prpl pen

03:15 am: Thanks so much to the people who wished me a happy birthday! ♥

And oh man. Oh man. adesso drew Beatrix/Steiner for me njkhadhfs [go here and tell her how awesome she is :3 ]

I also got a polar bear! :D

Moving right along...some bullet points; writing-related, mostly.

• Still behind on my NaNoWriMo, though I am pretty confident I can catch up easily now, because I think I've finally figured out what is happening, and things are going easier now. I still don't have have a clue what the major plot is going to be, but I think things will Reveal Themselves as I keep writing. Not really sure what my word count is, though, as today's and Monday's writing are both in notebooks right now, waiting to be typed up.
  
  
• Signed up at himitsu_santa. I hesitated for half a minute, thinking maybe I shouldn't attempt it because I may very well be burnt out on writing by December, but...I was already sad about missing participating last year. Plus, I am really excited for my prompts and I'm totally looking forward to seeing what my Santa ends up writing.
  
  
• ...also signed up for Yuletide. Debated about this one for a liiiiittle bit longer, because in addition to the above-mentioned concern, now I had to add the fact that I was already signed up for one December fic exchange, plus Yuletide is a little...intimidating, I think. I've seen so many amazing fics come out of it. That's inspiring too, though. And considering that I've been meaning to do Yuletide for years and have just always managed to miss the sign-ups... I didn't want to let the chance slip by, I guess. Also am super-excited about the things I requested, though there is one prompt I am contemplating changing, just because I thought of something else that fills me with even more glee. I'm a little upset that somehow Genshiken was deemed ineligible, though; I can't quite wrap my brain around how that works, since the fandom is pretty much non-existent. I was going to request Tanaka/Ohno otaku cosplay love too. Alas. DESPITE THIS, STILL VERY EXCITED~~!! I hope I don't burst before I get my assignment.
  
  
• Also still chipping away at these. I am working on them in between NaNo-ing, and yes, I am counting the words I write on them in November towards my word count. This seems like a good compromise to me, since I want to do both my origfic NaNo story, but also am compelled to keep working on those prompts. I'm in the midst of two One Piece fics now, and am amused that the first OP fics I'm writing involve gender-/bodyswitch. I feel lame that I wasn't able to just whip these out like I'd hoped, but they started wanting to get longer and I wanted to put more effort into them, so... I'm going to try really really hard to finish them all, though, and not just abandon half of them unwritten, as has unfortunately become a habit with me recently. Oh, and feel free to toss in a prompt, if you want to and haven't already.
  
  
• NOT related to writing, but my watch strap cracked and is about ready to completely break. Contemplating whether to do a quick duct tape repair job, or just buy a new watch. Hm.

I think that's about it.

Tags: birthday, bullet point time, nanowrimo, writing, yuletide

04:44 pm: NANOWRIMO
This is the first time ever for NaNoWriMo that I didn't start right at midnight. Maybe that's why I am sooo incredibly nervous right now. I dunno.

I had been intending, since last year's NaNoWriMo (wherein I failed horribly and barely broke 10k) that I would try writing a fanfic this year for NaNoWriMo, a first for me. Yet, as November crept closer and closer, I realized that I wanted to do original fiction again. The prospect of origfic just excites me more where NaNo is concerned, I guess. So, I switched gears and decided to just go with origfic again. However, I had NO clue what I was going to write. I still don't. I have literally NO idea what my story will be about, beyond that it will likely be fantasy/specfic (because that is my Genre of Choice and 99.9% of everything I write falls into that category). This could turn out well, though. I mean, the first year I did NaNoWriMo, I purposely did absolutely no planning beforehand, just sat down and wrote at midnight, and it ended up working really well. I won that year, and I ended up liking my story--it would've needed work, editing mosly, but the characters and how the plot fit together was pretty cool. This year I did intend to do a little planning--overplanning things tends to handicap me, I think, but a really bare-bones idea would have been a good jumping off point. I just...never actually did. So here I am. More than halfway through the first day, and no plot, no plans, no words written yet.

Actually...I DID write a good chunk while I was at work this morning...on a fanfiction drabble request (yes, I fail and did not finish those right away before NaNo like I intended). I think what I might do this year is work on fanfic drabbles when I need a little break from the actual NaNo novel, to hopefully give my brain a chance to rest and refocus. Even though it's technically cheating, I MAY count whatever words I write in those towards the NaNoWriMo wordcount goal. Haven't bothered with counting how much I wrote this morning, though, because I want the first words I count to be for NaNo proper--besides, I haven't bothered typing it up yet and that's time I can be using for...starting my novel.

