Tappa-tappa-tappa

Company rehearsals are well underway, and I've been tap-dancing my heart out and I think I'm getting it right - we're using hats and canes and everything! All very exciting and energetic. I just need to learn the words and harmony to the song we're singing at the same time as doing the dance and then I'll be sorted! Should be a good show.
Well, it's the last day of NaNoWriMo today and I've written 12,560 words (or something to that effect). I know I could have done better, and I'm a little disappointed with myself for not pulling my finger out and for playing the Sims 2 way too much (devil game), but at the same time, I'm now 12000 words into the beginnings of what will hopefully be my first novel, so it's all positive. And it inspired me to write and motivated me, so I think I did well. I'm going to try and do it properly next year, and maybe I'll reach that 50,000 word target!
I really want to work more on my 'youths' play, so I am going to start that again next week. I think I've worked out the different storylines for all of my teens, so it should be a case of just writing it now. My friend is having a play he wrote performed by the university theatre society, and this has got me thinking - perhaps that would be the perfect place to perform in my 'youths' play too? I mean, the actors there are over the age of 18, so no one will pass out if they say f*** on stage, but they're not 'adults pretending to be children' either (a la Dawsons Creek). So it might work.
I'm still not sure what to write for Momentum. I'd ideally like to write about my Shilton posse, but not sure I'll be 'allowed'. Perhaps I'll be inspired by tonight's workshop session.
Lucy :-)

Umbrella and Spam

Well, my short story is up on Umbrella now: http://www.umbrellastories.com/frameset.html
To find it (it's very maze-like), click on 'Flash fiction', then in the box click on '800 words', and then in the new window, in tiny letters at the bottom right hand corner, click on 'by author', and then my name will come up in a list! This story has gone through several redrafts and titles, but it is still essentially the story I wrote when I was sixteen.

I am now twenty-six years old (it pains me to write that!). And although I didn't greet my 26th year with a newly-penned 50,000 word NaNoWriMo novel (yes, I suck!), I did get to see Tim Curry in Spamalot, the Monty Python musical. Is it just me, or is there something extremely sexy about him, even though he must be over 60? Think I'm going to have to rewatch 'The Worst Witch' later.

I'm trying to get my story finished for the 'Tripod' competition, but I'm now having an anxiety attack and think it's crap. Need to post it off tomorrow if it's going to get there on time. Gulp! I'm really hoping to pull myself out of the anti-creativity crater I seem to have fallen into very soon!

Lazy and Poor

I've had a pretty unproductive weekend yet again. I wasn't scheduled in to work, so had the whole two days off. On Saturday I slept til 3pm, and was still ready for bed again by half 10!
I have come to the conclusion that I'm never going to 'win' NaNoWriMo. There's little hope of me writing just under 40,000 words in two weeks. And it's all my own fault. I'm not sure whether it's just plain laziness or 'mental exhaustion', but either way, my brain would rather veg out in the evenings than create a novel (even a poorly written one). My stringent budgeting this month (£5 a week food budget - oh yes!) has meant that I still have cash at the end of the month, but it's exhausting and depressing living on the poverty line, especially when I have friends four - five years older than me who can afford houses and posh cars and brand named food products, and vegetables and things like that. I could do with a holiday, but obviously I can't afford one. I'll be working til I drop, I guess.
I've figured out how Nox (my NaNoWriMo heroine) is going to escape the mental institution, which had me stumped for a while, but actually getting down to writing it is hard. I'm going to keep writing the story after NaNo has finished, and hopefully turn it into something worthwhile. There's just not enough hours in the day. And poisoning myself wth caffeine and staying up later and later to try to get things done is making me ill (physically and mentally). Sometimes I wish I was passionate about accounting or something else practical, and then at least I'd be well off, in a secure job, with proper employment structure and progression, rather than scribbling away at a quarter past midnight each night with the vague notion that one day someone will read my scribblings and offer me some money for it. Sigh. This post is turning into a bit of a rant, and it wasn't meant to be. Think I'll go and make a cup of tea, and hopefully I'll feel better afterwards.

Tuesday's child is full of grace...

...Well, supposedly, but I was born on a Tuesday and I fall over and bump into things a lot. I wonder who came up with that rhyme?

Anyway, it's Tuesday, and it's my night off from working/singing/rehearsing/Momentum-ing, so I'm in a pretty good mood, except that I have a property inspection tomorrow so have to give the place a once-over with a duster (and do all the washing up...). Never mind, I'm sure I'll find time to write this evening.

