I am gonna make that post about my new productivity tactic, but I'm in a bit of bind with that.
I want to show off the completed thing so far, but I'm waiting on something for it.
So I'll make the post when I have the item I need to finish off the bits I've got.
Monday 31 December 2018
Friday 7 December 2018
20k/5 Days: An Experiment
The structure of NaNoWriMo was something I really got into this year. I had tough points, but no matter the blow to my mood, or my word count, I managed to pull it back and get a win.
Part of that, I think, was the method I developed (with great help from Sue, one of my region's Municipal Liaisons) of treating blocks of time as word wars, or, in my case, sprints.
I learned that I can do five hundred words in half an hour pretty consistently, and with that strategy in use, I managed to do three thousand a day on my best solo days (Write In days were usually better because of writing in more than one place and in a social setting).
With NaNo over, and a supplementary short story and my project from last year still unfinished, I felt a little bereft with no challenge.
I was as Alexander, I wept for there were no more worlds to conquer.
So I made my own.
As it is my wish to be a professional writer, a daily minimum word count for non-NaNo times is something that I need to develop.
With a successful NaNo behind me, I decided to think big, and so, I committed to spending the next five days, starting Monday, on writing twenty thousand words.
Wish me luck, and do not weep for me if it all goes tits up.
Part of that, I think, was the method I developed (with great help from Sue, one of my region's Municipal Liaisons) of treating blocks of time as word wars, or, in my case, sprints.
I learned that I can do five hundred words in half an hour pretty consistently, and with that strategy in use, I managed to do three thousand a day on my best solo days (Write In days were usually better because of writing in more than one place and in a social setting).
With NaNo over, and a supplementary short story and my project from last year still unfinished, I felt a little bereft with no challenge.
I was as Alexander, I wept for there were no more worlds to conquer.
So I made my own.
As it is my wish to be a professional writer, a daily minimum word count for non-NaNo times is something that I need to develop.
With a successful NaNo behind me, I decided to think big, and so, I committed to spending the next five days, starting Monday, on writing twenty thousand words.
Wish me luck, and do not weep for me if it all goes tits up.
Monday
Day's Word Count: 4063
Log
Phew, today was a hard start.
I felt pretty good at the beginning, got an early start and had my first thousand words done by quarter past nine. (I woke up at five, these things happen.)
I ended up taking a long break after, about forty five minutes, and I feel like this may have been a mistake. I felt like I was flagging pretty early on during my third block for the day.
Block four forty five minutes later wasn't too bad, though.
Blocks five and six came in rapid succession after lunch, that flagging feeling disappearing pretty fast.
With the end of block six came the end of the last short story I wrote to fill up my NaNoWriMo 50k. So long Lesbian Witch Romance (working title, I promise.)
Now, strictly speaking, I had a thousand words left for the day. It's the 500/30 method I mentioned above, after all.
However, I spent the better part of two hours feeling way too intimidated to get back into the novel that had been my white whale since the end of last November.
(Out of about sixty eight thousand words, forty six thousand were written in NaNo17. Twenty two thousand over eleven months is pretty dire, I think.)
So my seventh block was just 250/20 to try and ease myself back into it, which worked pretty well, ended up with three hundred and forty, not too shabby.
Unfortunately, though, the last block was back to 500/30 and I under performed by about two hundred words.
No matter, though, I made up the shortfall to the total 4k for the day shortly after.
Not the most brilliant start, but a start it is. Hopefully I can continue to build momentum on TWoA tomorrow.
Day's Word Count: 4042
Running Total: 8105
Log
Why am I doing this to myself?
Well, the good news is that I managed to get the first four blocks done with little trouble, under performed a little on block four, but not by enough to really put a dent into my progress.
Block five is when I really started feeling the burn. I under performed slightly again, but it felt like a struggle in a way the previous four hadn't.
Block six was an out and out failure, I put it off for hours and got less than half what I wanted to.
Seven only came, with less of that burned out fog mind, after a half hour on my exercise bike. The blood being pumped a little harder helped clear the malaise.
Since Six was a wash, I had six hundred words left over, and by this point it was five thirty, so I filled up the rest of those by starting something silly and indulgent.
Finally finished that at about twenty past nine. I am a mess and want to go to bed.
Day's Word Count: 0
Running Total: 8105
Log
I woke up today feeling exhausted and dreading getting up. I stayed in bed past the time I'd already written five hundred words avoiding the day.
Now it's twenty five past one and I have failed to write a single word. If I manage to write anything, I will note it in an addendum, but my hopes are not high.
