Journal Report #12

Hello my friends.  I'm sorry I'm a day late again.  I've been sick these last few days, and yesterday I totally spaced writing this whole little thingy.  Sorry!  For those of you who were constantly checking the computer into the later hours of the evening hoping that this post would appear, please find something more valuable to do with you time.  Write a novel perhaps.  For those of you who could care less if I wrote on here every Tuesday, or ever for that matter, please send me your contact information so that I can immediately unfriend you from Facebook.  So yes, I have been sick.  My head feels like someone has pumped slime inside every empty space, and everytime I try to think my brain cries out "overload, overload" and I feel myself shutting down.  Not the best thing to experience right before finals.  But we just have to deal with things as they come.   Lets discuss some of my reading.

Reading:

In my craft book, I read an interview with James Dashner, a dystopian author, who talks about dealing with lots of characters and with world building.  When creating a new character, or a new aspect of the world, he just thinks of one or two things and then lets his mind expand on the rest.  I really liked this advice because that is similar to the way I write, and it gives me hope that I can one day be successful doing so.  Something else he talked about that I really liked was how important watching movies was to him.  He likes how a movie has an entire plot arc, dialogue, characterization, etc. all in a two-hour time span.  Watching them helps motivate him to keep writing. I'm going to start looking at movies more from a writer's point of view form now on.

I also read The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler.  I loved this book.  It is about two teens in 1996, who log onto the internet and are redirected to Facebook fifteen years in the future.  It mixes together wonderfully written contemporary scenes with the added factor of knowing the future.  Even the smallest things affect what happens to them fifteen years later.  Great book, well written characters with distinct personalities, and wonderful pacing.

I started reading Beauty Queens by Libba Bray.  So far, it is hilarious.  The book is about Miss Teen beauty contestants whose plane crashes on an Island.  So basically mix Lost, Lord of the Flies, and Beauty Pageants together, and you have this book.  I still have a lot left to read, but I really like how it is written in Third Person-Omniscient because it gives you a greater insight into each of the characters back stories and personal lives.

Writing:

I've mostly been working on my individual project, which is a dystopian of sorts.  I've really struggled figuring out how to mix building the setting with moving the plot and showing the inner mind of my main character.  It's been challenging so far, but I feel like it is really helping me become a more well-rounded writer.  Lets hope it doesn't kill me in the process.

Here is a short tid-bit from it.

When we reach the third stop, an older man with an old wooden briefcase steps on to the train, and moves towards my side of the compartment.    

“I always believe that its raining outside when I go underground.”  He sits down on a bench across the aisle from me.  “That the heavens cry whenever I decide to leave their view.”  Setting down the briefcase, he turns to me and grins.  “What’s your name my dear young fellow?”

“That’s none of your business,” I say.  I start to inch the knife out of the sleeve of my jacket.

“Oh, but I believe much differently.”  He picks up the briefcase, and begins to undo the clasps on the side.  They snap open with a loud pop like the sound of a can of soda being opened.  “You see, I am a very important man in this city.”  He stops talking as he searches through a stack of papers, until he finds what he’s looking for.  “Oh, here it is.” He slides the paper from the pile and hands it over to me.

I look at the blocky letters and the picture of a couple dice and shake my head.  “I cannot read.”

“You cannot read yet.”  He takes back the paper.  “But, by this time next year you will be reading much more than a simple flyer.”  

My grip on the knife tightens as I watch him sort out his papers and return them to his briefcase.  Although he’s acting really strange at least he isn’t on drugs.  “You teach people how to read?” I ask.

“Well yes, among other things.  I like to consider myself a specialist in many areas, but an expert on none.”  He snaps the briefcase shut and stands up, as we approach the next platform.  “Well, it was nice to finally meet you Rocky.  I hope to see you and your sister again soon.”  He walks towards the exit of the door as the train begins to slow down.  “Tomorrow morning by the docks, perhaps.  I understand their is going to be quite a feast for those who attend.  Goodbye for now.”  And with that said, he slips through the opening doors.  He waves once, before the train disappears into another tunnel.

My Crazy Life:

I've been sick, I ate some turkey, some duck, and some pie.  The End.