I know there are sometimes when I don't post too often but I really hate to write a post just to post something. I take writing very seriously and I attempt to put a lot of thought into things before I let others read them.
Usually I post about what I'm writing. The story that I'm working on right now is one of those stories that is more non-fiction than fiction. I like to use fiction to write about my life rather than posting it here. Many people may not care about the boring life I lead but I feel vulnerable sharing my personal life with random strangers that may happen by this blog. There are lots of reasons I feel this way and to share them would be putting myself out there, which is exactly what I hate to do.
There are people who are willing to put themselves out there and share the most personal things about themselves. They are not like me. I hide bits and pieces of my life in fiction because there people don't know if that's what really happened to me and if that's I really felt. They don't know if it's the truth or some tale that my mind weaved.
Anyway, I hope anyone reading this is still with me because there's a reason for this post, I swear. I read a blog today that was written by someone who did not hide behind fiction but was brave enough to tell an unbelievable but very true story. Read it if you get a chance. Start at the "fire" entries. It may take a while to read through all of it but it's worth it.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Here's the plan
My NaNo novel should be done by the end of January. I'm nearly finished and I definitely think it's a realistic goal even though I did absolutely no work on it today. I know I'm super far behind but the last three months have been crazy hectic. To be honest I'm surprised I wrote anything at all. Besides most books about writing say three months is average time for writing a book and I know there are authors that have taken a lot longer than that.
Anyway, as I get closer to the end of a project that has consumed my writing time for the last three months I wonder what I will do when I'm done. Obviously, I'll continue to work with Jenni on Behind the Naugahyde but that isn't something I can work on non-stop because it requires communication between Jenni and I.
There is a novel I've been thinking about that I'm sure I've mentioned it before. Not by title or by idea just that it's a book that is about a very serious topic and that I'm scared to write it. That hasn't changed, I'm still scared to write it. And I think it's time is coming but not just yet. I think I'm going to take a quick break from novel writing and work on a few other things. The first being my comic script that I had come up with a million changes for during NaNo months. There is also a short story contest that I'm interested in entering. I don't have any current works that would qualify so I'm thinking of writing something specifically for it. I'll need to do a little research so I'll know what they're looking for and then I'll decide on that. And of course, I'll work on Behind the Naugahyde.
That's the tentative plan for now. Tomorrow's my day off so I hope to take out a big chunk of my NaNo novel. Then maybe when I'm finished I can come up with a title so I can stop calling it NaNo novel.
Also I just want to thank everyone who's been reading lately and leaving really great comments. I appreciate them but I often feel pressure about responding to them because I can never think of anything to say that might be good enough. Just know that I love them. And from now on I'm going to try hard to respond to them. Thanks!
And speaking of giving thanks don't forget that tomorrow is Hug A Writer Day!
Anyway, as I get closer to the end of a project that has consumed my writing time for the last three months I wonder what I will do when I'm done. Obviously, I'll continue to work with Jenni on Behind the Naugahyde but that isn't something I can work on non-stop because it requires communication between Jenni and I.
There is a novel I've been thinking about that I'm sure I've mentioned it before. Not by title or by idea just that it's a book that is about a very serious topic and that I'm scared to write it. That hasn't changed, I'm still scared to write it. And I think it's time is coming but not just yet. I think I'm going to take a quick break from novel writing and work on a few other things. The first being my comic script that I had come up with a million changes for during NaNo months. There is also a short story contest that I'm interested in entering. I don't have any current works that would qualify so I'm thinking of writing something specifically for it. I'll need to do a little research so I'll know what they're looking for and then I'll decide on that. And of course, I'll work on Behind the Naugahyde.
That's the tentative plan for now. Tomorrow's my day off so I hope to take out a big chunk of my NaNo novel. Then maybe when I'm finished I can come up with a title so I can stop calling it NaNo novel.
Also I just want to thank everyone who's been reading lately and leaving really great comments. I appreciate them but I often feel pressure about responding to them because I can never think of anything to say that might be good enough. Just know that I love them. And from now on I'm going to try hard to respond to them. Thanks!
And speaking of giving thanks don't forget that tomorrow is Hug A Writer Day!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Submitting
This weekend Jenni and I have been working super hard on Behind the Naugahyde. I finished my part of chapter 8 and Jenni is coming along well on her part while also managing to educate our future leaders which is a super tough job. YAY Jenni!
My office is now clean, well, organized, I guess. I'm sure it won't stay that way for long but I sure do feel like I get more done when I can find what I'm looking for.
Today was once again submission day. I try to do those every Sunday. They are my absolute least favorite part of trying to be published. Creating a story is the best, editing is somewhere in the middle and then at the very bottom is submissions but if you want to be heard you have to send them out.
So I sat at my desk and sent out boring submissions. Just so everyone has some idea how boring and time consuming it is let me share the process.
After writing a story and doing tons of editing I am ready for submissions. I usually start with my Writer's Market but once I've went through that I search around on-line. I figure out what genre my story would qualify as and how many words it's got then I go through Writer's Market and find companies that the story might qualify for. Then I go to their website if possible, try to read samples and makes sure that my story does qualify. I also check my previous submission list and make sure I haven't sent another story to them in case they do not accept multiple submissions. Then, if I've already sent the story to another company I make sure they accept simultaneous submissions. I also check to make sure they are currently taking submissions since a lot of publications are run by universities and only accept manuscripts during the school year. After that I format the script to their guidelines, write a cover letter and ship it off hopefully by e-mail but usually by snail mail. Once I'm done I put it in my submission log so I don't send it to the same place twice and for several other reasons.
It's not all that boring though. I've had several occasions when I realize that I wrote the wrong story name in the cover letter, wrote the wrong publication name in the letter, or spelled the editors name wrong. I've also stapled the pages together upside down (although I've heard you're not suppose to staple the manuscript at all so I've stopped). Also, I've written on the envelopes so that they were upside down and I can't count how many times I've accidentally written Ashley Review on my Self-address stamped envelope just because I'm so use to writing " _________ Review". Sometimes I catch it but I'm certain other times I don't. It's okay though because I like to pretend that all the magazines didn't except my story because I made some stupid mistake and not because my story was crap. It was probably a combination of both but I can pretend. I am a fiction writer after all.
Just saw: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Just watched: last week's episode of Smallville
My office is now clean, well, organized, I guess. I'm sure it won't stay that way for long but I sure do feel like I get more done when I can find what I'm looking for.
Today was once again submission day. I try to do those every Sunday. They are my absolute least favorite part of trying to be published. Creating a story is the best, editing is somewhere in the middle and then at the very bottom is submissions but if you want to be heard you have to send them out.
So I sat at my desk and sent out boring submissions. Just so everyone has some idea how boring and time consuming it is let me share the process.
After writing a story and doing tons of editing I am ready for submissions. I usually start with my Writer's Market but once I've went through that I search around on-line. I figure out what genre my story would qualify as and how many words it's got then I go through Writer's Market and find companies that the story might qualify for. Then I go to their website if possible, try to read samples and makes sure that my story does qualify. I also check my previous submission list and make sure I haven't sent another story to them in case they do not accept multiple submissions. Then, if I've already sent the story to another company I make sure they accept simultaneous submissions. I also check to make sure they are currently taking submissions since a lot of publications are run by universities and only accept manuscripts during the school year. After that I format the script to their guidelines, write a cover letter and ship it off hopefully by e-mail but usually by snail mail. Once I'm done I put it in my submission log so I don't send it to the same place twice and for several other reasons.
