Blocks

Despite the vague, one-worded title, I am not here to talk about building blocks. (Even though they're awesome) I'm also not here to talk about digestive system blocks. (You should probably see your doctor about that or cut off on all of that cheese you're eating)

I'm here to talk about writer's block. Or as I like to call it, That Really Bad Thing That Happens While You're Writing. Obviously, you can see why most people like to call it Writer's Block. TRBTTHWYW is too long of an acronym and it's also very vague with a lot of possible meanings. A lot of bad things can happen while you write. For instance, your (imaginary) cat could have eaten your (also imaginary) hamster. You might have forgotten to set a timer and wind up burning that cake you've been baking. Your monster fighting siblings might have accidentally brought back a man-eating chimera that wasn't quite dead yet. (If you have monster fighting siblings, give me a call. I'd love to meet them.)

Ahem, back to the topic at hand. Writer's block may come from a series of things. It's not a good excuse for you to drop your current project and swear of writing forever. Well, you could do that if you really wanted to, but while doing that you might cross the line from writer to normal person. The normal person world is a scary and rational place. 

Everyone encounters writer's block at least once in their writing life and overcoming it is what separates the dreamers from the achievers. (I sound like a self help book. Aaaah) Writer's block isn't as much of a block as it is a wall. A mental wall that you build for yourself. Here are a few ways to blow that sucker up.

1. Take a break

This break is different from that break you took from playing the piano. I know you haven't touched that keyboard in five years. By take a break, I mean put your writing on hold while you unwind and let your brain recharge. Take a walk, go shopping, go for a jog, read a book, take a bubble bath, sing sea chanties with your dog. Do things that can fill your mind back up with ideas and creativity. The most important part of this is to go back to your story. Don't just up and ditch.

2. Go back to the drawing board

I don't care if you're a panster and it's against your religion to plan. The reason you might be having so much trouble writing is probably because you don't know what you're doing. You don't even have to write an intricate plot outline for your story. Just find out what needs to happen in the scene and write it.

3. Talk about it

Sometimes it's easier to find the problems when you hear things aloud. Humans are verbal creatures. It's best to talk about it with a friend/family member/teacher/acquaintance willing to listen and offer up their two cents on it. A lot of the time, they'll be able to offer solutions or discover problems that you would have never thought of. If you don't want to talk about it with an actual person, tell your lamp/dog/teddy bear about it. Once you start talking, the ideas flow.

4. Write more than one project at a time

This doesn't work for everyone because a lot of people have trouble juggling different stories and different voices at the same time, but if you can do it, it's great! Stuck on one project? Just go work on another. Problem solved! (The downside is that you might never finish a story if you keep adding those shiny new ideas)

5. Don't be afraid to be a bitch

Think of the worst possible thing that could happen to your characters. Then make it happen. You don't have to keep it in your draft, but it'll probably banish that mental block of yours.

6. TNT

I don't really recommend this option. 6/6 of the people who've tried this have blown off their heads. But it destroys that pesky block of yours. (And everything else) BLOW THAT SUCKER UP!* 

What do you do when you have writer's block?

*Don't actually do this. 

Love Triangles

Currently, I'm on a quick break from studying for my semester exams, so of course I decided to blog about a tricky subject in YA literature. Because that's what all the cool kids are doing, right? (Actually, all the cool kids are either studying like maniacs or blowing their tests on for facebook) I'll apologize beforehand, because it seems like the ungodly amount of Spanish I tried to cram into my poor little brain has fried it completely. I'm not even going to start complaining about bio or else this may take up the entire post.

