college life | Rami Ungar The Writer

Posts Tagged ‘college life’

Read “Ripple” Now

Posted: November 5, 2012 in Living and Life, Progress Report, short story, Writing
Tags: college life, entertainment, online magazine, publishing, short story

Remember, remember,
The 5th of November
When my alien story came out
I see no reason, this page you should be leaving,
And not find out what my story’s about.

Did you like that? That fourth line gave me trouble, but I got it to rhyme pretty well.

So yes, Ripple is now published on Nth Degree magazine, an online publication devoted to science-fiction and fantasy pieces, and they just published my story, Ripple. I came up with Ripple after watching the movie District 9, when I was thinking about how in all the movies about aliens visiting Earth, the aliens are either friendly and humans are the bad guys or the aliens are downright evil and humans need to defend themselves. District 9 kind of broke away from that pattern, but I wondered if there was a story that broke away from it even more. This eventually led to me writing Ripple about a year ago, and now a year after I started its first draft, it’s been published.

I’m so happy right now. I would like to thank the folks at Nth Degree for publishing Ripple. You have no idea what it means to me that you published it.

Below are the addresses for the website and the short story, respectively. I hope you check out both, not only to read my story, but maybe to see if you’d want to submit something to Nth Degree. Also, I would not mind feedback on Ripple. Tell me what you like, what you hate. Heck, even tell me that my aliens are unimaginative or remind you a little bit of the Navi or anthropologists. I don’t care. Just tell me what you think.

Hope you like what you read. Enjoy.

http://nthzine.com/

http://www.nthzine.com/fiction_online.php?archiveDisplay=20121105

NaNoWriMo Day 4: Progressing on the Snake

Posted: November 4, 2012 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Writing
Tags: college life, editing, novel, Snake, writing

Yes, it’s a gruesome image, but it works so well with what’s happening right now in the story.

I just finished a chapter on Snake, so I thought I’d discuss some of what’s going on in the world of Snake and in my life. First, I’d like to discuss how I’m doing so far in my first NaNoWriMo. So fat, about as well as I could hope. With classes, homework, and the need to relax and sleep (and not always at the same time), I’ve gotten about 4 chapters done, or one a day. Of course, these chapters are all less than six pages, so it’s not something to go wild about. However, I did add a chapter to Part I of the story, and I’ve gotten the first three chapters of Part III finished.

Actually, make that two chapters. I usually look over a chapter again after I finish it, and so far I haven’t looked over Chapter 38 yet. But I don’t think I’ll be changing that much; it’s pretty good as I wrote it.

So, I probably won’t finish Snake by November 30. I probably won’t write 50,000 words either. But hey, I’m getting a lot done, and I’ve gotten to a very important part in the story, one where the Snake’s brutal attacks on the mafia family he’s been stalking is starting to have its consequences.

And none of these consequences necessarily affect the Snake.

So I’ll let you know if I happen to finish Part III earlier than expected. In the meantime, I hope you all are having a good time with NaNoWriMo, and good luck to each and every one of you.

Submitting “Doll’s Game”

Posted: November 2, 2012 in Living and Life, short story, Writing
Tags: college life, editing, Ohio State University, short story, writing

Today I had to turn into my class the short story I wrote, “Doll’s Game”, and can I just say it’s the worst piece of fiction I’ve written since I entered college? I’m not kidding, it’s just baaaad. I even made a point of telling my classmates that. Why do I think it’s bad? Because it’s literary, which I’m terrible at. I seriously prefer a scary story with demons or serial killers, but I can’t submit that sort of story in this class. Otherwise I’d turn in my succubus story for consideration.

But hey, who knows? I may think it’s a horrible story, but my classmates may disagree with me. They may actually like it, and give me helpful suggestions that will improve the story enough that I might want to submit it somewhere for publication. Who knows?

Well, in a week we’ll know what I should do with it, and whether or not I can make a diamond out of a lump of coal. I’ll let you know then.

