Thursday, October 29, 2009

it's just like Survivor.

"Why'd you have to be so cute
It's impossible to ignore you
Must you make me laugh so much
It's bad enough we get along so well
Say goodnight and go"
-Imogen Heap, "Goodnight and Go"

I'm having one of those weeks where I have so, so much to do, but when I actually sit down to do it, I find I have plenty of time and definitely didn't need to stress myself out to the point of needing to just put it all aside and go to the bar with my roommates on Tuesday. Which I did. Which was fun. So I have no regrets. Oh being 21.

We went to this bar on the Ave, and we were really going to only stay for one drink, but then it was open mic night, and then this guy started beat-boxing and made himself sound like a Bop-It, and then we just had to stay. You would have stayed too. Come on. A BOP-IT.

Wednesday I had a reunion dinner/hang out thing with my study abroad group. It felt a little like the last episode of Survivor, where everyone is cleaned up and wearing nice clothes and it's weird to see them in a location that isn't an island with a bandanna on their heads.
But in this case, the nice clothes were just winter coats and the island is London and the bandanna is wrinkled clothes because nobody wanted to shell out three pounds to do laundry. It was really nice to see everyone. And a little surreal, because I left them all behind in London and then suddenly there they were, right in front of me on my campus in Seattle. I mean, I knew they lived in Seattle, obviously. But that doesn't change the mental connection I have with all of them being in the UK. And my school is big enough that I really hadn't run into anyone for more than a few seconds, and even then I only ran into a handful of them.

It was actually a little disorienting, because afterward I kept hoping I'd see Emma or Rosi or James or Johnny or Claire, because I left them behind in London too. I never saw them. It wasn't fair.

The event was catered by Buca de Beppo, and we all sat around a conference room table looking at pictures from the trip on a projector and sympathizing with each other about how little effort any of us have put into our final 10 page papers that are due this Saturday. It was a little awkward, since none of us have really seen each other in about 2 months, but I got to take home a leftover Eggplant Parmesan and that's all that matters. Also, it WAS nice to see how everyone was doing. A lot of them were glad to see me so happy and normal, which was a little embarrassing, but these people did see me at my very lowest. I can't blame them.

I spent all night getting ahead (yeah okay, who am I kidding - keeping my head above water) with the homework I have due this week, because Matt and Justin are coming here on tour tonight (for their show tomorrow), and while it's really badly timed in the way of my midterm schedule, they took today off to hang out with Eia and I and so tonight we will be having fun with them. I can't wait.

Last night I also took a break from homework and other responsibilities to chat about novels again with Liz. I was getting kind of nervous to start writing on Sunday because I hadn't worked out a few fundamental plot elements yet, but I think I am at a point now where I can start writing and actually have a direction to go in. Also, I decided on writing in 3rd person, which scares me, since I pretty much always choose 1st person because I am more comfortable there. The bulk of the novel will be in 3rd person omniscient, but I also have these flashbacks which I think I'll do in 3rd person limited.

This is an ambitious novel for me as well, because for the last 3 years I have written magical realism, and this year I am doing straight up fiction. I am of the belief that fiction is harder to write than science-fiction or fantasy, solely because you're not creating your own worlds with your own rules that you as the author are the master of - you're using a setting that pretty much everyone who reads your novel is going to be an expert at, and they're going to know immediately if you get anything wrong. That's a little scary.

Anway, T-Minus 3 days until NaNoWriMo begins. I am so excited.


Also, I think I am going to start putting song lyrics from whatever song is currently stuck in my head at the start of my entries like I did today. That way, I can 1. share my music tastes with you and 2. hopefully get the songs stuck in your head, as well.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I kind of REALLY love Imogean Heap :] I'm excited to see your music tastes, as I am a musicnerdfighter!

Caitlin said...

I was lying in bed last night and I was thinking about the novel I'll be writing, when I realised that I could do it another way, and I kind of really want to do the other way now xD
I have today and tomorrow to plan because I'll be spending Halloween at my friends :')

<3

Melinda said...

