On trigger warnings and coddling

I've heard some things about trigger warnings on college campuses lately, and I decided to put in my two cents on the matter. (This is your warning if things connected to triggers/ things that are potential triggers may be discussed here).
Firstly, let's define what a "trigger warning" is. According to dictionary.com, it is "a stated warning that the content of a text, video, etc., may upset or offend some people, especially those who have previously experienced a related trauma."
As I see it, the intended use of a trigger warning is just in the genre of "heads up, this is a thing that will be presented that may be problematic for some people." It's like how crime shows sometimes have a title card when they have reenactment in the next segment - "viewer discretion is advised." If you have had a particular experience that makes you particularly ill-disposed for that kind of content, it's a heads up that a particular kind of content will be featured.
Sometimes, college professors include trigger warnings where they're needed. Sometimes they don't. And whether they should has been a controversial topic for some.
Personally, I think that they should exist on the syllabus and that the professor should be available for for emails about missing class on a particular day. I get the feeling that many of those who need trigger warnings don't intentionally want a skip day from class; they probably just want permission to handle a potential problem in a personally safe space. If it's a movie, that might mean watching it on the student's own time and emailing comments to the professor, if that's part of the grade. Maybe that student does have some important and interesting thoughts about the particular content of that day's class, but doesn't feel totally comfortable sharing it in public.
To me, that's what trigger warnings are for - if it causes someone extreme emotional duress to interact with something in public, they should be allowed to handle it in private. They should not necessarily be exempt from interacting with the material (unless there are highly difficult circumstances associated with it). Light to moderate discomfort should be worked around in class - and trigger warnings provide a heads-up that light-to-moderate discomfort exists. It's supposed to be a heads-up, in case a student needs to emotionally/ psychologically prepare for a particular class beyond what they normally have to do.
What it does NOT mean is that everything should be warned as a trigger. If a student has some particular trigger material that isn't in the typical genre of "possibly triggering material," then part of the responsibility of both the student and the professor is to communicate about that. Not everything should be warned, but everyone should be open to compromise. If a student does get triggered by something that someone wouldn't think to warn people of, that would be a circumstance that needs communication between the professor and the student separately.

So those are my thoughts on triggers. What are yours?

That Time I Procrastinate

So procrastination exists. I've procrastinated on things before. I have a 12-15 page term paper due tomorrow that I still have to work on, but that's not the thing I've procrastinated on the most, though. The thing I've procrastinated on the most was an 18-page paper, which I had to to outline, write, and edit in 24 hours.
I didn't do well in that class.
I HAVE, however, got an outline, several quotes, and several points. I just need to write the thing.
So, mom, if you're reading this, DON'T FREAK OUT. EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONTROL. (Really. At this point, it's just the writing. Almost all the research has been done. I have an outline. I have most of my quotes. I just need to actually connect them to things.) But it's time to stop procrastinating and finish my work!
And if you, too, are procrastinating by spending time on this blog, LEAVE AND DO YOUR WORK.

When is it okay to start doing Christmas things?

