New Page!

Oh hey, what do you know? It's a new page on the top header of my blog. I put up a quick short entry from a screenplay I'm currently working on. HTML ftw on the formatting! I'm glad I still remember all that from university. Film classes finally pay off! Hoping to get some more writing up on this blog over time so people can see what I'm up to and how it's going. Currently, I've been so busy that there hasn't been much time in the getting things ready for Internet consumption but more to come soon!

Who's really bad at actually updating this blog?

This person!

I guess I'm just bad at actually remembering to do things. It's the remembering that's an issue recently. Not that I haven't been writing. That's been the issue in the past. The writing is going along at a good but steady pace. It's the reminding to actually write on this blog that's taken a backseat to just about everything. There's not much to update about to be honest. 

Did I do Camp NaNoWriMo for July 2013? Yes!

How'd it go? I'd rather not talk about it to be honest. It needs some polishing... a lot of it. That work isn't ready to see or even hear about the light of day. But it's another piece of work under my belt. Another 60k words that might otherwise not have been written. So I'll be happy and content knowing that I did what I set out to do. Follow through can be a wonderful thing in the long term setting and, for a writer, it's less about being inspired and more about getting in the habit of writing. 

I've read that in so many books: that you must feel compelled to write, as if not writing today would kill you!

I guess I'm not quite to that point yet. I have so much else going on in my life. But I am getting there and it's an ongoing struggle that I'm glad I am able to do. Most people don't get the chance t chase their dreams or try and make something out of their lives. I get the wonderful chance, the challenging and awe-inspiring chance to dream chase without being hindered by things that might otherwise stop me! I revel in the thought that I get to do what I want and possibly make money doing it. It's a crazy but wonderful thing and I am so thankful that I get the chance to do it, even if it makes me stay up late into the night because I can't stop writing!

I'll take a few sleepless nights. It's worth it.

New Schedules Throw Me... Every Time...

Having changed my work situation (again) I am now trying to get used to my new and improved schedule. I now only work outside the house for 10 hours a week, work in the house 20-25 hours a week, and spend the rest of the time studying for my certification and writing. 

It's been a good change. 

Talk about reducing stress. I don't much miss the job I left at the library, mostly because of how crazy it had gotten near the end. There were rumors flying around for months that they were going to close us and, guess what, on my last day we got notification that the library was closing. 

So, I guess I dodged a large missile there. 

I feel really bad for my friends still working there. That's a horrible situation to be in knowing that you might not have a job in 2-4 weeks. I'm very lucky to have the work that I do have and a husband who makes enough to support me even if I weren't working. This gives me the freedom to go after my dreams, spend my time writing and daydreaming. It's a great place to be in, I won't lie there. I am very lucky to have everything that I have.

In other news, I'm gearing up for Camp NaNoWriMo which starts April 1st. It's another mad dash to 60k words in 30 days! It doesn't always produce my best work but it at least forces me, through peer pressure, to get words on paper. Which is a wonderful thing!

Writing, I have found, is less about inspiration and "the moment" than just sitting down, every day, and writing. You have to develop the muscle memory of writing and get used to the fact that every day you must write. If you allow yourself to slack off and just write when the mood strikes you, you never accomplish anything. At least, that's how I've seen my writing go. 

For April, I will be tackling a novel currently titled "Hylium Summit." 

Synopsis: The universe is on the verge of war with all five sectors of the galaxy threatening to break the fragile peace that had been brokered two-hundred years earlier. As a last attempt at peace, the five sectors (Coralle, Madeal, Zinovo, Lyster, and Tyjan) send their most decorated and able advisers and noblemen to the Hylium Summit. Will one of the sectors repeat past history and destroy any hopes for peace?

I'm excited to start!

Routine

I'm reading more and more about writer's and their routines for writing. And it got me thinking: how can something so creative, such as being a novelist, be confined to a routine? This got me thinking about my own routine (or lack of routine). 

For me, I have no real routine when it comes to my writing. I don't get up at a certain time in the morning. I get up whenever I have to get up, which usually is about an hour before I have to be anywhere so I can quickly jump in the shower and bolt out the door. I should really change this as it means I hardly ever eat breakfast and it starts my mornings off in a frantic way. 

