This morning I was reading Diana Peterfreund's blog and I thought her 'Decade in Review' seemed like an awesome idea (even though I agree with her that the decade isn't quite over). So... Here I am, reviewing the zero years...
Let's start with the night the zeroes began. I don't know about you, but I was at home, online, chatting and waiting to see if the world was going to end because earlier programmers hadn't thought to write code to encompass the years past 1999. Needless to say, nothing happened and we all had a good laugh about it in the chat room.
The year 2000 had its ups and downs. Picture it: Burton, MI. When the year started I was in a committed relationship that lasted another month. By the end of the year, I had been through what I thought was a different committed relationship (I was monogamous. Too bad he wasn't.) and ended the year in an online relationship that would last a couple years. Daughter started the year in first grade, with a teacher who was determined to get her on Ridalin - because my child obviously had ADD. Feh. I was working in a job I loved that had significant parts I hated. 2000 also saw the last few weeks of my physical therapy from a surgery I had in October of 1999.
I spent New Year's 2001 in Tallahassee, FL, visiting my online romance and checking out the city as a potential new home. The romance part went well, and it was nice to be somewhere on January 1st that wasn't covered in snow. In March, my new beau came up to Michigan and it was decided. I would leave my home of 30+ years. I gave notice at my job - which had become more of the hated and less of the loved anyway - and I put my house on the market. Daughter's second grade teacher sat me down to tell me that my child probably needed Ridalin, because she couldn't sit still in class. Bah. We moved to Florida at the end of June to start our new life. The house hadn't sold, but I found what I thought was a wonderful person to rent it with an option to buy. I didn't care. I had money in my bank account and a new lease on life. Lucky me, I found a job just before my savings ran out. That Christmas, my beau got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.
Another New Year's Day rolled around - one I don't much remember. 2002 was a busy year. The start of it found me working my tail off for a place called Dial America as a floor manager, living in a lovely apartment in the best school district in Tallahassee, and playing house with a man I thought would eventually be my husband. Daughter's new FL teacher was awesome, until Daughter got bored - then I got called in to discuss... you guessed it... Ridalin. (Only this time she supposedly had ADHD.) P'shaw. We decided homeschool was the only way to put a stop to it. In May, I got promoted to shift manager and two days later my father passed away. (Not that those are related in any way, but the schism between the two left me a wreck. Super happy, incredibly sad. Talk about manic-depressive.) The summer passed in a blur until the day I got laid-off. Not to worry, I got another job offer within a couple weeks, but then again, so did the beau. Only his offer was in Utah. We had two weeks to pack everything and move. Homeschool stopped, and Daughter got her first private school experience. It lasted about a month before they asked me to remove her before they kicked her out. Off she went to Utah public school, and off I went to a temp job. (Finding a job in Utah is only easy if you already Mormon. I'm not.)
Enter 2003. Another jam packed year. I found an awesome permanent job in January - at a place called Orbit (they make sprinker systems) - as... get this... Executive Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Operations. Daughter was doing fine at her new school - making friends, finally - and her grades were back up to where a girl with a 138 IQ should be (the FL school gave her an IQ test because they thought she was learning disabled... go figger). In April, I got a line on my dream job - working for the same private school system Daughter was unceremoniously ousted from, and come May, I got the job. I thought everything in my life was finally working out. Two weeks later, my beau decided he never really loved me after all and we went our separate ways. I moved again and Daughter had another new school to deal with. Over the summer, we got Kira - our most loveable furbaby.
If I thought 2003 was jammed, I was in for a shock in 2004. One night in January, after watching the movie Armageddon, I was laying in bed when the idea for a novel jumped into my head. I got up and wrote down the general premise before going back to bed. After work the next day, I sat down at my computer and began writing what would become my first book - Spectacle. Two weeks later (what is it about two weeks and my life? LOL), I was feeling lonely and decided to do a hard-target search on Match.com. I found two profiles I thought looked interesting enough to write to. One became a friend, and the other blossomed into something more. By April we were serious enough that he flew me to Colorado and we spent a wonderful week in each other's company. We were married in May, but between work and housing, we still couldn't be together. Those six weeks of married but living apart was hell, but we survived them. Daughter and I did the 600+ mile trek with Kira from Utah to northeast Colorado. Once we settled in, I got back to writing and just before she began her new school, I finished the first draft of my first novel.
From then to now, it all sort of blurs together. 2005 saw me finally getting rid of that house in Michigan. It also saw the end of Daughter's public school career. I finished another book, and started a third. In 2006, I began my first writing blog and my now-defunct homeschooling blog. During those two years, I tried a couple writing forums - both of which I eventually parted company with. I found the blog community, though, and I'm happier here with all of you than I ever was with either forum.
2007-2009 saw more of the same in both my life and my writing. I've been cranking out books and collecting rejections, homeschooling Daughter (although she doesn't need me for much education anymore), loving my husband and keeping our house. I've made some good friends - both online and off. I'm settled here in Colorado - which is probably why it's a blur. No major incidents to mark the passage of time. Over the last couple years, my writing and/or my submission materials must've improved because I've actually gotten some requests for partials and a few for fulls.
All in all, the zero years weren't a bad decade. Better than the '90s were for me, definitely. In fact, now that I think about it, 2000-2009 was probably the best decade of my life. I found true love, I discovered the wonderful person inside my troubled daughter, and I took the chance to live out my lifelong dream of writing. Who could ask for more?
I don't know what the next ten years will bring, but if they end up with half as many good things as the preceeding ten, I'll be one lucky gal. Here's to a wonderful time in the tens.
See you next year. ;o)
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Resolu... errr... Goals
Okay, so I skipped ahead. I started my resolu... errr... goals a few days early. Of course, the only one I really hammered was the goal to make a cleaning schedule and stick to it. Monday was bathrooms and Tuesday was kitchen. Each of those rooms is so sparkly clean that I'm freaking my family out.
Didn't help that I rearranged the kitchen, but once I started cleaning, I realized how much better it would be if the table was over against the wall. Then I needed to move the cookbooks, which led to moving the coffee maker, the toaster and the blender, then I needed a good place to put my new griddle. THEN it occurred to me to shift some stuff in the cupboards.
Whew, I'm tired just typing all that, and today is laundry day. :collapse:
Crap. I just remembered that Husband is off work starting tomorrow until the 4th, so my scheduled rooms for Thursday and Friday need to be done today or wait until next week. I may have set myself up for failure this week, but I refuse to accept that. I will have the house finished by the end of the week, if it kills me.
As for my writing goals... Well, since my personal goals are draining the energy right out of me this week, I'm guessing I set myself up for failure there, too. :shrug: I'm trying not to look at my lack of writing last night as a FAIL. I mean, it's not like I didn't think about my story while I was scrubbing the counters. That counts - even if I didn't get any words typed last night.
Thank goodness I made goals instead of resolutions this year. Resolutions are so unyielding. As if each one is like saying 'if you don't do this, you're a failure'. Gimme Goals. Those I can handle. If I miss one, I can make a new one and not feel like crawling under a rock. Life can throw little wrinkles at me, and I can go with the flow.
How about you? Resolutions or Goals? Have you started working toward them yet, or are you waiting for the big day on Friday?
Didn't help that I rearranged the kitchen, but once I started cleaning, I realized how much better it would be if the table was over against the wall. Then I needed to move the cookbooks, which led to moving the coffee maker, the toaster and the blender, then I needed a good place to put my new griddle. THEN it occurred to me to shift some stuff in the cupboards.
Whew, I'm tired just typing all that, and today is laundry day. :collapse:
Crap. I just remembered that Husband is off work starting tomorrow until the 4th, so my scheduled rooms for Thursday and Friday need to be done today or wait until next week. I may have set myself up for failure this week, but I refuse to accept that. I will have the house finished by the end of the week, if it kills me.
As for my writing goals... Well, since my personal goals are draining the energy right out of me this week, I'm guessing I set myself up for failure there, too. :shrug: I'm trying not to look at my lack of writing last night as a FAIL. I mean, it's not like I didn't think about my story while I was scrubbing the counters. That counts - even if I didn't get any words typed last night.
Thank goodness I made goals instead of resolutions this year. Resolutions are so unyielding. As if each one is like saying 'if you don't do this, you're a failure'. Gimme Goals. Those I can handle. If I miss one, I can make a new one and not feel like crawling under a rock. Life can throw little wrinkles at me, and I can go with the flow.
How about you? Resolutions or Goals? Have you started working toward them yet, or are you waiting for the big day on Friday?
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Christmas Recap
First off, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday - whichever one you celebrate. Here at the Sanderson household, we spent a relaxed day.
Up at the crack of too-damn-early, I took care of the first order of business - COFFEE. I can't face a normal day without it, don't ask me to face a holiday sans caffeine. Shortly after the last perk, Husband joined me. Then came the cat, looking for her special food. The Kid? She wandered upstairs a few minutes later. (And yes, the idea of her getting up last was totally alien.)
With coffee in hand, we settled into the living room and the festivities began. Much paper tearing and a thoroughly cluttered floor later, and we sat amidst our prizes. Daughter made out this year - like most every year since the lean times. She got a couple of computer games, a few books, clothes, jewelry, movies, CDs... You know, teen stuff. Ever heard of a band called Owl City? I hadn't until she put it on her Christmas list. I guess I'm not as hip as I thought I was.
Husband got mostly clothes - because that's all he wanted. Jeans, shirts, socks... You should see him in his new pullover shirt. Rawr. I knew that cut and color was perfect. Heh, what a hottie with a naughty body. :smirk: Daughter got him a Yankees keychain and a box of chocolate turtles - which I'm helping him eat.
I got most of the things I asked for - like socks and a griddle and a Christmas cactus that I named George. I also got a brand new set of plates and my wonderful husband gave me a couple 5-subject notebooks for my writing. =o)
The cat, of course, got all the wrapping paper her little heart desired.
My favorite gift this year was the griddle (although George comes in a close second). I'm having so much fun making things on it, and it reminds me of my childhood. Mom had a griddle and with five kids to feed, she would make mounds of pancakes or piles of grilled cheese. Nothing like recreating some memories (albeit on a much smaller scale).
How was your holiday? If you celebrate Christmas, did Santa bring you everything you wanted? What was your favorite gift this year?
Up at the crack of too-damn-early, I took care of the first order of business - COFFEE. I can't face a normal day without it, don't ask me to face a holiday sans caffeine. Shortly after the last perk, Husband joined me. Then came the cat, looking for her special food. The Kid? She wandered upstairs a few minutes later. (And yes, the idea of her getting up last was totally alien.)With coffee in hand, we settled into the living room and the festivities began. Much paper tearing and a thoroughly cluttered floor later, and we sat amidst our prizes. Daughter made out this year - like most every year since the lean times. She got a couple of computer games, a few books, clothes, jewelry, movies, CDs... You know, teen stuff. Ever heard of a band called Owl City? I hadn't until she put it on her Christmas list. I guess I'm not as hip as I thought I was.
Husband got mostly clothes - because that's all he wanted. Jeans, shirts, socks... You should see him in his new pullover shirt. Rawr. I knew that cut and color was perfect. Heh, what a hottie with a naughty body. :smirk: Daughter got him a Yankees keychain and a box of chocolate turtles - which I'm helping him eat.
I got most of the things I asked for - like socks and a griddle and a Christmas cactus that I named George. I also got a brand new set of plates and my wonderful husband gave me a couple 5-subject notebooks for my writing. =o)
The cat, of course, got all the wrapping paper her little heart desired.
My favorite gift this year was the griddle (although George comes in a close second). I'm having so much fun making things on it, and it reminds me of my childhood. Mom had a griddle and with five kids to feed, she would make mounds of pancakes or piles of grilled cheese. Nothing like recreating some memories (albeit on a much smaller scale).
How was your holiday? If you celebrate Christmas, did Santa bring you everything you wanted? What was your favorite gift this year?
Monday, December 28, 2009
Stalking the New Year
...or maybe it's stalking me. I can never tell with these things.
Anyway, the beginning of a brand new year is only a few days off and I've been thinking about the shift from '09 to '10. First off, it's going to be a lot shorter to say - oh-nine vs. ten - but that's neither here nor there.
No, I've been thinking about making a few changes in how I approach my life. (Because, let's face it - some of this life ain't working too great, if you catch my drift.) As my husband is fond of quoting - and I'm sorry I don't remember who he's quoting - "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results."
Which is why I decided to write in a totally different genre a few months back. I'm still keeping the general gist of the story pretty close to the vest, but this book is about genies. Yes, I did what I thought I wouldn't do and wrote a paranormal. (Or maybe it's urban fantasy... :shrug:) I took what I knew about the supernatural creatures, and I warped it all into a mythos of my own making. So far, I think I have a pretty believable world and I really like the people populating it. We'll see what the industry thinks once I finish it.
I also changed my approach to writing - at least with this story. So far I've only written in third POV, and I'm in the process of converting my 3rd POV book into 1st. It's coming out well. I like the MC, and looking at the world through her eyes makes this book even better.
What's left to change? Well, on a personal level, I'm making a commitment to do a better job of keeping the house clean. Let's face it, folks, Mary Poppins I am not. Oh, my home isn't a disaster area, but the dust bunnies are threatening to take over, the cat hair is making our carpets a darker shade of pale, and if I didn't know what color my tables were, I wouldn't be able to tell. Hell, I haven't seen the top of my computer in months.
I'm also committing to getting healthier. This year is going to see my 40th birthday, and I am not getting any younger. Of course, at the moment, I'm up to my eyeballs in chocolates and other Christmas goodies, but I swear that once all this yumminess is eaten, I'm not buying any more. (I told my husband that, and he laughed at me, but I'm serious.)
