Jen's Blog
October Goals
Well, September wasn’t as productive as I had hoped it would be writing-wise, and I didn’t hit all of my goals.
Here’s where I stand:
- Reach 50k on my first draft (yes, you read that right, I’m crazy)
- Write short story #3
- Write short story #4
- Write short story #5
- Finish the freelance project I’m working on
I did manage to finish a short story and the freelance project, but I didn’t do any of those other things. The other two short stories didn’t even get started, and I only hit 10k on my WIP.
The thing is, as much as I wished I’d gotten more done, I almost feel like it would have been way too much, and I think I even knew that when I wrote the goals. I’ve had major life changes in the past few weeks, and it only makes sense that I needed an adjustment period. I moved to a new town, a new country even. I moved into student accommodation that I’m sharing with new people. I made new friends. And most importantly, I started a new postgraduate course, and it really hit the ground running. I have been very busy with lectures, seminars and reading. I’ve already spent hours in the university library. My first research essay is due at the end of this month.
So, as much as I hate making excuses when I don’t hit my goals, I think it only makes sense that I struggled with the writing pace. Yes, I certainly could have done it, but it was just too much during the settling-in period for me.
But now, I am settled in. I’m starting to feel the rhythm of university life again. Lectures, reading, socializing. I’m ready to get back to drafting my novel now. So, I’m going to make some October goals, and I’m determined to hit them.
- Reach 30k on my first draft
- Write short story #4
That’s it. Totally doable.
The Harry Potter Beloved Character Study Part 3: Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood
I’ve been doing these little character mini-studies of my favorite characters from Harry Potter, to examine what makes them great and what makes them so beloved to so many people around the world. Last, I talked about Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. Now, onto Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood!
Neville
Neville Longbottom
Oh Neville. Your transformation from bumbling, forgetful geek into courageous snake slayer made you a favorite of thousands of readers.
It’s hard for me to find much fault with Neville, really, because I think that courageous person was always there, though hidden by the fact he’s abysmal at magic and lets utter terror show plainly on his face. He’s shy, forgetful, clumsy.
But let’s not forget that while he can’t perform a Wingardium Leviosa charm to save his life, he’s by far the best Herbology student at Hogwarts. And he improves his magical skills in the later books.
And then that utter terror he seems to carry around with him. Well, he doesn’t let it stop him. He stands up to Harry, Hermione and Ron right off the bat when they head to find the sorcerer’s stone in the first book. He continues to show bravery throughout, though it’s often not portrayed as significant as it is due to his constant nerves. But then in Order of the Phoenix onward, more and more of his bravery begins to shine through, leading up to the final battle in the final book where he is extremely instrumental in the fight against Voldemort. It’s even arguable that the whole thing couldn’t have been done without Neville. It’s absolutely one of the best moments in the entire series, and it finally shows Neville as he truly is.
Luna
Luna Lovegood
We’re introduced to Luna Lovegood as this wacky, slightly insane girl who believes in things that just don’t exist. She’s weird, her father is weird, and the kids at Hogwarts like to call her Loony. She says off the wall things and seems to exist on a plane that no one else can see.
And that is why she’s awesome. For all the weird things she says and believes, it makes her more aware of the world around her. She accepts things that no one else will. She may seem like she’s dreamily vacant, but the truth is that she’s sharp as a tack and extremely perceptive. And that seems to be because she’s willing to look at the world through a different lens.
As the series progresses, Harry begins to see that the off-the-wall things Luna believes are more real than anyone ever thought, though not all of them of course. She’s honest. She’s calm, even when horrible things are happening all around her. She’s sweet and kind and isn’t afraid to be who she is, no matter what anyone thinks of her.
Alright, that’s my little mini-study of Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. Next up will be Part 4: The Weasley Family!
The Harry Potter Beloved Character Study Part 2: Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall
I’ve started these little character mini-studies of my favorite characters from Harry Potter, to examine what makes them great and what makes them so beloved to so many people around the world. Last, I talked about Harry himself and Hermione. Now, onto Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall!
Professor Dumbledore
Professor Dumbledore
Alright, people. How can you not love Dumbledore?
From the very start, he’s the ever-present rock that everyone can count on. He hits the ground running even in chapter one as someone who is definitely one of the good guys.
Yes, he has his flaws, most of which aren’t revealed until the end of the series. He made some pretty nasty mistakes in his past, he kept too many things from Harry over the years, he initially used Harry, and frankly, continued to do so up until the end because he thought it was the best way to handle things. Maybe he was right. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe Harry should have known all along.
Truth be told, I was glad Rowling showed his faults and his troubled background because for awhile he seemed almost a little too perfect.
And, despite all that, his good qualities far outweigh the bad. He’s kind, generous, caring. He truly tries to help Harry and ends up caring for him almost as if he let himself become a father figure. He’s the most powerful wizard, in my opinion, ever to have lived. He commands respect and gives it. He’s humble.
