Yes indeedy. I am Sick, again. With a capital S.
Not poorly sick like last time - no lying in bed with a bucket beside me and a cold flannel on my head. No no.
This time, I have the mother of all chest infections. I swear, God hates me. Its Christmas for goodness sakes, I should be humming carols and putting up decorations, wrapping presents and planning christmas drinkies with my friends. Instead I am coughing my lungs out of my chest and feel like I have swallowed a bucket of acid, and am having to cancel much needed shifts at work because, somehow, I cant imagine serving people their Christmas dinners with a side helping of infectious disease would go down so well.
On a good note though - I had my first little creepings of festive feeling today :)
I actually put up a Christmas tree, with a little help from my friend V, and decorated it with lots of funky little ball balls and lights. It looks quite pretty over there in the corner. And while I was sitting here writing the beginning paragraph of this, beginning to feel all sorry for myself again - Santa actually drove past my front room window in his sleigh, playing Christmas tunes and waving!
Well okay, maybe it wasnt the actual Santa. Maybe the sleigh was being pulled by a mini-bus with the Council's logo on it, and maybe the guy in the red suit sitting in the sleigh was a very cold and semi-pissed-off Council volunteer...but it was very charming, and it was nice to see all the kiddies coming out of their front doors so they could wave to Santa as he went on his merry way.
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Friday, 21 November 2008
Skiving!
Right now, I should be ploughing my way through the mountain of post on my desk that seems to have piled up over the last couple of weeks that I have been held captive in training sessions.
I seriously think my head may explode from all the lessons on roofing, plastering, wet & dry rot (now there's a topic)....eurgh.
If I wanted to be a tradesman, I would have studied a trade. I dont want to know this stuff - I wanted to settle down into an office job, work 9-5 at my desk doing organisey, officey things, and then hot foot it on to The Club/The Pub to earn the extra pennies.
Instead I've managed to spend two and a half years in an office job that has now promoted me into dealing with public liability property damage claims, which requires me to learn all about the things I didnt want to know about! ha ha!!
Funny old world eh? I think thats how things work round here.
I took on the extra shifts outside of my main work, so that I can earn spending monies that I could put towards a new laptop, pay off old debt, and spend all my free time writing.
Unfortunately, taking on all the extra shifts means I have absolutely NO time for all the writing I really would rather be doing! Eep!
What is the world coming too when you even have to blog at work, in secret, when you should be concentrating - because you know that when you leave here at half 5, you have to speed down the motorway to The Pub before work starts again at 6 - and by the time you finish at midnight, your brain is fired up for writing but your body has given up the ghost.
I am still a little gnarked that I had to let go of NaNo this year. Can you tell?
I seriously think my head may explode from all the lessons on roofing, plastering, wet & dry rot (now there's a topic)....eurgh.
If I wanted to be a tradesman, I would have studied a trade. I dont want to know this stuff - I wanted to settle down into an office job, work 9-5 at my desk doing organisey, officey things, and then hot foot it on to The Club/The Pub to earn the extra pennies.
Instead I've managed to spend two and a half years in an office job that has now promoted me into dealing with public liability property damage claims, which requires me to learn all about the things I didnt want to know about! ha ha!!
Funny old world eh? I think thats how things work round here.
I took on the extra shifts outside of my main work, so that I can earn spending monies that I could put towards a new laptop, pay off old debt, and spend all my free time writing.
Unfortunately, taking on all the extra shifts means I have absolutely NO time for all the writing I really would rather be doing! Eep!
What is the world coming too when you even have to blog at work, in secret, when you should be concentrating - because you know that when you leave here at half 5, you have to speed down the motorway to The Pub before work starts again at 6 - and by the time you finish at midnight, your brain is fired up for writing but your body has given up the ghost.
I am still a little gnarked that I had to let go of NaNo this year. Can you tell?
Saturday, 15 November 2008
I'm sorry, I think I may have to pass...
