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Two hundred fifty sixth entry - It's the moment you all dreaded...
2007-01-21 20:19:40
Time - 6:49, Noise - Ayumi Hamasaki - "A Song for XX"
...yeah. I'm back from break. Sorry to disappoint. : /
So... what did I do? Actually, this list is pretty simple:
- visited my psycho controlling sister (whom I love dearly!) for Christmas
- bought a new dance pad
- spent ten hours playing Dr. Mario to level 100 on my Gameboy (just to see what would happen; turns out, it doesn't register triple digits and instead reads Level 00, 01, and so on)
- played Final Fantasy IX (to kill time during break)
- re-read Tsubasa manga
- watched Pirates II, Spiderman 2, A Night at the Museum, and Superman Returns
- bought parts for cosplay for ACen
And that's pretty much it. It was a very quiet break for me, and I really only went out a few times with Nicole. Oh, and Jarred got all of the parts for my new computer. Now, it's just a matter of him getting over here to put it together. He said he would today, but I doubt I can count on that. He rarely does anything on schedule.
Classes start tomorrow. I have English, two Spanish classes, math, and sociology - and band, of course. I think it's fourteen credits, but it feels pretty light. I need to get my books and my check before the end of the week, if memory serves. I'll need to head home after that, but I'll probably wait a month or so. As much as I hate driving, I'm beginning to really wish that I could have my own car; then, I wouldn't have to rely on others to take me to and from college all the time.
Well... it's dinnertime right now, and I need to catch up on various things that have transpired while I've been away. ^_^;;
Good to be back here, and I'll see you all around~<3
- Jen -
Two hundred fifty fifth entry - My stats are maxxed out!
2006-12-22 12:31:14
Time - 11:00, Noise - Lostprophets - "Lucky You"
Uh... yeah. There's a pun in that title. Gamers (particularly for RPGs) might get it.
@Knowname - wait... are you a veteran, too, then? Cuz I think I can only be dubbed a veteran BY a veteran. It's like a rite of passage. Holy sacrament and all that jazz. o_O
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Jen's "Going Home" Plans:
- Sit. Be lazy.
- Wash clothes.
- Eat dinner.
- Sleep.
- Sit. Be lazy.
- Play Gameboy.
- Sleep.
- Visit psycho controlling sister (whom I love dearly!) for Christmas.
- DDR.
- Sleep.
- Come back home.
- Forget it's New Year's. Sleep right through it.
- Sit. Be lazy. (rinse and repeat for next twenty-two days)
- Go out with best friend. Eat sushi. (rinse and repeat as often as possible)
- Come back to college on January 22nd.
- FREEZING COLD WINTER CLASSES! o/
At some point during all of this highly stressful "sleeping" and "being lazy" business, I intend to sketch a few random pictures and catch up on my gaming (Final Fantasy XII, Tomb Raider: Legend, and trying to get Fatal Frame II up to speed run quality). When I come back, hopefully my friend will have made all of the purchases for the new parts of my compy and he'll be able to assemble it within the first few weeks. With what everyone here suggested, it sounds like it'll be a great computer when it's all finished. ^_^
Hmm... I'm gonna miss the .org, but I'll probably pop in from time to time over the month. I doubt I'll make many forum posts, but I'll be here, rest assured. This'll be my last entry for a while, though.
Hey. One more thing: don't make any awesome AMVs while I'm gone, okay? ^_~
Well, I'm off now!
See ya, folks~<3!
- Jen -
Two hundred fifty fourth entry - things that are done, things to be done...
2006-12-21 19:57:40
Time - 5:45, Noise - Imogen Heap - "Goodnight and Go"
@Ari-sama (OMG JOURNAL CHATTING!!!111oneone)
I used to do something similar with writing. In high school, I had my "special spiral," which followed me into all classes and never, EVER had assignments written in it. It was solely for fanfic and poetry purposes. Of course, I frequently used my class notebooks for writing, too; thus, just before I started my freshman year of college, I went through every notebook I had ever had during that time and plucked out all of the pages with my creative writing on them. Managed to find quite a few original drafts of poems that I had on the computer, but had no written copy for, as well as several unfinished stories that I hadn't even remembered starting.
