Weekend Lessons; Or, What I Learned from My SAT Prep Course

It's an established fact that my mom borrows techniques from the Tiger Mother. So it's obvious that I'd be forced into taking a Princeton Review SAT prep course.

The class began yesterday, with a diagnostic test. I'll be taking several over the course of the class, all gradually increasing in difficulty. I'm already nervous, and here's why. (You might already have an idea.)

THE ESSAY.

**sinister dum-dum-dum**

If you read proficiently, have a pretty nice vocabulary, and know proper grammar, the writing section of the test can actually be fairly enjoyable (am I a nerd to admit it was fun?) Not including the essay, of course.

The essay. For which you're asked to analyze quotes rooted in analogy and political principles and... The essay for which you're reccommended to use "examples from literature, the arts, science and technology, history, current events, or your own experience or observation."

The essay for which you're given 25 minutes.

So basically I saw the prompt, then the suggestions for examples, and I had a 15-minute blank. No kidding. Peripherally, I watched each of the students surrounding write their essays - I think all of them had finished a page by the time I began. I actually wrote my introduction and first body paragraph, then skipped to the conclusion. I was having a near heart attack.

So I definitely can't speedwrite. In other news...

Once the miniature torture session had ended, we moved onto some math, grammar, and vocabulary. And, as usual, I found something I read from the "analyze this section" quite interesting.

Basically, the passage was about scientifically using linguistic information to determine the identity of a writer, lifted from a book published in 2000. It didn't give the name, but I wanted to share this:

But none of us can easily change our basic vocabulary, our personal store of available words. Human beings, in that respect, are the prisoners of their own language. We write from within a repertoire in which certain thoughts and words and spellings are available to us while others are not.

 The idea isn't especially new. My English class actually discussed this a bit at the beginning of the year, as we covered 1984, with the government attempting to crush the language and leave citizens with extremely limited vocabularies - without the words to express their doubts, eventually unable to even conceive of rebellion.

When I read this, my thoughts actually went into a different direction. It gave me a hopeful thought, in the midst of my rattledness: that no matter the lack of progress I make, I'm still able to say things no one is able to, because of the way in which I express them. The details I choose to add. Even if I'm not certain of my point (and I'm certainly not an articulate speaker) - I can write it out, give it time, and eventually the right words will come. I don't care if this is actually how it works, it's something I choose to believe in.

So that's that. Phew! And I haven't even mentioned *grinning like an idiot* that I wrote 655 words last night, and I think I could make it a daily routine, and after 100 days I'd...

Time to end the post? I agree. I'll just leave you by saying I'm pretty excited about the copy of Dante's Inferno I just picked up. Cool illustrations, from Hieronymus Bosch to Last Judgement depictions from the Renaissance  to some Gustave Doré engravings.

Have you also been rattled by the SAT essay? Any thoughts on the quote? Cool literary editions you've picked up?

Progress Report / On Conflict

by Chris Robley

I've been busy today, what with working on a piñata and attending a charity walk, so this won't be a proper post - just a bit about my recent writing progress.

It just occurred to me that I've never really talked about my WiP on the blog. If I had the plot developed, I might discuss it, but I'm nowhere near that stage yet. At this point, I've got the premise, characters, and some mental notes on scenes, but less than 1,000 words. I try to decide on several backstory details every day, and I think this is the best way to approach this story. I want to start from the beginning and see what happens. However, before I get very far, I'll have to do quite a bit of research. (The setting's Paris, 1945.)

My biggest issue with stories is always conflict. I'll create a couple characters I love to death, but there won't be any inherent conflict in the premise. Plausibility, sure. Originality, maybe. Gut emotional appeal, for me. It's not that I hate to torture my characters as much as I hate to give them faults. I guess it's because they're so often based on me, and I hate to acknowledge my own faults.

If you've seen my 2010 NaNo badge in the right column, you may be wondering how I managed it. To write a story in a month when I'm so lost in the current WiP. You'll wonder more when I say I've been reshaping the current idea over and over since December 2010 - right after NaNo's end. The current WiP, of course, barely resembles my original ideas, but the truth is I've barely written anything for the project in over a year. I'm finally happy, even proud, of the premise, but the pages are still blank.

Just to confuse you a bit more: I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo 2010 on October 31st - only hours before it began. Most writers will already have a detailed outline prepared - no one will concoct and write a plot in the same month.

But I did it. The girl who'll take a year to create a decent premise. I wrote a 51,000-word novel in a month, with no preparation beforehand.

The secret? The majority of it was based on my own life. The conflict was easy - my life was full of it. I was angsty, I had questions, and Tumblr for any extra inspiration if necessary. The story was asking to be written, and easy to complete.

So today I was flipping through a few books on the art of the novel. Lately I've been feeling pretty horrible about the prolonged block - and pretty hopeless about my writing. But then, about an hour ago, I had a revelation. It suddenly struck me how I'm going to make my way out of this maze - what direction my story's got to go in.

I began with a list of everything my protagonist wants. Everything she believes in. Then, I began to write ideas for scenes which would undermine those beliefs. Various obstacles she'll have to face before a plot twist and resolution. And I made them various, not just one that escalates.

If you've been reading this thinking, "Well, yes," I'm not surprised. An hour ago, the time of my revelation, this seemed... well, like a revelation. Now that I consider it, I realize it's nothing I haven't been suggested before. It's odd how tired old lessons can just inexplicably click.

I'm not quite sure what lesson I mean to teach. Maybe it's that, no matter how stressed you are about a block, there's hope around the corner. Maybe I gave some helpful advice on plotting, or perhaps you found my story interesting. Or maybe this post is just a challenge to myself, to write this story.

What writing challenges do you face?

