Of the National Novel Writing Month 2008!!!!

Took me almost the whole month, but I finished on the 25th of November. I am a winner!!

It was an intense weekend, and not a lot of writing went on.

Among other things, I drove for the first time in months AND parallel parked, I discovered I’m not allergic to champagne anymore, I met someone I went to middle school with, I hatched out things with someone there used to be tension with, and I got lots of stuff done, well….that last one is a lie. I got some things done.

Interesting things I’ve noticed… My typing skills have decreased significantly, but my ability to turn out long peices of writing quickly has increased dramatically. Interesting, yes?

I’ve also learned that damn am I lucky to be in a healthy and happy relationship. My boyfriend even says he bought me the hope diamond. He is sticking to his story too. I’m very curious about it. Very curious indeed.

Otherwise, my word count is 28,363/50,000, hopefully I’ll be able to continue staying ahead.

Much love from Liah, its just hard to write blog posts when you are writing two papers for school, a manuscript for nanowrimo, and then doing whatever other homework I have to do.

You’d think that they would cut some slack for creative writing majors during November? but no. No they do not. In fact, all of my heavy work is in english courses! Other than a 15 page business paper that I’m writing for a group project. Yes, you heard me right.

Group projects suck.

I’ll inevitably rant about that soon. Once November ends, I’m going to want to keep writing, but I wont have a story necessarily so yay! I have this.

Lots of love, Liah

I finally made it to 10,000 words! I have never written that much of a story before so this is a huge event for me. I feel so accomplished! And not to mention, I also have new incentive. If I do succeed with my nanowrimo quest, John said he would throw me a party and make me a winner’s shirt!

But if I lose, I have to wash his car in the dead of winter in a bikini. Burrrrr!

So naturally, I have to win. I want a party in my honor!

So please, everyone, keep me motivated! I have so much crap I need to do but I really want to do this for myself.

To keep everyone interested, here is another excerpt!

—–

But both of them were silenced when they heard a high pitched scream from behind the bushes. They shook violently and the sound caused to two to stop and have to cover their ears. The horses didn’t seem to like the sound much either. They bucked, trying to silence the deafening noise. This threw both Marcus and Delicia from the saddle because they were holding onto their ears rather than the reigns. Once the horses were free of their riders they ran off through the trees leaving the path and toward a direction neither Marcus or Delicia would have the guts to follow.

They hit the ground with a thud, but the sound persisted. From the rustling bushes, a small creature jumped out. Its mouth was wide open and it was very obvious to the pair that this was the source of unbearable screech. It was small, very similar looking in shape and size to the Chub Lou had found in his safe. But instead of an oily tan color, it was a forestry green and more of a sappy texture. The tiny creature had a skirt of leaves and a head of grass like hair. It was still short and pudgy, ugly little creature, but more than anything Marcus and Delicia just wanted it to stop.

After a few more seconds of ear shattering screeching, the creature finally stopped to take a breath. At that instant, both Marcus and Delicia shouted for it to stop. It looked at them funny, and decided not to continue. Instead, it spoke at a normal volume.

—–

Day 2 of the NaNoWriMo 08.

Status: already putting off homework.

As promised, I am including a short excerpt! Enjoy!
—–

A woman came walking down the dirt path. Around her were animals and various people who were unconscious after the wind had blown through. She didn’t seem to notice them. Under her deep purple cloak she wore a black dress with a full bottom. The bottom of her dress and cloak hit small creatures, sandy and brownish creatures. They were small and pudgy with short fingers. They sort of wobbled as they kept up with the woman hidden beneath her skirts.

Once the stern-faced woman reached the Leaping Lizard bar, she stopped. She threw back her hood and the sides of her cloak, forcing the creatures out into the open.

