Book List: "Around the World in 80 Days"

Jules Verne is a writer I’ve been hearing about for quite some time. I am enchanted with science-fiction and fantasy, and Verne does this in a fun, familiar sort of way. The characters are lovable, the story is full of adventure, and the book moves fast and steady.

The story starts with a quiet hermit-like man, Phileas Fogg living in his home in Saville Row. His mysterious fortune supplies him with his daily needs, which are very few, and his lifestyle is simple. During a discussion with a few of his card-playing buddies about the newest ideas of transportation, he places a bet on his ability to traverse the globe in 80 days. This takes all of London by surprise, as he seemed like a more mundane person, but he takes off with his new servant, Passepartout, that very evening, heading East.

The Call : Amos 9:11

The melodies caress the room-- filling the air with tone and voice. With one voice, the worshippers cry out for healing, praising the Highest of Highs. From movement to movement, the piece floats, each note breaking a brick off the wall surrounding every individual. The ceilings echo with joy and song, the floor pounds with each cheerful leap of a dancer. Artwork and artists line the walls, easels, colors, and sketchbooks are scattered throughout the room. Writers, their piles of dictionaries, notebooks, rough drafts, and utensils covering their spaces, compile poem after story after song for the Lord of Lords. Actors play parts of wounded, rescued, saved, and broken, worshipping through their own imaginative world.

Book List: "Up From Slavery"

This story is an autobiography by a slave, during the transition from slavery to freedom. Booker T. Washington, a young boy who was born to a plantation cook, moves away with his family during the emancipation, to work in a coal mine. His dreams of education push him to go to Hampton Institute, finding his way by working for food and board. He gets his education, and begins to teach others after returning to his hometown. He also starts to study speech, and gives speeches to his students in the community. He meets inspirational people, and learns about respect and discipline during the first half of his life, which have a major effect on his later half.

Washington, with his wife by his side, started the Tuskegee Institute. This school was designed to give the flailing negro population with the skills to enter the white man's world. Right at the time of the Industrial Revolution, this school served thousands of students. It taught former slaves proper manners, dress, and etiquette-- this sort of education was particularly needed for those who had grown up as slaves. The book shows the progression of not just Washington's progression from slavery, but it also details society's climb out of prejudice and into acceptance.

Book List: "The Time Machine"

The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells, is a remarkable science-fiction book for it's age. It is a perfect "Introduction to Time Travel" for anyone who has never been inside sci-fi. It starts at the "Time Traveler's" House, where several people including doctors and psychologists are gathered for a presentation. It is narrated by one of these such visitors. The entire story occurs here in the Time Traveler's living room and lab, where he shows off his time machine to his friends at a dinner party. The next week, a similar group of people gather at the house again, and the Time Traveler is late for his own dinner party. He walks in, completely exhausted from his adventures of the last hour. He sits down, and tells a long story of traveling into the far-off future, where he lost his time machine and spent eight days searching for it.

Book List: "Red Badge of Courage"

The Red Badge of Courage was written by Stephen Crane in the late 1800's. It is about a young soldier fighting in the Civil War, similar to Rifles for Watie and other Civil War novels. It is, of course, a fictitious narrative, based on actual events and testimonies from Civil War soldiers.

Crane is very loquacious and poetic in his story-telling, going into detail on the main character's thoughts and emotions during his time as a soldier. The character goes from being a young, anxious soldier expecting glory, to a content veteran, happy to never go to war again. He pulls the character through excitement, restlessness, blind fighting, natural fear, shame, intense pride, and sadness throughout the book, and the character's emotions mimic a real situation well. They go up and down within the same paragraph, as though every line of dialogue, every bullet shot had some effect on the young man's internal struggles.

Book List: "Hamlet"

This is the first time I've read Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet! I've always been unusually fond of old-fashioned language, although it's dense and difficult to wade through at times. Thankfully, I have Librivox to read it out loud to me, which makes it much easier. Shakespeare wrote plays, not novels, and he designed his texts to be read aloud. By listening to the play or audiobook, you get a sense of the rhythm he used.