It's not all that boring though. I've had several occasions when I realize that I wrote the wrong story name in the cover letter, wrote the wrong publication name in the letter, or spelled the editors name wrong. I've also stapled the pages together upside down (although I've heard you're not suppose to staple the manuscript at all so I've stopped). Also, I've written on the envelopes so that they were upside down and I can't count how many times I've accidentally written Ashley Review on my Self-address stamped envelope just because I'm so use to writing " _________ Review". Sometimes I catch it but I'm certain other times I don't. It's okay though because I like to pretend that all the magazines didn't except my story because I made some stupid mistake and not because my story was crap. It was probably a combination of both but I can pretend. I am a fiction writer after all.
Just saw: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Just watched: last week's episode of Smallville
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Antagonizing
Every time someone post a link to my blog on their blog I feel this horrible pressure to write a really great post. I know that my writing a great post isn't going to happen but that doesn't mean I don't feel the pressure.
My novel for NaNoWriMo which turned into my NaNoFiMo and well is still not quite done, is a novel about a writer. It's a novel about a writer who struggles with the pressure of writing well and about how everyday things in life inspire creative fiction. The short stories that the writer writes are all different but they all have one thing in common, human antagonist.
I've been reading about antagonist and their role in current fiction. What I've found is that most commercial fiction have human antagonist. Literary fiction can be woman vs. nature or woman vs. herself but it's not likely to sell. If you want a book that sells you better have a villain of sorts.
Does that mean the literary books aren't worth writing? I guess it depends on why you write. For me, the person I struggle with most in my life is myself so I like literary fiction. The reason I write is for me, not for money, so when it comes time to decide what to do with my novel I don't think I'll just break it into the short stories and ship them off. I know that means that the book doesn't have much of a future but oh well, for me it's been the therapy I can't afford and maybe it will mean something to someone else so I'll try my best to let others read it. Although, if I read it in a few months when I'm ready to make edits and find that the short stories can be saved but the internal battle of the writer is horrible than maybe it will see a different fate.
Anyway, this all got me thinking about my bad blog posts. I write on here about my struggle to be an okay writer. It's a battle with myself. Maybe that's why few stick around to read it. Maybe I need to come up with some crazy menacing villain who is trying to hold me back from writing.
I'm sure I could think of a few humans that could be considered my antagonist like my family and people who call themselves my friends, the publishers that won't publish me and the people that keep comic books a male dominated industry. Maybe then more people would come back to read.
The thing is that there isn't a person that keeps me from writing. I'm very fortunate to not be trapped behind the bars in the yellow wallpaper. Maybe these people keep me from being published but not from writing. I would like to get published and I do write about how I am trying to get published but it's the writing that matters. I won't get published if I don't write and if I don't do it well. So it is the blank page that is the antagonist on this blog and maybe a crazy villain will appear from time to time. Does this mean that people won't come in flocks to see my blog? Probably, but that's okay because this blog is for me.
I don't have anyone near me (oh Jenni why did you leave me?) to sit and talk to about writing. To be honest they don't really care but my blog cares. That's why it's here. Read it if you want to.
My novel for NaNoWriMo which turned into my NaNoFiMo and well is still not quite done, is a novel about a writer. It's a novel about a writer who struggles with the pressure of writing well and about how everyday things in life inspire creative fiction. The short stories that the writer writes are all different but they all have one thing in common, human antagonist.
I've been reading about antagonist and their role in current fiction. What I've found is that most commercial fiction have human antagonist. Literary fiction can be woman vs. nature or woman vs. herself but it's not likely to sell. If you want a book that sells you better have a villain of sorts.
Does that mean the literary books aren't worth writing? I guess it depends on why you write. For me, the person I struggle with most in my life is myself so I like literary fiction. The reason I write is for me, not for money, so when it comes time to decide what to do with my novel I don't think I'll just break it into the short stories and ship them off. I know that means that the book doesn't have much of a future but oh well, for me it's been the therapy I can't afford and maybe it will mean something to someone else so I'll try my best to let others read it. Although, if I read it in a few months when I'm ready to make edits and find that the short stories can be saved but the internal battle of the writer is horrible than maybe it will see a different fate.
Anyway, this all got me thinking about my bad blog posts. I write on here about my struggle to be an okay writer. It's a battle with myself. Maybe that's why few stick around to read it. Maybe I need to come up with some crazy menacing villain who is trying to hold me back from writing.
I'm sure I could think of a few humans that could be considered my antagonist like my family and people who call themselves my friends, the publishers that won't publish me and the people that keep comic books a male dominated industry. Maybe then more people would come back to read.
The thing is that there isn't a person that keeps me from writing. I'm very fortunate to not be trapped behind the bars in the yellow wallpaper. Maybe these people keep me from being published but not from writing. I would like to get published and I do write about how I am trying to get published but it's the writing that matters. I won't get published if I don't write and if I don't do it well. So it is the blank page that is the antagonist on this blog and maybe a crazy villain will appear from time to time. Does this mean that people won't come in flocks to see my blog? Probably, but that's okay because this blog is for me.
I don't have anyone near me (oh Jenni why did you leave me?) to sit and talk to about writing. To be honest they don't really care but my blog cares. That's why it's here. Read it if you want to.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Book search
Today I spent nearly an hour in a book store looking for a book. A particular book but not a particular book, if that makes any sense. It wasn't a book I was even sure existed. What I wanted was a book, preferably humorous, about people at work. And by work I don't mean jobs like police detectives because I'm sure that wouldn't be hard to find, although not necessarily in the humor department. I was thinking more like entry level or slightly above and in the customer service field would be even better. Off the top of my head I can think of a bunch of T.V. shows and movies but I couldn't think of one book. I spent today looking and even asking the store employees and I came up with nothing.
I'm not sure if that's good or bad. In general, that's what Behind the Naugahyde would be. On the bright side there's not much competition. On the bad side maybe it's because no one would want to read it. Although, the second option I must refuse to believe.
Anyway, I was trying to work on Behind the Naugahyde this weekend but my crappy note taking or the lack there of, had me sending an e-mail to Jenni asking to borrow her notes. I must remind her of one of her high school students.
Also, I'm trying to make Sundays my days for working on my submissions. So that's what I did today. I also got maybe 300 words written in the novel from the NaNo months that I'm still trying to finish.
Hopefully, I'll get a ton of stuff done tomorrow. I have the day off and there is suppose to be a bad winter storm over night. It's an ice and freezing rain storm so I doubt there will be any snow to play in. That will leave me plenty of time to stay in and write.
I'm not sure if that's good or bad. In general, that's what Behind the Naugahyde would be. On the bright side there's not much competition. On the bad side maybe it's because no one would want to read it. Although, the second option I must refuse to believe.
Anyway, I was trying to work on Behind the Naugahyde this weekend but my crappy note taking or the lack there of, had me sending an e-mail to Jenni asking to borrow her notes. I must remind her of one of her high school students.
Also, I'm trying to make Sundays my days for working on my submissions. So that's what I did today. I also got maybe 300 words written in the novel from the NaNo months that I'm still trying to finish.
