RockinRarity

I know what you mean. Every time I sit down to write, I want to do other things. SALLY GET OFF THE FORUM AND WRITE GAAAAAAH

I just got back from Youmacon today. I was going to try to write something while at the con but I didn't have the time or the energy. But, I am gonna get cranking, starting tonight. 1725 words per day... *cracks knuckles* ...let's do this thing.

Oh really. I have a 2007 car and I can't say that I've noticed that I'd be able to change my mileage to kilometers. I suppose I'll have to look harder. It is digital so I don't think that it would be that difficult. I still don't think that we'd be able to change to metric overnight, though, for other reasons. You go into Canada and see that sign that says 100 km/h and you go, "Sweet, I can drive 100!" Well, no, no you can't. Canadian speed limits are so friggin slow.

1. Please use punctuation so that people can read your posts more easily. 2. Metric System 3. Imperial System As for what I think about metric vs. imperial... I do think that we should switch. But, I'm not sure if people realize just how much would need to change in order to get everything transitioned. Think about it. If we were to switch overnight, or within a year or two, we would need to change all automobiles to reflect how many miles it has to kilometers. That means that every car would need to be hacked into to change the odometers in them to reflect kilometers. Of course, this would take forever and would waste thousands of dollars and thousands of hours of people's lives. If any of you are familiar with the Chevrolet Cobalt recall from February, you may have an idea, but let me tell you something anyways. I have a Cobalt, so when I heard about the recall, I awaited my letter from the dealership so that I could get the ignition switch fixed. I was not able to get to the dealership to get it replaced until JULY. And this is just for ONE TYPE of car. Think about how much worse it would be to changed all cars over to kilometers... Also, everyone's daily lives would change. Everyone would need new kitchen utensils and bathroom scales. Everyone would need to translate all of their recipes, or maybe just get rid of all of their cookbooks and buy new ones. We would need new ovens and refrigerators. We would also need new thermostats, and new thermometers for taking body temperature. So I like the idea of transitioning slowly to get everyone used to the metric system in everyday lives... the idea would to create a master plan and promise to implement by, say, 2018. That would begin the transitioning stage... so we would still live with vehicles with miles for a long time, and everyone would upgrade their appliances slowly. People who are cooking will be using cookbooks with both measurements listed, and they will have both sets of utensils. I think that doing something like this is just such a low priority at this point... at least, politically.

I think that when people say that "it's a show for girls," they mean, "it's a show ONLY for girls and you should feel bad for watching it because you're not a little girl." Young girls are still the target audience for this show, and they still market the show in that way (there is marketing for bronies too but that's usually through 3rd party companies that Hasbro licenses). It's just that it's ridiculous to confine a TV show to one demographic and shun everyone outside of that demographic as being weird or creepy. Also Sailor Moon is also not for little girls... despite what the 90's English dub may try to tell you. But that's another rant for another time (or, actually, you could read my blog post about it if you have the time).

I had not really heard much about this situation. But as soon as you mentioned that Ted Anderson was sympathetic to DragonDicks... UUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHH you're so right! DragonDicks is a horrible horrible woman and no one should be sympathetic to anything that she says, ever. End of story.

I LOVE SCRIVENER My friend who did NaNoWriMo said that she got a discounted copy of it for winning, and she advertised for it on Facebook. I became interested and downloaded a free trial. Then I bought it. It's great because it's like having several writing notebooks in one digital location. It was originally designed for a Mac, but they recently came out with a PC version so I use that since I don't have a Mac. It was definitely designed for a Mac and it shows, but there's nothing wrong with the PC version. I think that my favorite part about it is the ability to compile your text and make a PDF of your manuscript, formatted in the correct way for publishing. I hate typing in Courier New and it would be kind of a pain to change all of my font and make sure everything was formatted 100% correctly before printing an entire manuscript. Do you recommend using Scrivener when writing during NaNoWriMo or should I use Google Docs and import the text to Scrivener?

Ah, but of course. Based on the fact that my best short stories have been "pantsed" (based on Teen Titans fanfics from when I was a teenager, and short stories written while completing my major), I am a bit of a blend as well. The issue with me is that for short stories, if the first draft wasn't near-perfect, I'd just scrap it. The story would need to at least be somewhat enjoyable. But I have been planning this story for a novel for several years, and I have recently been able to keep record of several of my notes and outlines on my computer. I am not a strict outline person regarding pretty much anything in my life - a lot of my organization is in my head and I have my own way of doing things and adapting to whatever my current situation may be. I have to remember that because over-planning really isn't good for me and it just becomes an excuse to not write - "I'm not done planning!" Well too bad, me - we're playing hide and seek here and the seeker's already counted to 50. The only words I seem to be understanding are Fast Draft, the Revisions, Beta Read, Contemplate Burning Manuscript (lol), and Publish. Care to elaborate on the rest?

I have suffered quite a bit from these two things myself. And while I am nowhere near overcoming either of these vices, I have managed to learn about why I am a lazy perfectionist, and what habits that I can form to keep myself from being a lazy perfectionist when it comes to writing (and other things). If you have the time, I recommend reading this book. The 7 Secrets of the Prolific (I still haven't finished the book, but that's partly because I haven't been able to have a regular writing schedule recently, haha. I may pick this up again in October to prepare for the big month) Please be my writing buddy! All of you can add me if they have accounts on that website~ And your wisdom is much appreciated. I look forward to hearing it.

