Things are looking up...

Perhaps. I've just put in some applications, though of course I don't know if I'll get anything from them, but the act of putting them in gives me a sense of accomplishment and control. I hope to get some sort of response (from at least one of them) soon
I also won a drawing I entered months ago on the PBS website. I won series one and two of Sherlock on DVD. That certainly cheered me. I barely even remember entering-- another example of me not expecting to much, but actually getting something.
At the literary society event tonight I dressed as Jane Austen and served tea. That was fun. My kooky friend Jess dressed as Henry David Thoreau. Somehow our interactions during the evening led us to the decision to tag-team a NaNoWriMo about the two of them. Not sure how that's going to turn out.
I've nearly finished this round of edits on my mystery novel and I'm taking a break from it while figuring out how to attempt getting it published. I have some very specific ideas about what I want from all the research I've done, of course I'm still looking for some guidance from those who have been there before. Right now I'm focusing on shorter pieces for my multi-genre writing workshop. I had a great batch of drafting last night.
And I've been listening to a lot of Seawolf. Maudlin music always has a cheering effect on me.

So thanks for bearing with me through all the crazy.
And I'm going to Italy in the spring. If that's not a sign of things looking up, I'm not sure what is.

NaNoWrimo Playlist

My novel's not going as quickly as last year, I feel like it would make a better novella. I will also be working on some short stories to make my word count. Though many people use "quick and dirty" word count expanding tricks, I prefer to work on other creative projects to count toward my 50,000 goal. That really is the point of NaNo, to make time for developing your writing. I don't know about everyone else, but I love to have music playing when I write. I feel like it helps me develop an atmosphere.
Here's one of my most recent NaNo playlists:
"Girl is on my Mind" -- The Black Keys
"Crying Lightening" -- Arctic Monkeys
"Brainy" -- The National
"Miss You" -- The Rolling Stones
"I Turn My Camera On" -- Spoon
"Feathers and Down" -- The Cardigans
"Pieces of the People we Love" -- The Rapture
"What Sarah Said" -- Death Cab for Cutie
"Furnace Room Lullaby" -- Neko Case
"Shakespeare's Sister" -- The Smiths
"My Boy Builds Coffins" -- Florence + the Machine
"Dear Avery" -- The Decemberists

Happy November!

I wanted to rush out of the gate and get 15,000 words my first week, but a research paper on Don DeLillo and other projects for my classes had delayed me. I'm sure I can catch up this weekend.
I'm excited about my novel. It's definitely an experiment compared to my usual writings. It is a fragmented narrative interspersed with memories and other routes that life could have taken, there may even be a little poetry involved. Lately I've just been fascinated by how slender the thread our lives hang on is. We believe we have control and we can plan out our lives, but in reality the smallest chance or the slightest choice can through us in a different direction completely. I want to explore that, whatever that is. A tidy little project for the month of November.
Happy Noveling everyone.

Refugee Writer

No heat or electric since early in the day on Saturday. I've been sleeping under a pile (2) cats in an effort to stay warm. Early this morning I awoke with a red nose and numb fingertips. I've been living off apples and cashews. Trees are dangling on wires and split into pieces along roadways. It's been moderately intense.
Tomorrow the power is anticipated to be turned back on, but some of the towns around us won't have it until Thursday, so it's hard to tell. You become very aware of county and township dividing lines in this sort of weather. Roads will be clear until you pass the county line, then they are covered with tree branches and slush. I'm huddled here on campus. I may stay over until power gets back on at home.
If power comes back tomorrow, it will be just in time to start typing my NaNoWriMo masterpiece.

