine started earlier having to go through cut scene after cut scene with a phantom thing showing up. It looked like it was trying to come out of the television.)
Harry descended the stairs and reached the Gryffindor common room. His head felt heavy and he could barely listen to Hermione as she told him what class they had first today. He couldn't help but notice the lag between her movement and what she was saying as she introduced him to the notice board. He turned around only to be caught in another, rather one-sided dialogue with Ron. Ron ran off, far ahead of Harry. Harry followed and went through the portrait of the Fat Lady. He ran forward, only meaning to catch up with Ron, who was nowhere in sight.
He didn't realize the blanket of nothingness until it was too late. As he passed through the blanket he froze in mid-air. He could only move his head, although, he wished he hadn't. He could see the secret passageway he had found the night before. A impossibility since there should have been an entire room in front of that. He looked to the other side and saw that there was suddenly floor. And he wasn't standing on it. Somehow, he was frozen mid-jump. The floor wasn't any better to look at. There were outlines where he knew the bookcases were meant to be and the rug looked like could belong to any of England's haunted mansions. When he could finally tear his eyes away from it, he saw the ceiling had appeared. Though the most distinct feature was the chandeliers. It took only a slight turn of the head and he could see one of the talking portraits hanging high on a wall, staring at him.
At last, the rest of the room had reappeared and he was released. He finished his jump and landed on the carpet with a thud. He looked around and saw the students chatting as though nothing had happened. Ron told him to hurry up. Harry ran with him, intent on staying right next to his friend. He opened the door to the grand staircase and they both walked into the nothingness. This time, Ron had stayed with him and they both stared in horror as the walls were first to materialize. The walls were covered in talking portraits. The fright though, was much shorter and they were soon standing on the stone staircase. Harry's heavy head suddenly became light and he passed out.
Only to wake up again back in the boys' dormitory.
Okay, so the last part was actually me restarting the game after cleaning the disk. And the heavy head was actually mine. I've had a headache for the past week or so that won't go away. Also, does this count as a fanfic? That would be kind of sad. My first fanfic and it's only purpose was for inspiration for my real writing. Meh, either way it was fun to write and it has a few good ideas sitting in it. For example, the nightmarish portrait, the possible false awakening at the end and so on.
3) A little fun with The Oracle never hurts(I hope). Actually, I decided to give my rune set a try. Admittedly, I only got it for the book since it offers a short history on runes, interpretations and how they're used. But, hey, I got runes and bag with the book so I figured I would use them. I decided to look at my story as the issue and took the 3 rune approach. My end result:
1st- I've got something good going on and I'm obviously interested in continuing it.
2nd- I have doubts about what I'm doing and they are causing me to be held up.
3rd- Change the focus of the story. And apparently, it's not just the story. It is me who needs to change. I must grab hold of a better work ethic and get to it.
That was actually inspiring for me because I could finally clearly state what I was having a problem with. So whether there really is a supernatural power behind it or if I was able to finally (subconsciously) reorganize my thoughts so that I could consciously understand it, the process made me want to write. I actually feel a bit more confident about tackling the blank page now.
I certainly hope that you, the reader, are feeling the same.
That's all for this entry and remember:
Be observant.
Ashley ^.^
So let's look at my recent inspirations that may have actually been more constant then I originally thought:
1) When I'm at work (good ol' Tim Hortons), all I can think about is holding paper and pencil in my hands and getting to it. Writer's addiction. Sadly, since over half of my work days have been dedicated to baking, I can't even take a break dedicated to writing lest the store's food be laid waste to while I'm gone for 15 minutes. In the end, my (only) break works into: 5-10 minutes eating, 10-20 minutes filling out the baker sheet. Obviously, not the environment for writing.
But a good environment for inspiration. Thank you memory. I take a large amount of mental notes when I'm working. Especially when I'm working up front with the rest of the staff. We have a very eccentric afternoon shift and they offer great characteristics for all kinds of characters. But it's not just the staff. Our store is located at a bypass which means a lot of people from out of town come to our store. This gives me the chance to observe different ethnic groups, a wide variety of caffeine addictions, personality types, moods, types of hangovers, physical appearances, language barriers, fashion, conflicts with customers, and conflicts customers share. Is it any surprise that writers like to go to coffee shops?(For more reasons than to just get coffee)
2) What happened while I was procrastinating. This one is far more specific.
