Midweek check-ins are always a little sparse for me, mostly because I spend Mondays and Tuesdays just trying to deal with school stuff. A few things fell through the cracks and came back to haunt me yesterday (namely the stack of grading I was supposed to hand back this morning), so I pulled an unexpected all-nighter last night, staggered into class this morning like a zombie, and had to take an impromptu nap this afternoon to recharge. But I am up, and I will hopefully find the time to tackle the household chores today, because my apartment is a disaster.
Whew.
But it’s not all bad! I’ve done a few things of merit so far, including:
- Exercise: I’m on track to fulfill my 4-5 days/week quota, as I have gotten on the glider 3 times this week.
- NaNoWriMo Support Group: Today, Em and I launched our “support group,” Fun Not Fear! As she mentions on her check-in post today, the name of the group emerged out of a few conversations she and I had about our fears over tackling NaNo this year. We decided that we needed to focus on the fun aspects of the writing gauntlet, and given the success we’ve both had participating in ROW80, clearly the best way to have fun while writing is to have the support of friends along the way. So pop on over, leave your NaNo profile on the linky list, and introduce yourself. We’ll be hosting “check-in chats” every Friday, and throwing out our linky mashup of NaNoWriMo goodness.
I’ve got quite a few things to work on:
- Thesis Edits: The early feedback I received from my advisor basically boils down to the fact that the latest chapter needs to be dramatically tightened up and my arguments “better embedded,” or something along those lines. I more or less expected this, so I have a number of notes to make before I meet with her on Friday. For the record, I just have to say that I HATE first drafts with every gosh darn bone in my body. Like… I bloody HATE them. So I am really relieved to be moving into edit phase, so I can slash and burn all the things that don’t fit, and fix the things that do.
- Writing: My WIPs are currently sitting in the corner with sad faces on them, looking like poor little abandoned creatures. I’m can’t wait until November gets here; this extended period of doing nothing but taking notes and outlining (or attempting to, at any rate) is starting to drive me a little crazy.
- Spending less time on G+: I’ve recently discovered that Google+ is like this amazing, wonderful, phenomenal candyland of cool people and fantastic ideas, and it has sucked me into its Vortex of Awesome with the force of a massive black hole (seriously, one of these days I will write an ode to G+). Sadly, I think I spent something like 3 hours having great conversations with people, and it was a total blast… but, er, I probably should’ve been doing other things with those three hours (i.e., grading). But just look at the hilarious things I have been finding!
- I am obsessed with this entire “occupy fictional places” thing.
- Working on blogging ideas/writing posts: I really miss blogging about more than ROW80 highs and lows, and I’ve been jotting down a few ideas for posts and theme days that I will
hopefullyeventuallymaybedefinitely write. I just, er, have to find the time to do that, but maybe if I spend less time on G+…
So that’s the current lay of the land. I’ll leave you with the trailer of this wonderful movie that I watched yesterday, Last Night, starring Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington. It tackles that tried and true topic — a married couple tempted to cheat on each other — in a way that I found incredibly compelling and beautiful. This is the sort of movie where the nuances of body language and expression need to be absorbed, not just the dialogue. It’s currently streaming on Netflix (which is how I ran across it), so if you have a chance and it strikes your fancy, check it out.
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October 19, 2011 at 9:08 pm
Signed up for the support group. What a great idea. Good luck with your thesis edits.
October 21, 2011 at 10:45 am
Thanks, Robin! Looking forward to making my way through NaNo with you!
October 19, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Well done for finding time to check-in! I am trying to get better at not getting distracted with the internet….may have to only look at things after I have reached my word count during NaNo!
Keep up the good work!
October 21, 2011 at 10:46 am
Thanks, Em! I seriously wasn’t sure if the check-in was going to happen or not, but I do hate missing them. I think this idea of not touching the internet till after the daily word count is reached is a really good idea. I’m going to have to employ that next month!
October 20, 2011 at 6:24 am
I think I’ll sign up to your support group if I finally decide to take the plunge 🙂
October 21, 2011 at 10:47 am
That’d be wonderful, Sarah! We’d love to have you. 😀
October 20, 2011 at 8:51 am
I’ll have to check that movie out…thanks for the recommendation. It sounds like you’re maintaining your goals even if the WIPs are giving you puppy-eyed looks from the corner. Good luck with the rest of your week 🙂
October 21, 2011 at 10:47 am
Yeah, if you have a chance, I recommend watching it. It’s a little sad and a little bittersweet, but a *good* sort of bittersweet, if that makes any sense.
