Writer’s Lesson #263
by Lynn Daniels on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Photo: Kriss Szkurlatowski
When planning to put a project aside for any length of time, be sure and stop at a point that will make for an easy restart.
In other words, don’t stop at a point where, when you pick it back up to work on it again, you look at it and say What the hell? For me, this is yet another lesson learned. The hard way. But let’s be honest here. Is there really any other way to truly learn a lesson? Even if it should have totally been common sense?
How did I learn this lesson, you ask? Besides the hard way? Well, I’ll tell you. As I mentioned in yesterday’s Do-Over post, today would be my Do-Over start day. The day I’d read through Chester and Rube, and my first day to add 500 words. So I pulled out my printout to get started.
A quick glance at my print out immediately told me something was wrong. 37 pages in lovely Lori Devoti’s ARC format. Since this was a NaNoWriMo project, and I’d won NaNoWriMo, I knew I’d written more than 50,000 words. And something told me 50,000 words would work out to more 37 pages. So, being the logical human being I am, I opened my original file, converted it to ARC, and discovered I was absolutely right (no surprise there — just ask SoundGuy — I’m always right ::snork::). I didn’t have 37 pages worth of story, I had 86. 86!
Next step: print, print, print. Print, print. Print.
As the story was printing, I took a peek at the last page. Just so I’d have an idea of where I’d been planning to go. And suddenly, I had a major What the hell? moment. I had that moment because I had not obeyed Writer’s Lesson #263 (a totally arbitrary number I pulled from the sky, by the way, I really don’t know if there are 262 lessons that should come before). I had not left off at a good stopping point. I had, in fact, left off at a completely crappy stopping point.
In my own defense, I have not done my full read through yet. It’s entirely possible that once I do the read through I will know exactly what I’d intended to come next, which would make the stopping point not so crappy after all. But as it stands? Fragrant, fly-attracting crap. (Not the writing, just the stopping point.)
How ’bout I share?
When Rube the giant dinosaur finished his breakfast, he reached a giant purple dinosaur hand out and halted Chester the duck with the smart blue felt fedora’s spinny time. Chester stumbled around a little bit, nearly falling forward onto his little ducky bill. He saved himself at the last second, then turned to look at Rube with nearly crossed eyes.
“Please sit down, little buddy,” Rube the giant purple dinosaur said. “We need to talk.”
“Oooh. You’re so serious,” Chester the duck with the smart blue felt fedora said, deepening his voice so he could be serious, too. Yet at the same time, he could tell Rube the giant purple dinosaur really was serious, so he went ahead and plopped down onto his little ducky butt.
“Yes, Chester,” Rube the giant purple dinosaur said. “I am serious, because what we’re about to talk about is a very serious subject.”
Chester the duck with the smart blue felt fedora was about to have a little more fun with his giant purple dinosaur friend, but then he looked into Rube’s eyes. The look in Rube’s eyes didn’t welcome any cutting up. The look in Rube’s eyes said he had something very important on his mind, and that Chester seriously needed to sit down and listen. So Chester did just that. He clamped his little ducky bill shut and listened to what Rube the giant purple dinosaur had to say.
I’m off to start my read-through — all the while praying I’ll figure out what Rube the giant purple dinosaur was about to say to Chester the duck with the smart blue felt fedora. 
I Demand a Do-Over
by Lynn Daniels on Monday, February 16, 2009 at 1:04 pm
~*~
I had a plan. I had plans. I knew exactly what I was going to do. But, as usually happens in a marriage, SoundGuy had plans, too. And because I try to always put my family first, my plans got set aside.
I didn’t read through Chester and Rube. I didn’t get restarted on the writing. I put it all in my messenger bag, intending to take it along and sneak in reading whenever I could. A perfectly viable idea. In the meantime, until things got started, I puttered around the house, working to get a few other things done. I worked on projects I could stop on a dime whenever it was time to leave.
Except that time never came. Without telling me, SoundGuy changed his plans. Our plans. Instead of puttering, I could have been reading. I could have been writing. But I didn’t know that, so I was puttering. It’s reminiscent of the days when I used to find out my travel plans from the people we were traveling to see.
Those darned husbands will do it to you every time.
