Writing Advice: Setting the Scene 1

new motto, new direction, same old me

Lately, I feel like I have been deciding between two options, give up or live up to everyone else's expectations. Well, I realized the other day that there's a third option: live up to my own expectations. So, I have adopted a new motto. Of course, I could be setting myself up for failure if I have unrealistic expectations of myself. But there are my options: give up or live up.

I am opting out of nano again this year. I don't think I have the drive to attempt it. Give up.

I am grabbing my novel by the balls and writing fifty thou in one month. Live up.

There's no way I could crit ten books by the end of the year. Give up.

There's no way I'd miss the opportunity to learn from the brilliance around me. Live up.

I could never successfully complete a novel in second-person, it's an amateur mistake. Give up.

You are writing an awesome novel in second-person and you love it. Live up.

I hate my classes. Give up.

I love that I am still working hard in my classes. Live up.

so...

which will you choose?

and of course, we need a theme song

From the Mind of Jonathon Arntson: free writing piece #3

click image to enlarge

Find previous "From the Mind of Jonathon Arntson" stories here.

Knock it off! AKA optimistic updates

Earlier this week, I read YOU by Charles Benoit. Uh...holy crap, amazing book. Amazing. I am so not over how amazing it was. It's so simple and cuts to the chase. Oh yeah, it's in SECOND PERSON! I know, like whoa. Have I mentioned how amazing it is? I loved the second person because you're in the book. You are right there, in the middle of it all. There's no setting the scene and no 'I did this and I did that'. Reading YOU has lead me to experiment with second person. I am kind of knocking off Benoit at this point. It's in the name of research, however, and not for profit. If I write a full on book, it'll be purely my own, but studying the way Benoit captures his audience should be made into a college course.

The experimenting has allowed my creative side to tell my internal editor to "shut the hell up!" And it's felt good. If you're unfamiliar with, or afraid of a tense start using that tense and see why you don't care for it. Maybe you'll discover a fresh new way of using it that will catapult you into a writing frenzy like second-person has done for me.

Also, I am collabing on a project with one of my CP's. It's starting to pick up steam and I am uber-excited about it.

I have a few more ministories in the wings. As long as people like them, I'll continue to post them. Thanks for you shiny support, guys.

More old music faves:

"The Old Days" Dr. Dog

From the Mind of Jonathon Arntson: free writing piece #2

Click image to enlarge

And if you missed it, the first in the "series".

Reminiscing: The Musical

This has been one hell of a week! (and it's only Tuesday)


Fingers crossed that it gets better.


Anywho, check out this dictionary-type resource one of my profs shared. (Make sure when you click it, you watch the way the image forms, it's like watching evolution.) link


Due to the week's frustrations, I have been delving into the past of my life, music-wise that is. When I feel 'on the verge' I listen to my old faves and feel so much better. Here's an uplifter from a few years ago:


"You! Me! Dancing!" Los Campesinos
(long video, soooo worth it. There might be swear words, I dunno, those things don't show up on my radar, Anita will have to let us know)

The Artist Date: Episode 1

I found myself bored after an awesome video chat with my friend Heather, so I decided to take a break. I am (re)starting The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron, this week and one of the tasks she assigns her students is the artist date. An artist date is time you take to yourself to nurture your creative consciousness, usually about two hours a week. It's basically a playdate with yourself. Most of my artist dates are trips to the cafe, but today I decided to switch it up and go on a walk. I chose the North Pierhead, which is the site of the latest drowning. I thought maybe there'd be divers out, but there were none. When I got home, the paper confirmed the body had been recovered earlier in the day. It's odd to think that huge waves washed the victim off the pier the other day, but today the water was placid as can be. The beach was deserted and being readied for winter. 

It was an excellent walk and my soul is grateful. What artist date have you enjoyed lately? If you haven't been on one, what's keeping you?

oopsies on the upsided-downdedness

Since you all love my music suggs, but this song has no video, follow this link for aural perfection then make it a priority goal to systematically buy their albums before the end of the year.

i ♥ u

Summer's over? Probably. It hasn't gotten over seventy here in ten days. It's been cold and damp. Emergency crews are lauding the end. We've had over sixty drownings this summer, including a plane crash and a few boating accidents. Local resources are greatly depleted and the tourists left behind a lot of trash (non-refundable bottles and the like*). It's been an ominous few weeks.

Schools in Michigan cannot start until after labor day, unless they're private (never ask my opinion on private schools) and so the streets were clogged with buses yesterday. So much fun. Ten points for a kindergartener.

On a brighter note. I have started classes. Reading and Writing. Very invigorating , but haphazard, thus far. Both classes are remedial, but I am taking them for perspective and, well, just cuz. I'll be watching my professors with an analytical eye, since teaching English is 'The Backup Plan'. Beside refreshing my grammatical skill set, I do not believe I will learn a ton. I look at these classes as review, but I welcome epiphanies. After all, that concluding paragraph and I have never understood each other.

*If you plan to visit Michigan and are unfamiliar** with the concept of the bottle deposit, read this (PLEASE!).

**By unfamiliar, I mean smug, resistant, clueless, ignorant, or just plain mean about the whole thing, even though I am just a lowly gas station attendant and you are a sophisticated jet-setter who landed on the shores of Ludington, Michigan via Milawaukee or Chicago and think you're just too far above the bottle deposit to adhere to its goals, leaving the bottles for me to clean up. No, I am not bitter.

On yet an even brighter note, I am calling this song my chapter one song, I love the aesthetic and it fits perfectly into my "WiP"'s beginning.

"Generator 1st Floor" Freelance Whales

I've missed all my besties! I hope you had a great Labor Day. What's new with you???

Boredom and it's side effects.

School starts tonight. Writing on Thursdays and Reading on Tuesdays.

I have been trying to chose a story to post here, but none of them feel right. I am sure something will come along soon. In the meantime, I have been playing:

Oh, and I am obsessed with pirates:

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend, friends!

(I listened to "Mariner's Revenge Song" while I created these and ten other nautical spectacles.)