Word count: 45,702 - so a whopping 2360 words ahead of schedule! And I've written the hardest scene to write in the novel - the one where all is revealed! Yeah!
I know I said I'd be away, but the weather was against us. Yesterday there was a snowstorm that caused the longest traffic jam in the history of the country... more than 800 km! While I was sitting warm and comfortable at my desk, whining about all the editing I had ahead of me, thousands of people were stuck in their cars, hungry and shivering. No casualties, but a lot of people stranded for hours on end. Several train lines were down as well, and the Red Cross opened up shelters. Chaos.
In any case, the roads were still icy today, and they were expecting another cold front from the north, so we stayed put. We were sorry to miss Greetjes party - we had been really looking forward to it. Alvast gefeliciteerd, Greetje! The girls were disappointed to miss their trip to see Oma, but we'll try to make it up there next weekend.
I will leave you today with a couple of new phrases that Sonia has taken to using all the time:
"Ik denk het wel." = "I think so."(used whenever she would normally say yes, like when we ask facetiously whether she is ready to get out of bed after she has called out to us repeatedly with a voice resembling a fog horn)
"zometeen" = "in a moment" (used whenever asked to do something she doesn't want to do, like eating her beans)
"hij doet het niet" = "it doesn't work" (used for anything that she cannot operate in one go, like the perfectly good zipper on her shoe, or the button on her coat)
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Friday, November 25, 2005
Day 25
Word count: 43, 795... still 2120 words ahead of schedule.
With the finish line coming into sight, I am experiencing a wee dip in inspiration. Could it be that my system is wearing out from the repeated jolts of adrenaline everytime I made my word count?
I can't seem to stop thinking about the enormous amount of editing I have just created for myself. It is silly! All I have to do now is write the scene where all is revealed, and wrap up the loose ends with monologues by characters who never seem to run out of things to say.
Unfortunately, all I can think as I sit at the computer tonight is the following: I already have 43,795 words of a novel that has, among many other things, some serious chronology problems, and now I am supposed to add more words that will need to be edited? I don't think so!
I can see that I have made the potentially deadly mistake of looking ahead to what comes after I finish the novel. Must try to crawl humbly back... no, make that RUN like the mad woman that I am back to the here and now, where my work is simply to write until I drop. There. Attitude adjustment accomplished.
Incidentally, I just want to say that this blog has been enormously helpful to me during the past 24 days of writing mania. As long as I maintain a clear enough head to write a few words to you every day, I know I am alright. Thanks for reading along so far!
We are going up to Assen this weekend (armed with a laptop!) for Greetje's 40th birthday, so won't be able to post again until Sunday at the earliest. Happy belated Thanksgiving to all back home, and hope you have a terrific weekend!
With the finish line coming into sight, I am experiencing a wee dip in inspiration. Could it be that my system is wearing out from the repeated jolts of adrenaline everytime I made my word count?
I can't seem to stop thinking about the enormous amount of editing I have just created for myself. It is silly! All I have to do now is write the scene where all is revealed, and wrap up the loose ends with monologues by characters who never seem to run out of things to say.
Unfortunately, all I can think as I sit at the computer tonight is the following: I already have 43,795 words of a novel that has, among many other things, some serious chronology problems, and now I am supposed to add more words that will need to be edited? I don't think so!
I can see that I have made the potentially deadly mistake of looking ahead to what comes after I finish the novel. Must try to crawl humbly back... no, make that RUN like the mad woman that I am back to the here and now, where my work is simply to write until I drop. There. Attitude adjustment accomplished.
Incidentally, I just want to say that this blog has been enormously helpful to me during the past 24 days of writing mania. As long as I maintain a clear enough head to write a few words to you every day, I know I am alright. Thanks for reading along so far!
We are going up to Assen this weekend (armed with a laptop!) for Greetje's 40th birthday, so won't be able to post again until Sunday at the earliest. Happy belated Thanksgiving to all back home, and hope you have a terrific weekend!
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Day 23 (and a half)
Word count: 41,776! Still out ahead by 1,768 words.
Yesterday (the 23rd), was another domestic marathon. Volunteered to help another mom glue amazing pieces of art into the scrapbooks of all fourty-something kindergarten kids. Continued my afternoon high on glue fumes, wrote my quota while Sonia slept, and rounded off the day at my dear colleague Alice's house for a very enjoyable Expertise Centre potluck in the Hague. My colleagues turn out to be really good cooks! Finally got to bed at 12:30, and any anecdotes about the kids I might have shared with you on the blog had, by that time, been erased from my memory by exhaustion helped along by two glasses of lovely red wine. Forgive me...
Yesterday (the 23rd), was another domestic marathon. Volunteered to help another mom glue amazing pieces of art into the scrapbooks of all fourty-something kindergarten kids. Continued my afternoon high on glue fumes, wrote my quota while Sonia slept, and rounded off the day at my dear colleague Alice's house for a very enjoyable Expertise Centre potluck in the Hague. My colleagues turn out to be really good cooks! Finally got to bed at 12:30, and any anecdotes about the kids I might have shared with you on the blog had, by that time, been erased from my memory by exhaustion helped along by two glasses of lovely red wine. Forgive me...
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Day 22
Word count: 40, 271. ahem. That is precisely 3,597 words ahead of schedule...
hee hee. Shhh. Did a little stealth writing at the office today while nobody was lookin'. My guidebook says that is legal this week. I'll make up the time, trust me...
Man, does it feel good to have crossed the 40k mark...and man, does it feel good to have a pretty good idea where the story is going...and man oh man am I stiff and sore from all this typing. There are parts of my body I have given up for lost. (Sorry, just needed to whine a little. I don't want any of you to think this is a walk in the park, or anything...)
