Unfortunately, that was the extent of my "official" day 1, but there were more than 1,000 words clocked in elsewhere. I can tell you that.
Today it's NaNo Day 2. It is also my 19th birthday. It is also the day I took my Hieroglyphs midterm. It is also the day I PASSED my Hieroglyphs midterm.
Today, I've been working on MV like crazy to celebrate my success! Today, I'll continue working on MV long-hand and stealthy like. Those words will count, I swear, but since I'm going to stay with my sisters for the weekend, I won't have an exact count for those words until later. The second part of GS chapter 1 is almost done, but I won't be able to give it to you until Sunday or Monday. Do not fear! I'm still going strong! We'll clock it all in and catch up and be happy before the week is out. I'm finally free from worry--- free from self-doubt. I'm ready to rock and roll.
Well maybe not literally, but.. y'all know what I mean.
OFFICIAL NANO COUNT:
Day 1
-GS: 1,429 words
-MV: 0 words
Day 2
-GS: 567 words (on Word document)
-MV: 1,315 words (on Word document)
Overall Progress:
-GS: 1,996 words
-MV: 1,315 words
Word count Goal by Day 2: 3,334 words
Word count Tally by Day 2: 3,311 words (on Word)
And the day's not over yet. Have a great weekend, Everyone, and get down with your W.I.P.'s all you NaNo-ers!
Love,
Deserae
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Arianna- Thanks! So far so good! I'm not too far off from solid yet!
Prerna- Thanks for your comment on Sommertales! Yep! I'm getting somewhere, right? Lol!
At my school, there's a NaNoWriMo kickoff event happening tonight. For an hour, I'll be writing with a bunch of like-minded people, and making sense of the world one comma at a time. It's so strange that NaNo is here and that I don't feel ready. I don't feel like it's plunge-taking season or complete-a-novel month and yet, it's here.
When you wake in the morning, visit Sommertales. The first part of GOING SOMEWHERE will be up, and it's for you guys so check it out.
My sister used this song on her first blog post. It inspired me so much, I thought you might benefit from hearing it, too. Happy Halloween, Lovelies! And welcome to November.
Love,
Deserae
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Nicole- Eeep! So glad you like the twins. They are way too handsome for their own good. And I'm also glad you're excited for GOING SOMEWHERE. I am, too! Let's be excited together! Thanks for saying you like my voice, by the way. I'm so self-conscious about recordings because I honestly don't think I sound the same way in real life and it irks me. But I know what you mean about the tone of a voice letting you know something about a person... I like that my tone of voice tells you good things!
Sonal- Bombshells are cool when they're exciting bits of news like that! Love the new layout the "new you"... I hope you find tons of happiness at this new "location." Happiness, I hear, is good. :) Thanks for all of your kindness, Love. It's so good to be back. I know I don't say it enough but I miss you all as well. One more midterm this Friday and then I'm back to normal. Pinky promise; pinky swear.
On Sommertales. Check it out to learn The November Project's name and to see what it's kinda about!
Love you lots,
Deserae
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Prerna- Yes! One of my residents introduced me to her and I'm in love. I have a particular love for "Daredevil" just because it was the first song I heard by her. Fiona's a genius. Glad you know and love her!
Arianna- Thank you for the good luck and for commenting! I can't really respond to every point at the moment (I have a Hieroglyphs quiz tomorrow! Eep!) but I appreciate you taking the time to write all of that up. I am not healthy as is noted by the state of my hair in last post's video. But tomorrow is another day! Hoping it'll be a good one. :)
You guys must be wondering what kind of spank-tacular adventures I go on while I'm away. You guys must also know that I am both boring AND afraid of change. Mostly what I do whilst I'm away is eat, sleep, read, pretend to write, pretend to read some more, eat, sleep, attend a class or two, repeat. Now that I'm working, I guess I fit that in somewhere, too. But yeah, that's about it. BUT I HAS RETURNED. Missed me? I missed you too.
Usually when I come back to the internet it's for a reason. This time i's NaNoWriMo! Yay! I fail at WriMos, guys. I do my best not to get distracted by the millions of ideas floating around in my head, but it doesn't work. Or at least it hasn't worked YET.
I'm a lazy lima bean. Always have been, but no longer CAN be. Like, this job, Guys, DEMANDS I make good grades, DEMANDS I'm on time with deadlines, and threatens to throttle me if I don't follow through. Basically, I'm on the verge of being thuh-rottled.
