tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971616742288042642024-03-04T23:32:06.182-06:00seashmore litA blog for books I'm reading and projects I'm writing on.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.comBlogger185125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-31470501083706296102021-03-29T22:27:00.001-05:002021-03-29T23:00:09.835-05:00Writing Journal<p> So, I tried to do a Lenten Writing Challenge again this year. The goal was to edit for forty hours over forty days. Yeah, I failed. I might not have had I not had some student loan issues rear their head. </p><p>I'm about to grant myself some grace and figure one hour for every journal entry I made during the last forty days, and see if that makes it more manageable. And, of course, count whatever I work on tonight.</p><p>Next year, I might do a Lenten Reading Challenge instead!</p><p>As far as what I'm planning to work on tonight: I think I'll put V&V back into one doc and see how many pages it is. Or, I could do a word count. There's at least one scene that's a duplicate, though. Anyway, the purpose of that is to gauge how much I'll need to spend on printing it for a physical copy and paste. I might do that at my dad's. He's said that he'd like me to review the book he's currently working on. He's said he'd pay me for it, and I might just take it out in trade. He lets me print mine on his printer and use either his living room or basement to lay it all out for a cut and paste job.</p><p>I'm leaning towards keeping it a short story. I don't know that I have the attention span to write a novel, to be frightfully honest.</p><p>Update: it's only 8 pages, and that's without some cuts that I know need to be made. <br />Nor does it count the plot points that I'm sure need to be added. Which I should add <i>before </i>I print them out at Dad's.<br /></p>seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-29597000800661705602021-02-15T19:45:00.000-06:002021-02-15T19:45:08.424-06:00Writing Journal<p> It's been rough to focus again. I'm blaming anxiety about my van starting due to the cold. Found a great page from Tires Plus with some tips to try. If turning all the auxiliary battery uses off and "cycling" the key don't help, I'll teeter between asking the front desk if one of the shuttle vans can park next to me to try and give me a jump and calling Tires Plus for the same. I'm leaning towards the latter simply because I'm pretty sure I also have a leaky tire.</p><p>Now that that's decided, I'm trying to focus on reviewing the climax, which is at Carhenge. Found a great <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/view-of-around-carhenge-alliance-nebraska-united-stock-video-footage/505943249" target="_blank">site </a>that has some aerial views of it, so I can get the placing down. Forgot that Jack is an add-on for the return trip to Denver. Which means that Fred doesn't need to somehow witness Jack going into or coming out of Nancy's hotel with her.</p><p>It's been more of a struggle than I'd care to admit, but I'll have done a run through of the whole thing, scene by scene. I've also separated it into sections, which will help channel any urges to work on something like game play or the Carhenge scene.</p><p>Still undecided about the denouement. I'm leaning towards maybe doing an open-ended kind of thing, where we see the first draw of the fall league. That may be something I ask of my test readers.<br /></p>seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-32120718652057058082021-02-15T10:40:00.001-06:002021-02-15T10:40:17.846-06:00Writing Journal<p> Spotify search is being slow. I want to add more songs to my writing playlist. Most of the other pages are loading rather quickly now that it's up and playing. So frustrating.</p><p>I really only have today left to work on things. Checkout is noon, so I suppose I could do a spell tomorrow morning, with how early I've been waking. It's been so awfully cold that I'm little bit nervous about the van starting, and I'm trying to push that out of my concerns right now. The locks worked just fine yesterday when I went down to get my pizza. I still have over a full one left. I ought to cut back on the popcorn to keep room for that.</p><p>Ah, the search is working now!</p><p>My plan is to review the exposition and climax before the end of the "working" day. Part of me wonders if I should make it a novel or keep it short story length. Reading more things in general ought to help me make that decision, truth be told. If I want to be a good curler, I watch curling; if I want to be a good writer, I read other authors. Perhaps once I get to where I feel it's a finished draft, I'll reach out for readers through the Nest. Nondiscriminatory policies to get a variety of readers. Part of me wants to have Tara read it, but I question her judgement of a good story; I don't feel I'd get anything critical from it, and that's what I want. </p><p>Then I'll make changes PRN and move to Twitter before submitting for publishing. I feel that it would be easier to do that if it's a short story, truth be told. But, we shall see.