I do write my three pages every morning (about 750 words) which is pretty much me vomiting up whatever comes to mind. My morning pages aren't any sort of creative inspiration. I just write whatever comes to mind. Over the past few days, I've realized that those morning pages are mostly my whining that I don't have enough time, that life is hard, and that I need to get over myself. They aren't really helpful except that they get all that negativity out of my brain first thing so I don't have to think about it any longer. I suppose, having said that, that they are helpful in a way. 

Sometimes I get writing done during the day, other times nothing creative hits paper. I suppose that's a side effect of working three jobs. But it is NO excuse. I should find time, and I know that's a bad thing that I don't. I have plenty of opportunity to get writing done during the day, however, my brain chooses to spend it doing stupid mundane things like browsing YouTube or playing with the dog. Stupid things, well, maybe not all stupid. At least things that are not taking me closer to my goal.

My goal, which I want so much, is to be a writer: a published, successful writer. I need to buck up and start taking more steps towards that. I have ideas that need to be put down on paper and I have stories that need to be flushed out. I have things to do and new worlds to discover.

So! Writing goes to the top of my list. Sleep to the bottom. We'll see how long that lasts.

My Top 10 Signs That Work is Consuming Your Life

Below are the signs and symptoms that have been cropping up recently that are warning me that I am working too much/not spending enough time on the things that matter: 

1. I get excited when family or friends say "hi" on Google Chat or Facebook Messenger because it's the only real quality people time I get during the day. 
2. I constantly think that Saturday is Friday and Sunday is Saturday and get thoroughly confused on Monday. 
3. My main mode of communication with my husband is text message reminders or lists via email. 
4. My dog is no longer excited when I get home. She just gives me the "oh, you're here again" look.
5. The cats are excited when I get home.
6. My "free time" is spent getting ready for the next day of work.
7. I'm reading nothing but self-help books on organization and time management.
8. I get up before the sun rises and go to bed four to six hours after the sun has set.
9. I can't remember the last time a morning started without an alarm.
10. Coffee in the morning is no longer something I enjoy but something that is necessary.

Happy New Year!

New Year!

It always seems like a great swipe to blank out a slate that may or may not be filled with decisions that I'd rather not relive. I like the idea of starting anew but dislike the fact that I always feel like I need to wait for the New Year to start. It's almost as if my brain resets itself once that clock rolls over to midnight on January 1st.

This year, as usual, I made my resolutions. This year, unlike last year, I have a pretty decent plan to make this work. And, having been working three jobs while studying and maintaining a house (though maintaining is loosely used in this context) I feel like I just might have the willpower to finish, complete, or fully tackle the resolutions at hand. 

My list is below:

1. Cut out soda COMPLETELY.
2. Drop weight (this is always on my list but #1 should significantly help)
3. Read one classic novel per month (I'll list my list of novels later)
4. Go to the gym 3-4 times per week
5. Complete and Win NaNoWriMo 2013, Camp NaNoWriMo both months
6. Finish my MTE course on time (with a deadline of April 27, 2013)
7. Write every day (I'm shooting for 1-3 hours)
8. Pay off credit card and accumulate no new debt
9. Get published (in progress)
10. Pay down my new car (we won't be able to pay it off completely but we can make a decent dent)

As per my #3 Resolution, the novels I am tackling are listed below: 

January: Anna Karenina
February: Emma
March: Dante's Inferno
April: Finnegan's Wake
May: Tess of the d'Urbervilles
June: Les Miserables
July: Gone with the Wind
August: War and Peace
September: Bleak House
October: Nicholas Nickleby
November: Vanity Fair
December: War of the Worlds and 1984

So, those are my goals. Good luck to anyone else who will be pursuing their New Year's resolutions as well!

Post-NaNoWriMo

It's December 10th and that means I haven't written on this blog for about, oh, 18 days. I'm really bad at this. 

Right now, I'm dealing with what it commonly known as post-NaNoWriMo depression. Pretty much I feel like I've totally slacked in the writing department. Productivity through November usually leads to a downswing of productivity come December. I should be able to counter this considering I can see it coming every single year.

But I always hit December and feel like I've lost my stride.

My goal is to continue writing 2000 words a day. I don't know where I picked up the 2k words as being the number I need to be at but that's what I'm aiming for. 2k sounds like a good round number and usually only takes about an hour for me to complete. I've read somewhere that "full-time" writers usually put in 3 hours a day of writing, but that's just not happening anytime soon. 

So we'll do what we can and carry on.