bailey michelle<3

I'm in college and I failed a class this past spring. My parents are understandably very upset and insist that there be some sort of punishment for this. I agree, because I've never failed a class before in my life (or come even close) and I don't have a good reason for this. However, I don't live at home, so they can't punish me with curfew, etc., and I pay for almost all expenses in my life now. I should add that I have almost a full ride, so they aren't paying more than $500/year for me to attend my private university.

The only two things my parents really control are my car and my cell phone. I have tried multiple times to take responsibility for these, but my parents insist they don't want me to have to worry about these costs while I'm in school. They've also insisted I don't work so that I don't have that pressure in addition to school, which has been nice but also left me without much money of my own.

I currently have a job, pay my own rent, buy my own groceries, etc., and pay all bills except cell and car payments. I'm a good student with a 3.5 GPA, I never party, I don't make irresponsible decisions, except for this one. This is out of character for me, and I understand how upset my parents are and I feel bad.

However, I need both the car and cell phone for my job. So I'm trying to work out a compromise that will satisfy my parents that I have been disciplined for failing this class and that doesn't involve me losing the car that I need to get to work (I live in a suburb, no public transit or way to get there without a car). They can't kick me out, refuse to pay my rent, stop paying for school (they could, but I have no problem with the small amount of loan I would have upon graduation), give me curfew, ground me, or anything that would be normal under a circumstance like this, because those simply aren't options because I'm trying to be as independent as they'll let me.

Any ideas? I've thought of offering to do housework for them (for free, obviously), babysitting my younger brother for free, or doing some other kind of work that would be useful to them and also clearly take some of my time.

I'm going on a set-up date with a friend of mine, and he's currently in a walking cast (or something, I'm not an expert on injuries) from having torn his ACL a few months ago. He can walk and move around, but not a lot. Since my friend set us up, she's figuring out what we're doing, and she wanted my input so it would be fun. However, we're stumped.

Any ideas on what we can do? I want to do something in which we can talk, but the whole date isn't focused on conversation. Normally bowling or something along those lines would be fun, but I don't think he can do that.

It's not a serious date. I could see it maybe developing, but right now it's just for fun - so I'd like to something in which we can get to know each other a little better. We're in college, so we can drive and don't have wild raging teenage hormones.

Help?

I'm living in Morningside Heights for the summer, and I'm a runner.

Where can I run in the evenings that will be safe? I can't run during the day because I work a full-time job. I don't plan to run after dark.

Obviously I'm willing to run through the UWS or wherever.

I live too far from Central Park for the run to be worth it.

Suggestions? Thanks.

One of my roommates borrowed a very nice, expensive dress of mine from White House/Black Market a month ago and only stuck it back in my closet (in the hanging bag) literally the morning she moved out of our on-campus apartment when I wasn't there.

When I opened the bag yesterday to look at the dress, I noticed a big white spot (food?) on it. I was appalled and asked another roommate what I should do, who said that she had known about the spot and assumed the borrower would get it dry-cleaned.

As far as I can tell, the borrower put it back hoping I wouldn't notice. Now she's gone home for the summer (an hour away) and I'm stuck with this spot.

What do I do? Do I confront her about it and ask her to pay for the dry cleaning? Or since she's gone home do I suck it up and pay it myself? It wouldn't ruin our friendship since she's usually reasonable - I just don't know how to handle this situation.

I'm a 20-year-old female college student moving to the city (specifically, Manhattan) for the summer from Oklahoma, for an internship. I've heard that it gets hot up there, but I'm curious about the average temperature. Down here, it's about 90-100 daily, which is nothing unusual for us.

What's the average temperature? What kind of clothes do people typically wear, when not in workplace attire?

Thanks!

Hypothetically:

If I were to submit a particularly strong excerpt of my current novel-manuscript-in-progress to a literary magazine (like Glimmer Train or another) and it were to be accepted, wouldn't the first pub rights they claim be so they can publish it in that issue?

How would that affect me later on down the road if I decided to start shopping the whole manuscript to agents? Would it matter that a chapter or two had been published in a magazine? Would I need to mention that in the query or elsewhere? On the off chance that the stars were to be aligned and I gained all of these opportunities, how would that work out?

All advice is welcome. Thank you!

I'm a 20-year-old college student moving to NYC for the summer to do an internship, and I don't know where I'm going to live. I'm moving from OKC from about mid-May through mid-August, and I was wondering if you all had any advice.

I've looked at NYU, Columbia, etc., and explored other outlets for housing such as Craigslist and other online housing finders for students. My internship is going to be near NYU, so that would be ideal, but I'm just worried they're going to run out of space before I'm able to make my final decisions.

