Music

Posted on March 11, 2019 by rachelsparling

I have always been emotionally effected by certain music. It’s rare that some upbeat pop song will actually make me happy if I’m feeling anything but, however, I do find some songs will take control and I’ll just really feel something.

Some people might read that and know exactly what I’m talking about, others might and be like “music is just background noise for me when I drive and doesn’t change my emotional state”. And sure, some people don’t get effected by music, but I will argue this; think of a movie that made you cry, that made you upset or angry – odds are it was not just the story or the actors that hit that special part of you to encourage the overflow of emotion, but the music that is re-enforcing those emotions and causing them to surface like they are.

Now, some of you might be wondering what the hell inspired me to talk about music influences, and there are many reasons for this.

I recently finished a video game that I had been waiting 13 years to play. Yes, 13 fucking years. Long story, made incredibly short, I thought I had moved passed the games that I had played so long ago, almost a different life time, but I’m not. This next installment of the game brought me right back to those moments when I played the first and second game, and some of the games in between the second and third. I thought I wouldn’t get emotionally invested in it like I did before, or find an amazing challenge in killing thousands of enemies at once. And I thought, I’ll be done with the series after this game – something I was certain of and figured I’d be unwavering on – until I saw the ending video. The ending video and the secret video at the end of the credits. I actually cried. Part of it was the music and part of it was the story. Not only did the final sequence of events involve the main character break down and cry saying he gave up, only finding himself having to keep fighting after losing someone he was in love with and had only just come to this realization (the characters are young….they start off at like age 12-13, and by the third game they might be 15-16), but the ending sequence shows him saving her, but not himself. And you’re sitting there, seeing them for a split second together, and then the tears fall down her cheek, and he disappears, and you know he’s lost – he couldn’t make it back. Something happened to him. You have no idea what, but the next game will tell you – maybe. The secret video then shows the main character and one of his friends lost in a place where you never expected the games to take you – and you wonder, is this a new world? Is it from a video game? Is it a new exam? Or is it something else entirely? And you’re so uncertain, and you’re questioning this, and despite all the other unresolved plot points that have come to light in the final video, deep down, all you want to see, is for things to just work out for those two characters who so clearly are in love with each other, and who want nothing more then to actually be together and protect one another. It’s deep – it’s love – and it’s forever.

I have become slightly addicted to two songs, one was used in the opening of the game, and the one in the ending of the game. They resonate with me in a very strange way. I think of the characters, of everything that has happened, and is yet to happen, and I also think about the meaning behind the lyrics. In one, it talks about love being everlasting, and wanting to spend a life time together, and getting married to one another, which is beautiful, but also heartbreaking. In the other, it’s about facing your fears, confronting your worst nightmares and crying every tear left in your body as your deepest fears come to light and you have to face them head on. Do you give up? Do you stand down, cry your eyes out, and find that despite how much it’s broken you, you have to keep fighting because someone relies on you and needs you? Do you do both, and then find yourself fighting despite experiencing your darkest fears and nightmares? Both songs are sad, they’re about fighting even when you have nothing left, when it’s been taken away from you, but you do it anyway. Why? Because you can’t stop yourself. If you don’t fight, then your nightmares become a solid reality, and you’re at the point in your life where if you don’t do it, then you become consumed, and you lose those you love forever. So, you stand up and fight despite yourself, usually at the cost of seeing someone else you care about protecting you and being consumed by the nightmares in front of you.

