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Tag Archives: NaNoWriMo

A Cunning Scheme

I told you I wasn’t going to be doing NaNoWriMo this year, and I told you why. That was a clever lie.

Here’s the truth. In less than two weeks, the fiftieth anniversary special of Doctor Who will be airing worldwide. I can’t possibly be expected to be productive in the days leading up to that, especially with Thor: The Dark World premiering last week (and starring the 9th Doctor, Christopher Eccleston as the villain!) and Catching Fire hitting theatres soon. Too much to do, boys and girls. Too much to do. Back to rewatching Matt Smith’s run of Doctor Who and do some writing.

Why I Won’t Be Doing NaNoWriMo This Year

It’s nearly the end of October, and as you may be aware, my favorite holiday is rapidly approaching. Hallowe’en is less than a week away, and I’ve been making some arrangements for upcoming events. Looking at the way things will be falling into place over the next month has left me no choice but to say this. I will not be participating in NaNoWriMo this year.

I’ve done NaNoWriMo for the last two years. When I first started I was couchsurfing and working one job, nineteen hours a week. I had plenty of time to tackle the project, and I was giving Scrivener a go at the same time. It seemed perfect to me, and I managed to crank out over 30,000 words in the course of the days leading up to Thanksgiving. Then my car almost died on my way home for the holiday, and my ability to focus went out onto the highway along with all of my coolant.

Last year, I was back to two jobs (actually, the same two that I’m doing now… I feel somewhat accomplished for that in and of itself), and decided that I wanted to tackle a totally different genre for me second attempt. I changed my mind partway through, and told myself I was going to edit my NaNo project from the year before instead. I was still apartment hunting. I was convinced that NaNo would bring the structure that my life needed. It didn’t. I got essentially zero progress done on any fiction writing. I was disappointed, to say the least. So this year, I’m going on NaNo Hiatus.

This doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be writing. It definitely doesn’t mean that. In fact, I’ll probably be writing more than usual. However, I’ve got multiple small projects that I’m going to be working on that are going to be taking priority over an attempt to cobble 1600+ words together each day. I have existing stories that need fleshed out. I need to place focus on them.

Damn straight, Jean-Luc.

My favorite part of this meme is the look on Jonathan Frakes’ face.

Not that facebook is the biggest distraction I have from writing, but you get the idea. Writing’s not the only thing I’ve got to focus on right now either. Whether I like it or not, I’ve still got two part-time jobs that keep me occupied. The bookstore job in particular is only going to get more intensive as the holiday season approaches. It’s the nature of retail, and as much as I dread the thought of another Christmas in that field, what I do is all about helping people find the right book.

So yeah, there’s the whole job thing kind of interfering with writing, but honestly, I’m not certain that NaNoWriMo is the right route for me to take through it, at least not right now. Maybe, if all goes well, I’ll have full-time employment by this time next year, and I’ll be able to drop all of my accumulated vacation days on November, and just take paid time off to write. That would be amazing.

Until then, I’m going to work on a couple of longer pieces that I plan to submit for publication, and whip together a few microfiction pieces for the various writing challenges that pop up throughout the month. To those of you who are tackling NaNoWriMo in a couple of days, I wish you the best of luck. It’s great for certain people at certain times in their lives, and can be spectacular simply to get the words out of your head. Those of you who won’t be doing NaNo are more than welcome to join me at the bar on Hallowe’en and toast to the crazy people who are hunkering down in the writing bunkers for the next thirty days. Cheers!

Upcoming Projects

Okay. I know that it’s been a busy summer. There have been a lot of things that I’ve been meaning to get done that haven’t been happening, at least just yet. Reviews I’ve wanted to write, books I’ve wanted to read, etc. I’ve been stretching myself a bit thin, and I’m starting to feel it. Still, if college taught me anything, it’s that I function very well when that last-minute-panic-feeling hits. I’ve decided that I need to do a bit of reorganizing in my life.

Right now, it’s just turned into August (Happy Birthday, Colorado!). That means that the Renaissance Festival is coming to an end, and my girlfriend will have a little bit of time for a social life before the school year starts up again (she wants to be a teacher, and I’m a little jealous of the fact that she will continue to have summer breaks for the rest of her career, not going to lie). I’m personally hoping she gets to write a little bit, but we’ve got a joint project coming up that’s going to take a lot of time. See, we’re both making our own costumes for our cosplays for NDK this year, and I’ve got a lot to learn. I’m pretty new to the sewing machine, and I’m very serious about making my costume myself, though I’m also very willing to accept any and all help. We have some absolutely amazing friends who are already doing more than they should to help with this. Now I’m not saying what the cosplay is, not just yet. I know many of my readers already know, but those of you who don’t get to be surprised. So, shhhh. It involves a haircut. That’s the only hint you get.

