Daily Update: Getting up a good head of steam
Gearing up for NaNoWriMo isn’t an easy thing. It’s not about being able to write, it’s about knowing what you’re going to write. At least for me it is. Each year when I jumped into NaNoWriMo with no clear idea of what I was going to do, I failed. Even when I knew and had plotted what I was going to write, I failed.
Why?
I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. I don’t want to have a repeat failure this year. I am doing what I can to curb distractions, increase productivity when I write, and stay focused during those writing periods. Here are some of the things I’ve done to get ready for NaNoWriMo thus far.
Researched Names or created names for new characters
Created location names (names really throw me out of writing flow)
Established the series of events and viewpoints
Thought about the overall plot of the story (I still need to actually plot the story)
Informed the Wife and My Favorite Daughter my plan for November.
Worked hard to try and Finish Of Gnomes and Dwarves Book 1 prior to November 1st.
With all that I knew I had to get Of Gnomes and Dwarves Book 1 completed prior to November 1st when NaNoWriMo starts. That to me is the most important at this stage. I want to hit the ground running and build up a good buffer before the month gets underway and I get bombarded by work, the holidays, and other obligations. Because I’ve been working hard to get OGAD done, I’ve written over 10,000 words in the past three days. Oddly, and without intending to, I cut out two of the three major scenes in the end. They didn’t fit, didn’t work, and needed to be cut. Everything fits together much better and there’s no severe drop in the action at the end of the story. I’m happier with the climax of the final battle now.
I’ve got probably three more chapters to write and OGAD Book 1 (first draft) will be completed. I’m excited about this. This was one of my big goals for the year. I’ll be able to let it sit for a month while I get to work on V&A II. I’ll be spending some time plotting so I have a better guide for November and won’t get stuck with what’s happened to be before where I’ll be cruising along and think “Well, what should happen next?”. I need to get all that thinking out of the way so I can just sit and actually write.
So did I spend my entire weekend writing? Heck no! That’s silly. I watched an episode of the World Poker Tour (I love poker). I watched 3 episodes of Mythbusters. The premier of Gold Rush (that show is so addicting). Went and took care of some shopping. Had dinner at Fred’s (I needed a good burger!) Read a good chunk of the Intrepid Girlbot, Dilbert, XKCD, a little Frankenstien, and a couple chapters of Mike Stackpole’s Of Limited Loyalty. Oh, and I solved all the levels of the latest Angry Birds Seasons.
Even though I did all that, I still managed over 10,000 words in the past three days. I’m happy with that number. I need to try and keep up that pace for a few days so I can get a good padding on my NaNo Novel and not get caught with needing to write 30,000 words at the end of the month. I’d rather have 30,000 under my belt quickly and then I can pick nits toward the end of the month. I’ve always been caught with the “I know I can write fast so I’ll do more tomorrow”. If this year has taught me anything, it’s that I need to keep going on a daily basis to achieve my goal.
So yeah, I’ve been pounding on the keyboard and I intend to keep doing just that. First I need to get the day job out of the way.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: NoNoWriMo is quickly approaching.
If you’re looking for tips and tricks to win NaNoWriMo this year, you’re looking in the wrong spot. I haven’t won in years. But I will tell you what I’m planning on doing this year. Writing a lot more than I have in the past.
I won NaNoWriMo once. I wrote V&A Shipping during November at breakneck speed. It was that speed, I think, that made the book as good as it is. I had an idea of the story in my head and just went for it. It flowed from my finger tips like water. But why did it?
I had been writing a lot of short stories that year and a couple novellas. I had been writing a LOT that year. I think total that year I wrote over 250,000 words. I was writing in spurts and putting out a lot of work. I was happy with much of it, not so much with quite a bit. Regardless, I was writing.
