A Healthy Dose of PMS ~#

[DesertRoseFallen]

Haha that would be a great goal PMS! I took meditating for a while...I need to do that more often. How is Yoga for the brain? Meditating is like a sinful pleasure haha.

 

[Psychotic Maniacal Sanity]

Yoga is good for the brain because you have to focus on each of the positions carefully. I'm hoping that by doing it every day I might lose some weight (because I really need to), but it also helps me sleep better too.

~Tuesday 19th January, 2010.

Now playing: The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Hellfire

I feel her, I see her ~ the sun caught in raven hair is blazing in me out of all control...

So, today has been pretty successful! Perhaps my positive thinking thing is working out more quickly than I thought it would. I've been in a really good mood all day, even though when I woke up it was so foggy outside I couldn't see the lake from my window any more. It was cold and brisk, which was actually quite invigorating, and I managed to get through my 10-12 seminar without dozing off. XD

I headed back feeling quite sluggish, but did some reading and had a nap and felt much better afterwards. After that it was easy to do the reading for my seminar next week (which has to be done early as I'm doing the class presentation on the two texts). I'm already a fan of Fitzgerald's writing, so reading his Winter Dreams and Babylon Revisited didn't take much out of me. Ernest Hemingway I'd never really come into contact with before, but I enjoyed reading him (if not as much as Fitzgerald). This means tomorrow I can put my presentation together and have the weekend to visit my boyfriend at his uni, completely free of strenuous work.

Of course, then I grabbed the opportunity (after a social dinner with a uni friend) to do my writing! Another 1.8k written and my important chapter finished. Now that we have some things revealed, I have two more chapters to write, one with more exposition and action and one with a nice resolution. =3 I'm feeling pretty chuffed with myself, hence the rather hefty post, sorry!

I only hope tomorrow will be as productive as today has been. Tomorrow I have to get some books out of the library to research for my presentation, write my presentation, buy some paper and print out handouts, do some extra reading for my seminars, and write. It'll be busy!

Now it's yoga time! Then bed. I'm tired. Damn caffeine-low.

Words written today: 1,869

Word count: 77,752

Lines for today:

Darkness. Pinching. Rubbing. Clawing! I feel the sweat on my forehead dripping onto my cheeks, or is it tears? Warm and salty. My bed is wet, my eyes sore with the squeezing desire to weep until I can weep no more. Esmeralde’s face is all I can see, hot like sunlight against the back of my eyelids. “The death of you.” Oh Lord, is this really the end?

Like fire - hellfire - this fire in my skin. This burning desire is turning me to sin. It's not my fault!

 

[DesertRoseFallen]

Yay for writing! How much free time do you have? My friend is going to UEA and he is so nervous haha!

 

[Psychotic Maniacal Sanity]

Ah, there's nothing to be nervous about! It's a brilliant university, and honestly, the people here are so friendly. It's actually kind of scary. I have a lot of "free time", as in, time that I don't spend in lectures, but since I have so much reading to do I only usually get a few hours free a day, and in those hours I read, internet, hang out with friends, do yoga and write. xd There's lots to be crammed in!  

[DesertRoseFallen]

Oh no! Hahaha, how is the creative writing aspect of the course going?

 

[Psychotic Maniacal Sanity]

Since it's only 25% of my course make-up, I don't have any modules this semester (instead I get a free module to take - I chose a literature module and we're reading some really awesome stuff). However, my module last semester was brilliant. We had to write two portfolios, and the feedback we got on those was excellent. The person who conducted our seminars had some really helpful things to say, and we did loads of workshops, and on top of that all the other people on my course, all the writers, are awesome people. There are only like... 13 of us? It's great. =D

~Wednesday 20th January, 2010.

