Nanowrimo 2009 Day #4

Managed to reach 19,539 words today. The majority of which were written before I ran off to the gym to meet up with my trainer. Darn this being healthy and stuff. I’m going to have to find a different reward, my macaroons are a big no no. [Picture me sad]

Anyway, seems that folks are trucking along fine at the moment. Keeping pace and finding inspiration in the most unlikely places. Bully for them.  And for me. I’m lovin’ the character development at the moment.

I am a bit on the tired side so the post for today is going to short. As a matter of fact it’s just about done.

G’night and here’s hoping plot bunnies find you.

Nanowrimo 2009 Day #3

Let’s see what did I do today:

• I went to see my doctor to get blood taken for a cholesterol check early in the a.m.
• Killed a bunch of wasps
• Wrote 4,837 words
• Cleaned the kitchen
• Did some core training

What wait…I seriously wrote almost 5k today? Where  in the world are these words coming from? And should I be worried that they will disappear?

This brings my word count to 16,158 and I am not writing any more on it tonight. Now I am going to get myself together and go to the gym.

You know, I think my trainer isn’t going to like me much this month…

 

Good job to all the wrimo’s out there. I’ve been seeing folks tally their word count over on Facebook and I have nothing but encouragement for everyone that wants to take part!

Nanowrimo 2009 Day #2

It’s 9 o’clock in the evening and I stopped writing for the day. The nano word count stands at a solid 11, 321. Interestingly enough, it’s only 7 words shy of Dana’s current word count.  No, I am not going to go and write 8 words just to pass her.  That would just be inane.

I’m really enjoying writing in Liquid Story Binder and I haven’t even toyed with all of the options it offers. It makes what I am writing easier to handle too.  I need to find new music though. You would think that I wouldn’t have a problem with my having over 2000 songs in my itunes library. But seriously I can only listen to some of it so often. So music suggestions are very much welcomed at the moment.

Oh! Did I mention the Macaroons are back?  They are indeed. The husband was going to pick them up as a surprise for me yesterday, but since I was with him he couldn’t hide it. One Macaroon per day as long as I reach my word goal. Granted I am a little ahead, but I am still only going eat one per day. (Probably because I also just made chocolate chip cookies)

So if you ever hear me say “I write for Macaroons!”  You’ll know I have run out and must get some more.

The Pep talks are beginning to roll in. The first one was from Mr. Baty himself. I’ll be posting them again at the end of the month.

Good job to all the wrimo’s that got some words out today!

Nanowrimo 2009 Day #1

And thus it begins. Well actually it began several hours ago. I was even up at midnight to start writing. And before I went to bed at  just before 3 in the morning I managed to meet the first days word count goal.  Yes, it seems my idea was a good one. At least good enough to start me off without much of a clue as to where it is going.

It’s almost three in the afternoon now and I’ve been writing since I got back from the gym (look at me being all healthy and stuff during Nano! Unheard of right?)  and have about 200 words left to go until I reach Day 3 number goals. How cool is that?

So as of this post my word count stands at 4,641 according to the word validation thingy on the Nanowrimo website. I could probably crank out a bit more right now, but I am going to pace myself.  I think I’ll have a bite to eat.

Happy Nanowrimo everyone!

 

[EDIT - final word count at the end of day 1 sits at 6,052]

And The Countdown Starts

Two hours to go…just two hours.  And guess what? I have an idea. Well kinda. Now all I have to do is bullet point a few items to keep me on track and I should be good. I can get that done in two hours….really. I’ve got cookies and coffee to help me through it. MMmm Starbucks.

Plus Dana is  sitting across the table from me to encourage me. (Actually she’s looking at Facebook – timesuck that it is.) Must concentrate.

Here we go folks…two hours and counting.

 

[Of course there are some out there that have already started -kudos and envious stares at them all]

Getting Ready For Nanowrimo 2009

Nanowrimo 2009 starts in 3 days (providing I am awake at midnight on the 31st of October – which seems rather likely given that it is All Hallows Eve) and I should already have a plethora of information regarding the stellar idea that I will write during the month of November.

I don’t. Nothing. Nada. Not even an inkling. I don’t even had a character banging at the wall of my brain to find something to put them in. And that’s kind of worrisome.

