I like to set myself challenges. It's important to me to continually find a way to make life and writing that little bit more interesting by putting deadlines on things. Typically, these challenges coincide with something else in the year. The New Year marked the beginning of my current daily-publication process. February marked my Love Poem month. Lent is going to mark a 40 day challenge. (Note: Lent is actually 46 days from Ash Wednesday until the Saturday before Easter Sunday, inclusive. The Sundays aren't included in the 40 days of Lent.)
During Lent, I have 40 days that don't require me to spend an unplanned amount of time doing something else. Between family commitments (2 days), a small break abroad (3 days), and the play (1 day), I have 6 days' worth of plans that can't be avoided.
I'm dividing the 40 days I actually do have between 4 books. Two are non-fiction books on writing. Last weekend, I planned 8 such books, and I think it's worth taking the time to getting them written. The idea is to publish them a few months apart between now and September 2015. That is, assuming I get in, when I should be finished with my Masters.
The first book will, in theory, be written between March 5th and March 14th. It's one of the non-fiction books, and one I've been meaning to write for some time.
The second book will be written between March 15th and 28th; there'll be a few days in the middle of that period when I won't be at my laptop, and so I won't be able to write anything. I could, however, finish the book early. It's a novella, and one that I'm very excited to actually write. However, it needs to be planned first, hence the delay in beginning it. I have an idea about what I'd like to do with it once it's written, too, which is always nice. You'll find out more on this book later in the month.
The third book is the second non-fiction book. I'll be writing it between March 29th and April 9th, though there'll be a break in there, too. This one I'm writing because (1) I noticed a market for it, (2) I'm something of an expert at it and (3) I really want to give it a shot. I'll actually be using the second book in the challenge as the basis for a chunk of this book.
The fourth book, then, is one you've already heard of: The Blood of Leap. I'm determined to put what will hopefully be three successfully-written books to good use on the motivation front. Between April 10th and 19th, I want to finish the book. This will require me re-reading it, re-planning it from where I've left off, and writing it. If all goes according to plan, it'll see publication in late April or early May.
It's important for me that I actually spell this out publicly. I have found in the past that when I announce exactly what I'm writing, I tend to write it more easily. Of course, I won't be shirking off my regular writing responsibilities. I still have to write my flash stories for every week. I need to prepare content for the days I'll be missing. All of this needs to happen while I'm working, while I'll minding my niece, and while I'm directing a play.
This is what I live for. I live to write, and to write a lot. A rough estimate for the four books, in terms of a word count, is around 80-90,000 words. Add to that thirteen flash stories, six articles, fifteen blog posts (one extra-special Monday post, explaining the second book I'm writing - though I'm cheating by writing this one a day early!) and thirteen poems, and it's going to be a busy Lenten period. I can guarantee two things on Easter Sunday: I'll have my regular article, and I'll be gorging myself on chocolate, because damn it I'll deserve it!
4 books, 40 days, let's do this!
Showing posts with label writing challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing challenge. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Friday, July 9, 2010
That's WEIRD!
Until I was about seventeen, I wasn't myself. I mean, I was who everyone kind of expected me to be, but I kind of failed at that. I wasn't interested in: (a) generic rap, (b) sports or (c) devilment. I kept my head down and did my work, and if I got an idea I didn't tell anyone about it. I strived to fit in, doing crazy, stupid things like listening to a band because people liked them, or buying a DS because I thought then I could be included in a group of people who had an "exclusive" club.
As I came to the end of my time in secondary school, I wasn't afraid to let people see some of the real me. I was asked a few times by first years (I was a Prefect - first years knew who I was), "Aren't you cool?" What do you say to that? I wasn't going to lie, and I wasn't going to lecture them on the meaning of the word cool. I said to them, "No, I'm not cool." They laughed, I kind of laughed, and we went our seperate ways. They asked again the next week.
See, cool by my definition is what people decide they like. Okay, someone can look cool without actually being cool (they can look cool and be cool, too, obviously). But cool implies that everyone likes what I do, that a majority of people think that what I do is what they'd like to do. I wasn't cool. I was weird.
Summer - boring. I won't bore you with the details of those few months. The most exciting thing was getting my place in college. That's it. That was my summer of 2009. It was in September that I made a few changes, though. I stopped giving a damn about what people thought of me. I didn't hide the fact that I was a writer, that I was loud and hyperactive and that I disliked sports. Actually, that's not even entirely true. I dislike soccer, and I can't watch a lot of sports because they bore me, but I like GAA. I'm just no good at it, and when I was younger, Gaelic seemed too much like soccer. In short, it was bawring.