This year coming into NaNoWriMo I’ve been tracking my progress. I’ve written nearly 400,000 words so far this year. I plan on not just hitting my 450,000 word goal I set at the beginning of the year, but surpassing it. I’ve been able to do this by tracking my progress. Tracking my words. Posting my journey for others to follow. I’ve had a great time with writing and I’ve treated it more like a part time job than a hobby I can just do whenever. It wasn’t easy, but I made writing one of my many priorities.
Another thing I made a priority this year is to read more. I’ve read dozens of blogs, online comics, books, books, you name it, I’ve probably been reading it. This has not only fueled my writing, but helped me to think about things I’m putting in my WIP. It’s helped me think about things happening, events that need to occur, scenes I need to include, foreshadowing I need to include, how characters need to develop. Reading helps a lot while writing.
Something else? My typing speed has increased throughout the year. I used to type fairly quickly. I’m a touch typist. Writing as much as I have this year means I can touch type even faster. On last check I was tpying just over 70 WPM. That’s based on a test that has me typing special characters, words I don’t know and things like that. I’m sure while I’m working on my WIP I’m typing far faster than that with fewer errors as I type.
Finally communiction is key. I’ve communicated with the wife and My Favorite Daughter that I want to write a lot this year. They’ve given me their blessing and their understanding. Sure I still get interupted from time to time, but they understand what I’m trying to do.
So it’s been a good year for me so far. I know I’ll succeed in NaNoWriMo this year because I’ve made it a goal. I took steps throughout the year to be prepared for this. I’ve done everything I could to make sure I can complete my 50,000 words in November. Will I? Will some distraction occur that will prevent me from getting it done? It’s possible. I’ve done all I can to be prepared short of taking the Month of November off.
One thing I didn’t mention. I wrote 5444 words yesterday. I did this and I completed the new Angry Birds Seasons levels. All of them. Three stars. I wasted a LOT of time yesterday that I could have been writing. I waste a lot of time and I’ve still written 400,000 words this year. I’ve just wasted less time then I normally do. I have no excuses for not completing my NaNoWriMo goal.
I’d better get to finishing Of Gnomes and Dwarves Book I so I can be ready to start V&A Shipping Book II.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: Now I remember why I don’t go to Denny’s Anymore
It’s been a very long time since I’ve gone to Denny’s. Long enough, in fact, that I’d pretty much forgotten and/or dismissed my previous reasons for not going. So why did I end up at Denny’s last night?
My Favorite Daughter and a couple of her friends went to the movies last night. The Wife and I saw Pitch Perfect (Review in the next couple of days). When the movies got out, we asked the kids if they were hungry and where they’d like to go. A vote was taken and Denny’s was decided. Inwardly I groaned as I don’t recall the last time I had a good Denny’s experience in the evening.
Even though the place was nearly empty, it still took 10 minutes to seat us. There was, as best I could tell, one waitress on duty, the manager, and one chef. I was still hopeful. Rae, our server, was very pleasant despite being the only one on duty and the manager came by our table a few times. I have no complaints about the service or the quality of our drinks.
Then the food eventually showed up. <sigh>
Everyone that had bacon had seriously overcook bacon. Eggs ordered over medium were cooked on one side, flipped very quickly, and cooked for a very short time on the other side. The whites were still runny which is what you’re trying to avoid with over medium. Toast looked like it’d been forgotten about or run through the toaster 12 or 13 times and no amount of butter was going to cover that mess up.
I ordered the super bird. I figured this is just processed turkey breast and should be an easy meal. Couple slices of bacon. Yeah. I took the bacon off my gray turkey meat that looked as if it sat out for a few days. Then looked at the gray-brown of the meat. It didn’t taste right. I’ve had this sandwich many times in the past. It’s usually served hot. The fruit on the side had grapes that were awesome, but whoever taught the chef to cut the mellon failed to mention that you should cut off the green, fibrus part of the rind.