Book List: "Antigone"

The play Antigone by Sophocles reminds me of Shakespeare, without rhymes and poems. It begins with a long-winded discussion between two sisters about the death of their brothers, who killed one another. The King of the city has declared one of their brothers to have an honorable ceremony and burial, but the second brother is to be left out in the street. This order is punishable by death.

Book List: "How to Write Sci-Fi & Fantasy"

This book by Orson Scott Card has been timely, and very helpful for me. It goes in depth on topics like character building, world creation, and story structure. I want to re-read this book because of how many, "WOAH, that makes SO MUCH SENSE!" moments I had while reading it. I want to highlight all over it, annotate it, and keep it next to my dictionary and my Bible. I'm glad I bought myself a used copy!

Not only is this book good for writers of science fiction or fantasy, it is applicable to any fiction especially Chapter 3 on Story Construction, and 4 on Writing Well. It is also applicable to anyone who is vaguely interested in role-playing games, or even readers of sci-fi/fantasy. Chapters 1 and 2 (Boundaries of Sci-Fi and World Creation) would be very useful to those people. This book is over 20 years old, written in 1990, but that makes it even more universal. The things that are specific to Card's time period or genre which are probably no longer valid could be taken out, and the rest of the book could apply to any fiction writer, anywhere.

Camp NaNo 2013 :: First Week!

Yesterday was the last day of my first week of Camp NaNoWriMo! The book is going splendidly, although I think I've just decided to jump to the end and work on the end for awhile, just to see how it goes.

I am only one day behind in NaNo so far, because I stupidly missed yesterday's writing. So I'll have to show you "Day 7" progress chart picture in next week's update... But here is my progress chart during the first 6 days!

Camp NaNoWriMo :: April 2013

Today is the first day of Camp NaNoWriMo, and I'm ready for the month! I've already written a little more than my allotted 2,000 words today, and filled in my progress chart! I've done everything I can to prepare for this awesome month! Wish me luck!

This month, I'll be writing a story about a brother and a sister who grew up on separate side of a war. This is my synopsis:

Charlotte has lived her entire life in the wilderness with her family of renegades and rebels. As soon she comes of age, she decides to do something about her people's misery, leading them into all-out war with the Unity.

She then learns that her long-lost brother, Liam, is a prince. He lives in the Palace, at the very head of the Unity. He is her only chance at saving her people from certain defeat. Will she be able to turn her estranged sibling into an ally, or will he let his newly-found family fall at the hands of their father?

May Reading Challenge: Book List

I have decided that I definitely want to do a book-reading challenge during the month of May-- to read ten books during that month, as soon as I'm finished with April's Camp NaNoWriMo! It will be difficult, but it'll be productive enough to be worth it.

Why am I doing this? Because it's almost the end of the school year, and I'm way behind on American History, which involves reading three civil war novels. Also, I'll have just finished my own science-fiction/steampunk novel for NaNoWriMo, and what better way is there to celebrate than by reading books like mine that have come before me? They will help influence my editing process a lot! In addition to History class and NaNoWriMo research, I firgured I should read some of the books that have been sitting on my shelf for a long time.

Book List: "Rifles for Watie"

Written by Harold Keith in 1957, this book has become my favorite Civil War novel. It's about a young Kansas boy who joins the Union army after his family's farm is raided by bushwhackers. He enlists with several of his friends, looking for glory and action in battle. He gets everything he wanted, and so much more. Throughout the book, he served in the infantry, cavalry, artillery, and as a scout in the Rebel army. He falls in love with a Rebel gal, and although she heartily disagrees with him, she loves him back. He endures hunger, fatigue, and nightmares as every soldier does.

For my American History class, I've had to read several Civil War novels, like Uncle Tom's Cabin, Across Five Aprils, and Harriet Beecher Stowe's biography. Soon, I'll be reading Up From Slavery, Red Badge of Courage, and Around the World in 80 Days as part of the same class. So far, Rifles for Watie is my personal favorite!

