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Saturday, November 23, 2002
Here's a great example of why Kasey is so brilliant.
We were at Starbucks tonight with feng working on our novels. I'd been sitting there for five minutes racking my brain about something, but I wasn't making any progress. Finally, I gave up.
"Kasey. What's the name of the topless revue in Heaven's casino?" (Of course Heaven's casino has a topless revue.)
She thought about it for no more than 75 milliseconds and then looked right at me.
"The Fallen Angels," she said.
Damn. That's exactly right. Kasey is good. Once again I find that I am the person least qualified to write my own novel.
We were at Starbucks tonight with feng working on our novels. I'd been sitting there for five minutes racking my brain about something, but I wasn't making any progress. Finally, I gave up.
"Kasey. What's the name of the topless revue in Heaven's casino?" (Of course Heaven's casino has a topless revue.)
She thought about it for no more than 75 milliseconds and then looked right at me.
"The Fallen Angels," she said.
Damn. That's exactly right. Kasey is good. Once again I find that I am the person least qualified to write my own novel.
| NaNoWriMo Update | ||
| Total Word Count: | 55,860 | |
| Today's Word Count: | 3149 | |
| +/- Schedule: | +10.86 days (+1.93 days) | |
| % Complete: | 111.72% (79.80%) | |
Friday, November 22, 2002
Ugh. What a night. My novel is flying apart in all directions like an android who's just been confounded by a particularly confusing fortune cookie fortune. My story line has sprouted a runaway subplot that appears to be from an entirely different novel, and my main character is currently standing in a wagon in Heaven's casino with Descartes and a screaming cavewoman. How did this happen? Where did I go wrong? My novel actually seemed coherent and interesting at one point, and now it's a complete mess. It's like waking up one morning and discovering that you're a completely different person, a situation that has also cropped up in my novel. Twice.
Naturally, an alarming discovery such as this brings with it some major procrastination. Tonight's festivities included: watching an entire movie (Glengarry Glen Ross), surfing the web for facts about Herman Miller furniture, going to Starbucks for coffee at 10 PM, filling up my car with gas (just the gas tank, not the whole car), and watching tonight's entire 90 minute wedding episode of "Will and Grace". The last 25 minutes of that weren't my fault, though; they were showing Will and Grace bloopers, and they know that I can't resist celebrity bloopers. In my opinion, it's very irresponsible of them to air that kind of thing during NaNoWriMo.
I did manage to pass a couple of milestones, however, which I will announce to you despite my guilt over the crappiness of my writing. First, I passed 50,000 words. Yay me! I'm trying not to focus on that, though, since I have my sights set on 70,000 words, much like a baseball team that refuses to celebrate their pennant because their real goal is the World Series, only to get there and lose to the Yankees in five games.
I also crossed the 100 page mark. Another interesting stat provided by Microsoft Word is that I've typed over 290,000 characters. That almost sounds more impressive to me than 50,000 words. It's easy to see how repetitive stress injuries can happen, what with all of the repetition.
I really need to stay focused and not let my poor, aimless writing get me down. Only eight days left! I'm planning on taking a couple days off for the holiday, so my calculations indicate that I need to write about 3000 words a day to meet my goal. Fasten your seatbelts, folks.
Naturally, an alarming discovery such as this brings with it some major procrastination. Tonight's festivities included: watching an entire movie (Glengarry Glen Ross), surfing the web for facts about Herman Miller furniture, going to Starbucks for coffee at 10 PM, filling up my car with gas (just the gas tank, not the whole car), and watching tonight's entire 90 minute wedding episode of "Will and Grace". The last 25 minutes of that weren't my fault, though; they were showing Will and Grace bloopers, and they know that I can't resist celebrity bloopers. In my opinion, it's very irresponsible of them to air that kind of thing during NaNoWriMo.
I did manage to pass a couple of milestones, however, which I will announce to you despite my guilt over the crappiness of my writing. First, I passed 50,000 words. Yay me! I'm trying not to focus on that, though, since I have my sights set on 70,000 words, much like a baseball team that refuses to celebrate their pennant because their real goal is the World Series, only to get there and lose to the Yankees in five games.
