Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Episode 2:13 - End Days

Less than 48 hours left. So, why are you listening to me?
  • feedback
    • Sarah has questions:
      1. What’s your day job? - I'm a civil servant for the Government of Canada
      2. What novel writing program do you use? I always wondered if those programs were worth purchasing. - I use CopyWrite, it's awesome and totally worth buying (Mac only)
      3. As a nano veteran, is it normal for nano participants to sink into gut-wrenching depression when it’s all over? I swear I think I’m a freak. I’ve been on this amazing creative high for a month now, and I reached the 50k mark, and then plummeted into the pit of despair. is this normal, or am I in desperate need of lithium? - Yes, it's normal
    • Michael says, “Do you ever write scenes where your characters are standing around waiting for you to tell them what to do? That’s depressing. Then later something clicks, and your characters are doing things you didn’t intend them to do, living a life of their own. That’s fun.”
  • main course
    • Eugenia is a winner!
    • Sarah is a winner!
    • displaced beatnick is a winner!
    • to everyone else who is a winner – congrats!!
    • to everyone else who’s madly writing – go go go!!
  • reading
    • Sarah's excerpt

Monday, November 27, 2006

Episode 2:12 - Implementing Impactful Eyeballs

Neener neener neener, I am a wiener. In mp3 format.

  • main course
    • I got the green, then the purple bar
    • I made a snowman as a celebration


      Snowman

  • reading
    • stompy's excerpt

Friday, November 24, 2006

Episode 2:11 - The Self-Indulgent Show

Wherein the host waxes poetic about all the lovely encouragement she’s gotten from the listeners and Oscar-Mike-Golf! Another McManlyPants novel is done! Listen to the fangirl babble.

  • feedback
    • Michael sent me a very encouraging nanomail
    • Nan is sent me another great email about her excitement about being so close to done, worrying about typos and nice stuff about the podcast and its wonderful listeners
  • main course
    • woo hoo! to all the listeners
    • many of us are very close to finishing
    • if you aren’t close to 50K, don’t forget that this is one of those weird things where starting is almost as good as finishing
    • we’re novelists – how cool is that?
    • my neighbour & friend Kris got the green bar
    • so did Robust McManlyPants, about whom I talk for too long
  • reading
    • Eugenia's excerpt

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Episode 2:10 - Stranger in a Strange Land

So stinkin’ liberating! Get yer free mp3s here (listen carefully to hear the sweet sounds of a hard drive spinning - spin baby, spin!).

  • feedback
    • Michael wants to publish and mentions lulu.com
    • donnieg liked hearing his words read, and is kicking ass & taking names
    • Nan has reached that magic point where the characters are doing their own things
    • nano-newbie Sarah (not the other Sarah) sent me a really nice email – yay! I’m happy to help!
  • main course
    • omg! donnieg has a green bar!
    • Sforzie is over 100K
    • traveling for me = crap for wordcount
  • reading
    • Robust McManlyPants’ excerpt
    • shinan’s excerpt

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Typing is tough

So, I do this thing every nano. I paint my nails for Halloween, then I take a picture of my hands on Nov 1. I take another picture Nov 30, showing the destroyed nail job. Well, this year I can't wait for the 30th. I need to cut my nails, and the polish job is worse than usual. Here's the evidence for posterity.

Nov 1:

Nov 1


Nov 19:


Nov 19 Nails



Thursday, November 16, 2006

Episode 2:9 - Drinkin' and Writin'

It’s all downhill from here. Sliding down the mp3s.

  • main course
    • back up your novel, every day!
    • what are your writing rewards?
    • I’m traveling next week; I'll try to podcast but no promises
  • reading
    • donnieg’s excerpt

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Happy Halfway!

Not relevant, just cool:


T-shirt

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Episode 2:8 - Weird It Up

Bet yer plot bunnies & ninjas (ninja bunnies?) here! And mp3s, too.
  • feedback
    • Michael writes about having similar problems as me, but got over it
    • Nan has another distraction
    • Lesley has a question - who wants to publish and who does NaNo as only a personal exercise
  • main course
    • answering Lesley’s question, I only tend to write during nano, but yes, I have delusions of publishing
    • Michael got over his blockage by spending a few minutes brainstorming – I did this early on & it helped a lot
    • I also got out to the local meeting this weekend, I met Steph, talked about chickens, weasels and pants
  • reading
    • Steph’s excerpt

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Episode 2:7 - NaNoWriMo In My Pants

I’m in ur plotz, feeding ur bunnyz. Listen to the madness here.

  • feedback
    • Sforzie & Josh (aka Alcar) commented on my readings
    • if you think I'll screw it up and you don't want me to, send me pronunciation keys
    • if you sent me email about your reading, wait for it - it's coming
  • reading
    • Michael’s excerpt

Friday, November 10, 2006

Episode 2:6 - Novellists in Spa-a-a-ce

One third of the way in. Listen in as we fill the void.
  • feedback
    • 2 votes for call-in show (sort of) - tell me what you want to do
    • a bunch of people have sent in excerpts or permission to read the excerpts in their profiles – keep it coming!
    • Sarah is stuck in the week 2 doldrums
  • readings
    • congratulations Sforzie and Josh on hitting 50K!
    • (you both make me sick)

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Episode 2:5 - Behold! The Terrible Week Two

Day One, Week Two. Still no plot. But there is an mp3!
  • feedback
    • I got an email from Nan while I was posting the last show
    • look at Sforzie's wordcount
    • email from Michael – it only takes a day to get behind, and a great tip for names: use descriptive placeholder names, like Toughguy or Bighair
  • main course
    • I'm using a modified (10+2)*5 hack (mine's 12+5 X a lot)
    • I'm using an app called flextime as a timer for the above anti-distraction plan
    • you can disable the flash profiles on the nanowrimo site in your own edit profile
    • do people want to do a call in show? We'd use talkshoe (check it out and let me know)
  • reading
    • Nan’s email

Monday, November 06, 2006

Episode 2:4 - Mad Novelling

Slow going. Listen here.
  • feedback
    • Sarah & Steph left comments
    • I got email from Robust McManlyPants, my nano stalkee
  • main course
    • my wordcount is okay, but the story is slow going
    • I have trouble with names
    • I've been missing out on the local meetups – this is stupid and I need to stop being stupid
  • reading
    • no reading this week
    • send me your stuff! (or just let me know if I can read your excerpt)

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Episode 2:3 - And So It Begins

And, we're off! Listen.

  • Feedback
    • You've all been super awesome – but I'm supposed to be the encouraging one!
    • Nan writes about using 100 words a day (more on wikipedia)
    • I got encouraging email from Michael and returning listener Baron
    • Leslie sent me a voice mail with the most awesome image in it – listen
  • What's up today
    • the nanowrimo site is slow as molasses
    • you can now subscribe only to the forums you actually read
    • don’t forget to upload chunks of your novel in progress so we can all read
    • I’d like to do readings, so send me an audio file of your reading, send me text for me to read or just let me know if you want me to read your excerpt