Nearer and Nearer…

Fiction, Out in the World, Writing, Writing Process, Writing Process, , , , , , , , ,

Well, folks, a lot has happened since I last posted. In regards to last post, I have lost a little bit of weight, but not much. This post, however, is about something much more important to me.

My publishing journey.

I have a few beta edits out for critique right now and am anticipating those arriving soon. Once I get those, I will fix what is necessary, and then run through another last round of edits myself. I can’t reveal what will happen once editing’s done, as it is variable and dependent on third parties. However, I know the plan and will it reveal when the time is right.

For now, though, you all will have to bear with me.

On another note, I just got back from a week in Orlando. Yes, Disney happened. Yes, I had a blast. Yes, I got to take a selfie with Sorcerer Mickey. No, I didn’t get to ride Jungle Cruise with Skipper Sam, my distant cousin (which was extremely depressing, by the way. Stupid lightning!).

Disney LogoI also got to exercise (fun, right?), eat a lot, visit family and friends that live in the area, and even late-nite mini golfing. While it’s true my family and I fought a bunch, what family vacation doesn’t end up in a frustrating argument at least once? In the end, the trip was amazing, and I am grateful I got to spend time there with my dad and sis.

My dad and I argue. A lot. On a regular basis. HOWEVER, he has always been there for me. He still is. He’s the one who is supporting me in my dream the most out of my entire family, both monetarily- and marketing-wise. We spent a majority of the 12 hour car ride home discussing my future as an author. I’m so grateful I have him in my life, and I hope he knows that!

Until another day, Vikans!

Keep Faith,

-Chrissy

Confidence for the dieters

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So, recently, I’ve decided to lose some weight. About half a month ago, I went out dress shopping with family for my grandma’s wedding dress. My sister and I tried on a few dresses ourselves, but when I looked at my body in the mirror and didn’t take pictures of the ones that made me look like a pot-bellied pig, I realized I wasn’t happy with my size. That afternoon, I went to the gym to weigh myself, and, to my dismay, discovered that I was 10 pounds heavier than I thought I was.

That’s a lot of weight, folks.

See, I was WAY overweight in middle school, a whopping 192 lbs at the peak. That was in eighth grade. I got teased, taunted, and even ridiculed in front of a bus full of students. Some people were worse than others. However, I had friends that were either in the same position as me, or didn’t care about weight as much as heart and mind. So, I didn’t really bother with dieting or exercising that much.

Come the middle of ninth grade, I started losing weight like crazy. Puberty is a crazy thing, you know? By the time sophomore year ended, I was 165 and down 4 pants sizes. I stayed pretty much at that weight ever since.

So, when I learned a few weeks ago that I was ten pounds heavier than my old standard, I knew I had to do something. Dieting, for me, wasn’t really an option, and I have difficulty committing to anything that isn’t my writing or schoolwork. So, I just decided to try dialing back the snackage and start hitting the exercise bike.

In the three weeks since that weigh-in, I worked one week at my internship the week of the 4th. The base throws a big 4th at the Fort celebration every year, and this time, I got to help the main guy in charge of it (as he’s kinda my main boss). It was hours in the heat everyday, and running around like crazy the whole time. When I weighed in two days ago, I was both shocked and happy.

I’d lost about 7 pounds.

So, my advice to those of you struggling with dieting: There are other options. Eat enough, but don’t gorge yourself. Try healthier options, or dial down the snacks. Exercise on a regular basis, whether it’s at a gym, walking trails in your neighborhood, or using your Wii games, like Just Dance or Wii Fit. Also, try to find organizations and events to volunteer with. Not only will the rushing help your weight burn off, but it will make you feel happy inside too.

Stay tuned, and hopefully I’ll reach my goal weight soon. After all, I need to look pretty in a dress.

#NLC2014

Career, College, , , , , , , , , ,

Hiya, everybody!

I’m still cruisin’ on a hyper high from last week. I apologize for not posting last week, but I’m about to explain why.

