20k Landmark Reached (Already!)

My goal was to reach 20,000 words this weekend and I have achieved that goal! It makes me so incredibly happy because last year it was November 19 (or so) before I got this far. Though last year at 20,000 words I was two-thirds of the way done. This year I'm only about one-third. That's perfectly fine though because I got there in only 7 days! (NaNoWriMo = excuse for lots of exclamation points)

The only thing that hasn't been going quite so smoothly is the picture taken. My picture for the 5th was taken by my mom (as was the one on the 4th) and for some reason I have still not gotten the e-mail containing it. We're working on it though as we have to take today's picture with her phone as well. My picture for the 6th wasn't even really taken on the 6th though it does look like it because I'm at the right place and wearing the right clothes but really I took it today because I forgot. I just switched clothes for the picture to make myself feel slightly better. Also, I think the karma gods were looking down on me because the picture is on Lizzie's phone and she got grounded from it. I guess that's what I get. It will be up eventually though. I have a spot in the sidebar all set up for it. I also put in a temporary picture that says 'Coming Soon' on it so I don't loose track of which pictures go with which days (because it would so be like me to do that).

Speaking of the sidebar, you may have noticed that I've added another person to my word war widget. It's my friend Leo. She, Madeline, and I are all good friends and since we're all doing NaNo (I just found out Leo was doing NaNo today, great friend huh?) I decided to stick her on there too. Don't be fooled by her low word count, Leo isn't one of those people who updates her word count very often.

And speaking of widgets, I stuck the first 20,000 words of Thinking of You into the I Write Like website and got this:

I write like
Stephenie Meyer

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

And just for kicks I stuck the first draft of The Lullaby in to and got this:

I write like
Neil Gaiman

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

I'm thinking my writing style may just depend on what I'm writing, or maybe what POV I'm doing it in. It may also be that I've changed a lot in the last year. I also hope as the novel progresses it'll be less like Stephenie Meyer. Not that I'm one of those people who like hates her guts or anything, I mean she's a bestseller after all, but lots of olderish people do not like her style of writing and I want people to enjoy my writing. What author wouldn't? To let you decide for yourself if I write like Stephenie Meyer or not, here's an excerpt. Please note, this is in the middle of a flashback.

When I woke up, I knew what they would tell me, that she had been stillborn, that the little girl who I had carried around for 9 months was gone. That the birth certificate that had been set and ready with the name Ariel Lanfeld written across the top, would never be sent in. They had offered to let me keep it anyway. The doctor had signed it with the date and time of birth written down, and I had clutched it to my chest.

I can admit to myself know, that half of the tears I cried were ones of relief. I was only 15 with a full life ahead of me, a great career. I had done something stupid, and this was the consequence. And somehow I had been lucky enough for it to go away. I kept that birth certificate. I framed it at home, but lately I had taken to carrying it around with me, close to my heart. It was in my bra always, even now. They hadn’t given me any new clothes to wear or anything.

I never got to see her. They wouldn’t let me see the body, they said it would be too hard for me, in my adolescence. And I went with it. I didn’t want to see what a horrible person I was. The little baby corpse that I was relieved was that way.

In later life, after Clarence was gone, I would wish so desperately that I had persisted, that I had looked, that she had lived above all else. No matter what I thought I saw, my team, our missions, I never once saw her, and I always remembered that she was gone. That pain never went away no matter how bad I wished it would.

A sudden thought struck me. If she had still been alive she had to be around here somewhere. Could I walk around in parts of a memory I didn’t remember? Could I see her at last? It was worth a try. I stood up from my chair and drifted from the room leaving me behind.

I drifted down the hallway looking for a door labeled Nursery or a large window looking into it. Finally, I found a nurse carrying a baby and I just followed her. She led me into a room full of heated baby beds. I searched for my baby. Her name on some kind of tag. I finally found it but a blanket covered her almost completely. All I saw was a dark head of hair poking out of the top. [No blonde hair like Clarence.]

I lifted the blanket slowly, amazed I could touch something in a memory. Her face slowly was revealed to me. I leaned forward with anticipation, finally, after eight years. Then my joy and hope crumpled inwards. I didn’t know whether to scream, cry, laugh hysterically. So I just stared there shocked. In a movie quiet dreamy music would have been playing. But this wasn’t a movie. My dreams were crushed and lay in ruins all around this baby nursery. One of them started to fuss, and a nurse hurried to check on him or her. I barely registered any of it. I was focused on one fact.

My daughter had no face.

10k Landmark Reached

You read right, I have reached the 10,000 word mark, and it's only the fourth day! This makes me so happy because last year at this point I was only at 4 maybe 5 thousand. That's a great improvement as Josh said. I'm making a lot of great improvements lately, and not just in writing.