On the writing front, I'm going to make myself get back into some kind of schedule. I've got work to do that just isn't getting done - as you may have noticed from looking at my unmoving word meter over the past week. Not only do I have this manuscript that I'm shifting POVs with, but a couple other of my previously written manuscripts would benefit from some added attention. So, I'm planning on revisiting everything to see what I can make work.
Now, every year since I started writing, I've said that 'this year is going to be my year'. I'm not saying that this year. Nope. This year is I'm going to do the best I can and let the chips fall where they may. I may get an agent this year. I might even get a publishing contract. Only time will tell. The point is, I'm not setting myself up for failure by promising myself something that is, ultimately, outside my control. I'm just going to write the best books I know how, and I'm going to put together the best query materials I know how. If doing those gets my foot in the door, great. If not, I'll content myself with seeing you back here this time 2010 and knowing I did everything I could for my career.
Have you been thinking about the new year? What are your plans for 2010?
Anyway, the beginning of a brand new year is only a few days off and I've been thinking about the shift from '09 to '10. First off, it's going to be a lot shorter to say - oh-nine vs. ten - but that's neither here nor there.
No, I've been thinking about making a few changes in how I approach my life. (Because, let's face it - some of this life ain't working too great, if you catch my drift.) As my husband is fond of quoting - and I'm sorry I don't remember who he's quoting - "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results."
Which is why I decided to write in a totally different genre a few months back. I'm still keeping the general gist of the story pretty close to the vest, but this book is about genies. Yes, I did what I thought I wouldn't do and wrote a paranormal. (Or maybe it's urban fantasy... :shrug:) I took what I knew about the supernatural creatures, and I warped it all into a mythos of my own making. So far, I think I have a pretty believable world and I really like the people populating it. We'll see what the industry thinks once I finish it.
I also changed my approach to writing - at least with this story. So far I've only written in third POV, and I'm in the process of converting my 3rd POV book into 1st. It's coming out well. I like the MC, and looking at the world through her eyes makes this book even better.
What's left to change? Well, on a personal level, I'm making a commitment to do a better job of keeping the house clean. Let's face it, folks, Mary Poppins I am not. Oh, my home isn't a disaster area, but the dust bunnies are threatening to take over, the cat hair is making our carpets a darker shade of pale, and if I didn't know what color my tables were, I wouldn't be able to tell. Hell, I haven't seen the top of my computer in months.
I'm also committing to getting healthier. This year is going to see my 40th birthday, and I am not getting any younger. Of course, at the moment, I'm up to my eyeballs in chocolates and other Christmas goodies, but I swear that once all this yumminess is eaten, I'm not buying any more. (I told my husband that, and he laughed at me, but I'm serious.)
On the writing front, I'm going to make myself get back into some kind of schedule. I've got work to do that just isn't getting done - as you may have noticed from looking at my unmoving word meter over the past week. Not only do I have this manuscript that I'm shifting POVs with, but a couple other of my previously written manuscripts would benefit from some added attention. So, I'm planning on revisiting everything to see what I can make work.
Now, every year since I started writing, I've said that 'this year is going to be my year'. I'm not saying that this year. Nope. This year is I'm going to do the best I can and let the chips fall where they may. I may get an agent this year. I might even get a publishing contract. Only time will tell. The point is, I'm not setting myself up for failure by promising myself something that is, ultimately, outside my control. I'm just going to write the best books I know how, and I'm going to put together the best query materials I know how. If doing those gets my foot in the door, great. If not, I'll content myself with seeing you back here this time 2010 and knowing I did everything I could for my career.
Have you been thinking about the new year? What are your plans for 2010?
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Weather... Frightful... Nuff said
It's been an interesting few days here at the Sanderson household (at least weather-wise - the rest has been pretty blah). Thursday gave us hoar frost:
Yes, that's my car antenna with about an inch of icy spikes. Don't worry - they weren't as sharp as they look. Yesterday's Quickie Pic was a result of that frost. (And no, the picture wasn't touched, edited, or tweaked in any way. It came out of my camera exactly like that. Heh. I forgot to turn the flash off, and I thought that pic was going to come out gross.) Here's what the same tree looked like without the flash:
Not quite as striking, eh?
Anyway, Wednesday and Thursday were supposed to be days of great snow dumpage. We got the frost and a dusting. Go figger.
Christmas was supposed to be a quiet weather day. Instead, we got another dusting of snow and a windstorm which gave us more than a dusting of dust. All the pretty frost and snow ended up covered in a layer of brown. It almost looked like the world was covered in cinnamon and sugar. Really made me long for a donut, ya know. (This is today's pile, but if you look close, you can see the dirt in striations at the bottom.)
And then came yesterday. We woke up to what was probably about 3 inches, but with the wind blowing like it was, it left drifts of 2-3 feet in some places. Every time I tried to make any headway shoveling, it blew all my work to hell. Once Husband got home from work, I gave up.
This morning, the wind is gone. The early morning sky is filled with stars instead of clouds. I've been shoveling since I got up an hour ago. (I shovel in ten minute bursts, so it takes me a while to get it all done.) Husband is off with the road crews making the world safe for anyone who's stupid enough to drive right now.*
Me? I'm off to shovel some more and then maybe... just maybe... I'll get some writing done. What's on schedule for you today?
*Next time you wake up to a snow-covered landscape and yearn to drive out in it, send a silent thanks to the men and women who keep your streets clean. Our guys have been at it since 3:30am. It's a thankless job, but at least our guys have donuts to keep them going.
Not quite as striking, eh?
Anyway, Wednesday and Thursday were supposed to be days of great snow dumpage. We got the frost and a dusting. Go figger.
And then came yesterday. We woke up to what was probably about 3 inches, but with the wind blowing like it was, it left drifts of 2-3 feet in some places. Every time I tried to make any headway shoveling, it blew all my work to hell. Once Husband got home from work, I gave up.
This morning, the wind is gone. The early morning sky is filled with stars instead of clouds. I've been shoveling since I got up an hour ago. (I shovel in ten minute bursts, so it takes me a while to get it all done.) Husband is off with the road crews making the world safe for anyone who's stupid enough to drive right now.*Me? I'm off to shovel some more and then maybe... just maybe... I'll get some writing done. What's on schedule for you today?
*Next time you wake up to a snow-covered landscape and yearn to drive out in it, send a silent thanks to the men and women who keep your streets clean. Our guys have been at it since 3:30am. It's a thankless job, but at least our guys have donuts to keep them going.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Quickie Pic
This is from a couple of days ago, when we got hoar frost (or freezing fog). Pretty snazzy photo, if I do say so myself, so I had to share it with all of you.
Right now, I'm dealing with the effects of a snowstorm, so I'll be back later. If I remember, I'll get some pics and post them.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Christmas Through the Years
Happy Christmas Eve - even though it isn't evening. This morning I'd like to share a few pictures from Christmas Past.
Ten years ago, Daughter and I were still in Michigan, living in the house I owned (well, me and the bank). We didn't have a lot, but we had each other. The tree, the table, the chair... those all belonged to my parents. It was the year I splurged and bought a beautiful expensive coat for Daughter Dear - and got the reindeer seen here. (JC Penney was having a thing where you purchase anything and the reindeer was $15. His name is Apple, btw, and he's still with us.)
By Christmas the next year we were living in Florida. Believe it or not, the warmest place I ever lived was the only place that ever had a fireplace where we could hang our stockings. Same tree, same ornaments, different stockings.
For Christmas 2002, we were living in Sandy, UT. New tree here - because the other tree didn't make the trip from FL to UT. But, if you look, you can see we still have the red bow/pine cone tree topper we use - under the star.
Now I have to flash forward a bit, because I lost most of the pictures from before the great computer crash of 2006. Five years since the last picture, we moved from the first apartment in Utah to another - this time in South Jordan - to Colorado and then from house to house to house in this place. What you see here is probably my favorite house architecturally - where we held Christmas 2007.
And thus, we come around to this year and this house - pictured yesterday. Since I first began taking digital photos of my Christmases, a lot has changed - the scenery being the least of it all. I am married to a wonderful man, I have an intelligent and fun daughter, and we have the best cat ever. I now write novels instead of just dreaming about it.
And through it all, the pine cone with its red bow has graced the top of our tree. Thinking about it now, I guess that little tree-topper is a symbol of constancy amid change. And maybe it's also a symbol that no matter what life throws at us, we can still have presents under the tree and joy in our hearts. May the pine cone remain there for many years to come.
Merry Christmas, Everyone. I hope the season brings you all the joys you hope for. May the next twelve months bring more delights than any found beneath our trees.
Ten years ago, Daughter and I were still in Michigan, living in the house I owned (well, me and the bank). We didn't have a lot, but we had each other. The tree, the table, the chair... those all belonged to my parents. It was the year I splurged and bought a beautiful expensive coat for Daughter Dear - and got the reindeer seen here. (JC Penney was having a thing where you purchase anything and the reindeer was $15. His name is Apple, btw, and he's still with us.) By Christmas the next year we were living in Florida. Believe it or not, the warmest place I ever lived was the only place that ever had a fireplace where we could hang our stockings. Same tree, same ornaments, different stockings.
For Christmas 2002, we were living in Sandy, UT. New tree here - because the other tree didn't make the trip from FL to UT. But, if you look, you can see we still have the red bow/pine cone tree topper we use - under the star.
And thus, we come around to this year and this house - pictured yesterday. Since I first began taking digital photos of my Christmases, a lot has changed - the scenery being the least of it all. I am married to a wonderful man, I have an intelligent and fun daughter, and we have the best cat ever. I now write novels instead of just dreaming about it.
And through it all, the pine cone with its red bow has graced the top of our tree. Thinking about it now, I guess that little tree-topper is a symbol of constancy amid change. And maybe it's also a symbol that no matter what life throws at us, we can still have presents under the tree and joy in our hearts. May the pine cone remain there for many years to come.
Merry Christmas, Everyone. I hope the season brings you all the joys you hope for. May the next twelve months bring more delights than any found beneath our trees.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
The Day Before the Day Before Christmas
Happy day before the day before Christmas. As of right now, that's what our tree looks like. Of course, it's still missing a bunch of presents. Those will be placed around the tree tomorrow night after Darling Daughter goes to bed. (And if you're reading this, Daughter: "No, you can't open anything until Christmas morning.")I think we went a little crazy on the gifts this year. I know I did, anyway, and since I'm the Santa for the most part, I also know I'm right. Of course, Hubby went shopping yesterday and made three trips from the car to his hidey spot while I sat on the couch with my eyes tightly shut.
In the pile around the tree, there are presents for everyone. Except the cat, that is. She's got everything she needs, and she's never interested in the presents themselves. She does have an awesome time playing in the discarded wrapping paper, though, so she'll have a blast this year.
Well... ummm... we'll just ask her later. And before you think to suggest I buy her a cat bed, she had one. She prefers the jeans - even if she doesn't appear to enjoy anything at the moment.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Xmas Penguins
Since I've been a horrible blogger lately, I thought I'd just amuse you all with a picture of some of my Christmas decorations... Here, at the top of the bookshelf in my living room, are the Xmas Penguins.
They always remind me of the Bugs Bunny cartoon - with the little performing penguin - wherein a hungry hobo looks at the bird and says "Pen-goo-inns is prack-tick-lee chicken". ROFL
Heh, guess you had to be there.
Stay tuned for more pictures later...
They always remind me of the Bugs Bunny cartoon - with the little performing penguin - wherein a hungry hobo looks at the bird and says "Pen-goo-inns is prack-tick-lee chicken". ROFL
Heh, guess you had to be there.
Stay tuned for more pictures later...
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Busting it out
Well, here I am. Just a short stop today because I'm busting it out. After a couple weeks of nothing, I've managed to crank out the words these past couple days. This story really feels like it's coming together. Maybe this will be the book that gets me an agent. Of course, I've said that before and nada, so I'm not holding my breath.
As always, if not this one then the next one.
I'm just getting a little tired of saying that. I mean, it's not like I'm writing the same damn thing the same way every time. I'm growing and my work is getting better for it. Anyway, before I get all morose, I'd better stop. I just wanted to say I'm busting out the words, and I'm going to let myself be happy about that for a while.
What something you're letting yourself be happy about these days?
As always, if not this one then the next one.
I'm just getting a little tired of saying that. I mean, it's not like I'm writing the same damn thing the same way every time. I'm growing and my work is getting better for it. Anyway, before I get all morose, I'd better stop. I just wanted to say I'm busting out the words, and I'm going to let myself be happy about that for a while.
What something you're letting yourself be happy about these days?
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Switching POVs
Okay, so all I needed was some tough love - thanks for the kick in the pants, Kristen. Once I got my gumption hump in gear, I managed to turn out 2300 words in this endeavor.
So, what's that got to do with anything, you ask. Well, I've said before that this book has been trying to get me to write it in first POV since the beginning, but I didn't feel confident in my ability to do it. So far, everything I've finished has been either third omniscient or third limited. First was outside my comfort zone. Or so I thought.
Anyway, I wrote the entirety of DLN in third limited. You see everything from Jo's point of view, but it's like someone else is reporting things through her eyes. Not always the easiest way to write - considering that every sentence I have to think whether she would actually know what I wrote. I mean, if Jo can't sense it in some way, it shouldn't be in the book, right?
Shifting from third limited to first shouldn't be all that hard. Of course, it isn't like Daughter assumed - which was that all I have to do is change all the pronouns. Changing 'Jo sidled along the wall' to 'I sidled along the wall' doesn't quite work. I had to consider whether Jo would actually use the word 'sidle' when thinking about her own movements. She might think someone else would sidle, but it was out of character for her to think that about herself.
Aside from that, though, the process of switching to first POV has been really freeing. For a couple hours last night, I had to be Josephine Mayweather. I had to see things from her eyes, and remember things as she remembered them. What fun! Nothing like slipping into the persona of a supernatural being to get the old heart pumping.