Screnzy Slump

Slumps always happen during NaNo, but for some reason I keep forgetting about Script Frenzy. I open my email and see there's another "Script Frenzy Story" posted and suddenly remember the two scripts on my flash drive.
Looking through my script library (a left over from theatre school)I've noticed that most two act stage plays fall at about seventy pages. That's why I decided to write two pieces to total my word count. Still, I always feel my narrative voice is the strongest part of my writing so it's hard for me to be so dependent on dialogue.
I've also been avoiding the forums. For some reason they've been annoying me. Script Frenzy is supposed to be for, well, amateurs. Generally unpublished writers (like myself), but some of the questions on the forums bother me. It seems like many of the writers want to be handed a guide with all the "rules" for script writing, dictating how long all their scenes must be, how many characters they should have, etc. The "quick and dirty" tricks posted for reaching the goal used to amuse me, but again I've been finding them really annoying lately.
Maybe it's because I've been taking so many writing-centric classes and have been cracking down on myself to become a more serious writer to look toward making it my career. These challenges aren't just for fun for me, I may end up living off what I've been writing for NaNo and even Script Frenzy (hopefully).
Maybe I'm also just tired, overtaxed, and wishing summer were here. No doubt that compounds all my issues. The end of the semester is creeping up with an armful of papers and exams to dump in my lap. I also agreed to perform in two of my friends' directing class final, as well as my club president duties.
I'm not in a bad mood, exactly. The weather's been quite fine (I don't even mind the rain because it makes everything so green). I'm working on some exciting stories for the paper, I've been selling things on my Etsy, I'm going back to work at the Renaissance Faire this summer (I'm such a nerd, but I've missed having an excuse to wear a corset and sword fight with pirates), I was also invited to audition for a show that one of my professors is putting on in the fall. Good things are happening, I'm just not sure if I can dedicate the time to Script Frenzy this month. I'm also feeling like I might be growing in another direction as writer-- one that Screnzy and NaNo may not accommodate much longer. There is much for me to ponder.
Sorry for the wrong rant. I'm going to bed now.

Top 10 of 2010

It was hard to choose, but I tried to pick 10 media based things that are new for me this year or at least have reached an extraordinarily new level of enjoyment. No doubt there were other writers, musicians, etc. that tickled my fancy this year, but here are the standouts with brief explanations for each.

The Black Keys- Though they aren’t brand new, they are a recent discovery of mine. I love their blending of blues with an alternative rock feel.

Cabin Pressure- Discovered entirely by accident, this has encouraged me that radio plays aren’t completely dead and my dream of writing them may be realized. It’s also hilarious and has Benedict Cumberbatch.

Doctor Who Series Five- I was so ready to dislike Matt Smith and after the indulgent completion of Davies reign, it seemed bleak. Though it wasn’t perfect, I thoroughly enjoyed series five and am terribly excited for series six.

Florence + the Machine- Finally gaining notoriety in the US, Lungs is probably one of the best albums I’ve experienced in recent memory. Every song is unique and well crafted.

The Great Gatsby- I can’t believe I had never read this book before. It was incredibly fluid and tragic. It deserves its place among American classics.

Have I Got News For You- I’ve recently started watching this program online. It’s a great way to get an overview of world news and a great laugh via British celebrities.

Keats- His melancholy poetry has been my companion through many a rainy afternoon this year. The film Bright Star, a biopic of the poet, though flawed, was beautiful and lush.

NaNoWriMo- Not my first year doing NaNo, but an infinitely more satisfying experience than last year. Really found a new writing niche and characters I adore… maybe too much.

Sherlock Holmes- This year I consumed more Holmes based media than probably my life combined before. My readings of the original canon, watching the Jeremy Brett’s series, and the series Sherlock have created an obsession to be sure.

Thoreau- In my other life (and blog) interest in practicing a more natural and sustainable handmade lifestyle has drawn me to Thoreau and I’ve quite enjoyed many of this writings from Walden and his idea of simplification.

