I am back at university for another semester of fun learning!
But actually, nerves and anxiety aside, I am pretty excited about all my courses. My profs all seem very nice and capable (some even crack jokes in class!), and we are slowly starting to move into doing “real” science and “real” math, which is fun. Also the chemistry labs look really cool this semester and my Computer Science textbook is FREE! (If you haven’t been to university, you don’t know how exciting that is.) Most of my textbooks carried over from last semester so I only had to spend like $200 on lab manuals and workbooks and stuff. WOO!
But I’m not here to ramble about my first day back in class. No, my dearest readers, I am here to present to you today Beautiful People’s January edition! Hosted by Cait and Skye. If you’re totally confused about what Beautiful People is, you should follow the links to their blogs because they explain it very nicely.
And now for the questions:
1. What were your writing achievements last year?
Despite spending three months last year working as a missionary in Europe and another four at university, I got a fair amount of writing done. I re-wrote the novel I had been working on for the past several years, which was incredibly satisfying, I did a word blitz one day and wrote an entire (horrible) 13,000 word short story in about 12 hours, and I pottered around on a couple other projects, though nothing is past the baby stages of 5,000 words. Oh, and I started a blog. *grins*
2. Tell us about your top priority writing project for this year?
None!
Ok, fine, that is a lie. I want to get about half of my sidekick/hero flip book drafted, continue blogging, and also participate in the creative writing society at my university (which is a ton of fun and maybe I will write a post about it one of these days 😛 ).
3. List 5 areas you’d like to work the hardest to improve this year.
Dialogue, grammar, dialogue, actually getting words on the page, and dialogue. (Did I mention that my realistic dialogue skills need improvement?)
4. Are you participating in any writing challenges?
Nope. There’s this thing called passing university…
5. What’s your critique partner/beta reader situation like and do you have plans to expand this year?
So far my main beta has been my mom (I know, I know) but I don’t have plans on expanding, yet. Honestly right now I’m too busy to pump out enough stuff for betas to read. Perhaps in the far off future.
6. Do you have plans to read any writer-related books this year? Or are there specific books you want to read for research?
Hmmm, good question. I have no plans, but if a writing-related book happens along my path this summer I will definitely pick it up with great enthusiasm. And as for research, who needs books when you have Wikipedia, right? Right.
7. Pick one character you want to get to know better, and how are you going to achieve this?
I can’t pick one, so I will pick two: Hunter and Sydney (read more here and here). Hopefully I will be able to flesh out a few of the kinks in their characters this coming year.
8. Do you plan to edit or query, and what’s your plan of attack?
Hahahahahahahahaha, that is hilarious.
*ahem*
I might (might (might)) edit part of my still-to-be-titled long-term novel, or revisit another novel that I gave up on because the plot deteriorated into a black hole of plot flaws, but my main focus, as I said before, is getting some words down in my current WIP.
9. Toni Morrison once said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” What are the books that you want to see more of, and what “holes” do you think need filling in the literary world?
Good Christian fiction that is not incredibly preachy, predictable, or cheesy (I know there is good Christian fiction out there, but it is sometimes really hard to find, especially science fiction and dystopian). It’s a hole I try to fill every time I put my fingers on my keyboard to write.
10. What do you hope to have achieved by the end of 2016?
I do this thing sometimes where I set myself very unattainable goals (like be perfect at absolutely everything), and then I become sad and frustrated when I don’t meet them. Any progress at all is good progress, so I hope that by the end of 2016 I will have had fun with my writing, whatever and how much it happens to be.
Tell me your writing (or other creative project) goals in the comments below!
That’s all, folks! 😀
January 12, 2016 at 2:43 am
I think it’s awesome that you squeeze in writing even though you live such a busy life. ;D GO YOU. I ADMIRE THIS. heheh. When my life gets too busy, writing seems to be the first thing I have no energy for. My bad. 😛 But I hope you do achieve some writerly goodness this year…progress is progress, and that’s an excellent start, right?!? 😀
Thanks for joining in the linkup!!
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January 12, 2016 at 8:33 pm
Aw thanks, Cait! Yeah, writing when already mentally tired from studying is not easy and quite often for me, too it just doesn’t happen. If I didn’t love it so much I would probably have given up on it by now. 😛
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January 12, 2016 at 4:03 am
I honestly don’t know how you do it. If I was going to university, I wouldn’t have time to write.
Mom’s make great beta readers. I agree good, Christian fiction is a must.
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January 12, 2016 at 8:29 pm
I really don’t have time for it beyond the odd Sunday afternoon.
And moms do make good betas. 😀
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January 12, 2016 at 5:09 am
Hey now! Mom’s a great beta (fish). She’s very beautiful colours.