<br /></p>seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-32587183384805405882021-02-14T15:47:00.000-06:002021-02-14T15:47:01.920-06:00Reading/Writing Journal<p><b><u>Reading</u></b> <br /></p><p>Let's start with the reading. I've been more ambitious with that since the new year. 2020 was hard for me to focus, so I didn't read a whole lot. It's still been a bit of a challenge to focus this year, but I've been more patient with myself and open to only doing a couple of pages here and there. My goal is to finish about a book every week. I anticipate getting through more once I feel comfortable walking while reading. I get my second shot on Thursday, and will start calling the office to secure Tuesday as Treadmill day. I'll probably skip this one, though, since I want to take a Temp Tuesday to Dad.</p><p>The book I've been reading right now is A River Runs Through It. So much of the philosophy runs parallel to how I see curling. I might actually do a goodreads review of it, which I haven't been doing with most of the other books I've finished this year. Which feels hypocritical of me since a lot of other people's reviews help me decide whether or not I add a book to my list.</p><p>p. 2<br />"It is an art that is performed on a four-count rhythm between ten and two o-clock."<br />p. 23<br />"...but then every fine fisherman has a few fancy stunts that work for him and for almost no one else."<br />p. 46 <br />"You can't catch fish if you don't go where they are."</p><p><br /></p><p><u><b>Writing</b></u></p><p>I got myself a room in a hotel for three nights and four days to work on Virtue and Vice, my curling based NaNoWriMo from 2020. I didn't plan out the plot as well as I ought to have and made it much more difficult on myself. I've been meaning to tell some version of this story for over a year now. It started off w<span>it</span>h wanting to do it at Arena Nationals, but those got cancelled. For the sake of my romantic health, I probably should have done it over the summer, or at least put forth more of an effort before leagues started up again. Otherwise, I run the risk of blurring fact and fiction. And I think Nic remembers me mentioning that to him. Although, he also forgets a lot, so maybe that's one of the things he's forgotten. Something he said to me the last time we talked on the phone won't leave me, though. But since this isn't a personal journal, I'll leave it out.</p><p>As mentioned prior, I skipped a lot of planning sessions that I should have done in October. (Side note: if I like my NaNo project as much as I did this last one, I might make it a regular thing to do this in January. We'll see.) My intentions were to get some stickys on the wall, but these walls weren't meant to hold the ones I have, and I neglected to pack the tape, even though the thought occurred to me.</p><p>I found <a href="https://usaukwoods.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/a-story-in-three-acts-or-five-percentages-or-chapter-spread-does-it-matter/" target="_blank">this </a>blog, which helped me organize my thoughts a little bit. Since I wrote my words in November thematically, as the mood struck, it's not chronological. I kind of wish that my word processing program had page breaks, but using a string of *~*~*~*~* works for me. This morning, I create separate docs for Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Denouement. Before church, I went through the word doc from November and copied each section into the doc most appropriate. Today's challenge will be to make it through each of those. </p><p>So, off I go to do that.<br /></p>seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-7658601125712503782020-09-02T23:21:00.001-05:002020-09-02T23:21:20.311-05:00Reading Journal<p> I've been bitten by the reading bug, after what feels like a few years off. It was hard when most of my books were packed away in 2018 and 2019. This year has also been a little bit difficult, not because of availability of books or because of time. Rather, it's been difficult to focus. I've been able to break through some of that and get back into it. It's helped that I've reflected back on my adult life to try and find when I was the most satisfied, healthiest, etc. so I can duplicate those conditions to the best of my ability.</p><p>2012 seems to have been it. That included a lot of book reading, as confirmed by my browsing through my goodreads life. Wish me luck. I'm 8 books behind my 2020 goal. <br /></p>seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-61969096539270323522019-05-18T21:02:00.000-05:002019-05-18T21:02:52.203-05:00Reading JournalI did something today I never thought I would do: I bought Scholastic books!<br />
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The book fairs were always too expensive for us, so I ended up getting a lot of trinkets and having a good time window shopping. However, the other day a friend of mine posted to facebook that the Scholastic Book warehouse in our metro area (didn't even know we had one, honestly) was having a BOGO sale. HMA had the day off, and HMS was up early enough to go out and do things. They had the idea to go garage saleing, and I said "Let's make it a threesome." <br />
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Our garage sales were a bit of a bust, but I remembered the Scholastic sale, so we went there and made BANK! It spurred a renaissance of reading for me. I want to plow through the books with markers currently in them so that I can get to some of the amazing ones that I bought today. Still need to add them to my goodreads and shelve them.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-52216126961587082062019-05-11T20:59:00.002-05:002019-05-11T20:59:47.003-05:00Reading/Writing JournalI've been reading more at home, and plan on reading more in the mornings. Parking sucks at work, so I arrive about 15 minutes early and sit in the car. I have been going on list challenges or facebook, but reading a book might be better. I wonder if I could do scriptures. I probably should. <br />
