From the first page

For the last three weeks I has have a project outside NaNo. I have been studying me. It's easy. I have a excel sheet (but honestly all you need is a piece of paper) and on it is the date, what time I start and finish, where I am, whether I am listening to music and how many words I wrote in the time. This is what I learned: I get between 900 and 2000 words per hour. I do better when listening to music. I do better when I'm sitting at a desk. By keeping track I know I do best from twelve to three. Odd that. I figured I would be a night owl or a morning bird. Not a weird in-between person. But by keeping track I've been able to beat the system, my own messed up system. I know when and where to write to get the best results and with 28,000 words written on the 13th of November, I know that I can do NaNo. I can win! Not only that but must short stories are going well too. The change in what I'm writing helps me from burning out. Every day I write at least two thousan...

You know they aren't true. Sometimes someone is completely wrong about you and there isn't anything you can do about it. It feels horrible. Worse Than that is when you still know that they are good people. That they are nice and kind and genuine. You like them. It would be easier not to like them. It would be easier to dismiss their opinion of you because they are mean or cruel or just not nice people. Sometimes you can't even correct them. Someone can think of you as something terrible and still be awesome. That's about them, not about you. Being good people doesn't make them instantly right about you. But it just sucks. It feels horrible. A million other bad things can happen. Some might be serious. Sometimes you might wake up just feeling a little depressed. That's okay. I know studies say that one in four/five (depending on where you live) people suffer from mental illness but I honestly believe that everyone has depression at some point. Some people get...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Halloween is my favourite holiday. With sweets and costumes, what's not to love! I sadly won't be dressing up this year. At least not excessively. I might give myself peacock eyes or something. I'm on sweet duty this year. Can't wait to see all the cute costumes. The other thing is that tomorrow is the start of NaNoWriMo. Tomorrow. It got near scary fast. I've decided to not write anything today even though I'm itching to go. It's hard. Harder than I thought. I've spent the last few weeks writing every day I can and it's built up a habit. That's good. It's half ten in the morning and I want to write. I have my novel all planned and plotted. I know my characters. They are asking me to write them. I know my world. It wants me to go explore. So why take today off? Nano is 50,000 words and I'm worried about burn out if I do too much too soon. The goal is definitely do-able. To get it done I need to write 1,667 words w...

Things have been hectic. Beyond hectic. I went to Gran Canaria. It was sooooo hot. Forty degrees. My pale Irish skin was not made for that. I melted. I went to Rome. Rome was lovely. It even rained one day and I felt like I was home. Only a really pretty version of home. Here. Have a picture of Rome. Posing much? I have pictures of Gran Canaria...but it was a drunken, sun-stricken mess of a holiday with the girls so I'll think keep those to myself. Not because I'm a horrible mess in them. No no no. It's for the greater good.  So instead I give you a cat. It's the internet. So cat. Roman cat. I have been writing (Good girl) but not blogging (Bad girl). I got a smart phone finally. The reason it took so long is because I love buttons.  I'm doing NANOWRIMO. Super excited. I even get to meet other writers! I have my idea fully fleshed out and am now counting done the days until I get to start.  To bind the time I'm working on another p...

So, first off, writing's going wonderful. I'm taking part in word wars and the like on twitter and, as I'm a competitive person, it works for me. I joined a forum for writers and am learning so much. Short stories are coming fast and easy. The novel is stalled again but not because I don't know what's coming yet. In fact, I'm excited about it. I just a break from that world for a few days so I can get hyped about it. My excitement about it will grow and writing it will be a reward instead of a chore. I think short stories will sharpen my skill for the novel also. Some of them tie into the story and I may leave one at the end of it. It isn't needed for the story but it's a neat little story that is concluded in the main. All very good. Grade: B The not so good is all the drama that's going on. So many authors have decided that reviews need punishment or something for reviewing them badly or ignoring them. I won't give links to the sites in ques...

Samuel Beckett, you “try again. Fail again. Fail better.”   I'm not going to lie, I love outlining and then I love to go about writing and ignoring all my outlining ( I am trying to get better). However, recently I 'pants-ed' a story. For those of you unfamiliar with that it means to sit down and write until it's finished with no idea where the story is going to take you. I learned a few things by doing this. The first is that it is an extremely free way to write. You don't have to worry about research or time or word count or how to get from point A to point B. It's also quick. I had the first draft written before I knew it. It gives you a really good sense of where you would like you're story to go. It gave me a huge insight into my characters and how'd they would at and react to what I threw at them. Then, if you're like me, you have to change everything about it. That's the not-so-fun part. I learned that I am incapable of keeping ...

The good: I'm out of a job I hated. I wasn't afraid of the work. I'm lazy on my own time, thank you. No no no. It wasn't an atmosphere I wanted to stay in. It was temporary for just 10 weeks. I was counting down the days from week 2.  I have time to shop, cook and eat well even if I lack the money. (I think I'll make big batches and freeze) Banana toast is yummy!  It's only two months until I get to see one of my favourite people.  Exercise is actually happening. My muscles hate me but the dog is delighted. I've made out a schedule for the blog. So be prepared for well-planned fun and frolicking. The Bad: I haven't been writing so much. You may have guessed that from it being missing from the good list. I have been project switching like crazy but still find it slow going.   I haven't been editing either. I now have the time and no excuses. If I were someone else I'd hit me. Or yell at me. I'd at least give a dis...