Day's Word Count: 538
Running Total: 8643
Log
So I ended up sleeping in until ten. Apparently I was that tired.
I wrote one block after brunch, but didn't really feel the need to push myself to write more. Instead I actually did some housework.
After such severe burn out, I'm satisfied with that count for the day. I will, however, try to get more done tomorrow.
Day's Word Count: 1623
Running Total: 10266
Log
Well, I woke up on time and got three blocks done in the morning (although a bit later than Monday and Tuesday to start and took a long break).
Fifteen hundred was really what I wanted to do as a minimum today, and might have managed more if my Mum hadn't given me the change jar. So any possibility of writing died in the face of counting out well over a thousand coins.
(It was a worthwhile exercise.)
Twenty thousand in five days was just far too ambitious.
Just way too much to do.
While I had achieved numbers higher than four thousand in a single day during NaNoWriMo, they tended to be spread out and at least partly done in a social setting.
I think about a thousand a day is a good minimum for me personally (at least during a 'work day') and three thousand is a number that is definitely achievable on a day to day basis.
Doing original writing in the morning and dedicating the afternoon to editing writing blog posts, or artistic pursuits may be the optimal method of organising my weekdays.
Currently I'm not actively editing anything, so that will need to be tested in the New Year.
Until the end of December, I'm going to take it easy.
Despite NaNoWriMo being successful, I had a pretty rough time of it last month.
Some personal issues, the DWP screwing me over, and the change of seasons laying me low as per annual tradition. all made my NaNo success a surprise to me.
The New Year is something I'm particularly looking forward to because I'm going to be trying a new method to help organise my life and improve my productiveness (hopefully enough to get out of the hell hole that is the jurisdiction of the DWP).
I plan to cover that at a later point in the month.
As for now, have a nice weekend, everyone!
I felt pretty good at the beginning, got an early start and had my first thousand words done by quarter past nine. (I woke up at five, these things happen.)
I ended up taking a long break after, about forty five minutes, and I feel like this may have been a mistake. I felt like I was flagging pretty early on during my third block for the day.
Block four forty five minutes later wasn't too bad, though.
Blocks five and six came in rapid succession after lunch, that flagging feeling disappearing pretty fast.
With the end of block six came the end of the last short story I wrote to fill up my NaNoWriMo 50k. So long Lesbian Witch Romance (working title, I promise.)
Now, strictly speaking, I had a thousand words left for the day. It's the 500/30 method I mentioned above, after all.
However, I spent the better part of two hours feeling way too intimidated to get back into the novel that had been my white whale since the end of last November.
(Out of about sixty eight thousand words, forty six thousand were written in NaNo17. Twenty two thousand over eleven months is pretty dire, I think.)
So my seventh block was just 250/20 to try and ease myself back into it, which worked pretty well, ended up with three hundred and forty, not too shabby.
Unfortunately, though, the last block was back to 500/30 and I under performed by about two hundred words.
No matter, though, I made up the shortfall to the total 4k for the day shortly after.
Not the most brilliant start, but a start it is. Hopefully I can continue to build momentum on TWoA tomorrow.
Tuesday
Day's Word Count: 4042
Running Total: 8105
Log
Why am I doing this to myself?
Well, the good news is that I managed to get the first four blocks done with little trouble, under performed a little on block four, but not by enough to really put a dent into my progress.
Block five is when I really started feeling the burn. I under performed slightly again, but it felt like a struggle in a way the previous four hadn't.
Block six was an out and out failure, I put it off for hours and got less than half what I wanted to.
Seven only came, with less of that burned out fog mind, after a half hour on my exercise bike. The blood being pumped a little harder helped clear the malaise.
Since Six was a wash, I had six hundred words left over, and by this point it was five thirty, so I filled up the rest of those by starting something silly and indulgent.
Finally finished that at about twenty past nine. I am a mess and want to go to bed.
Wednesday
Day's Word Count: 0
Running Total: 8105
Log
I woke up today feeling exhausted and dreading getting up. I stayed in bed past the time I'd already written five hundred words avoiding the day.
Now it's twenty five past one and I have failed to write a single word. If I manage to write anything, I will note it in an addendum, but my hopes are not high.
Thursday
Day's Word Count: 538
Running Total: 8643
Log
So I ended up sleeping in until ten. Apparently I was that tired.
I wrote one block after brunch, but didn't really feel the need to push myself to write more. Instead I actually did some housework.
After such severe burn out, I'm satisfied with that count for the day. I will, however, try to get more done tomorrow.