Love triangles are popping up everywhere in modern day YA literature. Twilight seems to have spawned this trend, or so many experts say. Well, the thing is, the whole Bella/Jacob/Edward thing going on? Yeah, that's not actually a love triangle. Most people believe that love triangles are when two (ridiculously hot or otherwise) guys fall in love with a girl. The girl is almost always the main character. Don't get me wrong, guys can have two girls vying for their affection too...it's just not as common. We'll use the whole "love triangle" from Twilight as an examples of why most love triangles aren't love triangles. Most of these so called love triangles are nothing but love angles disguising themselves as triangles. You want to know why? Even if you don't, I'll tell you. Edward and Jacob have no relationship with each other than just being rivals for Bella's love. Therefor, a line is missing. And since triangles are polygons and polygons are enclosed figures, the love angle is nothing more than a poser.

Behold! Bad diagrams and even worse explanations!

Love Angle
    
           Bella
          /       \
Edward     Jacob

Now, while most of the relationships disguised as love triangles are angles, there are some actual love triangles out there. They're rare, but not imaginary. For example, in The Infernal Devices, a series by Cassandra Clare, Jem and Will both love Tessa,  but Jem and Will also have a separate relationship with each other, other than just being rivals. They're parabatai, sworn to protect the other on the cost of their own life. Will, who seemingly hates everyone, loves Jem. He loves Jem more than anything in the world and Jem loves Will as well. (In a platonic way) Once you introduce the whole marriage/courting kind of love, that's where Tessa comes in. BAM! Now you've got a love triangle that works.

Another example of a real love triangle is the relationship between Damon, Elena, and Stephen from The Vampire Diaries. Stephen and Damon both love Elena. Stephen and Damon are also brothers. Instant relationship!

Actual Love Triangles

    Tessa                       Elena
   /         \                     /         \
Will -- Jem          Damon -- Stephen

I hope that cleared some things up for you guys. Or at the very least, offered a few minutes of distraction for you while you read it/debated my sanity. It's back to studying for me!

Yes, we're having ANOTHER live blog.

There's a universal truth/cliche I happen to fulfill that teenagers are lazy. Now I know that not all teenagers are lazy, but it's one of those things that get passed on. Especially in today's obesity worried world. I'm one of those teenagers. Okay, here's my confession.

....

Ready?

...Are you sure?

I haven't written a word in two weeks. 

Yes, you read it right. (Well, actually, I have written quite a lot more than a word, but those are notes and stuff for school and that kind of stuff drives me bonkers) The stakes are the same, looser has to wear a dress to school. Most girls my age are like, "Psh, a dress? I wear that anyways. It's a pathetic punishment." Well SCREW YOU, GIRL MY AGE. No, actually, that's not what I wanted to say. Congrats for braving the cold and freezing your butt off in those cute dresses of yours. I happen to like keeping my body a warm temperature. And I think my man thighs look kind of grotesque under a flouncy dress.  My friend and I were pretty hardcore with our last live blog bet, with the 6k a day competition but next week it's finals week and we have some studying to do. (Plus, I have to do my math homework from this entire week. This week was kind of hectic. I had to prioritize my homework. Surprise, surprise, math got bumped down to last place)

Here in the US of A we have a three day weekend in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. My friend and I are aiming to write 10k over the three day weekend. She was a good girl and set up her blog post as soon as she got home whereas I just took out a book and read. Yeah, I'm that girl. The one who can read a book in about two hours and who's always carrying something written with her. The girl who sucks at real life.

We'll probably keep the lovely tradition of attempting to distract each other via text or twitter. Sadly, you guys cannot read our text messages. But you can tune in to our twitter feeds. We'd be thrilled if you tweeted us during our endeavor. Since you're here, we'll also track our progress on our respective blogs.

Chloe's blog (The one known in this post as "my friend"): http://www.cannibalcarrot.blogspot.com/

My twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/lBroken_Angel

Chloe's twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/CannibalCarrot

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FRIDAY (the 13th)

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm : Ate this amazing cotton candy ice cream my mom bought. Read Linger by Maggie Stiefvater.

5:40 pm: Surfed the internet like the brain dead zombie I happen to be. Read a few blogs. Looked at pictures on weheartit.com and watched some pointless youtube videos. Oh yeah, this is productivity at its greatest.