I also crossed the 100 page mark. Another interesting stat provided by Microsoft Word is that I've typed over 290,000 characters. That almost sounds more impressive to me than 50,000 words. It's easy to see how repetitive stress injuries can happen, what with all of the repetition.
I really need to stay focused and not let my poor, aimless writing get me down. Only eight days left! I'm planning on taking a couple days off for the holiday, so my calculations indicate that I need to write about 3000 words a day to meet my goal. Fasten your seatbelts, folks.
| NaNoWriMo Update | ||
| Total Word Count: | 52,711 | |
| Today's Word Count: | 3583 | |
| +/- Schedule: | +10.01 days (+1.58 days) | |
| % Complete: | 105.42% (75.30%) | |
Thursday, November 21, 2002
Listening: Aimee Mann, Lost In Space
Kasey and I met up at Starbucks today to do a little writing, and I was dismayed to note that they were playing Christmas music. It's not even Thanksgiving, for crying out loud! I'm just not mentally prepared to deal with the holiday onslaught yet. Luckily I had my headphones with me, so I drowned out the children's holiday choir with the deliciously sad pleadings of Beck pronouncing a Sea Change. What if we all agreed not to start putting up Christmas decorations until December 1st? That's a sea change I'd like to see.
I've come to the realization that, even though I'm set to break 50,000 sometime tomorrow, I still have a lot of work to do on this novel. Not only do I have miles to go before I hit 70,000 words, but my story is nowhere near completion. Due to my strange meanderings, I'm just now getting into the meat of the narrative. I may have to work into December to complete my first draft, which I suppose is OK. Maybe it will distract me from the Christmas decorations.
Kasey and I met up at Starbucks today to do a little writing, and I was dismayed to note that they were playing Christmas music. It's not even Thanksgiving, for crying out loud! I'm just not mentally prepared to deal with the holiday onslaught yet. Luckily I had my headphones with me, so I drowned out the children's holiday choir with the deliciously sad pleadings of Beck pronouncing a Sea Change. What if we all agreed not to start putting up Christmas decorations until December 1st? That's a sea change I'd like to see.
I've come to the realization that, even though I'm set to break 50,000 sometime tomorrow, I still have a lot of work to do on this novel. Not only do I have miles to go before I hit 70,000 words, but my story is nowhere near completion. Due to my strange meanderings, I'm just now getting into the meat of the narrative. I may have to work into December to complete my first draft, which I suppose is OK. Maybe it will distract me from the Christmas decorations.
| NaNoWriMo Update | ||
| Total Word Count: | 49,128 | |
| Today's Word Count: | 3364 | |
| +/- Schedule: | +8.90 days (+1.05 days) | |
| % Complete: | 98.26% (70.18%) | |
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
I don't have much to blog tonight, but I wanted to post and extend my congratulations to Mr. Pogue. He turned in an astounding 6100 word night and hit the 50,000 word mark ahead of me. We had a good battle, but he landed the knockout blow in convincing fashion.
As far as I know he is the first member of our little collective to be officially declared a NaNoWriMo Winner, which means that he is entitled to the Official Winner's Prize: being beaten up in a library parking lot and left for dead. He will collect his prize soon, and when he least expects it.
No, seriously, congratulations are in order. Finishing a 50,000 word novel in just over two weeks is no mean feat. Everyone should go visit his blog and leave him a comment telling him how great he did. Let us all raise a glass to Sweet16, the volume writing champion of Seattle, and give him the accolades he deserves!
All done with the accolades? Good. You may now empty your glasses over his head.
As far as I know he is the first member of our little collective to be officially declared a NaNoWriMo Winner, which means that he is entitled to the Official Winner's Prize: being beaten up in a library parking lot and left for dead. He will collect his prize soon, and when he least expects it.
No, seriously, congratulations are in order. Finishing a 50,000 word novel in just over two weeks is no mean feat. Everyone should go visit his blog and leave him a comment telling him how great he did. Let us all raise a glass to Sweet16, the volume writing champion of Seattle, and give him the accolades he deserves!
