And to celebrate my birthday, I finished NaNoWriMo! Yay! (envision me waving my arms around like a muppet here)
I also went and saw Twilight, though I shall keep my opinions to myself, 'cause it seems like no matter what I say, someone is more than willing to cut me down because of it. So there. Nyah.
And it just proves that no matter how often I have things critiqued and ripped to shreds, and nitpicked into oblivion, there is still this initial gut reaction that wants to stomp out of the room and throw a hissy fit.
So, I will sit and let these notes process through my increasingly mushy brain. Some of the things I can already see are "tweaky" and easily accomplished. Some are simply things that need further clarification in text. And some... I don't know. I suppose I'm always within my rights to say no. But before that, I think there will need to be multiple back and forths with The Agent to hash out some points I'm leery on altering.
In the meantime, I shall NaNo on. It is possible that I will not only hit the 50K, but that I will soldier on and finish the entire novel within the month. This amazes me no end. And I have to wonder, have I always been capable of this output rate, or is it the fact that I had a REALLY good outline before I even started.
(my vote is for the outline)
Needless to say, all future projects will be outlined this way. This has gone SO smoothly.
Well, here we are, and still no notes. A bit of a let down really, but at least I have no reason to feel guilty about continuing to work on my NaNo project. I mean, what else am I going to do?
Pounded out 3,222 words today. I think my hands are going to go on strike. The lucky thing is that it puts me about a day and a half ahead of NaNo schedule, so I could take a break this weekend if I have to.
Well, I heard from The Agent today, and he hopes to have editorial notes to me by tomorrow afternoon. Guess that means playtime is over! I'm anxious to see what he's got to say, mostly because I'm dying to know if my revisions matched what he had pictured in his head when he suggested them. Then again, I'm also terrified that he's going to say "Nope, that was all wrong, start over!"
I managed to catch up with NaNo today. Not sure what the new revision notes are going to mean for my progress there. Since next week is pretty much a wash due to holidays and birthdays, I'm wondering if I can get away with finishing NaNo before I go back to Project 2. (well, yes I can, but the question is how guilty will I feel doing so?)
Even if I had to stop working on the NaNo project immediately, I'm still extremely pleased with myself and what I've accomplished. I don't know that I want to work at this pace ALL the time, but it's nice to know that I can if I have to.
This is the part where you all say "Hi, WoW addict!"
Seriously, I did nothing this weekend but crack out with the new expansion pack for hours at a time. And I realized, when I ended the weekend feeling rather refreshed and not dreading the coming week, that it had been a long time since I just did something mindless and fun.
Sure, I didn't get any writing done, so I'm technically behind on my NaNo count (less than a full day behind after today's efforts, though). But you know what? Sometimes, you just gotta breathe.
Got to see the Donder, her hubby, and her offspring this weekend. That was awesome. I have a feeling that it's a good thing they live so far away, or her hubby and my hubby would get into trouble together.
Also got to see the Mel and go out to dinner on Saturday with her. We definitely don't see her enough. And she's going to be moving even farther away! Where's the logic there?
Ah well, I guess this is what happens when everyone grows up and gets real jobs.
And at least I'm back to writing today. Pounded out 2,571 and finished up Chapter 9. I'm still pretty stoked about my progress, and even happier that I can already see where I need to revise and make better. I guess my greatest fear is writing something that I know is too short, but that I can't see any way to improve/lengthen it.
So, kiddo has strep throat, and I have a severe sinus infection. Auggy has voted to quarantine Missouri. (I think it's a bit late for that)
I did manage to get my NaNo quota in for the day before I bugged out of work for the doctor's appointment. I got nothing accomplished yesterday, however (well, ok, 300-ish words, but that's almost like nothing) so my lead has dwindled drastically. I'm still on track, but I've lost my cushion, so this weekend I'll have to really keep my butt in chair.
Last weekend, I got to see the HBO series True Blood for the first time. I didn't realize they were based off of novels until I watched the credits, so of course I went in search. And I realized, once I found said novels, why I'd never read them. The original covers looked stooooopid. Take note, marketing people! Covers matter! Kat agrees with me, and said she never picked them up for the same reason. I'm now waiting to get the first one from the library, so we'll see if I like them. Shame on me for judging a book by its cover! Shame I say!
I think I'm going to take a short nap before I have to pick kiddo up from daycare. ('cause honestly, I feel like I've been kicked in the face with a golf cleat) Hopefully, the drugs will alleviate this killer headache by tomorrow morning. Let's hear it for better living through chemistry!
Oh, and one more thing, shamelessly stolen from Jen. (not to be confused with Jenn. Keep up, people!) I think this is also for Auggy.
I love it when people I don't know comment on my blog! (and it's even better when they're nice people!) Makes me feel like I do exist, instead of being a figment of my friends' collective imagination. (we did have an imaginary friend in college. Hi Donder! It's a long story)
I shot past 20k total on the NaNo project today. I'm kind of in a daze, really. I have NEVER written anything this fast. And sure, it's not perfect, but dang...it's really whizzing by! I'm starting to wonder if I can get the entire thing finished in the month, instead of just the 50K I was planning on.
I have just enough that I can justify NOT writing this weekend if I have to. (read: if real life interferes) On the other hand, if I do get to write, I'm just going to pad my lead. Which isn't a bad idea considering the four-day weekend that is Thanksgiving + my birthday this year.
Ok, so week one of NaNo isn't actually over 'til midnight tomorrow, but humor me.
I have been managing to keep to at least the 1,667 words a day, and so far at least a hundred words beyond that each day. This is good! I'm hoping to be enough ahead that slacking this weekend won't cost me too much. (real life is intruding this weekend with kiddo's karate tournament and some friend type visits)
Outlining this so extensively has been the key so far. The plot is coming together nicely. I have realized, though, that in the speed of getting the plot down, I've been sacrificing character development. Something to work on in revisions.
Talked to The Agent today. His assistant has finished reading my revised Project 2, and he'll be taking a gander at it himself shortly. So another couple weeks before I get official opinions/notes on it.
Today's word total: 2,717 NaNo total: 5,134 Total total: 11,077
Today, I had one of those moments where I wrote something that actually gave me goosebumps. I didn't mean to write it, I hadn't planned for it in my outline, but once it started happening I was swept along with it like my protagonist, and both he and I sat there with our hearts pounding until it was over.
It was a GOOD day.
It's things like this that renew my belief that I might someday be a decent writer.
The weekend went great, much fun was had on Halloween, and though Gita and I realized it had been thirteen years since either of us had been rollerskating, we handled ourselves admirably. Only one adult hit the floor, and it was NOT either of us. (or hubby, for that matter)
And since I know some of you were dying to see, here is a picture of me at work on Halloween, as a vampire.
(I did change costumes later in the evening, but I don't have pictures of that one yet)
