Showing posts with label the most special secret project ever. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the most special secret project ever. Show all posts

Friday, 16 October 2020

PREPTOBER, PODCASTS AND PROUDNESS (oh my!)

Hello, lovely Readers! A quick October check-in for you today - or Preptober, actually. 


Yes, you read that right. Following the successful completion of CampNaNo this year, I've decided to defy the NaNoCurse - and perhaps common sense - by giving NaNoWriMo a shot again this year. This will be the third time that I've attempted NaNo proper and both previous times I ended up both hurting myself and getting ill in the first few days of November. But a) third time lucky, maybe? and b) what is life without the spice of risk? And since I've basically had to put the draft of the Most Special Secret Project Ever on hold for the last few months while I was teaching, working on my dissertation, and finishing up other projects, this seems like a really good cue to dive back into it.

I've signed up as a NaNo rebel this year, since I've already got a detailed outline and have drafted out a chunk of chapters/scenes of the MSSPE. For me, Preptober is more about diving back into research (of which there is... a lot. A lot. A. LOT), re-reading the scenes I've already got, and re-familiarising myself with the characters and tone of this story. Which I love so much, you guys. My gizzards are knotted with hope that this one finds a home when it's done.

Now, for Dear Readers who are into podcasts, there's a really fascinating interview here between me and the absolutely lovely Amanda Whittington as part of the RLF Writers Aloud series. We talk in depth about my books, about Feminism and diversity, and about publishing, in addition to a bunch of other random topics. I had so much fun recording this with Amanda, and really enjoyed listening to it again when it went live, so check it out.

Finally, you might have noticed that above I mentioned working on my dissertation - and some of you may already know that I was scheduled to complete my Master's Degree in creative writing this year. This is a huge deal for me because... well, because I'm not from a family where people were expected to go to uni, or get degrees, especially advanced degrees. There's a post about my opinions and experiences with education here for context. Very luckily, considering that this is the Year of Our Lord Cthulhu of Unending Horrors, I had opted to take the course by distance learning, which meant that it wasn't substantially affected by the pandemic as all the work was set and handed in online anyway. 

I handed in my dissertation - which is the final, and most substantial piece of work the course requires - in August, and the (provisional - they're still waiting for review) marks came yesterday. When the email arrived in my inbox I almost couldn't make myself open it because I was so sick with nerves about  the outcome, with all my fears about education not being for 'people like me' flooding back in. But when I did open it, I discovered that I had passed with Distinction. I earned straight As for all my work throughout the degree. I somehow got an 84 on my final essay, which is nearly unbelievable considering that it's only the second degree level essay I have ever written in my life (MA essays are a very far cry from the stuff I scribbled out at GCSE).

I'm equal parts dazed and delighted, and my big ambition now is to keep going and pursue a PhD, if I can win a studentship. Then the next step would be to teach Creative Writing at university level: a previously utterly unattainable dream which now has at least the potential to one day become reality. 

Generally I have a difficult time feeling proud of things I've done myself - this was always seen as arrogance and big-headedness in my family, and the response to good news was generally a request to not go on about it too much. But dammit, I am proud of this. In another month or so, I will officially have a degree and be at least partially qualified for something, even if I probably won't get a graduation ceremony (thanks, Corona). So have a nice dance anthem and let's raise our glasses (there's Ribena in mine) and do a little proudness hip-shimmy in honour of bravery and second chances.

Monday, 27 July 2020

CAMP NaNoWriMo 2020 - I WON!


Kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it? Whooop!

Yes, I managed to get the most super special secret project ever (should I start just calling this TMSSSPE? Or maybe come up with a codename?) to 30,000 on Monday last week, which completed the challenge I set myself for Camp NaNo this year.

Honestly, it was a massive relief, and I nearly cried with the sheer release of anxiety over getting there. Trying to work on the WIP from 9:30 to 13:30 every day AND rewrite my thesis proposal AND edit my dissertation essay AND read and offer detailed feedback on the work of twenty-four students every week AND find time to, you know, adult (walk my dog adequately, exercise every day, eat something approaching healthy food and prevent my house from turning into a black hole inhabited only by person-sized sentient dust bunnies, warring clans of silverfish and a slowly decaying TBR pile the size of a Welsh mountain) was starting to make me go a bit frazzled. And sure, I could have given up, but having managed an unbroken streak of 20 days of writing made my competitive streak burn to life and I just couldn't make myself do it.

If you're thinking that it may have been a bit overly ambitious to decide to do Camp NaNo during what is apparently already an incredibly busy period - yes, you are right. But on the other hand, it accomplished what NaNo is intended to accomplish, which was getting me to that target. And I knew without some kind of motivation, even if only my own competitive streak, TMSSSPE (codename: Times Pee? That definitely doesn't work, does it?) would almost certainly have stalled completely in July, which I didn't want.