It was only a couple of days ago and I was up late as usual. I was think, think, thinking about my story since the Headwaters Writers' Guild meeting earlier. I still couldn't bring myself to write so I tried to distract my mind by playing a game I apparently(according to the save file) hadn't played in almost two years. The PS2 version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone(darn the store for not having Philosopher's Stone). At the time, I didn't think about how long it had been since I had played the game and simply put the disk right in without checking it. And that's where little Harry's nightmarish first day of magical school began. (Personally, mine started earlier having to go through cut scene after cut scene with a phantom thing showing up. It looked like it was trying to come out of the television.)
Harry descended the stairs and reached the Gryffindor common room. His head felt heavy and he could barely listen to Hermione as she told him what class they had first today. He couldn't help but notice the lag between her movement and what she was saying as she introduced him to the notice board. He turned around only to be caught in another, rather one-sided dialogue with Ron. Ron ran off, far ahead of Harry. Harry followed and went through the portrait of the Fat Lady. He ran forward, only meaning to catch up with Ron, who was nowhere in sight.
He didn't realize the blanket of nothingness until it was too late. As he passed through the blanket he froze in mid-air. He could only move his head, although, he wished he hadn't. He could see the secret passageway he had found the night before. A impossibility since there should have been an entire room in front of that. He looked to the other side and saw that there was suddenly floor. And he wasn't standing on it. Somehow, he was frozen mid-jump. The floor wasn't any better to look at. There were outlines where he knew the bookcases were meant to be and the rug looked like could belong to any of England's haunted mansions. When he could finally tear his eyes away from it, he saw the ceiling had appeared. Though the most distinct feature was the chandeliers. It took only a slight turn of the head and he could see one of the talking portraits hanging high on a wall, staring at him.
At last, the rest of the room had reappeared and he was released. He finished his jump and landed on the carpet with a thud. He looked around and saw the students chatting as though nothing had happened. Ron told him to hurry up. Harry ran with him, intent on staying right next to his friend. He opened the door to the grand staircase and they both walked into the nothingness. This time, Ron had stayed with him and they both stared in horror as the walls were first to materialize. The walls were covered in talking portraits. The fright though, was much shorter and they were soon standing on the stone staircase. Harry's heavy head suddenly became light and he passed out.
Only to wake up again back in the boys' dormitory.
Okay, so the last part was actually me restarting the game after cleaning the disk. And the heavy head was actually mine. I've had a headache for the past week or so that won't go away. Also, does this count as a fanfic? That would be kind of sad. My first fanfic and it's only purpose was for inspiration for my real writing. Meh, either way it was fun to write and it has a few good ideas sitting in it. For example, the nightmarish portrait, the possible false awakening at the end and so on.
3) A little fun with The Oracle never hurts(I hope). Actually, I decided to give my rune set a try. Admittedly, I only got it for the book since it offers a short history on runes, interpretations and how they're used. But, hey, I got runes and bag with the book so I figured I would use them. I decided to look at my story as the issue and took the 3 rune approach. My end result:
1st- I've got something good going on and I'm obviously interested in continuing it.
2nd- I have doubts about what I'm doing and they are causing me to be held up.
3rd- Change the focus of the story. And apparently, it's not just the story. It is me who needs to change. I must grab hold of a better work ethic and get to it.
That was actually inspiring for me because I could finally clearly state what I was having a problem with. So whether there really is a supernatural power behind it or if I was able to finally (subconsciously) reorganize my thoughts so that I could consciously understand it, the process made me want to write. I actually feel a bit more confident about tackling the blank page now.
I certainly hope that you, the reader, are feeling the same.
That's all for this entry and remember:
Be observant.
Ashley ^.^
Monday, July 26, 2010
July 26, 2010--The Goals of Alchemy
It is believed that the alchemists' strove for three goals in their practice:
1) The transmutation of base metals to gold, often referred to as changing "lead to gold".
2) The preparation for the "elixir of longevity", often connected to the philosopher's stone
3) The achievement of ultimate wisdom.
In reality, these three goals have long since been the dreams of all of humankind since the ideas of personal possessions and status were intertwined:
1) Wealth
2) Immortality
3) Understanding where nothing is left unknown.