I still don't know how I'm going to handle those few flashback scenes. I might still write them in third - showing the reader how the character feels distances from her own past, or in one case, letting the MC listen as another character relates his own distant past. Or I may cut those scenes altogether. We'll see what happens when we get there.
So far, though, this seems like it's working. And from what Daughter said after I made her read the first few pages, my feelings on the subject are correct. She gave me two thumbs-up, after all, and being the paranormal junkie she is, I'm taking that as a positive sign I'm on the right track.
Wish me luck.
How are things going with your writing?
So, what's that got to do with anything, you ask. Well, I've said before that this book has been trying to get me to write it in first POV since the beginning, but I didn't feel confident in my ability to do it. So far, everything I've finished has been either third omniscient or third limited. First was outside my comfort zone. Or so I thought.
Anyway, I wrote the entirety of DLN in third limited. You see everything from Jo's point of view, but it's like someone else is reporting things through her eyes. Not always the easiest way to write - considering that every sentence I have to think whether she would actually know what I wrote. I mean, if Jo can't sense it in some way, it shouldn't be in the book, right?
Shifting from third limited to first shouldn't be all that hard. Of course, it isn't like Daughter assumed - which was that all I have to do is change all the pronouns. Changing 'Jo sidled along the wall' to 'I sidled along the wall' doesn't quite work. I had to consider whether Jo would actually use the word 'sidle' when thinking about her own movements. She might think someone else would sidle, but it was out of character for her to think that about herself.
Aside from that, though, the process of switching to first POV has been really freeing. For a couple hours last night, I had to be Josephine Mayweather. I had to see things from her eyes, and remember things as she remembered them. What fun! Nothing like slipping into the persona of a supernatural being to get the old heart pumping.
I still don't know how I'm going to handle those few flashback scenes. I might still write them in third - showing the reader how the character feels distances from her own past, or in one case, letting the MC listen as another character relates his own distant past. Or I may cut those scenes altogether. We'll see what happens when we get there.
So far, though, this seems like it's working. And from what Daughter said after I made her read the first few pages, my feelings on the subject are correct. She gave me two thumbs-up, after all, and being the paranormal junkie she is, I'm taking that as a positive sign I'm on the right track.
Wish me luck.
How are things going with your writing?
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Thoroughly Unmotivated
Is it just me, or does this feel like Monday? Hell, I woke up thinking it WAS Monday, so maybe that's why. :shrug: Either way, I'm thoroughly unmotivated today.
Christmas? Bleh.
Writing? Bleh.
Editing? Bleh.
You get the picture. I don't feel like doing anything, and that includes flopping on the couch to watch TV or going back to bed. How's that for limbo? I don't feel like doing anything, but I don't feel like doing nothing either. xop
Of course, it probably doesn't help that Sunday night I came to the conclusion that DLN needs a total rewrite from third limited to first person. I even had the snazzy new beginning all planned out in my head as I lay there trying to sleep. Then I fell asleep and by morning the plan was gone. Stupid brain. Anyway, I did manage to remember some of it, and I got the beginning rewritten last night, so it's not all crappadoodledoo.
Okay, enough about me. Time for a quick writerly question:
How would you feel about a book that's written in first POV for the most part but has a few choice scenes in third? Or would it be one of those cases of 'if it's well-written, anything goes'?
Christmas? Bleh.
Writing? Bleh.
Editing? Bleh.
You get the picture. I don't feel like doing anything, and that includes flopping on the couch to watch TV or going back to bed. How's that for limbo? I don't feel like doing anything, but I don't feel like doing nothing either. xop
Of course, it probably doesn't help that Sunday night I came to the conclusion that DLN needs a total rewrite from third limited to first person. I even had the snazzy new beginning all planned out in my head as I lay there trying to sleep. Then I fell asleep and by morning the plan was gone. Stupid brain. Anyway, I did manage to remember some of it, and I got the beginning rewritten last night, so it's not all crappadoodledoo.
Okay, enough about me. Time for a quick writerly question:
How would you feel about a book that's written in first POV for the most part but has a few choice scenes in third? Or would it be one of those cases of 'if it's well-written, anything goes'?
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Avalanche of Manuscripts
If you've been around here long enough, you may have realized that I tend to attack my writerly problems by posting about them. Today is one of those posts...
Okay, so here's the deal. I'm just not that into editing Nano right now. Oh, I still like the book, but every time I try to get my head around where I need to go with it, my creativity curdles. Part of the problem, I know, is that there is a get deal of work to complete in order to get this book finished. I've got chapters to rearrange, Villain #1's POV to fix... I need to make the heroine more sympathetic, and I need to figure out if there really is supposed to be a romance between the hero and the heroine. Is the cat really necessary or is it just a distraction? Oh, and I need to introduce that secondary character way earlier in the book so when he becomes important in the middle no one will be shocked...
The other part of the problem is that while I'm trying to focus on Nano, the book I wrote last month keeps creeping into my brain. DLN wants me to finish it. I have new names for Nigel and Nelson (I must've been living on Sesame Street - N is for November), I know what needs to be rewritten to fix the beginning... I keep seeing the characters in my head, and they aren't happy about waiting.
And now, several other past books are demanding to get some face time, too. I need to rework Caldera, I have to do some fine tuning on Manhunter. I think I need to rework the beginning of Blink (again). I need to polish RTL some more. Hell, I caught myself this morning wondering if I needed to rewrite the beginning of Spectacle, and thinking about the fact that I never requeried that book after the last rewrite. I could query it, you know, after I take some of the things I learned over the past couple years and polish it a bit more.
Avalanche of manuscipts, anyone? My brain is buried under at least a foot of fluffy white pages.
Is it any wonder I can't focus on Nano?
And if I sit here too long, all those stories I started but never finished will jump into the waters and drown me. Jordan keeps shouting "You promised me a three book series, and you still haven't finished book one!!!" in my ear. Eddie's in the corner whining about the fact that I wrote the beginning and the end of her story, but not the middle. At the back of my head, Dennis is shooting me dirty looks because I wrote all of his story, but I never edited it and now the conspiracy I threw into the secondary storyline during the last rewrite is giving him fits.
Insane much?
Soooo... I'm going to put Nano aside, again. I'll work on editing DLN, and hope it's powerful enough to shut the rest of the stories up - at least until I get through the first round of edits.
Wish me luck. If I'm not back soon, send a search party. I'll be the voice babbling from under a mountain of paper.
*All images deleted to avoid any chance of copyright infringement*
Okay, so here's the deal. I'm just not that into editing Nano right now. Oh, I still like the book, but every time I try to get my head around where I need to go with it, my creativity curdles. Part of the problem, I know, is that there is a get deal of work to complete in order to get this book finished. I've got chapters to rearrange, Villain #1's POV to fix... I need to make the heroine more sympathetic, and I need to figure out if there really is supposed to be a romance between the hero and the heroine. Is the cat really necessary or is it just a distraction? Oh, and I need to introduce that secondary character way earlier in the book so when he becomes important in the middle no one will be shocked...
The other part of the problem is that while I'm trying to focus on Nano, the book I wrote last month keeps creeping into my brain. DLN wants me to finish it. I have new names for Nigel and Nelson (I must've been living on Sesame Street - N is for November), I know what needs to be rewritten to fix the beginning... I keep seeing the characters in my head, and they aren't happy about waiting.
And now, several other past books are demanding to get some face time, too. I need to rework Caldera, I have to do some fine tuning on Manhunter. I think I need to rework the beginning of Blink (again). I need to polish RTL some more. Hell, I caught myself this morning wondering if I needed to rewrite the beginning of Spectacle, and thinking about the fact that I never requeried that book after the last rewrite. I could query it, you know, after I take some of the things I learned over the past couple years and polish it a bit more.
Is it any wonder I can't focus on Nano?
And if I sit here too long, all those stories I started but never finished will jump into the waters and drown me. Jordan keeps shouting "You promised me a three book series, and you still haven't finished book one!!!" in my ear. Eddie's in the corner whining about the fact that I wrote the beginning and the end of her story, but not the middle. At the back of my head, Dennis is shooting me dirty looks because I wrote all of his story, but I never edited it and now the conspiracy I threw into the secondary storyline during the last rewrite is giving him fits.
Insane much?
Soooo... I'm going to put Nano aside, again. I'll work on editing DLN, and hope it's powerful enough to shut the rest of the stories up - at least until I get through the first round of edits.
Wish me luck. If I'm not back soon, send a search party. I'll be the voice babbling from under a mountain of paper.
*All images deleted to avoid any chance of copyright infringement*
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Weekly Update
This hasn't been a particularly writerly week. Other than Sunday, I didn't touch a word of fiction. Hell, I didn't even had time to read. Instead I baked, boiled, decorated, shopped, packaged, delivered, partied and collapsed.
Baked & Boiled:
Six different kinds of cake cookies
Three batches of coconut Rum cookies
Two kinds of 5-layer bars
S'mores bars
2 kinds of fudge
(Okay, so I only did the 5-layer bars and the fudge. Daughter did the rest, but I supervised.)
Decorated:
The house is now decked out for the holiday season. It looks like Santa exploded in my living room. All that's left to do is put up the Christmas cards as they come in.
Shopped:
My shopping is 99% done. If I buy anything else, it will be impulse items that no one needs and stocking stuffers. Did I ever mention how much I love Amazon? They shipped most of my gifts priority and I didn't even have to pay for it.
Packaged:
Yesterday saw me putting together 9 tubs of treats for friends and co-workers. Which I then delivered around town. Oh, to see the happy looks on the faces of the recipients. The satisfaction of seeing them eat a cookie or two was even better.
Partied:
Last night was the Christmas party for Husband's workplace. They did a potluck this year and IMO, it was the best party they ever had. The food was scrumptious and everyone seemed to have an awesome time.
Collapsed:
Now that everything is pretty much done for another year, I'm going to let myself fall apart. We got home about 8:30 last night and I flopped on the couch, satisfied that another round of Christmas rush was over. Except for the presents I still have to wrap, the cards I have to get out and the food I have to cook for the big day, that is. Today I'll collapse and tomorrow I'll get back to work.
How was your week? Are you ready for Christmas or do you still have a bunch of stuff to do?
Baked & Boiled:
Six different kinds of cake cookies
Three batches of coconut Rum cookies
Two kinds of 5-layer bars
S'mores bars
2 kinds of fudge
(Okay, so I only did the 5-layer bars and the fudge. Daughter did the rest, but I supervised.)
Decorated:
The house is now decked out for the holiday season. It looks like Santa exploded in my living room. All that's left to do is put up the Christmas cards as they come in.
Shopped:
My shopping is 99% done. If I buy anything else, it will be impulse items that no one needs and stocking stuffers. Did I ever mention how much I love Amazon? They shipped most of my gifts priority and I didn't even have to pay for it.
Packaged:
Yesterday saw me putting together 9 tubs of treats for friends and co-workers. Which I then delivered around town. Oh, to see the happy looks on the faces of the recipients. The satisfaction of seeing them eat a cookie or two was even better.
Partied:
Last night was the Christmas party for Husband's workplace. They did a potluck this year and IMO, it was the best party they ever had. The food was scrumptious and everyone seemed to have an awesome time.
Collapsed:
Now that everything is pretty much done for another year, I'm going to let myself fall apart. We got home about 8:30 last night and I flopped on the couch, satisfied that another round of Christmas rush was over. Except for the presents I still have to wrap, the cards I have to get out and the food I have to cook for the big day, that is. Today I'll collapse and tomorrow I'll get back to work.
How was your week? Are you ready for Christmas or do you still have a bunch of stuff to do?
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Fudge Lessons
As I just finished a batch of peanut butter fudge, I have a couple things I learned that I'd like to share:
- No matter how hard you try to avoid it, boiling sugar will jump up and bite you.
- Never do two batches of fudge in one day. (I haven't made the chocolate fudge yet, but I see the error in my planning. I have to do the other batch today, but I'm going to regret every minute of it.)
- Writing isn't the only thing that causes hand cramps. You try stirring molten sugar for five minutes straight and then stir peanut butter into the mixture.
- Eating fudge first thing in the morning isn't the best idea in the world. Then again, how else are you supposed to clean off the spoon and the pan, or taste test your creation???
- Making fudge is not an endeavor for one person. You need at least four hands, and unless you're Kali, you're screwed. (Thank goodness Daughter was here to help. I can't remember how I managed to make fudge when she was too small to help.)
Now I feel like a nap, but I have errands to run, more things to gather for my cookie baskets, and more fudge to make. I'll nap when I'm dead.
Have a great day, everyone.
- No matter how hard you try to avoid it, boiling sugar will jump up and bite you.
- Never do two batches of fudge in one day. (I haven't made the chocolate fudge yet, but I see the error in my planning. I have to do the other batch today, but I'm going to regret every minute of it.)
- Writing isn't the only thing that causes hand cramps. You try stirring molten sugar for five minutes straight and then stir peanut butter into the mixture.
- Eating fudge first thing in the morning isn't the best idea in the world. Then again, how else are you supposed to clean off the spoon and the pan, or taste test your creation???
- Making fudge is not an endeavor for one person. You need at least four hands, and unless you're Kali, you're screwed. (Thank goodness Daughter was here to help. I can't remember how I managed to make fudge when she was too small to help.)
Now I feel like a nap, but I have errands to run, more things to gather for my cookie baskets, and more fudge to make. I'll nap when I'm dead.
Have a great day, everyone.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Peanut Butter Fudge
Since the Cookie-Stravaganza is in full swing, I thought I'd post another recipe for you to try. Sure, this one isn't a cookie, but nothing says 'holidays' like a big batch of creamy fudge. When I was a kid, my mother would make chocolate fudge every year, and damn, was it ever good. She never made peanut butter fudge, though - I guess because my oldest brother is deadly allergic to legumes. Since I never see my brother (no one's heard from him in years), I can make all the peanuty delights I want.
