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journal day 1 con.
version of Timetoast is very cool, and I made a very basic timeline simply to experiment with how it worked. I then began working on my story. Hunter is being tossed around in the waves, and contemplating ending the pain of drowning. In the next chapter, Hunter is going to wake up on the beach and realize what he’s stumbled into. I can’t wait to continue writing tomorrow. -
Journal day 1
1/13/14
This weekend, I stayed with my grandparents. We watched the Broncos win, and then went to the comic book shop. After buying a couple Spider Man comics, we went and watched Grudge Match. Words cannot describe how hard I laughed. I went into the movie thinking it was going to be like Rocky, and went out thinking it was like Dumb and Dumber. All in all, I had a great weekend.
When I first got to class this morning, I went and signed up for Timetoast. I quickly found that even the free versi -
journal day 2
Today when I got into class, I first thought, “Crap, I have a test next period.” So naturally, I took a couple of minutes to study some. But after that, I got back on track with my story, and things are looking up for Hunter. He is in the hospital, recovering from the shipwreck. Not too many big things have happened yet. He hasn’t given any thought to where he is yet, but soon he will know that and oh so much more. -
Journal day 3
Today is my birthday (insert whooping and cheering)! When I got to class, I began writing my story. I didn’t write as much as usal though, because I slept horribly last night. I did manage to write the part where Hunter is found and brought to a hospital. He is very awed and yet scared of the strange new place he’s found himself in. Anyway, I’m eager to continue writing tomorrow, where all the strange new ideas of this new place come together! -
Advanced Studies Day 4
Today in Advanced Studies I was very productive. I wrote about two pages worth of my story, and I am giving the reader the history of how the great country of Nickdreagua came to be. It’s a pretty long process. I also worked on some of my social Studies project, because it’s a big project and we don’t have very much time to work on it. Soon, Hunter will adapt to Nickdreagua’s way of life and, eventually, expose them to the rest of the world. -
Advanced Studies Journal Week 1 con.
and titles. It sure is a lot better than the Windows Movie Maker I’ve been using back at my house. I know I’m supposed to give a summary of the week, but to be honest, there isn’t that much to say other than that I’ve written my story and that I’ve got a writer’s block. So, to wrap things up, this is Nick Biesterfeld, signing off. -
Advanced Studies Week 1
It’s been a good week of being productive and such things. I’ve written tons over the course of the week, signed up for Timetoast, except for one thing. Today, I’ve had a bit of a writer’s block. I just couldn’t get the words that I wanted to say out on the paper. So instead of writing, I took some time to learn more about video editing. I used the sample videos that were given by Power Director, and compiled them together to make a short video. I experimented with trimming, special effects, an -
Advanced Studies Journal Day 5
Today in Advanced studies I worked on my story. Hunter is finding his new way of life, and trying to find friends who will help him along. Unfortunately, he’ll soon be making some more. There’s not too much else to say, as I didn’t do much other than write. -
AS Journal day 6
Today, I was very productive. I got the word count for my story all the way up to 2,600! That’s a pretty big accomplishment for me, as I usually don’t write very long stories. I got Hunter to the point where he’s made friends with a bartender, and working as an assistant in return for shelter. However, in the midst of my writing I came up with a plot twist that will shake Hunter’s world more than ever before. However, I don’t want to say it right now because I want to keep it a surprise. -
AS Journal Day 7
In Advanced Studies I continued to write my story. I reached 3,300 words and thirteen pages. Hunter is about to discover that he has a very special skillset, and signed by the secret agency of Nickdreagua. That’s about all that happened to me today, and I don’t really have too much else to say other than that I’m excited for the Super Bowl and go Broncos! -
AS Journal Week 2
In advanced Studies this week, I didn’t do very much. I know I’m supposed to summarize my week, but there’s not too much to summarize when I wrote and nothing else. Honestly, that’s it. I reached thirty eight hundred words in my story, and some action is finally taking place after all the setting up of things. He has already gotten into a fight with a gangster, and has joined the police as a result. I’d say things are looking up for Hunter now that my writer’s block has ended. -
AS Journal Day 8 con.
up to 4200 total. I’m feeling really good about this story, as it’s the longest I’ve ever written. Hunter just progressed from one day to the next. He made it to his first day of work, and he’s going to be promoted by the end of the week. -
AS Journal Day 8
For Advanced Studies today, I just had an average sort of day. I missed yesterday because I was skiing, so I didn’t put in a journal. The main part of why I wasn’t as constructive today as last week was because, well, I haven’t been feeling to well. I wonder if I somehow picked something up while I was in Beaver Creek. So I’m planning to eat lunch and see if I feel better after that before visiting the nurse. So I was a bit slowed down today, but I still wrote about 300 words, which brought me -
AS Journal Week 3 con.
