NaNoWriMo Day 4

Current wordcount: 6,800
Today's wordcount: 1,277

Time spent writing: 1 hour
Time spent on NaNo Boards: 10 minutes

Today's soundtrack: 80's
Today's mood: Uninspired

Totally uninspired today. But I wrote through it. I wanted to at least hit the number I am supposed to have by today, and 6,800 was the magic number. I literally stopped mid-sentence when I saw that I had the correct number of words.

I think my problem is the massive headache I have. I think it might be turning into a full-blown migraine, so I'm going to go bed shortly.

I took the kids geocaching today. It was a blast! We found three caches.. even Hannah found one! We also found some great little places tucked away off roads we travel every day. That's the thing I love about geocaching. You find spots in your own hometown that you never knew existed. I'll post some pictures of our caching trip tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, barring the development of a migraine, I plan to have a very productive day tomorrow. I want to make it to 10,000 words by the end of the day. I think I can do it, because I'll be getting into a more dialogue-heavy portion of the story coming up, and that's really good for word count. And of course, I get to describe the estate when Tori finally sees it, so that's going to rack up some words! I can't wait to get to that part. Robert will be there with her when she sees the estate for the first time. It should be very interesting.

So I think tomorrow will be good. Wish me luck!

NaNoWriMo Day 3

Current wordcount: 5,523
Today's wordcount: 500

Time spent writing: 30 minutes
Time spent on NaNo Boards: 5 minutes

Today's soundtrack: Lord of the Rings
Today's mood: Frazzled!

Not too many words today due to the extreme schedule! And due to the fact that there were gremlins (my sister's kids) at my house. I had to baybsit all night, but still managed to get a few words in. This is why I like to write ahead! I'm going to try to get a lot done Saturday evening, to keep ahead a little. According to my progress chart, I should have made it to 5,100 by day 3, so I'm still ahead of schedule. And I want to stay that way! I'm aiming to have at least 10,000 words by the end of Sunday night. The official NaNo goal for Sunday is 8,500, so I would still be ahead.

Random Thoughts about my House/Mortgage.

Why did my bank just send me a Mortgage Life Insurance Application? My thoughts: A veiled threat on my life? If so, they should know I studied Northern Shaolin Kung Fu for a year and a half from this guy when I was 15, so don’t even try it! why would I possibly care if my mortgage gets paid off or not when I die? If the bank is so worried about their money, let them buy it. in the application,

NaNoWriMo Day 2

Current wordcount: 5,023
Today's wordcount: 2,698

Time spent writing: 2 hours
Time spent on NaNo Boards: 3 hours

Today's soundtrack: Better than Ezra
Today's mood: exhausted

Today, I discovered that I can hook my iPod up to my computer speakers for killer sound, so I had a great time writing to wonderful music. Since my book is about southern families and their secrets, I thought a southern band would be perfect, and I was right. Better than Ezra was great for writing the scenes I had to write today. My character is seeing Mobile for the first time, and it is not what she thought it would be at all! I love, love, love the Better than Ezra song "A Southern Thing" It's perfect for my novel!

But back to the writing, I'm concerned that my chapters are too short. I guess I can fix that when I start fleshing out the story more, but I still worry that I'm not putting enough into each chapter. Of course, that's the kind of thing you fix during editing. And editing is a NaNo writer's best friend! (after November, obviously!)

NaNoWriMo Day 1

Current wordcount: 2,325

Work was fairly calm today, so I had plenty of energy left when I got home and sat down to write. I've been thinking about this for weeks. I've plotted, sketched characters, and created outlines. I've even formulated a first sentence... several hundred times! Of course, all the planning went straight out the window when I actually sat down to write. My beautiful, literary, flowery first sentence turned into this:

“Beep, beep, beep,” the register kept a steady rhythm as Tori slid item after item over the scanner, looking straight at the products on the conveyor belt, but not really seeing them.

Hmm... not the best start ever, that's for sure. I just kept typing "beep" until I could think of something else to type. Then, of course, when I noticed I had typed "beep" about ten times, I deleted all but three of them and started actually writing. But still, it falls short of what I like to consider my usual quality. Then again, I may just be delusional. After all, I am doing NaNo, so we know I'm a little delusional, right?

Anyway, that's how NaNo started for me this year. The words actually flowed pretty well, after the first sentence anyway, so I kept writing even after I reached my personal goal of 2,000 words per day. The story I'm writing is actually set in my area, so it was fun describing everything from a visitor's point of view, in a sense trying to see my home through the eyes of a tourist. Tomorrow I start getting into the real meat of the story. The first major decision my MC has to make comes tomorrow, a life-altering decision that will change not only her surroundings, but possibly her inner self. In theory....

I hope everyone else out in NaNoLand had a great first day, and here's to a wonderful second day. It starts in only a few hours...

Gilmore Girls

I've been catching up on Gilmore Girls, having recently gotten a wonderful deal on the box sets from half.com. I now own seasons 2-5 and season 1 is supposed to be on its way to my house. Though I wasn't able to start with season one, and will probably start over when season one comes to my house, but I couldn't wait to start catching up on a show I only discovered last year.

First of all, let me say I came in right as Luke and Lorelai were heating up, and then, of course, there was the breakup, so I've actually never seen her with anyone else. Going back through the seasons is interesting, because I now see that she's had a few boyfriends that I've actually liked, but that the one she always calls on when she needs someone, the one she keeps coming back to, is not Luke, it's Christopher. This kind of ruins the Luke thing for me because when I came to the series, it felt like they were supposed to be together, but I'm thinking now that I must have been wrong. And may I just say that I think Lorelai is a beautiful name and it's going on my list of possible girl names if I ever have a child (a girl, of course)

Anyway, I find myself more interested in her relationships than Rory's, which is a little odd, I think. But here are my thoughts about the series so far. Catching up gives it more depth. I knew the mother/daughter relationship was different, closer than most mothers and daughters, and I knew that Lorelai had a strained relationship with the Gilmores, but I didn't really know the full story on why, and am just beginning to figure it out. This gives the series so much more depth and makes it even more enjoyable.

I thoroughly enjoy the Gilmorisms and the speech patterns of both mother and daughter. This is probably the thing I like most about the series. The dialogue is unique and very, very funny. I'll post more thoughts as I watch the rest of the seasons, but for now I have to say that it is a series worth watching, and even worth buying if you're an avid TV on DVD collector like I am!

Ninja News Update: Weekend Movie Edition

In case some of you are looking for something ninja-esque to do this weekend, I figured I would give you a quick heads up. If you'll remember waaaaaay back in one of the first Ninja News segments (that I am too lazy to look up right now) I told you about an independent film maker that made a film about dating, and one fo the stories in it was a ninja that goes on a blind date. Well, it's showing