Voluntary Madness

I figured there is no point delaying this, as there is no hope in hell I would finish the story in November. Of course now that I've said it, the story will wrap up in the next 5k, which I could so do by the time November 30th rolled in.

When I set out I had the vaguest idea for the plot, only the general nature of milestones and not much else. I thought the hero would be a good guy, too. >.< This week, literally this week, I realised my planned wrapping point had devolved into a major milestone, hence the no hope of finishing. I am a very poor judge of content versus quantity, though I have to say my careful estimate of how much plot I had for the required 50k proved correct - I finished part one lacking two thousand words, which I could have inserted by going back add clarifying ever other thought.

Anyhoo, my thoughts on yaoidoing NaNo:

• It is easier than it looks. All you need is a story with a drive and a little strong will. 1,667 words a day is not much, when you consider it - the three short paragraphs I have written up to the dash are almost 200. Not much at all. Heck, tonight I wrote ~4,000. While Simple Things was being written I once or twice churned out almost two chapters a day (and the chapters were roughly 3-3,5k).


• What helps enormously, in my case, is getting ahead from day one. This and the previous year I started typing as soon as the clocks hit midnight, and by the time the regular 1st of November writing time arrived (by which I mean evening) I was done with the daily norm. It doesn wonders for your esteem, the awareness that today's norm has already been reached. Also, it can save your bacon later. :D


• Get distracted now and then. Outside ideas help.


• Finally, tell yourself this: this counts as doing things. XD

Lastly, this is my second NaNo, and for some reason the hero's name is Jimmy in this one too (last year I was writing a fanfic about Jacob, whose name was revealed in canon to be Jimmy). o.O

Oh, and the chemistry test I whined about? I passed, despite the stupid mistake. The result is not so spectacular, but a pass is a pass. ^_____^

The good news are many: no sooner had I complained about failing chemistry, than I got an A. Okay, it wasn't strictly due to my knowledge, as we have been marked on the ability to correctly guess what was in a vial we were assigned (it could contain either water or a mixture of one or two cations - mine were silver and manganese). Of course when I say guess, I meant the expectation was that we would proceed with a thorough examination via characteristic reagents for each group and element (we were allowed to use our notes). I mostly got lucky - silver requires only one test, one whose reagent is on top of the list, at that, and manganese is pretty obvious, too, as when you see violet it's likely manganese. So, correct guesswork gave me an A, but an A is an A.

There is also a small question mark on my test results, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up, so hush.

In other news, NaNo is progressing well. :)

14,048 / 50,000 - 28% done!

Lastly, newest SPN WAS SO AWESOME USE OF CAPS IS FULLY JUSTIFIED. SCOOTERS AND TANDEM BICYCLE AND JAPANESE AND HA-HA GREY'S ANATOMY!

Title: As I Lift Up My Hands
Author: Keiran
Rating: 14
Word count: 51,500 total
Disclaimer: all recognizable characters and/or ideas belong to their respective owners. This is for free entertainment only.
Summary: In 1996 Jacob Lake sat in a hospital outside of Chicago, praying for his father to make it through the surgery. Mr Lake lived, though the price paid for his recovery may have been too high - there are no happy endings in the world of the supernatural. It ends bloody, or it ends sad, no matter how miraculous the beginning.

Author Notes: Although this story is, for all intents and purposes, a Supernatural fanfic, as it takes place in the appropriate universe and features a few canon characters, for the most part it’s a story of a guy about whom we only know that he was handsome and devout enough to pray to be possessed by an angel. :)

For the record I feel the need to state this is the longest single story I have ever written, so am feeling an immense sense of accomplishment. Go me! Thank you NaNo, for making me write it. :)

Betaed by yami_tai. Big thank yous to seraphim_grace and eyesofshinigami, for kicking my butt and encouraging me to get it finished. <3

Part One :: Part Two :: Part Three :: Part Four :: Part Five :: Part Six :: Part Seven :: Part Eight

It's snowing! First snow of winter, yay! Well, not perhaps so much snow as a little slush that looks whiteish on cars and lawns, but it counts, cause I've seen it fall! ^_____^

In other news, a bus apparently toppled over in Breslau, where I study these days. No one was hurt, and I don't travel by bus much, so I'm not worried.

NaNo:

40,735 / 50,000 - 81% done!

I've sort of hit the wall. I typed the ending and there are still bits and pieces missing, but I'm struggling to fill them. Two important spaces that need to be connected and nary a clue... And 8 days left. Still, on the plus side, only 10k to go!


( SPN 4.10 squee, OMFG )

Of course, I did the word meter yesterday. Because I had so much time on my hands. *eyeroll* It looks almost exactly as the old one, but the stupid < div > tag has been eliminated - I have it on good authority there is precious little < div > can do that you cannot achieve with < table >.

7,123 / 50,000 - 14% done!

Of course, yesterday after wrestling the 5k into submission, I realised the story would flow more naturally in present tense. Sometimes it doesn't really matter, sometimes it does. Here it did. So I changed it. Which resulted in me not getting enough sleep, yet again. XD I also have a bad feeling there is no way in hell this story will give me enough material to last 50k words. Sigh.

I still have the texts for tomorrow to go through (psycho-sociology, joy), which I likely won't manage to read, because I will fall asleep. They aren't that interesting. In other news, there will be another ground of the class I couldn't fit into my schedule, at a time I can fit into my schedule. Which means, my Tuesdays will start at 9 and last until 5, with a break somewhere in the middle. This of course wouldn't be too bad, by my free Wednesdays are going bye-bye, because that class not only has enough reading material to suffocate a person, but also has a tie-in lecture. On Wednesdays. At 9. The lecture is only 45 minutes long. Shoot me now, please. x____X