Today was our first Academic Team meet, and my team came out on top with an undefeated score and a total point count of 630. It's amazing and makes me so excited as I actually got to help us get there unlike in previous years where I pretty much just sat and watched the whole thing. I played for the whole time for all three games and I must say I did great. This really lifted me up (the two cans of Coke may have also had a part in it) and I got home ready to type up the words for the day and write however much more I needed to get to 10k. That's what you're seeing in today's picture.

Don't I look so intent? It makes me so proud of myself and I believe that that is great for my writing. It allows me to write much faster and possibly even a little better (though it's NaNo so that's not really that important at the moment). Also, if you missed yesterday's picture check out the sidebar under NaNoWriMo. I decided to post all my pictures for the month there in miniature form. If you want to see the full size version just drag and drop the miniature in the URL slot-thingie.

I have a treat for your guys as well. Since I unintentionally started Poetry Peak a little early I know you may be a little disappointed about missing it this week (ha, I wish). So, even though I didn't write a poem, I do have this cool video for you to watch that my English teacher showed me. This poem that it's showing is amazing. Maybe I should try something like it sometime. Of course, not during November.

(Still) Floating on Air

I don't have to post the word count at the top of the posts anymore because I figured out how to get the word count widget in the sidebar thanks to Heather. As you can see, I'm trucking right along. I'm ahead of the game by just a little more than a day. I'm hoping to eventually get two days ahead which I will if I keep a steady pace. Here's to hoping that will happen.

You may also have noticed while checking out my word count that there are two different widgets, one that shows my word count bar plus a little calendar that shows how I do on separate days of the month and one that shows me and a mysterious someone else. This is my friend Madeline. She and I are sort of competing to see who can get the most words, or are we competing to see who wins first? Maybe we're just comparing and having fun together. Yeah, let's go with that one. She's a little behind but knowing her she'll probably catch up to me when I'm least expecting it.

It's the second day of NaNo which means I have a new picture of me to post which was, of course, taken by the wonderful Lizzie.

I have this weird habit of holding my ponytail (if I'm wearing one) while I'm concentrating so that's what I'm doing here (besides writing). You see that book in the side slot thing? That's my copy of No Plot? No Problem! And that shirt I'm wearing? My grandparents brought it to me all the way from Rome. Just a little piece of pointless information I felt like sharing. XD

I have noticed one major thing that I keep messing up in my NaNo novel. I keep switching my tenses. I'll be writing in past and then I'll glance up and I've suddenly started writing present tense. For some strange reason this makes me happy. My novel has a flaw (besides the many run-on sentences that I've accumulated already) and that is awesome because it's supposed to be that way. I'm also happy about it because it's not bugging me and I'm not itching to fix it. This is incredible for me because I might just have a smidge of OCD. You should see my room. It's probably the cleanest and most organized room of any thirteen-year-old ever.

Following one of the suggestions given by the NaNo staff I've found ways to reward myself for reaching my word count goal. For instance, today we (my father and I, majorly shocking) went to Wal-Mart and I got a pomegranate. I really love pomegranate seeds, or more accurately the little juice pouch things they're enclosed in. So after making a huge mess extracting all the seeds, I promptly put them in a container and shut them away in the fridge. I told myself I could eat some of them once I had finished typing my words for the day (I write in a notebook during school, as you can see in the pictures). Another reward I give myself (or that I will) is watching Total Drama World Tour (I'm a nerd, okay?). It comes on on Mondays. I've set the DVR to record all new episodes and I've determined that I will not watch it until Friday, if I'm caught up on my word count goal. If I'm not, I have to wait to watch it until I am.

And now to see you off I have a video (I figured it out, so many discoveries today) and a small excerpt from my NaNo. Here's to hoping you won't run away screaming after you read it.

 

And that’s when I remembered and realized my biggest mistake.

Tass wasn’t going to be at my back, at least not until I lapsed and forgot again. Forgot this horrible detail that was burning straight into my brain, leaving a brand that I knew wouldn’t be permanent. Suddenly one of Clarence’s many drills resurfaced in my mind, bubbling to the surface. [Never go on a mission alone. Never. Do you all understand? If you ever do such a thing, and actually managed not to get killed, it won’t help you in the slightest because as soon as you get your ass back here, I’m going to kill you.] I’m on the edge of bursting out hysterically laughing. And why not? I’ve already been shot. [Does it count if I went alone unintentionally?] I can imagine Clarence pondering this question. It’s an image I should probably work hard to remember. I won’t be seeing it again any time soon. My shoulder throbs painfully reminding me of my situation. Or maybe I will.

