So Many Words, So Little Time

That clacking sound is me, typing until my fingerd sieze up

2011-11-30T07:52:00.001-08:00

Ok...Here we are again. Day 30. It's been, for me, rather a weird NaNo season. More details later tonight/tomorrow. But for now, my book's at 22,038 & I've got work to do.

It's alive....Alive!!!

2011-11-27T17:25:00.000-08:00

So this NaNo is going a bit differently. I stalled, HARD, right after starting. I hit 5k....then nada. Not that i wasn't writing, I was, just not on my book. The book was illusive, nebulous and I simply had no clue where to go with it. Now, after weeks of nothing, I'm writing on it again. I'm still not sure where it will end up, but I'm working on a scene at a time and that seems to help.

As an added bonus, I folded in a couple of short stories I've done recently (both are my work & were created during November, so they count) and between them and the writing I've done in the last couple of days I've gone from 5k to just past 18k.

50k's a lonnng way off yet, but seems nowhere near as unattainable as it did even yesterday morning.

The Story So Far

2011-11-04T03:48:00.000-07:00

We're half way through Week One (I know, right?! Where'd it all go?!?) & I'm a bit behind. I'm also not tremendously worried about being behind. NaNo is, after all, a marathon, not a sprint. But just what the heck is my problem? Well, it's like this, I quite stupidly started with no characters & no plot. Which is pretty thin, even for a total pantser like me. What i did have was a picture in my head, so I started with that, just describing what I saw & branching out from there. And, at least to my mind, it's some pretty interesting stuff. I've got my main character intro'ed, along with a couple of secondaries &, though he hasn't made a physical appearance just yet I've referenced heavily on another char.

Part of my problem, besides having to pull every little thing from the ether, is new worlds. Every job or title or gadget has to be named & described because I just made it up. And then once it's in the book & still fresh in my mind, it has to go in my Notes file so 15 or 20 pages down the road I remember what everything did/was called/etc. It's interesting making stuff up from scratch, but it takes a minute.

I'm also considering doing a few illustrations to go with; my main, her with her brother, at least one of the ships, a few of the locations & gadgets. We'll have to see what my imagination & skills can come up with.

TIll then, True Believers...

Night One

2011-11-01T04:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, made it to 1291. I'll finish to at least 1667 after a proper, non sugar based snack & some nap time. My brain's toast.

G'night world.

Words

2011-10-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

In *glances at the clock* 45 minutes I'm going to start my new book. I say 'new' because I write one, or at least part of one, every year & have since '03. I, and at last count a couple hundred thousand other people, subject ourselves to this peculiar insanity ever November by trying to write a whole novel before the month is out.

The official target is 50,000 words. And if you think that sounds crazy or impossible, know that you're not alone. Every year people from supporters to bloggers to even the participants themselves think NaNoWrriMo (The National Novel Writing Month, nanowrimo.org) is insurmountable. It certainly sounded that way to me when, all those years ago, my friend IMed me, frantic, a 9:30 Halloween night going "OMG! I just agreed to do this thing & you have to do it with me!!" I'd never heard of NaNo (which was in its third or forth year, I think, by that point) & had never written, even collectively, 50k words. I didn't think I'd ever be able to finish, and as it happened, I was right...that year. My first NaNo novel was about 13k & change. Nowhere near the mark, but more than I'd ever written on anything in my life & I was amazed I'd managed it. Since then I've had varying degrees of success each go 'round (I skipped '07 entirely, I just blanked so hard!). Thus far I have two wins to my name, but even on years I didn't I always meet someone new, I always learn something I hadn't known before & I always get, at least part of, a whole new book. And so long as those three things keep happening, I'll keep coming back every year, win or lose.

So why am I telling you all of this? Well, for one, I have *glances again at the clock* another half an our before Kickoff in my timezone & I've got a bit of nervous energy to burn. For another, I just like words. I think they're important. Linguistics, the very study of language, is a branch of philosophy. Words aren't just random sounds & shapes that happen together, they're the iconography of thought. We, as a species, are communicative. Storytelling's in our blood.

Language, it seems, has been getting the bum's rush of late. Soundbites, TXTspeak & life in under 140 characters is becoming the way of things. It doesn't have to be like that. Words have power, they're living, evolving things. Don't believe me? Every year a group of words is deemed archaic enough to be pulled from the dictionary, while new ones, and indeed new meanings to old ones, replace them. When was the last time someone said something that totally made your day? When was the last time a word hurt? They say sticks & stones may break bones, but words will never hurt you, I think they have that backwards. Physicality comes & goes, but the marks from words can last forever.

So, in honor of NaNoWriMo, choose your words with a little more care, write something longer than a tweet, fatten up your vocabulary. You can do it. You may not know it, but you're a born storyteller.

Another Year, Another Book

2011-10-31T19:02:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or did Kickoff Night come up out of nowhere this year?? Yes, logically I knew it was always there on the horizon. I tend to start mulling my next novel over just after my birthday in August every year, but for some reason this year's just went from a hazy shape in the distance to standing there staring me in the face in, seemingly, nothing flat.

So from my timezone Kickoff's just under three hours away. I have only the vaguest inkling of what my book's about this year, but that's not at all unusual for me. This year it's less about the words in my head than it is a picture that's been parked in my mind's eye for a couple of weeks now. I have this image of a girl looking out from the front of a boat & as the scene pulls back you see it's a flying ship & back further still that it's part of a fleet of flying ships cruising over a steampunkish cityscape. So, I'm going to start with the girl. She's clearest, then hopefully working on her a bit will help me find who this flying navy is & where they're going. Wish me luck. Till then, I have a couple hours left (and am feeling surprisingly calm considering I have a basically blank slate, lol) & there's a few things I have left to do before I start.

See ya after ;)

Looking Glass

2011-10-28T03:48:00.000-07:00

So, I said I'd been writing 'real' things lately, here goes. I posted this elsewhere & have gotten a number of really positive responses off it. I hope it'll speak to somebody here as well.

“I can’t” she pleaded, shaking her head frantically. “Please.”

She could tell from the look in his eyes that he was going to stick on this one. Her stomach knotted as she looked again at the huge mirror propped up against the wall opposite the bed. When she’d come to see him tonight, he’d been all smiles, greeting her at the door with a warm hug & a soft, deep kiss. She loved being wrapped up in his arms like that, the physicality of his presence, his scent & warmth like nothing could ever get to her.

“I have a surprise for you.” He smiled down at her, just slightly. There wasn’t much difference in their height, but to her he always seemed bigger. His presence seemed to extend beyond his body, sometimes protective, sometimes looming.

“A surprise?” They gave each other little gifts from time to time, but not all that often. She didn’t ask him for gifts & so to her meant all the more when he thought of her. “What is it?”

“Well,” he gave her that fondly amused smile he used whenever he thought she was being cute. “If I told you,” he took her hand & started walking through to the bedroom, “it wouldn’t be a surprise now would it?” She’d smiled, her mind wondering what he had up his sleeve. They’d been talking about investing in some new toys & she wondered what he’d gotten when she saw it.

The mirror.

It was as tall as she was & half that wide. A flat plane of shiny, crystal clear glass framed in flat, coffee brown wood as wide as her palm.

She shook her head. “No.”

Without raising his voice, seeming at all angry, disappointed or even surprised he simply said “yes.”

“I can’t” she pleaded, shaking her head frantically. “Please.” He took the bag from her shoulder & slid off her jacket to leave them on the chair by the door. Stepping over, he locked the door & turned, leaning against it, arms crossed over his chest. He’d decided. No more running away, not this time.

“You can do this.” She shook her head again. Hair tumbled around her pale face, her eyes filling with tears that hung, welling & glistening along her lashes. “Little one…” he crossed the room, tipping her chin up to face him. “Do you trust me?”

She nodded, a little skitter of tears played down her cheek. “You know I do.” He smiled again at this & kissed her forehead.

“Alright. Do you trust that I always have your best interest at heart & wouldn’t put you through something if I didn’t think you were strong enough to take it?”

She nodded again & he all but purred, “good girl.” The effect was immediate. Just like she always did at the sound of those cherished words, she sighed, her eyes drifting closed for breath as the deep feeling of being loved washed over. He could see her relax. “Now,” he walked her over until they were both standing in front of the mirror. He stood behind her & pointed.

“Tell me what you see.” He looked at their reflection in the glass, scowled & gave her a quick whack on the behind. “This only works if you open your eyes, you silly bitch.” The word may have been harsh, but the way he used it was as a fond exasperation. She opened her eyes.

“So. What do you see?” There wasn’t any judgment, any expectation, just a curiosity. He’d always told her she was gorgeous, but she never believed him. He knew from the second he met her that she had issues with her body. Aside from the idea that nearly all women did in some manner, it was the way she carried herself, like she was trying to disappear. It’d taken a fair bit of time to build the kind of trust that allowed her to be naked with him, but he’d been patient. She’d been worth it. Apart from anything else, he thought she was amazing even if she’d had three heads & scales. She was clever, had a wicked sense of humor & possessed quite possibly the kindest heart he’d ever known. To him, she was beautiful from that alone, but he also loved her body & it killed him that she couldn’t.

“A woman about ready to unlock that door & walk out till you get rid of that” she pouted without enough vehemence to turn word into deed.

Twisting a section of hair in his hands he made certain she wouldn’t go far. “No you don’t, girl. Tell me what you see.”

She heaved a sigh. “Ok. Fine. I see me. Are we done?” He caught her reflected gaze and shook his head. She sighed again, not as haughty this time, more resigned. “I see me. Standing there. Looking just….all…blah!” Her hands waved in an empty gesture to emphasize the point.

“Take off your clothes”. He didn’t raise his voice, but there was no mistaking it as anything other than an order. She lingered a moment trying to figure a way around this, but he gave a tug at her hair. She offered up just the slightest hiss of pain & the reflection of her eyes started daggers at his, but she started to undress.

“I don’t see the point in all this” she grumbled.

“That’s fine. I do. And you will, now” he punctuated this last with another tug, “off.” She whimpered ever so slightly & for half a moment his resolve started to weaken. They could just call it all off. He had her here, fistful of her long hair tangled in his hand & that whimper…that whimper told him all he needed to know. She’d felt that jolt of pain gone to need, he could see it in her eyes as she slipped off her clothes. He drew a few breaths to clear his mind. He could always have her whenever he liked & indeed he would, but first, they had some things to attend to.

“There” she said once her outfit was pooled around her feet. “Happy?” She wouldn’t look at him, wouldn’t look at the mirror.

Was he happy? His sweet girl was naked before him what was there to not be happy about? She may be staring through the clock radio on the table, but he looked at her. She was magnificent. He knew, obviously, what he issues were. They were hardly a mystery & undressed they were impossible to miss. He got, logically, why her body bothered her. She didn’t look like she was “supposed” to. He was never bothered by that, he didn’t want a centerfold, he wanted a real woman & here she stood. He wouldn’t have changed her for a moment, even if he’d had the power to do so because how she looked had shaped how she saw the world & the person she’d become. But, while he knew generally what she found fault with, he didn’t know specifically what it was she saw when she looked in the mirror.

He took her chin in his fingers & turned her head back. Leaning in close he asked “what do you see?” She sniffled. Her gaze was set firmly on the floor and she took in a shaky breath as the tears started. He pulled the long hair back in soft caresses, till the room light shone across her bare skin. He knew that about her too, the hair. It was long, down past her waist, perfumed & this mix of dark blonde that shone with a bit of red in the right light. It was also her cloak, her security blanket, her shield against being seen by anyone. “Well?”

She looked up, gaze creeping up slowly from her feet till at last she looked herself in the eyes. She gave up a tiny, choked sob & shook her head vehemently. Behind her, he nodded & pulled the loose strands back over her shoulders. She sucked in a shuddering breath & finally answered “a mutant without the benefit of cool superpowers?”

He scowled. “Be nice, that’s my girl you’re talking about.” She trembled slightly as the tears came in earnest.

“Tell me what you see.”

“You KNOW what I see!” she railed.

“No,” he assured. “I really don’t. I know why you don’t like yourself, but that’s not the same as what it is you see when you look,” he pointed to the mirror, “at that amazing creature there.”

“Don’t say that!”

“Say what?”

“That I’m amazing. I’m not!” she sobbed, Her pale face had gone pink & hot, fat tears streamed down her cheeks. How could he make her do this?! How could he say he loves her then torture her like this?! She’d take ropes or pain or blood, anything but this. “I’m not amazing, I’m not beautiful, I’m not gorgeous, I’m…”

“What?” He could feel her, read her signs. She was teetering on the cusp of something big.

“UGLY!” she shouted. All thought of her bashfulness or shame forgotten at as she railed at him, at herself, at the cruel whims of fate that left her locked in this…this thing she had to walk around in. “How could you?!” she cried, wracking breaths shaking her pale form. “How can you stand there with a straight face & call -me- beautiful?! How can you look at…at THAT” she waved towards her reflection “and say it’s anything like pretty. It’s not! I’m not!!”

Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her close as he murmured soothing words into her hair until the wracking sobs gave way to little sniffles again. Looking at their reflection together in that moment, all he could do was sigh with such a deep sadness for all the things that had made her hate herself so much. She didn’t take compliments well, but he gave them anyway. He’d hoped if he reassured he how much he adored her, luscious outsides right down to her deliciously wicked mind, that she’d begin to understand, to accept. And it did help, somewhat. But she still got that look when he told he how much he loved her looks, that mixture of fear, expectation of mockery & the thought she was half a breath away from calling him out for being a liar. It broke his heart every single time.

“Alright,” he began, soft trying a slight change of course. “Let’s try this, keep your eyes closed.” This was met by the tiniest whimper of gratitude. “I want you to think of something for me for a minute. Think about the museum.” He knew she loved the museum. Whenever they went she’d drag him excitedly through it pointing out this or that & marveling over the other. She was all wide eyes & big smiles whenever they’d go & that was just how he liked to see her, content, happy & in the moment.”

“The museum?” she asked. She couldn’t begin to guess what that had to do with anything. Yes, they’d gone to a Primitive Art exhibit last month, but was this really the time?

“The museum” he replied, clearly certain. “Close your eyes & tell me about the exhibit we saw last time.”

“The ancient art thing?”

“Indeed. Tell me about the pieces.”

“What? I don’t understand, what-” he cut her off.

“Be good & do what I tell you, hm?” he requested, leaving a small kiss atop her head. “What was the art about?”

She was puzzled, but considered the question. “Different things really. Gods, kings, animals…” she trailed off. It was a big subject to cover after all. Different people had covered a whole array of subjects & styles from a wide variety of materials & skill levels.

“And women?” he prompted.

“Well, yes. I suppose so. Goddesses mostly.”

He murmured “Mmhmm…” & kissed her shoulder. “Go on.”

“Well….w-what about them?”

“You tell me? What did you like about them?” He already knew the answer of course. They’d lingered a fair while in front of a collection of goddess statues & he’d seen the look on her face, but he wanted to find out if she understood why she was so drawn to them.

“They’re…” she heaved a sigh. “This is silly. They’re just old statues.”

“It’s not silly. These are just old statues now, but once they were the ideal of physical womanhood & you know this. You stood rhapsodizing in front of that display case for how long?” He gave a little chuckle at the memory & kissed the top of her head. “So, what did you like?”

“I…” she stopped, picturing in her mind & giving the question serious consideration for a moment before answering. “Well, it depends on where they come from.”

“Fair enough. Go on.”

“Well, some were all yoni & Shakti, just all about the feminine & divine. They were open &…& beckoning. Some were maternal, all ripe & full & giving. Some were powerful.”

She could feel him nod behind her. “Good. What made them powerful?”

“They were…” she searched for the right word to describe these amazing little women in stone & clay & metals. “Unabashed, I guess.”

“Yes they were” he purred behind her. Now they were getting down to it.

“They didn’t hide anything about themselves, I guess. They were just…all curves & arcs & inviting bits.”

This one made him laugh & he gave her a little hug. “Indeed they were. Now, open your eyes.” She did as she was told, slowly, almost reluctantly. She’d calmed down during their somewhat unorthodox interview & she wasn’t keen on confronting the sight before her again. But she found, when she did look, that her perspective had altered, even if only a little. “Does that description sound like anyone we know?” he teased.

She stared into the glass, the echo of goddesses burning fresh in her mind & was amazed to discover similarities to the woman staring back at her. “Me?”

“Of course you, silly girl. Look” he pointed. “Now I’ll grant you,” he laughed, “you may not be gaping & totem like, but the basics are all there.” He ran a hand along each generous curve of inviting, pale flesh as he spoke. “Those luscious hips, the soft tummy, the full breasts…” he landed a sound whack across her backside, “that wonderful, soft ass. Face it, little one. You’re what those people were sculpting about.”
She couldn’t see it as clearly as he did, but she could see it, if only just a little. She supposed, if she were really honest with herself, that lush curves she’d always so loathed as being too this or not enough that did look like a warm, round fertility goddess.

