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quaternion says...

Light was barely awakening over the horizon as the telldron slid down over the plains through the dull of the night's ending.  Kwatsura leaned against the car's dorsal rail gazing towards a small white grain of light being crushed under the dark sky and the exhausts and dust smoldering the lower atmosphere of the continent.

Beginning interim transmissions.  Only a few hures ago there was Rsola, a massive shell swallowing my existence and now only a grain of sand melting out of view.  The telldron build out took three decums. Naught Behd, neh.  Islrinea saw me at the depature on South Edge.  Me arms a legs are exhausted from the ladder pulley system, South Edge was yet another massive high tower, particularly apt for the long telldron ride.  Didn't take any notes from there, third time seeing that departure ... nothing had happened.

She'll be applying for the egress visa; and if all goes smoothly I'll be meeting her in the next cities and negotiating with some grundas her access to Fgord library transmissions as well.

Didn't see Gsorn again. Nor the chiefs. Spent the last few days eating, talking.  No rote. Nothing noteworthy of transmission, neh.

Ride is a bit peculiar, failing sparking orruminae installments passing down over the first south west hip, then again with the third hip after.  Car seemed to be leaning more to the east than normal, perhaps some bearings were in need of replacement.  Damned egresss lines can have sheit part... Fecki- 

<<cszhhhhhhhhhhh-cszhhhhhhhhhh-shhhhh>>

The jolt of the car bouncing over a orruminae charger lip knocked Kwatsura crashing onto his back towards the car's anterior hull; the transmission was interrupted as the ring flew off his finger from the abrupt force.  He scrambled to his knees and retrieved the instrument which was glowing dim now under a sleeping passenger's bench.  Fecking sheit.

Two Rsolan men stood against the back wall with countenances revealing only a slight hint of concern from the bounce.  Kwatsura addressed them in a loud voice emphasizing the direness he considered of the situation and to counter their arrogance:

Turo-hu. Bsalin-alins cul-fsoran.  Something's up with the bearings.

Ksaalll.  Rsola-tu, Rsola-tu.  Haha, they're are Rsolan-made pal.

Ksal, Kslau, wu-trols dsin-dsin consolr-hu.  Yes, no worries my little continent friend.

Wu-dsan dsan, cul-fsoran-hu! cul-Telldron rislora trel-trel. Fsonasl dsin sentril-hu.  Don't be foolish.  Telldron's been riding rough.  Stand in the center!

Dsellll ...

Kwatsura almost gave up trying to convince them and stood alone now in the center of the car looking forward across advancing tracks.  Oh sheit, fecking massive lip is approaching fast.  Feck!

Before Kwatsura even thought to grab a brake lever, the lip was upon them and jolting the car with even more ferocity than the one just before.  A shower of white sparks covered the view of the open doors and plated windows.

Garsorllllll!

One of the Rsolan men shouted curses, trying to brace his balance as his torso fell forward to the east; the platform of the car sank below their feet as the left wheels busted out from under them sending the belly of the hull scraping across the metal tracks.

Feck! Woken up nows!  Fecking things boosted, everyone on the fecking west side of the car or sheits gonna fecking fall off.  To death! Feck!  Someone! brakes!

Kwatsura spouted out random directives in a maddened fluster, pulled some passengers asleep and even threw some drunk men like sandbags to the west side of the telldron where they crashed into a painful awakening.  The Rsolan pair had engaged the brakes and the car came grinding to a halt three thousand feet or so above the Plains and still five longs from the terminal station.  The careful application of brakes and shifting of the car's weight to the west had spared the lot from hurling to their deaths into the soft dirt so many troks below them.

Feck, feck. Neht panicking.  Transmitting events to the terminal now.

Filed under: NaNoWriMo

Fletcher says...

nomulous: @kidko Congratulations on your victory, and hopefully to most other nanowrimo participants out there! (BTW, missing two words?..

Filed under: nanowrimo

Hi. 

This blog is going to end pretty much as quickly as it began. I may continue blogging over at http://verfremdungseffekt.posterous.com - that's the band I'll be focussing on from here on in. 

Maybe one day I'll get to tell the full story of what's been happening over the last week. At the moment, sadly I can't, but I'm back playing with the people I really care about, playing music that moves me. And doing it without any interruptions from The Man. 

