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November 29, 2005
Thought-Induced Insomnia
I was so sleepy, so tired. It seemed like sleep was mere moments away.
But there is too much running around in my head.
So finally I just gave up on the sleeping and decided to write instead – draw up a plan, jot down some ideas, brainstorm, get the thoughts down on paper so maybe my mind can be quiet and hopefully sleep some time before dawn.
Posted by Selena at 11:34 PM | Comments (0)
Column’s Up
My latest column is up at The Sword Review. You can check it out
here
Posted by Selena at 05:34 PM | Comments (0)
November 24, 2005
NaNo Day 24/Thanksgiving
Truth be told, I got most of today’s writing done between midnight and 2 a.m. as I was waiting for the bread to rise so I could bake it, then waiting for it to bake so I could go to sleep.
I really have to learn to plan this Thanksgiving thing better. Seems like I am always working the night before, always forget to thaw the bread dough ahead of time, and am always still cooking at in the wee small hours of Thanksgiving morning.
Crazy, crazy, crazy. Next time, I am just going to order from Boston Market and be done with it!
At least the early morning hours were good for NaNo.
Current Stats
Today’s tally = 1,691
Total so far = 58,110
Posted by Selena at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2005
NaNo Day 23
Between work and cooking for Thanksgiving, I hardly got any writing done.
Current Stats
Today’s tally = 478
Total so far = 56,419
Posted by Selena at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2005
The Gribbit’s New Home
"The Gribbit" is now up at The Sword Review as part of their Member’s Only Bonus Features.
To see it, you will have to register and login, but hey, it’s free.
Besides, you want to be a member of SR's forum community anyway. Trust me. :)
Posted by Selena at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)
NaNo Day 22
My NaNo energy is fading. :(
Current Stats
Today’s tally = 1,477
Total so far = 55, 941
Posted by Selena at 08:48 PM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2005
NaNo Day 21
It is getting hard to think of things to write. But I managed to come up with a couple new scenes and a couple ideas that I didn’t get around to today.
Current Stats
Today’s tally = 2,004
Total so far = 54,464
Posted by Selena at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)
November 20, 2005
NaNo Day 20
I’m past the 50,000 mark but I am still adding to the word count when new scenes come to me. Since the first draft is technically done, I am now mostly adding things that aren’t integral to the main arc of the book but add to the understanding of the characters or the world, and are thus still worthwhile. “Local color," I call it.
Plus, I guess part of me just doesn’t want NaNo to be over. :(
Current Stats
Today’s tally = 1,294
Total so far = 52,640
Posted by Selena at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2005
Now What?
Now that Nano's done (or at least the 50,000 goal part of it), I hardly know what to do with myself.
Get caught up reading submissions, I guess.
Posted by Selena at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)
November 18, 2005
My Flashshot Day
Actually, my Flashshot Day isn’t until tomorrow (Nov 19) but the email has already gone out to Flashshot subscribers and the story is already available on the website at
http://flashshot.tripod.com/secret.htm
(Catch it quick, it will roll off in about a week as they only post the ten most recent stories.)
My Flashshot is called “The Colors Story." It’s an odd little piece; I’m glad it found a home somewhere.
Posted by Selena at 07:21 PM | Comments (0)
November 17, 2005
More Anna Nalick
The more I listen to this Anna Nalick CD, the more I like it.
Today’s favorite lyrics:
“Cause you can’t jump the track, we’re like cars on a cable
And life’s like an hourglass glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button
So cradle your head and in your hands
And Breathe…just Breathe."
Hmmm. Sorry folks life only flows in one direction. There is no going back.
Posted by Selena at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)
Nano Day 17-Done
Well, this is what I was going to write this morning:
I am in the home stretch. Let’s see if I can keep going. Problem is that the weather has turned cold and I just want to crawl back into bed and sleep under a stack of quilts.
But I have been writing practically non-stop since 7:30 am and this is what I have to say now:
I’m done! Yippee! I passed the 50,000 word mark. I have met my goal. Yippee and yeehaw! (Selena pauses to quickly backup the novel in yet another place, just in case.)
Current Stats:
Today’s tally = 5,819
Total so far = 50,146
Percent done = 100%
OK, so I know there is still much work to be done – editing, fixing, that sort of thing – but all that is for another moment. Now is the moment for celebrating.
Posted by Selena at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2005
NaNo Day 16
A busy day but I still got some writing done.
