So... yeah. I haven't written at all today. It's theoretically okay, because I'm still 98 words ahead of the necessary word count for today, and I THEORETICALLY could have used the time I would have used to write to work on calculus homework and government homework and cleaning my room and stuff, but to be honest, I've only done about five problems of calculus and I haven't done any government whatsoever. And I haven't done any writing, either, because I've been procrastinating on homework. Which really kind of sucks. I'm a horrible procrastinator and I need to stop.
Anyway, I plan on writing later today, when I actually have time to write. And after I've done calculus and government and straightened up my room. And after I've done other things of a productive nature.
Okay, going to go do stuff of a more productive nature now.
Farewell.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Day Five Again: In which Demetrius Stops Being a Butthead
Current Page: 30
Target Page: um... something that isn't page 30. Maybe page 32? I don't know. Something later than page 30 that will have me at around 10,000 words. So... yeah. That would be around page 32.
Location in Story: Sebastian is narrating; he is telling what happened after Romeo saved Demetrius's life by calling off the gargoyles, who had been sent by Iago to try and halt the mission at all costs. (Romeo talked them down using the Words of Awesomeness; she told them to go back and SAY they had succeeded when they really had not and to not say that their quarries were still alive. Sebastian is narrating and telling the readers what Iago does and what the gargoyles are doing and stuff). I did not intend to introduce Sebastian into the story until a little bit later (okay, a LOT later. Like, five chapters from the climax later. This is like, fifteen or twenty or more chapters from the climax), but here he is, telling the next bit of the story. It will still be reasonably ambiguous WHY Sebastian is potentially somewhat important until Chapter Ten at the very least (and Chapter Ten is next chapter), so he can still be there without everyone knowing WHO he is and WHY he is important. At least for now.
And guess what!?!? DEMETRIUS STOPPED BEING A BLATANTLY SEXIST BUTT HEAD!! WOOHOO!!!! This is EXCITING. REALLY EXCITING! I am super excited. Though he still deserves a punch in the face (even more than Iago, sometimes) for saying sexist things, he is still, at least for now, no longer blatant and annoying. He is just kind of annoying. And self-righteous. And kind of arrogant as well. But he will get over it. I think. Maybe. Hopefully.
Okay, he's still kind of sexist and he's still SORT OF a butthead, but at least he isn't horribly blatant about being rather sexist, and he's not horribly blatant about being a butthead. He keeps the sexism to himself, at the very least.
On the other hand, the whole being a butthead thing... it's hard NOT to blatantly be a butthead sometimes, even if you're normally not a butthead. But it's especially hard not to be a blatant butthead on very frequent occasions when your name is Demetrius Orsyn (and if your name is actually Demetrius Orsyn... I apologize. You're also a character in my novel, and he's the being I was referring to).
But at least Demetrius is no longer blatantly sexist. He isn't going to APOLOGIZE for stating to Romeo's face that girls are dumb and powerless, even after she saved his neck smartly and powerfully and not idiotically, and without killing him or the gargoyles, but he won't even TRY and change his views about girls, even though Romeo's exceedingly competent. Well, the view isn't changing yet. But I (and Romeo) still have some stuff to say about that, so that SHALL happen later.
Anyhow, I'm now well ahead on my word count, though not as ahead as I would like. I only have about 300 more words to go until I hit my personal word count goal for today. I'll be doing some writing after dinner, and maybe be watching some Star Trek as well.
Speaking of "Star Trek," I'm way behind. I haven't watched for the last few weekends, and I need to catch up if I want to see all of TOS in a reasonable amount of time (read: before I leave for college). But that's what school breaks and summer vacations are for. And also Saturday nights when I should be writing and doing other things of a productive nature. But whatever.
Now, I'm going to go and do stuff now. Like write. And knit. And write. And ask when dinner is. And write. And knit. And consider watching TV. And doing some other stuff. Maybe.
Anyway, I am off. Farewell.
Also, another thing I need to do: find out more Shakespeare quotes. I went to the library today, but they didn't have "Midsummer Night's Dream" OR "Romeo and Juliet," and those were the ones that I wanted to quote out of most. I'll just have to find some other stuff to quote until then.
And then watch "Star Trek" on Netflix after Dad has his TV time if I hit 10,000 words or more by the time Dad's done on the TV. Because "Star Trek" is awesome and might actually give me ideas. The ideas might not be GOOD ideas, but they'll still be IDEAS. And I'll be able to catch up on "Star Trek" episodes in the process.
YAY FOR INCENTIVE STUFF!
Huzzah!
Okay, going now.
Target Page: um... something that isn't page 30. Maybe page 32? I don't know. Something later than page 30 that will have me at around 10,000 words. So... yeah. That would be around page 32.
Location in Story: Sebastian is narrating; he is telling what happened after Romeo saved Demetrius's life by calling off the gargoyles, who had been sent by Iago to try and halt the mission at all costs. (Romeo talked them down using the Words of Awesomeness; she told them to go back and SAY they had succeeded when they really had not and to not say that their quarries were still alive. Sebastian is narrating and telling the readers what Iago does and what the gargoyles are doing and stuff). I did not intend to introduce Sebastian into the story until a little bit later (okay, a LOT later. Like, five chapters from the climax later. This is like, fifteen or twenty or more chapters from the climax), but here he is, telling the next bit of the story. It will still be reasonably ambiguous WHY Sebastian is potentially somewhat important until Chapter Ten at the very least (and Chapter Ten is next chapter), so he can still be there without everyone knowing WHO he is and WHY he is important. At least for now.
And guess what!?!? DEMETRIUS STOPPED BEING A BLATANTLY SEXIST BUTT HEAD!! WOOHOO!!!! This is EXCITING. REALLY EXCITING! I am super excited. Though he still deserves a punch in the face (even more than Iago, sometimes) for saying sexist things, he is still, at least for now, no longer blatant and annoying. He is just kind of annoying. And self-righteous. And kind of arrogant as well. But he will get over it. I think. Maybe. Hopefully.
Okay, he's still kind of sexist and he's still SORT OF a butthead, but at least he isn't horribly blatant about being rather sexist, and he's not horribly blatant about being a butthead. He keeps the sexism to himself, at the very least.
On the other hand, the whole being a butthead thing... it's hard NOT to blatantly be a butthead sometimes, even if you're normally not a butthead. But it's especially hard not to be a blatant butthead on very frequent occasions when your name is Demetrius Orsyn (and if your name is actually Demetrius Orsyn... I apologize. You're also a character in my novel, and he's the being I was referring to).
But at least Demetrius is no longer blatantly sexist. He isn't going to APOLOGIZE for stating to Romeo's face that girls are dumb and powerless, even after she saved his neck smartly and powerfully and not idiotically, and without killing him or the gargoyles, but he won't even TRY and change his views about girls, even though Romeo's exceedingly competent. Well, the view isn't changing yet. But I (and Romeo) still have some stuff to say about that, so that SHALL happen later.
Anyhow, I'm now well ahead on my word count, though not as ahead as I would like. I only have about 300 more words to go until I hit my personal word count goal for today. I'll be doing some writing after dinner, and maybe be watching some Star Trek as well.
Speaking of "Star Trek," I'm way behind. I haven't watched for the last few weekends, and I need to catch up if I want to see all of TOS in a reasonable amount of time (read: before I leave for college). But that's what school breaks and summer vacations are for. And also Saturday nights when I should be writing and doing other things of a productive nature. But whatever.
Now, I'm going to go and do stuff now. Like write. And knit. And write. And ask when dinner is. And write. And knit. And consider watching TV. And doing some other stuff. Maybe.
Anyway, I am off. Farewell.
Also, another thing I need to do: find out more Shakespeare quotes. I went to the library today, but they didn't have "Midsummer Night's Dream" OR "Romeo and Juliet," and those were the ones that I wanted to quote out of most. I'll just have to find some other stuff to quote until then.
And then watch "Star Trek" on Netflix after Dad has his TV time if I hit 10,000 words or more by the time Dad's done on the TV. Because "Star Trek" is awesome and might actually give me ideas. The ideas might not be GOOD ideas, but they'll still be IDEAS. And I'll be able to catch up on "Star Trek" episodes in the process.
YAY FOR INCENTIVE STUFF!
Huzzah!
Okay, going now.
