Deviant Dispatches

Source I failed pretty severely at NaNoWriMo this month, and I've therefore failed at goal number 7 - finishing the novel by the end of the year. Yes, I still have a month left. But if November was any indication, I'll get a maximum of 2,691 words written next month. Which is not anywhere near enough to finish the whole novel. I'm disappointed, but I'm also trying to be lenient on myself. Many of those days were spent on out-of-town ventures, and shortly after the New Mexico trip, I was run over by the depression train. It faded into the distance after a week, but I'm in recovery, which means I still feel the pain of it in one or two ways. The last phase of depression is clinging to me in the form of novel apathy. I have no doubt that I'll pick it up again; I'm in the exciting part of the novel, and I have faith in the storyline. I just have to get back the part of me that cares about those things. It will come when I'm ready, but these things ...

Sourceness It's the beginning of NaNoWriMo . Over the course of the next month, I plan to spend every day writing my novel. I'm not tackling NaNo with my past intensity, though; my goal here is to finish the book. I don't think I'll need 50,000 words for that, and I don't want to rewrite all of them. So I'm taking the time to do it right - or if not right, at least better than I might otherwise. Yesterday on my lunch break, I wrote 313 words. Today, I'll have to get those words in before work, as there's a staff lunch today and I'm required to be social . With people.  People I don't know, congregated in a large group, who will force me against the wall to blend in with the half-redecorated decor. (Seriously - half the building has wallpaper and dark accents, the other half has green paint and light accents.) But that's the lunch time concern. Right now, my concern is getting out at least 300 words before 8 a.m.. At 8, I turn into a ...

November is upon us. I have yet to decide if I will fully participate in this year's National Novel Writing Month , but I will at least give my novel more focus. If nothing else, I will use this time to craft my characters and improve at least the first 30 pages of my novel, which are probably the worst pages I've ever written. For those who plan to participate (or who just like writing), I provide for you here some of my favorite writing-related implements of creation. Write or Die is a great way to get out the required number of words in a short amount of time. If you stop writing, the screen gradually turns pink, then red, then starts screeching at you in a most terrible manner. Beware: on occasion, rather than screeching, the program has removed my most recent words letter by letter. So, you know, keep cheating by hitting space and backspace over and over. (Also, you don't have to buy this. Look for the online edition on this website, in the right column.) Dragon Writin...