prayleen

'Scuse me while I kiss this guy. . .

2007-08-02T20:25:45Z

[DRMs] simply can’t work - not without changing the laws of physics, maths and information science.
DRMs are often designed by ambitious, well-funded consortia, with top-notch engineers from every corner of the industry. They spend millions. They take years. They are defeated in days, for pennies, by hobbyists. It’s inevitable, because every time you give someone a locked item, you have to give them the key to unlock it too.

~Cory Doctorow in The MediaGuardian, by way of http:\\www.craphound.com

Common sense, yo. :)

_In Stride_ planning meeting

2007-06-23T15:46:55Z

Alright everybody, listen up!

We're sixteen thousand words into this novel, and everybody should be firmly on track. But I've noticed over the last couple of days' pages that there's a lot of thrashing and angsting going on.

I know, I know you have reason to be upset and confused. But this isn't a blog, people! You've got to make things happen. Remember the Never Ending Story? We aren't dragging any readers along at the moment, folks. Y'all aren't even keeping *me* awake.

So here's the deal. Get busy solving those problems. Try everything! No idea is too silly, as long as you stick to the problem.

No more naps, passive freak-outs, or numb navel-gazing. No more making up cute gay-boy best friends to distract me. No no, It's alright Alan, stay. I've come up with a job for you, it's just a few chapters ahead.

Oh, and having breakfast is not considered an attack on the problem at hand. Handle it off-screen, unless you can eat on the move while you work on a problem.

Thank you, that's all.

prayleen @ 2007-06-22T11:09:00

2007-06-22T15:42:32Z

15,600 / 71,500
(21.8%)

According to 22 * 750 = 16,500, I am now 900 words behind schedule . . . This is due to the fact that I spent two frantic evenings this week trying desperately to yank the laptop back from the clutches of corrupted OS-land without losing any novel. Argh.

On the upside? It worked eventually. And 900 words should be easy to make up ~~if I resist the strong temptation to write fanfic instead.~~

I may be starting to hate the BO@K, and/or my protagonist. That being said, I have two thoughts:

I am sticking with the book until I have 100 pages because I hear that's the right point at which to reevaluate.
I wonder if hating the character will make it easier for me to smack her around in an exciting fashion?

*grins evilly*

I got an eye appointment for Saturday afternoon, so I opted not to do the TLC course this weekend. I really want to do the next one, though.

prayleen @ 2007-06-19T12:03:00

2007-06-19T16:24:49Z

14,740 / 71,500
(20.6%)

Ok, so the writing is going. I am only 510 words behind schedule, and that rocks.

Somehow, my eyes are severely strained, and that does *not* rock.

There is a TLC course at the end of the week that I'd like to assist on, but I'm struggling to commit to it.

Pros:

3 days in a course room with no laptop or notebook = buh bye, eyestrain!

I can use the pick-me-up that a course gives me

I will get to see my friends! Yay friends!

Cons:

3 days in a course room with no laptop or notebook = buh bye, word count!

I probably need physical rest, i.e. not running around, which I cannot have on a course

I need to get an eye appointment, and I'm not sure the optometrist is available after work, so I should plan on Saturday.

I think I'll try to get an eye appointment, and find out whether I can still sign on to the course. I can try for extra words for the next three days, and Saturday is really the only day on which I'd have no time for writing because of the course. The other days have shorter sessions.

prayleen @ 2007-06-14T01:09:00

2007-06-14T05:15:29Z

10,578 / 71,500
(14.8%)

This is me, acknowledging that I'm doing that thing I always do when the writing starts ~~working~~scaring me: not sleeping, not eating properly, and not writing. *sigh.*

Did manage to talk this over with my mentor today, and she helped. As usual. I am still behind, but I did write on the novel, so that's progress.

prayleen @ 2007-05-23T22:46:00

2007-05-24T03:08:24Z

4,000 / 71,500
(5.6%)

Wicked migraine today. On the positive side, there are only nine days 'til novel_in_90!

I'm using a new outlining technique today, and it's very wordy, but it seems to be working. I expect to finish outlining my fanfic by Friday, giving myself one week to get a head start on the novel outline before June 1st.

I think I will have to outline and write for the first week or two in June, because this method takes so long. But if it means I wind up with a complete draft that makes a modicum of sense, so be it.

Writing update

2007-05-21T16:53:13Z

I'm teaching myself Liquid Story Binder XE, which is shaping up to be really cool. I still like Writeitnow3, but LSB's timelines and storyboarding are more robust. Or at least, storyboarding is supposed to be added soon. Writeitnow doesn't have a storyboard, but it also gives me fewer toys that I feel like playing with. I've been using Writeitnow long enough to be bored with it, but can see myself spending a lot of time ~~procrastinating~~fiddling with LSB. We'll see how the debate between cool planning features vs. timesuck washes out.

novel_in_90 Prep: I suck at outlining, and my characters need work. The good news is, my mentor gave me a cool task--outline each character's individual arc, complete with thoughts and feelings, and then weave them together. I suspect this may be the missing step that halts me halfway through most projects. Sure, I know my protagonist's arc, or I'd have no idea of the ending. But laying out the other main characters' arcs in greater detail will help me make them consistent and logical beings themselves, right through to the end. Brilliant.

I'm a little overwhelmed at the idea of doing that for the whole novel, so I'm trying it on an ornery fanfic first. Cross your fingers for me!

prayleen @ 2007-04-22T22:40:00

2007-04-23T02:52:24Z

Back from Penguicon 5. tired. The green room staff deserve sainthood, and the SPWW workshop rocked.

I still didn't get to hear any filk, and I missed the *&*$%$# plotting panel.*Headdesk* But, I attended my first room party. Thanks to the ladies of the Literary Salon!

Magpie treasure

2007-02-16T18:48:40Z

I found this today.

I don't know her, but what she wrote poked the muse *and* made me miss NYC. :Sigh:

TRIUMPH!

2007-02-04T21:11:56Z

I have submitted my story for the Penguicon 5 writer's workshop. This is awesome, in case that's not obvious. I am perennially deadline-phobic, but in the last year I've been making gradual progress.

So who knows what's next? By this time next year, I might be ready to take on magazine deadlines or something.

(I know, I'm a chicken.)

Stardust@home

2006-05-01T16:08:47Z

I was busy at The Living Course all weekend, and missed the beta test for Stardust@Home. It's a web-based distributed-analysis project out of Berkley, in which users examine microscope scan movies of Aerogel that passed through the tail of a comet. Bummer. I will still be able to take the training and test, and (if I pass) participate in the full project. What an exciting opportunity!