And speaking of short stories, I’ve got one coming out Monday. Look out for it, it’s a science fiction story called Ripple. I’m looking forward to it.

“The Rape Thing”? Are You High?!

Posted: November 2, 2012 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Reflections
Tags: college life, government, Ohio State University, politics and leadership, proper decisions

I decide to see what’s new in the world before I go to bed and what am I greeted with? Another politician has said something about abortion that’s not only ignorant, but sounds like he’s trivializing the victim’s needs. John Koster, a GOP candidate for the Washington State House of Representatives, said that he only supports abortion when a woman’s life is in danger, and then said “Incest is so rare…but the whole rape thing?…how does putting more violence on a woman’s body and taking an innocent life make it all better?”

What is he smoking?

And his spokespeople may be saying that this guy takes rape seriously, but calling rape a “thing”? That’s not taking it seriously. And violence on a woman’s body? How would you know? Did you ask women if they think abortion is violent? Or did you never consider that maybe carrying the product of a rape to term is a form of violence in itself, it’s so traumatizing to women?

Honestly, I’m getting really tired of male politicians saying these things about women’s bodies and rape and abortion. “Legitimate rape”; “God intended it”; “the rape thing”. When are these men going to realize that saying this sort of stuff is asking for trouble? Really, learn your lessons already.

This brings up another topic I’d like to mention: colleges and rape. I’ve also recently read some articles about how colleges try to cover up rapes and blame the victims…told from the perspectives of the victims themselves. In every case, victims were told by the college administrators and people who worked for them things that confused me.

For example, one doctor asked why a victim didn’t report her rape for months. Apparently to the doctor it didn’t seem logical. Hello? Since when does anyone do anything that makes sense when they’ve just been traumatized and put into deep shock? And asking why a girl is saying she was raped when before the incident she liked the guy and wanted to sleep with him? Well, let’s see…um…he was charming at the coffee shop, but when I told him I wasn’t comfortable doing that after the third date and he just pressed on…are you kidding me?!

I love higher education. I wish everyone had a shot at it. But it’s also, unfortunately, big business. And no business wants the nickname “Rape University”. Now, some colleges do rape prevention, treatment and prosecution better than others. I couldn’t find any statistics for OSU, but I’ve seen posters in several buildings and my dorm about what constitutes healthy relationships and what doesn’t. I’ve also seen classes hosted inside dorms instructing girls on how to prevent being attacked and how to defend one’s self when being attacked. And the Wexner Medical Center has a Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Unit, so that’s definitely a good sign. And I don’t know how often the disciplinary board takes on sexual misconduct cases, but our student code of conduct defines sexual misconduct as tightly as most police officers do. Got to give them credit for that.

Some colleges however, don’t excell in this capacity. On the contrary, they’ll do anything to make their problems go away, even if it means making the victims suffer. Amherst College is a pretty bad offender. There’s even an article about it, which links to another girl’s experience prior to the article (http://acvoice.com/2012/10/23/surviving-at-amherst-college/). I must say, it’s disheartening to see schools put their reputations before their students. If they’d just prosecute these cases for what they are–rape, and not by any other name–then there reputations wouldn’t suffer, they’d grow with the knowledge that the school does not tolerate rape or any other form of sexual assault or misconduct.

So to the politicians and schools, do us all a favor. Stop belittling what women go through. Help them get the services and closure they need. Get educated on the facts. Don’t try to make the problem go away or insist it’s not as big as people think. And certainly don’t say women should live with what happened to them because of a fetus that’s nervous system is underdeveloped is in their uterus or that because of alcohol or they came forward after a certain amount of time they can’t be helped.

Rape is rape. It’s that simple. Preventing it and bringing justice for the victims should not be.

It’s NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth!!!

Posted: November 1, 2012 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
Tags: college life, editing, holidays, novel, Reborn City, scary stuff, short story, Snake, writing

And yet for some reason, it’s celebrated in other countries too. Shouldn’t it be INternational NOvel WRIting MOnth (InNoWriMo)? On second thought, maybe not. That abbreviation sounds worse than NaNoWriMo, actually.