Day 5: in which I barely write
Current Page: 27
Target Page: a page that is farther along than page 27
Location In Story: Puck is officially gay. HUZZAH! Apparently, he used to have a female BFF who died about a week prior to Puck meeting Romeo (she was a lesbian, so there was no potential romance there), and Romeo reminds him a lot of Imogen. Imogen apparently had a knife that's exactly like the one Romeo found tied to her belt when she landed on Mercanova. This whole knife thing is very strange to Romeo, to Puck, and to me. I'm about 8100 words in, and my characters have not officially formed a group and I know more about Puck than I do about Romeo. This isn't a good thing. Moreover, Romeo hasn't had a chance to use any more Shakespeare on anyone, which is sad. Not even Shakespearean compliments. Or Shakespearean statements. Or Shakespearean insults. Or Shakespearean love sonnets. Nothing at all written by, like, or about William Shakespeare has been imitated by Romeo since she ditched Demetrius. Morgan/ Belarius has not shown up at all yet, and Demetrius has not re-entered the picture (he may soon do so, however). So that's where I am.
So far, I'm not sure how my novel is going to end up, or even how it's going to go for the rest of the story. Why? Well, the main reason is that NOTHING IS GOING THE WAY I INTENDED IT.
Romeo is getting along better with Puck than she did with Demetrius (okay, this is actually not that horrible, and it's sort of planned, and it's not going to hurt anything that much), but Demetrius hasn't re-entered the picture, so he and Romeo cannot argue or fall in love or anything.
And I haven't introduced Morgan/ Belarius yet, so I cannot have him and Puck potentially have a relationship until he's introduced.
And I can't determine whether Morgan/ Belarius is gay, straight, or "above/ against having a relationship during the course of the story" until he's introduced. Which, as a matter of course, means that I probably should be going and getting the story on the road, because I'm WAY behind on my personal word count. I have about 200 more words until I reach the mandatory word count, but I'm going to have to write about 2000 more words to get to my personal word count goal, just so I can have padding for more days like this.
I had district chorus auditions today. I killed the sight reading, and I was only okay with the song. It was kind of annoying, but whatever. The thing that bugged me was that sight reading was before the song, which is the first time that has happened in the four years that I have auditioned for District Chorus.
But my suckiness didn't really bother me a WHOLE ton. I mean, it did, kind of, but I won't be horribly distracted by it later on when I actually start working on my novel today. See, I didn't really rehearse much for the audition, and I'm not expecting to get in. Part of the reason I did it at all this year was because it was mandatory for Women's Camerata. And also because I wanted to see whether I could actually get in. I'll find out the results of the audition on Monday, most likely.
Soooooooooooooooooooooooo yeah. Time to go and write a novel and such.
Farewell.
Hopefully, there will be more Shakespearean.
And more Demetrius.
And I will meet my word count.
And Morgan.
And hopefully I will figure out this whole Imogen thing.
I am not entirely sure why I called her Imogen, by the way (Puck's former BFF). I just liked the name, I guess.
Whatever.
Going now.
Target Page: a page that is farther along than page 27
Location In Story: Puck is officially gay. HUZZAH! Apparently, he used to have a female BFF who died about a week prior to Puck meeting Romeo (she was a lesbian, so there was no potential romance there), and Romeo reminds him a lot of Imogen. Imogen apparently had a knife that's exactly like the one Romeo found tied to her belt when she landed on Mercanova. This whole knife thing is very strange to Romeo, to Puck, and to me. I'm about 8100 words in, and my characters have not officially formed a group and I know more about Puck than I do about Romeo. This isn't a good thing. Moreover, Romeo hasn't had a chance to use any more Shakespeare on anyone, which is sad. Not even Shakespearean compliments. Or Shakespearean statements. Or Shakespearean insults. Or Shakespearean love sonnets. Nothing at all written by, like, or about William Shakespeare has been imitated by Romeo since she ditched Demetrius. Morgan/ Belarius has not shown up at all yet, and Demetrius has not re-entered the picture (he may soon do so, however). So that's where I am.
So far, I'm not sure how my novel is going to end up, or even how it's going to go for the rest of the story. Why? Well, the main reason is that NOTHING IS GOING THE WAY I INTENDED IT.
Romeo is getting along better with Puck than she did with Demetrius (okay, this is actually not that horrible, and it's sort of planned, and it's not going to hurt anything that much), but Demetrius hasn't re-entered the picture, so he and Romeo cannot argue or fall in love or anything.
And I haven't introduced Morgan/ Belarius yet, so I cannot have him and Puck potentially have a relationship until he's introduced.
And I can't determine whether Morgan/ Belarius is gay, straight, or "above/ against having a relationship during the course of the story" until he's introduced. Which, as a matter of course, means that I probably should be going and getting the story on the road, because I'm WAY behind on my personal word count. I have about 200 more words until I reach the mandatory word count, but I'm going to have to write about 2000 more words to get to my personal word count goal, just so I can have padding for more days like this.
I had district chorus auditions today. I killed the sight reading, and I was only okay with the song. It was kind of annoying, but whatever. The thing that bugged me was that sight reading was before the song, which is the first time that has happened in the four years that I have auditioned for District Chorus.
But my suckiness didn't really bother me a WHOLE ton. I mean, it did, kind of, but I won't be horribly distracted by it later on when I actually start working on my novel today. See, I didn't really rehearse much for the audition, and I'm not expecting to get in. Part of the reason I did it at all this year was because it was mandatory for Women's Camerata. And also because I wanted to see whether I could actually get in. I'll find out the results of the audition on Monday, most likely.
Soooooooooooooooooooooooo yeah. Time to go and write a novel and such.
Farewell.
Hopefully, there will be more Shakespearean.
And more Demetrius.
And I will meet my word count.
And Morgan.
And hopefully I will figure out this whole Imogen thing.
I am not entirely sure why I called her Imogen, by the way (Puck's former BFF). I just liked the name, I guess.
Whatever.
Going now.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Day 4: blah but not
Current Page: 24
Target Page: ditching this part of the challenge. I don't really know what my target page should be, first of all, since I never really did an official word-count-per-page thing, and I'll start editing if I go back and start counting now. My guesstimate is around 300 - 305 per page, with fluctuations in my handwriting and chapter breaks and stuff. But whatever. More on this later.
Approximate Words: 7300-ish.
Location in Story: Demetrius has turned out to be a sexist jerk and I REALLY don't like him. Neither does Romeo. Anyhow, she's just met Puck, who's currently telling her how he came to be there. And Romeo may or may not be starting to like him. (I don't know yet. I'm still in Puck's point of view).
If Romeo starts to like Puck, that's a very BAD thing. There's a reasonably good chance that Puck is gay, first of all. Secondly, even if he were straight, he's not going to break her heart, run away from her or the mission in order to do something for himself, or even dare to fall in love with Hero. If this were any other situation (and if Puck was for sure straight), I would be yelling at Romeo to not even DARE to like Demetrius because Puck is a wonderful being and he is probably going to be the greatest fictional boyfriend ever for anyone, because he is ridiculously awesome, reasonably loyal, and there is going to be mutual respect in the relationship, even if Puck and Romeo only wind up being friends (which is perfectly fine by me). And also because he's a faerie. And a pirate. And he's really nice. And he isn't sexist (which is EXTREMELY important. This is a quality that Demetrius, unfortunately, doesn't possess. Currently, anyway. He may eventually understand that girly girls MAY not be entirely competent *cough*Hero*cough*. I'm not saying ANYTHING against girls who embrace their girlishness, I'm just saying, Demetrius's dream girl is a girl who embraces girlishness because she has nothing better to do. Which is totally annoying. But Romeo MAY change his assumption that ALL girls are like that.)
But when even I start to hate the love interest (even if he's only been around for a few pages, and even if he's not in the current scene), that's bad. That's very, very bad. Because Demetrius is sexist, and Romeo is extremely non-sexist and non-girly, this relationship is doomed.
I mean, Demetrius DOES have the entire novel to redeem himself, but still. His first impression did NOT go down well OR as I had intended it to go down, so that's very, very bad as well. Romeo might not "forgive and forget" his extreme sexism in their first meeting, which will make her willing to just turn up her nose if Hero decides to ditch Demetrius. But this isn't likely to happen, so Romeo and Demetrius will just have to deal with it.
Anyone got any ideas about how to make this bad situation better? Anyone?
