The countdown is on

One week til my MFA submissions are due. AHHHHH! I have SO much work to do this week. I need to come up with a new schedule to make sure I get everything done. So here goes:

Monday (today): work on 1st person version of story. Hopefully finish first draft.
Tuesday: Proof and finalize submission for pedagogy elective.
Wednesday: edit story. Think about: themes--are they brought up early and effectively? Scene--Is every scene fulfilling its purpose? Sentences--is there good rhythm? are long/short sentences used for a reason? Word choice: be careful of repitions.
Thursday: Proof and finalize reading critiques.
Friday: Proof story. Write cover letters. Mail packets!!!

MFAers--do you know if we're supposed to have our stuff to our advisor by the 6th, or is it OK to mail it on the 6th? That would give me a much-needed extra day. :)

Sunday Scribblings: My two cents

I'm happy to get to this Sunday scribbling on Friday, since this weekend will be a busy one, with a friend in town from the West coast, an all day folk concert to hit tomorrow, and a friend's baby shower on Sunday. So, here goes.

Just My Two Cents
I say it when I'm not confident in whatever will precede or follow.
I say it to mask the fact that whatever I said is important to me.
I say it to mask the fact that whatever I said should be important to you.
I say it to blunt criticism you need to hear.
I say it when I don't want to seem pushy, even though that's exactly what I want to be.
I say it too often.

Frustrated Friday

I'm feeling so anxious about my story today. I really just want to be done with it. One of the things that's frustrating is that in writing, you're never really done. There's always more you can do, which makes it compelling, but also difficult! And I'm never sure if I'm giving it my all. Without a distinct stopping point, it's hard to tell!

A great quote

I'm currently reading Phillip Roth's Everyman. While I'm not sure that I would recommend the book--it's a little heavy on exposition, light on scene for my taste (which, ironically, is the major problem in my own work)--I did just come across a brilliant line. The main character is talking to his painting students and he says, "Amateurs wait for inspiration. The rest of us get to work." I love that because really, if we all sat around waiting for something to inspire us, to be in the mood for writing/editing/what have you, then we'd be doing much more waiting than writing. The quote also makes a point that writing is a lot more work than most people imagine. It's not like the inspiration goddess comes and annoints us everyday and we just type her words.

Revise, revise, revise

I'm working on what seems like the 100th revision of my short story, but is probably really only the 3rd draft. As an exercise, I'm rewriting the story in the first person, to get Susan's voice down better. It seems to be working. I'm getting much more of a feel for her, and she's a different person than I originally thought--a little tougher, rougher around the edges. I like her. :)

One good thing about being an adult...

...the fact that when you're having a poopey Sunday, you can decide to have ice cream for dinner, which is exactly what I did last night.

Sunday Scribblings: Thief

Here's a meloncholy post for an overcast Sunday.

Who took my carefree days? When I slept until 11, loafed in my pajama for another few hours, ate dry cereal because I ran out of milk, and then when out to get a few beers with some friends. When I didn't worry at all. When I really believed and lived the stuff in those self-help books that said no matter what your circumstances, you have the choice to be happy or not, choose happy. When I felt like life was as vast as the ocean that I went to visit at least once a week. When I didn't worry about what I'd be when I grew up because that day was so far in the future I couldn't even see it with binoculars.

Who took them? I guess that would be me. The me that worries too much and sleeps too little. The me that never runs out of milk. The me that doesn't see so much choice in her emotions any longer. The me that hasn't been swimming all summer and feels much too much too grown up.

dialogue--help

OK, so now that I know what I have to do, I have to figure out how to do it. Here's where you come in, dear readers. Do you have any ideas as to how to write dialogue that's distinct to each character? Exercises, suggestions on people to read, etc. will all be greatly appreciated!

Short story workshopped

My writers' group workshopped my short story last night and gave me some ubber-helpful comments. My main tasks in this revision are:

• Make the dialogue more distinct to the characters
• Get the themes straight from the beginning
• Make Harold and Susan's relationship progress a little slower so as to be more realistic.
  

OK, I've got my marching orders, now I just have to figure out how to march!