Yes, I’m blaming the fact that I haven’t started working writing back into my schedule on SoundGuy. The blame falls entirely on his shoulders. I can say that because I know he doesn’t read my blog.
Okay, part of the blame falls on the fact my plate’s a little full. The same week I decided to start writing again, I also started back with FlyLady in order to get the rest of my life and household under control. So even if I didn’t get started on the writing front, my house is already starting to look better. My appointments are under control. I don’t feel like everything is sliding around under the radar, making me crazier and crazier by the second. I take comfort in that.
Still, my first declaration got me nowhere. Didn’t work at all. I declare a do-over. I’m trying again. Since the family’s home today for President’s Day, my do-over starts tomorrow. Tomorrow, after I get my morning FlyLady duties completed, I will read Chester and Rube. After I finish reading, I will add at least 500 words to the story.
And this time, the declaration will take.
Saturday Shot 14 FEB 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 8:26 pm
I hope you’ve had a wonderful Valentine’s Day, and are enjoying a great President’s Day weekend. Since my birthday’s so close to Valentine’s Day, it’s kind of hard on SoundGuy, so I tend to take pity on him. We usually don’t do V-Day gifts, but we did enjoy a nice dinner this evening, so it all works out.
Anyway, on to this week’s Saturday Shot. It’s a picture from our Yellowstone vacation this past June. A view of a storm coming in over distant mountains. Based on the keywords I’ve applied to the photo, it looks like I took this picture somewhere near Tower Junction and Mammoth Hot Springs, if that means anything to you.
There are two things I really like about this shot. First, those clouds just kill me. I’m fascinated by that definite line just about the mountains. I also like the very Wyoming brush there in the foreground. More than once, as we drove through the park, we spotted coyotes foraging through that brush. Actually, it was MiniMe who usually spotted the coyotes. But don’t bother — I looked. No coyotes in this picture.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Chester and Rube Return
by Lynn Daniels on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 2:14 pm
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First of all, thanks for all the birthday wishes. The family didn’t forget, and I had a yummy steak at Outback Steakhouse last night (which I didn’t have to cook) followed by a quick visit to Best Buy for my gifts. All in all, not bad. Not bad at all.
Now that the birthday’s past, it’s D-Day. Or my version of D-Day. Maybe I should call it W-Day, as it’s the day I vowed to begin adding writing back into my schedule. Today is the day I promised to post my quotas and get started. So here goes nothing.
I’ve decided I’ll start this process by finishing Chester and Rube, my NaNoWriMo project. This is for a couple reasons:
- While writing may be a bit like riding a bike — something you never forget how to do — it is possible to lose the ability to do well. So I’d hate to ease back into writing by writing crap into something I want to submit for publication. Chester and Rube, while a full length story, is not something I ever intended to submit. Even if I did, I wouldn’t know where to start. But it is a fun story, and I had fun writing it, so it needs to be finished.
- Chester and Rube needs to be finished as a tribute to MiniMe. She helped me brainstorm the story, and I think we did a bit of bonding during the course of it. MiniMe deserves a finished story. Plus I promised her we’d go ahead and have it printed through the POD publisher I heard about through NaNoWriMo.
- Last, but most certainly not least, Chester and Rube just needs to be finished. I hate the idea of having yet another half-written story out there.
Here’s my plan. Today, as soon as I finish my chores (gawd — it took me 3 TRIES to type that word!), I’ll be giving Chester and Rube a good read-thru. Mostly to re-familiarize myself with the story and to figure out where I’d left off. Then starting tomorrow, I’ll write. For the first week, I’m setting a 500 word/day quota. I don’t have to stop at 500 words, but I must produce at least 500 words. 500 good words. That’s easy enough, don’t you think?
Then starting a week from Monday (that would be February 23), the quota goes up to 1000 words. Depending on how I do with that quota, I’ll either keep it there for March, or up it to 1500 March 1st.
So there’s my plan. While I’m not giving myself a deadline for finishing the story, I now have daily quotas I must meet. Who knows — that may change to weekly quotas instead. We’ll see.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got chores to finish. And a soccer game to Mapquest.
Gimme Cake!
by Lynn Daniels on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Today’s my birthday. I’m taking it easy. And praying my immediately family didn’t forget.
