Thursday, May 19, 2011

In Which Thursday Ate Hot Fudge Sundaes

Thursdays make me happy. I dunno why, but it's just that day when I stop and grin and go, "Today is a great day." I think it's because of Thursday's flavor. Fridays are taffy--tastes great, but it takes forever to get through because you're looking forward to the full weekend. Saturdays are spicy, because there's so much you want to get done that you burn through the day before you even realize it's gone. Sundays are cranberry juice--fantastic flavor to begin with, but a nasty aftertaste when you realize the weekend has ended. Mondays are tangy because you just left the weekend behind, but you can still savor a bit of it. Tuesdays are bitter because you're even more ingrained in the week now, but you can still remember the weekend enough to miss it. Wednesdays are sweet and sour because they're stuck right in the middle. But Thursdays? Thursdays are brownies, warm and yummy, with bad memories of the week behind and optimism for the weekend ahead. (Mmmmm, brownies!) If you're extra lucky, life sometimes even hands you hot fudge and a scoop of cake-batter ice cream, like, say, basking in the glory of Josh Groban's phenomenal voice while soaking in the fact that you've (somehow) officially passed Calculus with not just a D-, but an A-. (As a random, nonspecific example! (Name that movie!))

So enjoy your Thursday, everyone, because we deserve this deliciousness!

~ Lizzy
Current word count today: 33
Current song: My Confession by Josh Groban
Current quote: "Because we can change, and because we can never return, that is why we should live the only lives we have without remorse." ~ Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Perceptions

I love Chess--meaning two things. Naturally, that game we all know (haven't played it in forever--someone be my opponent, please!), but also the musical.

The musical, mwah ha ha! Did you guys know there's a musical called Chess? 'Cause I sure didn't until my awesomeness-personified best friend introduced me to it. It's dark, romantic, political, deep, haunting, and just generally EPIC. (Also, it has the voices of Josh Groban (MELTMELTMELT!), Idina Menzel (LOVELOVELOVE!), and Adam Pascal (.....How do I describe his voice? I'll come back to this in a PS!) all in one place! That's like asking me to dissolve into a happy little puddle on the floor and never move again!)

One thing perplexed me, though, during my second and third watch-throughs (Chess in Concert performance DVD for the win!). The more I watched, the more I came to know the characters, and the more one scene--my favorite scene--didn't make sense to me. As a brief walk-through, Chess is spread over two years for two World Chess Championships in a row. In the first, the American champion Freddy Trumper (Adam Pascal!) and the Russian champion Anatoly Sergievsky (Josh Groban!) are the competitors, and Anatoly comes out on top. The second has Anatoly defending his title (after defecting to Britain) against the new Russian champion Notimportant Whatshisname. When Anatoly shows up in Bangkok for the second championship, he finds attacks on every side trying to convince him to throw the match. Threats against himself, he brushes aside, but there are also threats against his family and lover, which he struggles with. SO! The scene I'm getting to is the final match of the second championship--the game everything's been leading up to.

Naturally the whole scene is set to music, and the orchestration, vocal performances, and lyrics for the song are magnificent, with this perfect building energy that just explodes at the end. Love, love, love! But as I watched it those few times, I was completely perplexed by the character interactions. Anatoly steps down from the chess podium as he sings and is confronted by the two characters most influential for him. Their parts are brilliant and the scene's lyrics really show the entire internal conflict Anatoly's facing, but both of those characters were completely different from the last scene they'd appeared in. The first was being openly antagonistic and scathing rather than using the subtle guilt trips she'd employed previously, and the second was furious and hurt over something she'd decided to rise above in her last scene. On top of that, in their final exchange with Anatoly, they use the exact same words he first used on them (very striking, intense lyrics--I lost my breath the first time I watched!), as if they'd come to a bitter agreement. But there's no way! They were screaming their heads off at him only moments before! It made no sense to me at all. I watched the full scene over and over, trying to puzzle it out, and I couldn't make it all link up for the life of me.

