Miss Raquel is writing "another" novel.

[clueliss]

Creative writing class at a JC is where I got started (and I owe a thanks to my mouthy sister suggesting it).  I'm still friends with the professor from that class too.  

[salex]

Snip  . . . .    She clearly wants a different sort of life, but she seems scared to take the first step, even a simple thing like enrolling in a writing class at a community college. I think she is scared that if she does something like that she might find out she isn't as good as she has always thought. She has always been proud of her superior education and writing/grammar skills, but if she goes to college she might find out that she really isn't superior. As long as she doesn't go she can tell herself that she would do great in college. . . . . .

Snipped

It seems that Raquel has to be the prettiest girl in the room, the most likable girl on the Mission trip, the smartest person in the room, the most interesting (blogs, writes, sings in bands) and the problem with that is it requires her to stay in relatively small rooms and limit the people she hangs out with.  

Graduating first in your class isn't all that hard when you are home schooled.  

[AmazonGrace]

What does this mean?

 

6)  You sometimes find it difficult to not point out how people can do and be better.
We see potential everywhere.  This can be a strength and a weakness because, for example, we are more often than not very optimistic creatures...but we also give way too many chances.  There needs to be a healthy balance of encouragement but no, you can't walk all over me when I do encourage you.

You can't walk all over me when I encourage you? 

Is she saying that when she's pointing out all the faults in her friends and telling them how she thinks they should live, she will get offended if they talk back?

[ladyamylynn]

Pretty sure she should change the protagonist's name from Fathom to Mary Sue...

[Paperplate]

[...] I think that might be a tad optimistic... Good luck writing a novel spending 30 minutes per day in 30 days. 1667 words per half an hour, makes 56 words per minute, about one word per second.

My typing speed (I just tested) is 62 -70 words per minute and the site said 84-90 % of people are equal or slower than me. But that's just for repeating the words I see on the screen and no time at all spent thinking about what Xaquerie should say next and what's the next plot twist and what Fathom is wearing and whether this chapter is a good place for their first near-kiss or should they wait a while yet, how you spell the word loquacious and how many commas there should be in this sentence. 

That's what I thought too. It seems way too much to write in such a short time.

Also, why does Raquel only spend 30 mins a day on this? She works at a coffee shop, ok ... but she should have more than 30 mins a day to spare.

[Trynn]

Maybe she overestimates how many words she can write in that time..:.

[formergothardite]

It does seem odd that she is devoting such a small portion of her day to writing. I really doubt she is working 40+ hours a week at the coffee shop. I'm not a writer, but it just seems like if you want to write that many words each day you would give yourself more time, especially if you have as much spare time as she seems to have. 

Does anyone know how many novels Raquel has written? I remember her finishing a couple of novels, but nothing seems to come of them. And she has talked about starting a whole bunch of books, but then you never hear about them. 

[xRoo]

Someone should play Raquel-fangirl again and convince her to self-publish as ebooks so we can read them.

[xRoo]

Apparently she's written over 5000 words so far!

[nausicaa]

Oh but then the book is quite lifelike, isn't it? Raquel can't think of what to write so she gets somebody else's story idea about a girl who is just like Raquel, can't think of what to write and gets given somebody else's story.

 

 I think that might be a tad optimistic... Good luck writing a novel spending 30 minutes per day in 30 days. 1667 words per half an hour, makes 56 words per minute, about one word per second.

My typing speed (I just tested) is 62 -70 words per minute and the site said 84-90 % of people are equal or slower than me. But that's just for repeating the words I see on the screen and no time at all spent thinking about what Xaquerie should say next and what's the next plot twist and what Fathom is wearing and whether this chapter is a good place for their first near-kiss or should they wait a while yet, how you spell the word loquacious and how many commas there should be in this sentence. 

And that's why I don't like NaNoWriMo, especially the way people like Raquel approach it. Writing a book isn't just about typing 50,000 words (Which, by the way, is generally about 10,000 words too short for the minimum of what most publishing houses are looking for. But I digress). Most writers edit their works multiple times. It's the editing that takes more time than the writing. Character development, coherency of voice, tightness of plot, ensuring each scene is accomplishing more than one thing. That stuff is hard and doesn't happen on your first furious draft of a book. And typically you want a couple beta readers to read through as well and offer feedback, particularly if you are a young writer. 

But who am I kidding, Raquel doesn't need editing or feedback. Everything's perfect the first time through and any mistakes are just little idiosyncrasies that God planted there on purpose. 

[clueliss]

Apparently she's written over 5000 words so far!