I know myself. When I start feeling pressure, I withdraw. Stop caring. Shut down. Move on. But I'm doing NaNo this year to PROVE to myself that even I can change. That my bad habits don't define me. That when the pressure's on, I CAN handle it, despite what I've believed of myself in the past.
I'm doing NaNo--- but on my terms. I've been thinking about it and there are two elements I want to complete. The goal for NaNo is to complete a first draft of a novel by the end of November OR 50,000 words of said novel. I have a novel I'd really like to work on for NaNo. We're calling it MV. But I know that realistically, I'm going to get halfway through and realize OHEMGEE! It's NOT PERFECT! And then I will cry all of the tears obsessing over its imperfection and in doing so, I'll be procrastinating and NOT finishing the draft.
So my goal for NaNo is this:
-Finish 25,000 words of MV
-Complete a 25,000 word online series for you guys on my unused blog, Sommertales.
You know why that blog's been unused? It was supposed to be the host for my first ever webseries (NOPE! Not even YouTube Rules! which I'm sorry--- we'll have to talk about that one another day). But I'm going to use it this November and turn that unfilmed webseries into a multi-part novella for you guys to read. Yay!
Since you guys are brilliant, you'll know that 25,000 plus 25,000 equals 50,000. That's 50,000 unperfected words. 50,000 excuses I'll try to make for not completing NaNo. But 25,000 of those are FOR YOU. The reason I'm doing this is because I NEED YOU. I NEED YOU TO CHEER ME ON.
Every day.
For all of November.
I need you to tell me, "You can do it, Deserae. You can finish something. And one day, it CAN look amazing. But that day doesn't have to be this one. It can be tomorrow, or even the day after that. But all you have to do is FINISH. Please, don't give up." REMIND ME I'M DOING THIS FOR YOU.
Because if I'm not just doing this for me, I have more of a reason to go all the way, you know? If I convince myself that someone out there in the world NEEDS THESE WORDS, then good golly, I have to get those words to them! Somedays, you guys will get the bulk of my word quota for the day. Others, MV will get the bulk. But every day of November, I'll blog on Almost (Not Quite) There to give you guys an honest update on where I am and where the words are going. Do you think we can do it? Together, I mean?
Keep me sane, Guys,
Deserae
P.S. Thank you all for your love on the last post! I'm weird sometimes. Thank you for getting that. :)
No writing today except for the writing I'm doing now.
I spent today reuniting with my guitar. Massaging and kissing my fingertips. Eating sweet potato pie.
But don't worry! The sore in my mouth is totally going away! You can all sleep easier tonight. You're welcome.
Lots of love,
Deserae
P.S. I'm on another Doctor Who kick, and what better way to celebrate with some Chameleon Circuit? None more better. That's what.
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Maya: Thanks! And my sister Ziza is prego and about to pop. She's opting to keep her baby's name a secret until she's born, so we all just call her "Mini-Z" because we know little one's going to be just as cute and feisty as her mama.
So last night, I wrote another 1,260 words for The Secret Project, and today, I wrote another 1,280 words for The Secret Project. No words went toward The Girl Book, though, so I can't give any treaties, BUT it is Christmas Eve so my excuse is that I've been running around doing things like last minute shopping.
And OH MY GOSH! Last minute shopping sucks! Why are there so many procrastinators in the world? I'm supposed to be the only one!
But that's another tale completely. All that I have left to say to you guys is Happy Merry Christmas! and do enjoy the holiday as well as five of my favorite Christmas songs.
1. Nat King Cole "The Christmas Song."
2. Donny Hathaway "This Christmas"
3. Eartha Kitt "Santa Baby"
4. George Winston "Carol of the Bells"
5. Mariah Carey "All I Want for Christmas"
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Deserae <3
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Nikki: It's still Christmas Eve here so Merry Christmas Eve to you, too! I'm glad you like Mari and thanks for your love and comment! :) Have a very merry Christmas indeed.
Once again, it was a productive writing day! And oddly enough (or not so oddly, knowing me) it wasn't for The Girl Book.
I did get 50 whole words down for The Girl Book! But since that's the equivalent of about three or four healthy sentences from me, I don't exactly see that as the "bestest" thing in the whole entire world.
I did, however, get about 1,500 words done for The Secret Project. I might have to add a tag for it now, because it's actually progressing quite nicely and, in time, this WILL be something I get to share with you completely instead of in random teaser tiny bits.
But until that day comes here's a pic of another MC for The Girl Book. And because you guys have been so great, I went past her eyes. Yay! I told you--- if I get any words down, treats will be given, and 50 words, Man! That's more than the average bear writes in his lifetime.
