A Room of One’s Own/New Blog Design!

Virginia Woolf wrote, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”  As for the first part, money is definitely necessary regarding publishing a book, though in our modern, technology-driven world, it is much easier to write by, say, starting up a blog or posting to online forums. 

However, having a “room of one’s own” is still an important aspect to the writing process, whether one is choosing to use paper or a Word document.  The environment in which one writes is critical to a consistent and successful writing career, and I believe that that environment can refer to either a physical room or even to a person’s blog.

With that in mind, I’d like to present the new layout and design of my blog!  As you might have noticed, it has been freshened up a bit from what it used to be.  I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my good friend Gina, creator of Tulle and Combat Boots, for helping me in this endeavor and creating a beautiful new look for my blog.  She is a very talented graphic designer, and you should definitely visit her site. 

With this new design, I feel like I truly do have a space to call my own, a space where I can be proud to post my thoughts and ramblings on writing and everything else.    It also represents a step forward in my journey towards becoming a professional writer. 

And speaking of writing professionally, I’d like to also announce that my paper on Batman’s female villains will be featured in The Journal of Popular Culture, and as soon as that issue is published, I will post a link to it on my blog. 

Looks like the new year is starting off right! J

Happy writing,

Shannon

Show Me Your Assonance

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge English nerd, right?  Yeah, I think it’s pretty obvious.  I noticed this again recently while listening to the Mumford and Sons song “The Cave” and noting the wonderful examples of assonance present, especially in the second stanza.  I swear, when they say, "The harvest left no food for you to eat/ You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see,” I can practically hear the gnawing sound of someone chewing or grinding on food…which I suppose is exactly the kind of imagery that belongs in those lines. 

It’s like they’re eating their words, so to speak.  Ba da bum. (I’m sorry.  I couldn’t help it.)

I like assonance, though.  Assonance and alliteration, really, but even more, I love the way some writers manipulate words, creating music in the mere sounds that coalesce when certain words are placed next to one another.  That’s one of the main reasons I like Mumford and Sons, apart from the fact that they use many Shakespeare references in their songs.  They just know how to make words sound beautiful and lyrical.

I know I have more to say on this subject, but for now I just wanted to get this thought on the page.  It was just something I was thinking about yesterday, and maybe later on I’ll compile a list of songs whose lyrics I find especially compelling.  However, for now I will just say that for all those who haven’t heard them yet, you should check out Mumford and Sons.   I particularly dig the banjo action they have going.

Happy listening,

Shannon

New Year, New You! (And New Me, Too)

Happy 2013, all!  Well, the holidays are done, but I have not forgotten my promise to keep up the updating every week.  I would have posted this on New Year’s Day, but I was a bit preoccupied with lugging a heavy desk around the back of my house and setting up my new desk (or, rather, providing moral support for those helping me to assemble my new desk—much love).

Actually, aside from Christmas, New Year’s may be my favorite holiday of the year.  The ability to let go of the past and start with a fresh slate is very appealing, and it is a constant reminder of something I fully believe, which is the idea that it is possible to change for the better.  This year, especially, I want to try and stick to my resolutions and become a better me.

One book in particular I find relevant to this idea of resolution is Bridget Jones’s Diary.  I’ll admit I watched the movie before I got a chance to read the book, and while I do enjoy the movie immensely (that “fight” between Hugh Grant and Colin Firth—come on, what’s funnier?), I loved reading the book even more.  I know that shouldn’t come as too much of a shock (English major, after all), but it’s true.  Bridget herself is, I feel, much stronger in the book than in the movie, and her journey is captured so perfectly that it is hard not to identify with her. 

I bring up Bridget Jones’s Diary, though, because she, too, makes New Year’s resolutions that she intends to keep.  In the beginning of the book, she has compiled a list of goals she has for the coming year, such as to stop smoking, to lose weight, to develop “Inner Poise,” etc.  The novel follows her progress throughout the year, and by the end, she has compiled a summary of what she has accomplished.  And you know what?  She only manages to keep one of her resolutions.

