nindogs

Bam . And she makes an appearance. You really can't look anywhere without the word Mary Sue plastered on something, or slipping over in its messy trails and into the pool of endless circular arguments. And if you try and take all of the arguments off of the table and ask one of these people what their perception of perfection was, they'd just stop and smile at you. They might be able to tell you someone's name, or something vague like success or like too pretty or something, but the truth is that we all strive for some degree of perfection, whether it be mentally, physically or emotionally, and there are many perceptions of that big word: perfection . Some may view perfection as an unfaltering sense of humour. Some may view perfection as a cellulite-free hourglass figure of a tanned 20-year-old. Some may view perfection as an ability to see the best in everyone and everything. Some may view perfection as Adam Levine deciding to strut about semi-naked and sing about ...

I'm warning you in advance: this post includes a damn lot of face-palming gifs. Prepare to be face-palmed. Face-palm. So, I know what you're thinking: Q word? What are you talking about, Nina? The only word you deal with is the R-word. Revision . That's why I'm here, that's why we're all here. Ah, you are quite correct, faithful reader. But now, here comes my end-of-school-holidays news. I finished . Well , I finished in the uncommon sense of the word. The whole it's never really finished even when it gets on the shelf sense. But in regard to plot, character, pacing, blah - Yeah, I'm finished. As far as you're concerned, and as far as my search browser as of Wednesday is concerned: Yeah, I'm finished. So, do we have any bets on the dreaded Q-U word? Oh yeah. QUERY . Oh, it makes you shiver in fear, in anticipation, doesn't it? Even if we're stuck in the perpetual cycle of idea-writing-editing-drop-repeat or we're editors forever, w...

In short: I'm AWOL a lot, I've abandoned you a lot, I'm a terrible person - Yes . To clarify: I'm really trying to finish this godfucker of a novel so I don't have to wait ten weeks again before I can hack at it, having forgotten every idea I have devised now, if I don't get it done before the new school term begins. Oh, and it's been killing me to find a topic I can actually stand for long enough to write a post. (Breathes) Oh -kay. Shall we? My novel is a glorified hybrid of YA, Urban Fantasy, Action and Thriller, with a smidge of Drama to keep things interesting. Because of the Thriller aspect, the prelude to my action sequences at the climax are often overwrought and chilling, and as you begin to tease your protagonists, you need to assume your antagonist's shoes. You need to figure out why he's doing what he's doing. So, today we're going to have a wee bit of a look at some types of villains and what it is that they really want, and if ...

I'm starting to think that my titling has become counter-productive and are really an unhelpful way of attracting no one to my posts. Your other option was, of course, A Day in the Life of a Chest-infection , which, you know, I've suffered over the past week. ANYWAY. Having (finally!) seen X-Men: First Class , I was going to use it for a pleasant "perfect villain model" post. The brilliant Janice Hardy, however, already beat me to it and did a better job , so I shall save that post for another film. Instead, today I tear you away from your work and your children, and myself from my writing and my studies, to talk about climaxes . I had a chat the other day with a classmate, who's planning on writing a story for her English Extension 2 Major Work in the HSC next year. She wanted my opinion, as a writer, about the necessity of a climax. (I may or may not have made a few sexual jokes first, of course) She had this idea to have the larger climax toward the beginning...

Surely, surely , by now you have seen Darren Aronofsky's Oscar-nominated Black Swan; oh, you know, the one about that dark, twisted ballerina? Right. Now we're on the same page. So as someone who probably spends far too much time analysing film and novels for the hell of it, I can tell you now that Black Swan has a lot of depth to it. I, however, will not be reviewing it or talking about any concepts you could expect; rather, I will be using it to talk to you about character perfection . I don't like the term 'Mary Sue'. Like paranormal , or star-crossed or danger , it's misuse or even its overuse in YA has led to loss in its meaning. To defame a character by crying "Mary Sue!" is not as much of a scandal as it once was, and to some extent, the misunderstanding amongst the literary world has only led to repeat-offenders and the persistence of a worn formula in not smothering itself in its vapid-ness. Yes, in my own way, I'm talking about dimension...

Yes, I am quite alive. I am blistering in my severity of alivedness and am prepared for all sorts of gatherings, shindigs and hootenannies once my half-yearly exams are done and dusted. All reviewing, reading and writing (including that of this blog) have been put on pause - though I have been on Tumblr a little more than I should have. I am attempting to memorise facts and theses about EMMA, The King's Speech, Tutankhamen and burial practices, Picasso's cubism, Banksy and Velasquez's social status, and JFK and the political events pre-WWI. So, you know, just swimming in the fun. So, in case you had even the slightest inclination to wonder where my dreadful cynicism had disappeared to: No, my neighbours did not find my clothes in the street because I was snatched up by Rapture. No, the Doctor did not steal me away. I am buried in my textbooks and essays. You will, however, have me all to yourself on Friday, or Thursday (depending on where you are in the time zone sense of...

Go, click on the banner to the left! The members of Group 9 of Rachael Harrie's Second Platform-Building Crusade all banded together, just like the Justice League or the Avengers, and came up with a little adventure for you. You remember those books. Second-person, frustrating, the type where you ended up getting vaporised by a googly-eyed alien in the backseat of a movie theatre. But alas, your adventure does not start here. Go on back to Kerri Cuevas' blog to start your voyage into the unknown . Don't worry, you'll work your way up to me if you choose wisely. But if you've already done that, look below. Mothers lift cars off of their pinned-down children, minute schoolgirls beat the stuffing out of their assailants, and you? You leg it. The furry faces blur into their frosty surrounds as you swivel. The camera lands on your toe and rockets forward, skidding across the ice faster than your feet can carry you off the mark. Your life’s work? Ha. You can forget it. R...