Current Mood: stressed

…. in my new kimono.

Meanwhile, I’m so behind on NaNo its pathetic :( I’ve been ignoring all my e-mails, SL jobs and RL crap just to try to catch up.  Its full of so much inconsistencies, plot holes and bullshit its starting to look like the Bible.

BUT the story is there.  Its just hard to tie to all together.

At least I’m feeling normal now after Friday’s dental appointment.

Current Mood: sore & tired & frustrated

So Yesterday’s appointment went as well as you’d expect it to go when you’re watching the dentist putting weird things in your mouth.

It was crown lengthening. So so I’ve got some stitches along the gums of my bottom teeth. I swear this guy that does this is obsessed with perfect teeth and gums :-p

So I slept all day (it was a short appointment I think, just a few hours) and woke up…. I don’t know when. It was still dark. I think it was today. My face is all swollen up and gums are sore (umm duh?) and hurts to eat blahblah. All in all its expected and I feel fine about it. I have to get the stitches out in 2 weeks which means PUTTING OFF EUGENE FOR TWO FUCKING WEEKS! >.<

And I went poking around on SL and got myself a bunny av for my alt…. ZOMG she’s so cute.

AND I’ve been eagerly awaiting Katie’s package ^-^ It should be here very very soon, if it gets here today at all…

On the NaNo front: I’m almost 5,000 words behind! Which wouldn’t panic me so much if I actually know more about what I was writing.

Normally, writing a novel is like walking through a dark cave with a flashlight. You go along with your light pointed ahead of you and you can see some of whats coming. This year, I’m like the retarded OCD jerk (Mr Bean?)… slowly working my way through the cave but my light isn’t pointed ahead, its pointing down and I’m wandering off to the side and poking at rocks and… you get the idea.

Whitepaws keeps joking that I should just write a 50k porn novel.

I’m SO very tempted!

Current Mood: sore

I swear I’ve done NaNo tips before.  I’m not going to look before I write it though.  I want to see how my tips differ, year to year ^-^

I think this is my 5th year doing this.  I won the previous four years and though this year’s novel is one weighty bitch, I know it’ll be my 5th win.

So these are tips that I can think of off hand for word count or otherwise.  I hope they’re useful for you.  At least give them a try.  Let me know what you think.

So welcome to Xeen’s School of Tough Love: NaNo Edition!

1. You have to want it.  Don’t do it if you don’t want to.  It’ll be harder and no fun.

2. Write it out.  Don’t be afraid to write your novel on paper and then type it up.  You can write it out during the day, type it out at night.  This is good for word count because as you’re typing you can add things because you’re rereading it and new things ideas, characters, scenes will spark.

3. You have the time.  I have seen some amazing finishes by people highly pressed for time and energy.  See number 2.  That helps for that too.

4. Do the Time Warp.  If you get stuck, make some sort of line break thing or note and move on to the nearest scene you can write for.  When you get stuck again, browse back to a previously stuck point and see what you can do.  Sometimes scenes just remain unfinished but its quick and easy word count when you go back to something, you get an idea, and it comes spilling out.  This is my yummiest way of getting it done.

5. Just do it! While I do not have my inner editor turned off, some of you may need to do so.

6. Write Write Write.  Write as much as you can at every chance you get.  Even if you sit there for an hour staring blankly… don’t leave that chair unless you have to.  Milk your brain for everything you can get.  Its in you, I know it is.

7. Be ahead.  When you start out, try to get ahead of the game by a day or more.  If something comes up in real life, you’ll have a buffer zone to fall back on.  You are absolutely not allowed to use this buffer zone as a means to rest.  There’s no rest for the novelist.

8. Listen to your ‘Stinks.  This isn’t really for word count or whatnot, maybe just a writing thing in general and it kind of goes hand in hand with Time Warp.  If you have to skip a scene because you’re stuck and you’re worried about writing a scene later on because you don’t know what happened in a previous scene… just listen to your instincts.  Things will work out in ways that will amaze and entertain you.  Let your ’stinks guide your writing.  It will come more naturally and feel less like a struggle.

Current Mood: singing & sore

Yessir. I’m doing it -again-. Both Whitepaws’ and my 5th year.

I’m kicking it off with an unhealthy dose of severe female cramping and MUSE! Yes, you -must- listen to Muse when you do NaNo, and for writing and for everyday life needs.

I am picking up where my last NaNo left off, which was actually the end of Rayna’s Story (nice title, eh?). It was technically four books but I’m calling it three.

So this new series is Zander’s story. Same timeline, same characters, lots of the same stuff going on. Its just that things have shifted. Rayna got what she needed (hahahaha… you’ll have to read it hehe) so its Zander’s turn now.

And on that note, I realized the other day that the song on Muse’s Black Holes and Revelations album that I thought was an Blacktail to Captain song is actually Zander to Rayna song. Its even going to be a wee bit narrative to whats going to happen in this series and or book of his. This song is so brilliantly perfect for them and whats coming up that I hate myself for not seeing it before!

Here’s the lyrics. Read ‘em and weep:

Muse - Invincible

Follow through
Make your dreams come true
Don’t give up the fight
You will be all right
Cause there’s no one like you
In the universe

And during the struggle
They will pull us down
Please, please let’s use this chance to
Turn things around
And tonight we can truly say
Together we’re invincible

BTW Katie, I miss talking with you. Why’d you let me turn into a bum? :-p

Current Mood: ecstatic

Yesterday (Sunday) I had a very good day of writing. Just a smidgen over 5,300 words! I say very good day of writing because I haven’t written much lately. And I learned a lot.

Awhile back I started a “deleted scene” as we call them (makoes?) with the super uncreative title of “Adrian Meets Cydus”. Deep down inside I really just wanted to write some straight sex stuff (ha! I always choke on that stuff) but its, of course, taken an a life of its own. And a little ways into this thing, I was like “Ewww, the sex would be totally inappropriate, WTF?”). But now I see where its going.

“Adrian Meets Cydus” takes place about… 5 to 6ish years before my trilogy takes place.

Things I learned:

1. That Adrian started to go as Rose for her pirating name which eventually turned into part of the name of her ship (thanks to Whitepaws, he found out how the rest of it came about)

2. I learned some about Cydus.

3. I learned where/how Adrian met Lonna and how Adrian ended up promising to help Lonna out of the situation she was in. (Lonna popped up in a random bar in rewrite #1 and I knew her instantly when I saw her pop up in “Adrian Meets Cydus”)

4. More about how Adrian has been shaped into who she is currently. Poor gal. I need to stop torturing her. ….. ;-)

5. About Doc’s and Adrian’s relationship. It wasn’t all pretty and sweet father/daughter like I thought it always was.

6. How Adrian learned hand-on stuff about ships, sailing, knots and stuff, rather than just from books. I knew Doc had a big helping hand in that, but I really have figured out now.

And there might have been more. But y’know.

So I’m either half or 3/4 way through this thing. She’s got some revenge to dish out to a certain Captain and a certain guy in a certain brothel and the favor to repay to Lonna.

Now I’m wondering when Cydus and Adrian are supposed to bump uglies and when Cydus disappears. I got the impression from rewrite #1 of book 1 that they had met rather informally a couple times. I think its at their last meeting together before they meet up at current times. Hmmm… maybe Cydus will run off and do his thing for a couple 2 or 3 years then they’ll happen upon each other again.

I hate skipping forward in time like that, but its not like I’m trying to write something that’s going to be published or put as is into any of my books.

Bah. I HATE the organizing part of this novel series!