6:00 pm - 6:40 pm: Ate dinner with the family. For like five minutes. Then my siblings ditched and left me to spend some good ol' quality time with the parents. Oh goody!

7:00 pm - 10:00 pm: Saw an awesome school play. It was hilarious and the actors were amazing.

10: 21 pm: Killed time on twitter and blogger. Fell in love with Maggie Stiefvater again after rereading a few posts on her blog. She should totally marry me.

11:43 pm: Goodnight, world.

Word count: 0/10000
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SATURDAY


8:30 am: Woke up. My first coherent thought was something about mice and headaches. I have no clue why the heck I was thinking about mice, but I was. Tried to go back to sleep but my stupid brain won't shut up. So here I am, editing this blog post.

9:38 am: Between now and 8:30, I've had breakfast and started writing. I made some eggs but accidentally cracked them badly so I was picking out eggshells like an idiot for fifteen minutes. Writing wise, I'm terrible at pacing so the action/tense scene is way too descriptive to be okay. But it's alright right now because it inflates word count. Did I mention that I'm jumping from scene to scene? Yeah, NOT OKAY, Julie.

10:11 am: Sent a few panicked and desperate tweets to Chloe. The paranoia's settling in. Her blog is quiet. Too quiet. I hope she's asleep but I have this nagging feeling that she's turned off her internet and is doing that crazy Chloe world making machine thing. Wrote in between panic attacks.

10:43 am: Listened to some Taylor Swift music on youtube because someone from inkpop suggested a few of her songs. Then listened to Yiruma because he's awesome. Wrote some more. I didn't really realize my character was that suicidal.

WC: 1458/10000 
Progress is still progress.


12:24 pm: Wrote a bit. Texted Chloe. Went on twitter. I'm off to Chevy's because my dad has a gift card.

WC: 2341/10000
I didn't get much done. I like the internet to much to be productive.


12:47 pm: Okay, I kind of lied about going to Chevy's. My parents got mad at each other and my mom wound up taking my sister to a local restaurant instead. Whatever. More time to write. (Or procrastinate) Remember how last time we did this live blog thing I hated myself a lot? Well yeah, I've reverted to hating myself. What is this junk I'm writing? ARE THESE EVEN WORDS!?

1:48 pm: Wrote a weird-ish dialogue thing between three of my characters. They all swapped personalities (It was by accident!) and I have my work in editing cut out for me. Ugh. The kind of pervy character suddenly got all calm and serious, the goofy one acted like a mute, and the main character had a mental breakdown. Oh what fun it is to write stuff that makes no sense!

WC: 3005/10000
I'm a slow writer. Deal with it.


2:13 pm: Haha, writing? What's that? I'm having a whole lot of fun reading manga instead. Magical girl transformation! *cute sounds and fluffy pink hearts appear* Just kidding. I don't like magical girl stories very much. I'm reading a murder mystery one. It's kind of lame but the pictures are good!

3:53 pm: Chatted with Chloe on facebook for a while. Sorry, you can't see that chat either. But yeah, Chloe's hilarious. And awesome. And a genius. I have a new plan for my characters and this one involves a lot of kissing. And my emo character just turned into the fallback kisser.

4:11 pm: For someone who wasn't planning on writing, I got some decent work done. I usually have to struggle to get this much.

WC: 3475/10000


5:36 pm: I did some photo editing and tried to make my blog all swag. But technology hates my guts so the pretty swag failed and we still have this boring blog for all that grueling work.

6:00 pm: Ate dinner. My parents went grocery shopping so they bought me a cherry slushie. Had pizza for dinner. Junk food, yay! Who needs to be healthy? Psh, not me! Hello future health problems!

6:48 pm: Watching last week's episode of Vampire Diaries with my little sister. Yay, Damon!

WC: No change

7:43 pm - 9:08 pm: Wrote like the a tornado. Never mind the fact that tornadoes are chaotic and destructive and in general, don't write. Right now, my brain is completely fried and I'm not sure what my last two paragraphs in my Word document are about. Tornadoes write. Because I am a tornado. Rawr.