All done with the accolades? Good. You may now empty your glasses over his head.
| NaNoWriMo Update | ||
| Total Word Count: | 45,764 | |
| Today's Word Count: | 1581 | |
| +/- Schedule: | +7.92 days (+.61 days) | |
| % Complete: | 91.53% (65.38%) | |
Tuesday, November 19, 2002
I am going straight to Hell. If the offenses I've committed up until now have not already assured me of such a fate, today's transgression will definitely land me in a pit of fire for all eternity: I've added a romance chapter to my novel. That's right, the now ironically-titled Heaven now follows the exciting adventures of the honorable pirate captain Jonathon Barteaux de los Sanchez and his pirate ship "The Happy Bastard" as he fights off the evil British, re-steals some gold taken from Portuguese orphans by said evil British, and attempts to protect the honor of the beautiful Esmeralda, whose full lips and predictably-heaving bosoms make her irresistible to all who lay eyes on her.
See what I mean? HELL! In exchange for my immortal soul I received 4,039 words, which put me ahead of Mr. Pogue by a comfortable margin of, oh, call it 76 words. (This one's going down to the wire, folks. I've got to think of an ending soon, or I'm in trouble.)
Although I'm clearly doomed for my sins, I would like to point out that it's really all Adria's fault. She was the one who gave me the idea of writing a romance novel, so she bears some responsibility for the blight I have unleashed upon the Earth. If I'm going to Hell then she has to go too, at least for a little bit.
In other news, I've launched my first salvo in the Great Gummi Challenge. For those who didn't read the official rules in Mr. Pogue's blog, we're taking the same source image of gummi bears and manipulating it in Photoshop in all sorts of presumably interesting ways. Here is a set of entries I posted today. I like the first two, and the others aren't so great.
See what I mean? HELL! In exchange for my immortal soul I received 4,039 words, which put me ahead of Mr. Pogue by a comfortable margin of, oh, call it 76 words. (This one's going down to the wire, folks. I've got to think of an ending soon, or I'm in trouble.)
Although I'm clearly doomed for my sins, I would like to point out that it's really all Adria's fault. She was the one who gave me the idea of writing a romance novel, so she bears some responsibility for the blight I have unleashed upon the Earth. If I'm going to Hell then she has to go too, at least for a little bit.
In other news, I've launched my first salvo in the Great Gummi Challenge. For those who didn't read the official rules in Mr. Pogue's blog, we're taking the same source image of gummi bears and manipulating it in Photoshop in all sorts of presumably interesting ways. Here is a set of entries I posted today. I like the first two, and the others aren't so great.
| NaNoWriMo Update | ||
| Total Word Count: | 44,183 | |
| Today's Word Count: | 4039 | |
| +/- Schedule: | +7.99 days (+.93 days) | |
| % Complete: | 88.37% (63.12%) | |
Sunday, November 17, 2002
Hey folks. Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I've been setting strict novel-writing goals for myself over the last few days, and the only way to meet them and still have a social life was to cut down on the blog entries.
Friday night I went to feng's and watched old Buffy and Firefly. That show is starting to come into its own. I hope they don't cancel it.
Saturday was The Day Of Movies. I went to see a Kurosawa double feature in the afternoon (Stray Dog and Drunken Angel) and then moseyed over to the Cinerama to meet the gang for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Nothing like spending seven hours in a movie theater in one day. This is what I love about Seattle: an afternoon double bill with the master of Japanese cinema and an evening at one of the most technically advanced theaters in the world. This is my kind of town.
Sunday was Ikea Day. Flashback: I went to Ikea last week with Abby and VK to buy a desk and a table for my soon-to-be remodeled den. Ikea did not have the items in stock, however, so I ordered them. Ikea told me that the items would not be in until Christmas. Six days later I received a telephone call.
Them: Hi this is Inge from Ikea. Is Scott there?
Me: This is he.
Them: I'm just calling to tell you that your desks are in.
Me: Really?
Them: Yes.
Me: Both of them?
Them: Yes.
Me: Really?
Maybe it's some kind of test. They force you to order the stuff and tell you that you have to wait a couple of months, just to see who really wants it. The people who don't panic and try to buy it in Canada get to have it early.
Since I was clearly too lazy to go to Canada, I was rewarded. I pressed BK's minivan into service this afternoon, recruited Abby to help me carry, and hightailed it down to Renton. I then bribed Abby and Scott Pogue into helping me with the assembly. It took the better part of the evening, but everything is put together. All I need now is a new chair, and I'm ready to rock. Thanks guys!