I found this recipe a few years ago, and tweaked it a bit to make it better. By far, this is the best peanut butter fudge I've ever tasted, if I do say so myself. (And this is coming from a kid who grew up near Frankenmuth, MI - home of the most-awesome Frankenmuth Fudge Kitchen. Every year we'd drive up to the Christmas wonderland and I'd spend as much time as the folks would let me staring through the windows watching as they made fudge.)
:drool:
Anyway, this is a pretty awesome fudge you can make at home. I hope you try it and enjoy it.
Peanut Butter Fudge
2 cups light brown sugar (packed)
2 cups white sugar
4 T butter or margarine
1 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (creamy)
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups mini marshmallows
Butter the bottom and sides of a 8x10" cake pan. In a medium saucepan, combine both sugars, the evaporated milk and the butter. Initially, keep the pan on medium heat until the butter is melted and all the ingredients have combined. Turn heat up to medium high until mixture is at a rolling boil. Boil for 5 minutes (or if you have a candy thermometer, soft ball stage - 234 degrees F), stirring constantly. Remove from heat and immediately stir in remaining ingredients. Stir quickly but thoroughly until all ingredients are well-combined. Once everything is smooth, pour into pre-buttered pan to cool.
A few helpful hints:
- A glass pan works best. I use an 8x10" and get some fairly thick fudge. If you like yours thinner, use a 9x13" pan.
- 5 minutes means five minutes exactly. Overcooking makes your fudge hard and dry. Undercooking means your fudge won't harden. (Make great ice cream topping, though.)
- If you don't stir constantly during those five minutes, the sugar mixture will burn to the bottom of your pan, giving your fudge burnt sugar lumps.
- When 'stirring quickly', take care the hot sugar doesn't slop over the sides of the pan. Sugar burns can be painful - trust me on that one.
- Speaking of sugar burns, please be careful when you're stirring for the five minutes. Boiling sugar produces a lot of air bubbles that can and do burst. Keep your face, your hands, and your kids as far away from the pan as you can.
Yes, I know. Making fudge sounds like a huge pain in the ass, but I think it's worth it.
If you have any questions, let me know.
I found this recipe a few years ago, and tweaked it a bit to make it better. By far, this is the best peanut butter fudge I've ever tasted, if I do say so myself. (And this is coming from a kid who grew up near Frankenmuth, MI - home of the most-awesome Frankenmuth Fudge Kitchen. Every year we'd drive up to the Christmas wonderland and I'd spend as much time as the folks would let me staring through the windows watching as they made fudge.)
:drool:
Anyway, this is a pretty awesome fudge you can make at home. I hope you try it and enjoy it.
Peanut Butter Fudge
2 cups light brown sugar (packed)
2 cups white sugar
4 T butter or margarine
1 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (creamy)
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups mini marshmallows
Butter the bottom and sides of a 8x10" cake pan. In a medium saucepan, combine both sugars, the evaporated milk and the butter. Initially, keep the pan on medium heat until the butter is melted and all the ingredients have combined. Turn heat up to medium high until mixture is at a rolling boil. Boil for 5 minutes (or if you have a candy thermometer, soft ball stage - 234 degrees F), stirring constantly. Remove from heat and immediately stir in remaining ingredients. Stir quickly but thoroughly until all ingredients are well-combined. Once everything is smooth, pour into pre-buttered pan to cool.
A few helpful hints:
- A glass pan works best. I use an 8x10" and get some fairly thick fudge. If you like yours thinner, use a 9x13" pan.
- 5 minutes means five minutes exactly. Overcooking makes your fudge hard and dry. Undercooking means your fudge won't harden. (Make great ice cream topping, though.)
- If you don't stir constantly during those five minutes, the sugar mixture will burn to the bottom of your pan, giving your fudge burnt sugar lumps.
- When 'stirring quickly', take care the hot sugar doesn't slop over the sides of the pan. Sugar burns can be painful - trust me on that one.
- Speaking of sugar burns, please be careful when you're stirring for the five minutes. Boiling sugar produces a lot of air bubbles that can and do burst. Keep your face, your hands, and your kids as far away from the pan as you can.
Yes, I know. Making fudge sounds like a huge pain in the ass, but I think it's worth it.
If you have any questions, let me know.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Ohhhh The Weather Outside is Frightful
...and let's just leave it at that, shall we?
Of course, it's nowhere near as frightful as what my friend Natalie got but it is pretty gross. No matter where you are, snow and wind and single-digits temps are no fun. I had to park my car on the front lawn so Hubby wouldn't have to park in the street where he ran the risk of getting plastered by one of the many ijits who drive past our house on a daily basis.
Yesterday, while stopped at a red light, I got to watch a semi headed toward me begin to jackknife. Wheeee. Lucky for him, me and the people around him, he managed to pull out and get the truck under control before he smashed into anyone.
One would think people who live in Colorado would know how to drive in snow. Unfortunately, they don't. I saw the same thing when I lived in Michigan. Why some people think they can drive in snow the same way they drive on dry pavement is beyond me to understand. So, here are a few things about winter driving I thought I'd share
1) Underneath that fluffy white stuff the road is slick. So...
1a) You won't be able to stop as fast (i.e. don't tailgate)
1b) You'll need to gently apply the gas when you want to accelerate otherwise your tires will spin and you'll go nowhere.
1c) You can't maneuver like Vin Diesel in an action flick. Whipping in and out of traffic is frowned upon even on the best of days - and this ain't one of them.
2) Pay Attention! Other people can't control their vehicles any better than you can (and trust me, you can't control yours as well as you seem to think).
3) SLOW DOWN. The life you save may be MINE, you dumb shit. I don't want to die because you have ten minutes to get to your hair appointment and the beauty salon is eleven minutes away. There is nothing at the grocery store you need so bad you're willing to die or kill others getting it. If you think your boss is going to fire you for coming in late again, leave the house ten minutes earlier.
In non-driving related reminders, let me point out....
- Just because your pets are wearing a fur coat doesn't mean they can't get frostbite or even freeze to death. Don't leave your animals outside when it's this damn cold. If you do, don't be surprise when a good person just happens to call Animal Control on your stupid ass. (Like I did one January in Michigan when the dog next to my office building had no food, shelter or water for days and every step looked painful because her little paws were frozen.)
- If your kid hates wearing his winter clothing, and screams when you put it on, leave him at home. If you can't afford proper winter clothing, please locate your nearest Goodwill, St. Vincent DePaul, Salvation Army, Deseret Industries, church, or other charitable organization. Coat drives are going on all over the country right now. And if worse comes to worst, socks work very well as mittens. Yeah, it loooks stupid, but so does having a kid with eight fingers because you couldn't keep his hands warm.
- There's a reason snow blowers have warning labels. When it says not to stick your hand inside, DON'T. I knew two guys when I was in college who were missing the same two fingers from separate snow blower accident. True, the first guy was just a kid when he lost his, but the other guy was in his forties - and he KNEW about the first guy's accident.
I guess what I'm saying is: use common sense during this time of year. I know it seems like common sense is lacking these days, but everyone really does have it - even if they often choose not to use it.
And since I know those people reading this are chock-full of common sense, I'd just like to tell you all to be careful out there. You never know when some moron could decide he's such a good driver, he doesn't need to worry about ice and snow. I don't want to learn that any of you have become a victim of senselessness.
:HUGS:
Now, back to your regularly scheduled blogging and back to shoveling for me.
Of course, it's nowhere near as frightful as what my friend Natalie got but it is pretty gross. No matter where you are, snow and wind and single-digits temps are no fun. I had to park my car on the front lawn so Hubby wouldn't have to park in the street where he ran the risk of getting plastered by one of the many ijits who drive past our house on a daily basis.
Yesterday, while stopped at a red light, I got to watch a semi headed toward me begin to jackknife. Wheeee. Lucky for him, me and the people around him, he managed to pull out and get the truck under control before he smashed into anyone.
One would think people who live in Colorado would know how to drive in snow. Unfortunately, they don't. I saw the same thing when I lived in Michigan. Why some people think they can drive in snow the same way they drive on dry pavement is beyond me to understand. So, here are a few things about winter driving I thought I'd share
1) Underneath that fluffy white stuff the road is slick. So...
1a) You won't be able to stop as fast (i.e. don't tailgate)
1b) You'll need to gently apply the gas when you want to accelerate otherwise your tires will spin and you'll go nowhere.
1c) You can't maneuver like Vin Diesel in an action flick. Whipping in and out of traffic is frowned upon even on the best of days - and this ain't one of them.
2) Pay Attention! Other people can't control their vehicles any better than you can (and trust me, you can't control yours as well as you seem to think).
3) SLOW DOWN. The life you save may be MINE, you dumb shit. I don't want to die because you have ten minutes to get to your hair appointment and the beauty salon is eleven minutes away. There is nothing at the grocery store you need so bad you're willing to die or kill others getting it. If you think your boss is going to fire you for coming in late again, leave the house ten minutes earlier.
In non-driving related reminders, let me point out....
- Just because your pets are wearing a fur coat doesn't mean they can't get frostbite or even freeze to death. Don't leave your animals outside when it's this damn cold. If you do, don't be surprise when a good person just happens to call Animal Control on your stupid ass. (Like I did one January in Michigan when the dog next to my office building had no food, shelter or water for days and every step looked painful because her little paws were frozen.)
- If your kid hates wearing his winter clothing, and screams when you put it on, leave him at home. If you can't afford proper winter clothing, please locate your nearest Goodwill, St. Vincent DePaul, Salvation Army, Deseret Industries, church, or other charitable organization. Coat drives are going on all over the country right now. And if worse comes to worst, socks work very well as mittens. Yeah, it loooks stupid, but so does having a kid with eight fingers because you couldn't keep his hands warm.
- There's a reason snow blowers have warning labels. When it says not to stick your hand inside, DON'T. I knew two guys when I was in college who were missing the same two fingers from separate snow blower accident. True, the first guy was just a kid when he lost his, but the other guy was in his forties - and he KNEW about the first guy's accident.
I guess what I'm saying is: use common sense during this time of year. I know it seems like common sense is lacking these days, but everyone really does have it - even if they often choose not to use it.
And since I know those people reading this are chock-full of common sense, I'd just like to tell you all to be careful out there. You never know when some moron could decide he's such a good driver, he doesn't need to worry about ice and snow. I don't want to learn that any of you have become a victim of senselessness.
:HUGS:
Now, back to your regularly scheduled blogging and back to shoveling for me.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Thoughts on Editing
I love writing. Really I do. Editing on the other hand... Bleh.
Yeah yeah, I know... I should never admit that in public. 90% of writing is editing. Getting the story on paper is the easy part. Editing is the work part. blah blah blah
As I've said before, I'm terminally lazy. I'd much rather just do the easy part. Been this way since I was a kid...
And you know something? I don't really even hate editing. I do love the part of editing where I'm picking just the right words so that my thoughts shine through. What I hate is the second-guessing part where I'm not sure if this scene is the right one or that scene would work better. Which would make this more grabby and thus more sellable?
Anyway, I know the progress meter still hasn't moved. I'm still stuck*. So, what I did was the tried and true method of thinking my way through this stumbling block. I took out my yarn, sat on the couch and crocheted while I watched football. (Or listened to football, since I have to look at my hands while I'm crocheting.) As I went through the automatic steps of a single-chain crochet - over and over and over - I thought about the story.
Since I've actually got three different beginnings written for this story, I have three paths to choose from. On the last round of edits, I snipped the other two scenes and tucked them away in a file for safe-keeping. Today I'm planning on pulling those out of storage, seeing how they read, and whether I've started in the wrong place again. If neither of those work, I'll rewrite the entirety of Chapter One.
I know where I have to go and what I want to accomplish with this opening. Now I just have to make it interesting for the reader.
Wish me luck. I know I'll need it today.
On the bright side, if I don't get past this, I should have another blanket done by Christmas.
*I knew if I just wrote a post about it, I'd shake the damn thing loose. I'll explain what I did tomorrow - if I still think it works by then.
Yeah yeah, I know... I should never admit that in public. 90% of writing is editing. Getting the story on paper is the easy part. Editing is the work part. blah blah blah
As I've said before, I'm terminally lazy. I'd much rather just do the easy part. Been this way since I was a kid...
And you know something? I don't really even hate editing. I do love the part of editing where I'm picking just the right words so that my thoughts shine through. What I hate is the second-guessing part where I'm not sure if this scene is the right one or that scene would work better. Which would make this more grabby and thus more sellable?
Anyway, I know the progress meter still hasn't moved. I'm still stuck*. So, what I did was the tried and true method of thinking my way through this stumbling block. I took out my yarn, sat on the couch and crocheted while I watched football. (Or listened to football, since I have to look at my hands while I'm crocheting.) As I went through the automatic steps of a single-chain crochet - over and over and over - I thought about the story.
Since I've actually got three different beginnings written for this story, I have three paths to choose from. On the last round of edits, I snipped the other two scenes and tucked them away in a file for safe-keeping. Today I'm planning on pulling those out of storage, seeing how they read, and whether I've started in the wrong place again. If neither of those work, I'll rewrite the entirety of Chapter One.
I know where I have to go and what I want to accomplish with this opening. Now I just have to make it interesting for the reader.
Wish me luck. I know I'll need it today.
On the bright side, if I don't get past this, I should have another blanket done by Christmas.
*I knew if I just wrote a post about it, I'd shake the damn thing loose. I'll explain what I did tomorrow - if I still think it works by then.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
:HEADDESK:
Yeah. I'm having one of those. The Prologue is fine, but Chapter One makes me want to follow the directions below...