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Although I haven't since Saturday, the weather has been more appropriate for reading walks than it has the last few months. My plan is to use Thursdays as a day to plan my Sunday lessons, since that's my day off. Once I get my room a little more organized and can find a purse sized notebook (that I know I have at least one of somewhere) I'll work on some poetry. Being outside and reading books unleashes the poet in me, and those are both in the plans to do more often.<br />
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Saturday nights will be devoted to typing them up and journaling, important to fishing out the feelings that I'm feeling and observing. seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-90809912058205067512019-05-04T21:58:00.000-05:002019-05-04T21:58:25.561-05:00Reading/Writing JournalI had the most successful Camp NaNo experience I've ever had. I made it about half way to my word count goal. I started getting the slumpy slumps. I'm starting to wonder if NaNo has served it's purpose for me. The focus on quantity has me not worrying one bit about quality. Like, it's not even a blip on my radar. Which means I know that every other sentence I write is craptastic. I think subconsciously...I end up disconnecting with my story because I become hyper focused on quantity. Not sure how to go about fixing that. <br />
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Probably working on writing quality pieces during non-NaNo peaks, I guess. <br />
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My reading game slumped a little bit, but it's picked up. I'm still focusing on Main Street, and it is so applicable one hundred years later. I need to hurry up and finish it, though. My cover is falling apart.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-31682594861797084312019-04-30T10:09:00.002-05:002019-04-30T10:39:06.447-05:00Writing JournalIf I'm truly to finish this Camp project on time, I'll have to have a 12k word day today. I doubt that's going to happen, but I think I can get to 25k by the time I start my new job on the 6th. I have about an hour here, then I'm off to lunch with a friend. Then I'll go home and alternate between NaNo and crocheting until it's time to go to the temple. (Which reminds me, I need to call my new employer and ask if they know yet which day will be my day off so I can let the temple know because I won't be able to make it next Tuesday, unless that's my day off, but I doubt it. I don't know...I'm trying not to spiral into anxiety about it, but I have a headache, so focusing is hard and not focusing leads to spiraling which leads to depression, which leads to anxiety....trust in God.)<br />
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After the temple tonight, I'll go back to crocheting and writing in spurts.<br />
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Okay, now I'm off to write!<br />
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Update: I'm back, after about 300+ words. The headache has beaten me. I have to leave in about 20 minutes to meet a friend for lunch. I'll just surf the net, maybe journal until then. seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-867604089984733802019-04-27T08:49:00.000-05:002019-04-27T10:23:52.613-05:00Writing JournalI need a plan for the day. I also need to pee.<br />
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Now that that's been taken care of....<br />
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I wish that the Word Sprints Twitter account was more consistent with their operation hours. Although, lately, the tweets I have been seeing after the fact have all been for thirty minute sprints. Um, those are not sprints. Those are races. So they probably wouldn't be very effective for me, anyway. Oh, well.<br />
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My plan for today is to do twenty minute sprints of my own. I'm getting bored...no, that's not the right word. German is probably the only language with a word for the feeling I'm about to describe. Trunky comes close. I want the story to continue, but I also don't want it to end. I want to get to the next scene, but don't want to leave the one I'm in.<br />
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So, twenty minute chunks of time until I either hit the halfway point or my sister lets me know she's close to being in town.<br />
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9:00 to 9:20 -- write<br />
9:20 to 9:40 -- play<br />
9:40 to 10:00 -- write<br />
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So on and so forth.<br />
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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*<br />