Thank you! I do want to let you know, that there are two different types of writers, apparently. If this is something that you would really like to do, don't let the fact that you don't have a solid, focused idea get in the way of that. Sometimes, just writing and writing and writing will lead to something great... even the planners find the most value in just writing. Because when the ideas are translated from the cruxes of the brain to the beautiful words on the page, that's where it all begins. Also, first drafts are always shitty. I have to keep telling myself that because I have this bad habit of editing as I go.

I did see a thread for the 2013 year, but I think that since it's about time to start talking about 2014. How many of you will be participating in National Novel Writing Month this year? How many of you are going to try to write a novel - start to finish - during the month of November? Have you participated in a NaNoWriMo in the past? Did you finish? Why or why not? Is NaNoWriMo something that you have been thinking of doing for a while? What makes you want to try it? What fears do you have in participating? Are you going to have enough time to dedicated writing for at least an hour or two per day throughout the month? I have never done NaNoWriMo before, but I would like to very much this year. I already have a novel idea picked out, and I have been doing a little bit of pre-writing and planning. I was a creative writing major in college and I have always wanted to write this book, and I think that NaNoWriMo is a way for me to discipline myself and just do it. I'm the kind of person who needs outside intervention/rules in order to motivate myself, so something like NaNoWriMo is a challenge that I can at least attempt to succeed in. I have a friend who did it last year, and she "won," meaning that she exceeded the word count challenge. My brother-in-law has expressed interest in participating this year as well but I am not sure if he will do it - we will see. If anyone interested is signed up on NaNoWriMo's website, you can add me as a writing buddy. Here is my author profile. It would be great if those of us who wish to participate can all support and encourage each other this November.

LMAO I ain't watchin that

Ooooooooooooo I totally forgot about Code Geass!! Fun fact about that show, for those of you who still think that anime is meh or bad: Code Geass is a mech anime. But it does what other mech animes are not known for doing, and that's, well, making it about more than just giant robots. Now don't me wrong, there are other good mech animes out there and they aren't all literally just about the giant robots. It's just that Code Geass is a mech anime for people who don't care for mech animes because the story is not as surrounded by the mech as it is about, well, the characters and the stories. The mechs are just instruments for battle and elements to the story. One of my favorite anime characters of all time is in that show. Euphemia. [Thinking about her fate in that show still breaks my heart.] Also Code Geass has one of my favorite OPs. I was determined to nail the final part of the song and I can totally sing it. Bwa hahaha.

lol am I going to be the only person in the thread who has a generally positive opinion about anime? I do admit that my taste is partly influenced by my love for Sailor Moon as a child. In fact I still love the show, the manga, the new anime that has come out, and I am so so so looking forward to the new English dub of the classic anime. Even though I watched the old dub as a kid, it is really terrible and I don't understand the people who think it's the best version of Sailor Moon in existence. (you can read my blog post about that if you're in the least bit interested). I also grew up watching Pokemon, Dragonball Z, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc. Next to Sailor Moon, I think my favorite anime franchise is Soul Eater (but it deserves to get the ending the manga has - the manga is great from what I have read so far but the anime gives you the aural nuances that add so much richness to the experience of the show - the soundtrack is on my iPod as is probably the most eclectic soundtrack in the world, because the music on it ranges from beautiful instrumental to J-pop to ridiculously hilarious rap that makes no sense to screamo to clashing instruments and chords... I could go on). I enjoy these shows because of the rich characterization and depth of story. The art style is unique and something that I appreciate although I understand if it's not everyone's cup of tea. Sailor Moon is one of the first of its kind - a show about girls who kick butt who have ranging and unique personalities and experience character development. A bit like Friendship is Magic, haha. Soul Eater not only has the elements that I mentioned in the last paragraph, but also has character depth, development, unique personality ranges among the characters, several different character types, very interesting relationships and relationship philosophies, as well as other philosophies that get introduced and you try to figure out what is truth and what isn't in their world. I recently rewatched the entirety of Death Note and I like it much more now than I did when I first watched it several years ago. It is very thrilling and it makes you ask questions about ethical and moral decisions, what would you do if x scenarios, etc. The final episode is very fitting, I think. Some of the characters are pretty cool, too. A newer anime that I have recently started watching, called Madoka Magika, is the dark, dark magical girl anime that I need. An image from that show is imprinted in my brain. I love it already, and I really want to watch more as soon as I get the chance. Not all anime is created equal, just like not all western animation is created equal. After all, you wouldn't watch Spongebob, hate it, and then shun all other American cartoons, right? I'll admit that I probably wouldn't like the majority of anime that gets made, but I still consider myself a fan of the good stuff that I have seen. The kinky/fetishy stuff is mostly idiotic and I avoid it as best as I can, for the most part. (Soul Eater has a little bit of fanservice but it by no means encapsulates the story). I know that a lot of fans of Friendship is Magic lament the fact that this show for children is unable to explore darker elements. I am not sure if I lament with them or if I think it's silly to do so, but I bring this up because anime does not really have that problem - if it wants to be dark, it can be dark without worrying about the children. Anime also doesn't have the problem of other western cartoon aimed toward adults that are simply vulgar for a laugh. Anime can be whatever the heck it wants, because it will make money. Western animators scrutinize more and are less willing to release a cartoon that is aimed towards a more mature audience that isn't simply for comedic purposes. Don't get me wrong, I like my comedy, but it's not the ONLY thing that I like. Sailor Moon made me have a taste in well-rounded shows with action, adventure, comedy, romance, tragedy, and fantasy all rolled into one package. Think of anime what you will. It's not going to be everyone's thing. Some anime is stupid, just like some western cartoons are stupid. There's no reason to paint anime with the same brush, so if you are willing and open-minded and have the time, invest in watching the anime that makes you think, that makes you laugh, that makes you cry, and that makes your imagination stretch.