So I'm not mad. I might even try Camp NaNo again next year, provided I have slightly more breathing room in July 2021.

(Please do not cause me to be cursed in some inventive fashion, discover I am really a troll princess in the middle of a troll civil war, or send a flying house to crush me during July next year, universe - it would not be funny, just mean. Thank you very much)

I'll be popping the WIP on the back-burner for a couple of weeks to give myself space for everything else. I don't really want to: I'm still loving it. But it's the only thing that doesn't have any deadlines or contractual obligations attached to it just now. And I'm still researching and scribbling down notes as they occur to me.

Are you still pressing your noses to the NaNo grindstone - or other grindstone - muffins? And do you have any suggestions for a codename for TMSSSPE? Let me know in the comments!

Tuesday, 14 July 2020

CAMP NANOWRIMO 2020 - THE NANO CURSE STRIKES AGAIN!

I was honestly doing so well, Dear Readers. And then... the Nano Curse. For once it didn't attack me ( a refreshing change). No, it killed my computer for a whole day. A whole day. For just... no reason.

I still did longhand writing, but I couldn't input it, AND I couldn't get any other work done, so on Monday I was totally snowed under, and all I could do was type up my longhand notes and then (in fairness) divide the word total between Sunday and Monday.

This is how I was doing before:


And this is what it looks like now:


Eugh, that drop. Speaks for itself, really. *Sigh*

EDITED TO ADD: And, now, having spent the morning revising the first half of the sections that I typed up yesterday, I go to what should be the start of a new chapter and find... no new chapter. All the work I did after about 1pm yesterday is gone. Even though I KNOW I saved it. So. I don't even know. Nano Curse, you are a cunning and evil gremlin indeed.

I should have known. But I'm going to keep ploughing on anyway, because a) I've made hella progress overall and b) I love Camp NaNo's progress interface and you can only use it during July (or April) so why not? Let's hope the Curse doesn't take my fingers out next time.

How are you doing? Sound off in the comments, muffins!

Tuesday, 7 July 2020

CAMP NaNoWriMo 2020!

Hello, hello, hello Dear Readers! Happy Tuesday to all. I hope your weeks are looking positive so far and you're all safe and well.

So here's a question. Are you doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month? 'Cos I'm going Camp NaNoWriMo this month.


I know, I know, the NaNo Curse. It's true, as long-time Dear Readers know, that I've never managed to complete the OG NaNoWriMo successfully because every. Single. Time - every time, going all the way back to 2011! - either before I can start or within days of starting... something really awful happens to me. Sometimes it's horrendous illness or hideous injury. Sometimes it's even worse. After the last time I just gave up, honestly.

BUT. This is Camp NaNoWriMo, which is technically something different, right? It's July, not November. You can set your own word count and even work on edits if you want, without 'cheating'. It's got a different logo and everything!

And, just between you and me, I need the help. I've got a really special WIP right now that is truly and utterly different to anything I've ever worked on before, and I LOVE it. I desperately want to get it finished by the end of this year. But between researching and writing the dissertation for my MA, designing modules for and preparing to teach two writing courses on Creative Writing Ink from this week, and launching The Book of Snow & Silence (in addition to the world, you know, being AN ACTUAL TRASH FIRE) I've been choked on it for months. I haven't made any real progress since January. I just kept opening the file up, fiddling with a few lines, and then getting vapour-locked.

So: Camp NaNo. I decided to give myself a really small and manageable goal, not only to ease myself past my writing roadblock on this one, but because I know that the teaching is going to take up a big chunk of time going forward. I can't see myself writing anything good if I'm panicking over finding time for that AND hitting 3000 words a day.

I started July the 1st, and I'm pleased to say that not only did I not get a horrendous injury/hideous illness, or suffer a personal tragedy, but I actually managed to write some new stuff for the first time in months:


And that I've managed to keep it up and make steadily increasing progress:


It's good enough for me. I know that when the teaching starts, my daily word count might sag down again, but that's OK - so long as I can manage to get to my overall target by the end, I'll count this a massive success. Hurray!

You can start Camp NaNo anytime during the month, and (as I said above) set your own overall word goal - so if you've been struggling to get something started or wade out of the middle muddle, now might be the time to give it a shot. Or maybe you're already up and writing. In either case, feel free to add me as a buddy if you want.

Oh, and here's a new writing playlist I made, although it's super project specific and very heavy on the Enya, so if you're not into that, maybe give it a miss.

Happy writing, muffins!
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