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Saturday, November 28th, 2009
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| Time: | 10:02 pm. |
| Mood: |  restless. |
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Since I haven't updated my actual blog here in for-fucking-ever:
I'm doing NaNoWriMo again. Naturally. I have +14k left to finish and juuuust over two days to finish it in. Worse state than usual. This is what I get for thinking I can manage a family function and writing at the same time when I'm already rather behind and my story is meandering badly.
I keep wanting to write just about everything else, and even came up with an idea for a strictly personal non-fiction book. I do this every year: my focus turns to other projects I'd rather be working on, even though the years I started those projects I was thinking about even earlier projects.
I got home earlier this evening from visiting family and for some reason this always means I am going to be pissy for a day or two. It's worse right now because I'm about to be on the rag. Hate my life. Hate my absence of direction. Hate what little direction I have because it's a terrible direction, but I don't know how to change it. Basically, I hate everything right now.
But I'm gonna fuckin do this word count thing on time, because if I don't I will be even angrier and more filled with self-loathing. So.
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( 1 enjoying tea / Would you like a cuppa?)
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Sunday, August 16th, 2009
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I've been writing, lately. I'm just shy of 18.5k into the Baker Project rewrite. I have not, however, been very good at blogging. Oops.
I'm still around. Terrible at updating, but around.
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(Would you like a cuppa?)
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Word Count: 1,948
Tea Units: 2
Instant Coffee Units: 1
I didn't write all weekend because of various distractions (it was my birthday, and I ended up going out and Doing Things). I decided today that this was okay for a weekend, especially for a birthday weekend, but that with Monday must return Good Habits, and so they have. It's not as much as I managed Thurs. and Fri., but it's still quite a lot. if it were WriMo, I think I'd be roughly on task.
I've also figured out some more little details that will be important later. Thumbs up for this! One less thing to worry about.
I am not sure how long this project will be. Less than 40k, I think. I have the beginning off to a good start, and I've got the ending mostly figured out, but there are some pretty significant middle pieces that I... guess I'll have to figure out as I write them.
It's the most peculiar thing: with a writing project to focus on, life feels more orderly. I start writing again, and the pieces fit together better than they had been. It's a lovely feeling.
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(Would you like a cuppa?)
| Time: | 10:35 pm. |
| Mood: |  silly. |
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Word Count: 3,661
Tea Units: 3
Ahahahaha. I am mad with creative power.
Two excellent days in a row! And done before ten thirty! A wonderful thing, indeed.
That word count doesn't include the Notepad document I have open to make little plot notes about things that won't be revealed until later. I am making this up as I go along, mostly, so some details are still unknown. This is tricky, because some things have already happened that I haven't entirely known how to explain. That's okay, though. I'm kinda rollin' with the idea that the story is telling itself.
Time for bed. More rollin' with it tomorrow. PEACE OUT, YA'LL.
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(Would you like a cuppa?)
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Word Count: 3,187
Tea Units: 2
I haven't written anything in weeks and weeks now, but then while I was in the bath today, just sitting there and thinking, I hit on something and suddenly realized I really, really needed to stop being in the bath and get to my laptop, ASAP. Result!
I have no idea what this story is. It came out of nowhere and now it's here and... yeah. Not entirely sure where it's going, just that I have to follow it to its conclusion. I am afraid to go to bed because I don't want it to run away in the night, but if I don't sleep soon I'm going to be a wreck tomorrow.
My fingers are crossed that I'll have another word count update tomorrow.
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(Would you like a cuppa?)
| Subject: | *SULK* |
| Time: | 10:36 pm. |
| Mood: |  pissed off. | | Music: | Hooverphonic - "Your Eden". |
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It's been over a month since my last update. God, I'm horrid.
I've barely written anything, lately. I'm in the midst of writing down the current outline for the Baker Project so I can figure out how I want to expand upon it -- it's not enough as it is right now. While I'm making progress, I'm also making notes on little things I want to tweak or add, and my inner editor is going "RAWR, you are FAIL and look at what you're doing wrong and" blah blah blah. It's starting to eat at me, so I'm blogging out some of the angries in an effort to make I. E. shut up.
I'm pretty sure I'd feel less awful if I wrote more often. I've let myself get rusty. Just trying to make progress has felt stilted and wrong, and it's making me cranky. I hate my 'voice' -- the way it sounds once it's on the page -- and I hate the words I use because they sound so redundant and I hate the pacing and hate-hate-hate-hate-hate. So. Much. Raaaaaage.
I also want to write a short story for Crossed Genres' Urban challenge this month, but I've been a dry well. I have one story I could submit, I guess, but... I dunno. I'm not sure if it feels polished enough for it. Argh.
Curling up into a ball until the crappy feelings go away would be nice. Getting over whatever this mental block is would be pretty sweet, too.
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(Would you like a cuppa?)