Beautiful People sounds like a great idea! It must make you get inside your characters’ heads when you have to answer questions about them. Do you think I should do it for the characters on my blog???? :p
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January 12, 2016 at 8:28 pm
Haha yes she is! BP is great for getting in characters’ heads. 🙂
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January 12, 2016 at 9:19 am
It’s so strange how different parts of writing are harder for different people. Dialogue is fun for me! But I’m awful with action, which I’ll bet you’re good at, considering the sidekick/hero theme.
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January 12, 2016 at 8:36 pm
Haha yeah it’s funny how that happens. It’s also why I find reading different authors fun, with all their different writing styles and areas where the writing really shines. Thanks for stopping by Ink and Paper Tall Ship! 😀
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January 12, 2016 at 11:16 pm
You’re welcome! I love to read authors as a writer and think “I would have never thought to describe it like that” or something. Sometimes it’s a lot easier to read a really crappy book to get motivation though =P
I read too many hype books and get discouraged because not everything I write is perfect
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January 12, 2016 at 8:07 pm
Since I have decided never to ever get over-busy again, there will be no new writing goals. But I really should improve my typing skills, to save myself time on the backspace key. This will require attentiveness, more than time, so yeah. 🙂
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January 12, 2016 at 8:26 pm
Mavis Beacon for the win! 😛
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January 12, 2016 at 9:00 pm
I love it that you still manage to write even when preoccupied with a hectic schedule, I tend to not find the time even when I actively have the time on my hands >.<
Despite that, I'd say that as long as I continue writing my diary every day and my blog every month, I won't turn into that much of a writing potato haha.
Amy;
Little Moon Elephant
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January 13, 2016 at 2:08 pm
Writing potato, I like that! And it’s so true! I find a that little bit of writing every day, be it journaling or blogging or working on a project does wonders for not becoming a vegetable. :p
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January 16, 2016 at 3:32 pm
Looks like my initial comment got swallowed somehow. I’ll try again.
I’m happy to hear that classes are going well! And wow, you got a lot of awesome writerly things done last year. 😀 Awesome goals for 2016, too. It’s actually quite inspiring to see that you’re able to pull off some writing even during university. There’s hope for my future school days! XD
Good Christian fiction, yes! I think it was C.S. Lewis who said something along the lines of, “We don’t need more good Christian writers. We need more good writers who are Christian.”
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January 16, 2016 at 3:40 pm
Ah yes the Internet gremlins must have got that one…
C. S. Lewis came out with some awesome quotes. Love that one! It’s so true, and really you could replace writer with any profession and it remains true. We need more good writers, artists, teachers, doctors… you get the point.
Yhere is hope for being a student and still writing! University is all about time management (at least in first year it is), and it is very important to take care of yourself and do fun things and not just work work work all the time. (actually, that applies to everyone not just students…) 😛
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January 18, 2016 at 12:19 am
WHOA. 13,000 words in 12 hours? That’s awesome!
Dialogue can be hard to write but it does get a bit easier the more you write it. 🙂
Best wishes for your writing this year!
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January 18, 2016 at 3:27 am
Why thank you! It was really fun, but even attempting to edit it was a complete nightmare. 😛
Good to know practice makes dialogue a little easier to pull off. 🙂
All the best in 2016 to you, too!
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January 19, 2016 at 4:59 pm
Yes, yes, and Amen to #9. So many of my all-time favorite books were written by Christian authors of the past . . . but the present? Not so much.
It’s funny that you mention dialogue (I just wrote a post about realistic dialogue) – I have the opposite problem. All kinds of conversations that work, but no plot to go with!!
Editing is almost always a nightmare. But at least you know the facts and are prepared.
Where in Europe were you a missionary! I’m trying not to be really jealous here. That is on my Top 10 life goals list.
Best of wishes for 2016!
-R
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January 19, 2016 at 7:02 pm
I was kind of everywhere in Europe. I lived on a tall ship for three months that sailed from Malta around Sicily and back, then worked in Albania, and then worked in three different places in England. If you ever get the chance to go on a missions trip, I would highly recommend it – it totally changed my life, which sounds cliche but is true just the same. I saw your post on Dialogue, but didn’t have time to read it properly. 😛 I will go back later when I have time and see what golden nuggets of advice you have there. And as for more good Christian authors, I always think that the world could do with a few more Tolkeins and Lewises.:D
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January 28, 2016 at 9:54 pm
Everywhere in Europe and a TALL SHIP? I’m really not doing well with the *not jealous* thing here.
But in all seriousness, that’s awesome. I have been on localized missions trips (which is wonderful, and very needed in MI communities, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to travel internationally! And no, it isn’t cliche! There’s something about actually connecting with and helping people out of love that is more rewarding than anything else 🙂
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January 28, 2016 at 11:46 pm
So true! Missions is one of those things that surprises you with how much it impacts your life (or at least, it surprised me). You have a good point- travel is great, but it is important not to forget that there are people in need in your hometown. Sometimes it actually takes some travel for one to see the places and people nearest them.
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