Needless to say, there has been no bread baking, either. Although I did buy two new bread pans. THE BAKING, IT WILL HAPPEN.
But not this week.
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FebNoWriMo!
- Thread starter VP_Benni
- Start date
Needless to say, there has been no bread baking, either. Although I did buy two new bread pans. THE BAKING, IT WILL HAPPEN.
But not this week.
My updates:
Edit "Drowning in Fear" (Weirdville #4).- Work on writing gig I scored in January, and finish in time for the deadline.
- Catch up with #AStoryAWeek (which means writing nine short stories by the end of February). Update: Finished one story so far.
- Editing aforementioned short stories.
- Work on thesis for uni, and submit second draft by end of February. Update: submitted unfinished draft, need to work on it some more.
- Finish editing Soul Thief.
- Write first draft for "The Clumsy Magician" (Weirdville #5).
- Finish first draft of Gatekeeper (YA novella).
- Edit Gatekeeper.
- Work on The Witch's Soul (YA paranormal romance).
- Write manuscript for a game.
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Why does the middle of the book always suck?
Too long after the exciting beginning and too far away to look forward to the ending...
It won't stop snowing here. All of my momentum to write is gone. I am officially useless now. I don't even want to sit at my laptop. I guess it doesn't help that my novel takes place in the dead of winter in a frozen small town.
I need to write more novels about warm tropical islands.
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Well, I've been busy with classes mostly. In fact, a LOT. So very much. *flops down* This semester is going to have a high work load I think, or at least a little more than I anticipated. Ugh. Plus, some of it already has just been king of tiring and trying.
--
Well, I have been doing a little writing. Mostly still flash fiction like stuff and poetry. But it's something. I'm trying not to get myself obsessed with having a certain kind of word count and just writing. So far, I think it's working. Or at least I hope it is.
--
Well, I have been doing a little writing. Mostly still flash fiction like stuff and poetry. But it's something. I'm trying not to get myself obsessed with having a certain kind of word count and just writing. So far, I think it's working. Or at least I hope it is.
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After 3 weeks of not reading anything, I finally picked up a book and read the first chapter. It's from a series I quite enjoyed, book 3. Book 4 was released late last year, and I still hadn't read book 3, so I figured I better give it a go.
So far so good...
So far so good...
You're right. It also doesn't help that I figured out better story line for one of my characters and now I have to reedit the beginning.
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You're right. It also doesn't help that I figured out better story line for one of my characters and now I have to reedit the beginning.
I have a draft (the one I'm struggling to make a query for) that needs it's first full edit. On the write-through, I debated maiming a character at the end, but didn't because I didn't think it would help the story. Now I've decided that character (a former soldier) should start the story without a hand.
I am so annoyed at the idea of going back through scenes and removing his hand...
Ah, hell. That sucks.
I haven't even started trying to write a query for this novel because I'm afraid I'll have to change it again.
I spent three days very irritated over having to go back. Due to one tiny paragraph, I have to change my main character's profession.
If it didn't make so much sense for the other character, I'd just get rid of it. Due to this, I've already deleted an entire chapter.
I got six hours of sleep maximum this weekend because I spent the whole thing writing a paper that ended up being 13 pages. 
The rest of my week looks easy so I should be able to get some non-school stuff done. 
Oy, on Saturday I did my taxes, finalized my FAFSA, did two homework assignments, finished two scholarship applications, and read a very long reading for my English class. All to avoid writing that essay. Meh.
~Amber~
The rest of my week looks easy so I should be able to get some non-school stuff done. Oy, on Saturday I did my taxes, finalized my FAFSA, did two homework assignments, finished two scholarship applications, and read a very long reading for my English class. All to avoid writing that essay. Meh.
~Amber~
More tech and final dress rehearsal for my show yesterday, with all the attendant hysteria. My part is so small that none of it really affects me, but it makes it hard to focus in the dressing room. So no real writing, although I did do some beta reading.
Today is my day off, but I have to go to the grocery and this evening I'm taking my husband out to dinner as a belated birthday present. So I'm not anticipating any writing today, either.