Productivity

Or lack there of.
I locked myself away in my room about two hours ago with the intent of being hyper productive- finishing my oral presentation, catching up on readings and even doing a rewrite on one of my papers. It's really not happening.
A few minutes ago I looked at the clock and thought to myself, "Really? I've been in here that long and this is all I have to show for it?"
All I really want to do is watch my new Sherlock DVD freshly arrived from B&N in the mail yesterday. In fact it's sitting next to me while I work, being all tempting. When are Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman not tempting? (Never.) I'm not going to give in and watch it because then I'll be up all night and probably get even less work done.
On the bright side this is my last week of classes. On the dark and gloomy post-modern side, finals are almost upon me.
I've been bombarded with fantastic ideas for my NaNo story, or rather the sequels to it. I have what I hope will eventually be a five book series plotted out with these characters and I'll just see scenes or hear bits of dialogue in my mind and I have to write it down with notes like 'this should happen in book 3' and such. My NaNo novel is actually sort of like a prequel to what I'd like the series to be.
Oh and this distracted me a bit too.

The Day After NaNo

I believe NaNoWriMo could be called crack for writers.
It effects your relationships, makes your brain go a little crazy and after you stop, you suffer from withdrawal. This happened last year as well- once you get into the habit of writing everyday, you feel like you still should. Not a bad habit for someone hoping to be a professional writer, actually.
Last night I wrote a new scene with my characters that will appear in an eventual sequel. I think I feel it even more acutely this year because I adore my characters and plan on spending more time with them- as I said, sequels.
My friend and I did a novel swap, I'm currently reading hers. Tonight I experienced that awkward moment when you realize you're a side character in your friend's novel. That was new. Not terribly unpleasant.

NaNoWriMo 2010 Winner!!!

I just logged in on the site with 50,066 words!
Yay! I can't believe I thought I wouldn't make it this year- oh me of little faith. I'm actually quite please with my story as well, which I could say last year. I really know who my characters are and where I want to be going with them- I already have ideas for several more to create a series. I'm going to give myself a few weeks off before I start editing, but I am so pleased. I'm going to go bask in NaNoWriMo glow now, excuse me.

NaNoWrimo Day 26

I'm almost caught up to my suggested word count! Now there are only about 8,000 words to go until I reach 50,000. Yay.
I can't believe I was such a downer the other day. Unbelievably I still have a little bit of plot to write and have written very little word count padding crap so far this year.
Truthfully, it was a gamble this year, I picked my plot only a week before starting but being a planner with a new story has proved to be better than last year's story even though the characters had been brewing in my head for a while- I was still mostly a "pantster" in terms of preparation.
I'll be revealing my killer soon. Again, it's probably wrong, but I'm very excited. In fact, this deserves an epic and mysterious image:

NaNoWriMo: Confession Time

I'm closing in on the 35,000 word mark, but I'm still about 5000 words behind on the suggested daily word count.
My confession is that I'm a little worried I won't finish this year. I know I felt the same last year, but I'm starting to lose a bit of steam. I actually do still have a few plot points left to hit, but the whole thing is very fatiguing.
Tomorrow I'm just going to have to lock myself in my room with a pot of coffee.
Perhaps part of it is now that I am getting near the climax, I'm realizing some holes in my plot and thinking about things I'll have to fix or change. Curse you inner editor. I did have fun writing this passage last night. It's very silly and slightly inspired by Sherlock, but here it is:

“So…” she began hesitantly, trying to introduce a pleasanter subject, “Chris called me. We’re going out this weekend.”
Sabrina’s eyes flickered up to meet hers, “I take it this is social?” she asked.
“Well yeah, it’s called a date, I’m sure you’ve heard of it,” Jackie told her.
“Heard of it, yes, of course. Fine. I hope you have a good time. Tell me if he says anything about the case,” Sabrina requested.
“He won’t talk about the case, it’s a date. I’m not going out with him to spy,” Jackie explained as if to a child.
“Yes, I understand that’s not the sole purpose- it can be a secondary benefit. Besides he might say something that doesn’t seem important but could be significant. In fact, perhaps you should just tell me everything he says so I can judge for myself,” said Sabrina.
“I won’t remember everything he says,” Jackie said, slightly appalled.
“Oh,” Sabrina said as if that was incomprehensible, “You won’t?”
“No,” Jackie replied firmly.
“Then maybe I should come along,” she said with a serious tone.
“Absolutely not,” Jackie insisted.
“Could you perhaps record it then and make a transcript for me? You could omit anything too personal or that would seem like a violation,” she continued.
“The whole thing seems like a violation,” Jackie scolded her.
Jackie marveled at the fact that Sabrina seemed to be pouting, “Look, if he says anything important, I’ll write it down on a napkin or something, okay?” she said.