It's been a long-standing pet peeve of mine that Christmas merchandise has entered shops earlier and earlier every year. I understand that fall/ Halloween merchandise is sometimes treated the same way - when I worked retail this summer, one floor set for early fall merchandise was on August 1st. However, I would contend that fall is a season, and not a holiday, and that there are no merchandise-based holidays between September and Halloween that would get attention, except the existence of Pumpkin Spice anything and cool-weather gear. Additionally, Halloween is given a pretty concise time frame between September and the end of October.
This pet peeve of mine comes from a love of both holidays for different reasons. I love sweater weather. My favorite color is orange, in part because autumn is possibly my favorite season. I love the spooky aspects of Halloween, obviously: I tell ghost stories for my job. I love the color scheme of Halloween, and the chance to dress however crazy (or not) I want for one day a year, and to change my appearance and not just be me.
I also love Christmas. I love the time of year that I get to see people I haven't seen for a while and decorate in a way that's completely different from Halloween. I like the scents of the holiday season and giving people presents and making things for and with people. It's also a good reminder to slow down and think about other people for once. I know I should think about others outside of December, but it's often a time to reevaluate - how well have I done to help people this year? (This year, I have a very shoddy evaluation).
However, Christmas is given as HUGE a time frame as possible, it seems. Some of it is Black Friday/ Cyber Monday things where you can get gift and life essentials for cheap if that's what you need/ want (and you're willing to risk getting run over by others). But not all of it is "get this super cheap thing so you can upgrade your life and give some good gifts but also not go broke!" While some of it is that, I've seen Christmas decorations put out before Halloween and not clearance items, either. I mean, there were more candy canes alone than autumn and Halloween combined. I know that mid-October means that Halloween is nigh and that autumn is almost halfway done, but it feels like Christmas decorations alone are really what drive profits up in November.
Maybe that's why so many stores do Christmas decorations so early.
I love holiday music as well, but I've always had a weird feeling about not playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving. In my household growing up, usually Christmas music was reserved for after we put the Christmas tree up - and that was at least after Advent.
Maybe that's why I have such an aversion to seeing Christmas merchandise before Halloween - since I grew up Christian, I always associate the Christmas season with Advent. Advent is a full calendar month after Halloween, which means that Halloween is the time for ghouls and goblins and ghosts, and NOT for fun and cheer and spices.
But that's my rant about that. I'll try and be more coherent tomorrow.

Welcome to Blogmas!

If you've never heard of Blogmas, it's probably because I may have made it up.
I got the idea from several video bloggers, who do Vlogmas - posting a vlog every day between December First (sometimes they start the day after Thanksgiving) and Christmas. That is what I may try and do here. I don't know how it's going to work out, but it's worth a shot. It may turn into BlogCember, but let me first survive this week and we'll see how that goes.

So, first Blogmas post is over. Because I said so. And because the intro is also the easiest thing to do, sometimes. Right now, it is. And also, I have to go get lunch in ten minutes and I haven't put my contacts in my eyes yet. So I should probably do that.

HUZZAH!

What I learned in NaNoWriMo this year

Last night, I verified my word count on the NaNoWriMo website, meaning that now I have to type and edit this incoherent mess into something more coherent and less messy than before.
That being said, here are the things I learned this month.

First, I learned that spending time in the world before writing the novel is very important, especially when writing fantasy. I spent months planning and plotting and scribbling about the longest novel I've actually finished, and that was before November even started. On the other hand, I only spent a little time outlining a plot, doing one or two character sketches, and outlining a little bit in the magic of the world.
What's the difference between the two?
In the first instance, I spent so much time just thinking about the work - whether there are dragons and faeries, a little bit about what happened before the novel started, what sort of climate the world was in, even something along the lines of "what would this character's favorite pop song be in this world" - that, once November started, I already had a concept of my parameters. If I needed a plot twist, then I knew where to draw the plot twist from. Sure, some things might be inconsistent, but there was something to draw from.
In this instance, with only vague outlines of the existence of some beings, there was not a lot to draw from when I hit writer's block. Sure, shifting perspectives sometimes helped, but I didn't establish the history of the world to spend time building up some events and plot twists. If you make room for historical references, there are more things you can do with it.

Second, I learned that progress is progress, no matter how awful. Even though there are a lot of inconsistencies in this novel, there are a lot of okay elements, too. I had a journalism professor who often said, "write a beast, and then you can groom it." What she meant was what Chris Baty always says: turn off your inner editor and let yourself be awful the first time around. Rough drafts are rough for a reason. Now I have things to work with.

Third, I learned that thinking about writing does not boost your word count. Announcing to your boyfriend, your roommate, and your friend who wants to hang out that you can't spend time with them because you need to write.... does not mean you will actually write. (It makes you a little bit of a terrible person if you don't write, though. You should definitely write.)

Fourth, I learned that word sprints are your friend. Setting a timer for 20-25 minutes absolves you from looking at your phone during the designated time frame, and can help focus on things that involve novels and word counts and NOT looking at your phone and trying to find plot twist generators. If something is truly urgent, someone will call you, and if you don't focus on your novel, then the generators won't help at all.

