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[Ashes]

Two creative writing threads:

Where Gaf's writers can be found on a weekly basis:
<<<<Creative writing thread challenge>>>>


The official thread for writing workshop /publishing related queries etc.:

<<<<<Neogaf writing workshop.>>>>>

Post in the above thread, is my advice... Hope that helps.

You could also ask in the monthly reading threads.

 

[-Babyteks-]

Thanks a lot
Will do.

 

[ReiGun]

Haven't updated in a few week. Likely, I've got some good stuff to report.

Username: ReiGun
Types of Goals: Fitness, Games, Drawing, Movies, Reading, Writing
Specific Goals: Lose at least 15 pounds. Finish at least three of the games in my backlog. Draw one picture a day. Go out and see at least one movie a week (alone is fine, but with a group is preferable). Get through my netflix instant queue. Read at least two books. Write a short story
Updates: Weekly
Daily Goals: A picture a day. Netflix movie a day. Go to the gym at least twice a week.
Written Out: Yes
Deadline: August 29 (when fall semester starts.)

Fitness: Been working out consistently for the last few weeks. Not sure how much I lost. The scale says something different every time I weigh myself. I'm gonna assume this is because I've gained muscle or something. I can tell you that I've been in a much better mood lately.
Games: Been playing Marvel, but I kinda can't now that I had to return it to gamefly lol. I'm gonna get back to Persona and Fire Emblem. Also, gonna get in some more Arcana Heart time.
Drawing: I must admit I'm falling into the same trap I always fall into with drawing in that I over think it and get in the habit of being lazy and doubting my talents. So lately, I've just been putting pencil to paper and drawing something. Anything.
Movies: Finally watched "A Clockwork Orange" and "Boondocks Saints" after putting them off forever. Gonna watch "The Hurt Locker" tonight. Also been watching "Lost" (missed the train long ago lol).
Reading and Writing: Been reading "Smartbomb" and various comics. I've maintained my journal and even did some free writing here and there.

Heading into August. Time to step it up!

 

[Buckethead]

So this week my body decided to be cunty.

Only lost a pound.

I have a hard time being patient with all this stuff

Spoiler

mostly because I'm insecure and lack positive reinforcement

.

 

[thcsquad]

Music: My first theatre gig went great, doing another one soon. These are kind of putting composition on the sideline but oh well. This upcoming theatre gig will be my last for this year (I have to take off work for them, and I have finite vacation days, so I can't just take all that are offered to me), so after that I will make sure any time I devote to music be spent composing/recording. Also the second gig is financing my USB interface, so I can't even record until I'm done with this one

My game: I've worked a decent bit at it, adding stuff in and fixing bugs, and ran into a hurdle yesterday. It's actually the first time this has happened. I attended the Boston Indies meeting last week, and next month's is a demo night. I don't think I'll be able to have anything ready for it, but October's demo night (they are every other month) is my goal. It kind of goes past my late September deadline, but there's no September demo night and if anybody likes what I show in October then I'll be hella proud. Since I'm not in school, though, the end of summer deadline is purely arbitrary.

Dudebro: Can't talk about any specifics, but I've been working at a slow but steady pace (generally a few hours each weekend, but it's a productive few hours). In fact, that's what I'm doing right now.

Fitness: Nothing, sadly. I'm going to just sign up for a 5k around late September. Deadlines like that tend to give me motivation.

School/Admissions: I started a little side research project to help me with graduate admissions. This is kind of bubbling up to the top of my priorities list, because deadlines are in a few months and it's actually rather ambitious. I had a gift card to Borders, and used it on a Natural Language Processing with Python book. This is exactly what my research project is about, so...perfect. I'm going to start reading it a bit more on the subway. I'd say this new goal is displacing my livecoding goal, just due to free time. It actually has a real effect on my life, whereas livecoding would have just been a hobby (that I may pick up at a later date).

I really do need to start asking for letters of recommendation, though. I want to give them time.

 

[Buckethead]

Master Milk banned? =(

Update:
In a "fuck everything" mode to be completely honest.
I'm close to my goal but life has just been kicking me in the balls as of late.

 

[upandaway]

Oh yeah, this thread.

Lots of stuff happening and I couldn't get anything done. But really I did so much in that one week a while back that I guess I can ignore it for a little while.

 

[Ashes]

Section on pop culture classics completed.

 

[Jhoan]

I haven't updated in here in a while, but I'll try to keep it brief.

I've made significant progress in the online dating goal. I'm gonna meet up with a chick on Friday (hopefully). I'm supposed to hang out with another chick some time towards the end of this month to the beginning of September which is well past the deadline but at least I have a date. Lastly, I have another chick's number that I've been talking about in the Dating-Age thread. I have yet to man up and call her unfortunately but I intend on calling her before the weekend so I could set up a date.