“All those long years of history, sweet girl, you were what the ideal was. And even now,” because he knew she’d go there if given the chance, “in a world that holds up girls that’re just bones & hair & calls them beautiful, it’s you, this body, this shape that people go to see in museums & you’re what they want to snuggle up with in bed.”

“You may not be model perfect, but I don’t want that, I want you. Because,” he laughed, “I’m sorry if I sound a little Hallmark here,” she giggled at that, “you’re perfect to me. Ok? I need you to understand that, girl. I don’t put up with you until something better comes along. You are the main event. And I know you don’t always like your body, but I love it enough for both of us on those day, ok?”

She nodded & despite her initial response did seem calmer, more at peace. “I try to remember, I really do.”

“I know you do, love. But where you see too much weight, I see a girl that lets me feed her & isn’t afraid to eat & laugh & fuck! You may think you’re too heavy when you look in that mirror, but all I see is a warm, soft, gorgeous body I can’t keep my hands off of. All the pieces of your life came together to make the woman in the mirror, even the bad bits. I know you’re not happy somedays, but just remember, I wouldn’t want you any other way because I love you. Right here, who & how you are. Not who you might be. Besides,” he turned her to face him & placed a long, deep kiss on those sweet lips. “That amazing body can do oh so many things I love. C’mon…” he took her hand & settled her to kneel in front of the mirror so she could watch before dragging a chair over to sit in front of her. His desire for her was evident even before the belt was loosened from his pants.

“Let me show you the other reasons I love that body.”

Bad, Bad Blogger

2011-10-28T03:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know. I'm a lousy blogger. But, take heart, True Believers, because I think I may have found a solution. Apart from the fact that NaNo season is once again upon us (and as usual, I have no clue what I'm writing, I have faith though. The words will come!), don't think that my skills have been mouldering away in the back of my brain. In fact, I've been trying something new & wholly unexplored by me until recently; nonfiction. Always before I'd stood safely behind my spacemen, my magic princesses, my rapscallions & superheroes tossing out whatever crossed my mind, but not recently. For the last few weeks I've been writing as & about myself, and though it's sometimes been incredibly difficult, I'm really liking it. It's like diving into the deep waters of Lake Catharsis & not caring in the slightest how far I drift from shore.

Always before I liked the idea of journaling, but when pressed to do it, my enthusiasm waned because, I felt, I had nothing to say. Since taking this new literary path I've discovered I was wrong. It's not that I have nothing to say, rather the reverse, it's that my brain is just so entrenched in my default responses; not being honest (I don't out & out lie, not really, I'm just not very forthcoming), hiding in the comfortable safety of all my imaginary people & camping firmly behind all my nice, thick was I'd spent soooo much time & effort building up around myself. But with some of the things I've written lately, I'm feeling a little braver. Maybe I'm not quite out of my tall tower quite yet, I'm working on it. So, if anybody's still out there, keep reading.

If you're interested, I've recently finish 'Son of Neptune' a Heroes of Olympus book & am currently splitting my time between 'The Elegant Universe' & 'Torchwood: Something in the Water'.

Time to switch it up a bit

2011-04-01T01:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, so let's take stock; I'm a -bit- better about coming within spitting distance of a schedule, I pounce on the chance for "not junk" when the opportunity presents itself, but there's always room for more, I still mostly just write for my game not myself & my yoga mat is still packed up, but I have been reading more. So all in all, not tremendous strides, I'll grant you. Maybe I should have put 'work on follow through' on the list?

It's just turned April now & I'm thinking of trying something new in hopes of getting my mind all excited about a project again. I think I'm going to take a whack at Script Frenzy this month. If that sounds a bit waffling, I don't mean it to, I just know I'm going to have to write around some pretty heavy family obligations this month as I've got family coming in from out of state & across the globe. Shiny new projects are great, nieces that live in another country come first tho', sorry.

If you've never heard of Script Frenzy, it's another project done by the people that created NaNo. The point is simple, try to write a 100 page script (screenplay, stage play, teleplay or graphic novel) in April. While I'm a big movie fan, I don't actually read scripts, but I've got a shelf full of graphic novels. I'm thinking it'll be a companion piece to one of two stories I have started already. It'll either be the baddies' take on things from one world or the full Paper World story from a book-world-within-a-real-world thing I've got started. I'll probably use rough sketch filler art for the time being & do the full graphics after the text is done.

And yeah....I can do my own art. I'm cool like that.

Ok kids, just a quick stop in to let the two of you still out there know that I'm not dead yet. Hope things are well in your corner of the world.

Currently reading: 'School's Out Forever' by James Patterson

And You Thought I Forgot

2011-01-05T22:40:00.000-08:00

A new look for a new year. Whatcha think? I'd been considering spiffing the place up for a bit now. Anyway, how were your holidays? Mine went fine. Everybody ready to get back to work?

Went digging through my computer the other day & found notes on old projects that hadn't made it off the ground, so I might take a whack at one of them here soon. One is a fantasy about a little girl's favorite storybook & what happens when the story takes on a life of it's own. The other is about people from Earth going out among the stars & trying to establish colonies. We'll see who takes off first.

Here's my quandary: why is it so (comparatively) easy to get & keep writing in Nov, then that ambition/drive/whatever you want to call it all but evaporates before Christmas & refuses to regroup again till nearly Halloween. What's up with that?? I want to write something & I'm fully aware that there's no fiction faeries coming to save me, but man... come Christmas I turn into such a cliche! I open a file & then do everything under the sun to not write. I hem & haw, I worry over little incidentals, I convince myself it'll just completely suck before barely putting down a word....Ugh! I know logically the answer is 'shut up, sit down & write!'. I get that, honestly I do. But I also know the reality is that good habits are horrible to get started & far too easy to lose while bad ones are just the opposite. So, how do you do it? How do you keep form getting mired in fear or doubt & keep yourself on task??

I'm not going to use the word 'resolution' because I feel in a lot of cases, declaring a New Year's Resolution is roughly the same as tattooing your significant other's name on you someplace; it may be well meant & wholly valid at the time it's done, but in the end it's a bit of a death knell for whatever laudable cause you started with. So, rather than resolution, let's just say there are things I'd like to see done this year. Just a hopeful direction. Maybe that'll help...*shrug* again, I guess we'll see. So for whatever it's worth, here's what I'd like to get done this year.

- Eat more actual food & less junk
- Get myself on some sort of workable schedule, rather than my 'go till I crash, yeah, I'll eat at some point' kind of setup I've had going for far too long now
- Write, something, somewhere, EVERY DAY
- Finish, completely edited, rewrites & all, at least one of my current/previous projects
- Get back into doing my yoga at least a couple times a week & ideally on a daily basis.
- Read more regularly. I do read a fair bit, but it's a couple of books straight through, then a couple months of nothing at all.
- Read more varied things; books with space ships, superheroes, robots or dragons on the cover are great, but every other book or so, reading something different probably wouldn't kill me.

So...I think that's fairly doable, don't you? How 'bout you guys? Any goals for the new year? Any fun new projects you're writing on?

Now that I prettied the place up a bit, anything else you guys would like to see here?

Currently Reading: 'Fragile Things', and 'Smoke & Mirrors', both by Neil Gaiman
*Giggles @ 'Shoggoth's Old Peculiar' & 'We Can Get Them For You Wholesale'*

"I'm not dead yet....I'm feeling much better!..."

2010-12-10T23:55:00.000-08:00

Dear Blog, I’ve missed you. I know it may not -seem- like it as I haven’t been here in…*checks her calendar* about a year, but I truly have. I didn’t do a post NaNo wrap up last year because….oh hells, bells. I don’t even remember why, but I’m sorry for it. This year tho’, went much better. More on that in a bit. And since then, well a lot of my online life slid by the wayside. I wish I had a better reason; I.e. I was out having a real life, but alas…no such luck. What I’ve had instead was a months long (and currently ongoing) cyber exile. No ‘net at my house anymore, as it turns out after a bit of digging around, not a particularly good replacement option unless I a) magically fall into a pile of money or b) move, which would pretty much require the assistance if point A, come to think of it. The last few months I’ve done varying degrees (and had varying degrees of success with) ‘netting via my cell phone, but I don’t know if you’ve ever had the delightfully placid & fun filled occasion to deal with the world three slippery -in & back out again whether you want it to be or not-never hitting the right button on the frakkin’ touchscreen- inches before but it’s not the easiest way to handle things. And further to this, if you have another option short of running to the actual, physical home of the site you’re looking for, snapping Polaroids of their screens, running home, compiling your response & running back again: Don’t. It’s fine for the odd check of a movie time or looking something up in a pinch, but as a steady way to deal with your virtual life…..*shudders & groans*

Still, my game & my friends & had to have some semblance of online presence for NaNo so here I am, slowly but steadily working one sphere back into the fold of my day after another. Yes, I‘ll likely do a lot of blogging via typing it up on the laptop, transferring it over to the phone & posting from there, but…You’re probably worth it ;)

So this year’s NaNo went great! It was, dare I say (tho’ never out loud until I was finished lest I completely jinx myself) the smoothest I’ve ever had. I did win (topping out at 52,998, tyvm) & pulled out what I think could be a completely workable story. I had one character completely launch himself into the middle of a scene he was supposed to be just above ‘scenery’ for, so that set me back a bit while I worked around it a while to find a way to redo the exchange that had been planned. But, to his mobile scenery turned promising secondary char credit, he also dug me back out of that hole. He quite conveniently behaved like a complete jerk two scenes later & gracefully stepped out of the rest of the story till the epilogue (woohoo!) at which time, since he was so helpful, eventually, I squared things with him & my Main char & all is right in their world.

I think the bit I was most jazzed about was this; I wrote every single day. No biiig leads like I’d occasionally gotten in the past, but also, no giant stalls either (suck it, Week Two!). It was reasonably awesome, I’d start -for whatever reason- about 10pm every night (only skipping off for Thanksgiving itself & even then just because for me it had been a ridiculously long day at that point & my brain had melted) & wrote just about the 1667 goal every night before midnight. As pe3r my NaNo usual, I made a new friend & learned something new about writing. This year’s lesson; The Fine Art of Writing Around the Edges. When I got stuck, instead of just stalling out, I’d hop to a different char or just work on some random, incidental corner of the scene I was stuck in, writing away from the main action & just moving around till I became unstuck. The lengthy list of things a bartender’d found on the floor after closing, the collected bits & bobs of a workroom table, a bit o mental venting over the inherent jerkiness of a certain bit of mobile scenery…whatever just to keep the words going. Wildly simple concept, I realize, but I hadn’t been able to do it before. I’d get stuck & just…spin my wheels in that spot. Writing around the edges is much better & if you’ve never tried it, do so next time you’re stuck on something. It’ll keep the story moving & sometimes you can toss out some pretty great stuff.

I’ve been thinking, tech imposed hiatus aside, I’ve had this blog a while now & it might just be time for a li’l updating. No set plans, yet, but I might (given enough actual computer time in the near future) change around the look and/or the layout some. I’m in the mood for new things. Beyond that, I’d like to start getting back in to regular posting, maybe make up some more recurring features. I’d ask you, dear blogosphere, what you’d like to see; current reading list/reviews, excerpts, tips, prompts, links, just my brain dribbling out here on the page…er, screen a bit more often, but you have (quite sensibly) wandered off, my beloved what? 3 readers, lol. That’s ok, tho’. Between rewrites on my NaNo; I’ve already spellchecked, did chapter breaks & begun outlining what’s currently where & what got cut for time or could do with some filling out, etc., & posting more often I hope I can keep writing daily. Why is it good habits are so hard to keep & bad habits are so hard to lose?? I’d like to get this notion started before the new year, hence my not so brief pop in today, because I know from past experience that my NaNo high (& ambition) fade all too quickly. A well intentioned ‘oh, it’s cool. I’m just gonna let it sit till after Christmas, then see what I can do with it’ never seems to pan out once the tinsel & cookies disappear. That, I suppose is my resolution this year, to keep a daily writing regime up of some sort. Either here or working on my current (or past, or -dare I say- maybe even NEW stories)…just something beyond game writing. Game stuff is a fairly regular gig & I do love my chars (I’ve been writing Lolly for more than FIVE years now!), but at the end of the day, they’re not mine. And I’ll never be able to use them as mine. And I think, should I manage to keep to my big ideas possibly scrape up a li’l more courage, I might like to actually use my own writing for something out there in the world someday.

And finally, for today at least, I’m finding myself with a bit of a quandary. I think I might have to pack away all my Neil for a bit, wrap my beloved Hitchhikers' Guide in my towel, banish my Blackadder, hide all the Harry under the nearest available invisibility cloak. I’d leave all the Alan Moore tho’ because he’s both remarkably brilliant, and just a little bit scary ;). Pack all my Whoniverse…my Who…my Queen…my Stones…my…. Up in the TARDIS & send it all off on its own adventure. Maybe. Just for a little while.

My internal monologue, that little voice that tells you ‘hey, that’s a cool line, I should use that somewhere’ or ‘don’t forget to get X at the store’, ‘ugh…do I really -have- to get up’ and the like has started to develop a British accent.
In case you don’t know, I live in A Hole In The Cornfields, America. We are, for the most part, not a very British bunch really. And yet…lol, there it is. Not saying it’s a bad thing, just odd, rather like a pink towel instead of a blue one. And no, I will not sample it here as I’ never said it was a -good- accent.

So there’s me. How’re things with you? Read anything good lately? Write anything good lately? Heck, write anything horrid lately?

Currently reading: And Another Thing...
Just (re)read: Good Omens

Embracing the Madness

2009-11-27T21:56:00.000-08:00

*tosses a jaunty wave to the assembled* Hiya. So, I like my general premise, but for whatever reason my brain just will not get any traction on it atm. This happened before, last year's NaNo was a second attempt on a story that crashed & burned a couple NaNos previous (yes, I started from scratch carrying nothing into the new year save the concept :-P ). So maybe this just isn't the time *shrug* if that makes any sense. I think sometimes, like meeting people or trying a lot of new things really, there's a lot to be said for timing.

So, where's that leave things? Well, I've got a Day 4 level count three days from the end on a story that's totally mired on me, that's where. So...I think I may try something...a little weird. There was a second contender for this year's novel &, tho' it's late in the game & I've got just a general premise, it's gonna have several subplots & I've no CLUE how it ends, lol, I may start a new book tonight.

If my hands forgive me, lol, I'll write & tell ya how it turns out.

Long time, no type.

2009-11-21T22:29:00.000-08:00

Ok...yeah....I kinda vanished. Between having out of state relatives in town & my second week complete stand still...*rolls eyes*. I dunno what it is, i hit week two & my brain just freezes completely. After week two this year it didn't lift, it just lingered. My count is in the basement, it's just pathetic. I am still working tho' & if I can get about 20 more sessions in like i had tonight, I might actually finish, lol. Anybody want to do sprints??

I'm not sure what the problem is. I've been thinking of this story since...well, since last year, actually. the inciting event for the idea was a RL thing that happened just before last Thanksgiving. I think it's a combination, atm, of RL stresses & that I'm stuck in all the boring, set up/exposition stuff. I thought of just skipping ahead to the "good stuff", but that'd just be a truckload of words I'd lose so...

How's your story going?

And then there was Day Two

2009-11-02T22:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, so far I'm up to 4,444 words. My opening chapter could be really cool once it gets a second pass, it's this kinda forshadowy nod to the baddies & will be all manner of creepy when it's done proper. I like it atm tho', I can live with it. Chapter two is lame & flat & such a cliche, lol, but thus far I'm avoiding the allure of the backspace button, so I guess that's something.

How's things?

Day One

2009-11-01T00:28:00.000-07:00

OK, passed my base (1667) for a total of 2187 tonight. Got an opening scene done & I'm calling it quits. Starting again in the a.m.

How'd everybody else do?

G'night.

On your marks....get set....WRITE!

2009-10-31T21:48:00.001-07:00

Ok guys...it's nearly time! Good luck! I'll post my count when I'm done for the night.

New year, new novel

2009-10-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hallooo gentle reader! Ok, first off, I know...I said I'd brb & that was months ago so at this point I'm likely talking to myself, but...*shrug* RL got a little crazy this summer. I'll spare you all the gory details & just leave it at it involved a trans-Atlantic move prep for some of my relatives & a scary series of hospital stays & a long recovery for another. It just wasn't the smoothest of summers & for that, I beg your indulgence. But, I'm back now & Kickoff is mere hours away. I hope this summer found you all well & one or two of you are still loitering around & you're all jazzed & ready for tonight's event(s). I know I am..., lol, or as ready as I ever am pre-NaNo.

Tonight I'm hoping luck will be on my side as I'm also sitting with my cousin's kids this evening. Cross your fingers that I can get a room full of sugar crazed young'uns chilled down to a dull roar by midnight! I've weeded down to 3 story idea, so we'll see which one shows up to get written when the time comes.

