Category: Uncategorized

NaNoWriMo 2012

Posted November 1, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 0 Comments
NaNoWriMo 2012

IT HAS BEGUN. Except I haven’t written anything. Yet. I get the skepticism where NaNoWriMo is concerned. I really do. Because NaNo is about quantity over quality and no one wants to read a book that abandons quality in favor of quantity. For me, participating in NaNoWriMo has been a great decision. This is my third go around on the NaNo-mobile and each experience has taught me new things about me and my writing process. My first year, the year that I didn’t win, taught me that it was harder than it sounded to make time for those 1,667 words but that I could do it. And that falling behind isn’t a disaster… but giving up is. This was also the year I tried SUPER hard to outline. I’m still hopeful that one day things will change, but for now… that NaNoWriMo […]

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The Importance of Setting Goals and Deadlines

Posted October 30, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized, Writing / 0 Comments
The Importance of Setting Goals and Deadlines

As October 31st is tomorrow, I have realized that it is unlikely that I will have a finished draft in hand. Even setting crazy goals of 5K a day (nearly impossible, since I have to work), I’m well under this draft’s goal of 70,000 words. So, some people might say that setting that deadline was pointless. But I disagree. Because having that deadline meant that I got up and to work more than I might have otherwise. If I didn’t set that goal, I might still be hovering around 5,000 words for this draft. Any progress is better than no progress at all (I mean fast progress is better than SLOOOOW progress, but I’m sticking to my progress is progress guns here). It means that my goals get transitioned somewhat. That now Draft 2 will be what I first work […]

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Random Beastly Rant

Posted October 29, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 1 Comment
Random Beastly Rant

Very quick rant: The other night, I watched the movie Beastly based on the YA novel by Alex Flinn starring Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens. I’ve read some of Flinn’s other work and enjoyed it, but never got around to reading Beastly, so I have no idea if this rant applies to the book or not. Overall, I enjoyed the movie. Very cute, charming little vanity-is-bad-and-beauty-is-on-the-inside message. Very teen drama, but hey… I write YA. I like teen drama. But there was one aspect that got under my skin like nothing else: And that is when Alex Pettyfer’s character clings to the shadows at night and followed Vanessa Hudgen’s character around without her knowing because she seems nicer than everyone else and she’s really pretty. He then saves her and blackmails her father into letting her live with him. It tainted the entire movie for me. […]

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Write-a-thon!

Posted October 28, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 0 Comments
Write-a-thon!

So, today, my friend Lindsey and I, both deciding we want to be the PRODUCTIVE sort of people, have decided to do a Write-A-Thon together. It’s basically exactly what it sounds like: we write. For a long period of time. My goal is to add at least 5,000 words to my 2nd draft. I don’t have Lindsey’s crazy “I can write 8K a day” powers, but that will make it the most I’ve written in a day (term papers, etc excepted) since high school. I think we’re also going word war sporadically throughout the day? I am unsure. BUT we’ll each be live-blogging our efforts. 11 AM: Draft stands at 15,639 words. I have been awake for less than an hour and I have no caffeine at my disposal. This should be interesting.  AAAAAND BEGIN! 11:37: Wonder if I am using scabbard […]

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JENeric Life Update

Posted October 24, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 0 Comments
JENeric Life Update

Titled thusly because I get a weird thrill out of making horrible puns with my own name. Apparent is still moving along… albeit, slower than I want, but progress is progress. My class with literary agent Mandy Hubbard nears its end and I’m sad to see it come to a close, but relieved to know that taking the class was a great decision. Thanks to Mandy and my classmates, I definitely feel like my opening pages are stronger. I’ve got more writer friends, that will help keep me accountable as I work toward my goals, AND I’ve got a query that I am very nearly happy with… but more on that later. I also created an organized binder for Apparent with spaces for my query, draft, notes research, etc. I like having these things in hard copy form and it makes me […]

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A dream is a wish your heart makes & you slave for

Posted September 26, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 3 Comments
A dream is a wish your heart makes & you slave for

Greetings, dudebros. It has been many a moon since I’ve updated this blog. I’ve been pretty caught up in posts for Almost Grown-up, making videos for A Bevy of Dauntless, and real life things. As far as the real life thing goes… I took a course for substitute teaching. Despite having a college degree and a decent resume, I don’t seem to have much luck on the job-hunting front with the economy in its current state. It’s my hope that they’ll open up the substitute employment pool and I can make halfway decent money that way. Currently working on assembling all of the application materials. One of my friends is preparing for a move to New York City for her dream job. Another of my friends recently moved to Virgina with her boyfriend. All of them are seeing their dreams […]

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