Cosplay stuff aside, I still have a lot of things to get done. There’s some job opportunities that I’m likely to be applying for, as having a single full-time job would be a lot easier to manage than the two part-time things I’m doing now. A set schedule would also allow me to better handle a daily writing schedule, particularly useful since November is coming. I’m still working on a purge of my book collection. I was able to unload some of my duplicate titles onto V, which was a great help to me. Now I just need one more bookshelf, and I might be able to have space for everything that’s in my apartment at the moment. Just one more. Then I can get more books, and the cycle can begin again. Book addiction, folks. It’s a serious issue.

Also up this week is the accomplishment of a life goal. Tomorrow night, I’ll be in Denver to see my all-time favorite band live for the first time. Rush is coming to town, and I am not about to miss it. I’m going to listen to Moving Pictures again this morning, and probably work my way through as much of the discography as I can before I fall asleep tonight. In the meantime, I’ve got to go to work. The patrons at the library need me.

NaNoWriMo Wrap-up

Well, NaNoWriMo has come and gone, as has No Shave November, and I’ll tell you I was a lot more successful at one of these than the other. I barely made any ground in my writing this time around, and I am not going to make excuses. I didn’t sit down to write every day, and that’s all there is to it. There’s always next year for NaNo, but I’d really like to get more writing done in the time between now and then.

The big advantage of my attempt at NaNo this year? I got a lot of planning done. It’s been a few months since I put a good effort toward Aurellis, the novel I started last NaNo. Arsus and Rime are being very patient with me, though they’ve been changing up their stories a bit of late. More on that, and new microfiction soon!

NaNoWriMo: Round Two

November of 2012 marks an important point for me. I’m going to be attempting my second National Novel Writing Month. Last year, though a failure in terms of actually reaching the goal of 50,000 words, was still a great success in that I poured out over 30,000 before losing steam at Thanksgiving.

This year, a lot of things have changed. I’m now working two different jobs, and my overall amount of free time for writing has been greatly reduced. There’s also a lot of uncertainty thus far about what this next attempt will include. I’ve been debating several ideas, and even today I shifted completely from one genre to another. Never mind the fact that I’m still in the process of finding a (semi) permanent new place to live. All of this could be occurring this month.

Did I mention that this month is also going to see the release of Halo 4, James Bond: Skyfall, Wreck-it Ralph, and a host of other games and films I want to play/see? Dethklok and Trans-Siberian Orchestra concerts? Thanksgiving with my family? Christmas shopping? Dungeons and Dragons campaign to finish running? A presidential election? Okay, now I’m just ranting. Point is, it’s a busy month. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got less than five hours to crank out my 1600 words for today. These 200 or so don’t count.

October Writing Challenge

Halloween is nearly upon us, with NaNoWriMo close on its heels, and that thought absolutely terrifies me. In the spirit of the season, I’m taking a page from Sonia M and asking my readers to take part in a writing challenge. This is the first challenge I’m hosting, and so it is going to focus on my favorite holiday. Craft a piece of horror-themed microfiction. Think Poe, Lovecraft, King, Machen, condensed into roughly 500 words.


The rules are simple.

1.) Theme: Write a horror-themed piece of microfiction.
2.) Genre: Other than the overall theme, there are no genre limitations. Write a steampunk/horror story, or a horror/romance, or science fiction/horror, just for some examples.
3.) Word limit: 500 words (approximate).
4.) Deadline: October 31st, 2012.
5.) How to submit: If you have a blog of your own, post your story on your blog and share a link in the comments on this post. If you don’t have a blog of your own, feel free to post the story in the comments here. If you do this, I will post the story in a separate post and re-link it here.
6.) Prizes: The reward of a job well-done and the knowledge that you managed to finish one more short piece before diving headfirst into NaNoWriMo.