Ok...*takes big, deep breath* gotta go get the last of my prep finished & a few errands run before I take off tonight. I'll write more later & this time, barring catastrophic collapse of the internet or my demise, I should be able to hold to it this time. See ya 'round Kickoff.

A quick hello before the day starts

2009-07-09T04:19:00.000-07:00

Hello! See? That was quick! But seriously folks *pantomimes Groucho's cigar* I know I came back & promptly vanished again & for that I apologize. Some family things cropped up of late that've been occupying my time & mind. More on that in a while, for now I'll just stick to saying that life has been scary & weird & it's all making me feel both very, very old & far too young all at once.

On the lighter side of the news, I think I may be becoming a myspace apps junkie. So, if anybody out there plays something, let me know & chances are that I play too. If you're interested, let me know I'm always happy to get more family/crew/housemates/neighbors/whatever.

Writing is still going, all be it slowly. I need to find a way to kickstart my brain into the same sort of focus & intensity I somehow manage to muster in Nov, regardless of the date. Any suggestions? Sorry this is a short post, it's almost time to get the kid up & around. Connection permitting, I'll add more once I'm home.

Finally!

2009-06-23T03:18:00.000-07:00

Greetings & salutations, gentle reader! I'm back! My cyber exile has come to an end & wow, could it have taken a little longer?? Lol. I'll not gloat overmuch about my return lest I tempt the cyberdeities again, will mearly say I missed you all & am thrilled to be back.

It's about dawn here so I'm not going to get too far into things just now, but with regular computer time not an option, I've been doing a lot of reading & a bit of writing as well. Without access to my game I was forced to, brace yourselves, write for myself rather than other people's projects & plots. I know right? I was pretty amazed too. And I've gotta say, tho' nothings finished yet, I have anywhere from sketchy outlines to several page starts on 4-5 ideas I think have promise. What's surprised me is the type of things that've been cropping up to be written; YA stuff & a children's book, complete with meter! I don't even read things that're in meter! Lol, generally speaking I hvae ZERO sense of rhythm & flow in that regard, yet there it comes cadencing through my mind anyway. Still sticking to various sci fi & fantasy realms, I'll post ore detail later.

The most recent things I've read were; The Veiled Threat, the novel between the Transformers movies, Anthem by Ayn Rand, novella that's sort of Atlas Shrugged meets THX1138 & have just started Sandman vol 1 Preludes & Nocturnes, Neil Gaiman's graphic novel series ala ten handy volumes.

And you all know how I love Neil.

Ok, that's it for our second innaugural posting. Feel free to holler at me if you're still around. I'll post again soon.

Nicer Than Nice

2009-03-14T00:21:00.000-07:00

One of the side effects of doing more reviews & edits than I had previously is that I’m getting a better sense of what works (for me at least) and what doesn’t. I realize that, from time to time, these are all things I do as well. I imagine anyone that writes anything more than grocery lists fall victim to these pitfalls as well, but picking them out in the work of others is easier than it is in your own. The view from a remove is just clearer. There are a number of things that vex me when I find them. Misplaced modifiers for example are, to me, very jarring. Another thing I’m none too fond of is clunky, bland language. Descriptions like ‘she had a nice smile’ make me want to start yawning. Nice is just…well, nice. Not impactful or interesting or unusual, just…nice.

There are so many words out there that every year dictionaries have to move a handful of archaic ones out to make room for new ones. With that in mind, why do we insist on falling back on the same handful of descriptors time & again? I’m not saying there needs to be 80,000 $20 words in every book to see print, but surely there’s some sort of middle ground, right? Instead of that exemplar of ‘she had a nice smile’, why not dazzling? Why not luminescent? Why not beguiling, contagious or enticing? Instead of commenting on her nice smile, why not take it further? ‘…and when she smiled it was enough to make a man forget where he was going & plow right into a wall’ or ‘…all she had to do was flash that megawatt persuasion of glossy lips & that hint of an overbite that had enamored him & it was a done deal. The smile did all the convincing for her.’

Ok, perhaps not the most dazzling, luminescent examples ever committed to the page, or screen as it were, but you get the idea. So, next time you try reaching for a descriptor, make it a good one.

Requiem for Mary Sue

2009-03-12T23:51:00.000-07:00

I promised you an actual topic & I've kept my word, dear reader. Today I'd like to take a moment to attempt to help stamp out a vile scourge that plagues the literary community from prize winning novels to the campiest fanfic; the Mary Sue.

I've mentioned my game on occassion & how it's where a lot of my writing ends up, but what I may not have mentioned is that I'm also a member of the admin team. One of my jobs as co-runner-of-the-realm is bio review. This is where potential characters are submitted to the admin & we critique them & help players hone them into chars that are (in theory at least) better, more streamline & more likely fit to our collective vibe. This is where today's was born, a marathon review session with one of my players. The Mary Sue, for those five of you out there unfamiliar with the term, is a char that is too perfect. Everything goes swimmingly for Mary Sue, her life is unencumbered by strife or conflict or flaws of any kind thus making her the postergirl of the Vanilla People. She's bland, she common & she just doesn't try very hard. Mary Sues tend to be inoffensive to the point of coma inducement. Everything they touch is golden. They're the perfectly coiffed neighbor with the perfectly behaved children, the one you just want to strangle so something would happen.

I'd like to extend the definition a bit further though, I think our Mary Sue has her fingers in more pies than just banality, I think she could well be cliche incarnate. Let me give you an example. Last night review session involved me giving notes to this player & attempting to help her make changes to her proposed bio, rather like a cooperative editing session. This particular bio needed many, many edits. It had everything, sentence fragments, dangling modifiers, confusing descriptions, over worked imagery...the works. But, at the heart of the problem, I think, was Mary Sue. This char wasn't perfect, far from it. She was, in fact, the anti-perfect. Street kid, attitude problem, drug culture, gang member, broken home...she had the lot. And that, I think was where little Mary Sue was hiding. The cliche! She used every cliche in the 'Troubled Teen' handbook all on this poor char. She had abandonment issues & was afraid she'd die alone & unloved, but she never listened to anyone & got distant to downright violent with anyone that would try. She was an "edgy" alternative kind of girl, with her dyed hair, multiple tattoos, leather jacket & fishnet stockings. And of course, what true reble is without that classic bit of exotica, that daring glimpse of lesbian chic that emblazens you as a true original; "I'm bi".

Oh yes, dear reader, this girl had it all. It was a 10+ page bio, so I'll spare you the extended highlights, but sufficed to say, she was a sight. So, with that in mind, let me place upon you this most humble of entritise, please, please make the people in your writing actual people, not caricatures! Give them depth! Give them humanity & quirks & spark! Remember that it's the foibles, not the dazzling talents that shine above all others that make someone worth reading! Good girls may go to Heaven while bad girls go everywhere, but chars that are so predictable, so much literary bromide aren't going anywhere but flat.

We can do better.

Radomness Seems to Be the Theme Lately, Huh?

2009-03-06T23:16:00.000-08:00

How's things? Lately for reasons I'm not clear on, my Firefox, or maybe just my computer in general has been fighting with a few sites. I can get into my gmail, but can't get on blogger, I can follow a link to twitter, but can't go in through my bookmark & it'll let me get to yahoo, through the login screen, then won't load my mailbox. Plus, YM seems to have forgotten my computer exists. Fun, huh?

Everything around me seems to be falling apart lately; my computer runs -rather sporadically- on sheer force of will alone, I got a converter box & a new antenna & am getting fewer channels & last night, for what I'm certain was the very last time, I drained out my waterbed.

I know...Waterbeds are very 80s. I got it in the 80s. Get past it.

Anybody watch Dollhouse? What'd you think of it so far? I'm a big Firefly fan, so I was all over the idea of Joss coming up with a new show. So far, I like the premise, it has potential. I wonder how many Actives there are. And, with names like Echo, Sierra & Victor, ya gotta ask yourself....Does this mean somewhere there's a Lima, Tango & Whiskey running around? Gotta feel bad for a guy called Foxtrot, doncha?

Friday's kinda my big tv night; Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse & Battlestar Galactica. Any SCC fans in the audience? BSG? I'm a big fan of dystopias. Most people, I think, like happy endings, but give me a broken underdog dropped in the middle of a grimy, warped dystopian realm & I am a happy girl. It's a little messed up, I realize, but there it is. I like the skewed vision, the struggle against things greater than. I like the choices that need to be made & seeing where lines are drawn or crossed. I like the 'what if'. I like the hurt & the fight beyond what someone is to what they could become & I like seeing how they live with themselves once they get there. I'd take a world that's sleek & dingy & hard peopled with giants & zealots & madman, preying upon the unassuming & the yet to flourish & the too damned cussed to give up over a whole truckload of fluffy treacle.

But that's just me, I suppose.

In case I haven't mentioned it & you somehow failed to notice in any of my earlier missives, I am, in fact, a big geek. Particulary I loooove science fiction, hence the show list above. I like Sarah Connor, I like Terminator in general. Coulda lived without 3, I suppose, but i'm hoping Salvation makes up for it. Sarah herself is a great character. She's a tough chick I that was hard to find in a lotta media for a while without it coming out all campy. It's gotta be hard being her, putting up not just a tough as nails front but nearly a tough as Wolverine front. She's pretty firmly in the 'has destiny thrust upon them' camp & is doing what she can about it, even with this giant, ticking clock looming over her life. And yet, beneath it all, if you dig deep....ok, really deep, there's still a little glimmer of who she was before it all; the sometimes silly Sarah, the talks tough but is unwilling to kill just because she could (and sometimes maybe even should) Sarah.

Anyway, I'm wandering somewhat off the, rather sketchy, path I had to begin with, aren't I? Sorry. I'm tired & I get kinda stream of consciousnees when my brain starts winding down for the night. One thing I noticed about terminator though, and a lot of other stories - Harry Potter & Eragon just to name a couple, you ever notice how the villains create their own destruction? If Skynet hadn't sent someone back to kill Sarah, she never woulda had John, or gained the fortitude to fight like she has & teach him everything he'll use to try to take them down. HP too; if Voldemort heard the prophesy & just shrugged it off saying 'well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it & besides, I'm me & that's some kid & no way that'll happen', Harry'd been just some random, ordinary wizarding kid.

I realize from the audience perspective, that without some initial catalyst that sets the villain down the path, which in turn creates their would be destroyer, there'd be no story. Still... ya gotta wonder , from the character's perspective, how different things'd been if they just let stuff be.

In other news, my X-Men game is about to make a full changeover to a whole new setting. I'm rather excited. In the new place there'll be lots of different places to see & expiriences to try, plus the structure is drifting away from a school somewhat which should open all sorts of new avenues to write. I'm the current mapmaker for our new digs as well. And, once they were finished, I was asked about coming up with a picture to go along with. I been trying out a 3d modeling program, a thing which I'd never tried before. If you ever have the chance....Don't. Lol, ok, maybe not don't, but if you're new to it, realize it's gonna take a while & there'll be lots & lots of stumbling blocks along the way.

Alright, my brain has just about closed up shop for the night, so I should go. i just wanted to post & say hey (and, it would seem, a few other things as well) since I hadn't been able to get on revently. Next time, I promise, I'll try to have an actual topic.

Good Mornin' World!!

2009-02-27T04:54:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is gonna be a big, crazy mess cuz I've pretty mch been up for about 20 minutes because I started having one of those 'yeah, asleep, but kinda leaning towards waking, can sorta directionalize it & remember' kinda dreams & it was about my mermaid story. I got up & sat up & just sat there in the dark for a few minutes while I made sure what I was thinknig & getting together all the details I coul,d then I grabbed my external HD, raced in here & started typing notes! I don't usually do notes or outlines or whatever, but for a few 'X struck me as being a really cool line/scene/twist, but I'm about 80 pages before then' where I'll scribble a sentence or two for later, but this morning, nope! it's like 600 words of new note! And, if my somewhate crazed & sleep addled brain does say so myself, they're good ideas! Things that're gonna be so cool & interesting to try'n sort out into something, lol, a little more coherent than a half asleep at 6:30 a.am., scribbling like a mad woman to keep hold of dream images brain, something useable & interesting &, lol in some kinda order!

OK....*takes deep breath* I'm a little better now, lol. And I really wanna finish, no actually, I really wanna write some of it out from it's scattered piecemealed form, but I can't right now cuz RL sucks like that sometimes & I have things that I have to do for a little bit this morning. But, in about...*checks clock* 2-2/12 hours, I'll be home, fed & noone will need anything till this evening. I'm gonna write like a fiend!

Well....providing my buzz doesn't wear off *clings tightly*

Pre-Dawn Ramblings

2009-02-24T03:32:00.000-08:00

Evening...or...early morning or....*shrug* well, you get the idea. For reasons I'm fairly unclear on, I just signed up on Twitter, so if you, uh, Tweet, I geuss (what is the verb form there?!?) feel free to add me if you like. I have all this stuff now, IMs, a MySpace page, this blog now Twitter. Only thing I haven't done is Facebook, I've never even been on that one, but apparently about half the people I know have it, so I suppose it's only a matter of time. I don't really do a lot with most of these things; I've got 3 IMs & most nights only use YM, I do minimal updates on my MS only got it to do the Peoria NaNo chats, dunno what I'm gonna do with Twitter, I don't even know anyone there, so far as I know. I'm est at keeping up here, so I guess that makes you guys special, huh?

I went to see Coraline this weekend. I really enjoyed it. Cool visuals, interesting story. I took my cousin who's almost 12 & her review consisted mainly of "creepy", so I wouldn't bring any young kids, but she liked it. Finished reading Stardust yesterday. It's somewhat different from the movie, but thankfully not in the you read/see one, then when you go to do the other it's a total letdown. Just different. The movie's a bit lighter, nut both are very fun stories.

I had an idea for a new story the other day. I want to do something like a colony ship or something with planet seeding or terraforming or the like. Bit vague yet because I don't want to just do Firefly or Titan A.E. I liked them both, I adore Firefly, in fact, but somebody already told those stories so...The only certainty I have just yet is that the ship/project is going to be called Appleseed.

In other news, my li'l 10 m/o niece started walking Friday! I completely understand if you're not anywhere near as excited on that one than I am, lol. But, I thought it was pretty awesome.

New Books!

2009-02-17T02:09:00.000-08:00

So I went shopping today & three guesses what I bought. I got Watchmen, which I've read before, but it was a borrowed copy & was a while ago. I wanted to reread it before seeing the movie, plus I wanted a copy of mine own just because it's that good. If you've never read Watchmen & are one of those 'comics are just dumb kids' stuff' kind of people go buy it. Or indeed, V for Vendetta which I liked even better. They'll change your tune in a hurry. I may be a bit biased though, if Alan Moore wrote a book on making a ham sandwich, I'd want to read it.

Yes, he's that good.

Don't believe me? Ask Neil. He has a whole section of his blog entitled 'why Alan Moore should be made Wizard of England'. Now, I'm clearly not English, but if I were, he'd have my vote for the job. And speaking of, I got two new Neil Gaiman books (because he is also just that good) today. I now have Stardust & Anasasi Boys to add to my collection. I've yet to read either; cuz let's face it, they were bought this afternoon & even I don't read that fast, but I have movie of Stardust, so I'm looking forword to seeing it in it's original form.

And finally, I got A Lion Among Men, the third book in the Wicked Series. I'll tell ya how it turns out.

Ok, I'll write more when I'm properly rested, lol. It was a long day & I have 2 more hours of zombie-like wanderings at work before I can go home. Hope everything's well with you.

Still Alive & Still Tech Impaired

2009-02-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

Well, my 'I need new tech' fund is a bit fatter than when last I posted, but it's slow going. Anybody else find it a cruel twist of irony that there are such astounding sales going & still nobody has the cash to take part? Cuz I do. I hope this missive finds you all well & lemme just say a quick hello to my newest blog follower. Hello!

I'm still having trouble getting things going when trying to actually write things out on paper, so instead (and yes, I know this won't improve my word counts any) I've been reading a lot. I just finished Son of a Witch, the sequel to Wicked. They're an interesting take on the world of Oz & a good example of how the same events can be taken from differing directions.

How 'bout you? Read anything good lately?

My Life in (Technological) Exile

2009-01-16T23:36:00.000-08:00

Hallooooo blogosphere! My computer is still dead, which may sound obvious, but it's made miraculous ressurections before. I've started my 'Gawd, how I need new tech!!' fund, but it'll be a while yet. Beyond that, I'm fine save a lingering bit of a cold & nearly succumbing to actual cold outside. I don't know where you live, gentle reader, but it's a startling realization when it occurrs to you that you could climb into your own deep freeze & be warmer (by something like 25+ degrees!) than it is outside! Yikes! I hope if you're in the clutches of this as well you're out there somewhere with extra socks, lots of cocoa & a nice blanket.

