On Free Trade and Positivity

Hey, guys! I thought I'd take a break from writing about writing, and instead blog a little about my own life. So...

Yesterday I went to Seattle with my mother and sister. We grabbed Indian food (my favorite) and visited what may now be my favorite store: One Thousand Villages. It's a free trade store, with handmade products from across the globe.The employees are volunteers. The products are all beautiful and, putting it simply, very, very cool.

These are just a few of the things we bought:

As my family drove home, I thought about writing a bit. I haven't been writing much since NaNoWriMo ended, but I'd like to return to writing regularly this coming year.

I had my birthday recently. One of the gifts, "from" my sister but bought by my mother, is a lovely new journal. I've been wondering what to do with it, and an idea occurred to me: to list the "pros" and "cons" of each day - the events which positively or negatively contributed to that day's experience.

I first tried this exercise on the 21st, the last day of school. This is the (summarized) pro/con sheet which I created:

Pro: quality time with friends, a Secret Santa gift, (successfully) speaking to the school on behalf of Community Service, pleasant conversations with a few teachers, singing with friends onstage during an assembly (fun!), providing much-needed help before school to set up for said assembly 

Con: two minor misunderstandings

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I'm a perfectionist. I focus far too much on my own mistakes, and often unconsciously exaggerate their significance. But when I practiced the good/bad events exercise the other day, I was reminded of how lucky I am, what great friends I have, and how often I'm successful in my endeavors. I think that's what I need, to become truly productive and content in life and my writing - some positivity.

Of course, the 21st was an unusually good day - probably in part because I had no academic worries (hurrah for no homework!) - but I'd still love to continue the exercise in the future. In fact, I'm considering making the pro/con journal a New Year's resolution.

What's your favorite store? Any early resolution ideas? Other thoughts?

I Survived! I Survived!

I survived NaNoWriMo!

It was a struggle, hitting that 50K mark. Others finished with insane word counts - I saw several over 100K. And then, of course, there were plenty who fought valiantly though weren't quite able to reach 50,000.

I did have my doubts throughout the month. Somewhere towards the end of Week 2, I really began to dislike my story. The characters seemed weak, the writing dull. The plot was going nowhere. I was losing faith.

Thankfully, I was able to (mostly) write my way out of the hole, reading over some of what I'd written to regain some confidence. I suffered and prevailed, and I now have a lovely, long, nearly-complete novel to edit. I won't try to work my way through the entire text this month, as some will be doing, but I'll work on it when possible. I'm currently loaded down with tests and applications - and edits to my sister's college apps.
So for right now, I'll be writing and considering ideas, but mostly taking a mini vacation. But before I go, I'd like to share with you the biggest lesson I received from NaNoWriMo: that a writer can't wait for inspiration. There is no such thing as "writer's block" - a completely inability to create new material, often cited as the cause of prolonged, creatively-dry periods.

If you're a writer, you've got to write, to push past tiredness and distraction. You can't wait for the right words. It's true that writers sometimes need breaks. I'm living proof; my break begins as soon as I finish this post. But for much of last year, during the first several months of the 2011-2012 school year, I wasn't producing anything. Not only did I not participate in NaNoWriMo 2011, but I barely wrote a word for weeks. It was the first time such a thing had occurred since I recognized my love for writing towards the end of the fifth grade.

Now, I'm determined to never let it happen again. Whatever career path I eventually choose to undertake, I want to continue writing. I don't care if I ever profit from my work; I write, first and foremost, for myself. Writing is a crucial piece of my identity; it causes me, challenges me, to view the world differently.

As a writer, it's my duty to constantly observe and reflect on the nature of the human condition. The role comes to me naturally; recording my observations, creatively transformed, only follows naturally. Thus, I've come to believe, not writing is denying a part of myself - the creative, expressive piece. Whether through blog post, poem, short story, novel, the medium of expression makes no difference.