I validated my Nanowrimo story, so I now have a purple winners bar on their site. I am really looking forward to next years Nano, and maybe even possibly the 3-days novel event. If I am still crazy enough to consider it come labour day of next year.
Yesterday I updated my website with current information. Finally! It had been way too long since I had done that, and finally it is back up to snuff.
I also have some new goals too, since my wrist forced me not to do very much the past couple weeks.
I want to finish my Nano as soon as I can, but I will not be putting a deadline on it; I will not put myself in any more pain, so I will write when I am able to. I will probably start editing it in December regardless of if I am finished or not. I was debating whether I should just get through it, but things will have to change drastically in it anyways so it would be pointless for me to write it (most likely over working my wrist), then just go back and change it.
So my original plan for Untold (my other novel) when i finished the first draft was to get my editing done by the new year. That will not be happening most likely. I want to get this more or less on its way while I am in the story's mindset, and I refuse to quickly get through Untold and rush it.
Even though there are no real time limits, I feel behind. And it does not help that I have not written in a couple weeks. I tend to be in worse moods if I have not written, and it is now really getting to me. but I have tomorrow off, and I plan on writing :D.
I really am looking forward to it.
Happy Writing!
JB
My wrist, because I have severe carpal tunnel, has apparently decided that enough was enough. It worked through those 11days of Nano fairly well, then even in the couple of days following was a good sport after I did not give it a break, but now, it appears that it is the end of the line.
The pain and the random numbness is so awfully bad. It is so freaking painful!!
Okay, pain is not exactly something novel to me- the amount shocks most people who have the time to actually listen to the list I have going on- so it is not like I complain very much (only here, and an occasionally WD post). I never do outloud, which is a big problem because I never get things checked out and wait too long so things get worse. A admitting I am in crippling pain means that I have to share feelings...my feelings...with people...Umm, not happening unless it is so bad I can not function and literally need someone to help, because I can not help myself.
And because I really am as self destructive as I said before, I now can not type with my right hand because I have been ignoring the pain for too long! That means I have to put my story on hold for a few days (preferably I would not use it at all for a few weeks, but ya right. A few days is bad enough)! UGH. It is so frustrating though. I want to write, I want to get this done, I want to finish and reach the goals I have set for this! But nooo!
It really is my own fault here- of course it is. I really do not want to have to go the surgery route either, but at this rate, well it is not that far off.
So what does this mean for me writing in the future long term? I really do not know. I will have to perfect my one-handed typing techniques (by the way, it is really annoying to type with only one hand). I was thinking about something like a tape recorder, but I am not sure if I would be able to be as comfortable with that- I like seeing the words right away (well, I would be able to see them after they uploaded to the computer, but still, it is not the same).
So if I may offer some advice for the writers out there with out carpal tunnel- Pace yourself. Do not over use your hand(s). Take breaks. Exercise your wrists properly. Go see your doctor at the first signs of trouble.
*sigh*. Well, at least I have the 50k done though.
Happy Writing! (write an extra amount for me!)
JB *is in so much freaking pain*
Getting right to the point here (to tired for anything but that), I have yet to read my Nano story. Seriously though. I have about 90 pages of words I have written and strung together, but have yet to actually read them all.
Most of the time when I had time to write or even look at my story, I would be writing it, not reading it. Eventually I realized that, but I was too far in to take that much time and read it. Now I am done the 50k and have some time to read it, I am *dying* to!
Yet, I refuse to do so until I finish. I have reasons though- I am not doing it to punish myself in a weird way (*makes mental note* "Good way to torture writers- force them to write stories, but not read them! Baha!").
I know that I will edit. And believe me, once I start, I will not be able to stop and there is a heck of a lot of things to edit. I suspect several story aspects will have to change, which means that outcomes and subplots and then everything will change...I would be locked in my room for days editing if I started.
I want to read it so badly too. *darn inner editor!*
Happy Writing!
JB
Yesterday I started to post, but it was late and subsequently I was very tired, so here are the thoughts I can remember from my yesterday musings.
I was thinking about Nano and also my story and can up with some randomness to post.
The first being that, even though I am not done my novel yet, I have reached the 50k. The challenge has been complete, and I will have to wait for another year before I can officially do it again.