Oh, and might as well mention one last time, I guess...since it actually IS November now: my NaNoWriMo website profile is here; my NaNoWriMo LJ is here.

But yes. My stomach is absolutely churning right now, which is just dumb, but I can't stop it. I think part of it is just excitement, with a good chunk of nervousness that I have no plot & got a later start than I normally do. Still, sitting here worrying about it even more won't help. The only cure is probably to start writing, I guess.

So.

Rest of the day: free.

Notebook: brand new and empty and just waiting for NaNo to fill it.

Laptop: charged & ready.

Candy cane tea: plentiful.

Okay. Let's do this.

Tags: nanowrimo, rambling, writing

03:00 pm: This entry is extremely disjointed and contains random flailing about various series. Be forewarned.

Finally watched the first episode of Clannad ~after story~ ( and... )

Oh, but! ( Bleach )

Kekkaishi is also amazing. The scanlation group just released a batch of like six or seven chapters last weekend, and...need more. Now, please. I am both excited about and afraid for when the scanlators catch up with the Japanese release, because while it will probably mean more regular scans, it will also mean no more big batches of story being released all at once. Ugh, and I keep forgetting to make that download post for the manga. I NEED TO DO THAT. Because this series is amazing and one of my favorites and it seriously needs and deserves more love and fandom attention. I should make a serious effort to do up that post before November, because once NaNoWriMo hits, who knows if I'll have time to do much of anything.

Speaking of NaNoWriMo; I mentioned this in my last entry, but figure I will again, since we're getting closer to the actual start date: NaNoWriMo account here, NaNo LJ account here; feel free to add both! I still have no idea what I'm going to write, but that worked for me before (the year I won, I purposely started at midnight on November 1st having done absolutely no planning/plotting/brainstorming of any kind beforehand. even though I had no clue what it was even about at first, all the threads started to come together pretty neatly. it was cool). Anyway, this year I want just some rough ideas to work from, though still minimal planning. We shall see.

Hmm. I really need to go through and organize my tags a little better. </random>

Apropos of nothing, everyone should download this song: EA Choir - Oh No You Didn't

Tags: anime, bleach, fic rec, kekkaishi, manga, nanowrimo, writing

02:55 pm: Not doing so well about the "being around more on LJ" thing. Still working on that. I wish it were easier to change habits. I'm still trying to get myself to sleep at 1 or 2am instead of, oh say...5am. Or worse.

Aaanyway, November will be a scarce month, because (wait for it...) I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year. I won in 2004, and failed pretty spectacularly last year but...it's FUN. I'm excited for it, and have been more excited about writing in general recently. Being writing buddies with Bri really helps me, because I don't feel alone, and feel more compelled to meet my goals, I guess. I've been trying to do the "write every day (even if it's just a little)" thing again, and it's nice. I started two new fics in the past few days (a Bleach one and a Gintama one) and have been working a little on some of my unfinished ones, and while in the grand scheme of things it's not all that much, it just feels great and productive. I'm proud of myself, and I'm liking what I'm writing. That's kind of a weird feeling to me, honestly. And hopefully I don't come back to it in a day or two and read it and go, "ugh"--I'm trying not to be so critical of myself. That's easier said than done, of course. But I'm going to do my best to keep it up, and writing every day in October is gonna be good practice for NaNoWriMo, too. I love feeling excited about this.

So...who else is in this year? There are a few I know of, but my flist is large. Let me know! For anyone who might want to add it, my account is here. Also, I'm not 100% sure yet I'll be using it this year, but if I do post up what I'm writing (before it's edited, I mean) and you have any desire to read it, it'll be at with_a_key.

And just because...

THE "HEY, YOU SHOULD BE FRIENDS WITH____!" MEME.
MY THREAD HERE!

Tags: meme, nanowrimo, writing

03:15 am: Well, I'm officially out of NaNoWriMo. I basically was as of...a week or so ago now, when I got sick and slept for pretty much two days straight. I'm a little disappointed, but it wasn't worth it to make myself really crazy over it, so instead of frantically trying to catch up, I quietly retired. I am hoping to continue being mildly productive, though. Aaand...visions of epic Avatar fic have been dancing through my head since watching episode eleven. I may indulge it. Of course, if I go with the idea I have in mind, it will be rendered AR as soon as the new episodes start airing again, though that's likely not going to be until 2008, at least. Hmm...

( My weekend. )

Anyway! Holiday cards! Some people maybe just haven't seen it yet, but in case anyone is hesitating because they can't send one in return, or feel like we don't know each other really well, I am completely serious when I say everyone on the flist is encouraged to sign up. It's starting to get closer, and sooner than later I'll probably begin to prepare and send these out, so please sign up, if you haven't!