Happy Birthday to me!
Cleanup on Aisle 3!
by Lynn Daniels on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 8:21 am
~*~
Clutter.
I can’t stand it. Not that I don’t have it. I just can’t stand it. Not in any shape or form. Clutter inside my head keeps me awake at night. Come to think of it, so does excessive clutter inside my house.
Flylady.net has an effective system for dealing with your home clutter in baby steps. I was actually working her program for a while, and was doing quite well with it, but got away from it. Looking around my house, I can see that. Being down sick for so long hasn’t helped. Maybe it’s time to start back up. How is it that things in our lives can get so cluttered up without us even seeing it happen?
Granted, my house has never been as bad as the places Kim & Aggie deal with on How Clean is Your House — thank goodness. And it’s not as bad as the friend’s house I recently saw. It is, however, bad enough to make me want to take pictures and put them where my family will see, because I think things are always clearer in pictures. Things you see all the time become old hat to you. You get used to seeing them, so they don’t register. But put them in a photograph… It’s why we always look different in photos of ourselves. Suddenly we’re forced to see ourselves as others do. Maybe if I force my family to see our home as others do, they might actually pick up after themselves.
It’s a longshot, I know. But I’m willing to try almost anything.
Flylady calls it CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome). I’ll agree with that, though I would be more likely to call it a pain in the ass. A major pain in the ass. Major frustration. A phenomenon that easily infests every facet of your life — mind, body & soul. And since this has turned into a major rant, I’ll shut up now.
And start cleaning my house. The clutter in my mind, well, that’s going to take a different kind of cleanup.
Kickin’ My Own Ass
by Lynn Daniels on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 7:23 am
~*~
So I’ve taken some time off writing since the end of NaNoWriMo. It’s crossed my mind, but not my fingers. That didn’t really sound right, but I think you get the idea. I’ve thought about writing for the past few months, but I haven’t done any. That ends now.
I’ve spend the past few months focusing on some of my other interests — more photography, more yarncraft, more other stuff. But it’s time to start working writing back into the schedule. I’m not quite sure how I’ll do it — I’m thinking some kind of quota will be in order. Whether it’s a time quota or a word quota, I’ll be setting one. I made this declaration on Facebook, and I’m going to do it here. I’m putting myself on the spot. Holding myself accountable. Kickin’ my own ass. Because I need it. We all know I do.
So here’s my declaration…
I’ve have a birthday coming up this week. On Wednesday, to be specific. On Thursday, I’ll begin working writing back into my schedule. Thursday’s blog post will reveal my initial daily quota and what project I’ll be working on.
Playtime’s over. It’s time to buckle down and get back to work.
Leave Nothing But Footprints
by Lynn Daniels on Sunday, February 8, 2009 at 6:50 pm
~*~
“Take nothing but pictures; leave nothing but footprints.”
I’m not sure who originated that quote, but it something SoundGuy and I adamantly teach our children, and remind them of this every time we go out hiking. I love the sentiment, and think the phrase is easy to remember and gets the point across.
So then why do so many choose to ignore it?
Yesterday was a gorgeous day here in North Georgia, so we decided to get in the truck and enjoy the mountains. We drove a while, got out and did the easy hikes at DeSoto Falls, and generally enjoyed the day. Except for one thing — graffiti. It was everywhere. Painted on the rocks at the side of the road, carved into the railings at the overlooks, scribbled onto benches…just everywhere.
I suppose part of my issue (I hesitate to call it a problem for obvious reasons) is I don’t see the need to write my name everywhere. I was taught that defacing other people’s property is wrong. But it’s clear others don’t feel the same way.
As I stood on the deck gazing at the Upper DeSoto Falls, I took pictures and tried to concentrate on my amazement (somewhat misplaced, according to SoundGuy) that there was still ice and snow on the falls. It blew my mind, because I was walking around in short sleeves. If it’s warm enough for me to be in short sleeves, then it’s too warm for ice and snow, right?
Anyway, my gaze kept straying to the railing, where somebody had written Person 1 and Person 2 loved here. I’m not using their real names because I figure why give them free advertising? So anyway, hard as I tried to concentrate on the water, my mind kept straying and I couldn’t help but wonder what they meant by loved. Did she stand there and bark baby talk at him while he scrawled the sentiment? Was he kicked back on the bench while she wrote it, hoping the hint would get his engine running? Did they actually have sex where I was standing?
