Reblogged from Lantern Hollow Press:

Every writer has dealt with that massive, invisible beast that plants itself squarely on our desks, preferably in front of our computer screens, and leers at us in a mocking sort of way, just daring us to get anything accomplished.  Sometimes this beast teams up with Facebook or another soul-sucking website and we lose hours without knowing where they’ve gone. And our story sits tragically abandoned. There are lots of ways to get around writer’s block.  We all have our tried and true methods, so I  …

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This is a bit of a test, so I hope it works.

I was feeling despondent about my writing this morning.  But when I opened up my WordPress, I found the above post on “Freshly Pressed”!

Great advice, and I DEFINITELY want to try this recipe!  :D

~Lady Tam~

*WriteWay, however, absolutely is NOT!

I learned this lesson the hard way.  I thought I had learned everything I could about the standard-version, $24 WriteWay software before making a decision; I had downloaded and used the trial and everything!  Thus, it seemed to have everything I wanted.

It didn’t.  Namely, one can not import one’s previous documents without the Pro version.

The Pro version is $45.

Oh, but I could UPGRADE from Standard to Pro!  For another $30.

None of that makes sense to me.  At all.  :/

Along with the inability to import (which I could have gotten over), it’s also not behaving properly on my Netbook.  And the helpdesk has been….less than helpful.  They don’t seem to understand that yes, I tried uninstalling and re-installing; that yes, I was logged in with administrator rights; that yes, we (my IT husband and I) tried everything under the sun to get it to work.  And no, it still does not work.

Fine.  It doesn’t work, and I’ll never see that $24 again, likely as not.

However, I was still on the prowl for a writing program to help me organize my novel writing.  I had heard a lot about Scrivener from the NaNo site, and saw that one of the prizes for winning NaNo was a discount code that would give me 50% off of the Scrivener software.

I downloaded the trial….and I haven’t looked back.  This is the organization I have been searching for for over a decade!!

I always said that what I needed was a way to organize my thoughts, but I had no one who seemed to have any ideas on how to do that.  (I began writing around the turn of the millennium, when the Internet was still a rather new-fangled thing among the general public.)

But now, I do!  And I couldn’t be more excited!  I’m almost over-whelmed by the possibilities, and can imagine myself actually PUBLISHING now!!

It’s a great feeling.

Other lovely features of Scrivener:

– Doesn’t have different “levels” of software.  What you buy is what you get, and that’s awesome!

– Works on both PC and Mac, which WriteWay does not.

– Works on Netbooks without the need for doing anything special!

All those things together means I’ll be sticking with Scrivener for a while!

(Rest assured, if I become disenchanted, I will DEFINITELY be telling the world about it.)

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*BTW, the trial for WriteWay is a trial of the PRO version, not the Standard.  That was something else that I didn’t notice.  Ick..

"Descent Into Madness"

Today I went in search of and found my ancient Diaryland account that I started during my first TESOL year. Reading the first two entries, I realized that putting those entries together with my old Livejournal(s) entries from the subsequent second and third TESOL years would make my slow descent into madness and back up to sanity painfully obvious.

My Diaryland starts off rather innocuous; I talk shortly about entering the main city of the province, with the promise of including more shenanigans as they happen.

What I SHOULD have discussed was the way a poor beggar child wrapped her arms and legs around one of the other Americans, and refused to let go until our wai ban gave her money.

That’s what I should have discussed, and I’m seriously thinking about putting together my own personal book, possibly published by CreateSpace, to serve as both a physical reminder of what happened, and also as a guide to the travel portion of CSwP/BoR.

What’s that you say? I could just print off the entries? Or copy/paste them all into one document and save them to my hard drive?

Well yes, I COULD do that…but it would take a while. Plus, there would be something immensely satisfying about having them all officially bound together, with a shiny cover and everything. It would just make me feel better, to be honest.

I could even shoe-in some of the old RPG stuff The Yakuza Three (i. e., two other friends and I) did on DeviantART.

As I said, this would be a fun personal project. No idea what it would or would not include. But already, the ideas are popping in.

Now to see if I’ll actually go THROUGH with it. Gah..

