Lost: A Sense of Proportion

Yep, that's pretty much been my mental and physical reaction to this month so far. Between helping my mom through the continuing recovery from her surgery the first half of the month (she's pretty well back to normal now), being right in the middle of the most stressful and demanding part of the black belt testing process, and a ton of other events and obligations, this year was probably not a good one to also decide to do a half NaNo.

But... I'm really liking the way my novel's coming along so far, and without that goal to push myself toward I knew I would've probably would've given in to exhaustion and just not worked on it at all this month. So. I've been writing. And so far it's still coming along. My current word count's at -


Still on track to finish at this point, much to my own surprise!

Karate is also going well. Between particularly intense workouts and getting punched in the head multiple times (not hard enough for a concussion... definitely hard enough to snap my head back and leave me with a stiff neck for days) soreness is pretty much a way of life at the moment.

I also found out, belatedly (my brother knew, but didn't realize I hadn't heard) that one part of the screening tests was a trick question, test-of-your-character sort of scenario. You're given a couple of options as if they really don't care either way which you do, but in fact your choice is actually a rather major factor in their assessment of you. Not being aware beforehand, I chose correctly by pure accident (or Divine intervention, more like), rather than some kind of determination to challenge myself and push my limits. I didn't think I could manage the easier option without flailing and/or falling over at that point, while I was pretty sure I could do the harder one technically correctly, even if my execution wasn't awesomely impressive. XD

So - Eric and I just got word that we both passed our final screening, and will be allowed to go down to the Cities for the final exam on December 7th! Which means a lot of intense preparation yet, and I've got to fit in the required number of sparring sessions before then (which will be... tight), but I think we both have a really good chance of passing the final exam. \o/ But in the meantime... ow. Also, tired.

I've also been re-reading Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia during car rides and at night to unwind, and they are not only making me very happy but doing an excellent job of reminding me exactly why I wanted to write in the first place. What a wonderful reward it would be if someday someone laid in bed reading one of my books, desperately trying to smother gleeful giggles for fear of disturbing family members...

And that's basically a summary of my life lately.

Now I need to go and write a little more, because I'm behind on my word count for the day.

... did it. :D

And at this point I'd be tempted to just say "Yay, done!" and take a break. Buuuut I think I'll go for 30,000 words instead. *bounces* 

Well, I know of at least one thing I'll be expressing thankfulness for tomorrow. *g* To all those who'll be celebrating it - have a great Thanksgiving Day! To those who aren't... have a great day anyway? ^.^

<3

Woke up this morning to - snow! *dances* I was sad to have missed our first snowfall, while we were in Texas, but this one has a better chance of sticking around for a bit. As it's still going... I have hopes of getting a considerable amount today. Yay!  

And the writing? Is still moving forward. ^.^

I've found that listening to music helps a lot. And it helps more if I put use a headset, instead of just listening to it on the CD player in the background. Doesn't seem to matter whether either the subject or mood of the music fits what I'm trying to write, or even whether or not it has words (which I'd have thought would be really distracting, but... *shrug*). Heheh, I guess it seems to be effective in drowning out the dozen extraneous thoughts to allow me to focus on just one. Plus, when I run into a momentary blank spot and am trying to decide on the next words to get things rolling again, it fills in just enough to keep me from getting bored with my own brain, and wandering off to unrelated thoughts. And I seem to write faster if I can't hear myself type. Which is stupid, but hey, whatever works. (Hmm. Maybe I have more ADD tendencies than I'd previously thought? Or... something. General weirdness, maybe. *g*)

Also, have discovered that yes, I really should just write those random, stupid, pointless, out of context scenes that I feel like writing, instead of forcing myself to flail randomly at the next part of the Main Story. Because yes, sometimes it leads to The Most Stupid Conversation Ever, which is humiliating both for me and the poor characters involved. But other times... it leads to Important Realizations, and a lot more fun than I expected. And that's cool. ^.^

So. I am now - 



Over. Half. Way. Yes!  :D :D :D

Time for a reading break. *curls up with Wayfarer*

After much debate... I've decided to do NaNoWriMo this year.  

Not really. But sort of. 

Y'see, although it appeals to me in theory, I am well aware that my actually attempting to complete 50,000 words in a month would end in tears. And mostly likely bloodshed. Lots of bloodshed. Though whose blood precisely is up for debate. 

So. In the interests of being Bold Yet Realistic (or chickening out, however you choose to look at it), I will be attempting a modified NaNo goal. 

Month of November, 25,000 words, and I'll allow myself to jump between my various projects instead of sticking with just one story draft. Because, while I would love to get 25,000 words done on The Novel (and yes, there is A Novel - it even kindasorta has a plot now!), the truth is I'm still at a point where I'll sometimes need a day or two to sort things out before I can move ahead - otherwise it won't just be junk, it'll be nothing getting written. At least this way I hope to keep up a steady stream of writing. 

We shall see. 

Honestly, it'll still be a miracle if I do manage even NaNo!Lite. But... I want to try. I think it's about time to try to hold myself to a real challenge with writing. And I'm certainly hoping I'll be enthusiastic and ready to write after this writing conference - which, interestingly enough, ends on the 31st. ^.^

"Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you..." 2 Timothy 1:6a 

Well, whatever it is I've got, I'll be stirring it up - and poking it with sticks, and threatening it with knives, and fire, and if needs be tears. *g*