lack of discipline

I’m suffering from a lack of discipline. I’ve learned the hard way that December is not a good month conducive to heavy or consistent writing output. I’ve not even gotten past 4K this month. Sad, oh so sad.

I admit the holidays was a huge distraction. So much so, that I left off in the middle of a scene, and now I have no idea where I was heading. No matter. Hopefully it will come back to me at some point.

I’ve come to the realization that when I am taking on a new endeavor–be it a hobby, or a new interest that sparks my attention, I immerse myself. My latest "thing" is journaling. I’ve tried several times over the years to keep a journal–either on paper or on the computer. They never seem to last for long, and they always turn into some sappy "he loves, me, he loves me not" type of entries. And I’m at a place where I am facing my mortality, and have the need to leave something behind to my children.
Add to that I’ve been back on the fountain pen kick. With my new Lamy Safari, I am really enjoying writing. To that end, I’ve taken on some new pen pals, and hope to reconnect with some old pen pals.

I expect this will impact my writing, but in a good way. Getting used to documenting my surroundings, journaling feelings, thoughts, and impressions can only help with the writing of fiction.

Looking forward to 2010.

Christmas

This is the first year that I’m really feeling the true meaning of Christmas. I’m excited about the gifts I’m giving. And even though there is still a bit of selfishness [and I bought some stuff for me], I’m pleased with the gifts I was able to purchase.

And now Im broke.

pen & ink

I have fallen in love with my fountain pens once again. I finally got a Lamy Vista fine, and I love it. I’ve been looking all over the Internet for a lime green Lamy to no avail. Guess I missed the boat on that one. Next will be the limited edition pink and orange.

Still working on Nano novel, and I’m writing longhand. it’s been great!! It’s been a long time since I’ve written longhand, and it is working well for my writing.

Today I received Noodler’s Lexington Gray. I immediately filled my Jinhao pen and went to work. The flow is smooth, and I neverthoight I would care for gray ink, but I really like it. I also got some invisible ink, and I can’t wait to playwith that

Preparing for 2010

I’m not good at resolutions. The quickest way for me to fail is to set something in stone as a "new years resolution". Still, I do want to have plans for 2010. To that end, I’ve signed up on 43things.com, and even though they are listed as resolutions, there are things I will accomplish in 2010.

One of my things is to Finish What I Start. I’m a great starter, but my track record on finishing is pretty much nonexistent. I am determined to have at least 1 finished novel by June. Even though the past week has been really bad, I’m still working on the #novelpi. I’m still handwriting and enjoying it immensely. I figure I will start typing in as I finish each chapter–which will invariably increase the wordcount. I’m confident that 2010 will be a year full of writing.

Another project that I’m taking on for 2010 is the 365 Project. Another one of my "things" is to take more pictures, so Project 365 is just a natural. I’ve already started carrying my digital camera with me (with freshly charged batteries), and I also have my very lovely iPhone camera. It sounds so simple, and maybe for a photographer it is, but taking a picture (a good picture) every day seems only slightly daunting. I love the idea of documenting my year in pictures–whether those pictures will mean anything to anyone besides myself remains to be seen. No matter. The goal is to take more pictures, and that is what I’ll do. In fact, I plan to start earlier than January 1st, and hopefully will have some shots to post this week.

I’ve been chasing another addiction the past couple of days. I bought a moleskine-clone at Barnes & Noble the other day. And that leads me to another "thing" or goal: creating a daily journal habit. I’ve tried this one before, and it just never quite catches on with me. Or maybe I simply didn’t put enough into it. I have been trolling pages and pages of websites devoted to Moleskines, and yeah, I want one of those. I want to end the year (or end the journal, whichever comes first), and have bunch of pages of my thoughts, ideas, doodles, reminders. A written version of Project 365 so to speak.

I feel it in my heart that 2010 will be a good year. I plan to make it so.

FINALLY

Some progress.