Last night I was over 8,000 (work full time, 30 minute one way commute and I spend more than 30 minutes per day writing )

[formergothardite]

OMG guys! Miss Raquel is totally like Taylor Swift except Raquel keeps herself pure while Taylor has a bad dating style. So basically she is the godly Taylor Swift. Or something like that. 

I write because my heart won't beat for me unless I write the letters it taps to me in Morse code.

She has used this phrase in several places so I'm pretty sure it took her a long time to come up with it and she plans to get a lot of use out of it. 

Raquel has realized that people have different experiences but everyone has feelings. Deep thoughts with Raquel. I really, really hope she self-publishes her book because I will absolutely read it.  

She also never bites her tongue or holds back when it comes to expressing her thoughts. I suspect though, that she expects people around her to hold back their thoughts if they don't agree with her. 

[AmazonGrace]

I realized how I used to often criticize her inspiration for her songs and how immature it seemed to me that she dated guys, broke up with them, and then wrote about her ex and their past relationship.  Now, granted, I don't agree with her lifestyle, her dating pattern or the guys she chooses to 'make mistakes' with, but I have a whole new view on her inspiration.

Eh, didn't she just write at length about what was wrong with her past relationships with her exes? 

[ari_belle]

While she's admitting she was wrong (in the blog post re: Taylor Swift), she's also admitting that she can't see past her own experiences...her empathy and sympathy are limited. Not that this surprises anyone, considering her views on gay rights and being a "confederate." lulz.

[formergothardite]

While she's admitting she was wrong (in the blog post re: Taylor Swift), she's also admitting that she can't see past her own experiences...her empathy and sympathy are limited. Not that this surprises anyone, considering her views on gay rights and being a "confederate." lulz.

The thing about Raquel is that she doesn't seem to understand basic things like if she doesn't like people acting certain ways towards her, they probably won't like it if she acts that way towards them. This is something most people learn at a pretty young age, but Raquel has never appeared to pick up. In her epic lists of requirements and other blog posts she shows that she won't tolerate certain behaviors in others but expects them to not only tolerate that same behavior in herself but it view it as adorable. 

[clueliss]

Okay, I'm nano-stalking her now.
http://nanowrimo.org/participants/literaryraindrop

you can see the word count progress under 'stats.'  She just joined at the beginning of the month (meaning the site - this is her first time doing this or she signed up for a new account - I use the same account because I have a whole lifetime word count thing and it shows when I joined - i'm clueliss there just like here if you want to stalk me).  She hasn't uploaded any sample material.   (or it would show).  

[wildcatgrrl]

"LiteraryRaindrop"? Oh, my. 

[clueliss]

and writing so her heart keeps beating.

personally (to sound totally psycho) I write to keep the repertory company inside my head at bay.  (they don't shut up, yes it sounds a wee bit schitzo, difference is I know they're not real - well most of the time)

[ari_belle]

"LiteraryRaindrop"? Oh, my. 

A step away from LiterarySnowflake.

[xRoo]

Maybe when her Sabbatical is up she will share more... Fingers crossed. I'm also seconding the "My novel is perfect how it is," idea. I bet Raquel won't edit anything.

[AlwaysExcited]

Oscar Wilde is one of her favorite authors? What?

[xRoo]

Oscar Wilde is one of her favorite authors? What?

Yes... I can't remember if it's The Picture of Dorian Gray or The Importance of Being Earnest that she liked... People have chided her on her Ask.fm about it, asking if she realized anything about his personal life and she was super weird about it. It was entertaining.

[Paperplate]

How does the word count for NaNoWriMo get tracked? Do the authors just submit their daily word count manually?

I'm asking this because I wonder whether you can just make up some number.

[ari_belle]

How does the word count for NaNoWriMo get tracked? Do the authors just submit their daily word count manually?

I'm asking this because I wonder whether you can just make up some number.

Yeah, one could easily pull a Shining. "All work and no play makes Raquel a dull girl."

Actually, all play and no work makes Raquel a dull girl...

[Shoobydoo]

Eh, I've never seen someone on Nano tell people not to revise their novels. In fact, most people would explicitly state that nobody, even pros, is going to write an excellent manuscript in one month. There's entire sections of the forum dedicated to the revision process and hooking writers up with beta readers. Granted, I don't use these parts of the forum much so I don't know how helpful they actually are.

Raquel, on the other hand, is surely so talented her first drafts will shine!

 

Off topic, but speaking of terrible writing practices, I was once hate reading Stephanie Meyer's advice for writers, and she said when you finish your rough draft you should get someone to read it if you're brave before sending it off to the publisher...