Eat the bird, eat the pie, drink the wine, watch the football, don’t watch the football, drink more wine, eat leftovers at midnight, drink more wine, tell hairy family members to bugger off, eat more pie with extra reddi whip…do all this guilt free, no calorie counting…being ever thankful for being alive and well enough to do it at all…
Oh, and make sure you have a laugh too…
Another update on NaNoWriMo.
Wrote 4613 words yesterday for new manuscript total of 40,271 words. I forget how many double-spaces pages that adds up to, 136, or something of the like.
I am aflame for this story and still afraid that it will die out, cool off, or burn up as soon as December hits and I no longer have the goal in my mind. There is something about keeping up with it, living up to doing what is set, in public, that keeps me going. Why can’t I do this myself? Why can’t I set a goal, and do it, without the outside help? Discipline, I guess. But I have hope that I can keep going with it when the month ends next week. Only seven more days to go. The 50,000 words is no longer the goal for me. I know the story is going to take more than that, so to finish it is my newer goal.
Then I check in with some of the forum updates on NaNo website, I see some people loaded with words, some have reached the goal already, which is outstanding. Then there are those who post that they just can’t get anything going. I’ve been there. One guy commented that he keeps going over what he’s written and changing that so he never get ahead in his word count. Everyone is telling him, “it’s a first draft, write some shit.” Some writers find this harder than others, I guess. After my trauma deleting surgery, I won’t look back at all, except if I see those red highlighted misspellings in the word program. I might stop and fix them, just to feel clean…ya know…
Mainly focused on getting the words out, since each scene is sort of writing itself. This time, I outlined as I went along, not bothering to outline the whole thing first, which I’ve come to believe totally hinders the process, but having a short path ahead is helpful, and leaving off, knowing where your going to start the next day has been key for me. With this one, I haven’t jumped ahead to write scenes that I know are for the future; instead I’ve hand written them down in a brief account, with my note in the working outline of where I think it will go. I say “think” because half the time a scene will lead right into one that I thought would come in another storyline time. This is the creative flow people!
I’m loving the process for my sort-of first time out. I did do a novel in one month with Book In A Month website, which doesn’t give you an account like NaNo, but you keep in touch with some other writers doing the process also. It went well, but the story, and the creative flow were not as good.
So this nano writer is having a good time. Hope it helps others to keep on the track, even if the goal is somewhere out there…just set another lower one and go on…that’s what we’re here for. Mind you, I may reach the goal, but it could be all just crap, right?
Here’s to writing shitty first drafts and eating turkey until we’re stuffed this week!
Peace…
I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil, I have done my hitch
over the plain houses, light by light:
lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.
A woman like that is not a woman, quite.
I have been her kind.
I have found the warm caves in the woods,
filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,
closets, silks, innumerable goods:
fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:
whining, rearranging the disaligned.
A woman like that is misunderstood.
I have been her kind.
I have ridden in your cart, driver,
waved my nude arms at villages going by,
learning the last bright routes, survivor
where you flames still bite my thigh
and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.
A woman like that is not ashamed to die.
I have been her kind.
From The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton
artwork: Lenox1515 at Deviant Art
Yes, yet again, this had been my wallpaper for the past two weeks. The Continuum teens were on a high, waiting for this day!! Finally here. Promises to me a cinema money-making blockbuster for sure. And, I have to say, Twilight wasn’t bad at all, in fact, in watching the movie again, with Mr. Continuum in tow, it was quite enjoyable. The fact that said hub-ster did not leave the room says a lot. In any case, I will not be joining the screaming fans tonight, but will wait until the rush dies down a bit, so I can enjoy this one, and actually hear the dialogue. On Monday I bought the last 10 tickets for the early evening show tonight in our local Regal. Girls were thrilled…and releaved.
Fan or not, nice weekend to all!
“Opinions are like assholes…
everyone’s got one.”
In her October gallery show Laments and Lullabies, artist Lori Earley showed her latest surrealist figurative artwork. Being an artist who love to draw la femme faces and figures, I cannot help but be drawn to Lori’s work which I found in Hi Fructose Magazine.
“While her femme fatale portraits mature in style and intensity, they retain her signature ethereal quality that embodies an undeniably feminine force.” –from www.loriearley.com
“My work is a fusion of personal experiences and influences – moody atmospheres, victorian-inspired couture, and timeless elements all laced with clandestine symbolism. The figures I paint exist in their own esoteric realm and time, and each painting offers a glimpse into their anomalous world.” – Lori Earley, Artist statement
Last night on Nip Tuck, my guilty pleasure in TV world, Dr. Sean, for the second time this season tries to off himself…this time in such a way that I found myself sitting there with my mouth open…not because I was shocked (which is usually the case with some of this show) but because one of the writers of the show has been no doubt scouring the news or blogging scene…or it could be just coincidence…or it would be my own wit’s end crazy parallel conclusion…but this was the scene.
After dumping his dead wife’s ashes (a whole other long, creepy story) in garbage can on a beach in California, our dear doctor looks out at the ocean for a while on this sunny evening. Then he slowly takes off his clothes, neatly folding each piece, suit jacket, pants, shirt, underwear, and places them on the life guard bench, his shoes, lastly, on top of it all, and walks naked into the sea, plunging in and swimming out, out, out…
The scene ends…
So my brain quickly makes the connection with Jeremy Blake’s suicide, for those who haven’t guessed what I was getting to. Call my crazy, but if anything, the writers of the TandJ movie might be a little pissed…I know I would be.