~Lady Tam~

Stupid dragons..

As I said in my main blog, I’ve been recovering from the holidays this month.  And by “recover” I mean “ignoring writing” and “playing Skyrim“.

Don’t get me wrong; I’ve written some, including at least one entry for an Easter devotional book for my church, EOBC.  I still have a few more entries to write, which I’ll be tentatively sharing as they progress.  (Feel free to drop by EOBC if you’re in the area; we’re always open to visitors!  :D)

As for fiction, I was feeling confused and frustrated by it recently.  All the progress I made during NaNo started fading away, and I was just left with that old irritation with the whole mess.  Discussing this on Google Plus, I had a couple of folks offer to look at it.  I was grateful for the offer, but something about sharing my stories with people on the Internet that I barely know and will likely never meet just doesn’t seem like the best plan.  I absolutely do want an editor, but an editor *I* seek out, one I trust and comes with great references from other authors I know AND trust!

It would also help if I could, y’know, talk this future editor in person rather than over the computer.  (Even if it was a video conference, it just wouldn’t be the same as being able to talk to them in person.

As far as the writing itself, I’d nearly given up on TRK for now, and was going to concentrate on an earlier part of the same storyline when three of the main characters had first met while living overseas.

But I just couldn’t get into it.  I don’t know why, but it was just bugging me to death.

Then I realized that I really did like TRK, and wanted to work on it more.  Sure, certain things from the overseas story would apply in TRK….but TRK is the story I want to refine, the story I want to create a beautiful ruby and silver necklace out of.  Possibly enchant with +30 health to make it more valuable.  *continues muttering incoherently, making vague references to smithing and dragons*

But still, I’m not done!  On my main blog, I stated how I was going to cut my definitive posting down to no less than one per week.  Preferably on Mondays.  I would probably post more than that throughout the week, but the GOAL would be at LEAST one post per week.  On Mondays.

(DO YOU HEAR ME, FUTURE LADY TAM?!  AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, ON MONDAYS!!  DOOOOO EEEEET!!)

So that’s devotionals for church, editing/rewriting TRK, and weekly blog updates.

As for motivation, I joined WriYe, which is like NaNo only:

– It lasts all year.

– Writers can set their own wordcount goals.

– Community isn’t quite as large.

Despite that last one, I still think it will help.  One of the moderators provided a spreadsheet to help folks keep track of their progress!  Thus far, though, all I have is a bunch of zeros for January.  Hopefully, I can turn that around!  And though it may be cheating (sort of), I may include some pre-written material in with my “new” material.

The point of all this?  To motivate me to FINISH what I’ve STARTED!!

I hope that all this will help!!

WRITERS:

What motivational tools do YOU use??

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First, a Flash Fiction contest for anyone interested!  

Second, I have plans.  Oh yes, such lovely plans!

I want to finish CSWP, BoR, and my NaNo novel TRoK.  I want to get them OUT so that they are not IN any more.  I’m fairly terrified of this.  It’s such a big project, and the world is so very massive.  I’m hoping the contest that I linked to can help me get unstuck from that world for a little while (or at least another world in the massive multi-verse that makes up CSWP, etc.)

I will say this: TRoK ended up being a lot more…R-rated…than I intended. Yes, even with the inclusion of unicorn-girls!

K. turned out to be a bit more evil, heartless, etc. than I first intended, but I like him that way; I want folks to truly hate him, for folks to truly understand how much he just doesn’t care about others. At all. He’s just plain evil, and makes no excuses for it.

I haven’t figured out K.’s back story. I’m not even sure he needs much of one. That may lend too much to having folks sympathize with him.

He’s just evil, through and through. And…that’s it. Just…evil.

We’ll see where things go. Mwahahahahahah!!!

What is your favorite kind of character to write?

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So NaNo ended a week ago, but I still feel like writing every day.

But I also feel like playing Skyrim.

I’ll let you guess which one has won out during the past week.

That being said, I’m happy to say that my regional group for NaNo wants to meet monthly throughout the year of 2012!  I’m super-excited about that, because the main thing that got me through NaNo was having a fantastic support group, both online and off.  And, though it seems silly, the chart of progress on the NaNo site helped me quite a bit too!