*All images deleted to avoid any chance of copyright infringement*
Friday, December 4, 2009
Weekly Update
It's been an interesting week at the Sanderson household, even if not necessarily productive. This week saw the end of NaNo, the beginning of the Christmas season and the recommitment to a book I haven't touched in what feels like years (but in reality was touched in July).
In the span of twenty-four hours I went from 'Whew. November's over. Time to relax.' to total panic that looked something like this:
"OMG, it's December. Christmas is coming, which means the office party in almost here, and the annual Cookie-Stravaganza needs to begin. I have to shop for ingredients... And all those presents I meant to buy online need to be bought now if they're ever going to arrive in time."
Needless to say, I panic easily sometimes.
Last night, Daughter finally gave me her Christmas list, so all that shopping I haven't done can be tackled. Yay?
On the writerly front, I've started editing Nano again - see the meter? It moved. Not much, but it did move. Of course, last night was a wash. I want to edit this book. Really I do. But every time I sit down to think about how I want this book to be, my recently completed WIP jumps in the way. I can't stop thinking about it. My muse wants to play in that book. RIGHT. NOW. But I promised myself I wouldn't touch it until after I finish this other book. Arrgghh. I may end up shifting between the two to satisfy muse and still keep my promise. If my head explodes around New Year's Day, you'll know why.
So, what about you? Any plans for the coming weeks? How's the holiday shopping coming along? Is your work playing nice or is it being a brat like mine?
In the span of twenty-four hours I went from 'Whew. November's over. Time to relax.' to total panic that looked something like this:
"OMG, it's December. Christmas is coming, which means the office party in almost here, and the annual Cookie-Stravaganza needs to begin. I have to shop for ingredients... And all those presents I meant to buy online need to be bought now if they're ever going to arrive in time."Needless to say, I panic easily sometimes.
Last night, Daughter finally gave me her Christmas list, so all that shopping I haven't done can be tackled. Yay?
On the writerly front, I've started editing Nano again - see the meter? It moved. Not much, but it did move. Of course, last night was a wash. I want to edit this book. Really I do. But every time I sit down to think about how I want this book to be, my recently completed WIP jumps in the way. I can't stop thinking about it. My muse wants to play in that book. RIGHT. NOW. But I promised myself I wouldn't touch it until after I finish this other book. Arrgghh. I may end up shifting between the two to satisfy muse and still keep my promise. If my head explodes around New Year's Day, you'll know why.
So, what about you? Any plans for the coming weeks? How's the holiday shopping coming along? Is your work playing nice or is it being a brat like mine?
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Evil Pastries
Can you tell I'm hungry this morning??? Well, it's the fault of some insidious email I received today... Years ago when I was a manufacturers' rep in Michigan, one of the companies we represented would send each of us the most wonderful pastries ever. So gooey and buttery filled with pecany goodness. :drool:
If you've never heard of this wonder, it's called a Kringle. And, in my opinion, the people who do it the best are the folks over at O&H Danish Bakery in Racine, WI.
Of course, being the moron that I am, I signed up to receive news and flyers in my email box. Every so often, I open my gmail to find a flyer covered in sweet goodness. :commence excessive drooling: Evil evil evil. Especially since I'm sure just looking at them is adding poundage to my ever-widening ass.
Anyway, if you're in the mood for something different this holiday season, order yourself up a Kringle. They're especially good if you nuke them in the microwave for a few seconds. Mmmmm.
Now I must go forage in the kitchen before I short out my keyboard with all the drool. Gross, I know, but these things really are that good. I'm like Pavlov's dog over here. Screw ringing a bell. All I need are pictures of food.
;o)
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Post-NaNo Post
Midnight Monday saw the end of another year's NaNoWriMo, and from what I've seen around the web, many people reached their goals. The question that comes on December 1st is "What now?"
After spending a month typing furiously, I'm feeling a little bleh. All I really want to do is lay on the couch. I keep telling myself that I earned a break, but all I'm really doing is giving myself an excuse to slip right back into my old lazy ways. I need to find a way to keep the drive November gave me.
But...
I refuse to touch my NaNo novel. It needs time to cure. If I look at it now, it won't be with fresh eyes, and I won't see the problems I know must be in there. (Typing that fast lends itself to flaws, after all.) So, for now, this book will be tucked away. Of course, that way lies the potential for total laziness.
Except I have other things I need to do. A couple weeks ago, a writerly idol of mine posted something on her blog about not doing your NaNo book an injustice by shoving it into a drawer and forgetting about it. I'm not even close to doing that with this year's book, but her words reminded me that I have another book I never finished editing. It's been eating it's head off in a drawer for almost a year now. Poor thing.
So... As I said on Monday, I'm going to finish the book I affectionately call Nano. I admit that so far this week, I haven't done diddly-squat. I realize I can't allow that malaise to take over again. I have to write, even if it's not new words. In honor of that, I'll be putting up a new word meter to show my progress, and please feel free to kick my ass if you don't see the colors move.
As soon as I'm ready to tackle the edits for this year's NaNo novel, I'll begin a series of posts regarding all those errors I advocated in my Pitfall posts.
Now, I'm off to start the day. Have a great one out there, people. =o)
After spending a month typing furiously, I'm feeling a little bleh. All I really want to do is lay on the couch. I keep telling myself that I earned a break, but all I'm really doing is giving myself an excuse to slip right back into my old lazy ways. I need to find a way to keep the drive November gave me.
But...
I refuse to touch my NaNo novel. It needs time to cure. If I look at it now, it won't be with fresh eyes, and I won't see the problems I know must be in there. (Typing that fast lends itself to flaws, after all.) So, for now, this book will be tucked away. Of course, that way lies the potential for total laziness.
Except I have other things I need to do. A couple weeks ago, a writerly idol of mine posted something on her blog about not doing your NaNo book an injustice by shoving it into a drawer and forgetting about it. I'm not even close to doing that with this year's book, but her words reminded me that I have another book I never finished editing. It's been eating it's head off in a drawer for almost a year now. Poor thing.
So... As I said on Monday, I'm going to finish the book I affectionately call Nano. I admit that so far this week, I haven't done diddly-squat. I realize I can't allow that malaise to take over again. I have to write, even if it's not new words. In honor of that, I'll be putting up a new word meter to show my progress, and please feel free to kick my ass if you don't see the colors move.
As soon as I'm ready to tackle the edits for this year's NaNo novel, I'll begin a series of posts regarding all those errors I advocated in my Pitfall posts.
Now, I'm off to start the day. Have a great one out there, people. =o)
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Cake Cookies
It's creeping up to that time again. You know the time I mean... Cookie-Stravaganza! Wherein Darling Daughter and I bake cookies until our eyes are bugging out.
Anyway, sometime in the next two weeks, we'll be baking our brains out with Coconut Rum Cookies and Cream Cheese Cookies... and fudge... can't forget the fudge. Anyway, we used to make every recipe totally from scratch, and that was fine. Time consuming, but fine. And while I still don't used store-bought cookie mix (Okay, I admit to the occasional use of those Pillsbury pre-cut cookies with x-mas trees designs), I did stumble across a recipe last year that cuts some of the time out. I posted it on my old blog, but for those of you who weren't around back then, here it is again...
Cake Cookies
1 box cake mix (whichever one turns you on)
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 eggs
nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, candy bits... whatever works with whichever mix you pick
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together until thoroughly combined. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until firm and slightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven and transfer cookies to cool.
Super easy and super quick, so if between writing and shopping and wrapping and life, you're up to your ass in alligators, you can still do a reasonable cookie-stravaganza in half the time.
If you can find the Caramel Cake Mix from Duncan Hines, I recommend using that one with Hersey's Toffee Bits and chopped walnuts. Another favorite here is Devil's Food with Peanut Butter Chips. This year I picked up butterscotch chips on sale, so I'm going to create something with those... maybe with Butter Pecan cake mix. A gal I gave this recipe to last year used Betty Crocker Funfetti cake mix and Fruity Pebbles for a fun new cookie. The point with these is to have fun and to save time. And in this economy, you can also save money - especially if you find cake mix on sale. =o)
Enjoy, and if you come up with any awesome combinations for your cookies, share in the comments. I'm always open to trying new things. =o)
Anyway, sometime in the next two weeks, we'll be baking our brains out with Coconut Rum Cookies and Cream Cheese Cookies... and fudge... can't forget the fudge. Anyway, we used to make every recipe totally from scratch, and that was fine. Time consuming, but fine. And while I still don't used store-bought cookie mix (Okay, I admit to the occasional use of those Pillsbury pre-cut cookies with x-mas trees designs), I did stumble across a recipe last year that cuts some of the time out. I posted it on my old blog, but for those of you who weren't around back then, here it is again...
Cake Cookies
1 box cake mix (whichever one turns you on)
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 eggs
nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, candy bits... whatever works with whichever mix you pick
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together until thoroughly combined. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until firm and slightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven and transfer cookies to cool.
Super easy and super quick, so if between writing and shopping and wrapping and life, you're up to your ass in alligators, you can still do a reasonable cookie-stravaganza in half the time.
If you can find the Caramel Cake Mix from Duncan Hines, I recommend using that one with Hersey's Toffee Bits and chopped walnuts. Another favorite here is Devil's Food with Peanut Butter Chips. This year I picked up butterscotch chips on sale, so I'm going to create something with those... maybe with Butter Pecan cake mix. A gal I gave this recipe to last year used Betty Crocker Funfetti cake mix and Fruity Pebbles for a fun new cookie. The point with these is to have fun and to save time. And in this economy, you can also save money - especially if you find cake mix on sale. =o)
Enjoy, and if you come up with any awesome combinations for your cookies, share in the comments. I'm always open to trying new things. =o)
Monday, November 30, 2009
NaNo Wrap-Up
Yes, I am well aware that there's still one more day to NaNo (or to be more precise, around 17 hrs). I'm also aware I fell 5211 words short of the 50K goal. However, I'm stopping short and I've got a very good reason for it.
I finished the story yesterday.
Well, the first draft of the story anyway. I've got a lot of work to do before this book is finished.
Still, I'm pretty proud of my accomplishments this month. I said I was going to do it, and I did it. In fact, if I hadn't finished the story, I probably could've gotten to the 50K. I was grooving with the keyboard yesterday morning. I got 2200+ words out before 10am. Then the story was finished and I spent the majority of yesterday bored out of my mind. I even considered starting the second book in this series just to be able to write more about this world and these characters.
In the end, though, I'm glad I stopped. This story has to gel, and I can't really move ahead with the series until this book is polished. I'm excited about it, though.
Now, with regards to the loose ends I talked about yesterday. Most of them are still loose. I'll nip and tuck and tighten when I edit, and some I'll leave hanging for subsequent books. I'm thinking of them like little teasers to encourage readers to buy the next book. We'll see how that goes.
Okay, so for number sake, here are the totals:
9/7 - began the book (or rather restarted after wiping out the original beginning)
11/1 - started NaNo with 23K already written
11/29 - finished the first draft at 66747 words
For the month of November, I wrote a grand total of 44789 words - 17898 of those in the past week or so.
What's on tap for the month of December? More Nano... Or rather, I'll be revisiting the manuscript I affectionately call Nano (short for Nanotechnology). It's a suspense with a techno slant. I really love the premise and the characters and the story, but I let it slide out of fear. Thanks to a kick in the pants by one of my writing idols, though, I'm going to fight the fear and finish the damn book. I'm hoping to query it some time after the first of the year - depending on how long revisions take.
And this NaNo WIP I just finished? I'm letting it cure. I'll probably hit it again after a I finish polishing Nano - or sooner if the mood strikes me.
How was your November? What's coming up for your writing in the month ahead?
I finished the story yesterday.
Well, the first draft of the story anyway. I've got a lot of work to do before this book is finished.
Still, I'm pretty proud of my accomplishments this month. I said I was going to do it, and I did it. In fact, if I hadn't finished the story, I probably could've gotten to the 50K. I was grooving with the keyboard yesterday morning. I got 2200+ words out before 10am. Then the story was finished and I spent the majority of yesterday bored out of my mind. I even considered starting the second book in this series just to be able to write more about this world and these characters.
In the end, though, I'm glad I stopped. This story has to gel, and I can't really move ahead with the series until this book is polished. I'm excited about it, though.
Now, with regards to the loose ends I talked about yesterday. Most of them are still loose. I'll nip and tuck and tighten when I edit, and some I'll leave hanging for subsequent books. I'm thinking of them like little teasers to encourage readers to buy the next book. We'll see how that goes.
Okay, so for number sake, here are the totals:
9/7 - began the book (or rather restarted after wiping out the original beginning)
11/1 - started NaNo with 23K already written
11/29 - finished the first draft at 66747 words
For the month of November, I wrote a grand total of 44789 words - 17898 of those in the past week or so.
What's on tap for the month of December? More Nano... Or rather, I'll be revisiting the manuscript I affectionately call Nano (short for Nanotechnology). It's a suspense with a techno slant. I really love the premise and the characters and the story, but I let it slide out of fear. Thanks to a kick in the pants by one of my writing idols, though, I'm going to fight the fear and finish the damn book. I'm hoping to query it some time after the first of the year - depending on how long revisions take.
And this NaNo WIP I just finished? I'm letting it cure. I'll probably hit it again after a I finish polishing Nano - or sooner if the mood strikes me.
How was your November? What's coming up for your writing in the month ahead?
Sunday, November 29, 2009
NaNo Pitfall #9
:cue tightrope music:
With tomorrow fast approaching - a little too fast, if you ask me - we come to the ninth and final pitfall of the year...
NaNo Pitfall #9 - The Fine Line
Sure, you've written loads of words. Hopefully they've worked together and made a somewhat cogent story with coherent characters. All this time you've been creating, though, you've been walking a fine line between needing to get x-number of words on paper and making those words work as a logical story.