Aiming for the Heart: Another Hunger Games Post

Last week, I talked about the Hunger Games' recently popularity. Today, I want to talk about a revelation I had at the end of Mockingjay, the series' 3rd and final book.
...

First thing I have to cover is the history of my affair with these books. I read The Hunger Games 3 years ago and began Catching Fire, but quit early on due to boredom. I wasn't invested in the characters.

Now comes the movie. The teens falling head over heels, the Internet swarms, the whole phenomenon. So I decide to borrow back books one and two from my friend.

Josh Hutcherson

I read them in a day. I see the movie. I fall totally in love with Josh Hutcherson (Peeta), though he's short, and I'll never forgive Suzanne Collins for his name.*"Son of a breadmaker...", scans audience for appropriate facepalms*

(ALSO: Birdy's song "Just a Game", featured on the movie's soundtrack, makes me cry. Though I have to mention that her music usually does.)

- Point being that I fall in love with the books the way I didn't 3 years ago, but the way every reader seems to be doing now. I feel appreciation for Katniss. Gale is complicated. Then, as I've said, I've totally fallen for Peeta. (Or Josh Hutcherson, the line is blurry here.)

What I do have to say: It was Mockingjay, the end of the series, that made me impressed. That tought me something about my own writing. The first and second books definitely provide a lesson for plotting and raising the stakes, but they didn't hit me the way Mockingjay did.

It was the death of a character and Katniss' subsequent meltdown that did it. Sure, I was effected by *possible spoiler* Rue's death (and the flowers!), but it didn't make me cry the way I did at the series' end.

Here's my point: Think of your reader as a target. If you shoot him in the foot, it'll hurt (and probably irritate him.) If you hit his upper arm, it will hurt more. But hitting him in the heart will completely rock him. (You could also try hitting his head, but then you might miss him completely. Or knock him over.)

The end of Mockingjay hit me in the heart, and led to some serious blood loss.

How I feel about the series now:

I'm glad it's popular, because it's the kind of thing teens should be reading. It's not just some silly love story, it's about the desensitization of violence in entertainment/the media, and war and survival. It poses morality questions and features a fantastic female protagonist (which is, in YA, pathetically rare.)

How I feel about the movie:

- I'm not a fan of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss - I'd prefer someone younger, who acts more like... well, a terrified girl struggling to maintain her compusure and figure out this boy thing while surviving. Katniss definitely isn't a damsel in distress, but is only 16 in the first book.

(FUTURE UPDATE: I still think JLaw might be a little old for the part, but I don’t care, because she is amazing. She’s a fantastic actress and a super role model.)

- I don't get all of the fan outrage I've been seeing. (To me it's a little silly after surviving through 8 Harry Potter adaptions.) I actually enjoyed some of the changes, such as the choice of character who gives Katniss her symbolic mockingjay pin. In the books, it's Madge, the mayor's daughter, who's cut out of the movie completely. Instead, it's an old woman from the Hob (the black market), who gives the pin away for free. Though Madge is more likely to own the gold pin, and has enough resources to give it away, it's not her kind of person - the mayor's family - who gives Katniss power. *possible spoilers* Katniss' defiance of the Capitol is symbolized by the mockingjay and leads to riots and revolution. Revolution by the poor, weak, and oppressed - epitomized well by the old Seam woman. Even if Madge got the pin from her mother's sister, who died in the Games (if I remember correctly.)

- I wish the movie was creepier, even if it was necessary to tone down some bits. The scariest part, and the only part I remembered from 3 years ago, was taken out! *spoilers* (that is, the eyes and hair of the dead tributes in the muttations)

- Josh Hutcherson is mine. Hands off!

Have you read the books? Seen the movie? What did you think? And what stories hit you in the heart?

Reflections: The Hunger Games & Teens Reading

This isn't a post I planned to write, but I feel like mentioning something I've noticed: A lot more teens reading.

So why are they?

Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games.

I first read the YA novel in 2009, right after its paperback release, and the release of the series' second book, Catching Fire. I read the first book fairly quickly, drawn in by the plot. Just in case you're not familiar with it, here's the synopsis:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.

This book definitely isn't a bore. It's plotted very well. However, none of the characters stuck with me after my first read through. Yesterday, I reread the novel, and had more appreciation for them, but still no mind-blowers. It's not that they're underdeveloped - it's just that, being pretty well-read, they don't stand out for me.

Hunger Games fan art.

They definitely stand out for most teens. I've mostly gotten this sense by scrolling through Tumblr. I've got to have seen a million artsy photos of the books, pages with highlighted quotes, and fan art. Then, there was a girl at school the other day, who was going on forever about how she'd stayed up till 2 AM to read the first half of the first book. It was the first time she'd read (or planned to read) an entire novel since elementary school.

That's several years. Of barely reading.

Anyway, as I've mentioned, I've been reading the books again. I gave them to a friend and borrowed them back for spring break, and I'm already farther than I was three years ago. I got through the first book about just as fast, then stayed up to 2 AM, ironically, to get as far as I could in the second. (Page 328 of 391, when exhaustion had simply caused the words to lose meaning.) I'm still not in love with the characters, but I've got more respect for them. And I do plan to buy Mockingjay, the third and final book of the series.

So what's my point? I'm not sure I've got one. I suppose I just find it odd that, for the first time, I fail to be swept up by a teen reading phenomenon. (Even Twilight I loved originally, though I did happen to be 12.) Instead, when I read the books, my inner editor scrambles to mention possible improvements. I find Katniss's love life much less interesting than the underlying messages about technology and entertainment and the media (plus lots of similarites between the Capitol and Rome), which I hope other teens will also recognize. I'm also hoping that the movie, which I'm seeing tonight, will focus on these themes. Fingers certainly crossed.

Have you read the books? Did they sweep you up or leave you bored to tears? What about the movie? And what about all these teens reading?