Those are my art teacher’s words. It gets me thinking. And it’s very true, because without mistakes, where’s the adventure of life? There is none.

Too often you–yes, you!–are stuck in your shell. No matter who you are, no matter what you do, at some point in your life you just want to be less noticeable. Maybe you’re a bad dancer. Or you wrote an embarrassing answer on your last Japanese test. Or you’re awkward with human contact.

Every day we feel we’re not doing something right. We instinctively shrink back from whatever we’re doing if we feel like it’s imperfect, or if there’s a mistake. So what? No person in this world has never made a mistake, whether they like it or not. Even some of the most confident people I know aren’t so confident about mistakes sometimes. Follow the Wikipedia motto and be bold!

We apply this to writing as well. So much of the time, too much, I hear people say they don’t want to make so many mistakes in a first draft, or they can’t stand Write or Die because things aren’t perfect the first time around. There is plenty of time to develop a more precise style of writing, but few first drafts are readable. I’m horrible at them. There’s ugly word padding everywhere, too many adjectives and adverbs, but so what? There’s plenty of time to make those better…later.

Not to say you should procrastinate on editing or anything. But don’t shy away from imperfections. They’re what make us.

- Ann X.
69,084/365,000
(I’m on fire! )

I had my first panic attack over a supposedly lost file today. “Word cannot open blahblahblah”, it said, but all that stood were the words “WORD CANNOT OPEN”. Ever had that happen to you? You see something that’s really inconsequential but it makes you hold your breath and teeter on the edge of your seat and scream until someone gets rid of the spider for you? Yeah. That’s how I felt. But it’s all good now. I got the file open in the end and e-mailed myself a copy. Go me!

The moral of today’s story, kids? Always back up your files! Especially if they contain several thousand words of writing. Heck, even losing a thousand words of writing is something to cry for.

- Ann X.
58k/365k

2. THE OSCAR
The exact opposite of the mysophobe, the Oscar thrives in garbage. Let the piles of smelly clothing stay on the ground and let the spaces in between the keys on the keyboard collect dust! All the better for the Oscar.

3. THE NATURE PERSON
The nature person cannot concentrate indoors, instead preferring to crank out their four thousand words an hour bathed in trees and sunlight. Or, if they must be holed up in their room, let all the windows open and the light stream through!

4. THE LONER
Pull down the shades! Lock the door! Get the rifles ready! The loner is about to start writing! Occasionally accompanied by a set of earplugs.

5. THE BORE
Just as it says. The bore doesn’t do anything special. Just sits down with a computer/laptop/notebook and pen and writes stuff. Yeah. The end. Whoop-de-doo. Fireworks.

Which one are you? If you have any other category ideas, feel free to share!

- Ann X.
46.5k/365k
*All category names and descriptions are meant in good fun.

My favorite method is the lovely Write or Die. If you don’t know what Write or Die is already, it basically focuses on word output more than perfection and punishes you if you stop typing. There are four modes: Gentle, Normal, Kamikaze, and Electric Shock, with a Forgiving, Strict, or Evil “grace period” (the amount of time you’re allowed to stop typing before something horrible happens). You also set your own word goal and time period to type. Personally, my favorite mode is Kamikaze/Evil, as I am too chicken to try Electric Shock (what is that anyway? Does anyone know?). And they have a desktop edition too now so you can torture yourself without the Internet

Word wars come in a very close second. A time limit and a time to start and end are set, and two or more people compete for the highest word count within that time limit. You can do this on the desktop edition of Write or Die as well.

Having other people write with you is always a motivator. Especially if you’re new to a write-in and everyone else there is older than you and working so hard and you get scared if you stop typing they’ll all stare at you with disgust. Not that it ever happened to me.

- Ann X.
16k/365k

OUTLINES
PROS
- a solid idea of where the story is going
- fun for the writers who like planning more than writing
- less irritation in seeing your MC fall in love with someone she or he wasn’t supposed to love
CONS
- the tiniest idea may take your outline completely off course
- less fun in seeing your characters doing something unexpected and/or stupid*

THE PLUNGE
PROS
- you can throw in any plot ninja you like and it can turn into something good
- beneficial for the writers who excel at spontaneous storytelling rather than structuring
- because the next happening is unknown, the twists and turns in the story are genuine more often than not
CONS
- sometimes have no idea where the heck the plot is right now
- matters in the story will come up that need research, which may hinder writers who have just gotten “in the zone”

I think we’re just as likely to cut things from an outline-based story as we are after the plunge. You could even think about the second option as a very long and intricate outline itself.