What's the best way to find housing in the area? If the dorms end up being full, what should I do? Is there anything I shouldn't do, or I should be cautious of?

All advice is welcome. Thank you!

Do you prefer to write from the perspective of a character in your gender, or do you like to experiment with writing from another's perspective?

What age do you like to write your characters? Younger than you? Older than you? Why?

I've found that I actually enjoy writing from a male perspective, although being female, writing a female just comes more naturally. I also can't write more than a few years older than I am. My current MCs are a few years older than I am and I feel fine writing them, but I don't think I could center a story around someone much older (more than ten years) than I am just because I don't know enough to write it well and realistically.

What about you?

I'm in the process of applying for internships with literary agencies, which are generally small and personal companies with fewer than ten employees. Consequently, they all call each other by first name.

I've been in email correspondence with the intern director over the past week or so, discussing the possibility of a cross-country move for this internship in NYC (definitely no problem for me), and every time I have started my emails with Ms. ______ and signed my full name. She always addresses me by first name and signs with her first name only, no tag line or contact info or anything. So it's a rather informal email style.

Is there a point at which I can refer to her by first name when emailing, or should I continue to refer to her as Ms. _____? She's been very open and friendly, and I can't tell if I should continue to address her formally or follow her example.

Advice? Thanks!

For my Advanced Creative Writing class, we're required to read a current novel in translation. I have some ideas, but I was just wondering what your opinions are.

Do you know of any good novels not originally written in English that I need to read?

Thanks, guys. I'm not just being lazy - I really do want your opinions.

It's late, so this may not be my best question-asking time.

I've been considering writing a blog from the point of view of one or both of my main characters in my current manuscript. I know them both quite well already, but I feel like it might open up new doors for me as far as personalities and reactions go, as well as generally knowing about their lives.

This wouldn't be something I would expect people to follow or anything - it would be for me. But what do you think of using modern methods to develop characters?

First, I am not being abused or know anyone who is being abused. I am doing research for a book I am working on, and sometimes Answers turns up some really helpful things. That is the reason I am asking this.

In the book, one of the main characters claimed her father was sexually abusing her when she was approximately 14-15 years old. She also said he was abusing her two-years-younger sister. She talked to the school counselor about it, and it was a really bad situation. However, this is where I need help.

At what point is a child removed from the home when claiming sexual abuse? If there is no evidence and everyone around her, including the younger sister, denies it, can she be removed? It takes place in Texas, if that helps at all.

In 30 seconds, write out the theme of your manuscript that you're working on right now. It doesn't have to include characters, plot, main plot points, or anything that might give away what your story's mechanics are.

Oh, what's mine? How kind of you to ask.

After severe emotional trauma, can a person ever really come back from that into a normal life?

AND

"Hit me," said the masochist.

"No," said the sadist.

Tell me what wonderful concepts are rolling around in your head - I swear I'm not looking for ideas. I'm about 1/4 finished with my current MS, and have no plans to look elsewhere for ideas - my characters have given me plenty of their own.

For one of my classes, I'm leading a small group discussion, and I chose to discuss short stories. We left it a very broad topic so we could cover a lot of different genres and authors. We have about ten discussion periods, and the stories I have in mind so far are:

- The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

- A Good Man is Hard to Find - Flannery O'Connor

- I'd like to read something by Eudora Welty, as well.

Clearly, a lot of room for other choices still exists. Since the B&A community has yet to let me down, I thought I would ask your opinion.

What should we read? We're an upper-level college course in the Honors program, so everyone is smart and very capable.

Thanks!

Go to the link below and VOTE! Put a reason/argument for why we need a section for the writers/aspiring authors. Poetry has their own section - why shouldn't writers?

http://suggestions.yahoo.com/detail/?prop=answers&...

The only way this will work is if we all vote.

I know this isn't technically a question, but the only way to do this is to get the word out. Now go vote!

Often, my characters are very different from myself. For example, one of my current MCs defines the people he meets by the type/author of book, and a lot of people who have read it say, "Oh, I didn't know you do that!" However, this is not something I do on a regular basis - it's just a fun idea I've thrown around and it fit perfectly with this character.

Does this happen to you? Do your characters have traits and habits that readers then attribute to you, the writer? How does this make you feel?

To an extent, some characters do have traits that I personally have, but for the most part, they are very different from me.

I'm writing a scene in which my MC finds out that his serious girlfriend is a compulsive liar. Her cousin, also his ex-girlfriend from high school, is the one who tells him, and he isn't sure whether she's telling him the real truth or a family skeleton version of the truth.

The scene itself is I thiiiiink about 1000 words, so it's too long for this. If I could email it to you and you let me know what you think, that would be great. I want to know if his reaction is realistic and if not, what I can do to make it better.

