I am a WRITER

The past month has been a blast. I've written on my computer until my fingers gave in, stayed up late at night trying to reach the final stretch, and spent all the spare time I had, anywhere in any place, writing in a sketchpad and occasionally going back to count how many words I had down.

And I won.

It was late at night on November 30th when I was about to finish. My friend Tyler wouldn't quit sending me messages on my cellphone. He told me to keep him updated, so I did. When I hit 49,000 words, I was freaking out and my fingers were shaking. I could barely hit the "send" button on my phone.

It was late in November when I made the decision to do NaNoWriMo this year. November 11th, to be exact. I had heard about it in 2008, right before it had begun, but I skipped it and decided to try it when I was a little older. Looking back at it, I'm pretty glad that I didn't attempt at the age of eight; it was hard for me to keep up with my word count, even three years later. I didn't even get to ten thousand words until the week after I had started to write.

So, as I was saying, I had sent the message to him and immediately put my phone down to continue writing. I was so close, yet so far. Only a thousand words to go. I could do this. I knew I could do this. I didn't even bother to take any breaks that night; my eyes were ready to droop shut and take a long nap, but I forced them to stay open. I had to write. I couldn't stop writing. If I stopped now, I'd never reach 50,000 words!

Let me go back farther and help you understand.

The morning of that day, I was doubting that I could make it. My friends at school reassured me that I could. I was only at 41,000 before I had come home from school. I didn't have any time to spare to write at school that day; I couldn't go up to open library (pretty much, it's study hall, if you want to call it that) and write because we didn't have it on Wednesdays. I was ready to quit and try again next year. I even had a cold, and I had to go home early anyway that day because I was ready to throw up at my desk.

When I got home, I laid in bed for a while and let my eyes rest. I took around twenty minutes to get myself together before getting out of bed and picking up my laptop. I turned it on and immediately opened up my story. I started to write like there was no tomorrow; I used Write or Die, MyTomatoes, and NaNoWordSprints from Twitter. Sometimes, I didn't use anything at all and just typed without anything to motivate me except for the thrill of getting it all done.

At some point, I fell asleep next to my computer. Could you blame me? I was tired, I felt like I was going to throw up, and I had barely gotten any sleep the night before because I stayed up writing again. The only reason I had woken up was because I heard my dad arriving home and coming up the staircase to say hello to me. I sat up and rubbed my eyes before looking at the clock. I had four hours left, and I still had to eat dinner!

Until dinner and after dinner, I typed and typed and typed. That's all I did. Besides Tyler occasionally texting me and asking for my word count, I had no distractions and had no reason to procrastinate. This was the last day. This was the day that I had to get it all over with; it would all be worth it. I would be done and I would get five free copies of my book once I finished editing it after November, a winner's t-shirt, a certificate, and the pride of being an eleven year old writer.

I was not a "want-to-be-a-writer". I was a writer.

I became a writer when I powered to 50,000 words at 10:45pm on a Wednesday night. I became a writer when I pushed myself to reach my goal late at night, when everyone thought that all hope was lost. I became a writer when I forced myself to face my fear of not reaching my limit after all the time that I had.

I am a writer.


-Zoe

Just a quick post to assure you all that I am not dead.

I'm doing NaNoWriMo. I have two days left. I promise I'll post after I'm done my novel. :)


AND I GOT TO 30,000 WORDS TODAY
OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

Halloween, Aladdin and NaNoWriMo

Sorry for the really late post! I haven't been keeping up with my blog. I haven't been posting because I've been procrastinating with Minecraft and Hogwarts Extreme school has been really busy lately.

For Halloween, I went as Luna Lovegood. I copied her entire outfit and even bought radish earrings! I went with two of my friends, my brother and my sister. Here's a picture we took after we went trick-or-treating:

Me being a nerd and making my "candy shop" as we get ready to trade our goodies :) (Under my jacket was a Harry Potter t-shirt...go figure)

While I was gone, I tried out for an Aladdin play. It was for middle school only; sixth to eighth grade. We had to sing (we learned Arabic Nights and A Whole New World), dance (we learned a combination), and act (they gave us a few lines and we had to recite it). I went with a few of my friends and had a great time. I was really nervous. I now know who I am playing, however, and I'm relieved. I'm playing a thief! I'm actually very excited to play this part because for one, I've never acted in a play before, and two, Aladdin thieves are cool. :P

This year, I'm participating in YWP: NaNoWriMo (Young Writer's Program: National Novel Writing Month). NaNoWriMo is a contest that starts on November 1st every year. The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. since I'm participating in the YWP, I can change the goal. I've decided not to and push myself to the limit. At the moment, I'm on word 3,216/50,000. I need lots of enthusiasm and discipline to get this done. :) You can find my NaNo profile here.

I better get back to writing. I promise to blog more frequently and post about the Aladdin rehearsals as well as my NaNo progress! Bye!

-Dominique

The God Complex

EDIT: I keep editing this post because I keep thinking of things to add onto, so I'm going to stop adding on now. I'll be posting and venting about this episode on my Tumblr if you'd like to read more.

So, I lied. I'm not posting about Pottermore or Minecraft in this post, but Doctor Who. All of you know very much that Doctor Who is my absolute favorite show. There was a new episode, The God Complex, on BBC America yesterday and I have to post about it. Spoilers are coming your way if you haven't watched it yet!