So, I started college. I let people know I was a nerd. "I listen to music from the Internet and I watch lots of Sci-Fi. Also, every morning for the next four years that we're here, you're going to hear me say hi to some of my friends, because I'm that loud. And you'll wonder how someone can be so happy on a Monday morning."
Monday mornings... there's a fun one. Most people are severely depressed on Mondays. Not me. I go through most weekends without seeing my friends, so when Monday comes along, I'm more than happy to see them. I'm bouncing-off-the-walls, ready-to-explode giddy! This does different things for different people. Most keep a certain distance from me for the first half hour, until I've calmed down a bit. One friend and I had a thing where we'd high-five once a day instead of saying too much. I think I hurt his hand with explosive amounts of enthusiasm.
This all comes down to one thing: by general consensus, I wasn't normal. General consensus is wrong. I was normal, but I wasn't the same. A friend, the same high-five-till-you-hurt friend, has me talking about any problems I have. That's normal. It's not generally accepted - guys talking about feelings? That. Is. Ridiculous! Right? Nope. It's different, though.
Of course, I still get asked a few of the same questions in college as I did in secondary school: Why don't you drink? Did you write a book? What's it about? The answers are this: I choose not to drink. Yes, I wrote three (that was the old response; now it's Yes, I wrote four, but I haven't had a chance to use that that). It's complicated. Very complicated.
That's. Not. Normal. People want answers. They want to know what's going on. Someone not drinking is weird. If you saw me on a night out, you might not guess that I'm sober, though, because I tend to be a bit... can you guess the word? HYPERACTIVE. Wonderful stuff. But it still confuses people when they see me with a Sprite and wonder if there's Vodka in there, too. Bartenders probably get confused when I order drinks for other people, too. Like buying a mate's Guinness for him, or giving a girl a Jager Bomb to help make her night better, because she's lost her bag. Actually, I order three Jager Bombs once. That must have confused the girl behind the bar!
The book thing is more difficult to deal with. People will ask, because they'll have heard from somebody. It's a small college, so word gets around. Generally my reponse is, Did you not know that? Oh... Then they ask what the books are about. I literally cannot summarise four books in a short enough amount of time. I tried before. Someone then asked, Where do you get your ideas from? I suppose the best way to deal with that question the next time I'm asked it is to just say, In general, from the people I know here, and wave my arm around the building a bit.
I suppose it's my own fault. I could try fit in and not let anyone know the real me, but that's no fun. I'd be a carbon copy of the society I hate. I'd be drinking to satisfy other people, trying to play soccer despite the fact that I suck at it, and listening to music I can't stand. That's no way to live. I'd prefer be an enigma to people. I'd prefer be weird than be the same. That's probably because I'm a twin and look the same as someone else.
I suppose I have a new response to Aren't you cool? I probably won't ever get asked that again, but I have a response to it. What do you think? Yeah, that'd really mess with someone's head.
----------------------
Written as part of Challenge 2, Normality of Summer of Writing 2010. Full details here.
As I came to the end of my time in secondary school, I wasn't afraid to let people see some of the real me. I was asked a few times by first years (I was a Prefect - first years knew who I was), "Aren't you cool?" What do you say to that? I wasn't going to lie, and I wasn't going to lecture them on the meaning of the word cool. I said to them, "No, I'm not cool." They laughed, I kind of laughed, and we went our seperate ways. They asked again the next week.
See, cool by my definition is what people decide they like. Okay, someone can look cool without actually being cool (they can look cool and be cool, too, obviously). But cool implies that everyone likes what I do, that a majority of people think that what I do is what they'd like to do. I wasn't cool. I was weird.
Summer - boring. I won't bore you with the details of those few months. The most exciting thing was getting my place in college. That's it. That was my summer of 2009. It was in September that I made a few changes, though. I stopped giving a damn about what people thought of me. I didn't hide the fact that I was a writer, that I was loud and hyperactive and that I disliked sports. Actually, that's not even entirely true. I dislike soccer, and I can't watch a lot of sports because they bore me, but I like GAA. I'm just no good at it, and when I was younger, Gaelic seemed too much like soccer. In short, it was bawring.
So, I started college. I let people know I was a nerd. "I listen to music from the Internet and I watch lots of Sci-Fi. Also, every morning for the next four years that we're here, you're going to hear me say hi to some of my friends, because I'm that loud. And you'll wonder how someone can be so happy on a Monday morning."
Monday mornings... there's a fun one. Most people are severely depressed on Mondays. Not me. I go through most weekends without seeing my friends, so when Monday comes along, I'm more than happy to see them. I'm bouncing-off-the-walls, ready-to-explode giddy! This does different things for different people. Most keep a certain distance from me for the first half hour, until I've calmed down a bit. One friend and I had a thing where we'd high-five once a day instead of saying too much. I think I hurt his hand with explosive amounts of enthusiasm.
