Yesterday I used the word excepting in a sentence, I wasn't entirely comfortable doing so, but it fit so I'm happy.
"More important, perhaps, than any other person she’d ever come across. Not excepting her closest, most irritating, minutes older, sister."
- How to Fall in Love and Not Die
Monday, 3 January 2011
Read: Jan 3rd - Short story 'Outside/Inside'
January 3rd
Read: Grl2grl by Julie Anne Peters, Short story 'Outside/Inside'
So I'm here again, with another short story from the same book. I haven't blogged the first story because I read it around the time I first got the book. I do, however, after having read 3 of the 10 stories in the book, wonder if I should just read them all. They can't all be as clichéd as yesterdays, can they?!
Maybe they can.
See, I thought it was going well. This wonderful story about trying to choose the best card to send. It was from the point of view of a boy, at least I think 'Logan' is meant to be a boy (I never can tell with American names - today I learnt someone named her daughter Hunter, who'd have thought it?). I read most of the story imagining it was a female, it could have been either, the story didn't specify enough for a gender to be chosen.
Anyway, I'm getting off track. Logan bought a card, it kept mentioning the outside then inside messages.
(Outside) I love you
(Inside) Every day/ every way
That wasn't so bad, I quite like the concept. The build up of buying a card with card messages and details of moments Logan had spent noticing the girl he liked.
Until the end, when we find out it's for a teacher. Talk about a cliché, what an anti-climax.
Now I'm wondering if there's any point reading any more from this book, well, that's story four. Why not try just one more.
Until tomorrow...for now I will read a non-fiction book about counselling children. I wonder if it will be any good.
P.S. Having read the book last night for all of about five minutes I realised that the counselling book was also rather infuriating. I don't agree with most of the things suggested in the chapter I started. That book will be returning to the college library unread, I can guarantee that now.
Read: Grl2grl by Julie Anne Peters, Short story 'Outside/Inside'
So I'm here again, with another short story from the same book. I haven't blogged the first story because I read it around the time I first got the book. I do, however, after having read 3 of the 10 stories in the book, wonder if I should just read them all. They can't all be as clichéd as yesterdays, can they?!
Maybe they can.
See, I thought it was going well. This wonderful story about trying to choose the best card to send. It was from the point of view of a boy, at least I think 'Logan' is meant to be a boy (I never can tell with American names - today I learnt someone named her daughter Hunter, who'd have thought it?). I read most of the story imagining it was a female, it could have been either, the story didn't specify enough for a gender to be chosen.
Anyway, I'm getting off track. Logan bought a card, it kept mentioning the outside then inside messages.
(Outside) I love you
(Inside) Every day/ every way
That wasn't so bad, I quite like the concept. The build up of buying a card with card messages and details of moments Logan had spent noticing the girl he liked.
Until the end, when we find out it's for a teacher. Talk about a cliché, what an anti-climax.
Now I'm wondering if there's any point reading any more from this book, well, that's story four. Why not try just one more.
Until tomorrow...for now I will read a non-fiction book about counselling children. I wonder if it will be any good.
P.S. Having read the book last night for all of about five minutes I realised that the counselling book was also rather infuriating. I don't agree with most of the things suggested in the chapter I started. That book will be returning to the college library unread, I can guarantee that now.
Write: Jan 2nd - A New Project (Skins fiction)
I'm posting this a little late, but today(yesterday) I started a new Skins project. I know I have many stories that have been abandoned, left behind in the mess that has been the last 12 months of my writing.
I catalogued my work, put together a list known as "A Year In Fic", I did it in 2009 too. That year I wrote 35 stories, 5 of those were from my series - that's an awful lot of writing.
This year I did 23, only 2 of those were longer than one-shots.
That makes me feel disappointed and sad. I could have done better.
In all fairness to me I have had a lot of changes this year - three jobs, a period of being unemployed, a college course that I began, a sister returning to live at home and so disrupt everything in her path. It's not been easy, especially these last few months with my job, course and sister to contend with.