These games are pretty dam depressing….but what makes it? The love between the characters; the willingness to fight even when you’ve lost those you care about; the desire to see a better world, the light in the dark. The main character has this wonderful thing about him; he’s stubborn, reckless, but one of the most caring people you will ever see in a video game. He fights despite his weaknesses, and makes his weaknesses his strength; his friends, his love, the people who stand by his side no matter are where he draws his strength from; and yet they are continually used against him to weaken him. But he doesn’t give in….he still fights even when he knows the outcome is bleak, because if he doesn’t, what happens to those people? He makes a joke, he smiles that boyish grin, and throws excellent sass at the bad guys. But in the end? When the bad guys are slowly being defeated in a new war? They talk as if they have been friends all this time, like they have come to the realization that they have been through so much together, and even though they were against each other, it’s the end now; the end of them fighting each other, and the beginning of them finding one another once again, and sharing new experiences together. It’s not “you’re evil and you’re dead and that’s what you deserve”, it’s “see you in the next adventure” (whatever that adventure may be). It’s beautiful and heartfelt, and only these characters carry with them that understanding, the high levels of empathy, and the desire to see everyone they know and care about happy. And that’s what keeps the character going, keeps him fighting, keeps him saying “I’ve got this” even when the odds are never in his favour. He’s a character that, even in his darkest moments, where he says he gives up because he’s lost them all, sees the sacrifice and becomes determined that he must save them; that they can’t really be gone. Maybe it’s naivety, maybe it’s optimism so far gone that they’ve lost touch with reality – but it’s that desire to believe that something good must come from it that makes the characters find it within themselves, and from those around them to actually do good.

Maybe I’m just thrown so far into the game that I have grown emotionally attached to some of the characters, and I won’t argue against that. Perhaps it reminded me, in an era where the main characters have to be tough and can’t joke around, or be silly – that they have to realists all the time, and they have to be capable of handling everything – that this character resonates so much with me. He’s always the savior, always the person who supports and shares in the accomplishments of his friends, even if he failed. He celebrates his friends achievements for what they are, even if it means he gets nothing. He is selfless, loving, optimistic, driven, determined, stubborn, reckless, and brave. He is, albeit a fictional character, what we need in this world.

Okay, so this entry got severely off topic, but the music in the game reminds me of not only the sadness and what has happened to the characters on this journey, but also what is good about them, what makes it so enticing and comforting. It makes you feel more than you ever thought, and part of that is attributed to the music.

The music has been great inspiration for my writing, and since Camp NANOWRIMO is coming up, I’ll be looking at doing some editing on my stupidly long manuscript that needs to be sorted out.

All right, I think I should end this here. I rambled on WAY too much in this post. Apologies to all who read this hoping for me to stick to a point, and went completely off the rails.

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Friend’s Blog

Posted on February 28, 2019 by rachelsparling

Hey all!

I’ve been working away on manuscripts, writing scenes out of order, but mainly because I’ll have a thought and know I MUST include it, so I write in that scene really quickly (usually smack down in the middle of it all and not close to either scenes already written). Also, trying to edit my previously completed manuscript, though that’s hit a stall because I’ve lost a printed chapter. I lent it to a friend who has completely lost it. So, I guess I’ll have to re-print the chapter so I can go through it and edit it. I don’t know about other writers, but typing it up is great and all, but having that physical copy in front of me to edit makes a huge difference. I find that I am able to see a lot of the errors that need to be corrected a lot more easily, and it helps me solve problems like fluidity of story and coherency. I can also more easily jump back to previous chapters and find the page where I talked about one thing, and it changed somewhere else (getting rid of contradictions and fixing the way it’s handled). It also helps with character consistency. Although, I haven’t run into much in the way of these problems yet, I know it’s bound to happen in later chapters – but I’m thinking it’ll be centered around “well why couldn’t she just do this instead of that? that would make more sense….”

Anyway, on another note entirely, a friend of mine has started a blog! I’ve read some of his writing and it’s quite good. He is like me in a lot of ways, particularly in his understanding of structure, writing, and consistency. He is creative and one of the most talented grammar nazi’s I’ve ever known. He catches things so easily and understands grammar rules better than most native English speakers. That might not be saying a whole lot, as most writers usually have an aptitude for that type of thing, but I think it’s genuine.

So, if any of you are interested in this vast world that he is creating through posts on his blog, I highly recommend checking him out. He’s a good writer, looking to get published one day.

Devlin Keith’s Writing Desk

Posted in Editing, Novel, Personal, Rough Draft, Writing | Leave a comment

Writing

Posted on February 19, 2019 by rachelsparling

The world may be falling apart, but it does lead to some good writing.

Posted in Novel, Sci-Fi, Writing | Leave a comment

We live in a dystopia.