Hopefully, I'll get a ton of stuff done tomorrow. I have the day off and there is suppose to be a bad winter storm over night. It's an ice and freezing rain storm so I doubt there will be any snow to play in. That will leave me plenty of time to stay in and write.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
ConTEMPLATEing
I've bee considering change my template for a few reasons. One of them is that I will be able to use some of the features on new blogger and the other is because I honestly have no clue why I have my current template. I'm not really picky about the set up of my blog so that isn't my concern. I'm just not sure why I picked the color scheme. Not that I hate it or anything it's just that I usually chose red when given a choice. So either red wasn't available, I missed it, or I hated it for some reason. It was so long ago I honestly don't remember.
Anyway, I'm thinking I might change it so that I can have a list of my labels and as motivation to finally make a list of links to all the blogs I read since I'll have to redo all my links. If I do change it I'm torn because they do have an updated version of the template that I have now or I can get something new. Decisions.
In other news, I got my first rejection notice of the year but it wasn't from a submission I sent this year so I'm not sure what it counts as and it really doesn't matter anyway. Jenni and I also got a rejection from an agent (sorry I forgot to mention that in my e-mail Jenni) and that was sent out last year too. Lets hope submissions sent out in 2007 have a little more luck.
Anyway, I'm thinking I might change it so that I can have a list of my labels and as motivation to finally make a list of links to all the blogs I read since I'll have to redo all my links. If I do change it I'm torn because they do have an updated version of the template that I have now or I can get something new. Decisions.
In other news, I got my first rejection notice of the year but it wasn't from a submission I sent this year so I'm not sure what it counts as and it really doesn't matter anyway. Jenni and I also got a rejection from an agent (sorry I forgot to mention that in my e-mail Jenni) and that was sent out last year too. Lets hope submissions sent out in 2007 have a little more luck.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
The Message For Me
I know I'm really slacking but I finally started my first novel of the year. Now don't think I haven't been reading at all because I have made a dent in the the giant pile of comic books and graphic novels but this is the first novel I've started. I'm reading "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham. I've seen the movie and I liked it but I do miss that inner dialogue and detail that you just can't find on the screen so I am now reading the book. I'm only about fifty pages in but so far I really like it. I'll say more when I'm done with the book but for now I hate jumping ahead.
I've been trying to come up with new post that don't just say "I wrote today" and starting to read a new novel got me thinking that I didn't write hardly anything about the books I read last year. So I thought I'd write a few post about the books I read last year.
Today I thought I would mention three of the books I read and what they meant to me. I think the best writing always has a message even if it's slight. I hope that one day I can write a novel that makes people think as much as I did when I read these.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee- I know I should have finished reading this book a long time ago but when we read it in school I was too busy not being at school. Anyway, I did start it long ago and it wasn't until the fabulous Jenni was teaching her students that I decided it was time to find out how it ended. It really made me reflect on what I was raised to believe and what I believe now. It made me think about how I was fortunate enough to step back from what I had been taught and to learn to think for myself. I can't imagine the person I would be if I had continued to believe what I was told and never searched for more.
And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts- This book is about the start of the AIDS pandemic. It tells the stories of some of the first people to become infected and people who were trying to stop it from becoming the problem that it is today. Sometimes it was almost surreal to read parts of it. When I realized that the situations that people were ignoring would turn out to be things that would affect so many lives. I was amazed at how things could have been so different if people had taken action.
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally- I once met somebody who hadn't heard much about the book or the movie. They just assumed that it was about concentration camps in Germany during World War II and that the list was people who were sentenced to death. I guess it would be hard to assume that during that horrible time that anything good could have happened but there were people who chose to risk their lives for the lives of others. And I hope if the day ever came when I had that choice to make that I would do the same.
I've been trying to come up with new post that don't just say "I wrote today" and starting to read a new novel got me thinking that I didn't write hardly anything about the books I read last year. So I thought I'd write a few post about the books I read last year.
Today I thought I would mention three of the books I read and what they meant to me. I think the best writing always has a message even if it's slight. I hope that one day I can write a novel that makes people think as much as I did when I read these.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee- I know I should have finished reading this book a long time ago but when we read it in school I was too busy not being at school. Anyway, I did start it long ago and it wasn't until the fabulous Jenni was teaching her students that I decided it was time to find out how it ended. It really made me reflect on what I was raised to believe and what I believe now. It made me think about how I was fortunate enough to step back from what I had been taught and to learn to think for myself. I can't imagine the person I would be if I had continued to believe what I was told and never searched for more.
And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts- This book is about the start of the AIDS pandemic. It tells the stories of some of the first people to become infected and people who were trying to stop it from becoming the problem that it is today. Sometimes it was almost surreal to read parts of it. When I realized that the situations that people were ignoring would turn out to be things that would affect so many lives. I was amazed at how things could have been so different if people had taken action.
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally- I once met somebody who hadn't heard much about the book or the movie. They just assumed that it was about concentration camps in Germany during World War II and that the list was people who were sentenced to death. I guess it would be hard to assume that during that horrible time that anything good could have happened but there were people who chose to risk their lives for the lives of others. And I hope if the day ever came when I had that choice to make that I would do the same.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Getting organized
Why does it take forever for me to sign in to the new blogger? Err!
Sunday was my day off and I did get some work done. Thanks to the awesome hook-up from Jenni, I had everything I needed to start my 2007 submissions. I finally bought my 2007 Writer's Market which comes out way before the new year starts. It doesn't seem to be a waste of money since I sent quite a few submissions in 2006 and this one's got several new places I haven't tried. Also my 2006 Writer's Market was so full of marks, notes and highlights that I couldn't really make sense of it anymore.
I'm also trying to be a little more organized with where and when I send stuff. Last year I used a spread sheet to keep track which worked well but I added a few more columns that will hopefully have me writing less notes in my Writer's Market, in theory.
Now if I could just clean my office, I'd have an organized writing enviroment.
And it's finally cold and somewhat snowy! YAY!
Sunday was my day off and I did get some work done. Thanks to the awesome hook-up from Jenni, I had everything I needed to start my 2007 submissions. I finally bought my 2007 Writer's Market which comes out way before the new year starts. It doesn't seem to be a waste of money since I sent quite a few submissions in 2006 and this one's got several new places I haven't tried. Also my 2006 Writer's Market was so full of marks, notes and highlights that I couldn't really make sense of it anymore.
I'm also trying to be a little more organized with where and when I send stuff. Last year I used a spread sheet to keep track which worked well but I added a few more columns that will hopefully have me writing less notes in my Writer's Market, in theory.
Now if I could just clean my office, I'd have an organized writing enviroment.
And it's finally cold and somewhat snowy! YAY!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Songs to write by
I haven't posted in a while but I did finish labeling all my post!
Work has been really frustrating for me lately. Details would take up way too much space but I can say that lately I feel like throwing stuff at my boss which is never a good thing.
My therapy for this has been working on Behind the Naugahyde since it's about working at a crazy shoe store with an insane boss which is oddly similar to my current situation. What a coincidence?
My rage from the past two days of work motivated me to sit down tonight and finish my part of chapter seven. I also wrote a much too long e-mail to Jenni. I know I should have been working more on Behind the Naugahyde but it's those novel length e-mails that inspired Behind the Naugahyde anyway.