I've been trying to make some ground on my story, but I just can't seem to get the same momentum going with a pen & paper as I do when I type. Does anybody else have this as well? A preferred format where things just flow or one where everything is a complete slog? I'm trying, I've been working on little details rather than the whole picture in the hopes that it'll jog things. I've also done a little sketching because sometimes for me, it's helpful to be able to actually look at a char. I shall perceviere & I hope wherever you are, your pieces are going well.

Missing my computer...and the lovely rhythm of clicking keys...and talking to all of you.

Well, it did hold up its end of the bargain...

2009-01-01T23:15:00.000-08:00

A joyous New Year to one & all, mine's...hit a bit of a rough patch. Last night, my battered, but beloved laptop went off to that good death. I make a glorified allowance, so a new system is sometime off for me yet, but thankfully, I can get online from work (much like now) so I won't dissappear entirely.

The computer's been threatening to kick off for quite a while now; it's nearly 5 years old, it's hand-me-down & it's been moved around (and on rarer occasions, dropped) too much. It'd been getting noticeably during NaNo, so the computer & I made a deal - if it really must die, I needed it to wait till I a) finished my novel & b) got an external HD so I didn't lose EVERYTHING(again!). Well, I finished my novel, at least the first draft I was shooting for anyway & for Christmas, I was pleasantly surprised to get an external hard drive. So, while only getting on a couple times a week is a bit of a drag, I had time to save everything & it held up it's end of things, so I'm not too upset.

This is going to make writing interesting. I haven't written, as in pen & paper, anything longer than a grocery list in AGES, I always type. But, I don't want to wait to write exclusively on the computer, ass I've found, it's hard to get/keep momentum going if you wait days between sessions. I hope I can get the same kind of flow writing on paper as I do when I type.

In other news, I've been doing a lot of reading recently. Just a couple days before Christmas, I bought a copy of American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I'd been meaning to read something of his for a while, but when I was buying comics (actual, single issue comics, not the compilations I get now cuz it's just easier, lol) there was only one or two places in town that sold them, it was a very limited collection & did not include Sandman, but that's where I knew the name from. He did one of the Pep Talks for NaNo last year & I really liked it, so I've started reading his blog & I think I can fairly well say....I *heart* Neil. If you haven't read him, you really should, he's awesome, clever & engaging & funny. Look him up on neilgaiman.com or wikipedia or imdb.com If you haven't read him, there's a good chance you've still seen his work, several of his pieces have been made into movies & he's written screenplays for other things as well. Anyway, I read American Gods, then a couple days after Christmas, went back out & got Neverwhere & Good Omens(with Terry Pratchett) & I've already read all three of them, lol. Now I'm onto a borrowed book which, just coincidentally (I'd gotten it loaded to me sometime in Nov & had half forgot about it) is by Terry Pratchett called Johnny Maxwell Trilogy. One good thing about faulty tech, I suppose....it gives you a lotta time to read.

Ok, that's all I've got for now. I'll be back around as opportunity permits, so likely about 1-2 times a week. Enjoy your new year & go read a good book....or write one!

Progress Report

2008-12-21T12:15:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm getting a better sense of what's going to happen with the story. It's starting with a seemingly average kid, named Liam, that feels somehow displaced in his world. He doesn't really feel like he fits quite right with things. After a bit, he gets some new neighbors who are very odd. He doesn't know it yet, but they're going to be there for him.

Each of them will have something magical about them, like one I think, might be a sphinx in disguise, one might be a werewolf or giant...something big, then of course there's the mermaid. The kid doesn't realize it at first, but he'll be...something, too. I dunno what yet. The neighbors have moved in cuz they know there's someone like them in the area, but they don't know for certain who it is at first. All the while, I think there may be a Collector of some sort trying to hunt these types & the neighbors have to find the kid, show him who he is & warm him about this collector before he gets found & taken.

I'm not sure how it ends tho'...does he go with them, leaving his family behind? Do they fight the collector so they can all be safe? Do the neighbors simply seek out these kids to warn them, then move on? *shrug* I'm not sure yet. I'm going to start actual work on it, rather than just trying to work out the ideas in my head, today.

In other news, I need to say another hello to the blog's newest follower. Hello! Thanks for stopping by.

A Pictoral Interlude

2008-12-21T09:10:00.000-08:00

The evidence of our recent ice storm...
Treacherous, somewhat destructive, but oh so pretty & sparkly. Maybe I'll write something about an arctic world while the effect is still in full swing. Something with a glass forest could be pretty interesting.

The basement I talked about. Luckily it's in the empty house next door & not mine. And alas, all that junk & no mermaid. I think the basement pond in my story will have to be a fair bit cleaner.

Have You Ever Noticed...?

2008-12-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

When you've been writing for a while, you start being able to more accurately predict things (& more quickly too) in what you read or watch? That happens for me a lot, most recently when I rented something only yesterday. On one hand, I like it; it's nice to be more able to identify structure & notice clues, (or in some cases, cliches) & character types, etc. But then, on the other hand, it's a little contrary to that whole suspension of disbelief thing to figure out where a movie's going after the first ten minutes.

And the Universe Provides

2008-12-16T14:33:00.000-08:00

I know that 'where do you get your ideas?' is a constant question asked of writers & for me, it tends to be from odd places. My NaNo this year started from seeing a commercial for disposable razors, lol. And this morning, I had a new notion for a new project...courtesy of my flooded basement. Yep, I mean it.

Ya see, it's like this, a while back I'd mentioned my truly obnoxious neighbors & I'd mentioned having them in my NaNo. As it happens, they didn't make it in the book but one of you out there had suggested having them have radioactive stuff in amongst the junk in the yard. I liked that idea & think it has potential. Just recently, those neighbors got evicted & the cheers of a grateful neighborhood rang out around the street. I assumed, quite wrongly it seems, that with their hasty departure they'd no longer be a problem. Oh, what little I know.

I came home the other day & when it got to be time for supper, a brief foray was made to the basement to get something out of the freezer, only to find about 4 inches of standing water in my usually dry basement. Nothing appeared to be dripping, there wasn't any sounds of water anywhere. After a bit of looking around, I noticed there was water pouring down the outside of the neighbor's house, below their kitchen, where the house wall met the basement. The cops came out, because who else are you going to call when the legal owner is an out of town bank & it's late on a Saturday afternoon. He looked around & discovered that, on the side of the house opposite mine, one of the basement windows was missing & upon looking inside, saw about four feet of standing water.

Yeah... I was overjoyed.

On the plus side, the cop called in a couple of city guys who came out & shut the main off & may have even drained a bit (I'm not sure what all they did, as it was darkening by then & raining. Not ideal observation conditions really). So, you may be saying "wow...that does suck. But what's it got to do with your writing?" Well, I'll tell you, smartypants...It got me thinking, that's what. Like, were it clean & not full of dingy junk, were it sealed properly & not dripping down the side of the house to soak the surrounding ground so much as to make it leak into other houses & were it not, ya know...the middle of December in an underground room with an open window, for just a minute, that could be kinda fun. Imagine if you didn't have to worry about cleanup or wrecking things or drowning the circuit breaker or anything & could just walk down the stairs & jump in. That'd be kinda fun, on paper at least.

So that's got me thinking...what kind of people might intentionally have a basement full of water? And my first thought was, a family with a mermaid. And what kind of family would have a mermaid? An odd kind, I'd imagine, at least by outside appearances. So, for my next project, I think I'm going to write about a family with a strange secret swimming in their basement & see what other oddities I find.

Whatcha think?

In other news, I got to right an ST post for my game last night! Storyteller (ST) posts are far reaching, plot posts rather than individual char pieces as I usually do. I've done ST posts a couple times before, but not very often. This one is exciting, because it's an ST post for a little side plot I'm actually running. That's a new one. I've got a li'l adventure cooked up to keep people busy over Christmas that'll segue nicely into the main plot after Christmas. So, that should be fun.

And Now For Something Completely Different

2008-12-13T06:29:00.000-08:00

So, it's done & I'm a little iffy on the idea. It seems both fabulous & very odd that it's done. The story i used this year is one that'd been kicking around in the back of my head for a couple of years now & to actually have it out & completed... is strange. It's been on my mind for so long & now it's gone, like a song that finally quits playing after being stuck in your head for ages. Good, but just a bit jarring when you notice it's absence.

CJ, it is fairly nice, yes. Both energizing & a little serene. But alas, no rest for the wicked. My ML talked me into doing NaNoFiMo & now that I've finished with this year's book, I'm dragging out an old one, my NaNo form '03. And I've gotta say... I'm a bit trepidatious about opening the thing. While I am rather interested to see what I can make of this year's during rewrites, I'm less sure about the old one. Yes, I know, it'll never get finished until I reread it & start writing, It's been ages since I read it & I'm afraid I'll open it & hate it or won't be able to get back into the mindset to finish.

I know, I know...nothing for it but to open the bloody thing & get started.

So, dear readers, have you ever had a project you had trouble starting or sticking to? Any favorite tricks when starting rewrites?

It's Done!

2008-12-12T14:27:00.000-08:00

I just finished the epilogue this afternoon. I have an a actual, whole book that I wrote. How 'bout that? Sorry, I'd be more pithy, but it's 4:30 in the afternoon & I haven't been to bed yet, lol. Not related to finishing the book, just how it is. But still....

I wrote a whole book!

And come New Year's or thereabouts, comes rewrites.

The End is Nigh!

2008-12-05T10:55:00.000-08:00

Wow.. could that be a creepier title?? I did some sprints this morning & got the final scene of my novel finished, and as I thought it might, it needs an epilogue. I thought I'd finish it this morning, but then once I started the epilogue, I realized part of my cast needed renamed & name hunting always takes a while, so it'll be tonight I think.

It's kind of an odd thing though...finishing my first novel. For one, it'll mean having an actual finished piece all my own, even if it is in crazy, sloppy, rough draft form. And another is the notion of 'my first novel', as if there'll be others. That's kind of a new mindset for me, but I like it. For now though, I must sleep.

I know 'you're going to bed in the middle of the day??' I work nights. Deal :-P.

And after the epilogue is complete tonight, I'm rereading my '03 NaNo so I can start 'FiMoing it tomorrow(yes Cheri, I'm doing it). I'm getting quite a little schedule of projects lined up....again, new & a bit odd, but I like it.

Goodnight Bloggerland, I might check in this evening.

Life After NaNo

2008-12-04T00:07:00.000-08:00

So here it is a few days into the offseason & my rushed haze from November is finally starting to fade. Can you have a writing hangover, do you think? I still have to finish the last half of the final scene of my novel, it should only be a couple thousand words, but somehow I just can't get myself to do it. I'm not certain if it's just with the hullabaloo of NaNo officially over that I'll slide back into my usual slacker ways, or if it's that then it'll be officially, completely over.

Maybe it's because I've read a few books I really liked....until they totally fell on their face at the ending. I do not wanna be that book.

I'm looking for some after NaNo writing to do, besides shiny new game things obviously. I've gotten on request that I join up on NaNoFiMo (finishing month), which I've given some thought to. Their stipulations are putting 30k on an unfinished piece. And I was planning to reopen my first NaNo & try finishing it off as this newest one & I took a bit of a breather before rewrites. Maybe I'll try that there, rather than after Christmas as I'd originally thought. I've signed up on a couple writing forums as well & am considering joining a critique group.

Anyway, just a little something to let you know I'm still out there. Oh, welcomes go out to Cheri, my region's illustrious ML & Salambander, my newest blog followers. Salambander, you have a gorgeous blog, really. Very clever & clean with a cool background! *applauds*

Evolution

2008-12-02T05:23:00.000-08:00

As I may have mentioned once, or about 15 times lol, I write on role playing games. Well, my longest running & favorite is an X-Men game, where I play 3 chars as well as Mod. I started writing in RPGs &, if you can find a good one, they're a great place to write. You can create an original char to play in a world you love, sometimes nab a canon char you've always liked reading & write them as their own or even start a communal writing experience in a world entirely your own. I like it because, unlike the solitary venture of novel writing, it's communal. There's back & forth that is not only fun & challenging, but can spark some really great ideas. What's more, a lot of games go on for quite some time so you get a chance to see your char(s) grow & evolve.

My game has just revamped & is about to start up a whole new chapter in the story. The plot is about to take a twist that'll take things in a new direction & now is a great time to step into the world. Yes kids, that's right, this is the obligatory Game Plug Post. So, without further ado, I give you Graymalkin:

Everything evolves; species, people, dreams. Professor Charles Xavier dreamed of a world where humans & mutants could peacefully coexist. But, the world had other intentions & Xavier's dream had to change. After the sudden revelation of the true nature of his school to the public Xavier & his X-Men had to evolve. They'd been thrust into the spotlight & life would never be the same.

Now the next era dawns with a new home in San Fransisco. The Graymalkin Foundation has become the new training ground of the X-Men. Scott Summers leads the Foundation in teaching a new generation of mutants about their powers, training a new crop of heroes & in furthering Xavier's dream of peaceful co-existence.

Come join us at the Graymalkin Foundation for new challenges & new adventures. Help us forge a new chapter in the X-Men mythos.

Rules | Available Characters | Blank Applications | Billboard

Thank God It's Over!

2008-12-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

On on hand, NaNo is over, but on the other, I hope this is just the beginning. First a few stats:

In total, I wrote 50,086 words.
My highest word count day was right around 10k (the end flying up to meet you can be very motivating ;) )
And this blog (excluding this post, titles & my replies in comments) is 13454 words so far
My Region, Peoria, IL collectively wrote 1,560,129 words
119,301 people signed up for NaNoWriMo this year with an 18.2% win rate of 21683 authors!
And the combined total words of all NaNos was 1,519,501,005!

That is AWESOME! Everyone that wrote, whether they hit 50k or not should feel at least some sense of accomplishment. I know even in years I didn't win, I still met some great people, I brought better writing than I had the year before, I always learned new things & no matter my word count I'd want to come back next NaNo & try it all again. I hope you all feel likewise. Congrats all around! These are some truly staggering numbers & I hope that next year they just keep going up!

This year, I learned:
That sprinting is word count Miracle Grow!

For me, reading during NaNo is strictly verboten. I get too caught up either wanting to see the outcome of a new read or racing ahead to my favorite spots on old ones & neglect my own stories.

Posting to or reading the Forums, or other writing message boards may be helpful & interesting, but it WILL NOT add to your wordcount. Forums are a treat to be enjoyed either for brief portions before, or as you like AFTER you've hit the day's target.

Setting a target (daily/weekly/monthly...whatever) can be a major help. When I was at around 8k, I thought quite idly & pie in the sky that it'd be great to have at least 20k in the first week. When I said it originally, I never thought I'd mke it, but as I put more words behind me 20k seemed more attainable & it made me work harder to get there.

Having a cheering section is a great boon! Usually, I have one or two people interested in my NaNo, this year I had a crowd of friends online that followed, cajoled, cheered, threatened me with guilt monkeys & generally drug my sorry kiester towards that magic 50k, even on days I wouldn't have myself.

Similarly, shooting your mouth off to said crowd is a good thing. It makes it a lot harder to punk out once you've run your mouth about how great you're going to do, lol.

This year I learned I could finish a piece of my own work & it'd be worth reading, and possibly, after a few edits & some polishing, maybe even worth paying for. I knew my writing was fairly decent; I get compliments on my game posts frequently & have a lot of requests to write with my chars & have favorable things said about previous NaNos. But this was really the first full length work I've done that was wholly mine; not fanfic, game stuff or the like. And ya know what? It was still good. How 'bout that?

This year I really realized how much writing meant to me. I got how much I love doing it, figuring out the puzzles of it, getting a char to talk & to live. I really got how much I want to get better at it & noticed or the first time that I may want to do this for good - my work, out there, in the world, to be read (and hopefully enjoyed) by as an actual vocation.

This year I'd like to thank:
Chris Baty - without you, none of the rest of us would be throwing ourselves into this annual insanity & life would be poorer without it. Thank you for the weekly pep talks! I love them!! You had this hairbrained notion that gave us all permission to go out & suck & that is so liberating! Lol. Because once you know it's ok to not be perfect, it gives you so much room to be great, as counterintuitive as it may sound to someone that hasn't tried it. You gave everybody a great place to expand their skills & learn about the real guts of book writing; that nothing that ends up on the shelf starts out it's literary life looking like that. You helped us mess the fun & beauty & chance there is in being a mess, because amazing things that can be created from that mess! Thanks Chris!

Russell Uman - Not only is he the ever brilliant "Robot Whisperer" that keeps the virtual lights on so we all have a place to play every year, but Russ was my NaNo mentor my first year. He may not remember, it was a few years back & he's come across hundreds of NaNos since then, but I do. I still have parts of his letters from that first year in my 'cheering section', a file I keep of comments my writing's received. It's great to look over on days I'm having trouble. He encouraged me, read my stuff & told me 'you really write well and it would be a shame for that to go unfulfilled'.

