i haven't blogged much at all this nanowrimo have i?
well tonight at the writing session i crossed the 50,000 mark for another year. i didn't jump up or cheer or anything. it was more a feeling of "glad that's over!" not that the story is done... but then again, there was barely a story to begin with.
this is easily the second worst nano novel i've written (the worst being 2006). it is total garbage.
i may retire from nanowrimo. i don't get the same thing out of this as i used to...
well i still kind of hate my novel, but at least i'm managing to write more words without wanting to off myself.
it helps when i remind myself that nanowrimo novels aren't like regular novels. i was in the middle of writing a very boring scene when i decided that out of the blue, the wall of the office would be knocked in by an explosion. i hadn't planned on any explosions happening for quite a while, and i'm really not sure who caused the explosion or why, but it got me writing again.
my novel looks like it's turning into a series of somewhat random action scenes strung together, instead of what i had hoped it would be. that's the nature of nanowrimo, though--letting go of things like expectations and lofty goals :P and i like writing action scenes, even if i'm not actually good at it... i just like writing them.
word count: 5037
It's only day 2 of writing my Nanowrimo novel and so far I'm already hating it. Bleah. Sorry for the negative post so soon. But this year feels almost as bad as 2006 did.
I think this is partly because I did not plan enough in advance-- that is to say, not at all. So I don't have any good idea of where any of the story is going. I get bored way too easily and if I just plunk words down on the page without something interesting up ahead to look forward to, I just want to stop.
In the years in which I had more success, I definitely did more plotting and thinking in advance. But I even tire of my premise now.
So hard not to just throw in the towel, especially since I've done this five times before already.
Sorry again for the downer post...
i am back for nanowrimo 2008, after not participating in 2007 due to general nano-burnout, but i am rested now for this year!
i've not even been blogging much in the last couple of years, or even writing much email, so all of my writing muscles are withered and atrophied. except for the code-writing muscles, that is, but writing stuff like
anim_cb.addEventListener(Event.ACTIVATE, function (e:Event) {
var dp:DataProvider = new DataProvider();
for (var i:String in AnimInfo.info) {
dp.addItem({label:i, data:i});
}
e.target.dataProvider = dp;
});
doesn't really help with the fiction-writing.
i'm not particularly prepared--all i have is a vague premise--but i am hoping that the kick-off party will help inspire me :)
my nano novel is going to be about a group of people who were monster hunters together in high school in the 80s, but now, more than 20 years later, they are called upon again to fight some new threat or something. it will be about growing old, 80s nostalgia, and giant monsters. in theory, anyway.
i don't have a title yet but i'm sure that will come shortly!
“I really dig Joanne Trollope, but I think this is my least favourite of hers I've read so far.
Her writing style is still lovely and engaging, but the plot itself I found empty and a bit boring. Dealing with adult children returning home to an awaiting mother and a stressed father made me think of that god awful situation comedy, 'No Place Like Home'. She even makes reference to how the father in the book finds himself sounding like a bad family comedy dad on television.
A bit of a dissappointing, I didn't feel like anything happened other than the fact that the kids realized that they needed to grow the hell up and mom gets a life after children.
Andre Gide - "Be faithful to that which exists within yourself."
Also...I have to admit my dirty secret. I freaking, freaking, freaking LOVE Harlequins. Crammed between my David Sedaris, Jonathon Franzen, and the History of Canadian Economics you'll find:
My thoughts? Well, it's CHOCKED full of bad French cliches and expressions, the heroine has the same sense of logic as a spatula, and there's little plot but lots of 'romantic' scenes that border on the pornagraphic. To sume up, I have to say it was one of the best books I've read this year. Perfect braincandy.
Seriously, I love this shit.
I spent years never admitting to it - but something changed in my life. I was working at the uni and I remember being in a meeting where a group of academics were sitting around doing the all time competitive sport, 'How much I don't watch television'.