Being this close to the end tends to make me very productive. It was the same way with my first book. Towards the end I built up some momentum and as I got closer and closer to my goal, it got easier and easier to just sit there at the keyboard a little longer, a few more pages, another thousand words.
Tomorrow I have a completely clear schedule so I am hoping to get a lot done, maybe as much as 5-6K.
Current Stats:
Today’s tally = 3,252
Total so far = 44,327
Percent done = 89%
It’s late. Must sleep now. Lots of novel-writing to do tomorrow.
Posted by Selena at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2005
Non-NaNo Quote: Breathe (2 am)
I recently happened upon a great song. It’s called “Breathe (2 am)" and it is by singer/songwriter Anna Nalick.
Here are some choice lyrics:
"2 am and I’m still awake writing a song
If I get it all down on paper it’s no longer inside of me
Threatening the life it belongs to
And I feel like I’m naked in front of the crowd
‘Cause these words are my diary screaming out loud
And I know that you’ll use them however you want to."
Artists are all the same under their chosen form – same creative impulses, same reasons why, same stumbling blocks, same fears.
Posted by Selena at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)
Nano Day 15
I am feeling a little better, but I am still sick so I didn’t get much done.
I did have one really productive writing session – 45 minutes and 1,348 words. It came out of an idea from “No Plot, No Problem."
Chris Baty said that when you get stuck you should break something - not something in real-life, something in your novel. So I killed off one of my secondary characters. She was one of those characters you love to hate. She met with a poetic death, one that her character flaws led her to. I like that in a story.
Current Stats:
Today’s tally = 2,344
Total so far = 41,075 (over the 40k mark! Woo-HOO!)
Percent done = 82%
Posted by Selena at 08:15 PM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2005
NaNo Day 14/Sick Day/Quote
I was sick today (some cold/flu thing) so I didn’t get as much writing done as I wanted to. It was hard to focus; my brain was stuck in slow. So the writing happened in small spurts of energy sandwiched between long naps.
I was so desperate for soup that I walked a couple blocks (after a nap of course) and paid $6 at the nearest convenience store for two cans of soup. At that price it ought to be magic bean soup, I know. But the truth is I didn’t have the energy to go anywhere else. That two-block walk never felt so far.
Besides I had to save my energy for Nano.
Here’s a scarily prescient quote from “No Plot, No Problem" by Chris Baty:
“Colds, flus, and other opportunistic viruses are the failed writers of the microbe world. They have a good story to tell, but they lack the drive, discipline, and typing appendages to get the stories down on paper. Like most stymied creative types, they’ll stop at nothing to bring down the brave few who dare to seize their dreams."
Current Stats:
Today’s tally = 2,102
Total so far = 38,731
Percent done = 77%
Posted by Selena at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2005
NaNo Day 13
I got a surprising amount of writing done today.
In reading back over what I had already written, I was reminded of some secondary characters I had created then dropped after a scene or two. So, I went back and rewrote some existing (and vital) scenes from a secondary character’s perspective. I always like to hear a tale told by someone on the sidelines; it’s a whole different view. I don’t know if I’ll keep it but for today it helped me meet my word goal.
Current Stats:
Today’s tally = 2,619
Total so far = 36,629
Percent done = 73%
Posted by Selena at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2005
NaNo Day 12
I couldn’t think of where to go with my story next; it felt like I was too close to the end at 30,000 words. So I decided to go back to the beginning, read through, embellish and expand. The text has been really bare bones so far, mostly dialogue and straight-forward action. It was time for some description, setting and characterization.
Current Stats:
Today’s Tally = 2,720
Total so far = 34,010
An excerpt is now available in my author profile at nanowrimo.org. Check it out if you want, just remember it’s an excerpt of a first draft. Did I mention it's a first draft? ;)
Posted by Selena at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2005
NaNo Day 11
A crazy day, I hardly got any writing done.
My schedule’s open tomorrow though so hopefully I can make it up then.
Current Stats:
Today’s tally = 1,453
Total so far = 31,290
Posted by Selena at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2005
NaNo Day 10
Current Stats
Today’s Tally = 3,050
Total so far = 29,837
Posted by Selena at 07:44 PM | Comments (0)
Quote of the Day-NaNo
Here’s a fun quote from “No Plot, No Problem":
No one has better encapsulated the spirit of month-long novel-writing than three-time NaNoWriMo winner Rise Sheridan-Peters, who describes her approach to writing as follows: “I don’t wait for my muse to wander by; I go out and drag her home by the hair."