Finally, it occured to me that I'd been overlooking one crucial detail--Anatoly walked away from the chess game. Walked away. And yet, in the climax of his song, the chorus behind the three main characters gladly shouts "Check!" at him over and over to inform him that the Russian champion has him cornered, and then as the song ends, Anatoly strides back and makes his final move. Which means that the chess game was ongoing the entire time, and he couldn't just walk away. It's the World Chess Championships! I think if he suddenly walked away, there'd be just a bit of an uproar from the world.

So, after mentally flicking myself for being oblivious, I ran through the scene again, this time taking the perspective that it was, literally, all in his head. He didn't go anywhere, and the confrontations were his private images of the two characters and what he thought their feelings toward him at the moment were. They also served as an outlet for his mind to throw at him all sides of his inner conflict. He'd made his decision to [spoiler], but he still felt conflicted, and the final stanza really was a bitter agreement, but it was his mind finally coming to terms with itself so that he could move forward. (Totally epic!)

Anyway, what does this have to do with anything, you might ask? (Most importantly perceptions, since that's the title of the whole ranty post) I'm getting there! No, Polonius is not my idol; why do you ask? (I dearly hope you've read/seen Hamlet. If not, what are you doing here reading these words words wwwooo~orrddsss? Slacker!)

After the revelation of the entire scene being an internal conflict, I loved it even more, and while I listened to the song on repeat, it got me thinking about how Anatoly's perceptions (ha!) of the people in his life are so completely different from what we as the audience saw in reality. Holy cow, hats off to Tim Rice and anyone else involved in that writing. He/they mastered that human flaw of assuming we understand the people around us and acting based on that rather than truly communicating with others.

I realized that's something I need to work on in my writing. I know my own characters, so I tend to have them interact based off of my knowledge and perceptions rather than their own, especially in tense and hurtful situations. Sadly, we as people tend to speak before we think, which results in hurt all too often, and I realized I try to avoid that with my characters because I hate when it happens in real life. But it happens! We can't truly know the people around us because we're not them; we just have to try our best based on the interactions we've had with them, and if two characters haven't had any good impressions from one another, they're going to be tense and hostile.

So, I'll add it to the pile of things to work on and start practicing. In the meantime, I want the rest of you to hunt down a copy of Chess in Concert and bask in it's magnificence. Then come back so we can talk what makes a good guy versus what makes a hero! (Goodness, I love Anatoly!)

~ Lizzy
Current word count today: 1,165
Current song: Endgame #3/Chess Game #3 from Chess in Concert [Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, Kerry Ellis]
Current quote: "Everybody's playing the game, but nobody's rules are the same." ~ Chess in Concert [Idina Menzel]

PS!: (Ha! You didn't forget, did you?) Adam Pascal! Oh, wow, let me attempt to describe his voice. First of all, my favorite singers are people with very striking voices--those people who you can always pick out in a full band or chorus because they couldn't be mistaken for anyone else. (Josh, Idina, and Adam all fit that, by the way, I just didn't have any more catchy words to do THISTHISTHIS! to for Adam, haha) The first time I heard Adam Pascal, it was a small clip of Rent, and his voice was almost too different for me--honestly, I closed the clip and didn't expect to come back to it. Until five minutes later when I found it tugging at my brain. So I listened again. And again. And again. His voice is addicting, I tell you! He conveys this raw emotion that's just incredible. Anyway, what are you doing reading this? Don't take my word for it, slacker, just go listen to him! (Most preferrably, just go watch Chess, like I told you to do before! And then we can talk Adam's character too!)

Monday, May 9, 2011

The Early Bird

I hate early mornings. Hate, hate, hate--they are nasty! (Oh, I just figured out the keyboard shortcut for italicize--that is awesome! Hahaha) Anyway, I only get up early in the morning if it is absolutely life-and-death--or at least grade--imperative that I do so. So, on the off chance that I get up early and then find myself with no reason for it (I am loving this italics shortcut!), I get rather moody about it and my general dialogue becomes, "Grrkajbasdrefinginagrr."

Which brings us to today. I awoke at the standard, ridiculously early time today, got ready, stumbled out the door, and arrived at a virtually empty school at the normally correct time. My groggy brain struggled to understand the mostly empty parking lot and, after processing for a few minutes, finally gave me the sheepish admittance that it had failed to inform me that today was a late-start, and that I didn't have to be at school for a good hour. A good hour which--you guessed it!--I could have spent in dreamland.

