What was that about the days of the week?

I went to Barnes and Noble last week and bought a book called 500 Writing Prompts. Every once in a while, I am going to write responses to random prompts from that book and post them on here. They won't be in any particular order except the order in which I respond to the prompts. You can find them grouped together by clicking the link at the right labeled "500 Writing Prompts."

New stories and essays!

I have added a new fan-fiction category: Doctor Who fan-fiction, and added a story to it.

Also, I have added the essays I wrote for college between Fall 2012 and the present.  Have a look if you're interested.

I may or may not have a new original short story eventually--I started writing something this past week, and I'm not sure how long it's going to get.  If it's short enough, I'll post it instead of trying to get it published.

On a similar note, the original story I was working on turned out to be a novel over 40,000 words long!  I have had it revised by a trusted advisor (Thanks, Dr. Taft!), done the necessary revision and/or rewriting, and am now working on finishing up some supplemental material (maps, timeline, lexicon, etc.) before trying to get the whole thing published.  You won't see it in any of my online accounts, but once it's published I should have copies of the book to sell, lend or give away.

Finally, I have plans to publish a book of knitting patterns, but work on that is somewhat stalled.  I've just got too much to do at the moment to do so much swatching, graphing and pattern writing.

For those of you who don't know, I have completed my Associate of the Arts degree in English/Literature from Frederick Community College.  Last November (2013), I started on a Bachelor of the Arts degree in Applied Linguistics from Ashford University.  The classes are challenging, but the work is made easier due to the fact that I only take one five-week class at a time--and it's all online.

My credits from FCC finally transferred over last month (thank goodness!), and I should receive my B.A. by the end of October 2015.  That is, unless I go for the option that AU offers--working on my Master's degree while I'm still going toward my B.A; then it'll take a bit longer, though I don't know how much.

15,840

. . . That's how many words my story has gotten to so far.  I just typed up the bits that I'd written most recently, and it's now 54 pages (typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12-point font) and 15,840 words.  I think I'll save writing anymore of it for after I get back home.

Coming Soon: Non-Fiction by DSDragon

Yes, you read that right--I'm going to be posting non-fiction works on this blog in the near future. It's mostly going to be the papers I wrote for classes this past semester. There might be some papers from a while back, if I can find them. I'm going to try and polish the ones I like so that they're the best they can be before I post them.

A Helpful Tool for the Indecisive Gamer

I have often lamented my boredom while I am at home, but I'm not really bored in the sense of not having anything to do. Quite the contrary. I have many things I could--or even should--do at home, but I am, by nature, an indecisive person. By the time I decide what I want to do next, it is usually too late to actually do it, and I've just spent X number of hours listening to my iPod (or playing Solitaire, or doing Samurai Sudoku, etc.) while trying to decide what to do!

I've tried scheduling my various possible activities, but didn't ever keep to the agenda. I was talking about this with Carl earlier, and he came up with a solution that is so simple, I'm surprised I hadn't come up with it myself.

"You're a gamer," he said. "Randomize it. Make a list of activities and roll a die. If you don't really feel like doing whatever comes up, just re-roll." (Or something to that effect--I'm paraphrasing.)

The idea was so ingenious that, as soon as I got home and had a chance, I started typing up a list. I even made up some "rules" for it, so I wouldn't cheat and just re-roll everything. Then, I thought maybe other people might be as indecisive as I am--or just have trouble finding things to do--so I changed anything that was specifically for me, so that it could be used by a more generic group of people, and this is what I came up with:

Indecisive and bored, but don't feel like driving anywhere?
Got so many things you could do that you can't decide which one to do at any given moment?

Use this handy list of 33 (and counting) activities which can be chosen at random, and take place either at—or within walking distance of—your home!

Each possible activity is numbered.

To decide what to do, and for how long, roll a d30 for each free hour you have, minus one (so you'll have leeway to go over-time if necessary), or just re-roll the same d100 (or percentile dice) and write down what numbers you get. Match the number on each roll to the corresponding activity.