Posted by Selena at 07:23 AM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2005
NaNo Day 9
I had a great idea for the novel today and that carried me through the day.
It’s funny where inspiration comes from. Years from now I’ll be re-reading my first NaNo novel and I’ll get to this section and remember – oh yeah, that’s when I was writing during November sweeps and there was a train wreck on “General Hospital."
Since my book is science fiction, the similarity ends at “train wreck in tunnel." But there it is.
Also, when in my NaNo book a character is tired or bored or unable to get anything done, it’s a pretty safe bet that I was feeling that very thing when I sat down to write.
Hey, they say “write what you know." I’m just writing what I know.
Besides, NaNo is not about quality. NaNo is about word count.
So, here’s the word count:
Today’s tally = 3,292
Total so far = 26,787
Hey, wait! I just realized that means I’m more than half-way there!
I think the novel has potential, so I do plan to go back and make it good. But that is a task for next month because THIS month, my inner editor is on a forced vacation. So there.
Posted by Selena at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2005
NaNo Day 8
A busy day but I still managed to get some NaNo in.
Current Stats:
Today's tally = 1,648
Total so far = 23,495
Wow, it’s true what they say – week two is tough.
Posted by Selena at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2005
NaNo Day 7
It was kind of a rough day so I didn't get as much writing done as I would have liked.
Oh well, I guess that's why it’s good to get out in front of your quota, so that when the inevitable bad day strikes it doesn't put you behind.
Today's NaNo life lesson:
It’s always good to have some extra words stashed away for a rainy day.
Current Stats:
Today's tally = 1501
Total so far = 21,847
Posted by Selena at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)
November 06, 2005
NaNo Day 6
It was a very productive day, especially considering I had lots of non-NaNo items on the agenda.
Current Stats
Today’s tally = 4052
Total so far = 20,346
Posted by Selena at 07:37 PM | Comments (0)
Column’s Up
My latest column is up. Check it out at http://www.theswordreview.com/columns.php?sub_id=99
Posted by Selena at 07:04 PM | Comments (0)
November 05, 2005
NaNo Day 5
A very productive novel-writing day!
Current Stats:
Today’s tally = a whooping 5015 words (really!)
Total so far = 16,296
Of course, tomorrow it’s back to the usual responsibilities. I hope to get at least 2000 words a day in though.
Posted by Selena at 04:04 PM | Comments (0)
It’s 3 a.m. I must be freezing
I woke up about 3 p.m. so cold that I was shaking uncontrollably for what seemed like forever but was really only about fifteen minutes. I pulled on a couple more blankets and waited for it to pass.
Eventually it did. I stopped shaking. My heart slowed back down to normal. The crisis (perceived crisis?) passed. I started to warm up. Slowing I began peeling the extra blankets back off. I tried to relax and go back to sleep. But after an hour it still hadn’t happened.
So I gave up, got up, made some chamomile tea and here I sit surfing the web at nearly 4 a.m.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Posted by Selena at 03:55 AM | Comments (0)
November 04, 2005
NaNo Day 4 – Addendum
OK, so I managed to sneak in another 1480 words today.
Funny how when you’re sitting there thinking you can’t possibly write, but then push past it and start writing anyway…the flow returns and you’re off and typing, so involved in the task that you lose track of time.
Current Stats
Today’s revised tally = 3849
Total so far = 11,279
Posted by Selena at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
NaNo Day 4
I got a lot done earlier today but I just can’t get going for a second round. So, I think that since I got over 2000 words done, I’ll close it out for today.
Current Stats
Today’s tally = 2369
Total so far = 9799
Posted by Selena at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)
November 03, 2005
The Origin of Bar Fly
I really like this story because it’s one of those writing prompt stories that started with a writing prompt then sprang to life fully formed in one writing practice.
Every now and then, writing happens that way for me. A prompt or a line or an idea triggers something in the muse and suddenly we’re off and running with me typing as fast as I can to keep up.
“Bar Fly" was like that. The prompt was “Night is falling but you are not at home." Seems harmless and random enough, right? Then I had this vision of a woman sitting at a smoke-choked, noisy bar. Since she called it smoke-choked and noisy, I figured she didn’t want to be there. So the question became – why is she there? If night is falling, why isn’t she at home? (Because I would be at home.) Then I realized she was watching someone. Who? Oh, she was watching the man she loved have dinner with…Oh, he’s having dinner with his wife. Ouch and shazam that’s juicy, I thought, we’re running with that! (In some writing class somewhere, I heard that with writing you should follow a version of the old broadcasting dictum: “If it bleeds, it leads." Basically if the situation is fraught with emotion and complications, you know you’re on to something.)