WC: 5468/10000
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SUNDAY

9:30 am: Tried to write according to THE PLAN Chloe and I (but mostly Chloe) came up with via facebook yesterday. My characters decided to fight. I don't think they can kiss anymore. My inability to control the characters inside of my head leads me to think that I have some kind of inferiority complex. Because seriously, what kind of characters don't listen to their writer?

9:58 am: Sent a panicked facebook message to Chloe about previous log. WHY WON'T THEY LISTEN!? THE PLAN IS RUINED. Still haven't had breakfast.

WC: Not worth telling. I've only written about a hundred words.


10:00 am - 6:50 pm: Stuff happened. Cool beans, right?

6:57 pm: Watching the Golden Globes with my parents. I wrote a little bit today but it wasn't very much. About three of my characters decided to rebel against me. I have no idea how parents of teenagers have the energy to keep fighting back. I mean, I'm waging an imaginary war against my characters, so who knows how much worse it must be against a real person. Because, you know, real people can throw things.

WC: 7844/10000
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Monday


3:12 pm: Reached 10k!

WC: 10095

Visual Inspiration (1)

In between homework assignments and goofing off on the internet, I collect pictures off tumblr and other sites (ok, so this counts as goofing off on the internet) that remind me of my stories. It's kind of something I do to guilt trip myself into opening up my word doc and writing. Because hey, I'm in a very serious relationship with Procrastination. I think I might propose soon but I found out he was cheating on me with ALL OF MY FRIENDS AND HALF THE POPULATION. So yeah...I'm not really into polygamy or anything, but I can't rid myself of this relationship no matter how hard I try. (Which honestly, isn't very hard)

Oops, rambling again. Here are a few pictures that remind me of themes/ideas/events/characters in my yet to be officially named project. It's about genies. :) And yes, I do have a legit file just for these pictures.

New Year

Well, I don't have a lot of time to write a super long post right now because we have a bunch of people over while we celebrate the new year. I'm currently being antisocial and hiding out in my room but I'm obligated to haul my ass out of bed and entertain the guests. Which I will...in a few minutes. Actually, I don't even think I'm antisocial. To be antisocial, you have to dislike people. I like people (sometimes). The reason I don't talk or hide out by myself is because I'm scared of people. So yes, dear reader, chances are if we met in real life, I'd scream bloody murder and back away from you like you have the black plague. I'll apologize beforehand.

As 2011 comes to a close, I've realized that not only am I going to be scribbling out /11 on all of my papers for the next few months, but I've done nothing notable or important this past year. (Unless you count the surgery my parents forced onto me, and even then, it's a rather unremarkable feat)

2012 will be different! This is the last year we'll ever have, according to the Mayans. I better do something interesting, hm? After I finish this post and make nice with the guests for a few hours, I'll compile my New Year's Resolutions. Except, instead of a list of vague things I want to do, it'll be a checklist of things I will have to do. To force myself to uphold these "resolutions", I'll probably be codependent and make someone I know hold me accountable for one (if not more) resolution.

Happy New Year! Say your goodbyes to 2011, whether it was a good or bad year, and welcome the new year! (I accidentally typed yar because when I blank out, I tend to think I'm a pirate) Maybe some other time I'll post my goals and make you in charge of one of them.

2011, good or bad year. Why?


What are your resolutions?

Live Blog with Cannibal Carrot Numero Dos

My writing has been stilted and almost nonexistent these past few days so yesterday I proposed another Word Goal Competition Thingy with my friend, Cannibal Carrot. If you weren't here for the past one (which lasted a weekend) and you're too lazy to go back and check my past posts, it's just a competition where we had to write 10k in two days. If you're worse than math than I am, it's 5k a day. This time, we're raising the bar. It'll be a one day deal, but instead of 5k, it'll be 6k. The bet's the same (although I was unaware we even had a bet until I checked her blog) If you don't write 6k today, you have to wear a dress to school on Mon--Tuesday.

