Coming up briefly for air
Hey look, it’s mid-week, and you’re getting an actual real update from me. My brain is a bit fried from all of the NaNo writing, so I’m going to be breaking this down by topic.
Weekend:
Saturday did not turn into the productive day I’d hoped it would be. I woke up after eleven hours of sleep realizing I’d lost almost the half of the day already. And rather than getting a bunch of writing done, I mostly stared at the screen. I managed to eek out about 500 words before heading to bed.
Sunday was a very full day. I managed to write some before heading up to Ames to deliver birthday presents to my favorite 7-year old girl. (How is she already seven?!) Afterward I came home and did some more writing, but fell about 1000 words short of my 2400 word goal for the day.
Around 4:30, I met up with my friends on the staircase outside of People’s Court downtown for the Matt Nathanson concert.
This was my fourth time to see Matt live, and I was pleased to see the venue was full. We were smack dab in front of the stage, in prime spots for being able to see Matt up close. Kudos to Janelle for arriving early enough to be at the front of the queue. The opening acts were … honestly a bit disappointing. Break and Repair Method had what I could tell were some good songs, but I’m not sure that live performance is their forte. Their guitar player and drummer seemed to have one volume - LOUD. And the piano player/vocalist was a bit manic; he was actually sort of adorable in a nerdy kind of way, but it was like he had too much energy that he didn’t know what to do with. Jessie Baylin was nice, but I could hardly hear her lyrics, and her songs, musically, all seemed to blend together. Matt started his set on a bit of a weird note, when his guitar player’s amp (or whatever it was) went kerplooey midway through the first verse. I think it threw him a little bit because he wasn’t quite as relaxed on stage for the first part of the show. On the bright side we had some nice acoustic numbers up front, but on the other hand, he was a bit on edge and not cracking as many jokes as usual. And the jokes are part of the magic of a Matt Nathanson show. He wins over one audience member at a time with his ridiculous covers (Yes, we actually had an a-ha Take On Me sing-along) and his goofy stories. Since I’ve been following Matt since 2004, it’s interesting to see the difference in the audience now that he has a few songs being played on the mainstream radio. I’m sure it’s even trippier for Sarah, the friend that introduced me to his music.
NaNoWriMo:
I’ve been stressing about NaNo this week, and in fact, I woke up feeling quite anxious about it. Here’s the thing about NaNo 2008 for me. I decided to participate this year because I wimped out in 2006. I’ve been quietly disappointed in myself about it ever since. I always talk about writing and then never actually do it. The kicker is that if I don’t ever actually give writing a try, I can’t be bad at it, and then it can remain a pleasant dream. I’m tired of dreaming and not doing, but also afraid to try it and be bad.
So that 50,000 word goal is personal for me. There’s no consequence if I don’t make it except to my pride. No one is going to come and kick me if I don’t “win” NaNo. But if I do reach my goal, it’s something that I can accomplish that I can truly be proud of. No one can do it for me; it’s something I’m doing all on my own through determination and creativity. I would like to feel the send of accomplishment in being able to tell people that I wrote 50,000 words on an original novel in the month of December.
So back to the anxiety - the main barrier to my finishing NaNo on time is that my parents are staying with me for three days next week. In addition to meeting my word goals, I still have to work and prepare for their arrival. I think I can do it, but I have to stay focused and give up some of my rest and relaxation time. I took some Calm Child flower essences throughout the morning today, and it really helped.
So, I’m sorry if most of my updating is taking place through my Twitter updates, but 140 words at a time in short bursts is about all I can manage most days. I also promise I’m reading everyone’s entries. I don’t always have the opportunity to comment as much as I’d like, but I will continue to do so when I have a spare moment. I’ve greatly appreciated your supportive comments, and love any cheerleading you can spare for me.
And speaking of the story, I’ve cast two of the characters that have become considerably more important to the story than I believed they would be. Meet Duncan (aka Ioan Gruffudd) and Calla (Nicole Kidman as a blonde)
And now it’s to bed for me.