Flying …

11367

My word count for today and to celebrate, I decided to create a Wordle. [Below].

 

If you want to create your own Wordle, that’s the link (left). This is mine:

Later on Day Four

7528

Had another splurge – boosted my word count for today and stopped before I hit the wall. By concentrating on one character a day I seem to be able to get into their heads better with links to the other characters I can develop later. Still not thinking too much about it … want to keep my writing fresh and let the ideas come tumbling out.

NaNoWriMo update …

6060

Fourth day in and I didn’t begin today until thirty minutes ago but am already 472 words up on yesterday with a total so far of 6060, on target for finishing 28 November. I’ve approached the whole thing in a much more laid back way – last year, my first – I’d no idea if I’d have the stamina or the words even to write 50,000. As it was, I wrote far more and in only three weeks, though once I stopped, that was it, finished.

This time I’m doing other things besides NaNo. Lots of people doing it have full time jobs, children – I don’t have those responsibilities now, so can afford to limit the time I spend writing and do other things like the monthly preparation of reviews and author interviews for The Short Review. Today I’ve prepared three author interviews, Richard Lange, Regi Claire and Ellis Sharp – make really interesting reading, oh … and changed the bed, done two lots of washing … umm, set up digibox with OH (it’s digital switchover day in Granada TV land) so we can watch all the programmes we’ve not been able to watch while we only had terrestrial TV. What has this all got to do with NaNo? Not a lot – but it’s so easy to use up time doing even minor domestic things. OK, now I really am going to stop and find out what my character is going to get up to next …

NaNoWriMo 2009

So … another year, another NaNo and the new web badges for 2009’s participants have gone up on the site today.

This time I’m actually going to try to write a novel. Last year it was an exercise in stamina building. Having bound and gagged my inner editor I wrote 61k pure stream of consciousness drivel in three weeks. No, I couldn’t possibly have edited it into shape, but I did learn how to write snappy dialogue, I learned how to let go and found myself with a creative resource that I’ve drawn on for short stories during the year.

In the run-up to 1 November I’ve decided I’m not writing anything – apart from ideas in my notebook – a bit like going on a diet then being able to splurge when it’s finished (not that I do that but you know what I mean). I have a title for my ‘novel’ – it’s Bending Daisies. As I’ve no idea what I’m writing yet, I’ve no idea what genre it will be either so I’ve filed it under ‘Other Genres’. Warning, it may be speculative. It will be quirky. It could be weird but it will be fun. If you fancy joining me on the NaNo site, I’m there as dotseven. Counting down …

Bit early …

…  to get the bunting out, but 4000 word writing project is almost complete, just have to finish the 1000 word commentary.

Not sure why stupid-tidy-up-person chose today to climb out of my head and clean the house, that definitely wasn’t in the plan but maybe it’ll (literally) clear the way for me to get it finished, printed and posted – by Tuesday – I think (?!) at the latest.

Looking forward to writing something new – I haven’t let myself do anything apart from take notes in the two months plus I’ve been working on this short story. A lot of time you might think, but it’s given me the opportunity to push the boundaries of what I’ve been doing. If I didn’t have to finish it I possibly – no, probably – wouldn’t have discovered another creative layer to my writing that I’m quietly excited about.

Swimming against the current …

Juggling fiction and reality is a good place to be. Juggling writing, rewriting and editing leaves little time for anything other than eating and sleeping. Still in less than a couple of weeks this writing project will be on its way to Milton Keynes where it – or rather three copies of it – will sit on a shelf or in a box and at some point during the summer finally land on someone’s desk to be read.

Meanwhile the ‘to read’ pile of books is growing. Finished Douglas Coupland’s The Gum Thief (tricksy ending, clever man); now reading Murakami’s After Dark. Next in the pile is Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. Gaiman’s writing is new to me so forgive me for not jumping round like a mad thing. I’m trying him out, is that OK?

Right, dinner on then back to writing …

Mystery author writes novel on walls of cottage – a tweet from Weird Times – the story is written in Chinese so can’t comment on the writing, but the walls are a work of art. Unable to  post the image here (for copyright reasons) but this link will take you straight to it.

Googling analogies. 17200 results in sea …

Googling analogies. 17200 results in search of a simile for hissing like… something less cliched than snakes. Found some interesting comparisons.

Hissing like:

Liberals / a cat / a banshee / an ex-wife / a rabid dog / a mother / a can of spray paint / a bad connection / hedgehogs / a live wire / angry goose / deflating inner tube / soil leaking through a coffin lid / a gas leak / a wild man / a bewildered orchestra / a steam valve / a dying tiger / radiostatic / the sea / a jungle in summer / the wings of a gnat / rain on the pavement / the flow of electricity / a landscape of toads / a demon / wet fuses / rotting garbage / vampires

The pleasure of using analogies it appears, is ‘interestingly subjective …’ however my view is that the only thing that should be ‘hissing like an ex-wife’ is an ex-wife; water + fuses = a hissing like wet fuses – and possibly – the sound of someone screaming. Those in favour of analogies have been warned.