Our Obsession

With the unfortunate continuation of the rise of “unscripted” reality television shows, it seems like every conceivable topic is getting at least one series dedicated to it. Some things are apparently even big enough to warrant entire cable/satellite networks dedicated to them. What’s that? You collect Beanie Babies and you’ve purchased ten of each one that came out since 1993 and your house is now in danger of collapse because you’ve knocked out supporting walls to make room for your little stuffed friends? Better go on Hoarders. Like tattoos? There’s Miami Ink and L.A. Ink. Friends with someone who loves the bizarre and macabre? Point them toward Oddities or Oddities: San Francisco.

It seems as though there’s something for everyone, right? Well, not quite. What about us? What about the writers? Where’s our series showcasing authors and libraries and bookstores and the pains of staying up all night for a week to try to meet a deadline? Apparently I’m not the first person to think this way. Back in May, Entertainment Weekly’s Stephan Lee (@EWStephanLee) proposed a concept, laying out a manner in which such a thing could be done. It’s sort of like televising your progress through Nanowrimo. I’m now debating running this as some sort of surreal web series. Watch my sanity slowly slip away as I attempt to craft a novel in thirty days! No, on second thought, don’t do that. Webcam will be hidden away. Fear not, dear readers.

In all seriousness, this is reality TV I could stand to watch, and might even actively follow. You’ve gotten everyone else, network execs. Where’s our obsession?

Good Morning!

Yes, it’s nearly 6 AM. Yes, I’ve been primarily subsisting on caffeine and alcohol today. How is this different from any other day? I’m at that perfect balance of booze-induced exhaustion and caffeine-induced insomnia that means that I’m ready to write. Here’s some updates, dear readers.

1.) NaNoWriMo. I tried and died this year, but I managed to get upwards of 30,000 words in the first three weeks of the project. I’m pretty damn proud of myself. I’ve proven to myself that I’m actually capable of sitting down and putting something cohesive and coherent together, outside of this blog. I’m quite pleased. In addition to said pride, I’ve gotten a damn good start on my first big writing project. The 30,000 words I wrote last month will serve as a springboard for me. I’m definitely going to try NaNo again next year. I don’t know if I’ll ever finish anything within the thirty day time frame, but I will find ideas and hope there. The motivation it provided was a much needed kick start. Thank you to everyone who supported me during November. I’ll keep trying. Arsus and Rime and the others are far too deeply buried inside my brain to let them go completely.

2.) The job hunt continues. Naturally. I’ve decided to try to branch out a little bit, and start applying for some jobs in Denver and the surrounding area as well. I would hate to leave the Springs, but at the same time, it’s hard  to limit myself when I know that there could be better possibilities elsewhere. I’m not planning to leave town any time soon, though. I would find it very hard to leave all of my friends behind (and, by the way, I feel closer to most of the people that I met in college than to any of the people I knew from preschool through senior year of high school, and I’m not sure if this is weird or not). I’m not trying to be picky about jobs. Especially not after reading this earlier today (or was it late yesterday?). Speaking of cracked.com, I’m considering applying as a writer there. Supposedly, if you can write comedy, you can write anything. I don’t know if this is true or not, but I guess I’ll never know until I try. I’m sort of connected to a writing/editing/reading job now, but at the moment, it’s pro-bono, so it’s strictly for experience. It’s hard to remain focused on a job like that when it’s web-based and not paying off immediately. I’d say that’s a pretty rough choice for someone in a writing field, because it’s difficult enough trying to get a job that’s not just a crappy retail or customer service gig. Been there, done/doing that. I don’t know that I can justify NOT doing it, though, given my financial outlook at the moment. Conundrum? Maybe, but probably not in the long run.

3.) Christmas is coming. I love Christmas. It’s not my favorite holiday ever, but it’s still a pretty darn good one. I’m still not certain exactly what I’ll be doing in three weeks, but I’ll be with people who care about me, no matter what, and I hope that all of you are able to do the same. It’s a good time of year to be around family. I have a tendency to think that I’m going to be miserable when I go home, even though it’s rarely actually true. I can put up with my mother being upset that my hair is still long, and my ears are still pierced, and I’m not nearly as religious as I was ten years ago. I enjoy being around my relatives, but I’m also grateful that I don’t live in my hometown anymore. For the most part, it’s your typical small rural town full of small-minded people. Yes, that’s kind of an unfair blanket statement. There are plenty of people there who are more open-minded than others, but they’re few and far between in a town that boasts so many churches per-capita that I could attend a different one each month for a year and still not have completed the rounds. So naturally, I moved to Colorado Springs, right? Hahaha. Oh, local humor, how you amuse me in the early hours of the morning. I digress. I still like to see my family, and I know that they like to see me, and that my visits are far too infrequent and too short as far as they’re concerned. I’m happy with this. It’s best not to disillusion them just yet. 😀

4.) Aspirations are still at an all-time high. I’m optimistic. I’ve sent a short story in to another magazine, and I’m trying to write a couple more. The next one will probably weigh in a bit heftier than the one I’m showing people now, but we’ll see what happens. When inspiration strikes, you have to use it. I found this yesterday, and had to share it with you.