Last week, I attended FBLA/PBL (Future Business Leaders of America/ Phi Beta Lambda) National Leadership Conference, held at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center in beautiful Nashville, TN.

First in States
First in States

My reason for going was to compete in the Project Management national finals. The top 2 (or 3, not entirely sure…) contenders in each state are invited to compete for a place at NLC. I got First Place in my state, so I was excited to at least be among others who share my love of business topics.

There were quite a number of workshops that took place during the conference’s four days. I attended one about money, and the workshop leader was hilarious! He really made the workshop fun, and I enjoyed it, as well as appreciated the knowledge I gained from it as well.

My competition was late Wednesday morning. I was planning on waking up early and studying before going over to the convention center, but I unfortunately overslept. When I got there, I immediately prayed that things would end up well. The main reason for this was because in the past couple of weeks, I’ve been doubting whether my goal of being a Project Manager was too impossible for me. I knew for a fact that my social skills were incredibly lacking, and a good manager has to be good at talking to people, as that’s a big part of the job. I at least wanted to know that I had the knowledge and expertise already, so I could focus on the social aspect for the rest of college.

And you know what? I did. Know how I know that?

I got Fourth Place in the Nation!

I can’t even tell you how happy and nervous I was inside when my name was called in the random top 10. When we (the top 10 in Project Management) were called up on stage, I instantly forgot what I was going to have to do when they called my name. I had to keep repeating to myself, “Shake with right hand, take trophy with left!” As they started counting down from 10, every time I though they were going to call my name. The closer to 1st Place they got, the bigger my smile got and the bigger my anxiety grew. However, when they called me for 4th Place, I was so nervous that I think I rushed.

When I got back to my seat after a group pic, all my fellow LU-PBL-ers were squealing and cheering for me. In fact, they had been practically the whole time. I know now that my worries about people not caring are mostly unfounded, because this small group of classmates, that I barely knew before this conference, supported me. I guess I need a little more faith in myself, and other people as well.

#NLC2014 was the hashtag for the event on Twitter and Facebook, so if you’d like to see some highlights from other NLC-ers, go ahead and look that up.

It was a blast to attend, and such an honor to recieve Fourth Place. Now I know that my path I’ve set in life is possible. All I needed was a little faith.

View from Convention Center at Gaylord Opryland

The Waiting Game

Advice, Writing, Writing Process, Writing Process, , , , , , , ,

So, I think all of us have gone through this situation before. When you have something you’ve created that you’re incredibly proud of. And you really want to share it. With one person. Two people. The world. But, that accomplishment is your little baby. You want praise and happy words. Not the harsh criticism and vicious stabs that end up with you depressed and swimming in a pool of tears because they said that about your baby.

…. Please tell me I’m not the only one that happens to?

Of course not!

This what you’re thinking?

Authors go through this often. When they’ve completed a WIP, whether it’s a short story, poem, novel, etc. When they have to hand the fragile ‘child’ over to an agent, publisher, friend for critique, it’s a free-for-all. From the second you send it off, you sit there, nervous, edgy, probably antsy and fidgety. While you wait impatiently, your mind is concocting what they may say in their responses. In reality, this does more harm than good, but something needs to occupy your mind, right?

Here’s some tips on how to handle the duration of your long-waiting critiques:

1) Get out of the house- whether it’s going out on a coffee date with friends or working out at a local gym, getting off your butt for a length of time can really help ease the worrisome anticipation.

2) Occupy your brain space- Sometimes, thinking about something else can distract you from those cursed guesstimates of the beta edits. Some ways to do this include watching TV, cleaning, talking with people on the phone/Skyping, and playing games (virtual or physical- doesn’t really matter).

3) Lastly, MORE WRITING!- It always helps me to focus on a new project (or self-edit an old one), because then I allow myself to get sucked into my character’s world rather than the stresses of my own.

If any of you have any other ways that help you get through the waiting game, leave them in the comments below. I’m sure they’ll help out more of our fellow authors out!

Guess Who’s Back?