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Update: I did pretty good at sticking to the twenty minute time slots. Did some research and am less pantsy about my story now. I did get to about halfway, though, so I'm gonna call it a morning. Go home and crochet/watch things and do a little bit of laundry and lesson planning until I get a call from my sister to meet her and her husband as they cross the country. seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-73732511256988990502019-04-26T19:34:00.001-05:002019-04-26T19:34:39.284-05:00Reading/Writing JournalIn my gallivanting about town lately, I noticed a recreational trail that I hadn't seen the last time I lived here. Today, I checked it out and took Main Street with me. Amazing how well so much of that still applies to politics and the socioeconomic situation today. Well, in the first hundred pages, anyway. That's all the farther I've been able to get.<br />
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I'm allowing myself fifteen minutes to get settled at this Panera before I hunker in to my short story. That's enough time to finish this up, refill my cup, and empty my bladder. My goal is to be half way through by the end of tomorrow. I'm secretly hoping it will be before NaNo tomorrow, but that's the stretch goal. I have a free breakfast item that expires on Sunday, which means tomorrow it's tomorrow or lost.<br />
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My goal during this week's staycation is to do something that would qualify as an update for this blog every day, even if I don't actually go through the effort of updating.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-83112294207883239592019-04-19T19:45:00.000-05:002019-04-20T20:35:25.643-05:00Writing JournalI've been at this Panera for about two hours and this is the first thing I've written. My NaNo is still at 8040/25k after last night's write-in. It might have been more productive if I didn't have to get some eggs for an Easter basket exchange and veggie tray for a potluck at work today, and if I wasn't mentally preparing for an interview that I had after work. If that turns out the way that I would like it to, I plan to regularly stop at this Panera for breakfast since it's close and traffic in this direction sucks. If I work at 8, I would need to pack up at 7:30, which means if I'm here by 6:30, I can get in some good words. <br />
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In all reality, I would probably journal. Which would be okay, too. And I would probably stop often after work to get some writing done. It kind of stinks because the prices have gone up while the food selection has gone down. In terms of what I like, anyway. Hopefully it doesn't drain the wallet. But I'm also closer to HPB, like I could easily drive past it every day.<br />
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Anyway, I'm going to run to the restroom, then type for a few more minutes and see if I can break 10k tonight. May have to switch the Rob Thomas Pandora in favor of my YouTube playlist. (And maybe add his new song to it.) Yep. Definitely needing to switch to the seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-35675253842816178122019-04-11T20:47:00.000-05:002019-04-11T20:47:09.062-05:00Writing JournalI'm listening to a new friend tell me about one of her NaNo stories, and it inspired me about an idea for November: Merry Band of Roommates, but from the POV of the seven cats in our home. <br />
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Right now, I'm still kind of working on the dream one for April. I'm at 1602 words after two sessions. Not doing so hot, there. I'll have to average 12-1300 words a day in order to meet my 25k goal. I'm still in the first scene of the dream, but we're about to do another word war after everyone's potty breaks.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-46614712779973543792019-03-16T22:22:00.004-05:002019-03-16T22:22:56.602-05:00Reading/Writing JournalI have two immediate coworkers. One has started reading more often, and as such has spread the fire to me and our other coworker. So far, I've only read one book that they've both read. It was called "The Woman in the Window." I enjoyed it well enough, although I don't think I would have chosen it as a book to read on my own. Like the other gal pals of mine, I found the plot twists surprising, but the writing of the final twist felt a little rushed. I felt like it could have been written with language that was a little more parallel to the set up. <br />
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The personal resurgence in reading has motivated me to fall back into utilizing my "Something Old, Something New, Something Random, Something True" routine. The book previously mentioned was published in 2018 and I happened to be rereading The Mill on the Floss. I next picked up a copy of Ender's Game (a second copy, unbeknownst to myself until I started reading, but it was $1 and my other copy was/is still packed away) and the other night I put away some of my nonfiction books from the boxes from a year ago, so I chose a book my mom got me for my birthday a few years ago. It's on par with other books my mom has gifted/loaned me: subpar.<br />
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Tonight, I have begun to come back to my writing group. Just in time for Camp NaNo next month. And, like so many other months, I've got an idea! I'm going to do some autobiographical humorous stories/essays. In the next few days, once this flooding news has come down a bit, I'm going to pose a question to my facebook friends and ask which is their favorite of the stories that I tell. I think. I may make those decisions on my own. Perhaps, I should do that, anyway. <br />
