I am made of win! Four years in a row, for 200,000 words. Four stories, one complete. This one is almost there. Just one more “chapter” and I’ll be done. Then I wonder what I’ll do with it.
(made by me with the lolcat builder @ icanhascheezburger.com)
Time for dinner, at 10 pm. Ah, writing.
Author: etoiline
97.6
StandardI am 1200 words from finishing NaNo 2007 (aka I’m 97.6% done). The story might be done. Might go a few thousand over. I’m pretty happy with it, though like all first drafts it has some very wonky moments and discontinuities, but those can be fixed.
Apparently in my even-numbered years of doing NaNo I will be able to complete the challenge by not only writing 50,000 words in November, but finishing the story. Woot! Now if I could only figure out what the heck to do with them after they’ve been edited up. I’d really dearly love to submit something to magazines or contests next year. My problem is that I don’t write short stuff…I’m not very good at being concise when it comes to non-technical writing. Oh well. There’s a few ideas rattling around in my head that could conceivably be short…ish…
in the end it’s better to say too much
Than to never to say what you need to say again
(John Mayer, Say)
Now it’s off to sleep, and one more day of the crazy insanity that is NaNoWriMo 2007.
that won’t pay for the funeral
StandardIt’s snowing, a little
StandardIt’s snowing, a little, this Thanksgiving night. Not a lot, and it won’t stick. It was in the 70s yesterday, after all. But that’s St. Louis for you.
Thought I’d make a note of what I’m thankful for. Even though I’m still about a thousand words behind in NaNo and I don’t know when they’re gonna get writ. They will though. Oh yes, they will.
Most of all, I’m thankful for my family. I am so grateful that I have parents that love me and that I can wholeheartedly say that I love them back. We have our issues and who doesn’t, but we get over them. I love my aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents, and thank God so much that we can get together on days like this.
I’m thankful for the friends I have. The number is small and I still get lonely, but I’m working on both those things. Here’s to friends new and old.
I’m thankful that I can write. Sometimes awfully and sometimes not so awfully. I’m glad I have a dream, and I hope I never ose it. And I hope that my gift (I have to think of it that way, or NaNo would kill me) will lead to some small recognition.
I’m thankful that I’m healthy, for the most part, and still in possession of a relatively fast metabolism. Though I need a workout buddy.
I’m thankful that I have a job and a car, and (usually) enough money to pay for the things I need. And some that I just want.
I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Stay warm and give someone a hug. They say you need 5 hugs a day to stay healthy. I got that today. Hope you did too.
what a rush
StandardCheck this out: I have written 11724 words of Forging the Forest (working title, anyway), and I needed to hit 11667 today. Go me! I’m on track and ahead by a few. I believe, in the four years that I’ve been doing NaNo, this is the earliest I’ve ever been ahead, if indeed I’ve ever been ahead before the month was almost over…let’s see if I can’t stay this way.
My cousin’s wedding was wonderful, I got my dress sewn and was complimented numerous times on it (though they’re all family, so dunno how much of that was just familial bias or awe at the fact that I actually, yanno, took the time to sew something versus an actual appreciation of the design of the dress), finished knitting the fingerless mitts (though they, and the HP scarf, need to be blocked), and my mom’s show went well last weekend. She’s got another one this weekend, so if you are in the Lou and need some christmas presents, stop on by…
and I finished Elemental Magic, a romance anthology which includes a short story by my favorite author Carol Berg. So sweet to realize the characters are (SPOILER) characters we (sort of) know. Hers was quite the best in the book. I could be biased, I realize.
I wrote 2400 words today. Not quite as good as yesterdays almost 3k, but pretty darned good. I almost don’t know what to do with myself. Guess I’ll get a little extra sleep.
What did you do today?
Boo!
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Have a great Pumpkin day!
Writing or reading?
StandardAt SF Novelists, the post author says he can’t read for pleasure without analyzing the book for writerly flaws. That makes me sad, and it obviously makes the author sad as well, since he’s vowed to read a book for fun by the end of the year. Hurrah! Although…just one book? Good Lord, if I don’t have the joy of reading once I’m a “real” writer, do I want to do it?
Perhaps the reason why I haven’t exactly gotten anything in publishable form yet is because I read too much for pleasure. I always have a book with me. You could truthfully say that I am addicted to reading. I hope I never lose the joy of marveling at an author’s ability to manipulate my emotions and show me a different world. I hope you all have that pleasure.
Kelly McCullough says the best way to write is to write. He’s right (haha, I’m punny), but there are certainly days when that doesn’t seem possible. I’m a little run down right now, what with getting ready for Wrockstock Spooktacular (which includes a heck of a lot of laundry, knitting/fringing/probably not blocking a PoA scarf, and packing) and my cousin’s wedding (which includes sewing a dress and retouching photos and dealing with all the attendant issues of putting many people in a small space) and NaNoWriMo (of which I am co-Municipal Liasion of the St. Louis Region and therefore need to get people to come to write-ins and make them fun, and I need to get a pair of knitted mitts done so my hands don’t freeze in the apartment during furious writing episodes). Oh, right. Can’t forget about Artists Boutique, the art show that has my lovely momma on committee. Whew. Wish me luck.
I hope you all are getting more sleep than me. It’s a bad thing when you’re sleep deprived before NaNo…
What ship?
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| Which sci-fi crew would you best fit in with? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com |
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| You scored as Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda)
The universe around you in complete anarchy, but you know just how to handle it. You have a clear head no matter how dire the situation around you may be and people have a tendency to come to you for help. Now if only the Magog would quit trying to lay eggs in your stomach.
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how do you work?
Standard(via storytelling) Norman Rockwell’s summary of his work process:
1. Hey, this is looking like it’ll turn out pretty good
2. My God, I’ve ruined it. Look at this mess!
3. Wait. Maybe I could -.
Sounds like NaNo 😉 I predict that I will be listening to the PotC 3 and Elizabeth:The Golden Age soundtracks quite a bit during this November. I still haven’t gotten my NaNo ML privileges yet, but they are promised soon…
One of these days I’m going to be able to laugh at my writing insecurities.
Writing Soul
StandardWriters write, and it isn’t some flippant thing done in the rags of spare time. It’s identity. It’s soul.
–Kate Elliott, on Deep Genre
There are days when I feel like a writer, and days when I don’t. I know that if I want to make a dream come true and write my great novel, I have to do it, and do it lots, and do it well. There really is no excuse, even when I make one, like I never seem to be in the mood. I’ve proven to myself that I can write every day, damn the other things that need to get done, and do well in the other things even in the face of NaNo. I just don’t seem to do it well without the pressure of a deadline.
The other day, someone asked me what I really wanted to do in the future. My dad answered for me: “She’s a writer.” It made me happy, but a little sad, too. I do want to be a writer. I think I’m good enough (though I could be suffering from incompetency and unaware of it [journal article, PDF]), and I have plenty of ideas. But there’s quite a lot between the idea and a book you hold in your hands at Borders, and sometimes I don’t think I have enough to get through that. Sort of like medical school. I think I probably would make a good doctor, but medical school is not the sort of thing you play at. I see the med students walk around campus and am always a little disappointed in myself for not being good enough to join them. At least writing doesn’t cost nearly as much.
I’m very excited for November. It means that, even though I’ll be insanely busy, at the end I’ll have a wonderful (if verbose and full of continuity errors) chunk of story that I will be pleased to continue working on.
Here’s to writing. Here’s to following your dream, and finding your soul. I only hope I can.