| Update |
[Nov. 13th, 2009|05:25 pm] |
( Cut for length and family wtf?-ery. )
In other news, NaNo novel is at 16,555 words! (Yes, that's including last years 8000+ words. So what? I was feeling in need of an ego boost.) *beams*
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| *sigh* |
[Nov. 2nd, 2009|08:03 pm] |
Not written anything for NaNo yet... I was hoping to, especially since J called me yesterday morning to tell me our planned RPG meeting wasn't happening due to the Master's alcohol poisoning -- WTF? I was out to party as well, but carefully didn't drink much so I could play! *pouts* (The party was great, by the way, even though the DJ wasn't the best, constantly fumbling the fade-in and -outs of songs, and playing largely obscure and undanceable stuff, except if people requested something else -- which after a while everyone did, which in turn made a bitchy DJ who hacked off the songs halfway through to play ones he (but no one else, as evidenced by the empty dance floor) liked. Seriously, that's not how you do it! Also, except the zombie-masked club staff, no one was really dressed up for Halloween, leaving the single group in "blood"-spattered and ripped white T-shirts, and J and A in their "sexy witch" outfits standing out a bit.)
Anyway, writing: Somehow my writing mojo got channelled elsewhere and I wrote two (probably awful) anonymous comment ficlets for the DC Kink Meme (thanks for the inspiration, Vulgarweed, though I suspect you wanted people to do GO, not other fandoms, but anyway, thanks) instead. Yay, me? Whatever, any productivity is good productivity for me these days. ":-/
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On a different note: whoever invented the Spanish subjunctive needs to be shot. Seriously, I had no idea I could hate any linguistic feature that much! (Russian verb aspects are a close second, though.)
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Much as I rant about my roommates from time to time, they do have their advantages: in contrast to living with the parents, the atmosphere is usually relaxed. Right now, soothing seventies music (folk rock and reggae) is playing in the living room, it smells of home-cooked food, the dog is snoring on her sofa, and the light is cosy. Much better to come home to than screaming brats and a bitchy mom! ":-) |
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| *happy* |
[Oct. 28th, 2009|05:42 pm] |
Skipped uni from noon on today and did some garden work instead -- some twenty wheelbarrows full of dead leaves needed clearing away. (Yes, I know there's something wrong with you when nothing fills you with more giddy elation than neglecting your expensive tertiary education for menial physical labour. I've been that way all my life and just can't help it. As I said, if I could make a living mucking out stables and doing garden work, I would.) It's been one of those beautiful last sunny October days, with blue sky, green meadows, and trees all possible shades of flaming red and yellow, when staying inside seems a crime against Nature. I normally love the grey, misty autumn days more, for their sweetly melancholy mood, but today was simply perfect. A day to breathe and feel free and stick your middle finger to a world that wants to lock you up and smother you.
It wasn't at all cold (quite the opposite, seeing as I could work with sleeves rolled up), considering we already had first frost several weeks ago), but I had tea afterwards anyway. I love my new kettle to bits! (Even though it drips a bit after pouring. ":-/) I have a hard time getting used to drinking it without milk, but I've heard it's a good deal healthier that way.
After a conversation with a friend recently, I've paid more attention to my taste in music, and have to say he was right: I tend to like songs best that are simultaneously kick-ass and sad and can be interpreted either way according to my own mood of the moment. Hm.
Talking about music: "Papillon" by The Editors is the Perdido Street Station theme song, y/y? (Not normally my type of music -- too electro and lacks guitars -- but I like that song!) Everytime it's on the radio I get creeped out by association. "X-D
And talking about books (wow, my transitions are smoooooth today): I want to try again with Dragonslayer (last year's oft-renamed project that didn't get far past 8000 words, but counts as a success by my pathetic standards) for NaNo, but... well, the uni stuff I've been procrastinating is slowly getting past "urgent" into "certain profs will shoot me on sight" territory.
I'm also still debating with myself whether to sign up for Makesmewannadie's RareLitBigBang... I want to, even though/because it's right during my MA thesis writing time. What am I planning on? Procrastinating one with the other by turns? *facepalm* |
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| Here's to the end of November! |
[Nov. 29th, 2008|08:06 pm] |
It seems I'll get the flat after all! I was at the guy's birthday last night and (as far as I can tell) got along with everyone there. Decent music, nice people, lots of dogs... my depressed mood didn't make it through the first bottle of beer. I couldn't stay all that long, sadly, having no car and the last train going before midnight, but that was probably all for the better, seeing as everyone was smoking lots of pot and I got a massive headache out of it that lasted me for all of today just from those few hours.