156 words today, and I’m on a roll. I can see how this scene is going to end, and Serena will have more questions than answers. And that’s a good thing!

checking in

Well, the past few days have been…interesting to say the least. The Novel Push Initiative has taken a back seat to real life, culminating in an emergency visit to the doctor yesterday with extra added EKG, blood tests, and upcoming stress test. Then to top it off, last night I was stranded for a little while with a really flat tire. I’m feeling fine now, but

Here is my tally:

12/11 – 96 words

12/12 – 166 words

12-13 – 34 words

Ok, so not an impressive tally, BUT I did write every day this weekend. Yesterday, I’m claiming “doctor’s orders”. As much as I wanted to, I could not mentally put two words together. Instead, I burned some time playing on Facebook. I’m back at work today, and trying to take it easy.

I’m a little stuck. I want to go back and revise, and am trying hard not to. For the past week or so I’ve been writing longhand. I figure when I reach the end of the chapter, I’ll type it all in…I’m expecting the type-in will add many additional words, and I’ll be back on track. I think I was overly optimistic with being finished by New Year’s. I don’t want to get fixated on a deadline, but on the other hand, I need to develop that discipline to produce consistently and quickly. I wanna be s. L. Viehl when I grow up. She knocks out multiple books per year, every year. Not only does she produce book after book after book, she is multi-published in multiple genres.

I remember reading years ago, that it was frowned upon to work in more than one genre. Now, I’m getting the impression that not only is it more acceptable, it is even encouraged. I think the same thing is happening in the entertainment industry. Hip hop artists are now actors, singers, entrepreneurs, they are all diversifying according to market demand. Smart business practice if you ask me. I dream of being published in multiple genres, but it won’t happen unless I develop the proper tools NOW. That said, I’m going back to work. J

stock photos

I visit a lot of author blogs. And I see that they post pics that they’ve found on the internet. Not just celebrities, but some models and/or regular folk as well. These photos often serve as inspiration for their characters. My question is this….where do you find such photos? Usually the ones I find look like Microsoft Generic Clipart. I did find one picture of my MC, but that was from a makeup ad. I’m starting to think she is too pretty, so I may see how I can alter her look with Gimp or Photoshop.

So if anyone is actually reading this…any website suggestions?

miles to go b4 i sleep

This has been my schedule for the past three days.

Tuesday: work 8:30 – 5:30

get home @ 6:00

take nap #FAIL

10:00pm go back to work

Wednesday: 5:00am go home

5:06am fall asleep

7:30am drag myself to shower

work 8:30 – 5:30

get home @ 6:00

Toss & turn from 6:30pm – 1:15am because of the "5-hour energy" shot I had 6.5 hours earlier

Thursday 1:30am – leave for work

(TODAY) 5:30am – blogging this post, sleepy as hell

5:37am – wondering who can I call now, to stop @ drugstore to pick up MORE 5-hour shots 5:30pm – home & crash

And, so far, since this madness began, I have still managed to crank out 138 delirious words at 4am this morning.

Novelpi #FAIL

No words for me yesterday. But I have an excuse.

Really.

See..the daytime gig is normally 8:30 – 5:30. So far, in ’09 I haven’t had much overtime (like last year), so when the opportunity presented itself yesterday afternoon, I jumped at it. I left work at 5:30, was home by 6, and was supposed to be in bed by 6:30 for a nap, which didn’t happen. Come 10:15, I’m on my way back to work, until 5am this morning. Went home, was asleep by 5:30, and woke up again at 7:45 to do it all over again. Call me a glutton for punishment. My mantra has been…Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming.

So right now, I’m working with a minimum of sleep, and it hasn’t quite hit me yet (but it will). I have "5-hour energy shot" standing by for intravenous feed. And once I leave here, I will go home and crash. And the plan is to sleep til 12:30am, leave the house at 1:15, and start all over again…tonight/tomorrow’s schedule is 2am -5:30pm.

That said, I need to really work some writing time in during the day today, because my brain will be fried by the time I get home. Wish me luck.

NPI – Day 4

488 words today. I’m finding that I am most creative late at night, after I should already be asleep. And I can’t quite get to (or above) 500 words.

I’m still handwriting, and I expect to add words when that happens.

Goodnight.