I am now officially a Studio Art major and I've registered for classes, so I've more or less achieved one summer goal. I'm going to double major in Media Studies once I've taken the required class.

I didn't get an internship, but I am volunteering at this place called the All Stars Project, so I suppose that's another goal that I've scratched off.

I have been drawing regularly thanks to the 45 day challenge thread.

I still haven't cut my gaming session times and I haven't done something interesting in about 3 weeks. I did however cook today. But I haven't been cooking frequently and I kind of suck at cooking meat and eggs. My rice is pretty decent and potatoes are easy peasy.

That's pretty much all I've been up to. At this point, I'm ruling out paying for and taking driving lessons due to money, so I'm not going to be able to do that goal. However I've made some progress in sone of my goals and got 2/6 goals down.

 

[Ashes]

Just read:

"The Diamond As Big as the Ritz" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. And had to write in and tell people, how good I thought it was. Fitzgerald writes so damn clearly! Even though this was amongst the longest, it took only an hour to read. (Considering that it was only 14,800 words, yes this does conform that I'm a slow reader)

edit: Thus I'm on story 35 of the fifty short stories list, seeing as how I missed the short story collections part, with the exception of I. Robot.

35 down / 15 to go.

 

[Jhoan]

Username: Jipan
Types of Goals: dating, self-improvement, social, driving, cooking/eating, internship, major declaration(s) + register for the classes associated with the major(s)
Specific Goals:
1.Go out with at least 1 woman from a dating website such as OKC and POF. After that, I could go for more if I'm feeling good about it and kick it up to 2 (I've never had a girlfriend, never kissed a woman, and I'm a virgin but handing in my v-card is not a priority).
2. Go to at least 3 social events every week. More specifically, if my brothers go out and ask if I want to come along, then do it or if I feel the urge to go outside stop whatever it is that I am doing and do it. Also, talk to people on my friends list on FB via chat even if I have no reason to talk to them and via XBL to a lesser extent. This would also factor into becoming more outgoing.
3. Pay for and take driving lessons so that I could get my license (which isn't mandatory in NYC, but I want to have it just in case).I already have a driving school in mind. The only question is whether I should pay for the 4 driving lessons package ($200) or for the 8 driving lessons package ($300).
4. Apply for internships (which I've already done). It gives me something to do over the summer besides playing games all day and going to the gym in the night.
5. Cook myself 1 meal every weekend so I won't have to order anything, and at least 2meals every day after July 11 because that's when my mother and oldest brother leave on vacation. My older brother will be around, but since he has a girlfriend who is pregnant, works, and spends most of his time at his g.f.'s house, I'm going to have to depend on myself after having my mother cook all the time.
6. Spend less time playing video games which can be over 8 hours straight sessions and more time doing productive things like drawing, and being outside.
7. Declare a major and register for classes. I've been working on that and came to the conclusion that I want to do a double major in Art Studio (because I love to draw) and Latin American Studies so that I could travel to another country that's not my ethnic country and I do speak Spanish fluently so that's a plus.
Updates: Daily/weekly updates depending on the mood and my progress.
Daily Goals? Yes. I know I didn't mention it, but I'm going to the gym at least 3 times a week (4 to get everything in). I've applied for internships and will continue to do so. Send at least 3 messages, 5 messages max to a chick that looks interesting on OKC or POF or any other dating website. Since I have to go outside to go the gym, I'm doing that and I also have to go outside every Friday to see a therapist. Plus I have jury duty near the end of this month and I plan on going out somewhere on my birthday. I've also remained
Written Out: Yes and in meticulous detail no doubt as you can see. I'm a bit scared that I won't get all of them done as they sound a bit too ambitious, but screw it.
Deadline: Well, there's always internships availble over the summer one so that doesn't really have a deadline. In general howevever I'll say a little bit after the fall semester begins so August 28, 2011 (Su). I also a smaller goal which is to read No-No Boy by John Okada.

Well, it's been over 3 days since my deadline passed. The ones that I struck out, are the ones that I more or less did. I did meet up with one chick from OKC; I didn't go out to 3 social events a week all that much, but I went one about 1-2 events a week so that's good enough for me.

I did cook for myself after my mother left on vacation, just not every day but I did cook. I can now say with confidence that I know how to cook meat and make a pot of rice. I did declare my major; I am now a Studio Art major and next semester, a Media Studies double major. I did draw from time to time.

I didn't get an internship, but I found a place to volunteer at so I did that instead.

I did contact some people on FB and on XBL, so that was good plus on OKC.

Unfortunately, so old habits still remain such as my gaming marathons. I plan on paying for driving lessons in a few months. Overall, though I accomplished most of my goals so I'll give myself a pat on the back. It was good. I'll probably do a fall goals post for myself as well.

