One Lovely Little Mess

So, like many hundreds (or is it thousands?) of others, I completed the NaNoWriMo challenge. Ta da! Thus follows pats on the back, applause, and general awe...

All of which makes me think that I deserve a break. But I don't.

The novel, my glorious story, is very far away from being actually finished. Revising is the next step, than editing, and than handing it out to those of my friends who are being conned into giving me their opinions (heh heh).

And after all of that relatively easy stuff, I have to go through the process of deciding what to do with the thing and how to do it...possibly publishing...query letters...

Ahem. Maybe I should shut up. I'm freaking myself out.

Anyway, to see to it that I don't chicken out and leave my manuscript in a corner gathering dust while I live out my life in snow-heaven (snow! :D), I am going to use this blog as an "accountability partner", if you will. All of you who would enjoy harping on me to finish, well, go ahead and do so :) (blog email: elizabeth.marie.inked@gmail.com)

Randy, over at AdvancedFictionWriting thinks that goals, penalties, and prizes are the way to go (and I happen to agree). My current goal is this: have manuscript through the first preliminary edits (I'm thinking three?) completed by the end of December.

I know, I know; I'm shooting for the stars here. Or am I? ugh. Tired of thinking.

I further hope to be handing my manuscript over to a real editor (a friend of mine) by the end of January.

I'm gonna need some real work ethic, writing tips, and a lot of support. The latter one means you guys :P Even if you're not reading this, I don't care. Just putting it up on the blog is going to help. Writing out what I've done (or not done, as the case may be) is going to force me to take action.

Life will go on, though: school, Christmas shopping (oh snap...), snowboarding (only four days to go! :D), chores, and my relationship with God. Also, I'm learning bar chords on guitar.

Life's one lovely little mess, isn't it? :)

NaNo Update!

You've been waiting to hear me say these words, haven't you? Don't lie; I know you're just as excited as I am. These words are so, so, SO amazing, like music to my ears...

I BROKE THE 100K WORD COUNT.

*cue leaping, screaming, celebrations with dessert, and a good night's sleep*

Er, that's what should be happening. Unfortunately, I'm still trying to beat the clock (I know, blogging isn't on the schedule, but I had to tell you all), because my novel is still UNfinished.

I'm trying to focus but I can't; I keep telling myself that if I can't finish it, then I can always cut it short and write a sequel :) There's just not enough accomplishment in that, though, haha.

Other Wrimos, how are you doing??!?

~ This is key: the end of the world may be tomorrow or in a thousand years, but no matter what, I'll know that today I did what was right...won't I? ~

The Triumphant Returns!

I don't mean to brag, but I've just got to tell someone about today's achievement! And it feels spectacular, just spectacular, I tell you.

I wrote over 8,000 words today!! (Almost 9,000!) :D That's twice as much as my daily word count is supposed to be!

Needless to say, it was a good day. But now that it's over, and I'm headed for bed, I find myself wishing I had reached 10,000. Now isn't that just like me to never be satisfied? Honestly.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for here - a pat on the back, a reward in cash, a hug from a friend? - but I feel like I'm not getting it :P

Is anyone else exceeding their NaNoWriMo expectations? I'd love to know about your nano story, even if it isn't going so well. It's all in the learning and fun. And, of course, the words.

While we're on this subject, let me just say that all this time, I've been pronouncing it wrong. I pronounced it Nan - oh - wree - mo, when in reality, it's supposed to be pronounced nan - oh - rye - mo! Why didn't anyone tell me this sooner? I've been disgracing the name! Oh well. What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet (at least, I think that's how that quote goes...).

Goodnight. I'm off to bed with a *gag* sore throat. That's what I get for drinking two cups of coffee today -_-

Day Three

Hold your breath. It's only day three.

But I have now reached a total of...

NINE THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED, AND NINETY-THREE WORDS!!!!

Wow. That's a lot of words. Also, it sounds more impressive when written out, instead of just putting four little digits. Just sayin'.

