dangerous doors

I smacked into a door today...or rather it smacked into me. I was just standing outside the drama room at school minding my own buisness. Someone decided they were going to open the door from the inside fast enough that I didn't see it coming and whack!!!!!!!!!!! painful much. So that's my random event for the day I'm hoping it doesn't happen again. Oh i'm getting a blood test today or tomorrow. Can't wait-NOT.

So did you run into anything today?

-Ali

James McCann and the blue pencil

I know-very strange title. I had my blue pencil apointment at SIWC with the author James McCann and it was such an honour. Not only that but it was very helpful (once of course I got over the embarasing fact that I left my manuscript outside and had to run out to get it :( ). Little did I think he would remember me...apparently he did. Check it out. Thankyou James McCann http://jamesmccannauthor.blogspot.com/

Incredible LUCK! - the ups and ups and ups of the SIWC!!

I have had the BEST weekend at SIWC I got back late last night and could hardly get to sleep I was SO excited :). I have never been to a conference before and had the pleasure and honour of meeting so many other writers. I am also pleased to have had the honour of meeting a surprising amound of editors and agents and I have to admit...that is what I am most excited about!! So what came out of this weekend you ask??

1. Lisa Rector a high class editor residing in New York (with freaking awsome clothes I want her Bue Jacket!) has become close to several of the young writers there. We plan to stay in touch and she answered many of our questions about to publishing world. She also introduced us to many of the people you see listed below (but not all).

2. I have Donald Masse's card and his book "Writing the Breakout Novel" (which with a spectacular show of stupidity I left behind yesterday. Luckily my friend is going today as well and is going to pick it up for me).-thankyou Lisa :)

3. I have the card of someone else called Eileen Reppenhagen who wants to interview me for a book on young people and money-sweet!

4. I have the card of the senior editor at Tor Susan Chang and a request for my latest manuscript which I pitched to her at the conference. Also I heard of a program through them called Young Readers that could be very helpful.

5. I have the card of an agent called Verna Dreisbach who has requested a sample of my work and is actively looking for young people to publish (her buisness is just getting started so if this works out it could be a much easier way of breaking in I am very excited!!!!!!) - thankyou Lisa :)

6. A vague new idea for a story in a genre I don't usually deal with has come to me after attending the workshop called 'using your personal life as a starting point for fiction'. Hopefully that will work out.

CONGRADULATIONS TO SOPHIA MA WHO IS NOW OFFICIALLY PUBLISHED IN AN ANTHOLOGY THAT VERNA DREISBACH IS CREATING!

so...if you went to the SWIC conference how did you find it? Who did you meet, who did you pitch too? Tell me everything! :) And if you didn't go tell me if you plan to go next year or just how your writing is going in general-wish me luck!

dialogue-good or bad??

Dialogue...it can make a piece or destroy it depending on how it's used.
If used well...
-it can convey information (realisticly)
-can make your peice more interesting
-it can start or end a conflict
-it can advance the action or story at a faster pace if need be

it visually opens up the page for the reader.

their are endless posibilities-dialogue can do almost anything but only IF USED IN THE RIGHT WAY

dialogue shouldn't be exactly like real life (for example you don't want an entire page of dialogue where nothing happens) but it should still be conveyed as realisticly as possible and should not be awkward on the tongue.

unfortunately if dialogue is done wrong...
it can ruin writing no matter how well the rest of your piece is composed so in that way it holds a unique amount of power.

so do-nots when it comes do dialogue.

-do not have one character say another characters name it is not realistic
-do not have one character say something to another character that the other character would logically already know one of my favourite examples of this is the following.

character1 and character2 have known eachother for years:

character1: so are you married??

character1 would alreadyknow their good friend is married it just doesn't sound right. If you still need the reader to know character2 is married you might do something like this instead.

character1: so, how's your marriage going?

that sounds much better and more natural than the first thing character one said and it is more realistic.

so, what do you think? dialogue: make or break, good or bad??

Briliant!!

I owe Just_Me a big thankyou. You gave me a great way of forcing myself to just get the words out of me. I was wasting way too much time editing when I hadn't even finished writing my first draft. I guess that's just the kind of writer I am. One thing's for sure, I got a hell of a lot done using your method.
Here it is, plain and simple for any perfectionists out their who are daring enough to give it a try. Time yourself for 10 minutes and just write. Don't critisize or think about it just write. After 10 minutes take a five minute break then write for another ten minutes and so on. For each set of 1o minutes see how many words you can write before you run out of time, it's brilliant!!