“You know what to do,” she said and with that, the creatures were off, wobbling much faster. The woman watched as her minions scavenged and looted the various unconscious people lying in and around the bar. They filled small sacks with coins and jewelry, taking from everyone everything which could be considered valuable. The woman tapped her foot, usually her minions worked faster than that. She watched as one of her creatures searched around Delicia and Marcus. It grabbed the coins from Delicia’s hand and took her mother’s necklace from around her neck. Then it started to grope around in Marcus’s cloak, pulling out the rock. It shoved the valuables into the sack it carried, then scampered back to its master.

“Mistress! Mistress!” it called, getting her attention. She looked down at it in a condescending manner as it approached, crossing her arms.

“What is it? Have you filled your sack already?” she asked.

“Mistress, the man outside carried this in his cloak pocket,” he said, pulling forth from his sack the rock he had retrieved from Marcus.

The woman reached down and picked up the rock that her creature offered to her. She turned it around in her hand, inspecting and examining it from all angles. A wicked smile began to erupt across her face.

“Good work my dear,” she said, nodding slightly. Instead of hanging the rock back to her minion to carry, she placed it in her own cloak pocket for safe keeping. She patted the pocket lightly to make sure it was still there. Seemingly satisfied with the find, the woman waved her hand in the air and then the rest of the creatures poured out of the bar, all of their sacks full. Each of them gathered around her and with a clap of her hands the entire mass of mistress and minions vanished into thin air.  They were gone as quickly as they had arrived.

Every year I post this, and say I’m actually going to do it. This year…I’m serious. And I’m going to post my word count every day here, as well as on the site. And I’ll post little excerpts, and stuff. That way I’ll be writing, AND I’ll be updating here. Yesss…productivity.

Now, about my story plans:

No title yet, really haven’t thought about it. Hopefully it will come to me!

Synopsis:    After a less than ideal first meeting, Delicia and Marcus encounter a strange magical wind which leaves them both without the items they hold dearest. Driven by the desire to retrieve their treasures and sheer stubbornness, the duo heads off on an adventure where they not only encounter an array of interesting characters, but also find that one of their treasures in the hands of a greedy sorceress will cause more trouble than it’s worth.

Stay interested!! and then maybe I will….

Every year I say I’m going to do this. Every year…I don’t. But this year, seeing as how I am a creative writing major, and tomorrow is Nov. 1st, I felt like I should at least act like my major. Oh, and I have a plot this year. So I’m already three steps ahead of myself from last year.

I think I’ll post excerpts every now and then here. Please keep me motivated!

Now, I’m planning to complete my major in Creative writing, and maybe something on the side. So far, I’m really enjoying it. But I have to be honest, I have a serious problem with other Creative Writing Majors, and it’s all for one simple reason:

They will use the most ridiculous diction and syntax as well as metaphorical ideas just to sound as intelligent as possible.

I suppose we fancy ourselves better writers than everyone else, which results in a nasty superiority complex. But it drives me nuts. Something you can say so easily, but a CWM has to go and intellectualize it.

I see no reason why a “creative” piece of writing has to sound so “intelligent” for it to be good. Some of the best literature I’ve ever read has been down to earth style. Not everyone has to be Charles Dickens.

So if anyone else is considering it as a major, please, do everyone a favor, and deflate your ego before you write anything.

Even though the average person doesn’t even read, one would hope that if such a mediocre human life form would happen to fall across a book which may in some way assist their education, that they would be able to understand it.

Yep this year I’m actually going to try and write a crappy-ass novel full of errors and grammatical mistakes. There will be almost no plot, and the ideas will be inconsistent. I will drive myself mad and probably lose hair over it. And on top of this, work, and school, I will attempt to have a social life as well. I already signed up (look for me: atravovi)! I don’t know about anyone, but I am quite excited. At least I get a whole week at Thanksgiving to relax and write while I avoid my red-neck, hummer-loving, college what? relatives. 

One more reason I look forward to November…

I’ll start outlining now I guess, since I can’t start writing for about another two weeks (and by then, I’m sure to have forgotten) Please remind me! heh Maybe I’ll post a few teasers, you know, before I send it off to get it published and it becomes the next great American Best-seller and the novel to categorize my generation for years to come.
Now, I just need an idea….