Friday
Day's Word Count: 1623
Running Total: 10266
Log
Well, I woke up on time and got three blocks done in the morning (although a bit later than Monday and Tuesday to start and took a long break).
Fifteen hundred was really what I wanted to do as a minimum today, and might have managed more if my Mum hadn't given me the change jar. So any possibility of writing died in the face of counting out well over a thousand coins.
(It was a worthwhile exercise.)
Conclusion
Twenty thousand in five days was just far too ambitious.
Just way too much to do.
While I had achieved numbers higher than four thousand in a single day during NaNoWriMo, they tended to be spread out and at least partly done in a social setting.
I think about a thousand a day is a good minimum for me personally (at least during a 'work day') and three thousand is a number that is definitely achievable on a day to day basis.
Doing original writing in the morning and dedicating the afternoon to editing writing blog posts, or artistic pursuits may be the optimal method of organising my weekdays.
Currently I'm not actively editing anything, so that will need to be tested in the New Year.
Until the end of December, I'm going to take it easy.
Despite NaNoWriMo being successful, I had a pretty rough time of it last month.
Some personal issues, the DWP screwing me over, and the change of seasons laying me low as per annual tradition. all made my NaNo success a surprise to me.
The New Year is something I'm particularly looking forward to because I'm going to be trying a new method to help organise my life and improve my productiveness (hopefully enough to get out of the hell hole that is the jurisdiction of the DWP).
I plan to cover that at a later point in the month.
As for now, have a nice weekend, everyone!
Wednesday 5 December 2018
National Novella Writing Month
This is the first, unedited, line of my NaNoWriMo project this year titled More Canals than Giza.
It's only tangentially related to the rest of the novel, as the story begins with workaholic Tonina Lagoria breaking out of her work groove as an illustrator in the wee hours of the morning.
After that point, she is swept up in a story of aliens coming to Earth and running into a cute guy.
My inspiration for this story was based entirely around my irrational worry that a pale face will pop up outside my window in the dead of night.
Or rather, considering the somehow less terrifying thought of a dark skinned face popping up outside of that window.
Attached to a person, not just a disembodied face. It's not like Idris Elba's visage decided to go for a post midnight walk without the rest of him.
(In that instance I'd still scream like it was a pale face, but I'd also be charmed. He's very handsome.)
So this entire plot was born of coming up for a legitimate (as in logically consistent and not crime based) reason for someone to be in your back garden at two o'clock in the morning.
All I could think of was running away from some threat, and my brain supplied giant alien cats as said threat.
Which I am so glad my brain supplied because writing this story was a lot of fun.
I'm both seriously looking forward to January to begin revising the story, and dreading it, because I've never edited anything this long before.
For my sins, this is the first finished draft of anything longer than a short story I've ever managed. Even though it's only about 35k long, it's still an intimidating length for a novice like myself.
So, with the writing relatively fresh in my mind, here are things I want to address in the edit:
- Giving currently nameless characters names.
- Improve the romance
- Improve the humour
- Improve the deeper social commentary (that there is. It's not much, tbf)
- Improve the ending
- More descriptive detail for Tonina and other characters
- Drive home Stephen the Newsreader losing his goddamn mind
- More horror elements
I'm pretty satisfied with the first draft and keeping these points in mind to improve it for the second.
I mean, honestly, if it had been a white guy in her back garden, Tonina probably would have assumed he was a ghost and left him there to die.
I know I would.
I know I would.
Monday 3 December 2018
Post NaNo Blues
So, another year, another NaNoWriMo has passed.
Same old, same old, right?
Wrong!
This year I actually managed to pull it off!
I feel like a proud mother.
And like any mother, not everything I did is worth a damn, but this is a risk of any creative process.
Including making people.
Unfortunately.
This year I didn't do one long novel I haven't finished.
No!
This year I managed to create a complete story.
More than one, actually.
Yeah, my initial idea couldn't hold on for a full fifty thousand words, so I ended up having to supplement my word count with a few short stories.
Three, to be exact.
Two I have finished, and a third that still needs to be completed.
In the spirit of sharing, I shall leave the first lines of each of these four stories below in a suitably aesthetic manner.
Same old, same old, right?
Wrong!
This year I actually managed to pull it off!
 |
| A winner is me. |
I feel like a proud mother.
And like any mother, not everything I did is worth a damn, but this is a risk of any creative process.
Including making people.
Unfortunately.
This year I didn't do one long novel I haven't finished.
No!
This year I managed to create a complete story.
More than one, actually.