Filed under: nanowrimo

OK, so Drum Monkey and I have been working on some ideas for 'guided improv'. We LOVE improvising, but have been looking at a load of different ways to inspire different ideas. 

The first two things we looked at were: 

• Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies, which are a series of random statements, phrases or suggestions that you pick at random and apply to what you're doing.  
• John Zorn's Cobra composition, which is a load of instructions for performance, but doesn't tell anyone what notes to play. 

Brian Eno is the guy who invented ambient music, and then made records with U2 and James and did a great job on Paul Simon's last album. John Zorn is, from what I've seen on YouTube, an insane sax player. So neither of their ideas seemed best adapted to what we want to do. 

So we were talking about it, and realised that what we needed were frameworks to improvise with, and Drum Monkey decided they should be called 'Fluid Frameworks', which is a great name :))) 

Here are a few of the ones I've come up with - just single line inspiration ideas for us to improvise around: 

• Soundtrack to oblivion
• from space drums to space bass to spacial awareness
• when shit is the new awesome
• droning on and on. In a good way.
• feminist funk
• old romantic improv - from Duran to Miles in 4 movements

I've got some others, but this is just a small sample. 

Drum Monkey has got into writing a script for a non-existent film that we're then going to soundtrack. I'll leave him to blog about that. Suffice to say, it's all kinds of fun, and we'll get back to you with how it goes. Hopefully we'll try some out at the next bookshop gig. 

Bye for nowwwwww, 

luv Meg x 

Filed under: nanowrimo

Ben says...

Well, I just finished my novel tonight, with 50,096 words. Whether or not I'll revisit and do any editing on it for later I have no idea, but I'm really excited that I managed to win this year. =)

Now I just have to think about what I want to write about for next year... Who wants to join me for NaNoWriMo 2010?

Filed under: nanowrimo

Cleared the 50k, but it's definitely more quantity than quality.  However, with NaNoWriMo, it doesn't matter by how much you clear it at the end of the day, the goal is the target word count and that's all that matters.

Still, it has created a writing habit and motivation, which I hope to keep going now. 

Till the next *spark*

Filed under: NaNoWriMo

Makena says...

You heard it right, i wrote a 50,000 word novel in the month of November! 
But the marathon is not over yet, I may have written 50k words in the month of November (therefor winning the Nanowrimo challenge), but my novel is not finished yet! I am going to just keep on writing 2k (or 4k) a day until my novel is done!

After I am done finishing my novel I will do some more focusing on my photography. If you have a minute, give me your opinion on my photos on Flickr Comments are like cookies. :D

Filed under: Nanowrimo

Archimage says...

This is just a quick post. Still no word from Apple.
In the meantime, you can read my other blog: http://archimage-writing.posterous.com/ to read about the first novel ever written on an iPhone (I was using Auteureist™ exclusively to do so).

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Filed under: nanowrimo

Archimage says...

Well I did it. I'm now officially done my novel's first draft and its been verified by NaNoWriMo. This is the first full-length novel written entirely on an iPhone. Where's the Guiness Book of Records when you need them?

It went fast, although at times it seemed to drag on and on. This is just a final recap.

I decided to try NaNoWriMo for the first time this year. I've done a ton of writing (some published) and even a book, but I've gotten out of the rhythm and habit of writing. So I decided trying NaNoWriMo would be a good way to get me back in. The other reason I decided to try NaNoWriMo was in order to put my iPhone app, Auteureist™ through a test by fire. It's been used for writing snippets of various lengths mostly for test and debugging purposes, but never a full novel. So I thought NaNoWriMo would be a good way to test the actual usability and stability of the app. So what did I learn?

- About writing and me.