The quotes indicate that even though her full first name is "Mari-Elena," she prefers to (and really) go(es) by "Mari," a name I've grown quite fond of over time. Although she looks very sweet and innocent, Mari is a real trip when it comes to boys. And although you haven't met the last (or second to last--- not sure what to call the fifth girl, really) MC yet, I can tell you that the two of them clash because of Mari's boy issues. Ladies, do not be like that, PLEASE.
But despite that, Mari's talented and brilliant. She's the brainiest of the bunch and probably the most silly because of her lack of experience with boykind. But what shines beyond that is that she has a good heart, and although it's obvious that she doesn't always mean well, she still has a conscience that nags at her until she makes things right again.
So yes, she's very imperfect. As am I! You know, I've been thinking about what it means to participate in a "WriMo" and isn't the point of it all that you just, you know... write?! Well I've been doing that. Every stinkin' day! And yet statistically, I am 3,000 words behind where I should be at this point since today marks the halfway point of the month. Say it with me everybody:
Oops!
Love,
Deserae
P.S. This is one of my favorite Christmas songs and videos every. The original vid got taken down, but thank goodness for people who re-uploaded! Seriously. I can't spend Christmas without this version of the song. And speaking of, there are only two days until Christmas! What's on your wishlists for Santa?
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Maya: You guys will definitely be the first to know if The Secret Project gets anywhere beyond my computer screen. All I can say right now is that I've been belting it out and so far, I'm really loving it. Plus there are stick figures involved. Who doesn't love those?! I'm glad you liked the music, as well! That's always great to hear. And, again, I just wanted to say that I'm thrilled you liked the Daily Dose. I hope Alex Day's "Forever Yours" gets UK #1 and I love that all of the proceeds go to charity, so spread the word!
Today was exceptionally brilliant writing wise. Cumulatively, I belted out a little more than 2,800 words and it was spread out to three different things.
500 went to an outline I was working on.
1,7hundredandsome went to a super secret project I'm working on and can't wait to tell you about (but will have to. Sucks! But hey! I invented a new number for you so, shh!).
545 went toward The Girl Book and those were written a little after midnight in a weird "MUST WRITE" craze.
So I think I'm getting back into this writing thing. I should've written more toward The Girl Book, I know, but I was very productive today. So productive, it hurts, okay? So in honor of that, here's a few of Faye's faves. Music is really special in this story so I don't feel bad doing another whole blog post about it. Hehe! These, by the way, are in no particular order. And neither were Lynette's. Side note. Sorry!
1. The Summer Set's "Someone Like You."
Faye is a sucker for upbeat, "Girl, I love you!" music. So as an example of that here's one of the ones she likes most of all. "Someone Like You" songs hardly ever miss the mark (*cough, cough, Adele! cough*)
2. Panic at the Disco's "Ready to Go."
When it comes to Faye's favorite real-life band, it would have to be Panic at the Disco. They're the closest thing to her favorite "in her world" band called Just Kidding! and the way that both bands create both positive AND sarcastic music really appeals to Faye for some reason...
3. The Civil Wars "Tip of my Tongue"
Even though Faye doesn't sing country/ folksy music, she still enjoys listening to it every once in a while. The Civil Wars make music that Faye loves. The lyrics are meaningful, beautiful, and haunting in nearly every song they write, and she wants to make music JUST like that.
4. Parachute "Kiss Me Slowly."
If only a certain boy named Christopher Laidlaw would perhaps want to dance with her to this song... Then, and only then, would her life be complete. Or, you know, that's what she thinks.
5. Adele's "Tired."
This is Sarah's favorite song by her favorite female artist. So that's something worth listening to.
BAI!!! Deserae
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Maya: So glad you liked the Daily Dose! And the song! And that you're going to come to the movie night! Sorry. It's almost midnight so I'm rushing to post. But I agree with you about all of your fave movies... You have awesome taste, Girly!
Don't ask me why, but I'm exhausted. It's only 8:00 here in Cali and I'm... SLEEPY!!!
All my late nights... junk food eating... All of those days I went without going out of the house for some fresh air are finally catching up with me. Today I rode around with my mom a little. I wrote a little bit of outline so I know how the rest of "Friday, September 12th" plays out. I hugged my Millie Cat and she blinked at me. But I still feel...
Tired.
If you haven't already, do visit the Treaties for You page to read an excerpt from Faye's perspective. If you have, thank you kindly. Your feedback made me smile. If you must know the truth, there will probably be no words flowing from my fingertips tonight. And if you don't need the truth, I love you muchly, and I'll lie to comfort you by saying that there's always a possibility I shall end up writing something.