Star’s laugh bubbles through my head, how I used to think it was the most annoying sound ever. Now I’m on the edge of tears, if only I could hear it for real now. Outside of my head, through my ears and not my mind. [Oh, Star, you little blonde bubblehead, how I’ve missed you. Why? Why did those stupid bastards do it? How could they bring themselves to do it?] Laughter is bubbling up again. Her waves were manipulating my feelings again, tic for tac, as she used to say, for my waves manipulating her thoughts. But then it’s not her real waves anymore, just the empty memory of them. Empty cold memories that are eating away at my mind. How could they do that to me? Wait, it’s not their faults, it’s those government dicks, the same ones that are standing right in front of me. And rage is suddenly the dominant emotion.

These fuckers are staring at me like I’m crazy, which I know I am. Just to freak them out more I allow a slow smile to creep across my face, knowing it makes me look almost vampirish, I’ve practice it in the mirror tons of time. My body is screaming at me and even as laughter starts to bubble out of my mouth, I start to fall. I’m on the ground and the man with the strange hat is standing over me with an expression between joy and fear on his face but I don’t care.

Because the truth is, the thing I’ve finally remembered is that Tass, Clarence, Star, all of my team, are dead.

Victory from the Start

Word Count: 3,006 words

I am feeling awesome right now! I wrote more words so far today then I have during any other day of my life. Maybe that's kind of sad but it's a great achievement for me. (Plus according to the YWP site I'm already 6.01% done!) This also means I'm already almost a whole day ahead (I might actually be if I get to writing now, I have about an hour before I need to get ready for bed).

I sent out a text to most of my contacts informing them I reached this goal. Some of the responses were pretty funny (I'm still waiting for about four people to reply) so I thought I would share them with you.

Josh: Kewl (There he goes with his text talk again. -rolls eyes-)

Christine: That is awesome!

Katie: What is NaNo? (How on Earth does she not know? I couldn't have forgotten to tell her, could I?)

Rylie: Thats great i guess! But whats nana?! (Nana? Really Rylie? At least you used punctuation.)

Allie: HOLY MOLY BROOKE (Yeah, she actually sent it in all caps.)

Nick: Holy Shit (Ha! I'm so awesome he had to resort to profanity. XD)

Lizzie: Go yo u!!! (Now your typo shall forever be remembered. Mwahahaha! Love you.)

Nana:  Wow! that's lot of writing. sounds lke it is going well (When I was typing the name I accidentally posted NaNo at first. XD)

Such were the first responses of my friends and family. It made me almost float on air. Along with all of the awesome youtube-found songs I've been listening to lately. When I have time to figure out how to post them in a post I'll do that. Hopefully, that will be soon because one of them is actually about NaNo. How awesome is that? Another thing that is awesome is this:

Courteous of the great Lizzie this is my November 1st picture. Don't I look just so writerly?

Mother Nature

Tomorrow is National Novel Writing Month!

It's officially Halloween though I finished trick-or-treating about five hours ago. It's 12:50 AM at the moment and I've barely eaten any candy, which makes me not being very tired even more amazing (I have anemia meaning I get tired easily). I did have two cans of soda, though, which may have contributed. What does all of this have to do with anything? Nothing much, really, except that it means I'll be posting the poem (yes, I wrote it) that inspired my costume.

Mother Nature

Rarely seen
No one knows
Photos are non-existent
Not even legends are told
But she’s there
Hiding among the trees
Wearing their fallen leaves and buds

Chipmunks chatter to her
She laughs at their jokes
The twinkling sound of her joy
Repeated by the bluebirds
She runs with the solves
Howling to the moon as her feet pound the ground
Footprints marking the place of future rabbit homes

The fairy-folk dance with her
On Mid-summer’s Eve
Kicking up their heels
To the music
Played by mice on their whiskers

She weaves her hair
Lining for burrows
Soon to be filled with babes
Her touch brings new life
Green stems from dead branches
Her anger, though, can wreck havoc
The clouds grow dark with her thoughts
Her shouts rumble through the ground
And her tears of frustration raise waterlines
The animals hide
Waiting for this storm to pass
As we do the same

She is rarely seen
No one knows of the power she holds
Photos of her are non-existent
Not even legends are told about her
Her beauty, her power, her existence
She hides
No other name is her’s but
Mother Nature

I won't say it's one of my early poems, but it's not one of my newest poems either. It's somewhere in the middle. I actually think I did pretty good for back then. What do you think? I would really love to know.

Another thing that is related to Halloween is I finally have a picture for my profile (though it's not up yet). You'll get to see me and a few of my friends in costume (plus a couple of my friends who aren't). I've been taking a few more pictures lately which has sparked the idea to have someone take a picture of me writing for everyday of NaNo. Of course, I'll have to use my mom's little thing that you put the SD card in to plug it into the computer so they may not all go up on the correct dates but I'll try my hardest.

