kageotogi

NaNoWriMo is hosting an event called Camp NaNoWriMo, which is pretty much the same 50k/month word challenge except over the course of July and then August. I signed up for it, but haven't really written a word. I was playing with several ideas but the one I really wanted to do -- a collection of short, semi-autobiographical stories (including stories about ice cream trucks, nuns, and guys who take off their pants for no good reason) -- wound up putting me in a bind. I'm really bad at beginning stories, and a collection of shorts is really nothing but beginnings. I decided to put that on hiatus. I also considered writing an old fanfic idea I'd been playing with, but scratched that as well: that's a story that, if I write it, I want to write it well, and rushing it through a month isn't the way to go.

So, finally, I've decided to skip the Camp NaNoWriMo challenge and instead just make myself write every day on a single story or script (I haven't decided which medium would be better for the idea I have in mind; I'm leaning toward script right now, but I hate writing script so I'm questioning that judgment). I'm starting that today; I sketched out an opening scene for the script version and might try writing it in prose to see how it reads later, but so far it's a decent start.

Unrelated things!

I mentioned in my last post that I was heading to Ireland this fall. I'm really looking forward to that. Things I'm not looking forward to? Well, I have to make an appointment with an oral surgeon. I went to the dentist last week and found out that one of my wisdom teeth (because I haven't had them taken out) was starting to press against one of the molars, which is a Bad Thing. So I need to have it removed, and the dentist recommended I get them all removed while I was at it. My mother has already agreed to cart me to and from the surgeon; I just need to make the appointment. (But guys, I haaaaate the dentist.) I'm going to try and schedule that for after Ireland but before the zombie run in October.

I apparently didn't mention the zombie run in my last post. Whoops! Um, long story short? RUN FOR YOUR LIVES is a 5k obstacle course in which the people running also have to avoid zombies. It's more of a speed and wit thing than anything else, and they were looking for both zombie and running volunteers... so I volunteered to participate as a zombie. I'm looking forward to it, but don't want to have my zombie moans be literal moans of "WHY DOES MY MOUTH HURT SO MUCH?". If that makes sense.

If it does come to that, then there might be heavy drinking involved. Just saying.

The other doctor's appointment I have coming up -- the one I actually scheduled, since I've put it off for over a year now -- is with a dermatologist for a skin cancer screening. Skin cancer is a huge risk in my family (my grandfather died of it) and when my mother was screened last year I promised I would do it shortly after. My appointment is the week (or two weeks? I'd have to look) after I get back from Ireland. That won't be so bad but I'm freaking out a little that they might actually find something, which is stupid because I'm relatively good about wearing sunscreen and really, what are the chances? But still, it's something I'm really trying not to think about right now.

Friend A signed up to do speed dating this evening, and because she didn't want to walk around downtown by herself and I (a) am perpetually single and (b) will try pretty much anything once, I signed up with her. I don't expect much of anything to come out of it, but it should at least be interesting, right? Right. If I get any good stories out of it, I will report back. Promise promise!

This little experiment went really well (yes, I wrote all three stories before the end of the day), so I'm going to try it again. However, since it's already nearly ten o'clock...

Is anyone even awake?

If so, then the first two people to comment to this entry with a fic prompt (any fandom with which I'm familiar) will receive a small fic within twenty-four hours. If I don't know the fandom, you'll have first dibs on selecting a different prompt; if you can't think of another prompt, the field will open up again.

Go go go!

I go longer and longer without posting every time. I'm not sure if this is a personal failing or if I really just have nothing interesting to say anymore, and then I have to wonder what happened to all the things that either were or at least made me think my life was more interesting and get a little paranoid that I've gone completely boring and then I can't post because I'm insecure that no one will care and, really, the eljay is partially for me but let's face it, other people read it so it's really partially for you as well, and what's the point if no one even cares?

And that's why I don't post. Or is it?

It's almost March! Can you believe that? I'm sure you can. You all probably deal much better with the months drifting by than I do. But it's still a bad, bad thing, ladies and gents, because many aspects of publishing go on a month-to-month thing, and that means the end of the month is a mad scramble to keep everything on time. On the other hand, it means we're one month closer to much more interesting things like, say, being able to sit outside and knit without freezing my bejeezus ass off, and that's all well and good. So yes.

I'm being a total slacker on the writing front lately, and that's got to really stop. Not only do I owe, like, a trillion drabbles to various people, but that Super Epic Everybody Does Tragic Fic I keep promising myself I'll do isn't being done. And that's no good.

Thus, even though it's a day early, I'm posting a to-do list. Because sometimes they work, and sometimes they keep me just a little more honest. And I could use a little more honesty, really.

( Thursday's Tasks )

( Friday's Foibles )

( Saturday's Scramble )

( Sunday's Siesta )

And that's that.

Today is the first day of September, and that means it's the first day of our NaNoWriMo test run, which I'm personally referring to as "Omfg What Was I Thinking"-Month. That would be OMFGWTF for short, I think. Or maybe I'll just stick with PreNoWriMo. Anyway, whatever. Let the games begin!

Today's Goal:

PreNoWriMo Total:

I get more and more behind on my page count every day (my fault. I tend to not write as much on days when I work), but you guys have all been really helpful over on this post. I still intend to work on the remaining prompts, if you were wondering (were you?), and am still more than willing to take more!

Ladies? Gents? Please, post more prompts! The same system works -- post a comment to this entry and I will post a reply story as soon as I'm able, more or less in the order prompts are received. You can post more than one. In fact, I implore you to post more than one. I'm trying to do at least one a day, though I make no real promises, and it's really a huge help. You know what? Go on and tell your friends, too! I don't mind. The more the merrier!

Prompt me!

