80 Post Challenge – Post 28

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Ileandra Young

Share a dirty little secret about yourself (or someone else).

Well let’s see…

Okay, I’m feeling brave, I’ll share one about me. Though I must admit, some people will already know this. Not many though. o.O

Right… deep breath… I read/write Yaoi!
*hides*

Oh. Right, you don’t know what that is? Well I feel better now, though I suppose I’ll have to explain what it is, or else its not much of a secret shared is it? Lol, right. Well if you visit here, you’ll get the full break down of what the denizens of Wikipedia reckon its all about. Once you’ve read that, keep going through this post…

…because I’ll tell you what… for me, Yaoi is a way for me to put my favourite anime characters together and have them do filthy-dirty things to each other (though that is subjective. One man’s porn is another man’s erotica, right?)

BL Icon CharAnyway, there is poorly written Yaoi, there is very well written Yaoi (which really is just erotica) and then there is all the drivel in between. There is lots (and lots) of that middle category I’m afraid, but I have been lucky enough to find some very good Yaoi (and Yuri for that matter, though I don’t like it as much) which features some of my favourite characters.

For a long time I’ve been trying to explain what it is that draws me to this style of writing/story telling. Considering how much grief it once caused in my life, I’ve still not come up with an answer that satisfies me. Pity, because I’d love to be able to lay it down in words just why I love it so much. Is it the characters? Yes and no; some pairings just don’t work while others are so perfect that you really do wonder why the anime/manga wasn’t written that way in the first place. Is it the writing? Lord no! Most of it is awful and I stick with it just because I’m curious about what the characters are getting up to. Is it the sex? Yes… probably… but that can’t be the only reason. I’m not that shallow… am I? o.O

Its been a long while since I wrote (or read, for that matter) anything even remotely like Yaoi. There was a very dear friend of mine who expressed a love for the genre a while back and I wrote her a 50k piece for her birthday that year. I had it professionally bound in a hardback cover and included some hand drawn sketches of the featured characters in various guises. I really enjoyed doing that and almost did it again the next year, but I got distracted by other projects.

Maybe its time to start doing that again. Writing Yaoi I mean.
After all, my tag line does say; ‘gleefully penning SMUT, vamp-fiction, fantasy and comedy since 1997.’ I must admit, I’ve not done very much smut for a while. Erotica and smut are NOT the same after all… don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.

 

 

 

 

My 80 Post Challenge is brought to you with help from Tom Slatin’s 80 Journal Writing Prompts.

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Thank You Subscribers! ^_^

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Ileandra Young

I got a bit of a shock this morning when I logged in to the sites maintenance panel. A pleasant shock mind you; don’t worry, lol.

I noticed that my subscriber’s list had done a jump from three to seven. Oooh, I thought. Hey, that’s nice.

I got that warm little glow of realising that people are interested enough in what I have to say that they decided to subscribe, so I thought I’d say ‘thank you.’

So to my subscribers, in order of appearance, my thanks for sticking around!

Jaxtasha
Good friend of mine, gaming buddy, teacher and all round lovely person. ^_^

drenchedindepression
The thoughts and observations of Becky covering depression with the occasional giggle-fest over song lyrics and film (Shrek Four… still not seen it yet, but I really want to now!).

Quanni E.
Archives run back to March 2010 and latest post features a lovely poem named Modern Frankenstein

Socially Accepted Madness
Freelance writer with a really cute cat. Mmm Oreos!

suehealy
Journalist and Creative Writing tutor at OU (how awesome!)

Kimberly Esther
Talented writer, amusing blogger.

And I hope there is more of you to come! 😀

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Falling Off The Wagon

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Ileandra Young

I gave up. I didn’t mean to, but it struck me last week that that is the truth. Those of you who follow my Twitter will know that I was talking about falling off the wagon. Well… this is what I mean. I fell off the wagon of writing my 750 words each day and I fell off the wagon of submitting my humble book to agents. One of those is acceptable, one of those is not. And I’ll bet you’ll be surprised at which way around those are.

Last year, when I started this blog, I was still visiting the Leicester Writers Club. I came back after one night with them and wrote an entry about the agent who was there and how much his appearance frightened me. I won’t recap the whole post, because you can read it here, but it boiled down to the fact that I didn’t have a pitch, I didn’t have a blurb and I didn’t have a product that was ready for him to see. A year down the line, the novel had has a LOT of work, but it just needs final tweaks. And it was Wednesday when I was finalising the next of my letters that I realised I still wasn’t happy. And that’s just not right.