SUBJECT CHANGE! Now is the time when I discuss target page count, and how it's probably going to go away this year. I don't really like it, because I haven't done an official words-per-page count for the novel this year (that's a really lame reason for not doing a target page count, I know). I know how to do a word count per page for this, but it's annoying to have to go back and estimate and factor in all the page breaks for the chapters and stuff. So I'm just going to write like crazy and hope I get in enough words to finish by the end of the month.
Which is very likely, considering my current pace.
Well, not the pace I've set for today. The pace I've set for today is one of extreme slowness. I've barely written at all today. Which isn't good. I HAVE written, but not much. I'm still ahead of the word count needed, but still. For me, I'm behind. And that's not good.
But I'll figure something out. It IS Friday, after all. Which means I can write kind of late if I want to, because I can sort of sleep tomorrow morning.
But I can't sleep too late, because tomorrow is District Choir auditions. I'm ridiculously under-prepared because I missed the voice lesson in which I was planning on practicing a LOT for Districts, because I was auditioning for the musical and I got a really late number for the singing auditions. GAAAHHH!
Well, since my dad is probably going to be late picking me up tomorrow, I can just do the writing catch up then, I guess.
Anyway, speaking of the musical, call back lists went up today, and I GOT A CALL BACK! WOOHOO! This is the first time in which I've gotten a call back for the musical, and it's exciting. Call backs are Wednesday, which means I MAY have to miss voice AGAIN. But I will figure that out when I get there. Hopefully I'll get out a bit early so I won't miss the lesson AGAIN.
Okay, I should go write now.
Farewell.
Target Page: ditching this part of the challenge. I don't really know what my target page should be, first of all, since I never really did an official word-count-per-page thing, and I'll start editing if I go back and start counting now. My guesstimate is around 300 - 305 per page, with fluctuations in my handwriting and chapter breaks and stuff. But whatever. More on this later.
Approximate Words: 7300-ish.
Location in Story: Demetrius has turned out to be a sexist jerk and I REALLY don't like him. Neither does Romeo. Anyhow, she's just met Puck, who's currently telling her how he came to be there. And Romeo may or may not be starting to like him. (I don't know yet. I'm still in Puck's point of view).
If Romeo starts to like Puck, that's a very BAD thing. There's a reasonably good chance that Puck is gay, first of all. Secondly, even if he were straight, he's not going to break her heart, run away from her or the mission in order to do something for himself, or even dare to fall in love with Hero. If this were any other situation (and if Puck was for sure straight), I would be yelling at Romeo to not even DARE to like Demetrius because Puck is a wonderful being and he is probably going to be the greatest fictional boyfriend ever for anyone, because he is ridiculously awesome, reasonably loyal, and there is going to be mutual respect in the relationship, even if Puck and Romeo only wind up being friends (which is perfectly fine by me). And also because he's a faerie. And a pirate. And he's really nice. And he isn't sexist (which is EXTREMELY important. This is a quality that Demetrius, unfortunately, doesn't possess. Currently, anyway. He may eventually understand that girly girls MAY not be entirely competent *cough*Hero*cough*. I'm not saying ANYTHING against girls who embrace their girlishness, I'm just saying, Demetrius's dream girl is a girl who embraces girlishness because she has nothing better to do. Which is totally annoying. But Romeo MAY change his assumption that ALL girls are like that.)
But when even I start to hate the love interest (even if he's only been around for a few pages, and even if he's not in the current scene), that's bad. That's very, very bad. Because Demetrius is sexist, and Romeo is extremely non-sexist and non-girly, this relationship is doomed.
I mean, Demetrius DOES have the entire novel to redeem himself, but still. His first impression did NOT go down well OR as I had intended it to go down, so that's very, very bad as well. Romeo might not "forgive and forget" his extreme sexism in their first meeting, which will make her willing to just turn up her nose if Hero decides to ditch Demetrius. But this isn't likely to happen, so Romeo and Demetrius will just have to deal with it.
Anyone got any ideas about how to make this bad situation better? Anyone?
SUBJECT CHANGE! Now is the time when I discuss target page count, and how it's probably going to go away this year. I don't really like it, because I haven't done an official words-per-page count for the novel this year (that's a really lame reason for not doing a target page count, I know). I know how to do a word count per page for this, but it's annoying to have to go back and estimate and factor in all the page breaks for the chapters and stuff. So I'm just going to write like crazy and hope I get in enough words to finish by the end of the month.
Which is very likely, considering my current pace.
Well, not the pace I've set for today. The pace I've set for today is one of extreme slowness. I've barely written at all today. Which isn't good. I HAVE written, but not much. I'm still ahead of the word count needed, but still. For me, I'm behind. And that's not good.
But I'll figure something out. It IS Friday, after all. Which means I can write kind of late if I want to, because I can sort of sleep tomorrow morning.
But I can't sleep too late, because tomorrow is District Choir auditions. I'm ridiculously under-prepared because I missed the voice lesson in which I was planning on practicing a LOT for Districts, because I was auditioning for the musical and I got a really late number for the singing auditions. GAAAHHH!
Well, since my dad is probably going to be late picking me up tomorrow, I can just do the writing catch up then, I guess.
Anyway, speaking of the musical, call back lists went up today, and I GOT A CALL BACK! WOOHOO! This is the first time in which I've gotten a call back for the musical, and it's exciting. Call backs are Wednesday, which means I MAY have to miss voice AGAIN. But I will figure that out when I get there. Hopefully I'll get out a bit early so I won't miss the lesson AGAIN.
Okay, I should go write now.
Farewell.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Day 3: close but far
Current Page: 18
Target Page: 24
Pages In Between: 6
What People Have Been Doing: ROMEO HAS MET DEMETRIUS! Finally! It is about time. Really. Anyhow, the good thing is that they have met. YAY! The BAD thing is that Romeo is STILL not as bold as she is supposed to be, but there is time to fix that. Hopefully. Actually, NOT hopefully. YES. THERE IS STILL TIME TO GIVE ROMEO MORE GUTS. I STILL HAVE 27 MORE DAYS, AND SHE STILL HAS TIME TO HAVE A CHARACTER ARC.
Oh, yeah. And Demetrius has never heard of William Shakespeare. And that is a problem, according to Romeo. For me, it is just an excuse to have them hang out and start liking each other. Romeo HAS had the guts to get mad at him for not having heard of William Shakespeare. YAY FOR ROMEO! And she has also told him that he is annoying.
Well, she did not actually tell him that he was ANNOYING, exactly. She DID insult him, though. In Shakespearean. It was exciting. I quite enjoyed it.
What happened was that Romeo quoted Puck/ Robin Goodfellow in Act 3, Scene 2 of Midsummer Night's Dream ("Lord what fools these mortals be") after Demetrius said that he had never heard of Shakespeare and that there are no books where he comes from. But his lack of awareness of books makes sense, once you think about it. Demetrius comes from a highly technological society, and all the writing he does is ship's logs, because fiction and poetry are foreign concepts to him.
The reason Romeo chose that line is because I do not have my book of Shakespearean Insults with me, and I made a list in my NaNoWriMo plotting journal of all the insults I could use, but I only wrote down the numbers and not what the insults actually were, because that is against the NaNoWriMo rules.
But Demetrius's lack of knowledge of books... that is going to be fixed. Because now ROMEO IS HERE! And she will teach him RHYMING and IAMBIC PENTAMETER and LANGUAGE and SONNETS and INTERACTIONS and FICTION and LOVE POEMS and SHAKESPEAREAN INSULTS! (I am really excited for that scene. Can you tell at all?).
Anyhow, I have to go to English in three minutes. YES I DID MY HOMEWORK. NO, IT DOES NOT SUCK. (it does not suck a whole ton, anyway. There is no denying that it is bad, because it was me who wrote it).
Target Page: 24
Pages In Between: 6
What People Have Been Doing: ROMEO HAS MET DEMETRIUS! Finally! It is about time. Really. Anyhow, the good thing is that they have met. YAY! The BAD thing is that Romeo is STILL not as bold as she is supposed to be, but there is time to fix that. Hopefully. Actually, NOT hopefully. YES. THERE IS STILL TIME TO GIVE ROMEO MORE GUTS. I STILL HAVE 27 MORE DAYS, AND SHE STILL HAS TIME TO HAVE A CHARACTER ARC.
Oh, yeah. And Demetrius has never heard of William Shakespeare. And that is a problem, according to Romeo. For me, it is just an excuse to have them hang out and start liking each other. Romeo HAS had the guts to get mad at him for not having heard of William Shakespeare. YAY FOR ROMEO! And she has also told him that he is annoying.
