Shade's Words and Worlds

A little bird chirped

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:50:03 GMT

08:13 Today is decorating day. I'm not crazy enough for Black Friday... #
08:13 @domynoe lol I've been up since 4:30... shorty decided it was time. #
16:38 @wilw thanks for pointing that essay out. Amazes me what some can do with foundations like that; wish fewer grew up to repeat the cycle. #

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A little bird chirped

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:50:05 GMT

09:46 watching NeverEnding Story with kidlets... I'd forgotten how much I love this movie. #

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A little bird chirped

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:50:04 GMT

11:58 and oldest is sick again today. What fun this month has been. This whole damn year, in fact. #

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A little bird chirped

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:50:04 GMT

19:30 @domynoe and just how many spam followers do you think you'll get for that last post? lol #
22:52 @Magic_BW it isn't that hard actually. candles I mean. There are a lot of good resources out there. #

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A little bird chirped

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:50:03 GMT

17:23 @domynoe so sorry sugs. I really hope you guys wipe the floor with those scumbags. #
21:38 @Magic_BW write one that works ;) #

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A little bird chirped

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:50:07 GMT

08:24 OK. couple of days off for sick kids and family visits. Back to #nanowrimo today. Start count: 42,793 #
17:16 RT @domynoe: Begging for help: domynoe.livejournal.... I'm just trying to keep a roof o/our heads. #
17:31 sorry busted link in my last post. try this one: bit.ly/2EeMez #

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A little bird chirped

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:50:07 GMT

21:17 @gracebrierwood You can do it!! #

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Writer's Block: Present Perfect

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:26:36 GMT

What’s the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received?

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My first Christmas without my mom, there was this one little present... one of the last things she ever did was order two presents - one for me and one for my brother. Mine is a little limoges box. A red stocking with two kittens peeking out, an orange tabby and a black and white tuxedo cat. At the time, I had Marmelade (the orange tabby) and Lucky (the black tuxedo). It's the only christmas decoration that I never put away. It's the last thing I have from her and, while it may not be the best best (that would be the covellite necklace she designed for me), it's the one with the most impact.

A little bird chirped

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:50:08 GMT

08:42 Hey creative type people - need a little help. Strong, short, not overused male name... I'm stuck. #

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A little bird chirped

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:50:05 GMT

15:23 Oldest has decided that today is a good day to be ill. no #nanowrimo for me. #

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A little bird chirped

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:54:12 GMT

07:55 And when one question unravels the plot for the second half of the novel? What then? You change the rules... #amwriting #nanowrimo #
17:22 only 11k to go... #nanowrimo #amwriting #
17:51 @ericahayes I'm just glad to be writing again - been WAY too long... How's it going? #
18:58 @ericahayes oooh :) that's when it's most fun - all wide open, nothing but potential :) good luck! #

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A little bird chirped

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:50:07 GMT

07:58 Today's nanogoal: 5k. At this point, I'm ready to be done so I can start the revisions. #nanowrimo #
12:50 nap time just went poof... people here to cut up the parts car and take it away. LOUD. #
13:18 ok. nm. the didn't use the saw I expected but the very quiet torch thingy. Very quiet for dismantling a hunk of blue machinery. #
23:07 didn't make half the progress I wanted today, but I still managed about 2k. And a lot of notes about what needs fixed later. #nanowrimo #

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A little bird chirped

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:50:06 GMT

17:34 today has been better - feeling a little better, definately got more words today. May hit yesterday's goal. #

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Nearly normal...

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:06:19 GMT

Having nanowrimo to push me, I've actually been making myself write. And it turns out that, past the day one flub, I've done pretty well at maintaining a daily thing (excepting yesterday when I felt like snarf). I think this is the closest I've felt to normal (for me) as I've felt all year. I cannot begin to explain how nice that feels. (totally unrelated note... pandora just totally messed with my mood and started playing rikki martin after about an hour of nice dark instrumentals... Usually I love pandora but that kinda made me lose my focus) Anyway - I'm really hoping that this keeps going, pushes into the rest of the year. I really need a bit of normal in my life right now.