9:40 am: Woke up. Looked at clock and then promptly went back to sleep. I stayed up until 12 something last night (this morning) because our dinner guests got drunk and couldn't tell time.

10:28 am: Checked Chloe's blog. No, no, no...opened up my word document and started to feel like shit. I'm aware this feeling will last all day.

11:16 am: Wrote for the past hour or so. The bad feeling didn't go away and now I hate my characters AND my writing. I earned breakfast, though.
WC: 1005/6000 Still way behind Chloe. She got a head start today. I wonder how much she has now...


11:43 am: Ate a breakfast of cookies, which will totally screw over my blood sugar level. Hello type two diabetes, I think I see you in my future! I found a piece of chocolate that will be my prize for reaching 2k.

12:27 pm: Wrote like hell, even though I'm a slow writer. Just wrote. Nothing else. The selfhatred is growing stronger.

WC: 2062/6000


12:53 pm: Finished the scene I was working on all morning. I've resorted to skipping around the story. Now I know it's never going to be finished and never going to be complete. *sigh*

WC: 2589/6000


12:54 pm: Going on an internet detour to cleanse my brain. Screw self control, I'll go crazy with my word doc all day.

1:00-1:59 pm: Alternated between surfing the internet and writing. I couldn't write without a little help, so I brought sexy Thomas back with all of his perverted glory. Blushed a lot while writing sexy scenes. Also paranoidly watched my bedroom door in case my parents wanted to come in and read over my shoulder.

WC: 3429/6000 I think I've earned my lunch.


2:40 pm: Pretty, pretty books. I think I'll be stupid and read you!

4:02 pm: Legend by Marie Lu is a FREAKIN' AMAZING book. The shitty feeling just increased tenfold. I think I'll keep the break going until it gets dark outside. For some reason it's easier to write during the night. And maybe the time will separate the shitty feelings and adoration from my writing.

5:33 pm: The sun is down. After a mind numbing hour of internet crap, it's time to return to THE WORK. Ugh, ugh, ugh...but ooh! Kissy scene. Oh wait...already wrote that.

5:46 pm: Procrastinated and made popcorn. Add said popcorn with sister while looking a her latest celebrity gossip magazine and dissing celebs.

6:11 pm: Wrote like the wiiind. (Even though the wind doesn't write) Mind numb. I can't feel my brain...

WC: 4570/6000 Only about 1.5k to go! Whoo! Chloe has yet to update. I'm frightened...


6:42 pm: Went on facebook while I was busy being embarrassed about writing a kissing scene. Checked Chloe's blog. No update. It's quite. Too quiet...

7:19 pm: Went and did the deed. Kissing scene is done.


WC: 5478/6000 I've earned my dinner. About 500 words left! Fight!


7:21-7:39 pm: Dinner. Spagetti and meatballs, yum yum!

7:58 pm: OHMYGOD! I reached 6k. I am done with this challenge. BS-ed a bunch with girly conversations, perverted guy antics, and kissing. Lots of kissing.

Final WC: 6004/6000 I might write more today, but I doubt it. I'm feeling kind of worded out right now.

Christmas Eve

I tried to include the other fun holidays in my previous post (I know, it's bad form to ditch a blog for months and then blog two days in a row. What can I say? I like to keep you guys on your toes) and I kind of failed, but this post will be a quick post. It's Christmas Eve, so I'm supposed to be spending time with the family instead of hiding away in my room like a hermit.

So my AMAZING WRITER/CLIMBER/A BUNCH OF OTHER COOL THINGS FRIEND decided to be more awesome than usual and drew an Infernal Devices cartoon that pertains to my twitter name (@llbroken_angell) So I just had to post it here to show you all how awesome she is. She's the same friend who sent me the hilarious list telling me why I should lend her Clockwork Prince. Yeah, we be book junkies.

Isn't awesome!? She has a blog too. It's pretty cool n' stuff so you should totally check it out here.