. I also took a few minutes to look at the Super Bowl news, as this is the first time I’ve ever seen the Broncos in the Super Bowl and I’m super pumped. As my sister would say, “They’re the best from east to west, gooooo Broncos!” -
AS Journal Week 3
This week of Advanced Studies was painfully short. On Monday I was skiing, and then I missed Wednesday and Thursday because I had strep throat. But on Tuesday I at least wrote some of my story before I got sick! I got to the point of 4200 words, and then managed to get to Friday. I am working on my story some more, and Hunter is being shown around Nickdreagua. He’s going to fight crime, and be promoted. He’s almost like a superhero without powers. He’ll soon be a Nickdregua Secret Service agent -
AS Journal Day 9
Today has been a slow going day. My writing was hampered by sleepiness and hunger, so I only wrote about two hundred words instead of the usual three to four hundred. However, Hunter is nonetheless still undergoing changes in his life. He is a police officer that is stopping his first bank robbery, and his mother is so proud! (Just kidding. His mom thinks he’s dead. That kind of puts a damper on things.) Anyway, there’s not much else to say. Though I may have done it slowly, I still wrote some, -
AS Journal 10
Today has been yet another slow going day for me. I swear that some days I write three pages and other days I write one. Being a writer is tougher than I thought. But, I finally reached my goal of writing five thousand words. So some good still did come out of this day. I think it may be because Ms. Ingraham is giving us a test today, and everybody says that it’s really hard. But I nonetheless push forward, pretending to be a fearless knight that strikes slow going writing in the face and conti -
AS Journal Day 10 con.
continues to write anyway. Hunter has stopped the bank robbery, but he’s in trouble for not sticking to the plan. But, some good may come out of that to. Little does he know that the government is eyeing him… -
AS Journal 11
Today was a day out of my writing slump. I wrote a good three hundred fifty words, and Hunter is finally being offered a promotion to be a secret agent. Things are looking up for him. I also printed out an assignment due today, and added a little bit to it. I’m very proud of that assignment. Aaaaaand that’s about all that happened today. Honestly. I wrote, printed, and wrote some more. -
AS Journal Week 4
This week of Advanced Studies was pretty good. I didn’t really do too much other than write and be depressed about the Broncos’ loss. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all pretty dull. I just wrote, and that’s all I did, but I didn’t even write very much. I spent more time thinking of what to write than I did actually writing. But yesterday and today were different. Today I wrote about four hundred words, same with yesterday. I was super productive. But really, that’s all I did this week. I w -
AS Journal Week 4 con.
I wrote. And then I wrote some more. Hunter has taken the promotion and starts work tomorrow (or Monday, whichever you prefer). His life was just beginning to settle down, and now he’s a secret agent. Things are moving pretty quickly. Anyway, that all there really is to say, so I’ll just say it one more time: I wrote. -
AS Journal Day10 con.
I only wrote two hundred words. And, that’s about all I have done today. I wrote. I’ll try to come up with some more interesting news tomorrow. -
AS Journal Day 10
Today was another one of my writer’s block days. I still wrote about two hundred words, but that’s not very much compared to other days. Though, part of the reason I only wrote two hundred was because of computer troubles. The first computer I tried said that no logon servers were available, so I logged onto a different one. But that one didn’t have any of my files on it, so I tried three more computers, each of with had no logon servers available. So there. Now you have my lame excuse for why -
AS Journal Day 11
This week was… An interesting week. I had one day of super duper productiveness, two two hundred word days, and I missed a day. My doctor was convinced I had scoliosis, so they sent me to a different location and had me x rayed. Turns out I had the tiniest bend in my spine, and it’s of no concern. But anyway, there’s not too much to say about this week, just as there hasn’t been too much to say about the past three days. I had fun as always, and then wrote. -
AS Journal Day 12
Today was another one of my two hundred word days. I’ve just been super tired and distracted, and I have no idea why. Scratch that, actually. We were bumped off of our flight two nights ago after trying to head home after a soccer tournament in Phoenix. We woke up at five yesterday morning and missed the first standby flight to Denver, then got on one to Albuquerque. We then proceeded to get onto another standby flight to Denver. After getting home at twelve, I promptly slept for three hours. T -
AS Journal Day 11 con.