I wonder if these blog words count. Now I'm just fishing for excuses to give you guys content.
Wait a minute! I just typed a seven word sentence. And as you know, if I write ANYTHING, you get some content. So because my writing day was lame, the content you'll get will be small. Here's the chorus of a song Faye and her best friend, Ian, wrote together over the summer before The Girl Book begins. I willn't sing it to you. At least, not tonight. Haha!
Daydream believer won't you sing our song? I'm so convinced that it could last forever. Dance me away to days that we'll spend together On the stage that we've claimed is ours. Sing me our song.
And speaking of original songs... More Lewis anyone? I'm sorry. My sister has got me hooked.
Ciao for now,
Deserae
P.S. Check out the latest Daily Dose to find out how buying a song can help raise money for charity! The sales only count between now and Christmas Day so ask your parents for permission to buy it if you like the song and also, spread the word!
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Maya: You're the bestest, you know that?! Thank you so much for saying that. It's funny because character DOES come easier to me than plot. But I don't know! I have another MC in The Girl Book who took a long time to figure out. And originally, she was supposed to be the main MC. Lol! I'm glad you like the excerpts. I'll definitely post one next week as well so that you can meet MC number three. And the only time I say "ee"ther is when I say, "either or; neither nor." Haha! Are you attending the blah-g girl movie night. I hope so!
There are only five more days until Christmas. When the heck did that happen?!
Tonight was a pretty successful writing night. Not as successful as I wanted, but I plowed through it and the result was 1,350 words toward The Girl Book and me getting out of a Lynette scene that, for some freaking reason was killing me to write. But I owe you guys something big (or biggish) and so here is a scene from Faye's perspective. As usual, the scene will only be up for a limited time, so if you read it, be sure to tell me what you think! It's kind of hard to give you guys a Faye scene that's not very spoiler-y, so forgive the lack of exploding cars in the background--- I do try to keep the casualties in my contemporaries to a minimum (aka zero!).
Thanks for sticking with me this long guys! This WriMo thing is beating me up. And oh my goodness gracious, do I need the company.
With all my love!
Deserae
P.S. Charlie really is so cool like. Just thought you ought to know...
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Prerna: Thanks, Love! And yes, I like doing character profiles, too, but that's usually when I know I haven't quite figured out the plot yet... I obsess over characters until they drive me up a wall and I have to just begin.
Maya: Glad you like Faye :), it's cool that you can jump right in (I tend to but end up pulling out and having to start again and again), and thanks for your Lynette support. We'll just stick with the one 'n.' Over thinking this spelling thing could result in disaster. I LOVE that song by Linkin Park! And just for the record, I say "eye"ther. Lol!
Aria (from email): I finally surpassed 20K today! I am sort of on track for my WriMo. And you know how pleased I am that you like my sassy Sarah (I meant, Faye! Honest!).
I know the day's still young, but I just agh! I can't write anymore! I think I need to take a creative break and write a song or do jumping jacks. I don't know. Everything in me is just rebelling against hitting the 20,000 word mark and I KNOW why I do this. I KNOW I'm just scared of this story going anywhere. But...
It still doesn't change the fact that I'm not writing right now. No matter how long I keep my eyes on this computer screen, the words just AREN'T going to come out. So I think I'm going to take a break. I think I'm going to think ahead and plot out what's going to happen beyond this scene. And we'll try again a little later. That's fair, right? I'm sure it's at least fair enough.
I've already got 253 words out today, though, so just in case I never return (aka go to bed without opening The Girl Book document again until tomorrow), I thought I'd introduce you to girl number two.
She's the oldest of the bunch and she's my Southern Belle. Sarah's character is so much fun to write because she's this no-nonsense, go-after-your-dreams type person who hails from New Orleans and is not afraid to get down. Too bad I'm not working on a Faye scene (you have to call her Faye, folks. If you don't, she will kill you); I would've been done yesterday!
Oh. And you see that weird "ear piercings" thing? Please ignore it. I make notes on my character drawings so that I can remember certain things like eye color, hair color, and things like their goals and hometowns and what nots. So yeah. That's what that is.
Do you guys do character profiles before you begin writing? I don't do it all the time, but sometimes (ESPECIALLY when working with multiple MC's) it helps. How do you go about doing it if you do and what information do you count as relevant?
