I suppose I have a few New Years' Resolutions, but I don't call them New Years' Resolutions so not really.
Because I failed horribly at NaNoWriMo (and feel awful about it) I'm going to try to redeem myself with JanNoWriMo. It's one of those awful rip-offs. Still. I've already got a plot, still thinking about the characters but I'll just start writing in about an hour or so.
My body clock has done something weird, so in an effort to reset it I'm going to try to stay awake till tomorrow evening. Writing is a good way of keeping myself awake. During my recent bouts of sleeplessness I've been doing a lot of writing, but it's been mostly jotting down ideas and trying some short stories in blank verse. Nothing special.
Well, we'll see how it works out this time.
Happy 2007 to everyone.
How are you ringing in the New Year tonight?
I had a shower.
What are your top 5 books of 2006?
I'm going to do this with books that I read for the first time in 2006, not books that were all released this year. I'm a poor student, I can't buy new books straight away.
So here's my top 5, in no particular order.
1. Wintersmith, by Terry Pratchett
His third and most interesting book about Tiffany Aching.
2. Smoke and Mirrors, by Neil Gaiman
Best short stories I have ever read.
3. The Dark Tower series, by Stephen King
As a Stephen King fan, I found the references to many of his works extremely satisfying. Also, the ending was unexpected and very pleasing, as was the metafiction involved.
4. Coraline, by Neil Gaiman (Illustrated by Dave McKean)
I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman, and I am also a huge fan of children's books. The combination of the two is absolutely amazing.
5. Hearts in Atlantis, by Stephen King
"Low men in yellow coats" may well be one of the best things he has ever written.
And, on a not entirely unrelated note, I finally just bought Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman. Christmas is good.
What's on your holiday wish list?
- Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things
- Corpse Bride DVD
- I have recently become addicted to earrings
- Lots of notepads
- Lots of wool
- Lots of felt
- Lots of pens
- A two-toed sloth
Luckily I'm not very demanding.
Who would you like to kiss under the mistletoe?
Submitted by EmmyAngua.
If I didn't have such a lovely person in my life, I'd say Adrien Brody. But I'm not saying Adrien Brody.
It's hard to believe how busy I've been lately. University things have been weighing me down, as have social obligations. Whatever time I've had left has been used for rest and sleep.
Except for last night, that is. I couldn't sleep, so I read Truckers and half of Diggers. After that I listened to some music, and during a particular Scissor Sisters track I was suddenly struck by inspiration and in about an hour I had a rough plot for a short novel.
It's only rough right now and I'm not entirely sure how it works out at the end, but the most important things I have scribbled down in my notebook. I worked on the first few paragraphs today, which helped me get an idea of what my main characters are like.
So, I shall continue to work on this as yet untitled piece. You'll be kept updated.
Writing this serial is a lot more difficult than I anticipated it to be. I've got six chapters done so far, which should give me three weeks' head start when I start publishing it here, but still. I'm going to spend the next few days trying to flesh out the characters. Hopefully the plot will take off for me then.
Things aren't going too swimmingly with my NaNoWriMo. But, on the positive side, I have picked up a manuscript I had lying around my little bedsit here in Dutchland, and I've decided to turn it into a serial novel.
I'm currently working on the first few chapters. I'm not sure how frequently I'll be updating this little project (I'm currently thinking about twice a week but I'll have to see how doable that is, what with Uni and everything) but if you're interesting in checking out the first chapter, it is here.
The past week has been hectic and I haven't had much time to write. It's times like this I wish I'd gotten a laptop instead of PC.
I'm a good seven thousand words behind on my wordcount and I'm not too optimistic about catching up, to be honest. I didn't think that it'd work out from the beginning - and it's that lack of optimism that's bogged me down too. I don't feel that the story is going anywhere, there's nothing I can use to get me going on another outburst of words.
So far I've written a short story vaguely related to the novel and just called it the prologue. Hell, it's words.
Edit
Okay, scrap that, I just wrote seven thousand words.
