I've been on vacation, skiing in Sun Valley for a week, wioth no access to the internet. That turned out to be a good thing because I got a lot more done on my novel.
We went to a bookstore and I got two books by Gary Paulsen, which I devoured (somehow he's just able to tell you what happened without any hoptedoodle and you're just entranced by something that should logically be boring) and the lady at the bookstore gave me a free recycled book, which she's not allowed to sell. It was the 2002 Farmer's Almanac, and I found this in it:
In Japan, I'm told, magazines turn down unsolicited manuscripts by sending the author a note saying something like "Our humble publication is not worthy of the great honor you do us. Your article/story/poem is so much better than the miserable work we normally pass off on our ignorant readers that it would be a crime to take advantage of your generosity. Please submit your work to a higher quality magazine."
Well, its interesting.
And Robyn, I know sort of how you feel. I will do anything to distract me from homework. I feel like there's a lot of pressure because I got six A plusses and two A's last quarter and I really should do that extra-credit science report which is due April 8, but its so much more interesting to write about the history of cleotans (don't ask)
Also, this is more of a friendship thing, but I need some advice. My best friend, who is sometimes more of an irritating little sister, has an idea for THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL. It's a science fiction - well, I think it could be great if a decent author wrote it. The concept is brilliant, but my friend frankly doesn't write, and she would make a total mess of it. Its probably just my inflated author ego, but I think I could do a good job. If she writes it it will probably just be dreck, and she's too lay to even write it. I finally got her t write the opening sentence during Latin the other day, and it was, "I looked out the window at the bubbling fountain." I'm asleep already.
So what should I do? I don't want to betray her, but I feel a sort of duty to write this book. It explores life and death... you know.
HOPTEDOODLE
or
ATTACK OF THE VACUUM-SEALED CREAM PIES
It happened once before
We fought the solar war
With the cream pies
Who descended from the skies
And changed dessert forever
They came in mid December
A day we all remember
Suddenly the sky went dark
Each pie falling left a mark:
A pile of white glop.
Brave men cowered under
Tabletops, list'ning to the rumble
But soon the storm did subside
And the children ventured outside
To devour the delicacies
A carelful glance revealed
That they were vacuum sealed
And just when we thought
We were safe - we were not
Now came the ice-cream cakes
Once again we did flee
We could hardly see
We tried to battle the cakes
But ut was a big mistake
The war had begun
The warriors prepared in
THeir kitchens, armed with tin
Spoons and pans and plates
The rushed to save their planet
But alas! they were too late
A few escaped in a spaceship
To the distant planet Iktakip
They organized a counter attack
But one thing their plan did lack:
They were four in number.
Brave Uktara, the young cook
Left their shelter to take a look
She discovered that they
Were being pursued
By a glass of milk
And a lot of food.
She charged them with her spoon
CHasing them towards Iktakip's moon
Her companions ambushed the pies
And flung them into the skies
But they had reinforcements.
Towards the twim stars
Past a planet like Mars
The young warriors were forced to retreat.
They landed on a moon
Not a moment too soon -
They narrowly escaped the stars' heat.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Will evil prevail? Will good triumph? WHat will become of Uktara and her friends?
Find out in the next episode of...
ATTACK OF THE VACUUM-SEALED CREAM PIES
Stephan -
I wrote that. I hated the answer I got, but I guess its true. There's a really good short story by Raold Dahl about this man who invents a machine that writes novels and short stories. Good writing can't be mass-produced, can't be defined - you just have to write it and if it works it works and if not you have to find something that does works. If it's not bad, it's good, and if it's not good, its bad, and there's no real machine that cn tell you the answer.
Sometimes I think math is a lot simpler than writing.
Melissa -
My parents never pressure me in school because they know I'm a perfectionist and I get stressed out enough without them saying anything.
Mitch -
I know EXACTLY what you mean, I spend hours on homework every night, book reports, worksheets, math problems, projects, etc and then I have about six hours of swimming total every week and I write whenever I can and I have basically no time to play because of all this homework. Last year I never did my homework until my teacher forced me to at the end of the year, so it sort of came as a shock this year. I hate how there's never enough time.
Thanks for the great advice, everybody!
p.s. I saw this ad for a six hundred dollar manual about how to write a book into two weeks - its supposed to turn you into a "wrting machine" and they say not to be creative. If you ask me, its a bunch of $#@&.
Wow! Finally someone figured out that homework causes stress, takes WAY TOO MUCH TIME and is often pointless. I get tons of homework, especially because I'm in a math class that's two years above grade level, and I like school and I like to learn, but I hate having to come home and spend hours on homework. My parents don’t pressure me about school, because they know I’m a perfectionist myself, and I get all A’s anyway.
Sometimes it's impossible to find time to write. I make time, right before I go to bed, after I get back from swim practice... but the problem with being in seventh grade is all this HOMEWORK! And if I ever finish my book report Dad wants to go play some lacrosse (lacrosse in February - he's a fanatic) and my sister wants me to go on the trampoline with her... but I HATE book reports, especially on complicated books with fifty characters. I've written about ten pages today, but most of them were in the book report.
Okay, this is a really stupid thing that shouldn't matter, but it does - I don't have the Courier font on my computer.
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|---|---|
| 2004 | 9 |
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