Have a wonderful rest of the week as well!
October 20, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Great trailer . Will check the movie out. Congratulations on the ROW80 accomplishments. Good for you.
October 21, 2011 at 10:48 am
Thanks, Suma! Have a wonderful rest of your week!
October 20, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Reading about your schedule makes me need a nap! I don’t miss college days at all, and you’re doing so much more on top of that. Cool about the NaNoWriMo support group. I’ve been debating whether to get involved with that this year or not. Still on the fence because I have two unfinished projects that I really need to deal with…yet several more I’m chomping at the bit to start. That would be a great way to get rolling on at least one.
Nice to meet another cat lover (at least I assume you love cats from the About section). We have five living in my zoo. 🙂
October 21, 2011 at 10:50 am
Haha, sometimes I feel like the schedule looks worse on paper. I’m trying to stay positive about the fact that I actually do have some free time to do my silly social networking/writing stuff.
I’m actually going to use NaNo to finish a WIP that I started a few months ago, which makes me a ‘NaNo rebel’ apparently. But I didn’t want to get too distracted with a new idea, since I’ve decided that I’m only allowed to have 3 WIPs on rotation — any more will make my head explode.
And yes, cats! I can’t have any in the apartment where I’m currently living, but my parents still have Napoleon, the cat we adopted when I was 16, and I love going home to visit with him. He is the wee love of my life. 😉
October 21, 2011 at 11:51 am
I feel like any free time I have is spent on networking and learning the whole author platform thing. Sometimes to the exclusion of everything else in my life.
Glad to see what you’re going to do with NaNoWriMo because I’ve been tossing around that same idea. This particular book is ‘my baby,’ and I’ve been ‘working on it’ for a long time. I think, deep down, I really don’t want to finish it. But it’s my goal, and if I use this event to back myself into a corner, it might work. And between a few scenes I need to add, and adding to existing scenes, I might finally be able to let it go.
I love cats. We have Sam (26 pound tiger wannabe), Sophie (arrogant queen), Lil Dude (semi-arrogant prince), Oreo (little tiny lovable thing who likes to curl up at your feet) and Jasper (the cutest of them all, and the biggest trouble-maker). Add to that Jack, a 97 pound part pit bull (who thinks he’s a poodle-likes to sit on your lap) and Shadow, our 12 year old black lab (a sweetheart). That’s my zoo. And it’s not going to grow any time in the near (or distant) future. 🙂
October 21, 2011 at 8:04 am
Great job on launching the support group! I’ll most likely be signed up on Monday as I’m making god headway on my outline/plotting/character assessing. Whew. It’s hard work just getting ready for NaNo!
I haven’t seen any promo for the movie, Last Night, but I have live streaming on NetFlix…Hmm. Maybe I’ll check out this movie today! Knightly is one of my favorite actresses ever since she played Elizabeth Darcy – pulling it off suberbly to my way of thinking.
Get your naps in! I have a feeling that November will have us all burning the candle at both ends. But it’s so darned exciting!
October 21, 2011 at 10:52 am
Yay, I’m so glad to hear that the outline/plotting/character planning madness is going well! It’ll be a blast to have you in the support group.
I definitely share your excitement for NaNo. I haven’t actually told anyone besides my mom about the fact that I’m doing it because I KNOW they’re all going to call me crazy, but I can’t help it — I can’t resist the siren’s call, lol.
Have a great rest of the week, Nadja!
October 21, 2011 at 8:05 am
Uhhhmmm, that should be ‘good’ headway. Sheesh. 🙂
October 21, 2011 at 10:35 am
I have not got into G+ much. I log in, read my front page and log back out. I like Twitter. I think my IRC history has set me up to enjoy the constant pace that it changes. Also I’m a bit ADD.
Good luck with NaNo, I can’t commit to a quota until my son is older and I’m used to my new schedule in a new city.
October 21, 2011 at 10:53 am
I love Twitter too, Asrai. For me, I find G+ is a better replacement for Facebook, which has just felt really cluttered and yucky since they’ve implemented all the changes with the ticker, etc. I’ve actually got a few hundred people in my circles on G+, so the stream updates pretty frequently, too.
Hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!
October 22, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Thanks for the linky thing for NaNo. That is a great idea. I’ll have to check it again when they let us add friends. And I hear you about the first draft. I make a mess of myself trying to get through it and hurry to editing. First drafts are painful to say the least. As much as I love writing, I don’t know why they bug me so much. It’s the perfectionist in me, somewhere. Anywho, good work on your goals. You’re a trooper and seem to be well organized. Keep up the good work!