'I rarely watch television, maybe once a week.'
'When I do, it's limited because I don't have cable.'
'I don't own a television so I wouldn't know.'
'I've never even heard of television.'
I remember my boss, who had her doctorate from Harvard just piping up. 'Well, I do have a television and every single night I come home and watch 'The Simpsons' and I also try to catch 'Southpark' when I can.'.
I think that's when I fell in love with her.
Well, for one, it's pirate day at my grandniece's school.
And second, I don't hate PETA today. (We have a very, VERY tumultuous relationship.) I don't hate them because they got KFC Canada to change the way in which they raise and slaughters their chickens.
But OMG, they also got them to introduce a Vegan Chicken.
Seriously, it's like a dream come freakin' true. As you all know, I'm not someone who's a big meat eater but unfortunately the two things that keep me from becoming a vegetarian are bacon and KFC...and it's not the chicken I'm addicted to, it's the freaking secret coating.
So, now I get tofu covered in KFC? oh fuck off. Now, someone invent a GOOD veggie bacon and I'll be a very happy vegetarian.
I'm really happy about this. It's one of the things that makes my life easier because unless you go to a restaurant that caters to vegetarians, half the time your choice on the menu is salad, bread or olives .
As David Alexander of the Toronto Vegetarian Association says,
YES! Give us more choice!
So I read over at Shatnerian's about this senior's choir called Young @ Heart that sings contemporary(ish) songs such as 'I Want to Be Sedated', 'Stayin' Alive', etc. As John says the result is quirky and wonderful.
I went to youtube myself to see more of their songs and I came across 'Downtown'. The lyrics were so shockingly age appropriate that it seemed as if their entire generation had claimed such ownership that no one under 70 would ever be allowed to sing this song.
I'm thinking how interesting it is when songs are transplanted. We've all heard covers of songs put into different context - move it out of their original music genre or culture which puts a different twist on the lyrics and music This definately does the same, by giving a song over to a different generation, it puts it into a whole different light. The reality of and 80 year old how has a lot of history and maybe not so much time, gives these songs a beautiful new meaning. Especially the next song I watched was Coldplay's 'Fix'. As stated on the youtube description, there's a rather sad story behind this performance.
The performer here is Fred Knittle, who suffers from congestive heart failure. This song was intended to be a duet between Fred and another chorus member, Bob Salvini. Sadly, Bob died of a heart attack and it was left to Fred to carry the song on his own.
Other songs, however, merely have a charm because of how oddly displaced the words in the mouths of seniors, including, ironically enough, David Bowie's 'Golden Years'. But that's not to discount the wonderfulness of hearing 'I Will Survive' on a violin.
i'm glad i took a break from nanowrimo in 2007. i didn't enjoy nano 2006 much because i was too burned out. i know i made the right choice-- not only did i not miss it, but i'm starting to come up with ideas for nanowrimo this year! that's a good sign.
I borrowed ‘Angela’s Ashes’ from my mother in law back in November (does it REALLY take me 2 months to read a freakin’ book?). Her and her sister warned me that it’d be super depressing and did I really want to read it.
Okay, it’s not a 100% happy story, but maybe I’ve read too much Irish literature because I didn’t actually GET depressed. Sure it was sad enough, but it’s a great story about life in Ireland during the 30’s/40’s and certainly is a testimony to the human spirit to overcome god awful conditions. As he says in the book, it’s a wonder they survived childhood at all.
The only thing that really got to me was the father’s drinking, but I think that just comes of having had dealt with an alcoholic before in my own life (NOT my father though)….that waiting for someone to come home and knowing they’ll be drunk.
But you know what was weird? I kept reading the book in an Irish accent. That’s so messed up. I don’t know why I do that with some books. I do it when I read books about the Carribean - I start reading in a Jamacian accent. Maybe I’m just a freak.
At least I’m not B.E.W.B. (Being English while Britney)’
