Journal

What! Christmas is next week?! but I'm not ready...

2009-12-18T03:15:21Z

So. It's been a busy month since I last posted here. I actually made it to 50,000 words and won NaNoWriMo this year but only after I started adding the notes about what I wanted to do in the rewrite. I found that I had written myself into a corner and that there was just too much exposition that was dragging everything down to a grinding halt. I liked the basic premise of the novel and a few of the characters but I didn't like how my main character was so passive and blah. Oh well, there's always the first rewrite to look forward to, uh, sometime next year, yeah.

NaNoWriMo 2009: Working through the haze

2009-11-18T08:06:41Z

Today I stayed home from work and slept all day. The crud that's been with me for about a week blossomed into a head cold that left me tired and unable to focus. I thought I'd be able to sneak in more words during the day so I wouldn't have to spend a couple of hours at the desk but no deal. I was dead to the world all day and only woke up for brief trips to the bathroom. After almost eight additional hours of sleep I finally woke up, a little woozy but feeling much better. My eyes didn't itch and that post-nasal drip that was driving me batty was gone. Sleep makes everything look better.

NaNoWriMo 2009: Caught up at last

2009-11-16T08:54:04Z

It took a few days and a lot of creative license but I did it, I finally caught up with my expected daily word count at the halfway point of 25,000 words. It was a little dicey and I lost my way a few times (expect a rough outline next year!) but I'm back on track with the next few days' quotas set. I'm trying to get a little ahead of the game here before I have a RL attack next week along with Thanksgiving; it's gonna be close. More to come...

NaNoWriMo 2009: Close to the halfway point

2009-11-14T10:20:45Z

It was a close thing. Yesterday I was this close to calling it quits for NaNo. My eyes felt like sand on ice, my nose kept running, my bunny didn't want to eat, and I hated my story. I can deal with the late nights, the itchy scratchy eyes, and my sick bunny, but now that I hated my story I felt like all my sacrifices was for nought. A big fat zero. Why not call it a day and wait until next year? It was a very low point.

NaNoWriMo 2009: Should I change or should I go?

2009-11-10T10:03:07Z

I flirted with the idea of changing my story's point of view from first person to third person which would've required some major rewriting but would've added much more description and more words to the novel. Then I asked the question "Who am I?" and suddenly I was besieged with all this flashes and stories about my main character and who they were. That settled that, I'm sticking with first person. I added more backstory that explained certain elements made clear and now I know generally where I'm going with this story. That's a relief because I was getting a little dry yesterday and getting tough to pull those words out. Some of my descriptions suck and there's lots I will need to do but for now the story is still going strong. I'm getting close to the point where I need to name my characters (haven't had to use names yet for reasons integral to the story) so that probably will be the next sticking point. Oh well, more fun to come! ;)

NaNoWriMo 2009: Hanging in there

2009-11-09T09:37:10Z

It's been a long day so I'm going to write for a bit then stop. Did another 3000 words but still about a thousand behind what is rec'ed. Story is entering that unknown stage which means I'm thinking too much and not writing enough. Soon panic will overcome all and that will be a moot point.

Saw The Serious Man on Saturday and loved it. It's not for those who can't accept mystery or black comedy; it can be a bit baffling and maddening but I thought it great fun. I also loved the attention to detail. It was scary fun to see all the trappings of the sixties trapped there on the screen. Never want to time travel back then but it was all right to visit. I guess. Scary...

Feeling sleepy now so more tomorrow...

NaNoWriMo 2009: Slow day

2009-11-07T10:07:52Z

Okay, so I only wrote about 900 words tonight but I don't feel too bad since I'm only about 1000 words short of where I'd like to be today. I'm going to be busy tomorrow but I hope I can pump out about the same number; Sunday is the day I'm depending on to catch up. At least that's the plan right now. So long as the story is still up there in my head then all I have to do is coax it out. Here's hoping...

NaNoWriMo 2009: Write or wrong

2009-11-06T09:04:58Z

It was a very good writing night. I managed to crank out 1700 words in 3 1/2 hours and still have more story to go for tomorrow. As I went over what I wrote tonight I realized that this was going to be a long long novel. I don't think that by the time I get to 50,000 words I'll be finished with the story. I have a good idea of the first third of the book which may fill up my quota; I hope I can sustain this pace all the way through this tough month. I guess finding out that my car is going to be all right after all made all the difference in the world. :)

There's an app for that!

2009-11-05T18:40:00Z

A short aside before I dive headlong into NaNo land again. I'm testing the new free Squarespace iPhone app and so far it's a keeper. Being able to post from my iPod touch via wi-fi as well as check the site stats without having to wait until I got onto a computer is a great timesaver. Can't complain. Can't wait to see what future updates will bring; until then I hope this app will help me post more often. At least it will be fun!

NaNoWriMo 2009: Riding the wave

2009-11-05T08:38:20Z

So far I'm chugging right along and I'm doing pretty well on my novel. I did about 1511 words tonight and I still have ideas for the next couple of chapters. My eyes are suffering a bit from constantly staring at the screen so I'm trying not burn myself out too early in the game. Not much more news than that, just maintaining. More tomorrow...