I didn’t want to ruin the kids’ meal. I didn’t complain. The kids had a great time, made a mess with sugar packets and their drinks. I left a reasonable tip and decided that was my last trip to Denny’s. Ever. It had nothing to do with the service and everything to do with an incompentent cooking staff. Usually it’s a combination of the two. Rae did a great job, the manager was attentive.
I feel bad. I wanted to have a good meal. This little fail just confirmed to me that Denny’s hasn’t gotten any better over the years.
At least I had a great movie experience. 🙂 Like I said, reivew to follow in a later post.
Oh, and I wrote around 2000 words yesterday!
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: Running out of excuses and time
Yes, I’m just like anybody else. I can procrastinate with the best of them. Sure I’ve had my share of distractions, but that’s not a reason for not writing anything the past couple of days. Even if I’d written for 10 or fifteen minutes I would have put out something, but I didn’t. I didn’t write one word of fiction. I want to complete Of Gnomes and Dwarves before November 1st. That date is quickly approaching and I still have a big battle scene to write.
I may still be able to get there. All the characters are converging on the location. A couple scenes will be cut out as they’re not as important to the story. I did re-read the end and wow is it terrible and weak. I’m hoping the new ending will be much stronger. That’s my goal anyway. The original was meant to be emotional yet bring the group together in a stronger way. The end I wrote felt forced and didn’t bring much emotion to the table.
It was fast! It was packed with action from page to page. Willie does his thing and the rest of the gang all do their best as well. I just know I can write a better and stronger ending. I think including Semal (the main villain) as a POV character helped bring more insight to the story. This is something the story lacked before.
Another thing I did was to remove the ‘storyteller’. This was a person with a prologue, interlude, and epilogue to the story that showed how events played out far into the future. I doubt I’ll bring that element back in as it didn’t enhance the overall story. I also excluded the viewpoint of two other characters I had intended to give one chapter per book to tell their viewpoint of the story. Instead they’ll only show up in other ways (dreams, mental images, etc). I’m having fun figuring out how to bring them into the fold.
I also told more side character stories in this book. I want to re-use some of these characters later in the book so it’s fun to bring them in. If I decide to self-publish this series, this will also give me a lot of material for short stories set in the same universe with these characters. Obviously Maus, Willie, Slick, and Reeg will all have to be included in short stories of their own.
As for the plotting of V&A Shipping II. Yeah, I’ve kinda put that off as well. I will likely be pantsing part of the book, but I have a general feel of where it’s going. I’m ready to start bashing out words on that one. Oh yeah. I think it’s distracted me a little from getting the end of OGAD completed, but again, that’s an excuse.
I’m also still progressing on my two secret projects. Slowly, but progressing. I’m hoping to start both on Jan 1st. I just need to get some more work done before I start. So much to do and so little time. I also owe a couple people some audio (and one a video). This is going to be a long weekend (meaning busy) before Halloween gets here. I’d better get at it!
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: Not for the faint of heart.
There are some days I find weird things. Perhaps you’ve had those days as well. You’ll get on youtube and find something really strange and just sit there thinking.. wait a minute, is this real? Could this person really be doing this?
The first video I found looking at old Laurel and Hardy videos. I was net expecting this. First off I didn’t know that Mr. Hardy could speak Spanish, but I wasn’t surprised much by that. He was introducing an act. You’ll see a man drink a bunch of water and it only gets more interesting from there. The man, Hadji Ali will amaze you even though he won’t say a word.
Next is a video from a current man who can do something similar, but far more interesting. As far as I can tell from watching the videos, this isn’t an illusion or a trick. This man is actually doing what he claims. It’s a little disturbing, but incredibly amazing. Stevie Star started doing this when he was a kid and apparently had so much fun with it just kept going. I’ve only included one video, but there are many out there and each contains slightly different variations and other stunts. If one has you interested, I recommend checking out others to see just what else he can do.