That being said, I’ve discovered that I hate editing.  Yes, it’s necessary, but oh….I loathe it so!  As funny as it sounds, I don’t enjoy reading my own material.  I don’t know why; it’s a similar feeling to when I had a deep aversion to mirrors.  It’s a complex emotion that I can’t fully describe.

But, read I must!  Because if I don’t, I can’t form it into the awesomeness that I know is hidden in there somewhere.  So, like a smithy who needs to refine her ore, I’ll put in the heat, sweat, and time to refine this ugly ore into a lovely necklace!

Even if it does take me another five years!

In addition to that, I’m going to keep updating this blog with my writing adventures, woes, and inspirations.  Also, if you want to follow my main blog, feel free to jog on over to The Lady Expounds to see what deep and meaningful things I have to say from time to time!  (Though how deep or meaningful any of it is really depends on the reader.)

I hope to see you all for Camp NaNo!  Or even Script Frenzy!  :D  Ciao!

I won it t3h NaNoz!!1

[Insert video of Squidward dancing after he finally wins the skill crane.]

I actually won a couple of days ago, on the 26th.  I didn’t post then because it was 7 ’til midnight, and I was TIRED baby!

But I have that nice, shiny purple bar, and I have to tell you:  Purple is now my favorite color.  XD

I finally PROVED to myself that yes, with enough dedication and motivation, I CAN do a thing I set my mind to do!  For years, I have looked at NaNo and said to myself, “I know I can do it!!  So…why can’t I do it?!  ;____; “

The first time NaNo came around, I found out about it late.  I wrote some, but I didn’t stay with it.  The second time around, it was a half-hearted attempt, where I think I may have written a couple of pages then given up.

But third time’s the charm, apparently!  XD

Now comes the hard part:  Editing.  (Dun dun DUUUUUNNN!!!!)  I can already tell this is going to be an interesting task, and I’ve already seen places that are going to have to be cleaned up.  I have half a mind to simply start over, but I’m not sure I have the energy for a complete rewrite.

At the same time, there’s definitely things that aren’t going to work, scenes and characters that I can already tell aren’t going to make the final cut for CCS-TRK.  But, I’m okay with that.  :)  At least I’ve proven to myself that I CAN write at LEAST 50,000 words on just one story line, and not skip around to a billion different times and worlds.  And, while it’s currently an incoherent mess, it’s organized chaos, unlike CSWP.  CCS-TRK is an unfinished, partly-constructed building:  I can see the general form it will eventually take, though I don’t know exactly what that form will look like.    CSWP is more like the aftermath of an unexpected, random explosion, with time-lines and characters and subplots all over the place, missing various critical limbs and organs.

Tomorrow night is the Last Chance Write-In for my regional group, so I’ll be walking in that Starbuck’s with  ridiculous grin on my face!  :D  Because despite the work I have to look forward to, I’m just happy that I’ve accomplished at least one of my self-made goals.

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!

How is your writing going?  

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Yesterday, I only wrote 151 words before midnight.  And that was in the 15 minutes right before midnight.

There was two reasons for this:  One, Mother Nature’s gift hit me harder than I expected.

Two, my adventure to McDonald’s did not go as planned.

In our region of the world, just about everything closes around 7 PM on Sunday nights.  Coffee houses, malls, stores, even some grocery stores.  So, if one wants Internet and coffee….or really, just the coffee and a public place to sit and write….McDonald’s is pretty much the only option.

I had been impressed by their Peppermint Mochas earlier in the week, so I thought this would be a good place to sit and spin a couple thousand words.

I was sadly mistaken.

First, I waited forever to get the coffee.  Normally, I could do with this, but I was already feeling weirded out by that McD atmosphere that always makes one uncomfortable when one is alone.  (The only time I’ve ever felt completely relaxed at a McD is when I was overseas in China.)

Once the cashier finally got around to not only TAKING my order, but MAKING it, I decided to sit in a secluded booth in the back where I would not be bothered and could spread out a bit.  But as soon as I walked into the area, a smell accosted my senses that I’ve only ever associated with dead animals or something extremely spoiled.  So there went THAT idea.