Does this make her a failure?  Absolutely not.  Quite the reverse, actually.  Not only does the reader see how far she has come throughout the book, but Bridget compliments herself on “an excellent year’s progress.”  The idea that Bridget is proud of herself, is doing something for herself to make herself better, is the whole point.  She is not doing this for anyone else, and the fact that she is happy with who she is despite her numerous faults speaks to her as a person.  (And I must say that another reason I liked the book better is because the romances are not emphasized as much as Bridget's personal growth.)

So I will say two things.  First, go read the book.  It’s really great.  And second, make resolutions for the new year.  Try to better yourself.  Make an effort to change the things you want to change.  Ultimately, though, at the end of it all, make sure that you are happy with yourself, knowing that you want to change for yourself and not for others.  That’s one of my resolutions, and I plan to stick to it. J

Happy New Year, all,

Shannon

A Holly Jolly End to Writer's Block

Well, folks, I’ve done it.  The 10 Days of Christmas: Writer’s Edition was a resounding success, and I posted something every day up until Christmas.  I’d say that is quite an accomplishment, especially given my past track record with posting things on here. 

Granted, the posts generally had little or nothing to do with writing, but that wasn’t really the point.  The point was to set up a schedule and consistently post something to the blog. 

And this is how I can tie all of this back to writing.  You see, a big part of being a writer is writing (yeah, no duh).  Realistically, though, many people find it hard to stick to a set schedule of writing, which is a very big part of the process.  Even if you don’t have something to write about, even if you don’t have a story idea, you can still write something.  Writing anything is practice, and while you may not always have an idea initially, the writing process can help with writer’s block.

As I’ve said before, sometimes we get into a nasty cycle of complacency; we go for so long without writing that it just becomes normal.  And that’s not okay.

If you want to be a writer, you have to write consistently, whatever it may be.  The best way to write is to set up a schedule and stick to it.  Even if you write for only ten or fifteen minutes a day, you are still creating a habit.  Once you get used to writing every day, it will become second nature.

Hopefully this experiment has given me the stimulus to write more frequently and update this blog regularly.  I cannot say that I will update every day (I do have a life), but I will certainly try to update more than once a week. 

Merry Christmas Eve to all (and to all a happy whatever holiday of your choice),

Shannon

Finishing is its Own Reward…But Chocolate Would be Good, Too

I have finally finished writing my paper, and I feel so good, I just had to keep up the writing high by typing up another blog post! 

You know, finishing a paper--especially a long paper with the ability to sap all of your energy and make you feel like a zombie while writing it—is one of the best feelings in the world for a college student.  Or any student, I would guess.

Throughout the duration of paper writing, it’s often hard to keep focus and push through the road blocks.  So what do you do to keep up the momentum?  What keeps you from going slightly (very) mad?

Well, it always helps to have a reward system.  I know many of my friends use this system while writing papers, and though I sometimes slip and take a break regardless of whether or not I have actually reached the page count I told myself to reach before eating that Milky Way bar or watching that television show (oops), it is still an effective method of getting work done.

So if you ever feel like you just cannot make it through a paper (or whatever it is you’re working on at the time), just set a goal for yourself.  Make them attainable goals, as well.  Tell yourself that if you finish writing a full single-spaced page, you get to read a chapter of that Power Rangers fanfiction you love so much.  Treat yourself to a pomegranate when you reach the halfway mark.  Go for a victory run on the treadmill while listening to “For Now” from Avenue Q (fitting, considering the circumstances) after you finish completely.

Whatever you do, reward yourself.  After writing a 20-page paper, you deserve it.

Happy writing, and happy 3^rd day of the 10 Days of Christmas!

Shannon

The 10 Days of Christmas: Writer's Edition

It’s that time of year again.  You know what time of year, right?  Of course you do. 

