Monday, May 9, 2005 | by nathan
The End of the Semester
The End of the Semester
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Float On by Modest Mouse |
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Laid back and real, people appreciated you for who you are in 2004. |
My semester is over. I turned in the novel, and once I started revising it, I realized that - oh dear - it’s terrible. Filled with my worst writerly mistakes. The last day of class we all went to La Luna for chips and salsa (I was craving a margarita but didn’t want to be the only person at the table who was drinking). I sat next to Deborah, and I just realized: “This woman does not like me. Not one bit.” Not a good feeling to have, especially the day you handed her a 258-page novel that will determine your entire grade in a class. ::shivers with fear::
At least I’m getting an A in Dr. Carstarphen’s class.
I finished marking up all the revisions last night. I’ve been using this turquoise pen; it looks like I stabbed Ben Hawkins. (Carnivale joke). The weird thing is that Chapters 1-5 needed the most work, especially since I’ve spent 2 years editing the shit out of those chapters. I could attribute it to how much I’ve learned in my class, and this is a possible reason. But it could also be that I never catch the worst mistakes in a chapter until long after I’ve written it.
What a stressful week. Between this bullshit with my phone, the details of which I will spare you except to say it has been a total fucking nightmare, and finals, and not having had time to work out, or swim, and the fact that I’ve been eating horrible food, I am not feeling at my best. And this week I have to find a job, which is one of the things I am worst at. My interview at Student Media was awful. I was sweating like a whore in church, and my mouth went dry, and I sounded like someone with a brain tumor. Terrible.
Yeesh. At least I got to be a cool song.
| School, Everyday |
Comment by Stuart
They probably need the most work *because* you’ve edited them so blamed much.
I had an uncle who got an A- for a paper in a class he never went to. He thought, “hey, if I actually apply myself, I can bring that grade up lickity split!” So he started going to class, and come next paper, he received a B. “Goldarnit!” he thought, “I’ll just have to work even harder!” And sure enough, he attended class every day, did all the reading, and even some extra background research - and received a C+ on the final paper.
There *is* such a thing as trying too hard. Follow your instincts - you were in such a (relative) rush to get the rest of the book done you didn’t have the chance to agonize over everything. Turns out that’s a good thing, ne?
10 May 2005 11:41 am
Comment by Brandon
Meh, I’ll still love and adore you even if your novel sucks. In that platonic love and adore sort of way. How crappy is it that I felt I had to clarify? I’m going to go eat ice cream. Oh, and, congrats on at least getting it done and living to tell about it.
11 May 2005 4:31 am