Well, she did not actually tell him that he was ANNOYING, exactly. She DID insult him, though. In Shakespearean. It was exciting. I quite enjoyed it.
What happened was that Romeo quoted Puck/ Robin Goodfellow in Act 3, Scene 2 of Midsummer Night's Dream ("Lord what fools these mortals be") after Demetrius said that he had never heard of Shakespeare and that there are no books where he comes from. But his lack of awareness of books makes sense, once you think about it. Demetrius comes from a highly technological society, and all the writing he does is ship's logs, because fiction and poetry are foreign concepts to him.
The reason Romeo chose that line is because I do not have my book of Shakespearean Insults with me, and I made a list in my NaNoWriMo plotting journal of all the insults I could use, but I only wrote down the numbers and not what the insults actually were, because that is against the NaNoWriMo rules.
But Demetrius's lack of knowledge of books... that is going to be fixed. Because now ROMEO IS HERE! And she will teach him RHYMING and IAMBIC PENTAMETER and LANGUAGE and SONNETS and INTERACTIONS and FICTION and LOVE POEMS and SHAKESPEAREAN INSULTS! (I am really excited for that scene. Can you tell at all?).
Anyhow, I have to go to English in three minutes. YES I DID MY HOMEWORK. NO, IT DOES NOT SUCK. (it does not suck a whole ton, anyway. There is no denying that it is bad, because it was me who wrote it).
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Day Two Again: Am I Overestimating?
Current Page: 12
Target Page: 16
Pages In Between: 4
Approximate Word Count: 3340
Location In Story: Demetrius Has Arrived! Now Romeo just needs to get her guts together and... you know... go forth, INTO THE CLEARING FROM WHENCE SHE HAS JUST COME, and actually TALK to him. Like, say hi and everything.
Yeah. Romeo is turning out a lot shyer than I thought she would. I thought she'd be kind of feisty, but actually, she's the sort of person who will NOT introduce herself to people unless she's in a situation (like her Shakespeare summer camp) where she's otherwise fine with stuff. Well, to be fair, she HAS had a pretty rough morning. She came home, thought her parents were baby-making in the car but it was actually gargoyles eating them, then she hid in the closet under the stairs, and THEN she dived into this blue orb of weirdness that confiscated her phone and iPod and gave her a knife instead. THEN a reasonably attractive Han-Solo-type lands in the clearing she has just exited, even though the planet she is on is really like Endor more than Cloud City or Coresant (not sure if that is how you spell it), so she's all confused.
Yes, I AM a Star Wars nerd. Thank you for asking.
Romeo should have been a Star Wars dork. That might have made life a lot easier. Now I may never know. Though she could turn out to have Star-Wars-Dork qualities... I LIKE THIS IDEA!
But whatever. Shakespeare is awesome too.
Anyhow, she's now mustering herself to go and talk to him. She's talking herself out of her shyness by making all of these analogies to Shakespeare - he won't kill her because they're not doomed lovers like Romeo and Juliet; he won't kill her because his friends haven't talked him out of liking her like in Othello; again, like Othello, the jealous friend might not actually EXIST, and even if he DID, Romeo wouldn't be shot straight away because the guy would have to wait a while because he is making sure he can be jealous of Demetrius for Romeo's affections.
For the record, Iago in this story does NOT know Demetrius until a LOT later. Like, in one of those villain-taunting-a-hero-character-because-he's-a-meany-butt type scenes. That's the first time they meet. Maybe. I don't know. I'm not that far in yet.
Anyhow, I have to sign off and go write and do homework and other things of a productive, non-procrastinative nature. I'll post tomorrow. Most likely. Actually, YES I WILL. Because I CAN! And also because I HAVE TO!
Yeah. Okay. I'm going now.
Goodbye.
Until tomorrow.
Hopefully by then Romeo will have actually talked to Demetrius. And then my plot will no longer be stalled. It'll actually be doing something! Because they know each other now! Huzzah!
Target Page: 16
Pages In Between: 4
Approximate Word Count: 3340
Location In Story: Demetrius Has Arrived! Now Romeo just needs to get her guts together and... you know... go forth, INTO THE CLEARING FROM WHENCE SHE HAS JUST COME, and actually TALK to him. Like, say hi and everything.
Yeah. Romeo is turning out a lot shyer than I thought she would. I thought she'd be kind of feisty, but actually, she's the sort of person who will NOT introduce herself to people unless she's in a situation (like her Shakespeare summer camp) where she's otherwise fine with stuff. Well, to be fair, she HAS had a pretty rough morning. She came home, thought her parents were baby-making in the car but it was actually gargoyles eating them, then she hid in the closet under the stairs, and THEN she dived into this blue orb of weirdness that confiscated her phone and iPod and gave her a knife instead. THEN a reasonably attractive Han-Solo-type lands in the clearing she has just exited, even though the planet she is on is really like Endor more than Cloud City or Coresant (not sure if that is how you spell it), so she's all confused.
Yes, I AM a Star Wars nerd. Thank you for asking.
Romeo should have been a Star Wars dork. That might have made life a lot easier. Now I may never know. Though she could turn out to have Star-Wars-Dork qualities... I LIKE THIS IDEA!
But whatever. Shakespeare is awesome too.
Anyhow, she's now mustering herself to go and talk to him. She's talking herself out of her shyness by making all of these analogies to Shakespeare - he won't kill her because they're not doomed lovers like Romeo and Juliet; he won't kill her because his friends haven't talked him out of liking her like in Othello; again, like Othello, the jealous friend might not actually EXIST, and even if he DID, Romeo wouldn't be shot straight away because the guy would have to wait a while because he is making sure he can be jealous of Demetrius for Romeo's affections.
For the record, Iago in this story does NOT know Demetrius until a LOT later. Like, in one of those villain-taunting-a-hero-character-because-he's-a-meany-butt type scenes. That's the first time they meet. Maybe. I don't know. I'm not that far in yet.
Anyhow, I have to sign off and go write and do homework and other things of a productive, non-procrastinative nature. I'll post tomorrow. Most likely. Actually, YES I WILL. Because I CAN! And also because I HAVE TO!
Yeah. Okay. I'm going now.
Goodbye.
Until tomorrow.
Hopefully by then Romeo will have actually talked to Demetrius. And then my plot will no longer be stalled. It'll actually be doing something! Because they know each other now! Huzzah!
Day Two: I Should Be Writing
Current Page: 9
Target Page: 16
Pages Left: 7
Approximate words today: 350
Location In Story: Iago has found out about Romeo being in Mercanova. And he is PISSED. And he has sent out his gargoyle minions to stop her from meeting Demetrius and Puck and Morgan/ Belarius. Meanwhile, Romeo is about to meet Demetrius. (That is the bit I am about to write, once I get off of the blog and pick up my pen and my journal and such).
I have discovered, while I was writing, that the two gargoyles function EXACTLY as these two idiotic wizards (Maa and Kela) did in the novel I did last year: simply as annoying nuisances who did not really do anything except act stupid, get a laugh out of some of the readers, and try and hold up the important people from achieving their goals/ quest/ whatever it is they are trying to do. In this case, the gargoyles are trying to stop the Prophecied from meeting each other. Except that is not going to work out (most likely), because Iago JUST sent them and Demetrius is about to arrive, and the gargoyles landed at the same time as Romeo did, and Iago doesn't live less than ten minutes away from where Romeo landed. So the gargoyles are going to fail. And then Iago will send armies after them all. Which will be quite funny for the gargoyles, really. Well, funny for ME to watch the gargoyle's pathetic reaction to it all. I don't want to kill them, but they really don't function as more than something to laugh at.
And I also just realized that the gargoyles are the only two characters whose names I made up, rather than drawing their names from Shakespeare. I think I'll keep it that way - I don't think Shakespeare, although brilliant in other areas, has any gargoyle-y sounding names that would fit my two characters.
But yeah. That's where I am.
I've only done a page, and I have musical auditions today and tomorrow, English and Government starting in about 45 minutes, and I'm spending my last block of the day in a warm-up room before the audition, since today is the singing part.
Hey, I just realized something extremely important for my novelling adventure! I only have Earth Space homework tonight!! We had a calculus test today, so I have no homework there, and an Earth Space test tomorrow! Okay, I'll probably have to do some government studying tonight as well, and I might get some homework from English (I don't know yet), but having no calculus homework means I can spend an extra hour writing instead of trying to find derivatives and stuff.
