Measi's Musings

19 January 2007

So... yeah...

... about this fanfic writing thing. It's going surprisingly well. And I've finally told my inner-self to shut up for a while and dive in.

This is the reason I haven't been writing journal entries, actually. My brain has just been filled with ideas for fiction writing for the last three weeks. It's a nice change of pace, and I've long since learned that if creativity is beckoning, I need to embrace it for the short while it might last.

Don't laugh, please. :) I'm still working on this piece. And it's the first real attempt at fanfic since, oh... 1996 or so.

Title: Translating Extraordinary
Author: Measi
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all the rest belong to the BBC. My fiancé wouldn’t appreciate me claiming David Tennant, as much as I’d love to.
Rating: PG13 (US) / 15 (UK) / T (Fanfiction.net)
Classification: Ten/Rose. Angst/Character Study/Romance.
Spoilers: Everything through Series 2 (heavy post-Doomsday), including The Runaway Bride.
Archive: Feel free! Please tell me where, though, so I can come beam with pride and also know where to send corrections/updates/sequels if they're needed. :)
Summary: Impossible means not probable, but it's not absolute.
A/N: This is my first fanfic attempt in several years, and my first ever for Doctor Who. It's angsty-- but I promise it is going to a happy place by the end. Many thanks to my friends & betas: 1aquaesulis76, meadowbird, mermofdx, and claireej.

Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three

18 January 2007

Thursday Thirteen: Writing

So today I'm doing my first full-day shift at the front reception desk at work. It's freaking me out a little bit-- I'm NOT a phone person. I now work at a company that actually has someone answer phones (*gasp* live reception? What an odd concept, eh?).

Hopefully since there's a mega-meeting today, though... it'll be relatively quiet.

In any case, during downtime, I'm hoping to do some writing. Today's T13 focuses on some thoughts about my writing experiences...

Thirteen Things about my love of writing

1) I wrote my first poem at age 8. It was a short, sad little poem about our dog, Katie, when she died. My mom still has it. I've been told over and over that it's surprisingly good for an 8-year-old, but then again... it is my mother (who's strongly biased).

2) My imagination tends to run very wild and erratic. I've been creating stories in my head since kindergarten or so. They usually fly into my head as I lie down to sleep... which means I'm awake for an hour as they run through my brain. During my parents' separation and divorce, my brain wanted to force me to escape from reality a lot-- and I wound up keeping a fictional hand-written diary of the ideas so I could release ideas in order to focus from day to day.

3) I co-authored my first fanfiction in junior high with my friend Andi. I don't remember a lot about it, other than that it was Star Trek: Next Generation, and... being the age that we were... it was schmoopy, cheesy romance stuff between Troi and Riker. I don't think we ever completed it, though. It's still in a notebook... somewhere.

4) My first published piece of writing was for the Billings Gazette when I was 15. I've also co-authored and written pieces for the Boston University Daily Free Press, Wild Web.com (former game reviewing site), and Access Magazine.

5) I was on my high school newspaper for two years. The first year I was a writer. The second year I was the news page editor.

6) I won a Journalism Education Association creative writing award as a senior in high school. A few of my classmates and I attended the annual high school newspaper conference in Los Angeles, and they had off-the-cuff writing competitions. I don't recall anything about what I wrote, but I *do* recall the teacher who served as our school newspaper advisor being shocked (her word) at my win. I was NOT one of her teacher's pets (the exec editors), and therefore was never invited to write a column in the paper.

7) My college degree is in print news journalism with a minor in psychology. I'd planned to be a criminal reporter. Even today, I find criminal documentaries/true crime/etc. fascinating. I want to know what "makes people tick."

8) Along the same vein... when I do fictional writing, I almost always focus on it from a character development angle. I love revealing characters through prose, allowing them to discover themselves as I do.

9) I've particpated in NaNoWriMo four times. I reached 50,000 words two times. Both stories are still unfinished.

10) Since 1995, I've written seven fanfiction pieces. Six are X-Files related, and are archived at the infamous Gossamer archives. The seventh is one that is still in the works, and is Doctor Who related. Three chapters are published on my livejournal and at fanfiction.net. (under my usual screenname... measi)

11) Writing is something I feel I need to do. A sure sign that something's wrong is that I'm not at least scribbling down unfinished thoughts a few times per week. Usually I'm mulling over an approach to dialogue or descriptions in my head a few times per day. (ah, multitasking).