This all comes down to one thing: by general consensus, I wasn't normal. General consensus is wrong. I was normal, but I wasn't the same. A friend, the same high-five-till-you-hurt friend, has me talking about any problems I have. That's normal. It's not generally accepted - guys talking about feelings? That. Is. Ridiculous! Right? Nope. It's different, though.
Of course, I still get asked a few of the same questions in college as I did in secondary school: Why don't you drink? Did you write a book? What's it about? The answers are this: I choose not to drink. Yes, I wrote three (that was the old response; now it's Yes, I wrote four, but I haven't had a chance to use that that). It's complicated. Very complicated.
That's. Not. Normal. People want answers. They want to know what's going on. Someone not drinking is weird. If you saw me on a night out, you might not guess that I'm sober, though, because I tend to be a bit... can you guess the word? HYPERACTIVE. Wonderful stuff. But it still confuses people when they see me with a Sprite and wonder if there's Vodka in there, too. Bartenders probably get confused when I order drinks for other people, too. Like buying a mate's Guinness for him, or giving a girl a Jager Bomb to help make her night better, because she's lost her bag. Actually, I order three Jager Bombs once. That must have confused the girl behind the bar!
The book thing is more difficult to deal with. People will ask, because they'll have heard from somebody. It's a small college, so word gets around. Generally my reponse is, Did you not know that? Oh... Then they ask what the books are about. I literally cannot summarise four books in a short enough amount of time. I tried before. Someone then asked, Where do you get your ideas from? I suppose the best way to deal with that question the next time I'm asked it is to just say, In general, from the people I know here, and wave my arm around the building a bit.
I suppose it's my own fault. I could try fit in and not let anyone know the real me, but that's no fun. I'd be a carbon copy of the society I hate. I'd be drinking to satisfy other people, trying to play soccer despite the fact that I suck at it, and listening to music I can't stand. That's no way to live. I'd prefer be an enigma to people. I'd prefer be weird than be the same. That's probably because I'm a twin and look the same as someone else.
I suppose I have a new response to Aren't you cool? I probably won't ever get asked that again, but I have a response to it. What do you think? Yeah, that'd really mess with someone's head.
----------------------
Written as part of Challenge 2, Normality of Summer of Writing 2010. Full details here.
Monday, October 27, 2008
NaNoWriMo
Hello All! I've been vanished for a while (incorrect grammar - so what?). However, I have been writing, which is good. And I've also entered a challenge to write a novel in November. NaNoWriMo is an annual event that takes place to encourage people to write a novel of 50,000 words in 30 days. That's an average of 1666.6666 (etc) words per day. Sound difficult? Yes, yes it does. But I can't wait!
I'm writing a story called Meet Sam for the month of November. Sam Emily Richards is a failing writer with an abusive imagination. Namely, the narrator is a product of his imaginatin. Her name is Emily - she's an upper class Englishwoman who teases and taunts Sam and the other characters, though only Sam is aware she is speaking. Emily and Sam can interact on occassion, though she ignores his questions and makes him out to be insane. She has no off switch, making Sam's experiment a little bit of a failure.
The novel will take place in one day of Sam's life, beginning early in the morning where we find Sam on Grafton Street in Dublin, moving to the LUAS, to Dundrum shopping centre, back home and to Temple Bar. The narrator will be driving him slowly crazier throughout the novel, while he attempts to finally make something of himself and turn everything around.
The opening extract of Meet Sam will be available to read on Saturday on my NaNoWriMo profile when the competiton starts. Give it some time, as I'm only allowed to start on Midnight on Friday/Saturday, but I'll be sleeping then so... yeah... you have to wait until I have something written and uploaded.
Wish me luck!!!
I'm writing a story called Meet Sam for the month of November. Sam Emily Richards is a failing writer with an abusive imagination. Namely, the narrator is a product of his imaginatin. Her name is Emily - she's an upper class Englishwoman who teases and taunts Sam and the other characters, though only Sam is aware she is speaking. Emily and Sam can interact on occassion, though she ignores his questions and makes him out to be insane. She has no off switch, making Sam's experiment a little bit of a failure.
The novel will take place in one day of Sam's life, beginning early in the morning where we find Sam on Grafton Street in Dublin, moving to the LUAS, to Dundrum shopping centre, back home and to Temple Bar. The narrator will be driving him slowly crazier throughout the novel, while he attempts to finally make something of himself and turn everything around.
The opening extract of Meet Sam will be available to read on Saturday on my NaNoWriMo profile when the competiton starts. Give it some time, as I'm only allowed to start on Midnight on Friday/Saturday, but I'll be sleeping then so... yeah... you have to wait until I have something written and uploaded.
Wish me luck!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)