Richard Matheson passed away at the age of 87.
‘I Am Legend’ is one of my favorite books. It was one of my early forays in the world of science-fiction. (Let me pretend the horrid thing with Will Smith that shares its name doesn’t exist).
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My consecutive days of writing streak stands at 81. I’m at 32K in my current WIP.
I’m closing in on 100.
(I wrote this elsewhere for some good friends but frankly, I think it should be shared here)
I just cranked out 400 words.
That officially makes it 50 days of continuous daily writing.
(2 days at the 350 minimum).
Some stats:
Average word count a day: 376 (rounded up)
Highest day: 670 (Oh wow. Not very high. Thought I had a 1k day in there somewhere)
Lowest day: 253 (I remember that day, within the first 2 weeks and it was a hard one)
I have NEVER in my life written every day like this. I’ve written 20K in a day, I’ve done and succeeded mutliple times at NaNo and one year I did NaNo 2 months in a row to hit 105K on a manuscript.
This feels good.
I feel confident in what I’m writing. I feel confident that I CAN keep writing. I feel confident I can make it to 100 days with a higher quota (350 a day now).
My writing feels good. It feels a lot more consistent.
I look forward to sitting down and writing now. The last few days I’ve been itching to write from the time I wake up.
Damn I like this in myself.
I like myself better when I’m writing.
Thanks guys for all your support.
A note: If *I* can figure out how to do this. If I can find a way and do it…you all can. Just keep writing.
A special note to my inner shithead:
Fuck you shithead! Fuck you sideways and the horse you rode in on. Today, you have NO power over me. I’ve beaten you 50 times, and I will thrash the shit out of you for the next 50! I will beat you if I have to tap out my 350 words on my Kindle while the battery is dying. I will beat you with a crayon and a napkin if I have to.
Do you understand me shithead?
I know you’ll win again eventually. I know you’ll fill me with doubt. I know you will hit me with despair. You will win. That’s reality. That’s life.
That’s fine.
But NEVER AGAIN will you EVER win UNOPPOSED. If you win, I will fight you kicking and screaming (and I WILL fight dirty)
You’re gonna have to work for it now.
You will win again, but after all that work? I’m gonna get right back up like a balloon clown and kick the shit out of you again.
Fuck you shithead. I am a writer. I will always be a writer and now I’m done talking to you.
I’m off to write some more.
For all my friends (and loved one) who have taken the National Novel Writing Month challenge:
It’s the final week! Get your engines revving! Write those exciting scenes! It’s crunch time! No matter what your word count is, you can do the impossible.
I salute you!
I’ve done a slight disservice to a few people this month on the subject of NaNoWriMo in regards to the target of 50 000 words. I’m not alone in having done so, and it’s not particularly egregious or anything but it bothers me enough that I wanted to set the record straight for me.
I’ve been a little too blasé about reaching 50K
Thank you Beverly Akerman for sharing a link to yesterday’s entry on rejection! I hope to see you all here again soon.
For those of you who aren’t aware yet, Beverly has a new book of short stories “The Meaning of Children” (available on Amazon) and it has been awarded the David Adams Richard prize.
Check it out today!
Note: I’ve just become aware that for some reason my links on facebook weren’t showing up. I think this is now fixed.
Ray Bradbury has passed away at 91.
Another author who’s contributed so much.
Fahrenheit 451 made a mark when I first read it.
Gonna go and put the Martian Chronicles in the ol’ reading queue now.
The writing I’m seeing is so very good, my own writing is elevated because of it.
There’s a lot of work to be done. I’m seeing the flaws I need to work on, and finding stuff I haven’t seen before too! Yesterday was a case in point.
After reading my assignment, I was quite proud of it.
That’s when I heard, “That fourth paragraph, that’s where you should have begun. That’s called burying the lead.”
Shock. What? I know what burying the lead is, no way, how did I – dammit. Sigh. Really?
I just rewrote the thing for fun (because I really do like this little tidbit) and are they ever right! Wow.
Can’t wait til next Thursday!
This site isn’t actually blocked. Don’t worry.
But it could be.
Under PIPA and SOPA, sites which contain or even only link to copywrited materials can be blocked indefinitely without trial or notice (or even possibly any legal recourse).
Here’s the thing. The folks who decide to block a site using PIPA or SOPA don’t even have to be right. It’s that whole without trial or notice.
Here’s another thing, it doesn’t stop piracy at all. You’d still be able to access blocked sites directly using their IP address. Pirates would not be slowed down. The only thing these bills do is put huge censorship powers in the hands of a few. Those few are determined to control what you do on the net. Those few insist that, whether you infringe or not, they have a right to determine what you see and to have their hands in your wallet.
You’ll hear a lot of “These bills aren’t meant for censorship. We will only use them to fight piracy, we promise”. We’ve heard that before. Heard of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act? That was meant to fight piracy, it hasn’t much, and it’s mostly mis-used to unfairly stiffle competition among corporations.
Remember, these bills don’t really do much to fight piracy, but they DO allow for a whole lot of censorship, without trial or legal recourse.
I eventually want to make my living from my writing, so I’m sympathetic to copyright issues but this isn’t the way to deal with them.
If you live in the US, write to your representatives NOW. The mainstream media is mostly ignoring this issue and the narrative that is there is being led by big money lobbyists and corporations, the opposition is mostly online. It’s up to you to pick up the ball and make sure your voice is heard. The PIPA and SOPA supporters, up until very recently, denied there was any significant opposition. Show them there is!
If you do not live in the US, stay aware and informed. There is reason to believe that the US is putting pressure on other countries to pass similar legislation. Do not let them.
It’s up to you.
This infographic summarizes things pretty well
Addendum:
I’m a big fan of Cory Doctorow and I found this quote on the Make The Light blackout page (unfortunately it does not adequately source it):
“Big Content haven’t just declared war on Boing Boing and Reddit and the rest of the “fun” Internet: they’ve declared war on every person who uses the net to publicize police brutality, every oppressed person in the Arab Spring who used the net to organize protests and publicize the blood spilled by their oppressors, every abused kid who used the net to reveal her father as a brutalizer of children, every gay kid who used the net to discover that life is worth living despite the torment she’s experiencing, every grassroots political campaigner who uses the net to make her community a better place — as well as the scientists who collaborate online, the rescue workers who coordinate online, the makers who trade tips online, the people with rare diseases who support each other online, and the independent creators who use the Internet to earn their livings.
The contempt for human rights on display with SOPA and PIPA is more than foolish. Foolishness can be excused. It’s more than greed. Greed is only to be expected. It is evil, and it must be fought.”
Once again, Scalzi justifies his position in my list of favorite authors. This post made me laugh. Check it out!
I intend to try and follow up on this particular writing prompt:
“One night, in a dark and depressing cantina on the shady side of Coruscant, you meet up with a man who claims to be the Marksman Instructor at the Stormtrooper Academy. Share with us his drunken lament.”
Life has exploded lately. Haven’t been able to post or write much, this is just the kind of silly thing to get the juices flowing again.
The Basement Office 
Feels good! Finding my voice again.