(Nor bread baking.)
Today is my day off, but I have to go to the grocery and this evening I'm taking my husband out to dinner as a belated birthday present. So I'm not anticipating any writing today, either.
(Nor bread baking.
)
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More tech and final dress rehearsal for my show yesterday, with all the attendant hysteria. My part is so small that none of it really affects me, but it makes it hard to focus in the dressing room. So no real writing, although I did do some beta reading.
Today is my day off, but I have to go to the grocery and this evening I'm taking my husband out to dinner as a belated birthday present. So I'm not anticipating any writing today, either.
(Nor bread baking.
Lots of fingers crossed (broken legs?) for your show. You got my hopes up on the bread baking when you said you were going to the grocery store!
Have you heard of long rise bread? I make it more often than regular rise, because I can start it the night before, go to work, and finish it when I get home. If you want to tighten the time table, just add more yeast!
Ooo, thanks for sharing that! Personally, I love kneading and would miss the experience, but I may try this one day when I'm feeling all experiment-y.
*sigh* How fun is it making a joke about yourself being gay and then getting yelled at by someone for being "offensive" because you're "not gay" according to them because "you've never been close to being with a girl"?
Yep... Just keep rubbing it in my face... Excuse me for not fitting a label 100% because a town with a population of about 1000 has a severe shortage of gay girls around my age and I haven't made any friends on campus... Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go back to watching Queer as Folk on Netflix at 1 am and thinking about all the reasons WHY I've never been able to find a girlfriend...
/rant
~Amber~
Yep... Just keep rubbing it in my face... Excuse me for not fitting a label 100% because a town with a population of about 1000 has a severe shortage of gay girls around my age and I haven't made any friends on campus... Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go back to watching Queer as Folk on Netflix at 1 am and thinking about all the reasons WHY I've never been able to find a girlfriend...
/rant
~Amber~
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Kneading is my favorite part. I have a very hard time not over-kneading that recipe. The upside is, I actually have time to make bread between workdays at least.
Writing yesterday changed the landscape of the ending a bit. One scene bent unexpectedly, in a good way, and knocked two other scenes off the list. Since I'm already in a good spot wordcount-wise, I'm just going to go without them until I do my first editing pass.
That means I'm really down to four plot-points...
-Sees bad guy, runs away
-Goes back and fights bad guy
-Wakes up in hospital
-Four months later
These are going to be fairly huge scenes, BUT it's only four scenes. It's a lot of clutter off the list... "The End" get here soon!
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I lied. It was five. The running away and coming back can't be back to back. Finished the first one, added another, so one down, four to go.
Progress! The End is in sight!
I mentioned to my mom that our family kind of has a history of being racist today... (I'm going on an alternative break trip to LA for spring break, in case I forgot to mention it, and we had a guest speaker today who came in to talk to us about white privilege... Somehow the city that my great-great-great uncle founded came up because it's predominantly white and has a bit of a racism problem... I kind of connected the dots between my white, racist, sexist, homophobic, rather bigoted relatives who are huge on "traditional values" and the fact that most of the city feels the same way... I know it's not the only reason, but it kind of explains a lot... It had to start somewhere) She replied to me with "we're not racist, I have Mexican friends." I know it's such a classic line, but I've never heard it said to my face before... I couldn't get myself to do anything but to burst out laughing for about five minutes straight... *sigh* Oh well... It was one of those moments where being the only non-conservative person in my entire family ever made me feel glad about my own values...
I finally went into the library across the street from the bus station I go to every day. Holy shit, it's wonderful. I sat there reading YA in my free time the last two days (that's two books to check off my list this month!), though yesterday it was torture... So, the bus only goes to my hometown at 2 pm and 5:30 pm, so I have to pick one... Picture this... It's 5:25 in the evening, and you're reading a book in the library that you can't check out. You tell yourself you can finish the chapter, and then you have to cross the street to go home. So you turn the page. And the last thing you get to read before you take your last chance to go home is "such-and-such character is dead." No explanation whatsoever. I had to wait almost 24 hours before I could find out what happened... >.>
(I don't live in the city where the public library is by a long shot, so I can't get a resident card for free... If I want a card, it'll be $120 for the year. On my budget? Not happening. So I'll have to stick with reading in the library. Oh well.)