Posted on October 22, 2018 by rachelsparling

It’s ironic that when I spelled “dystopia”, my computer immediately it saw it as a spelling error, giving me instead words like “dystonia”, and “dysphoria”. It’s almost as if the world wants you to believe that we are in a good place, that we are no where near a dystopia.

However, the “spelling error” is not what this post is about. I would love to say that the world is moving towards change for the better, but in my heart, and I think many others, we are moving further and further from it. I am not trying to make people realize how horrible of a world we currently live in, but I am hoping to open some people’s eyes…make them realize what is really happening out there, and why this isn’t a good thing.

Do I really believe we are in a dystopia? Yes. Is it an imagined world of bad things? No, this is reality, and this is our actual reality.

We read dystopic fiction all the time. It’s a prevalent theme in young adult literature, and has been populized by tv shows and movies. We think that it’s only a work of fiction, that in reality, we are so far from such horrible things happening. Oppression. Rights taken away. Abuse of power. Corruption. Selling humans for a price. Putting a price tag on a human life. The list goes on and on. We see it in romanticized, over produced to make us believe that it’s the worst possible situations, while remaining blind to what is actually going on around us.

Think about it. I mean, really think about it.

One of the top stories on BBC today was that Trump plans to change a law that recognizes trans people as trans people. What is he going to do? He wants to change it that trans are not recognized as humans, and that whatever is put on their birth certificates is how they MUST be identified. This is wrong. I know this is a testy issue, because some people can’t wrap their heads around transgender people as something besides a boy or girl. Well, guess what, this law takes away the rights of many to identify how they actually are. Gender is defined by boy and girl. Gender is not limited to this. We were moving forward in acknowledging and understanding that gender lines are really blurred, and that being a transgender is a gender in itself, and how that person wants to identify themselves, is their choice, not the governments. It’s wrong to have human rights taken away from people, and yes, I don’t care what side of the argument you are on, humans rights are being taken away from people.

Let’s put this into perspective. Imagine being young. Imagine believing you have always been a girl, but at school, things changed. You make it to school, and you think, this is going to be great! I’m going to make all these new friends, and meet all these new people! And then only to find out that you’re different from them. You don’t really understand entirely, and perhaps your parents have never had that discussion with you, but you know you’re different. Then imagine, coming to the conclusion that you’re not really a girl, and that you actually are a boy. You’ve spent your life being bullied for being different, and you finally understand what it is about yourself that has changed, and why you are being different. Then, as you’re about to explain to your doctor that you are not a girl, because you are transgendered, and that you are in fact a boy. Instead of your doctor acknowledging this, instead of the world acknowledging this, they refuse to take you as a boy because your birth certificate says you are a girl. You’ve had your identity, a part of yourself, ripped away from you. All those years figuring out who you are, and what makes you, you, almost feels as if it is for nothing. Those years of self-discovery, and possible years of bullying because you were different as a kid; taken away from you because of a simple law the government passed deciding that you can’t ever identify as anything besides what you were born; that gender and identity is black and white.

Some of you might think I have taken that too far, and I understand that. But this is what is at stake with Trump’s desire to change this law. Trump has done many things already during his time as president, and it is has hurt the vulnerable, the minorities. Unless you are white (I’m sorry I have to say this), it almost feels as though you are targeted by your government, almost as though you don’t equal that which dominates your country.

This is the thing though….the minorities, everyone who is not white, everyone who is not straight….They matter so much. They’re human beings like everyone else, and they fucking matter. The emergence of racism and sexism is becoming more and more prevalent. We are all human beings, we should all be treated equally. We should not have rights taken away from us just because we are different. Just because we come from different countries, or the same country, does not mean we should treat anyone differently. We all deserve the exact same rights as our neighbours, our friends, our family. It doesn’t matter what colour your skin is; brown, black, white; or your gender; male, female, transgendered…; or your sexuality; straight, gay, lesbian, transgendered, queer, bisexual; or if you choose to dress in drag, get sexual reassignment surgery…. Anything. This doesn’t matter. We should all be treated with the same respect and consideration as others. We are living in a world with empathy. And of all the things we need right now, we need empathy (and strength to fight against wrong).