NaNo Words So Far: 12,541
I think I have reached the sad conclusion that I may have to pull out of NaNo this year :(
As well as falling miserably behind with word count due to an insane training programme at The Job, along with shifts at The Club and The Pub - I then got sick. And I dont mean like a cold, snotty sick. I mean like sick. Disgustingly, every 15 minutes, projectile, sick. It was horrid, and it literally came out of nowhere!
Thursday night me and Boyo went to a little bar near the seafront to watch my friend Lucy sing. She has an amazing voice, but hasnt really been on stage recently and I was so looking forward to seeing her get up there and do her thing. Only, 20 minutes after we got to the pub, and half a vodka and coke later, I was throwing up in the toilets and Boyo had to take me home. And I was up all night, and all of Friday, and all of Friday night, feeling like absolute total horse shit.
Today I feel marginally better. I have eaten, and actually washed, and don't feel like the Grim Reaper has just put me in the microwave to keep me a little toasty. But I am thoroughly washed out, and this is the first time in almost three days I have picked up my laptop.
So, I am now beginning to feel there is not much hope for achieving 50,000 words by the 30th. I now have 14 days and 6 hours to write about 37,500 words, in the minimal time I have between the three jobs and sleeping. I am quite gutted, as I really do like the story this year. But I think my brain is just too fried this November, too stretched between work, work, work and sleep to have enough time to let these characters breath.
I'll keep writing til the end, I think. But I'm not heading for the 50k target anymore. I doubt I'll even be able to see the finishing line come the 30th, let alone be able to cross it!
I think I have reached the sad conclusion that I may have to pull out of NaNo this year :(
As well as falling miserably behind with word count due to an insane training programme at The Job, along with shifts at The Club and The Pub - I then got sick. And I dont mean like a cold, snotty sick. I mean like sick. Disgustingly, every 15 minutes, projectile, sick. It was horrid, and it literally came out of nowhere!
Thursday night me and Boyo went to a little bar near the seafront to watch my friend Lucy sing. She has an amazing voice, but hasnt really been on stage recently and I was so looking forward to seeing her get up there and do her thing. Only, 20 minutes after we got to the pub, and half a vodka and coke later, I was throwing up in the toilets and Boyo had to take me home. And I was up all night, and all of Friday, and all of Friday night, feeling like absolute total horse shit.
Today I feel marginally better. I have eaten, and actually washed, and don't feel like the Grim Reaper has just put me in the microwave to keep me a little toasty. But I am thoroughly washed out, and this is the first time in almost three days I have picked up my laptop.
So, I am now beginning to feel there is not much hope for achieving 50,000 words by the 30th. I now have 14 days and 6 hours to write about 37,500 words, in the minimal time I have between the three jobs and sleeping. I am quite gutted, as I really do like the story this year. But I think my brain is just too fried this November, too stretched between work, work, work and sleep to have enough time to let these characters breath.
I'll keep writing til the end, I think. But I'm not heading for the 50k target anymore. I doubt I'll even be able to see the finishing line come the 30th, let alone be able to cross it!
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Today
NaNo Words So Far: 12,186
Have hit a small blip in motivation, again. Oops. I still know the direction its going in, I just seem to have run out of steam, or something.
I think its cos I'm pooped. Work is insane at the moment. I am currently training to move on to a different job role - which means I have to spend the next 10 weeks learning about Policy Liability, Legal Liability, and a whole bunch of stuff about buildings like masonry, roofing, plastering......eurgh god. Yes, I do work in Insurance. For a Loss Adjuster, not an Insurance company. So yes, I guess we can be seen as the bad guys! And being that Im about to start working on Public Liability Property Damage claims, its about to get all intense and stuff. So my brain is pretty fried.
And then there is The Club, and The Pub. All shifts are needed, so I cant give them up. So I'm just permanently tired!!
I had a good go at it tonight, got another couple of thousand words done, but its all totally shit and thats really disheartening. So I am currently sitting with Boyo, watching him play his PS3, wishing I had the energy to do more than try to help him clear this level on Fallout 3.
On the plus side, I have tomorrow evening off as well, so other than a visit to my dads house for a nice cup of tea, I should crack on with some more of this god-damn-im-starting-to-hate-it novel.
