November 19 photos.

Only eight hundred words in InNoWriMo, so far so I have more to do tonight, but we have internet access again!

First, the thing the internet was built to promote- a cat picture!  Here it is wearing an 'American Girl' Canadian winter hat, part of the Canadian Winter package.  It is actually part of a Christmas gift to my niece.

I hope you can see my Movember mustache.

Cheetah tail.  I am very near the final steps of detailing the paws...and working on the rest of the body.

November 19th update- no internet at home!

The Horror, the Horror!

I had just gotten caught up to the minimum number of words per day to complete InNoWriMo when a few small things happened to take me away from the story.  When I got back, I was unable to post anything here.  As of last night, I was a little ahead of the count and we will see what today results in.

I think what I had been typing before was necessary and interesting - to me, at least - but now I've used all the 'slack' in the story.  Now, each event needs to be more planned and choreographed; I am having trouble just sitting and typing.  For example, yesterday, two members of a psychic mafia were arranging to meet.  One had left the family with a priceless tool and the family wanted it back and possibly to kill the him.  He had to follow espionage tactics to arrange a safe meeting.  I think my solution worked but it depended on the premise that the two men meeting had been friends for a long time so the subterfuges might not have been heavily tested or needed.  There will be more of this and I my words per hour have dropped greatly.

Today, i should also get back to carving.  I need this cheetah done for Christmas, or, in fact, December 18, before we fly out to spend Christmas with my sister.  I have a little more time for it, but it is of far greater value at home than the writing contest.

My mustache looks great!  Well, it is noticeable, I think.  And it has softened enough to stop itching.

November 9 productivity report

Writing on my InNoWriMo work continues without difficulty.  I wrote down the (let me check) 12 key plot points and then some notes under each plot point.  Now, when I slow down on a part of the story, I jump to a different part.  I have gone back and forth a few times to repair continuity issues but that hasn't been a horrible problem yet.  Anyway, the writing has been episodic and that has been working for me.

The wood carving is also going well.  I am still digging out large chunks but I will soon need more subtlety and precision.

My mustache is somewhat noticable now.

Only about 500 words in as yet so I have to get back to writing.  See ya on the flip side.

November 8 evening productivity report

The mustache is growing in well, I guess, and I will post a pic tomorrow.

InNoWriMo numbers:
November 6:   1900
November 7:  2068
November 8:  1791 (as of 4:30pm, there's time for more)

I have been going comfortably, though without really brilliant dialog or action but in the first few days I fell behind a little.  I am currently at 12, 999 and should be at 13, 336 to be on track at the end of the day.

I managed very little carving the past few days but may get some big things done tonight.  Expect a pic of that too, tomorrow.

One thing that had me a little busy was a creationist seminar I attended last night.  I had expected it to be about the origin of languages but that topic had been dropped and the talk was about snowflakes, dragons as dinosaurs and evidence of design.  I recognized a whole lot of quote mining and half-truths, but not much new.  I didn't speak up during or after the meeting and I feel bad about that.

November 6 morning productivity report

Have you ever used the word 'placket'?  Is there a more common term?  Details somewhere below.

A busy day at home.  I wrote around 2400 words for InNoWriMo and am nearly on track for where I want to be and should be.

I also had time for some carving.  Discussion below the images.

I am still having trouble accepting how thin this slab of wood is.  The original image is here and translating it basically into bas-relief is hard work for me.  Oh, the giraffe is now done.

One thing I am learning is how these art-forms are so different.  In InNoWriMo, I am practically vomiting words into the word processor and am both aware of, and concerned with, how much feels like placeholders; A sort of  "This is the general idea.  Fix it later."  Some material is good but a lot just isn't.

A lot of that is the result of my personality and observational skills.  Like any red-blooded male, I can describe a woman's sexy apparel, but my eye and memory seem to have simply drifted past women in comfortable clothes.  Further, I have never been interested in fashion and am now struggling with my vocabulary limitations.  I wanted to describe a woman's button-down shirt with some frills on the, uh, button-down part and didn't know what to call it.  Apparently, it is a 'placket'.  Is this a term in common use?

I read and noted somewhere on this blog (oh right, here) that Wodehouse would tape his pages under revision to the wall and place them higher or lower on the wall according to their quality.  As he edited and improved pages, up they went.  Experiencing it and imagining wading through 50,000 words is troubling, but necessary.

In contrast, my carving needs to be error-free.  If I dig in too far, I either have to cover it up, adjust the whole shape to accept the missing chip or throw my hands in the air in disgust and get a new piece of wood.  By this criteria, writers have it easy.  Up until publishing, huge revisions are possible.

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Wordpress's Freshly Pressed is promoting a post complaining about NaNoWriMo.

In January, everyone should try and choreograph a ballet. In March we should all write an opera, and in June everyone should paint a fresco. Sounds ludicrous, doesn’t it? And yet the idea that everyone could write a novel in November gets a good deal more acceptance. Why do we assume that, while these other forms would require skills, knowledge and practice beyond most people’s experience, anyone can write a book? It drives me round the bend.

I really do get that there will be a lot of trash out there in December.  I've been pretty open that large portions of my novel will need to be gutted and replaced.  I am also aware that 50,000 words is short for a book.  And yet...

Firstly, I would like to compare two forms of physical fitness training: swimming and running.  Most people have walked and ran at some point in their lives.  Relatively few people have swum (If it matters, I have lived in South Korea where only a small minority can swim.  Things are different here in Canada).  Yes, there is some technical skill involved in running but most people can finish a 1,500 m or 3,000 m run however slowly.  Few people could complete such a distance in swimming and their lives might be at risk in the attempt.

So too, with the attempt to compare writing with choreography, opera writing and painting.   Everyone can write to some poor extent while most have never even tried the latter three art-forms.

Secondly, writing 50,000 words in a month is an achievable but very challenging goal for most people.  I will be proud of myself for simply finishing the 50,000 words.  I have run a twenty-six k, swam a twelve k, and cycled across the country.  These acts did not make me a professional runner, swimmer or cyclist but I am proud of the accomplishments nonetheless.  If Nimue Brown completes a three k swim or a 100 k ride, I will not chide her for trying to become a professional, I will compliment her on the accomplishment.  If she completes a run, swim or ride entirely on her own, I might be more impressed than if she completes a Terry Fox Run  or the like that is organized to assist her, but I'll be impressed either way.

Nextly*, it might make me, or any of the hundreds of thousands, a capable writer.  The last line I quoted mentions experience.  Well, how does one get that experience?  On the other hand, I find that I have forgotten how to properly use punctuation in and out of quoted speech and have included comma in, comma out, period in-but- comma out, and more trying to decide which one looks right.

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There are some other science fiction authors who approve of Nanowrimo (video at link).

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The mustache is coming in great.  Time to start rubbing lotion into it to soften it and avoid the itching.

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*I figured this word would drive Brown mad, should she have any reason to visit, if the other errors I made and missed do not.