(no subject)

[dr_pretentious]

17,053 / 50,000 (34.1%)

Today's new words: 2089

Current deficit: 2951

Working Conditions: Longhand phase at Barnes and Noble. Hours-long break for long biking expedition on canal towpath with Dan, and then sabrinamari and vgnwtch's joint birthday party. Late night typing phase in my study. Peristent cat on keyboard. It seems I can have a social life and a 2k/day writing pace, as long as I don't have to put my full weight on my left foot or teach any students.

Notable incidents: An exposition grenade went off, and shards of exposition shrapnel flew all over the scene, bringing all action to a total standstill while the characters bandaged themselves up, mopped the mess off the floor, and picked up tweezers with which to pull the exposition shards out of the furniture.

As Anne Lamott would say, the first draft must be shitty.

Is this a first draft? Yep.

On the Nanowrimo forums, the folks in my region have been really disorganized about arranging write-ins, meet-ups, whatever you call them. I got sick of waiting, and so declared that I'd be at the Barnes and Noble at Brunswick Square Mall on Route 18 in East Brunswick this coming Thursday night, the 17th, from 7:30pm until they close at 11. If anybody shows up, fabulous. If not, that will be okay, too. So maybe I will cause a writing gathering to occur. Anyhow, if you feel so inclined, come over. I'll be the short, bespectacled brunette with the cane.

Comments

[a3hourtour.livejournal.com]

Hope you don't mind if I friend you; I am a teacher in NE Ohio and also working on Nanowrimo.

The East Brunswick caught my eye at first, and then I realized it wouldn't be the eastern part of Brunswick, Ohio; but possibly NJ. Ah well.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the party!

How do you fit Nanowrimo around your teaching job? I'm freelancing part time as a private tutor these days, so the time squeeze isn't that bad, but I used to teach full time, and I can't imagine what it would have taken to write like this with the schedule I used to have.

[a3hourtour.livejournal.com]

Well it isn't easy.
I've been getting up an hour earlier than usual and also writing at odd moments, like during my hall duty, in the two minute snippets of time I get between people going by with issues.
And I've been more tardy than usual in the grading department, I fear.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Grading drove me out of academia. I used to teach a lot of freshman composition at Fair To Middling State University, and some weeks the grading load alone was 30 hours in a week.

Fortunately, in New Jersey it's illegal to pump your own gas, so I get in some odd writing moments with my legal pad propped up on the steering wheel while the tank fills.

[a3hourtour.livejournal.com]

in New Jersey it's illegal to pump your own gas,

Are you serious?
I haven't seen an honest to goodness gas station attendant in maybe 15 years!!
And then, they were a rarity!

I teach in a high school- mostly honors and AP US history- the grading load can be 30+ hours but fortunately not every week- that's only when I test (all essays, of course) and that breaks down to once every 3 weeks or so. In between, AP gets an essay or two (4+ hours of grading) and honors might get an essay or two as well. So perhaps 5-10 hours a week on average with one week out of three a doozey. This week, in fact, I am running around with a giant bag of stuff to grade- Honors tested Friday and I spent all weekend raking and cleaning house and washing large dog. I only got in a couple hours of writing and no grading at all.

[monotreme.livejournal.com]

Oh my dear wife, will you wear a carnation? How about a silly hat?

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

We do have some pretty silly hats around the house, don't we?

[shakti-lemaris.livejournal.com]

Hi. Who are you on the nano forums?
(I'm oneberdache.)

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I post under my actual name on the official forums, on the theory that, as long as I'm not habitually a jerk online, it's an investment in name recognition in case publication ever occurs. (Once in a while, I am accidentally a jerk online, but what can you do? Feet are a standard hazard of open mouths.)

I find the traffic on the forums overwhelming, and haven't looked at anything but the New Jersey regional lounges since 1 November. The traffic on 2005nanowrimo is reasonably manageable and more convenient for me.