Anyhow, I still need to go and write now. Might post later. Not sure yet. That will be determined by much I write today. And how much time I have tonight. And stuff.
If I have something to say, I will come in and say it.
Oh, yeah, before I leave, I have a funny story to tell.
So, today during lunch, my friend brought in my copy of Chris Baty's book, "No Plot? No Problem!" (I loaned it to her, and we both wanted to see the pep talk for this week - since Chris Baty is awesome and he does pep talks in a BOOK. I kind of love him. He's kind of wonderful). Anyway, I read the pep talk aloud while my friend dramatically acted out the pep talk. Since it was a noble-adventure-sounding type of pep talk, she was striking a lot of dramatic poses and looking off into the distance and such. It was wonderful.
Though we did poke the "Take My Inner Editor" button a paragraph early. But whatever. Minor details. Only when we are writing will we actually need them to bump our word count.
Anyhow, now I have custody of the book. Next week, she will read the pep talk and I will be the one striking random poses and pantomiming stuff.
Which is exciting.
huzzah!
Okay, now onto the novel which Chris Baty was pep talking me to write! And hopefully getting a good word count in before I have to go to English! Or maybe all of today's word count! (okay, that is not going to happen. I do not write that fast.)
Okay, going to go write a novel. Bye.
May post later. I don't know yet.
Target Page: 16
Pages Left: 7
Approximate words today: 350
Location In Story: Iago has found out about Romeo being in Mercanova. And he is PISSED. And he has sent out his gargoyle minions to stop her from meeting Demetrius and Puck and Morgan/ Belarius. Meanwhile, Romeo is about to meet Demetrius. (That is the bit I am about to write, once I get off of the blog and pick up my pen and my journal and such).
I have discovered, while I was writing, that the two gargoyles function EXACTLY as these two idiotic wizards (Maa and Kela) did in the novel I did last year: simply as annoying nuisances who did not really do anything except act stupid, get a laugh out of some of the readers, and try and hold up the important people from achieving their goals/ quest/ whatever it is they are trying to do. In this case, the gargoyles are trying to stop the Prophecied from meeting each other. Except that is not going to work out (most likely), because Iago JUST sent them and Demetrius is about to arrive, and the gargoyles landed at the same time as Romeo did, and Iago doesn't live less than ten minutes away from where Romeo landed. So the gargoyles are going to fail. And then Iago will send armies after them all. Which will be quite funny for the gargoyles, really. Well, funny for ME to watch the gargoyle's pathetic reaction to it all. I don't want to kill them, but they really don't function as more than something to laugh at.
And I also just realized that the gargoyles are the only two characters whose names I made up, rather than drawing their names from Shakespeare. I think I'll keep it that way - I don't think Shakespeare, although brilliant in other areas, has any gargoyle-y sounding names that would fit my two characters.
But yeah. That's where I am.
I've only done a page, and I have musical auditions today and tomorrow, English and Government starting in about 45 minutes, and I'm spending my last block of the day in a warm-up room before the audition, since today is the singing part.
Hey, I just realized something extremely important for my novelling adventure! I only have Earth Space homework tonight!! We had a calculus test today, so I have no homework there, and an Earth Space test tomorrow! Okay, I'll probably have to do some government studying tonight as well, and I might get some homework from English (I don't know yet), but having no calculus homework means I can spend an extra hour writing instead of trying to find derivatives and stuff.
Anyhow, I still need to go and write now. Might post later. Not sure yet. That will be determined by much I write today. And how much time I have tonight. And stuff.
If I have something to say, I will come in and say it.
Oh, yeah, before I leave, I have a funny story to tell.
So, today during lunch, my friend brought in my copy of Chris Baty's book, "No Plot? No Problem!" (I loaned it to her, and we both wanted to see the pep talk for this week - since Chris Baty is awesome and he does pep talks in a BOOK. I kind of love him. He's kind of wonderful). Anyway, I read the pep talk aloud while my friend dramatically acted out the pep talk. Since it was a noble-adventure-sounding type of pep talk, she was striking a lot of dramatic poses and looking off into the distance and such. It was wonderful.
Though we did poke the "Take My Inner Editor" button a paragraph early. But whatever. Minor details. Only when we are writing will we actually need them to bump our word count.
Anyhow, now I have custody of the book. Next week, she will read the pep talk and I will be the one striking random poses and pantomiming stuff.
Which is exciting.
huzzah!
Okay, now onto the novel which Chris Baty was pep talking me to write! And hopefully getting a good word count in before I have to go to English! Or maybe all of today's word count! (okay, that is not going to happen. I do not write that fast.)
Okay, going to go write a novel. Bye.
May post later. I don't know yet.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Day One, Part 2: gargoyles
Current Page: 7
Page to End On: 8
Approximate Word Count: 2100
Place in Story: Romeo Bright, Word Warrior Type Person, Age Seventeen, Princess of Mercanova, Second in Line to the Throne, has landed in Mercanova after being threatened by a pair of gargoyles who had eaten (not entirely) her parents.
Unexpected Plot Addition: Iago for sure knows that Romeo Bright, Word Warrior Type Person, Age Seventeen, Princess of Mercanova, Second in Line to the Throne, is in Mercanova, because the gargoyles told him.
Yeah. Originally I had assassins kill Romeo's parents and chase her through the door under the stairs into a portal into Mercanova, but I like the gargoyles better. Gargoyles are more fun. These are stupid, but they're also fun.
And I added in a chapter of them reporting back to Iago about how Romeo's around, because Iago has to know. But it's a good scene, so far. And I like it.
I've decided that I'm going to do a jumping first person telling of the story - every chapter or two (or maybe three, when it gets to the bit when Romeo Saves The Day), a new narrator takes over the telling of the story. Romeo handled the prologue and chapter one; Iago is now telling chapter two. I don't know whether it'll be just Romeo and Iago, but I'll find out when I get into the rest of the story.
Yeah. So, so far, I've a villain who is EXTREMELY fun to write (he hates everything, and is the sneering, sarcastic type of bad guy, so his character voice is the sort where you can't decide whether to laugh at him or punch him in the face), and gargoyles who are stupid. I may not meet Demetrius today, but I don't know yet. I'm not past the gargoyles telling Iago that Romeo got away. Iago still has to get pissed and call for backup before I can go back to Romeo and (maybe) Demetrius and Puck and Morgan/ Belarius.
Honestly, when I started this morning, I thought Romeo's voice was really whiny and I didn't like her at ALL, but now I like her. She just got a little list-heavy in the beginning because I needed to pad my word count. It's always in the beginning where the word count padding is needed the most.
But, other than that, I think it is going reasonably well. I mean, I can't say for certain if it'll go consistently brilliantly, because I've only done two chapters and a prologue, so I'm not that far in, but if my calculations are correct, I'm way ahead of where I need to be, which is nice. The NaNo stats say that, since I've done about 2100 words, I'll be done on November 23rd if I keep this up.
However, I'm not sure whether I can actually keep this up, so whether or not I'm actually done on November 23rd remains to be seen. And I'll see what happens... eventually.
Right now, I need to go and do homework and other important educational-y stuff, and not write and see where this story goes (even though as I really, really want to).
Farewell. Until later today.
I may post later. I'm not sure yet.
Page to End On: 8
Approximate Word Count: 2100
Place in Story: Romeo Bright, Word Warrior Type Person, Age Seventeen, Princess of Mercanova, Second in Line to the Throne, has landed in Mercanova after being threatened by a pair of gargoyles who had eaten (not entirely) her parents.
Unexpected Plot Addition: Iago for sure knows that Romeo Bright, Word Warrior Type Person, Age Seventeen, Princess of Mercanova, Second in Line to the Throne, is in Mercanova, because the gargoyles told him.
Yeah. Originally I had assassins kill Romeo's parents and chase her through the door under the stairs into a portal into Mercanova, but I like the gargoyles better. Gargoyles are more fun. These are stupid, but they're also fun.
And I added in a chapter of them reporting back to Iago about how Romeo's around, because Iago has to know. But it's a good scene, so far. And I like it.
I've decided that I'm going to do a jumping first person telling of the story - every chapter or two (or maybe three, when it gets to the bit when Romeo Saves The Day), a new narrator takes over the telling of the story. Romeo handled the prologue and chapter one; Iago is now telling chapter two. I don't know whether it'll be just Romeo and Iago, but I'll find out when I get into the rest of the story.
