Epiphanies

Dear Diary,

Don't you hate it when suddenly everything in the past year comes together and you have a sudden vision of all your ducks lining up in a very neat row that all point to the place you've come to?

Yeah, that just happened to me.

There are several things that have been slowly coming together and now life makes more sense. Even if all my plans fall through, there are some things that have clicked and I have new insight into myself.

K

Thx

Bye

Productive Procrastination

I am... kind of actually sort of supposed to be busy?

I just finished a research project (YAY) and turned it in for grading -- hopefully I do well?
I should be working on my novel/final project...
I should also be working on a script for VBS in two.. months....
I should be SLEEPING

But nah.

I think I'll go buy bleach and clean the bathroom sink.
Or clean my room.

Or I could organize the craft room.

Read a book.

Make bookmarks?


So for the past two weeks I was supposed to be working on the research paper that I just turned in. Instead, my room is cleaner than it's been in months and my sister has a mistcloak.

It can be argued that I was doing some research while making the mistcloak (Writing Excuses is a fantastic podcast for writers go listen to it).

But it's not a very good argument.


It seems like I always get better at cleaning the house and doing the dishes when I should be doing homework so I don't have to freak out like I have been for the past few days.

It's really weird and ALWAYS happens.

When am I stressed? Well, when do you see me frantically cleaning the house?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's a psychological thing. Not going to go out any further because I'm feeling lazy and I really want to be done with researching things on Google for a little bit.

I STILL have things that need to be done.
But here I am.

Productive procrastination for the win. See you in another couple months.

Drabbles

I enjoy writing fiction.

I also drabble A LOT.

To drabble is to aimlessly create a piece of fiction. (look it up)

I wrote a lot of those for my Creative Writing course a year ago and my need to drabble has only gotten worse since then (cuz it wasn't already bad enough).

I've learned to set a goal in mind, that outlines are possibly that one friend who tells you what's best and then you ignore them at your own risk, that there are so many things I want to say.

That being said, I'm kind of proud of some of them, so I'll probably post some when I don't have anything else to say.

I like blogging but a lot of it turns into me complaining to the computer screen.

It's cathartic but also makes zero sense and tends to be mean.

Like really mean.

But I digress.

All this is to say for the next little while, I'll be posting some drabbles.

Probably just one.

Maybe two, cuz I like the format of the other.

Stay cool. Bee out.

WARNING: UNSOCIALIZED

Confession time: I'm a homeschool kid and I'm proud to be unsocialized.

I wish I weren't so socially awkward, but I'm proud to be unsocialized.

That being said, I'm not exactly using the conventional, dictionary definition of "socialize" which is what people usually look at to define socialization (get your act together people).

Socialization refers to a psychological/sociological process that teaches, according to dictionary. com,

"the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position"

If you scroll further down the page, the British definition is much more to the point, defining socialization as follows:

"the modification from infancy of an individual's behaviour to conform with the demands of social life"

I don't know about you, but this sounds like socialization means conforming. I want to be my own person and have my own thoughts, thanks very much.

Of course, as a homeschooler, of one of the most common questions we hear is "But what about socialization?"

So what about it? I have no intention to conform to all of society's norms. It's more fun being my own person.

You can have your socialization.

I'll be my own weird person.

The Perfect Word

I am a writer.

I'm not a very good one, but I am a writer. And as a writer, something that intrigues me is the fact that some of the concepts in journalism are so essential to fiction, yet those concepts are often overlooked.
Most importantly, the idea of using specific words in the perfect arrangement.

The most valuable of all talents is that of
never using two words when
one will do. -Thomas Jefferson

I've heard this quote before and I've seen examples of the concept in fiction (a series that is highly praised for its use of this exact idea is Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle) but it never truly struck me how important it is for a storyteller to do this.

Of course, importance usually makes it harder. In fact, it is often painfully hard to write prettily (not necessarily concisely).

I have made this letter longer than usual,
only because I have not had the time
to make it shorter -Blaise Pascal

It takes way more effort to choose specific words than to just let everything flow out.

I'm a spewer. I just type what's on my mind. It's much harder for me to choose which words capture what I want to say in a more precise manner.

This is essential to a journalist so that they don't risk offending people and losing their position. It's also important to (at least in theory) use specific language to keep from showing specific bias.

It's also essential to a writer. Words convey emotion, whether anybody realizes that or not. When setting a scene, brilliant blue describes a completely different emotion from soft blue.

Words are important and it matters which ones you use.

Choose the perfect word. Don't settle for less. Your writing will benefit from it.

Dear People

Dear People who Tell me About TV Shows I Should Watch,

Please stop. I have mentioned this before to you, but I do have other things in my life. Like school. And creating visuals for you.
You clearly do not understand that I have a commitment to books first. Books have been and always will be my first love. That being said, I have taken the time to create a visual that you should refer back to before recommending a new TV show to me.

Do you see that smaller stack of books? That's my schoolwork, not including the current textbooks and etc. I have on Kindle/various other electronic sources. That large stack of books is all the books I want to read for fun before the year is over.
I do enjoy TV shows.
But not right now.
So please, for the sake of my sanity and those around me, stop recommending shows to me.