Shooting An Elephant by George Orwell

I haven't blogged in a while (probably because I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be blogging about), but after reading and re-reading "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell, I decided that this is the perfect thing to blog about.  George Orwell is by far one of my most favorite authors.  He writes so old fashion yet calm and introspective and subtly casual.

Well anyway "Shooting an Elephant" was one of the best essays ever.  The essay was mainly about imperialism, but that's not the main reason why I like it.  For those who don't know, the essay is an account of George Orwell shooting an elephant in a small place in Burma.  He was a soldier their and was ordered to stop a supposedly threatening elephant.  He describes the death of the elephant as a slow painful process, and he does this so beautifully that I almost feel like I was there, as if I had seen the elephant collapse on its knees and fall on its side.

I read "Shooting an Elephant" while trying to complete some edits on my still-in-the-process-but-will-hopefully-be-done-soon novel, The Commune.  The high point of my novel is when the two main characters go on a journey into the the "wild".  This was by far my least favorite part of writing the book.  Yeah, I know its the point of action, and turning points, and climax, and should ultimately be my favorite part to write.  But it really wasn't.  It's one of the most important parts of the book so it was extremely difficult for me to nail it (I recently sent the edited version to my agent, so I still don't really know if I've nailed it yet, but gosh, I really don't want to write it again, so I hope I did.)

Anyway reading "Shooting an Elephant" really helped me with that part.  Because after reading and re-reading it, that little light bulb turned on.  For those who haven't read it, I really encourage you to.

Good News!

So my life is going simultaneously good and bad. I'll start with the bad. School. I low-key hate college. In high school it wasn't that hard to get all A's, but in college I actually have to work for it. That's annoying. So bottom line being a full-time student while also writing a novel is challenging. It's not impossible, just difficult. Hopefully next semester I can make my schedule more manageable.

Now on to the good news! My book is going really well!! My agent sent me edits along with tips for a new ending. So I spent about two weeks working on a new ending which she just told me yesterday that she loved. That was exciting. And on top of that she sent me a review that someone wrote about my book. It was probably the best thing i've ever read. I read it over and over and over and over. It started like this "I just finished reading The Commune and I am in awe. It was amazing..." And it only got better after that.

So yeah, I guess I can say I'm pretty content with how things are going right now. Just need to make it through school -_-

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

                                      If you haven't read this book, you need to!

I just want to write

I came home for the weekend, so I'm finally away from the busy D.C college life.  I go to Howard University, which I love, but I've started feeling a sort of resentment towards business school.  I never thought I would feel this way.  Ever since I was in the 8th grade, I knew that business was what I wanted to do.  And ever since freshman year in high school, accounting was on my list of top majors.  But now the passion that willed me through high school is gone.  Well, the passion is still there but the focus of that passion has now changed.

I don't care about the business world anymore.  I just want to write.  I love to write, crave it even.  But I barely have time to read or write because I'm so busy with the School of Business (SOB).  Now, Howard has one of the best business schools in the country for African-Americans, and students on campus refer to it as a cult due to the vigorous expectations of the business students.  SOB pretty much throws opportunity at you.  But I just can't shake the feeling that this is not where I belong.  I know I can't change my major.  I've always hated college students who waste time switching their major like two or three times.  And plus, if I told my mom I wanted to switch from Accounting to Creative Writing, she would probably slit my throat.  And to top it all off, Howard doesn't even offer creative writing, so I can't even minor in it.

Well anyway I just have to get through these 5 years (I'm doing the five year accounting program).  On the other hand, I guess I kind of have the best of both worlds.  I'm in the process of getting my first book published, and I'm in the process of getting a degree.  If my book doesn't become as successful as I've been anticipating, I can still use Accounting to fall back on.  However, if my book does become successful, I won't be stuck as an "accounting major from northern Virginia."

Excited, Nervous, Anxious, Anticipation

This is how I feel when I think about my book. I sent the manuscript to my agent and she finally got back to me yesterday. She gave me a brief update but she's not yet done with it, so I have to wait even longer for an in-depth critique.  I'm super nervous.  Throughout my entire time writing the novel, I haven't had that mind blowing critique that I've been so desperately craving!  So I'm sure my agents will tear apart my book inside and out...which is a good thing right?

Well anyway I'm super nervous, and anxious, and excited, and every other emotion that expresses overwhelming anticipation.  Until next time:)

Will readers get tired of Dystopian Science Fiction?

I've been stressing out about the science fiction genre for some time now, so I've decided to blog about it.  For those who don't know, I recently finished my first book, The Commune.  Here's a brief synopsis.

Levi of residence 439 lives in a community of comfortably ignorant residents.  After being selectively chosen to study for the Department of Human Intelligence, Levi begins to wonder about her peaceful existence in a community masked with deception. As she learns about the secrets and lies that strengthen the Commune, her yearning for truth becomes inevitable.  Her best friend Ty, who lives an impoverished life in the debtor residences, begins to fill Levi’s head with ideas of civilizations outside of the Commune. Ultimately, she must make the life-changing decision to either accept the Commune’s ways or search for the truth by embarking on a journey to free her fellow residents from a life of conformity.  What Levi finds shakes not only her world of blissful ignorance, but the lives of those around her. 

My novel is dystopian science fiction.  I have been a dystopian lover ever since I was 13 years old.  With books like Lois Lowry's The Giver, and Scott Westerfeld's Uglies, it's hard not to fall in love with such a striking genre.  Before Hunger Games, many people had never heard of dystopian fiction, but now that Suzanne Collins has brought this genre to the limelight with a young adult franchise, authors, publishers, and entertainment studios everywhere are all on the search for the next big thing.

This should be a good thing right?  I should be happy that everyone in the publishing industry is looking for the next young adult franchise, because it will naturally pave the way for The Commune to get noticed.  But unfortunately, I'm not.  

So why am I not happy about this rush of attention to the dystopian world?  Well it's simple, people are going to abuse and overuse the genre, and my fear is that readers will get tired of it.  And with the growing attention to the world of dystopian literature, it will be even harder for The Commune to make a name for itself.  You will have to be REALLY good to stand out among the sea of science fiction novels that are all determined to be the next big thing.  People are going to milk dystopian fiction dry.  So the main questions is, will readers eventually get sick of dystopian?  It's times like this that I wish people actually read my blog so that I could get some form of feedback.

Hmm...

I haven't blogged in a while. My goal of blogging once or twice a week pretty much went down the drain. And although no one probably reads my insignificant blog anyway, I still feel obligated to apologize for my constant neglect.

I'm officially an accounting major at Howard University.  The school of business is way more intense than I thought it would be, so I haven't had much time for writing.  I haven't had much time for anything actually.  Thankfully, I was able to finish The Commune before classes started.  But unfortunately, I sent the completed manuscript to my agent over four weeks ago, and I haven't heard back from her yet.  Of course there's probably nothing for me to worry about, but I guess I was hoping that after about two weeks she would send me that stunning email, praising the manuscript and stating that she got through it so fast because she just couldn't put it down.  But of course that hasn't happened.

So I've been checking my email every day (more like every hour) ever since.  I just can't wait to get feedback on it.  I hope other people think it's as good as I think it is.  And with all the awful science fiction novels being praised now-a-days, I'm sure The Commune has a chance in the dystopian world.