October 05, 2003
Weekend recap
Might be short, as I'm very sleeeeeepy.
In short, the weekend rocked.
Okay. Going to bed now.
I'm KIDDING!
The hilarity started on Thursday night, when Mer, Julie, Eric, and I all met up to head out to the relative wilderness that is Mer's family's cabin. I don't envy Julie the task of typing up the quotes, but suffice to say, some of the best ones were in the car and are now lost because it was too dark for her to write them down. On the list of conversation topics: enumerating the various types of apocalypses and figuring how to escape them. As we got to the cabin at midnight, there was little to no writing done that day. The cabin, I should note, is absolutely gorgeous. Sitting in the living room, you're surrounded on three sides by the lake, as the house is built out over the water. I could sit there for hours and look at the water--in fact, I have.
Friday I was up a little bit before everyone else, and dove right into my writing, done on Julie's graciously loaned laptop, since mine is being difficult at the moment. Most of the day passed in quiet work with occasional pauses for conversation and/or bitching and moaning at our characters and plots and the like. That evening we went out to dinner at a local ribs-and-stuff spot, then came home and worked a little more before succumbing to the call of the television. After playing name that movie on TCM (turned out to be Solomon and Sheba--which I almost guessed, I swear!), we wound up watching the 1945 version of "The Picture of Dorian Gray", which was a seriously creepy movie, particularly for 1945.
Saturday, likewise, I was up a little before everyone (when the hell did I become such a morning person?!), but instead of diving into writing, I made the mistake of sitting and sitting. And sitting. Finally, around noon, I started writing. Needless to say, I didn't get nearly as much done on Saturday. Saturday night we hit the big metropolis of Hastings and caught dinner at Applebees and a movie. If you have the chance to go see "The Rundown", do it. I was skeptical and was sort of dragged in, but it's a seriously funny and seriously surreal action movie. Then we went home, and I proceeded to fall asleep on the couch until my snoring made the others drive me up to my bed.
Did you know that I talk in my sleep? I didn't, really. I thought I'd stopped long ago, but at some point in the night, Mer became quite irate with Eric, thinking he was downstairs with the television blasting. Alas, no, it was me in the bedroom next to hers, apparently having an intense conversation with myself. And of course, the conversation was punctuated with snores. I think I have guaranteed that I will never share a bedroom with another human being again as long as I live.
This morning was laid back. I got some writing done, but mostly we concentrated on lazing around, cleaning up, and packing up. I was home before 6:30. As I said before we left, a three day weekend was the perfect amount of time to spend up there. The last time we were there, for just a weekend, I hated like hell to leave. This time, I was sad about leaving, but I was also ready to go home too.
As far as the writing goes, word count wise:
Friday: 3030
Saturday: 1581
Sunday: 1109
Total: 5720 words, or about 19 pages
At least this time I managed to keep from making inadvertent comments about Eric's sex life.
Weekly (and monthly) progress report
And indeed, I have much progress to report.
Weekly word count: 8633
Last week: 4886
Highest day: 3030 (Friday)
Monthly word count: 32,021
Last month: 29,473
Highest day: 4071 (September 19th)
The Minions retreat refreshed and rejuvenated me in all the ways that really matter, particularly on the writing front. I'm not going to jinx myself by saying that I'm coasting now, but I feel like I've picked up enough momentum to carry me through the last three chapters of the book (yes, three--I'm back up to 18 chapters).
In other news, I got a rejection from Ideomancer today on "Midsummer", and it was addressed from a "Dorian E. Gray". The Minions will understand why I was incredibly amused by this. (Suffice to say, there are some songs I never want to hear again, and some movies that needed a much larger budget for music.)
Home again, home again
I needed this weekend. It really couldn't have come at a better time, from a writing standpoint and from a personal standpoint. I had a marvelous time, and I wrote nearly 6,000 words. I feel ready to wrap this thing up. Due to some restructuring (again--for the last time, maybe?), I once again have 18 chapters. I finished up Chapter 15 this weekend, leaving me with three to go, again. I feel capable though. My goal is to have this finished by the 15th. I think it's a reachable goal.
Also planning to sign up for NaNoWriMo--again. I have a new novel idea for it, a departure from all the upcoming works I've got listed. Once I've got a working title, I'll be sure to post all about it. This one's another mainstream idea--nay, even chick-lit. It should be interesting to write. Something light and fluffy after all the serious epic stuff going on in Exile.
