Novel writing 101

Like the title? I incorporated 101 into the title, since this is post number 101... ok i'll shut up now...

So as I wait here at work for a friend to pick me up I'm going to spend my time (semi) productively; writing a Post, yo. As per my self-enforced rules, I am going to blog about an observation I have made. It may not make for a long post, but we'll see how it goes.

You can tell what kind of novellist a person would be by listening to them tell a story. Naturally this thought has been on my mind due to NaNoWriMo. But it's true. Check out these examples:

• The taller-every-time-they-tell-it-taler: these are the kind of writers who will write a lousy first draft, pretty close to the general flow of things, but really boring. Then with every redraft, the story becomes more and more dramatic, until finally you have a very tall tale indeed. I'd say, as a novellist, this kind of person would be the compulsive redrafter. Some may call them compulsive liars, but generally they see themselves as masterful storytellers, making any topic or event interesting or entertaining.

• The "they said 'hello'... Oh wait, it might have been 'hi...'" teller: these guys are notorious nitpickers. Generally their first draft will take forever to write because they will try to edit as they go, in an attempt to edit-as-they-go. I can safely say, while currently over 15 000 words behind in my NaNo Novel, that this is my type.

• The "OhMiGod I forgot about that part" teller. These guys often think of details after the fact that they have to go back to add in. This happens with a lot of writers, and presumably a lot of story tellers too. I've experienced my fair share of this over the last 17 days, and I'm only on chapter 4...

Anyway, gotta leave it at that. Might edit more in later. I'll add the photo in later too, seeing as this app won't let me post photos :(.
Till then...

Bible reading progress: still on Psalms and Acts. Man, those are long books!


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100TH BLOG POST, YO

I know, I know, I haven't been here in, like, FOREVER. I have my reasons, ok! But we'll get to those later.

It has probably taken me far longer than necessary to reach this goal, and I have to be honest, I spent a lot of time deliberating what I should make this post about. I feel like it should be a defining moment for me, here. A turning point, if you will. Maybe I should have a party? Or, you know, not.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. In general, about this here blog specifically, about other things specifically too. I think my blog needs an overhaul of sorts. I'm not necessarily talking a makeover, although, that might be nice too; I'm talking about the content I post here. It's never very consistent, and I get the constant urge to keep making new blogs in a effort to compartmentalise my assorted ramblings. I don't think this is the answer though... No, I'm going to set myself some guidelines to go by, firstly, to avoid that little trap that so many bloggers fall into, the i've-got-no-idea-what-i-want-to-blog-about trap; and secondly, so you guys can all have at the very least a vague idea of what to expect.

I'm not making promises here, but gosh darnit i'm giving it a darn good go. I'm going back to studying next year (all going well with my application) (more on that story later), and I have no idea how much time I'll have for this kind of thing, since I'm yet to even see a mock-up timetable. I will make an effort to fit it in though, and that will be made all the easier by me forming diligent blogging habits here and now. So, here's a vague mock-up of what I plan to do here:

• 1 weekly post on life in general, in recount format. This is assuming you guys are interested in hearing about my life, which, if you've already hit the follow button, I think we can safely assume.
• 1 observational/speculative post, musings on life, the universe and everything. Or, you know, other things...
• AT LEAST 1 weekly progress report on how my creative pursuits are fairing. Whether it be knitting, painting, violin-ing, anything-else-ing. This will (hopefully) keep me on track.

All of the above posts must contain the following:

• A photograph, relating to/taken on the day/week of the post
• A stat-tag tracking my bible reading progress
• At least 1 other stat-tag.

I feel this is all fair enough, since I have the gall to call myself the CreativeMachine. I figure maybe I should prove to you guys that I am actually somewhat worthy of the title. Ideally, posts will be daily, or at least once every two days, but there's no accounting for what life might throw at me, so I refuse to go about making any more PieCrustPromises*. That habit is one i intend to put behind me. :D

I hope all you guys are looking forward to the new "me"** as I am.

ALSO!! For the record, the "SEEKRIT PROJECT" I mentioned may or may not be happening in blog form. I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you about it. Right. So. I had this idea. Since I do a have a heck of a lot of cute little ideas for comic strips and such (what? you... didn't know? I guess I forgot to mention... oops) I thought maybe I should actually go about making them, and then converting them to a distributable format (zine, anyone?) and possibly sell them, or something. Then, I thought, that since I don't necessarily have the largest audience here, maybe I should just do it as a WebComic... or something. Don't get too excited yet, the idea is still just a seed, it has a loooong way to go before being read for such a thing. I know, i mentioned it ages ago, and as such, it should be more ready than it is, but it's not. See next paragraph. I will let you guys know when I have it set up, and I will provide a link. I do have a lot of work to do before then, so don't hold your breath. Please. Don't die on account of my laziness.

Now, I believe I promised you guys some gosh darn excuses.

1. Four words: National. Novel. Writing. Month. For the record, I'm way behind. Like, 12,000 words behind, or something. It's my first NaNoWriMo, and I haven't paced myself very well. Just as a forewarning, you can expect most of these posts, up until November 30, to be fairly short, as I save my word-generating self for the arduous task of writing a novel. Wish me... blessings! and Godspeed of the fingers! and such...
2. Like I said, I spent a lot of time deliberating how I should attack this post. I put it off, because I wanted it to be good, or, at the very least, meaningful. I think I might have maybe achieved that.
3. Procrastination, yo.

Anyway, as per my lovely new rules, here are some stat-tags for your enjoyment:

Bible reading: Currently working my way (very slowly) through both Psalms and Acts. Both fantastic. Reading the Message version, for some reason it seems to hit home a little harder (for me at least)

Absurd T-shirt caption of the day: Haikus are easy. But sometimes they don't make sense. Refrigerator. (lol, get it? it's a haiku :P)

I think that'll do, for nao. Hopefully I'll see you tommorow :D

*Easily made, easily broken - Mary Poppins.

**That is, the new version of me as implied by the ramblings posted here by me.