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Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
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| Time: | 3:29 pm. |
| Mood: |  cheerful. | | Music: | Frou Frou - Must Be Dreaming. |
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I'm still around! And I've actually written since the end of November, just sparsely. I wrote a short story whose ultimate purpose is yet unknown (sit and gather digitall dust on my machine? Be published somewhere? Lan'sakes, who knows), and over the last week-ish I've begun rewriting the Baker Project and sending the rewritten bits to a friend for commentary. I am so excited.
What I should do is read the whole thing again and make some notes on what I'd like to change. The early chapters don't have much to worry about, but the later stuff will need adjusting.
Am working on the rewrite of chapter three now. Will probably spend the later afternoon rereading past that to make some notes-to-self on the rest. Hurrah hurrah!
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(Would you like a cuppa?)
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Sunday, November 30th, 2008
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And in the eleventh hour, I emerge victorious!
Word Count: 5237
NaNo Total: 50,034
I was writing up until about ten minutes ago. I've written over the last week-ish, but I kept not updating for various reasons (one of them being family; I was without internet to my laptop while away for Thanksgiving). I was a little worried I wouldn't get it, actually; I decided to accept an invitation to go to dinner this evening, and when I got home I knew I would be cutting it awfully close.
This is the first successful NaNoWriMo where I haven't been done well before sunset. Goodness gracious.
Woo! Yay for me! And congratulations to the other successful WriMoists out there!
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(Would you like a cuppa?)
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Saturday, November 29th, 2008
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Sorry about the absence of posts for the last couple days; I've been without interwebs at a family member's home.
Who thinks they'll be crossing the finish line before midnight tomorrow? I'm currently just shy of 45k, so I've got some work to be done -- but it'll happen, for sure.
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(Would you like a cuppa?)
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Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
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Word Count: 725
WriMo Total: 38,601
I did the word verification today and discovered that the NaNoWriMo site thinks I've written almost 200 more words than Open Office believes. I am not complaining.
I kicked amazing ass at staying on task up until Sunday, at which point I didn't get my word count done before heading to the airport and then only wrote during the hour-ish before midnight in an airport where I couldn't even access the internet. Then I spent Monday screwing around, and basically did the same today. I am ridiculously easy to distract.
I have to write nearly 2300 words a day, minimum, if I intend to make it on time. ...considering that, in years past, I've gotten to this point in the month and had to do four or five thousand a day to keep up, this is nothing. On top of that, tomorrow I'm doing a write-in. I should have little problem pulling my shit together and bustin' through this.
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(Would you like a cuppa?)
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Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
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Word Count: 1709
Total: 31765 (screw graphs)
Tea Units: 1
Hours Slept: 5? (plus snoozing in shuttle/airplane)
Hours Spent In Stressed Panic: Roughly 12
I hate traveling. I love exploring new places, but the airplanes and keeping-shit-together-ness and inevitable sleep deprivation and wandering around airports... I should have gone into a coma by now.
...But I had a word count to achieve. Obsessed? Yeah. But now I'm among friends who kinda understand the obsession, so it's all good.
I've arrived safely in Boston. I now need to arrive safely on an air mattress.
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Monday, November 17th, 2008
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Word Count: 1585
Total: 28434
Too disinterested to go plug it into the word count bar generator today. It's a quarter to eleven and I want sleep now.
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Sunday, November 16th, 2008
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| Subject: | quickie |
| Time: | 9:03 pm. |
| Mood: |  hungry. | | Music: | Lisa Hall - "Is This Real?". |
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Word Count: 1430
Tea Units: 3
Had another "food < writing" session.
...I need to go eat, now.
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Saturday, November 15th, 2008
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Word Count: 305
Tea Units: 1 (but was red tea and doesn't count)
Coffee Units: 1
I am so tired. I woke up at seven today so I could go to a Qigong class. It was very educational, but I didn't fall asleep until probably almost two this morning. I snoozed for five minutes after lunch, and almost nodded off just before the start of our second break (we went from ten in the morning until after five in the afternoon). It was intense. Awesome, but intense.
I was going to go see Quantum of Solace, but the friend I was going with had lost my number and tried to AIM me for it. I didn't get home until after six; we were planning on the 7:30 showing and he lives a little over an hour away. I have to wake up again for round two tomorrow (mostly Q&A), so I decided to postpone instead of just going to a later showing. I need sleep more than double-oh-seven.
All things considered, I'm proud I got even 300 words in. I almost called it quits at about word fifty because I would so much rather go to bed.
...which I'm going to go do now.
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(Would you like a cuppa?)
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Friday, November 14th, 2008
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Word Count: 1200 (perfect!)
Tea Units: 3
What is it about writing that sometimes makes me very, very keenly interested in
1) Studying French
2) Studying acupuncture points
3) Going for a walk
4) Doing yoga
5) Reading a book
...or some other activity not actively related to writing?
Tomorrow is the Absolutely Must Be At 25k mark. On ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) midwest_nano, one of the people posted in a comment (and I reposted in an actual post) that there are two god-like individuals, one of whom has written +300k and another who has written +600k since the beginning of November. These people clearly never sleep or take meal breaks. Nutrients are given intravenously and they are very, very serious about that "I'll sleep in December" thing.
Seeing something like that and looking at my word count makes me feel just a little unaccomplished.