Not to be undaunted quite yet, I tried sitting at a high-top table at the front…only to hear loud clattering and noise at the drink machine and counter.  Plus, the smell….that horrible, gut-wrenching smell!!!…was wafting from where I just was to attack me all over again.

Not only that, but there were no outlets.  NO ELECTRICAL OUTLETS!!!!  AT ALL!!!!

I decided that now was the time for me to make my escape.  I took my things, including my skim milk mocha, and left.  As I was driving home, I opened the mocha to taste the wonderful goodness I had first tasted the week previous….and was likewise disappointed.

It was bitter, and not sweet at all.  Now, as far as I know, sweetness has nothing to do with what kind of milk you use.  And I’m fine with artificial sweetener; I’ve been drinking diet and “zero” drinks for a long time now.  I use Equal in anything requiring sugar.  I’m used to aspartame.

But this…this wasn’t EVEN aspartame!  It was an assault on my tongue!

When I got home, I poured a liberal amount of Equal into it, and it finally tasted right!

Needless to say, after this experience, I shan’t be venturing out to McD to stay late on a Sunday night again!

Where is your least favorite place to write?  Why is it a horrible place to try and be creative?

I’ve found a way out of my dilemma, and the solution was so simple that I can’t believe I didn’t start off this way!

I’ve been shuffling awkwardly between Group A and Group B via chapters, and even chapter breaks.

It’s….not working.  And it’s giving a weird tone to the whole story.

So Act I will be for telling Group A’s story, Act II will be for Group B’s story, and Act III will be when A vs B, as intended.

I think it will work out well, and with a little more re-organization, I’ll be a lot freer to approach both sides of this tale!  HOO HAA!!

Have you had those lightbulb moments?  When suddenly it all snapped together?  What was that moment like?

It’s halfway through November, and I’m at the half-way mark with my NaNovel wordcount-wise.

And now I’m losing steam (even though I wrote 300+ words this morning at 4 AM.  (The Husband and I were both having trouble sleeping:  me because it was too hot and I felt icky, and him because of sinus trouble and a sore shoulder.)).

It’s not that I don’t have parts I could write on, even exciting ones.  I do.   But sitting down and writing…especially when I have Skyrim at home waiting to be explored and conquered…is getting more and more difficult to do.

I feel almost like I’m getting tired of my own novel.  The awesome idea I had when I first began this month is starting to seem less and less awesome, and I’m tempted to send them all to the circus or throw in some ninjas or some other thing to jazz up my own interest.

Or maybe it’s because I’ve very rarely sat down to write at least 1,667 words every day, even when I was focused on writing every day last spring, outside of NaNo.  I wrote sporadically, and I honestly couldn’t tell you how many words a day I was writing then.

But I *did* give Starbuck’s a lot of my money.  THAT I know!

Maybe I’m having a hard time because of Netty the Netbook.  I’ve been lugging her around with me everywhere I go, and am now only using Google docs as yet another back-up.  (Netty, Cruzer the USB disk, G-docs, and Droppy the Dropbox.  Four back-ups.  HOO HAA!!)  When I began NaNo this time around, I was using G-docs because it was convenient for work.  But then I remembered Netty, so now I’m taking *her* everywhere, which has been a mix of a blessing (I can write literally anywhere) and a curse (I feel I MUST write on Netty….and nowhere else!)  I’m now using OpenOffice, not G-docs, for the simple fact that Netty can’t access the Internet at work.  If I could get G-docs to somehow psychically link with Droppy, that would be absolutely ideal!!

Then again, it could mean that a virus could destroy them all in one fell swoop, which wouldn’t make me happy.

Anyways, I’m hopefully going to meet a writing buddy this afternoon after work.  Maybe that will unstick me.  (Or maybe I really do need to “just add ninjas”.  x_x;;;

Or maybe Apocalypse Ponies, which is closer to how I think anyways:

How do wordcounts make you feel??  Are you aiming to “win” NaNo, just write your own thing, or a little of both??  What are your feelings on the four ponies of the apocalypse??