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Definitely going to include when my roommate bought a couch and we tried carrying it in the trunk of a car. Also needing to include the story of my golden birthday turning into a spontaneous moving party for a stranger. (Well, technically a coworker of one my friends, but she was the only one who knew the person.) Will need to also include an essay on each of my vehicles: Clarence, the T-bird that my friend backed into in her driveway when she was taking me out to teach me stick shift; Casey the Cutlass, the grandma car I ended up driving around with one and half spinners; Pamela the Pontiac, who went through two timing chains and was paid off on my birthday; Lucille the minivan I bought for $500 on my birthday and drove for three years; LuAnn, my current van that I bought with $100 and my tax return. That ought to keep me busy enough for the month of April. I'll need to save something for July and November!seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-59590306315769724502019-01-26T09:14:00.001-06:002019-01-26T09:14:23.034-06:00Writing JournalThought of something on the way home yesterday. <br />
<br />To name the characters in MBR after our vehicles! Which could be tricky since HMJ and his bff both drive Bruce.<br />
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Admittedly, haven't done much writing this week. Need to get on that, don't I? Well, I've got all day. I even woke up early. Really need to stop pulling the laptop into my lap while it's plugged, though. That keeps me in the chair for hours!!seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-53015388079607568222019-01-18T08:28:00.001-06:002019-01-18T13:47:57.690-06:00Writing JournalThis week has been more productive in terms of writing than any week since NaNo, and even more than some of those. I started a short story that I have decided I will end up incorporating into a series of them called "Merry Band of Roommates," based mostly off my current set and including some from the past. I'm going to transplant my grandparent's five bedroom farmhouse to the edge of the metro we currently live, which will give us more space and remove some of the personal tension and allow me to fantasize a little bit more.<br />
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Perhaps just as importantly, I've perfected a YouTube playlist for writing. It's about an hour long, and is generic enough for me to apply to just about any project I'm writing on. Prose, anyway. Poetry for me is more of an out of doors experience. Which reminds me, my aunt's favorite contemporary poet recently passed and one of my college professors shared a poem of hers about geese that I should share on my aunt's wall.<br />
But, first, my playlist, for any who are wondering.<br />
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"Write Like the Wind (George R.R. Martin)" by Geek & Sundry<br />
"Storytime" by Nightwish (official music video by Nuclear Blast Records)<br />
"Write Like the Wind (George R.R. Martin)" by Geek & Sundry (will likely reposition)<br />
"Don't Think Just Run (Official Lyric Video)" by Beth J Crowley<br />
"The Dance of Cossack Girl with a Sword..." by jagan kurra<br />
"Moondance" by Nightwish (video by Jaysong14)<br />
"Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise" by The Avett Brothers<br />
"Bohemian Rhapsody (piano accompaniment)" by Antonality<br />
"Wither (official music video)" by Dream Theater<br />
"In Me Lyrics" by Casting Crowns (video by Dance74Him)<br />
"Brave (Lyric Video)" by Sara Bareiles<br />
"The Answer Lies Within" by Dream Theater (lyrics video by countrymusicluver32(<br />
"Somedays You Write the Song" by Guy Clark (video by disgrymmness)<br />
"Feel It Turn (Video)" by Great Big Sea<br />
"Something Beautiful" by Great Big Sea (video by Tom F) <br />
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Update: I'm listening to the playlist, and realizing I don't <i>want</i> to write. I've been reading some old poems of mine. I also just realized that the "shuffle" option on YouTube plays each song more than once because "Write Like the Wind" just showed up for a third time. (I know it's on there twice.) Which means that I ought to go through and randomize it a little bit so that it sounds like a variety to my ears. And, as much as I like the lyrics of Guy Clark's contribution, I'm not a fan of the song in general. Doesn't work well as a writing soundtrack.<br />
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It feels good to move my fingers on the keyboard, so at least I have that going for me. But the brain, the imagination part, doesn't want to work right now. Perhaps the next Givling hour, I ought to try and take a short walk. Partly to get my body up and moving, since I have not done much of that the past few days. But also, and perhaps just as importantly, to get my imagination going. There's a scene I want to play out. Maybe I'll start a different MBR story because I'm feeling a little stuck on the one I started. I'll try that for the rest of the soundtrack. Problem is, which one.....just kidding...I know.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-56935727792215382862019-01-16T11:01:00.000-06:002019-01-16T11:01:21.614-06:00Writing JournalThis is me coming to dedicate myself to more creative writing in 2019.<br />