So this was what I was doing while my brain was being crushed by incredible sinus pressure. I also discovered a cool web comic reading app that I will discuss and review tomorrow.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: Rough Couple of Days
I suffer from what’s known as Low-Pressure Migraines. That means when a low pressure system moves in (usually before it rains) I get these terrible headaches as my sinuses fill up and do their best attempt to crush my brain. Usually I can function normally. Sometimes they hit hard and knock me down. That’s the way I’ve been the past couple of days. I haven’t written because my head hurts. I’ve done my day job, but feels like I’ve been in a fog.
Last night I was in bed by 7:30. I took my heavy meds. I read for a little bit and passed out with a book on my chest. I think I lost my place to, but I’ll figure out where I was. My eyes have hurt, my head has hurt and it’s affected my productivity. On top of that, we did a fun beach day that ended in rain and I had to get up at 5AM Sunday Morning to do some work (testing that a database patch was successfully installed).
Now it’s Tuesday and I’m feeling run through the wringer. When I take my stronger meds it wears me out, wipes me out, and runs me down. I don’t like the medicine-head feeling they give me. I need to yawn a few times, and get this out of my system.
I had wanted to finish Of Gnomes and Dwarves Book 1 before the end of October so I might start V&A II for NaNoWriMo. That may still happen. I’ve knocked out a couple words here and a couple words there. I’m coming up to the big battle scene and those almost write themselves. I’m sure a lot will change from what I’d written before. We’ll see how it goes. I’m hopeful, now that I have my brain back, that I can get back on track and get that done.
I’ve done a little plotting on V&A II. I’ll need to get more done before November hits. I’m liking where the story is going. I hope it’ll be as fun of a ride as the first. Just like with OGAD I can’t wait to revisit these characters. They’re a lot of fun.
My Favorite Daughter played a great volleyball game last night. Unfortunately they lost. :(. They still have two more games to play before the season is out and have a winning record thus far with only 3 losses. So proud at how well the team has done this season. In about a month and a half, club season will start. Only a short break before that begins in December.
There is much to do. So many words, so little time.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: Wait, it was supposed to rain?
Friday night we went to watch the Grossmont team stomp all over the Valhalla team. Oh, wait a minute. Grossmont didn’t win. The game was close with Grossmont winning most of the way and Valhalla came back to win. This was disappointing. Grossmont has a great cheering section for their football team so it was a tough loss. The Millican’s son had been brought up from the JV team to play on Varsity, but he was only put in on the last couple of plays. Had he been on defense, there’s a great chance that a couple HUGE plays by Valhalla wouldn’t have occurred and Grossmont would have won. Perhaps the next game.
Yesterday my favorite daughter decided she wanted to have a bonfire (some would same bomb fire which I’m glad it wasn’t) on the beach. Once I’m on the beach I don’t mind being there. It’s all the getting things ready, packing up the vehicle, buying all the food/drinks/misc that drives me nuts. Once I’m sitting down, I’m happy.
We got there late with a few of her friends, set up, and got ourselves a little fire going. My favorite daughter was excited to be wearing a sweatshirt and sweats to the beach. It wasn’t nearly as cold as I thought it would be. We took Tootsie with us and let her run free (there’s a dog section of Coronado Beach and we were close enough to that part. It was great fun. The wife and I took a nice little walk. The kids played with the volleyball and football. We roasted hot dogs, ate donuts, made smores, got rained on.
Yes, it was only a 30% chance of rain and boy did it come down! It started misting which was fine. We packed up the food. But then it started to sprinkle. We were still fine enjoying the fire. Then god decided we shouldn’t be at the beach and the sky opened up for about 15 minutes (felt like much longer). Everything got soaked. We all smelled like wet dog. Of course we waited until after the rain stopped to actually pack up our stuff and head for high ground.
Sputtery truck probably still smells this morning. I’m afraid to go open it up. We’ll see.
Oh, we also went to visit my mother-in-law. She had taken a trip to the hospital. They readjusted her pacemaker and kept her for a couple of days. She’s doing much better now that they made the adjustment. We’ll all be heading over there today to BBQ some burgers and just have a good time with family.