LOVE Imogen Heap and that song! I'm excited/nervous about NaNoWriMo, too. I had something all planned out, but now I really want to do a Jane Austen-ish novel. Which I'm super excited about...but don't have a whole lot planned out. *ahh!*

Sydney said...

I'm excited and nervous for NaNoWriMo too. I usually write stories in 1st person as well, and I'm trying out writing in 3rd person for my novel just like you are.

And, Imogean Heap is awesome. :)

HanPlans said...

Okay just to join the fun!

I LOVE IMOGEN HEAP!!!

I am still working on my NaNoWriMo plan and am going to try and get it finished before november starts lol.

Emily said...

Oooh. Third person and fiction ... I agree with you that these are both challenging things. (I've tried one novel in third person, and I definitely still need some practice.)

Good luck on NaNo though, as well as on catching up with all of your homework!

Anonymous said...

Awesome! You're last blog stopped me from stressing too much about nanowrimo, but this one is making me stress again! I have NO plot outlined, and I don't even know what genre it's going to be. Two days left! Ahh...
You're so lucky you're friends with all those awesome wizard rock people. (and that you are one of the awesome wizard rock people). So cool.:)

-alex

Ravenclaw2313 said...

Seems like you're handling things pretty well. With Wrockstock and a trip to see HatP in STL I'm not sure how schoolwork and I are gonna deal. I hope you have a blast with Justin and Matt tonight.

Also if you're going to infect us with songs I think it's only fair that we are allowed to share lyrics in return.

But Mariella just smiled as she skipped down the road because she knew all the secrets in her world.
yeah, she always got the crossword puzzle right every day and she could do the alphabet backwards, without making any mistakes.
Mariella- Kate Nash

Samantha Taylor said...

I got so excited when I saw the Imogen Heap quote at the beginning :D
I normally use first person as well. I would really like to practice 3rd person, but the novel I've chosen to write for NaNoWriMo calls for first. Oh well. XD
Also, Bop It FTW.

Unknown said...

I was JUST listening to that song...

Anyways, I think that I am going to attempt to write a romance novel for NaNoWriMo... I already have a intro for it that I had to write as a school assignment last year...

Amanda said...

1. i love imogen heap.
2. the bop-it comment made me giggle.
3. i'm diggin' your banner at the top. reminds me of jungle book. :D

seurat2 said...

I like Imogen Heap and I;m glad you started with someone I've not only heard, but like. I'm sure that won't always be the case bit that's ok. Gld you;re having fun.

Anonymous said...

i love that song!

HeyLukey said...

i dont really leave may comments but i have to put a <3 for the Imogean heap lyrics at the start of this :P

imagryffindork said...

this comment is irrelevant to the blogpost, but you had been taking about the hunger games a few weeks ago and its 1 am here, and after it ate my brain for three days i finally finished it.

oh my god.

that is all.

-Deirdre <3

THE_Ted said...

I am so proud of Kristina! The abundance of 1st Person narratives in professional publishing is appalling, congratulations you are now using a literary style more advanced than Dean Koontz.

That isn't to say that 1st Person is necessarily 'non-advanced', but only if it is used in a way that fundamentally enhances what the book is primarily about, i.e. the isolation of the human condition, thought processes, the nature of experiencing reality, etc. A prime example is The Catcher In The Rye. Modern authors use it as a cheap way to connect their readers with the protagonist; a task better accomplished with actual characterization.

And don't anyone bring up the fact that Looking For Alaska and Paper Towns are in 1st Person, because those are books marketed at young people, and young people are awash in 'isolation' thus making 1st person narrative a near necessity when writing for them. I was talking about big people books.

eibbore said...

Best of luck with NaNoWriMo!

Camille said...

Ah the lyrics at the beginning of this post really speak to me right now! I'm going through this situation where this guy really likes me, but I just don't feel the same. But I like talking to him, and when he makes me laugh it REALLY doesn't help. Plus I think I like the attention I get from him, or I used to. Now it's more like it's nice having someone who texts me first, someone who is actually a person I want to talk to.
When I read the Imogen Heap lyrics I gasped and slapped the table and sent my best friend a facebook message with those lyrics along with the word "WHY????". And now I'm about to listen to the song for the first time ever.