Now this is only one of two big issues I want to address, to make it clear that we are living in a dystopian world.

In Canada, we recently voted in a premier that has, without much constrast, as become our version of Trump. For a long time, we thought that during the race for the Conservative Federal leader, it was someone else, and then Doug Ford made his way into politics after his brothers unforgettable term as mayor of Toronto. Doug Ford, an ex-drug dealer, with mob ties, and connected to one of the most embarrassing mayors of Toronto ever to exist (he did cocaine in office, he took money from the mob, he had videos of himself getting wasted and stoned while spewing racial slurs and sexist comments). And now, Ford is our premier.

Now, some of you might be thinking, if his brother was such an embarrassment as mayor, why the hell did he end up being our premier? Well, look at the states. How the hell did Trump become president of their country?

Ford went around lying to every single group of people he could. He told immigrants that he was their man to keep them safe in Ontario, and persuaded teachers that he was always in it for them, while simultaneously telling parents that he was going to correct the education system to help parents feel like their kids are learning the right thing.

So, is that what happened? No. Ford has put forth stricter immigration policies for one, then went out of his way to change the sex-ed curriculum to one from the 90’s. Now, some of you might think, well that’s not so bad. Let me get rid of that thought right now. The sex-ed curriculum in the 90’s does not address AIDS, HIV, consent, healthy relationships, some STD’s, proper information for safe and protected sex, and sure as hell doesn’t address any other kind of sexual orientation other than straight. THIS is what he decided was the appropriate curriculum for our children learning about sex and relationships for the first time in their lives.

So, what happened after he said he would do this? Teacher’s protested all over Ontario, saying they didn’t want to teach this outdated curriculum. District school boards argued against it. No one should ever underestimate teachers. And what was Ford’s reaction to teachers saying “no, this isn’t okay”? He developed a snitch line for parents. If a parent has a complaint about a teacher, they should go to the principal, have it sorted out there. Nope. Not with this government. They want the parents to call them on this snitch line and tell them every detail of what they don’t like about a teacher, or multiple teachers. They want to know what is going on so they can control exactly what teachers are teaching. Yes, teachers need a curriculum, I won’t deny that. But students need to be learning up to date curriculum, up to date information, not archaic constructs and outdated lessons.

Ford has created big brother. He has a created an atmosphere where parents can’t trust the teachers teaching their children, and teachers can’t have the freedom to teach effectively. He has destroyed the trust between parents and teachers, which in an educational environment, is paramount. This coming from a teacher. If teachers and parents can have discussions about what happens in the classroom, if they can’t trust each other that teachers are providing a well-rounded education, then how can any child accurately learn anything? How can there be trust, communication, and the right measures to ensure that children learn what they need to learn?

There are so many other examples I can give, but I think I’ve gone into enough detail for now.

I’ll draw to my final point. Remember all those tv shows and movies, and books, that display a dystopia? Do you remember how those things started? For the most part, it started because there was no trust, human rights were being taken away, and curriculum was changing to a form of brainwashing, to only think one way and one way only; where to be different was horrific and wrong. That is what is happening in this world today. We have freedom of speech, but aren’t allowed to argue against our governments. We have human rights, but those are being taken away every where.

And it’s not just this. Think about the revolutions and uprisings that have happened in other countries. Think of Egypt and Lybia. How did those start? Oppression and human rights being taken away. The trust in the government going with it. These started in similar ways that we are now experiencing our countries today. We are losing human rights, we are being watched (though not to the extreme of China…same with their laws to allow concentration camps), and we are losing our ability to feel safe with who we are, and what makes us, us.

If you choose to act, to fight against these wrongs, then this, this is wonderful. Perhaps we can stop worse things from happening. Perhaps we can stop this dystopia from fully forming, and leaving us with nothing.

If you do not choose to act, then that is okay, but just be aware. Read the news. See what is going on out there. And if you only pay attention to one news source, then maybe look at others. Read different opinions, force yourself to try to see things from a different perspective.

