A Life For Itself

Category: blog

Blog Entries

  • NaNoWriMo 2017 – Day 20

    Wrote late, again.  What else is new?  I think I’d like to break this habit soon and write around 5:30 one of these days before the end of the month.  But I’m almost 3 weeks in, so this habit might already be set and to get out of it, I’d have to start from day 1 with another habit.  Or so, I hear.
    Today’s output: 2569 words.  That brings me to 41874 words total.  Average words per day: 2094.  8126 words to go.  Average words per day needed to reach 50000: 813.  I’m staring down the finish line.
    What helped today:
     
    Writing about a familiar subject, poetry.  How I came to poetry, how it became part of my life.  I didn’t get to the part where poetry lost its place in my life and, to be sure, I lost my poetry, but I may work on that tomorrow or next month.  The words came pretty quickly.  And I remembered some really good people and times.

    What I discovered today:

    No matter what, that 12 year old, 15 year old, 18 year old, inside of me, will always be a poet, even if right now, I just can’t be.

    What else was good:

    Thinking about being in the teenage version of my bedroom, spending my nights writing poems.  I was happy.  I was listening to the Commonplace podcast recently and the host, professor Rachel Zucker, was talking about encouraging her students to think of their poem writing practice as play as much as work.  When I was writing poems back then, it was play for me.  It did a lot for me and it was great to remember.

  • NaNoWriMo 2017 – Day 19

    Wrote later, as usual.  After a long day of watching TV for the most part.  2527 words.  That brings me to 39305 words total.  Average words per day: 2068.  And since we’re coming down the home stretch, I have 10695 words to go.  Average words per day needed to reach 50000: 972.  I’m sitting pretty.

    What helped today:

    Knowing I’m coming down the home stretch.  But also knowing that I can write a couple of thousand words, in projects large and small, is confidence-building.  And knowing that some folks are reading, even if I’m not posting the full essays I’m writing.

    What I discovered today:

    Nothing to report.

    What else was good:

    Ravens winning was a good distraction.

     

  • NaNoWriMo 2017 – Day 18

    First, thank you to everybody who liked my Day 17 post.  I appreciate it.

    Today’s output:  0 words.  I remain at 36778 words total.  Average words per day: 2043.

    I woke up in the afternoon after being up most of the night writing.  Most of these NaNoWriMo posts have gone out hours after I actually write them.  I was asleep when the Day 17 post went out.  Most days, I’m working the 9-5 at the time that the post goes out.  Last night, I was up until about 3:15 or so, writing.  I went and got some food, then came back and wrote the Day 17 post.  I didn’t finish writing activities until just about 4:30.  I didn’t get to sleep until almost 6.  Didn’t wake up until about 1:30.  Didn’t really get going until almost 3.  The day dragged on and I watched some TV and played some Destiny.  By mid-evening, I decided to just consider it a day off.  Sometimes, you need to rest and that means creatively.  So, I did.  I might not have, had I not been so close to the overall finish line; had I not felt I might be able to do a two sessions on a couple of days to make up for the day.  So, today, I just let it be.  Tomorrow is another day.

    What helped today:

    Just deciding that I’d chill.

    What I discovered today:

    I feel okay with not writing.  I didn’t used to on some days.  I must feel good because I’m admitting that I took a day to not write.  

    What else was good:

    Found a huge reading pillow I’m going to treat myself to at some point.  When I have that, I will be more comfortable writing in the living room and not at my desk.  Sometimes, I want to stretch out when writing and right now, I need to use too many regular pillows to get truly comfortable.

  • NaNoWriMo 2017 – Day 17

    After I got done with the 9-5, I was all set to write, but I was feeling tired.  I figured I’d take a nap for an hour.  Two hours later, I woke up, still tired.  Went back to sleep, woke up another couple of hours later.  Read some, then, I finally sat down and wrote.  2012 words.  That brings me to 36778 words total.  Average words per day: 2163.

    What helped today:

    Resting.  And talking to my HR director at work.  She appreciates my sentence structure.  It’s always good to have your writing appreciated, even in small ways.  At least it is for me.  Your mileage may vary.

    What I discovered today:

    That when I feel like I need to rest, I need to rest.  I can always come back to the computer or the notebook again and pick up where I left off.  I don’t have to push myself to write when I’m not feeling well.  I never had to.  Oh, the things I believed when I was younger.  

    What else was good:

    Picked up 7 or so exotic shards from Xur, once I found him.  He was in the tower where you find the Vanguard.  The reading was good tonight, too.

  • NaNoWriMo 2017 – Day 16

    A different kind of day today.  Earlier in the afternoon, I decided I was going to write two  essays.  I’d read more from the book I mentioned yesterday and I’d been reminded of some things I needed to write about.  Then, I was watching a YouTube video with a quote attributed to Jim Carrey displayed on the screen the entire time.  I went and found the full quote:

    Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. Don’t let anything stand in the way of the light that shines through this form. Risk being seen in all of your glory.

    I decided I needed to write about that.  If you found this, you understand.  Because you likely had to work hard to find this.

    I ended up procrastinating hard, both watching some football and doing some laundry, before getting started.  The plan was to allot 1 hour for each essay.  I ended up writing the first essay over 50 minutes, the second over 1 hour, 45 minutes.

    First essay was 2359 words. Second essay weighs in at 4143 words.  Grand total for the day: 6502.  That brings me to 34766 words total.  Average words per day: 2172.

    For the record, I did play some Destiny right around 5:30 after I was done working the 9-5.   I received an exotic machine gun from an engram I picked up.  And I have like 70 strange coins, going into Xur’s weekly visit to either the Reef or the Tower.  Sweet.