“Take nothing but pictures; leave nothing but footprints.”
I suppose it could have meant that the two of them snuggled and whatnot there, but at some point one of them would have had to say, “Hold on. I need to write on the railing before we go.” Awww. How romantic.
“Take nothing but pictures; leave nothing but footprints.”
It just irritates me to no end that so many people show so little respect for the world around them. And for the people around them. Who cares if it mars other people’s enjoyment? I’m spray painting my name on this rock!”
“Take nothing but pictures; leave nothing but footprints.”
We’re teaching this to our children. I wish more people would do the same.
Saturday Shot 07 FEB 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, February 7, 2009 at 9:34 am
For today’s Saturday Shot I dug back through my Yellowstone vacation photos and came across this one of Porkchop Geyser. I’ve always thought this thermal feature, located in the Norris Geyser Basin area of Yellowstone National Park, had a particularly interesting history.
Initially, this geyser (named for its shape) was considered a hot spring with occasional eruptions. Over the years, silica built up and partially closed off the vent, turning the feature into a perpetual spouter in 1985. Unusually cool water (less than 100° F) constantly shot into the air, and the roar was loud enough to be heard all the way in the parking lot. Pressure built underground until in September 1989 it finally exploded, shooting rocks over 200 feet away. Some of the rocks immediately surrounding the vent were upended, and still border the feature today.
Norris Geyser Basin is pretty remarkable itself. It’s the hottest geyser basin in the park, the most acidic, and the most active with measurable uplift in the ground. The first thing you notice about Norris is the sharp, permeating odor of sulfur. That rotten egg smell. MiniMe can’t stand it. Both LittleDude and I love it; to us, it’s a sure sign that we’re in Yellowstone.
There are just over 2 miles of walkways, ever-changing to accommodate the constantly changing landscape, taking you past the many different thermal features in the area. In fact, when Porkchop erupted back in 1989, it was before the astounded eyes of park visitors.
Can you imagine?
Leaf Check
by Lynn Daniels on Friday, February 6, 2009 at 8:04 am
I meant to do this yesterday, but since I’m still within the first week of the month, I guess I’m okay. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for our monthly check-in with my front yard.
First, let’s link past check-ins for comparison’s sake: January • December • November
Not much has changed.
My own cursory analyzation indicates very little change from January to February. Leaves are still clinging to the bottoms of Huey, Dewey & Louie, while the tops are still bald as can be. There are also fewer leaves falling to the ground — believe it or not, for the first time since I started this project, SoundGuy did not vacuum up the fallen leaves right before I took pictures!
I’m kind of surprised there aren’t more leaves on the ground, as we’ve just had a few days of pretty heavy wind. I would have expected more leaves to have been stripped from the trees. I guess that’s why I’m only the leaf monitor and not the leaf… Hell, I don’t know. I’m not the leaf (I keep typing leave instead of leaf [just did it again] — wonder why?) something more important sounding -er.
Still clinging
The last holdout in my yard. The anomoly. The odd one out. Why is this tree still holding on to its leaves (lookee there! I got to actually type leave that time instead of typing it, deleting it, and replacing it with leaf! WOO HOO!) while the others have cleared their tops and appear to just be wearing dead leaf skirts? It’s a mystery, I tell ya. Call Sherlock Holmes. Call whatshisname, the guy on Eleventh Hour — Hood! Call Jacob Hood. I would call the Fringe folks just to hear the old man, but since I don’t think my holdout front yard tree is the result of what they would refer to as fringe science, I guess I’ll have to restrain myself.
The anomoly of the anomoly
But wait! Look at this! On my lone holdout tree, there’s actually an empty branch! Can you see it? This is near the bottom of the tree, and it’s a branch with no leaves! What happened here? How is it that my tree that has held on to its leaves all this time suddenly has a branch that’s been stripped clean?
Hmmm. Maybe I’ll be able to get Walter Bishop from Fringe out here after all. Lone stripper = fringe science?
Ideas to ponder…
Random Photo
Twittering
NaNoWriMo