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As I mentioned in my personal blog, the creative side in me has died a little bit, and I think it's due to the full time desk work. I miss the conservative hippie me. The one who would wear something other than jeans or sweats and t-shirts as casual wear. The one who would write poems, or just always have a writing utensil and surface to jot lines. The one who would read stories and poems to hear trends and ideas. The one who would listen to music instead of just staring at a screen. Good music, varied music. The one who would sometimes create music.<br />
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I miss her.<br />
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And I am bound and determined to get her back. God needs her for something, and He needs her skills honed for whatever that may be. Time's a wasting.<br />
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So, this is me, dedicating myself to typing at least one hour a day, and spending time not just looking for literary magazines, but reading them. Spending time at the library.<br />
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This means finding stable PT work that can support me, and leaving FT work for one employer in the dust. I cannot for the life of me find the Utah Philips quote I am searching for, but it's one that essentially says "The life of my brain is the only life I have, and why would I hand that life over to someone else for eight hours a day on the expectation that they would return it to me in an unmutilated condition?"<br />
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Anyway, that's motivating the life change I'm being secretive about until it's too late for anyone to give me advice I wouldn't take even if it was good.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-53497980078809317962018-11-19T20:15:00.002-06:002018-11-19T20:15:52.641-06:00Writing JournalGot my library card tonight!<br />
Because tonight's write in is at the local library I've been meaning to stop in and visit since I got my newly addressed driver's license in August.<br />
<br />
Feeling blocked, though. And tired. I'm not even halfway through. I'm not even at 20k. I was hoping to be tonight, but I'm just feeling that the whole thing is stagnant. I want Rose to spend more time in New York, but I also want her to have more time. More time to do more with her life. I guess I'm going to have to cut out her trip abroad, unless maybe she takes a short one with Bella.<br />
<br />
Crap. I'm kind of writing a clean version of Summer Sisters, a Judy Blume book that my mom bought for me without vetting it. At least, I thought so. After reading, or starting to read, something she recommended to me once, I'm not so sure anymore. So much smut.<br />
<br />
<br />Anyway, I can't figure out what I want to happen next to my
character. I feel like she's ready to go back to the Midwest, but I'm
not ready for her to leave Mona. I'm also not ready for her
sister-in-law to die, either. That's what my original catalyst was for
her to move back, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe now it could be that
Mona dies. I think that works better. Then she can live with her dad
and unofficial stepmom until her sister-in-law dies.<br />
<br />
Craaaaapppp!!!
I love Mona! I don't want her to die, but I don't think I've written
enough about her to make her death meaningful to readers. Looks like
I'll be taking a poddy break and working on that while I sort things
out.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-59749598489311256772018-11-12T20:09:00.001-06:002018-11-12T20:09:28.093-06:00Writing JournalI finally broke 10k on my NaNo today!<br />
And I'm ready for bed now. Only had 5k iU of Vitamin D and forty minutes of light therapy.<br />
I also realized that I do better in the mornings at work if I've been up and working towards alert for a while. I'll probably do one more sprint. Maybe try and get to a word count goal. At least half of the "write this many words per day to finish on time" goal. Which works out to writing until my total is 12,078. Ish. Maybe 11,078. That seems less intimidating. <br />
<br />
Until then, I'm going to do things like go to the bathroom, spin my Givling, and pack my lunch for tomorrow. (We're at a pizza place. I got a 10" so I don't have to do anything for it tomorrow.)<br />
<br />
My MC is still at home. She hasn't graduated high school yet. Her brother hasn't got married and had kids, she hasn't finished her culinary degree in New York, her sister in law hasn't died, her best friend hasn't gotten married....She hasn't gotten married <i>or</i> divorced. I keep getting caught up in being wordy about each scene.<br />
<br />
Whatever. I've made a new friend who told me about a website that provides an opportunity to write stories for money. Hoping I can do that well enough that I can get by working part time and afford insurance on my own. Or finding some place that offers insurance to it's part time employees. Because I doubt I'm going to find a husband with such benefits at this stage of my life.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-33050656576472987832018-11-10T22:10:00.000-06:002018-11-10T22:10:18.655-06:00Writing JournalStill plugging along at NaNo. Still haven't hit 10k yet. Facebook memories tells me that some years, I've been only at 2k at this point but have been at 20k other years. <br />