I held onto that & all the other things he said & it was one of the reasons that I kept going, even in years I did badly (and wow...some years I did very badly!) So thanks Russ. I never would have made it here without you!

To all the authors that've taken time out to do pep talks - Thank you, they're amazing. It's wonderful knowing not only are we not exploring these strange new worlds alone, but you all have survived the trip & live to report back, and with great success in doing so. Beyond that, and maybe this is just me,. I find it somehow a little reassuring that pep talks from "real" authors show up in my inbox, complete with typos. I'm sorry, but that's great!

A special thank you goes to Piers Anthony. When I saw his name on this year's pep talk list, I must admit, I nearly squealed in transports of fangirlish joy. I love his stuff, I've got about eight of his books. I ran, figuratively, to my email every few days in anxious anticipation, only to have my little hopes dash time & again. On the night before NaNo ended, I was lamenting to a friend that there was no Piers post yet, only to have it arrive about five minutes later. It was well worth the wait.

Silke & Carolyn - ty, ty! It was great having two people from the game going through this two. And I'm so proud of you both for making it to 50k! You guys rock!

Cheri & Kelly - Peoria's illustrious current & former ML. You two are fabulous! Cheri, you set up real world events & online write ins & Kelly for setting up The Cafe for us to hang out in & both of you for staging all those sprints! Thank you, thank you for being such wonderfully helpful & encouraging forces in our little corner of NaNoworld!

Nehellenia - You made it & I'm so proud of you! I know you ha a couple hang up spots in the middle, but you did great.

Gypsy! Oh, Gypsy m'dear, you were my NaNo angel! Lol. You read along, clamoring for more, you were my constant sprinting companion & my staunchest cheerleader this year. Ty, ty, ty! I never would have made it without you.

And finally, you, gentle reader. Thanks for hanging in with me through this crazy time. Keep checking back, I'll keep posting. And thank you, thank you for all the comments. Keep'em comin'. It's great knowing I'm not just sitting here talking to myself.

Ok...I think that about covers it for the time being. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming in the next day or two.

Purple is the New Black

2008-11-30T01:33:00.000-08:00

Ok...I'll have a bit more detailed breakdown of things once my head stops spinning, but....

I WON!

It was spectacular seeing that progress bar go from blue to green(50k+, unverified) to winning purple. Oh wow...I don't even have words for it, lol. I will, but tomorrow once I'm a little more sane again. I still have a couple thousand(at a guess) left to actually finish the story, but that's ok. I made it to fifty thousand words & beyond with a full story I actually like. Don't get me wrong, lol, there will be much editing thrown around in a couple months, but for now, I'm just enjoying the rush of beating something I thought may well be insurmountable.

To anyone reading out there who are still plugging along, DON'T GIVE UP! 50 is attainable! And for all of you that have reached, or even passed that magic mark, CONGRATULATIONS! I hope whichever camp you fall into, that you'll be back next November to go again. I know I will.

The Final Hurrah

2008-11-29T17:33:00.000-08:00

Ok...I'm back, I'm refreshed & I woke up with my book on my mind, so I'm reasonably certain my brain has forgiven me for what I put it through yesterday. From when I started yesterday to when I passed out this morning I think I wrote almost ten thousand words. Yowzah! I'm currently at 43,396 & all i have left is the final scene. If for some reason that doesn't fill enough, though I'm fairly certain it will, I'm recycling part of my opener as an epilogue.

OK, and there'll be more on this later tonight or tomorrow when I write my post-NaNo post, but I just wanna say thanks to all of you that followed along with this blog. And thanks to all my cheerleaders. You guys really helped make this happen! Cuz, let's face it, it's a lot harder to pun out in front of a crowd, lol.

See ya when I have a book.

Brain Fried

2008-11-29T06:29:00.000-08:00

I have less than four thousand words left! But, I'm heading to bed. I want to finish cuz it's just right there, but I'm exhausted & my brain is turning to goo & threatening to pour out my ears in protest of my extended abuse of it if I don't sleep.

Anyway between when I started yesterday & now I wrote almost 10k, so that's pretty exciting. All that's left is the final scene & maybe, depending on the count, an epilogue. I'd be more enthusiastic if I weren't so tired I had to keep going back & fixing things in this post. Hooray for spellcheck! This last chapter or so's gotta be looking real pretty, lol.

See ya when I get up.

On to the Summit!

2008-11-28T19:41:00.000-08:00

I'm at just over 40k. Wow...That boggles my mind. I'm **this far from having a finished first novel! Ok...so maybe * *this far, but still... I'm nearly there!! I'm nearly finished with the first draft of my first novel & what's more, I have plans for when I rewrite it in a couple months! And more than that, I have plans for my writing between then & now, how cool is that!?!

By Sunday I'll be done & will spend most of my time giggling like a crazy person & sighing the relieved sigh of someone that never thought they'd be able to manage something really difficult, but did. After that I'm still not really done though. I'm going to hunt up a few beta readers to take a look at things. Plus, and this may wait until after Christmas, I'm pulling out my first NaNo, dusting it off & I'm going to reread it to see if I can pick it back up & finish it!

About the time I'm through with that, cuz though I don't plan to dawdle, I won't have the NaNo of Damocles hanging over my head, that should warrant enough time to distance my brain from this year's novel.Then starts the ever exciting world of rewrites. I'll go through this year's a time or two, and then if I get frustrated/bored/need space/whatever, I'll go through my first NaNo. By NaNo next year, it's possible that I ma have to, actual, full blown, finished novels that are worth reading & maybe even paying money for. That is exciting! But ya know...'saleable' or not, I just love the idea that they'll be finished for me. I'll have two completed pieces that are stories I like & find interesting.

That is awesome.

I figured out my ending this morning. All I have left is wrapping the scenes with J&Z and E&J & getting them back to the city so they can all meet back up, put the stuff together & get where they're going. Once there, it's the ending & them discovering all the whys & wherefores. On one hand, the prospect of nearly being done is great for a number or reasons, but on the other...I know some percentage of the group isn't going to make it & that's going to be tough.

Depending on how that scene feels once it's done, I may go back & recycle my first scene to show the world after that & how it may (or may not) be changed because of it. We'll see when I get a little closer. I've got a bunch of things that I want added or expanded come rewrite season. So much that was either tossed aside for the sake of 'there's really not time right now, I need to just keep going' that'd add detail to the world or chars. I'm anxious to see what it all looks like after it's totally finished, though I know a lot of people hate their NaNos, I've really enjoyed mine...for the most part.

Ok, I'll check back later. I have a book to finish.

I Think I May Be Stuc...Scratch That! I Think I Know How My Book Ends!!

2008-11-28T04:06:00.000-08:00

Ok, whoever said writing got so much easier once you hit the 30k mark wasn't writing my book. Yes, alright, some things are simpler; not so much setup, actually getting down to downing things, etc, etc. But, on the other hand, now I'm trying to see the ending in the distant fog, its still hidden and so I'm bumbling along uncertain of how to get things tied together. I have three pairs of chars who've been off hunting for various items. Each item is a clue to the central problem: why are all the gods dying off.

One pair, Bram & Gus, got theirs easy & so they headed home before the others had even found theirs. For them I had someone rob the diner they'fd been waiting in, so the item, a map, could be stolen so they'd be forced to chase it down & thus kill a little tiime while the others were still looking.

The next pair, Jubes & Erin, found their item, a small carved box. I'm not sure yet what it's importance is. I'd thought of making it a puzzle box, but that really only delays my having to DECIDE exactly WHAT IT IS!!

*sigh* Sorry 'bout the yelling, that was for me, not you. Anyway, the third pair, Josh & Zhi, are still looking. They just found a something, but jumped to the next scene because i don't know what it is yet.

So here's what I'm thinking... the pieces are somehow cooperative. Like, maybe the box has a necklace (or some such) in it that fits into the whatever it is that J&Z just discovered & the map leas them to whatever it is that'll put all these things together to a useful (and hopefully interesting & wordcount heavy) purpose. The box was found in the base of a statue that had Jubes' name on it, I'm thinking the whatever that J&Z find'll had something similar, one of their names or a likeness. That'd leave me with putting something likewise on the map - not too hard a task, as they haven't gotten to sit around & look too long at it while undisturbed.

Some predetermined thing from way back, even before them, which leads to what's before them. i did a bit on that in the Josh/Zhi scene, they found some old temple to some precursor god, and I think whatever happened to him is what's happening to them & maybe all these items'll fit together to stop it...or at least lead them to someplace that'll explain it maybe. *ponders*

That could maybe be something...

Ok.....ok, I think I've got it.

LOL, thanks for listening to me prattle outloud. This was a lotta help.

Happy 50th Post!!

2008-11-28T00:40:00.000-08:00

Wow, I know it may not seem like a big landmark in the blogging world where some have posted for years, but....wow. I don't think if you took all the logs, journals & diaries I've attempted to keep & rolled them all up together they wouldn't make 50 posts, lol.

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it. I hope you all had wonderful dinners & some memorable moments with whoever you shared the day with.

Anyway, I have to get back to the book, time's running short. I'm writing till the words start to swim because my afternoon's going to get blown via my Grandparents' annual 'oh god...what're we gonna do with all this stuff?! Come help up eat some of these leftovers!' annual leftovover purge, lol. It's the sequel to a nice meal & a little extra time with everybody, which is great, but not real conducive to adding words. So today, take a little time, have a nice turkey sandwich, then go write.

Does a looming deadline, rushing up to meet you help or hinder your writing?

SHERPAAAA!!!

2008-11-25T19:02:00.001-08:00

Oh, bugger....this is a steep ascent! *sobs* Where's the sherpa to carry all my stuff?!? Oh well, I just hit 33,514 & my brain is so fried as I pretty much didn't sleep today (yeah....that was a good move, right?) But, I AM NOT GOING TO BED 'TIL I HIT 35K! *ggrrr!* Sorry to holler, that was really more for my benefit than yours, lol.

On the plus side, I have a little NaNo monitor/predictor thing on my Firefox which had been ticking happily along, well in the green for about half the month. Of late it'd switched to the glaring 'what have you been doing?!?' red & just now I finally hauled it back into the 'c'mon, pick up the pace, you're nearly there!' brown again. Go me.

On one hand the book is getting kind of exciting; the chapters are filling out of their own accord, gone are the intro & just light running around days & now I'm into the more substantial complete the mission, use the clues, solve the puzzle stuff. It's fun & I like seeing how things shake out. The only drawback is, all that takes a bit more thought & planning & while the momentum is faster, the process itself is slowing up a bit with the new influx of more complex details.

Still...35 is just around the corner & from there 50 isn't far off...not really. So, I'm off to do another sprint or two...or five or however many it takes to drag my beleaguered brain over the 35k mark. See ya tomorrow.

Oh & a quick hello to my newest follower. Hello! *waves* Thanks for stopping by.

WOOHOO! 30k! Onto the summit!!

2008-11-24T22:32:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to say hey, 'Hey!' & let you know I just passed 30k a bit ago. Woohoo! I know that means I still have 20k left, which sounds undoable in the less than a week remaining, but, if you don't say 'I have to write a whole 'nother twenty thousand words!?!' & instead go 'huh, that's like 4 k a day, I'm averaging 7-800 per half hour sprint...yeah, that's not so bad. Couple sprints in the morning, one or two in the afternoon, a couple more to finish the day & I can knock that out, easy!'.

In other news, there's a few things I've noticed as this wears on: one, fights (as in arguments. Physical confrontations, in my experience, have an opposite effect) go by really, really fast! And two, the more I write on this, the longer each chapter gets, lol. When i started & broke the coterie into pairs, each revisiting of a pair was a chapter &, just as it worked out, each chapter was only a couple pages long. Now though, the scenes feel like they're just stretching farther & farther. I'm not complaining about the phenomena, lol, just noticing.

Ok, it's back to my saltmin-...eh....Novel.

I'm going, I'm going

2008-11-23T07:01:00.000-08:00

Alright, it took a li'l it to get started, a bit more so than I'd planned even, but I'm writing again. Ya know, one of these days after I'm finished & have, at the very least run spellcheck, I'll post a few bits from the novel. For the time being, my friend Gypsy is the only one reading it. She also NaNos so she doesn't mind the mess quite so much. For her I'll just say this: that thing with the jukebox...? *nods* Based on an actual even. No, seriously. I was there when it happened. Lol, that should drive her sufficiently nuts for a bit as I'm still writing the scene in question & she won't see it 'til it's posted later today.

I'd also like to give a quick Hello! to my new 'followers'. Thanks for stopping by. Also, I haven't done Word of the Day for a few days because the friend that asked for one originally finished her novel the other day, wahoo! But, just for fun & in honor of her oldest boy, I'll give you one last. Today's word is: birthday!

Ok, back in a while, hopefully hauling a fatty wordcount behind me.

A 10k Weekend

2008-11-21T21:54:00.000-08:00

On the NaNo site, one of the places I frequent in the Writers' Groups forum is the Cauldron Cafe. One of the other Cafers suggested having a 10k weekend & I'm gonna try for it. An extra 10k from where I am now would put me almost on schedule again. Anybody else interested?

What's the most you've been able to add to your novel in a single block? Mine's about 6k, I had a 6k day this year & felt both exhausted & at the same time, pretty spectacular afterwards, lol.

Oh! Also, I had an idea last night. One of the recent Pep Talks mentioned that if you're stuck you should do whatever will cause the most trouble for your chars & I'm taking that advice to heart. I've had a little sideline scene I've been trying to place & it hit me that now, I have a home for it. One of my pairs of characters are done with their leg of the quest while the other two are still only halfway through. I've been cycling through each pairing & was a complete loss as to what to do once I got back to Bram & Gus, as they're cooling their heels back at the diner again. This is where the twist I'd been holding on to comes in. I'd been planning to have an alligator tattooed guy heist the diner at some point, I just didn't know when. Well, I think now's the time. What's more, I think he's gonna snake the map Bram & Gus just brought back.

That should make things interesting as the map in question shows the location of all the gods left on Earth. And, with that map, Gus, Bram & all the rest were going to be able to suss out the next target for death/disappearance, but now they'll have to decide to go after the thief or wait around & see where the 'destroyer' hits next. Either road has some pretty decent potential.

A Bit of Progress

2008-11-21T04:00:00.001-08:00

Well, I didn't hit 30k, but I did add to my count. Atm, I'm at 27069. I'll say more & more to the count after I get home & grab a bitta sleep.

Yep, still writing

2008-11-20T16:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'm still going! Oh & cuz she just crossed the 50k threshold today, gotta give a shout out to Silke! *applauds* I knew you could do it!!

Just logged about 400 new words & I thought I pop in for a sec. I want to hit 30k tonight. Last night was fun & I was half tempted to keep running with the scene I was in, but it was time to check in on one of the other groups. Last night was also interesting because it's the closest in some ways to my actual life. In it we discover that Zhi & Josh have a long standing on again, off again thing. I have someone like that in my RL; a guy that's been anything from friend on, who there've been times I spent all my time with him & others I haven't spoken to him in years. There are days, tho' not nearly as many as there used to be, lol, that I wish things were different & we could be together, tho' I know that once the initial excitement wore off, I'd be miserable again, lol. And there are days when I just wanna smack the crap outta him, LOL. That's kinda where Zhi & Josh are. I'm not certain just yet where they'll end up on the spectrum. I'm so accustomed to writing superheroes & spacemen & things wholly removed from my life, it was interesting pulling something real.

Ok, I'm gonna stop for an hour to grab some supper & Survivor time. I know, lol, it's dumb, but it's fun. Anyway, I'll see you later after I'm done for the night. Happy noveling!

Have you ever pulled a direct real life sorce into your writing? Tell us about it.

Twenty Five Thousand!!

2008-11-20T01:12:00.000-08:00

I just cleared my target for the night of 25k! I'm gonna try for 30k by tomorrow, wish me luck.

In other news, a pair of my chars, I'd thought were a little sweet on each other, but now I'm not sure that's right. I think maybe they're more on again, off again, we keep trying to be together & we keep getting in our own way, I love you to pieces when I'm not too busy hating your guts kinda thing. It should be fun, lol. Is it terrible of me that some of my favorite scene have been watching a couple of my chars sit & snipe at each other? One pair they just butt heads all the time because one of them thinks he knows everything & the other is disinclined to put up with the first one's attitude & now this pair teetering between kissing & killing each other, lol.

Now I just have to figure out what they find, lol. The two gentlemen that squabble & snark all the time found a map, the two former (maybe future?) lovebirds are wandering around an old, hidden temple & the last pair found a rare statue that's going to have an incribed clue or a secret compartment, I'm just not sure which yet. And then, lol, they get to go back outside & deal with the great hullabaloo that a pretty graphic display of godly powers is causing. LOL.