Advice, Writing, Writing Process, Writing Process, , , , ,

Yep, that would be me. Things have been so crazy that I haven’t been able to gather myself and blog. A lot’s happened since my last post. I finished my last Spring semester at my college. I got an internship at a military base. My grandmother got engaged. My sister got to go to DC and Kings Dominion within a week’s time (and that’s also with going to school, homework, summer assignment prep, etc). And my father is going to get command of his own troop this weekend! He doesn’t think it’s a big deal, but it really is. 🙂

Anyway, I felt I should center today’s post around something that has very recently popped up in my life: writer’s groups.

If you’re not in one, LOOK FOR ONE! I usually only relied on a select group of friends or the internet for writing advice and critique. However, I just recently started going to James River Writer‘s Writers Farmhouse events. It happens every Wednesday at a small, organic cafe about 20 minutes from my house. I’d decided three weeks ago to try it on a whim. I’m not much of the type to put myself out there and socialize, but I’m SOOOOO glad I did for this! JRW is a group of caring, supportive, talented individuals who love the same thing I do: WRITING! However, the fun is, that’s not all we talk about. During my first visit, we talked about everything from Marvel vs. DC to Turkish potatoes. And we all got along! No one was judge-y or cared if we acted like idiots. We were all there because we all shared the same passion for writing and wanted some likeminded people to share that passion and excitement with.

Writers Farmhouse, 28-May-2014

If you’re a Richmond-area writer, consider joining JRW, or even coming to their conference in October (because that’s an even bigger blast of fun to be had). If you don’t happen to be in this area, research, research, RESEARCH! There’s bound to be one in your city or group of towns, and even if there isn’t, there’s online writer’s groups, such as Figment, which I am also a part of, though more sparsely.

Bottom line: Find other writers and get to know them. They are the BEST support system you’ll ever find!

Lessons For the Panicked Ones

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You wake up in the morning to find out you overslept by 30 minutes. You have class/work in less than an hour. You throw on the first outfit of school/work appropriate clothing you see, grab an oatmeal bar, and dash out the door. Upon arriving at class/work, you sit down and get bombarded by work of all kinds, whether it be paperwork, worksheets, lectures, lab time, racing all around the building(s) to make sure things run smoothly, etc. By the time you’re done with work and heading home, you realize all you ate for lunch was a banana and a strong caramel macchiato, which you grabbed in the cafeteria during a run to another classroom/office. So, you stop, grab fast food, and get home. Day’s not done yet though, because you have chores to do: dishes, laundry, sweeping, organizing all the papers that are all over your desk. On top of that, you have brought work/homework back with you. You get to the breaking point, and are just about to go to sleep (probably around midnight), and a writing idea pops into your head. You didn’t write at all that day, so you feel obligated to at least jot the idea down somewhere and get some rest. Next thing you know, it’s Two in the morning, and you’ve outlined three-quarters of this new idea, that somehow turned into a potential 100k novel.

 

 

Ever have a day like that? Everything piling on, more and more until you feel your about to break? The best part? YOU GET TO DO IT ALL AGAIN THE NEXT DAY! Fun stuff, right? :p

If your days are like this, you need to try and find a balance. This is extremely difficult, especially for those of us who aren’t stay-at-home writers. Trying to balance work, family, responsibility, and your writing is a daunting task, but it can be done. Here’s a few bits of advice to get you started.

 

1) Wake up with your alarm. I know I have problems with that, and the snooze button and I have a cordial friendship between us, but you have to say, “I’m not hitting that button. I’m going to stand up, get dressed, and get to work.” It would also help if you set the alarm earlier than it is now for two reasons. First, it helps if you do succumb to the devilish snooze button, because you make sure you aren’t late, even if you sleep longer than the alarm. The second reason is if you do wake up at that earlier time, you can get ready sooner, and have a few spare minutes at your computer to start a chapter or continuing that outline that you didn’t get to finish.