At 417 pages and 119,971 words...

THE NOVEL FROM HELL IS DONE.

It's all unedited and in dire need of a second look, of course, but goddammit I finished the first draft and that is a good feeling, so there.

thstlenshmrock and I successfully completed this year's Script Frenzy, albeit by the skin of our teeth. Good job, us!

With that challenge done, I have to concentrate on The Novel From Hell, which I promised I'd finish by the end of May. Considering that back in September of last year I swore I'd have it done by the end of October, same year, I'm not really getting my hopes up. But it'd be nice, wouldn't it? And I'm so close to being done. It's really just a matter of writing the last two scenes. The second-to-last scene (the one I'm on) is of course a pain in the butt, though, and thus hindering my progress. But I'll do it, and I'll do it because if I don't do it I'll hate myself forever.

No kidding.

It's going to be a busy weekend! There is pie to be had tonight, I'm working the MASL cruise tomorrow, and punctuates, thstlenshmrock, and I will be rocking the Sheep & Wool Festival on Sunday. I'm holding out some hope that I can find a yarn I need while at the festival, but I'm not wholly confident in that one. I may have to bite the bullet, so to speak, and get a different dye lot. Le sad.

To close, mortenavida tagged me for a meme. I'm a little sad about this. In any case, I did the meme, then realized I had no way to post it, as my scanner is hidden away at my parents' house (the ink in the printer part dried up, so I didn't even bother taking it to the apartment... Not to mention how rarely I'd use it and how little room I had for it at the time). So I can't post the meme. Today.

Maybe this weekend.

I've lately been terrible about answering emails, live journal comments, and phone calls. I mean, I've always been bad at that sort of thing. Now I'm exceptionally bad at it. It's exciting, in that not really kind of way. I've got to stop putting things off.

thstlenshmrock and I joined flute choir, as I mentioned previously, and we're really enjoying it so far. I mean, there are some aspects that bother me, but those are all minor minor minor things, and I can overlook them. It's just great to be playing with a group again, to have new music, to actually have a reason to practice... It's nice. I'd forgotten how much I liked to play my flute. The music varies in difficulty, and I always seem to wind up with the part with all the middle-register Cs (which I guess will force me to start playing those in tune, huh? It's the hardest note to pin down, and of course here I am without a tuner to my name...), and it's great.

Also, the conductor (B., as I'll refer to him from here on out) is sort of a younger, hipper K. (my college director) in the respect that he says some really, really silly things. He has yet to say anything along the lines of "Get your clothes back on!" or "Let's go back to sex... section B", and I doubt he'll ever need to (Anna and I are very easily the youngest people in the choir right now), but he's pretty funny. Rehearsal yesterday was spattered with references to goop and blobs, and the one before that included a fishing metaphor.

It's fun. ^__^ I'm glad Anna talked me into it.

On the writing front, things are starting to look up. I'm still relatively idea-dry, but that's all right; I have some prompts left to do, and then I intend to seriously buckle down with the Novel From Hell. My new goal is to have it finished by the end of October -- well before NaNoWriMo begins -- so that I can justify stepping away from it for a month or two before I get into the tasking task (...) of goring it. I know from experience, sadly, that I'm absolutely horrific at goring my own work, so I may recruit some "volunteers" to help me out. We'll see how particularly brave I am about sharing that monster.

I've been staying late at work a lot lately, which is okay because I keep catching the late train to get in to work. I mean, I'm still working later than I should (going by the standard "working hours"), but whatever. It's working for me, seeing as how my most productive times typically come later in the day. It does sometimes make for a sketchy train ride home, but that's no big deal. When it starts to get dark early, however, I may need to change that up. I don't mind walking home alone in the dark, and I live in a relatively safe neighborhood (you know, for Baltimore), but still. You guys know the old adage. Better safe...

...I feel like I should post something really fun and interesting in order to make this journal entry worth it for you. Here. Have a baby in a tunnel, the best x-over picture ever, and political-themed Magic: The Gathering cards. Will that do? That'll do.

I miss feeling like I matter to other people (and how's that for an angst moment of the day?).

Random memes, moving, and work aside, it's been a rather slow few weeks. I've done little to no writing (because I'm a baaaaaad person), even less rp stuff (which might be a good thing? I'm not sure; I enjoy that sort of thing, after all), and a lot of reading (which I know is a good thing. Yay reading!). I'm suffering a sort of general malaise, and I'm not sure how to feel about it just yet.

In other news, I have the most completely stupid fish ever. But that makes her funny, and I'm all for it. ^__^ The fact that she's suddenly a little bit paranoid probably has something to do with it (Hobbes, K.'s kitten, hasn't learned that Kaylee is not a toy/source of attention/food group, and has made a habit of clawing at her aquarium. I'm not blaming him for it -- it's a cat thing! -- but it'll be nice when he grows out of it). Then again, Kaylee's always been a little paranoid. She's weird like that.

...I need to write something before I go absolutely bonkers, I think. I used to get most of my writing done during class or slow hours at work, but the Real World rarely allows for that sort of thing. The weird thing is, I've had lots of inspiration bursts (but they're mostly all things I want to save for when NaNoWriMo comes around in November) but little drive to actually sit down and write something. That's a problem.

It sounds like all my journal posts lately have been complaining. Argh. I really don't mean for them to sound like that. I'm a happy person, and I'm content with almost every aspect of my life (except for the bits where I've gone weeks without seeing certain people -- you know who you are).

I'm almost a whole month behind in my Word of the Day calendar. Ack! I'd better get cracking. ^^ That means more writing. I should probably get on that.

Ooh, vicious cycle. They're my favorites. >D

This icon is courtesy of domacatrix. Because it rocks.