I can’t possibly send this work to agents and expect them to take me seriously if I’m having doubts about something as basic as a piece of the plot. Or if I’m questioning my fact finding for the historical references. I wouldn’t take anybody seriously in that position, so why should they? The writing could be incredible, but if the subject matter is drivel, its a waste of their time.

That’s too strong. The story isn’t drivel, but do you see where I’m coming from? And its all because I let myself get too close and stay too close to the writing. I didn’t give myself a long enough break. I need to leave it, forget about and put my editing/proofing head on with utterly clear, clean fresh eyes and give it one last look. Then I need to give it to other people.

I did some beta reading for a chap on Twitter a while ago. It was a 25k piece and he needed the feedback to finish it off. Like me. But I’ve never given anybody the whole of this piece to read. Lots of people have read the sections I’m troubled about and lots of people have given me the feedback to make them better. Which is perfect. But what about the rest? What if there is something there that I haven’t picked up that someone who doesn’t know the story will? Could happen.

So I need to stop sending samples to agents. That is acceptable. I need to put out a call for beta readers (interested?) willing to read a 100k vamp-fic which DOES NOT fall under the banner of any sort of ‘paranormal romance’ that is filling the shops right now. Its vamp-fic, its dark urban fantasy, its about vampires being mean and humans getting caught up in the currents. Booo-yaaaaar! Lol.

Anyway, letting that wagon get away is acceptable. For now. When I chase it down to get back on I’ll have running shoes and a straight road. So that will be easy.

The other wagon, the 750 words wagon is not. I was working so hard on my streak. I was itching to get to 50 days and feeling terribly proud at how well I’d done. And suddenly, just for no reason at all, I missed a day. I remembered at 00:09 because I was still up and mooching and went stomping about the kitchen in a mood. I couldn’t believe that I’d skipped it. But after that, I didn’t do any more. I just didn’t go back to the page.

That is not acceptable. Besides, it shouldn’t be about the streak. While the stats are nice and while it is wonderful to see all the weird meta data that comes up from my words, I shouldn’t give up just because it will take me ages to get back to where I was. Nuh uh! The 750 exercise should be about writing, about remembering how much I love the act of setting my fingers to keys. Its just an exercise to make sure that I do write every day. Who cares about the stats?!

So… I’m back. You might have noticed Twitter updates about it again and they should be here to stay. There will be a gap when I’m on my LARP of course (not much I can do about that) but I will keep going again afterwards. Hell, its good practise, if anything, for this year’s NaNo since writing this many words a day is only just shy of what I’d need to make the 50k words in November.

I wanted a theme though, since writing blindly isn’t always the best way for me to achieve the goal of 750. So… what I’m going do to do is use each day to write a short. I’m not going to push myself to make them massively original or unique to begin with; I want to get my eye in. But I’m going to use it as an exercise to practise writing flash fiction and then take them the best ones to Phoenix Writers for feedback. I want to use this gap from novels to build up a library of shorter stuff so I can start entering competitions and populating this site with more of my work.

Heh, a new challenge. Yey! I like those. 🙂

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Staying In The Zone: Six Tips (Illy-Style!)

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Ileandra Young

So… how do you stay in the zone?
Not a damn clue. I really have no idea, but the onset of the monthly curse known as ‘Dragon Week’ has me at the point I really need to know. I’m struck by a near overwhelming urge to bite people – not in the good way – and I doubt it will do my writing any favours.
When this happens, there are a couple of things I try to do. Why not see if they works for you?

 

 
Stay Positive
The most overused cliché in existence, but you really, really (REALLY) need to. Think of all the good stuff. If it helps, think of all the bad stuff happening to other people and be glad its not you (that’s called schadenfreude by the way).
Even if you have to dig out the certificate the tooth fairy gave you because she ran out of pound coins that day when you were six. Do it. Do something or get someone else to make you smile. You’ll be surprised at how much better you feel. And how quickly it works too.

 
Be Active
Not even necessarily in your work. But in your life. Go out. Ride your bike. Go for a walk. Go skating, horse riding, anything that burns up a little bit of energy. It means you’ve got less energy left for fretting, meaning you’ll use the energy you do have left far more constructively for working. Its also really healthy too. All this sitting at a computer or desk is a fantastic way of watching your arse because more and more spherical. Seriously, a little bit of running or cycling also helps to keep the wobbly bits from getting any more wobbly.