Yeah, my initial idea couldn't hold on for a full fifty thousand words, so I ended up having to supplement my word count with a few short stories.
Three, to be exact.
Two I have finished, and a third that still needs to be completed.
In the spirit of sharing, I shall leave the first lines of each of these four stories below in a suitably aesthetic manner.
Wednesday 27 September 2017
Manderlay - A Review
It occurs to me that I should probably put links to my Fission Mailure Reviews up here.
Last week's review was late, due to hanging out with Doug during the period I should have been watching the film, but it was of Manderlay, the 2005 sequel to a film I previously reviewed called Dogville.
Here are yon relevant links.
Last week's review was late, due to hanging out with Doug during the period I should have been watching the film, but it was of Manderlay, the 2005 sequel to a film I previously reviewed called Dogville.
Here are yon relevant links.
Manderlay (2005)
Dogville (2003)
Friday 2 June 2017
The Lake House Review Supplemental
Review here (x)
You know, the one thing other than 'Keanu Reeves isn't that bad an actor' that was going through my head while I was watching this film was 'this just straight up wouldn't work in Britain'.
The entire concept of the film is dependent on the two main characters being able to find letters that they leave for each other.
The letterbox for a British house is in the front door, not on a stick outside of the house.
Alex would find that first letter from Kate on the doormat and that would be the end of proceedings, because he'd have no way to reply unless the Royal Mail was in on it.
While I think we can all agree that the addition of time travelling posties would only be an improvement to any film, it's beyond any normal level of suspension of disbelief that everyone in the sorting office would see a letter from the future and not return it to sender for being a bullshit merchant.
Look, we're British. We don't do that lighthearted quirky shit unless kids are involved.
And I think it needs to be made clear that Alex would have to put his replies in the postal system. The idea that you could leave a letter for someone else near your house and expect it to be delivered is some weird foreign nonsense, unless you have some blackmail on your postman.
Even if the Royal Mail did deliver time travel letters (which they wouldn't, mostly on principal and because of cuts), these cutesie conversations between the protagonists would take much, much longer.
In film, it's instant messaging with real paper, in the British version, they're glorified pen pals. Which wouldn't last for long because they'd both be spending a fortune on stamps.
Which would be an interesting way to raise revenue, if nothing else.
You know, the one thing other than 'Keanu Reeves isn't that bad an actor' that was going through my head while I was watching this film was 'this just straight up wouldn't work in Britain'.
The entire concept of the film is dependent on the two main characters being able to find letters that they leave for each other.
The letterbox for a British house is in the front door, not on a stick outside of the house.
Alex would find that first letter from Kate on the doormat and that would be the end of proceedings, because he'd have no way to reply unless the Royal Mail was in on it.
While I think we can all agree that the addition of time travelling posties would only be an improvement to any film, it's beyond any normal level of suspension of disbelief that everyone in the sorting office would see a letter from the future and not return it to sender for being a bullshit merchant.
Look, we're British. We don't do that lighthearted quirky shit unless kids are involved.
And I think it needs to be made clear that Alex would have to put his replies in the postal system. The idea that you could leave a letter for someone else near your house and expect it to be delivered is some weird foreign nonsense, unless you have some blackmail on your postman.
Even if the Royal Mail did deliver time travel letters (which they wouldn't, mostly on principal and because of cuts), these cutesie conversations between the protagonists would take much, much longer.
In film, it's instant messaging with real paper, in the British version, they're glorified pen pals. Which wouldn't last for long because they'd both be spending a fortune on stamps.
Which would be an interesting way to raise revenue, if nothing else.
Wednesday 2 November 2016
NaNoWriMo Extract
So my sleep patterns been playing me right up these last ten days or so, and I just couldn't think of anything to post about. My apologies for both of these things.
However, not what the post is about, this post is an extract from yesterday's NaNoWriMo efforts that I fancied showing off.
It revolves around one of the newer characters in the story, Carwyn.
(For reference he calls his sister Padi)
He'd decided to name it Padikin.
It was barely the height of his palm, standing in the awkward arms held straight out from the shoulder position that was depicted in the book on his desk.
A small sculpture of a girl with pigtails and a long dress made from clay he'd taken from the arts rooms. Padikin didn't have much detail, except for little dot eyes and a smiley mouth on her face and tiny snakes of a necklace and bracelet.
He'd made her small so she'd be easier to fire, but it made her harder to paint. She had a big black splodge on her right cheek from when he was painting her hair.
Carwyn thought it made her cuter.