<br />
I ain't too worried. I'll be able to make more write ins this week, which always help my word count. Hoping to be at 40k by the time I head to Wisconsin for the holiday, which falls early this year. I'll have the full four days off, but will use all of them to travel. Might come up with some ideas, but probably won't write them.<br />
<br />
Hoping this hangnail and torn nail problem can stop happening. Bring it on in December.<br />
<br />
I've developed a knack for missing NaNo Word Sprints on Twitter. One just started. Adios.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-55347563962212375762018-11-03T19:52:00.000-05:002018-11-03T19:53:25.962-05:00Writing JournalAt my second "off campus" write-in for the day.<br />
<br />
Got ready to join in on a Twitter word sprint, starting at :55. My laptop died at :54. Frustrated, I refilled my drink and headed home. Forced myself to write until the drink was gone, then I could go play with my yarn. Worked well enough. Technically doubled my word count.<br />
<br />
Now I'm at my regular Saturday night location. Yet again, waiting forever for service. I get that we're regulars and most of us are pretty chill about being left. She just came in and said that the manager keeps sending her to other tables. They do look much busier than normal.<br />
<br />
We're also much busier than normal in here, and it's probably going to irritate me if I don't get some music in my ears soon. It's not just the volume of bodies, but the volume of the voices who have arrived.<br />
<br />
Never thought I'd be hoping for my food to take a long time. At least the lady I'm sharing a table with is nice, quiet, and interesting. Haven't caught her name yet, though. Maybe by the end of the night.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-67192117907600227572018-11-03T11:37:00.001-05:002018-11-03T11:37:31.758-05:00Writing JournalLast night's attempt at NaNoing was a failure. Not an epic one, but a failure nonetheless. I live in northern Omaha proper but work in Bellevue, which is attached at the south side. It's about a 25 minute drive since I'm heading the opposite of traffic. I have a friend who lives in Bellevue who wanted to get together last night at 6 for an old lady's night in. She was working on an embroidery project and I always have a blanket I can take with. (It was the friend who taught me how to crochet.) <br />
<br />
I figured that'd be perfect! I got off at 4:30 and could stop at Panera to write for at least an hour before heading over to her place for dinner. <br />
<br />
Wrong.<br />
<br />
To be fair, the plan was perfect, but the execution was not. See, I had forgotten to plug my laptop in to charge overnight after Thursday's attempt at a write-in. And my computer has gotten worse in it's old age about giving me a warning when I'm working and the battery is low. Thankfully I had my iPad with me, so I was able to do a bit of research/prep before my dinner bell rang. On the plus side, I have more prepped. Need to translate it into text from the handwritten, though.<br />
<br />
At Panera now, looking to write at least an hour and get to 4k from 233 before I head back home to work on some crochet and grab a midday meal. I had wanted to get up early enough to hit up the bank and grab some Panera breakfast, but I didn't. Oh, well. Once I eat some more of my bagel, I'll take my vitamin and get going now that my fingers are warmed up. (Although, my wrist is hurting from about two hours of crochet last night and I don't think I have a brace with me. Will have to add one to my bag for NaNo tonight.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-86123856009614710702018-11-01T18:50:00.000-05:002018-11-01T18:50:03.874-05:00Writing JournalSo NaNoWriMo begins!<br />
<br />I fell asleep and stayed that way on the couch all night and missed a first-chance write in. Also woke up too late/lethargic to pump out a few quick words before work. Currently getting things squared away to participate in the first write-in. I severely tore my right thumbnail and left pinky nail at the beginning of this week, so my typing shall be a bit halted.<br />
<br />
Last night, I signed my dad up for nanowrimo.org. He is working on a baseball book, an account of either one particular team or one decade, I can't remember which. Since his work is all on a desktop and he gets nervous about social situations (honestly, the more I talk to him, the more I'm convinced he's at least a little bit autistic) I didn't overwhelm him with the social aspect of NaNo. I think the internet accountability will be enough for him.<br />
<br />
Well, my danish is gone, so my prep time is up.<br />
haha....prep time! I failed at PrepMo. Hardly done a thing. Looks like I'm pantsing it this year. I'll blame the adjusting to a new job/schedule while making sure (often failing) to keep up with my Vitamin D.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-20285472234400922252018-09-19T11:49:00.000-05:002018-09-19T15:24:01.240-05:00Reading/Writing JournalMisplaced that sports book that was going to take the place of Ashes of Roses. But it's okay, because my dad bought me a copy of The Green Mile from HPB clearance for my birthday. I like books with chapter breaks. My copy of Anna Karenina continues to fall apart and Mill on the Floss has been stashed in my car for a week. Still four books behind on my goodreads challenge.\<br />
