Friday, November 26, 2010

3 Pics


Is $6.99 a surprisingly low price? Yikes!


From behind, I always think this little statue is Jar Jar Binks.


Ants are cool. This looks more like brown sugar than sand...

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

A fussy baby on NaNoWriMo Day 24

I'm behind! Why am I always behind? It preys on my mind.

People writing real honest-to-god novels spend years working on them, and I'm sick and tired of my story after a few weeks. This always happens - I realize that I haven't done enough research, that I'm spending too much time babbling about nothing (is it character development to talk about some funny story in the character's childhood? Or a cheap word count trick?) after promising to keep it minimal.

I'm still glad I'm doing it, I will finish my 50,000 words by the end of November, but it's a grind.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

WOOT!

It's only 7pm and I'm finally caught up with my NaNoWriMo word count - in fact, I am at 23,336, two whole words ahead of where I need to be. Yay!

Visual Alarms? Site Appearances?

Saturday, November 13, 2010

NaNoWriMo Day 13

I've written 2,295 words today!

At this moment (9:05pm), I am at 18,021 words - 3,650 words behind where I should be by midnight tonight. Is it possible that I could write 1,825 words yet tonight, leaving only 3,492 words for tomorrow, catching myself up to exactly where I should be starting on Monday?

It's possible. It would be damned hard and would likely take me until midnight. Have I mentioned that I write slowly?

Congrats to my writing buddies Ashley, Brandon, Kelly, Matt, Michelle, and Paul! NaNoWriMo sounds like a lark until you actually try to do it - it's harder than it sounds. That said, I really enjoy slogging through my stories every November - why can't I just keep it up year round? There's always a story I want to tell.

My book is going along well enough, with the typically ponderous pace I am used to. I'm trying to be a good little writer - no skipping scenes, no scrimping. It's been a lot of establishing of characters, and then character development. Ugh.

I've yet to reward myself with a juicy murder - what good is an entertaining murderer if I can't unleash her? At this rate, it'll be a while before there is any unleashing.

~~~~~

Update at 11:47pm - I made it! Whew!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Ugh

The NEED to web surf will always expand to fill the available time. There's always 'one more thing' I want to look up.

No progress on my NaNoWriMo book yesterday - well, not the prose. I did add some juicy details to the outline.

And I changed one guy's name from Roger to Daniel. I mean really, who is named Roger? No one. Not a single person.

Monday, November 08, 2010

Etcher's Law #33

Don't kick 'em while they're down.

Sunday, November 07, 2010

NaNoWriMo Day 7

My book is definitely starting to take shape. At this moment, (8am on 11/7) my word count is not where I would like it to be. It should be at 10,002 and is at 6,576. Not as bad as some (Michelle) but nowhere near the crazy word count of others (Kelly).

Actually writing a work of some length (even a few thousand words) is always humbling to me. Somehow, it seems as if it should be easier. Not that it's hard, but I have this impression that I should be writing faster. It's not a typing speed thing, it's not a writers block thing.

It's as if there is a bandwidth limit on my creative process, even when the scenes I'm writing have been outlined. I assume everyone has a bandwidth limit and I assume it depends on the scene that you're writing - some scenes are definitely quicker than others.

It certainly helps if I don't stop writing every five minutes to research the actual type of dog, house, car, or brand of boots that the scene calls for. Simply plugging in "I'm sorry TIMMY'S MOM'S NAME, but Timmy has RARE BONE CANCER. We'll need to test the family for BONE MARROW COMPATIBILITY TERM." Yeah, coming up with good names can slow me down, so often I will use a placeholder, especially if it's a character I didn't expect to need.

Okay, I've procrastinated enough. On to writing! Good luck to my fellow NaNoWriMonians!

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Touchscreen Typing Perfected?

I have a crush on 8Pen. It seems like a great design, and I can't wait to try it.

I predict that this or a method very similar to this will completely change touchscreen typing forever. (Strong words, I know.) Once you've memorized the gestures, you wouldn't even need to have the keyboard visible, which is good since touchscreen keyboards take up half of the screen you're trying to type on.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

NaNoWriMo Day 3

So far so good. I'm plodding along with my story. Since I have the first half of the book outlined, I know exactly where I am going, so that's not a concern.

I did make a discovery - the introduction chapter outlining the whole scene could totally become its own book, though that's not the story I'm in the mood to tell at the moment. Maybe I'll turn it into a prequel someday.

Good Luck, NaNoWriMo writers!

Monday, November 01, 2010

NaNoWriMo Day 1

Well so much for having my outline completely done. Still, I think it will all turn out just fine. And this year, I'm gonna get my free proof!