Yesterday, I was out of the house for a full twelve hours: my second annual school fundraising shopping trip. Like last year, I was saved by being the token male by the presence of one other male shopper, and the bus driver. It was the second trip for me - and just as much fun as last year - but the 15th or so annual trip for the staff organisers!
What did I buy? A few Christmas gifts, two pair of shoes, some low-priced baking trays, a new doona cover, and lots of Christmas edible goodies (which I must now try not to eat before Christmas).
And how's NaNoWriMo, ie (Inter)National Novel Writing Month, going? Mmmmm. Bad question. I was so tired on Thursday night, after a day's work and the Star Trek Meetup, but desperately tried to meet my daily word count. I then tried to record my day's word count on the official website, but the site was running so slowly I gave up. Friday came and went, Saturday I was shopping all day, and today the burden of not achieving my totals for Thursday, friday and Saturday weighed heavily.
What a disaster. Can I salvage my dignity and get some writing done? At this point, it's not looking good. And while on a frustrating roll...
Sunday's magic number: 92.0 - slightly down on last week, which is good. I guess. This is where the diet gets really frustrating; I've cut down my food intake by such a lot, my clothes are fitting much better, I don't get breathless tying my shoelaces anymore, and I walk everywhere - and yet my body is content to stay stable at this mass. I've heard all the advice on the radio: I should be alternating my brisk daily walks with swimming (ick), or using a rowing machine (yuk). I'm resisting such drastic action, and hoping that the kgs will slooooowly keep coming off. But I still thought it would be faster progress for all the things I've given up.
Showing posts with label NaNoWriMo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NaNoWriMo. Show all posts
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Chance meeting: a good sign?
Today was our school choir's annual pilgrimage into Sydney Town Hall to participate in the Celebration Concert, raising money for children's charities. Basically, I help escort the (very well-behaved) students into the CBD on a bus, fill in time shopping while they rehearse with the rest of a 1000-voice choir, then take them to their dinner break, and back to enjoy the concert. Not a terribly difficult set of tasks.
As we were getting off the bus, there was my good friend, Jean Prouvaire, on his way to the annual Sydney kick-off meeting of 2007's NaNoWriMo, the (Inter)National Novel Writing Month at Books Kinokuniya.
Was I on my way to the meeting?, he wondered aloud.
How fortuitous! I'd received an official email about NaNoWriMo, but I hadn't made a note of the date; last year these two annual events didn't clash. I had a few hours to kill while the students rehearsed, so I was able to meet up with him at the coffee shop (which had no coffee; their machine was broken. Sigh.) Also at the meeting were my Star Trek Meet-up buddies, the_real_adamj (who went to the kick-off with us last year) and KillRaven (whom we didn't actually know as a fellow Trek fan in 2006), plus about 40 others. KillRaven deserves extra kudos: he finished his novel last November!
Once again, we are supposed to produce about four typed pages daily to achieve the goal of a whole novel manuscript completed during November 2007. Wish me more luck than I had last year; at least this time I have no report cards to write in November!
Of the 400 or so Sydneysiders who attempted NaNoWriMo last year, about 40 supposedly achieved their goal. Not bad odds, I guess, although that may also mean that statistics say that only an average of four people at today's meeting will achieve their word count. (Or maybe all 40 were at today's meeting? Nah; wishful thinking.)
The concert was great, too, by the way. The finale was a medley of Peter Allen songs. "Tenterfield Saddler" gets me in the tear ducts every time! It really is one of those special Australian songs. If I could only capture some of that nostalgic emotion for my NaNoWriMo manuscript...
Sunday's magic number: 92.2 - back up again. I thought I was doing well, too. Damned fund-raising cake days. (What's that point about muscles having a heavier mass than fat?)
As we were getting off the bus, there was my good friend, Jean Prouvaire, on his way to the annual Sydney kick-off meeting of 2007's NaNoWriMo, the (Inter)National Novel Writing Month at Books Kinokuniya.