Until next time, Loves. Here's a song of my little sister's favorite "college" boy singing an original song of his. Ignore the talking in the beginning. The song is actually quite lovely when you give it a listen.
Ciao for now,
Deserae
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Maya: Thanks, Lovely. I had a great time and seriously loved the movie. I'm a little biased, though, because when you put Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. together in a film... that's... that's just not fair. :) My dear little Wondercat is now shaved and skinny. But she's clean! And that, my friend is a beautiful thing. I was glad I chose Lynnette too until my sister was like, "You've always just spelled it with one 'n.'" And I was like, "Did I?" And she was like "...Yeah." So... I'm confused once again. I guess, we'll see what happens. But spelling aside, her name is still Lyn(n)ette. And I mean, that's pretty awesome. Lol!
So today was an overall fail on the writing spectrum. I was too busy doing things offline (shocker! I know!) with my dear friend Eva who had a birthday last week. Today, we finally got to celebrate. And you know what?
I had fun.
So instead of beating myself up about it, we're just going to have to wait and see what tomorrow produces. We're taking the neighborhood cat to get cleaned tomorrow (we love her--- it's a shame her actual owner lives down the street, but quite fortunate that she lets us take Millie around as if she's our own) so I'll be up fairly early. So hopefully I get some stuff done, yo. And while I'm doing WORK, you guys should go out and view the following:
Ciao, Darlings,
Deserae
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Prerna: Thanks, Love! Seriously, I just have these sudden spurs of energy. The way I'm writing this book, though, helps, I can't deny it. When you change the way you're used to doing things, you're challenged to do them better. Don't ask me why that works; it just does.
Maya: Oh, I'm glad Lynnette (see! Double "n's!" I think we'll do it, Girly. Thanks for responding to that plea) has influenced you in the way of classical music. Definitely give it a try! It stimulates brain cells and can't distract you while doing homework--- there're no words! Lol! And I just speak the truth when I comment. I'm glad you received it well. :) There were only minor things I saw, but, yeah, Girly; you blew me away! Keep it up. I don't know where this is going or if it'll continue, but I definitely can say the writing, itself, was good. And seriously?! I am SO down for contributing to that! Let me just open the drawer here, and ah! There they are! ALL of my unfinished projects waiting to be compiled into one MARVELOUS collection. :) And yay! Glad you like Austin! I think it'll work, yes? We'll make it work.
This post is late. I know! But never fear... I'm still posting for what is now technically yesterday and technically today DESPITE my being off track. This post'll be short because once again I'm phone posting, but I wanted to inform you all that while I DEFINITELY hit my word count goal for today (2500, remember?) I failed in putting those toward The Girl Book. But when I post later in the afternoon or evening, I'll explain why AND introduce you to The Girl Book's character of the week. Fair enough? Gosh! Tough crowd...
Not much to report today because I've been reading more than I've been writing. BUT because I did write a gripload of comments for this project I'm Beta reading, I am going to count those hundred or so comments with about ten or so words each as my writing for the day. So that means I owe you guys a treat. And yes, I realize that I'm just being a big 'ole cheat right now. Don't worry! I'll make it up to you and the girls tomorrow. I won't go to sleep until I've written 2,500 words. And that's pretty cool because I ended up writing just about that much LAST night because after I wrote that blog post, I wanted to finish up the scene I was working on.
So without further ado, let's finish up Lynette's week with some of her favorite music. Do not be alarmed! She's only as weird as I make her!
1. OkGo's "End Love."
This is actually why I featured the song a few days. When I stumbled upon it again, I was writing a Lynette scene and I imagined her listening to it in that scene. And it's probably the grooviest song ever! Lynette likes to groove. She's an oldie in that way.
2. Maria Mena "Nevermind Me."
She's a really shy girl, Lynette is. And no matter how hard she tries to overcome it, there's this little voice in her head that's always telling her she's small. Thankfully, she meets some people who offer ways of fighting that inner demon. But sometimes, that doesn't work, and she listens to all of the sad, self-pitying music she can find. Maria Mena is both her ego booster and pity-party leader.
3. Beethoven's "Moonlight."
To be honest, though, Lynette hardly has time for drama. The closest she comes to confrontation is when she's playing her cello and getting lost in the music. Since she's a classical musician, she spends MOST of her free time listening to and learning classical music. This is her favorite classical composition.
4. Yurima "River Flows in You."
But she's not all about the classics. She likes to listen to newer composers, as well. This is her favorite modern composition and the song that she feels is the most "romantic love song" of all times. Too bad she doesn't have time for love. Did you see her schedule?!