These goals come from fears:
1) Fear of the power above (the servant vs. the master)
2) Fear of death
3) Fear of the unknown
Meh, one of those fears is mostly concerned in Western mythology. There are a number of cultures that accept death. However, it is difficult to find any life form that does not encounter a power struggle. Also, I don't know about anyone else, but I rather appreciate a healthy fear of the unknown. Otherwise we would not strive to better ourselves and we would still think that the Earth was flat or that there was nothing beyond our planet.
To put it a different way, these three goals are the balance of life. They are the dreams of flourishing societies and the nightmares of those about to fall. We have new bonds over these goals and we have wars over them. We move forward because of them, and we die because of them.
I'll stop there, since it probably all seems morbid. But there is a function in our body that works on this very premise. Oxygen. We can only survive a couple of minutes without oxygen. We require it for all cellular activity. However, oxygen is the very thing that starts the break down of bodily systems.
Ever heard of the saying, "You're dying the moment you're born"? Maybe not in those exact words, but that is the idea.
So then, you must be wondering, what about alchemy? That's supposed to be the reason for this blog, right?
Something like that.
Actually, I called this The Alchemist's Corner because it seemed to cliché/over-used/boring to call it "The Writer's Corner".
I bet you weren't expecting that.
Well then. What does writing have to do with alchemy?
The goals are relatively the same:
1) Change ideas into full-fledged stories
2) Make a lasting impression
3) Achieve a greater wisdom by the end
Also, alchemy is the separation and combination of ingredients to make substances with unusual or simply unique properties.
Writing is the separation and combination of ideas, sentences, paragraphs, etc. to make stories that possess unusual/unique properties that appeal to the audience.
So there you go. In a round about way, we have finally reached the purpose of this blog.
Here you will follow me on my own path of discovery as I share some tips, tricks, knowledge and writings to stir things up in the writer's world.
...
Ah, man! Why didn't I just call it that?
Ashley =)
1) The transmutation of base metals to gold, often referred to as changing "lead to gold".
2) The preparation for the "elixir of longevity", often connected to the philosopher's stone
3) The achievement of ultimate wisdom.
In reality, these three goals have long since been the dreams of all of humankind since the ideas of personal possessions and status were intertwined:
1) Wealth
2) Immortality
3) Understanding where nothing is left unknown.
These goals come from fears:
1) Fear of the power above (the servant vs. the master)
2) Fear of death
3) Fear of the unknown
Meh, one of those fears is mostly concerned in Western mythology. There are a number of cultures that accept death. However, it is difficult to find any life form that does not encounter a power struggle. Also, I don't know about anyone else, but I rather appreciate a healthy fear of the unknown. Otherwise we would not strive to better ourselves and we would still think that the Earth was flat or that there was nothing beyond our planet.
To put it a different way, these three goals are the balance of life. They are the dreams of flourishing societies and the nightmares of those about to fall. We have new bonds over these goals and we have wars over them. We move forward because of them, and we die because of them.
I'll stop there, since it probably all seems morbid. But there is a function in our body that works on this very premise. Oxygen. We can only survive a couple of minutes without oxygen. We require it for all cellular activity. However, oxygen is the very thing that starts the break down of bodily systems.
Ever heard of the saying, "You're dying the moment you're born"? Maybe not in those exact words, but that is the idea.
So then, you must be wondering, what about alchemy? That's supposed to be the reason for this blog, right?
Something like that.
Actually, I called this The Alchemist's Corner because it seemed to cliché/over-used/boring to call it "The Writer's Corner".
I bet you weren't expecting that.
Well then. What does writing have to do with alchemy?
The goals are relatively the same:
1) Change ideas into full-fledged stories
2) Make a lasting impression
3) Achieve a greater wisdom by the end
Also, alchemy is the separation and combination of ingredients to make substances with unusual or simply unique properties.
Writing is the separation and combination of ideas, sentences, paragraphs, etc. to make stories that possess unusual/unique properties that appeal to the audience.
So there you go. In a round about way, we have finally reached the purpose of this blog.
Here you will follow me on my own path of discovery as I share some tips, tricks, knowledge and writings to stir things up in the writer's world.
...
Ah, man! Why didn't I just call it that?
Ashley =)
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