But the best part of having the story workshopped was learning that, for the first time ever, I've created a short story that actually ends! Whoo-hoo!

A very productive evening

(Also known as why it is a good thing that Brian and I are in grad school at the same time)

Brian is in class on Monday and Wednesdays, so I can do work at night without feeling the pull of his presence, which is stronger than the pull of my computer on most days. Tonight I got an early jump on the evening when I got home a little before 5 when a doctor's appointment ran short. So after having a very nice walk with Chloe (sadly, the only exercise I'm getting lately), I wrote and wrote and wrote. Here's a list of the things I accomplished. I will refer to this list the next time I feel bad about not getting enough done.

1. I did the writing exercise that I posted below
2. I revised my first craft annotation thanks to some feedback from some very generous fellow MFAers.
   
3. I started my second craft annotation
4. I wrote a draft of my second "pretend class" presentation.
   

Now I will eat a mango and watch bad, bad TV. I think I deserve some mindless entertainment.

Names dilemma, part 2

I walk my dog, Chloe, in a cemetary park near my house. I know it sounds weird, but the Forest Hills Cemetary is my favorite place in Boston--it has a lake, sculptures, and lots of neat flowers and trees, as well as graves that date back to the 1800s. And some literary figures like Anne Sexton and ee cummings are buried there. I was walking there this afternoon and I started reading the names off the gravestones. Doing so made me think about my characters' names, and, per FC's brilliant idea, I thought I'd post some names I was considering in the hopes that readers would give me feedback about what you thought of when you heard the name. Here we go:

William
Sophia
Elizabeth

Syllabus

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm working on creating a syllabus for an as-yet pretend class that I hope to someday teach. I would love to hear comments on what people think of this progression of topics. The class will be college-level fiction, and will include some at-home reading, a short lecture, an exercise on the topic, and then a workshop. Did I miss any important topics? Are there ones I should skip?

Week 1— Introductions, Spotlight on: Beginnings

Week 2—Spotlight on: Reading as a writer

Week 3—Spotlight on: Getting to know your characters

Week 4—Spotlight on: Point of view

Week 5—Spotlight on: Dialogue

Week 6—Spotlight on: Plot

Week 7—Spotlight on: Narrative voice

Week 8—Spotlight on: Creating suspense

Week 9—Spotlight on: Metaphors and similes

Week 10—Spotlight on: Endings

Week 11—Spotlight on: Self-editing

Week 12—Spotlight on: Ways to keep yourself motivated/connected to a writerly environment

Falling behind

I was just looking over the schedule I posted here a while back (re my MFA program), and I realize I'm falling behind. I need to get a draft of my 2nd craft annotation and my 2nd class for my syllabus done by this weekend. I plan to do the craft anno tonight, and I guess I'll start the 2nd class soon. I'm finding it hard to be motivated on my interdisciplary project. Creating a syllabus for a fake class isn't as engaging as I thought it'd be. Any of my fellow MFAers in this boat?

Two wrongs rarely make a right

This exercise is thanks to JVS, who posted a writing game on her blog where people postedtwo sentences for others to use as the first and last in a story. Here are the sentences I got:

It was the way he looked at me.

and

Two wrongs rarely make a right.

And here's my writing:

It was the way he looked at me that made me walk over and sit at his table. He was alone, I was alone, and there were no other seats open in the entire bar. The look--given with his smile, with his eyes--was friendly, but not lascivious. It was the look I'd give a friend. Though I should've known that at night, in a bar, no look is that innocent.
"Come here often?" he joked. "I'm Michael."
"Kate," I said. "You don't mind if I join you?" Michael flagged down the waitress in response. I ordered a Corona, the only beer I liked and one that would help me forget the hot, humid air I had come here to escape.
I got down Michael's basics before my beer arrived: he was a consultant, in town for a meeting, staying at the hotel next door. He was from Tampa, so the current heatwave in Boston was nothing to him.
Halfway through my beer, he was still talking and had yet to ask me a single question. And my story was quite interesting, if I do say so myself. I was in town trying to solve my newest client's case: a Duxbury woman's husband had disappeared. She suspected foul play--on his part. He had cheated before, but had come back begging forgiveness after she kicked him out. She gave him another chance and six months later, poof, gone. She thought he might be staying at a hotel in Boston, so I had been scouting them out for the last few days, asking questions of the clerks, roaming the halls, checking out the bars, the pool, the computer rooms. No sign of him yet, but I had a feeling.
I finished my beer, and reached into my purse for my wallet.
"You're leaving?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, I have a long night ahead of me. Thanks for sharing your table." I slapped down a ten dollar bill and slung my purse over my shoulder.
"We could go to my room for another drink," Michael said.
"That's sweet, but I'm married," I lied.
"I am, too," Michael said, holding up his left hand.
I turned away. I looked back and said, "Two wrongs rarely make a right."