It was good to get back into writing. It's mostly an enjoyable process for me. However, one thing I learned was that I don't enjoy writing on a quota. NaNoWriMo had a quota of 1,667 words a day to stay on target for the goal of 50,000 words. True, I could skip a day and make up for it later, but that just added more pressure. I prefer writing when I'm relaxed and in the mood and feeling creative. Writing to a quota is more like work. It also doesn't produce the best writing from me. But it does show that if I wanted or needed to become a full-time writer, I could do it. The other main thing I learned is that writing is time consuming for me. To write approximately 1000 words takes about an hour (this from a new feature in the app that I implemented just to get this sort of information.) This is actual typing and think time in the editor itself. This doesn't include time thinking when I didn't have the app open in the Chapter Text Edit Screen. So for a 50,000 word novel that's about 50 hours, a lot of time to devote, even when spread over a couple of hours a day. The most important thing I learned about my writing style is that I need to have a goal and at least a skeletal backstory in place prior to actually sitting down and writing. The stuff I wrote is pretty bad as my first drafts go. I think I turned it into something meaningful at the end, and it makes sense in context, but its not tight prose by any standard. I don't like that. Next year (if I decide to do this again) I'll go in with a plan rather than cold the way I did this year. It will be less of a struggle. Also, I didn't do any editing. I just plunged onward to the goal. I prefer to write and edit while I'm editing. This creates a tighter and more polished first draft. I kept the shark moving for NaNoWriMo, I prefer to give my shark short breaks.

- About writing using Auteureist™

The other reason for entering NaNoWriMo was to give Auteureist a real test. First the good news. The app is solid and I didn't lose any of my writing. Even though it has a backup and restore feature that I used to back up religiously, I never had to do a restore because the app never crashed, or lost any of my writing. That's not to say you'll never lose text using the app, but I think my architecture and implementation minimize that risk. I did find some minor annoyances. For example. Once you have a lot of text, scrolling to the bottom of an in-process chapter takes a lot of scrolling. I've implemented a scroll-to-bottom feature which takes you there in one tap. This something Apple needs to build into the iPhone. It made editing and reviewing text a lot nicer. One thing I realized I didn't have that would be helpful was to have a way to tell how long you actually spent writing. So about halfway through, I implemented a feature that captures the amount of time you actually spend writing from the time you tap in the first word, to when you exit the text. I updated the Summary screens to display the information. It's a nice way to gauge progress that is time-based rather than word count based. I prefer to write for an hour, rather than producing 'n' words. I have lots of plans for expanding on this ability. Auteureist was really wonderful when I was stuck somewhere for a few minutes, waiting for an appointment, or food to arrive at a restaurant. I'd pull it out and tap a couple of hundred words. It was a convenience factor. I always carry my iPhone, but I rarely carry a pad and pen. So I was able to write where otherwise I'd have sat around and felt bored. This was really one of the more unexpected benefits of Auteureist. It actually promotes writing. Even without the pressure/motivation of NaNoWriMo, I would have still pulled it out and tapped stuff. It's just convenient and the organizational features are nicer to use than the plain Notes app. One of the problems with writing a novel on an iPhone is my thumbs got tired. I can tap out about 50-60 wpm when I'm going and ignore typos. So, take lots of breaks. I was never in any pain, but I can envision people getting carpal thumb. So take lots of breaks. One thing that I discovered about me and Auteureist is that I prefer to not see the word count and progress bar when I type. I spent typing in full-screen mode which hides these or in normal mode where I ignored the feedback. I found the additional feedback to be more pressure. It became "300 words more...275 words more...212 words more..." Some people will like the feedback, but I don't need the additional pressure--which is why I provide both modes for both types of people. The other nice thing about Auteureist, is that outside of backup and restores, it doesn't seem to slow down once you get significant amounts of text and novels. There seems to be a perceived fractional second when you load the chapter list but its more of a UI-switch perception rather than a real slowdown. Finally, there are lots of things I knew I wanted in 1.0 but didn't provide. The main one was a more streamlined UI and screen-to-screen flow. That's already in place and ready to go in 1.1. I also discovered a bunch of things that would be nice to have but aren't required. I'll add those as time and energy permit. So, final verdict. Auteureist is more than capable for the creation of real novels. I may be biased because I created the app based on what I like and wanted, but I think it's a nice environment to work in. It's not perfect, but then what is.

- About my novel "The Accident".


Will I edit and get it published. I'm not sure. There are things I love about it. There are things I hate about it. That's normal. I'm going to put it aside and come back to it sometime in the future and reread it and then make a decision. It needs a ton of editing and tightening and some portions need to be rewritten outright. I hate editing my own stuff. Not that I'm invested in my writing (I am to an extent) I just find it overly tedious to do. It's not the best thing I've written, but it has a lot of things I find interesting. My main character essentially took over the story and made it his for the novel's entire length. I like the fact that things are always changing and in-flux with him. I don't like some of the things I discover about him--I'm gladI'm not him. He has a lot to redeem him. And I really like how he tied pretty much everything up at the end without my willing him to, and what that reveals. It was an interesting experiment for me from the standpoint of a character study.

