Okay,ย yes, I’m a little behind. I’ve had a flare or two and couple bad nights of sleep. So hopefully I’ll catch up in the next couple days.
Category: Creativity
Not bad but still not caught up. 1667 X 11 should equal 18,337. I’m 2,893 words behind. But I got 2,604 words today and I feel pretty good about that.
I have to name a horse who is sentient and wants a people name. She is wise and loving and always knows how to help. Suggestions?
I can’t believe it! In spite of myself, I am still slightly ahead of where I should be. I have 10,709. The goal for the day is 10,002. So that’s good. The story is about to get very exciting as my two main characters are about to be shot at. But it is too late to get into that kind of scene and still be able to go to sleep sometime before 3AM.
I am always surprised at how much I love writing and watching a story unfold itself to me. The stories are almost more exciting than reading someone else’s stories—even better than a lot of TV shows. Most things I can predict where they are going. My own stories surprise me. It is like all I have to do is type and the story spills through.
Well, that’s how it starts. But I know that somewhere about week two and a half or three I will be screaming at the muse for deserting me and the story.
As for the word count. I don’t understand how some of the people in the groups are almost to the 50k within the first week. My fingers and arms would be falling off. Not to mention my head and eyes would be longing for the chopping block. But good for them. Glad they can do it. AND I am thankful for what I can get done.
Hope all of you are doing well with your projects.
Time for quietness. Good night.
8 Different Crochet Stitches: Learn to Crochet Something New with Free Crochet Patterns by Prime Publishing
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Here’s another one I picked up for free on Amazon. It is still free today. I love looking at the pictures on my tablet as they are very clear and I can see what the results should look like.
This isn’t a pattern book. If you are an experienced crocheter you have tons of patterns. This gives you stitches that you might include in your work. Some of them I knew, but could never find the pattern that included this stitch. Others were new to me. I can hardly wait to try them out!
If you like to crochet and need pictures to help you out, this is the book for you. Oh, and there are links to sites that will teach you more. This one is a keeper!
There’s No Such Thing As Monsters by Michael Yu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What great pictures! I loved them so much. I loved the story, too. The rhythm falls apart, though, when the title theme is repeated. Still, I think this would have been a favorite for my children and I to read so long ago. This was a great message to all of us that see things with our imagination after dark. That dark coat hanging on the door can look like a person standing there. It has had my heart beating with fear on occasion. ๐
Children’s book: Pete the Amazing Dragon (Fairy tales books) by Tal Nir
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I love dragons! I love chocolate! How could I resist this free Kindle book? I loved the cover picture, too. The rest was only okay. Sorry. I wanted more and bigger pictures and was annoyed by the writing that had many uncomfortable sentences. Rhyming ‘well’ with ‘well’ well…
When I review children’s books I try to think of what my children would have liked, what would have spawned great conversations, what I would have enjoyed. I think mine would have gone back to books with more and bigger illustrations. I do like the fact that you can get the coloring book. That would have drawn us all into possible addicts of Pete the Dragon. This one just didn’t work well as a Kindle book for me.
Look what I found:
Though there are real books you can get at Amazon and the like, they are all very expensive, at least they are for my pocketbook. This one is free and in PDF format. I downloaded to my tablet so I can read as I work. So Now I can give a better review of Scrivener. I think I like it. In many ways it reminds me of how FreeMind (I’ll tell you about this one later) a mind mapping software. It lets you click or drag and drop. It calls the main (chapter) folder a parent folder and text (scene) the child. Those texts that are on the same level are siblings, etc. As with any program it takes playing with it a bit to understand. Scrivener has a free trial for 30 days. After that it is $40. If you were to get the above PDF you would have nice little novel/manuscript writer. Sometimes Scrivener has deals with NaNoWriMo so go to Scrivener to sign up for newsletters or contact the people there. They are very nice. I got my software a while ago but never could get started until I got that PDF to walk me through the first steps. Now I think I will like it.
***
Sometimes when I am working out a story I like to draw out a mind-map. It gives me ideas on how thing will interrelate. ย Simon Hayes of yWriter suggested this one:
FreeMind is helpful for more than just writing novels, it can help you figure out other problems in your life that seem to run in circles. If you read about Mind-Mappingย and how it works with pencil and paper You will see the advantages of working this map on the laptop or tablet.
I have actually used the manual method to write term papers. It helped my visual mind to organize my thoughts. And just like the one above you can color code and illustrate to your heart’s content!. By the way, those for the tablet are best bought rather than trying the free versions. It wouldn’t work as well on a small screen. As it is, I would like to have the wall-sized screens of the movies for things like this.
***
Oh, when I was writing about programs yesterday I forgot to include RoughDraft:
I have a friend who swears by this software. For me it is no different than Word or OpenOffice. It is free or on donations,
***
My husband recently turned me on to Grammar Check Anywhere
I am still learning to use it (when I remember to use it) It is a quick way to check on an email or scene or what have you.
Well, that is enough for tonight. Look how much I get done on other things when I have NaNo to work on! ๐
Creative Crafting: How To Zen Doodle.
My first distraction for NaNoWriMo. I may have to set up a page of my own doodles (inspired by Zentangle.com)
I recently found a spiral notebook full of exercises I did during a writers group in 2006. This must have been between the time when I wrote on my Palm Pilot via ย portable keyboard and laptop or tablet. Most are crap, some might spark an idea for future scribblings. I have been Dragon NaturallySpeaking them into my yWriter project I’ve titled Anthology. This one I felt held promise.
Prompt: Renaissance, unfold, somewhere, consequences.
English: A Butterfly Taken at Tropical Wings in the butterfly house. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Butterfly Wings
The consequences unfold, somewhere the Renaissance begin again.
The consequences unfold,
somewhere the Renaissance begin again.
Oppression has had her awful reign.
Foreign and domestically,
monies have met their doom.
Religious Right-wing Activists.
Real wings will unfold.
History repeats itself globally.
No longer will others suppress expression.
Without money to back itself,
the vocal minority slinks back in revolt.
The poor house value, creativity, love.
Those they couldn’t express for fear
Fear of reprisal, jail, or even death.
Now rising from Renaissance’s ashes,
the Phoenix of truth takes wing.
Somewhere out on an island
in the middle of the Pacific
a cry is heard.
A shout that travels
over the island,
over the seas.
A very small being
makes itself heard.
The drummers send signals
attesting the sound.
Dancers prance out
the message,
while singers unite
in harmonious chorus.
They whisper to us,
as the shout is heard
around the world.
Newscasters learn of this event,
walk off the job,
to new lives.
Employees learn crafts to barter,
while Wall Street shuts down to silence.
Murals depicted on subway walls,
and freeway underpasses,
proclaiming the truth once more.
Learning to live and survive
then thrive as wings unfold
everywhere.
What is the message?
Who shouted out?
It was that butterfly
that batted it’s wings
once maybe twice,
the bird above soaring
and everyone heard.
Be alive!
Be free!
Be unique!
The world celebrated
the small butterfly
his three days of life–
set the world free.
copyright 2006 Darlene Milner
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