Alex

I really hope that you know who I am, because if you don't and you're reading this, it'll be a little creepy.

Lit/music enthusiast, probably listening to the Punch Brothers, trying to write my way through the summer (and life).

Accountability
Since I am working on creative writing and will therefore be working on Radically Different Stuff, I would like for people to read over any revised stories with a few questions in mind:

- Do the characters make sense? Do they feel real? Is their motivation clear?

- Do we get a good sense of the setting/action?

- Are there any bits that feel overly florid/terrible descriptors/words you HATE? Similarly, are there bits that need a little more fleshing out?

- IS THE VOICE CONSISTENT THROUGHOUT? (This is the thing I've struggled with the most in several of these stories.)

Goals for Summer 2014
- Revise at least one story for publication. (Working title: "Do You Even Know What That Word Means?") Potential places for submission: Cicada, One Story.

- Novel draft of the Millard Fillmore Quiz Bowl Team (60,000 words?) [JUNE, revised NaNoWriMo]

- Revising Doctor Who paper for potential publication?

Week-by-Week Schedule
Week 1 (May 12-May 18)

Full revision of "Do You Know What That Word Means?". Make a list of library programmes to apply to. Talk to Delinda in ASC and see what she has to say. You should probably go home, see your mother, and sort through more childhood books. Brit is also back in town. Hang out with her.

Week 2 (May 19-May 25)

Polish "That Word." Figure out where to send it to. Prewriting for novel. COME UP WITH A FULL OUTLINE FOR THE PLOT. FIGURE OUT WHO IS ON THE TEAM. FIGURE OUT SUBJECT AREAS. Smooth out relationship between Isabel/Zoe. Decide once and for all whether or not Zoe is a lesbian or if we're going to incorporate her own queerness into this story. (Does it matter? Is she ace? Jesus Christ this is hard.) Also, don't forget, you're going to WISCON! (23-26 May)

Week 3 (May 26-June 1)

Get back from WisCon. Hope you're not dead yet. Continue prewriting up a storm. Do whatever you need to--character sketches, written or drawn, setting sketches. Remember: THE TRUTH IS NO EXCUSE FOR BAD FICTION. Work on thinking about the novel at least for one hour/day. Come June: START WRITING. At LEAST 1,667 words/day; aim for more. Get on top of your wordcount.

Week 4 (June 2-June 8)

WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO ME I AM WRITING A NOVEL (Wordcount goal for end of the week: ~13,336). Do you know where you're living yet? Who you're living with?

Week 5 (June 9-June 15)

Work on CV. WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO ME cont. (Wordcount goal for end of the week: ~25,006).

Week 6 (June 16-June 22)

JESUS I AM GOING TO DIE BEFORE THIS NOVEL GETS WRITTEN (Wordcount goal for the end of the week: ~36,674). [Are you working? Are you making money? Jesus, what's wrong with you?]

Week 7 (June 23-June 29)

SPRINT! SPRINT TOWARDS THE FINISH LINE! (Wordcount goal for the end of the week: 50,000 if I can manage it.) Are you dead yet? Don't start drinking. Don't slack. Don't be a wuss.

Week 8 (June 30-July 6)

Work on personal statement. If I haven't submitted "That Word" story already, now's the time. Do it before too long because Cicada reportedly takes FOREVER to get back to you. Continue writing novel, as I assume that ~50,000 is not enough to tell this particular story.

<p class="MsoNormal">Week 9 (July 7-July 13)

<p class="MsoNormal">Cry. Do you know where you're living yet?

<p class="MsoNormal">Week 10 (July 14-July 20)

<p class="MsoNormal">Gardening story???? Have you worked on that at all yet???????? Of course you haven't, you lazy lump. Now would be the perfect time to get on that. Also, go to Forecastle. See Nickel Creek. If you don't meet Chris Thile, shame on you.

<p class="MsoNormal">Week 11 (July 21-July 27)

<p class="MsoNormal">Good lord, Clifton. Hopefully by now you have stopped working on that damned novel. Put it away. Ask Griner if he'll help you with your CP/thesis. (What's it going to be? If you failed with writing a novel, shame on you. This means you'll have to polish a number of stories, probably a trifecta with a childhood theme. Could you do that?)

<p class="MsoNormal">Week 12 (July 28-August 3)

<p class="MsoNormal">Fuck it, I don't know. Moving, I guess?????

<p class="MsoNormal">Week 13 (August 4-August 10)

<p class="MsoNormal">You'll have moved into a new place by now. Have your parents moved? Are you Skyping them? Are you working on your writing daily? Why are you such a failure?

<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent:-0.25in;">      Week 14 (August 11-August 17)

<p class="MsoNormal">More crying. Nervous shaking in a corner of a room, away from the spiders. Shhhhhh, shhhhh. It'll all be over soon. Feed your pet dragon.

Reading List
Really, this ain't the best place to do it, because I use Goodreads more often. If you wanna check out my profile there, you can do so!

Other books I know I wanna read:

Finish Barrow's Boys, Fergus Fleming (Finished 5 May 2014)

The Miseducation of Cameron Post, emily m. danforth (Finished 8 May 2014)

First Time Up: An Insider's Guide For New Composition Teachers, Brock Dethier

Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil

More to come! Still working on that 60 books/this year goal!

Video Games List
To play (unbeatable sim games):

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

The Sims 3 (maybe get Seasons expansion pack?)

To beat:

Kingdom Hearts: Re:chain of Memories

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

Phoenix Wright: Justice For All

Kingdom Hearts 2?