Now playing: Delta Goodrem - Innocent Eyes

I miss those days and I miss those ways, when I got lost in fantasies, in a cartoon land of mysteries

Didn't write anything today. I did however do a nice long yoga workout, and get my presentation done for Tuesday. That means that I have plenty of time to do the reading I have to do for next week. I'm not sure if I'll hit the goal of 80k by Friday, but we'll see. It all depends on whether I get any writing done tomorrow night. : D

For the little girl inside who won't just hide, don't let me see mistakes and lies. Let me keep my faith and innocent eyes...

 

[DesertRoseFallen]

Oooo that sounds awesome! I really cannot wait for Uni, and you make it sound better!

 

[Psychotic Maniacal Sanity]

Well, I'm glad you have pleasant expectations! I really do love university life, even for all it's faults and my incredible homesickness. xd

~Thursday 21st January, 2010.

Now playing: Cher - Walking in Memphis

Put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded the plane. Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues in the middle of the pouring rain...

So! Another good day in terms of my recent writing. I got another 2.4k written on my novel (which is a record in terms of how much I've been doing for a while!), and I'm getting closer and closer to the end now. I have perhaps, a chapter and a third still to write (maybe a bit more, depending on how things span out over the next few scenes), and I'm feeling confident that I'll be able to get it done in just a few weeks!

I'm very excited about finishing it, since I'm going to very seriously edit this, and it's my first big go at editing anything, but also because then I can make myself a front cover and blurb and get it in paper copy. If this does happen, and the paperback pleases me, I may even post a photgraph on here to show everybody! If they care, anyway... XD

Tomorrow I won't be writing anything, I don't think, since I'm going to Nottingham to visit my boyfriend, and then visiting home with him to see a friend whose birthday was today. We're going to get very drunk on Saturday night, and it's going to be a brilliant treat for me as I've been trying very hard to stay positive all week! So far, it's worked well (so we'll see how it works when I have to come back here on Monday!)

Ah well. Now it's time for my yoga (although not much of it since I went for a run earlier and hurt my leg, haha). And then it's bed time. I'm tired.

Coffee crash.

Words written today: 2,445

Word count: 80,205

Lines for today:

“What you and those other silly girls did - it was careless, and it was dangerous. You could have been killed! These are difficult times, and although I don’t fully expect you to understand that, I at least expected a little better from you Adele. I thought you were sensible, thought you had a good head on your shoulders. You must realise that I have to act in the best interests of the student body.” Her frown deepens for a second, and then she wrings her hands together. “These are rather extreme circumstances, however, and by protocol I cannot decide on a course of action until you are well enough to defend yourself.

“For now you will be stripped of all privileges and remain in the infirmary until you are instructed otherwise. Is that clear?”

I can hardly speak for the tears - they are falling freely now - but I manage a vague nod and a muffled “Yes Ma’am.”

And I sang with all my might, and he said "Tell me are you a Christian child?" And I said "Man I am tonight"...

 

[DesertRoseFallen]

Awww that's nice, I hope you have fun with your boyfriend! You've done your leg in..I've done my wrist in xD

 

[Psychotic Maniacal Sanity]

~Tuesday 26th January, 2010.

Now playing: Within Temptation - Stand My Ground

I just know there's no escape now, once it sets it's eyes on you -but I wont run, have to stare it in the eye...

I didn't get any writing done this weekend, like I thought, but it was okay. It was a brilliant weekend (even though I was very hungover on Sunday and felt sick all day xd ) and yesterday was too busy to even contemplate writing. Today, however, I hit my target. This means that I'm on track to finish earlier than I thought. There is actually less plot left than I thought there might be, so now it's entirely possible that I'll get the thing finished tomorrow! Yay!

Actually, I'm not so sure whether this is a moment for 'yay'. It just feels so me like the novel is too short, even though a short novel is what I planned. I aimed for something around 60k, and have something which is closer to 85k. This seems like it's sort of in the middle of a novella and a full novel, so we'll have to see what happens in the editing, whether I cut stuff or add to it.

