Writing

The last few days, I’ve written approximately 1667 words a day.

One day I skipped and had to make up with 3334 words.

Last night was the first time I watched the clock. I started at 9:30 and by 10:30 (bedtime) I was rushing, pushing, forcing the story out. But I think it’s fair to say it takes about an hour to write 1667 words.

Oh, btw, I’m writing a novel.

So blog posts may decline (they have already, from what I can tell). But I’m also writing more at work, and have found that FB is more conducive to quick shares. It’s not that I don’t have fun things to show you (like this awesome article on when you should stay home from work or this article on the relationship between our cute-obsession and social misery) or even that I don’t have something to say about how my recent watching of the Resident Evil franchise and my love of I Am Legend has got me thinking the vaccine for the swine flu is going to result in us all becoming the living dead and or dark seekers…

it’s just… I guess I’m busy.

Nevertheless (a word I’ve discovered I use far too often in my prose), here are some fun quotes from an encouraging email I received from the nanowrimo staff.

What do you give? Everything. Your reader is human, like you, and human experience in all its richness is something that we all share. Readers are interested in the way a writer sees things; the unique world-view that makes you the person you are, and makes your novel interesting. Ever met an odd person? Sure. Ever had a weird job? Of course. Ever been to a strange place? Definitely. Ever been frightened, sad, happy, or frustrated? You betcha. These are your nuts and bolts, the constructor set of your novel. All you need to learn is how to put it all together. How to wield the spanners.

…

But the overriding importance is that the 50,000 words don’t have to be good. They don’t even have to be spelled properly, punctuated or even tabulated neatly on the page. It’s not important. Practice is what’s important here, because, like your granny once told you, practice does indeed make perfect. Concert violinists aren’t born that way, and the Beatles didn’t get to be good by a quirk of fate. They all put in their time. And so will you. And a concerted effort to get words on paper is one of the best ways to do it. The lessons learned over the next thirty days will be lessons that you can’t get from a teacher, or a manual, or attending lectures. The only way to write is to write. Writers write. And when they’ve written, they write some more. And the words get better, and sentences form easier, and dialogue starts to snap. It’s a great feeling when it happens. And it will. Go to it.

Dove

Terminally ill patient Jackie Beattie, 83, touches a dove on October 7, 2009 while at the Hospice of Saint John in Denver, Colorado. The dove will later be released as part of an animal therapy program designed to increase happiness, decrease loneliness and calm terminally ill patients during the last stage of life. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Awesomeness

Two new shirts by Threadless that I like.

Swan Kick

& Forever Friends.

Harvest lamp

I want to go hiking in some of the areas near where I live because I bet I could find some nice branches/wood/hiking sticks to make a lamp out of. If I can get it with the bark already stripped off, weathered by nature, maybe even some driftwood, then I think it’d be easy to build a lamp from it. Just add the hardware for a lightbulb, and a shade (potentially a home-made shade) and voila! LAMPO!

I want to make a floor lamp

How hard could it be?

I designed a t-shirt

You can vote and comment on it.

Click shirt to go to site

I think it comes from my heart. Taking comfort in the fact that Jesus wept, too.

Biblical reference.

Think of it as brain pilates

Creativity stretching.

The Cave

Sometimes I wrap our big queen-sized duvet around me, all the way up around my head. Then I curl up into a ball. I basically turn into a lump on the bed. Our duvet-cover is gray, so Will calls it a cocoon – because just my head is peeking out – or my cave. I’ll often do it when I’m trying to hide.

I seek comfort in comforters.

If I manage to fall asleep like this I wake up sweating profusely and feeling gross.

***

I just finished reading – looking at? – Blankets, a graphic novel. It was pretty fascinating… and it makes me want to write an encouraging letter to the author/illustrator – I heard it was semi-autobiographical. I think I still might. The story is basically – infatuation, love, growing up, and losing faith. It’s a good thing to read – knowing why people leave the church is important for those who are trying to get people to come to God.

Elegance in design

Click for bigger.

IKEA spree

Have you ever picked something up at a store because it was pretty? And practical? And then put it down just because you don’t really need it?

That is the way you save money, my friend.

Last night I went to IKEA… and picked up some stuff I probably should have put back.

This is how you STORE STUFF AWAY. This is how you ACCUMULATE. This is how you slowly but surely ENSURE YOU WILL GO INSANE the next time you move.

And when the high has worn off from all the pretty colours and low prices, and you’re sobered by the resulting total at the end of your bill… then you ask yourself, “Why didn’t I think about whether the six dollar plastic lamp would be bright enough to read with before I put it in my cart, paid for it, and brought it home?!” Oh well. Live and learn.

There was ONE thing I picked up and hummed and hawed a lot about, and did without because I don’t really need it (even though the trays I do have are much, much uglier).

OH IT’S PRETTY.