In wordcount world - I'm nearly 35k into this one and it's rough - really really really rough - and will be expanded probably doubled in the rewrites - maybe more if this does turn out to be the sketch of two books and not one. I write weird. I don't outline, I don't do character work, I just sit down and go. But the very first draft - has virtually no description beyond a few random lines I like. It is the barest of bones type draft, nearly a long outline if you stretch the definition some. The next draft will be longer and better and prettier. Right now - it's about as big a mess as the inside of my head. But, for now, I'm excited about writing again and that's more than enough. This project is really different for me. Not something I've ever written before. A bit of an urban fantasy I think... right now - my pretty little heroine is about to get the upper hand on a woman who has been pretty nasty thus far but is about to have a change of heart. Why you ask? why else? a shared goal... Sometimes, to get things done, you have to turn to someone you would never believe would help. Anyway - I've got to get back to work before she starts being a pain in my head.

A little bird chirped

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:50:23 GMT

07:55 Happy Birthday to the Marines! Semper Fi! #
08:22 Oldest off to school, youngest happy. Time to work. #amwriting #nanowrimo goal today is to hit 35k #
10:25 probably not going to make goal today. think youngest's cold is starting to catch up to me bleh. #
17:25 I've gotten next to nothing done today- justnot feeling that great today. #

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A little bird chirped

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:50:05 GMT

07:55 Today's goal is a short one - break 30k. Have some stuff around the house that needs doing. #nanowrimo #amwriting #
12:01 Youngest has decided I'm evil. Putting away the halloween decorations. He threw a huge fit when I boxed up his pumpkins. #
15:34 I'm not getting nearly as far nearly as fast today.... still 2k short of today's goal #nanowrimo #amwriting #
17:35 about 700 words from today's goal. I can do that :) #nanowrimo #amwriting #
17:36 Today is a bit more scattered as far as my focus goes. I had wanted to get a lot more done. Not complaining. 30k is nothing to sneeze at. #
18:14 Made goal. Am happy. May write more later if the mood strikes. #

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The benefits of Nanowrimo

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:38:24 GMT

I've written more in the last 9 days than I have all year. Mostly, this goes to show what a craptastic year it's been. Nanowrimo has been good for me. I'm a little bit better than halfway through a decent zero/splat draft. I still have zero idea how it's going to end. No, I know how I think it'll end, I just don't know how I'm going to get there just yet. Really hoping I can find a way to do it without being truly and utterly horrible to my poor characters. It was nice to see that I broke 30k today. For 9 days, with two kidlets who aren't fully well - that's really not bad. It makes me wonder what I'll be able to do when the youngest is a little older and in school too... We shall see...

But - back to the draft now. Just the draft. (and a few notes on how to fix it in revisions since I've thought of things since I started that I need to tie into the beginning.)

A little bird chirped

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:50:07 GMT

11:22 Yay! broke the 25k mark in my #nanowrimo draft. Very happy. Would be slightly happier if it were also the halfway mark of the draft. #
16:50 @bignutter Cynric, an old english name that according the interwebs means 'with royal might' #

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A little bird chirped

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:50:05 GMT

07:48 Starting count: 17100. Goal for today: 22200. #amwriting #nanowrimo #
11:50 yay! passed the 20k mark :) might get to the halfway point today after all, words keep coming like they are. #nanowrimo #
17:26 @vg_ford Congrats Val! #
17:49 made my daily goals for the day 22223 so I'm happy. I was kinda sorta hoping for 25k but the day's not done yet. #amwriting #nanowrimo #
20:51 didn't get much more done - ended up watching a movie with the kids. But, 23753 is a good stopping point for tongiht. #nanowrimo #