    What helped today:

    Allowing myself to remember some things that came up, that I needed to talk about.  And talking about those things honestly, without regards to the feelings that came up, trying to push me to stop and not go to those places.  It was a pretty raw writing night.

    What I discovered today:

    That above most other things, I needed the message of the above quote.

    What else was good:

    How quiet it was as I wrote.  I didn’t turn on any music until the very end.

     

  • NaNoWriMo 2017 – Day 15

    2220 words. 28264 words total.  This day’s session brings my average words per day to 1884.  This session was a little under an hour.  Started late again.  I’m going to ignore my PS4 tomorrow night and see what happens.  Well, I’m going to try to ignore my PS4 tomorrow night and see what happens.  I’m going to try over the weekend, too.  Otherwise, I may be up at 3AM on Saturday night, writing.

    What helped today:

    Talking to my cousin.  After we met up at the house, we went outside and talked for a good 30 minutes or so.  I love just talking to him.  I think the best relationships are the ones that, even as you get older, you can still talk and be around each other and it’s good.  He and I grew up very close to each other, but right now at 40, I feel closer to him than I’ve ever felt.  Spending time with family and good friends and enjoying time, something I’m very glad to be up to.

    What I discovered today:

    Absolutely nothing.  I listened to a couple of writing-based podcasts, one of which gave me more hope about my writing, one of which took it away, even though that wasn’t obviously the intention of the podcast.  So I more or less ended up in the same place where I was when I started the day.

    What else was good:

    Hearing a writing professor talk about writing as fun, as much as it being work.  And an active, working poet saying the same things.  Perhaps I take my own writing, especially my poetry, too seriously, and I need to let go and try to enjoy it more.  I haven’t in years.  It’s not a bad idea.

     

  • NaNoWriMo 2017 – Day 14

    2368 words. 26044 words total.  This day’s session brings my average words per day to 1860.  This session was a little under an hour.  Started late again.  This is probably just my best writing time.  At least for writing prose.

    What helped today:

    Writing about creativity and being creative.  I’ve been reading Jeff Goins’ Real Artists Don’t Starve, and the chapter I read today talked about collaboration as a key to success for artists.  I wrote an essay about the various collaborations I’ve been a part of throughout my creative life, especially when I was younger and was rapping.  At one point, we had our own rap crew in our neighborhood.  During those days, I also got into writing “more conventional” poems as well.  Plus, I was outwardly weird.  So, I fit the part of an artist as a young teenager.  I think the writing flowed really well, thinking about this stuff.  I can’t wait to revisit this particular piece next month or after, when I get into the editing phase of these pieces I’m writing this month.

    What I discovered today:

    I should have run away and joined the circus.

    What else was good:

    Enjoying the process.

     

  • NaNoWriMo 2017 – Day 13

    3661 words. 23676 words total.  This session was a little under an hour and a half.  Not bad.  Especially since I started pretty late after watching TV all evening.  Maybe I just write better late at night than during the day.  This day’s session brings my average words per day to 1821.  This was the kind of day I needed.

    What helped today:

    Writing on my Chromebook.  It felt strange at first for some reason, but when I got the feel back for the keys and the location of the trackpad, so I wouldn’t be touching it, I got back into a nice groove.  My Chromebook is my favorite hardware for composition.  It’s the keyboard.  Also, the (re-)setup of the machine was relatively painless, compared to the two or three previous times that I’ve set this machine back up.

    What I discovered today:

    There are some things, related to writing and theatre here, that I needed to go back and explore.  That’s what the day’s essay ended up being about.  A hope of change for the upcoming days.  And I need to be less stubborn about some of this stuff and how I feel and what I think about it.  That’s sufficiently vague, I think.  Yeah!

    What else was good:

    Also helpful was a conversation I had this evening about some of my other artistic work.  Things are looking way up.  I think that good just begat more good.

  • NaNoWriMo 2017 – Day 12

    1716 words. 20015 words total.  A little under an hour.  Not bad.  Especially since I started pretty late, after having chatted and played some Destiny.

    What helped today:

    Chatting with my homeboy gave me the inspiration for the essay I went on to write.

    What I discovered today:

    I can write tired, but I shouldn’t make a habit out of it.  I didn’t end up feeling bad, but I do wonder how much better I could have done had I written earlier.

    What else was good:

    Squeezy fruit.  And the SSD for my Chromebook was delivered around 7:30.  So, I went and picked it up, came back, put it and the rest of the Chromebook’s guts back inside.  Fired up the Chromebook and it recovered.  Success.  I’ve been letting it just sit and run since then.  The last time I thought I’d recovered it, I was working one minute and then the next, I see it asking again for a recovery disk.  So, to be sure that the new SSD held up and there wasn’t some larger issue that may have caused the previous SSD to fail, I’ve just been letting it sit.  I’ll do the same for some time tomorrow and after that, if all goes well, I’ll slip it back into its place in my workflow.

     

  • NaNoWriMo 2017 – Day 11

    1055 words. 18299 words total. The subject matter got to me around 950 words. Plus, my lower back began hurting. Also, it was Saturday night and I’m sure that 12 hours after I post this, I’ll have another 2000 words to add. I’ll be over 20000 words. That, or I’m sure I’ll have eaten some more squeezy fruit. I can pretty much guarantee the latter.

    What helped today:

    Nothing, really.

    What I discovered today:

    Environment helps me with my writing. And I really hope it helps tomorrow, as my average words per day has slipped just below 1667.

    What else was good:

    My Chromebook should be fixed by the time I kick out these new words. At least I hope so. Amazon texted and emailed me and told me that the new SSD was late arriving. They never texted me again to tell me it was delivered, so it’s out there in the world, waiting to power my machine. Hopefully it’s delivered by the time I’m ready to pick it up. I still plan to use my netbook to write, though.