And so we were off on a very productive, enjoyable writing session.
The story changed some after the original flurry of typing. For instance, the editor of Verbsap cut it quite a bit. But the story is still basically the same, and it still feels like it sprang to life fully-formed from just a simple line: “Night is falling but you are not at home."
Mysterious are the ways of the muse.
Posted by Selena at 07:13 PM | Comments (0)
NaNo Day 3
I got a lot done today, including a truly great afternoon nap. Wow, that was good sleep! I didn’t want to get up when the alarm dinged. I hit the snooze button twice. I was dreaming though about accidentally setting off the alarm in my mom’s house, crying on the phone trying to convince the police that I wasn’t a burglar who had broken in. Very weird. Don’t know where that came from! Still, it was a good nap.
Amusingly enough when I started to feel like I couldn’t write, couldn’t work, and was just staring at my computer screen uselessly, I wrote one of my characters doing the exact same thing – unable to work, staring at the screen, daydreaming, thinking “I can’t do this." That was good for a thousand words or so.
Haha. How’s that for using what you know?
Current stats:
Today’s tally = 3699
Total so far = 7430
Posted by Selena at 04:14 PM | Comments (0)
New Story Up!
“Bar Fly" is now published at “Verbsap." Check it out here.
The story is also listed on the cover page under “Flash Fiction."
I’ve been trying to break into this market for months. I submitted five stories before this one. And even this one wasn’t accepted the first go-round. I did one rewrite then the editor did another – cutting it mercilessly but well.
It’s good to see the story finally out there.
Verbsap is a great market to submit to. I’ve posted about them before. They don’t pay but they do offer valuable feedback even when they say no, which I love in a market.
Happy writing, everyone. I’ve gotta get back to NaNo.
Posted by Selena at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2005
Reading Right Now: 3 Good Books
I’m reading three books right now. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. I’m not reading much of them, just a little bit each day.
Today I read the week-one chapter of “No Plot, No Problem" by Chris Baty. Very good, very helpful. I especially like the “Take My Inner Editor" button on page 108. I hope it works. The book’s good but I’m done with it until next week.
In the morning, I read a page from “Morning Notes: 365 Meditations to Wake You Up" by Hugh Prather. Today’s gem: “I know what to do. The only question is, will I do it." I put that one to use this afternoon.
Before bed, I read a chapter out of “Ruling Your World" by Sakyoung Mipham. It’s wonderful so far. I’d give you a quote but the book is upstairs and I have a cranky cat sitting in my lap. Truth is, I don’t want to disturb her.
Edited on 11-3 to add:
OK, here is a great quote from “Ruling Your World" –
“Caring for others is the basis of worldly success."(p.18)
How’s that for counterculture but totally true?
Posted by Selena at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)
NaNo Day 2
Today wasn’t as easy. I got a late start and had lots of distractions and interruptions.
Still I managed to get 1695 words down. Not bad. That’s over the average of 1667 that I need to make my goal.
Problem is I don’t feel inspired. I kept checking the word count to see if I could be done for the day yet. That’s not a good sign when you’re just trying to get to your daily goal so you can stop until tomorrow.
The writing seems boring and bad. But I’m keeping on and telling my inner critic to shut up and take the month off.
Current total = 3731
I have a mostly clear schedule the next three days so I’m hoping 2000-3000 or more per day for the next few. We’ll see how it goes.
I know what I need to do. I need to get up early tomorrow morning, rush over to the store, and GET SOME CHOCOLATE. Really, how can I be expected to write a novel in a month with no chocolate around?!
Posted by Selena at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2005
NaNo Day 1/Quote of the Day
Today was my first day of my first NaNoWriMo and it went pretty well.
I started the day with this quote from a NaNo email by Chris Baty:
“No one in their right mind has ever accomplished anything truly great."
That’s a great quote.
NaNo Stats for today:
I managed to get 2036 words done today despite the usual responsibilities.
I did have to bat away the critic a few times. “Shut up, I don’t have time for this right now. I gotta keep writing. I can go back and fix it later." But that’s expected.
Posted by Selena at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)