Now, though, I have this funny thing where I can only write stories on the computer, and I can only write poetry by hand. Hell if I know why for sure, but I think it's because it's tough to do corrections on hand-written stories. I tend to do extremely frequent proofreading, sometimes even adding in several new sentences or paragraphs, so I really hate having to erase, re-arrange, and re-write crap to make it all work. I guess that's why I only have one beta reader (my best friend). The only thing she does is looks for grammatical errors or wrong wordings, of which there are normally fairly few. Conceptually, my stories are always finished before I let anyone else read them. I'm really particular when it comes to continuity, so I always make sure to try and make all of the details match in my stories before I send it over to her or put it out to the public.
Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself. I've only publically released - what? - five stories now? And those have all been for the same game, so they're reaching the same audience everytime - which is an unfortunately small number of people. I've been writing ever since I can remember (with the bulk of it starting when I was in fifth grade, elementary school, nine years old), but I haven't started putting my work out for anyone online until the last year or two. It kinda bothers me, though. When I post stuff, people tell me, "Hey, this is great for your first submission!" or something along those lines. However, the truth is that I'm only a newbie to *feedback,* not writing or fanfiction. Heck, from what I just said, one can infer that I've been doing it for at least ten years (if that person realizes I'm nineteen, of course). So, it bothers me a little to be labeled a "n00b" in a hobby that I'm really NOT a n00b in.
Heck, I'm not even a newbie with AMVs anymore, when you think about it. I've been making them since 2001, and while that may not be "veteran" status, due to my lack of participation in conventions and my absence from the right "circles" of people (and don't tell me these don't exist, cuz they DO - RDS, CDVV, hell, even the Journal Junkies, among others), it is a sort of "longtime resident" status. Of course, because of my non-spectacular videos and my lack of technical knowledge, most folks don't realize just how long I HAVE been around here and involved in this hobby.
Switching gears slightly... but also about AMVs... (oh, and Arigatomina-chan, I would have put a break in those paragraphs somewhere, but I'm not entirely sure at what point I stopped addressing you specifically o_O ) ...anyway, my AMV schedule totally blows, apparently. Not only did I not finish my "action" video before break, but I also didn't do the one I wanted to for my local contest, and I didn't finish my quickie video. Moreover, I now most definitely do not have enough time to even start the video I wanted to do for sto's contest. Basically, when I get back, I've decided that I just need to start on my video for ACen. I have this panicky feeling that I won't finish it if I don't start it overly early. (If I finish early, then I'll just set it aside until it's needed and work on something else.) I'll still finish my "action" video, but I may be working on it and THE Video at the same time.
That'll be interesting. I've never actively worked on two AMVs at once. I've never had the hard drive space to do it. o_O I'm not even sure I do now... but, you know, there have got to be some low-space ways of doing this. I've heard of making clips (which I'll probably do anyway), and I've heard of editing with Avisynth scripts (I get the general process, but I don't know if Magix is capable of it, and I've heard that the method can be buggy), and then I've heard of a handful ways when I've been downloading videos and reading their descriptions. Most of these last ones have been one-time things, so I'm not sure how much trust I place in them. I should do a forum search and see if I can find alternate methods to using DVD footage that aren't so costly to the HD space. Not entirely sure what keywords to pop in, but I'm sure I'll find something.
If nothing else, I bought a ton of DVD-RWs, so I don't mind making room. I have a big enough HD. It's just a matter of freeing up enough space.
And now...! I need to work on Nicole's Christmas card. I didn't buy her a present, so I'm making a card instead and throwing some money in it. I think I have a twenty laying around in my purse still... Anywho...
See you, folks!
- Jen -
Two hundred fifty third entry - I'm leaving... ON A JET PLANE!!! (with snakes...?)