5. Claude Debussy "Claire de Lune."
And this song has sentimental values for her. Not only was it the first song she learned to play all the way through (on the piano. First a pianist! Now a cellist), but it was also the first song she ever performed for an audience and it was the song that her father used to play on repeat to lull her to sleep when she was younger. Plus, it's a gorgeous composition. I adore it, too (*looks away* *scratches head*).
And that's all (the music you need) from me today! Guess what guys?! Tomorrow's Friday!
Yay!
Deserae <3
P.S. I've found myself in a predicament. I accidentally spelled "Lynette" as "Lynnette" in one instance and I can't tell which spelling I like more! Which do you prefer? The single or the double "n." Right now... I think I... agh!
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Maya: My mom is... a mom. Haha! But gosh! I used to be the same way. That's why The Girl Book got put into a folder. When I picked it up a few days ago, I realized I had left off on a good part. Like what in the world did I do that for?! Makes no stinking sense... And oh my gosh, you're a brave woman. If I had her schedule, I would die, come back from the grave to complain, and then die again to get out of doing the work. Haha! But BMA has a wide variety of classes. You know what would be fun? Letting you guys pick classes you'd like and then writing you in as "extras." Lol! That'd be so cool. I love slipping people I know into my stories as side characters. Don't be surprised if that accidentally happens. I mean, who KNOWS what these fingers are capable of?! And Hart was starting to grow on me. I've always loved the name "Joshua" though. And "Jackson." Boy, do I love "Jackson." For a girl, though. There are too many Jackson's hanging around nowadays in YA (or am I imagining that?! Maybe it was some other name I was fond of like William or James... Hmm... I should actually look that up now. I'm becoming paranoid...)
Aria (from email): Does it show, though? Like really? I DO love The Girl Book right now, but is it SHOWING?! That's intense! :) Thanks, Love for your support. I know I owe you some PW, but I've been... occupied... Hehe!
Because this week seems to have been Lynette-centered, I thought I'd keep that theme going by treating you to her class schedule to celebrate the fact that TODAY, I wrote 1,777 words AND I am not. finished. writing. Yippee!
I would just outright tell you what The Girl Book is about, but I feel like you guys are SO smart and SO clever, you've probably already formed some sort of idea of the themes and ideas this book is wrapped around. If not, that's alright! The month is young and there are plenty of chances for me to give myself away. But until then, I must admit I'm having too much fun giving you guys seemingly random teaser things and then talking to you guys about TV and things that have absolutely nothing to do with them.
So in the spirit of how we've been doing things, I thought I'd take a minute to propose a semi-dialogue with you all about something that gave me a bit of a shock as I was writing today. Last night, I made myself hold off on writing Lynette's next scene even though I was itching to get it down in writing because I thought it was probably going to be pretty fantastic once I saw it on paper.
And... I mean, in my opinion, it was. It wasn't the BEST Lynette scene I'd ever written, but I'm a pretty harsh critic of my own work, and even I was laughing and smiling and cringing at my dear girl's awkward shyness and the inter-workings of her conservatively wired mind. It was cool to see come to life because, I mean, I had been away from this project and these girls for SO long, I was literally frightened to try to jump into their heads again.
But... after rereading the material I already had... After getting nice responses from you guys about the excerpt and my WriMo in general... After going through the folder I have that has all of GIP's goodies... I was shocked to remember how much I loved this project, and surprised to realize I'd purposely stepped away from it because I didn't think I did. I mean, what the heck?! How could I not love this project?!
And then today, when I was writing, the strangest thing happened. I wanted to write. I didn't want to stop writing. I was mad at myself for needing food (but, Boy, did I need food), and I was mad at my mom for asking me to wash the towels (but, Man, did we need towels). Because I thought, if I stopped once I was in the zone, I was going to lose that zeal I had at the beginning of the day.
But I didn't.
It was still there when I returned an hour and a half later.
And you know why? Because I was loving what I was writing. And I realized the difference between the days that I hated writing and the days that I loved it wasn't me or my story or my ideas or whatever other nonsense I'd blamed it on that day just to cut myself some slack... It was that I didn't LOVE what I was writing. I didn't love what was going down on the page, you know?
What little things do you notice about your own writing habits, good days, and bad days? This post has gotten a bit massive but that's alright; I want to know! Lynette's schedule shows what a typical day at BMA is like. You'd probably hate going there, or maybe you'd love it depending on how sadistic you were as a high school freshman. Personally, I would've welcomed the challenge. At least it would've given me something worthwhile to complain about.