Then I fell asleep at eleven last night and woke up for school this morning. So, as you may see, my sleep schedule has been rudely interrupted by a flight attendant. In the end, I did manage to get to the big plot twist: Jerry is Hunter’s father. I’ll explain more tomorrow, because I’m running out of time to write this journal -
AS Journal
Today in Advanced Studies I didn’t do much other than write. There were a couple times where I couldn’t think of things to write, so I poked around NFL.com, but otherwise I mainly just progressed my storyline. Hunter is now a full time secret agent, and he has finally found his lost father. I can’t wait to write more tomorrow. -
AS Journal
Today was slow going. I had complete and total writer’s block. So I basically just read over my story and proofread what I had so far. I think it’s good to go over it once in a while, so you get an idea of what your characters were like. I also studied for a short notice test we have in social studies today. The test is on Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., and I feel very well prepared. But all inall, I am hoping that my writer’s block is gone by Monday, and I can resume the writing of my sto -
AS Journal con.
at the Renaissance Fest and they said the same. -
AS Journal
Today in Advanced Studies I did about an average amount of work. I wrote roughly three hundred words. Hunter has just begun his training, and he’s going to become one of their top agents. During my mind rests (yes, that’s what I like to call them), I looked up famous celebrities with my birthday. They include Skrillex, MLK, and Drew Brees. I also looked up my horoscope, which said I was smart and could pursue a career in law or politics if I wished, which is interesting because I got a tarot ca -
AS Journal
Today, I was very distracted. I simply couldn’t write. I poked around, looked at pictures of central America, and cruise ships that might take me there. I want to go there more then ever. I then looked at the price of a Disney cruise of the Bahamas and found that it would cost my family two thousand five hundred dollars. Bit pricey. I did write some, though,. Hunter completed the first day of training and is on his way to becoming a legendary agent of Nickdreagua. -
AS Weekly Journal
This was an up and down week of advanced Studies. I missed one day of it for Ji Li Jiang’s speech, which was very interesting. I was very productive the first two days, writing four hundred words each. The next two days I only wrote about two hundred. I also looked up more cruise ship prices, for I am beginning to really want to go. So anyway, I wrote, and I will let you know if I’m going on a cruise ship anytime soon. -
More Extra Writing
I'm also supposed to write what makes me happy. I'm more happy than I ever am when I am with my friends. It's hard to tell what makes me happier than that. Sometimes I'm just doing fun things with my friends like going to the mall or playing soccer, or sometimes it's being just plain silly and laughing harder than ever before. -
Extra Writing
Mr. donald wants us to write what hurts our feelings. My feelings are hurt when I'm ignored by people that I like or think that I'm close with. It also hurts when I'm bullied, as I was back in first grade. I've always had a problem with shyness, and sometimes people think I'm snobbish or nerdy. -
AS Weekly Journal
Today in Advanced Studies, I worked on my novel while splitting time with studying a script for my social studies skit. I wrote about two hundred fifty words, most of which were quality in my eyes. I then proceeded to study for a skit informing others about the Chinese One Child Policy in social studies. It’s a short script, so thankfully it didn’t take tooo long to study it. I spent the other leftover minutes wishing I could go back to sleep, something else I did over the course of last week. -
AS Jourhnal
3/10/14
Today, I had some awful writer’s block. I wrote maybe a hundred words, some of my worst jaul the whole semester. Hunter made it to his second day of work, and things are going to start getting interesting. Also, to try and get my brain running, I studied some math calculations, partly to help me in math, and partly to help me beat my friend Henry in a game. -
AS Journal
Today, I wrote more of my story. That’s about it. Hunter is on the lookout for new friends, but something just as important is happening now. Hunter has just been promoted to the position of a Level One Agent. That means Hunter has graduated from boot camp, and will finally receive his first Nickdreaguan paycheck. It also means he will be going on some missions, but that’s going to uncover some of the Nickdreaguan government’s darkest secrets… -
AS Journal
Today in Advanced Studies, I didn’t feel like writing. So, I took the time I had to work on some homework for Social Studies and poke around Power Director. I basically finished our project in Social Studies that we have had no time to work on, and I feel like I have a better perception of how video editing works. -
AS Journal
Today, I didn’t write very much. For the third time in the last seven days, I worked on video editing. But I wrote more than usual. I wrote about two hundred words. Hunter actually received his promotion, and his paycheck. I’m about twenty five words away from breaking eight thousand words on the story. Oh, and I just realized that I don’t have a title for it. I’ll come up with one tomorrow. -
AS Journal
Today in Advanced Studies, I mostly just wrote. I looked at a little bit of Power Director and some Major League soccer Highlights, but for the most part I just wrote. Right now, Hunter I preparing for his first day of work as an agent, and also for his very first secret mission. -
AS Journal
Today, I wrote hardly anything. Yes, I know I should have. I guess I was a little distracted by the FACT THAT IT’S ALMOST SPRING BREAK. WOW. Life is good. I still learned some stuff about video editing, though. I also made some preparations for a bet I made with some of my friends about which of our fantasy teams is best. -
