In retrospect
Hmn, I think I know what kind of a journal writer I am. I don't post often, but when I do I post tons of shit that's tl;dr. XD Oh well, the point is to write and rant and make myself feel better, I guess. The sympathy is only a perk. XD
Although now I'm like... 'what to write about?' 'cos anything I would have written about is no longer important since it's gone and done. Eh, what the hell.
So a couple of weeks ago, I had these two assignments due--one was a kind of 'where are you at' thing for my editing class and the other was one of those pesky group presentations. And of course I procrastinated. So the day before the 'where are you at' thing was due (which was half done and had only an easy 500 words to write for), which also happened to be the day before I told my presentation partner I'd have my stuff done by (the presentation itself was due Friday), I find out I have an assignment due for the same class... also on Friday. And that I was supposed to have filled out a week's worth of some kind of table thingy, when I only had three days before it was supposed to be handed up.
In the end I put the third assignment out of my mind until Thursday evening (because I have full days on Wednesday and Thursday and didn't do jack on Wednesday night). Luckily it was 700 words, the course made a point of saying 'this is not an essay--do not write it as an essay', and was fairly easy to bullshit my way through. And then on the day I found out from my tutor that he didn't even want the chart thing after all--apparently it was meant to be a 'guideline' (but of course the course study guide made it sound like it was life and death to the passing of the assignment). Still haven't got it back tho, so I dunno how I did yet. XD
The week after that I had another presentation, this one for my Scriptwriting for Live Performance class, which didn't turn out as well as I thought it would while we were writing up the script (it was one part review and one part performance, and worth 35%, which is apparently 30% more than it was worth two years ago), mostly because there were some things I had intended to talk about which I forgot to put into the script. Stupid me.
It was during my meeting with my presentation partner that she told me we had the draft of our major assignment scripts due the very next week. I'd thought we still had something like a month, so I hadn't been thinking about it--at all. In class the next day I found out, worse, that it was due Monday, not Friday or in class as assignments usually are--and worse luck, I had quite a bit of work to do for the Piping Shrike (which was fairly usual by then).
Fortunately, we managed to convince our tutor to give us an extra two days--not much, but hey, it helped my stress levels. I was getting annoyed with being mugged by assignments by then--I'm so disorganised this semester. Kinda amusing now, though, now that I have a month of no assignments whatsoever. XD
So I got that in by doing my editing work earlier on in the weekend, which actually made me feel really good and accomplished, so I have to put more effort into getting things done earlier. Because I'm a silly procrastinator. XD I still didn't actually write the script until the day bfore it was due, though, 'cos procrastination doesn't go away overnight (more's the pity) and I was freaking out when I realised I wouldn't make the page limit (it was supposed to be 10-15 pages. I made it to 9; 10 if you include the character notes/synopsis). In the end I went 'screw it; it's a draft, he can tell me what to do to make it longer'. Later I found out I wasn't the only one who didn't make the limit, and my presentation partner had thought the revised due date was a week, not two days--so she hadn't done it at all by the time class came rolling 'round.
On the topic of scripts, this class is causing me no small about of angst, partly, I think, because I'm stubborn about the sanctity of my writing being challenged [/self-righteous]. Seriously, though, my stubbornness i probably the biggest cause of the problems. See my, tutor in Scriptwriting used to be a director, so he knows what he's doing; only he's pretty forceful about stuff, so when he tells you to do stuff it feels like 'do it or you're gonna fail 'cos it'll be bad', although I'm sure (now) he doesn't actually mean it like that. Anyway, my script was pretty much a drama/tragedy (and I no longer hate the beginning, by the way XD ) and it also happened to be the first one we workshopped in class--as in, we set up a rudimentary scene and two of the guys acted through the first page (with scripts in hand).
Now, those two guys are good friends and they have a great kind of comedic energy with each other, which is fine--unfortunately, because I didn't know what was gonna happen after the first scene, my tutor told them to improvise. And they turned it into a comedy. And it was hilarious, but then my tutor kept saying how it's a comedy (he also said I've set up a great situation, which is good considering he didn't seem to like the script previously) and well, I don't want it to be a comedy! It's meant to have a twisty POW! ending, and I felt that making it a comedy would remove any need for said ending (especially considering the ending was the whole reason I chose the plot to begin with). But since he's supposed to be an expert, who am I to argue? Although one of the other girls in the class mentioned, later, that she could see I was getting pissed, which was kind of embarrassing that I was so transparent... oh well.
