Something I Like to Call "The Icarus Theory": Dealing with Rejection and Success

I should first make something clear: The Icarus Theory is a term I just came up with five minutes ago, but it is surprisingly fitting for a phenomenon I've recently experienced.

As writers, we honestly face a lot of stress, especially when we get to the point where we are putting our works and ourselves out into the public. When you have a manuscript that you've completed, edited, proofread, had beta readers go through, proofread again, crafted a query letter for, and prepared to send out into the world, it can be really hard to press the send button. A lot of things start to go through your head as you stare at the carefully written email to the literary agent of your choice. For the most part, I think, writers tend to experience a fear of failure. It's safer to keep your manuscript at home, because what if you send it out and the scary agent doesn't like it? (Don't worry, the vast majority of agents aren't scary :) ) But you start to doubt yourself. You start to doubt your work. You begin to think, What if there's more I need to do to this? I'm sure there's more edits to make... This isn't fit to see the sunshine yet.

We All Have Pasts (or, The Importance of Backstory)

I've had something of an epiphany lately. It's not an entirely pleasant one to think about in real life, but it's something incredibly important to consider in creative writing. Everyone you've ever met has a past. Good pasts, bad pasts, pasts we're proud of, pasts we try hard to forget. There are things we do share and things we don't, but all of it contributes to who we are and how we act at any given moment. No two people have the same past. No two people will react the same given the same trial. And so will no two characters.

NaNoWriMo 2016 Survival Tip #4

T-minus eight days until the end of this year's NaNoWriMo! For some people, we're getting into the hardest part of this month. Maybe your outline has run out, or your stuck as to where to go next, or you realize that there's eight days left and you're only at 30% of your word count goal (like me...).

I know that one of my personal issues right now is keeping up my own interest in my story. I think that sometimes we have those projects that we know are sort of passion projects; the ones we are absolutely determined to see the end, no matter what. I've had two of those in the past, but my NaNo novel for this year isn't one of them. Sure, I'd like to see it finished, but it isn't one that inspires me as much as my passion projects did. However, whatever happens after this month, I still want to reach my word count goal in the next eight days (hey, it's still possible) and that leads me to my fourth NaNoWriMo Survival Tip, for all of you who are in the same boat as me at this stage in the game.

NaNoWriMo 2016 Survival Tip #3

To be honest, I had no idea what I was going to write this post on when I started it. I have a feeling that now, exactly halfway through NaNoWriMo 2016, many of you are feeling the same way. The third week in, writer's block is rearing its ugly head and keeping you from putting those much needed words down on paper, just as I stared at the blinking curser for about thirty minutes before beginning this post.

I've had my fair experience with writer's block, and I know just how frustrating it can be, especially when you have a very specific goal, such as 20 to 50 thousand words in a month. As it is with my own NaNo novel, I'm only at 27% of my goal, while I should be at 50% (I blame the six minute speech I have to give in History class tomorrow...). However, while writer's block might seem like something impossible to push past, there are ways to get writing again.

So here is my third NaNoWriMo tip for you.

NaNoWriMo 2016 Survival Tip #2

We're now into the second week of National Novel Writing Month--congrats! You're over the first hill. At this point, you've probably gotten a decent amount written of your novel, even if you have had to rethink certain aspects or even change your idea entirely. (I'm currently at 15% of my total goal... not exactly where I want to be, but I have time to play catch up!)

As it is now the second week, here is your second survival tip.

NaNoWriMo 2016 Survival Tip #1

For most people, November brings thoughts of Thanksgiving and fall leaves, approaching midterms, the first snow (and for my fellow Coloradoans, even more schizophrenic weather than we had in October). But for writers, November means NaNoWriMo.

What is NaNoWriMo? National Novel Writing Month, an exercise in brain dumping and word vomiting and silencing your inner editor for an entire 30 days with the intent of writing a rough draft of a novel in a month. (For more information and to participate, you can find the Young Writers Program here and the more challenging NaNoWriMo site here.)

I have participated in National Novel Writing Month for a few years now--my first time led to my now completed novel. So in an effort to help other young writers trying to get through NaNoWriMo, or who don't want the pressure of writing a novel in a month and simply want tips for getting through that rough draft, I will be posting a NaNoWriMo survival tip each week during this November.

Here is the first.

Halloween Story

In honor of Halloween yesterday, here is a short story by one of our members! Enjoy!

Only Stories in the End

by Tessa Lapointe

            I was eight years old when I first touched a tombstone. At that moment, I knew that I was… different. I was visiting my cousins in London for a week while my father conducted business in the city. After the long train ride, I wanted nothing more than to curl up in a warm bed and fall asleep, but my cousins had other plans for the night. I remember how the air was deathly still and so cold that not even my fur coat could stop me from freezing, and the darkness of the night pressed around me. My eldest cousin, Elizabeth, had brought along a single candle to light the way, but I wished we had carried an entire candelabra, nay a whole army of candelabras, to chase away the night.

Friday Funny Fiction #10

Take a look at Friday Funny Fiction #1 for the rules of this game!


The sun was way too bright for vampire spelunking.
The vampires quickly retreated into their caves. Larry, unfortunately, was too slow and vaporized into a cloud of gas.
"That was close," one of the vampires said. "He even vaporized Larry. We need to avoid Apollo."
Apollo listened from behind a corner, plotting their death.
After a few moments, Apollo stepped out of the corner, shocked to see Zeus staring at him. Apollo dropped his machine gun on his foot and began hopping around in pain. "Ow! Ow!"
Zeus raised one grey eyebrow.
"Dad. Father. Sir. What do you want?"
"I want you to stop throwing thunderbolts everywhere!"
"I can't, I'm trying out for Dragon Ball Z! Gotta learn how to destroy planets."
And the world ended. The End.


On April 4, 1914, a famous entrepreneur is found dead in a locked room. Beside him are a grandfather clock and a bitter panther.
The panther is covered in sparkling dust and wears a blood-red crown. The panther personally thought he was fabulous. Nothing beats the remains of your enemies for a stylish crown.
So the panther made a King's cloak out of the skins of his enemies' carcasses and paraded around in it with the crown.
Until a hunter came and slayed the panther and made a coat out of his skin.
The panther's cousins all leaped out of the trees at once, pouncing on the hunter, but they were not smart enough to realize that there was a wall of thick glass separating them.
The hunter looked at his sister, Kelly, and said, "They don't understand they're in a zoo, do they?"
She sighed. "I don't think so."
The End

Four Things I Learned About Writing After a Week With a Four Year Old

I spent the last week on vacation in Tennessee visiting family. While fun, it was exhausting (and after having spent way too much time in airports, I am convinced that the airline we used--which shall remain anonymous--hates us). But I was able to learn something interesting from my four year old cousin. She is incredibly adorable and never runs out of energy. Or, at least, she doesn't let you know when she's running out of energy. When she starts to get tired, the stories that she tells get more and more elaborate and creative. Even when she is wide awake, she is constantly playing with toys and dolls, and she uses them to act out her stories. After a week of this, I was able to take away some interesting themes that can very easily be applied to fiction writing.

Here are four things I learned from a four year old.

"Take a Look Outside the Box" by Victoria Hecker

Here is a poem by member Victoria Hecker. Enjoy!

Take a Look Outside the Box (A Dull Blue Light)

 

 

A dull blue light

Consumes our eyes

Blocking our minds

Burning our vision

A life leaves in it

Lives lead in it

Crossing wills

Crossing ways

Only one fate is held

And flicker, flicker

In the dark