It's complicated.

I won Camp NaNoWriMo! (Sort of.)

....this blog post started off completely anticlimactically for me. I had this whole theme set for it about writing to my past self (see my last blog post), but I can't really do that. It's complicated.

So let me start from the beginning. You might want to grab a cup of hot cocoa (or freezing cold lemonade if you have sweltering hot weather like I do) and pull over a chair because, my friend, this story is going to be very, very long. (Okay, fine. You caught me. I'm exaggerating. But still, it's pretty long.)

I started at the beginning of the month writing with my friend. I had written over 5,000 words in the first week and was extremely proud of myself. But then, she had to quit and I decided to start from scratch (we thought of the plot together and I wanted to be fair).

I was so behind. I procrastinated (because I'm the world's biggest procrastinator) with YouTube, Twitter, the YWP NaNoWriMo forums, Doctor Who, Goodreads, my summer reading projects (that was actually a rather productive kind of procrastination), Skype, Minecraft...

What? You want me to stop listing everything I procrastinated with? You get it? Oh, alright. Just for you, blog reader, just for you.

There were just so many things to procrastinate with! And, when I finally got some work done, I'd take a five minute break and end up playing Minecraft for three hours. Are you face-palming? Don't tell me that you're face-palming! No! Don't click on the X! Not the X! Don't click away, please! Don't lose hope yet?

*dramatic sigh* Okay. You get it. I'm really bad at keeping track of my time sometimes. I started to pull apart my inner procrastinator. I killed it slowly by sitting in front of my netbook, sitting in the big, black, leather, reclining, soothing (fine, I'll get to the point) spinny chair in my living room and writing. I had a whole list of tools: WriteOrDie, MyTomatoes, SimplyNoise, the word sprints from @JuNoWriMo, and previous pep talks from the YWP NaNoWriMo archive.

Since I'm not old enough to join the official Camp NaNoWriMo website and have to wait until next year, I joined the JuNoWriMo website. It was created before Camp NaNo started for people who wanted to do NaNoWriMo over the summer. There, I looked at the blogs and the spreadsheet of everyone's progress. It was great.

I was seriously organized. I made myself pacing charts to keep myself on track, a list of tips, tricks, and plot ninjas, and remembered to bring my writing journal everywhere so that I could write in my free time. Everyone was going awesome!

Then, everything went downhill.

Nearly an hour ago, the clock struck midnight and I only had 46,000 words. I was devastated. I was completely disappointed in myself, and then I realized: Wait, what about that first 5,000 that I didn't include? I was seriously confused for a moment. I kept asking myself, Did I win? Did I win? And so I looked on the NaNoWriMo website for the rules.

The rules specifically state you have to start from scratch, and cannot use any previously written prose from before November 1 (or, in this case, June 1) as part of your novel. It needs to be original (you have to have written it on your own) and you must have written at least 50,000 words (or, in YWP NaNoWriMo, your personally set goal) by November 30 (June 30) in order to win.

Started from scratch? Check.
Didn't use a previously written prose? Check.
Original? Check.
Wrote, in total, at least 50,000 words by the end of the month? Check.

The only problem is, I don't feel the same spark that I did when I won last year. Maybe it's because I doubted myself. (Or because I didn't have the thrill of watching my stats on the NaNo website...age requirements, schmage requirements...) Because there wasn't a YWP Camp NaNoWriMo website, I lost the thrill of many things, such as the pep talks and the weekly blogs and the certificates and the online badge. Oh, the online badge. It made me glow with pride. I managed to find one online for me to save, though. I also got the JuNoWriMo badge.

tl;dr: I won Camp NaNoWriMo. Eh, it's complicated.

-Dominique

To my future self.