And please, everyone. Fight for what is right.

I will leave you all with two articles on how our society is changing. I hope that it may open everyone’s eyes to the truth in which we are truly living in.

Lose your illusions. It’s an ugly, dystopian world: Neil Macdonald

‘Surveillance capitalism has led us into a dystopia’Why dystopian fiction is ‘an instruction manual for now’

Why dystopian fiction is ‘an instruction manual for now’

Stay informed. And don’t give up. There may be a chance for us to change this world we live in, for the better.

Posted in Op-Ed, Personal | Leave a comment

NaNoWriMo 2018

Posted on October 10, 2018 by rachelsparling

Who’s ready for NaNoWriMo 2018??? ARE WE EXCITED?!

Okay, so the all-caps might have been a bit of a stretch. I’m excited, but having finished the rough drafts of my entire manuscript, I’ve been uncertain what I want to work on this coming November. I’ve been toying between a fantasy story that I started writing while in Korea, and actually properly finishing it, and creating that story; and a slightly autobiographical story of my time in Korea. I can’t decide. Maybe I’ll work on both. Maybe I’ll have people vote on it.

In the field of politics, there isn’t really anything good that I comment on right now. Things are all messed up in Ontario, and with legalization of marijuana on it’s way, there are a ton new legislation that’s going through, and that’s screwing a lot of people out of jobs. Our province, if not most of the country, is in turmoil as far as politics go. But I don’t think this is something I want to get into.

I’ve been writing a lot of reflections on how things are today, which might end up going into that autobiographical thing. I’ve never been one to write about myself, so that prospect is a little weird. It’s one thing to share opinions, it’s another to write your story into a book and think people will read it. Is it egotistical? I have no idea. I honestly don’t think my life is all that interesting, it’s probably quite common in comparison to others, but I think it would be interesting based entirely on the writing style. However, in all honesty, I don’t think I’ll end up trying to get that published; just isn’t really my thing.

 

Anyway, back to NaNoWriMo 2018. I hope everyone is getting ready, and thinking about what they will write. I’ll update again between now and November, I think, so I hope everyone is getting on. Good luck to all!

Posted in Global Conflicts, National Novel Writing Month, Novel, Personal | Leave a comment

The Changing Tides

Posted on June 21, 2018 by rachelsparling

A lot has happened in the past several months, and I have returned back home to a dark time in political history for Canada. I can’t say that it’s the darkest, by any means Canada has certainly outdone itself in the past by having darker time; however I came back in time to vote for our provincial election, to which the results were highly unsettling.

This is an understatement. The fact that we have a mini-Trump in charge of our province is enough to make any immigrant who saw through his lies, any human who is not straight in sexual preference, and any human who is a Muslim, to fear the future of their lives, families, and times in Canada.

I, personally, voted strategically in an attempt to avoid this outcome. Unfortunately, it still happened. What do we do when we have someone like that in power?

I will not shy away from how I feel about this turn of events. I worry for my friends, neighbours, and others whom I don’t know, and what they are about to face. I worry for my family too. I worry for the children who will be taught a sex-ed curriculum that doesn’t include education on HIV/AIDS, and opens discussion in a healthy way about bisexuality and homosexuality. I worry about the conditioning this will leave in the kids. I worry that the new generation will unintentionally become homophobic, and that suicide rates will increase because those who are bisexual or gay/lesbian will fear what will happen to them if they were their honest selves and told the world who they are.

This is not progression. This is conservativism at its best. This is setting us back in such a horrific way.

While I am not bisexual or lesbian myself, I have friends who are and male friends who are gay. I have friends of different races. I have seen what the world does to these people, the struggle they have been through just to be accepted for who they are. Nevermind all the news coverage that distinctly shows the horrificness that follows a mindset of homophobia, racism, and hate, and a government that seemingly supports it. I see these people who mean the world to me, know of their plights, and when they were able to breathe just for a short time, know that they will be fighting for acceptance of their identities. Because your sexual preference is not about a choice, or a phase in your life, it is about who you are. It is a part of who you are just like your name, your likes and dislikes. It is you. There is no changing that.