And today I discovered the comic book section! I know what I'm going to be doing tomorrow...
I got an A on an English paper that I was unsure about, which is great. It wasn't so much that I thought I did bad when I turned it in... It was just a different type of paper than I was used to writing so I didn't know how it would come across. Apparently it came across well.
~Amber~
I know it's such a classic line, but I've never heard it said to my face before... I couldn't get myself to do anything but to burst out laughing for about five minutes straight... *sigh* Oh well... It was one of those moments where being the only non-conservative person in my entire family ever made me feel glad about my own values...I finally went into the library across the street from the bus station I go to every day.
Holy shit, it's wonderful. I sat there reading YA in my free time the last two days (that's two books to check off my list this month!), though yesterday it was torture... So, the bus only goes to my hometown at 2 pm and 5:30 pm, so I have to pick one... Picture this... It's 5:25 in the evening, and you're reading a book in the library that you can't check out. You tell yourself you can finish the chapter, and then you have to cross the street to go home. So you turn the page. And the last thing you get to read before you take your last chance to go home is "such-and-such character is dead." No explanation whatsoever. I had to wait almost 24 hours before I could find out what happened... >.>(I don't live in the city where the public library is by a long shot, so I can't get a resident card for free... If I want a card, it'll be $120 for the year. On my budget? Not happening. So I'll have to stick with reading in the library. Oh well.)
And today I discovered the comic book section!
I know what I'm going to be doing tomorrow...I got an A on an English paper that I was unsure about, which is great. It wasn't so much that I thought I did bad when I turned it in... It was just a different type of paper than I was used to writing so I didn't know how it would come across. Apparently it came across well.
~Amber~
More changes to the show - some big, some little (only the little ones affect what I do), but enough to keep everything unsettled in the dressing room. I did a bunch of prompts during a quiet moment, but that's the only real writing I've done in nearly a week. Did more beta reading, but haven't read for my own enjoyment in several days.
I plan on doing a little NaNo-style project in March (wrote about it in the MaNoWriMo thread) but I'm going to set a smaller goal than 50k words - maybe more like 20k. Once this show is out of previews and officially open (first weekend in March), things will be a little calmer and my days will free up a bit. Things get loopy again at the end of the March, when rehearsals for my next show overlap the run of my current show for a week.
I like having a lot of work in my "other" life, but to be honest, I'm looking forward to June, when I'll be unemployed for a month.
I plan on doing a little NaNo-style project in March (wrote about it in the MaNoWriMo thread) but I'm going to set a smaller goal than 50k words - maybe more like 20k. Once this show is out of previews and officially open (first weekend in March), things will be a little calmer and my days will free up a bit. Things get loopy again at the end of the March, when rehearsals for my next show overlap the run of my current show for a week.
I like having a lot of work in my "other" life, but to be honest, I'm looking forward to June, when I'll be unemployed for a month.
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Eeee! So, earlier in the month I think I mentioned that day where I had two midterms and an oral performance and I was forgetting everything from my timesheet for work to the test booklet I needed for my exam? I'm pretty sure I mentioned it... Anyway, I felt like I was forgetting pretty much everything EXCEPT what I needed to know for my midterms. I got my English midterm from that day back today, and apparently I was right! I got marked down ONE point out of the whole thing and there were TWO extra credit points at the end. I got 102%. So thrilled. Apparently scatterbrain and useful brain can coexist after all...
I read another book at the library today. That brings my total for the month up to 4, though I plan to read more still. I'm going to spend this evening working on all the homework I have due on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week (which doesn't look like much in the first place...) so I can spend the weekend doing whatever the fuck I want. 
My Potato is (finally!) talking about trying to write again and he said he was going to this weekend, so I may just have to join him.
~Amber~
So thrilled. Apparently scatterbrain and useful brain can coexist after all...I read another book at the library today. That brings my total for the month up to 4, though I plan to read more still.