Dear Future Self,

Hello. This is your past self. This is your procrastinating, absent minded, disgustingly lazy and low self-esteemed self. And I hate myself for that. I hate that I may have, possibly, disappointed you. I hate that you may look back at me and frown angrily and kick your computer and stomp on the floor and cry into a pillow or whatever you might do when you're frustrated. If you do look back at me with repentance and wish that I could have committed more to my Camp NaNo novel this month, I am so sorry. I am so sorry that I had you lose, and most likely make you so disappointed that you forget about August, or even September completely.

Or, I might make you smile.

I might make you smile so hard that you just fall out of your seat out of happiness. I might make you think, It was totally worth it. I might make you jump up and do a happy dance, not to mention that all of your friends are listening to your screaming on Skype. I might make you do hip swivels and make you run up and down the stairs without anything but your finished 50,000 words on your mind.

And I sure hope that it goes down that path.

Whatever it is that happens on that night of either glory or disappointment, I have one word of advice for you before that midnight strikes on the clock at you either break down out of sadness or smile like you've never smiled before:

Write.

Yours truly,
-Past Self

Today went well, so what's wrong?

I found my wallet.
I found my library book.
I found a star in two of my Snapple caps today (for their promo).
I got a Chipotle quesadilla.
I went to the pool with my best friend.
I got special prescription goggles.
I finally got enough sleep.
So what's wrong?
I'VE ONLY JUST HIT 10,000 WORDS FOR MY CAMP NANO NOVEL, THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-From your stressed out and completely demotivated Zoe.

Review: Matched

Matched by Ally Condie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Although Matched was a great read, there were a few flaws (at least, for me) that have influenced my review. The plot is a bit typical for dystopia; I've found quite a few books revolving around a dystopian society now (such as the Hunger Games). Like most dystopian society books, it considers a rebellion.

The book didn't start off as well as I thought it would. I had gotten feedback about the book from my friends, and I expected to be hooked by the first page. The beginning of the book, however, was a little boring and I didn't understand much. If I hadn't read the summary on Goodreads, I probably wouldn't have understood a single bit of what was in the first chapter.

The book also felt rushed. It went from her Matching to finding out about Ky to her grandfather's Final Banquet. I think that if it had been slower, I would have enjoyed it more. The majority of some chapters are mostly of Cassia and Ky talking on the Hill. I'm also not very favorable of first person.

The ending was a little anti-climactic as well. It went from exciting and heart racing and slowly went downhill. In fact, the ending was so vague that you're pretty much forced to read the sequel (Crossed) rather than just enjoy the first book alone.

I'm not one for romance, but I found this book rather enjoyable. I mainly read it to satisfy my craving for another book of dystopia. In conclusion, this book was an interesting read and I would recommend it to anyone who liked the Hunger Games or Divergent. I plan to read the sequel, but not anytime soon.



View all my reviews

Chooooooooooooooch!

On Friday, I went to my first Phillies game (well, first baseball game, for that matter, not to mention the fact that I haven't been to any other game, baseball or not, in my whole life) with one of my best friends. I was incredibly overwhelmed when I arrived; I'd only seen Citizen's Bank Park on a TV screen in a living room until just then. Not to mention that the park the Eagles played at was across the road from it.

The park was so much different than I had expected. The stadium as a bit smaller than I had expected (considering I've never seen it up close) and there were stores. Everywhere. I thought that the only way to get food was to buy from those people that ran up and down the seats from the movies before, and that there would be some sort of gift shop. Fortunately, it was much better than that. There were gift shops everywhere, as well as different food outlets (including ice cream!).

The game was very entertaining to watch. When Carlos Ruiz showed up on the jumbo screen, everyone yelled "CHOOOOOOOOOOOOCH!" and I thought they were booing him at first. I asked my friend, and she told me that it was his nickname. They also clapped when a certain song came on. Apparently, they do this at every game. It's expected.

We left early because of a rain delay. It began to pour at the beginning of the fourth inning. It was definitely a night to remember. I hope to go to another Phillies game soon. Although I didn't understand some parts of the game or what the audience was doing, it was great!

-Dom