 
Have a Break
Seriously, do it. Right now if you have to. Watch some TV (in fact don’t, it will rot your brain!). Read a book. Play a game. Have a drink with friends. In effect, forget about the zone, give yourself a break from it. Those few hours away from your computer/laptop/pad and pencil does wonders for your brain. This is the one I find hardest to do myself, but after I’ve had that break, I’m more keen than ever to get back into the groove and work my big, round arse off. Resting your creative self gives it a chance to recoup and come back to the challenge with more ideas and a fresh voice.

 
Talk About It
Another one I find hard. Really hard. I bottle my feelings, thoughts and emotions up inside and when they do eventually break free is a massive Ned Flanders moment.
Don’t do that to yourself; its not good. Even more than that; don’t inflict it on the people close to you. I am blessed with a patient, kind and understanding partner who supports what I do. Even if that means I’ve locked myself in the study for a month and a half and have barely seen him. Occasionally stepping out of that study to say ‘I’m having trouble,’ or ‘can you help me?’ is wonderful. But if you’re feeling low, talk about that too. Even if its just to warn your families/significant others that you’re about to explode in a fit of frustration and panic. They deserve to be warned. And if, like me, you just need a moment to exhale… then do that too. I find that they appreciate the trust; knowing that you feel you can talk to them.

 
Cry
Not if you don’t need to obviously. Don’t run around stubbing your toe on things just to bring tears to your eyes, but if you need to cry, for god’s sake don’t hold it in. Find a comforting shoulder, or a quiet corner if that suits you better and just let it go. Not only does it hygienically clean gunk out of your eyes with a natural fluid, but it feels sooooo much better afterwards. Sometimes, that’s really all you need.

 
Be Persistent
Its not about discipline necessarily. I’ve not got very much of that. Its more about bull headed stubbornness. I’ve got plenty of that. Set backs, disappointments, rejections and failures (horrible word… let’s call them delayed successes) all take their toll. But you can’t let them keep you down. Others have talked about it briefly, but I really do believe that celebrating each rejection is an idea worth looking into. Not because it was a rejection or disappointment, but because its one more down before the success shows up. In fact… why not use each set back as an excuse to rehearse your success party? For each knock down or rejection letter, go out, or have dinner, or do whatever it is you usually do to celebrate. Pick your favourite one. Then once you have your favourite, make them bigger and better each time. Eventually, when your success does come, it will feel so wonderful that you’ll have an even BIGGER party/blow out/piss up just to be sure that you’ve capped those of your rejections. And by that point, you’ll be really bloody good at it!

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80 Post Challenge – Post 27

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Ileandra Young

What is your favourite season, and why?

That’s tricky actually. Because all them have pain in the arse features about them that makes me want to just skip through a couple of months.

Autumn. Its going to have to be Autumn. Spring is too chilly with that crappy, watery sunshine that doesn’t warm anything. Summer (recently) has been wet and cold or hot and sticky and though the days are long enough to enjoy, you don’t really want to if its sheeting down with rain. Winter is just awful. I’m better with cold than I am with heat, but I can’t stand snow. Its just a death trap for all concerned. The roads don’t get gritted well enough, the pavements don’t get gritted at all and its difficult to get anywhere. The days are too short to do anything and everyone is just miserable. Christmas seems to make it worse since you’re either surrounded by kids who are too young to realise how expensive it is, or your own your own, or worse than that, you’re surrounded by people who want to be cuddly and enjoy the Christmas cheer. Never mind that these people should be showing their love and care to you all year around.

But let’s not get off topic.

Autumn is just close enough to Summer that whatever heat you might have had through July and August is just clinging into the start of Autumn. I also love the fact that the ‘back to school’ lark continues deep into Autumn and allows me to buy some really cracking stationary every year! The days are just long enough that you don’t feel robbed about getting out of bed in the morning and there is no sign of snow.

My sister, Mum and Dad all have their birthdays at this time of year too. So do a couple of friends of mine. Its enough to keep me busy on the present buying front but if I plan for it then it doesn’t actually cause me too much grief.

Its also time to start planning for NaNoWriMo. Now I know I’ve only done one of these, but it was incredible. I had such an amazing time in that month that I’m already starting to put together what I want. I think its going to be even better this year when I dip into dark fae with my story telling.

Autumn. Its also a very pretty season; so many different colours in nature before everything goes dead and brown. The oranges, reds, greens and browns all mix up in such a beautiful way that sometimes I wish I was into photography. Dave is… I could probably ask him to do some pretty pictures this year. We’ll see. Its like the last gasp before the world shuts down into cold and colourless blandness until February.
Red autumn leaves

 

 

 

 

My 80 Post Challenge is brought to you with help from Tom Slatin’s 80 Journal Writing Prompts.

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