I've been locked in my office writing for a while and I've been listening to every Barenaked Ladies c.d. I own which, is every one they made. I like to listen to music that I feel fits the mood of what I'm writing. Their songs are mostly upbeat and funny but have lyrics that are still somewhat serious which is kind of how I want work to be at Sole Comfort (and hopefully that's close to Jenni's vision or we might have problems). I want it to be fun and crazy but still have times when the employees are angry and having bad days. I can picture the characters listening to the music while they try to get through the day. Whenever I hear their song Too Little, Too Late, the part
"One day this embarrassment will be behind me, that day I can think of things that won't remind me. These days it's unbearable...,"
I always think of selling shoes.
Not to mention that I love their music and have seen them three times which is a lot for me. They are awesome in concert and I honestly didn't care for them too much until I saw them live. Then I got it. They were so funny and energetic. It was hard not to love. And they wrote one of my all time favorite songs.
And I feel like an idiot because sometimes when I post my "favorites" on things like myspace, face book, live journal and blogger. I never remember to list my actual favorite movies or bands like the Barenaked Ladies. I always list stuff that I've just recently seen or heard and I never really feel like going back to change it. So when it comes to me you can never trust those list.
Work has been really frustrating for me lately. Details would take up way too much space but I can say that lately I feel like throwing stuff at my boss which is never a good thing.
My therapy for this has been working on Behind the Naugahyde since it's about working at a crazy shoe store with an insane boss which is oddly similar to my current situation. What a coincidence?
My rage from the past two days of work motivated me to sit down tonight and finish my part of chapter seven. I also wrote a much too long e-mail to Jenni. I know I should have been working more on Behind the Naugahyde but it's those novel length e-mails that inspired Behind the Naugahyde anyway.
I've been locked in my office writing for a while and I've been listening to every Barenaked Ladies c.d. I own which, is every one they made. I like to listen to music that I feel fits the mood of what I'm writing. Their songs are mostly upbeat and funny but have lyrics that are still somewhat serious which is kind of how I want work to be at Sole Comfort (and hopefully that's close to Jenni's vision or we might have problems). I want it to be fun and crazy but still have times when the employees are angry and having bad days. I can picture the characters listening to the music while they try to get through the day. Whenever I hear their song Too Little, Too Late, the part
"One day this embarrassment will be behind me, that day I can think of things that won't remind me. These days it's unbearable...,"
I always think of selling shoes.
Not to mention that I love their music and have seen them three times which is a lot for me. They are awesome in concert and I honestly didn't care for them too much until I saw them live. Then I got it. They were so funny and energetic. It was hard not to love. And they wrote one of my all time favorite songs.
And I feel like an idiot because sometimes when I post my "favorites" on things like myspace, face book, live journal and blogger. I never remember to list my actual favorite movies or bands like the Barenaked Ladies. I always list stuff that I've just recently seen or heard and I never really feel like going back to change it. So when it comes to me you can never trust those list.
Monday, January 01, 2007
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Yay! It's 2007. I cleared off my dry erase board with my unaccomplished goals from last year and replaced them with new goals for this year. All these goals are things that I can accomplish personally. For instance, I would like my book to be published but time may not allow for a publisher to like it and get it on shelves by the end of the year or it could just be a really crappy book that just isn't going to happen. I'd copy the list directly on here but it would probably make no sense to anyone but me.
I am confident that Jenni and I will finish "Behind the Naugahyde"this year. I'd also like to get around to rewriting my comic book script and finding an artist for it. Of course I'd also like to finish my Nanowrimo/fimo novel. And there's a real giant size project that I kept mentioning last year but I won't be able to start it until the weather gets better.
As for the progress of that still untitled novel, I've written quite a few pieces in different places lately and now I have to find them all and put them together. Also I have a small chunk of writing that I wrote along time ago that I think would fit perfectly into the story. I didn't write it for any particular reason so I've never done anything with it. I didn't want to use it before because that would be cheating on NaNoWriMo and NaNoFiMo but since those are over and neither one completed by me, I can go ahead and throw it in. That's if I can find it.
I am confident that Jenni and I will finish "Behind the Naugahyde"this year. I'd also like to get around to rewriting my comic book script and finding an artist for it. Of course I'd also like to finish my Nanowrimo/fimo novel. And there's a real giant size project that I kept mentioning last year but I won't be able to start it until the weather gets better.
As for the progress of that still untitled novel, I've written quite a few pieces in different places lately and now I have to find them all and put them together. Also I have a small chunk of writing that I wrote along time ago that I think would fit perfectly into the story. I didn't write it for any particular reason so I've never done anything with it. I didn't want to use it before because that would be cheating on NaNoWriMo and NaNoFiMo but since those are over and neither one completed by me, I can go ahead and throw it in. That's if I can find it.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
2006 Year in review!
Well only a few hours left of 2006. It's been really tough year personally but I have had a few good things in the writing part of my life.
The year started off well when my story "Papa's Little Angel" won second place for short fiction in the LCC division of the L.A.N.D. writing contest. And after talking about it for some time Jenni and I officially began writing "Behind the Naugahyde". I was also very excited when my short-short story "Sweaty Palms" was published in the September 2006 issue of Writer's Post Journal.
Not to mention that Jenni and I received three letters from agents requesting to see more of "Behind the Naugahyde" and BehindtheNaugahyde.com was started.
I would have completed NaBloPoMo by posting everyday during the month of November but I missed one post and I also started a new, not yet titled, novel but did not finish NaNoWriMo or NaNoPloMo. And I received 89 rejection notices this year.
Last night I switched to the blogger beta version. I'm not sure how long it will take me to tag my post but I'll try to work on it.
Hope everyone has a safe and very happy New Year!
The year started off well when my story "Papa's Little Angel" won second place for short fiction in the LCC division of the L.A.N.D. writing contest. And after talking about it for some time Jenni and I officially began writing "Behind the Naugahyde". I was also very excited when my short-short story "Sweaty Palms" was published in the September 2006 issue of Writer's Post Journal.
Not to mention that Jenni and I received three letters from agents requesting to see more of "Behind the Naugahyde" and BehindtheNaugahyde.com was started.
I would have completed NaBloPoMo by posting everyday during the month of November but I missed one post and I also started a new, not yet titled, novel but did not finish NaNoWriMo or NaNoPloMo. And I received 89 rejection notices this year.
Last night I switched to the blogger beta version. I'm not sure how long it will take me to tag my post but I'll try to work on it.
Hope everyone has a safe and very happy New Year!
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Not quite done
Well the New Year is near here and I don't think I'll have my Nanowrimo/fimo book done. That's okay with me because the goal of Nanowrimo got me started on a project I might have put off and the same goals don't work for everyone. So I'll be okay. Sure it would have been nice to end the year with a finished book but you can't leave behind everything from the past year.
Besides just about every book I've read about writing a novel says that three months is the average time for completing a novel in which case I'm doing okay.
I hope to post a year-in-review kind of thing tomorrow but I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to. Once I'm done with this post I'm going to switch to the new and improved blogger version. Wish me luck!
Besides just about every book I've read about writing a novel says that three months is the average time for completing a novel in which case I'm doing okay.
