Category Archives: Writing

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

I’m in the home stretch.

Yes, last night I sat down to write. Two hours and eighteen pages later (no, I don’t know how that particular time-bending miracle occurred), I’m a breath away from 40K.

Now, my chapters tend to the 4,500 word count. Assuming I�m aiming for the 50K mark as a finish line (which I�m not � it will end when it ends� so long as there�s a minimum of 50K involved!), that means I have about eleven hundred words for two longish chapters, or three shortish chapters, or two regular chapters and an epilogue, which is looking like the best solution at the moment. And the wonder of it is, the story’s actually at the right point for two chapters to end it at the correct pace.

I’m really stunned that everything seems to be falling into place, because I certainly didn�t plan it. It’s like, er, magic. Or something.

And speaking of magic… only twelve hours until Chamber of Secrets! Before that, though, I have to keep an appointment with my optometrist in the wilds of the West Island, to figure out if my prescription needs updating or whether I just have to wear my glasses full-time now.

Renewed

Yesterday, quite simply, sucked.

Oh, the day was horrid. Evil was afoot in my life. Things went from bad to worse.

I did not blog, I did not write; I did not practice. I did, however, buy funky new shoes.

I shall not depress you all, however, with gloomy details. Instead, rejoice, for today was a wondrous day!

Highlights include an hour and a half of brilliant cello, where I spiked that irritating Handel quite nicely, thank you very much; a terrific wrap sandwich made with thick slices of ham roast and Monterey Jack cheese, toasted under the broiler; leaps and bounds of progress on freelance work; and a satisfying few thousand words added to my novel count.

A rest is as good as a change. Voila. I am renewed.

And I have new funky shoes. Go me!

Lest We Forget

Ceri and I took in the Remembrance Day ceremonies this morning at Place du Canada, and I saw a schoolgirl pass out in front of us. I am quite ashamed to say that the first thing that ran through my head was, “Would my NaNo protagonist pass out at a Remembrance Day ceremony?” The second thing, of course, was, “Is she okay?” Looked like her teacher had it all under control, and I know the last thing I would have wanted if I were fourteen was to have a bunch of strangers crowding around me. It was well-handled.

I was stunned by the reports of anti-war graffiti on the cenotaph, though. It had been cleaned off by the time we arrived, but I saw some on the park benches nearby. Defacing public property on the day the country commemorates the senseless deaths of our citizens in unwanted battle – great way make a point, whoever you were, and to encourage us to admire your skulking ways and your whiny protest. No, war isn’t the solution. I agree with you there. But attacking the spirits of hundreds of veterans who risked ther lives in confrontations beyond what most of us can envision – that’s low. Your ways do not justify your means.

Sorry. Rant over. Stuff like this just sets my teeth on edge. You honour your forebears for the courage to stick to their beliefs, whether you agree with them or not.

NaNo 2002: Day 11

My lead in the Montreal NaNo Word Count Derby has been threatened.

I should explain something. I write as fast as I read, so when I sit down for a couple of hours to write, yes, my word total goes up rather quickly. I’m not steamrolling forward with the intent of finishing first; I’m just writing, and enjoying myself. This isn’t about having the highest word count, not by a long shot. I type fast, I think fast (at least, when I’m on my own – put me in a RPG situation and I’ll wait for someone else to initiate action), and I work at home, so I can fit novel-writing in with less trouble than most people.

When Ceri, with whom I lunched and attended the Place du Canada Remembrance Day ceremonies, informed me that (a) I was universally and cheerfully hated by the other Montreal NaNos at the coffee meet yesterday (which I missed, as I was writing!), I laughed. When she then told me that someone had passed me in the Word Count Derby, I was all prepared to groan dramatically and shake my fist at my agreeable rival Emily (nothing personal, Emily, you know that, right?). However, I was stunned when she told me that, no, it was someone who had been somewhere between seventh and tenth on the list who had skyrocketed up all of a sudden.

Well.

See, I was fine about this word count thing up until the point where Tal mentioned that he’d love it if the first Montreal NaNo to hit 50K was someone he knew.

This, coupled with Ceri’s news… well, let’s just say that all of a sudden, it’s personal.

So I’m off to write. I should be preparing for a class that I’m teaching tonight, but I can wing it.

Maybe I should corral my cats and them start writing from the end of the novel, so we can meet in the middle. Heck, next year, I should just let them write their own novel.

On Cats and Computers

Calloo, callay! I have a new monitor! Yes, hard on the heels of discussing the eventuality of my father purchasing a new computer, I visited a friend last night, mentioned the need to have a new eye exam and how monitors were bothering my vision, and walked away with a new monitor. (He had two. And he says he was planning to buy another one this week anyway.)

Ceri thinks that I’ve drafted my cats to write my novel while I sleep (little does she know that sleep is a rare luxury in my life these days). MLG posted this URL in a comment, and I just had to share it with you:

PawSense, the software utility that catproofs your computer.

