michaeljasper.net
"Another Wrecked Web Site"
July 3, 2002
Last entry for a few days -- Vacation approaches!!!
Now Playing:
"Ten," "Vs.," "Vitalogy," "No ID," "Yield," "Binaural," Pearl Jam (yes, I'm drafting new stuff, can you tell?)
Today's Words:
2,300
Yearly Words:
69,500
Writing Dare
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Did a bunch of writing today, along with helping get the HWA Newsletter fixed up and sent out. The editor was having trouble with it, so I volunteered my so-called expertise. I'm not sure why the original file was so messed up, but we were able to get it put back together. It was a pretty big issue, with stuff about the Stokers and all, and I was glad to help.
I also finished another chapter of the Wannoshay novel! Wahoo! Did over 2,000 words today, which is always cool. I was tempted to try and hit the 70,000-word mark for the year, but I'm tired out. My brain's fried.
I like the chapter I wrote today a lot, and I've gotten some great feedback from fellow writers about some issues with earlier chapters, and I've been able to do some more character motivation and development with their feedback, makeing my current chapter better.
And now that I'm sorta caught up, I'm taking a break! We're heading to the NC mountains, going as far west as you can go and still be in NC, to a place called Bryson City that Elizabeth found. We'll take some photos and stuff. It'll be nice to just chill out and relax again. We've both forgotten how to do that! So I'll catch up with everyone on Monday, probably! Later.
Today's Quote:
Like the swine houses, this barn was also abnormally long, and only five other Wantas were working there, and they were far enough away from Brando to not notice her as she approached him. Setting his round bale on top of the others, the male Wannoshay suddenly stopped. With his back to her, Ally could see the steam slowly coming off his bare skin in spite of the chill in the December air, and she realized he was naked from the waist up. She'd thought he'd simply been wearing a gray shirt. Random scars and swirling patterns covered the slightly flushed skin of his long back.
July 2, 2002
Time to change, you got to rearrange...
Now Playing:
"O Sister!" The Women's Bluegrass Collection
Today's Words:
800
Yearly Words:
67,200
Writing Dare
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Little bit of this and a little bit of that today, until I finally got some writing done late this afternoon. I was getting bored with the chapter I was sort of stuck on, so I did some major rearranging, and bam. I'm back in business.
I'm working on the middle section of the novel right now, and I need to get my four main character to Iowa City, where the "mother ship" landed. The way I had it outlined before, it would've taken another 3-4 chapters to get them on the road, so I pushed everything up and compressed the passage of time. I think I actually got rid of an entire year in my chronology. Oh, the power of a writer!
So now I'm back in the game. For a while there I thought I'd never get any progress made on this novel. It's alway good to do a minor overhaul. This allows me to write the fun stuff first. Later.
Today's Quote:
"They don't guard the farms as tight as the camps," he told her, his shaky hands constantly running over the blonde stubble on his head. He was in here to get off Blur just like Ally. "Just a couple soldiers with guns and those remote control clip-ons they wear on their belts just in case one of the Wantas tries to make a getaway. I saw one of them get hit by a blast from one of those clip-on jobs, and it dropped him like he'd been hit by a sledgehammer."
July 1, 2002
Surf's up and out!
Now Playing:
"Seattle, WA," Pearl Jam
Today's Words:
1,900
Yearly Words:
66,400
Writing Dare
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Hey cool. Just finished writing my zombie surfing story and will send it out tomorrow. Spent a good chunk of the day drafting it and tweaking it. I like it a lot. It was a lot of fun writing, and I got to do some research on surfing, pier fishing, and the NC coast, so that was like a bonus. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.
Now I really need to get working on the Wannoshay novel... I know, I keep saying that, but... I'm serious this time!
In other news, "From Hell" really sucked. I could barely stay awake for that one, and I was never really engaged at all. It looked nice, and it was cool seeing the actor who played Bilbo Baggins portray someone really evil. I think I fell asleep a few times. Maybe "Mulholland Drive" will be better.
Today's Quote:
And that's when I noticed that all the zombies were aiming in the same direction, their surf lids pointed toward an circle of blood fifty yards beyond the waves.
Old Bob was already running down the pier toward the beach, with Mort and Lymon busting a gut trying to keep up. I dropped my line, grabbed the pneumatic spear-fishing gun from the crow's nest upstairs, and did the best swan dive off the side of the pier that a seventy-six old redneck could do, right into the salty waves. I thought I'd broken my neck until I resurfaced, eyes stinging and head reeling.