We are just over half way on Nanowrimo…by time… not my words. Yes at time of writing (Saturday) I am at 25,164 words in – which is about 1500 words short.
And now it is Sunday and I have made a bit of progress. I am still behind. In my defence I was ill for a couple of days and so didn’t write as effectively on those days.
Just 13 days to go before the end and I am struggling. Once you reach the hump in a project like this it almost inevitable. The goal is just to get the words on the page and worry about the rest later.
I have a secret strategy – I have jumped ahead in the story to the part I know avoiding the parts that are a struggle. I can go back and fill in the gaps at a later time – in theory.
If you’ll excuse me I have 1547 words left to get me back on track. After tomorrow though I will be off track as I may not get time to write tomorrow. Life does get in the way sometimes.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
By the time you read this I will be ten days into nanowrimo. In theory I will have written 16,670 words. I am hoping that that is more than a theory – I did entertain the rather silly notion of getting 10,000 words a day done in this week as I have been off work for most of it. At least I can get ahead of where I need to be. That should be doable right?
As I write it is 2333 on the 4th and I am 45 words ahead. I have been playing catch up. Due to other commitments I was unable to write much on the first two days. In fact on the 2nd I got no words in at all! Now all I have to do is stay ahead so I can reach that target!
Love this theme tune.
So how is this thing going? Well the title is confusion so I’ll let you judge. Actually in truth it is not going so badly but one of the problems with not planning is that ideas come at you as you write. Therefore certain elements in the plot may be repetitious, irrelevant, or in need of change. I don’t see that as a big issue necessarily – that is why we have editors.
I thought about updating this across the week however that is something I am likely to forget – I do not organise this kind of stuff too well. As I write I am (It is the 7th now) 320 words ahead. I am off tomorrow (8th) too and then back to work so I will be doing more writing today – I should probably try to get outside too. I don’t think that will happen.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
I am not sure if there will be a knight in my Nanowrimo story but I do know one thing there will be a battle. Hopefully a battle in the story and not a battle of me staring at a blank screen and not knowing what to write.
I have often heard how important planning is for a novel. I find that impossible. I don’t feel I can visualise where things are until they are there. Does that make sense? No. The answer is no.
To it is like going for a walk but having to imagine the walk first. Then you write down a sequence and try to follow just that sequence. So rather than having a map you just have a piece of paper that says: left, right, left, left, right, and so on and so on.
So instead of a plan I am going to just start. I am on 2904 words (total) at the moment and have 2096 words to go to get me on track. I want to smash through that and finish this week, which I am off work for, far above the 11,667 target for the fist week. At least that is the plan. Now, if you’ll excuse, I need to get back to it. Toodles.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
The most basic way this happens is when I set out to find one simple piece of information. I had a character, I wanted her to be from France, and so I googled for a map of France. I picked a city name. I lingered on the Wiki page for that city – which was pointless all I needed was the name.
Incidentally the city I decided on was Draguignan – which I changed to Bordeaux when reading it out as I wasn’t sure of pronunciation.
Then there is background information. What do I need to know?
How indeed?
Many years ago I began planning the background information for a science fiction novel I was working on. The ship had many aliens on board and I wanted to know everything about the crew. There were 900 aboard and I wanted to know all their names, races, ranks, and ages.
Why? Because of Star Trek. I grew up watching Star Trek. For other children it was Disney but for me it was Star Trek and TNG and DS9 are still two of my favourite shows. A common feature of those shows, and all the Trek shows, was the crewman who would be unaffected by wherever was threatening the crew this week.
So when I was crafting my own universe I felt I needed to know exactly how many of each race there was. Therefore I would know which crewmen I could use for any given story.
Also to understand command structures I have done a lot of research into the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many other navies around the world. I have looked at ships, ranks, positions, and have come to one conclusions. I will never understand. The question I am struggling with is how much do I need to understand? A question I need to answer by the start of November.
I would love for someone who knows of the navy to be able to read a novel of mine and find it to be accurate. I have come to the conclusion that the only way to do that is to literally find a reader with that expertise. There is only so much google can find.
I don’t know exactly what form my nano novel will take. I have tried to plan but I just want to start writing. Five days from when you read this it will all begin.
My solution to the gaps in my knowledge is to skirt the issue. The nature of the story is that I can just invent my own world. If it isn’t the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland but instead the Royal Navy of …. well I don’t quite have a name yet. Then there can be no mistakes.