For each instance of that activity's number, do that activity for one hour, unless a different time-frame is specified in the activity's description. Any numbers above the highest number on this list with a valid activity (or any activities where any bolded qualifications are not met) should be re-rolled.

Number 24 can either be eliminated (for those who are either not musically inclined, or don't have any musical instruments of their own around the house), or modified to fit the situation. The four instruments listed are the instruments owned by the writer of this list. Obviously, the size of the die rolled to determine which instrument(s) to play should be adjusted according to the number of available instruments. If you desire, you can roll only one die, and play that instrument for a full hour, instead of two instruments for half-an-hour each.

1. Write a story/poem/play/song/whatever, or part of one—note-taking and written planning/plotting/character sketching/brainstorming counts too, as long as you actually write some of the story/poem/play/song/whatever itself the next time you do this activity. Editing/revising/rewriting a past story also counts. Once you've got a story as polished as you believe you can make it, if it's an original work (in other words, not fan fiction) you might try getting it published, or submitting it to a contest.

2. Write a journal or blog entry—probably ½ hour, but could take an hour for longer entries.

3. Read a book, fan fiction, a PDF, or some other text-based thing(s).

4. Listen to an audio book.

5. Play a card game.

6. Play a video game.

7. Play a computer game.

8. Write/type an essay about something you learned either by doing the encyclopedia thing (#27), or about something in a book you've read. If you wish, post it online (on your blog or on a related message board or something similar) and invite others to discuss the topic with you. This could be a way to not only learn different perspectives on the topic, but also a way to find people of a like mind. Plus, debate is fun, as long as constructive criticism doesn't turn into personal attack. If you've done this activity before, and posted some essays online, take a few minutes to look at and reply to any comments made to past essays before you start on a new one.

9. Tidy up/reorganize your bedroom.

10. Clean the bathroom, including tidying up and scrubbing/disinfecting surfaces.

11. Do laundry—doesn't necessarily have to be your own. If there's laundry in the dryer, fold it and put it away (or put it where its owner requests). If there's some in the washer, move it to the dryer and start another load washing.

12. Do dishes/clean the kitchen.

13. Vacuum all staircases, hallways, and the floors in all common areas of the house.

14. Plan a menu for the next week (breakfast, lunch and dinner), and write a shopping list to go with it based off of what is and is not currently in the kitchen/pantry.

15. Watch T.V. (DVR counts, and is a good way to be able to watch more shows, since you can skip over time-consuming commercial breaks! T.V. series on DVD do not count.)

16. Take a nap. It's probably best that, if this activity is chosen, you get it done first—that way, the napping hopefully will not interfere with your sleeping at night, and you won't be groggy during whatever you have to do in the morning.

17. Watch the first movie you think you would like to watch and can actually get your hands on within five minutes—no long choosing sessions! If you didn't get enough dice landing on movie watching to make up that movie's running time and you really want to watch that movie, subtract an activity for each hour of your chosen flick's playing time past the first. If you only got a single hour's roll for movie watching, and don't feel like watching a movie anyway, just re-do that particular d100 roll.

18. Call someone, just to talk and/or catch up.

19. Write a letter by hand to someone, put it in an envelope, address it, stamp it, and put it in the mail box to be delivered. Don't forget to be careful, and write legibly!
    

20. Play with the child(ren) and/or talk to the adults you live with, or make friends with some neighbors and talk to them.

21. Watch one episode of a T.V. series you have on DVD—two episodes if it's a ½-hour show.
    
    

22. Do a puzzle.
    

23. If you are musically inclined, practice singing, either a capella with some sheet music in front of you, or with someone to accompany you on an instrument of some sort. You might even try a karaoke machine, a tape/CD with only accompaniment, or the Sing Star Play Station games.

24. If you are musically inclined, learn to play one new song on each of two different instruments. It cannot be the same song for both! Roll 2d4 to decide which instruments to play—½ hour for each instrument.