Yeah....I know

2008-11-19T22:48:00.000-08:00

So, you may have notice, I kidna vanished for a bit there. Sorry. I slammed into the Week Two wall & just could not seem to pry myself off the bricks for a few days. I dunno what the problem was, I just couldn't construct a sentence or figure a direction or anything recently. I've just been completely walloped by this writing malaise & as much as I've hated it, I couldn't seem to get out from under it. Apologies to those couple of you that've been reading this consistantly, I promise I'll try harder to suck it up in the future.

But, on the plus side, as peculiar & nebulous as my gloom, the sun comes again! I dunno & I'm not gonna examine it too hard, lol, but tonight, I WANT to write!! So, pardon as I cut this short. I'm @ 22k & change atm, think I can hit 15k before the night's out??

Today's word is: clarion

Word of the Day

2008-11-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

Today's word is: hope. I need some. At the end of week one, I was a couple days ahead & was so excited, but last week....yowzah. My brain/story/ambition just stalled out on me. I've spent a fair bit of time the last few days working on game stuff cuz a) it reeeeeaaally needs done & b) 'oh, well the writing's just my stuff & the game stuff a buncha people need finished.'

It's a lousy reason, I realize, but there it is. Here's hoping Week Three picks up, a lot

snaps I forgot

2008-11-16T12:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's word was: revolution. Sorry 'bout the delay.

Ouch...

2008-11-14T08:39:00.000-08:00

That dull thus you may have heard a few days back was me running directly into the dreaded Second Week slump. It's a delightful little combo platter of 'Ok...now what?!?' with my plot & my brain deciding 'what? We're not technically behind until Thursday!' Last week I was so gunning for 20k, and the closer I got, the more & faster I wrote. Since then I've done just over 1,000.

So, let that be a lesson to you; setting a big goal in NaNo is great. Reaching it feels AWESOME! But, once you climb that mountain, don't get complacent, there's another peak right behind it, so pick up you pack & move!

What's your best tip for unblocking/keeping momentum?

And the Question is....

2008-11-14T01:09:00.000-08:00

Did anybody see Jeopardy yesterday? They're running their annual Teen Tournament atm. One of the kids does NaNo, how cool is that? Actually, I'm kinda surprised they don't get more people on there that do. Anyway, she was ahead most of the game, but got the final wrong. Still, as it's a tournament, there's still a chance for a Wild Card slot. So, Sarah, wherever you are, good show, kid. I hope you make it through the next round.

Today's word is: luminescent.

New Day, New Chapter

2008-11-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a bit of a mess, I realize. Sorry 'bout that. If you listen very, very closely when reading yesterday's last you'll realize that there's a clanging fading into the distance. That clang you hear is me deciding on something big & then running full tilt at the stretch of faultless adamantium that is the rest of reality.

I decided, I ran, I bounced off that wall hard enough to make even Wolverine's head spin for a moment or two. And, in that moment or two, dazed & spinning & half deaf from the fresh clanging reverberating in my ears...I went a li'l bats for a few. And then, I wrote about it. I promise, I shall endeavor to keep my meltdowns to a bare minimum, lol, unless they'd just make really good reading & then you may get them anyhow.

So, back to work. The last few days have made progress on the novel, though it's been slow. In the last three days I've written no more than 500 words a day on it. I'm not too upset as it's not a complete stall, but I'm not thrilled either. I'm trying to make a point of writing at least something every day. If it's 200 words instead of 2000, well at least it's 200 more than had been there before.

I think I'm also giving up my word counter. Lol, to allay all the 'no!, you can't do that!' I just heard from the room (along with a few snarky 'well, that'd be pretty stupid!') let me explain. I don't mean entirely, I just mean I'm taking it off the toolbar & leaving back where I have to actually go get it. That way, I hope, I won't be so tempted to hit it every other paragraph.

Word counting every other paragraph; rather that at the end of a session/the end of the day, may sound helpful, but to me it isn't. You type away & it feels like you've been going forever because this bit is just flying or that one drags so long. And then, all excited & knowing you've written acres of words, you check you count & find...yeah, not so much. Your mind (and sometimes your fingers) felt like you'd just put miles behind you until that little total popped up to burst your bubble. So, give
the count a rest for a bit. It'll be waiting for you at the end of the day.

Today's word is: sanguine.

Ever had a writing meltdown? What set yours off? Bad word count? RL messes? Chars that are screaming for a timeout? Conversely, any writing triumphs? Deciding to become a professional? Seeing your name in print? Just a really great bit of dialog? Let us know, we love stories here ;)

I'm a leaf on the Wind...

2008-11-12T13:01:00.001-08:00

I was talking to a NaNo friend of mine the other day & the conversation went from comparative progress to a screeching halt.

‘Wait...’ she said, ‘you never finished before? I just thought it was the story running out before the word count got where it was supposed to go.’

Nope, I haven't. *hangs head, abashed* My name is Angela, and I was a four time NaNo loser.

In previous years, I had a pretty hefty familial commitment in Nov every year. I tried writing around it, but could never quite manage to push through the 'Omigawd, what am I doing?!? This sucks!!' phase to get to the good bits. I always figured 'eh, it's just as well, I’m tired from - & have - to do tomorrow & this isn't any good...'. I got frustrated & let my outside obligations give me an out.

I can't do that this year. Lol, for one, the 'obligation' in question is no longer a factor. And for another, this is an idea that's been rattling around my head for a few years now. I really think it's time.

And now, you all sit back & go 'Omg & -this- is the chick that's been giving -me- advice?!?!?'

I know. Sorry.

My sister was in the Army & she had been stationed in Germany, then was deployed to Iraq & later to Afghanistan. I only got to see her once a year & as she loves fall & Thanksgiving, she'd take leave in Nov. I adored seeing her (she is, afterall, my favorite person in the world) but between cleaning, shopping & phone calls before, then making dinners or going to other people's who made her dinner, usually having at least one party, having her friends all show up along with every relative in three counties, lol it was tough. Plus, occasionally, I liked trying to actually get her all to myself for five minutes. I loved having her home, but it ate up a lotta time & energy.

Now she's out. She got out last fall cuz she was pregnant with my niece, who was born this spring. She & the baby are currently waiting for my brother in law to get back from his latest deployment. Besides missing him & being a li'l far from home (she's in Kansas, most of our family's in Illinois) she's good.

Previously, all the things I felt I needed to do in November always took precedence to what I wanted to do, what was important to me. This is a terrible habit & I know *points to the audience* I am not the only one with this affliction. Everything always seemed more important because it was important to somebody else. My ‘stupid stuff’ could always wait, even if it was things I loved, because other people in my life didn’t attach any significance to them. ‘Oh, you’re just doing –‘, where – was ever so much less important than other things. I was just wasting my time anyway. I’d hear all of that & more from people around me & after long enough, from myself.

I really need to quit that. We all do.

We all need to quit letting the rest of the word dictate our priorities, our passions. Yes, of course there are certain practical matters for most people; gotta feed the kids, keep the lights on, etc. But, there has to be ways to serve both things. You shouldn’t have to lose yourself for the sake of practical expediency or other people’s opinions of what you ought to be doing instead. You shouldn’t, and I shouldn’t. I’ve known far too many people that’ve done just that & I’m tired of it. I’m tired of being so beholden to other people’s vision of where they think I should be that I do nothing but second guess where I want to be, if I think on it at all.

Last year, NaNo founder Chris Baty suggested an experiment, a dare of sorts. He proposed that we should have a Year of Doing Big, Fun, Scary Things Together. The idea was to take something you’ve always wanted to do/try/finish but let fear hold you back from & just do it. It could be anything, learn a language, get a new job, finish school, remember to return emails….lol, whatever you wanted.

If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves. - Thomas Edison

I like this idea. It appeals to the gleaming, leonine part of me that yells ‘I AM AWESOME!’ but gets drowned out by all the things heaped up it that sneer & reply ‘you’re kidding, right?’ Well, that’s my Big, Scary Fun Thing; I’m gonna try like hell to ignore that voice from now on. I want to start listening to my own.

Leap, and the net will appear. – Geothe

‘What,’ you may ask, ‘does this have to do with the price of Jumja on Bajor?! Isn’t this supposed to be about writing?’ It is, yes. Therein lays the point. When I set harsh practicality & anyone else’s opinions aside & just listen to what draws me, I think it’s this. I’ve written more than 20,000 words on a single piece & while not Atlas Shrugged length prose by any means, I want to see how it ends.

I haven’t had it long, but this blog has had more frequent & longer posts than any other blog/journal or diary I’ve ever tried keeping…probably put together.

And while my conditioned, doubting responses wants to remind me that I’ve never finished a novel, I say ‘yes, but I keep coming back to try!’ Lack of completion doesn’t mean I haven’t learned things in the years I’ve failed. I keep getting asked advice on writing this year, I keep answering with some pretty solid ideas & I keep hearing how my suggestions have helped. I must be learning something!

The conditioned bit says “all” you write is “stupid game stuff”. Ok, I’ll grant you, most of my writing has been game related, but stupid? Not so much. Currently, I write for four characters out of two different universes with a minimum of around 2.000 words a week, & usually it’s more. Prior to that, I’ve been writing for close to six years now covering about 30 different main chars & a multitude of background chars on everything from modern day superheroes to far flung future covert op agents to mythic world princesses. I’ve written different jobs, social classes, religions, genders & species! I’ve been doing this initially at a couple posts a week to now it’s practically a nightly occurrence.

But, more to the point than the ‘what’ is ‘why’. Even when I fail, and some of them have been truly spectacular failures that barely even sucked in fresh oxygen before keeling, I keep going back. I keep throwing my mind against the vacant expanse of the page to see what sticks. I love when a char takes off enough on their own that they do things you never saw coming & I love writing something that makes me laugh or cry, or hearing that someone reading it laughed or cried. I love the challenge of trying to get inside this person’s head to see what makes them tick. I keep trying on new worlds & new people. Some fit, others don’t, but I keep going, keep plumbing the depths of my oldest char (she’s 3 ½ now) &looking for the next new thing to flex my literary muscles on & shouldn’t that say enough?

I’m by no means saying that I’ll be the next JK Rowling by next NaNo, but merely that I’ll be here next NaNo, and the next. And I’ll keep writing here & trying to write it better as long as I can muster up new ideas, new chars, new problems, new advice & new reads for you. And I’ll keep writing my novel, it’s still a long way to 50k & the book & I have a date with a red pen in December. Who knows, maybe some time I can post a link to where it’s published, or to a site where I’ve gotten printed. I’d like that, like to be able to point to a book in a store or an article somewhere & go “see that? That’s mine. I wrote that.”

So that’s my other Big, Fun, Scary Thing; to not give up & to keep getting better. So I’m currently unpublished & unpaid, so what?.

My name’s Angela & I am a writer.

"I'm a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar" - Wash, Serenity

Word of the Day

2008-11-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

I watched 'Clone Wars' last night & due to a series of convoluted mental jumps between Star Wars references that I'll spare you, today's word is: republic

Time for a TIMEOUT

2008-11-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, a NaNo friend of mine was struggling a bit & I mentioned it (see: An Interlude for Talking Pep & Tips). Well recently, she had a bit more trouble:

Me: How's things?
Her: Not so good...and then again, not so bad.
Me: ok, well not so bad is...well, not so bad. Lol. What about the not so good bit? What's up?
Her: You know the way they tell potential parents that bonding can sometimes take a while and often takes place the first time they see the baby?
Me: LOL, yeah?
Her: Well, I've seen my baby and it still feels like a strange being from another planet.
Me: Oh honey....give the kid some time. Creation takes some growing room & a li'l mental readjustment. LOL, sorry...I don't mean to make light, but that's a really great analogy.
Her: I guess the biggest prolem I have is that I keep comparing this brat to the others I had before. They were so well behaved. This one is a monster
Me: Well, everybody has that one kid that makes your parents snicker & go 'ha! Retribution is mine!!' ya know? lol. Try seeing the good side to the 'kid'. Headstrong? That just means they have a story to tell you. Dragging it's little feet? More time for deeper exposition on things. Etc, etc.
Her: That's what been keeping me going. Even for all the complaining I am doing I haven't quit yet so somethign IS going right. I've even managed to keep to my minimum daily word count of 2K. I'm not writing today.... I'm making a day of being at 18,124
Me: that's ok. Sometimes a little time off is necessary.

Sometimes, even a parent needs a time out. It gives you a moment to step away from your current frustrations & gain some much needed perspective. After that, you can come back refreshed & less inclined to throttle the little darling into submission. And take it easy, on both of you. There's nothing you can write that's so bad that it can't be worked out in rewrites, which can be just as cathartic & infinitely cheaper than family counseling.

Just remember, don't step away for too long. It's much easier to fall out of a writing routine than it is to get back into one. Besides, you wouldn't want the kid to go around destroying the furniture while you weren't looking, would you? So once in a while, take a day, refresh, gain perspective, rest. And then, get back to work. These kids don't raise themselves ;)

"The pride of men, of parents as well, makes us believe that anything we create we can control. Whether from clay or metal, it is in the nature of us to create our own monsters. Our children are alloys of our own imperfect flesh. We animate them with magic & never truly know what they'll do.'' - Sarah Connor, 'Queen's Gambit - Sarah Connor Chronicles'

Got a story about when your writing behaved like an unruly little brat? Tell us about it in the Comments Section. Any favorite literary 'parenting' techniques?

Word of the Day

2008-11-10T23:42:00.000-08:00

Well, as a RL friend of mine has been telling me about how he thinks his house may be haunted, today's word is : spectral.

Word of the Day

2008-11-10T00:54:00.000-08:00

Well, as I and the girl I pick these words for are both happy about things atm, today's word is: Fantastic.

YAAAAAAWP!

2008-11-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

Twenty thousand, two hundred & eight, tyvm! HA!! That is AWESOME!!! When I originally thought of it the other day, I was at like 8k or something & it was an idle, 'hey, wouldn't it be cool to hit 20k in the first week?' never thinking i could actually do it, but guess what! I DID! I wrote twenty thousand words in less than a week, I'M KING OF THE WORLD, LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLE!!! Ok, so that last was a bit much, lol, but still :D This rocks.

And it occurred to me the other day (I know, totally obvious, but still) 20 isn't all that far off 25, not really anyway. And 25 is half way through omigawd!! Lol, whether the story will be through @ 50k remains to be seen, lol.

Oh, and in this last, I get the feeling two of my chars may be a li'l sweet on each other. How 'bout that? Anyway, I'm off get up from the 20k plateau & head for the 25k summit. Hope your novels are all going well. Oh, and if you don't get the title, go rent Dead Poet Society. It fits, honest, lol.

Almost There: Reprised

2008-11-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

So after sprinting during the day, rather than sensibly sleeping, lol, & having dinner guest last night, I was beat & in bed before 10. It may not seem like much, but I assure you, that never happens to me, lol. My grandparents came over for supper last night, at which point they regaled me with tales of their little medical idiosyncrasies & anecdotes of various old people they knew over the years, including a charming side trip down 'who went to X's funeral'. Good times. All this while the TADIS was calling me from the next room....grr.....LOL. Still, I stayed, listened politely & reassured myself that this was what DVRs were for.

By the time they'd left & things got cleaned up, I was tired enough to get in about 20 minutes or so of Doctor Who before calling it night. Thus, my 17 & change hasn't cleared 20 as I'd planned for my post-supper evening, lol. But that's what today is for. So I was thinking the other day, back when 20k seemed totally pie-in-the-sky, 25 isn't that far from 20 really. And at 25, I'd be half way through! That seems astounding to me, that tonight or tomorrow, I could be halfway to 50k. My previous longest NaNo attempt was just shy of 14k & they've (I know, it sounds backwards, but it's true) gone DOWN in word count since. This is, as of some time yesterday, the longest single piece of fiction I've ever written, and that is pretty mind blowing to me.

The only aspect that gives me pause atm, is pacing. I know not everyone finishes exactly on 50 & the idea isn't to make a perfectly polished book in one go. Side trips to nonsequitors are in fact sometimes encouraged, but I'm afraid I'll run out of story before I hit my target. I've been told by a few people in the past, and most recently by someone that's been reading this year's NaNo, that I'm pretty good with description. And, generally speaking, I would agree. But I've been doing long, detailed descriptions of things in this year's & tho' it's been well recieved thus far, as i'm writing them they sometimes feel plodding & overworked. I'm not sure how to get past that feeling aside from lumping it in with the 'that was too literal' or 'that part was revealed too soon', etc things that I'm trying like hell to keep stuff in my 'You can always fix it later, but first you have to finish!!' file. Still, sometimes when I write the descriptive passages, I can't quite shake the voice going 'oh c'mon! Get to the point already!!' I guess I'll work on that.

I'll post more after today's session. Hope your novels are all going well.

Today's word is: undulate.

Nearly There~~

2008-11-08T13:49:00.000-08:00

I just finished sprinting, cuz who doesn't wanna hunch over their computer & try'n string together coherent & entertaining sentences after they come home from working all night, right? lol/I'm currently at 17,139. I might be able to clear that 20k later tonight! Wht's more, one pair of chars found a clue, another did a pretty impressive piece of godly magic & the last just discovered a forgotten secret temple....after a brief, musical interlude of course, lol.