Was I on my way to the meeting?, he wondered aloud.
How fortuitous! I'd received an official email about NaNoWriMo, but I hadn't made a note of the date; last year these two annual events didn't clash. I had a few hours to kill while the students rehearsed, so I was able to meet up with him at the coffee shop (which had no coffee; their machine was broken. Sigh.) Also at the meeting were my Star Trek Meet-up buddies, the_real_adamj (who went to the kick-off with us last year) and KillRaven (whom we didn't actually know as a fellow Trek fan in 2006), plus about 40 others. KillRaven deserves extra kudos: he finished his novel last November!
Once again, we are supposed to produce about four typed pages daily to achieve the goal of a whole novel manuscript completed during November 2007. Wish me more luck than I had last year; at least this time I have no report cards to write in November!
Of the 400 or so Sydneysiders who attempted NaNoWriMo last year, about 40 supposedly achieved their goal. Not bad odds, I guess, although that may also mean that statistics say that only an average of four people at today's meeting will achieve their word count. (Or maybe all 40 were at today's meeting? Nah; wishful thinking.)
The concert was great, too, by the way. The finale was a medley of Peter Allen songs. "Tenterfield Saddler" gets me in the tear ducts every time! It really is one of those special Australian songs. If I could only capture some of that nostalgic emotion for my NaNoWriMo manuscript...
Sunday's magic number: 92.2 - back up again. I thought I was doing well, too. Damned fund-raising cake days. (What's that point about muscles having a heavier mass than fat?)
Thursday, November 30, 2006
The counter halts...
Well, NaNoWriMo, the (Inter)National Novel Writing Month, finishes up in this timezone in a matter of minutes - and I've been what is best described as a dismal failure.
I have written a lot this month: school reports, book reviews, emails, blog entries, a report on my student teacher, but - on the first two days of November - only some small chunks of a new novel.
As I said at the beginning of November, procrastination is alive and well. I'd have been more successful growing a moustache for a different charity event, Movember. Nah, scratch that. My moustache is all-grey these days...
Oh well, I understand that for people whose other careers interfere too much in November, there's also JaNoWriMo, January Novel Writing Month. Ah, a second bite at the cherry! Wish me more success, and less procrastination.
I have written a lot this month: school reports, book reviews, emails, blog entries, a report on my student teacher, but - on the first two days of November - only some small chunks of a new novel.
As I said at the beginning of November, procrastination is alive and well. I'd have been more successful growing a moustache for a different charity event, Movember. Nah, scratch that. My moustache is all-grey these days...
Oh well, I understand that for people whose other careers interfere too much in November, there's also JaNoWriMo, January Novel Writing Month. Ah, a second bite at the cherry! Wish me more success, and less procrastination.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Guesstimate?
Okay, I started to realise I wasn't going to get a clear run at writing a slab of my NaNoWriMo novel on my computer on the very first day of the project, but I did find time to hide away in a corner with a lecture pad and scrawl numerous pages in longhand. I haven't typed it up yet, so I'm not sure if I made my first daily target.
Then an email from Chris Baty, Director of National Novel Writing Month, arrived. He said, "... you should be writing 1667 words per day. In Week One, try to get 2000 or 2500 a day, and beg, borrow, and steal as much of the first weekend as possible to write."
Oh dear. And there's only 56 minutes left of Day 2... Make that 55. Ah, 49?
Then an email from Chris Baty, Director of National Novel Writing Month, arrived. He said, "... you should be writing 1667 words per day. In Week One, try to get 2000 or 2500 a day, and beg, borrow, and steal as much of the first weekend as possible to write."
Oh dear. And there's only 56 minutes left of Day 2... Make that 55. Ah, 49?
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
The counter starts...
NaNoWriMo, the (Inter)National Novel Writing Month, starts today. I was having a wonderful dream, which featured the beeping of a mobile phone, only to awake at about 5.45 am to the sound of my mobile phone telling me the battery needed recharging. Hey, thanks phone!