Hey, that's the first NaNo excerpt I think I've ever shared. I'm still trying to think of a better name for the character currently called "Sabrina". I've been thinking of alternatives and visiting baby name sites. Back to the book.

200 Posts

Hooray! About a month ago I celebrated my blogiversary and according to my dashboard this is my 200th post. Thanks to everyone who has kept me going for all this time!
I also find cause to celebrate the fact that I've finished all my papers. It has been rough completing four literature papers in two weeks while trying to keep up with NaNo, the paper and other homework but I have succeeded.
The rest of my week is free from classes, so I can spend it catching up on word count. I also must finish my articles for the next issue of the college paper. For my section (Arts) I write a column about British pop-culture- cleverly entitled "Pop-Culture from Across the Pond"- and I've had a request to write my next column about the upcoming royal wedding. Not exactly pop-culture, but it suddenly has everyone interested in the monarchy, so I will concede to this request.
My write up on the Katty Kay meet and greet as well as my opinions column will be going in this upcoming issue.

Day 21 NaNoWriMo

So, I'm about 5000 words behind right now. Yes, that's disappointing, and yes, my characters have started to have conversations about my research papers, but I've managed to write a few quality passages that I can be proud of.
I'm also proud of the fact that the second body did in fact show up around 25,000 words which was my goal. Wednesday and Thrusday I plan to spend my day off catching up on word count- I have off from school. I may even become ambitious and make scones. We'll see how the writing goes before I can determine that.

The literature paper tally for the week is: 2/3. I just have to finish that darn third by Tuesday.

Adventures in Literature Homework

Currently trying to finish "The Turn of the Screw" for my lit class. It's weird... very peculiar. A bit of a difficult text.
My Troilus and Cressida research paper is actually coming along- I at least have a better idea of where it's going now. Very interesting getting into the "poets war" with Ben Jonson as a possible fuel to the satire of the play. I've come to think of T & C as a sort of anti-Romeo and Juliet.
I took a break this morning and made a new batch of soap with my fabulous new fragrance oil, aloe, and activated charcoal. While it cooled I read some Sherlock Holmes stories (The Adventure of the Copper Beeches and The Bruce Parington Plans). By next year when season two arrives I'd like to have finished reading the original canon.
I'm still on my NaNo prohibition, but have some ideas for when I start back up tomorrow night.
Back to Henry James.

Trying to Cheer Up a Bit

As Allie, my boss on the college paper can attest, nothing calms me like men in wool. So, after adding a few hundred words to my story, instead of leaping into my research paper (Satire in Troilus and Cressida is due Wednesday!) I decided to watch a Sherlock fan vid or two which inspired me to read "The Field Bazaar" and "How Watson Learned the Trick" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They're actually parodies of Holmes and Watson that Doyle himself wrote.
They are pretty funny. They're also very brief, so I then read one that J.M. Barrie wrote for Doyle when together they wrote the libretto of an operetta that was a total flop, it's about the two of them having a confrontation with Holmes and Watson and it's called "The Adventure of the Two Collaborators." Kind of... cute actually. Made me smile anyway.
In another attempt to cheer myself and re-invigorate my writing I've decided to write scenes in my story that I didn't originally plan, but that I think would be fun. I wrote one yesterday that brought my protagonist together with her two equally strange and interesting siblings, just because I find their potential for interaction to be exciting. I did it in flashback so that it didn't change my plot.
Next up on the frivolous scenes agenda will be one where the sidekick convinces my protagonist to go "clubbing" with her. Of course my anti-social misanthrope will try to gather clues and make this an experience that will help her solve the crime (and help me move the plot forward, ahem), but I just think it could be fun to see her faced with such an obnoxious situation and have her size up other people at the club.
Best of all, I definitely think that I will go over 20,000 before introducing the next dead body... well not introduce, we've already met him, but you know what I mean. We haven't met him dead yet. Might not quite break 25,000 before he's found, but we'll see.
I'm optimistic within reason. How's that for a qualifier?
Well, tomorrow is home work day. While I'm at the laundromat I'll finish reading "The Turn of the Screw" and then when I get home I'll get on my satire paper- hopefully the other book I need will be in by tomorrow morning when I check. Saturday will probably be spent in shaping up said paper and maybe starting on the next one, a comparison piece. Ah, yes I still need to choose a subject for my third paper, I have two weeks on that one, but I'd like to at least know what it's about. Have I ever mentioned that I'm very bad at selecting a topic for research? Unless something jumps out at me right away, I just stumble around in the woods until I fall into a pit, then I stay and hang out. Translating my mental and emotional responses to a text into something I can research or write about in a scholarly way is difficult for me.