To all of those who feel this way, know that there are many who support you. You are not alone in the changing tides. We will love you and support you, and help you. And if I speak alone, so be it. I will be by your side. My view will never change. My opinion will never change.

Don’t give up. Reach out to those who love you and accept you for who you are. Do not tolerate the hate and opinions of narrow minded, small minded people, who only give a shit about themselves. They are not worth it.

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Which Battles Do We Choose?

Posted on January 5, 2018 by rachelsparling

How do we rationalize what is worth fighting for when it comes to a job? How do we rationalize the difference between emotional needs and professional needs? Are they the same? Do we need emotional fulfillment at the same time as professional fulfillment? Is it the same when working in another country, to think you have the same value as you would at home? Does your value change that drastically?

It’s hard for  me to fully answers these questions right now, and to decide what is worth discussing with my boss at this time. If it were a situation back in my home country, I wouldn’t have an issue being able to answer these questions, but being in a foreign country, it is very different. Is it okay to fight for the same classes we once taught when schedules change? Is that really okay when they’re tentatively given to another teacher? Another teacher had previously fought to keep one of hers, but in the next month it was given to a different teacher despite her fighting to keep it. She was able to have for a single month. Did it then, in the end, make it really worth fighting for? She had even mentioned that she was feeling defeated, that the fight wasn’t worth it – it just wasn’t worth arguing with the director to keep the classes anymore. She’s become defeatist in this sense – a passive teacher who will simply do as she’s told, and then vent and complain about the issues to us. It is a difficult position to be in, as though we will never truly win or gain anything from these changes that seem to be constantly playing against us. How do you win and get what you want, when you know getting what you want is only temporary, and will likely be lost in the end? It seems inevitable, doesn’t it? It seems like a temporary victory, like war. You win the battle, but the war rages on. It’s a difficult balance, and you really have to pick the ones that matter the most.

I never really thought I’d find myself in quite the predicament I currently find myself in lately. I knew I’d find a career, I knew I’d always be under some level of stress, but I never really thought I’d feel like I’d be in the mids of a never ending war, where the end is only seen by the completion of a contract, or admitting defeat (due to physical health problems), and quitting. It’s exhausting and stressful.

The first week to the new year, is not off to a good start. I hope that the rest of the year will be better; that things will have some way of getting better. I will try to be optimistic in all this, to try to see the light and convince myself that it isn’t going to be the worst that it can be.

I know there will be a point that I may have to say no. When that time comes, I’ll do it.

Anyway, I hope that every one has had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I would have done an entire post wishing everyone just those things, but unfortunately due to health issues, I was unable to do so. I really do hope that everyone has had a wonderful Christmas, and everyone was able to celebrate their New Year just as they wanted to.

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Christmas

Posted on December 20, 2017 by rachelsparling

Fast approaching is the time of the year where baking is normal, the smell of freshly made cookies fill the air in your home, and hot chocolate, or tea is drunk regularly. A turkey dinner awaits you on Christmas day, and family will soon be gracing you with their presence. Along with all of this, you’re doing all of your shopping for those you care for the most, for family, friends, maybe even coworkers, and you’re wrapping each one with some care (or hiring someone to do it, or convincing a friend or family member to do it for you). It’s that time of year again, where the only day you really want snow is Christmas.

Some people love it, some people hate it, and can’t wait for it to be over. The people who love it, eagerly await for it to arrive, decorating their Christmas tree, baking all sorts of delicious treats, and enjoying everything that winter has to offer, and the holidays in general come to bear. Others find it stressful and chaotic; the noise of the shopping malls, the dinner parties, the organizing multiple different schedules, the shopping for a big meal on one day, and making sure that everything is ready to go for one day out of the year.