I hope to post a year-in-review kind of thing tomorrow but I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to. Once I'm done with this post I'm going to switch to the new and improved blogger version. Wish me luck!
It's a Wonderful Gift(s)!
Today a box full of wicked cool stuff arrived at my door step. It was a writer's dream come true. It included a cute little bin to organize my office with, tons of envelopes so I can stop whining that I couldn't send out submissions due to the lack of them(envelopes), as well as postage stamps to also prevent the same whining. I also got pens and a notebook for all of my bad ideas and white out to get rid of the evidence that proves I actually came up with an idea that awful. There was lots of other wonderful stuff in it to. I'll start the New Year off with no excuses as to why I'm getting nothing done so I guess I'll have to actually do something.
Although the best gift of all was really the thought put into each item. Obviously, the sender has been reading my constant griping about my lack of supplies and thought that would be something useful to give me. It also seems the gracious gift giver doesn't believe that sending me a ton of writing supplies is a waste, which makes me feel pretty good.
It could also be a hint that I need to finish my part of the next three chapters of Behind the Naugahyde!
Thanks again, Jenni!
Sometimes I think life isn't that great then wonderful people remind me of how lucky I am.
Although the best gift of all was really the thought put into each item. Obviously, the sender has been reading my constant griping about my lack of supplies and thought that would be something useful to give me. It also seems the gracious gift giver doesn't believe that sending me a ton of writing supplies is a waste, which makes me feel pretty good.
It could also be a hint that I need to finish my part of the next three chapters of Behind the Naugahyde!
Thanks again, Jenni!
Sometimes I think life isn't that great then wonderful people remind me of how lucky I am.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Weird dreams
I had two of the weirdest dreams last night. Actually they were both dreams that made perfect sense not like crazy dreams where you're you but you're not you because you look like your great aunt Mildred's dog and you're at your house but it's not your house because it looks like the inside of a T.V. They weren't anything weird like that. I guess I would qualify them as weird because they were perfectly clear but they were both so different.
In the first I was me and I had just gotten divorced (little weird there since I'm not married) and I was trying to learn how to swim.
The next I was a police officer who was assigned to patrol a haunted hotel and I was running from the paranormal activity after watching it kill everyone in the hotel.
I have no idea how I ended up having two dreams so completely different during the same night. The second dream about the hotel made me wake up and I wanted to go back to sleep. I couldn't though because I kept thinking I really needed to write these things down before I forget because I might need them for a story one day.
Nanofimo: 20460 + 29438 = 49898
In the first I was me and I had just gotten divorced (little weird there since I'm not married) and I was trying to learn how to swim.
The next I was a police officer who was assigned to patrol a haunted hotel and I was running from the paranormal activity after watching it kill everyone in the hotel.
I have no idea how I ended up having two dreams so completely different during the same night. The second dream about the hotel made me wake up and I wanted to go back to sleep. I couldn't though because I kept thinking I really needed to write these things down before I forget because I might need them for a story one day.
Nanofimo: 20460 + 29438 = 49898
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
It was a dark and stormy night
A while ago I got a book with advice from writers for writers. The main writer giving advice is a writer that has faced more rejection than I can count and has done it all with people reading about it daily. That writer is Snoopy. Often people read the Peanuts comic strips and read how he got yet another rejection notice or just watched as he sat atop his dog house typing away.
The book itself doesn't have anything about techniques or what to do or not to do. It's a just a book full of inspirational stories and a few words of advice that writers picked up on their long struggles through publication.
I love this book and I skim through it quite often when I feel like giving up. I try to use what ever piece of knowledge my random gaze happens upon to get through whatever writing problem I have at the time.
Sure it doesn't tell me how to write a best-selling novel but it's the best writing book I've read. It's stuff most writer's know, they just need to be reminded of now and again.
"Some nights were dark. Some nights were stormy. Some shots rang out. Some maids screamed. Some more editors sent rejection slips."
-Snoopy (from Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life)
Nanofimo: 18770 +29438= 48208
The book itself doesn't have anything about techniques or what to do or not to do. It's a just a book full of inspirational stories and a few words of advice that writers picked up on their long struggles through publication.
I love this book and I skim through it quite often when I feel like giving up. I try to use what ever piece of knowledge my random gaze happens upon to get through whatever writing problem I have at the time.
Sure it doesn't tell me how to write a best-selling novel but it's the best writing book I've read. It's stuff most writer's know, they just need to be reminded of now and again.
"Some nights were dark. Some nights were stormy. Some shots rang out. Some maids screamed. Some more editors sent rejection slips."
-Snoopy (from Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life)
Nanofimo: 18770 +29438= 48208
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
If only
Well my plan was to send Jenni my part of the next three chapters of Behind the Naugahyde for her Christmas present. Unfortunately, three hours that could have been used for writing were spent with a DSL tech support person that asked me to restart my computer and modem about 500 times. Clearly 500 was the charm because I am back on-line.
I also could have spent the two hours that I was at the movie for writing but it was my vacation so give me a small break please.
I went to see Eragon. All I'm going to say is that I wasn't too impressed so please stop saying " move over Harry Potter."
I had read both Eragon and Eldest already. I won't say too much about what I thought because I hate to critique other writers. Although, I do get a little frustrated with these particular books sometimes. Not because they are poorly written, readers can judge that for themselves. It's just that the writer was 15 when he started writing the first one and 17 when he got published. An amazing accomplishment right? Well his parents own the publishing company. Maybe the book is worthy of all that it has achieved, I'm not one to judge.
I just think of all those writers that have struggled for years with novels that could have been some of the greatest literature the world has ever seen but they just never sent the right submission at the right time. Maybe they sent it to the wrong person, maybe it got thrown away by an assistant that doesn't know anything about literature, maybe it got thrown out because the format was against company guidelines, maybe they just caught the publisher on the wrong day, who knows?
You have to wonder what great writing the world is missing out on because the author's parents didn't own a publishing company.
Anyway enough crankiness. I'm continuing to make a dent in my novel but I'm not sure that any goals will be met before the end of this year. At least I was writing though.
Although I do have one goal to accomplish before the new year: clean my desk. I already lost the notebook that I wrote my character name list. It's a mess.
Nanofimo: 17710 + 29438= 47148
I also could have spent the two hours that I was at the movie for writing but it was my vacation so give me a small break please.
I went to see Eragon. All I'm going to say is that I wasn't too impressed so please stop saying " move over Harry Potter."
I had read both Eragon and Eldest already. I won't say too much about what I thought because I hate to critique other writers. Although, I do get a little frustrated with these particular books sometimes. Not because they are poorly written, readers can judge that for themselves. It's just that the writer was 15 when he started writing the first one and 17 when he got published. An amazing accomplishment right? Well his parents own the publishing company. Maybe the book is worthy of all that it has achieved, I'm not one to judge.
I just think of all those writers that have struggled for years with novels that could have been some of the greatest literature the world has ever seen but they just never sent the right submission at the right time. Maybe they sent it to the wrong person, maybe it got thrown away by an assistant that doesn't know anything about literature, maybe it got thrown out because the format was against company guidelines, maybe they just caught the publisher on the wrong day, who knows?
You have to wonder what great writing the world is missing out on because the author's parents didn't own a publishing company.