Week Two Blues

This condition has swept the NaNo community, coming in to week two and worrying about holding up your plot while holding up your life.
My word count is solid, but again, I'm going to have to back off this weekend because I have three research papers to write over the next week and a half and an new interp piece to get on its feet before the next Forensic Speech Tournament which is... oh yeah, just over a week away. Gah.
I know I need to prioritize, but my novel is really important to me. I appreciate and enjoy my literature classes, but in the end I want to be a writer and I need to develop those skills. Not the essay and research paper writing skills, but the creative writing skills. There is no class in the program that actually forces you to write a whole novel- this is my independent study of sorts (if only I were getting credit for it).
NaNo is probably more hands on training for a career as a writer than all my research papers because I really don't think I'm going to become a literary critic or professor or anything like that, I just don't think it suits me.
I'm just annoyed and stressed. My Forensics coach told me to ease off on my novel and I totally get why he said so, but I really wish I didn't have to choose. I wish I wasn't so crazy busy.

Pic Spam: Sherlock

Because I can and because NaNo, research papers and newspaper nonsense has nearly crippled my ability to use words. I have to economize where I can. So here are some of my favorite Sherlock images:

Sherlock thinks... and absorbs nicotine.

That John sure has a great sweater collection.

The tension builds... and then...

Jeremy Brett!? No one invited you.

Why can't JB just be content with being second sexiest Sherlock Holmes? Benedict Cumberbatch is not amused.

Okay, that's out of my system. For now. I'm going to finish my apple and try to catch up on sleep, I'm at about 15,000 words. Rough seas ahead, I know this. Troilus and Cressida paper is proving to be troublesome as well. Ah, well, I'll get through. Probably.

Rolling Into Day Six

Tonight the Literary Society held a writing workshop. Our turn out wasn't spectacular, but it was better than expected. We all contributed writing prompts to a bowl and started the night by sitting around talking about what we're working on (or not as the case may be, then we pulled from the bowl of plots and took a minute to write a few sentences about it.
One girl has obviously not been taking enough creative writing classes, she seemed liberated by the idea that an essay format was not expected. We all felt a little liberated actually.
After the initial prompt exercise one of my friends and I excused ourselves to a separate "quiet writing room" to work alone. I brought my laptop and broke 10,000 words, my goal for the night.
Later, when I got home I found I wanted to keep working and I've been writing for a little while now, breaking 12,000. There was a quotation by Geoff Nicholas I heard once that equates writing to drinking and I think it's always important to leave the table while you could still maybe write a little more. Sometimes if I let ideas and words fester for a little while it's easier to put them all down later.
Surprises so far? I, the plotless wonder has actually constructed a pretty tight story (maybe a little too tight, so I still might have a little issue with word count). Some interesting gender dynamics have occurred unintentionally. My protagonist walks that fine line where she could either become a great force against crime or be quite a good criminal herself- she picks more pockets and locks than I originally anticipated. I like her though. She also reminds me a lot of her sister in some ways.
Oh, yes, her sister. While I was plotting out my protagonist's back story (even if it won't all be revealed in this particular story I like to have it well fleshed out) and while I was wondering about her siblings a character from last year's NaNo (the only good thing from that story) burst in and told me she was my protagonist's sister. I'm unutterably pleased with this. I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to use this character due to some botch-ups in last year's story, but she fits so well in this "world", family and genre I believe. Maybe she'll appear in the sequel.
Now, it's two a.m., I must get to bed.
I am also swearing off NaNo for the next 24 hours to catch up on school work.