Coming Soon to Wrandom Writer

The past few months have been really crazy! I haven't been reading like I should, which is why there haven't been many Book List posts up here. Instead, I've been blogging on my year-long challenge blog! The 2013-Challenge has been going extremely well. I've only missed 2 days of writing since January 1st, which is amazing for me!

Next month, I'll be doing another round of Camp NaNoWriMo, on top of my every-weekday blogging. I've decided to spend the entire month of March preparing myself-- outlining, scheduling, creating characters, creating plot lines, and generally brainstorming and researching for the project. April's NaNo event will be spent writing a first draft!

Book List: "On Writing"

I finished this book several weeks ago and have already turned it back into the library, but I never wrote a post about it, so here it goes!

I've never read any Stephen King novel, and after reading this helpful manual for writers, I'm not sure if I would even his enjoy his works of fiction. The book, however, was brilliant and wonderful. It has helped to confirm many of the theories and ideas I've had about writing for a while now!

Book List: "Across Five Aprils"

After struggling to finish this book over the past few weeks, I finally finished reading Across Five Aprils. I can see why it is considered a literary classic! It was a really good piece of writing-- descriptive, emotional, and factual. My only criticism is that it focused perhaps a little too much on the war. I wasn't interested as much in the parts that went into detail about the politics and the ongoing narrative about the movements of the various armies, but for other readers I'm sure it was interesting information.

Irene Hunt told this historical story in a very neat way. She intertwined fact and fiction in a satisfying blend of emotions and family, and she was able to tell the story of the Civil War from many different perspectives. By focusing on one family, you can plainly see how the war affected the home life of everyone in the country. Bill, the older brother that runs away to fight for the South, brings some unmerited ridicule and mob activity to their family farm. John, a brother, son, and father if the perfect example of the survivor-- the one that comes home to his former life scarred by the loss of his children's growing-up years. Shadrach and Jenny make a beautiful romance-- the boy goes off to war, leaving his heart at home with the young lovesick girl. And finally, the death of Tom, representing all those that never came home.

Conquering the Blank Page

This is based off of my 2013-Challenge post from Tuesday, but I liked it enough to post it here as well... Enjoy!

This 2013-Challenge is an actual challenge! I'm really nervous about this project, still, even though we are almost halfway through the third week. You'd think I would have calmed down and settled into a groove by now, wouldn't you? Not a chance! I'm still anxious about having such a heavy commitment. I'm still jittery about meeting the blank page every morning, and fearful of going to bed with a blank page.

But today I realized that when all the structure and rules and demands are striped away, the point of this project is to create stuff constantly. The point is to form new artist habits. The point is to face this blank page every single (week)day, and fill it with 'me' through writing, learning, thinking, drawing, and just creating. The 300-word rule is there to force me out of laziness, and even today at the late hour I'm finishing this, I'm not going to break the 300-word rule! I can't be complacent in forming habits, or I won't get the results I'm going for. But this is me, sitting down at the tail-end of the day, conquering the blank page. And I'm not doing it for you, a reader. And I'm not doing it to become popular. And I'm not doing it because I want to be published or anything like that. I'm doing this to prove to this blank page that there is absolutely no reason to leave a page blank.

The 2013 Challenge Project

I was considering keeping this a secret-- just for me, myself, and I-- but I've started a New Year's Resolution project and I wanted to share it. I want the accountability of my family and friends asking about it, I want an audience that depends on me to continue it, but I don't want people to read the crap that is bound to come out of this project. But I've decided to share.

The project is to write something every weekday for the entirety of 2013. Instead of posting on the Wrandom Writer blog and clogging up my good posts with a lot of every-day yuck, I've decided to start a new feed that is dedicated to the challenge. I will still be posting things on Wrandom Writer just as much as I always have-- I try to post between 2 and 4 posts a month, when possible. If I write something extraordinarily good for my Challenge feed, I will post it here as well.

Hopefully, this challenge will make me write more, and it will help me come up with better ideas, better posts, and better art. As they say, practice makes perfect, and that's the point of this Challenge blog. To practice. To make mistakes. To make terrible first drafts. So enjoy!

2013-Challenge.com