- Conclusions

NaNoWriMo is a good way to write if you're willing to invest the time and effort. Even if you don't keep to their suggested quote and goals, its a good way to engage. Auteureist™ has been proven in the flames of real writing. And finally, I'm back into writing. Will I do it all again next year? It's too early to tell, and too close to just being done to be objective. So, here are the final stats:

Again, the time worked is partial since it wasn't active for about half the novel.

Filed under: nanowrimo

thejackb says...

This is part seven of the project I am working on for National Novel Writing Month. Here are the links to the first sections.
Who Broke Your Heart- Things You Might Not Know
The End of a Marriage
A 21st Century Break Up
"I Don't Want To Kiss My Husband Ever Again"
Once Upon A Time
Hanging Out With Hairy

I pulled into a parking space, turned off the motor and cursed out loud. The weather outside the car was perfect. Blue skies and just enough heat to make you feel warm were all the reason I needed not to be here. It is a good thing that my skull isn't transparent because if it was my dear friend Harold would be able to see storm clouds heading his way. With any luck he'd be struck by lightning.

Ok, that is probably unfair. I was semi responsible for this meeting. The company had a funny policy about paying people only for the work they did and not for work that they might do. I had a long conversation with one of the bookkeepers about that one. We got stuck riding an elevator together and since I haven't a clue what pasty faced number boys are interested I talked about paychecks.

We both learned something that day. He found out that a two minute ride on an elevator can feel like a week in cleveland and I found out that I can babble at length about anything. I know, you already knew that.

By the time I had walked into the office I had figured out that the topic of my next submission was going to be why marriage was the devil's greatest invention. In my experience it was the closest thing to hell that one could find. Before you go off half cocked you need to understand that the classic definition of hell is wrong. It is not a place of fire and brimstone.

Hell is seeing the love of your life unhappily living with someone else, but pretending to be happy. Hell is being granted a taste of the most incredible relationship and experience of your life and then having it taken away. It  is like being seated at a table with the greatest feast you have ever seen. The food looks and smells incredible. You look around the table and see that the other guests are having a culinary experience that borders n the orgasmic. Just as you are about to join the  festivities you realize that your arms are tied behind you and your jaw is wired shut.

Hell is the real world and that is much worse than anything Dante can come up with.

Well, if there was ever any question about my being a bit bitter there isn't now. Life is sometimes funny in a way that makes you laugh and sometimes in a way that makes you want to cry.

The first time I had my heart broken was hard. The second time was rough and the third time was ridiculously painful. It was bad enough that I swore that I wouldn't fall in love again. And for a long time that is how it went. Various women came into my life. Some of them tried to break through the walls that I had erected but none really succeeded.

And then one day she did. One day the wall was up and the next day it was a pile of rubble. It scared me. I was frightened and excited by it all. But she took me by the hand and promised to just love me. I think that was part of what caught me, the "I just love you" bit. It was so simple and yet so powerful.

She did and so did I. We just loved each other. It is a cliche, but it felt like a dream. Somewhere along the way we got lost. If I didn't have my meeting with Harold I might even take the time to tell you how and why. At least I think that I would. Can't say for certain because I don't know if I understand it.

So in the time we have before I go off to the meeting let me fill in some details. We fell apart, sort of. Not sure that we ever stopped loving each other, just found ourselves in unfamiliar territory and went separate directions.

She got married and I got married.

I thought that I was in love. I really did. It seemed like it. I guess that it must have felt like it or I wouldn't have done that whole ring thing.

But here I am today, ringless, wifeless and until the other day very happy. Things were great until they told me about her. I was perfectly fine and now I am not.

Now I find myself on fire for a woman I haven't seen or spoken to for what seems like forever. Now I find my heart pounding for a woman who probably thinks of me as just another ex. I am sure that she thinks of me fondly, but what are the chances that she feels like I do.

And this sort of talk is part of why I am pissed off with my daughter and the friends. I didn't want to look at this corner of my closet. I didn't want to explore the lost ruins to see if any treasure remains.There is a reason why you let sleeping dogs lie.

Sigh. Well, I'll put this frustration to good use and go needle the hell out of Harold. If he doesn't go off on one of this interminably long speeches I still might get to the beach.

Filed under: NaNoWriMo