Yes, it’s FINALS WEEK.  (dun, dun, dun)

This past week has been quite hectic, and it is still not over for me.  Thinking about Mango Street and feet and sexuality and whatnot is really just the tip of the iceberg, and while I adore Cisneros, I (like everyone else in the same, sinking boat) just want this paper to be finished already.

The big problem is the fact that, yeah, it is almost Christmas, and while Christmas itself is wonderful, the time leading up to it can be…stressful.  Normally, I am easily distracted by anything and everything regardless, but during the holiday season? 

Why must there be so many catchy, annoying tunes filling my head and bright, twinkling lights blurring my vision?  Why am I so intrigued by those blow-up snow globes on people’s lawns?  Why must the TV people play so many classic and not-so-classic Christmas movies that suck me in and never let me go?  Why do the kids on the Charlie Brown Christmas special dance like Frankenstein robot marionettes?

The Christmas season is filled to the brim with distractions, and hopefully this weekend I can finish the things I need to do before I can really enjoy all of them.  With that said, however, I am going to try something that isn’t going to help my stress levels in the slightest and will most likely drive me bananas. 

Starting today, I am doing the 10 Days of Christmas: Writer’s Edition.  Basically, I am going to try to post something to this blog every day leading up to Christmas, thus giving me even more of a challenge than I had previously and knocking me out of my mango-induced stupor.  The post does not necessarily have to be long or even about writing; it just has to be something.  Most likely, they will include Christmas-related somethings.  Or nonsense.

Why would I do this to myself, you ask?  Well, in the spirit of the holiday, I wanted to take the time out of my day to reflect on life, the universe, Douglas Adams references…and just appreciate the fact that, while I may be stressed out, it is still the Christmas season.  Or Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Mayan Apocalypse…whatever it is you want to celebrate. 

Plus, if the world really is going to end, I might as well go out writing.

Happy 10 days to Christmas, folks.  Here’s hoping we make it!  J

Happy (Insert Phrase Here),

Shannon

Why a Prospectus is One of the Best Things Ever…Sort of

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve had research paper stuff on the brain.  Not only have I been working on my paper for The House on Mango Street, but I’ve also recently been revising my paper on monstrosity as it pertains to Batman’s female villains (which, I just found out, I’ll be presenting at the National Popular Culture Association Conference!).  

Today as I was working on my annotated bibliography and prospectus for my House on Mango Street paper, I realized two things: a) I am a complete English nerd because b) after I finished writing up my prospectus, I got really excited about writing the actual paper.

For those unfamiliar with having to write a prospectus, it’s basically a summary of what will be discussed in the research paper and is useful for mapping out the structure of the paper.  The information does not have to be exactly what will be in the final paper, but it should give you a good idea of where the paper is heading.  It typically includes the paper topic, a tentative title and thesis statement, and discusses the primary source and secondary sources being used to support the thesis.

While the idea of writing one of these seems tedious, I have found that it is actually much easier to write a research paper after having written a prospectus.  Why, you ask?  Not only does it help you formulate your paper ideas, articulating what will be used in the paper and how it will be structured, but typically, everything that goes into a prospectus will also be going into the paper’s introduction. 

Think about it: if a typical prospectus is about two double-spaced pages in length, and if the prospectus is basically the basis for your introduction, then when you go to write the paper, you will already have two pages of the paper written.  Furthermore, since the prospectus should map out how the rest of the paper is structured, you can just follow that structure to write the rest of the paper.

So, yeah.  If I didn’t already know that I was an English nerd, I definitely have proof now.  Then again, there are certainly worse things. J

Happy writing,

Shannon

The House on Mango Street- Some Thoughts and Ramblings

The first time I read The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, I was a freshman in college taking a women’s lit class.  As an English major in an all-women’s college, I would go on to take many more literature courses, many focusing on gender issues in texts (sort of comes with the territory), but this was the first literature course I took in my undergraduate program.  