I've failed at NaNo, but that shouldn't surprise anyone anymore by now. I think I subconsciously gave up during the first week. *shrugs* I don't even feel much about it, except a little sad that the pre-November elation is dead. I will most assuredly continue Crow Days, though at a considerably slower speed. I have a fair idea of what I want to write, the outline is mostly done and waiting, and I've made enough of a start to keep going. The only thing I'm increasingly unhappy with is my prose. I doubt it would be any better if I wrote in German, though, so it's more of a general translating-mental-images-into-text problem than a language one. And it doesn't help that wee!Tarik has turned out to be even more of a spoilt brat than I had imagined. Yuck. (Not that she was ever intended to be a nice person, seeing she isn't one as an adult, either, but at least I can sympathise with her then.)
I should get started on Yuletide now, but I've had a sudden craving for Star Trek fic today (my comfort reading whenever I'm facing an existencial crisis like this whole "moving out and trying to find something to do with my life" thing going on at the moment) and promptly indulged in that. And now I have bunnies again. Because nothing incites me to write like utter badfic does. It makes me think I could actually do better (I probably can't, in most cases, but it's a comforting illusion), stay more in character, write prose less purple, dialogue less melodramatic... you get the gist. But whenever I have a moment like that, I stumble upon/someone happens to post some really good fic and the urge to write is gone again, because a) my writing would be embarrassing crap in comparison, b) I can't be bothered to write when I can just as well be reading and have better stories with far less effort. (Same principle applies with original stuff: after stacks of horrible fantasy novels, the urge to write WP as a deconstruction was born. Then I read George RR Martin and realised I'd never have a chance to be anything but horrible fantasy myself because he is just so much better in every regard.)
*hates self but gives up quickly because an emotion as strong as hatred takes too much energy* |
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| New snowy goodness! |
[Nov. 24th, 2008|08:22 am] |
Most of Saturday's was gone yesterday, but I got new snow overnight! Even more than before! *squee* If only I didn't have to go to uni... and to the dentist's. (Because the very same tooth from a month or so ago broke off again. I'm going to give that dentist guy hell, believe me!)
And, see, it's not my fault I can't win NaNo! The universe keeps doing everything in its power to distract me, including giving me more snow than we've had since the Snow Disaster a few years past and stupid medical problems. Also, Te-fic. Tons of it. It's fate. Not my fault. Nope. *g* |
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| General update |
[Nov. 19th, 2008|08:12 am] |
Almost at 7,000 words now... (And others complain because they're "only" in their 20,000s. *twitches*) Shut up, considering how little I've written over the last few years, this is quite okay.
I won't get anything done today, because it's Wednesday and Wednesdays are bad, uni-wise, this semester, but at least I haven't anything planned for most of this weekend. (After a nasty argument with K last Saturday, she'll have to do without me for a while.)
I also feel pretty braindead and want to sleep ten hours a night, which probably means I'm getting ill. Or maybe that I've stayed awake far too late over the last few days, reading and enjoying Te's latest kinky epic. Either of that. *g* |
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| Assignments are out! |
[Nov. 11th, 2008|08:36 pm] |
Dear Heavens, am I relieved! This year it actually seems doable, likely even fun! After last year's indifferent recipient, who only requested a fandom and a character but gave me no specifics whatsoever to work with, I'm a lot more optimistic!
The problem I've got instead now is performance anxiety, because my recipient is a brilliant and prolific writer and theoretically deserves a better santa than I can be. < /wallowing in self-pity >
I'm not sure whether to do a "Dear Santa" letter this year, since I included most relevant info in the request form this time (and think I'm pretty easy to please, anyway), but well... Maybe the person concerned could just leave me an anonymous comment whether or not they'd like a letter with more detail?
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NaNo is at about 4000 words. Good by my standards, but poor in comparison to everyone else and far behind the prescribed count. *hates self* |
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| Urgh |
[Nov. 9th, 2008|09:23 pm] |
3709 words. It just doesn't feel like progress.*
Next flat-viewing early tomorrow morning. Wish me luck?
* Though it's probably more than I've written in the entirety of the last half year. (Not counting the outline, which is epic by itself.) |
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[Nov. 4th, 2008|10:48 pm] |
Heh, I just wrote 1,000 words in less than three hours. (I'm still behind on my count, and badly, but at least I don't feel quite so useless anymore.)
I think I'm slowly finding my voice for this (which is hard, because Tarik is nine years old at the moment and I'm awful at understanding how children think (except really really badly *g*)) and with that comes a little more flow. |
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[Nov. 3rd, 2008|08:51 pm] |
Not getting anything done, meh. But well, I have the excuse of proof-reading my friend K's BA-paper for most of today... And uni isn't being all that nice, either.
I can't wait for this month's period-induced apathy to be over, because then I'll perhaps find some motivation. Currently, I'm not only distracted and uninspired, but I also don't see the point in writing at all anymore... but yeah, a few more days and I should be fine again. *hates her superfluous and uselessly bothersome reproductive organs with a passion*
Well, I guess I'll write with all the more gusto when I'm under real pressure. *snort* Speciality of the house: making up for lost time, every time. |
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| Holy procrastination, SV! |
[Nov. 2nd, 2008|10:43 am] |
Total words written so far: ~ 1200.