From the web page:

When cats walk or climb on your keyboard, they can enter random commands and data, damage your files, and even crash your computer. This can happen whether you are near the computer or have suddenly been called away from it.

PawSense is a software utility that helps protect your computer from cats. It quickly detects and blocks cat typing, and also helps train your cat to stay off the computer keyboard.

Every time your computer boots up, PawSense will automatically start up in the background to watch over your computer system. Even while you use your other software, PawSense constantly monitors keyboard activity. PawSense analyzes keypress timings and combinations to distinguish cat typing from human typing. PawSense normally recognizes a cat on the keyboard within one or two pawsteps.

In my experience, one or two pawsteps have already done damage that will take at least one to three minutes to undo.

The most priceless bit was the warning screen they’ve developed, which announces CAT-LIKE TYPING DETECTED, locks down the system, and requires authorization to un-lock it so you can keep typing.

Yep. Good thing these people developed this software instead of, oh, I don’t know, using a keyboard shelf under their desk or something. Yes, indeedy. Where would we be without them? Overrun by illegible cat novels, that’s where.

Writerly Support

In my regular circle of friends there is a disproportionately large number of NaNoWriMo participants, and most of us got together last night for mutual support. (That proportion is complemented by the frustrated artists, who were not with us. We’re a very creative bunch when we’re given the opportunity.) It’s a good group, and we discussed a lot of really neat stuff while enjoying some good food. One of the things we talked about was the Cheesy Fantasy Epic, which Dez claims writes itself because it’s formula, formula, cliche, formula. Sounds like his material is marketable already! (Don’t mind me, I’ve just worked in the book business for eleven years, and cannot believe the crap that gets published. This of all things assures me that someone I know, if not myself, will be a published author some day, because our worst is still better.)

We discovered things in common, such as people trying to sneak in novel-writing at work while on the phone, people forgetting to eat, working late at night, writing huge blocks less often, and so forth. One of my friends, when we pressed him for his word count, was remarkably stubborn, and he finally admitted that he’d begun a novel and it had hit a brick wall, so after arguing fruitlessly with it for a couple of days he’d abandoned it and begun a new one a day or so ago. We were stunned, but cheered when he told us that he’d written a few chapters already (although he still didn’t share his word count!). It takes guts to abandon something you’ve put time into, even if it’s dead in the water.

Everyone’s optimistic, everyone’s having fun, and the only damper on the evening was when the waitress told us that they had run out of cider.

This morning I teach, my informal Shakespeare reading group reads another play aloud this afternoon (which keeps growing no matter how hard I try to keep a limit to it; if everyone shows up we might have a seating problem!); tomorrow, I will write. I called it quits last night an hour before I had to leave for the meeting; I could have stayed and hacked out more, but I was tired. This left my word count just a thousand shy of half-way to 50K, which was a bit frustrating, but it’s good to know that when I sit down on Sunday that milestone will be passed.

Teeth-Rotting Kitten Cuteness

I’m having a bit of difficulty typing this morning, because there’s a kitten sitting in front of my monitor.

Yes, she has discovered the computer. At first, she just wanted to sit on my lap and purr adoringly. Being with her human was enough. Then, she wanted to see what all the clicks were about. Keyboard; okay. Then, ah then, she happened to look up as I moved my mouse across the screen, and it was love at first sight. Now she climbs from my lap over the keyboard (adding Xs and Ks and the odd Q, deleting other stuff, pulling up a couple of screens I’ve never seen before in my browser) and sits right in front of the monitor, watch my pointer as I navigate, or my whirling propellor “working” icon.

Okay, she’s moved to the stack of NaNo reference book I have piled next to the monitor. Gads, she’s cute. This is teeth-rotting cuteness. You’re lucky I don’t have a digital camera, or it would be, “here’s my kitten being cute”, and “here’s my kitten being painfully adorable”. (Please don’t knock the books over, darling, or you will plummet from cute to gaspingly laughable, and I’m drinking tea, here. That dictionary balanced on the very top may look solid, but it has two mass-market paperbacks underneath it.) She’s managed to lie down so that she can look down and crane her head around the edge of the monitor and watch the words appear on the screen.

Gah. Who needs honey in their tea when they have a kitten?

I’m still working on the seasonal gift list my parents asked me for a couple of weeks ago. I’m terrible at brainstorming a list of stuff I want. Evidently I shall have to take an afternoon and wander through a large bookstore and make notes of what strikes my fancy, and then do the same at a music store. Ikea gift cetificates are always good too, I suppose; inevitably I end up needing at least one more bookshelf per year.

I’m having dinner with Ceri, Marc, and Annika tonight (anyone dares to make a Marc’s Angels joke and they’re toast)… maybe I’ll go downtown a little early and do some browsing. All in the name of finishing these gift lists, of course.