Yeah. So, so far, I've a villain who is EXTREMELY fun to write (he hates everything, and is the sneering, sarcastic type of bad guy, so his character voice is the sort where you can't decide whether to laugh at him or punch him in the face), and gargoyles who are stupid. I may not meet Demetrius today, but I don't know yet. I'm not past the gargoyles telling Iago that Romeo got away. Iago still has to get pissed and call for backup before I can go back to Romeo and (maybe) Demetrius and Puck and Morgan/ Belarius.
Honestly, when I started this morning, I thought Romeo's voice was really whiny and I didn't like her at ALL, but now I like her. She just got a little list-heavy in the beginning because I needed to pad my word count. It's always in the beginning where the word count padding is needed the most.
But, other than that, I think it is going reasonably well. I mean, I can't say for certain if it'll go consistently brilliantly, because I've only done two chapters and a prologue, so I'm not that far in, but if my calculations are correct, I'm way ahead of where I need to be, which is nice. The NaNo stats say that, since I've done about 2100 words, I'll be done on November 23rd if I keep this up.
However, I'm not sure whether I can actually keep this up, so whether or not I'm actually done on November 23rd remains to be seen. And I'll see what happens... eventually.
Right now, I need to go and do homework and other important educational-y stuff, and not write and see where this story goes (even though as I really, really want to).
Farewell. Until later today.
I may post later. I'm not sure yet.
Day 1: and so it begins
Day:1
Current Page: 3
Target Page: 8
Words (about): 500
Target: 2000
Point In Story: exposition
Yeah, I am not that far in. I am at the START of page three, so that is why I only have around 500 words. And since I am only on page three, my exposition is still in progress. There was a page break at the end of page one to finish the prologue; chapter one began on page two. Right now... all I am talking about is how Romeo is walking home from the last day of school and getting ready to go to Shakespeare camp, and she is saying what is in her backpack. The stuff in her backpack turns out to be rather important - she teaches Demetrius sonnets from "Romeo and Juliet," she pokes people with her knitting, and she uses the pen and notebook to create soldiers to beat up Iago. I am not sure why or how she is going to use her copies of "Othello," "Midsummer Night's Dream," and "Much Ado About Nothing," or how she is going to use the roll of awesomely patterned duct tape. I do not know what the pattern is, but I know for sure (because I already said) that it is awesome. But that is what the rest of the novel is for! Finding out why a female character who is named after an emotional Shakespearean guy who overreacts to everything is carrying around a roll of awesomely patterned duct tape, and finding out what the pattern is on that awesomely patterned duct tape. I am quite certain they do NOT have duct tape in Mercanova, so I am going to have to figure out a use for that. And also how to find out how to make her lose her phone and her iPod, since they would interfere with the plot (if she dropped them in Mercanova, someone would for sure pick them up and use them and the whole plot would die because someone could get in contact with them). And also how to get a small-but-lethal knife into her backpack as well. As well as some clean underpants.
Anyway. Details.
BACK TO WRITING! FAREWELL!!!
I will most likely post later. When I have more words. And more details. And hopefully a pattern on that awesomely patterned roll of duct tape.
And a function for all of her Shakespearean plays.
I hope to meet Demetrius by the end of today. I plan to at least get Romeo into Mercanova by the end of today. I do not know whether she will meet Demetrius by page eight or not, but whatever. I have the rest of the month to figure that out.
Okay, time to go see whether my chorus teacher has returned, and to go to class and sing if he has. If he has not, TIME TO WRITE SOME MORE! (and, ya know, do homework, and stuff). Yeah. Bye for now.
Current Page: 3
Target Page: 8
Words (about): 500
Target: 2000
Point In Story: exposition
Yeah, I am not that far in. I am at the START of page three, so that is why I only have around 500 words. And since I am only on page three, my exposition is still in progress. There was a page break at the end of page one to finish the prologue; chapter one began on page two. Right now... all I am talking about is how Romeo is walking home from the last day of school and getting ready to go to Shakespeare camp, and she is saying what is in her backpack. The stuff in her backpack turns out to be rather important - she teaches Demetrius sonnets from "Romeo and Juliet," she pokes people with her knitting, and she uses the pen and notebook to create soldiers to beat up Iago. I am not sure why or how she is going to use her copies of "Othello," "Midsummer Night's Dream," and "Much Ado About Nothing," or how she is going to use the roll of awesomely patterned duct tape. I do not know what the pattern is, but I know for sure (because I already said) that it is awesome. But that is what the rest of the novel is for! Finding out why a female character who is named after an emotional Shakespearean guy who overreacts to everything is carrying around a roll of awesomely patterned duct tape, and finding out what the pattern is on that awesomely patterned duct tape. I am quite certain they do NOT have duct tape in Mercanova, so I am going to have to figure out a use for that. And also how to find out how to make her lose her phone and her iPod, since they would interfere with the plot (if she dropped them in Mercanova, someone would for sure pick them up and use them and the whole plot would die because someone could get in contact with them). And also how to get a small-but-lethal knife into her backpack as well. As well as some clean underpants.
Anyway. Details.
BACK TO WRITING! FAREWELL!!!
I will most likely post later. When I have more words. And more details. And hopefully a pattern on that awesomely patterned roll of duct tape.
And a function for all of her Shakespearean plays.
I hope to meet Demetrius by the end of today. I plan to at least get Romeo into Mercanova by the end of today. I do not know whether she will meet Demetrius by page eight or not, but whatever. I have the rest of the month to figure that out.
Okay, time to go see whether my chorus teacher has returned, and to go to class and sing if he has. If he has not, TIME TO WRITE SOME MORE! (and, ya know, do homework, and stuff). Yeah. Bye for now.
Monday, October 31, 2011
NaNooooooo!!!!!
It's ALMOST NANOWRIMO! WOOHOO! This means that I need to grab my NaNoWriMo 2011 journal from that place in the dining room where we keep journal-y stuff, and write and scribble all over the cover before going to school tomorrow to grab the purple pen and start writing myself to the biggest writer's cramp I will ever get ever. WOOHOO! Well, actually, if last year is any indication, I might not get a supermassive writer's cramp, but you never know.& The second year is always the oddest and the hardest.
Well, the second time of ANYTHING is always the weirdest because you're expecting something just like what happened the first time, but then it turns out completely different from what you expected based on the first time. And usually, when you get to the third time, you've realized that you really shouldn't expect anything except a lot of words to come pouring out of you onto a piece of paper or a computer screen. That much, at least, I'm absolutely certain will happen over the course of the next month. Whether those words wind up being the needed word count or not, and whether or not the words are complete bull, is yet to be determined. But they're GOING to happen. And hopefully the sleep I lost last night working on TWO college apps will pay off in preventing me having a stress meltdown from anything college related for the next month. Whether I have a stress meltdown from anything school related will be a different matter. (translation: whether I flip out about not understanding AB calculus because I am writing is going to be a very valid question).
Anyhoo, happy Halloween! Yes, I'm about to leave high school, but that doesn't matter. I'm STILL going trick or treating. And I don't CARE that I'm "too old." I dressed up today, and I'm going to go demand candy from my neighbors later. HAHAHAHAHAAA!!! (of course, the condition from my mom will probably be that I finish all my calculus that's due tomorrow before I actually go, but whatever. And also that I finish the two applications that I need to send in before I go out and get sugar, but whatever. I WILL SIT AND DO IT! I WILL NOT MISS MY LAST YEAR OF TRICK OR TREATING!!!)
yeah, I'm weird. And I'm also hungry. That's fixable, though, and it shall be fixed... later. Probably when I walk home.
Anyhow, I'm a bit nervous about NaNoWriMo. I mean, it IS an utterly lunatic endeavor and I have no idea why I'm doing it again because I haven't had a serious writing binge in a while, so my writing might be rather horrible. Or it could be rather awesome. I don't know. Either one. Or both.
Yeah, I'm hungry. And I'm talking in sentence fragments. This isn't good. Word to anyone who does not know me: if I start talking in sentence fragments, it usually means that I'm really hungry, or that I'm sleep deprived, or that I'm going insane. Or that I'm going insane because I'm hungry and sleep deprived. But I'm not going insane - I'm just hungry and sleep deprived.