Right, onto the reason we’re reading this post. It’s National Novel Writing Month, when writers buckle down and really put their hearts into their novels. Some decide that this is the time to start what they hope will be the Next Great (insert country here) Novel. Others try to write a novel in only 30 days, doing all the research, writing, and editing in that amount of time. And some, like me, will put their all into their works in progress and edit their on-the-way-to-being-published projects…after they’ve done all their homework.

As you can already tell from this post, I’m already in the novel-writing mode. I had fun in a haunted house last night during Halloween (one of my favorite times of the year), so I’m ready to write scary stuff. I’ve also got a short story coming out on Monday, so that’s sure to be a boost. Yes, there’s a short story of mine coming out on Monday. It’s called Ripple, it’s a science-fiction story about a war with aliens, and I hope you read it and give me some feedback.

I’ll be primarily focusing on my serial killer thriller Snake, trying to write as many chapters as possible (and possibly adding one, if I think it’s appropriate). I’ll also work on my science-fiction novel Reborn City when my friend who’s helping me edit the story gets back to me with chapters (thank you Matt! You’ll show up in the Acknowledgements section in the book when it comes out). I don’t think I’ll owrk on any short stories–except the ones for class and the ones I finished prior to November. Basically, I’ll be doing a lot of work…when I’m not at work or doing school work.

So wish me luck. To all other writers taking part in NaNoWriMo, good luck on your various creative works. Let’s get writing.

Happy Halloween 2012

Posted: October 31, 2012 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
Tags: college life, entertainment, holidays, scary stuff

And what a Halloween it is! Already I am having so much fun! This morning I woke up cackling like a madman! And later tonight–if I can finish my homework on time–I’ll head over to a haunted house not too far from campus and see if I can get scared. Which actually isn’t that easy as I’m the type of person who kind of guesses what’s around the corner at haunted houses and is usually right.

Then again, the last haunted house I went to–on Monday at the Ohio Union–was pretty good, and it even scared me a couple of times, thanks to some misdirection and strobe lights, so maybe the haunted house I’m going to this evening will be able to replicate that fear.

I’m not the only one excited for Halloween though; for the past couple of weeks, my dorm lobby has been a Samhain sight for sore eyes, as you can see from the photo below:

And this one too:

Pretty cool, isn’t it?

Now what am I going as for Halloween. Well, since I don’t exactly have the time or money to purchase a new costume, here’s what I’m going as:

Yep, Jason again. But next year I’ll be going as the Joker, hopefully, so I look forward to making that costume. In the meantime, I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween, don’t eat too much candy, and if you hear any reports about a demonic army appearing in Ohio, that’s probably my doing. Mwha ha ha ha!

Oh, before I forget, here’s some fun videos to help you get into the Halloween spirit. The first is of Marilyn Manson singing the theme song to the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, with the images from the actual movie too. It’s a really awesome cover, and I think you’ll like it as well.

The second is created by Buffy and Avengers filmmaker extraordinaire, Joss Whedon, where he endorses Mitt Romney for President. Why you ask? Because apparently Mitt Romney will put this country on track for a zombie apocalypse. Pretty sweet, so enjoy.

This I Compose by Rami Ungar

Posted: October 29, 2012 in Living and Life
Tags: college life, entertainment, films, Ohio State University, short story, writing

In my documentary class, we had to make a video on how we write, compose, or create literary projects. After we received our grades, we were allowed to upload the videos onto YouTube if we so desired. And so, I uploaded a video onto YouTube for the first time ever. And it was easier than I thought it would be.

The video below is called “This I Compose by Rami Ungar”, and it follows me as I write “Doll’s Game”, the short story I’ve been working on for my creative writing class. My teacher certainly liked it, because she commented on how I was able to keep it from just being a happy nding and how I was able to make a coherent narrative. For all my efforts, sweat, blood, tears, and anything else you can throw in, I got an A, which I’m pretty happy about.