First two days were cake. Absolute cake. I have no idea why. I started to worry that I would get cocky, or just totally deflate in about a week O.o Today was somewhat harder, but not difficult, per se. My brother is encouraging me to go for 100k (normal is 50k) since I'm not having trouble meeting my word counts. 100k! My first year!

Can I do it?

One thing I know for sure is, I won't do it unless I decided to do it. I'm just not one for snappy decisions. Wish I was, but that's not how it's going to be. Sooo after some consideration, I've come to the conclusion that I am going to try to write 100k words during the month of November in a worldwide "contest" of sorts (aka NaNoWriMo) that may or may not end up killing me/ruining my social life/and making me into a recluse forever!

How's that sound? Forceful enough, you think?!

Preparatoriness is...failing...me... lol

This is, supposedly, my last free weekend until after November 30. Makes me feel restricted -_- and I don't like that. But writing for NaNo is going to be fun and very, very good for me. All sides of me. Particularly the side that is procrastinatory :P (I made a new word. Like it?)

I've been planning stuff for nano for almost a month now. I have a writing nook set up, my laptop is geared to go (my Facebook addiction is going to have to get knocked out the window...), my plan for 2000 words a day is all laid out...inspirational notes are tacked on the wall :)

One thing I did not plan for, however, was getting sick. I have a cold. Two days before November 1st, and I GET A COLD! Seriously? This is not helping.

Relax. It's all in God's hands. I was already nervous before this; being sick certainly isn't going to improve my determination and focus on writing. Or maybe it will. Maybe I'm just acting like an over-concerned parent about something that is supposed to be an enjoyable, expressive, and learning experience! It's a hobby! Haha, it's more like my life ;)

But there should be absolutely no stressing out over this. Right? Are we all in agreement? All who agree say, "Aye!"

Another thing...I don't even have a stash of nano snacks :(

I will survive. I will write. I will live and learn the whole way. And I am just going to go with the flow...as I dream of snowflakes and snowboarding. Heh heh.

<3 Elizabeth-Marie <3

The Countdown Begins

FIVE DAYS TILL NANO!!!!!

Pardon me. You wouldn't believe how long my computer has been waiting, patiently, to get put on CAPS LOCK. He just enjoys it so much, you know? You really can't blame me for indulging him in it every once in a while.

FIVE DAYS till my writing abilities are PUT TO THE TEST!!!

The excitement is building. I've been waiting for only a month, but I still feel as if I've had to much time to build up my expectations of how NaNo is going to pan out for me. It will either exceed my expectations, or it will considerably disappoint them, because there is absolutely no way that I would be dead right on my assumptions.

Take it from me, I've been wrong before. Wrong before a lot. But that isn't important right now. What's important is...

OH LOOK A SNOWFLAKE!!!

(Not really. Mr. Caps is just getting annoyed again, since I started using some italics there for a minute. Italics and CAPS and bold are all at war. Didn't you know that?)

Everything in life is at war. Negative numbers vs. positive numbers (that's one war I seem to be losing *sniff*). Cake vs. pie (cake is sooo much better!). Winter vs. summer. Girls vs. boys.

Lots of wars. As long as we're just talking about friendly competition, and only a few casualties ;), I'm in! I enjoy a good war (just not the ones our country seems to be participating in...but that's a different story entirely). Please tell me I'm not imagining all of this. You do remember cheering for the positive numbers as you worked your math problems, right?

Oops. Never mind. I'm revealing far too much information about my crazy, mad-hatter imagination. You know, if I was talking like this back in the 18th century, I'd be locked up by now O_O in an insane asylum *gulp*. We don't do that anymore in America...do we??

Tell me I'm not on the same scale of delirium as the guy who wrote Alice In Wonderland. His characters are quite fascinating, though...

YIKES! that was an *epic* rabbit trail x)

Anyway, I'm counting the days till NaNoWriMo. Ahem. Drumroll, please. DRUMROLL! Fine. Be that way. The days are slowly slipping away; I only have so much time to do a quick sweep of research so I can get down to the fun part - writing!! :D

Are you counting the days down till Nano?

<3 Elizabeth-Marie <3