writing

knitting & tea & editing

I am not much of a knitter. I like the actual rhythm of knitting, I love pretty yarn. But I don’t absorb patterns well, so anything that requires a chart is usually too much for me.

Also, I’m a slow knitter. I’ve been working on the same scarf for the boy for about a year. In my defense, it is 1×1 rib on size 5 needles. It’s gorgeous, but it is taking forever.

But I do finish things occasionally, and a couple weeks ago I knit myself another Calorimetry. I did one a couple years ago in this green Noro yarn that I had sitting around, but I never wear it since it doesn’t match anything. So this one I did in this grey/pink Malabrigo called Pinot.

It’s marvelous and it keeps my hair out of my face. I’m not one for full hats anyway (my hair is problematic, even at this length) so it is a good alternative headwarmer considering the never-ending winter wonderland. It’s sunny today, at least.

Back to the boy’s scarf again, knitting-wise. Someday it will be finished. Really.

In other news, I have e-mails to catch up on but my gmail is being cranky. I shall blame the full moon. I have Yorkshire Gold tea that I found at Whole Foods over the weekend and did a little happy dance in the tea aisle. I don’t know if they had it before, I’d looked a few months ago and didn’t find it, and this time it was hidden behind cinnamon sticks or some such. And I ordered a new tea mug, because I realized I didn’t have a special mug for, well, not for anything in particular other than tea, I just thought it would be nice to have something handmade. I’ll post pictures when I get it.

Editing today, and should be finished with my general editing within a couple of hours. I’ve been going through section by section doing minor edits and taking notes for major changes, and I’m on the last sections now. I have three that need overhauling and outlines for three or four additional ones. After that I think it should be done. It’s been sort of tedious but I think I’m making it better and stronger (and longer) than it was. But I’ll be glad when it’s finished and I can work on something else.

By erin, ago

the circus is coming

Etsy tells me that “circus chic” is an up & coming trend.

Maybe I should hurry on up finishing my circus-themed novel, then. Not that it’s a traditional circus, but it probably would fall under the circus chic umbrella. Especially if it is a black & white striped umbrella.

It is so close to ready it is driving me vaguely crazy. I even know what I need to do to get it there, I have a list of notes and edits, it’s just a matter of taking that map in hand and pushing through to the end. I haven’t been in a good headspace for it for a few weeks but I’m feeling better about it, and I am sitting with my notes and my Scrivener documents and I know I can get there.

It’s so much bigger than a painting. I still have trouble switching from artist brain to writer brain while still letting one influence the other, and I think the main disconnect is that I can see the entire canvas at once when I look at it. Looking at a 300 page manuscript is different, it makes it harder to see which sections are underpainted, which are overpainted and which are just fine the way they are.

But I’m getting there, even though it’s been a very long road. Perhaps I should buy some circus chic items on Etsy to keep myself in the circus mood. Or maybe I need popcorn.

By erin, ago

editing again

We had a very productive weekend. In between movie going and cleaning and making fried rice the boy and I sat down and figured out how to address all the problems in the novel. I now have a list of additions and edits to make and I’m very very happy about it.

It’s a substantial amount of work but most of it is rewriting and I don’t expect to add much more than 5k or so to the total wordcount. 10k is absolute tops, since I want to keep the whole thing under 100k. Some changes are ideas I’m vaguely annoyed at myself for not coming up with earlier, others are bits to add clarification of character or theme or whatnots.

I feel like I have direction with it again, and that makes me happy. I was feeling pretty stagnant and depressed about it for all of January, so this is a welcome change.

Today I am henna-ing my hair and rereading the current version of the manuscript so I can jot down additional notes. Tomorrow I’ll start on actual editing.

And hopefully Tessa will have found a new napping spot by then.

I did make her move after she started closing my tabs and muting my iTunes with her paws, though my typing didn’t seem to bother her. Such a helpful kitten she is.

By erin, ago

vikings make everything better

I reached the 50k mark for my NaNovel on Saturday. It’s the earliest I’ve ever hit 50k in six years of NaNoing, so that’s something of an accomplishment. I’m at 53k now and I still have quite a bit to go before this draft is anywhere near done, but that’s ok.

I think one of the things I like about NaNoWriMo is that not only does it give you a deadline, which is magical, but it gives you bragging rights and fun icons. It is like getting a gold star in kindergarten, it is simple but extremely happy-making. I cannot even say how much I adore the Viking theme of this year’s winner icons. They are extra special triumphant.

I enjoyed this NaNo more than some previous years. Maybe I just hit upon the fact that I am especially loquacious when writing in first person (though only part of the novel is in first person, those parts did go very fast) or maybe I’ve just had a lot of practice, but I didn’t hit the “I hate my novel” phase this time around, as I usually do somewhere in week three. I had plenty of phases where I wasn’t sure where everything was going (I’m still not sure where everything is going, actually) but nothing that made me want to give up entirely.

I am going to keep writing, I want to see how much I can get done before the end of November since there are still several days left. I am, in a general sense, getting better at finishing what I start and I think for the writing side of that NaNoWriMo has been invaluable. I suppose I have Chris Baty to thank for that, so thank you Chris. You are a Viking in the best of literary Viking ways.

By erin, ago

writing your own myths

I am just over 40k for NaNoWriMo. I should be able to get to 45k by the end of the week and 50k at some point over the weekend, which is kind of excellent.

Not so excellent, depending on how you look at it, is the fact that I am pretty sure I am not even halfway through the novel. It seems to want to be a lot more complicated than I had anticipated, and characters I’d thought were secondary are insisting on quite a bit more attention than I had intended giving them. And there are several plot loops that are making their presence known that I having figured out yet.

It seems to be pretty sure of itself at this point, so I am just going to follow it along and see where it wants to go. After five (sheesh!) years of NaNoing I am pretty familiar with how I write and what works and what doesn’t, so while I won’t say that it’s easier I think it’s less frustrating. I don’t know who is drawing the doors in back alleys in New Orleans, and that’s ok. I’m not sure who Eleanor’s grandfather was, exactly, and that’s ok. I am curious to see where it goes more than I am nervous about not knowing. It will figure itself out, and mostly I just need to stay out of its way.

It has ended up being something of a Persephone story, and a bit of a Wonderland story with a great many Alices. Only one Persephone, though.

By erin, ago

halfway there

So I have hit the halfway mark for NaNoWriMo. Lookit the nice little progress meter:

26132 / 50000 words. 52% done!

And I’m not entirely sure where it is going. I had grandiose aspirations of doing 75k this month but I really don’t think I’m up for it. I might see how far I can get beyond 50k since I’m on pace to hit it early, but I haven’t decided yet.

Not that I’m feeling bad about it. I rather like it so far. I’m learning interesting things about my writing style, having done this so many times. I am not an outliner, I am not even much of a planner. I think I like the surprises that come with not planning, with not knowing what’s going to happen next.

I seem to start with location, and then find different ways to explore it. Approaching it from different angles, telling bits of its story through different characters. My location for this one is, at least, in very good shape. And I have a thread of something or other flowing through it that is plotish if not fully grown plot yet. There are holes in it, of course, but there’s still a good long way to go.

Am guessing that it’ll end up much like the circus did, a 100k or so draft that can be reshaped into something tighter and more coherent. I do have a tendency to ramble off in different directions but I usually learn something or find something to bring back with me.

I think that’s my favorite part about the rough draft stage, that so much of it is exploration and I never know what might turn up on the next page.

By erin, ago