But here I am, with a new year ahead of me and I'm ready, willing and putting my best foot forward. My job is only part time, my course ends in March and maybe my job too. I don't know what the future holds, but you can bet that I'll be there with a pen(or keyboard) in my hand, writing my way into next year.
Maybe I'll consider writing some original fiction, creating a blog to showcase a story full of new people and exciting new adventures. Maybe I'll write fanfiction about the new generation of Skins or maybe I'll stick with Naomi and Emily who I'm so desperately unwilling to let go of.
In the meantime, I will work on my new idea - a story only known as 'How to Fall in Love and Not Die'.
Wish me luck, I may need it.
I catalogued my work, put together a list known as "A Year In Fic", I did it in 2009 too. That year I wrote 35 stories, 5 of those were from my series - that's an awful lot of writing.
This year I did 23, only 2 of those were longer than one-shots.
That makes me feel disappointed and sad. I could have done better.
In all fairness to me I have had a lot of changes this year - three jobs, a period of being unemployed, a college course that I began, a sister returning to live at home and so disrupt everything in her path. It's not been easy, especially these last few months with my job, course and sister to contend with.
But here I am, with a new year ahead of me and I'm ready, willing and putting my best foot forward. My job is only part time, my course ends in March and maybe my job too. I don't know what the future holds, but you can bet that I'll be there with a pen(or keyboard) in my hand, writing my way into next year.
Maybe I'll consider writing some original fiction, creating a blog to showcase a story full of new people and exciting new adventures. Maybe I'll write fanfiction about the new generation of Skins or maybe I'll stick with Naomi and Emily who I'm so desperately unwilling to let go of.
In the meantime, I will work on my new idea - a story only known as 'How to Fall in Love and Not Die'.
Wish me luck, I may need it.
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Word: Jan 2nd - Belga
I played Scrabble today and in doing so I tried to guess a couple of possible words (Words with Friends for the iPod tells you if a word isn't right) and in doing so I guessed Belga.
That is my word of the day.
By definition Belga is actually a Belgian news agency. Who'd have thought it?!
That is my word of the day.
By definition Belga is actually a Belgian news agency. Who'd have thought it?!
Read: Jan 2nd - Short story 'After Alex'
January 2nd
Read: Grl2grl by Julie Anne Peters, Short story 'After Alex'
It's all very American. I'm not against US literature but when it reeks in clichés and fakery, it really puts me off. And don't even get me started on having someone play with fire, then another character use that to talk about a sexual fire between the two other girls. Talk about clichés.
So the story is about a girl who was in love with someone called Alex, before the story began she received an email from Alex saying she wanted them to get back together. All very well, but the idea that Alex, who'd been through the process of coming out as gay, couldn't even understand that Rachael needed more time before PDAs. That annoys me.
I appear to have strong issues with this short story. The whole book really. Two stories now have mentioned a Gay/Straight Alliance in school (since they're all set in high school), I should Google that, find out more about if it exists. What I really seem to dislike about the book is how American it is, how PRIVILEGED America it is. Teenage girls going on ski trips on an average day of the week. It reminds me of a romantic comedy where you just know the main characters are loaded.
As I said, I'm not against the book being American but as a British young person I want something I can relate to. I don't relate to pom pom culture full of ski trips and second homes. I relate to honest, well built characters I can actually care about. Yesterday's story felt more real to me, the girl in that was infinitely more interesting. After all, she didn't date someone who dumped her to go back to the ex she dumped to be with her in the first place. What sort of message is that sending out?!
Oh Christ, now there's cutting? If you can't deal with an issue fully, don't even bring it up if you ask me. The idea of that added to the story makes me cringe. That was the only, briefest of mentions. Pointless.
And so the story ends with the girl taking back her cheating ex, yeah, way to go "role models".
I know not all fiction needs to be role model based but I feel something so aimed at teenagers has something of a moral responsibility to represent life in a certain way. For this story there was no message, except don't accept an apology from someone who seems to flit between you and someone else or you'll only get hurt. Actually, that's not the message, it's something I tool from it because I have the maturity to understand that love doesn't mean you're blind to someone's idiocies.