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Had an experience on Saturday that is getting included in my NaNo. Went to a friend's wedding reception, where I danced with an attractive man to I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles). And he twirled me! It was fabulous, and I keep listening to the song so I can keep the memory fresh enough to fictionalize come November. Will probably write a poem about it this week to also assist. Possibly to also submit for money.<br />
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The rest of this post is a list of places that pay for submissions so that I can check them out later this week to see if I have or can have anything that would be a good fit for them. Source: writersincharge.com/literature-mags-that-pay-writers<br />
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1. Boulevard Magazine, $300 for prose and $250 for poetry upon publication<br />
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3. Plough Shares, $250 upon publication, subject to certain timelines<br />
4. The Southern Review, $200 upon publication, prefer manuscripts via mail<br />
5. Sub Tropics, $1000 for prose and $100 for poems upon publication<br />
6. The Sun Magazine, $300 for prose (possibly use MoBoard story prompt)<br />
7. West Branch Magazine, $100 upon publication, through Bucknell University<br />
8. AGNI, $300 for essays, $150 for poetry with a submission window<br />
9. Carve Magazine, $100 fiction and $25 poetry (good for exposure)<br />
10. Colorado Review, $200 unpublished only<br />
11. Crazy Horse, $200<br />
12. The Fugue, $1000 for competition, associated with University of Idaho (submission fee)<br />
13. Grain Magazine, $250 sent by post<br />
14. Gulf Coast Magazine, $1500 compeition<br />
15. Iowa Review, $100<br />
16. Iron Horse Review, $100 with submission windows<br />
17. Nashville Review, $100 with submission windows<br />
18. Ninth Letter, $1000 competition<br />
19. The Threepenny Review, $400 for stories, $200 for poetry, online submission<br />
20. Confrontation Magazine, $250 with submission windows<br />
21. One Story, $500, literary fiction only<br />
22. Virginia Quarterly Review, $1000 for stories, $200 for poems<br />
23. Willow Springs, $100 with submission windows<br />
24. Narrative Magazine, $1000 for copies 7500+ words<br />
25. Slice Magazine, $250<br />
<br />
<br />seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297161674228804264.post-1978176160738051002018-08-29T19:33:00.000-05:002018-08-29T19:33:20.961-05:00Reading/Writing JournalFinished a couple of YA books recently. Little Tree (mentioned last post) and "Ashes of Roses," which I picked up after last post. The MC is a 15 year old who comes through Ellis Island from Ireland to NYC. She and a younger sister find themselves working at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory just before the 1911 fire that happened there. Highly recommend if you're looking for an easy read.<br />
<br />
I think I have a sports book to fill that one's place. <br />
<br />
But the biggest news is I have my NaNo project decided!<br />
<br />
Last Thursday, a friend came over to tackle the jungle in our backyard. I helped (very little) and afterwards, we talked a little bit. I mentioned the struggles I was having with my writing, and he gave a few encouraging platitudes. Brought up PrepMo, and I implied I was just hoping to have an idea worth prepping and the ability to figure out either plot <i>or</i> characters, as asking for both was too much to be feasible. <br />
<br />
HMN was watching some Stephen's Universe the other day and the episode (maybe a song) mentioned "fifty pages about wedding cake." She scoffed, but I immediately thought of a scene from the Unabridged Princess Bride. I pointed out to her that if you talk about taste testing different wedding cakes, and then describe the baking and the enjoyment of the final product, including a few mishaps along the way, you could probably come up with fifty pages. <br />
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After a few moments, the pieces clicked, and I thanked her for my NaNo project.<br />
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The very next day, facebook reminded me of a friendivesary. The picture it featured was one I took of him and his wife at their wedding reception featuring them pinky-swearing not to smash cake in each other's faces.<br />
<br />
<b>BAM! </b><br />
<br />
That story is definitely getting included somehow. So I have at least two characters, one scene, and an overarching theme. Don't know if either one of them is going to be the MC or if it's going to include more than one cake. But I've long held a theory that the way a couple cuts their cake says something about their personality as a couple. In a few weeks, I may do a social media survey and ask people to tell me what they remember about their wedding cake/that part of the reception. See if I don't get some more inspiration.<br />
<br />
Well, off I go to sign up for a few more goodreads giveaways.seashmorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00698552238049211687noreply@blogger.com0