Something crazy

[katiefoolery]

I did something crazy over the weekend.  Insane.  Possibly ill-advised.  Only time will tell...

I pledged to write 200,000 words next year.

Considering I wrote maybe a couple of hundred words this year, this aim seems both hopeless and overly optimistic all at once.  And yet, it comes at almost a perfect time, since I've been thinking a lot about writing lately.  Thinking.  Not doing.  But still.

However, I don't believe I should be the only one engaging in such craziness.  Forget NaNo - a mere month of writing like a possessed thing surviving on caffeine and shared suffering.  This is where it's at.  Don't just write one dodgy novella... write five!  Write a great, long, sprawling saga!  Swim in the stream of consciousness.  Or, uh, actually decide on a project and work on that instead.

Just DO EEEEEEEEEEEET.  Get your words out.

And then blame theemdash and sopdetly, because it was all their idea in the first place.

Also, crazedturkey did this, so I'm going to do it, too...

Meme instructions:

1. Reply to this post and I will pick five of your icons.


2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.


3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.


4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon glee.

On the seventh day of Christmas, Dr Turkey gave to me...

We love our URST in LorF.  And, uh, pretty much anywhere else, really.  URST stands for Un-Resolved Sexual Tension.  Many people know it as UST, but we think the R adds something a little extra.  An R sound, for a start...

The only thing better than a bit of URST is a good cliffhanger.  And if your cliffhanger involves URST then you may just be worshipped as some sort of diety.


Sometimes, published authors just make it look too easy.  The words flow perfectly; the characters are engaging and expertly-drawn; the plot is gripping and beautifully formed.  "Those dastardly, well-paid handsome beasts!" we exclaim in hopeless envy.  "Why is it so easy for them?"

And then you read a quote like this and you realise it isn't.  Sometimes even world-famous, best-selling authors experience those moments when this whole writing business seems like a bit of a mistake really and perhaps I should just continue to rot in libraries after all.

That's why I love this quote: because if Terry Pratchett experiences exactly the same pangs of frustration as I do, then maybe there's hope for me, too.


I believe I can sum this one up very simply: YAOI FTW.  I needed to comment on a delicious story by erinmacha and I didn't have an appropriately slashy icon... so I made this one.


This is a cute little building in Euroa, a tiny little town in country Victoria.  For a while there, my family had a habit of meeting there for lunches to celebrate family occasions, since it's roughly half-way between where I live and where the parents live.  I was sitting there at one of said lunches and there was something about the shapes and colours of the little building and the trees that I liked, so I took a photo of it and it worked its way into an icon.  My country has cute little houses in it.

(I may have over-used the word "little" there...)


Ah, the poor, maligned and much-abused apostrophe.  Yes, I am the person who rubs out extraneous apostrophes on whiteboards and café menus.  I am the person who flinches when someone uses an apostrophe for a plural.  I can't help it.

Comments

[crazedturkey.livejournal.com]

I'm in. I have this novel idea in my head right now. It'll be a bitch to write but goddamnit I WANT to.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Yay! Then I can remember to sign into msn and we can bitch about how crazy this is and how we're never going to make it. Splendid!

And those stories that are difficult to write usually always turn out to be the best ones. I can't wait to read yours, if you want to share it.

[moonlitpromise.livejournal.com]

My icons suck, so not doing the meme. >>; But um, more importantly, HELL NO am I doing that five books in one year. ROFL! Omg. I'd die. I can barely crank out a chapter a month, and I only do that because I had a computer in front of my face, glaring at me, at work, everyday. Now I have no such privilege.

And as for the last thing. You must hate me. I use random marks all the time that aren't supposed to be there. lol

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Heheh, it may turn out to be a crazy thing to do. Actually, there are four levels of pledges... and 200,000 is the smallest. It works out at something like 16,000 - 17,000 words per month, which sounds the tiniest bit less daunting. It's a shame you can't write at work any more - it's usually one of the best places do to it. :)

And to be honest, I hadn't really noticed the way you use apostrophes. You should have seen me when I started writing stories - I had no idea where I was supposed to put them! Often, I'd just stick an apostrophe in because I hadn't used one for a while.