Different processes work for different writers. Ann Aguirre, author of Grimspace, says, “I’d grown frustrated of writing within a certain formula…So I sat down with a blank mind and began to write.” (from this interview http://bit.ly/6HLgqU , which I found from the lovely InkyGirl http://bit.ly/60jtzZ). J.K. Rowling “always ha[s] a basic plot outline, but [she likes] to leave some things to be decided while [she writes].” (http://bit.ly/559Bow). So it’s really up to you.

Personally, I prefer the plunge. I’m just not an outlining sort of person. I can make notes about characters and events I want to happen, but those are usually in my mind, not on any sort of tangible paper, unless I’m terribly bored in class. I’m willing to take it at the cost of rooting through thorns and brush to get to the plot.

- Ann X.
9,450/365k

*I hope I’m not the only one who gets fun from this.

- Ann X.
6k/365k

I’m definitely out of practice with my writing. 1,087 words out of 1,000 for the day, but it took me over an hour to write that, whereas in November I could do it in half the time. Oh well. As long as I get those words out!

I’m beginning with Katsura-Otoko, as it’s the one I have the most confidence in in terms of plot right now. I was right. Once I got in front of the computer with my trusty earplugs, it was much easier than I imagine Something Like Seagulls or Tendrils would be.

“Doihara Kano wasted no time.”
…is my first sentence. Currently. It’ll change.

What are your first sentences of the year?

- Ann X.
1,087/365,000

1. Something Like Seagulls
Allen Winchester and Crane Corbel are four years apart and the best of friends until the day of their respective graduations, when the Corbel house is suddenly empty and there are no traces of the family. I’ll be fairly blind wading through this mess of a plot, but hopefully all will turn out well.

2. Katsura-Otoko
Doihara Kano, seventeen, third-year in high school. His parents work at city hall and his little siblings are A straight-laced guy whose only focus is on study, success, and a healthy future with his cheating, kogyaru girlfriend. But plans are disrupted when “Meganekko-Mari” scours the school for the sole purpose of hooking in new members for her dying drama club and Kano finds the creativity from the katsura-otoko inside him he’s never known.

3. Tendrils
The story of a romance between a human and an alien. I honestly have no idea where I’m going with this one, but I’ll go with it anyway.

A slightly belated happy holidays to everyone!

- Ann X.

“You’re In the Way”

You’re in the way
in the way
and in the way
somehow
unconsciously
I must go through the back door
through the yard
no
wait
can’t do that either.
around the chess table
around the swingset
around the fence
back around the house
around the trash can
up the front steps
through the front door
but now they’ve all moved
and I still can’t get through.

On another note, I found these “20 Tips On Query Letters” for newbs like me.  Good advice for the future, I say.

- Ann X.

I’m in the middle of renovating the blog so that it fits more to what I want to use WordPress for: writing.  Not rants or ramblings about my personal life like some blogs are for, but for the sole purpose to write.  And some other little interesting things that other people might care about.  The point is that I want these blog posts to matter to other people as much as they do to me.  And in the event I ever get published, I do not want any agents/editors/whomever to click on my blog and have the first thing they see be a rant about stupid people.

But it doesn’t mean I won’t still have a blog for personal life.  I just won’t be sharing it with anyone who doesn’t really know me.  Fairly fair, no?

Have I ever mentioned that I plan on doing Writing Year (WriYe) for 2010?  (update: yes, apparently I have, but bear with me) My goal is 365k, one thousand words every day.  A nice, round number.  I remember reading somewhere on the web (unfortunately I can’t remember the source; I swear I’ll post it if I find it!) that the first million words any person writes will be carpet.  Might as well get those million out of the way soon, right?  I do wonder how much I’ve written in total in my life so far.

I’m curious about my nearly-nonexistent readership.  How many words do you think you’ve written in your lifetime?

- Ann X.