Oh, and when it comes down to it, he sacrifices himself for the greater good. There’s nothing that can really top that.
Professor McGonagall
Professor McGonagall
Sometimes I think Professor McGonagall might be my favorite character.
Yes, she’s stern. Yes, she’s serious. Yes, she’s often cranky. No, she won’t let her students get away with anything. If Harry does something wrong, she makes sure he knows it and fulfills the punishment that goes along with it.
Those same things are what makes her awesome. Because when Dolores Umbridge comes tearing through Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall will not stand for it and she makes sure “hem hem Umbridge” knows it. She’s fierce.
She stands up for Harry, supports Harry and will do whatever is necessary to make sure he succeeds.
And, in the last book, she really shines. She fiercely duels Snape when trying to protect Harry. She leads the Hogwarts resistance against Lord Voldemort. She won’t let the castle go down without a fight, and she’s first in line to stop anyone from breaching the walls.
As Harry said in the first book when he very first saw her: You don’t want to get on her bad side. But, if you’re someone who is very much on her good side, she will turn that stern gaze on whatever or whoever is threatening you. And win.
Alright, that’s my little mini-study of Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. Next up will be Part 3: Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood!
Saturday Snapshot: Castle Ruins
Aberystwyth Castle
Mini-Update on September Goals
We’re about halfway into the month, and I wanted to give a quick update on how my September Goals are coming (or not coming) along. Let’s just say that while I’ve made progress, I’m not exactly happy with it.
Here’s my list of goals for the month:
- Reach 50k on my first draft
- Write short story #3
- Write short story #4
- Write short story #5
- Finish the freelance project I’m working on
At quick glance, that looks alright, yes? I finished one of my short stories, and I finished that big freelance project. And what that doesn’t show is that I also finished a second small freelance project this month and have started a third. So yay on that!
But progress on my first draft has drizzled along. According to my calendar, I should be at about 25k right now. But no. I am not. Instead, I am just past 10k. *shakes head at self* That means I’m 15k behind, and I just don’t think I can catch up on that.
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FAFH - YA Sci-Fi
10,322 / 70,000 Words (15%)
I guess we’ll see. In the past, I’ve had a few really high word count days now and again, and if I had just a couple of those, I could actually catch up fairly quickly.
Hope everyone else is having a productive month!
Saturday Snapshot: I’ve Been Doing A Lot Of This Lately
Fingers Crossed
The Harry Potter Beloved Character Study, Part 1: Harry Potter and Hermione Granger
Last week, I wrote a post here on the blog about Harry Potter and Beloved Characters and how I wanted to examine them because let’s face it…the book is full of amazing characters. I plan on doing a lot of these posts, but I wanted to start with the main character of the series (um, that’d be Harry Potter) and my personal favorite (Hermione Granger).
Harry
Harry Potter
Interestingly enough, I hear a lot of people say they don’t like Harry, which I find to be a bit odd. He isn’t my favorite, but I definitely love him. Let’s face it. Without Harry, there would be no Harry Potter saga. He is the Boy Who Lived, after all.
Yes, he’s flawed, as every character should be flawed. And sometimes, he does things you just want to be like, “WHY? HARRY WHY AREN’T YOU OPENING THE EGG!!!!!!” But if he was perfect, he’s be super boring and an annoying hero of the story because he’d always do everything right and everything would always go his way. And that’s no fun.
Yes, he’s angsty and sometimes way too angry. He kind of slacks off on important things for way too long, and he’s kind of rash and prone to breaking the rules.
But. And here’s what’s important. He’s also extremely brave, he values other people over himself, he’ll do anything to save his friends. He’ll even save his arch-nemesis. He’s loyal. He’s stubborn (I think stubborn is a good thing). He has a huge heart. He truly loves and loves deeply.
Oh, and he’s amazing at producing a Patronus. Can’t leave that one out.
Sometimes I hear Harry never does anything on his own, and while I disagree with that, I also think the fact he has those friends and Professors helping him was part of the point of the story. Love, family and friends is a big theme in those books. Rowling even made a point in Order of the Phoenix of pointing out that Voldemort doesn’t have any of that, but Harry does. It’s a good thing Harry has help. He couldn’t have done it all on his own. If he could have, he would have been ridiculously powerful, and it wouldn’t have been the same story.
Hermione
Hermione Granger
Yep, Hermione is my favorite (followed closely by Snape). Admittedly, she starts out a bit obnoxious in the first book, but that obnoxiousness soon becomes part of what makes her so loveable.
Sure, she has her downfalls. She can be a bit overbearing, she brags about her grades, she rambles on about S.P.E.W. far too much and when she gets an amazing idea for a solution to a huge problem, she just runs off to the library and says she’ll explain the amazing solution after she’s looked something up in a book. WHY NOT TELL US NOW, HERMIONE? WHY?