Anyway enough crankiness. I'm continuing to make a dent in my novel but I'm not sure that any goals will be met before the end of this year. At least I was writing though.
Although I do have one goal to accomplish before the new year: clean my desk. I already lost the notebook that I wrote my character name list. It's a mess.
Nanofimo: 17710 + 29438= 47148
Sunday, December 24, 2006
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to post tomorrow so I wanted to take this chance to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Jenni and I also prepared a small gift for our loyal readers. There's a new Christmas Nauga Note posted on BehindtheNaugahyde.com . Although everyone's probably out enjoying themselves and won't see this until after the holiday.
And as always, sorry for the pop-ups. Maybe if everyone's good and signs the guest book, Santa might spring for a pop-up free website next year!
And as always, sorry for the pop-ups. Maybe if everyone's good and signs the guest book, Santa might spring for a pop-up free website next year!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Christmas Vacation!
Today was the first day of my five-day holiday vacation. Yet somehow I ended up back at work to get my boss a Christmas gift and explain the inventory procedure. How does this happen?
I know that the next few days are going to be filled with holiday extravaganzas but I plan to get a lot of writing done. I think I'm already off to a good start having already done more writing today than I have the four previous days combined, maybe more.
I work in the field of shoes so I already think about them a lot and you can imagine how many characters I can come up with at work when I put the shoe project into affect. I also find myself thinking about other people's shoes. I saw a crossing guard helping children across the street in shoes that were nearly falling apart and I started thinking about how they got that way and why the man was wearing those particular shoes. Are his shoes worn out just from helping children across the street or does he have to walk everywhere? Are those just the pair of shoes he wears for the job because there really is no reason to wear nice shoes, did he step in a puddle with his good shoes and have to wear his old pair for the day or can he just not afford shoes and if so why not? It really gets the mind thinking.
I also had some really odd thought provoking questions about shoes and death but maybe I'll save that for another post.
I'm trying to get a Christmas present ready for my blog readers but no promises. And I'm also of thinking about finally switching over to blogger beta for the New Year. Is there really a better time for change?
Nanofimo:12570+ 29438=42008
I know that the next few days are going to be filled with holiday extravaganzas but I plan to get a lot of writing done. I think I'm already off to a good start having already done more writing today than I have the four previous days combined, maybe more.
I work in the field of shoes so I already think about them a lot and you can imagine how many characters I can come up with at work when I put the shoe project into affect. I also find myself thinking about other people's shoes. I saw a crossing guard helping children across the street in shoes that were nearly falling apart and I started thinking about how they got that way and why the man was wearing those particular shoes. Are his shoes worn out just from helping children across the street or does he have to walk everywhere? Are those just the pair of shoes he wears for the job because there really is no reason to wear nice shoes, did he step in a puddle with his good shoes and have to wear his old pair for the day or can he just not afford shoes and if so why not? It really gets the mind thinking.
I also had some really odd thought provoking questions about shoes and death but maybe I'll save that for another post.
I'm trying to get a Christmas present ready for my blog readers but no promises. And I'm also of thinking about finally switching over to blogger beta for the New Year. Is there really a better time for change?
Nanofimo:12570+ 29438=42008
Monday, December 18, 2006
In their shoes
Today's post I wanted to give a tribute to teachers. Teachers that don't just go by the book. They actually want to teach you about something. Teachers that go out of there way to do something that you'll never forget.
I know a teacher like this. I've never attended a class of hers but she has taught me quite a few things. And I have to say that she told me about an amazing project that she came up with for her students ( I don't want to give too many details since it's not mine to tell) and I truly believe that it will teach the students something about themselves and others.
When I heard the idea for this project it occurred to me that I should steal this project and use it for my writing. It's a great way to come up with characters. So once again that teacher has taught me something and I'm not even one of her students.
In honor of great teachers ( and I hope I don't give away too much of a project that's not mine) the next time you see a pair of shoes I want you to think about who's shoes they were, are or will be and imagine walking in them, imagine being that person. Maybe you're a writer like me and you'll get a new character from it. Maybe you're a high school freshman that will learn something about a person you would never have given a second thought about.
And if you learn anything from it your life has now been touched by an amazing teacher who dared to think outside the textbook.
Thanks Ms. Alto!
I know a teacher like this. I've never attended a class of hers but she has taught me quite a few things. And I have to say that she told me about an amazing project that she came up with for her students ( I don't want to give too many details since it's not mine to tell) and I truly believe that it will teach the students something about themselves and others.
When I heard the idea for this project it occurred to me that I should steal this project and use it for my writing. It's a great way to come up with characters. So once again that teacher has taught me something and I'm not even one of her students.
In honor of great teachers ( and I hope I don't give away too much of a project that's not mine) the next time you see a pair of shoes I want you to think about who's shoes they were, are or will be and imagine walking in them, imagine being that person. Maybe you're a writer like me and you'll get a new character from it. Maybe you're a high school freshman that will learn something about a person you would never have given a second thought about.
And if you learn anything from it your life has now been touched by an amazing teacher who dared to think outside the textbook.
Thanks Ms. Alto!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
The name game
Today was my day off and I probably should have written a whole section of my book today if I had stuck to my pace. I didn't though. If only I had nothing to do but write. I only wonder how much I would have written by now.
I did start my writer on another short story today but I came to a halt early on. When I was trying to name the characters I realized that I was naming one of them something I had already named a similar character. It occurred to me that I had started and written a lot of stories, which means I had used a lot of names. So I decided to make a list of character names. I'm not sure I got all of them though. Sure I could use the same name twice in an entirely different story but that might get boring. And if I have fear of being boring why don't I just make up crazy names for everyone? The answer to that is that some characters just need to have boring, plain names.
I will admit that I occasionally think of people I know when writing characters and sometimes it's the same person for more than one character. I often try to give the character a name that is similar to the person. I don't mean that Jenni is Jenna or Penny. What I mean is Meg isn't Esmeralda. I'm not sure if that made sense to anyone other than me but it sounded good in my head.
Eventually I did get over my name problem and write some of my novel. Not really impressive but there's always hope for tomorrow.
NaNoFiMo: 8053 + 29438 = 37491
I did start my writer on another short story today but I came to a halt early on. When I was trying to name the characters I realized that I was naming one of them something I had already named a similar character. It occurred to me that I had started and written a lot of stories, which means I had used a lot of names. So I decided to make a list of character names. I'm not sure I got all of them though. Sure I could use the same name twice in an entirely different story but that might get boring. And if I have fear of being boring why don't I just make up crazy names for everyone? The answer to that is that some characters just need to have boring, plain names.
I will admit that I occasionally think of people I know when writing characters and sometimes it's the same person for more than one character. I often try to give the character a name that is similar to the person. I don't mean that Jenni is Jenna or Penny. What I mean is Meg isn't Esmeralda. I'm not sure if that made sense to anyone other than me but it sounded good in my head.
Eventually I did get over my name problem and write some of my novel. Not really impressive but there's always hope for tomorrow.