Maybe you plotted the story out ahead of time. If you did, you probably don't need to read this post. Your word count and your storyline are probably running parallel. Congratulations.
Me? I rarely plot out anything. Therefore, the fine line I walk sometimes isn't any thicker than frog's hair. I'm sure when I look back over those scenes, I'll be asking myself "What the hell were you thinking here?" Sometimes I'll be able to figure it out. Other times I'll read a scene and never be able to discern what I was going for. (Here's hoping this book has more of the former than the latter, eh?)
Why is this a pitfall? Because as we reach the final words for NaNo and thus the final scenes for our books, we need to be able to remember all those threads we created over the past month and weave them to their natural conclusion. And that, my friends, can totally stop you in your tracks.
Hence, the Pitfall. See? I knew I'd wrap it together somehow...
As I was laying in bed last night, once again battling my subconsious for some snooze-time, my brain was racing through all the threads. With only a few thousand words left, am I absolutely sure I wrapped up the thread about Nigel? Am I bringing the whole thing with the dog to a logical conclusion? Is the dastardly killer getting what he deserves or should I insert another twist that will carry through to the subsequent books in the series? And what about that weirdo being who crept into the fight scene? Did I really introduce a hint of romance, and what the hell am I going to do about THAT?
Needless to say, my brain was on overdrive and I woke up this morning not knowing what the hell to do with the next few scenes. I could wrap it all up with a pretty bow for now and fix it later. On the other hand, I could write a dozen more scenes to explain... Bleh, I hate reading pages of things the writer should've already explained. Or, I could stop what I'm doing and go back - rereading and editing until I can finish the end.
See? This could conceivably stop me in my tracks inches from the finish line. Will it? Nah. I'm just using myself as an example. If this is happening to you, though, you might not be able to get past this Pitfall without a litte nudge. Here's what I'm going to do.
Take the bit in my teeth and run like hell.
Probably not the advice you were expecting. Definitely not the best advice for writing the end of your story any other time of the year. This is NaNo, though. Right now, thinking about loose ends is only going to stall your progress.
Am I advocating writing 5000 words of nonsense?? Certainly not. I mean, it's still going to be part of your story. What I'm saying is, get the words out and worry about tying it all up later. That's what editing is for. So what if I introduced some threads five chapters ago that I now realized I never fully finished? I'll catch when I sit down to edit.
Sorry if this wasn't the post you were expecting. I didn't edit this any more than I'm editing my work right now. Plus, my brain is the equivalent of pumpkin puree. Maybe soon I'll write a post on the mush my brain turns into after writing so many words in one month.
Have a great day, everyone. Tune in tomorrow for what I hope will be a less meandering post.
With tomorrow fast approaching - a little too fast, if you ask me - we come to the ninth and final pitfall of the year...
NaNo Pitfall #9 - The Fine Line
Sure, you've written loads of words. Hopefully they've worked together and made a somewhat cogent story with coherent characters. All this time you've been creating, though, you've been walking a fine line between needing to get x-number of words on paper and making those words work as a logical story.
Maybe you plotted the story out ahead of time. If you did, you probably don't need to read this post. Your word count and your storyline are probably running parallel. Congratulations.
Me? I rarely plot out anything. Therefore, the fine line I walk sometimes isn't any thicker than frog's hair. I'm sure when I look back over those scenes, I'll be asking myself "What the hell were you thinking here?" Sometimes I'll be able to figure it out. Other times I'll read a scene and never be able to discern what I was going for. (Here's hoping this book has more of the former than the latter, eh?)
Why is this a pitfall? Because as we reach the final words for NaNo and thus the final scenes for our books, we need to be able to remember all those threads we created over the past month and weave them to their natural conclusion. And that, my friends, can totally stop you in your tracks.
Hence, the Pitfall. See? I knew I'd wrap it together somehow...
As I was laying in bed last night, once again battling my subconsious for some snooze-time, my brain was racing through all the threads. With only a few thousand words left, am I absolutely sure I wrapped up the thread about Nigel? Am I bringing the whole thing with the dog to a logical conclusion? Is the dastardly killer getting what he deserves or should I insert another twist that will carry through to the subsequent books in the series? And what about that weirdo being who crept into the fight scene? Did I really introduce a hint of romance, and what the hell am I going to do about THAT?
Needless to say, my brain was on overdrive and I woke up this morning not knowing what the hell to do with the next few scenes. I could wrap it all up with a pretty bow for now and fix it later. On the other hand, I could write a dozen more scenes to explain... Bleh, I hate reading pages of things the writer should've already explained. Or, I could stop what I'm doing and go back - rereading and editing until I can finish the end.
See? This could conceivably stop me in my tracks inches from the finish line. Will it? Nah. I'm just using myself as an example. If this is happening to you, though, you might not be able to get past this Pitfall without a litte nudge. Here's what I'm going to do.
Take the bit in my teeth and run like hell.
Probably not the advice you were expecting. Definitely not the best advice for writing the end of your story any other time of the year. This is NaNo, though. Right now, thinking about loose ends is only going to stall your progress.
Am I advocating writing 5000 words of nonsense?? Certainly not. I mean, it's still going to be part of your story. What I'm saying is, get the words out and worry about tying it all up later. That's what editing is for. So what if I introduced some threads five chapters ago that I now realized I never fully finished? I'll catch when I sit down to edit.
Sorry if this wasn't the post you were expecting. I didn't edit this any more than I'm editing my work right now. Plus, my brain is the equivalent of pumpkin puree. Maybe soon I'll write a post on the mush my brain turns into after writing so many words in one month.
Have a great day, everyone. Tune in tomorrow for what I hope will be a less meandering post.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The Home Stretch
With only three days left to reach the 50K goal, I'm going to put my head down and write like a crazy person. (Yesterday's post-Thanksgiving trytophan-induced, football-enabled laziness didn't help.)
Good luck to all of you racing to reach the NaNo goal, and remember...
Even if you don't reach your goal, you're awesome just for trying.
But like the turkey said: "I'm going to finish this novel if it's the last thing I do."
Good luck to all of you racing to reach the NaNo goal, and remember...
Even if you don't reach your goal, you're awesome just for trying.
But like the turkey said: "I'm going to finish this novel if it's the last thing I do."
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
Have a great holiday everyone!
*Previously hilarious image deleted to avoid any chance of copyright infringement*
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Warning: Climax Ahead
In all honesty, I almost didn't reach my daily goal yesterday. After all, it was Tuesday - aka Biggest Loser day. By the time 9 o'clock rolled around, I was beat. Bed was calling its siren song of sleep. My muse was telling me to bugger off. But since I'm already behind on my wordcount, I can't afford to take a day off. I kicked myself mentally and dragged my buns over here.
Good thing, too. Last night was an amazing writing sprint. Jo was up against the wall, and in the face of certain doom, she pulled through. Of course, this last scene was not without its own problems. Looking back, everything happened too fast and some of it seems a little contrived. :shrug: I can fix that.
Another thing that happened, that I totally didn't expect, was I'm creeping into the climax. I sat down thinking I was just going to write another piece of the puzzle and before I knew what was happening, things started to snowball. Everything in the story is leading up to the next few scenes, and once those are finished, the only thing left is the denouement - during which I will set up the story for the next book in the series (if I'm lucky enough to score a contract, that is) and wrap up the loose ends. Another 10-15K and this puppy will be in the can. (It's a big climax, what can I say?)
If I write this the way I'm expecting, I'll finish up with a 70-75K first draft and a finished product around 80-85K. Typical for me. Once again, I have a lot of scenes that are mostly dialogue that need description, and I have a couple chunks that I need to rewrite, and I'm pretty sure I have some background that needs filling in. It's all good.
Wish me luck.
*All images deleted to avoid any chance of copyright infringement* - It was of the freeway sign for the offramp to Climax, MI.
Monday, November 23, 2009
NaNo Pitfall #8
Today's Pitfall is less mental and more physical...
NaNo Pitfall #8 or "Something so good shouldn't hurt so much"
Yesterday I banged out over 4K words. Yay! The only problem with that is this morning my hands are lumps of meat with ten tubes of overstuffed sausage attached. Not that I'm complaining. Hurting hands mean I got some real work done, but...
Unfortunately, my brain is still on a roll and my hands don't want to cooperate. Type two words... ouch ouch ouch... If typing this post is killing me, what's my manuscript going to do?
Hang on a sec, I have to slather myself in Aspercreme™.
Okay, that's better. I guess what I'm trying to say, especially since this week marks the home stretch of NaNo is: The more you write the higher the probability that something somewhere in your body is going to protest. Maybe your ass becomes flat and numb. Maybe your back becomes a tangle of tension. Perhaps you're like me and your fingers balloon up to Mickey Mouse proportions.
Take a pain reliever. Rub on some creme. Break out the heating pad or the ice pack. Promise yourself a long, hot bath after your writing session is over. Whatever you choose do, though, don't let the pain in your body stifle the story in your head.
And now that the Aspercreme is kicking in, I'm off to write. Have a great day, everyone. =o)
NaNo Pitfall #8 or "Something so good shouldn't hurt so much"
Yesterday I banged out over 4K words. Yay! The only problem with that is this morning my hands are lumps of meat with ten tubes of overstuffed sausage attached. Not that I'm complaining. Hurting hands mean I got some real work done, but...
Unfortunately, my brain is still on a roll and my hands don't want to cooperate. Type two words... ouch ouch ouch... If typing this post is killing me, what's my manuscript going to do?
Hang on a sec, I have to slather myself in Aspercreme™.
Okay, that's better. I guess what I'm trying to say, especially since this week marks the home stretch of NaNo is: The more you write the higher the probability that something somewhere in your body is going to protest. Maybe your ass becomes flat and numb. Maybe your back becomes a tangle of tension. Perhaps you're like me and your fingers balloon up to Mickey Mouse proportions.
Take a pain reliever. Rub on some creme. Break out the heating pad or the ice pack. Promise yourself a long, hot bath after your writing session is over. Whatever you choose do, though, don't let the pain in your body stifle the story in your head.
And now that the Aspercreme is kicking in, I'm off to write. Have a great day, everyone. =o)
Sunday, November 22, 2009
NaNo Pitfall #7
As I may have said, Darling Daughter is also doing NaNo. These posts are as much for her as for anyone. Like any writer, she has her stumbling blocks, and like anyone new at anything, she thinks she's the only one. After reading my Pitfall #6 post, we talked about the various things that can make a writer stumble during this race to finish a novel - or during any writing time - and she was dumbfounded to discover these Pitfalls aren't just things I thought might happen to someone else. These Pitfalls have happened to me - this month even. So, as you're reading this series of posts remember: You're not alone.
Now onward to NaNo Pitfall #7 - aka "Wow, I just remembered that I have to :insert procrastinatory item here:!"
We're writers. We also have a million other things we have to do as human beings. Laundry needs to get done. We need to cook meals. We have shopping and errands. Some people have day jobs and others, like me, have internet businesses to maintain. Add in homeschooling or kids' events or homework (either to do if you're still in school or to assist with if you're a parent), and the list of non-writing things requiring our attention can be staggering.
This month is no different. Except when you're using those things to put off writing.
For instance, I had some stuff I legitimately had to do for my Amazon store. True, it was stuff I'd put off and I should've done it sooner, especially since the deadline fell in November. That was last weekend's blip in my writing schedule. This weekend was another story. You see, doing all that stuff made me realize that I had a bunch of other stuff I needed to do to make my store easier to work with - for me, not my customers. Yesterday, I spent a good portion of my day screwing around with that. It needed to be done... Just not right this moment. Certainly none of it was so crucial it couldn't wait until NaNo was over.
As I lay in bed last night lamenting my lack of words, it came to me. This was yet another pitfall - not only in NaNo but for any writing we're trying to accomplish. There's always something you can find to take the place of writing. There are so many, in fact, I used to have a link to a site that listed all the things one can do instead of working on one's book.
Thinking about it now, I'm wondering if I should've made this a corollary to the other Pitfalls. You see, the reason this push to do something else came up is because my brain is currently scrolling through the other Pitfalls. Right now, I'm bouncing between "OMG, This Sucks!" and "Ack! I'm Lost!"
Enter "Wow! I have something else I really should be doing!"
So, I've slapped myself around. Today I will not being mucking around in the store, cleaning the house, doing yardwork, alphabetizing my socks, sorting my recipes, baking cookies, organizing my bookmarks...
Or sitting here thinking of other things to add to that growing list.
Today, I will write. It may be several thousand crappy words and I may only succeed in getting myself more lost, but I will accomplish something writerly if it kills me.
Writerly? Hmmm.... I never did sort through those last submissions and enter them into the database...
Now onward to NaNo Pitfall #7 - aka "Wow, I just remembered that I have to :insert procrastinatory item here:!"
We're writers. We also have a million other things we have to do as human beings. Laundry needs to get done. We need to cook meals. We have shopping and errands. Some people have day jobs and others, like me, have internet businesses to maintain. Add in homeschooling or kids' events or homework (either to do if you're still in school or to assist with if you're a parent), and the list of non-writing things requiring our attention can be staggering.
This month is no different. Except when you're using those things to put off writing.
For instance, I had some stuff I legitimately had to do for my Amazon store. True, it was stuff I'd put off and I should've done it sooner, especially since the deadline fell in November. That was last weekend's blip in my writing schedule. This weekend was another story. You see, doing all that stuff made me realize that I had a bunch of other stuff I needed to do to make my store easier to work with - for me, not my customers. Yesterday, I spent a good portion of my day screwing around with that. It needed to be done... Just not right this moment. Certainly none of it was so crucial it couldn't wait until NaNo was over.
As I lay in bed last night lamenting my lack of words, it came to me. This was yet another pitfall - not only in NaNo but for any writing we're trying to accomplish. There's always something you can find to take the place of writing. There are so many, in fact, I used to have a link to a site that listed all the things one can do instead of working on one's book.