Oh, yeah, and I've been writing too. Friday was the halfway point of the contest, which seems to me like a logical time to move the finish line. You see, for the last two weeks I've been harboring a secret goal: to write more than I did last year. I wrote 63,000 words last year, so I added 10% and rounded it off to 70k. Since I've been in danger of failing to meet this goal, I thought I would announce it as a way of increasing my motivation. So that you may follow along, my NaNoWriMo summary stats will now include calculations for both the 50k and the 70k goals; the 70k numbers will appear in parentheses.
This secondary goal was the reason for my aggressive writing goals the past few days: I've been trying to catch up. And catch up I did. I hit the halfway point of 35k words right on schedule, and I powered through Saturday and Sunday morning to hit 40k ahead of Mr. Pogue. (Take that!) He was sufficiently incensed by my taunting to fire off 8,000 words on Sunday to jump back into the lead. I took most of today off, though, so I don't feel too bad. I'll be back! Hopefully. Rene Descartes has worked his way into my novel somehow, and I don't know if that's going to help my word count or hinder it. I seem to be getting most of my mileage out of the fact that he is wearing a frilly shirt, which may not be sustainable.
Friday night I went to feng's and watched old Buffy and Firefly. That show is starting to come into its own. I hope they don't cancel it.
Saturday was The Day Of Movies. I went to see a Kurosawa double feature in the afternoon (Stray Dog and Drunken Angel) and then moseyed over to the Cinerama to meet the gang for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Nothing like spending seven hours in a movie theater in one day. This is what I love about Seattle: an afternoon double bill with the master of Japanese cinema and an evening at one of the most technically advanced theaters in the world. This is my kind of town.
Sunday was Ikea Day. Flashback: I went to Ikea last week with Abby and VK to buy a desk and a table for my soon-to-be remodeled den. Ikea did not have the items in stock, however, so I ordered them. Ikea told me that the items would not be in until Christmas. Six days later I received a telephone call.
Them: Hi this is Inge from Ikea. Is Scott there?
Me: This is he.
Them: I'm just calling to tell you that your desks are in.
Me:
Them: Yes.
Me: Both of them?
Them: Yes.
Me: Really?
Maybe it's some kind of test. They force you to order the stuff and tell you that you have to wait a couple of months, just to see who really wants it. The people who don't panic and try to buy it in Canada get to have it early.
Since I was clearly too lazy to go to Canada, I was rewarded. I pressed BK's minivan into service this afternoon, recruited Abby to help me carry, and hightailed it down to Renton. I then bribed Abby and Scott Pogue into helping me with the assembly. It took the better part of the evening, but everything is put together. All I need now is a new chair, and I'm ready to rock. Thanks guys!
Oh, yeah, and I've been writing too. Friday was the halfway point of the contest, which seems to me like a logical time to move the finish line. You see, for the last two weeks I've been harboring a secret goal: to write more than I did last year. I wrote 63,000 words last year, so I added 10% and rounded it off to 70k. Since I've been in danger of failing to meet this goal, I thought I would announce it as a way of increasing my motivation. So that you may follow along, my NaNoWriMo summary stats will now include calculations for both the 50k and the 70k goals; the 70k numbers will appear in parentheses.
This secondary goal was the reason for my aggressive writing goals the past few days: I've been trying to catch up. And catch up I did. I hit the halfway point of 35k words right on schedule, and I powered through Saturday and Sunday morning to hit 40k ahead of Mr. Pogue. (Take that!) He was sufficiently incensed by my taunting to fire off 8,000 words on Sunday to jump back into the lead. I took most of today off, though, so I don't feel too bad. I'll be back! Hopefully. Rene Descartes has worked his way into my novel somehow, and I don't know if that's going to help my word count or hinder it. I seem to be getting most of my mileage out of the fact that he is wearing a frilly shirt, which may not be sustainable.
| NaNoWriMo Update | ||
| Total Word Count: | 40,144 | |
| Today's Word Count: | 2029 | |
| +/- Schedule: | +6.61 days (+.20 days) | |
| % Complete: | 80.29% (57.35%) | |