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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

I Missed University So Much

I send out the biggest apology to everyone I usually follow for my absence. Last week was a rush to get myself organised for my return to university and then the past three days were spent settling back in. Guess who's just started their second trimester at Deakin?! This chick! Right here! I love being back on res, constantly socialising and learning things. My new timetable is pretty similar to the last trimester: one writing unit (Writing Spaces), one philosophy unit (World Religions), one journalism unit (Contemporary Journalism B), and one elective (Texts and Images). Still a measly nine contact hours, still only three days a week with classes. I've decided I need something to occupy myself in all that free time aside from just writing, because I'd also like a little bit of income, so the part-time job-hunt has begun and I've already had one rejection. Yay!

As well as getting to see all of my friends from the last trimester, both on res and in classes, the new timetable means that I'm meeting new people too, especially in my tutorials and at all of the welcome-back-to-res events. The thing I love about meeting new people, as a writer, is finding particular traits, characteristics and unique details that I could use in my own characters. For example, I was sitting with a group of friends at the campus bar after class yesterday and started talking to someone I'd met before, but never actually befriended. I was impressed to find out that he lives on a farm, where he grew up... not just any farm, but a rose farm. It's a place I'd never considered putting a character, a detail I'd never thought to give one, but I found the idea intriguing and potentially symbolic, although perhaps a little cliche once the symbolism starts coming into it.

I have one class to go to later this afternoon before I can say it's the weekend. I wonder if I'll meet anyone else I can make friends with and then quietly pull apart to find a potential character.

On another note, I received an email offering me a free one-month premium account on grammarly.com, which is an online word-processor. I've been asked to review the programme.

Has anybody else ever met someone and thought that a certain aspect of them could be used as a part of a character, in your own story? Does anybody here use Grammarly or another online word-processor? 

- Bonnee.

9 comments:

  1. I'm sure your instructors will find ways for you to fill your time between classes. Enjoy the semester/trimester!

    I have used elements of people I meet/know as the basis of characters all the time, though I also try not to make them *too* recognizable. As for processors, it's all Word, all on my hard drive.

    Enjoy the term, and good luck with the job hunt!

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    1. I'd definitely never mimic somebody in a character, but I don't think there's too much harm taking an aspect of a person and making it the aspect of a character. I'm definitely more used to Word and happy to stick to it over any online programmes, but each to their own. I'm sure some people find Grammarly very useful.

      Thanks as always, JeffO! :)

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  2. I've tried not to use characteristics of people I know well. They might not appreciate appearing in one of my books!
    Several people have posted about Grammarly. It does catch more than Word but for a fee. Try it for free and see what happens.

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    1. That's always the risk when writing with characteristics of people you know... I don't think I've ever made any huge similarities between characters and real people though.

      I like Word and I'm comfortable with it. Grammarly is useful if you want to pay the fee. I'm enjoying the free trial, but it doesn't like any of my Australianisms, whereas I can set Word to accept them.

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  3. Yay for the new semester! Enjoy! :)

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  4. For many, including myself, being in university were the best days. One of the great jobs are in the libraries in the university, so check if they have openings. In my novel I start writing the main character about someone I know but as the story goes along I make changes. I only use Microsoft Office Word Perfect to correct spelling mistakes ect. Enjoy your days in the university.

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    1. I'll have to look in to the library and other on-campus places (the bookstore, all the on-campus cafes, etc) for somewhere to start working. I don't think it would be possible to properly turn a person you know into a character, at least not without them disliking it. The thing is, that person already exists and I'd rather create somebody new, even if they have some similarities. Word is great for word processing and I'll always be using it. Thanks as always for stopping by Giora :)

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