[http://users.livejournal.com/traycer_/]

200,000 words in one year? I barely made 2,100 in a month for NaNo! But then again, I didn't include the words written for my journal, for the occasional fanfic (which is rare these days), and I do have a couple novels that I'd really like to start/finish. Hmmmm.....

Okay, so maybe I should consider it. :)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, that's what makes the difference for getyourwordsout! Spent 10,000 words on a story that ends up going nowhere? No problem! It's all part of the greater scheme of things.

I'm sort of alternating between excitement and anticipated failure right now. But even if I don't make the 200,000; even if I just write more than I wrote this year, then I figure it will have been worth it.

I hope you do decide to give it a go. The more people on my flist who understand my pain, the better. :D

[theemdash]

HEE HEE!!! ♥

I signed up for 200K as well, but I have a feeling I'll surpass that. I didn't write as much this year, but last year I posted 50K of fanfic and that doesn't count all the things I started and didn't finish or all the stuff that was cut from those fics. I have a feeling 200K won't be that daunting when I'm actually shooting for that as a goal.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Yep, it sounds really scary right now, when I'm on the zero side of 200,000... but then I remember that I wrote a 145,000 word manuscript in four months (admittedly, during Summer holidays, but still) so it can definitely be done in a year.

Provided I try to ignore distractions and the shininess of the internet in general, of course.

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

Pish, 200,000 in a year should be easy!!

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Yes. Easy.

*shifty eyes*

Still, at the very least it'll give me something to procrastinate about! :D

[flippyfrog.livejournal.com]

Right. I'm in. I don't know if I'll get there, but how about two completed manuscripts?


And you have no idea how long I've been sitting staring at those words above really, really worried about making that kind of commitment...

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Splendid! You can write whatever you want, really - it could even be two incomplete manuscripts. And you can count all those extra scenes that end up being cut and other things like that.

And I can imagine how long it was, believe me. It took me about three days to actually decide to commit. Now go and join the comm.

*prods the Flitness*

[naelany.livejournal.com]

(no meme for me please) Hey, that's "only" 4 months worth of Nano, isn't it? You can do that ^_^

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Yes, only four months of NaNo. I didn't mention the fact that I've started NaNo twice and failed to finish both times, did I? I may be doomed...

Or maybe I'll just try and be positive. Huzzah for insanity!

[naelany.livejournal.com]

I'd say that you stand a better shot doing 4*Nano over the duration of a year, then doing 1 Nano in the actual time frame of a month lol ^_~

[frohike.livejournal.com]

I've started NaNo five times and failed all five. *pout*
And next year I plan to do it again. And the year after. And the year after that. Hopefully without the !fail though.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I had a special NaNo failure icon for the times I failed. :D

There's just something about NaNo that doesn't work for me. It always felt a little unreal - as though I were just throwing a whole bunch of words together and never planning on doing anything with them ever again. I don't think I like wasting words like that.

[elfie-chan.livejournal.com]

Best of luck with that! Would you like me to post each day, "katiefoolery, have you written your words today?" 'Cuz I will!

So...I may not commit to a word count, but I would like to be able to write for an hour a day. Cassandra's story really wants to be told, and I just got some really great ideas for The Swashbuckler Files recently--very steampunk-y. Plus, there's the Crossroads collection, and Lenore...

I have enough ideas to do it, if I can just get myself to sit down and write. I think I need a writing buddy.

I believe that Super Shakespeare is an appropriate icon for this. ^_^

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Hehe! Maybe a reminder every now and then would be helpful. :) Of course, it may also result in me looking all sheepish and whispering something about igotdistractedbyashinythingandi'lldoitlateriswear...