Have hit a small blip in motivation, again. Oops. I still know the direction its going in, I just seem to have run out of steam, or something.
I think its cos I'm pooped. Work is insane at the moment. I am currently training to move on to a different job role - which means I have to spend the next 10 weeks learning about Policy Liability, Legal Liability, and a whole bunch of stuff about buildings like masonry, roofing, plastering......eurgh god. Yes, I do work in Insurance. For a Loss Adjuster, not an Insurance company. So yes, I guess we can be seen as the bad guys! And being that Im about to start working on Public Liability Property Damage claims, its about to get all intense and stuff. So my brain is pretty fried.
And then there is The Club, and The Pub. All shifts are needed, so I cant give them up. So I'm just permanently tired!!
I had a good go at it tonight, got another couple of thousand words done, but its all totally shit and thats really disheartening. So I am currently sitting with Boyo, watching him play his PS3, wishing I had the energy to do more than try to help him clear this level on Fallout 3.
On the plus side, I have tomorrow evening off as well, so other than a visit to my dads house for a nice cup of tea, I should crack on with some more of this god-damn-im-starting-to-hate-it novel.
Sunday, 9 November 2008
A break from the norm
NaNo Words So Far: 9,601
After a bit of a hectic weekend, some cramming writing and now a bit of a frazzled brain, I decided to kick back a bit this evening and do something non-writey. It was nice!!
Some very dear friends of mine, Dan, George, Ali, Rob and Kev, are in an fabtastic band called Tiny Spark (go and have a looky...on the right hand side, under 'Amazingly Talented Musical Friends Of Mine')
I love the bones of them, and it just so happens that their music is pretty awesome.
During the week they went into a London radio station to do an interview and play some live tracks, which you should all check out here.
They are amazing live, and god bless them, like to think they're quite funny with the old jokes and super sharp wit (hence the comment about the Tiny Spark Street Team just being 'girls in tight white shirts'. I tried to ignore this comment, being one of the Street Team myself.)
A bit of music is good for the soul, and I promise that you won't be disappointed.
Hope you've all had a nice weekend :)
After a bit of a hectic weekend, some cramming writing and now a bit of a frazzled brain, I decided to kick back a bit this evening and do something non-writey. It was nice!!
Some very dear friends of mine, Dan, George, Ali, Rob and Kev, are in an fabtastic band called Tiny Spark (go and have a looky...on the right hand side, under 'Amazingly Talented Musical Friends Of Mine')
I love the bones of them, and it just so happens that their music is pretty awesome.
During the week they went into a London radio station to do an interview and play some live tracks, which you should all check out here.
They are amazing live, and god bless them, like to think they're quite funny with the old jokes and super sharp wit (hence the comment about the Tiny Spark Street Team just being 'girls in tight white shirts'. I tried to ignore this comment, being one of the Street Team myself.)
A bit of music is good for the soul, and I promise that you won't be disappointed.
Hope you've all had a nice weekend :)
Saturday, 8 November 2008
...and I'm feeling good
NaNo Words So Far: 8,537
Thank god.
Its taken a little while this year, but I have finally found a pace with this god damn novel. Hallelujah!
The plot outline is the same, but it is very vague. And the fact that it was vague had scared me because it didnt detail every little thing that I needed to write about, like my plan did last year.
What I've found though, is that by not detailing every minute detail, I have allowed the story to kind of dictate itself. In the last chapter I wrote today, 3 new characters have reared their heads and added a whole new little story to my MC's life. Granted, they will only be in the story for 2, maybe 3, chapters at the most. But their very presence has added strength to what happens later on in the story which I had actually planned for. They give later events more of a reasoning, they make it more plausible.
And I love that they just wrote themselves! I dont know where they came from or how they did it, but these random little sub-characters have just given me the inspiration to carry on with this compeition, right at the moment when I thought I was going to quit.
I have a bit of a challenge ahead of me next week. Working monday-friday in the daytime is normal. But I am also working 4 evenings at The Club/The Pub. Which will definitely limit my writing time. So weekends are becoming very important in catch up time!