It is kind of sad.
I will not be able to officially do this again for another year. I expect my Nano novel to take about 10 times that amount of time before it is actually readable, so I will be busy (and I do have another novel to edit too, so I will be very busy), but I wish that it would not take 342 days until Nano '09.
Skipping over that because I could ramble on for pages basically saying the same thing, my story will definitely be about another 10k as far as I can tell from where I can metaphorically see now. Which I plan on getting done before Nano is done (this is official now- I will get it done before the end of Nano.). I plan on taking it a little more slowly now (only a little though), but that just means I will be spending more time doing the things I should be (like passing classes, eating, sleeping- all the things I have neglected to do recently). Maybe 1 or 2k a day- something like that.
I have yet to read over anything I have written! How strange is that! Believe me, if I start reading it, I will edit it like *crazy* and no one will see me for days because I will be on the computer, killing myself over editing it.
Oh! Speaking along those lines, two people asked me to read my story today, and the strange thing is, they brought it up. Like, one of them knew I was doing it; he was thinking about doing it himself for a little bit and knew I was really excited for it. The other must have been talking to a friend of mine or something....I really do not know how he found out exactly but with only 150 people in my school, things get around. Well, he wants to read it too. I proceeded to tell them both that it was crap. Now, like I said, I have not read it yet, but I can still guarantee that it is crap. But they both knew that it was about the word count first, and I would edit it later. I am not sure when I will give it to them, but I do plan on sending it them- something for us to laugh over pretty much.
As my other novel, a couple people have wanted to read that too. One guy I am friends with heard me briefly mentioning it in our Writer's Craft class and wanted to read it when I was done. It was like six months later and he asked me again, and wondered about how I was doing. I was honestly a little surprised that he asked me again (I forgot he wanted to read it actually), and I told him he could. I would also very much like a male's perspective on it too, so I am glad he is so intrigued.
I would love to share my Nano story to with people, and have them read it, mainly because it is really bad, and I know it. So if they said it was bad and told me things to fix, I would be all for it because I know it is awful and needs a lot of work. My other novel I just am very territorial over right now for various reasons that I am sure you can come up with on your own :).
Happy Writing!
JB
At 9:14pm on November 11th, guess what I finished.
A FIFTY THOUSAND WORD NOVEL.
YES that is right! I finished Nanowrimo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*dances* *noise making* *celebrates* *throws confetti*!!!!!!!!!
Okay, recap of this post so far:
I WROTE 50K OR FIFTY THOUSAND WORDS IN ELEVEN DAYS.
HECK FREAKING YA.
Wow am i excited, and yes I will have an even worse headache in a few minutes, but HECK YES I FINISHED!
Wow this is great. I really did doubt my ability to get even 20k in 30 days, but I am 11 days in and I have more than 50k!!
My story is yet to be done, although I could end it where I have stopped, but it would be an incomplete ending. I plan on getting it all done, whether it takes another 30k or more, in before November is done so I can start editing right from the get go of December.
HECK.
YA.
*is so excited*
Thank to everyone for the support! Really, I probably woUld have given up. My characters thank you too ;)! Oh I love the story, I love the characters, I love writing! And I love Nanowrimo!
*hugs go to all*
Happy Writing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JB
So last night, writing amazing. As in it was the best writing experience I have ever had. Maybe I have not written much compared to others, but I have written enough, and this was the first I ever felt so...into my writing.
When I was writing a couple scene, they were so intense and I got so into them; it was amazing. They might not be that intense to read, but I was definitely with my characters right in the middle of the story going through it with them. It did not feel like I was writing it, but that I was actually *there*. It was crazy awesome (emphasis on the 'crazy' and 'awesome' part). I am so in love with that part, and even more in love with writing and this story, which I was hard pressed to believe I could love it anymore. It was a phenomenal experience, and I hope it happens again! Boy has Nanowrimo been good to me so far 
.
And let me be clear here; I am in no way saying that my writing technique or the words I chose of the very writing itself was amazing. It is somewhere in between 'meh' and 'holy cow this is freaking awful!' on the writing scale, but as I said before, December is when I will get it neat and polished.