CRUNCH-FREAKOUT-NEVER GONNA GET IT DONE IN TIME

The title is pretty much self explanatory *groans*. I have a conference in a week and we are in cruuuunnnnnnncccccccchhhhhhhhhh time. I need to have like 40 more pages of my latest novel finished...yikes. PLUS tomorrow i'm totally buisy so that's one less day to write. PLUS homework, PLUS helping my friend paint her room, PLUS helping another friend start a blog-double yikes...The list goes on, but we shall see my preties, we shall see. It's still possible to get this done. I'm going to need to use my turn-back-time super powers but u never know. I need to be spending all my time writing *grumbles* damn blog is distracting :) *scolds herself* I HAVE SO MUCH TO WRITE!! :(

-totally stressed out and needst to write-

---Ali---

Today-forgotten binders and half read scripts

Today I happened to forget my binder. That may not sound bad but when it holds seven of your eight subjects navigating the day gets a little hairy. First period was science and by some miracle I did not need my binder. My first curve ball was thrown at me when I walked into french and we had to read paragraphs we had written about a movie we watched during class. Only 12 of us had to speak and since my paragraph was in my binder I was really hoping that I wouldn't be called on. You can probably already guess what happened...I was called on. Using some magical french power I didn't know I had I made up my speech on the spot. Curveball averted!! Next was Math. Piece of cake all we did was take notes I didn't understand all class so I didn't need my binder because I take my notes in a different place. Finally was the killer, drama. We're working on our major term one scene and I really did need my script because we were supposed to be writing in our blocking today. Needless to say that didn't really happen. WE PLAYED BONDING GAMES ALL CLASS and only read through the script twice (well one and half time for me-don't ask)

Masque

I got a ride home on Saturday so I am getting to go to masque!! This is awsome but it also means I need to figure out a costume and FAST! (any suggestions??) stress beginning to set in just a little as I rush to finish my novel and write my pitch etc. Got to waste tomorrow doing homeowrk which sucks because I could be writing but whatever. Oh and does anyone know what you wear to a conference?? This is my first one.

-counting the days!!!!!!

SIWC!!!

I am so excited, I am oficially going to the SIWC or "surry international writers conference" it's going to be so awsome!! I am going a a young writer on the friday (only $5o!) and I am volunteering on the Saturday though I still get to listen in on like tons of different workshops and stuff because I scored the position workshop monitor! I also get to do some running and helping people make masques for the masquerade that night. I wish I could go to the masquerade but I think my parents will probably want to take me home before the end (12:30 am saturday morning). The other thing that is GREAT is because I came fifth in the world wide 'Lisa Rector Young Writers Scholarship' she knows me. She is a very important person at the conference and has agreed to look over my work personally with me for which I am extremely greatful! I can hardly wait!!
If any writers out there would like to go the website is siwc.ca , I know SO hard to remember right! lol. You can register online or mail in your papers and money.

OOOOOHHH and one last thing. My rangers group is planning on attending our first co-ed camp. Rainbucket. That should be interesting! -more info. coming soon ( rainbucket.ca ).

a buisy day

Work today was ok but work yesterday was SO terrible. Yesterday was probably the buisiest day of my life!! Friday night I slept over at one of my friends houses and we went straight from their to cheer tumbling. Then I went straight from cheer to working and I worked till five. My boss was being totaly stressed and didn't give me a lunch break. So I had to eat my 'lunch' in the 15 minutes between driving from work to my friends birthday party. It was a CRAZY buisy day and now I better go couse my mom is threatening to take away my computer privliges for a week. see ya.

cheerleading + school

Cheerleading practise last night went well. We started our new routine and I seem to be in a pretty good position for most of it so cross my fingers it stays that way!!
My friends was so stressed about school when we were iming last night. I felt really bad for her. How come teachers seem to think they have they right to make a student feel that stressed about school. I think that's just stupid. Hopefully she's feeling better. Oh and my english teacher decided that we needed to take another quiz tuesday about the same stuff that was on the quiz last class. HOW STUPID CAN SOMEONE BE. Seriously why would you have a test on the same stuff when you know we're just not good at poetic devices, meter, foot, and scansion.
To end on a positive note I'm babysitting with one of my friends on the cheerleading team tonight and then sleeping over, should be fun!

stupid school

School was terrible today!! English specifically. I had a quiz and I had done so well on the pretest I figured I didn't need to study. But when she passed the test out it was like WAY HARDER than what was on the pretest. I'm almost like sure I failed or pretty damn close! I hate when teachers don't give us acurate overviews. and whats worse, interms go out on tuesday! Then I get on the bus after school to come home and aparently my bad day isn't over. I get in and we're packed like sardines! There were so many people who couldn't even fit on the bus that we had to wait till the next bus came. Then when we finally did get moving I had to hold on to the person in front of me couse all the seats and handles were taken. Although it was a test in balance i'll give the bus driver that much. Good thing i'm a cheerleader!