The Race for 20k

2008-11-08T07:58:00.000-08:00

Ty for the support guys :) I appreciate it. So, last night I finished at just over 13k & today, it's more sprints. I'm starting to think 20 is pretty downright attainable, possibly by day's end even, but certainly before the week end is out.

Today's word is: Argyle.

Right on!

2008-11-07T11:00:00.000-08:00

Apparently my writing groove comes in spurts, lol. I had a good first couple days, only wrote a few hundred, wrote tons in the write in, couldn't muster anything yesterday, now things are flowing again *knocks wood, throws salt & anything else she can think of to unjinx herself by saying that out loud*

I think I know where the story is going finally, have a vague notion of the far distant shores of an ending & my chars are finally off in the world doing things! This is exciting! I even updated my novel info & put up a teeny excerpt today, I've never done that before. I'm currently at just shy of 12.5k & I hope to be at 15 tonight. That way, tomorrow's sprints should knock out that 20k in no time.

Welcome to a brand new day

2008-11-07T08:18:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was kind of a bust. I just felt very....meh all day. I didn't sleep a lot & that combined with the glut of words I dredged the day before combined to make me feel a li'l tapped out, I suppose. I know, I shoulda worked through it anyway. The ironic thing is, I spent a lotta time yesterday encouraging other people to put the time in & not give up on their novels. Anyway, this morning I got home from work, I had a li'l breakfast, a li'l Doctor Who & am on my second big thermos mug of coffee, so I should be getting down to work in a few here. Today feels better. Technically, I guess I could not write at all today & not be 'officially' behind, but ya know what? I think, if I can make it to 50 & am looking back on this NaNo later, the thing that'll stand out & really bug me most, won't be the quality(or lack of) work, it'll be the days I didn't work at all. Still, it's a long way to 20k if I'm going to make it by week's end. I'll post a new count later.

Today's word is: swindle.

Today's Word

2008-11-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

Today's word is : groundbreaking

Thanks for all the stories

2008-11-06T08:07:00.000-08:00

Recently one of my favorite authors, Michael Crichton, died. if you've never read his work, you're likely still familiar with it & have probably seen at least one of the movies his books were turned into. Jurassic Park, Sphere, Timeline, Andromeda Strain, Eaters of the Dead(which became 13th Warrior on the big screen), Congo, Rising Sun, Disclosure, just to name a few. He was also involved in the movie Twister & the tv show E.R.

I first heard of him several years ago when he was on the Today Show one morning. There sat this polite, intelligent, well spoken man discussing a book he'd written about someone trying to bring dinosaurs to life & how they'd just began work towards making it a movie. I thought it was an intriguing possibility, ressurecting an extinct species & I set out to find the book. Like a lot of people do when trying out an author for the first time, I grabbed it not necessarily expecting loads. Sure, the premise sounded cool, but that didn't mean his style would be to my liking. Boy, was I wrong!

Since then, I've owned at least seven of his books, read one or two others & seen the bulk of his movies. He is, to my mind, a giant in fiction. And, the thing I loved about the books of his that I read was their tangibility. I'm a big sci fi fan, but this wasn't space ships or crazy aliens or ray guns, this was possible & that was what made them so thrilling...and sometime, so frightening. His stories were modern day science, things going on in labs today & just taken a step & a half beyond. They were plausible. Disturbingly so in some cases. They were filled with sharp characters & exciting action sequences & provided that perfect blend of science that wasn't someone talking clean over your head, nor someone talking down to you. It provided a life like premise to each scenario that offered you, the reader, a chance to decide whether you thought this or that char was right or wrong, whether possibility trumped right. It gave you a crisp, clean set up an then gave it just enough twist to make it fantastic.

The world needs more books like that. Thanks for the great reads.

And at the end of the day

2008-11-05T21:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, it was sprint-a-thon day. Word sprints are when you & a group of friends pick a set time frame, write like mad, then break briefly & compare counts, talk about twists, problems & anything else about your story & then, you go again. My group tends to do 35/10 sprints. Today, I did eight. I'd never done word sprints before this year, but wow, from now on, I'm gonna! Nearly all my writing has been in sprints this year & today I started around 6k & am finishing the day at 11,798. Cha-ching! I'm gonna try to hit 20k by week's end. Wish me luck.

Along the way, I split the chars up into separate scenes, one pairing is totally antagonistic with each other, one's very friendly & the other has fallen prey to my first real pitfall...literally. Poor Coyote crashed through the ground & is current stranded, lol. Plus, for Gypsy, at some point the diner which is my main setting, is getting robbed. And what's more, it's getting robbed by a guy with an alligator tattoo, lol. Orginially she suggested
having somebody just up & heave an alligator through the window, lol. I gave it some thought, but I just couldn't figure out were somebody would get a gator in the middle of a city, much less how they'd get the thing around to heave it through a window, lol. But then again....maybe when the time comes, I'll get inspired.

Hope your novels are going well.

Power Writing

2008-11-05T12:02:00.000-08:00

Ugh....LOL. I just finished the 5th of FIVE sprints today. Anybody that says writing isn't physically taxing obviously hasn't done it for long enough, lol. Still, I started today @ 6k & change & now, my word count is...*drum roll* 9903! There's another 5 sprint session tonight. Maybe I can get to 15k tonight?

Yeah...I probably can make it. Lol, I am so going for 20k before week's end!

Oh, in other news, A new char wandered into my story, lol. I think it's Coyote! Lol, he should keep things nice & interesting. Happy noveling!

An interlude for talking pep & tips

2008-11-05T10:09:00.000-08:00

I know, I was just here, lol. But, in another window, I'm talking to one of my NaNo buddies & she's struggling, so I figured I would impart on you, dear reader, what I'm telling her.

Ok, and I cannot stress this enough, DO NOT REREAD. It's bad. It creates doubt. No book you ever read & loved came out of first draft looking like it does on the shelf in the store. Some days will whiz by, others are plodding, you just have to keep putting one word in front of the other. Set the font to match the background or type with the monitor off. Just get things set up, click it off & go. Then, next session, read back, and I'm serious here, no more than 2 sentences. Get things set up, click off the monitor & go. Just write, don't worry about what's there, just write. Understand that this is just a first draft & can be changed later & just write.

Creating anything can be beautiful & exhilarating, but just as often it's slow, arduous & plagues with nagging self doubt. DON'T GIVE UP! I've done this four time before & haven't made it to 50k....yet. I haven't hit it, and still I come back every year & I try. This year I am determined to do it. I don't care if I end up collapsing on my keyboard & typing the last 10,000 words with my nose! I'm hitting that 50. I'm hitting it & you're coming with me!

There are millions of people that never make anything in their life, never bother, don't so much as read a book let alone write one. The attempt is a leap of faith & an act of commitment. Enjoy it! Forget the inner editor or what needs tending to or the rest of the world, for just a little while! This is the very first time you'll ever be able to meet these extraordinary people & explore this whole new world with fresh eyes, the world YOU create. You are the only person on Earth that can tell this story the way you will, with your voice, your ideas. So tell it! Embrace the chaos, for it's a great ride!

WOOT!

2008-11-05T09:53:00.000-08:00

I did three sprints this morning & wrote more than 2k new words! HUZZAH! Lol. Also, I'm so excited about this, my chars are actually starting to talk in their own voices! Yes, the story is still choppy, meandering & weird, but...new words!! WOOT!

So, I'm thinking of setting myself a pretty big challenge. I think I might set a target word count of 20k by the end of the week. Is that a lot? Yeah. Am I sure I can manage it? Lol, not even a little bit! Does the idea of having a 20k first week seem awesome & Herculean? Absolutely!!

Oh, and Dana? Radioactive yard junk?? I LOVE it! Lol, that could be a novel in & of itself, thanks!

Retribution

2008-11-04T21:53:00.000-08:00

I have really, really annoying neighbors. Rude, loud, sauced, sloppy, antagonistic pack of vulgarians. Over the last couple years, the cops have been called by various people around the neighborhood about...oh, maybe 8-10 times. I know at least two people called the Health Dept. on them & the Fire Dept. has been here 3 times. No...no, four times. I, by no means, live in the Biltmore estate or anything, but their yard looks like someone took the bastard child of a flea market & city dump, took said child to the most rinky-dink carnival it could find, loaded the child up on elephant ears & onion rings, put them on the Scrambler a good half a dozen times & then took them to this yard t throw up. It's not pretty.

they have, on more occasions than I care to count, held curse filled screaming matches on the front lawn in the middle of the night. They sit & karaoke, badly even by karaoke standards, off their front porch. They play the stereo ALL HOURS of the day & night to a volume that runs through my entire house. They've set their own porch on fire at least twice(because, not only should you not drink & drive, you should not drink & grill either.)
They are seemingly not at all equipped with even the most basic grasp of decorum, the rights of others, or indeed the kindergarten concept of 'the inside voice'. They are, in short, a menace.

You may ask why I bring this up. It's because, I decided today, as I had headphones on & could still hear them banging things & yelling all afternoon, that they are going in the book. I'm not sure how & I'm not sure where, but they' going in the book & I shall have some truly dreadful fate befall them. Any suggestions for a suitably terrible end would be welcomed.

I didn't hit my count goal for the day, but I did add about 500 words, which is better than none at all, I suppose.

Oh, and the word for tomorrow is 'mutation'.

A nickel's worth of free advie

2008-11-04T16:53:00.001-08:00

Gather 'round children, Auntie Bristow has a very important lesson to impart. Hunting Blogger for NaNo participants, hitting the NaNo site repeatedly or IMing NaNo friends will -NOT- count towards your total word count. *rolls eyes*

Now then, if you'll excuse me, I need to go hide the phone cord till I hit my target count.

Wow, will this thing need editing!

2008-11-04T15:33:00.000-08:00

Ok, so after a fairy promising first weekend 'm just barely managed to creep past 6k. The 'official' target today (going by the 50k/30 - 1667wpd) says I should hit 6668 today. I'm hoping to hit at least 8 before I conk out for the night. Wish me luck.

So, I've begun to notice a trend...this book is SO disjointed! I'm getting the (more or less) globby impressions of what I want done, but when I think on them all later, there's a lot of 'I should have put X before Y' kind of thinking. Once I'm finished,I'll have to read it all through & map things out on little cards or something, lol. There's supposed to be suspense to it & I'm just stepping all over it. Still, I'm not going back and fixing it, no matter how much of a trainwrecked mess it's coming out. One word in front of the other, just gotta remember that. Rewrites can wait. Rewrites kill your story before it has a chance to suck in fresh oxygen. I just need to keep going, no matter what comes spewing across the page. There's nothing so horrible it can' be edited later, but first, you need to have a finished book to edit.

And, with that in mind, I'm off to write. There are two 5 hour write ins tomorrow. I dunno that I'll be able to do both(anyone that says writing isn't physically taxing hasn't written enough!)m but I'll go through at least one. I'll post again once I have the night's final count.

Today's word

2008-11-04T01:55:00.000-08:00

As she popped up and asked for her word just as I was finishing watching Iron Man, for about the 25th time lol, today's word is 'hero'.

Ugh....

2008-11-03T23:06:00.000-08:00

Slow day today. I didn't start writing 'til late in the evening cuz I was pretty burned out from doing sprints in chat yesterday. They're a great way to get your count up; write like made for X amount of time, take a short break, repeat. We were doing 35-10 yesterday. Good for the word count, but tough on everything else. I did three sprints yesterday, I think & then a couple nearly hour ones the day before. My back was all knotted up, my brain was fried, my eyes were all dry....but i crossed 5k in the first 2 days, so that's ok. LOL.

Got some shiny new presents for the muses today - a new coffee maker & some dark chocolate cookies! Here's hoping that'll coax a few more words out. I was hoping to hit 7k today, but I'm not sure I'll make it. Atm, I'm @ 5819. I[m gonna get up & wander around for a few, see if I can't shake a few hundred more words out, otherwise I'll hit it first thing when I get up. Sorry the counter's not updated, the site's down for a bit while Russ puts in a new server.

Today's Word

2008-11-03T05:24:00.000-08:00

And today's word is: 'Marcasite'. I know, it's getting to be a weird collection, isn't it? Anyway, enjoy. I'll post more after my next word count.

And on the second day...

2008-11-02T17:17:00.000-08:00

Ok, this'll be quick, cuz my brain's gone all melty, lol. I named all my chars!! WOOHOO! Plus, I used one of the dares I picked up & I'm finishing the day @ over 5k! Ok, so I know a woman that's past 15k already (yeah, I know!) but still, I'm pretty excited.

So, good night everybody. And keep putting one word after another ;)

Welcome to Week One

2008-11-02T03:57:00.000-08:00

So the first day of my '08 novel went, I think, fairly well. I finished out the day at 3032 words, nearly twice my daily minimum. Plus, I figured out a few things that might be helpful, like oh, say...the point of the story, lol. I don't wanna get too ahead of myself, but I think I figured out why these people are all coming together & what their goal will be before the end. I'm very excited! The short, short explanation is, they're going to notice a trend in their particular community & will have to decide whether to fall to it themselves or try to change things to stop it where it is. The one will make them all individually reassess their place in the world & what they think on how life is going, while the other will risk toppling their current lives, exposing their true nature & possibly failing anyway. It should be fun.

I'd like to end today above 5k somewhere. But, before I start, I have GOT to go hunting for names, lol. I'm into my second chapter & no one's been properly names yet. And, I can't go through the whole book calling people by pronouns & descriptions. True, there's only one 'the Asian girl' or 'the red haired woman' or 'the pompous guy', but that doesn't mean I want to refer to them as that 3,700 more times. I know who they are; that one's Zeus, this one's Clotho, etc, etc, I just can't go around calling them that in their modern, everyday life all the time. I thought about keeping them with names from their original regions, but that won't always work either. Hathor, for instance, is an Egyptian goddess. Most 'popular' Egyptian names are, in fact, other goddesses. Pass, ty. It wouldn't be too hard to come up with a Greek name for Zeus, but his char's on tv & something like....'Stavros Anatopolis' isn't a very 'tv friendly' name. I don't wanna just have them be 'John' & 'Mary' (which are perfectly fine names, just not ones I want an entire coterie of gods to be called) or what have you, so I have some digging to do today, so, wish my luck as I go name hunting.

Oh, the link to my anniversary pep talk anthology thing came today, so I've been reading that. It was one of the thank you gifts from my OLL donation & it was sooo worth the money. Lol, I really dig Chris(the NaNo founder), he's a riot & at the same time, really encouraging.

Ok, I'm off to find things to call people....Ya think 'Hey you!' #1-5 would be too much??
Oh, and to whom it may concern, today's word is 'accentuate'.

After my first night noveling...

2008-11-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

I think it went pretty well last night. i hit my word goal, which is nice. I'm going to try for another 1667 or so later tonight too. It's always good to get the word counts flowing when you can, cuz some days it's going to be tough.

So, I was just starting the set up this morning & the story begins (and returns to, through out the novel) this diner. I was describing the waitresses that were there & as I went on about them, it hit me....Omg, that's the Fates!! Lol, I hadn't intended to have those lovely ladies of destiny spinning fame included, but it's nice they showed up all the same. Also, I didn't jump right into the hole pack of chars as, originally, I'd guessed I would. In fact, the way th scene's shaking out, I may stagger them in a chapter or two at a time. We'll see how things go. I'm still pretty hazy on details, but ya know...that doesn't really bother me. It just means I leave room for the story to follow its own path rather than trying to force something predetermined.

In other NaNo news, I got up this morning & sent a donation in to the office of Letters & Light. I'd been wanting to the last couple years, but as i got paid last night, lol, & it was kickoff day, it just seemed a really good time. To those of you that may happen through here & not know, the OLL is the administrative power behind NaNo, Script Frenzy & the Young Writers' Program. They manage all the programs & handle the funding for those, the servers, the staff, supplies, sort out that years merchandise, set the MLs up with live Write Ins goodies & all manner of other writely, non profit, faeirie godmothery type little miracles. So, if you happen to find yourself with an exrtra $10 or something around November, enhance your noveling karma & help sustain these great programs.

Ok, PSA time is over, tho' I do mean it. Oh, for those interested, I mentioned my friend wanting a word a day. Well, she asked for another practice word & I gave her 'aggregate & for her Kickoff word, she got 'holistic'. And yes, in case you're wondering, I do just kind of pick words out of the air, lol, more or less. She says it's helped her tho', maybe i should try using them. lol.'

Ok, I'm off to get some sleep. I know, I said that hours ago, but alas, that didn't go quite as smoothly as anticipated. So, I will post again today if I manage another session, if not, I'll see you all tomorrow. Happy noveling!