See, that is what I don't like about high school and senior year: college applications. I have a hunch that applying to college might be the hardest part about college, at least for most universities (if it is Ivy League, then the academia is harder, and if it is military school, then you are going to get the workout you always wished you had, but five times harder. Which is totally awesome, but it's the reason I'd never survive a military academy. I'm too much of a non-athletic arts kid). Anyhow, the point is, I REALLY hope this lack of time in senior year is going to not translate to college (or only somewhat translate). Because if it did, I would probably go insane. I like having spare time, especially when I actually have no spare time.
Funny how these things work - all humans seem to want is the thing they cannot have. I have no time, so therefore I crave spare time. A character I have to rant to (and about) during a monologue for conservatory wants to be with this one chick because she's super pretty and popular and stuff, but she never liked him back so he liked her more.
Humans are so weird.
And awesome.
Weirdly awesome!
Awesomely weird!
Okay, I really need to get something to eat. I'm becoming incoherent.
Well, the second time of ANYTHING is always the weirdest because you're expecting something just like what happened the first time, but then it turns out completely different from what you expected based on the first time. And usually, when you get to the third time, you've realized that you really shouldn't expect anything except a lot of words to come pouring out of you onto a piece of paper or a computer screen. That much, at least, I'm absolutely certain will happen over the course of the next month. Whether those words wind up being the needed word count or not, and whether or not the words are complete bull, is yet to be determined. But they're GOING to happen. And hopefully the sleep I lost last night working on TWO college apps will pay off in preventing me having a stress meltdown from anything college related for the next month. Whether I have a stress meltdown from anything school related will be a different matter. (translation: whether I flip out about not understanding AB calculus because I am writing is going to be a very valid question).
Anyhoo, happy Halloween! Yes, I'm about to leave high school, but that doesn't matter. I'm STILL going trick or treating. And I don't CARE that I'm "too old." I dressed up today, and I'm going to go demand candy from my neighbors later. HAHAHAHAHAAA!!! (of course, the condition from my mom will probably be that I finish all my calculus that's due tomorrow before I actually go, but whatever. And also that I finish the two applications that I need to send in before I go out and get sugar, but whatever. I WILL SIT AND DO IT! I WILL NOT MISS MY LAST YEAR OF TRICK OR TREATING!!!)
yeah, I'm weird. And I'm also hungry. That's fixable, though, and it shall be fixed... later. Probably when I walk home.
Anyhow, I'm a bit nervous about NaNoWriMo. I mean, it IS an utterly lunatic endeavor and I have no idea why I'm doing it again because I haven't had a serious writing binge in a while, so my writing might be rather horrible. Or it could be rather awesome. I don't know. Either one. Or both.
Yeah, I'm hungry. And I'm talking in sentence fragments. This isn't good. Word to anyone who does not know me: if I start talking in sentence fragments, it usually means that I'm really hungry, or that I'm sleep deprived, or that I'm going insane. Or that I'm going insane because I'm hungry and sleep deprived. But I'm not going insane - I'm just hungry and sleep deprived.
See, that is what I don't like about high school and senior year: college applications. I have a hunch that applying to college might be the hardest part about college, at least for most universities (if it is Ivy League, then the academia is harder, and if it is military school, then you are going to get the workout you always wished you had, but five times harder. Which is totally awesome, but it's the reason I'd never survive a military academy. I'm too much of a non-athletic arts kid). Anyhow, the point is, I REALLY hope this lack of time in senior year is going to not translate to college (or only somewhat translate). Because if it did, I would probably go insane. I like having spare time, especially when I actually have no spare time.
Funny how these things work - all humans seem to want is the thing they cannot have. I have no time, so therefore I crave spare time. A character I have to rant to (and about) during a monologue for conservatory wants to be with this one chick because she's super pretty and popular and stuff, but she never liked him back so he liked her more.
Humans are so weird.
And awesome.
Weirdly awesome!
Awesomely weird!
Okay, I really need to get something to eat. I'm becoming incoherent.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Snow! grr...
It snowed yesterday. WHY DID IT SNOW YESTERDAY? I live many, many, MANY miles away from any place that normally gets snow around this time. Why is this year different? I had to walk home in it from my school's production of "Little Shop of Horrors," which is probably partly why it bugged me. But "Little Shop" was really good!
But anyway, this is the first time that I can remember that it has snowed before Halloween, which does not bode well for my costume. I'm not scantily clad or anything, but I'll be cold without something else on, and I don't think it will look right if I have something else on over it. Oh, well. That's life, I guess. Regardless of how much it bugs me, there is still life that must go on.
Anyway, in other news, I have a SECOND COLLEGE APPLICATION IN!! WHOOHOO! And it's for a school I ACTUALLY want to go to! It is, as it transpires (not sure if I've said this already; if I have, please disregard this sentence), the school where my favorite band studied. This is exciting.
I have now discovered the glory of the Common App. Why? Well, I got that application in through the common app; I have two (maybe three) more schools that use it, which means I am essentially done with those. I just have to double-check that they don't have any supplemental stuff (I'm pretty sure at least one of them does). After I do the supplements and the Common-App-Double-Check, I can just click "submit" and it'll go (though we might have to pay something for some of the schools). Anyway, this just leaves two applications to fill out (and, unfortunately, five essays to write between them; however, I have already done one that will apply to both of them. Huzzah!).
And also, I have almost succeeded in knitting a fingerless glove to the knuckles without messing anything up or making it extremely super tight around any of the finger joints or anything unfortunate like that. It's exciting. I'm somewhat proud of myself. And the one glove I'm almost done with actually looks reasonably cool as well! It's self-patterning yarn, so that makes it all cool looking, though it does give the fingers a weird look because you have to do each finger individually. This means you bind off each finger and then tie the yarn again at the base of the next finger, so the pattern goes on but it looks kind of weird because the colors of the fingers are idiosynchratic with the colors of the base of the fingers. But whatever. It still looks cool.
Anyhow, I will have to go to breakfast soon.
Oh, BY THE WAY, for all of you who live in the area who need warmth-inducing clothing for this exceedingly early snow we have just had, let me know. I can and will knit you something if you ask me to.
Yeah, I have to go eat now. And maybe finish that glove. And maybe work on that commission that I am nearly done with and stuff... HUZZAH FOR GETTING PAID!
YAY FOR HALLOWEEN!
Happy early Halloween and super-early NaNoWriMo awesomeness wishes! I do not know about you, but I am EXTREMELY excited to walk around dressed in costume and demanding candy from my neighbors, and then to use the candy as sustenance for writing a novel in a month. It's going to be supremely epic. That is, it WILL be supremely epic, if either of my trick-or-treat buddies decide to message me back to make sure we're actually going... Whatever.
See you later!
But anyway, this is the first time that I can remember that it has snowed before Halloween, which does not bode well for my costume. I'm not scantily clad or anything, but I'll be cold without something else on, and I don't think it will look right if I have something else on over it. Oh, well. That's life, I guess. Regardless of how much it bugs me, there is still life that must go on.
Anyway, in other news, I have a SECOND COLLEGE APPLICATION IN!! WHOOHOO! And it's for a school I ACTUALLY want to go to! It is, as it transpires (not sure if I've said this already; if I have, please disregard this sentence), the school where my favorite band studied. This is exciting.
I have now discovered the glory of the Common App. Why? Well, I got that application in through the common app; I have two (maybe three) more schools that use it, which means I am essentially done with those. I just have to double-check that they don't have any supplemental stuff (I'm pretty sure at least one of them does). After I do the supplements and the Common-App-Double-Check, I can just click "submit" and it'll go (though we might have to pay something for some of the schools). Anyway, this just leaves two applications to fill out (and, unfortunately, five essays to write between them; however, I have already done one that will apply to both of them. Huzzah!).
And also, I have almost succeeded in knitting a fingerless glove to the knuckles without messing anything up or making it extremely super tight around any of the finger joints or anything unfortunate like that. It's exciting. I'm somewhat proud of myself. And the one glove I'm almost done with actually looks reasonably cool as well! It's self-patterning yarn, so that makes it all cool looking, though it does give the fingers a weird look because you have to do each finger individually. This means you bind off each finger and then tie the yarn again at the base of the next finger, so the pattern goes on but it looks kind of weird because the colors of the fingers are idiosynchratic with the colors of the base of the fingers. But whatever. It still looks cool.
Anyhow, I will have to go to breakfast soon.
Oh, BY THE WAY, for all of you who live in the area who need warmth-inducing clothing for this exceedingly early snow we have just had, let me know. I can and will knit you something if you ask me to.