Anyway, so he suggested maybe a black comedy, which I thought, okay, I could do that and still keep the POW! ending (even though I've never written black comedy before in my life). So I get back my first assignment (which is a first page, last page and synopsis of the script) and he's... not very helpful. He had suggestions, but no justification, and one of the suggestions was the put the POW! part of the ending earlier on, which I didn't want to do because, well, then it wouldn't be the ending! And I was just like, 'fuck that, I'm gonna write it the way I want to!'
Now you see why I was so worried about the draft's due date suddenly mugging me, because I hadn't thought about how much I'd change. XD But I get to the day when I have to write the draft, and I've calmed down somewhat, and I'm thinking... 'you know what? I think I can actually handle writing this earlier on'. I even thought of a finishing line that I really liked, which I thought kept the tension. So I wrote it, and even though it turned out too short I liked the ending and I liked the beginning (although the middle was iffy), and I made it funny (I hope) using jokes the two guys had improvised while performing it onstage (fantastic way to critique your own writing. Seriously. Seeing it up onstage is like... wow.)
And in the end, I don't think it turned out half bad, and I didn't rebel like I'd planned to. XD It's kind of embarrassing to realise I was so immature about it, but humbling at the same time. Kind of like getting a review for a fanfiction, only you know the tutor has the experience and the degree to back themselves up. XD
This whole semester has been humbling thus far, actually. In my editing class I discovered I don't know nearly as much about editing as I thought I did and was seriously insecure about my skills until I got my 'where are you at' assignment back, which included an excerpt of stuff we'd edited, and my tutor said I'd done some 'very good editing'. Even so, I keep second-guessing myself. And I keep feeling like, because I'm studying this stuff, I should know it--forgetting that since I'm only a student, I'm not supposed to know it, and that it is actually okay to ask questions and stuff up once in a while. I think it's partly because my tutor is someone who demands a high standard, but she's one of those people you really want to please/prove yourself to, so you're wary of acting like an idiot... but I tend to be like that anyway.
I think I've found a bit of a comfortable niche with that class, though--after our last class I feel less like I'm wading through mud and more like I actually know what I'm doing (and can do it!). Still got a lot of work to do for that project, though... we don't know what the book's gonna be called yet, let alone figured out the cover art/found a designer.
Anyway. Now it's getting near the end of the year, so now I have to focus on proving I'm eligible for graduation! Joy! And they're using terminology I only half understand and therefore don't know if they apply to me! More joy! And I want to do Honours next year, but I'm not sure what's involved and they haven't arranged an information night on it which I'm waiting for but getting scared I've missed somehow! Even more joy!
'Nuff about Uni. More about writing! I uh... started playing Neverwinter Nights again. 1 and 2. Which is bad of me, 'cos it's eating up the time I should be using to write. XD Also, I have two more reviews to Blackjack to give, and I have to reply to her reply of my first review to clarify some points, and then I have some other reviews I needa do... I should take myself off the SPPf Reviewers' list. I'm too lazy to be a responsible reviewer (which is why I'm now wondering if editing if the right job for me, because I'm horrible with self-directed time constraints). Too much to do that's been backed up for so long I'm wondering if it's worth doing. >.< Two of the reviews I have to do--one is for Act, requested late last November (no, I'm not kidding) which she only sent to me because I'd forgotten to specify that I won't review original works (and she pretty much let me off the hook in reviewing it--'only if you want to', sorta thing) but I said I would and I listed her down and so I feel obligated to do so. The other is for a person earlier this year (um... April, maybe?) who requested me without looking at my constraints, so their story doesn't fit my constraints but I said I'd try to take a look and listed them down. And now I, once again, feel obligated to do so. *sigh*
It probably doesn't help that I'm still using my dad's computer. My laptop died a couple of months ago and I've been slack about getting it repaired/getting a new one. And my brother's moving out tomorrow (since he and his fiancee found a house to rent and he's moving in there early) so he's taking the computer my sister's been using, which means three of us on one computer==not a good thing. Time share, ugh.