But I is feeling more positive.
I hope everyone else is having an imagination-filled, proactive weekend!
Roll on week two!
:) xx
Thank god.
Its taken a little while this year, but I have finally found a pace with this god damn novel. Hallelujah!
The plot outline is the same, but it is very vague. And the fact that it was vague had scared me because it didnt detail every little thing that I needed to write about, like my plan did last year.
What I've found though, is that by not detailing every minute detail, I have allowed the story to kind of dictate itself. In the last chapter I wrote today, 3 new characters have reared their heads and added a whole new little story to my MC's life. Granted, they will only be in the story for 2, maybe 3, chapters at the most. But their very presence has added strength to what happens later on in the story which I had actually planned for. They give later events more of a reasoning, they make it more plausible.
And I love that they just wrote themselves! I dont know where they came from or how they did it, but these random little sub-characters have just given me the inspiration to carry on with this compeition, right at the moment when I thought I was going to quit.
I have a bit of a challenge ahead of me next week. Working monday-friday in the daytime is normal. But I am also working 4 evenings at The Club/The Pub. Which will definitely limit my writing time. So weekends are becoming very important in catch up time!
But I is feeling more positive.
I hope everyone else is having an imagination-filled, proactive weekend!
Roll on week two!
:) xx
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Car Crash Writing
NaNo Words So Far: 2,125
Ok, seriously. I am more than a little scared now.
The beginning of NaNo is always the same for me...slow, almost a non-starter. Painful. Scary.
And then on day three, the three pages I have somehow managed to scrape from the bottom of the mouldy barrel that has become my brain, seem to make more sense than they did. Day three brings a quick skim read of the drivel, ignores the stuff I hate, and somehow finds the inspiration to throw out another six or seven pages. And then I'm off!
This year, it is currently day four - and I am only on page five. I am roughly 3,000 words away from where I should be at this stage. I am not a happy bunny.
I love the idea for the story this year. The plot outline has been buzzing around inside the grey matter for months, and coming together slowly but surely. I love the way it looks and I love the way it feels. And then I try to put it on paper.
Its not that I dont like whats coming out. Because thats just how it goes with NaNo. You don't like what comes out, but thats just tough and you deal with it.
No, its not that I don't like it. Its just not coming out! And I am now panicking, ever so slightly!
What is disturbing is that I am working in the week days again now. 8am-5.30pm.
Wednesday night I have promised to go to see the fireworks display with Boyo. His friends are going to a different place to watch them, but he wants me to go with him someplace else. That is so unlike him, to prefer going with me than his friends, that I can't bring myself to say no.
Thursday night I have work at The Club from 7pm til probably around midnight. After the day in the office.
Friday night I have work in The Pub from 6pm til midnight. After the day in the office.
Writing time seems to be rapidly disappearing from my day...actually, any free time seems to be rapidly disappearing from my days!
Do you think we could create an extra day in the week?
On the 8th day he did write, and it was good?
Ok, seriously. I am more than a little scared now.
The beginning of NaNo is always the same for me...slow, almost a non-starter. Painful. Scary.
And then on day three, the three pages I have somehow managed to scrape from the bottom of the mouldy barrel that has become my brain, seem to make more sense than they did. Day three brings a quick skim read of the drivel, ignores the stuff I hate, and somehow finds the inspiration to throw out another six or seven pages. And then I'm off!
This year, it is currently day four - and I am only on page five. I am roughly 3,000 words away from where I should be at this stage. I am not a happy bunny.
I love the idea for the story this year. The plot outline has been buzzing around inside the grey matter for months, and coming together slowly but surely. I love the way it looks and I love the way it feels. And then I try to put it on paper.
Its not that I dont like whats coming out. Because thats just how it goes with NaNo. You don't like what comes out, but thats just tough and you deal with it.
No, its not that I don't like it. Its just not coming out! And I am now panicking, ever so slightly!
What is disturbing is that I am working in the week days again now. 8am-5.30pm.