Came home to find the girls all dressed up in their "Zwarte Piet" suits, carrying burlap bags they had stitched with colorful ribbons and filled with little red paper packets containing two peppernuts each (our babysitter Ineke is so creative! Worth her weight in gold, truly)
Sonia likes 'kipples'. Asked Marten for more kipples at the table this evening. I had my hands full, and looked up to see Marten looking around at the various items on the table to see what Sonia was pointing to. Maddy laughed. "She means pickles, papa. She wants pickles."
Sonia smiled and nodded, "yeah, kipples. More kipples."
Best moment of the day.
hee hee. Shhh. Did a little stealth writing at the office today while nobody was lookin'. My guidebook says that is legal this week. I'll make up the time, trust me...
Man, does it feel good to have crossed the 40k mark...and man, does it feel good to have a pretty good idea where the story is going...and man oh man am I stiff and sore from all this typing. There are parts of my body I have given up for lost. (Sorry, just needed to whine a little. I don't want any of you to think this is a walk in the park, or anything...)
Came home to find the girls all dressed up in their "Zwarte Piet" suits, carrying burlap bags they had stitched with colorful ribbons and filled with little red paper packets containing two peppernuts each (our babysitter Ineke is so creative! Worth her weight in gold, truly)
Sonia likes 'kipples'. Asked Marten for more kipples at the table this evening. I had my hands full, and looked up to see Marten looking around at the various items on the table to see what Sonia was pointing to. Maddy laughed. "She means pickles, papa. She wants pickles."
Sonia smiled and nodded, "yeah, kipples. More kipples."
Best moment of the day.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Day 21
Word count: 36,001... 994 words ahead of schedule! And three quarters of the way done!
Foof, what a day, folks. Four loads of laundry done, four meals prepared (made yummy lentil soup for tomorrow), tidied up the toys twice (why do I bother?), read at least 11 stories aloud (best moments of the day), and managed to get some writing in during Sonia's nap and after I got them to bed. They are both sleeping in Maddy's bed for the first time. They were so set on the idea of trying it, I gave in. We'll see how it goes.
I took the girls into town for a rare shopping trip to the local Hennes and Mauritz (for the U.S. readers, think cheap and trendy). Both of them are growing so fast, I can hardly keep them clothed. I swear Maddy has grown several inches in the last three weeks, and was down to her last pair of reasonably warm pants that fit.
While we were debating on the red or the purple pants, Sonia took off down a side aisle for the second time. I went directly after her, but she had disappeared into thin air. I quickly scanned all of the aisles around us, and went back to Maddy and asked her to help me. We called her name and rushed in and out of aisles of clothes, but no Sonia.
I remembered when Maddy had simply left a store and wandered across a busy square to a toy shop when she was a bit older than Sonia is now. I went outside onto the new square and called her name, thinking she might have been over by the river by that time looking for Sinterklaas!!!
Went back in and asked the manager to help me look. I found her moments later inside a circular rack of long pants. I have never been happier to see her little feet. When I picked her up, she put her little hands on my cheeks and said 'Sonia hiding!', as if to say 'Steady on, Mom...it's just a game!'. Right. O.k. Mama was scared.
Regained composure, thanked manager, and paid for two pairs of red pants and two red t-shirts. Won't be able to lose them in those outfits, I tell you.
Foof, what a day, folks. Four loads of laundry done, four meals prepared (made yummy lentil soup for tomorrow), tidied up the toys twice (why do I bother?), read at least 11 stories aloud (best moments of the day), and managed to get some writing in during Sonia's nap and after I got them to bed. They are both sleeping in Maddy's bed for the first time. They were so set on the idea of trying it, I gave in. We'll see how it goes.
I took the girls into town for a rare shopping trip to the local Hennes and Mauritz (for the U.S. readers, think cheap and trendy). Both of them are growing so fast, I can hardly keep them clothed. I swear Maddy has grown several inches in the last three weeks, and was down to her last pair of reasonably warm pants that fit.
While we were debating on the red or the purple pants, Sonia took off down a side aisle for the second time. I went directly after her, but she had disappeared into thin air. I quickly scanned all of the aisles around us, and went back to Maddy and asked her to help me. We called her name and rushed in and out of aisles of clothes, but no Sonia.
I remembered when Maddy had simply left a store and wandered across a busy square to a toy shop when she was a bit older than Sonia is now. I went outside onto the new square and called her name, thinking she might have been over by the river by that time looking for Sinterklaas!!!
Went back in and asked the manager to help me look. I found her moments later inside a circular rack of long pants. I have never been happier to see her little feet. When I picked her up, she put her little hands on my cheeks and said 'Sonia hiding!', as if to say 'Steady on, Mom...it's just a game!'. Right. O.k. Mama was scared.
Regained composure, thanked manager, and paid for two pairs of red pants and two red t-shirts. Won't be able to lose them in those outfits, I tell you.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Day 20
Wordcount: 33,881... still 541 words out in front.
Am stuffed and satisfied. We were treated to a complete turkey dinner with all of the fixings by Véronique and Mark this evening. The food was delicious and the girls played nicely and the four of us grown-ups enjoyed each others company. Happy almost Thanksgiving!!! (or as Sonia says, "Tanks kiwi")
Am going to roll into bed now and sleeeeeeep.
More tomorrow...
Am stuffed and satisfied. We were treated to a complete turkey dinner with all of the fixings by Véronique and Mark this evening. The food was delicious and the girls played nicely and the four of us grown-ups enjoyed each others company. Happy almost Thanksgiving!!! (or as Sonia says, "Tanks kiwi")
Am going to roll into bed now and sleeeeeeep.
More tomorrow...