Fifth, I learned that getting ahead doesn't mean you will stay ahead, and that getting behind doesn't mean you will stay behind. That's pretty self-explanatory.

And, finally, I leave you with a J.K. Rowling quote (found on goodreads) that pretty well sums up the difficulty I had in this NaNoWriMo season, because I did not do what she advised:

"Be ruthless about protecting writing days, i.e., do not cave in to endless requests to have "essential" and "long overdue" meetings on those days. The funny thing is that, although writing has been my actual job for several years now, I still seem to have to fight for time in which to do it. Some people do not seem to grasp that I still have to sit down in peace and write the books, apparently believing that they pop up like mushrooms without my connivance. I must therefore guard the time allotted to writing as a Hungarian Horntail guards its firstborn egg."

So Much for Blog-a-day in NaNo...

Yes, I am aware that I haven't blogged a lot this month. My excuse is that I'm lazy, and also behind on NaNo word count, and also need to do a lot of other things like homework.
Do I plan on finishing NaNoWriMo this year? Absolutely. I may need to lose a lot of sleep and put off a tad bit of homework until after Thanksgiving break is over (NOTHING I CAN'T DO WHEN I GET BACK TO SCHOOL, MOM. I'VE WORKED THINGS OUT SO I CAN HANDLE EVERYTHING FINE, MOM), but I do plan on doing it. I'm just quite behind.
All right, very behind.
I need to be on page 145 today. I'm currently on page 127. I have a lot to write.
Personally, I think I can do it, I just need to work on it a lot. And not edit other writing when I could be writing on the train. And not posting blog posts when I could be writing on the train. And not having coffee with people when I could be writing.
A comforting thought (I guess it's comforting?) is that I was in a similar situation last year. It's easier to budget out two or three hours a day to write when you don't have three or four hours of class a day. Yes, I have obligations for work and family and exercise and cooking for Thanksgiving, but I also don't have to go to class, and I don't have as much homework to do because it's all papers right now. (Other college students would be freaking out about the number of papers I have to do, but I already had my emotional break this month. I know what I'm doing.)
So, in conclusion:
1. I have a lot of novel-writing to do.
2. I have a lot of essay-writing to do.
3. I have everything under control (MOM.)

NaNoWriMo Approaches! (again!)

On Sunday, I will once again be writing a novel in 30 days (or trying to, anyway). This is my sixth year doing NaNoWriMo, and it may be my last for a while - simply because, if I'm successful, I'll have three full first drafts of novels, but only two-thirds of one of them actually typed up. I love NaNoWriMo, but I also need to fiddle with my drafts to make them less drafty if I want to get them published.
So time to do my last NaNoWriMo (for the foreseeable future) with a bang. I'll be trying to update 5-7 days a week, but, as last year, if I get on a roll and can't update every day, I hope you understand.

This year, my novel is a post-fairy-tale sort of thing: what happens after Sleeping Beauty wakes up?

Yea or Nay: Pumpkin Spice Latte

Over Fall Break, I was able to try the Pumpkin Spice Latte for the first time I can remember. I may have ordered it before, but if I did, I don't remember it.
Because, dear readers, I may have a controversial opinion about the Pumpkin Spice Latte (considering that I identify as a white female between the ages of 16 and 23): I don't really like it too much. Furthermore, it's not the most pumpkin-spice-y coffee that I've ever had, nor is it my favorite pumpkin spice thing ever.

First, my favorite pumpkin spice coffee is the one at my local coffee shop. I usually order coffee with caramel syrup in it, and the coffee beans are flavored, rather than having the added flavors in the syrup. Because of that, you get more of a "pumpkins and spices and caramel and coffee" type of flavor, rather than "pumpkins and sugar and maybe a spice thing?"

Second, my favorite Pumpkin Spice anything is from Bath and Body Works. The Pumpkin Cupcake Hand Soap sold there had become almost problematic for my roommate and myself. We didn't want to destroy it by any means - we wanted to eat our hand soap. We didn't eat our hand soap, but we wanted to.

What, dear readers, is your favorite pumpkin spice thing? Is pumpkin spice overrated? Should Apple Cinnamon Caramel be a thing instead?

I'm back... with words...