Wednesday night I have promised to go to see the fireworks display with Boyo. His friends are going to a different place to watch them, but he wants me to go with him someplace else. That is so unlike him, to prefer going with me than his friends, that I can't bring myself to say no.
Thursday night I have work at The Club from 7pm til probably around midnight. After the day in the office.
Friday night I have work in The Pub from 6pm til midnight. After the day in the office.
Writing time seems to be rapidly disappearing from my day...actually, any free time seems to be rapidly disappearing from my days!
Do you think we could create an extra day in the week?
On the 8th day he did write, and it was good?
Monday, 3 November 2008
Fried brains, anyone?
NaNo Words so far: 1,860
So, today is day 3 of NaNoWriMo...and I am ashamed to admit I only started writing today. This evening, in fact. At 8pm. Disgraceful!!!
I had planned an entire weekend of writing bliss, confined in the space of my room accompanied only by hideous amounts of tea and chocolate. I imagined myself writing so fast only a blur of movement and steam would be seen around my keyboard. People would come from far and wide to admire the 'girl who cant stop writing'.
Do you know what I actually did with my weekend? I got hideously drunk with Boyo on Friday celebrating Halloween. On Saturday we slept all morning, then drove around in horrible traffic attempting to get to the shops and failing miserably, and deciding instead to go for dinner. Then I went home and slept while Boyo went to a party - only for sleep to be interrupted at 3am when Boyo wanted me to come and get him. Sunday, we went to see James Bond, then watched crappy telly and ate chinese food until we went to bed.
I wrote absolutely zero words. Balls.
Today, I went back to work. At 8am this morning I was wide eyed and bushy tailed, attacking the mountain of work that has accumulated in my two weeks off with the ferocious motivation that I should have applied to writing over the weekend.
So, after work, and after a meeting at The Club to discuss this months rota, I came home, made dinner, and then sat down and started. Thats always the hard part!! Starting NaNo every year is always my very very very least favourite part of the competition. Its so hard to just let stuff flow out onto the page the way that Mr Baty encourages you to do. You want so desperately to re-read, re-write, re-think everything that you have just written - which is exactly what you are not supposed to do. DO NOT edit this stuff. Just let it leave your brain at 80mph, and hit the page with such a force that your characters explode into life, and don't look back. It may be messy, but who cares. You have a whole 11 months to go back and clear it up afterwards.
So, I managed an unimpressive 1,860 words this evening. Its not much, and its certainly nowhere near the word count I wanted to be on at the end of day 3.
But. Its a start.
Ooh. And. Please see horrifically scary me in halloween make up below :)
So, today is day 3 of NaNoWriMo...and I am ashamed to admit I only started writing today. This evening, in fact. At 8pm. Disgraceful!!!
I had planned an entire weekend of writing bliss, confined in the space of my room accompanied only by hideous amounts of tea and chocolate. I imagined myself writing so fast only a blur of movement and steam would be seen around my keyboard. People would come from far and wide to admire the 'girl who cant stop writing'.
Do you know what I actually did with my weekend? I got hideously drunk with Boyo on Friday celebrating Halloween. On Saturday we slept all morning, then drove around in horrible traffic attempting to get to the shops and failing miserably, and deciding instead to go for dinner. Then I went home and slept while Boyo went to a party - only for sleep to be interrupted at 3am when Boyo wanted me to come and get him. Sunday, we went to see James Bond, then watched crappy telly and ate chinese food until we went to bed.
I wrote absolutely zero words. Balls.
Today, I went back to work. At 8am this morning I was wide eyed and bushy tailed, attacking the mountain of work that has accumulated in my two weeks off with the ferocious motivation that I should have applied to writing over the weekend.
So, after work, and after a meeting at The Club to discuss this months rota, I came home, made dinner, and then sat down and started. Thats always the hard part!! Starting NaNo every year is always my very very very least favourite part of the competition. Its so hard to just let stuff flow out onto the page the way that Mr Baty encourages you to do. You want so desperately to re-read, re-write, re-think everything that you have just written - which is exactly what you are not supposed to do. DO NOT edit this stuff. Just let it leave your brain at 80mph, and hit the page with such a force that your characters explode into life, and don't look back. It may be messy, but who cares. You have a whole 11 months to go back and clear it up afterwards.
