Stuff and More Stuff

Wow, I wrote 1800 words tonight on The Novel, bringing it to almost 6000 total! I am pretty darn proud of myself. My method has so far been to just sort of write what wants to be written and I will piece it together later. I have a (loose) time line that's got some huge gaps in it, but that's all been since I started the first little piecemeal part. I still have several pages of handwritten notes that I could type up, but I am really just keeping those in mind as part of my end goal for this whole thing. I am interested to see where it all goes. So far I haven't had to reign in anything or make any huge changes from my original plan. The whole idea of writing a 75,000 word novel is pretty daunting, though. I feel like I can do it but at the same time I'm afraid that I will fall short, or that I'll tell the whole story in 20,000 words or something, and I want this to be a real novel, not just another long short story. I've got to create some kind of journey of sorts for my characters, but I'm not really sure how to do that yet. It's definitely a learning experience for me! I need to stop writing for tonight, since my domestic chores have fallen by the wayside and I have to get up at the asscrack of dawn tomorrow. Balancing writing with family and work sucks, but that is also a learning experience.

I was going to review a book tonight, but it's going to have to wait until tomorrow. I am one sleepy lady with chores to do, and the husband will be home from work in an hour. I had planned to be in bed about an hour ago. Ah well.

For what it's worth, I have completely given up on TAW for now. Sad but true. I simply don't have it in me to do it right now, let alone 12 weeks of it. Maybe this summer I'll be able to devote more attention to it and actually get something out of it. For the moment, though, I just can't put in the necessary effort.

This Writing Thing is Addictive

Notice that I did NOT say "addicting" because that is not a word. Anyone who uses that word deserves to have their brain pulled out through their nose and then be strangled with said brain.

Also, more work on the Novel tonight! Yay!! I only did 700ish words, but hey, that's still decent and almost 3 pages. I am making progress on the research front as well, though I think I need to talk to some nurses before I am able to develop one of the characters too much. If you happen to be a nurse, and don't mind me asking questions, can you leave a comment here with your info? Or tweet me @simplytena. Thanks! Same goes if you have any favorite mythology books that you'd recommend that deal with trickster and/or creator gods.

I think I need to quit playing Farmville. I was reading a recent post by a "real" author (see the Lakeshore link to the right) and realized that like him, the "need" to write is diminished when I play lots of computer games. I want the writing addiction, and I need to nurture that rather than worry about feeding some stupid computer dog or harvesting some not-real crops. Hm. Yeah. That also goes along with the philosophy in this house that once a game isn't fun anymore, then you should quit playing it.

Writing: Just DO It.

I worked on The Novel tonight!! I added 1000 words, and in my humble opinion they are even worthwhile words that contribute positively to the storyline. YAY! I really just need to sit and make myself write. I can always type it up later, the important thing is the writing. It's easy when I just do it, really. Even with a headache. I am feeling rather proud of myself now, actually.

Oh Boy

In the name of research, I joined Twitter. I have no idea what the hell I am supposed to do with it, but there you go. I'm a little overwhelmed. Hopefully it will be useful, and provide me with some background for the great work of fiction I'm endeavoring to create.

Current Projects

I have a few things going on right now. I am *going to* start doing The Artist's Way. I am in the process of revising and editing my dozen or so short stories in preparation for submitting them, though I don't know where yet. That's the next step. I am also writing a novel! I am too impatient to wait for NaNoWriMo, though I may do that when the time comes, just not for this story. My goal is somewhere between 75,000 and 100,000 words, with my progress tracked on the sidebar.