Yes, I am still going full force with the novel for National Novel Writing Month. Have written about 19,000 words so far and am pushing forward. It has been a blast I must say. This story brewed in me since the summer, when I jotted out a few notes and did some character profiling. Now I am outlining a bit ahead as I go along, with a very, extremely general outline on my story board, and outline that can go any which way with the story or the character’s choice…we all know what those characters with minds of their own can do…or not do. This is fantastic for me in that sometimes when I completely work out a story the thrill of it just goes flat, like a deflated balloon. Then I loose the desire to sit down and type anything out. Tell me if this sounds familiar to you writers out there.
In any case, as part of my story board process that I mentioned earlier, I’ve created a soundtrack for my novel–like if it was a movie, what songs would I love to see in it. Except for a few songs, I haven’t picked scenes for them yet, but I just know from the feel and emotion of the songs, and from some of the lyrics, that they enhance the story line. Thought I’d share my soundtrack, a sort of playlist, if you will…
My Immortal by Evanescence
Nothing Like Tomorrow by Supreme Beings of Leisure
How Soon is Now? by The Smiths
Good Enough by Evanescence
Bring Me to Life by Evanescence
Never Let me Down Again by Depeche Mode
Stand or Fall by The Fixx
Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode
Goodnight by Evanescence
Sharing a glamorous love for Marion Cotillard…
If your in NaNoWriMo, this may interest you…if not, read it anyway, eye-candy below…
So…I’ve been making awesome progress with NaNoWriMo…seriously hoping this will last. The second week is the great test to keeping up the race…it is why I love writing short stories so much, they are done by that time.
I usually keep a notebook with various notes and a kind of timeline-outline of events when I write a story. This time, for the first time, I’ve created an IDEA BOARD on a poster board that I keep under my desk and pull out when I begin to write–setting it up facing me. It has worked wonders.
On the left side I’ve glued pics that I nabbed online of my characters, actors that I’d love to see if my book were a movie, or just a likeness of my written character. It helps me visualize… In the right hand corner I’ve glued a pic of the setting (sort of) just so I have the looks of the place in mind. Multiple settings would require more pics of course.
Then through the middle of the board I’ve hand written What if questions, the character’s name and some ideas as to what will happen to them, what they’ll wear, what they’ll overhear, anything my mind brainstormed as possibilities to put in the story. It is so cool to just look up and see an idea I had last week, written out, reminding me to insert it when the time is right. All these little things hopefully will add up to a convincing and interesting book…with a bit of scare factor in it too! Just a note on brainstorming: If you haven’t done it–do it!! Just sit and look at your characters and think of what could happen…then write it all down!
I have also written out a soundtrack for the story: If your story were a movie what songs would you choose as the soundtrack for it? You can also connect the songs to different scenes. I only have three songs picked so far…all fitting to the story line. What seems to happen to me, what I call my own “synchronicity” factor, is that when I’m in my car I’ll hear a song that just goes with what I’m writing…this always happens, I kid you not. So take a listen to your radio, randomly, with openness, and the world of writer’s spirit may give you something you can use.
Up to 6311 words as of Tuesday, Nov. 3. (1667 a day to stay on track).
Here are my a few of my main character pics, all pretty, I know, what can I say…
Hilary Duff with Swarovski crystal at the Red Dress Collection 2009 Fashion Show.
Yes….I’m still obsessed with red.
Yeah!
It’s here. NaNoWriMo!
I officially started writing a new novel
this month. To all participating, best of
luck and happy writing. I wishing myself
the same. I’ll be posting updates occationally
on my writing progress. Virgin ear alert!
My future posts may be questionable in
content.
Just kidding!
Peace…
Seriously…who needs a drink?
Tags: blogging, blogs, C-word, inspiration, literature, musings, NaNoWriMo, nasty blog comments, nasty comments, National Novel Writing Month, novel writing, women, women writers, writers, writing
Seriously…anyone need a drink? I must say, after the past few days I’m in dire need. So this is a bit of a NaNo writing update. Suffered major setbacks with my story this weekend, and performed the bloodiest un-necessary surgery on my story, yes, during the first draft, and pulverized about 2000 words from my word count. How does tequila sound?
I have this problem, even though I don’t consider myself a highly dysfunctional perfectionist, I can’t stand when
something is sitting there all wrong…it paralizes my momentum, and subsequently, when this flaw dawned on me, I could not longer write my story. …So I went in, with the delete-key blade and performed surgery. I ended up being satisfied by Sunday night, but the word count made me flinch. On Monday, I officially wrote nothing. I just couldn’t recover my love, my feeling, my passion. I started thinking…switch to short stories, start something else, re-write some more fairy tales, write 20 pages of “you suck”, copy some other novel, what ever. Instead, the day really paid off, because as these fruitless thoughts did their rampage through my brain, I realized that what I was doing was good, maybe exceptionally good, and that with some editing (later–yes!) it could be publishable. So I dove in on Tuesday and banged out nearly 3200 words, tied up the loose ends from post surgery trauma, and infused the story with some nice intrigue and mystery set ups. I hope. I may be waving my own freak flag, but hey, sometimes we have to give ourselves our own thumbs up too! Right?
On top of this, handling those nasty comments from this weekend (on Nip Tuck Scene post from last week, if you didn’t catch it) on this very fine blog which I love, love, love and refuse to retire from, didn’t help my writing situation, but it did spur my courage to push on no matter what people, I mean assholes with assholes, say about me personally or professionally. The use of the c-word pushed me over the edge a bit, not that I lost one bit of sleep over it, but it made me wonder: How could some nice girl, from a nice town, with nice intentions, nicely share her opinions as she has a right to, not asking for any money to do it, is always willing to engage in constructive thoughts and other’s opinions, even if they differ from hers, and nicely share some eye-candy with those she cares about, end up being called such a word as the c-word???
It makes one wonder…
Pushing on through with the National Novel Writing Month of November. It truly has become a memorable one. I think I’ll have that drink now.
Photo by Doisneau