So, I managed an unimpressive 1,860 words this evening. Its not much, and its certainly nowhere near the word count I wanted to be on at the end of day 3.
But. Its a start.
Ooh. And. Please see horrifically scary me in halloween make up below :)
Friday, 31 October 2008
Happy HalloScreeeam!!!
The one good thing about halloween? Is that it doesn't matter how old you are, it is guaranteed to cheer you up! There is something about the chill in the air, the autumn colours scattered around (ie the nasty brown leaves falling off the neighbours tree), and the very blatant excuse to wear fancy dress and have outrageous make up, that makes this day awesome!
This evening me and a group of my girls are heading into town to our favourite pub, dressed in crazy clothes, with crazy make up and even crazier hair. I is a little excited :)
(Watch this space for photographic evidence...)
So today I have to skidaddle my butt out into the cold, and buy white face paint and some black nail polish, and then pick up a couple of the girls, do some serious back combing and head to another house to meet the others....before celebrating and being merry for the rest of the evening!
Of course, the intense concentration on the festivities that will be happening this evening, means I can postpone thinking about the fact that NaNo starts in.....T minus 10 and a half hours. Good Lord. Moving on.
Last night I drove my excited little self to Camden in Central London, to see my friends band play. I know I may be a little biased but....they are amazing. Seriously. Destined for bigger things, I tell thee. For the love of all things musical, please go have a listen here
All five of the Tiny Spark boys are friends of mine, and they deserve great things to happen for them. So, if you like what you hear...spread the word!!
Happy Halloween you lovely people!
This evening me and a group of my girls are heading into town to our favourite pub, dressed in crazy clothes, with crazy make up and even crazier hair. I is a little excited :)
(Watch this space for photographic evidence...)
So today I have to skidaddle my butt out into the cold, and buy white face paint and some black nail polish, and then pick up a couple of the girls, do some serious back combing and head to another house to meet the others....before celebrating and being merry for the rest of the evening!
Of course, the intense concentration on the festivities that will be happening this evening, means I can postpone thinking about the fact that NaNo starts in.....T minus 10 and a half hours. Good Lord. Moving on.
Last night I drove my excited little self to Camden in Central London, to see my friends band play. I know I may be a little biased but....they are amazing. Seriously. Destined for bigger things, I tell thee. For the love of all things musical, please go have a listen here
All five of the Tiny Spark boys are friends of mine, and they deserve great things to happen for them. So, if you like what you hear...spread the word!!
Happy Halloween you lovely people!
Monday, 27 October 2008
Distractions...
This morning I picked up Chris Baty's (NaNoWriMo) book, No Plot No Problem, hoping that it would be full of a multitude of ideas and genious ways to get the old grey matter working.
(It was a Christmas present last year, but by the time December came I didnt want to think about anything NaNo related until my brain had recovered!)
One thing that Chris recommends is working outside of your home. Take your laptop, being the wonderfully portable device that it is, and get out of your front room. Get away from your telly, get away from the 'siren song of your bed'. It dawned on me that the man has a point.
I am terrible at getting distracted. Don't get me wrong, I have the best of intentions - I'll get up, have a nice bath and get dressed, and take my laptop and note book into the front room. I'll set it up on the table, get myself a cup of tea and some toast and switch on, almost cracking my knuckles in anticipation of all the creative things I have flowing through my mind.
And then I log onto messenger, just to see who's around this morning.
And then I'll check my emails, just to make sure there's nothing important that I've missed.
And then I'll check my facebook. And then switch the telly on to make sure I'm not missing anything good.
So, as is written in the book: "Working in public gives you more...obssessive email checking is curtailed, the mood is lively, and buckets of caffeine are sitting there for the asking."
So, I packed up my laptop, my notebook, a stack of already lovingly scribbled ideas and the all important power lead, and I took myself off in my car in search of somewhere quiet but comfortable, where I could set up station and get down to it. Interruption free.