Yeah, I have to go eat now. And maybe finish that glove. And maybe work on that commission that I am nearly done with and stuff... HUZZAH FOR GETTING PAID!
YAY FOR HALLOWEEN!
Happy early Halloween and super-early NaNoWriMo awesomeness wishes! I do not know about you, but I am EXTREMELY excited to walk around dressed in costume and demanding candy from my neighbors, and then to use the candy as sustenance for writing a novel in a month. It's going to be supremely epic. That is, it WILL be supremely epic, if either of my trick-or-treat buddies decide to message me back to make sure we're actually going... Whatever.
See you later!
Friday, October 28, 2011
NaNo and other ridiculous, over-ranted things
Yes, once again, I'm here to rant about how I'm going to go horribly insane and get really tired while taking on the lunatic operation of trying to write a novel in a month while also trying to survive my senior year.
If you're getting supremely tired of reading about this, tell me in the comments, and I will shut up.
And by 'shut up,' I mean that I'll cease my many posts regarding NaNo until it starts. Then, for sake of my creative writing grade and informing the world (or at least my readers) of my progress on my novel (or my non-progress on my novel), I will be posting every day with progress as of that moment. Yes, this WILL be a daily thing and it WILL be mandatory for my creative writing grade. I think. But for now, I'm saying it IS part of my grade, so YES, I DO have to do it. So if you hate hearing about how I'm going to write a novel, and you don't want to know how the novel is going, feel free to zone out until November.
Okay, on to the ACTUAL RANT!!!
I'm reasonably excited, but also a bit scared as well. See, unlike last year, my world now wholly my own, and I have to actually do something with it. I mean, last year it was loosely based on an N64 Super Mario game (here meaning a bit of the plot was drawn from it, and some of the creatures were taken and given different names. That's it. But I had creatures and I had a goal). This year, the plot is entirely mine, and that's really terrifying. Why? Well, I have sub-plotted to the max, for a start. Secondly, all my characters have been bugging me for their story to be told since AUGUST. I'm scared I'll fail them. (And for all of you non-writers who think I'm insane... you're lunatics). And I'm scared that something will go wrong - that Demetrius will never go for Hero, that Romeo will never save Demetrius, that Puck will never come into his powers, that Morgan will slip up and say something in chapter 12 that isn't supposed to be revealed until chapter 32, that Hero will think Demetrius is just some creepy stranger who randomly shows up and stars reciting sonnets, and not this really hot guy worthy of her affections...
This is what you get when you over-plot. I don't want to simplify, but I don't NOT want to simplify, either. Does that make any sense at all?
Anyway, plot fears aside, my other fear is that I will fail NaNo AND school. I mean, I would be fine with losing NaNo if it meant passing calculus and not screwing up my GPA, but I don't want to screw up my GPA AND not finish NaNo. Really, the ideal situation is that I write during my free blocks and then go home and do all my homework within four hours so I can write some more, but I'm one of those people who dares to take three AP classes AND have a life AND get to bed before midnight (though I have not been wholly successful on that last one), so that's not likely to happen.
Oh, yeah, and musical rehearsal starts November 7th, which is way earlier than we've done before. Which means that I'm NOT going to sleep. Or finish the novel. Or get good grades. Or do a lot of things that I'd really like to do, but won't be able to do because I'M DOING TOO MUCH IN NOVEMBER. Can you tell at all?
Okay, I admit, I AM leaving out that we have quite a few days off from school in November. There's a teacher work day, there's Veteran's Day, and there's Thanksgiving break. I think there's a total of ONE full week in November, if that. Wait... yes, one full week. And that's next week. But next week doesn't ENTIRELY count as a full week of November because there are still two days of October in next week. I can't forget Halloween, because Halloween will provide a lot of the non-healthy-but-I'll-still-eat-it-because-I-feel-entitled-since-I'm-writing-a-novel type of sustenance that I need to survive the ridiculous month ahead of me.
Though, to be quite honest, it will be highly unlikely that, when December finally comes around, I will still have all of my sanity still at a reasonably coherent level, or that I will have very little sleep to catch up on, or that my GPA will still above a 3.0, or that something else in my life will not have been horribly messed up.
But you never know. Surprises are fun. Except when they aren't.
Still, I hope that this will entail a good surprise, like maybe how my math teacher will MAYBE be lenient with the homework, or that my English teacher decides that she will NOT be assigning any books in November, or that all the November tests in Government are cancelled. You never know.
But they COULD load on ALL the homework possible. And if they do that, I'm quite sure that I won't be the only teenager who wants to sue someone for depriving teenagers for their right (and biological need) to sleep.
Thus concludes my rant for today.
Farewell.
If you're getting supremely tired of reading about this, tell me in the comments, and I will shut up.
And by 'shut up,' I mean that I'll cease my many posts regarding NaNo until it starts. Then, for sake of my creative writing grade and informing the world (or at least my readers) of my progress on my novel (or my non-progress on my novel), I will be posting every day with progress as of that moment. Yes, this WILL be a daily thing and it WILL be mandatory for my creative writing grade. I think. But for now, I'm saying it IS part of my grade, so YES, I DO have to do it. So if you hate hearing about how I'm going to write a novel, and you don't want to know how the novel is going, feel free to zone out until November.
Okay, on to the ACTUAL RANT!!!
I'm reasonably excited, but also a bit scared as well. See, unlike last year, my world now wholly my own, and I have to actually do something with it. I mean, last year it was loosely based on an N64 Super Mario game (here meaning a bit of the plot was drawn from it, and some of the creatures were taken and given different names. That's it. But I had creatures and I had a goal). This year, the plot is entirely mine, and that's really terrifying. Why? Well, I have sub-plotted to the max, for a start. Secondly, all my characters have been bugging me for their story to be told since AUGUST. I'm scared I'll fail them. (And for all of you non-writers who think I'm insane... you're lunatics). And I'm scared that something will go wrong - that Demetrius will never go for Hero, that Romeo will never save Demetrius, that Puck will never come into his powers, that Morgan will slip up and say something in chapter 12 that isn't supposed to be revealed until chapter 32, that Hero will think Demetrius is just some creepy stranger who randomly shows up and stars reciting sonnets, and not this really hot guy worthy of her affections...
This is what you get when you over-plot. I don't want to simplify, but I don't NOT want to simplify, either. Does that make any sense at all?
Anyway, plot fears aside, my other fear is that I will fail NaNo AND school. I mean, I would be fine with losing NaNo if it meant passing calculus and not screwing up my GPA, but I don't want to screw up my GPA AND not finish NaNo. Really, the ideal situation is that I write during my free blocks and then go home and do all my homework within four hours so I can write some more, but I'm one of those people who dares to take three AP classes AND have a life AND get to bed before midnight (though I have not been wholly successful on that last one), so that's not likely to happen.
Oh, yeah, and musical rehearsal starts November 7th, which is way earlier than we've done before. Which means that I'm NOT going to sleep. Or finish the novel. Or get good grades. Or do a lot of things that I'd really like to do, but won't be able to do because I'M DOING TOO MUCH IN NOVEMBER. Can you tell at all?
Okay, I admit, I AM leaving out that we have quite a few days off from school in November. There's a teacher work day, there's Veteran's Day, and there's Thanksgiving break. I think there's a total of ONE full week in November, if that. Wait... yes, one full week. And that's next week. But next week doesn't ENTIRELY count as a full week of November because there are still two days of October in next week. I can't forget Halloween, because Halloween will provide a lot of the non-healthy-but-I'll-still-eat-it-because-I-feel-entitled-since-I'm-writing-a-novel type of sustenance that I need to survive the ridiculous month ahead of me.
Though, to be quite honest, it will be highly unlikely that, when December finally comes around, I will still have all of my sanity still at a reasonably coherent level, or that I will have very little sleep to catch up on, or that my GPA will still above a 3.0, or that something else in my life will not have been horribly messed up.
But you never know. Surprises are fun. Except when they aren't.
Still, I hope that this will entail a good surprise, like maybe how my math teacher will MAYBE be lenient with the homework, or that my English teacher decides that she will NOT be assigning any books in November, or that all the November tests in Government are cancelled. You never know.
But they COULD load on ALL the homework possible. And if they do that, I'm quite sure that I won't be the only teenager who wants to sue someone for depriving teenagers for their right (and biological need) to sleep.
Thus concludes my rant for today.
Farewell.
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