Character names

I have a new idea for a story (thanks to the $5 diet coke I bought at Fenway, which then kept me up all night, thinking of story ideas). But I'm stuck on naming my characters, a male and a female. So I thought I'd poll the blogosphere and see how people come up with character names. What's your method?

Disappointed

I'm disappointed in myself for not sticking to my write everyday schedule. I'm still getting work done, but I think it'd be better if I were writing more, just letting myself go, instead of focusing so much on one story. Ok, enough beating myself up. I'm off to see the Red Sox! (If I don't melt...)

Little big mouth

I'm trying to work on the end of my story, but my editor is in FULL FORCE. The little voice in my head keeps screaming, "But where is this going? Is that really going to help the story along?" God I hate her whiney little voice. Anyone have an open can of beer I can drown her in?

Sunday Scribbling: Baggage

I'm liking this Sunday Scribblings thing. I forgot how awesome it feels to freewrite, no editing, no judgements (or, at least in my case, fewer judgements. That critic in my head is fierce!)
So here's my piece. It doesn't end, but whatever.

Oh, and I thought I would post the brainstorming I used to get to my story idea.

Baggage=loaded word
Baggage=something that's undesirable to bring to a relationship, though it's also something that everyone brings to a relationship
Baggage=travel
Baggage=excitement of packing
Baggage=different packing styles
Baggage=mom always asking if I'm going to buy new clothes for trips.

Baggage
"Do you need new clothes?" This is the first question out of my mom's mouth when I tell her I'm going to Seattle to visit my college roommate.
Though I know to anticipate the question, it still annoys me. My mom loves to shop. She seems to truly believe she "needs" new clothes for every occassion, especially trips. Like she couldn't find a suitable outfit in the two closets worth of clothes that hang in what used to be my and my younger brother's bedroom.
"No, mom," I sigh. "Seattle's about the same temperature. I can wear there what I wear here."
"But still..." No matter how many times we have this conversation, she doesn't seem to care to grasp the fact that I don't like buying stuff for the sake of buying stuff (well, most of the time, anyway). And that even if I did, I'm on a budget, a word she will never understand the meaning of. How she managed to go 60 something years without knowing the state of her and my father's checking account amazes me.
"What suitcase will you bring?" she asks. Why she would care about such a trivial detail, I don't know. I do know I need to get off the phone soon, before I can no longer disguise the annoyance in my voice.
"The red one I got for my wedding."
"That small one? How will you fit all your stuff?"
"I don't like to check any baggage," I say. "It wastes too much time."
"Always in a hurry. I'll never understand you kids."

A day off is very productive!

Brian came up with a great way to spend this ridiculously hot day: we'd go to UMass Boston, where he's a student. The campus is on the water, and therefore cooler and very pretty. He sat inside the student center working while Chloe and I sat outside picnicing, playing ball, napping, and reading. Though this wasnt' a true day off because I did read a bunch of craft books and a book assigned by my advisor, it still felt like one and I wasn't thinking about my story at all. And of course, it's then that I discover what's wrong with it! Thinking about the concept of the denouement (sp?), I realized that I rushed mine. The climax happens right at the end of the story, and neither the characters nor the reader has time enough to process it before the story ends. I love it when I can be lazy and get work done.

More pressure

I'm submitting a draft of my short story to my writer's group today. I know it blows, but I'm sure feedback will help. Though now I feel like I need to resolve at least the first layer of issues today!