For me, it’s always been one of the days I’ve loved the most. I love it because of it was a day that my family always spent together, no matter our schedules, no matter what jobs we worked, or where we were living for school; we were always together on Christmas. The days leading up to Christmas, the house would smell of baked cookies, from either myself or my brother making working away in the kitchen. On the days leading up to Christmas, there would always be a bedroom door closed because someone would be wrapping a present. On Christmas day, we would all wake up, open our stockings at the end of the bed together, and then open the present that was sitting there with it. After this, we would have breakfast together, then open presents from under the tree, with one person designated as Santa (they have to hand out the presents, and make sure everyone has one present to open). The rest of the day, would be spent together, just spending time together, and we would gather together to have dinner (for the most part, many of us would help out with making dinner).

It’s a day I have always loved because of the simplicity of spending time together with my family, and eating a wonderful meal with them. The presents are always a nice addition, but really, it’s the time I get to spend with them. I have been, more often than not, more excited to see them open presents, than I have about opening them. I always love what my family gets me, anything, and everything they have ever gotten me, I know a lot of thought has gone into it, and I know the time and effort is put into it as well. I cherish everything they get me because of it.

This year, I’ll be away from home. My first real Christmas away from home. I will be spending it in Taiwan, and I am hoping that it will be a great time there. I hope that it will create new memories, though I know it won’t be quite the same as being back home. I’ll miss the homemade cookies, tea, hot chocolate, and the time spent with my family. I’ll miss all of it.

I guess I’m feeling nostalgic, and that’s the reason for this post. I’m also kind of sick, and I’m easily tired. I could fall asleep any moment right now. I am really exhausted, but I still have two more classes to teach, so unfortunately, I have to stay awake.

Anyway, I wish everyone a Happy Christmas, and a Wonderful New Year!

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NaNoWriMo2017

Posted on November 29, 2017 by rachelsparling

It’s coming to an end, just one day away, and those 50,00 words will have to be validated.

I finished my 50,000 words today, and to top it off, I finished my last novel! It’s over! The whole story!

It feels like something between relief, and an amazing happiness that I have accomplished something so big, and that has taken so long for me to create, and write. At the same time, I have something much bigger ahead of me, and that’s editing. While I will be taking a bit of a break from it all, I am very tempted to print out the entirety of all three manuscripts, and start editing until my hearts content. However, I really need to take a break. My mind is a bit exhausted, and I think I was overdoing it with some descriptions towards the end, making them seem a little strained, rather than well written (that will get changed in the editing process). A small break from it will help that for sure.

I also received an email today confirming my enrollment in a diploma program. This program will basically upgrade my current qualifications, to make it easier for me to get a job when  I go back home. So more good news!

Otherwise, I hope everyone else is doing well. I hope that you’re reaching those 50,000 words! You’re almost there!!

NaNo-2017-Winner-Twitter-Header

 

 

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#NanoWriMo

Posted on November 21, 2017 by rachelsparling

Well I seem to be having some issues with wordpress. Particularly it’s ability to load any pages in general. Hopefully, this post will finally update.

On another note, I’m catching up, and am a bit ahead of the curve for writing. I’m just under 40,000 words! I’m super excited at my rate of writing, and I’m even more excited at how much I’ve been able to add to my final story. There’s so much I put in there that I always wanted to create, and I’m really happy with what I’ve done so far. The editing will come later obviously, but I’m quite content with it so far.

The next couple weeks may prove a bit time constraining however, as things at work have taken an unfortunate turn. Our director, in the span of 45 minutes, managed to mess with every single teachers schedule, and I think mine took the worst beating out everyones. I won’t get into the details, but I have a lot of work to figure out, and re-ogranize, and re-do in the next few days to make sure it’s good for Monday. I’m really not happy about any of this. At all.

Hopefully it won’t impeded me too much, but I know it will take up a lot of my time at work (which has been when I’ve been writing).

Emotionally, my stress levels have gone through the roof. I had been in a relatively good mood, and then…Well, this happened. I’m trying to manage myself, and relax, so I have the potential to sleep tonight, to make tomorrow easier. I haven’t had a good nights sleep lately due to earthquakes, and aftershocks (the city I’m currently living in had a couple earthquakes last week, and has been experiencing aftershocks every day since… while they haven’t caused any further damage, being woken up by aftershocks every night, does effect my sleep).

Anyway, back to writing! We have nine more days! Keep it up everybody. 50,000 words is almost here!

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