I have achieved something marvellous - I have broken the 10,000 barrier in my NaNoWriMo. OK, it's true that I'm behind in my targets and should be nearer to 20,000 at this point, but I still think it's a tremendous achievement for someone who is as lazy and as easily distracted as I have discovered I am.

I'm still trying to come up with an idea for Momentum this year, but can't think of anything that involves three or less people. Maybe if I talk sweetly enough they'll change the rules to 4 people this year instead (I won't hold my breath though!).

I'm also working on my Tripod submission (the story about 'Mouse' my silent Shilton chav). Does anyone know how many words they are expecting it to be?

Momentum Sessions

Well, the momentum playwriting sessions have started up again, and because they don't want to lose us, they have extended the age limit of the group, so I can still go! I'm going to try and give it a really good go this year, as I'm not counting on them upping the age limit again next September. But now I'm thinking, what shall I write? I'm obviously working on a couple of projects at the moment, but none of those fit in with the Momentum guidelines (unless those get changed this year too). Our exercise for this week is to find a newspaper story that you could dramatise (yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have homework) so perhaps that might give me some ideas. Got quite drunk actually after the session was over! Spent a good portion of the time at the pub spouting on about Christopher Marlowe to some unsuspecting BA English final year student. Hope I've not scared him off coming to Momentum now! Could have been worse though, I could have been drinking rose...

Word on my work PC is being stupid and keeps crashing; I was going to do a bit more towards my NaNoWriMo this lunch time, but now I'm not sure that I want to in case the whole thing crashes and my words gets lost somewhere in cyberland. Tonight I'm having a dedicated writing night, as I'm hoping to get through another couple of thousand words for NaNoWriMo, and also to start my story submission for Tripod. This may be a bit over-ambitious, as I may end up doing all the washing up and playing the Sims 2 instead, but you never know! An ode to the Sims 2 - now that would be easy to write.

Umbrella

NaNoWriMo update: 5775 words so far. I'm below my word target by about 4000, mainly because I didn't feel very well on Sunday so spent the day not doing anything. Stupid sick body!

I received an email today from someone who runs the Umbrella Stories website to say that she liked the story I submitted, and will be putting it online shortly. The site is really cool - odd structurally at first, but I like it. It also houses Sabrina Smith's wonderful short story, so now my little piece will be there to keep her's company. I will post the link to it when it's published.

Momentum starts again tomorrow, with Amanda Whittington again this time (Emma Rosoman is living it large in London). I'm so caught up in prose right now, it's going to be interesting to see what dialogue I come out with! Well, it's all about keeping versatile, isn't it? I am looking forward to it, and to seeing who is new this year. Still haven't thought of an idea for a one-act play with only three or less people in it, though I guess there's no rush right now.

I think November is going to be a busy-crazy month, what with all the writing and rehearsals for my play. I moan, but I love it really. Just wish I had a little bit more time. I deprive my body of sleep and pump it full of crap in the bid to make each day stretch that little bit longer, but now I'm feeling rubbish. I'll get NaNoWriMo out of the way and sleep all through December I think...

NaNoWriMo 2

God, this NaNoWriMo thing is harder than I thought it would be. I've written just over 3000 words (so I'm 1000 down on my targets) and I'm only happy with about 1500 of them. I've also switched narrative voice half way through, as I had unknowingly developed this bizarre writing habit where I'd slip into the passive voice "she would..." and I got annoyed at myself for doing it.

Anyway, no one can beat me in terms of procrastination - for that I am the queen - and so after I had written my 2000-0dd words last night, I decided to see how long my favourite novels were, just so that I know, after NaNoWriMo, how many words my first novel should be. Well, Lady Oracle is approx. 152,880 words long; The Hours is approx. 62,440; and Oranges are not the only Fruit is approx. 76,608 words. So I think I'll aim for about 80,000 words, to be on the safe side.

I also rediscovered last night that writing makes me feel Happy. I know that sounds a bit stupid, but I had forgotten how contented it makes me feel to not have to think about money and my job and other stuff like that, but just to focus on another person, another world, another time and let my imagination go crazy. It's extremely therapeutic.

NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month kicked off at midnight last night/this morning, and I've written 509 words so far. 509 words of crap, mind you, but at least it's a start.

I think that once I get into it, it should flow a little easier, but right now my 'novel' reads like a Woman's Weekly article.

Good luck to fellow NaNoWriMo-ites!