I am determined to edit well though. So my plans for after finishing are basically to leave it for a few days, write a short story or do some reading, and then go back to it to begin editing. I'll start by editing prose, grammar, awkward sentences (that general kind of thing), and then if I can stomach it I'll read over it again more quickly and look for plot stumbles, holes, or chasms. ninja I'm hoping there won't be too many, but it's likely that there will be a few things that need changing or elaborating with more research. Again, we'll see.

Here's my list of things to do, which I can tick off and feel good about until everything is done:

• Finish Gunmetal and Lace as soon as humanly possible.
  
• Attempt to write short stories for both of the guild contests
  
• Do all necessary reading for course
  
• But also reading for pleasure too
  
• Don't get distracted from assignments in the meantime!
  
• Go through GaL with a finetooth language comb
  
• Fix all plot holes
  
• Create .pdf document with correct page sizes, font sizes, etc. (I may need help here! I always screw up my margines...)
  
• Create front cover/back cover for the novel
  
• Upload to createspace.com and get that damn proofcopy ordered!

Anyway. Now it's late, and I have yoga to do. =3

Words written today: 2,494

Word count: 82,693

Lines for today:

“You’ll have to miss it,” Juliana informs me. As if I don’t already know. “You can’t leave this room.” She smirks a little. “And that’s all good because I won’t have you anywhere near my brother. If I could, I’d have you out of this place tonight. You’re mad. He told me all about your crazy visions.” Her face erupts with laughter and she doubles up in faux amusement. “Don’t think you’ll get your claws into him Adele. You don’t deserve him.”

... stand my ground, I wont give in. No more denying, I got to face it. Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside

 

[DesertRoseFallen]

Wow, that is a long list of stuff to do, good luck with that!

 

[Psychotic Maniacal Sanity]

~Thursday 28th January, 2010.

Now playing: Marina and the Diamonds - Hollywood (I'm obsessed with this song!)

She is a Polish girl in America; tall, tanned hot blonde girl, Anya. I asked her ‘Why would you wanna be a hollywood wife?’ - “Because I don’t want to end up living in a dive on Vine”

Yes, Desert, I do have rather a lot to do! But I am well on my way to achieving that first one! I've reached the peak of my climactic scene, so now all that remains is the finale. The ending. The epilogue. I would finish it tonight, but I feel it needs careful attention since it is the ending, and I'm really tired.

I might have finished it last night if not for the major virus issues I had. It was not good. I spent a good three hours of my evening trying to fix my computer. Luckily, I didn't lose anything and I did finally manage to get rid of it by just doing a simple system restore. Phew.

I've done my yoga for tonight, and as you can tell I'm exhausted now. I think it's time for bed.

Words written today: 4,344

Word count: 87,090

Lines for today:

The stunned silence fades, and through the darkness my hearing whooshes into overdrive. I hear screaming, shouting. Somebody has a bell. Somebody has a horn. A man is calling for a headcount, and I fancy that somewhere - just out of earshot - a woman is screaming my name.

Hollywood infected your brain, you wanted kissing in the rain. I’ve been living in a movie scene, puking American dreams. Oh, I’m obsessed with the mess that’s America

 

[DesertRoseFallen]

Ack, I need to take up some form of exercise! I wish I could write as much as you in a day....there just aren't enough hours in a day!

 

[Psychotic Maniacal Sanity]

~Friday 29th January, 2010.

Now playing: Emmy The Great - We Almost Had A baby

I would've called you, and I'd have said "Hey. You know I'm in control, I'll let you know if you have to come and choose a name"

I finished my novel! *does happy dance*

I have little else to say, other than I finally, finally finished. heart After about 6 months, it's done. Now to let it sit before I edit it. <3

Words written today: 1,713

Word count: 88,803

Lines for today:

The rest of Rosehead seems to tower over the rubble as though it is hunched in mourning. The grey brick is ribbed with dark smudges; ash seems to fill the air, like millions of tiny floating spectres haunting the world. Nobody was hurt, but the house is irreparable.

Well, I am a woman, but before I met you I was only a kid

 

[Chanthar]

Awesomeness PMS!
Congratulations on finishing your novel, and g'luck on the eventual editing