So I am looking for that spark. I’ve been looking at pictures, listening to music, anything that would inspire something. At this point I may even wander over to a random plot generator and use that…Actually that might be a really good idea.

My goal is to at least have some bullet points to start from when the clock starts ticking.

I do however know the program I am going to write in once I do have that spark. This year I am going to write with Liquid Story Binder.

Sometimes I Need To Be Reminded

So I follow a couple of blogs written by agents/authors etc. This week I caught up with Janet Reid’s blog and was reminded of something…it doesn’t matter that I haven’t been published. I am a writer.  So are you…

As Janet so eloquently put it:

Last Friday I had lunch with a conference attendee who’d just been told he wasn’t a real writer because his “publisher” was one of those book printing mills.

Horseshit.

Make no mistake about this: if you have written and finished a novel you ARE a writer.

Don’t let anyone, particularly some snotty so-called publishing professional, demean this achievement. You’ve written a novel = you’re a writer.

It doesn’t EVER have to be published, and you’re still a writer.
You can publish it online, on your website, or with any of those book printing mills, and yes, you are still a writer.

It doesn’t have to be any good at all, and you’re still a writer.

It can be fanfic, derivative, or a reincarnation of Harry Potter as an android, but if you’ve written and finished a novel you are a writer.

Do not let anyone tell you any different. If they do, you know exactly how much weight to attach to their opinion: <0

Strangers In Paradise by Terry Moore

Synopsis: David is in love with Katchoo. Francine was in love with Freddie, thinks she might be in love with David, and also thinks she might be in love with Katchoo, even though she’s always considered herself heterosexual. Katchoo is in love with Francine, but also thinks she might be in love with David, even though she claims to hate all men. Confused? So are they.

This is Strangers In Paradise…

What can I say about this comic book series? Brilliant for one thing. When I first picked the comic up I was intrigued. I had, up until that point been reading comics like Witchblade (purely for the artwork), and Moore’s art style was so far removed from what I was used to. Most of the issues were in black and white, eshewing color until the appropriate moment. But what really caught me was the way in which he told the story of Katchoo, Francine and David.

Interspersed between traditional comic panels were lyrics, prose, notes…everything that you don’t see in a comic book. All of it combined to make the traditional story of love, loss, and revenge into something brilliant. It was the first time I had seen a comic artist do something like that.

Terry Moore has an almost uncanny ability to understand and portray human interaction in all its grandeur and ugliness. His two main characters, Katina Choovanski (Katchoo) and Francine Peters, are two of the most realistic women characters I have ever seen in a comic book. They rival some of my favorite Novel Characters.

If ever there was a comic that should be read it is this series…

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Storming The Creative Gates Of The Muse

No sooner do I manage to get some words down on the page for Olivia, my partner is already plotting the next scene. He writes in google docs. It is rather interesting to watch someone else write, their words appearing on the screen as the document refreshes every so often.  The creative thought process laid bare without so much as a blink.  The difficult part is simply to sit there and read it without editing.

The urge to adjust, change a word, combine a sentence…is pretty damned strong, especially when you have the ability to edit the document you are watching. Even when the other person has given permission to change something, it is a hard thing to limit.

I have watched my partner for Olivia write two sections of our story so far and while watching have occasionally edited a word or line. But the larger issues I have managed to leave alone and left for him to fix as he sees fit. Of course this doesn’t stop me from having a discussion on how a particular line sounds or if a line is needed and all that.

I’ve always held that a writer knows when something just sounds right. But it’s not always easy to get it down to the page. One such sentence appeared yesterday. He felt the sentence was off but couldn’t puzzle out why.  {The focus of the original sentence was split.} After a lengthy discussion and many suggestions, the sentence morphed three separate times before it sounded right.  It was the first time I’ve had such a conversation with a writing partner and I found it rather enlightening. It’s not often that I can say this, but I actually felt as if I had something valid to bring to the conversation.

I am still struggling with writing the opening for a new story. I’ve been promising an opening for the last three days and haven’t put one word down towards it. I’m hoping to remedy this problem this afternoon. I know what I want to write, I have to stop being worried about it and simply do it.