Filling the Bucket Then Kicking it Over

That's totally not depressing. With that image in mind, meet (most of) my bucket list!

10: Publish a novel

Obvious, when you think about what my iQuest passion is but if I don't keep reminding myself what it is I'm working towards or that I could, one day, actually hold my writing in my hands, life gets a little less . . . fun.

9: Find triplets and make them wear these

I can confidently say that my life will not be complete until I see three babies wearing these at the same time.

8: Take a road trip across the country

I've never really had the urge to travel before, not like a "I NEED to go to this place" type of feeling. Like ever. But I've always wanted to drive down Route 66 and get lost in some place I've never been before. I blame the movie Cars.

7: Have a whole room dedicated to books

I want my own library. Remember that scene in The Beauty and the Beast where the Beast gives Belle a library? I want that. I don't necessarily want someone to give it to me (though if someone's willing I certainly won't turn them down) but that's what I want. I want wall to wall shelves covered with books and DVDs and I want a desk and a computer and a couch and a cushy chair in there so that I can sit there forever and just enjoy the company of books.

6: Take my sister out to dinner

A simple plan, I know, but there's more than just a meal to that. I promised my sister that if I ever became famous and made enough money I would take her out to one of those sushi boat places where you pay by the plate and then a Korean barbecue where you grill your own meet (which is surprisingly expensive). Not only do I want to be famous (who doesn't?) but my sister does a lot for me, even if she doesn't know it (nor does she need to).

5: Write a novel

I guess before I can finish #10 I should do this first . . .

4: Fall in love

What can I say? I'm a closet sap.

3: Have my grandma at my college graduation

My grandma's old right now and she'll be even older five years from now but one of the things she's been talking about nonstop ever since my sister was born, was being able to see her grandchildren have a great education. Plus, she'd probably be the most excited one of us to see me graduate.

2: Pay my mom back

She says it doesn't matter, that it's a mom's job to take care of her kids and not expect anything in return, but it's a Chinese thing to repay your parents when you're older for all that they've done for you. Let's be honest, I'm not exactly a ray of sunshine or anything and my future is iffy at best, but my mom's always been there for me and supported me no matter what. I don't really know how to repay her for all that she's done, but I'll sure as hell try.

1: PETS!!

Bet you were expecting something a bit more meaningful, weren't you? Well no way, Jose! I want pets! My grandma used to tell me we couldn't get a dog because she was allergic then when I was about ten years old I found out she just didn't want a dog so she lied to me (gasp!). As a result I want a cat, and a dog, and maybe another cat. And maybe another dog. I've thought a lot about this. My mom used to make fun of me because I used to say that my dream dog was a Husky with blue eyes named Dude (that hasn't really changed, actually).

I Don't Like Reading Non-Fiction (A Boring Title for a Boring Subject)

I really don't. Textbooks left a bad taste in my mouth when it came to nonfiction. It just all seems so dull. Why should I be reading something boring and educational when I could be reading about wizards and magic?

That being said, I found This is Not a Writing Manual by Kerri Majors while I was surfing the web a few months ago, thought it looked interesting and informative, then immediately forgot about it. Because it definitely sounded like a writing manual.

Kerri Majors (a woman I've never heard of before) is the editor and founder of YARN, the Young Adult Review Network (a website I've never heard of before), an award-winning online literary journal of YA short stories, poetry, all that jazz. (And let's just say I'll be looking into that.)

This is Not a Writing Manual is intended for young, aspiring writers to give them advice about the writing life. Perfect for me, right? I'm a young aspiring writer and I know nothing about the writing life. But I've always been more than skeptical of taking advice from other writers. The thing about "creativity" is that it works differently for everyone. For some people it happens in numbers and science, for some it works in music notes, and others it works in words, but it's never the same for everyone. Having someone else's voice in my head while I write tends to hinder the creative process.

But, reading this book, it's not giving me advice on how to write, or even how to live. It's giving me an honest look at someone who's spent her life writing. And that's something I've never had.

The introduction was a bit of a downer, honestly. It talked about all the bummer advice people gave Majors as a teenager when she told them she wanted to be a writer. "Marry well", "Write this or that, it'll sell better", "Better get a day job." Stuff I've heard. Turns out it's all true. Doesn't that suck.

The first chapter took a better turn, for lack of a better word. It talked about drafting, the stage of the writing process I happen to be trapped in. This is actually stuff I've heard too: write every day, rain or shine, editing is huge but it's not everything, yaddah yaddah. What I was surprised by was this topic turning up: time management. Where have I heard that before? Turns out that buying a planner and setting aside time to write in the midst of her busy schedule helped Majors manage her writing and the rest of her life pretty well. I've never been big on planners, but maybe I should start.

The second chapter talked about my favorite part of writing: reading. The chapter was titled "Writing Without Writing." This might come as bit of a shock to some of you (and by that I mean all two of you reading), but lots of reading actually goes into a book. Tons of research has to be done to stay accurate. But it's not only that, either. It's reading a book that gets you in the mood to write what you need to. I did that just today, actually, read some adventure novel to get the action-y juices flowing. I'm a bit of a light-weight when it comes to the factual research of things, though. According to Majors, though, some people actually find research fun. Go figure.

It's different, finding a book about writing that seems like it was written just for me. It seems like this could be a brutally honest read, though. Not just all the ups but all the waaay downs of writing too. I expect a lot of groaning and unshed tears while reading this. The goal is to finish reading this book by the end of this year, but as to how many pages a day I'll be reading? Fifteen sounds pretty good, but chances are I'll read two hours every Saturday instead. Maybe I should get on that planner thing now...