12) I would love to publish a book someday. I have some ideas, but no solid plot for a first novel, however. Chances are it would fall in the realm of Pagan-oriented mystery... much like my first NaNoWriMo attempts were.

13) I prefer writing drafts longhand, then editing them as I type them into Word on my computer.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

14 January 2007

For the love of all that is good and holy

This whole Pats giving its fans a heart attack during the post-season is getting old.

My fingers really, really hurt from chomping on my nails for the past 45 minutes or so.

Damn...

*thud*

Great game. Sloppy on both sides, but great game.

11 January 2007

Thursday Thirteen: The Birthday Edition

Ah yes... that time of year again... ;)

Thirteen Things about January 11th

1) 1523-German reformer Martin Luther wrote in a letter: 'It is unchristian, even unnatural, to derive benefit and protection from the community and not also to share in the common burden and expense; to let other people work but to harvest the fruit of their labors.'

2) 1569-1st recorded lottery in England is drawn at St Paul's Cathedral

3) 1813-1st pineapples planted in Hawaii

4) 1919-Romania annexes Transylvania

5) 1922-Insulin 1st used to treat diabetes (Leonard Thompson, 14, of Canada)

6) 1949-Snowfall 1st recorded in Los Angeles

7) 1973-American League adopts designated hitter rule

8) 1976-Dorothy Hamill wins her 3rd consecutive national figure skating championship

9) 1988-USSR announces it will participate in the Seoul Summer Olympics

10) 1994-Irish government announces end of a 20-year broadcasting ban on IRA

11) Deaths: Pope John VI, Francis Scott Key (among others)

12) Births: Alexander Hamilton, Naomi Judd, Mary J Blige (among others)

13) It's my 32nd birthday, complete with my first grey hair. (eep)
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

04 January 2007

New year, new craziness

Happy New Year :)

I'm not gone-- just... preoccupied. It's been a very wacky couple of weeks, and while I've been spending a lot of time in front of my computer, I just haven't had an idea about a blogging topic in a few days (well, since a very weird rant last week via the private notify list that seemed to scare the crap out of people because it was the weirded out side of me as this all kicked up last week).

In any case, I'm fine. Being my normal, completely off-the-wall self. In fact, I'd argue that I haven't felt quite like... me... in a while. Very goofy, slightly off-kilter, and my mind is just spinning. Definitely hasn't been a while. I've missed it. It's amusing that for four years, I cranked through November struggling to write my "necessary" 1,667 words per day to stay on that 50,000 word mark for the month. But here, in about a week, I've plowed through about 10,000... longhand. :) Lots and lots of ideas. Enough that I've had to rely on keeping the notebook next to the bed because I've had two three a.m. wake-ups that required me to write everything down.

(it's beside the point that I can barely read my chickenscrawl from 3 a.m., half-asleep, written without my glasses on.)

Ah yes... the writing bug. I was honestly wondering if I'd get it again. It's nice to see that it was just in hibernation for a while. Most of the ideas have been coming in the form of fanfic. Ideally, I'd like to crank out some original character fiction, but I'm so rusty that I refuse to discount any idea spewing from my brain right now... it's all getting written down.

I finally shut myself up and just let myself get lost in the evenings in new geeky addiction. The first series (2005) of Doctor Who arrived on my doorstep the other day, and I've been catching up. I'm expecting the second series sometime after my birthday. And much to Erich's teasing and amusement, I've been on a bit of a David Tennant binge... and slightly annoyed that I can't find my DVD copy of Harry Potter 4...

*sigh*

I'm a dork. I know. But I think this is the positive backswing after being so depressed for so long. I didn't expect it to swing quite this fast however... but I'll take it. Maybe the depth of depression leads to such a sharp swing to try to rebalance everything. *shrug*

Work's been insanely busy this week, but in a fantastic way. Apparently I am turning heads a bit-- because I've been drafted for a HUGE style standards organization project at work, which will be presented to the president of the company within 10 days. So far, I think it's going well- I have most of my first round of drafts done, and should have all of them done tomorrow. It's shocking-- I'm writing, I'm editing, AND doing layout design... all at once. :) My degree? Useful? Sweet!

And how is it already January 4th? This year is already flying...