Also, at the end of writing yesterday, I realized that I had written about 6k in total that day, which I thought was great. Sure, I wrote twice as much the first day, but still; I was writing on and off from about 2pm and I did not think that it was that much writing. Normally I check a couple times an hour of my word count, but I was so into it I wrote about 2k without even realizing it, and I was shocked when I looked at my word count.
I swear I have used the words shocked and comfort (or some variant of it) at least a hundred times each, and my characters have nodded their heads so much I am surprised their brains have not been rattle into mush. Honestly.
But whatever- I will edit it later with a thesaurus on hand 
.
Side Note:
I changed my blog theme! Horoscope signs aside (although they are growing on me even though they do not exactly fit in with the theme), I *love* it. The whole header picture with the night sky and the trees and such fit in well with the 'aphotic' part in a kind of irony that I enjoy, partly because I love what the picture shows, but then again what 'aphotic' means. Perfect for me. Although again, minus the horoscope symbols.
Happy Writing!
JB
So with my first draft aside for the moment (editing has been slow, but almost coming...), I have taken up the lovely people that created NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) up on their challenge. A 50k word novel in 30 days.
I thought it would be awfully hard and I would only get to 20k at best.
Well as it stands right now, I am at 40k and it is only day nine. Also, the past 3 days I have been mind bogglingly (....I wonder if that is a word.....) sick, and had a friends wedding to help out in (while I was sick too mind you). I did maybe 1k or 2k when I was sick, so basically I have shocking myself at the amount of words that are coming out who knows where.
I also thought going into this that I would end up not liking my story or not being very happy with it because I would not have time to really work through it because of the deadline, but I was wrong there too.
I LOVE it! I love this story.
Now, I know. The other novel I have written (and you have no idea the pleasure of my saying that) is so important to me. That novel has been years in the making already, and is basically at the root of my writing love. But with that said, I can not just write it, and then let it go. I really need to make the novel the best and most flawless work I can because I see it as my baby really. My other unfinished works (like my NaNo story) I will see through and of course make them as flawless as possible, but the novel I have done is like 'the ultimate' in my mind right now. A dream reached. Yes, even unpublished, it still is a dream reached for me.
I have a feeling that I will not be trying to get it done and sent out to be published right away. I want to have time to work through it, and work on my other piece(s) because right now, it is still in that 'mine' process. It is my baby here. Give me some time to love it before I send it off to be rejected in college.
No wait, I really did not mean...okay, awful analogy. But I hope you get it. I want to enjoy working with it on my own time and really giving it the time it deserves instead of rushing through it just so I can send it off.
Wow, I should have just said that. But writers digress of course (and give the occasional awful analogy. Seriously- very sorry for that).
So back to the focus of NaNo. This is the story I see myself working through and getting done and sending off. Not that i think it deserves less time or needs to be edited less (by the way, it is awfully written right now, and for good reason; I have gotten more then half way through it in only 7 days!). It is because I am so enthusiastic about it, and really want others to read it and enjoy.
Perhaps to non writers, writing one book and writing another would be believed to have the same feelings. But that is definitely not so. The feelings I have for both books are impossibly different, yet impossibly the same.
NaNo is amazing for the record. I absolutely love it. The process is so different then what I have done before. It took me six months to write 50k, and I have done all but 10k in nine days. It really has not sunk it yet because it is so shocking to me. I have put in the hours, typed the words out myself, have the almost 70 solid pages of writing in front of me, but it still is surprising every time I think about it.
I am going to enjoy it while it lasts, because I have a feeling the editing that will come in December will not be as fun. Not *nearly* as fun.
Speaking of, I figured out the hours that it takes me to edit one chapter for the finished novel. I think it was ten. Hours I mean. And really NO ONE has the amount of time lying around. NO ONE. Least of all me at the moment. Like sure, I am probably doing not a half bad job editing in those ten hours, but I have TWENTY chapters! That is part of the reason I have not edited that much, and the fact that I have not updated that much (since there was nothing to update on).
Now, about blogging and updating:
I make no real promises to update, because I have no idea when things will happen to me/writing that will be worth updating you on. Now, with NaNoWriMo, I have a feeling that I will be updating when I get to the 50k and when I am editing and all the jazz that comes after. Who knows though.
Either way, Happy Writing!
JB