2) Carry a notebook. Any one will do, no matter the size. Just stick it in your briefcase or backpack whenever you leave the house. That way, if you do suddenly find some free time during the day, you can take it out and write away. It’s useful in that it is lightweight, portable, and casual enough that people who look at you assume you’re still doing work. Just make sure you don’t do this WHILE you’re supposed to be working for school/job. We want to be balanced, not distracted.

3) ALWAYS find time to write. This is one of the hardest things to do, but one of the most rewarding. Whether you have a ten minute span of time free, or a full hour or two, you need to pull out that spiral notebook or laptop and write away. The word count and layout doesn’t matter. You could go to the conference room fifteen minutes early and write a couple hundred right before a meeting begins. You can grab lunch in a cafeteria and work on your layout during your lunch hour while eating a pizza or salad. You could make your emails more succinct and brief, and have an extra twenty minutes to burn, which you could then work on a character profile for your novel.

 

See? There are always way to balance what you love to do, and what you have to do. There are plenty of other sites out there that can give you advice as well. A Google Search of “Balance writing with life,” will bring up plenty of options by wiser, more experienced people than me.

Just remember this: Even if you are a night person, you still need sleep to function. Limit your time on weekdays to a bedtime of no later than midnight or 1AM. You’ll get some well-deserved rest, and probably be happier for it too. While writing until your heart’s content seems like a relaxer, doing an all-nighter the night before that big presentation you’ve been working on for two months is not the wisest of options.

“Keep Faith!”

Dear Diary: The Struggles of a College Student

Advice, Dear Diary, Out in the World

Yes, I know; I missed a blog post. The reason for that will be explained throughout this little story…

Ever have one of those days? The kind when you don’t get much of a breather before another person or problem comes breathing down your neck? Yeah, I’ve been having those.

For the past month.

Welcome to the life of a college senior.

I’ve had projects, homework (which I’ve fallen behind on MAJORLY), special events, running between home and school (which is a 50 minute drive one-way), and one internship interview that I think went well. This work load has been getting worse and worse as the semester has gone on. Finally, after that month, I broke down on Wednesday. It was too much. The trigger was being threatened, but it was an empty threat. I was scared at first, but when I realized it couldn’t happen, it wasn’t a big deal.

Anyway, my life is finally calming down. I’m staying at school this weekend to catch up on work (as I really don’t do homework when I’m home). I’ve got 5 make-up quizzes, one make-up test, and 28 minutes left of a transcription for my English class to do this weekend. For the rest of the semester, I have one quiz, three final exams, two final projects, and two weeks of being here.

The point of this post is to not scare people into not wanting to go to college. That is not even close. You get the opportunity to go to college, I have one word for you: GO! It is the experience of a lifetime, and you don’t want to pass that up.

No, the point is that THINGS GET BETTER. No matter how bad things look, they will always get better, somehow, someway. As my family used to tell me on a regular basis, “Things can only go up from here.”

And I’ve had friends at school that are going through the same stresses I’ve been going through. There are a few song lyrics I play for them to let them know that we’ll get through it.

“If you ever fall down, straight to the bottom, and you can’t get back right where you started, any place anytime, you gotta know for you, I’ll fight.”

-Daughtry, I’ll Fight

“Just give it one more time, to a Lullaby, and turn this up on the radio. If you can hear me now, I’m reachin’ out, to let you know that you’re not alone. And if you can’t tell, I’m scared as Hell, cuz I can’t get you on the telephone. So just close your eyes. Baby here comes a Lullaby. Your very own Lullaby.”

-Nickelback, Lullaby (I linked the actual music video for this one, because it’s powerful. At least to me)

“Cuz when push comes to shove, you taste what you’re made of. You might bend, ‘til you break, cuz it’s all you can take. On your knees, you look up, decide you’ve had enough. You get mad, you get strong. Wipe your hands, shake it off. Then you stand.”

-Rascal Flatts, Stand

“There’s always gonna be another mountain. I’m always gonna wanna make it move. Always gonna be an uphill battle. Sometimes you’re gonna have to lose. Ain’t about how fast I get there. Ain’t about what’s waitin’ on the other side. It’s the climb.”