Fittingly, the first novel we read in the class was Jane Eyre, followed by Wide Sargasso Sea (a book I’d highly recommend to anyone who thought that the “madwoman in the attic” from Jane Eyre ought to get the chance to tell her side of the story for once). 

When we finally got to The House on Mango Street, I was ecstatic for several reasons.  I’m sure I was glad to read something completely unrelated to Jane Eyre (a novel which I did not appreciate as much then as I do now—and even now it’s not exactly in my top-ten or top-twenty). 

I also remembered having read one of the novel’s vignettes during high school and appreciating it for not only its brevity but its simple eloquence.  The vignette, “A Smart Cookie,” all together takes up about a page, creates a complex backstory for one of the characters, and uses language in a way that makes you double-take for a second after you’ve read it, forcing you to look again at the deeper meaning behind it. 

Naturally, I wanted more, so getting to read the full novel was like a literary treat.  Of course, I was not disappointed upon finally reading it, finding each individual vignette to enhance the reading of the novel yet somehow able to stand alone and create a compelling story.

And by Next Week I Mean…Sometime in the Near Future

Procrastination.  It’s one of the ugliest words in any writer’s (or college student’s) vocabulary.  Yet unfortunately, it can be one of the most familiar, as well.  Case in point: this post. 

I would say let’s just call the last two months “the lost months,” but that would imply that I am never going to go a considerable length of time without posting in the future, and…well, I know my track record.  I also know how difficult it can sometimes be to stick to a set schedule, especially if you are a procrastinator, like me. 

The reality of life is that sometimes things do not always pan out the way you originally imagine they will, and if you are a procrastinator, it is very easy to trick yourself into thinking that something important can be put off until the next day.  Or the day after.  Or the day after that…

If you are a writer, this cycle is particularly vicious.  Ideally, writers should strive to put something to paper (or Word document) every day, just so their skills do not go to waste.  

Even writers struggling with writer’s block should do this in order to see if an idea will spring to life.  When writers fail to do this (and worse, when it becomes a habit), it gets increasingly harder to return to a stable writing routine. 

And Haiku to You, Too

This weekend, after a harmless conversation about Oprah Winfrey and Lean Cuisine, I got to thinking about haikus.  (If you were a part of the conversation, you’d totally understand.) 

The thing I love about haikus is their ability to convey a fully-formed and (mostly) coherent thought in the smallest amount of space.  For those who don’t know, a haiku is a Japanese poetic form consisting of 17 syllables broken up into a pattern of 5-7-5.  I’ve often found that haikus are like hand grenades: deceptively small until you pull the pin and watch the explosion that follows.  You’ll rarely find a poem shorter than a haiku, but when you actually read it, it will leave you wondering at how something so tiny could say so much and fill your brain with so much awesome.

For writers who find themselves a bit too wordy, writing a haiku is an excellent way to practice the art of brevity.  Sometimes it’s hard to stay concise and only say what is absolutely necessary in order to make your point.  With a haiku, it’s nearly impossible to add unnecessary fluff.  As an added bonus, writing haikus may just stir some story ideas in the process.

4 Things Fanfiction Has Taught Me about Writing

While the idea of sticking to a set schedule of writing is incredibly important and admirable, it is not always so easy to follow through with said plans (case in point: the date of this post).  I cannot tell you how many times this week I have started writing a new post only to get a severe case of writer’s block. 

I’m also, sadly, a person who can get pretty easily distracted by other things—the Internet in general, cleaning out my closet, exercising, shiny things, Pez, the state of the world as we know it, why Pluto isn’t a planet anymore, etc.  Fortunately, one of the things which provides a major distraction for me is reading fanfiction (i.e. crack for fandom shippers and people who refuse to accept the fact that both Tonks and Lupin had to die at the end of the 7^th Harry Potter book, and don’t even get me started about Fred).  Ahem.