So, with a resigned "Grarrdrasdfjakjfslgrr," I wandered around, trying to look like I belonged and definitely had somewhere to be that was more important than bed. After a few minutes, I found myself longing for a computer, because I've been dying to get some good writing time in. Naturally, I didn't have one conveniently in my pocket, so I had to peer inconspicuously through a few windows to see if a teacher I was on good terms with might have one available.

(I know I could have just used a piece of paper, but there was a specific story I wanted to work on, and I literally hadn't opened the MS word file in so long that I'd forgotten what I'd last typed. Also, I adore the crispness of black text and loathe the smudgyness of da graphite and sawdust. For some reason, typing a story helps make my mind feel more accomplished--like it's done something more permanent and professional. (Haha, I am such a masterful genius for tricking my mind into believing a first draft can be less chaotic and messy just by clacking it out on a keyboard! (I should probably stop layering my thoughts in parentheses because understanding my mind is hard enough as it is (Speaking of which, are you confused now? (Speaking of that which, how many parentheses do I have open? *begins to count*))))) (Impressed? Haha, just kidding. (I'm doing it again, aren't I? K, done now, back on topic. (Do you guys even remember what the topic is by now?)))

I eventually found a target and, being the kind person she is, Mrs. Awesome let me use the laptop set up in the front of the room, as long as I wasn't on the internet, which I didn't need to be. (Holy cow, no wonder one Storymaker's first-chapter judge told me my sentences could get long and confusing at times. I'm sorry, guys!) So I plugged in my flash drive . . . and promptly got distracted by a story not even in the same folder as the one I'd meant to work on. But, whatever, right? I was writing for the first time in however long. (Truly writing, not the notebook thought-jots that happen now and again in Calc class, which is just between me and you (and hopefully "you" does not equal the kind lady who rules over my calculus grade))

And it felt stinking great, can I just say? Good enough that my dialogue became semi-coherant again, and I was almost late to my first class just because I didn't want to leave. I had to though, and after only typing out a few paragraphs. (Hey, it took me a while to get that set-up, and I had to read the last few sections I'd written so I could remember my own stuff.)

Thinking about it through the day--and talking about writing to a friend--brought me to a fun little challenge I offered my own mind. A few paragraphs wasn't much, but writing that bit in the pressed amount of time I had, made me think that it'd be cool if I could do at least that much every day. It took me maybe ten minutes total--excluding the reading--and there's no reason I can't get at least that much time for writing every day. Also, small as it is, it'd be a lot more than I'm doing every day now. (Average at the moment: 0 words per day)

So, I'm gonna try it out. Even if it's only ten words per day, it's ten words more than I've been doing, and I can move up from there.

I guess sometimes it pays to be the early bird. Heh.

~ Lizzy
Current word count for today: 300
Current song: My Heaven by BigBang
Current quote: "A page a day is a book a year." ~ Richard Rhodes

(Why the last two? BECAUSE! Actually, I'm not allowed to have that as my only reason because I'm not a parent yet, huh? (That is sooooo not a dis' on parents by the way, because if I had to deal with a teenager like me every day (I am the endless questioner, I confess), I'd get to the BECAUSE stage a lot faster than any parent I know--most importantly my wonderful mother--has) The last two are because I adore music and I adore quotes, so therefore I randomly want to share what I'm listening to and the quote I'm thinking of at the moment. (Because, believe me, I'm always listening to something, and I'm always ready to quote something))

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Storymaker's!

I absolutely adore writing conferences because I come away feeling all hyped up and ready to type until my fingers fall off. :D It's a great feeling to be motivated. Storymaker's is coming up this Saturday (Friday too, but I can only make Saturday) and I couldn't be more excited!

I attended this conference last year, and I had a total blast, but this year has an extra bonus that's got me biting my nails. I actually entered the contest this year. I ENTERED the first-chapter contest. I know, praise me, I got up the courage. :) SO I'M TOTALLY NERVOUS AND YET EXCITED! I don't think I'll win, but maybe I will, and it would be super cool if I did, but, even if I don't, I ENTERED! And that gives me a happy bubbly feeling inside. Hello, writing world, I'm venturing out, whether I make it or not!