AS Journal
Today in Advanced Studies I basically did two or three things the whole time. I wrote about two hundred fifty words, set up my fantasy soccer lineup, and made a tagxedo. Hunter is going to his first day of work as a secret agent, and he has butterflies in my stomach. My fantasy team is looking strong, and I feel like I did a good job on my tagxedo. -
AS Journal
Today in Advanced Studies, I did just about all the same stuff as yesterday. I wrote about the same number of words (about 250), checked my fantasy soccer (briefly, of course), and then just wrote some more. The only reason I wrote so much and didn’t write more than 250 is because I was having some minor writer’s block. Nothing bad, don’t worry. Hunter is about to take his first mission. -
AS Journal
Today in Advanced Studies I didn’t write as much as normal because I decided to take a trip down memory lane. I basically reread my entire story. I feel like I was doinhg etter writing at the beginning than I am now, so I decided to try and re-do some of the style I was using back at the beginning of this semester. I also did write about two hundred words as well. Then in addition to that, I debated which soccer jersey I want to buy. -
AS Journal
Today in Advanced Studies, I mostly wrote, and wished that it was summer vacation already. It’s fun seeing all my friends and stuff, but I am just 200% done with school. There will be a couple things I miss though, like this class. It’s been great just writing all period long, like I did today. Hunter is undergoing the first mission as a real secret agent, and he’s met his two mentors. One is Henry, a nice guy, and the other is Dwayne, a buff mean guy. That’s the simplest way of putting it. -
AS Journal Weekly
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AS Journal
Today in Advanced Studies I did a variety of things. First and foremost, I wrote my story. Currently, Hunter is on his mission, but what was supposed to be a easy task has turned into a kidnapping—and he’s the captive. After that, I worked on my poetry oral presentation for Ms. Eymer’s class. I reviewed my powerpoint and lines, and I feel more than confident about this project. And then after that I started on Mr. Donald’s edmodo snapshot, but I didn’t have much time to do it. -
AS Journal Part 2
sort of cliffhanger.
Actually, come to think of it, isn’t that what all cliffhangers are? Whatever. This has been a very productive week of Advanced Studies, and I’m looking forward to continuing it next week. -
AS Journal
Today in Advanced Studies I mostly just worked on my story. The same goes for what I’ve done this week. I’ve split my time between trying to think of a new revolutionary plot twist for my story to take, while also writing about Hunter’s great adventure. I’ve also started thinking about what the title will be. Right now, Hunter has been tied up by an evil organization, and he’s overheard their plan to toss him in the river, while keeping around one of his mentors for “further use.” So I’ll leave -
AS Journal Part 2
I did enough to say that I progressed my story well. -
AS Journal
Today in Advanced Studies, I mostly just wrote my story. I progressed the current plot a little bit, but for the most part I went back and edited my earlier writing, as to make the current plot more understandable. In addition to that, I daydreamed about September third, when I will be going to a Passenger (my favorite music artist) concert. I’d say that in total, I wrote about three hundred. So all in all, I didn’t have a crazy turnout for my word count, but I did enough to say proudly that I’ -
Novel completion
Have novel completed by this time for publication. -
Final Summary part 2
that takes time.
I spent about twenty five percent of my time this semester writing my story. Though I still haven’t made up a title, I’m sure I will soon. The plot is roughly about a guy named Hunter Ashcraft who is marooned on an island after a shipwreck, until he realizes that he’s actually on an undiscovered utopian paradise. Many things happen to Hunter over the course of the story, which include finding his supposedly lost father and becoming a secret agent. I usually end up changing my i -
Final Summary part 3
my idea for the ending every couple of weeks, but as of now my idea is that he will eventually uproot the corruption at the highest levels of the island’s society, learning a valuable lesson in the process.
The other quarter of my time was spent learning video editing. I already knew the basics of it from the time I’ve spent on my own, like how to trim, or add music and timing. What I did learn was how to add in new effects, or change the lighting and shadows digitally, and just get an idea of -
Final Summary Part 5
that I’ve taken this class, I feel just that much better about the future, and sincerely hope that the class is kept running. -
Final Summary Part 1
This has been one of my best semesters yet. I often don’t work as well in a group of other people, so being able to just work on something I love has been great. Over the course of the semester, I have roughly divided out my time by either a) learning about the ins and outs of video editing, or b) writing my novel. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish my novel by the end of the semester as I was hoping, but I’m not surprised that I didn’t. My goal was to write a real, actual sized novel, and -
Final Summary part 4
of how much is possible with a decent video program. I’m looking to continue this learning experience over the summer, and I’m very thankful that I was able to poke around with Power Director.
In the end, I think it would be great if the Advanced Studies class is continued. I have had an incredible time making friends, learning new things, and being independent. The class does a great job of mixing fun, work, and learning how to do things without a babysitter by your side. Now that I’ve taken t