Lynnette Highmore's Schedule of Classes
7:30- 8:45: Orchestra--- Classical Music
9:00- 9:45: Honors American Literature
10:00- 10:45: Geometry
11:45- 1:00: From Swing to The King: 1920's- 1960's Music (A Course in History)
1:15- 2:00: Earth Science
2:15- 2:45: Extra Curricular Environmental Studies
2:50- 3:30: Yoga
So do you still think you want to go to BMA? I... didn't think so...
Love! Deserae
P.S. Sonal totally featured this song on her blog. And I lalalalove it! I need to start featuring Christmas music. We'll see what I can do in the near future.
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Maya: Oh, you've totally brightened my day. Thank you for reading and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I wish Lisi had written more books, too, because, to be perfectly honest, I wasn't pleased with how it ended. I wanted... something else. I wish her publisher would've let her have more time to expand the series. I love the last name Daniels, but I'm not feeling either name. Maybe if I knew his character better. Of the two, though, I prefer Hart. Hart Daniels actually DOES have a bit of a ring to it now that I put it altogether like that. :) I can think of some guy names tonight and post them when I respond to your new post! Yes I see there's one there and yes, I'll be responding, soon. Love ya much!
I'm not doing a very good job at tracking how many words I've done compared to how many words I SHOULD have done, but today I finished (575 + 198...) 773 words for The Girl Book. And I'm still writing! So that's always a good thing, I think.
I told you I had some things I wanted to link you to so first! Here's the exclusive content I promised you--- it's another excerpt because, well, you saw one of The Boy Book so I think it's only fair you see one of The Girl Book, right? So click here to read a scene from Lynette's perspective after you check out all of these cool thingamabobbers. This excerpt will be taken down in about a week so read it and let me know if you like it before it... gets taken down in a week! Yeah!
Thingamabob #1: Prerna's blog, The Sands of Writing, always has really cool writerly type things. And it's actually encouraged me to talk more about writing, than to just talk about writing (if you visit her blog, you'll see what I mean). So click up above to just check out her blog or click here to read a post that I HAD to comment on because I loved it so much. I think as writers, it's good to support one another. ESPECIALLY if you meet a writer who not only has marvelous things to say, but also likes Once Upon a Time. Just. Saying.
Thingamabob #2: So speaking of encouraging and supporting fellow writers, Adam Heine just landed an agent. Now if you don't know who this guy is, don't worry--- I didn't, either, until I fell in love with Natalie Whipple. But he's been submitting for a couple of years, now, I think, and I just think it's very inspiring, epicanarious, and frickin' awesome to hear that he's finally got someone on his team. So yay for Adam! If you want to read that post of postiness, please click here.
Thingamabob #3: If you haven't decided you're going to see this movie, or this one, or even this one sometime in the near future, decide to do all of the above RIGHT now. Well... not RIGHT now, but, you know, as soon as you can, okay?
And that is all from me. I hope all of my links will edify you in some way or another. Edification is needed across this entire nation. And yes I just added that because it rhymed, and no I will not delete it, thank you very much.
Love!
Deserae
P.S. Sigh... I love OkGo's music videos... Do you guys even listen to the music I post here? I do from my phone because I don't have a great YouTube app. so I cheat by coming on here and playing these songs. Lol!
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Prerna: Gosh, I wish we could discuss it without spoilers, but let me just say that I think I said all I needed to in my comment to your post. Although, I have to admit, I really wasn't mad at them for going that route! Shocked, maybe, but not at all phased. I am going to--- agh! Spoilers! But I wish that the thing that was done didn't have to be done because I liked the thing that was happening before it was done and wanted to see more of that even though, now, it's impossible. I should stop ranting now.
Maya: No worries, Love! I'm just happy you comment at all! I like responding to you guys. :) Thanks for saying you like Aiden's name! I was worried about it, at first. But yeah, it's starting to really grow on me. And I honestly think it's perfect for him the more and more I think about it. The thing about choosing boy names is to not over-think it. What I do is I think about my guy friends and their guy friends and pick out the names I like. And if one clicks, then I use it like it's nobody's business. Because it's not! And because I can. :) Charlie WAS my fave charrie in Alphas, but in the end, I think my favorite was... Allie... Maybe... Toward the end of the series, I found myself finding faults in all of them. But I THINK Allie came out my fave. I THINK... Thanks for the luck! I'll need it.