 

[Ashes]

Okay so here was my goal back at the start of summer:

__________________________________________________________

Ashes1396
Types of Goals: literary.
Specific Goals: I will read every story in this list:
The 50 Best Short Stories of All Time
Updates: Yes. Perhaps not after every story. Who's with me gaf?
Daily Goals: I don't know yet.
Written Out: Yeah, I guess so.
Deadline: August 31st 2011 September 5th 2011.

__________________________________________________________

I kept up quite well at first; the point was to not just read the stories but read in depth e.g 1, 2.. And I have littered this thread, with brief notes etc. I don't know if it will be helpful; but I hope it helps some people.

I stumbled on the short story collection section. Because it required me to:
a, find in some cases, out of print works,
b, read an additional 30+ stories, which in reality, meant
c, read a novel a week. over nine weeks.

Which in hindsight was not achievable over the summer break.

__________________________________________________________

Below is a run down of said list, and which books I read:

The 50 Best Short Stories of All Time
       

Sad and Shocking Tales

These short stories prove that it doesn’t take a whole novel to leave you stunned and still thinking about a narrative weeks after reading.

1. "Signs and Symbols" by Vladimir Nabokov:

2. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Flannery O’Connor: 

3. "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Ernest Hemingway: 

4. "The Fly" by Katherine Mansfield: 

5. "In the Penal Colony" by Franz Kafka: 

6. "A Hunger Artist" by Franz Kafka: 

7. "The Lame Shall Enter First" by Flannery O’Connor:

8. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson:

9. "The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams: 

10. "The Rockinghorse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence: 

11. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: 

12. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? 

Summary post. #312


Collections

If you’re looking for more than just one great short story, check out these must-reads.

13. I, Robot by Issac Asimov: 

This is a full blown novel, and I struggled with this. It's a great book, but reading through my posts, I realised that I was taking way too much time, and life outside of neogaf went into busyness overdrive! So I had to skip this section, or risk reading the next novel and lay the entire list to waste.

14. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout:

15. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien: 

16. Dubliners by James Joyce: 

17. Nine Stories by JD Salinger: 

18. Steps by Jerzy Kosinski: 

19. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri: 

20. Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? by Raymond Carver: 

Pop Culture Classics

You’ve more than likely heard of these famous short tales– even if you’ve never read them.

21. "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain:

22. "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi " by Rudyard Kipling:

23. "The Body" by Stephen King: 

24. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving: 

25. "The Telltale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe: 

26. "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury: 

27. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber: 

28. "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell:

Well-Known Authors

These classic authors may have gotten famous for their longer works, but their short stories can often be just as compelling.

29. "Three Questions" by Leo Tolstoy: 

30. "The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez:

31. "Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe: 

32. "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.:

33. "The Nose" by Nikolai Gogol:

34. "The Diamond As Big as the Ritz" by F. Scott Fitzgerald:

35. "The Looking Glass" by Anton Chekhov: 

36. "The South" by Jorge Luis Borges: 

37. "The Swimmer" by John Cheever:

38. "To Build a Fire" by Jack London: 

39. "The Nightingale and the Rose" by Oscar Wilde: 

Modern Writers

Great short stories are still being written today. Here are a few from the past 20 years that may are well worth a read.

40. "Meneseteung" by Alice Munro: I couldn't find this story, so I just skipped it. And same with some of the others in this section.

41. "The Happy Man" by Jonathan Lethem: 

42. "The Second Bakery Attack" by Haruki Murakami: 

43. "Brokeback Mountain" by Annie Proulx: 

44. "The Story" by Amy Bloom: 

Twist Endings

Short stories are often the perfect format for setting up shocking twist endings. Here are some of the best twisty short stories ever written.

45. "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant: 

46. "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Beirce: 

47. "The Monkey’s Paw" by W. W. Jacobs: 

48. "Pastoralia" by George Saunders:  

50. "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry: 

________________________________________________

Legend:

Read:

Decided to skip:

Had to skip due to non-availability etc:

__________________________________________________

So how did I do?

37/50*100= 74

Total individual stories I read:

45 stories.

___________________________________________________

For the academic level this was set, this would give me:

A- First class first.

___________________________________________________

Last word

I barely scraped an A, and that was only high enough, because I graded my self (more than anything else anyway). And I missed the deadline by 5 days. So I'm a little gutted. C'est la vie.

I will most likely read the story collection section, but you know... Shoulda woulda coulda. But I'm glad to put this behind me now. I don't think I mastered anything, but I really did learn a lot. Like a mountain weight of stuff.

So for that I'm indebted to this thread and the website mentioned above. Free education for the win and all that.

Short stories really do not go up in popularity; some of these stories were time consuming to find; and others were out of stock/print and would have taken weeks to deliver, making it pointless for my time table.

Cool thread Master Milk. Recommend the thread to other people. I followed other people's progress, and some of the stuff was pretty cool to read. Good luck everyone who is still doing this.