Thinking about it now, I'm wondering if I should've made this a corollary to the other Pitfalls. You see, the reason this push to do something else came up is because my brain is currently scrolling through the other Pitfalls. Right now, I'm bouncing between "OMG, This Sucks!" and "Ack! I'm Lost!"
Enter "Wow! I have something else I really should be doing!"
So, I've slapped myself around. Today I will not being mucking around in the store, cleaning the house, doing yardwork, alphabetizing my socks, sorting my recipes, baking cookies, organizing my bookmarks...
Or sitting here thinking of other things to add to that growing list.
Today, I will write. It may be several thousand crappy words and I may only succeed in getting myself more lost, but I will accomplish something writerly if it kills me.
Writerly? Hmmm.... I never did sort through those last submissions and enter them into the database...
Friday, November 20, 2009
Weekly Update x2
Two-thirds of the way through NaNo and we should all be at 33500 words (or thereabouts) by the end of today. Of course, after last week's measly 6200 words, I'm behind. (Along with a lot of other people, I'm guessing.) This isn't a huge thing. It seems like every NaNo, I get behind and end up spending the last few days of November hurrying to catch up. We'll see how this year works out.
For the running tally - two weeks worth of numbers:
11/7 - 2190
11/8 - 2223
11/9 & 11/10 - Doughnuthole
11/11 - 1792
11/12-11/14 - Nada
11/15 - 2776
11/16 - Zilch
11/17 - 2623
11/18 - 2190
11/19 - 1484
Which leaves me at a rousing 26309 total. That's 7031 short of the goal for the end of today. I'm hoping to drop that to under 5000 words behind by the time I drag my butt to bed.
On the upside, I dragged my story across the halfway point - both for NaNo and for the story as a whole. With a projected 80K words for the book, I'm 60% finished. 48K! Yay! All things considered, not bad. I don't know if I'll have this done by 11/30, but at least the end is in sight now.
Keep your fingers crossed for me.
How are things going in your life?
For the running tally - two weeks worth of numbers:
11/7 - 2190
11/8 - 2223
11/9 & 11/10 - Doughnuthole
11/11 - 1792
11/12-11/14 - Nada
11/15 - 2776
11/16 - Zilch
11/17 - 2623
11/18 - 2190
11/19 - 1484
Which leaves me at a rousing 26309 total. That's 7031 short of the goal for the end of today. I'm hoping to drop that to under 5000 words behind by the time I drag my butt to bed.
On the upside, I dragged my story across the halfway point - both for NaNo and for the story as a whole. With a projected 80K words for the book, I'm 60% finished. 48K! Yay! All things considered, not bad. I don't know if I'll have this done by 11/30, but at least the end is in sight now.
Keep your fingers crossed for me.
How are things going in your life?
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Picture Paws
I am so very sorry, but my human cannot be disturbed. She needs total focus to complete her tasks... After she's fed me, petted me, adored me and fed me, maybe then I will relinquish her desk. Of course I realize I said 'fed me' twice. If you don't understand its importance, I shall not elucidate. Now, shoo. I sense she's about to go fill my food receptacle before retiring to bed where she will shower me with the attention I so richly deserve.
A pleasant night to you all. Perhaps I will allow her access to her keyboard tomorrow.
Regards,
Kira
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Write When You Can
No, this isn't another Pitfall post. Just an observation. With all the crud that's been going on, I've really had the point knocked home: Take the time to write whenever you can.
My hip is still farged up, and I can only sit for about 30 minutes max at a time. (Well, if I want to be able to get up afterwards and walk more than a step or two.) Also, it seems to be better in the morning than later in the day. Sooo...
I read my blogs and comment where I can first thing in the morning, then I get right on the book. (Sorry to everyone who hasn't been getting comments lately.) I type for as long as I can then I hit the couch. After giving the old hip a break, I try to write again in the afternoon. Finally, if I'm feeling okay, I sit here again. If I keep to a schedule like that, I just might make it. It's what I did on Sunday and again Tuesday. (Monday was errand day, so I was toast before I even got a chance to write.)
Add in the other things that take me away from the keyboard, and I really do have to make the most of whatever time I have. If that means ten minutes, I write for ten minutes. If it's longer, I write as much as I can in for as long as I can.
Okay, since I'm still a fully functioning body-system, I'm off to write a bit. I hope you have a great day. Wish me luck. ;o)
My hip is still farged up, and I can only sit for about 30 minutes max at a time. (Well, if I want to be able to get up afterwards and walk more than a step or two.) Also, it seems to be better in the morning than later in the day. Sooo...
I read my blogs and comment where I can first thing in the morning, then I get right on the book. (Sorry to everyone who hasn't been getting comments lately.) I type for as long as I can then I hit the couch. After giving the old hip a break, I try to write again in the afternoon. Finally, if I'm feeling okay, I sit here again. If I keep to a schedule like that, I just might make it. It's what I did on Sunday and again Tuesday. (Monday was errand day, so I was toast before I even got a chance to write.)
Add in the other things that take me away from the keyboard, and I really do have to make the most of whatever time I have. If that means ten minutes, I write for ten minutes. If it's longer, I write as much as I can in for as long as I can.
Okay, since I'm still a fully functioning body-system, I'm off to write a bit. I hope you have a great day. Wish me luck. ;o)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
NaNo Pitfall #6
A thought occurred to me as I was about to write today's pitfall: Any new writer who stumbles across this series could be seriously freaked out by all the things to make a writer stumble through the process of NaNoWriMo. This is not my intention. I'm just trying to show you thinngs that may and can happen, and hopefully point the way out of these pitfalls.
Also, it should be noted that writing for NaNo is not necessarily the way one should write all the time. This is a race, and while it does help build skills - like writing faster to meet a deadline - it might deepen some bad habits. I'm going to try and have a series on editing NaNo mistakes after this month is over, so bear with me.
As for today's NaNo Pitfall, the picture pretty much says it all: "I've written myself into a corner and there's no way out." (Of course, the flames are all in our heads, but you get the gist.)
So, here I am, writing along and I've reached a point in the story where I feel like I've written myself into a corner. My MC is stuck and there doesn't really seem to be a way out. Which is why my word count for yesterday was so low I didn't even bother to post it - I just wrapped it into today's count.
Yes, this is similar to the Pitfall "Ack! I'm Lost!", but I'm not lost. I know where I need to go, but getting there might be a bit messy. Other than stepping back across the fresh paint and not only messing up what I've already covered, I could fall and go splat.
This isn't the first time this has happened. In fact, it's happened so many times now that I look at it as a challenge. My subconscious painted me into a corner, and now I have to find a way to extract myself without ruining my work. Or to put it another way, I have to find the window to climb out of.
No matter how tight your corner is, there's always a window. Like the video game pictured above, there's always a way out. (Although I'm not sure how one would get the guy across a flaming pit of doom, but there has to be a way, or the programmer wouldn't have put the challenge there.) Of course, the only way may be something so off the wall, you might balk at writing it. Write it anyway. At the risk of boring you with repetition: Write it now, edit it later.
And then, there's always the chance that no matter how bizarre it might seem before you write it, it'll work once you finish it. I've had that happen before. Sometimes weird stuff happens - not often unless you're writing SF, F or P but hey, look around the world at the strange shit going on every day.
As always, for November, it's not whether every word in your story makes sense. It's getting those words out so you have something to work with later. So, open a window, crawl through a mousehole, open a rift in the time/space continuum if you have to, but get 'er done.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a ladder to fashion so I can crawl up through the ceiling. The smell of all this paint is making me dizzy. ;o)
Also, it should be noted that writing for NaNo is not necessarily the way one should write all the time. This is a race, and while it does help build skills - like writing faster to meet a deadline - it might deepen some bad habits. I'm going to try and have a series on editing NaNo mistakes after this month is over, so bear with me.
As for today's NaNo Pitfall, the picture pretty much says it all: "I've written myself into a corner and there's no way out." (Of course, the flames are all in our heads, but you get the gist.)
So, here I am, writing along and I've reached a point in the story where I feel like I've written myself into a corner. My MC is stuck and there doesn't really seem to be a way out. Which is why my word count for yesterday was so low I didn't even bother to post it - I just wrapped it into today's count.
Yes, this is similar to the Pitfall "Ack! I'm Lost!", but I'm not lost. I know where I need to go, but getting there might be a bit messy. Other than stepping back across the fresh paint and not only messing up what I've already covered, I could fall and go splat.
This isn't the first time this has happened. In fact, it's happened so many times now that I look at it as a challenge. My subconscious painted me into a corner, and now I have to find a way to extract myself without ruining my work. Or to put it another way, I have to find the window to climb out of.
No matter how tight your corner is, there's always a window. Like the video game pictured above, there's always a way out. (Although I'm not sure how one would get the guy across a flaming pit of doom, but there has to be a way, or the programmer wouldn't have put the challenge there.) Of course, the only way may be something so off the wall, you might balk at writing it. Write it anyway. At the risk of boring you with repetition: Write it now, edit it later.
And then, there's always the chance that no matter how bizarre it might seem before you write it, it'll work once you finish it. I've had that happen before. Sometimes weird stuff happens - not often unless you're writing SF, F or P but hey, look around the world at the strange shit going on every day.
As always, for November, it's not whether every word in your story makes sense. It's getting those words out so you have something to work with later. So, open a window, crawl through a mousehole, open a rift in the time/space continuum if you have to, but get 'er done.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a ladder to fashion so I can crawl up through the ceiling. The smell of all this paint is making me dizzy. ;o)
Monday, November 16, 2009
NaNo Pitfall #5
See the look on that guy's face? Heh. If you could see me now, you'd see that same look. (Okay, maybe I'm crying for my mommy on the inside.)
You see, today it's time for NaNo Pitfall #5 aka Ack! I'm Lost! (Prewritten on Sunday, so maybe I'll have found my way by the time this hits the web.)
When you're running down the path of your story, trying to get 50K words onto paper before the alligator of December 1st catches up with you, you could conceivably take a wrong turn. My wrong turn came a while back, but I didn't know I was lost until a couple days ago. (Which explains the squirmy stuff I mentioned in yesterday's post.)
And boy am I ever lost.
Sure, I know where I'm supposed to be. I took a wrong turn several chapters ago, though, so retracing my steps is not an option. What I have to do know is hack a path to where this diversion would naturally meet up with the correct storyline at this point in the book.
It's a jungle out there, people.
Anyway, I spent a good portion of the time I was supposed to be sleeping last night trying to mentally chart my course. I have Jo in a sticky situation, and she's taking the bull by the horns. Nigel's come clean about his part in the mess, and if he screws up again, he dies. Tryg's on the fence at to whether he's trustworthy or not. And Zeke is Zeke. I'm not sure what to do with Mary, but she's ready to run someone through after all these years of powerlessness, so whatever happens, she's good to go.
Of course, I'm still dealing with NaNo Pitfall #2, but I'm pretty sure that the reason I've written crap is that I was lost. Once I find my way again, I'll be right as rain. And hey, I can always fix it in the edits. =o)
Time to take my mental machete and forge ahead through the jungle. I know that path is around here somewhere...
You see, today it's time for NaNo Pitfall #5 aka Ack! I'm Lost! (Prewritten on Sunday, so maybe I'll have found my way by the time this hits the web.)
When you're running down the path of your story, trying to get 50K words onto paper before the alligator of December 1st catches up with you, you could conceivably take a wrong turn. My wrong turn came a while back, but I didn't know I was lost until a couple days ago. (Which explains the squirmy stuff I mentioned in yesterday's post.)
And boy am I ever lost.
Sure, I know where I'm supposed to be. I took a wrong turn several chapters ago, though, so retracing my steps is not an option. What I have to do know is hack a path to where this diversion would naturally meet up with the correct storyline at this point in the book.
It's a jungle out there, people.
Anyway, I spent a good portion of the time I was supposed to be sleeping last night trying to mentally chart my course. I have Jo in a sticky situation, and she's taking the bull by the horns. Nigel's come clean about his part in the mess, and if he screws up again, he dies. Tryg's on the fence at to whether he's trustworthy or not. And Zeke is Zeke. I'm not sure what to do with Mary, but she's ready to run someone through after all these years of powerlessness, so whatever happens, she's good to go.
Of course, I'm still dealing with NaNo Pitfall #2, but I'm pretty sure that the reason I've written crap is that I was lost. Once I find my way again, I'll be right as rain. And hey, I can always fix it in the edits. =o)
Time to take my mental machete and forge ahead through the jungle. I know that path is around here somewhere...
Sunday, November 15, 2009
NaNo Pitfall #4
Okay, so I'm 8K behind. Why? Well, some of it was life stuff - like the out of town trip I took Thursday and the right-cross Amazon dealt me that I have to deal with by Monday. Some of it was squirmy stuff that will be addressed in a later Pitfall post. Of course, the reasons and/or the excuses don't really matter. Whatever they are, they've occurred and now I'm behind.
At this point, I could sit back and figure this year's NaNo is a wash. When am I going to make up 8 THOUSAND words? PLUS do the 1667 every day I'm supposed to do to reach the goal of 50K, mind you.
That's where the pitfall lays. Like the dude in the picture up there, I have to find a way to swing across the gap. (And he didn't even dig his own hole like I did.) I could stand on this side, shaking my head at the depth of the hole, or I can find a way to get past the expanse. 2200 words a day will get me to my goal. That's a load. Or, I could bust out extra words on the weekends.
The point here is: Stopping isn't an option.
Sure, this is only a self-imposed deadline, but if I ever do get a book contract with actual deadlines, I'm sure as hell not going to be able to tell my publisher "Sorry, I had some things come up. Maybe I'll hit that number next time." I guessing there's a quick way to say buh-bye to your career.