Unfortunately, by the time I had decided that this would be the path to enlightenment, I had also realised I needed to do some washing. And that the clean laundry needed to be put away. And the washing up really shouldn't be left.
By the time I'd got in the car and driven towards the seafront and the few cafe's that I could think of that might have a good atmosphere, it was late afternoon and I couldn't find a parking space. And then when I found a parking space, I couldn't find a cafe with any space, and ended up in a pub with music that was too loud and staff that kept giving me dirty looks for sitting on my lap top.
I got a grand total of about 100 words down, before heading home with my tail between my legs.
And now, after today is finished (because lets face it, I'm not gonna get anything else done today now I'm back in front of the telly), there are now officially 4 days until NaNo starts. Big Fat Eep.
* By the way - You should all check out Chris Baty's book - it is utter genious. :)
(It was a Christmas present last year, but by the time December came I didnt want to think about anything NaNo related until my brain had recovered!)
One thing that Chris recommends is working outside of your home. Take your laptop, being the wonderfully portable device that it is, and get out of your front room. Get away from your telly, get away from the 'siren song of your bed'. It dawned on me that the man has a point.
I am terrible at getting distracted. Don't get me wrong, I have the best of intentions - I'll get up, have a nice bath and get dressed, and take my laptop and note book into the front room. I'll set it up on the table, get myself a cup of tea and some toast and switch on, almost cracking my knuckles in anticipation of all the creative things I have flowing through my mind.
And then I log onto messenger, just to see who's around this morning.
And then I'll check my emails, just to make sure there's nothing important that I've missed.
And then I'll check my facebook. And then switch the telly on to make sure I'm not missing anything good.
So, as is written in the book: "Working in public gives you more...obssessive email checking is curtailed, the mood is lively, and buckets of caffeine are sitting there for the asking."
So, I packed up my laptop, my notebook, a stack of already lovingly scribbled ideas and the all important power lead, and I took myself off in my car in search of somewhere quiet but comfortable, where I could set up station and get down to it. Interruption free.
Unfortunately, by the time I had decided that this would be the path to enlightenment, I had also realised I needed to do some washing. And that the clean laundry needed to be put away. And the washing up really shouldn't be left.
By the time I'd got in the car and driven towards the seafront and the few cafe's that I could think of that might have a good atmosphere, it was late afternoon and I couldn't find a parking space. And then when I found a parking space, I couldn't find a cafe with any space, and ended up in a pub with music that was too loud and staff that kept giving me dirty looks for sitting on my lap top.
I got a grand total of about 100 words down, before heading home with my tail between my legs.
And now, after today is finished (because lets face it, I'm not gonna get anything else done today now I'm back in front of the telly), there are now officially 4 days until NaNo starts. Big Fat Eep.
* By the way - You should all check out Chris Baty's book - it is utter genious. :)
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Lazy Sunday Afternoon
I guess it has been somewhat of a hectic weekend so far.
Worked my first shift in The Pub on friday night...it was a good evening, a nice little local pub with a good mix of people, relatively cheap drinks and a jukebox with music you would actually choose to listen to. Landlord seemed happy that I was able to count in my head and be nice to the customers, and so I now have the job every friday night. Extra pennies are always good!
And then there is Boyo. The last time we spoke, properly, he told me we couldn't be together and that 'we're not really anywhere, anymore, babe'. There have been a few conversations since, via text and the wonder of facebook, but nothing that would ever make me feel...better. Granted, its not the first time in the last seven years that we have broken up but...this is the most final its ever felt.
So, I spent a week crying, and then after I finish work on friday at The Pub, I somehow end up at Boyo's house, with him and his new housemates, drinking wine and dancing in the kitchen until 6am. And it was fun. We laughed, we drank lots, we snuggled down in bed like we used to and we moaned about our hangovers the next day. We visited his parents for chinese food on saturday, and then watched scary films and crap tv until we fell asleep. This morning we went for breakfast, we bickered like we used to, I dropped him home...and said goodbye.