NaNoFiMo: 8053 + 29438 = 37491
Close enough
The shirt's a little late but I just made this and since I rarely use yahoo, I thought I'd post it here.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
A new goal
Well as my word totals show, NaNoFiMo is going as well as NaNoWriMo and by well I mean not well at all. I'm thinking that I need to just sit down and write an entire section at a time, since each section is a short story that my main character is writing and her thoughts about writing it. I know I can write a whole short story in a day because that use to be the result of my procrastination during my creative writing classes. The writing 1,000 words a day system isn't working for me. My former creative writing teachers tried to encourage me to set similar daily goals for myself but they just never worked for me. Probably because I have no self discipline but I'm just going to say it's because I like to break the rules and be different.
And you can now find me at www.comicspace.com/ashley .Although I haven't really put much more than my name on their yet. I usually add to these things a little at a time.
Thanks to Ragnell for the name suggestion!
NaNoFiMo: 6760 + 29438 = 36198
And you can now find me at www.comicspace.com/ashley .Although I haven't really put much more than my name on their yet. I usually add to these things a little at a time.
Thanks to Ragnell for the name suggestion!
NaNoFiMo: 6760 + 29438 = 36198
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Comic space?
Quick post-
I just read about this thing ComicSpace. It's like mySpace but for comic creators and fans, and obviously much better. I want to sign up but I need a user name. Any creative suggestions or should I just use some variation of my real name?
I just read about this thing ComicSpace. It's like mySpace but for comic creators and fans, and obviously much better. I want to sign up but I need a user name. Any creative suggestions or should I just use some variation of my real name?
Friday, December 08, 2006
What did I write?
I know I didn't post yesterday but you couldn't expect that habit to last forever.
I was trying to work on Behind the Naugahyde but my scribbled notes were unclear to me. Also I remember stuff that isn't written in my notes which means I didn't write it down because I figured I'd remember or I didn't write it down because we had decided not to put it in the novel. So now I'm waiting for Jenni to clarify. As if she needed more to do.
Since today was pay day I ordered a few books that I hadn't been able to find. They are books I am hoping will help inspire my writing. One of them is related to the novel I'm currently working on and the other is for the novel I hope to work on after I finish my NaNo novel.
Yesterday I managed to get a little work done on my non-fiction articles. I also managed to fill quite a few pages of my personal journal with a detailed description of all the things going on in my life.
I was trying to work on Behind the Naugahyde but my scribbled notes were unclear to me. Also I remember stuff that isn't written in my notes which means I didn't write it down because I figured I'd remember or I didn't write it down because we had decided not to put it in the novel. So now I'm waiting for Jenni to clarify. As if she needed more to do.
Since today was pay day I ordered a few books that I hadn't been able to find. They are books I am hoping will help inspire my writing. One of them is related to the novel I'm currently working on and the other is for the novel I hope to work on after I finish my NaNo novel.
Yesterday I managed to get a little work done on my non-fiction articles. I also managed to fill quite a few pages of my personal journal with a detailed description of all the things going on in my life.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Cover shot
When I had blog writer's block last month, I was given a few lists of suggestions for blog post. One of those suggestions that I was too lazy to get to right away was pictures of my writing. I had my camera out today and tried to take pictures of my writing. Obviously pictures of a computer screen don't really work so well. And my writing on paper just turned out looking like blank paper. So I decided to try something else, a picture of me writing. However, since I usually look not so great while writing, well I usually look that way all the time, it's just a picture of my Beauty and the Beast pen doing all the work.
It's not too exciting but I try to keep Jenni happy and it was her request. Not that Jenni's request was boring, it's just my picture taking ability that lacks excitement.
And yes, I do know I hold my pen funny. I don't know why that's just how I've always held it.
What else did I do with my day? I didn't waste it. Check out the word count below.
NaNoFiMo: 5731 + 29438 = 35169
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Getting into writing
Stranger Than Fiction was a $3.50 movie today and so I decided to splurge. I love Emma Thompson and Will Ferrell and it's about writing so I was very excited.
It was funny but also sad and insightful. I won't give anything away but I never really thought about writing the way that Emma Thompson's character is forced to. What if your character was a real person and you decided their fate? Would you just write happy stuff all the time or would you sacrifice real people's happiness, health and lives for the sake of great literature.
Also the writer in the movie really gets into visualizing and feeling the things she's writing. Her ways of doing so were intriguing and almost had me wanting to try it by locking myself in my trunk.
I didn't lock myself in my trunk because there was no one to let me out but the writer in my NaNo novel was able to finish her short story that being locked in a trunk would have helped. And who knows maybe I will jump in the trunk before editing that part. I know the writer in my Nano novel will.
Just saw: Stranger Than Fiction
NaNoFiMo: 3099+29438=32537
It was funny but also sad and insightful. I won't give anything away but I never really thought about writing the way that Emma Thompson's character is forced to. What if your character was a real person and you decided their fate? Would you just write happy stuff all the time or would you sacrifice real people's happiness, health and lives for the sake of great literature.
Also the writer in the movie really gets into visualizing and feeling the things she's writing. Her ways of doing so were intriguing and almost had me wanting to try it by locking myself in my trunk.
I didn't lock myself in my trunk because there was no one to let me out but the writer in my NaNo novel was able to finish her short story that being locked in a trunk would have helped. And who knows maybe I will jump in the trunk before editing that part. I know the writer in my Nano novel will.
Just saw: Stranger Than Fiction
NaNoFiMo: 3099+29438=32537
Monday, December 04, 2006
Not just NaNoWriMo
I participated in NaNoWriMo last year and I thought about doing NaNoEdMo, which is in March, this year but didn't get around to it. I did NaNoWriMo again and added NaBloPoMo and have now carried on with NaNoFiMo. Then I got to thinking how many more of these goal oriented months are there? Quite a few.
This is what I got in order of month.
January:
JaNoWriMo- writing a novel in the month of January since November can be a little hectic for some.
NaNoArtMo- has a goal of ten art projects in a month for artist. It can be any kind of art from sculpting to cooking, it just has to be creative.
NaNoWriYe- write an entire novel, set your goal between 50,000 to 3,000,000 words and finish it in a year.
March:
NaNoEdMo- editing your NaNoWriMo novel (I'm sure you could do any novel).
June:
Script Frenzy- (odd name, huh?) and it's for writing a screenplay in a month.
July:
JulNoWriMo- write a novel in July in place or in addition to November or January.
NaNoMango- is for artist to draw any kind of sequential art ( not just manga) and occurs again in November as well.
November:
NaNoWriMo- write a 50,000 word novel.
NaBloPoMo- post on your blog everyday for a month
NaPlWriMo- write a play in a month
NaGraNoWriMo- write a 175 page graphic novel in a month
NaNoPubYe- start with your NaNoWriMo novel and then try to get it published with in a year.
NaNoMang- Draw sequential art, also takes place in July
December:
NaNoFiMo-write 30,000 words to finish an unfinished novel, usually from NaNoWriMo
Various start dates:
Book in a week-starts every Monday of the first full week of the month, set your own goal the beginning of the week.
Mad Challenge-is every other month, starting February and they post a different challenge each time.
So there are a ton of good challenges. Many I would participate in if they didn't all seem to fall in the same few months. Of course it might just be more beneficial for me to take the goals of these groups but put them in realistic months for me. Maybe I'll have to make a schedule for myself.
Just watched: Heroes
Just read: Every issue of 52 for the last five weeks (I'm catching up slowly)
This is what I got in order of month.
January:
JaNoWriMo- writing a novel in the month of January since November can be a little hectic for some.