2006-12-20 14:26:34
Time - 1:16, Noise - Nine Inch Nails - "Heresy"
Okay, so I'm not leaving on a jet plane ("don't know when I'll be back again..."), but I am leaving for the holidays. From December 22nd to January 22nd, you probably won't see me around here at all. I'm going home, and my brother occupies the compy there all day and all night, so my chances to post to the .org are incredibly limited. Of course, I don't anticipate that anyone will even noticed I've left until I come back and say, "Well, that vacation sucked." ^_^;;
Makes me mad, too. I get booted off of campus, but while I'm at home, I can't edit, I can't write, and I can't download videos. The only two things I can really do are sketch and catch up on my videogames - both of which I intend to do. I'm still debating if I want to bring my saxophone home. I'm not gonna get much of a chance to play it. Due to my mom sleeping during the days, I can't go up to my room and make any noise. *le sigh* I'm probably not going to bother toting it back with me.
Let's see... I have finals from 3-5 and 5-7 today, and my Spanish group wants to practice our skit at 2, so I'd better get going now. Wish me luck (I'm gonna need it for the math final!) Short entry, I know. v_v
See you, folks~<3
- Jen -
Two hundred fifty second entry - musings on fanfics...
2006-12-19 00:10:39
Time - 9:53, Noise - Imogen Heap - "Speeding Cars"
Yeah... so, I'm really bored and don't have to worry about waking up for any finals tomorrow. Therefore, I'm making two long journal entries today. (Sorry.) The subject this time is fanfics...
Nitpicks
- original characters. They're not BAD, per se, but authors like to go wild and make incredibly perfect OCs that the canon characters fall madly in love with. It's just not realistic. Even the coolest characters have flaws. Take Vergil, from Devil May Cry 3, for example. He is completely and utterly badass, no doubt about it. He's also *really* overconfident - and that's what ends up being his downfall! Too few authors take this into consideration, and that's why so many OCs fail to appeal to anyone BUT the author.
- script format. It's entirely lacking in any kind of description beyond the dialogue, so it make the stories tough to enjoy. If you're going to do this, maybe you should consider turning it into a comic instead. Long, descriptive paragraphs not your thing? That's fine. Do it in images! A picture is worth a thousand words, after all.
- simple sentence format. "He unsheathed his sword. He struck his opponent. He put his sword away. He looked at his next rival." This is what we go to school for, folks. No matter what your native tongue is, if you intend to write, you should be able to write creative sentences with varied structures. Something as simple as that example in quotes just doesn't cut it for the reader's interest.
- self-inserts. Well, if it's for comedy, fine. A lot of people use themselves for comedic purposes, simply because they know themselves the best and can come up with the most material based on their own actions. However, in a completely serious story... it just doesn't work. I'm sorry, but everytime I imagine some fat, nerdy chick with thick glasses and a Dew at her side finagling my favorite bishounen, it REALLY kills the mood. (Okay, so everytime I have to imagine female anatomy at all in stories, it really kills the mood, but whatever...)
- crossover pairings and rare pairings. I'm all for hawt lovin', but if it's between two people who have had zero interaction in their canon environment, can you really expect me to get into your story? For all intents and purposes, you're just pulling reasons out of your ass to as why these two should be together. That's why all of these excited fanfiction.net threads stating "RARE pairing!!!" baffle me. Of COURSE they're rare! They're not even LOGICAL!
- spelling and grammar. This has always been an uphill battle for writers and readers alike. The way I see it... if you're not sure, ask someone! It doesn't have to be a beta of the full story. You could just give someone a handful of paragraphs or sentences that you're not 100% about. If it's not your native language, why don't you try writing it in your own tongue instead? I don't mean that sarcastically, by the way. It's just the most effective way to get your story out. Better yet, take the whole "beta" thing to a new level, and make sure that your beta reader knows both languages fluently and could help you with a clean translation. With the internet, it's not impossible anymore.
Things to Think About...
- "Does my story have a plot?" If it's a one-shot, it should still have some kind of climactic part in it (even a slice-of-life story will have one up in it, surrounded by lulls). A story that has no central lift feels like it drags. A story that just trails off makes the reader want another chapter - and if you only planned one, you're left with one very unsatisfied reader! If it's multi-chapter, there should still be a rise and fall to the "action," whatever that may be in your story. There may be several major lifts in the story, and that's okay... but if a one-shot without a lift is boring, then you can imagine how awful it would be to read many chapters and never feel like anything happened! (Hey, that's kind of like my journal! You read a lot of paragraphs, and realize that I didn't actually SAY anything! XD ) If your story is plotless sex... well, that's good, too. But that should have a "climax" of its own, too, don't you think?