I have cleaned my room in the meantime, though. And of course I wasn't able to resist Te's latest fic. Which I promptly read twice. *facepalm*
( As for today, have an epic food meme I stole from Kindkit. )
Damn, now I'm hungry. |
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| Help? |
[Nov. 1st, 2008|03:10 pm] |
Does anybody have any idea how to get a word count? I write in WordPad, which doesn't have one and I don't think counting by hand is going to work after a few days. I thought you could copy-and-paste everything into the NaNo validator, but that isn't working and apparently only designed for the final confirmation that you've won. |
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| Five hours to NaNo... *whimpers* |
[Oct. 31st, 2008|07:00 pm] |
Spent most of today with horse-friend, repairing the paddock and shelter for the winter and getting rid of insane amounts of manure. And staring at said friend's cleavage. Seriously, that girl wears tight, low-cut pullovers for everything. And she's really fucking pretty. *torn between appreciation and serious hormonally-induced discomfort*
Autumn has really announced its presence over the last week, with storms, mist, drizzle and pretty colours. As you can guess, yours truly is enjoying herself immensely. (And why can't challenges like NaNo and Yuletide be in summer when I'm not constantly tempted to go for hour-long walks?)
And today is Halloween again... I've come to love that holiday: there are few things as cheering as a free excuse to bitch at kids begging futilely for candy at your door. ^_^
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As to NaNo:
OMG, five hours!!! Eeep! (I won't start writing on midnight, though; my brain isn't functional at that time of night. I plan to get up early and make good progress tomorrow, though.)
I'm even almost done with the outline of the part of the novel I planned to write! Sadly, I realised that the currently outlined scenes probably won't be remotely enough to fill the 50,000 words. The plot is already quite epic (covers about half a year so far), but I have a lot of fast-forwards, cuts, passing mentions of events, etc, in there. Which is good for my pacing, but bad for my word count.
Oh, and I've changed the working title to (The) Crow Days (any opinions on that pesky article?), in case anyone was wondering. It's still "kb" in the LJ tags, though, and probably will remain this way, because I'm sappy and nostalgic about stuff where people least expect it. Or maybe I mean lazy - editing tags is a bitch. *ggg*
And the surroundings? Are we all set?
Tea, milk, honey? *check*
Chocolate? *double check*
Fluffy blanket? *check*
Yepp, we're ready to go!
So, to all my fellow NaNo'ers: we'll make it!!! Or at least fail really spectacularly.
The only thing I still lack is a fitting theme song. Adult, WP-era Tarik has Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam", which fits just beautifully, but I'm thinking her younger self needs something a little different. Less resigned, more rebellious. With a touch strong side of disappointed idealism and shattered dreams. Swords and gore a plus.
Suggestions? ":-D |
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| Everybody loves a tasty framework? |
[Oct. 19th, 2008|04:35 pm] |
Plotting my NaNo outline made me wonder: what is the prevalent opinion on the subject of prologues and epilogues?
Personally, I have a lasting fondness for them, but I'm pretty sure not everybody does. So, how do you all feel? Love them? Hate them? Don't care either way? Only like them if they're good? Then what makes a prologue/an epilogue good or bad for you?
Further: How should the connection between the 'framework' and the rest of the book ideally be, tangible and direct, abstract, or obscure, with an aha-effect no earlier than halfway through the story? Does it make a difference whether a book stands on its own or is part of a series? |
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| Random update |
[Oct. 19th, 2008|12:07 pm] |
Absolutely not getting anywhere at the moment. *sigh* No job, no flat, family still a pain in the arse, and while I'm duly thankful to uni for giving me the ridiculous total of twelve (12!) hours a week, it also makes me utterly suspicious: either there's something in the small print I haven't found yet, or the missing twenty hours will come back to bite me next semester.
State of the Writing Department: Well, as I said, I was planning to finish the one-third-done outline for my NaNo novel this month, but I haven't gotten anything done all week with feeble excuses to cover the fact that I spend most of the day outside because it's all autumnal and beautiful and I feel caged in my room.
I was also planning to do a ton of book and movie reviews, but... *shrugs* Among other things I wanted to review Krabat, but I thought I should maybe reread the book first because it's easily been ten years and I wasn't entirely sure where they changed stuff in the movie and where not, sadly I can't find my copy.
Otherwise I'm having a truly good time: The friend I ride with and I took the horses (in)to the lake the day before yesterday, which was the most fun I've had in months, even though I got pretty wet in the process. Sadly, neither of us had brought a camera.
Yesterday was mostly spent at CD's, dying her hair and munching cake, and after that phoning KK (who's still writing her BA paper, because after some five nervous breakdowns she finally got her doc to attest burn-out to give her some extra weeks) for a pep talk. |
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worried
peaceful
melancholy
bitchy
tired
nervous 
lazy
weird