I'm going to spend this evening working on all the homework I have due on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week (which doesn't look like much in the first place...) so I can spend the weekend doing whatever the fuck I want. My Potato is (finally!) talking about trying to write again and he said he was going to this weekend, so I may just have to join him. ~Amber~
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I should really read more, but I just see this huge wall of reading coming towards me when the semester starts... I guess I needed a big break from reading, because I've done bugger all this month.
The only thing I've accomplished today is to buy my sister a birthday present (wine) and her and mum their birthday cards. Basically, it's sis's birthday in a couple of weeks, and then mum's a month later. But I still have time to find a gift for mum.
So yes. Things have been done! Oh, and I've been charging up my various devices today, in preparation of going back to Uni.
iPod? Charged.
Bluetooth keyboard for tablet? Charged.
Tablet itself? Charging as we speak.
Kindle? Just put it on.
Phone? Just put it on as well.
So many things needing power! Eek! I don't know how people in the Middle Ages spent their days, but I'm sure they didn't have so many cords everywhere!
The only thing I've accomplished today is to buy my sister a birthday present (wine) and her and mum their birthday cards. Basically, it's sis's birthday in a couple of weeks, and then mum's a month later. But I still have time to find a gift for mum.
So yes. Things have been done! Oh, and I've been charging up my various devices today, in preparation of going back to Uni.
iPod? Charged.
Bluetooth keyboard for tablet? Charged.
Tablet itself? Charging as we speak.
Kindle? Just put it on.
Phone? Just put it on as well.
So many things needing power! Eek! I don't know how people in the Middle Ages spent their days, but I'm sure they didn't have so many cords everywhere!
But how would they turn on their tablets?
I finished my homework for Monday. I still have a reading to do for Monday, but other than that I'm set. I have a reading to do for Tuesday and a short assignment that hasn't been posted just yet, and then some readings and a couple of short homework assignments for Wednesday. I think I'm going to finish the Wednesday homework tonight and then just do as much of the reading over the next couple days as I can so I'll have more free time during the week.
~Amber~
I finished my homework for Monday. I still have a reading to do for Monday, but other than that I'm set. I have a reading to do for Tuesday and a short assignment that hasn't been posted just yet, and then some readings and a couple of short homework assignments for Wednesday. I think I'm going to finish the Wednesday homework tonight and then just do as much of the reading over the next couple days as I can so I'll have more free time during the week.
~Amber~
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I'm actually getting antsy to get stuck into this next semester already. The sooner it's done, the sooner I can get a decent job, y'know? Still 9 days till my semester starts, but after that I'm sure the time will just fly by with everything I'll have to do.
(And people in the Middle Ages obviously used lightning to charge their tablets. Usually by tying a witch to a stake and invoking the judgement of above... Boy, I bet their version of youtube would get everyone arrested these days!)
(And people in the Middle Ages obviously used lightning to charge their tablets. Usually by tying a witch to a stake and invoking the judgement of above... Boy, I bet their version of youtube would get everyone arrested these days!)
But if everyone was arrested, would that mean no one was arrested?
I've shrunk my to-do list for next week down to nine things. Four of those are readings, two of those are scholarship applications, one is for that paper proposal assignment that isn't posted online yet, one is Friday's Japanese homework, and one barely counts as something I actually need to do because I really just need to check Wednesday's Japanese homework with a red pen after the answer key is posted -- the actual homework part is already done there. And hey, it's not even 11 pm on Friday yet. Next week should be pretty relaxed overall.
~Amber~
I've shrunk my to-do list for next week down to nine things.
Four of those are readings, two of those are scholarship applications, one is for that paper proposal assignment that isn't posted online yet, one is Friday's Japanese homework, and one barely counts as something I actually need to do because I really just need to check Wednesday's Japanese homework with a red pen after the answer key is posted -- the actual homework part is already done there. And hey, it's not even 11 pm on Friday yet. Next week should be pretty relaxed overall.~Amber~
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University/College is still stressing me out tremendously. I'm trying not to let it get to me. But it's like I don't even have time to really breathe.