The video isn’t anything fancy compared to what others have made, and it doesn’t have any background music, mostly because it’s hard to find music with the appropriate copyrights that you want to put into your videos. It also has my voice in it, which isn’t exactly musical to listen too. But I like it, and with any luck, you might too.

So here’s “This I Compose by Rami Ungar”. I hope you enjoy it, and I think this is the point I tell you to subscribe to my channel, though I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get more than one video a year up, if at all. I guess it depends on if I can get a video camera, a recording device, a Mac, and time to edit. Anyway, watch the film.

“Are You Autistic Or Something?”

Posted: October 28, 2012 in Living and Life, Reflections
Tags: college life, proper decisions

That was the question I was posed last week. I was telling a guy about some of the stuff I’d published and some of the stuff that will be published and some of the stuff I hope will be published in the coming months. As I told him, I could just see the awe on his face growing, which made me happy because it meant I might have a new reader to be interested in my work, and what writer doesn’t like people to read his work?

And then the guy asks me, “Are you autistic or something?” Yes, he said that to me.

Now, I do have what’s called Pervasive Developmental Disabilities Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS for short), which is a type of disorder where an individual has some of the markers of autism or Asperger Syndrome but not enough to qualify for either of them, and I don’t mind sharing that with people if the subject comes up. And I did tell this guy that, but I was a little taken aback. I mean come on, who asks that?

When I asked him why he asked me, he said, “You’re just doing so amazing things. You just got to have something.”

So apparently he subscribes to the idea that all great artists either have a condition or a trauma. There is some evidence to support that theory: Stephen King saw his friend run over by a train; van Gogh was mentally ill; Sylvia Plath was bipolar; and Anne Rice lost her father to illness. But not all artists are traumatized or have some mental or social problem. My high school art teacher, who is also a good friend and will be doing the cover to Reborn City, has no traumas or disorders, at least as far as I know, and she’s well-known as an artist and jewelry-maker in Columbus. And Lady Gaga may be a little strange, but not because of anything in her past or brain chemistry.

Amd look at me! I may have both a childhood trauma and a condition, but I don’t let them define me, or attribute them as the sole reasons why I write or write as well as I do. Maybe they help, but so does a lot of other factors, especially experience and hard work!

Well, I ended that conversation as soon as possible and left. I didn’t want him asking any other strange questions to me. It made me wonder though: are other people going to ask that question to me? Has anyone else ever been posed that question? For both, I hope not!

If you have any thoughts, please tell me. I’d love your opinion.

I Made Somebody Cry

Posted: October 23, 2012 in Living and Life, short story, Writing
Tags: college life, short story, writing

Under all that makeup is a tortured soul. Or an alcoholic. Or he read something I wrote and was really moved. It’s art, it’s up for interpretation.

Now before you start condemning me for making somebody cry, let me just explain what happened: I was at the computer lab yesterday, where I’m well-known among the staff there. I’d told one of the people there about a week ago about my short story “Aasif” (if you haven’t already read it, then look below, the link to the website where it’s posted and the link to the story itself are there) and he said he’d read it. Not only did he read it, but he sent it around the lab and to the office that overseas the lab as well, which I was very grateful for when I found out.

Yesterday I was talking to my friend and he said one of the staff members from the overseeing office had emailed him saying she’d loved the story so much, and that by the end of it she’d been in tears. Now, as a writer I’m happy that I was able to get this sort of reaction from someone who read my work, but as a person I’m a little worried that I don’t feel bad I made someone cry. I know it’s silly, but it’s true.

Still, the fact that I was able to get such a reaction shows that I’m at least on the right track to becoming a writer. Hopefully I can keep it up, especially with “Ripple” coming out in a little less than two weeks.

Here are the links. Enjoy:

Mobius Magazine: http://mobiusmagazine.com/

“Aasif by Rami Ungar”: http://mobiusmagazine.com/fiction/aasif.html

Rami Ungar The Writer

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