End of Day 4 and The Things I do for Journalism

I'm at about 8 and a half thousand words, still pretty well on track, I have to take Saturday off from NaNo to catch up on papers for my literature classes (maybe next year I should independent study NaNo). So tomorrow I'll be catching up on some reading from said classes and then spending the evening at a writing night with friends upping my word count.
The performing arts department at the college is doing an experiment where they are taking away people's cell phones for 24 hours and they're going to tally all the missed calls and texts that accumulate. My Forensic Speech coach was heading up the campaign, but I was holding firm because I have to commute and need to keep in touch with people for various projects. I'm not on my phone alot and I've unintentionally gone periods of time without my phone (left on the charger, etc), but with a long drive ahead of me tonight, I just didn't want to give up that security.
However, I have the opportunity to interview someone in a few weeks (more on that later) and I like to be well researched on the person I interview. So, I have to read their book asap- my forensics coach happened to have a copy of that book. Basically, I had to exchange my cell phone. As I said to the other editors, "the things I do for the paper..." no one offered to give up their phone as a sign of solidarity.
This interview is very exciting and intimidating, but I'm glad I get the chance to do it. It will look fabulous in a portfolio. I don't want to let out too many details at this time, but I should be able to post a copy of the final article here after it's in print- unlike some college papers, the school doesn't hold the rights to our articles, they let us retain them (thank you!) so it should all be on the up and up, but I'll make sure. Even if I listed the name of the person I get to interview, I doubt many would know it off the top of their head, but my excessive geekery makes this way better than interviewing a pop star or anything like that.
More updates on NaNo and the paper soon.

As Day 2 Turns to Day 3

I just broke 6000 words, I'm about two days ahead on my word count and feeling pretty good. I'm already getting nervous about having enough plot though. I'm just over 10% into my story and I'm about to have the first murder, or rather the first body discovered. So that means that 80% of the story will be my hero team solving the murder/dealing with a few subplots I've come up with, leaving 10% of the story for denouement.
That seems like a decent breakdown, but I have to think of a few more external roadblocks to delay my protagonist from solving the murder because I don't want her to be plodding along, unable to figure it out. She has to be extremely quick, I see her as Holmesian figure (further explanation of her character is a few posts down under "National Novel Writing Month Preparations"), with a similar way of processing and using logic. However, in the character's timeline this is her first brush with solving a mystery and I've decided I really would like to write more stories about her and her sidekick that show her mature as a detective and develop in other ways as well- not all of them positive.
I've decided that if I finish a bit prematurely this year, I can start working on the next story, I've already scribbled down a few ideas for future adventures in my notebook. In the editing process I can go back and bulk it up.
Friday I plan on having some solid writing time while I sit at the laundromat, but Saturday I'm taking off from NaNo to work on my literary comparison paper due Monday and my paper on satire in Troilus and Cressida that's due the 17th. I need to bump that one up on my priorities list. When papers are assigned 5 or more weeks in advance it ruins my time budgeting. I always think I have loads of time. With a more constricted frame I am more aware of when I need to work.
I think that's another reason why NaNo is a good exercise for me- in spite of the somewhat negative reputation it has in some circles, it can be the perfect impetus for you to finally finish something. I do believe that nearly anyone can be a writer, but that doesn't mean everyone should. Incidentally, according to a page about "Icons of England," Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde during a six day cocaine binge. He probably would have loved NaNo, but it might have killed him if he were high for 30 days straight. Still, the point is that quickly written first drafts aren't always a bad thing, that's evidence of that. And no, I in no way advocate "writing under the influence" I'm just making a point.