Anyway.
Woo! Just past the halfway mark! I am made of awesome!
I'm also inserting details I hadn't counted on in the outline (which I still haven't fleshed out more of, by the way), which is certainly helping my w.c. but not helping the feeling of progressing anywhere. Hrm.
Eeeeeeeee Boston on Wednesday! I need to get a little ahead on my word count again (I'm only just barely ahead now) so I can do that whole ridiculous amounts of time in transit thing. I leave home at abou 6:30 AM local time; my flight info says I arrive in Boston at five-something, which I'm assuming is local time there, so four-something here. Nine-ish or ten-ish hours just trying to get from the Twin Cities to Boston.
...Which, when you compare it to one hundred years ago, is nothing. Still. I won't have breaks to write and my computer's battery life is "two hours", which equals about one hour when you take into account all the programs that typically run simultaneously. Agh. I should pick up an AlphaSmart. The rechargeable battery option has 300 hours of potential usage. Three hundred. Yeah, that second zero was not a typo.
Oh, and a tech-geek friend of mine who has been fixing my old laptop says he may -- with a hope and a prayer -- have it all back together by Tuesday afternoon. Compared to my new machine, it's a bit of a beater. This only makes it better as a travel laptop.
Lord. I wonder what kind of Strange and Mysterious Things I will unearth from it? I haven't used it since it died in Dec. 2006.
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( 2 enjoying tea / Would you like a cuppa?)
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Thursday, November 13th, 2008
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Word Count: 1751
Tea Units: 1
Nyaha. I was worried I was going to have another slacker day. It was starting to look like it; I found The Great Youkai War on OnDemand (in the free section!), and it's a little over two hours long. I started watching at six PM, at which point my word count was about 600. Yeah, not conducive to productivity, this movie-watching thing.
All better now, though! I wrote. I'm still doing well. I really need to expand on my plot outline, because I'm at that stage.
That can be tomorrow's project.
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Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
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| Time: | 7:06 pm. |
| Mood: |  tired. | | Music: | Jade Cocoon OST. |
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Word Count: 311
Tea Units: 1
Coffee Units: 1
Not bothering with the word count bar today; the word count increase doesn't justify it.
I'm having an "I'm tired and don't care" day. I was up too late last night, and have spent much of the day glancing at the clock and wondering if it's okay to go back to bed, yet. I'm proud of me for getting even a little writing in today, though; I was close to letting it slide.
I did manage to get groceries today. That was badly in need of doing.
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Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
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Word Count: 3994
Tea Units: 1.5
Part of today's word count awesomeness can be attributed to my write-in with Kitty; we did the timed writings to music again. The results:
Aim featuring Kate Rogers, "The Girl Who Fell Through The Ice", 6:12: 293
Emilie Autumn, "Ever", 6:11: 304
Michael Jackson vs Justin Timberlake, "Rock Your Body DJ Raz remix', 6:04: 302
Willa Ford, "A Toast To Men remix" 6:01: 286
Emilie Autumn, "If You Feel Better", 4:49: 200
Which means I still did over 2k on my own earlier today. Hell yes, I rock.
I can already sense that my write-in word counts will give me conniptions when it comes time to edit. There's something about the "Think as little as possible" method that makes writing kind of a pain in the ass -- redundancy, in particular, is something I'm concerned about. I can't remember, when I'm hurrying to write, whether or not I've mentioned whatever I'm talking about. And oh lawd, the typo potential...
But!
I am at almost 22k. I might just hit the half-way mark before we even reach mid-month, at this rate. Perhaps that will be on tomorrow's list of things to do.
...I am so ready for a nap.
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(Would you like a cuppa?)
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Monday, November 10th, 2008
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| Subject: | quickie |
| Time: | 11:57 pm. |
| Mood: |  accomplished. | | Music: | Placebo - "Infra-Red". |
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Word Count: 1927
Tea Units: 3
Sugary pseudo-coffee drinks: 1
Sweeeet.
I rock. That is all.
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(Would you like a cuppa?)
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Word Count: 2,020
Tea Units: 4
As much as I'm aware that word count is the important part, not page number, and that the fonts I've been using (a different one for each character; the narration changes) have been pretty large and therefore take up more space, it really does thrill me to see "41 pages" at the bottom of my OpenOffice document.
I crossed the necessary word count line for the day before seven this afternoon, then decided about half an hour ago that it was important to write more -- I had time, and I had the interest, so why not? I almost missed filling in the most recently added words to my total because I got so caught up in it. I looked at the clock and saw I had three minutes to midnight; it was rather surprising to see how quickly time had flown.
Oh, yesterday I had my first "Food? Psh, whatever" moment of NaNoWriMo '08. I was hungry when I got home from seeing my friend's play, but it was late and I wanted to finish the daily word requirement first. I happen to have some crackers out specifically for such occasions, but I forgot they were there until after I'd made word count -- and then I only had crackers because getting up to make food was a pain and I'd much rather sit here and write more. X3 I am so proud of me.
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ts_brookhouse's journal
exhausted.
excited.
good.
productive.