P.S. It's now 1:11 AM which means that my post typing time is getting shorter. Huzzah!

City in the Sky

3 days until National Novel Writing Month

So as promised I wrote a poem about my short story series idea. I'm going to have to think of a name for that soon, I don't like just calling it the 'short story series'. It sounds very impersonal. I do have to admit that I thought about writing about something else while I was on my OU field trip (which, if you were wondering, wasn't that bad though it started to get boring after a while and my legs started to hurt after walking around for two hours, I got some great pictures though ^^) but strangely I forgot what it was. It's really kind of disappointing. I have a pretty good poem anyway.

City in the Sky

Feet are stable
firmly planted

Clouds float around
heads filled with fluff

Balloons holding, keeping
a town high in the big blue sky

What dwells below hovering boardwalks
is neither known nor cared much about

Yet there is one boy who
sits and ponders this mystery

He dazes down upon
the ground and wonders

What treasures
lie below us?

I like how I did the format of this poem, though I didn't think to do it like this on purpose until the third stanza. I hope this gives you a clearer idea of my idea. I even hope it gave me a clearer idea. This project should start during December. This will also be my last Poetry Peak until then. Here's to hoping the waiting will be worth it.

Whirling

5 days until National Novel Writing Month

Can you believe it? Less than a week! Good thing I'm going to be super busy this week or it would drag on forever. I've got a field trip that will last all day tomorrow (from 8 AM to 4 PM). We're going to tour the OU campus. It's a GT thing so all my friends are going and I'll know almost everyone that goes. On Thursday morning I have a National Junior Honor Society meeting, and that afternoon I'm going to my sister's soccer practice. Friday afternoon is for Academic Team practice. Best of all, Saturday is trick-or-treating! (Even though Halloween is on Sunday. What is up with my community?) Yes, I still go trick-or-treating. Why in the world would I give up free candy? I'll be going as Mother Nature (the real one, not the one from that stupid commercial). This is partly inspired by this poem I write a while back, maybe I should post it on Halloween. For more teen type things, after getting the free candy we (I'm dragging Lizzie, and possibly Alisha, with me) are going to Nicholas's party. Then after all this fun, Lizzie and Alisha will (hopefully) be spending the night.

I think that is the most my age-group-type paragraph I've written so far. Now, back to more serious, writing related things. Even though I'm super busy there are also times (ie - now) when I'm doing nothing but sitting at home and the time would drag incredibly if I didn't find other things to do (preferably on the Internet as time always seems to pass so quickly when I'm online). So currently I'm checking out some posts on Query Shark, a blog where an agent critiques query letters sent to her. It has pretty good advice on it that might come in handy later. I'm hoping this will hold my interest for a couple of days (there are quite a few posts).

Something that's been occupying my mind (and thankfully keeping me from complete insanity while waiting for NaNo) is submitting one of my poems to Teen Ink, a magazine whose content is written completely by teens. You can sign up for their site and post your writing that way, hoping that they'll see it and put it in their magazine, or you can just send it to them via mail or email. I'd prefer the sending through mail or email. If I signed up I would be tempted to post more writing and they (Teen Ink) get non-exclusive rights to anything you submit and I'm a little protective about these things. You have to include a signed little piece of paper stating that the work is completely by you. I guess if you send it through email you have to scan it onto the computer, one of the reasons I'm taking so long to submit. Another is I would be overtaken with worrying about if they had got it and if they liked it and so forth. Not really rejection but not knowing. It would just kill me if they didn't send me a reply. A rejection actually wouldn't be that bad. I could stick it in my still non-existent rejection scrapbook (have I mentioned this, pretty sure I haven't).

For some strange reason, I've also been thinking about writing a short story series. Usually, I try to steer away from short stories as I'm not good at thinking up ideas for them and I tend to extend it way beyond a 'short' story as I don't know how to end it (hence why, for my novels, I always try to think of an ending and a last line) but I've been thinking that if I made it into a series it would be easier. I may have possibly gotten an idea for them a few minutes ago but it's kind of vague. Maybe I'll write this week's Poetry Peak (yes, I decided to have one this week, it's not November yet, sadly) about it. Hopefully that will make it more firm.

And to top all of this off I'm starting to feel like working on The Lullaby. Five days before NaNo starts. It's like a curse and a blessing in one. I feel like writing and that's awesome but if I get too wrapped up in it, I may not feel like starting NaNo when I'm supposed to (pssh, me, not interested in NaNo). And to go with that I know what I want to happen in Chapter Five but I don't really know how I want to write it. Tomorrow, on the bus for the field trip, I'm going to write up an outline for it. This is so going against my rule never to write on buses but I'll get over it. My mind is whirling with all of this, but it's a good kind of whirling.