And now I'm kind of torn between feeling happy - happy that I got to spend a weekend with him and wake up with him and feel normal again - and so desperately gutted that now its over, I've come home and have to start being alone, all over again!!
Also, on a slightly scarier note...there are are only 5 more daytimes until NaNo begins...am vaguely worried that my in depth, detailed plan has not managed to create itself and leave itself where I could see it when I got home from my emotionally draining weekend...uh oh, I think I may have to do this one myself? Eep.
Worked my first shift in The Pub on friday night...it was a good evening, a nice little local pub with a good mix of people, relatively cheap drinks and a jukebox with music you would actually choose to listen to. Landlord seemed happy that I was able to count in my head and be nice to the customers, and so I now have the job every friday night. Extra pennies are always good!
And then there is Boyo. The last time we spoke, properly, he told me we couldn't be together and that 'we're not really anywhere, anymore, babe'. There have been a few conversations since, via text and the wonder of facebook, but nothing that would ever make me feel...better. Granted, its not the first time in the last seven years that we have broken up but...this is the most final its ever felt.
So, I spent a week crying, and then after I finish work on friday at The Pub, I somehow end up at Boyo's house, with him and his new housemates, drinking wine and dancing in the kitchen until 6am. And it was fun. We laughed, we drank lots, we snuggled down in bed like we used to and we moaned about our hangovers the next day. We visited his parents for chinese food on saturday, and then watched scary films and crap tv until we fell asleep. This morning we went for breakfast, we bickered like we used to, I dropped him home...and said goodbye.
And now I'm kind of torn between feeling happy - happy that I got to spend a weekend with him and wake up with him and feel normal again - and so desperately gutted that now its over, I've come home and have to start being alone, all over again!!
Also, on a slightly scarier note...there are are only 5 more daytimes until NaNo begins...am vaguely worried that my in depth, detailed plan has not managed to create itself and leave itself where I could see it when I got home from my emotionally draining weekend...uh oh, I think I may have to do this one myself? Eep.
Thursday, 23 October 2008
NaNoWriMo...Uh Oh...
Eep.
Looking at my little diary/work rota thingy here, it has just dawned on me that NaNo begins in a little over a week. As in, there are only 7 and a half days to go. Like, 174 and a half hours.
Oh dear. I don't even have something that resembles a plot outline yet.
For those of you that have absolutely no clue what I am twittering on about, NaNoWriMo is a yearly competition that starts on the 1st November and ends at midnight on the 30th November. If you're brave (or silly?) enough to enter, you have 30 days to write 50,000 words. It can be daunting stuff! The name of the game is to encourage all of those people who have ever had the put-off-til-another-time pipe dream of writing a novel, to just crack on and give it a whirl. Its fun, its scary, its stressful and its exhilarating...and I cannot wait!
This will be my fourth year, and I honestly cannot recommend it enough. You can check it out here.
So, now that I have counted how many hours there are (or aren't) left to go, I reeeeally need to get down to organising the plot outline...yes indeedy, I am a control freak, and I cannot go to war without my armour!
Now then...where did I put my brain this morning...
Looking at my little diary/work rota thingy here, it has just dawned on me that NaNo begins in a little over a week. As in, there are only 7 and a half days to go. Like, 174 and a half hours.
Oh dear. I don't even have something that resembles a plot outline yet.
For those of you that have absolutely no clue what I am twittering on about, NaNoWriMo is a yearly competition that starts on the 1st November and ends at midnight on the 30th November. If you're brave (or silly?) enough to enter, you have 30 days to write 50,000 words. It can be daunting stuff! The name of the game is to encourage all of those people who have ever had the put-off-til-another-time pipe dream of writing a novel, to just crack on and give it a whirl. Its fun, its scary, its stressful and its exhilarating...and I cannot wait!
This will be my fourth year, and I honestly cannot recommend it enough. You can check it out here.
So, now that I have counted how many hours there are (or aren't) left to go, I reeeeally need to get down to organising the plot outline...yes indeedy, I am a control freak, and I cannot go to war without my armour!
Now then...where did I put my brain this morning...
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