Interlochen School of Creative Arts

Back a while, in the first week of December, right after the madness that was NaNoWriMo, I was still typing like a mad man. For the first couple of days, I was fervently trying to finish the Night Stalker. But, a week before December the 15th, I was killing myself. During NaNoWriMo, I had decided to enter the Virginia B. Ball Contest. The winner would get a 30,000 dollar scholarship to Interlochen.

I just barely managed to enter myself on time.

And I waited and waited and waited some more for that email or that phone call.

The email came yesterday. And I..... Wasn't a finalist.

Oh well. There are plenty more contests and a whole lot of writing to do.

If you would like to read it, click here. I let my English teacher read it, and she left a lot of notes, but I haven't gotten around to actually editing the thing yet. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it!

In other news, the Night Stalker is nearly finished. I am currently working on Chapter Seventeen out of Nineteen. I'm getting to the really good part after bawling over a really sad part. I cry every time.

I am working feverishly on Loving Amelia Perfect. Last night, I did a complete read through and now have a list of things to fix on the over all plot. Tonight, I will be working on the outline and hopefully character dynamics. Fun stuff!

For a while, I have been thinking about writing a book called something a long the lines of Diary of an Atheist Christian. It will follow the life of a Atheist who is raised in a Christian family and the hardships he/she went through. It might also follow two or three other people. I was hoping to do this for Camp NaNoWriMo, but I feel like starting it earlier... Hmm...

That's all for now!

Best of Writings,
~Snowie

The Importance of Being Public

If you are anything like me (unpublished and afraid to let ANYONE read what you have written), here is a little knowledge. You are probably doing the whole writing thing all wrong. I bet you keep a journal. It might be a writing journal, daily journal, or a when-ever-you-feel-like-it journal. Point is it is a journal. Journals are a GREAT thing to keep. I have been writing in one for nearly one year now. I have filled up two and a half journals with little musings and my day to day activities and encounters. Not only do they help someone with a terrible memory like mine, they also make you write something everyday wether you like it or not. Journals can also teach you a valuable lesson.

There are two types of writing- personal and public. Personal writing would count as the journal on you desk or the writing you never let anyone read.  Public writing would be published novels, newspaper articles, your English essay you should currently be writing, basically, anything you read that is not written by you.

If you are constantly writing personal writing, you are writing for yourself and only yourself. The only feedback you have to go on is the feedback you give yourself. That my friends can be a very bad thing indeed. You are one in seven billion. I am sorry to tell you this, but not everyone thinks like you and is entertained by the things that amuse you.

So, now is the time to stop writing for yourself and start writing for others. think about what they might like instead of what you might like. But, be sure to include things that you like. After all, this is your book and you should to love it. People want to hear what you have to say. They just don't want to be bored to death while reading it.

Let's say you do try to start writing for others. You pick up a pen or open a word document and start putting down the first words of what could be your best work yet. Everything is going fine until you realize, hey, I suck at this. A lot. Public writing won't come easy right away. Granted, there are a few talented people who might pick it up right away. You have heard it before, but I will tell you again. The only way to get better is to keep writing. Write, write, write!

Good writing!

~Snowie

July 19th WSEIJM

IN THE LAND OF LIGHT AND STONE

In the Land

Of Light and Stone

Sun beats down

Cooking the Earth to the core.

A blistering cold

When in the depth

Of a cold white.

To the nonobservant

A desolate wasteland

And to the observant

Blooming with life

Soaring ashen mountains

Layered in reds and whites

Hold keys to the past

A time long gone

Uncovered inch by inch

By never ceasing winds

Over the past

Walk the creatures

Of the present

The strong will they hold

Carries them

Through long winters

Raging fires

And Summer’s heat

The Land of Light and Stone

Withholds for no man

As it barrels forward 

Towards a certain fate

As the ashen mountains fade

Into the meadows that surround them. 

The Land of Light and Stone

Speaks of the Earth’s power

How a single drop of water

A single gust of wind

Changes the land forever

How with time

Comes change

As the Earth spins

The world’s cycles 

Shift and Rotate

In to a new era of history

The Land of Light and Stone

Is more than it seems

It’s more than Light

And Stone.

~Snowie