Read: Grl2grl by Julie Anne Peters, Short story 'After Alex'
It's all very American. I'm not against US literature but when it reeks in clichés and fakery, it really puts me off. And don't even get me started on having someone play with fire, then another character use that to talk about a sexual fire between the two other girls. Talk about clichés.
So the story is about a girl who was in love with someone called Alex, before the story began she received an email from Alex saying she wanted them to get back together. All very well, but the idea that Alex, who'd been through the process of coming out as gay, couldn't even understand that Rachael needed more time before PDAs. That annoys me.
I appear to have strong issues with this short story. The whole book really. Two stories now have mentioned a Gay/Straight Alliance in school (since they're all set in high school), I should Google that, find out more about if it exists. What I really seem to dislike about the book is how American it is, how PRIVILEGED America it is. Teenage girls going on ski trips on an average day of the week. It reminds me of a romantic comedy where you just know the main characters are loaded.
As I said, I'm not against the book being American but as a British young person I want something I can relate to. I don't relate to pom pom culture full of ski trips and second homes. I relate to honest, well built characters I can actually care about. Yesterday's story felt more real to me, the girl in that was infinitely more interesting. After all, she didn't date someone who dumped her to go back to the ex she dumped to be with her in the first place. What sort of message is that sending out?!
Oh Christ, now there's cutting? If you can't deal with an issue fully, don't even bring it up if you ask me. The idea of that added to the story makes me cringe. That was the only, briefest of mentions. Pointless.
And so the story ends with the girl taking back her cheating ex, yeah, way to go "role models".
I know not all fiction needs to be role model based but I feel something so aimed at teenagers has something of a moral responsibility to represent life in a certain way. For this story there was no message, except don't accept an apology from someone who seems to flit between you and someone else or you'll only get hurt. Actually, that's not the message, it's something I tool from it because I have the maturity to understand that love doesn't mean you're blind to someone's idiocies.
Saturday, 1 January 2011
Write: Jan 1st - For Always (The Mentalist fic)
Whilst many people know me as a writer of Skins fanfiction, I also write other things too. I have some original fiction I've created over time and I have more recently started writing Rigsby and Van Pelt stories in 'The Mentalist' fandom.
That's the writing I did today. On LiveJournal there is a prompt community and I signed up to a 20 prompt table. Here is my first ficlet written for the community.
http://community.livejournal.com/mentalistprompt/28251.html
That's the writing I did today. On LiveJournal there is a prompt community and I signed up to a 20 prompt table. Here is my first ficlet written for the community.
http://community.livejournal.com/mentalistprompt/28251.html
Word: Jan 1st - excepting
I've come across this word a lot lately thanks to reading the epic Sympathy for the Devil fanfiction by tromana (which you should read if you have some spare time). I kept seeing it there on the page and I knew it wasn't right, well, not wrong. I simply mean unfamiliar to me. It appealed to me though, in the same way words for reverie do.
Which is my reason for my word of the day being: excepting.
ex-cept-ing
Prep. With the exception of.
Conj. Except.
(The American Heritage Dictionary)
excepting
Prep. Excluding; except; except for (esp in the phrase not excepting).
Conj. An archaic word for unless.
Usage: The word of excepting is considered by many people to be acceptable only after not, only, or without. Elsewhere except is preferred.
My understanding of the word is that a sentence structured as "He was well again except a slight pain in his chest" cannot have except exchanged for excepting.
However, the sentence can be restructured so that it reads "Excepting a slight pain in his chest, he was well again."
I'm already excited to put this word into practice.
Which is my reason for my word of the day being: excepting.
ex-cept-ing
Prep. With the exception of.
Conj. Except.
(The American Heritage Dictionary)
excepting
Prep. Excluding; except; except for (esp in the phrase not excepting).
Conj. An archaic word for unless.
Usage: The word of excepting is considered by many people to be acceptable only after not, only, or without. Elsewhere except is preferred.
My understanding of the word is that a sentence structured as "He was well again except a slight pain in his chest" cannot have except exchanged for excepting.
However, the sentence can be restructured so that it reads "Excepting a slight pain in his chest, he was well again."
I'm already excited to put this word into practice.
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