Final word count: 50,037!!!!!
Am going to open that bottle of champagne now...
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Day 29
Word count: 49, 185... with one day, one hour and a little over 5 minutes to go.
Ai ai ai... someone should remind me to be careful what I wish for. I have some serious writer's block going here. I have already written the ending, so now tonight I began to flesh out earlier scenes. This is, of course, infinitely more difficult than writing new scenes.
Out of sheer desperation, I have now added the story of Forseti, the Norse god who is said to reside on Helgoland. I have told the story through main character Louise to her grandchildren Sanne and Ivar. It ties in, but only very marginally... oh well. Experimentation is allowed. Please send me your positive thoughts tomorrow as I round off this marathon...I am going to need all the help I can get.
Picked up second-hand snow pants for the girls on my lunch break, and they love them. Pulled them right on over their jeans and danced around the house looking like the Michelin tire guy until dinner was ready. Maddy wanted to wear them to bed (no) and to school tomorrow (I don't think so). Sonia kept pointing to herself and saying "Sonia snowman!" Great entertainment for just a few euros! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Ai ai ai... someone should remind me to be careful what I wish for. I have some serious writer's block going here. I have already written the ending, so now tonight I began to flesh out earlier scenes. This is, of course, infinitely more difficult than writing new scenes.
Out of sheer desperation, I have now added the story of Forseti, the Norse god who is said to reside on Helgoland. I have told the story through main character Louise to her grandchildren Sanne and Ivar. It ties in, but only very marginally... oh well. Experimentation is allowed. Please send me your positive thoughts tomorrow as I round off this marathon...I am going to need all the help I can get.
Picked up second-hand snow pants for the girls on my lunch break, and they love them. Pulled them right on over their jeans and danced around the house looking like the Michelin tire guy until dinner was ready. Maddy wanted to wear them to bed (no) and to school tomorrow (I don't think so). Sonia kept pointing to herself and saying "Sonia snowman!" Great entertainment for just a few euros! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Monday, November 28, 2005
Day 28
Word count: 47,977... only 2,023 words to go.
And how, you ask, can a person close up shop for the night with so few words to go?
No problem. I am ready to sleep. I have some ideas for the remaining 2023 words, but I am going to save them for tomorrow.
The thing is, I believe I want to have the moment of glory with all the trimmings. I want the last couple of words to be typed with a dramatic flourish. I want it to be 11:52 on Wednesday night and 50 words to go. You know what I mean?
I have decided that this must be the reason I am dragging my feet again today in my writing. Everything is falling nicely together - even the granddaughter Sanne, who so rudely pirated my first chapter, gets the last word.
I had a great day with the girls today. Sonia helped me at the grocery store at the check-out by standing on her tip-toes and tossing items from the basket onto the conveyer belt. When she was done, she blew out a sigh of relief and dusted her hands together. It's hard work!
After school we had popcorn and watched Pippi Longstocking, and at bedtime Maddy asked if Sonia could sleep in her bed again. After extracting a promise from Sonia that she would go to sleep immediately (including demonstration of how she would close her eyes), I agreed. As I sat down to write, I heard Maddy singing Sonia to sleep. Lovely.
A happy anniversary to Corine and Shanka - may Rohan soon have a sibling of his own, now that you have a house with bedrooms to fill...
And how, you ask, can a person close up shop for the night with so few words to go?
No problem. I am ready to sleep. I have some ideas for the remaining 2023 words, but I am going to save them for tomorrow.
The thing is, I believe I want to have the moment of glory with all the trimmings. I want the last couple of words to be typed with a dramatic flourish. I want it to be 11:52 on Wednesday night and 50 words to go. You know what I mean?
I have decided that this must be the reason I am dragging my feet again today in my writing. Everything is falling nicely together - even the granddaughter Sanne, who so rudely pirated my first chapter, gets the last word.
I had a great day with the girls today. Sonia helped me at the grocery store at the check-out by standing on her tip-toes and tossing items from the basket onto the conveyer belt. When she was done, she blew out a sigh of relief and dusted her hands together. It's hard work!
After school we had popcorn and watched Pippi Longstocking, and at bedtime Maddy asked if Sonia could sleep in her bed again. After extracting a promise from Sonia that she would go to sleep immediately (including demonstration of how she would close her eyes), I agreed. As I sat down to write, I heard Maddy singing Sonia to sleep. Lovely.
A happy anniversary to Corine and Shanka - may Rohan soon have a sibling of his own, now that you have a house with bedrooms to fill...
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Day 27
Word count: 46,838 still 1859 words ahead of schedule with three days to go.
Three days?!?
Yes, for those of you who have not been keeping as close an eye on the calender as I have this month, it may come as a bit of a surprise that November is nearly over. Just another three days, 2 hours and 22 minutes to be exact. Aaack. Am going to be optimistic and buy myself a bottle of champagne tomorrow - that way every time I open the fridge, I will be reminded that glory is just around the corner. Fame may never come, but glory will be mine!
Yesterday I was in the flow - my characters were speaking for themselves and I was just typing as fast as I could to keep up with them. Today, not so much. No matter. I have learned from this marathon that it is no use waiting for the muse. If you want to write something worthwhile, you have to be prepared to write even when uninspired so that the muse can catch you unaware.
Maddy decided today that she wants to be a cowgirl when she grows up. She put on her jeans, a blue and white checked top and tied a bandana around her neck. and came downstairs to announce that she was going outside to play. I gave her her coat and helped her tuck her scarf under the bandana and sent her off, but she kept coming in to adjust the scarf around her neck, and was rather annoyed that she had to wear her winter coat because she didn't think a cowgirl would wear it. After explaining to her that it was freezing outside and she had to wear her coat and her scarf, and that it was denim anyway and so looked very western...we finally told her that real cowgirls were too busy doing fun stuff to worry about their scarves and jackets. She looked up from her reflection in the oven door and said. "O.K.!" and we didn't hear another word about the coat or the scarf. She spent the better part of the afternoon practicing with her jump rope lasso. Yeehah! Sometimes we are a little slow on the uptake...
Three days?!?
Yes, for those of you who have not been keeping as close an eye on the calender as I have this month, it may come as a bit of a surprise that November is nearly over. Just another three days, 2 hours and 22 minutes to be exact. Aaack. Am going to be optimistic and buy myself a bottle of champagne tomorrow - that way every time I open the fridge, I will be reminded that glory is just around the corner. Fame may never come, but glory will be mine!
Yesterday I was in the flow - my characters were speaking for themselves and I was just typing as fast as I could to keep up with them. Today, not so much. No matter. I have learned from this marathon that it is no use waiting for the muse. If you want to write something worthwhile, you have to be prepared to write even when uninspired so that the muse can catch you unaware.
Maddy decided today that she wants to be a cowgirl when she grows up. She put on her jeans, a blue and white checked top and tied a bandana around her neck. and came downstairs to announce that she was going outside to play. I gave her her coat and helped her tuck her scarf under the bandana and sent her off, but she kept coming in to adjust the scarf around her neck, and was rather annoyed that she had to wear her winter coat because she didn't think a cowgirl would wear it. After explaining to her that it was freezing outside and she had to wear her coat and her scarf, and that it was denim anyway and so looked very western...we finally told her that real cowgirls were too busy doing fun stuff to worry about their scarves and jackets. She looked up from her reflection in the oven door and said. "O.K.!" and we didn't hear another word about the coat or the scarf. She spent the better part of the afternoon practicing with her jump rope lasso. Yeehah! Sometimes we are a little slow on the uptake...