NaNoArtMo- has a goal of ten art projects in a month for artist. It can be any kind of art from sculpting to cooking, it just has to be creative.
NaNoWriYe- write an entire novel, set your goal between 50,000 to 3,000,000 words and finish it in a year.
March:
NaNoEdMo- editing your NaNoWriMo novel (I'm sure you could do any novel).
June:
Script Frenzy- (odd name, huh?) and it's for writing a screenplay in a month.
July:
JulNoWriMo- write a novel in July in place or in addition to November or January.
NaNoMango- is for artist to draw any kind of sequential art ( not just manga) and occurs again in November as well.
November:
NaNoWriMo- write a 50,000 word novel.
NaBloPoMo- post on your blog everyday for a month
NaPlWriMo- write a play in a month
NaGraNoWriMo- write a 175 page graphic novel in a month
NaNoPubYe- start with your NaNoWriMo novel and then try to get it published with in a year.
NaNoMang- Draw sequential art, also takes place in July
December:
NaNoFiMo-write 30,000 words to finish an unfinished novel, usually from NaNoWriMo
Various start dates:
Book in a week-starts every Monday of the first full week of the month, set your own goal the beginning of the week.
Mad Challenge-is every other month, starting February and they post a different challenge each time.
So there are a ton of good challenges. Many I would participate in if they didn't all seem to fall in the same few months. Of course it might just be more beneficial for me to take the goals of these groups but put them in realistic months for me. Maybe I'll have to make a schedule for myself.
Just watched: Heroes
Just read: Every issue of 52 for the last five weeks (I'm catching up slowly)
On my mind
It's after midnight so technically I missed a day of posting. I don't care all that much since NaBloPoMo is over and my faithful readers still get their daily dose of bad writing.
I've been thinking about a novel lately. No it's not Behind the Naugahyde or my NaNo novel, although I do think about these but that's not what I was thinking about today.
Anyway, I think I've mentioned a few things about this novel before. I've had the idea for a while but I never tried writing it because I'm scared to write it.
The subject matter is a serious issue and I think if done well this book could make a difference. Like with most of my writing, I try to have a message, something I hope that the reader takes with them and thinks about. It's the power of the message that has me scared. I think it's very important. I really do think it could make people think if it was written well, I'm just scared I can't write it well. But I've been thinking about it more and more lately. I can't stop thinking about it sometimes. Bits and pieces that I couldn't figure out before are starting to fly together and I'm starting to think that it may be time.
Obviously, I'd wait until I'm done with my NaNo novel and hopefully have a good chunk of Behind the Naugahyde done. Then I'd have two completed(but not so good) novels and a half a novel's worth of experience to put toward this book and time to write it.
Or maybe I'll just keep putting it off.
Since NaNoFiMo doesn't have a grand website like NaNoWriMo, I'll post my word count here which is actually better. Now no one has to go to another website just to find out I didn't write anything today.
NaNoFiMo: 1499 + 29348= 30847
(Today)+(NaNoWriMo)=(total)
I've been thinking about a novel lately. No it's not Behind the Naugahyde or my NaNo novel, although I do think about these but that's not what I was thinking about today.
Anyway, I think I've mentioned a few things about this novel before. I've had the idea for a while but I never tried writing it because I'm scared to write it.
The subject matter is a serious issue and I think if done well this book could make a difference. Like with most of my writing, I try to have a message, something I hope that the reader takes with them and thinks about. It's the power of the message that has me scared. I think it's very important. I really do think it could make people think if it was written well, I'm just scared I can't write it well. But I've been thinking about it more and more lately. I can't stop thinking about it sometimes. Bits and pieces that I couldn't figure out before are starting to fly together and I'm starting to think that it may be time.
Obviously, I'd wait until I'm done with my NaNo novel and hopefully have a good chunk of Behind the Naugahyde done. Then I'd have two completed(but not so good) novels and a half a novel's worth of experience to put toward this book and time to write it.
Or maybe I'll just keep putting it off.
Since NaNoFiMo doesn't have a grand website like NaNoWriMo, I'll post my word count here which is actually better. Now no one has to go to another website just to find out I didn't write anything today.
NaNoFiMo: 1499 + 29348= 30847
(Today)+(NaNoWriMo)=(total)
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Tougher than fiction?
I almost considered not posting today but I figured why ruin a good thing.
Yesterday was the first day in thirty days that I hadn't forced myself to write fiction. I did write though. I tried to work on researching, writing and a query letter for a few non-fiction articles. I'm not really into non-fiction but I think these ideas are pretty good. I'd like to get them published in a decent magazine so I'm trying to make sure that I not only write well but check my facts since I can't just make things up like I usually do.
I used to think fiction was harder to write because with non-fiction you really just have to lay out the facts in an interesting way. But now I realize that non-fiction you have to be creative at how you use those facts to make the biggest impact and you can't change the facts to make the story more intriguing. You have to work with what you have. Now I think both are equally tough to write.
Today, I worked all day and finally decorated my Christmas tree. I also kept getting side tracked by holiday movies, so this blog post is all I got done today. Everyone needs a little break though.
Yesterday was the first day in thirty days that I hadn't forced myself to write fiction. I did write though. I tried to work on researching, writing and a query letter for a few non-fiction articles. I'm not really into non-fiction but I think these ideas are pretty good. I'd like to get them published in a decent magazine so I'm trying to make sure that I not only write well but check my facts since I can't just make things up like I usually do.
I used to think fiction was harder to write because with non-fiction you really just have to lay out the facts in an interesting way. But now I realize that non-fiction you have to be creative at how you use those facts to make the biggest impact and you can't change the facts to make the story more intriguing. You have to work with what you have. Now I think both are equally tough to write.
Today, I worked all day and finally decorated my Christmas tree. I also kept getting side tracked by holiday movies, so this blog post is all I got done today. Everyone needs a little break though.
Friday, December 01, 2006
World AIDS Day
December 1st is here. I know I'm posting a little late in the day but you can always make a difference so be sure to check out 5 things you can do for World AIDS Day.
Now that NaNoWriMo is over I'm attempting NaNoFiMo. It's the goal of writing 30,000 words in the month of December. Most people join because novels are generally longer than 50,000 words so some times you complete NaNoWriMo but you have an unfinished story. I, however, am using it in to finish my story and hopefully add 30,000 words to my 29,438. And yes I realize I am an idiot and said yesterday I needed to write 800 words to get to half way when I meant I needed to type the 800 words to get to 30,000 which is more than half way.
NaBloPoMo is over as well. I did miss a day due to a technical mishap but I posted twice the next day. I also posted the day before and now, the day after so I think I did pretty well.
Now that NaNoWriMo is over I'm attempting NaNoFiMo. It's the goal of writing 30,000 words in the month of December. Most people join because novels are generally longer than 50,000 words so some times you complete NaNoWriMo but you have an unfinished story. I, however, am using it in to finish my story and hopefully add 30,000 words to my 29,438. And yes I realize I am an idiot and said yesterday I needed to write 800 words to get to half way when I meant I needed to type the 800 words to get to 30,000 which is more than half way.
NaBloPoMo is over as well. I did miss a day due to a technical mishap but I posted twice the next day. I also posted the day before and now, the day after so I think I did pretty well.
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