Hiatus

I've been on an unplanned hiatus (read: paralyzed with fear due to impending convocation and entry into the real world). I'm going to just stop updating until I can update with regularity.

Done!

I handed in my essay on Cyrano de Bergerac today. I'm happy that's done. Next week I'm doing an internship, so I think writing fiction is going to be pushed to the back burner again, since I'll be working work full days. That wouldn't be a problem if I were used to working full-time hours, but since I'm used to 5 hour days, 8 plus travel time will be a shock to my system.

I'm going to print out a copy of "The Best Laid Plans" and read it--as soon as I get a chance to buy a new ink cartridge. Probably this weekend.

I've almost finished the outline for Masquerade. I have a pretty good idea what the third novel in the Banshee series is going to look like too. Go me.

A Test

All of the posts seem to have disappeared, so I'm posting this test to see if it will show up.*

*It totally worked.**
**I knew it would.

Update

Haven't done any writing, or even daydreaming. But I have finished the first draft of my Cyrano de Bergerac essay for my French film class. Woo.

Now maybe I can get some work done.

#Queryfail

So, #queryfail has become the controversy of the moment among the unpublished masses. If you were vacationing under a rock on Thursday and missed the fuss, #queryfail was a twitter event, during which agents and editors posted comments about queries they recieved, and why they failed.

Nathan Bransford mentioned here why he had decided not to participate in #queryfail. The response to his comment has been passionate, with many of the writers bashing Colleen Lindsay's professionalism. I love sites like Janet Reid's Query Shark, and I follow a fair number of agents and editors' blogs. Why? Because I want to learn. I also want to procrastinate, and the more blogs I follow, the more time I can pretend I'm not wasting.

While I do think #queryfail was meant to be educational, and not at all snarky, I have mixed feelings about the entire affair. On the one hand, writers who want to learn are being given an opportunity to do so. This is important to me. After all, I'd like to be published some day, and I'd rather learn from the mistakes of others. Oh, I'll make my own, and they'll be impressive, but I won't make the same mistakes others are making.

However, for this purpose #queryfail is superfluous. If you want information on the do's and don'ts of querying, you don't have to look far. Miss Snark's website, sadly no longer updated, is full of valuable information. Query Shark has, thus far, 103 queries critiqued and posted for the wannabe writer's reading, and learning, pleasure. It should go without saying that a writer ought to research agents and editors they'd like to query before they send their package off.

I would argue that any aspiring writer who followed #queryfail already knows where to get the information they need about queries. Thus, #queryfail was preaching to the choir, not reaching writers who need the lesson it provided. The only thing I learned from #queryfail was that somewhere someone wrote a story about bonding over mutual vomiting practices. Gross, but not useful. I also had the opportunity to feel smugly superior, since I know better than to not follow submission guidelines, and we all know how much I like to feel superior. Nice, but not useful.

Was it unprofessional? I don't think so. I don't understand why so many people are making such a big deal out of #queryfail. I didn't find it useful, but had I seen a line from my own query in the conversation, I wouldn't have been upset about it. Well, other than the fact that it would hurt the ego, but egos oughten run rampant anyway.

If you disagree, well, don't send participating agents your query. It's as simple as that. But if you want to be a writer, you should get used to the fact that your writing is going to be judged. And no matter how unfair, you, the writer will be judged. Harshly. By everyone. If you can't handle that, you may want to find a different job.

Update

I will start blogging regularly soon, I promise. At the moment I'm overwhelmed with homework and housework.

I've been working on an outline for the next book in my spare time. It's beginning to take shape, though the plot is still sparse. I need to think of a subplot and quick.

Now I must go clean, and then research the real Cyrano de Bergerac.

OMG Creepy

I just had the creepiest dream ever. I was looking at pictures of faceless ghosts while a man with a deep voice recited poetry. Not really great poetry, (I am no poet) but since I remembered all of it, I thought I'd share it with you. Aren't you lucky? Yes, the rhyming scheme was in the dream. Weird right?

Forget the fairytale monsters that you used to fear,
Instead think of the faceless ones that are always near,
Their very existence should fill you with dread,
You can never stop them,
They're already dead.

They come in the dark when you turn out the lights,
They are the remnants of avarice and vice,
The light of the living fills them with greed,
They search for prey,
To feed their unholy need.

You're never safe while in the dark,
For you may be their next mark,
So if you feel their icy fingers at your throat,
If you feel them closing in,
Don't bother to struggle,
You'll never win.

Happy National Grammar Day

I'm apprehensive about writing a post on grammar. My punctuation isn't the greatest; I love me some comma splices. But I thought I'd do a list of my grammar pet peeves. I don't want to miss out on all the fun.

"Its" versus "it's"

This is a common error, both because of a lack of understanding and because it's very easy to add or forget an apostrophe when writing. I know I've done it. Once or twice.

"Its" is possessive. Ex. "The kitten lost its mittens". This is confusing, because apostrophes are often employed to show ownership, Ex. "I lost the kitten's mittens." "It's" is never possessive. Rather it is a contraction of "it is". Ex. "It's five o'clock." Or "It's my birthday today."

"Whose" vs "Who's"

These words are misused for the same reason as "its" and "it's". "Whose" is possessive. Ex. "Whose shoe is this?" Whereas "who's" is a contraction of "who is". Ex. "Who's going to bake the cake?"

They're/Their/There

They're is a contraction of "they are". Ex. "They're going to the fair." "Their" is possessive. Ex. "It's their car". And "there" indicates a location. Ex. "I don't like going there".

Those three problems are my biggest grammar pet peeves.