He re-examined the pages concerning the ancient rites of golem animation. It was complicated, with many glyphs and a strange chant that the book was determined could not be sung.
He was certain that the T'schdem had streamlined it since the book was written, as it did not need to be as complicated as it was.
He drew one glyph on the desk in chalk coloured with the blood of a ram. The book called for fresh billy blood, but he couldn't get his hands on that at such short notice. The long dried blood of a similar looking male would have to be enough.
He placed an inverted plate on top of it and carefully wrote the chant in a circle around it.
With a knife he wedged the plate up so he could remove it without smudging the chalk.
A few careful curves and curls to fill in some space and the cirle was finished.
It didn't look much like the diagram, which was designed to give a general idea and not the actual circle of magic used, that was all straight lines, glyphs and the suggestion of vines. Carwyn's was all organic looking shapes that reflected no actual living thing caught between a glyph and the carefully written chant in the alphabet of the Lords.
He admired his handiwork and gently placed Padikin in the centre of the circle.
"Gentle Padikin, sweet child of clay," he sang trailing his finger around the circle before spiralling through it, "to you I give the gift of life."
Once his finger reached her feet her turned her with his free hand, causing the chalk on his finger to leave gradually fading marks on her dress. At her shoulder he stopped, pressing his finger tip against her little smiley mouth.
"As once the gods granted it to man. I wish you a duty of nothing but joy," he crooned before blowing gently into her face, some of the trace of chalk he'd left with his finger blew away.
Her arms fell to her sides.
"Padikin?"
She tilted her head at him before nodding.
He smiled widely.
"Welcome to the world little Padikin, and thank you, I'll be able to revive Southern soon thanks to you."
Padikin pushed out her chest and put her little mitten hands on her hips in pride.
Her pose of triumph didn't last long though, as she started trying to brush off the chalk the second she touched some with her hand.
Carwyn chuckled and handed her a tiny scrap of cloth.
However, not what the post is about, this post is an extract from yesterday's NaNoWriMo efforts that I fancied showing off.
It revolves around one of the newer characters in the story, Carwyn.
(For reference he calls his sister Padi)
In the Shadow of the Stonehearted King
He'd decided to name it Padikin.
It was barely the height of his palm, standing in the awkward arms held straight out from the shoulder position that was depicted in the book on his desk.
A small sculpture of a girl with pigtails and a long dress made from clay he'd taken from the arts rooms. Padikin didn't have much detail, except for little dot eyes and a smiley mouth on her face and tiny snakes of a necklace and bracelet.
He'd made her small so she'd be easier to fire, but it made her harder to paint. She had a big black splodge on her right cheek from when he was painting her hair.
Carwyn thought it made her cuter.
He re-examined the pages concerning the ancient rites of golem animation. It was complicated, with many glyphs and a strange chant that the book was determined could not be sung.
He was certain that the T'schdem had streamlined it since the book was written, as it did not need to be as complicated as it was.
He drew one glyph on the desk in chalk coloured with the blood of a ram. The book called for fresh billy blood, but he couldn't get his hands on that at such short notice. The long dried blood of a similar looking male would have to be enough.
He placed an inverted plate on top of it and carefully wrote the chant in a circle around it.
With a knife he wedged the plate up so he could remove it without smudging the chalk.
A few careful curves and curls to fill in some space and the cirle was finished.
It didn't look much like the diagram, which was designed to give a general idea and not the actual circle of magic used, that was all straight lines, glyphs and the suggestion of vines. Carwyn's was all organic looking shapes that reflected no actual living thing caught between a glyph and the carefully written chant in the alphabet of the Lords.
He admired his handiwork and gently placed Padikin in the centre of the circle.
"Gentle Padikin, sweet child of clay," he sang trailing his finger around the circle before spiralling through it, "to you I give the gift of life."
Once his finger reached her feet her turned her with his free hand, causing the chalk on his finger to leave gradually fading marks on her dress. At her shoulder he stopped, pressing his finger tip against her little smiley mouth.
"As once the gods granted it to man. I wish you a duty of nothing but joy," he crooned before blowing gently into her face, some of the trace of chalk he'd left with his finger blew away.
Her arms fell to her sides.
"Padikin?"
She tilted her head at him before nodding.
He smiled widely.
"Welcome to the world little Padikin, and thank you, I'll be able to revive Southern soon thanks to you."
Padikin pushed out her chest and put her little mitten hands on her hips in pride.
Her pose of triumph didn't last long though, as she started trying to brush off the chalk the second she touched some with her hand.
Carwyn chuckled and handed her a tiny scrap of cloth.
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