Until I find a decent, low maintenance countdown meter18,059 words, with more to come in a few minutes. Well on track for Amazon, even if I am behind on NaNoWriMo. I am sustaining, and having a nice time with the process.
I rejoice.
November 17th, 2008 Write Or Die!I’ve just play-tested Dr. Wicked’s Write or Die machine. I don’t like the way the tab works, but I gotta say, that was a fast 500 words….
November 13th, 2008 Raise The NetSo…. Recently, I’ve been discussing NaNoWriMo with others. The thought they have had (there were several of these) was that NaNo is a made-up sort of deadline, and thereby rendered without teeth. I give my NaNo teeth. I give it teeth by telling my family, friends, you guys, my cow-orkers, posting a NaNo flyer in my cell cube … I give it teeth of Embarassment. Worst of all will be how I feel when, a year or a decade from now, I read through my blog and note my enthusiasm, my grand plans, my optimism … and how I let it dribble away without a word. *shudders* The worst thing I can imagine is adding things I regret to my life. So, NaNo has teeth for me because I’m horrified at the thought of how I’ll feel if I’m slack and let ennui or inertia master me. This year, NaNo is going well. I started with “50,000 words … but if I hit 45,000 and wrote well and enjoyed it, then I win, because this year I’m shooting for sustainability instead of endurance and ultimate effort.” That’s fine, but not quantifiable. Goals without quantifiable measures of attainment are … toothless. I will say that, so far even with lack of sleep and several days of social activity taking the place of writing, I am writing well and much and enjoying the process. So. I told Lisa, mentor et ami sans reproche
Uhm. I must be ready for this, because I am very aware of what I Yikes. Countdown timers will be forthcoming.
November 13th, 2008 State of the WriterAmbercon was this weekend, which warrants its own post. Ambercon eats wordcounts. However, I am sufficiently recovered that yesterday I wrote a few hundred words, this morning I wrote a few hundred words … I’ll write a few hundred more at lunch, and again on the way home. Progress is happening. Surprisingly, I didn’t seem to feel a need to self-flagellate over not having written for three days. Just recognized that I had enough brain power to stay awake on the commute and pulled out Jarvis. I keep omitting drama that I used to have regularly. You’d think I’d be used to having cut it out, but it still surprises me. My synopsis sprung the tiniest of leaks this morning; my protag glared at me from the middle of a drunken conversation with the Victim of the story and asked me sharply just what the hell I thought I was about; wouldn’t it be better to just get on with things. “I mean. I mean … listen, I’m not sht … not stupid. [This thing] just happened, and [that thing] has been happening, so … and I’ve got more’n two brain sh-cells to rub together. I think I should [undertake next action scheduled for three chapters later].” I was lacking in convincing arguments, so let him go. Which was an odd conversation. I’m a little bit sorry that it will necessarily have to be omitted from the final draft.
November 12th, 2008 The Writing Week In ReviewThe short version:
The longer version:
Jarvis is everything I’d hoped for functionally when I got my full sized laptop, and everything I’d hoped for portably when I got my Alphasmart Neo. It’s as if my two best writing tools got together and had a lovechild.
Since Jarvis is less wide than my lap, I do not need a generous seat space on public transit to be able to write. I’ve had the normal crowded spaces with fellow commuters becoming intimate with my personal space, and there is still room to comfortably type on Jarvis. His small screen is an asset, because even fully opened he only reaches to my knees; the next seat forward does not hamper.
All of that aside, this week was frought with spiritual peril and I would not normally have been writing. But. Last winter the esteemed Lisa had me learn about storyboarding, which turned into a synopsis of sorts. Not a synopsis that was suitable to send to an agent or editor, but a bare-bones list of blocking sentences. ”Jessica hugs Joel. Jessica steals Joel’s soul. Gordon is scared and appalled.”
When one’s mind is not present fully, beginning by cutting and pasting the blocking notes into the manuscript makes it easy to write. Each sentence expands, the next sentence expands more, and then there is momentum and writing happens.
Almost 11,000 words this week, and it isn’t lunchtime yet. I am well pleased.
November 7th, 2008 What’s this gray thing in my head for, if not a toy?I had a floating holiday that needed scheduling, so I did that — use it or lose it. Selecting December 12 arbitrarily for the occasion, I requested the holiday. There’s a notes section, though, and it’s always dangerous to leave those unattended around me.
I sometimes wonder what the supervisory staff thinks when they read my leave requests.
November 6th, 2008 |
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