So, there is nothing to do but forge ahead. If I have to miss some sleep, or sit in this chair until my ass falls off, or type all day on Thanksgiving, I will do it.
And if I don't I will still count it as a win because I will have tried my damnest.
Whether you're doing NaNo or not, how are your word counts looking this month? Has anything come up that's put you behind in whatever you're trying to accomplish? Regardless of the answer...
:hugs:
Friday, November 13, 2009
NaNo Pitfall #3
In this series of Pitfalls, I'm trying to point out those little things that can hamper your ability to get those 50K words out before the end of the month. Today, I'd like to talk about NaNo Pitfall #3, in which we talk about those dread devices: Adverbs and Dialogue Tags.
Yes, yes, we've all heard how horrible both adverbs and excessive dialogue tags can be. We're not supposed to have them - or at least not be heavy-handed or weird with them.
"Forget all that!" she shouted peremptorily.
Ahem.
Which is to say, while you're pounding out your NaNo words, don't bother nitpicking these things. If you want your character to shout and you feel the need to tack an adverb on there, too, don't waste time editing those words out. Editing is for later. Let your fingers do the typing, and you can chastise them later for the crap they spewed onto your pages.
I look at it this way. I let my fingers do the talking (or rather my subconscious mind speaking through my fingers, but you get the gist), and more often than not those dialogue tags and adverbs are left as clues to how my brain wants the scene to be laid out later. Without them, each scene would take me loads more time to write. And as we all know, NaNo is not about taking your time. It's about getting words on paper because...
You can't fix what ain't there.
If your story needs adverbs, type them happily. And if you need a dialogue tag... "Say it, shout it, ask it," she chanted. ;o)
Next up in NaNo Pitfalls... "Tell It on the Mountain" and "Ack! I'm Lost!" (Although whether those will be in order or even over the next two days is anyone's guess.)
Yes, yes, we've all heard how horrible both adverbs and excessive dialogue tags can be. We're not supposed to have them - or at least not be heavy-handed or weird with them.
"Forget all that!" she shouted peremptorily.
Ahem.
Which is to say, while you're pounding out your NaNo words, don't bother nitpicking these things. If you want your character to shout and you feel the need to tack an adverb on there, too, don't waste time editing those words out. Editing is for later. Let your fingers do the typing, and you can chastise them later for the crap they spewed onto your pages.
I look at it this way. I let my fingers do the talking (or rather my subconscious mind speaking through my fingers, but you get the gist), and more often than not those dialogue tags and adverbs are left as clues to how my brain wants the scene to be laid out later. Without them, each scene would take me loads more time to write. And as we all know, NaNo is not about taking your time. It's about getting words on paper because...
You can't fix what ain't there.
If your story needs adverbs, type them happily. And if you need a dialogue tag... "Say it, shout it, ask it," she chanted. ;o)
Next up in NaNo Pitfalls... "Tell It on the Mountain" and "Ack! I'm Lost!" (Although whether those will be in order or even over the next two days is anyone's guess.)
Thursday, November 12, 2009
AFK Day
I'll be away from the keyboard most of the day - getting life stuff done, donchaknow. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
NaNo Pitfall #2
Before I get started, thanks to everyone who wished me a speedy recovery. Unfortunately, this hip thing is related to my accident - almost sixteen years ago - and it's not something to recover from so much as something to just deal with. (More about that another time maybe.)
Now onward to the post I meant to write two days ago...
NaNo Pitfall #2 or... OMG, this sucks!
So, other than the last couple days, I've been writing my little fingers into fat sausages. I got past the first pitfall (or as someone else put it on another blog - the cardinal rule of NaNo) - don't go back and read what you've written - by slogging through. The problem with slogging through is you may find yourself in the second NaNo pitfall...
OMG, this sucks!
As you write, you may find yourself thinking that the scenes you're slapping down are probably the worst pieces of dreck you've ever seen. "It was a dark and stormy night..." looks like Pulitzer material by comparison. And you know no one is ever going to want to read such crap.
Okay, here's the thing. Most likely you're right. It sucks, it's dreck, and no one is going to want to read it.
Now, before you get out the matches and bonfire your manuscript, I want you to understand something important. What you're writing now is a FIRST DRAFT. I'm willing to bet that most first drafts - even by the bestselling authors - are crap they wouldn't want anyone to read. As awful as those first drafts might be, though, those authors kept writing them because they all knew another important fact:
You can't fix what isn't written.
So, no matter how horrible it may feel to you right now, you keep writing. Hell, several chapters back, I wrote a scene I knew was awful. Here's the thing about writing awful scenes, though: During editing, it'll either be cut or will end up as a completely different animal by the time I'm ready to query. I needed the crap scene to get to the next scene, so I wrote it and I refuse to apologize for it. Even to myself.
I wrote it. I can fix it later.
While you're writing, don't worry so much about how every word will sound. Don't pick at yourself for writing crap. Even if you're not doing NaNo, but you're having a tough time finishing a manuscript, just write and worry about fixing the problems later.
Now it's your turn. Ever hit this pitfall? Did you get past it or trash your manuscript? If you got past it, let us know how in the comments.
Now onward to the post I meant to write two days ago...
NaNo Pitfall #2 or... OMG, this sucks!
So, other than the last couple days, I've been writing my little fingers into fat sausages. I got past the first pitfall (or as someone else put it on another blog - the cardinal rule of NaNo) - don't go back and read what you've written - by slogging through. The problem with slogging through is you may find yourself in the second NaNo pitfall...
OMG, this sucks!
As you write, you may find yourself thinking that the scenes you're slapping down are probably the worst pieces of dreck you've ever seen. "It was a dark and stormy night..." looks like Pulitzer material by comparison. And you know no one is ever going to want to read such crap.
Okay, here's the thing. Most likely you're right. It sucks, it's dreck, and no one is going to want to read it.
Now, before you get out the matches and bonfire your manuscript, I want you to understand something important. What you're writing now is a FIRST DRAFT. I'm willing to bet that most first drafts - even by the bestselling authors - are crap they wouldn't want anyone to read. As awful as those first drafts might be, though, those authors kept writing them because they all knew another important fact:
You can't fix what isn't written.
So, no matter how horrible it may feel to you right now, you keep writing. Hell, several chapters back, I wrote a scene I knew was awful. Here's the thing about writing awful scenes, though: During editing, it'll either be cut or will end up as a completely different animal by the time I'm ready to query. I needed the crap scene to get to the next scene, so I wrote it and I refuse to apologize for it. Even to myself.
I wrote it. I can fix it later.
While you're writing, don't worry so much about how every word will sound. Don't pick at yourself for writing crap. Even if you're not doing NaNo, but you're having a tough time finishing a manuscript, just write and worry about fixing the problems later.
Now it's your turn. Ever hit this pitfall? Did you get past it or trash your manuscript? If you got past it, let us know how in the comments.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Oatmeal Head
I'm here at the computer. For how long is anyone's guess. Anyway, I'm sorry if last night's post was a little weird. I took one of my prescription pills* and I was a little stoned - still am, which is why I don't take those things often. Needless to say, I won't be driving anywhere any time soon.
What I meant by 'my hip blew out' was that I turned to walk out of the kitchen after setting down a load of groceries and it felt like someone stabbed me. Then I couldn't really put any weight on my leg, so I hobbled to the couch and laid there until it stopped spasming. Unfortunately every time I sat up, the spasms would start again. Basically if I wanted to go anywhere I had to roll from lying on the couch to where I could push myself into a standing position - without bending at the hip. It probably looked hilarious - like some demented cross between a turtle and a penguin.
So, now I'm sitting here hoping that when I try to get up I don't fall over - either from the hip thing or the med thing. Man, I hate this junk. Every thought is like swimming through a vat of oatmeal. Bleh. Why anyone would do this to their brain for kicks is beyond me. Can't drive. Can't write. Can't even really read because my eyes aren't focusing right yet. Stupid meds. Yesterday was a symphony of watching the same old Animal Cops Detroit reruns (like I haven't already seen all of those twice), MASH and Friends. If I'm still couch-bound today, I'm sticking a DVD in. (Wish I'd thought of that yesterday, damn it.)
Anyway, enough whining. Tell me something good. How's your writing going? Any exciting news to share? I won a cover flat for Monica McCarty's upcoming historical release The Chief. It's so pretty I had to frame it and put it on the bookshelf near my bed.
*My meds aren't even anything harsh - just an anti-inflammatory packed with a stomach med to prevent ulcers - but since my accident, I'm super sensitive to meds. Tylenol PM knocks me right out, and Alka Seltzer Cough & Cold makes me giggle.
What I meant by 'my hip blew out' was that I turned to walk out of the kitchen after setting down a load of groceries and it felt like someone stabbed me. Then I couldn't really put any weight on my leg, so I hobbled to the couch and laid there until it stopped spasming. Unfortunately every time I sat up, the spasms would start again. Basically if I wanted to go anywhere I had to roll from lying on the couch to where I could push myself into a standing position - without bending at the hip. It probably looked hilarious - like some demented cross between a turtle and a penguin.
So, now I'm sitting here hoping that when I try to get up I don't fall over - either from the hip thing or the med thing. Man, I hate this junk. Every thought is like swimming through a vat of oatmeal. Bleh. Why anyone would do this to their brain for kicks is beyond me. Can't drive. Can't write. Can't even really read because my eyes aren't focusing right yet. Stupid meds. Yesterday was a symphony of watching the same old Animal Cops Detroit reruns (like I haven't already seen all of those twice), MASH and Friends. If I'm still couch-bound today, I'm sticking a DVD in. (Wish I'd thought of that yesterday, damn it.)
Anyway, enough whining. Tell me something good. How's your writing going? Any exciting news to share? I won a cover flat for Monica McCarty's upcoming historical release The Chief. It's so pretty I had to frame it and put it on the bookshelf near my bed.
*My meds aren't even anything harsh - just an anti-inflammatory packed with a stomach med to prevent ulcers - but since my accident, I'm super sensitive to meds. Tylenol PM knocks me right out, and Alka Seltzer Cough & Cold makes me giggle.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Quick Update
I didn't want to leave y'all thinking I was on the skids with my story. If you look over there---> you'll see I took my own advice and just wrote. Not a bad day yesterday.
Today? Well, I blew out my hip this morning, so I've been on the couch all day. I'm going back there now because sitting upright hurts. No worries. It does this once or twice a year. I should be back to my semi-normal self soon.
See? This is why it pays to be ahead in my word count. LOL
Later days, dudes.
Today? Well, I blew out my hip this morning, so I've been on the couch all day. I'm going back there now because sitting upright hurts. No worries. It does this once or twice a year. I should be back to my semi-normal self soon.
See? This is why it pays to be ahead in my word count. LOL
Later days, dudes.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
NaNo Pitfall #1
NaNo Pitfall #1 - do not go back and read what you've already written.
Okay, so I opened the file this morning to get some words written, and for grins I decided to read some of the beginning of this book. I found a few typos, which I fixed. Not a problem. Then I found a bit of worldbuilding that I have since differed from. Umm. Crap.
Now my brain is so busy worrying about how I'm going to fix this that I can't think about where I was supposed to take the story next. Seriously. And what's worse is, I knew better. I know if I start finding flaws in the story, I'm going to want to go back and fix them all before I continue. It's a thing about me. It's also why I've learned to write the way I do - straight through, no stopping and no going back.
Yes, at the beginning of the book Nigel (a minor character whose name is going to be changed) doesn't know what the hell is going on any more than Jo (the MC) does. But in the later chapters, he's part of the group that's known all along and has been keeping it a secret. Sooo, I either need to fix the beginning or I need to fix this middle part.
Ack.
Deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth.
What I really need to do is forget I ever saw that flaw and forge ahead. The story is going great so far, and whatever Nigel does ultimately doesn't matter to the crux of the plot. (Unless I make this into a series, and then Nigel's crucial to the plot that would carry over several books.) Regardless, I need to tuck this flaw into its proper place and fix it later.
Remember folks, you can always go back and fix afterwards, but you can't fix what isn't written. So just write. Damn it. (That last part was for me, btw.)
And thus ends our brief neurotic break. We now return you to your regularly scheduled psychoses. ;o)
Okay, so I opened the file this morning to get some words written, and for grins I decided to read some of the beginning of this book. I found a few typos, which I fixed. Not a problem. Then I found a bit of worldbuilding that I have since differed from. Umm. Crap.
Now my brain is so busy worrying about how I'm going to fix this that I can't think about where I was supposed to take the story next. Seriously. And what's worse is, I knew better. I know if I start finding flaws in the story, I'm going to want to go back and fix them all before I continue. It's a thing about me. It's also why I've learned to write the way I do - straight through, no stopping and no going back.
Yes, at the beginning of the book Nigel (a minor character whose name is going to be changed) doesn't know what the hell is going on any more than Jo (the MC) does. But in the later chapters, he's part of the group that's known all along and has been keeping it a secret. Sooo, I either need to fix the beginning or I need to fix this middle part.
Ack.
Deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth.
What I really need to do is forget I ever saw that flaw and forge ahead. The story is going great so far, and whatever Nigel does ultimately doesn't matter to the crux of the plot. (Unless I make this into a series, and then Nigel's crucial to the plot that would carry over several books.) Regardless, I need to tuck this flaw into its proper place and fix it later.
Remember folks, you can always go back and fix afterwards, but you can't fix what isn't written. So just write. Damn it. (That last part was for me, btw.)
And thus ends our brief neurotic break. We now return you to your regularly scheduled psychoses. ;o)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Picture Pause
I've reached my word goal for today. Michigan just lost to Purdue. And my back is all squonky. Needless to say, I'm going to go flop on the couch for a while. While I'm over there enjoying being horizontal, I'll leave you with this picture to enjoy...
It's another of what I call my 'artsy-fartsy' shots. Pretty?
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