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Hey all you Buzzers! Welcome to the first installment of the "Random Hour," a weekly blog post where we get to know each other a little better and chat about reading, writing, and whatever's new in our busy Buzzer lives.
Let me start by introducing myself. You've probably seen me out and about throughout the site, and I've been lucky enough to become a part of the Random Buzzers crew. I'm entering my senior year at college in NYC this fall, but I'm still a sucker for YA lit. I remember all too fondly my favorite books growing up, which included the likes of The Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley High, The Giver, and the "His Dark Materials" trilogy.
I love to read (of course), and I've always wanted to be a novelist-- when I was in the sixth/seventh grade, I wrote a novella about a fourteen-year-old girl who traveled around the world (and, uh, outer space) with her best friend and her little brother. I re-read it a couple months ago, and needless to say, it was awful. But I'm still keeping at it! I hope to share some of my experiences--both the good and the bad--with all of you, and hear how your writing is going, too.
Looking forward to chatting with you each week!
-Julia
- Posted May 14, 2008 by je55 | 7 Comments | Share It
- Filed under: Random Hour
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Comments:
By
bballchica1106 on May 14, 2008 at 04:40:12 PM
Awesome! You wrote a novella? Thats so cool!
By
bookgrobie on May 14, 2008 at 07:54:05 PM
This is really cool. Looking forward to chatting with you too!
By
thebookmuncher on May 15, 2008 at 07:36:47 PM
heya! i think i will still be in love with YA when i'm in college...and after that too!
By
Wiesteria on May 15, 2008 at 10:23:40 PM
I feel your pain about the novella. Sometimes when I re-read the stuff I wrote, I wanted to bang my head on the wall. Even worse, I actually thought it was GOOD when I was writing it.
By
EragonAddict on May 16, 2008 at 10:55:46 AM
Hey Julia! When I was in high school, my honors English teacher gave us extra credit for writing a novella because we had just finished reading the House on Mango Street. Mine was pretty pathetic as well, but I must say it was a fun experience.
My advice is for everyone is to keep writing. My love for writing helped me a lot when writing my master's thesis of 125+ pages. My advisors loved it so much they want me to publish it. I'm going to be working on that this summer! :-)
By
Ladytron on May 16, 2008 at 10:14:38 PM
Wow! That's awesome. I wish I had the drive to write one. :]
I always end up "giving up" when I start to write something. A nasty habit, I must say.
Ha ha, I was reading a story I wrote like, half a year ago and it's really horrible. I'm really embarrassed! I'm so glad I've improved my writing a bit more this year. :]
By
je55 on May 19, 2008 at 12:20:19 PM
I'm proud of my 12-or-13-year-old self for writing that much and following through on a project, but the writing really was awful. Although it is nice to see that I've improved somewhat since then!
But I don't write the same way anymore, either. The only reason I was able to write so much is because I more or less wrote from the seat of my pants; no plan, no themes/deeper meaning, no character development. Just a cast of characters, a very general structure, and a very wild imagination. I'm pretty much the complete opposite nowadays: I need intense and thorough structure before I can even begin to think about writing. Unfortunately, this means I don't write as much as before...I'm hoping to remedy that.
@EragonAddict-- Please let us know once your thesis is published! I love meeting fellow writers and reading their work :)