As it gets closer, I lay on the floor, groaning with nervousness

After typing this up, I couldn't help but add this.

Do you know how stressful it is to know that you are going to be writing a book in approximately 12 days 5 hours and 55 minutes? It's pretty stressful. Especially when people keep coming up to you asking what you are gonna write about and want you to make them main characters (I'm looking at you Gen)

So even though it's not November yet (oh god) I still have things to do to prepare for NaNoWriMo. First off, I have to make a complete list of things that I do during the day, for a week. This way I will be able to figure out when I will be able to have my writing sessions and where. In other words, I have to figure out what times of the day I procrastinate on my responsibilities the most.

Let's be honest, most of my procrastination is looking at Chris Evans

It's actually pretty interesting though. When I first read the book that introduced me to NaNoWriMo I was thinking about rearranging my life in order to do this, but its the complete opposite. NaNoWriMo isn't for full time authors, it's for people with busy lives who want to try something new. So instead I will look at my schedule and categorize how I use my time by importance. When I find places where I am doing less important things, such as scrolling through tumblr for two hours, I will replace them with writing sessions instead. 

Here's a sneak peek to the month of November 

You know what's lame though? I'm going to have to remove those distractions for the entire month. For a whole month I will have to ban myself from tumblr and instagram and everything else. I don't know how I am going to do that. How am I gonna update my blog?! What about my followers!! My queue is going to have to be jam packed, oh my god. I cry just thinking of all the memes and gifs of Chris Evans I will never know. I shed a single tear as I think of all the snapchats I will miss out on. Oh the horror! (Nah I'm kidding, no way I'm deleting snapchat) 

The Time is Almost Upon Us

Eight-teen days and three hours until November first; until I begin the NaNoWriMo challenge and write a book in 30 days. Today I created an account for myself on the official website and found some locals that are also participating this November.  I joined in a "region" and on October the twenty-eighth I am going to meet up with my fellow writers at the Upland Library for our first meet. It's pretty exciting to see how many people are planning on doing this. I went from knowing nothing to finding an entire community of part time authors in the span of a few weeks.

"Fairy tails are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." 

-Neil Gaiman, Coraline

Independant Component 1 Proposal

50,000 words in 30 days. BRING IT ON.

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

I'm going to write a book in a month. There is a national competition thing called the National Novel Writing Month for inexperienced first time writers. Earlier this month I picked up the book that explained the process in detail. In one month I will write 50,000 words. That means I will need to write little over 1,500 words a day. The book explained where to write, how to keep calm and how to stay motivated. It was really cool and I decided I wanted to participate. The whole thing starts in November, and so will I. This is definantley not going to be easy with my schedule but I will make it work. There is an entire chapter explaining how to fit this into your everyday life. 

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

Honestly I have no idea how i'm going to give proof but I guess the thing that comes to mind right now is to update my blog every time I finish my writing session. Another thing I could do is encourage my friends and family to constantly ask me about it. The increase of pressure and questions will definantley send me to work.

3.  Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

Well, one of my major interests right now is what goes on in an authors mind. If I go through with this and Finnish my book by the end of the month, I will have personal experience as an author to contribute.

4.  Update your Senior Project Hours log.

Ehhhhhhh

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” 

― Madeleine L'Engle

Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

Who is your mentor and where do they work? If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert? 

My mentor is Alison Baker, an english professor at Cal Poly Pomona. She is an ‘expert’ because she has years of experience as an english teacher, children’s english teacher and specifically with folklore. I’m not sure if I’m going to focus on folklore but I think it would be something to look into.

 What five questions will you ask them about their background? 

• What college did you attend and did it help you find your your current job?
• Did you plan on becoming  a professor or was it unexpected?
• When did you start to love reading/stories? (for ex. I didn’t enjoy reading until the 4th grade)
• Do you think you could be an author? If not, why not?
• How important do you think language is when telling a story?

"So Matilda's strong mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all the authors who had sent their out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone. "

-Roald Dahl, Matilda