Also, I'm in college, am a Writing major and a big girl, and I can stand up to quality criticism. So please - bring it on.

I'm writing a book and near the end, my MC Clark, who is a few years out of college, finds out that a girl he's been seriously dating, Sophia, is a compulsive liar. When she was 13 or 14, she accused her father of sexually abusing her and her younger sister, but her sister, who exhibited signs of abuse, did not press any charges and Sophia didn't show any signs. Sophia insisted, but didn't want to press charges. Since then, over the past eight or so years she's become a cutter and basically an alcoholic, and she lies about everything. Clark didn't know/realize any of this until Ella told him (he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to Sophia). If you were Clark, how would you react? What would you say? I'm just not sure his reaction is realistic, and I want to make it so. He's angry and doesn't believe Ella, but at the same time he wonders if she's telling him the truth, or whether it's a family skeleton version of the truth.

He finds out from Ella, Sophia's cousin, whom Clark grew up with and actually dated in high school for a little while. Also, does this make Ella kind of a deus ex machina? I want her to have a big role in the story, but this isn't the end and it doesn't resolve the story. I just don't know if she's telling him too much information - she tells him because she's worried about him as a friend, and she didn't know if he knew or not.

[I wrote the following poem for a gallery for my college's literary magazine. Please read it and give me feedback - I'm a big girl and I can stand up to criticism. Thanks!

I know the lines don't all rhyme and it's not all in the same meter. Thanks. The bits in quotes are italicized as speech in the document - it looks much nicer than quote marks.]

“The Wind and the Tree”

"I want to see the world today"

said the young breeze to the trees.

"My roots are here, I cannot leave"

said a young oak to the breeze.

"Stay with me, my love, and you will see

We’ll fall in love by small degrees."

The wind refused and whirled away,

"I’ll go and see the world today,

And love you when I return someday."

Time rolled by and the lone oak sighed

Waiting for its love’s return each day.

The breeze returned a healthy wind,

The strong oak looked lovingly at its friend.

"I went and saw the world, my love,

And many things I saw;

But none compared to you, my love

And how you now stand so tall."

The oak rejoiced, too rooted to leave,

And love had returned for good.

Time slipped past and the oak grew strong,

The wind tangled in its leaves;

But winds are not meant to be still at home

Nor are oaks to wander free.

"I know where I’ve been and I miss what I saw

My love, you are rooted in your tragic flaw:

You cannot go where I must be,

And therefore drift apart must we."

The wind left again, full of regrets and haste,

Though with freedom soon forgot

The lonely oak with its falling leaves,

Sorrowful longing in its face.

The oak grew old with gnarled skin,

A constant in the change.

It saw the sun rise and it saw the sun set

Till finally ‘twas cut from its pain.

The wind grew weary and returned

Coming home to stay.

But, alas! Its love no longer did live

And the wind could not bear to remain.

An empty soul, it wandered the world

Till finally it drifted away.

[I wrote the following poem for a gallery for my college's literary magazine. Please read it and give me feedback - I'm a big girl and I can stand up to criticism. Thanks!

I know the lines don't all rhyme and it's not all in the same meter. Thanks. The bits in quotes are italicized as speech in the document - it looks much nicer than quote marks.]

“The Wind and the Tree”

"I want to see the world today"

said the young breeze to the trees.

"My roots are here, I cannot leave"

said a young oak to the breeze.

"Stay with me, my love, and you will see

We’ll fall in love by small degrees."

The wind refused and whirled away,

"I’ll go and see the world today,

And love you when I return someday."

Time rolled by and the lone oak sighed

Waiting for its love’s return each day.

The breeze returned a healthy wind,

The strong oak looked lovingly at its friend.

"I went and saw the world, my love,

And many things I saw;

But none compared to you, my love

And how you now stand so tall."

The oak rejoiced, too rooted to leave,

And love had returned for good.

Time slipped past and the oak grew strong,

The wind tangled in its leaves;

But winds are not meant to be still at home

Nor are oaks to wander free.

"I know where I’ve been and I miss what I saw

My love, you are rooted in your tragic flaw:

You cannot go where I must be,

And therefore drift apart must we."

The wind left again, full of regrets and haste,

Though with freedom soon forgot

The lonely oak with its falling leaves,

Sorrowful longing in its face.

The oak grew old with gnarled skin,

A constant in the change.

It saw the sun rise and it saw the sun set

Till finally ‘twas cut from its pain.

The wind grew weary and returned

Coming home to stay.

But, alas! Its love no longer did live

And the wind could not bear to remain.

An empty soul, it wandered the world

Till finally it drifted away.