But she’s crazy smart, she’s bookish, she’s insanely talented, if she doesn’t know something, she’s determined to find it out and will go to every length possible to learn it. She’s also very brave and very loyal. She’s not afraid to stand up for herself and for those she cares about. And even though the S.P.E.W. thing is annoying, it shows how much she cares about improving the lives of others.
Alright, that’s my little mini-study of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Next up will be Part 2: Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall!
Saturday Snapshot: What I’m Looking Forward To
Aberystwyth University Old College
September Goals
August was a big month. September is aiming to be just as big. And after feeling a little stagnant in my writing late-Spring and early-Summer, I now firmly feel back in my groove. It feels good.
In August, I:
- Finished a round of revisions for my agent
- Brainstormed, plotted and began writing a new novel
- Wrote and submitted two short stories
- Got my student visa
- Moved to the UK for school
Those last two aren’t writing-related, but they’re huge, so I had to include them.
At the moment, I’m up to 4k on the novel. Here’s what my progress meter looks like. A little sad at the moment, but hey, gotta start somewhere.
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FAFH - YA Sci-Fi
4,021 / 70,000 Words (5%)
Before I actually begin classes in a couple weeks, I want to make significant progress on this one. So, I thought I’d make myself some September goals.
- Reach 50k on my first draft (yes, you read that right, I’m crazy)
- Write short story #3
- Write short story #4
- Write short story #5
- Finish the freelance project I’m working on
My goals are kind of high because I have a pretty light schedule between now and the end of the month, so I want to take this time I have now and use it. And really, it’s only 2k per day, which is very doable for me. I’m sure once my studies begin, I’ll have to cut down to 1k per day. If I make the progress now, before I have a full schedule, it means I would (hopefully) finish this first draft in October. That would be amazing after the long first drafting process that was my last book.
Anyway, I’ll check back in as the month progresses, hopefully with some positive updates!
A Reread of Harry Potter: Thoughts on Beloved Characters
While back in the states, I started a reread of the Harry Potter series, and so far, I’ve gotten through Order of the Phoenix. And recently, Bloomsbury announced the results of a favorite Harry Potter character poll. The winner? Snape, of course. All this has had me thinking about characters and how, for me and millions of others, this series is chock-full of amazing, beloved characters.
Most Beloved Character
Once I started thinking of Snape, I started thinking of other characters in the series. Dumbledore, Hermione, Harry, Lupin, Sirius, Neville, Luna, Hagrid, McGonagall, Molly Weasley, George and Fred, and Ron, just to name a few. I mean, come on. All of these characters are amazing.
Even the villains are loved, though in a different sense. I mean, I don’t actually like Umbridge, but I adored reading about how horrible she was. She’s an amazing character.
So evil.
Even Wormtail, who is without a doubt the most annoying, sniveling, unlikable character in the entire series. But he’s interesting, and I love reading about him, and the way his story turns out (not shown in the movies), is so perfect. I can’t imagine the books without him.
I truly believe the reason this series has been so successful and such a worldwide phenomenon is because of the characters. It is a great story, yes, and the world is incredibly developed. But it’s the characters that capture our hearts. When I think of any book or movie or TV show that would make my top ten list, the characters are always in the forefront of my mind. And for Rowling’s ability to create so many incredible characters, I’m in awe.
How did she do it? I wish I knew. It makes me want to look at each of her characters and examine them.
For one, I know they each have their flaws. Maybe that’s what makes them so interesting, so easy to love, because we can see ourselves in them. If we look at Snape, who easily tops the polls, we see a character who is angry and sad, a character who has made bad decisions in his past, who is just plain mean to his students. It’s hard to agree with a lot of things he does. He is flawed. But even if he turned out to be truly on Voldemort’s side, he was always fun to read about, because his personality just jumps off the page (and off the screen with Alan Rickman playing him). Yet, there’s more to him than the grouchy, possibly-evil Dark Lord supporter. He has layers, and it’s hard to put him inside a certain box.
*sniffles*
I want to create characters like these in my own writing. I want them to jump off the page and capture hearts. In my process of improving my writing and in getting inspiration for this (since I’m first drafting and thinking a lot about characters these days), I’m going to take a closer look at several of my favorite Harry Potter characters over the next few weeks. Since I briefly touched on Snape here, I’m not going to dedicate a post to him and rehash what I’ve already said. However, I am going to look at quite a few others. So, if you’re interested in my fangirl character ramblings, it’s going to go something like this:
1. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger
2. Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall
3. Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood
4. The Weasley Family
5. Remis Lupin and Sirius Black
6. Hagrid and Dobby
7. Dolores Umbridge and Bellatrix Lestrange