I love the sound of the steampunky story. And I've love to read more of Cassandra's story, too. You know, if you did end up writing for an hour every day, I think you'd easily go over 200,000 words... :D

I don't know if you IM much, but if you ever feel like talking writing or Cassandra (or even Jane and Lizzie), I'd love to chat. I'm buneater @ msn . com on msn and katiefoolery on yim.

ETA> Yes, Super Shakespeare is definitely the perfect touch!

[elfie-chan.livejournal.com]

*giggles* I can definitely sympathize with the whole being-distracted-by-shinies issue.

Originally, Swashbuckler Files had aliens. I removed the aliens, and it's a much better, more cohesive story idea now. I need to do more research, but now it's going to involve a courier service. I'm very excited.

And if I managed to write an hour a day, even taking writer's block into account...there's hope!

I would love to IM with you! I'm on Gtalk. I haven't looked at the others...I have Windows, so maybe I'll try MSN. Is it free?

I would love to chat about all writing, and I'd love to work on Jane and Lizzie again, if you're amenable. They're an excellent way of getting ideas flowing.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Yep - msn is most definitely free. I wonder if msn talks to Gtalk... I know I can talk to yim people on it - I'll have a look into that.

I suspect Jane's given up on me, but I still think about her. And Lizzie, too, of course. And I could count any Jane words towards my 200,000! So I'd definitely love to look into reviving that.

...And I just discovered that LJ deleted my Jane icon when my userpic extension thing ran out. Woe!

[elfie-chan.livejournal.com]

Also, I would love to do the icon meme. That looks like fun!

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Splendid! I choose the following icons of yours:

[everydayjoy.livejournal.com]

Thank you. You have convinced me to join you in this madness which may, in fact, be just what I need to get my writing on track in '09.

Also: my icons are incredibly boring but I'm sure I could invent something to say about them if you are willing for me to make like a sheep and folllllow.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Splendid! I'm so glad I'll have a lovely group of people on my flist who will understand my pain. And hopefully my happiness when it goes right. Which I'm hoping it will at least once or twice along the way... I'm hoping for pretty much the same thing: to get back into writing in a big way.

As for your icons, I choose the following:










I think you have a delightful collection of icons, actually, and I'd love to know why you have/made/chose these ones in particular. :)

[everydayjoy.livejournal.com]

Ooh, yummy, they'll be fun to write about!!

I keep trying to tell myself that 200,000 words is incredibly doable. So far I don't quite believe it, but I know it's true. One nagging little whisper of reason is telling me I really should be editing in 2009 rather than writing more stuff but... there you have it :).

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I'm really looking forward to hearing the little stories behind them. :)

It really is doable, isn't it? Especially since it's just 200,000 words - not 200,000 perfect words or 200,000 polished and edited words. It's completely possible to do it. And you can still edit - it'd be the perfect thing to do when the words start to misbehave.

[everydayjoy.livejournal.com]

P.S. What code did you use to insert those icons into your comment?

The Ungeek.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Here's the code for you:

<img src="http://imageurl">

So the code for the icon you're using now would look like this:

<img src="http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/82359054/14545962">

And it will come up like this:

[everydayjoy.livejournal.com]

Oh thank you, supreme geeky one!

Is this what they call hotlinking when it's in regard to userpics?

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Heheh, you're welcome. :) It'd only really be called hotlinking if you were using that code on a site other than LiveJournal.

[frohike.livejournal.com]

Okay, I have applied to join the GYWO comm, and I shall pledge the minimum. And then reenact the abovementioned Terry Pratchet comment.

Which brings me too.... meme me please? I have a good two dozen icons to choose from.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Oh gods yes - I imagine I'll be following his example on a regular basis. Huzzah for pledging and joining, though! Mass insanity is a splendid thing.

And I choose the following icons of yours:

[surferartchick.livejournal.com]

Katie a few of us from GYWO are going to be doing a Vlog along with it come January-ish we need a fifth person would you be up to it?

Peeps involved:
Me (surferartchick, theemdash, & sopdetly

:D

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

It sounds awesome! I'd love to be part of it! :D