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April 06, 2005

chapter nineteen and interlude

Count for tonight: 68,681

Nineteen is a short chapter, as it is the end of Act II and I can't currently think of a better way to end it than the way I did.

Bed now. I feel something nasty creeping through my system, and I suspect it is a code. Or the Flonase. Take your pick. I'll know by morning.


Posted by sdshaver at 01:33 AM | TrackBack

April 05, 2005

a conversation

BODY:
Hi.

ME:
Uh. Hi?

BODY:
Yeah, see...uh, you're going to need to sleep at some point.

ME:
O...kay. I thought that was what I was doing?

BODY:
Yeaaaaah, see...seven hours in a row over a week and a half? And no naptime? Sweetie, that doesn't cut it.

ME:
Oh. Okay. I can try to go to bed early tonight --

BODY:
(laughs softly)
Oh, oh no no no. I know how that works.
No...I took matters into my own hands.

ME:
(with rising dread)
Uh -- what do you mean you --

BODY:
I turned off the alarm.

ME:
(sits up and stares at the clock)
(does her best Charlie Brown impersonation)
AAAAAAAGH!

Two hours late for work, cats very confused. Blah.

And there's a Schlitz-drinking vampire following me around in my head. Be afraid.

Posted by sdshaver at 02:31 PM | TrackBack

April 04, 2005

gimme my hour back

The time change and a new diet have sucked my soul. I'll be back tomorrow night.

CURSE YOU SECOND WIND. I knew I should have popped in Napoleon Dynamite and just gone to sleep.

Words: 65,653. Low count because I ditched five pages after I realized I completely fucked the storyline with a reveal that needs to be later.

(Just because a secondary character knows something vital doesn't mean she's going to give it away. Even if it would benefit the hero. Massively. And possibly cause the hero to shriek like a girl and run off to the mountains to hide out with the llamas.)

And now I can feel the story picking up again, where it had been slacking off. Wow. That gnawing voice saying YOU'RE KILLING IT has gone away. Go-go-Gadget Id.

I still don't know what the significance of the demitasse cups was, though. Any clues, Id? No? Well, maybe later.

Posted by sdshaver at 09:16 PM | TrackBack

chapter seventeen and eighteen

Final count: 65,047

Met goal and then some. Eighteen was a heavy chapter. I knew it was coming, but it still caught me by surprise. I'll no doubt revisit it at some later date to make sure I got all the major themes across.

Revisions to 15, and a cameo by a character I really liked.

So, twelve chapters from finishing, and I'm writing about 6 chapters a week. Ain't math fun? Which means if I finish on chapter 30 on the 16th, I really will have written a (rough, extremely rough) book in a month.

NaNoWriMo -- eat your fucking heart out.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:51 AM | TrackBack

April 03, 2005

chapter seventeen-ish

Final words tonight: 59,670

I seem to have taken a wide turn away from the original outline. Completely unintentional, but I think it actually writes better this way.

Was very tired and antsy tonight. Bed now.

Posted by sdshaver at 03:41 AM | TrackBack

my yawning face

Yudansha ("black belt") testing injury report: I had my face kicked, my hair stepped on multiple times, and my eye gouged. Note to self: the first move in Taigi 11 is a feint to the face -- but only if uke doesn't slam her face into the oncoming hand. Guess what I did?

Don't let the injury report scare ya. I had a great time, and I also got the answer to the bokken/bokuto question. Good times.

I was also asked no less than four times "how's the book?" at the post-test party. To which I instantly replied "jeez, did I bug you guys that many times about it?"

Anyway, the real answer was the same -- still waiting, halfway through the next one, social life shot to hell, now please excuse me -- I'm gonna go eat another brownie.

I'm exhausted. I may hammer out some words, but for the most part I just want sleep.

Posted by sdshaver at 12:13 AM | TrackBack

April 02, 2005

chapter fifteen and sixteen

Words tonight: 3,499. Words total: 58,299.

Goal this weekend is 60k (low yield) to 65k (high yield). I wrote a scene tonight that animal activists will cheer over. An example of the character's will over the writer's. (No chickens were involved.)

Itchy to rewrite Chapter One and a couple other heavy rewrites that need to be done. Think I'll do those at 75k as a treat.

Posted by sdshaver at 02:55 AM | TrackBack

April 01, 2005

research

So...in about eight chapters (I think?) I'm going to need to write a sex scene.

That's a problem.

Not to get into details, but it's been a while. I'm realizing more and more that I'm going to need some "hands on" experience if I'm going to write the scene.

I'm making a public request for help in writing the scene. You need to be local or willing to drive/fly out. I can't promise anything more than a mention in the credits and my heartfelt thanks.

Interested applicants can apply here. Unmarried/unattached straight men only, please. Ladies, I'll get to you in the next book.

Posted by sdshaver at 11:00 PM | TrackBack

chapter fifteen-ish

Total tonight: 54,800

Too many late nights this week. Going to bed "early". Will finish 15 and probably most of 16 tomorrow. Rewrote pieces of 13 and 14. Made my hero very likeable (to me).

Posted by sdshaver at 01:52 AM | TrackBack