I say fortunately because, despite my infinite regret while reading it that I should probably be reading more “legitimate” fiction in my spare time, I have found that there are many things a writer can learn from reading fanfiction. 

Thus, I have created a list of four things which I have learned through reading fanfiction which have served me well in my own writing habits.  Plus, this gives me a reason to justify my reading fanfiction in the first place.

                                                                                                                     

1.      The Importance (and Rarity) of Proper Grammar Usage

I am not talking about stories which have one or two spelling or grammar mistakes. Those few mistakes are understandable, and no one is immune to the occasional slip-up, myself included.

No, I am referring to the (quite astonishingly) large amount of stories I have read in which the laws of grammar seem to have somehow hitchhiked cross-country never to be seen again.  Perhaps they are floating around in space somewhere looking for a spaceship to pick them up before they suffocate. 

Much of my amazement has to do with the fact that, in an age where we have some of the most advanced technology at our fingertips, it seems too difficult for some people to use a simple spell-checker.  Come on, people.  See those little red squiggly lines underneath some of your words?  Ignoring them will not be beneficial to anyone.  Least of all, the reader.

What I find most sad about improper grammar usage is that a story could have loads of potential, but readers are not going to want to give a story a chance if they see mistakes in every other line.  It distracts from the story and takes a person out of the scene. 

The good thing about fanfiction writing is that, even if you are not the best proofreader, there are always beta readers available to help edit your stories and offer feedback.  Asking for help is never a bad thing, and it will help you to become a better writer and editor in the long run.

Talking of Titles, or, When Titles Talk Back

Let’s face it: One of the first things which entices you to pick up a book or read a certain article is its title.  A title can make or break a person’s first encounter with a book.  It’s like meeting someone for the first time.  If you were to encounter someone on the street who was wearing ski goggles, a furry parka, rainbow tights, and had a pet monkey on his shoulder…well, you’d probably run away in terror.  But!  You’d want to know his backstory, surely?  Of course you would.

A title does sort of the same thing.  Choosing the right title can make a big difference in the way in which a book is received.  It can evoke certain emotions or make someone interested in the book even if the actual subject matter may not be to their taste.  In fact, the title may be downright misleading (thank you, Naked Lunch), but if it’s creative enough, chances are you’ll at least pick it up and have a look at the back cover.  Here are some of my personal favorite book titles:

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
•   To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler
•  The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin (I swear this is a real book.  I haven’t read it yet, but just for the title alone, I really think I should!)

I could go on and on; titles are just so much fun, not only to read but to create!  I’d assume it’s like naming a baby; a name gives something its whole identity.

Deflowering a Blog Virgin

So, in a way, this whole blog came about because of pole-dancing.  Well, the idea of pole-dancing.  As a form of exercise, not as a profession.  (Not that I'm judging or anything.  Because that would be wrong.)

I'm rambling.  Let me start over.

Last week, I met up with some friends from high school, most of whom I hadn't seen in years.  As we were discussing the goings-on of our daily lives, one person mentioned how she had started taking some pole-dancing lessons, a fun and effective way of staying fit.  Naturally, I was intrigued (though a bit upset to learn that the classes did NOT include getting to wear sparkly, sequined costumes).  But again I digress.

My first thought, after my lamentation over the absence of the aforementioned sparkly number, was that the image of me trying to shimmy up a pole would not only be horrifyingly dangerous, but also insanely hilarious.  Athletic and/or coordinated, I am not.  This, of course, led me to my second thought, which was that trying something like this, whether it be pole-dancing, underwater basket-weaving, sky-diving, etc., would make excellent writing material, especially for the comedic gold it would no doubt supply.  As an aspiring writer, I was ecstatic.  How could I possibly go wrong?  I would go out and try a myriad of different activities, gaining life experience in the process, and then come home and blog about my many foibles, occasionally offering a nugget or two of advice on how (not) to do things.