And... I'm done. XD Wahh, obviously not a journal for light entertainment, mine.
Although now I'm like... 'what to write about?' 'cos anything I would have written about is no longer important since it's gone and done. Eh, what the hell.
So a couple of weeks ago, I had these two assignments due--one was a kind of 'where are you at' thing for my editing class and the other was one of those pesky group presentations. And of course I procrastinated. So the day before the 'where are you at' thing was due (which was half done and had only an easy 500 words to write for), which also happened to be the day before I told my presentation partner I'd have my stuff done by (the presentation itself was due Friday), I find out I have an assignment due for the same class... also on Friday. And that I was supposed to have filled out a week's worth of some kind of table thingy, when I only had three days before it was supposed to be handed up.
In the end I put the third assignment out of my mind until Thursday evening (because I have full days on Wednesday and Thursday and didn't do jack on Wednesday night). Luckily it was 700 words, the course made a point of saying 'this is not an essay--do not write it as an essay', and was fairly easy to bullshit my way through. And then on the day I found out from my tutor that he didn't even want the chart thing after all--apparently it was meant to be a 'guideline' (but of course the course study guide made it sound like it was life and death to the passing of the assignment). Still haven't got it back tho, so I dunno how I did yet. XD
The week after that I had another presentation, this one for my Scriptwriting for Live Performance class, which didn't turn out as well as I thought it would while we were writing up the script (it was one part review and one part performance, and worth 35%, which is apparently 30% more than it was worth two years ago), mostly because there were some things I had intended to talk about which I forgot to put into the script. Stupid me.
It was during my meeting with my presentation partner that she told me we had the draft of our major assignment scripts due the very next week. I'd thought we still had something like a month, so I hadn't been thinking about it--at all. In class the next day I found out, worse, that it was due Monday, not Friday or in class as assignments usually are--and worse luck, I had quite a bit of work to do for the Piping Shrike (which was fairly usual by then).
Fortunately, we managed to convince our tutor to give us an extra two days--not much, but hey, it helped my stress levels. I was getting annoyed with being mugged by assignments by then--I'm so disorganised this semester. Kinda amusing now, though, now that I have a month of no assignments whatsoever. XD
So I got that in by doing my editing work earlier on in the weekend, which actually made me feel really good and accomplished, so I have to put more effort into getting things done earlier. Because I'm a silly procrastinator. XD I still didn't actually write the script until the day bfore it was due, though, 'cos procrastination doesn't go away overnight (more's the pity) and I was freaking out when I realised I wouldn't make the page limit (it was supposed to be 10-15 pages. I made it to 9; 10 if you include the character notes/synopsis). In the end I went 'screw it; it's a draft, he can tell me what to do to make it longer'. Later I found out I wasn't the only one who didn't make the limit, and my presentation partner had thought the revised due date was a week, not two days--so she hadn't done it at all by the time class came rolling 'round.
On the topic of scripts, this class is causing me no small about of angst, partly, I think, because I'm stubborn about the sanctity of my writing being challenged [/self-righteous]. Seriously, though, my stubbornness i probably the biggest cause of the problems. See my, tutor in Scriptwriting used to be a director, so he knows what he's doing; only he's pretty forceful about stuff, so when he tells you to do stuff it feels like 'do it or you're gonna fail 'cos it'll be bad', although I'm sure (now) he doesn't actually mean it like that. Anyway, my script was pretty much a drama/tragedy (and I no longer hate the beginning, by the way XD ) and it also happened to be the first one we workshopped in class--as in, we set up a rudimentary scene and two of the guys acted through the first page (with scripts in hand).
Now, those two guys are good friends and they have a great kind of comedic energy with each other, which is fine--unfortunately, because I didn't know what was gonna happen after the first scene, my tutor told them to improvise. And they turned it into a comedy. And it was hilarious, but then my tutor kept saying how it's a comedy (he also said I've set up a great situation, which is good considering he didn't seem to like the script previously) and well, I don't want it to be a comedy! It's meant to have a twisty POW! ending, and I felt that making it a comedy would remove any need for said ending (especially considering the ending was the whole reason I chose the plot to begin with). But since he's supposed to be an expert, who am I to argue? Although one of the other girls in the class mentioned, later, that she could see I was getting pissed, which was kind of embarrassing that I was so transparent... oh well.