-Miley Cyrus, The Climb

Whenever I feel down and like the world has thrown me to the ground (usually repeatedly and frequently), I play these songs and others like them to remind me that I’m not alone. This happens to everyone at some point in their lives. If they can pick themselves up, so can I. On Thursday, after that meeting that scared me on Wednesday, I went to my teacher’s office to talk to her about it. The first thing she tells me? “I glad you came. I didn’t think you’d last the night.”

To which I replied, “Well, I’m still alive, right?”

(Where do you look for inspiration when you’re upset or stressed? Do you have any songs, song lyrics, poems, stories, or people to talk to that help get you out of that rut. Comment below and let me know how you get through those struggles.)

Fighting Back- What Relay for Life 2014 Taught Me

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“ERRRR!”

That is the best description of my dryer. A high pitched, incredibly loud alarm that I can do nothing to stop. It lasts all of three seconds, but it’s scary enough to make me jump when it goes off.

Sometimes I debate leaving to do something while the dryer runs, so I won’t have to be terrified for those few seconds of that obnoxious annoyance. However, that’s running away from something I’m afraid of.

That’s one thing I’ve had to learn as I grow up: you shouldn’t run away from your fears, but confront them. Now, this is coming from me, the most timid, terrified chicken in my school. I’m scared of walking past a scary set of factories at night to get back to my apartment (a stretch of walkway I like to call the “Factory District”). I’m scared of pain, as I have a very low pain tolerance.

The biggest thing I’m afraid of, though, is failure. And not just failure of one task either. It’s failure in school, in writing, in friendship, in LIFE. And those fears keep me from furthering myself in the world. If I pushed those thoughts out of my head – the ones that are afraid of people’s opinions and what is defined as success – I may be able to succeed in ways I never could have imagined. Sure, results may vary, but you can’t really judge when you have blinders on.

For example, I captained my organization’s Relay for Life team this year. When I showed up to Relay, our ‘booth’ was positioned in a corner, pretty much in-between a wall (aside from the mess that was cutting hair to donate- mess meaning crowds of people watching and blocking us) and the stage, where there were speakers blasting music so loud I couldn’t hear what someone next to me was saying. We had very little traffic to our table, and some of our raffle items only got one person bidding on them. I also had to call on the help of my family to aid me in running the booth, as some of my fellow organization members had prior commitments that limited their time at Relay.

At first, all I could dwell on was that what I had feared had actually happened: where we didn’t get a lot of people to our table and were exhausted when the event ended at 5AM the next morning. However, as the week since had gone on, I’ve picked out the positives. We may have not made as much money as we wanted, but we still made some money to help cancer patients. We may have not had as many people rallying for money online as I had hoped, but we still reached our initial goal. … And then five stretch goals after that, coming to a total of $1,060 of donations in exactly a month’s time.

It might have been a long night, but my sister, grandma, and dad all had a blast during the event. I watched my seventeen-year-old sister dancing and having fun with college students. I saw my dad up on the track, dancing as he did laps for our team (we made 251 laps around the track during the 12-hour event). I got to watch my grandma as she looked down on the stage from the track and listen to the speakers that initiated the event.

Plus, once our organization’s team got back from the State Conference, they had something special to give me. 😉

So, think about this for a second. If I had imagined all that good stuff happening before the event started, would I have felt any different during? Well, no, probably not. I would have still been exhausted, hungry, and forcing positivity the whole night. However, sometimes, they do make things better. Once I had realized all those good things that came from participating and running that event booth, I felt proud of myself for what I’d done. I had learned new things and helped an organization that is currently close to my heart right now.

I didn’t let the fear consume me. I still put on a smiling face and pushed though, and soon found out it had all been worth it.

So, if your dryer is making you jump out of your seat, remember this: it has to end sometime. So push against those fears, and you’ll soon see it was worth it.

“ERRRR!”

… Man, this is going to be hard.

