Monday, March 30, 2009

what a weird night

i couldn't sleep last night (until almost four), and i didn't remember until this morning that i could register for classes (seniors today, juniors tomorrow, etc.). Luckily none of my classes were full (like they'd fill up that fast), but it took me a little time to figure out which ones i needed to register (i had done that a month ago but apparently never saved the info to my flash drive, which is confusing, because i thought i had done it in the computer lab at school). So my class rundown for the upcoming fall is as follows:

ENGL 492 Seminar in Writing (work on my portfolio and focus on my specialty = fiction)
ENGL 421 Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism
ENGL 381 Creative Writing: Fiction
(as i'm sure i've written in the past, i need two of these focused writing classes, but only one is being offered next semester; i hope to take Character & Narrative or Poetry next spring. i could take Expository and Persuasive Writing next semester instead, but that is geared towards writing non-fiction)
ENGL 296 Topics:Sci-Fi Fantasy (pretty self explanatory, as this is the genre i plan to write novels in)
KINA 168 Hatha Yoga & Relaxation I (because i'm stressed, and it schedules in gym time for me for the first half of the semester, and i'm curious)

On Friday i heard James Van Pelt and Jonathan Safran Foer speak at the Mesa State Writers Conference. It's really for high schoolers that may be applying at MSC next fall, but i found Van Pelt to be particularly inspiring (i was there to hear Foer). He's a sci fi writer that teaches English at Fruita High. The short story (or exerpt) he read was interesting and spoke volumes about him being a public school teacher. But what impacted me the most is the fact that he said if one writes 200 words a day then one can write a normal length novel in about a year and a half. Two hundred words a day is nothing, it's like half a page. i need to set aside time to write every day.

Unfortunately i will be in class five days a week again next semester and i doubt that my job at Hobby Lobby will be conducive with that.

2 comments:

Jim Van Pelt said...

Hi, K.N.,

I'm glad you found something worthwhile in my presentation. It was fun to do, although a couple of people asked me afterwards why there wasn't a Q&A at the end (they weren't sure how long the awards would take).

Good luck with your writing endeavors.

K.N. Senko said...

Wow, i never expected Mr. Van Pelt to read my blog and leave a comment! i feel embarrassed because when i wrote my post i was exhausted and didn't write very articulately. i've been kind of lazy lately cuz i've been so tired. ): Just holding on, trying to get through the semester, and still trying to figure out when i'm going to make time to write.