Day one online Write-In results

2008-10-31T23:36:00.000-07:00

Ok...it's the end of my first session & I made it to 1690. WOOT! Now, I must sleep, before my brain melts out my ear, lol. But, I'll try'n hit the magic number again when I get up.
Oh & hey! I was about four sentences in & the most glaringly obvious char addition hit me, lol. I love when stuff like that happen, you never saw it coming then *BAM* & it all becomes totally clear. .

G'night all you out there in NaNo/Bloggerland.

2008-10-31T21:59:00.001-07:00

TWO MINUTES! AAAAAHHHH!!!!

An Hour Away

2008-10-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's nearly midnight....Yikes! I;m anxious & unfortunately really tired tonight. Most NaNos I'm about bouncing around the room near midnight. I hope I can kick some of that excitement up soon. I got about 3 hours sleep today, but I am NOT QUITTING till I hit my 1667! Bed can wait. I can sleep when I'm dead. Well, actually I can sleep in the morning when I go home cuz I have nothing that needs done tomorrow, woohoo! But, it's a long stretch of dark between then & now & in that time, I'm hitting that 16671 unless the cieling caves in on me or something.

Cross your fingers for me, cuz maybe once I get going, I'll just keep at it & forget the tired & it'll all jkust be story. That'd be nice....a big, fat, 5k Day One. Anyway, got a few things to take care of before kickoff. I'll post the results once I'm done for the night. And to my fellow NaNoers, may your word counts overflow! Good luck!!

On the day before...

2008-10-30T02:01:00.000-07:00

Ok.....*big, deep breath* to channel Jim Morrison for just a sec here, the time to hesitate is through. NaNo '08 is nearly upon us. I'm feeling...lol, excited-overwhelmed-apprehensive-nervous-hopeful, all kinds of things. I still have loads to do; get my goodies & music together, set my char list, try'n drag the chair back into my room so I don't have to type on the bed all the time (way to tempting to nap that way!)

Anybody else have any big pre-noveling plans? I've also gotta come up with a word a day, lol. A friend of mine from my X-Men game asked me to give her a word every day in Nov so she'll have a go-to in case she gets stuck, etc. I gave her a warm up word to play around a couple paragraphs with today. Today's warm up word was 'scintillating'. We'll see how she does with it.

Oh! Thanks to my 'NaNostalkers & their pointy sticks at the ready, lol. I may not always take the prods gracefully, but atm, I appreciate the sentiment, lol.

2008-10-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

So, I've been trying to figure out why I decided to start this, ya see...I don't usually blog. I know a lot of people do, I even read something the other day about the tens of thousands of blogs that are started every day...they're just not mine. It's twofold, I suppose. On one hand, I've always liked the idea of journals & this gives me something a bit more active than the usual 'called my sister', 'had to work' kind of entries. And, on the other hand, there's the accountability factor. It's considerably harder to punk out on your novel when it gets tough if you've got a crowd waiting there to ask about its progress.

Granted, I suppose that theory works better with more than two readers, but hey...I'll take what I can get. So, if you happen upon this corner of cyberspace & decide to stick around, feel free to poke me with a stick from time to time through out November. It'll annoy me after a while, but it's probably good for me, lol. Anyway, gentle reader, it's 11 in the morning & I had to work last night, so I'm off to bed, lest my brain melts out my ears.

See ya tonight ;)

8 Days to Nano

2008-10-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

I was a baaad novelist last night. Closing in on a week from Kickoff & I didn't so much as crack open a single page for research last night. Bad writer, bad. To be fair, last night I was a bit out of it. Has anybody else ever gone to grab a couple Tylenol for a headache & nabbed the P.M. kind instead?? No?....I figured as much. That takes a whole special kind of stupid, lol. Anyway, I spent half the night feeling all buzzed & spaced out, which is always just how you want to feel an hour before work. Go me.

Every year I have friends tell me I'm completely nuts for doing NaNo, but I came to a realization. NaNo, to people that like it, is sort of like Christmas when you're little. You wait for it all year, the closer it comes the more antsy you get, you see people you like but haven't seen since last year, when it finally arrives you can't tear through paper fast enough, about halfway through your momentum flags & your energy dips a bit & you're just ready to be done for the year & once it's over you're spent & a little dazed. But, once it wears off a few days later you just start eyeballing the calendar all over again.

Am I saying that NaNo is like being overstuffed with ham dinner, a bit buzzed from too much eggnog & frayed from hours of having your personal space invaded b an ever widening circle of annoying relatives?...Well, only sometimes. Lol. Once a story really gets going it'll pull you along, regardless of other things. You can be busy or tired, it doesn't care, it just wants to hit the page. When it gets going you'll find spots that just drag you along whether you knew they were coming or not, twists & dialog just pour out without you even knowing they were lurking back there. When the story gets the characters talk to you, all the time, each clamoring for attention & page time & bigger scenes & better dialog &...&....

And the sick part of it all, much like too much dinner & annoying relatives on Christmas, once it's over you're really sorry to see it go.

9 Days to NaNo

2008-10-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

OK, I've got a few things behind me on my way through NaNo prep. I've got a few notes worked out on who's going to be who, how certain chars will be introduced into the story, who'll be sniping at who & over what. Some nice basics. I've got files set up for my novel & one for notes, I've got my minimum word counts all scribbled onto my calendar(Ty to whatever benevolent soul was more ambitions than I & did the math on that, lol). Also, as per Chris'(NaNo's founder) suggestion in his book, 'No Plot? No Problem!'. I sat down & wrote my Magna Cartas.

The Magna Cartas, for there are two, are lists to help guide you along in your writing for the month. One lists things that when you read them in other people's work you generally enjoy seeing. These are things that you should try incorporating into your own novel, as if you like reading it, you'll likely be good at writing it. The other are pitfalls & quagmires, things that in others' writing makes you cringe. These things should be avoided at all costs whenever possible.

My MC1:
3rd person past - it's habit. I write in my 'off season' for an RPG & that's their preferred structure

Dystopian - I only really realized this a while ago, but a lot of my favorite stories have a least a slight lean into dystopia.

Broken people - most of the chars I write in things tend to be "damaged" in some way. World weary, abused, middle child syndrome, too long under the burden of command, etc, etc.

Conflict - Cuz like the commercials says, conflict's good for drama, right? lol

Intrigue - Not always knowing things is fun, a li'l mystery, a li'l Cloak & Dagger. I like that.

The 3rd Act Twist - And just when you think you have it all figured out....BAM! Lol, I love that.

Heroes - Average, super, unwitting, nonconventional...I just like the good guys.

Otherworldliness - If you were to take a look at my bookcases & movie shelves, you'd see sci fi, comics & fantasy filling most of it. Now, I don't -have- to have elves, mages, mutants, spaceships, etc in everything, but I do enjoy stories that're a few degrees off regular life.

Underdogs - Who doesn't root for the li'l guy?

Action - *shrug* what can I say...Spaceships, superheroes & stuff that blows up. I'm a weird girl.

Pithy dialog - I love getting engrossed in really snappy, smart back & forth. It's great when a writer has good timing, a great sense of humor & a decent vocabulary. I wish that happened more often these days.

Suspension of disbelief - now this one's a bit harder to quantify. It's that engrossing power that a good story has to make the real world fall away. I'm not sure if I'll be able to write it, but I love when I read/watch it!

Strong female chars - *shrug* what can I say, I put together my own computer, entertainment system & the furniture to house them. Why shouldn't the chars? Lol. I know the just-trading-on-their-looks, woe-is-me, some-big-strong-man-come-save-me group isn't going anywhere anytime soon, I'm just not that interested.

My MC2
Long, overly wordy prose - There are certain writers I've read(or in some cases, attempted to read), big, famous writers, who's style is just like slogging through a muddy field to my mind. I'm all for description, but 3/4 of a page to say 'red dress' is too much! Blech!

Bland language - Ok, I admit, this blog & its accompanying novel when its time comes, aren't scintillating fonts of effervescent prose most days, but still...'Nice', 'interesting', anything with '-ly', the list goes on. I realize in a first draft these handy go tos will happen, but that doesn't mean they won't be the first to be shown the door during any rewrite.

Sex scenes - I know, the romance industry makes billions, I'm just not interested in watching(or reading) people go at it. Sorry. I guess I just prefer my own expiriences & fantasies to other people's.

Lack of realism - In any genre there's a certain veneer of reality that can be applied. No matter how big the dragons, how lasergun laden the starships, how camped up the pirates, it can be there. I know not everything is a documentary in life, but still... It goes back to the suspension of disbelief in MC1. I need to be able to at least come within spitting distance of buying the story.

Technology really sucks sometimes

2008-10-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

GAH!!! I just wrote this huge post for one of the forums & my browser ate it right before I was going to post!! *bangs head into desk*

11 Days to NaNo

2008-10-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

So, I could be wrong (cuz you never can tell until you're actually writing), but I think I just thought of the start of my book. What's more, I think I thought of the start of my book, plus TWO backups! Wahoo! Which reminds me... I haven't told you what I'm writing yet.

Ok, here goes. I was watching tv a while back & saw a commercial for something or other that was a god's name/likeness; Mercury cars, Venus razors...you get the idea. So I got to wondering, if I were an old god & saw my name being used to shill for *insert merchandise here* how would I take that? Is it a testament to the iconic power of these beings that even after centuries, sometimes millenia they're still considered to hold enough sway that their names carry weight like that? Or, would they be irked by the notion that once they were loved, feared, etc by hundreds, even millions (and, with some gods, still are in the right circles) & now are being traded on to peddle somebody's stuff. If you were a god, would you be ticked?

So I started thinking about an old god in the modern age seeing things like that. Then it went further, what kind of things would a god do now? Would they still, after all these eons be working in 'their field' so to speak? Would Zeus be a tv weatherman? Would Eros run an online dating service? What would you do in this modern age if you'd come from the ancient world & what's more, how do you reconcile going from who you were -regardless of the times- to who you'd be now. Clearly there's no Thor swinging his hammer recently, no Anubis wandering the terminal ward in hospitals, no Apollo riding his chariot across the sky...is there? Are they still out in the world? "What if god was one of us?"

-=deleted for the sake of my sanity=-

'What's that about?', right? Well, I just finished writing up a few paragraphs on the whys & wherefores of my plot, but then thought better of it. For any number of reasons, it's probably best not to let the whole thing out in one go. I'll post it, then something totally different will happen in the story &... Anyway. If it sounds like your kind of reading, I've got a spot only where I'm posting it as I write. Nanomail me *points to the 'My NaNo Profile' link to the left*

Lead Up to NaNo: 12 days to go

2008-10-20T04:42:00.000-07:00

ignore the timestamp. I wrote it yesterday, but just now posted

Well, it's 12 days before my 5th NaNo. It's 11 in the morning & tho' I know I should, I'm not sleeping. I can't. My mind just keeps running over things & over things. Who am I using for the rest of the cast, what're they all doing, what're they like, what's the point of this whole story, I wonder if i got any NaNomail yet, I'm kinda hungry, no, food just means I'll have to go downstairs & mess around a while, maybe I should throw in a movie, or watch some of the stuff off the DVR, maybe i should start a new book, no can't start a new book lest, on the off chance, I'm not done before Nov, I should go to sleep, I don't feel like going to sleep, I'm kinda tired, no, I'm hungry, ugh.... this sucks!

Ya see my problem?

I've been trolling the boards lately & open this one up just a bit to a few people wanting to read. I'm still debating, providing they actually do read & comment, if I should save reading commentary till after. Might be better, but we'll see. If noone reads it it won't be an issue anyway. So this year I'm gonna take another whack at something I'd thought of a couple years ago. But, as I'm starting entirely from the ground up (haven't even opened the old vesion since last i added to it) I don't think it really counts as an ongoing project. It's the old gods in the modern era thing. So far the cast list is still up in the air for the most part & though I know the basic structure I'm using, the particulars of where & how the story will go are still a total mystery.

Ya know, there are times when this endeavor seems really crazy to me, lol. When I was a kid I remember thinking how it'd be really cool to write things, but whenever I tried I could never do it. There wasn't any big reason was so enamored of the idea, not that I recall anyway, I just thought it sounded so interesting, so fun...plus I really liked to read And this continued for YEARS. In high school I thought the idea of keeping a journal sounded awesome, but whenever i tried I'd write a blah couple of entries about nothing, then taper off & forget it. 'Writing classes!' I thought, would totally do the trick. If I took a writing class, I'd suddenly know how & what to write, right? No, not really. And if you don't believe me, ask the teachers that gave me Fs in their class when all I managed to do was stare helplessly at the blank page practically every time.

I didn't really start writing until my early twenties. My gaming group broke up & I missed it, so I started looking for a game online. In my 'oh it's just gaming' mindset, I completely blew past the realization I was writing a few nights a week for....lol, well for longer than my intellect likes admitting in public. I moved on to another game & in this one a small, but dedicated group & I wrote nightly. Wrote LOTS in fact. it was a girl from there that pointed me towards NaNo originally. She IMed me on Halloween '03 at....oh, like 9:30-10pm.

'Omg, you HAVE to do this thing with me!!' she tells me.

'What??' (cut right to the point, don't I?)

'A friend of mine talked me in to doing this thing & I know I can't by myself, you have to do this with me!!' She sends me to www.nanowrimo.com for the first time.

I go & read the particulars. 'You're kidding, right?'

'Please! There's no way i can do this!'

'Yeah, me either'. I read on. 'This thing starts in like an hour & a half! What'm I supposed to write about in that amount of time!?!'

'I dunno! i don't even know what I'm writing about! Please do this with me anyway'. I grumble & go to sign up. And the rest, as they say, is history. Well, strictly speaking, the rest is virtual literary flotsam & jetsam I keep squirreled away on a web board somewhere, but that doesn't really have the same ring to it.

My first NaNo, ironically, has been my longest. It was nowhere near the 50k goal, but it was soooo much more than I EVER thought i could write on a single piece. It was about a girl that was working on an archeological dig
where, little by little, she started just knowing things about the site she shouldn't, weird dreams plagued her & certain objects would trigger visions she couldn't explain. Eventually, it was going to be deduced that she'd lived there in a past life. There was to be some parallel between then & now; a similar problem she'd been having or a figure in her life that echoed someone from before, etc. I think occasionally of opening it back up sometime, reading through it & finishing. I'm not sure where i would have ended, but I do like the basic premise.

My second ended up being something completely different than I'd planned. I'd thought to do a WWII era anti-love story. But, as I sat down to type at midnight of Day One, something totally different poured out. I did several thousand words on a CSI fan fic. The premise, I think, came to me from something I saw on the Travel Channel, lol. They were showing a thing on Vegas & visited an indoor skydiving place & I remember thinking that'd be a tricky place to process for a crime scene, lol.

Writing is funny like that sometimes. You wouldn't think it as it's your words coming from your mind, but it really can surprise you. I love when that happens, when a char does or says something you never saw coming until you were reading it off the page. You can't sleep because all your imaginary people are chattering away in your head & WON'T SHUT UP! Lol, that one's both exhilarating & infuriating, lol.

So Many Words, So Little Time

That clacking sound is me, typing until my fingerd sieze up

It's alive....Alive!!!

The Story So Far

Night One

Words

Another Year, Another Book

Looking Glass

Bad, Bad Blogger

Time to switch it up a bit

And You Thought I Forgot

"I'm not dead yet....I'm feeling much better!..."

Embracing the Madness

Long time, no type.

And then there was Day Two

Day One

On your marks....get set....WRITE!

New year, new novel

A quick hello before the day starts

Finally!

Nicer Than Nice

Requiem for Mary Sue

Radomness Seems to Be the Theme Lately, Huh?

Good Mornin' World!!

Pre-Dawn Ramblings

New Books!

Still Alive & Still Tech Impaired

My Life in (Technological) Exile

Well, it did hold up its end of the bargain...

Progress Report

A Pictoral Interlude

Have You Ever Noticed...?

And the Universe Provides

And Now For Something Completely Different

It's Done!

The End is Nigh!

Life After NaNo

Evolution

Thank God It's Over!

Purple is the New Black

The Final Hurrah

Brain Fried

On to the Summit!

I Think I May Be Stuc...Scratch That! I Think I Know How My Book Ends!!

Happy 50th Post!!

SHERPAAAA!!!

WOOHOO! 30k! Onto the summit!!

I'm going, I'm going

A 10k Weekend

A Bit of Progress

Yep, still writing

Twenty Five Thousand!!

Yeah....I know

Word of the Day

*snaps* I forgot

Ouch...

And the Question is....

New Day, New Chapter

I'm a leaf on the Wind...

Word of the Day

Time for a TIMEOUT

Word of the Day

Word of the Day

YAAAAAAWP!

Almost There: Reprised

Nearly There~~

The Race for 20k

Right on!

Welcome to a brand new day

Today's Word

Thanks for all the stories

And at the end of the day

Power Writing

An interlude for talking pep & tips

WOOT!

Retribution

A nickel's worth of free advie

Wow, will this thing need editing!

Today's word

Ugh....

snaps I forgot