If that fails I have to accept that I don’t kneed to know everything. Do I need to know every Seaman, Leading Hand, Petty Officer, Chief Petty Officer, Warrant officer, Lieutenant or Lieutenant Commander? Probably not.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
It is that time of year again when, possibly mad, writers embark on a 50,000 word start to a novel. I will be partaking once again. I don’t have a title for my project but I do have a basic premise.
The story concerts two planets. One of magic and one of technology. There are some areas where magic has the advantage and some areas where technology has the advantage. The primary focus of the story is that Fauns steal a warship – its powerful weapons can do far more than the limited magic of the fauns.
I am trying to do some planning for the novel but, in truth, I find it hard to plan and would rather just make a start – in ten days I will.
The other question in my mind is do I just use our world as the technological world or invent my own? I will probably decided that as I go along too. The advantage is that if I build it from the ground up then no one can say I am wrong. The disadvantage is I have to invent everything and there are still things I would like to know that are not easily googled.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
I remember once in school a difference of opinion between teachers. It was a simple thing in how to approach the start of an exercise book. One teacher said that we should leave a line between title and paragraph as that was neater. Another said that that was wasting space and there should be no skipped line.
I was bullied in school. They used to jump on my backpack which pulled on the straps and hurt my neck. They called me names. However I remember one day, during Games, those same people were encouraging and there tacit understanding that I was trying even if I wasn’t getting results. I remember thinking, even all those years ago, that I wanted consistency.
From Season 4 Episode 21: Marge in Chains
The reality is that there are always going to be people who we don’t get along with. (We can’t have the world in the clip above) Bullying is an extreme form of this, and always unacceptable, but if some one is mean I can at least put them in a box marked mean.
This is here literally for one line!
The point is I want to know where I stand. It is the inconsistencies that I find to be a cause of irritation. Whatever the rule is I can then follow it. Inconsistency makes that impossible. It is a form of change and I struggle with change. I think on some level I always will.
I have been looking for a long time for a new job. That will be a big change when it happens and I hope that I will settle into that well. I am sure some changes are good – I’ll let you know if I find any. I still haven’t gotten over Opal Fruits and the Principality Stadium is still the Millennium Stadium as far as I am concerned.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
Today (2019-10-05) I didn’t leave the flat. I am trying to decide if this is a good thing, a bad thing, or a neutral thing. It is bad from an exercise point of view that is for sure. I have taken less than 1000 steps so that is not so good – but I have got some stuff down – it is not like I have been binge watching TV.
I resisted the temptation to have a takeaway. Instead I had some soup and garlic bread for tea. So I am still not doing well on the caloric intake. Overall though I have been productive and that is something for the win column – even if, once again, I am realising I am trying to do more stuff than I have time for.
Cannot run out of time. You are finite. Zathras is finite.
Zathras (Babylon 5: War Without End Part 2)
I know I am going round in circles having talked about this before. Which I suppose means that I am not making much headway. One thing I have done is book a holiday. It is not till next year but I am going to Amsterdam.
I have a bucket list book which I am writing in every so often. Most of what I want to do is to travel – so it is long past time that I started to do that. I have never been abroad by myself before. The Netherlands seems like a good place to start. I can fly from Cardiff for one thing – and maybe I will go to Belgium too as it is not too far from Amsterdam.
That is the plan for next year – and I hope to go abroad every other year at least – in theory I can afford that – money is the only barrier now.
For my day-to-day life I have no idea how to work things out. I have no idea how to balance all that I need to do with all that I want to do. All I can do is to keep trying to figure things out and battle the terrible feelings when they arise.
I hope you are well and happy and I will be back next week.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
I have dyslexia which is why ‘Apple for a job’ was on my to-do list. Incidentally who decided that dyslexia should be spelt that way. Why not dislexear – is that the correct phonetic spelling? I do not know I have dyslexia – and apparently I like to repeat myself – so I won’t be winning Just a Minute any time soon.
This show is always funny.
Well it is not ‘apple’ but apply for a job. And there is nothing more tedious than filling out an application form or bolstering a CV – especially when some places require you to submit a CV and then repeat the information on the application form!
The problem is that, aside from writing, I have no idea what it is that I want. This is bad because I am 32 and because without a clear idea it is difficult to go at it with any enthusiasms. So I am left with searching for jobs and seeing what sticks in my mind. Frankly I just want to write – and possibly live in a tiny house – and travel – and fall in love – and have lots of kisses – and banish my depression. Most of that shouldn’t be too much. If I can find a job that allows for those things I could do almost anything couldn’t I?
I do not know.
Just a short one this week. See you next time.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
It has been a long time since I did a Trek review here so here we go – Episode 8 of Star Trek: The Original Series – seven things I have noticed
One
…two expeditions have failed to find (Dr Korby).