- "Are my characters relatively canon?" If your interpretation strays too far away from the original, you may as well change the names and label it "original fiction." Nobody wants to read a story in which their favorite character acts nothing at all like they do in canon. However, there are questionable situations. Sometimes, you may want to write about an adult character's childhood. While there is some room for originality when this happens, some core traits will always remain the same. Again, let's take Vergil from Devil May Cry 3. If he's a prim and proper adult with a very composed attitude, one can guess that he was probably an organized, relatively calm child. You may choose to eliminate the overconfidence, because this may have not set in until he knew more of his powers as an adult. See how it works? The fact is, no matter what the age of the depicted character, and no matter how different the situation they're thrown in, do your best to "think like they do." Try to keep some core traits that everyone will recognize and play up to those as you're writing. That will help with that nasty OOC ("out of character") bug that all writers seem to catch at some point or another.
- "<pointless chatter!> Ah, but I digress." Try to stay on topic. If you're writing about a battle in the rain, try to keep the description on the combat. If you suddenly go off on a multi-paragraph tangent about the rain and its symbolism or something, you'll most definitely lose your reader when you finally get back to that gunshot that was about to happen three paragraphs ago.
- "How much background info should I write?" It's always tough to decide how descriptive you need to be. You'd like to assume that all of your readers have watched/played/otherwise experienced the source you're writing about, but that's not always the case. When in doubt, return to the core traits. Devil May Cry again, but this time let's use Dante as the example. A simple intro sentence to a fanfic could go something like this:
'The devil hunter Dante sat lazily behind his desk, brooding over the night's jobs.'
Simple and tells the story. Dante is a devil hunter. He apparently has a desk, so we can guess that he's in an office of sorts. An office where he takes jobs about devil hunting, maybe? You can infer a lot just from a few strategically placed descriptors. Something like this, however, would be obvious overkill, and a clear catering to the uninitiated of the series:
'The devil hunter Dante, who owns a shop named Devil May Cry that he started up after he stopped the rising evil of the tower Temen-ni-gru - arriving at odds with his brother in the process - sat lazily behind his desk, which had a bloodstained glove on the corner from that time at tower, and brooded over the night's jobs of demon slaying which he often hired himself out for.'
Now, that's major, major overkill, and I wrote it that way on purpose. It's to show that you could infer most of that general info from the simple sentence, and you didn't really need to hear the specifics on why things were the way they were. If something specific comes out as an important story element, believe me - you're going to have a hard time NOT eventually describing it little by little. In the cases of most fanfics, you don't need to "set up the reader," so to speak.
But, alas, I suppose the golden rule of fanfics is the same as it is for AMVs. Make what you like, and if you enjoy it, it doesn't matter what anyone else says.
However, I contest that for one reason and one reason only: you put it online. The instant you made it available to other people publically, I gained the right to criticize it. You don't have the right to get mad at me for not liking something you made, because you lost that right when you put it where everyone could read it. If you didn't care about the public opinion, you would have just sent your fanfic to a few select friends and left it at that. Therefore, I say that you DO care about what other people think, and the instant that you say, "Well, I don't care what you think anyway," is the moment we both know you're lying.
So, what brought on the entry about fanfics? Well, mostly cuz nobody has commented on the one I posted yet. Hell, I haven't even gotten a *rating.* I think people are just scared away by the weird style and the content. Also, I'm writing for a fandom where even the most popular stories might only get twenty little one-line reviews. It'll probably be well into February before I see my first comment - and yeah. By February, my fanfic may very well still be on the first page. VERY slow additions to the fandom. Oh well. Guess that just means I need to write more for it.
Excessively long entry, w00t! ^_^;;
Nighty night, folks.
- Jen
JOURNAL: dj_ultima_the_great (Jen )
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