Seriously. That thing is awesome. That’s outside the main public library in Cincinnati. Who would have ever thought that I would have reason to go to Ohio? I guess I do now. I would love to see this thing in person. I’m fairly certain that the photos do not do it justice. I could spend the rest of my life wandering around old bookstores and libraries.

I’ve found some other awesome stuff as well. Like vintage clothing? Love old books as much as I do? Check out Out of Print Clothing. These people make some of the most amazing shirts I’ve ever seen, decorated with classic literary covers. And for those of you who like to read other people’s writing on other people’s books, check this out.

I think that just about wraps things up for now. I need to try to catch a few hours of sleep so that I can play more Zelda tonight, or finish A Dance With Dragons in the next day or so. Martin’s writing is still just as strong in this book, and I can’t wait to see how it wraps up and leaves things for The Winds of Winter. Here’s to hoping that we don’t have to wait six years. Peace!

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving had its ups and downs this year, as any year. The major downer? My car may be on the way out. 😦   We ran into some trouble on the way to my parents’ house, and she needs some work before she’s back in the realm of running. I’m trying to be hopefully optimistic about the whole situation, but my dad was being pretty negative. I don’t blame him for wanting me to consider the worst possible turnout for my car, but at the same time, it’s my car. I’ve had her for eight and a half years now, but I’m not ready to let her go just yet. I’m just hoping that I can get by with an inexpensive fix. I can’t exactly afford a new car or anything right now. *sigh*

On the plus side, I did have a good time visiting family. My gf and I had safe travels, despite the problems with my car, and we both made it back home in the end. I have a lot to be thankful for. My family is concerned for my well-being, my sister is letting me borrow her car for now, and I still have a place to live while I’m continuing to look for a 2nd job. All in all, life could be a lot worse.

Oh! So, I feel a little closer to being an actual writer. I have fallen behind on NaNo, and I probably won’t be able to hit 50,000 by the end of the month, but I’ve gotten a fantastic start. 30,000+ words is a really good boost towards an actual novel. I’m not about to give up on my project, but I’m not predicting being able to finish the remaining 20,000ish words in the next 3 days. It’s been a stressful week. I need to find a way to channel it. But I digress. My writing nature is fulfilled.  I have received my first ever rejection letter! My story wasn’t picked up by the editors at Strange Horizons, so it’s time to try again.

Catching Up is Hard to Do

I’ve fallen behind on NaNoWriMo. Several days behind. I could make excuses of things like the books I’ve been reading (on to A Dance With Dragons!), the work I’ve been doing at my actual paying job (and the ever-ongoing hunt for a 2nd one), or the video game that just came out earlier today that is attempting to swallow me whole (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword). I could. But I won’t. I won’t make excuses, because a writer writes, no matter what, and quite honestly, the words just haven’t been there the last few days. Thanksgiving is coming up, and by the time it gets here, it may be too late for me to complete things. However, I have every intention of continuing towards my goal. It means a lot of writing has to occur, and not here. I will not let laziness triumph over creativity. In the meantime, here’s something to boost your spirits! Charles Bukowski quotes! Oh, and just because I’ve found some great stuff via stumbleupon lately, have this, too.

Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s barely enough caffeine in my system, and I still need to write before I fall asleep. The Sand Sea lies before my characters, and a schemer lies behind them. What fate shall befall them? Only the pen knows, and it’s not saying anything at the moment.

Also, for anyone who’s interested, there may be a Skyward Sword review at some point in the near future. Thus far, art is gorgeous, music is beautifully orchestrated and highly reminiscent of Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, and the gameplay and mechanics are incredibly solid. The Collector’s Edition I preordered from GameStop included a WiiMotionPlus controller (in Zelda gold and emblazoned with a Triforce, no less), so I don’t even have to mess with adding the attachment to a standard controller. Plus, it came with a CD of several fully orchestrated songs from the series’ past. Very impressive. More on that in December, if I’m to have any chance of getting NaNoWriMo done.