Anyway, so he suggested maybe a black comedy, which I thought, okay, I could do that and still keep the POW! ending (even though I've never written black comedy before in my life). So I get back my first assignment (which is a first page, last page and synopsis of the script) and he's... not very helpful. He had suggestions, but no justification, and one of the suggestions was the put the POW! part of the ending earlier on, which I didn't want to do because, well, then it wouldn't be the ending! And I was just like, 'fuck that, I'm gonna write it the way I want to!'
Now you see why I was so worried about the draft's due date suddenly mugging me, because I hadn't thought about how much I'd change. XD But I get to the day when I have to write the draft, and I've calmed down somewhat, and I'm thinking... 'you know what? I think I can actually handle writing this earlier on'. I even thought of a finishing line that I really liked, which I thought kept the tension. So I wrote it, and even though it turned out too short I liked the ending and I liked the beginning (although the middle was iffy), and I made it funny (I hope) using jokes the two guys had improvised while performing it onstage (fantastic way to critique your own writing. Seriously. Seeing it up onstage is like... wow.)
And in the end, I don't think it turned out half bad, and I didn't rebel like I'd planned to. XD It's kind of embarrassing to realise I was so immature about it, but humbling at the same time. Kind of like getting a review for a fanfiction, only you know the tutor has the experience and the degree to back themselves up. XD
This whole semester has been humbling thus far, actually. In my editing class I discovered I don't know nearly as much about editing as I thought I did and was seriously insecure about my skills until I got my 'where are you at' assignment back, which included an excerpt of stuff we'd edited, and my tutor said I'd done some 'very good editing'. Even so, I keep second-guessing myself. And I keep feeling like, because I'm studying this stuff, I should know it--forgetting that since I'm only a student, I'm not supposed to know it, and that it is actually okay to ask questions and stuff up once in a while. I think it's partly because my tutor is someone who demands a high standard, but she's one of those people you really want to please/prove yourself to, so you're wary of acting like an idiot... but I tend to be like that anyway.
I think I've found a bit of a comfortable niche with that class, though--after our last class I feel less like I'm wading through mud and more like I actually know what I'm doing (and can do it!). Still got a lot of work to do for that project, though... we don't know what the book's gonna be called yet, let alone figured out the cover art/found a designer.
Anyway. Now it's getting near the end of the year, so now I have to focus on proving I'm eligible for graduation! Joy! And they're using terminology I only half understand and therefore don't know if they apply to me! More joy! And I want to do Honours next year, but I'm not sure what's involved and they haven't arranged an information night on it which I'm waiting for but getting scared I've missed somehow! Even more joy!
'Nuff about Uni. More about writing! I uh... started playing Neverwinter Nights again. 1 and 2. Which is bad of me, 'cos it's eating up the time I should be using to write. XD Also, I have two more reviews to Blackjack to give, and I have to reply to her reply of my first review to clarify some points, and then I have some other reviews I needa do... I should take myself off the SPPf Reviewers' list. I'm too lazy to be a responsible reviewer (which is why I'm now wondering if editing if the right job for me, because I'm horrible with self-directed time constraints). Too much to do that's been backed up for so long I'm wondering if it's worth doing. >.< Two of the reviews I have to do--one is for Act, requested late last November (no, I'm not kidding) which she only sent to me because I'd forgotten to specify that I won't review original works (and she pretty much let me off the hook in reviewing it--'only if you want to', sorta thing) but I said I would and I listed her down and so I feel obligated to do so. The other is for a person earlier this year (um... April, maybe?) who requested me without looking at my constraints, so their story doesn't fit my constraints but I said I'd try to take a look and listed them down. And now I, once again, feel obligated to do so. *sigh*
It probably doesn't help that I'm still using my dad's computer. My laptop died a couple of months ago and I've been slack about getting it repaired/getting a new one. And my brother's moving out tomorrow (since he and his fiancee found a house to rent and he's moving in there early) so he's taking the computer my sister's been using, which means three of us on one computer==not a good thing. Time share, ugh.
And... I'm done. XD Wahh, obviously not a journal for light entertainment, mine.