I know I haven't posted in approximately forever, but here we go - I'm finally posting something! YAY!
As we go into NaNoWriMo season, I have to think about words a lot. This post is about why I don't like the word "cute" being used super often - in certain contexts, I understand that something definitely is cute. Babies are cute. Kittens and dogs and fluffy animals are cute. But overuse? That's a completely different manner.
There are a few reasons for this. The simplest is that I don't like "cutesy" things (except for kittens and puppies), and using the word too often out of that context is kind of irritating. When I was 17, I got the chance to go to Switzerland with my Girl Scout troop. Nearly everyone there used the word "cute" at least three times a day (or so it seemed). Couldn't they think of another adjective? Is something "adorable," or "picturesque," or "super sweet," or ANYTHING? WHAT KIND OF CUTE DO YOU MEAN? Sometimes they didn't mean "cute" at all, but it was a go-to adjective to describe anything that the individual user liked - my mom was particularly fond of this usage of the word. (I've been guilty of using go-to adjectives as well; mine have often been "awesome" or "cool.") When my mom and I went with my friend and her mom to Italy after the program was over, I made a deal with my mom - every time she would say "cute," she would pay half a euro.
This frustration with the usage goes a little bit farther back than just that trip, though, and a little bit more than just being my mom's go-to adjective. Earlier that same summer, I went to a two-week Shakespeare camp with an abridged performance at the end. There were three groups of kids: the really young kids were maybe 9-11 years old; the middle schoolers were maybe 12-14, and the high school kids (my group) were 15-18. Each group had different "classes" during the day - acting, movement, stage combat, and text analysis, as well as a two-hour rehearsal at the end of the day. The final performance varied depending on the age bracket - the little kids did short scenes and monologues, the middle schoolers did a history play, the high school kids did a tragedy. During our session, the show was Romeo and Juliet.
This being a summer camp, people rarely played the same role for more than a scene or two. Every girl played Juliet, and most played the Nurse and Lady Capulet as well; every guy played Romeo, as well as a few girls. There were sometimes cross-gender castings; I played Tybalt and killed Mercutio (and then died).
That particular scene was my favorite. It's one of the only times I've truly felt "in character," which is difficult psychologically to explain if you've never done it. When Tybalt gets stabbed, Wild Card's brain knows that M is a nice guy. Wild Card knows that this is exactly how the scene is supposed to go. But for a minute, all that was in Wild Card's brain was Tybalt thinking, "YOU ASSHOLE YOU JUST STABBED ME!!!!"
When Tybalt gets stabbed, there's a moment of tense silence; all the cheers die out. That was the moment I thought Romeo was an ass. Then I was ready to smite Romeo - one flesh wound can't kill me! (It did.)
At the end of the performance, one of the directors whispered, "you're such a badass." It was gratifying to think that someone else - especially a director - thought I had actually fought well. When I asked my parents what they thought of the performance, my mom said, "It was cute."
No. The 9-year-olds overacting Shakespeare is cute. Puppies are cute. Kittens are cute.
One of your child's directors thinks she's a badass. The other director thinks your child should apply for Yale's theater department. Your child just got stabbed in one of the best fights they've done to date and you think it's cute?
Again, it was my mom's go-to adjective. She wanted to confer positive sentiment, which I appreciate. It was also a time when I wanted to be anything but cute - I had just gotten a second-degree black belt. I didn't want to be cute.

Writing Things

This semester is one of the few times I was assigned a book from high school, and then got assigned the same book in college. I've been assigned Othello twice before - once in senior year of high school, and once when I took a Shakespeare class.

This time, the book is Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Reading this book again is quite an interesting experience - if only because I can now say "I UNDERSTOOD THAT REFERENCE!" while reading the book. It's not necessarily referencing other literature - it's referencing mythology, death, and yarn - often at the same time!

Obviously, when there's a crossover of three of my favorite things (yarn, mythology, and literature), I get excited.
Then I get nervous.
If this is an eligible idea for my capstone - the 20-page paper at the end of the semester - it has to be original. How many other people understood the same reference I did? How many writers would have made the same argument as I would?
These are the things that worry me.