Well, I'm sitting here having a really late breakfast and I thought I'd let some thoughts out now that there's time.

So, both Script Frenzy and National Novel Writing Month attract different types of people. Among them are those like myself who have no idea if they'll make it because they know they aren't exactly prolific (much as they love their ideas) and there are also those who know they're going to win because they can punch out lots of stuff in little time.

In the forum at Script Frenzy, a poster from my area assured us that we could finish in eight days from now even if we had 0/100 pages because it was still possible to put everything on hold, sit on your ass for hours, and write all the way to the finish line, even if it wasn't necessarily fun. He's probably right, but I disagree with the sentiment.

I mean, as far as I know, those who punch out pages end up with sub-par, or just plain bad, writing. From experience, I know this - urging yourself to write write write past what you want results in just meaningless stuff where the heart is gone and it's not even fun to re-read. Some people don't consider this a problem because we're all supposed to revise and make second or third drafts anyway, but I consider a heartless first draft to be a problem.

I also get the feeling that I'm a little bit "old fashioned" or idealistic compared to other writers. While I've spent the last five years developing He's There (and surely another one), another writer has spent the last year revising a complete story eight times. I've met a number of writers, even, who work at this rate, and it always surprises me. They don't seem out of the norm, though; I feel like I'm the one who is bizarre in the writing world. I definitely keep progress on my work in the forefront of my mind, but I don't just push myself to write. I push myself to be inspired to write.

I cannot write unless I'm inspired. I refuse, even, to craft anything without love, and it slows me down. Even if I end up taking long breaks from stories, I look forward to their bursting back into my creative sphere and consuming my time and thoughts.

So, I would not recommend what this writer suggests - to try to fit 100 pages into Script Frenzy, to win and to be proud of your accomplishment. Because I would ask "what are you really winning at?" What accomplishment will you be proud of? That you forced yourself to write 100 pages of shitty, rushed, heartless material for characters that are supposed to mean something to you? I would rather lose Script Frenzy with 50 pages of great material.

I'm not gonna lose, though. :D

Well, I shouldn't have, but I started a drawing for Nosferatu in Love that's begging to be colored. My script needs a poster!

♥,
J

P.S. My mood is uncomfortable because the weather is too warm today. It's making me all icky!

I'm writing way ahead and you guys can't even read it. >O< I'm so sorry. lol

I lol because I'm just happy to be getting going with this stuff. I'm closing in on chapter 44 and it's still up in the air if I'll get 43 ready soon, but either way, all of this material is building up that is the real deal, and not me struggling and hating what I have written, like last time.

I'm going to bed now, but,

BAZING!

11130 / 50000 words. 22% done!

Random Favorite Quotes from Chapters 43 and 44
Don't worry; none of them are spoilers.

For that moment, I wasn’t overwhelmed and scared what his love meant. Just wishing he were there. (Not there-there, obviously, since I was naked, but...)

What a poetic bastard.

It frightened me when I stepped out the side door and the outline of someone standing there began to react. He only meant to cover me with his umbrella, but I shouted at him, and once we were walking up the street, he started laughing to himself.

"Wait! Who is it?"
He made that quiet laugh he was renowned for and I almost held my breath waiting for the answer. He checked over his shoulder before he had his answer. "I really can’t pick. Like Richard, his temper is record-setting. Like Moncharmin, he only pretends to know a thing about music. I’ll be back," he repeated.

"People who take advantage of me, or try to, don’t know me the next day, or know me with great desire not to."

If there wasn’t enough PDA at school already, Valentine’s Day reminded everyone that there were hands to be held, faces to be sucked, and asses to be grabbed.

The cast got into a giant circle backstage and started shouting with enough force to bring down the nonexistent chandelier, but maybe parts of the fly system. The people up there were yelling straight back at us.

"I was excited. You were beautiful and then you vanished."
"That pretty much describes you every day," I played. His snicker was short-lived

"Then how about this: come outside just for a short bit, and I’ll give you a night’s worth of me." His laugh began to take hold of me, and I fell back on the bed in excitement.

Fuckin' yes. XD I had another one of those days where I was feeling sleepy in front of the computer and wondering how in the world I was going to write more, and then BAM, I did what smart NaNoWriMo people did and just wrote a little bit ahead of myself.

I am having a little trouble with chapter 43. It has about nine solid pages and then a bunch of random stuff, and I don't really know how to make it strong and sensible, and leading me to where I am at the start of 44. Something's just off and not really accounting for what I've made the characters do, and what I've made Erik write. Lily isn't reacting to it how she should or asking the right questions. Could I be a little detached? It's possible!

But I'm willing to make my readers wait to keep my word count in check. Besides, when I get the chapter smoothed out, I will have a build-up of completed chapters. OR, perhaps, in the near future I'll resolve this issue and be able to share it with everyone. Whatever happens.

The more important thing is I just went and dived into chapter 44 because I have good enough plot notes and understanding of what happened in 43's gaps.

You guys just have to imagine how cool it is for me to be ON TRACK. I'm not going by anybody else's standards - hell, I went on the forum today and somebody said they'd done the 50,000 words in 21 hours and that they couldn't feel their own ass anymore. How the f- nevermind. They're crazy. But I'm actually succeeding at NaNo. YAY.

8557 / 50000 words. 17% done!

I can't believe I have almost 20% done on day five. AND I KNOW WHAT I'M WRITING TOMORROW!

Okay, homework time.

P.S. This person complimented my Robert Phantom costume on youtube:



I'M NOT KIDDING. AGH. I find her adorable and have teh slight girl-crushez, so this was a great surprise. If you don't know Phantom on a Budget, she has some great videos.