So, I'm actually up early enough to write.
Here I am, just catching up with emails, the "Star Trek" bulletin boards, reading a few friends' blogs, having breakfast, making lunch for taking to work, a little "Puppy Milk" for the dog, feeding the birds, getting a coffee, time for a shower...
Mmmm. Procrastination is alive and well.
I also need to polish some late book reviews and post them off (reviews by email; the actual books by post) and type up the report on my current student teacher.
Now I have to write the start of my novel when I get home from work (and then after the staff dinner). Oh dear. Good start, eh?
So, I'm actually up early enough to write.
Here I am, just catching up with emails, the "Star Trek" bulletin boards, reading a few friends' blogs, having breakfast, making lunch for taking to work, a little "Puppy Milk" for the dog, feeding the birds, getting a coffee, time for a shower...
Mmmm. Procrastination is alive and well.
I also need to polish some late book reviews and post them off (reviews by email; the actual books by post) and type up the report on my current student teacher.
Now I have to write the start of my novel when I get home from work (and then after the staff dinner). Oh dear. Good start, eh?
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Fast week
I realised yesterday it was a week since my last entry. Where did that week go?
Today, two TrekBBS pals, Jean Prouvaire and the_real_adamj, and I attended the Sydney Kick-Off Meeting for NaNoWriMo, the (Inter)National Novel Writing Month at Books Kinokuniya. There were about forty enthusiastic people there, many of whom were back for their second, third and fourth attempt in the annual endeavour. I think I may have been the eldest. (Sigh...)
It seems we each have to produce about four typed pages daily to achieve the goal of a novel manuscript completed during November 2006. Mmmm. It might have been a fast week, but I fear that November will be a slow month. Or perhaps not? Wish us luck!
Coincidentally, when Jean contacted me about the project, I'd just bought a very cool "imagination" blue turquentine gemstone bracelet from Dreamworld, while I was away on vacation. The green "success" adventurine gemstone necklace I once wore certainly worked: days after buying it, I found out I'd succeeded in getting a job as editor of a professional journal. (When the leather lanyard broke four years later, it was perhaps a harbinger that my highly-coveted job was about to end.) I pray that my new "imagination" bracelet lasts at least the month. A little extra imagination will come in handy. (Or do they resemble worry beads too much?)
Captain's Log: Supplemental. Curiously, a rival company with similar gemstone jewellery, associates blue turquentine with "success", not "imagination", and green adventurine with "fortune". I really don't care if I get imagination, success or fortune, just so long as the gems do their bit!
Today, two TrekBBS pals, Jean Prouvaire and the_real_adamj, and I attended the Sydney Kick-Off Meeting for NaNoWriMo, the (Inter)National Novel Writing Month at Books Kinokuniya. There were about forty enthusiastic people there, many of whom were back for their second, third and fourth attempt in the annual endeavour. I think I may have been the eldest. (Sigh...)
It seems we each have to produce about four typed pages daily to achieve the goal of a novel manuscript completed during November 2006. Mmmm. It might have been a fast week, but I fear that November will be a slow month. Or perhaps not? Wish us luck!
Coincidentally, when Jean contacted me about the project, I'd just bought a very cool "imagination" blue turquentine gemstone bracelet from Dreamworld, while I was away on vacation. The green "success" adventurine gemstone necklace I once wore certainly worked: days after buying it, I found out I'd succeeded in getting a job as editor of a professional journal. (When the leather lanyard broke four years later, it was perhaps a harbinger that my highly-coveted job was about to end.) I pray that my new "imagination" bracelet lasts at least the month. A little extra imagination will come in handy. (Or do they resemble worry beads too much?)
Captain's Log: Supplemental. Curiously, a rival company with similar gemstone jewellery, associates blue turquentine with "success", not "imagination", and green adventurine with "fortune". I really don't care if I get imagination, success or fortune, just so long as the gems do their bit!
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