PARTY! PARTY!- The Aftereffects of a Night with Creatives

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So, as I am typing this, I am recovering from a hangover. A Facebook Hangover. What’s that you may ask? It is the result of taking part in a ‘party’ on FB, waking up the next morning, and finding yourself exhausted and laughing for no reason on occasion.

For those who are not aware, FB Parties are starting to become popular. It’s pretty much an event set up on FB, and when the scheduled time arrives, everyone starts posting to the event page.

MoPO Crest

Last Night was the Dawn’s Early Light FB Party. DEL is the third book in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris (Those books are OSM [awesome], so you should check them out). There were a total of 130 expected guests, and the party went on for three hours. Felt like three minutes, to be honest.

All of the guests on there were the best people ever to spend my depressing Wednesday with. I’ve had a rough semester, with planning difficult events at school, to bad grades, family issues, and writing difficulties. After those three, laugh-filled, have-to-catch-your-breath, fun hours, I felt relaxed, and happier than I’d felt in a while. The topics ranged from the Ministry itself (Such as dream casting should the series become movies), to guest authors, to somehow talking about being loopy on stuff and having an Ministry of Peculiar Pajamas party at Balticon (I’ve heard that’s a fun event, but it’s looking like I’ll have to wait another year to experience it).

The night was so much fun, and I was very grateful I was invited. While I may still be loopy from my Hangover from the party (induced by laughter, exhaustion, and raspberry lemonade), it was an event that I would have been very upset had I missed out. I thank all of the guests for making that party a night to remember.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to eat something other than candy.

Critiques Aren’t Meant To Cause Pain

Fiction, Writing, Writing Process, , , , , , , , , , ,

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As a writer, you’d think I’d be used to critiques by now. I’ve been in a writing fiction class, where they tore my fantasy to shreds, and I’m currently in my senior level English class, where our class is working on a publication that will be distributed to my entire town, and have been slammed by the harsh critiques I’ve been getting.

What does that do to me as a writer? In theory, as a writer, I need to analyze the critiques, edit accordingly, and brush it off like it’s a piece of fuzz on your shirt. It’s very nice in theory, but very difficult in practice. When you get copies of your work back, a story or manuscript that has been your precious word baby for a while, you get this feeling in the pit of your stomach and a feeling like someone torn your heart into tiny pieces.

Something important happens after that though. You read the edits, and eventually realize that some – if not most – are things that should be changed to make it better. That hole is still there, but starts getting smaller. Does that mean change everything they tell you to? No, it doesn’t. You have to use your discretion as the WIPs creator and figure out what is essential to the story and what can be changed. When you overcome that barrier, the hole is about the width of a pencil.

Finally, when you send that prec023ious word baby of yours back to the editors, and it comes back with a bazillion red markups, that hole expands again, but this time not as big as the first round. As you progress forward and get critique after critique sent back and forth, you start to catch things and habits in your writing that reoccur. Things like in-depth details, or grammatical errors, or maybe that you’re a comma-happy person.

That’s the point I’m trying to tell myself, and something I’m sharing with all of you. CRITIQUES MAKE YOU A BETTER WRITER! While seeing the red pen marks of death may crush you inside, you need to remember that the reason you even get those critiques back is because the editors (whether they are fellow peers, family, friends, or even just a distant connection of someone you know) are only marking those things to make your story the best it can be. Without those marks and notes, the story would go to publication with all the little mistakes and inconsistencies you missed in personal edits. Every good author or writer needs someone who won’t be careful when critiquing and sugarcoat it in sake of your relationship.

As I’ve learned recently, I still get a little pang of pain in my heart when someone tells me my story needs “a little work”. However, the fact still remains that my goal is to be the best author I can be, and that I can write stories that others will enjoy and that makes people feel something inside. If I have bad habits in my writing style, I want them broken before my stories go to publication to give my readers the best, because that’s what they deserve.

I remind myself of that every time a critiqued story comes back to me. I take a deep breath, open it up, and keep on writing.