    1. Trumpet

    2. Guitar

    3. Piano

    4. Recorder(s)

25. If the weather's nice, or you can reasonably compensate for mildly-bad weather (with an umbrella or a jacket or something), take a walk—½ hour.

26. If it's not too cold outside, clean out/wash your car. If you don't have a car, offer to wash a friend/neighbor/family member's car--for free.

27. If there is a complete set of encyclopedia in the house, close your eyes, point to the shelf on which the encyclopedia sit, open your eyes, and pull out the volume to which you've pointed. Then, open that volume somewhere in the middle, and read about the first topic you see. Once you have finished reading through the encyclopedia's blurb on that topic, go on the internet to research and learn more about it. Take notes.

28. If you're into tabletop RPG's, do some preparation for a campaign you'd like to run, or make up a character in any system, just so you'll have one if you find a game to play in that system.

29. If there is a playground nearby, walk there and play a game of some sort. If there's no one to play the game with you (like basketball, tennis, soccer, etc.) then just practice—shoot some hoops, hit a tennis ball against a handy wall, kick a soccer ball around, whatever. You'll need whatever equipment is necessary for the outdoor game you've chosen as well, of course.

30. If there is a playground nearby, walk there and swing on the swing set—½ to 1 hour, depending on how long it takes to walk to the playground (and back to the house), and how long you feel like swinging.

31. Cook a meal. Don't forget to ask anyone else in the house if they want some! Only include this if you are going to be hungry enough to eat the meal you cook.

32. Play a board game. Only include this if other people are available to play with you.

33. If too many of these don't work for you, make your own, customized list of possible activities!
    

Inkwells Updates

I realize that my Inkwells posts haven't been as regular the last few weeks as usual. I've updated through last week's prompt response (which is actually as far as I've written stories for right now).

I will also be replacing the Personal Challenge prompt response with a different story--once I have written it, that is.

For those of you who don't know, I usually back-date my stories/poetry/whatever to January 1, 2007, so that regular journal entries don't get interrupted by fiction. With anything except Inkwells stories, I usually post a notice that the story has been updated with the current date.

However, Inkwells are updated weekly, and I don't want to have that many update notices clogging up my regular journalling area. So, please feel free to bookmark the page of Inkwells stories, and check back regularly (or irregularly, if you wish) for updates. The URL for the Inkwells page is http://dsdragon.blogspot.com/2007/01/inkwells-stories.html.

New Stories!

I've begun posting more stories here--this time originals. (Don't worry, those of you waiting for installments of my fanfiction; they'll get written eventually.) They're actually stories written in response to prompts from the Haven's writing group, the Inkwells. I've added these stories to their own section of the Original Fiction section here on my blog, and you can also just read the stories by visiting this link to the Inkwells Stories page. Enjoy, and please feel free to leave reviews in the comments section for each story page.

I keep thinking . . .

. . . that my dreams would make great stories--if I could remember more than a few interesting details, that is. Especially the last few nights, since I'm pretty sure that at least last night's dream had *shock* a plot! If only I could remember a whole dream long enough to write it down, or at least jot a few notes for an outline. Then maybe I'd have a bestseller--or at least a published novel or something.

Written Works Posted!

Since I only got one vote (thanks, Heather!), and that one vote was a positive one, I decided to post all of my written works here on the blog. You can see the different categories listed in the menu on the right. If you click on a category, you will be taken to a single entry, listing all of my writing from that category, with links. Click on the links in the entry, and you'll be taken to the individual entries for that story, poem, or whatever.

All of the previously-written works are back-dated to January 1, 2007, since that was before I started this blog. I did that so that my regular posts would stay at the top of the blog. Any updates and new writings will keep their original posting dates, and I will simply add links to those entries in the appropriate categories.

If you want to review, please leave a comment on the individual story. I'll appreciate any and all constructive criticism as well, even on the stuff I never plan to look at again.