Oh, and for those who asked about a wish list for me...I'm too tired now, but I'll try and make up one of those wish list posts soon. ♥

Tags: avatar, holiday cards, nanowrimo, real life, writing

11:38 pm: Thanks to everyone that wished me a happy birthday! ♥

I didn't really do anything special; actually, because of my backwards sleeping schedule, and the fact that I worked last night and tonight, I spent most of the actual day asleep. Ehehe. I'm hoping to hear about my friend Janelle soon, too. Her due date was something like the 18th of November, if I remember correctly, but she was really huge and they were going to induce her today. So, she's probably already had her baby, or will be soon. Exciting!

I'm still behind on my goal for NaNoWriMo, but I'm starting to make headway now, I think. Part of me still kind of wants to scrap what I'm writing now and just start a fanfic, though. I think I'm finding it more of a challenge to get a feel for personalities of characters, etc, since they are new to me, while in fanfic there is that kind of safety net of having a lot of the groundwork already developed. Last time I did NaNoWriMo, I seriously did absolutely no planning, on purpose; I had it in my mind to do as a kind of experiment, coming in with nothing and just seeing where it led me. This year, I had a vague beginning point, an idea of where to start, but no real plot to speak of. Oddly, I'm finding it a little harder this year, or maybe it just seems that way. So far, I have one POV character this year, while before I had several and jumped between them from chapter to chapter, so maybe that has something to do with it? I dunno. I'll just have to keep going with it and see where it goes, I guess. If it still seems a big struggle after a few more days, I'll probably just start writing something different.

Tags: birthday, nanowrimo, real life

04:27 pm: Yesterday sucked. Well...not all of it, but taken as a whole, ( it was exhausting )

This would be why I wrote exactly zero words yesterday. Sigh. This is probably making me feel worse than it should. I actually do figure out my daily goal to account for five days in the month where I don't have to write at all. I just. Meh. I feel failuriffic already.

But! I have plenty of time left today, and nothing particular to do until I go to work at eleven, so I'm going to do my best to catch up. I can do it, I think!

Aaand...sorry to have in stuck in such a negative entry, but it is totally shvetufae's birthday today. :D I hope it's an awesome one! ♥

ETA: Oh, and I forgot this earlier, but...for those of you who are posting your NaNoWriMos, I do intend to read. However, there are a lot of you this year, and writing my own must come first, of course. This means I probably will be skimming for now and reading more carefully after November's done, and that I probably won't be leaving many comments. Just thought I should mention that.

ETA2: Oh man, oh man! My NaNoWriMo t-shirt came in the mail today! Any remains of my bad mood have evaporated! I AM TOTALLY GONNA PUT IT ON RIGHT NOW AND START WRITING. :D

Tags: babysitting, birthday, nanowrimo, real life, work

09:07 am: My thoughts are so jumbled and disorganized that I'm not even sure where to start. On occasions like this, bullet points come in handy, I guess.

• I am totally going to try NaNoWriMo this year again. I feel like last year didn't really count, because even though I signed up, I never started writing. The timing was just horrible. I am more hopeful about this year. Anyway, I'm here if anyone else is signing up. Add me if you like. I'll probably be posting it in with_a_key this year, so feel free to friend that if you want to read it. ugh, yes, I am still super-self-conscious, but whatever. I'm trying to get over it.
  
  
• I've decided that I'm going to move to the Twin Cities come spring. This is an idea I've been going back and forth on, but last night things kind of clicked into place for me and it seems like something I really should do, even if it's not permanent. With that decision made, a lot of things seem clearer or easier now, I suppose because I have something specific to be working toward. So for now I'll be trying to organise what things I can at this early stage, and concentrate on saving as much money as I can. I'm looking at some jobs, but I'll work on that more when it's closer to me actually moving, haha.
  
  One of my friends said something not long ago that really struck me, about how I need to realize again that I deserve happiness, and that was something that got me really thinking again about what I want. I don't know. Last year was rough, and I have a tendency to blame that on myself, though I know logically that I couldn't help most of it. After that, I think I kind of got stuck in a transitional part of my life; like, it was never meant to be permanent, but somewhere along the way I lost sight of everything beyond that. Now I can see the horizon again. I'm feeling hopeful right now.
  
  
• I am going to be productive this month, I've decided. Finish things that need finishing. Fics are included in this, as are sketches. I'm not just trying to force myself; I feel like accomplishing things.
  
  
• And, finally, I've been saying forever that I was going to upload this...
  
  
  
  ( Koukou Debut pimp! )

That's all.