I didn’t write Friday, or Saturday. I’ll write a little today, but probably not much. I have watched a couple videos on Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop so I’ll be doing some more playing with those as well. It should be a lot of fun. I’m learning a lot and I love to learn. It’s been a while since I picked up something new and as I said, this will play into a new project I’m going to work on in the coming weeks.
I’m still going to try and finish Of Gnomes and Dwarves before Nov 1st. I need to do a little plotting on V&A II. There is so much to do I’d better get on some of it before we need to leave.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: How’d that happen?
Before I get started, I’d like to ask one thing of you. I’m attempting to win a couple books from Jay Lake. There is a caption contest here. If you like my caption, please vote it up. If you don’t, I understand. And Thank you for your support 🙂
A little bit about Jay Lake, he’s got cancer (again) and is going through a rough patch. If you have a little time, check out his site, see if his work interests you,and pick up a book if you’re able.
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This morning I was taking my favorite daughter to school. As I turned the corner to the main road I saw an ambulance way back behind us. I joked that I’m going to outrun the ambulance and make the turn to school. Being that it was so far behind this, it wasn’t something that would be difficult but I wasn’t trying to do anything stupid. I made the turn to the road her school is on and joked again that we beat it! Then we were stuck at the end of a very long line of cars. I saw the ambulance turn the corner and promptly got to the side of the road and the entire line followed suit. Color me impressed.
People dropping their kids off at her school can sometimes be…frustrating. With unsignaled turns, illegal u-turns, kids jaywalking, people pulling out without looking, drastic stops and starts, it’s an accident just waiting to happen. My first thought was that I hoped no one had gotten hurt.
As we got closer to the school, they were waving people away from the first drop off point, Freshman Circle. I only ever went in there once and it was so difficult to get back out that I vowed never to try that again. My Favorite Daughter made it to school on time, but I spent the better part of the morning trying to get back out. Looking into the circle we could see a firetruck and the ambulance. Then I saw the car.
*Note: We were stopped. I do my best to keep traffic flowing and not rubber neck.
The car had hopped the curb and crashed into one of the many concrete barricades. The car was in bad shape. The concrete looked unconcerned. All I could think at that point was “I hope everyone is alright.” Well, that and “How’d they managed do do THAT?”
Freshman circle isn’t that big. There are usually a lot of other cars, buses, foot traffic. So get enough speed to do that much damage couldn’t have been easy. My guess is that will be the talk of the school this morning. I’ll post an update tomorrow once I know what happened. Again, my hope is that no one was seriously injured.
On the Writing Front: I got 1500 words knocked out yesterday. I hope to have a repeat performance again today. There are many things to do so it may or may not happen. We will just have to wait and see how it goes. I’m getting to the really exciting parts of Of Gnomes and Dwarves so the writing should start to go faster. I don’t want to rush it and skip over details. I did a little editing last night as I was going due to the fact that I had to go back and check some facts and better understand what I had laid out.
I’m starting to plot out V&A Shipping II. Yes, I’m finally going to write the sequel. I already have the first line in my head and I’ll re-write this when I start NaNoWriMo: “Kid, it’s kind of hard to lose a planet.” At least that what I think I want the first line to be. Just like with the first V&A Shipping, we’re dumped right into the action. It’ll be another roller coaster ride and I’m going to have a lot of fun in November revisiting Vic, Argman, Joey, June, and Dexter. I’ll, of course, have to add a new android and some other new shipmates. I have plans, I have characters in mind, and I know you’ve waited far too long for a follow-up book. I don’t know, at this time, if I’ll be podcasting it. I don’t know if B.T. Justice and Junior will return, but I’m certain they’ll play a role in there somewhere. Like I said, still in the plotting stages at this point.