Aria (from email): The Boy Book will return probably around Valentines Day. When you can't get a real date... write up your own! Lol! Thanks for your support of The Girl Book, though. That means a lot. And I didn't finish PW Ch. 13 tonight. I know... I'm a failure, like Larry!
In which I type a report from my phone and therefore have no content to share..
I wrote about 300 words today. Not much, but not bad. Because I was able to edit and coment on a few chapters of Alex's baby as well as read Ch. 9 of TLOATH which I'll be commenting on tomorrow. The Girl Book has some pretty stiff competition vieing for my ateention, but no worries, Folk. All will be accomplished in time. I have links to things I wish I could show you. I'll just wait until tomorrow, I suppose. But I hope you still had a wonderful Monday. Who saw Once Upon a Time this week? Ohmagosh, ohmagosh, ohmagosh...
So the good news: I wrote today!
The bad news: it wasn't for The Boy Book.
I'm not giving up on that project. Really, I'm not. I just... I'm not feeling it. And since it's so early in my WriMo, I figured I should change projects now, before I fell too far behind in this thing.
So I wrote 3,000 words. The project has been called GIP for as long as I can remember. But, because it's fitting in more ways than one, you and I can call it The Girl Book. I promise to give you more details tomorrow if I get some words down on the page. I told you! If I get words down on the paper, you get some exclusive content! Well, here's your content for today. It's a sneak peek of a drawing I did of one of the main characters many moons ago.
I hope that the fact that I attempted to draw these girls is enough to win you over for my abandoning The Boy Book. I just know that I'm not ready yet--- not for something THAT big, at least. I'd need more than a month to do Aiden's story justice. But these girls? Their story has been waiting to be told, and I'm pretty convinced that now is the time to tell it. Thank you all for your love, advice, and support. I will tuck it away and dig it out when I'm ready to start that project again. But for now... The Girl Book awaits!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. And have a wonderful Monday! How are you guys, anyway? I do love to hear good things.
Until tomorrow,
Deserae
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Maya: Third person FEELS like cheating because, you're right--- I want this to feel real. Not that third person eliminates a sense of reality, but it does separate readers from the direct thoughts, emotions, and feelings of the MC. And I know in my heart Aiden needs to tell this story. Not me as a narrator. Him, you know? I'm so glad you loved the excerpt. It's being printed out and put into a folder labeled THE BOY BOOK. I do this to all the ideas that I get. They get their own folders, you know? And they sit in there until they're ready. I'm glad you think I do well with dialogue! I love dialogue so I'll keep this in mind when I go back to it. Thanks, Love!
Posting from your phone is not fun, but such is the way of a gal whose mom doesn't have wireless capability in her household. I'll make this brief: I didn't write today. But I don't have to start panicking yet... Do I? Should I cheat and make this a third person, or should I stick to my guns? Idk, Loves. Idk.
Love!
Deserae.
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Prerna: I do have someone who could help... But is it weird to admit that I'm kind of afraid to ask? Why do guys have to be such... guys?!
And Aria, thanks for reading and responding to my excerpt via email. Love ya much, Girly.
So I did it! I started my WriMo today! But what I didn't do was get 1,000 words. Boo!
My day was fairly productive, though.
I moved out of the dorm and into my sister's place.
I packed up a small duffel and printed out my boarding pass.
I ate well. Really well.
And I took the best nap in the history of the world.
Not to mention I started looking up internships and got to email some very important people (gosh... I love email...). And I snuck some writing in! How cool is that?!
Loves, I've got a lot going on. And I'm not really good at this whole male POV thing. And I'm not feeling very confident about how this is going. So for today's yum-yum, I'm just going to let you see what I've got. Click the picture to get a better view and oh my gosh, guys--- if you hate it, tell me now. Although... there's not really much to go off of, so that's probably not fair of me to say. Can you tell I freak out easily? I'm an incurable freaker outer.
By the way! If you didn't get to read the fun facts about my other WIP, PW, please click here to do so, and be sure to check out the excerpt I posted here before I take it down late Sunday night! Love ya'll! Thanks for putting up with me.
My goal for today was: 1,000 words
The recommended NaNo count would be: 1,667
My actual word count: 403 words
Love!
Deserae <3
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Maya: I'll definitely tell Eva you wished her a happy birthday and thanks for your support! I know I say that all the time, but I really appreciate it. You're awesome. Beyond awesome. And yay! I'm glad you're inspired. Oh, I wish you luck on your writing, too. Keep us posted, okay?! You know I love talking about writing with my homies (aka you guys because you don't laugh when I say that. Teehee!). Ciao, Bella!