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A little bird chirped

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:50:05 GMT

08:27 The goal today is no less than 2k. I'm already behind where I wanted to be by now. That's life. Onward. #nanowrimo #
11:19 work is going pretty darn smooth today - even with housework breaks. yay! #nanowrimo #
15:34 my villian just decided he doesn't want to be the villian. He wants to save the girl instead... hmm. #nanowrimo #
16:13 14434 and it's just getting interesting. Going to take a lot of work later but for now... just the draft ma'am. #nanowrimo #amwriting #
16:33 @Lenneth Thanks - it helps a lot that I don't have a 9-5 to interfere. Just kidlets and housework. #

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just testing it out.

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:53:07 GMT

A little bird chirped

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:50:06 GMT

07:31 didn't get as far yesterday as I wanted. Fussy babe. Probably won't today either as same babe decided to be wide awake between 1-4. #
21:35 exhaustion and mad crazy headache put a big damper in my nano progress today. Did manage to get about 1500 though. #nanowrimo #

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A little bird chirped

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:50:08 GMT

06:51 Oldest going back to school today! Hoping to match yesterday's count. It seems to be coming together now... #nanowrimo. #
08:16 boy off to school, babe content, time to write. #nanowrimo #
09:55 only put in 1k so far today. not bad, not great. certainly not on parr with yesterday. #nanowrimo #
10:56 nearing 2k for the day but it's time to take a cuddle break with the youngest. Will write more later #nanowrimo #
16:20 @Lenneth I totally hear that! Fortunately my youngest was clingy so I had a great excuse to do nothing but cuddle and plot #
16:26 magic - the fantasy writer's duct tape. #amwriting #nanowrimo #

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Writing again...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:01:06 GMT

Which is good. Even if this story gets trunked, it's good to be writing again. I'm nearly caught up to the minimum of where I need to be to have a first draft by the end of the month. My firsts are generally longer than 50k, so while 50k might be the nanogoal, my goal is actually a complete first draft. I need to have a couple really solid days to be able to manage. I have no doubt I'll be able to make the 50k though. This one is a little out of my comfort zone genre wise. I tend to play in the fields of scifi and old school fantasy. This is urban fantasy - I think. Watch me be wrong. I don't know yet where it's going but I'll figure it out.

I did have some ideas for the fix of Purgatory's Queen - where the plot kinda died on me in the middle... But I've written down some notes and filed it away until after this draft is done. What I need to do is sit down two or three times a year and pound out a rough draft. Everything can be fixed in the edit process. If I'm ever to come close to reaching the goals I have for myself - I need to refocus, to dedicate myself a bit more to them. It's been a tough year for writing because of everything else going on and I just really need the peace that comes with writing. I tend to lose myself a bit when I write, when I'm really in the zone. It makes all the rest of the troubles I'm obsessing over take a seat in the back of my mind and be quiet for a while. Back to getting boy ready for school - then it's writing time!

A little bird chirped

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:50:04 GMT

07:03 might be back in the nano game... I'll know by the end of the day. There's potential though #
09:29 OK. Up 1700 words. I have a lot of catching up to do but I'll manage. I just hope the story hold out long enough. #nanowrimo #
09:52 2300... want to hit at least 5k today. Better if its 7. then I'll no longer be behind. #nanowrimo #
10:30 Time to take a break for housework and phone call. up to 2700 #nanowrimo #
12:03 3255 - about halfway to where I want to be by the end of the day #nanowrimo #
16:10 made it to 5600 words. a bit over my minimum and I'm not yet done. Yay! #nanowrimo #
16:35 feeding the snake today. Youngest decides first that the rat is a rabbit. Snake takes the rat and babe says 'rabbit all gone' #
16:36 I found it funny anyway. Would be less funny if we still had the burmese that actually did eat rabbits. #
19:48 ok - made 6440 words today. will come back to it after V. Really want to break 7k today. Then I'll be all caught up. #nanowrimo #

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