For one, I found the episode absolutely terrifying. The beginning, even. "Praise him. Praise him." Praise him is so scary it might as well be the new "don't blink" or "look behind you". I refused to look at any spoilers on Tumblr before I watched the episode, so I had no idea what this episode was going to be like. I'm very satisfied, though, and I can't wait for the next one.

Rita was great. The Doctor liked her. She was brave. I honestly thought she would be a great addition to the companions. Maybe not, though.

Howie's death...that was scary. To see someone beg for death from someone he had been running away from for so long, it was a bit horrific.

Joe gave me the creeps. "Here comes the lighter to light up your bed. Here comes the chopper to chop off your head. Chop, chop, chop." I was actually really amused when the Doctor came out with him on a luggage cart and his mouth covered in black duct tape.

GIBBIS IS PERFECT. He is absolutely perfect. That's all I have to say about him.

The scene in Amy's room was very emotional. When I saw what was in her room (which was the young version of herself sitting on her suitcase, waiting for the Doctor), I was going "awwwwhhhhh". It was so emotional. And when the Doctor said to lose faith in him, I was like, "you're joking. You have to be joking. You cannot know her for so many years and then say that." When he calls her "Amy Williams" instead of "Amy Pond", he's letting go of the girl who waited for him. His best friend. She's not Amy Pond anymore. This is just. Oh my. ASHKFSDHGSA.

Though, I laughed when the Minotaur came inside and threw Rory against the wall with the door.

I'm thinking Rory's room has something to do with losing Amy.

THE ENDING. THE ENDING. NO. RORY AND AMY ARE MEANT TO BE WITH THE DOCTOR FOREVER AND EVER AND YOU CANNOT JUST LEAVE THEM LIKE THAT. MOFFAT, STOP MESSING WITH MY EMOTIONS.

I'm wondering what was in the Doctor's room, though I was excited because his room number was 11. My mom said, though, and I'm not sure how she interpreted it at the end,

"That was his fear."
"What was his fear?"
"His fear was losing them."

-Dominique

Errol and Notch

Hello everyone! I solemnly swear that I'm sorry for not posting in quite a while (I've been busy with school, as I started September 7), but I finally got my Pottermore welcome email! I'm extremely happy and I've been playing since September 6th. It's very convenient that it decided to arrive a day before school began.

Notch has also officially released Minecraft 1.8 (since this Monday!). I've been playing Minecraft since August 22nd. Expect a new post about Pottermore, Minecraft or something extraordinary soon!

Photography at the Philadephia Zoo

Yesterday, I went to the Philadelphia Zoo with my family and a few friends. It was a long drive, but we got there. It was great fun!

The first thing we had done when we arrived was get on the zoo's Channel 6 Zooballoon. The wait was around 50 minutes due to the long line, but it was completely worth the wait. The air balloon brought us up 400 feet in the air. I was able to see the Comcast building and the rest of the zoo from high up, as well as snap a photo...or five. My dad was also able to take a picture of the balloon going up before we entered the line.

Before the ride.

What we could see from the balloon!

My brother, sister and I in the balloon. Don't mind my lack of hair; it was hot in the line and I pulled it up in my cap.

Next, we saw many types of animals; reptiles, amphibians, mammals. Everything you can imagine! I went horse-back riding and had a photo-taking spree as well.

My brother and I on a horse. This photo wasn't taken by me, but by my dad.

I was able to see a cheetah up close, and even take a picture! It was tamed and roaming around its zoo habitat. I found it to be very exciting, because I've read about them in magazines and books.

I was able to snap the picture just as it was raising its paw!

I took a picture of something not as exciting, but much cuter and adorable! They had a small rabbit exhibit set up that I couldn't help but woo over. :)

A rabbit eating its food.

A group of rabbits sleeping together. Awwww!

There is one picture I can't help but post. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, we read and watch a green python escape from Harry and Dudley's local zoo. In the reptiles and amphibians exhibit, I was able to take a picture (not too sharp, but pretty decent nonetheless) of the same species of snake curled around a branch!

After going sight-seeing, we took our last stop as the gift shop, where I bought a post card for 69 cents. Just if you wanted to know.

-Dominique

More Pottermore

This week, I've been lying in front of my computer, my phone next to me and curled up on a bed, reading a book. My phone would make an email notification. I'd get up and scramble to my inbox like it was the end of the world. You know what that means! Pottermore beta is starting!

The acceptance letters welcome emails for Pottermore are being released now, every day, and are sent randomly. (Read in one of my last posts about Pottermore if you don't understand what I'm rambling on about.) This frustrates me because in the Terms and Conditions (Pottermore was the only time I actually read the terms and conditions; true fact) that the welcome emails were on a first-come first-serve basis, yet I created an account on Day 2 of the Magical Quill Challenge and there are people from Day 7 already Sorted and earning House points.

I really want to get into Pottermore already. I've been longing for the day I'd receive my acceptance letter, go to Diagon Alley, buy an owl, head to Hogwarts, get Sorted and learn a thing or two. Since the welcome emails are being sent to random beta members throughout these next seven weeks, I'll just need some luck to get in today or this week.

To get Pottermore off my mind, I'm finishing up the first series of the 39 Clues. I have just finished the eighth book, The Emperor's Code, and moved onto Storm Warning. It hasn't been a full day yet and I've already finished more than half of the book. Another thing that gets Pottermore off my mind is that I have a sleepover with a best friend on Friday, which is wonderful, because I've only had one other sleepover with her before.

Well, I'm going to go back to my reading and inbox-stalking. Goodbye for now. :)

-Dominique