The first book was a mash up of Smokey and the Bandit and Star Wars (an intergalatic beer run) but book II will not be like Smokey and the Bandit II. Hopefully my sequel will have a little more substance. Again, we’ll just have to wait and see. No matter what happens, it’ll be fun. Trust me on that one.
Okay, before I can do any of that, I need to get through the work day.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: I forgot how much fun this is.
I used to do my daily updates…well, daily. I had gotten into a rhythm but it started to feel forced. Sure some days I would sit and type what was on my mind, but I wasn’t enjoying what I was writing. I cannot explain why, I just wasn’t. I think I had made it feel like an obligation and once something becomes an obligation it loses some of its luster. I should be doing this because I enjoy it, right?
So the past couple of posts have been fun. I wanted to post something that seemed to be a theme on me yesterday. Little pick-me-up videos. One I found over on Google+. The other two are songs, one I heard on the radio, the other came up on my music shuffle.
The first of from the PBS Painter, Bob Ross. I used to watch him paint as a kid and be amazed watching him. Someone took a bunch of his more famous quotes and made it into a music video. If you’re an artist you can always change the words “Every day is a good day when you paint” to whatever suits your needs. For me, when you write, works great.
The second is a Katy Perry Song. Yes, I’m not a big Katy Perry fan because more of her songs about topics I can relate to. But Firework is one of those uplifting songs that’s just fun.
And finally is Queen. How can you NOT be inspired by Queen? I had always heard the song, but never really listened closely to the lyrics. This song is just as inspiring and uplifting as Firework.
If you’re feeling a little down and need something to pick you up, give a listen to any or all three. I’ll be back tomorrow with more updates on stuff I’m working on. For now, I’m going to get back to working on it all.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
Daily Update: That feeling of frustration
I haven’t written in a couple of days. That’s frustrating. It’s not from a lack of desire. It’s from a lack of time. I know this will occur, but hey, I can still feel frustrated, right?
I know that I shouldn’t. I’m still thinking of what I want to/need to write so that means my writing sessions will be more productive.
There’s also the upside as to why I haven’t written. 1) Getting a lot of work on the day job done (even at night) and 2) My favorite daughter’s volleyball team is kicking ass!
My favorite daughter loves volleyball. I love that she loves volleyball. I love to sit on the side next to the wife and other parents and cheer them on. I feel great (for them) when they win. I suffer when they lose. Monday’s game was against a team they’d beaten earlier in the season. In two games (best two out of three). Monday they lost the first game 20-25. They won the second 25-23. The third game was a stressful back and forth and back and forth that finally ended in a win of 18-16 (a game to 15 points that must be won by 2 points). The girls all fought and even if they’d lost, they had nothing to be disappointed about.
Then I watched the Chargers choke on Monday night football and decided to just go to bed knowing that my favorite daughter is on an awesome team.
Last night I had to go to the store a couple of times and do some late night work to get a bit ahead on the project I’m working on. I’m ahead now and I feel good about that. The past two nights have left me spent. So rather than try and write, I watched a couple speed painting videos (I’m learning Photoshop and Illustrator). These helped relax my brain and I’m trying to do something every day with regards to learning how to draw.
I’m learning that drawing is much like writing. It’s all about layers, one on top of the other. It’s a recursive process that you need to go over, and over, and over to get it right. You can just BANG done. I think that’s always been my problem with drawing in the first place.
So I haven’t progressed as much as I would have liked in the past couple of days. That needs to change as I want to have the first draft of Of Gnomes and Dwarves completed before NaNoWriMo starts. Why? During November I want to Start on V&A Shipping II. Yes, after all these years I’m going to write a sequel to V&A Shipping. I’ve got the story in my head, I’ve got a plot in my head, I just need to get some words down, a chapter by chapter blow, then prepare for November where I’ll be writing at least 50,000 words which will be a great start on V&A II.
Before I can do that, I need to get through the work day. I’d better go do that.
Until Tomorrow!
WOO WOO!
J.R. Murdock 