I Love YA

That's supposed to have two meanings: "I love yah," and "I love Young Adult." I don't know if it came across that way, but whatever. Both are true.
When I was younger, I read a mixture of Middle Grade and Adult books. The Middle Grade books I checked out of my elementary school's library and the Adult books I stole from my mother's library. So...yeah, let's just say little kid me read some stuff she shouldn't have. My favorites were the Maximum Ride Series* by James Patterson, the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins, When the Wind Blows by James Patterson, The Tenth Kingdom by Kathryn Wesley (when I discovered this was actually a mini TV series, I spent an entire day watching it on You Tube), Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson, Ida B by Katherine Hannigan,  From the Files of Madison Finn by Laura Dower, and Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.*
 I also used to write back then. Granted, I didn't know anything about writing. I basically took ideas from a bunch of books I read and mushed them all together in a 5th grader's handwritten (unfinished) novel. The story was all over the place. It featured a main character only slightly older than I was, side characters based on people I knew, an adult theme of murder and mystery, and a touch of magic here and there. It was a train wreck of genres.
And then: Twilight. In 6th grade, my teacher lent me the book that changed my reading interests forever. It introduced me to YA, the genre I'd been looking for. It wasn't too adult for me to comprehend, and it wasn't too juvenile for me to wrinkle my nose at. It was beautiful. It is beautiful. Reading transformed from a hobby to an addiction. I started writing again, this time with the knowledge of what a specific genre included and with the absolute freedom that comes with YA.
It's hard for me to express in words how much I love Young Adult. Some emotions just can't be described accurately. I will say that I doubt I'll ever grow out of YA. It's perfect. It's growing up without actually having to grow up. I am forever Young Adult.


*I know that Maximum Ride is technically classified as YA, but I consider it aimed for a younger audience than most YA's.
*I'd add Harry Potter, but I actually didn't read the entire series until last year. I started reading it in 3rd grade (mostly because the librarian kept the big books off limits to most kids and I wanted to rub it in her face that I could read them, and it was worth A LOT of A.R. points) and I got the first two for Christmas, but then I had trouble getting the rest of them and I lost interest in checking books out of the library (I like to buy my books and collect them like trophies)...and I just stopped reading them. Which sucks.

This graphic has me drooling.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9ac44a13/

10 Awesome Jobs for Writer-ish People

So I've been trying to come up with a topic for a while now. I haven't been neglecting my blog, I just haven't been able to finish a post. I've got about ten unfinished drafts waiting for me. I'm new at this, I guess. It's like when I first started writing novels and I'd begin five at once and then not even finish them halfway before giving up and starting on another round of ideas. Although, I do plan to finish the other topics at some point. Anyway, I'm coming back with an easy list post.
I was looking into getting a job at Starbucks (even though I barely have time to do my homework as of right now) and started thinking about other awesome jobs. With the help of Ashtyn at http://wonderlandsreader.blogspot.com, I've put together a list. Note: these are jobs that I, a naive sixteen year old who's never worked a day in her life, think would be somewhat amazing.

1. Author (duh)

2. Barnes and Noble (50% off cafe items, 30% off books and other miscellaneous items, and 20% of music and technology items. Also, BOOKS.) (Working at an Indie Bookstore would be pretty cool too.)

3. Literary Agent (being a part of the crafting of masterpieces, reading for a living, meeting and encouraging other writers, etc.)

4. Starbucks (Free pound of coffee every week, unlimited free beverages on the job, 30% discount when not on the job, learn how to make awesome coffee drinks for yourself) (Don't forget about Indie Coffee Houses)

5. A Job in Publishing (I don't know very much about it, but it sounds nice)

6. Food Critic (Get to be in disguise, eat food, and there's some writing involved)

7. Animator (drawing, making stories, etc, and I just really love animated movies)

8. Script Writer (writing and story-telling, watching your story come to life)

9. Fashion Buyer (shopping for a living, travel with no cost to you)

10. Artist (I  just love creating art)

What about you? Any jobs that you think would be awesome?(:

Feeling Awful

untitled by Maggie Lochtenberg on Flickr

Hi. I am somewhat still alive, although I do find myself struggling to breathe under these mountains of homework. I also have a fairly annoying cold. I'm probably overworking myself. Compared to everyone else, though, I feel like I'm hardly working at all. My motivation is a bit lacking. That, and some of my homework assignments are, well, stupid.
My English class this year is focused a lot around writing. It's a fabulous idea. We have a writing assignment nearly every night. We learn different techniques to improve our writing, like parallelism and verb play. We even get "writing buddies", which is basically the same concept of a critique partner except sometimes we actually have to actually write things together. The creative writing assignments are, in my opinion, horrible.
I'm not sure if I'm the only one (I seem to be at my school) but I have a great deal of trouble writing about myself (writing a blog post about myself is totally different).
Here is a list of some of the assignments I've had recently:
-Write about an ideal dream you have
-Write about a scary experience you've had
-Write about a person you admire

...you get the picture. Writing these essays is doing a toll on my confidence as a writer. I don't think that I'm anywhere near being an excellent writer and I'm not looking for people to reassure me. It's just...I've written hundreds of thousands more words than my friends have and hell, I do it all for fun. Why would these 500 and less word essays stress me out? Why does everything I turn in feel like absolute rubbish? I want to cry. I want to lay down in my bed and wrap myself in my blankets so tightly that all of the negative feelings are squeezed out. Earlier this summer, I came to peace with the decision that I want to be a writer. There's nothing I love doing more, nothing else that I feel I invest the rest of my life in. Some might say these assignments are good for me. I'm learning how to deal with self doubt. I'm learning to write stuff I don't care about. I'm learning new techniques. Bla bla bla.
I tried looking at it that way but I still feel awful.
Some of my sadness could be from not being able to work on my MS for what feels like months. I'm running very behind on my schedule, and the guilt of not working on it is breaking me, but the guilt of working on it instead of my homework would be even worse. It's getting to the point where I've forgotten how really writing makes me feel. I'm gaining all sorts of negative connotations toward it because of these exercises. And that is killing me.
Also, it's been a long time since I've read a good book (or any book, for that matter). I always get a bit fuzzy around the edges when I'm not able to read.
Have you ever had to deal with something like this? What do you think? Is it a sign that maybe I'm not as cut out for writing as I initially thought? (I'm never going to give up, I promise.)
Anyway, that is what is up with me. Hope everyone else is doing well. And if you're not, hang in there. I have this immortal belief that things will always get better if you wait long enough. Some call it hope.


"Read books. Care about things. Get excited. Try not to be too down on yourself. Enjoy the ever present game of knowing." --Hank Green

"Don't feel stupid if you don't like what everyone else pretends to love." --Emma Watson

An adorable cat picture to make up for this somber and whiny post: