Sanskrit; writing rollercoaster; TESO beta; Boskone
As some of you may have guessed from my last LJ post and from Twitter, I've been teaching myself Sanskrit.
Or attempting to, at least. It is hard! Fascinating to the language geek in me, but hard.
My teacher in this has been a book called (appropriately enough) Teach Yourself Sanskrit, and so far I have not gotten past the first chapter. Because the first chapter is basically "learn the nagari script." Well, as it applies to Sanskrit. I assume not all of these characters are used in the modern languages that use devanagari.
It would really help if the book didn't suck at teaching the script. In particular, I wish I knew what part of each character to write in what order. The book provides limited guidance--"moving down to up and left to right, write the distinctive portion first, then the vertical stroke, than the horizontal." What if there is more than one distinctive portion? What if there is no horizontal bar?
Huh. I just looked and there's this really neat Hindi Script Tutor that I can use. Putting it here for my own reference.
--
The ups and downs of being a writer. I wrote this yesterday (Tuesday):
Feel seriously cross today. I haven't been sleeping well-- I guess I've been having trouble readjusting to a work schedule--and traffic has been an utter nightmare.
Not sleeping well means no morning writing, and when I get home from work, I've been busy working on sewing (for a fitting of EB's dress this weekend) or beta-reading other people's writing (for writing group this Thursday). So no writing/editing means I am even more grumpy.
I also get more anxious as I work my way through the edits on G&F. "At some point you have to stop working on something because you're just too anxious to continue," Django told me, and I am rapidly reaching that point. I lie awake at night thinking of things that need to be fixed.
Most of the things that "need to be fixed" are either trivial and probably not worth my time past a certain point, or much gnarlier structural problems that would require rewriting large swaths of the novel. I'm sure some of them are valid concerns, but I also know I could keep dithering like this forever.
I know when I am being avoidant. These are coping strategies so I don't ever have to submit this.
Then, in my spare moments yesterday, I wrote a scene that I think will help to wrap up some loose threads at the end. I felt pretty good about it, so commenced feeling somewhat less like crap.
I actually slept halfway decently last night (huzzah), and today, managed to get up early and work on G&F. I incorporated that scene, but found something that contradicted the previous conclusion scene. Now I'm cross about that. Other than that I worked on more chapter dividing, and making notes on small fixes I need to make.
When we ship, we're vulnerable. Yes. And I need to feel that fear and submit anyway.
--
I got into the TESO beta for this weekend. No surprise there; at this point I think their closed beta involves everyone who signed up. This time, I won't be out of the country and will actually have a chance to play! Well, on Friday (maybe) and Sunday, at least. Saturday I will be in Hartford with EB.
--
Oh, yes, and I got a membership for Boskone in February--for the first time ever. The promise of VPeeps and instructors got to me, what can I say? I get the impression Boskone is a very literary SFF con, and I'm okay with that. I like attending panels and meeting authors and going to kaffeeklatsches and the like.
Anyone care to join me? Matt is unlikely to go, and I like to have someone I can whisper snark at. There will probably be a VP dinner, but other than that, my weekend plans are open.
Seanan McGuire is the guest of honor, so I should probably get on reading something of hers...
Or attempting to, at least. It is hard! Fascinating to the language geek in me, but hard.
My teacher in this has been a book called (appropriately enough) Teach Yourself Sanskrit, and so far I have not gotten past the first chapter. Because the first chapter is basically "learn the nagari script." Well, as it applies to Sanskrit. I assume not all of these characters are used in the modern languages that use devanagari.
It would really help if the book didn't suck at teaching the script. In particular, I wish I knew what part of each character to write in what order. The book provides limited guidance--"moving down to up and left to right, write the distinctive portion first, then the vertical stroke, than the horizontal." What if there is more than one distinctive portion? What if there is no horizontal bar?
Huh. I just looked and there's this really neat Hindi Script Tutor that I can use. Putting it here for my own reference.
--
The ups and downs of being a writer. I wrote this yesterday (Tuesday):
Feel seriously cross today. I haven't been sleeping well-- I guess I've been having trouble readjusting to a work schedule--and traffic has been an utter nightmare.
Not sleeping well means no morning writing, and when I get home from work, I've been busy working on sewing (for a fitting of EB's dress this weekend) or beta-reading other people's writing (for writing group this Thursday). So no writing/editing means I am even more grumpy.
I also get more anxious as I work my way through the edits on G&F. "At some point you have to stop working on something because you're just too anxious to continue," Django told me, and I am rapidly reaching that point. I lie awake at night thinking of things that need to be fixed.
Most of the things that "need to be fixed" are either trivial and probably not worth my time past a certain point, or much gnarlier structural problems that would require rewriting large swaths of the novel. I'm sure some of them are valid concerns, but I also know I could keep dithering like this forever.
I know when I am being avoidant. These are coping strategies so I don't ever have to submit this.
Then, in my spare moments yesterday, I wrote a scene that I think will help to wrap up some loose threads at the end. I felt pretty good about it, so commenced feeling somewhat less like crap.
I actually slept halfway decently last night (huzzah), and today, managed to get up early and work on G&F. I incorporated that scene, but found something that contradicted the previous conclusion scene. Now I'm cross about that. Other than that I worked on more chapter dividing, and making notes on small fixes I need to make.
When we ship, we're vulnerable. Yes. And I need to feel that fear and submit anyway.
--
I got into the TESO beta for this weekend. No surprise there; at this point I think their closed beta involves everyone who signed up. This time, I won't be out of the country and will actually have a chance to play! Well, on Friday (maybe) and Sunday, at least. Saturday I will be in Hartford with EB.
--
Oh, yes, and I got a membership for Boskone in February--for the first time ever. The promise of VPeeps and instructors got to me, what can I say? I get the impression Boskone is a very literary SFF con, and I'm okay with that. I like attending panels and meeting authors and going to kaffeeklatsches and the like.
Anyone care to join me? Matt is unlikely to go, and I like to have someone I can whisper snark at. There will probably be a VP dinner, but other than that, my weekend plans are open.
Seanan McGuire is the guest of honor, so I should probably get on reading something of hers...