Captain Kirk (TOS: What are Little Girls Made of?)
Yes I am starting off with picking some nits. Dr Korby stopped sending messages, two expeditions failed to find him, and the Enterprise finds him in two minutes. Perhaps that should have been a sign of something being very much amiss. Still it makes for a nice short and effective teaser.
When it comes to TOS I am seeing it through the lenses of someone born twenty-one years after it was first seen. As such I often feel like I am not the target audience. As it turns out there is a good reason why Korby hasn’t been communicating but I would like to have seen a bit more suspicion.
Two
It isn’t my custom to send an away team of one.
Captain Janway (Voyager: Hunters)
Dr Korby requests that Kirk beam down alone. This too should have been a sign of there being something wrong. Starfleet has some pretty silly regulations but you would think even they wound’t let a Captain beam down to an unknown situation without escort. Then again you would think a typical landing party won’t consist of the two senior most officers and the CMO – incidentally Dr McCoy doesn’t appear in this episode.
Three
I’m the guy…who dies to prove the situation is serious.
Guy (Galaxy Quest)
In this episode we get two red shit deaths. This was where it all began. There were deaths before this but this was the first time red shirted security people had died. And did you know red was actually the safest colour? This video explains.
I still wouldn’t wear red!
Four
So that is how the solids experience intimacy.
The Female Changling (DS9: Favour the Bold)
When Kirk and Chapel arrive on the planet they are met by Andrea. Andrea is wearing a costume so skimpy that she is, putting it as delicately as I can, likely to fall out of it if she turns too quickly. Naturally Chapel is not too pleased to discover that her husband has been spending time with a young attractive woman. Korby decides to put her mind at ease but does it in a very strange way. He tells her that Andrea is just a machine and talks about the impossibility of loving her – she only responds to orders.
The implication being that sex cannot exist without love. As assurances go this is like claiming you couldn’t eat the ice cream because you didn’t have a spoon. It also seems to be stating that Andrea is not a sapient being which begs the question, this is where it gets a little blue, if Korby had slept with her would that be cheating or an advanced form of masturbation?
The 1960s really must have been a different time. Meanwhile in the modern world a man is admitted to hospital with an injury involving a stuck kethup bottle. He claims he was up a ladder and landed on it butt first. A claim the doctor might have humoured him over – assuming the man could explain why he put a condom on a ketchup bottle. Given this information, for which I apologise, I think that a human and an anatomically correct android is not so far fetched. And by the way this episode has been reviewed by SFdebris – I happen to agree with him: https://sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/s010.php
Five
I like the Yellow Ones
Thor (Stargate SG-1: Small Victories)
This one has nothing to do with anything but when Chapel and Kirk are served dinner on the planet it is coloured cubes in gravy. This is something I have seen in other franchises; SG-1 as mentioned above. For some reason there is this idea that food as we know it would fundamentally change and be reduced to coloured cubes.
I also find it odd that Kirk stays on the planet. With the transporter they are five minutes away and surely there would be some regulation about this. Over the course of TOS there are some rather silly regulations that are shown – such as bureaucrats and flag officers with no command experiences having the right to take charge and nearly getting everyone killed. A lot of episodes would be far shorter if characters had a bit more common sense. When Ruk, as Kirk, says they will be staying on the planet what if Spock had questioned that?
Six
Spinning is so much cooler than not spinning. I’m the General I want it to spin.
General Hammond (Stargate SG-1: 200)
When a robot of Kirk is made he is placed on a spinning platform. This scene looks very silly but perhaps it is being used to disorientate the viewer. When watching TOS the effects are always going to look dated. It is quite amazing how much special effects have come on since that time. And the less said about the phallic shaped rock at the end of the episode the better. As I said in number four the 60s really were a different time. Maybe no one in the production team noticed. Maybe none of them had the chutzpah to point it out.
Seven
Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.
The Emperor (Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Well there had to be a sinister plot around here somewhere! Yes Korby plans to create android duplicates to take over the galaxy. (Cue evil laugh)
It is a common theme of TV shows and films isn’t it? The person who wants to take over the world. It sound like far too much paperwork if you ask me! Usually these people have vast resources, and thus they can do a great deal anyway, and it is very rare that the reason for wanted to take over is valid. That said Korby at least wants to take over for the betterment of mankind. Although couldn’t he do that with the points I made in back at number 4?
No. I am not suggesting he take over the world with sex robots but Korby could sell them for a variety of purposes. Despite later information to the contrary money does exist in TOS. So Korby could start a business and he would be very rich very fast. It is more of a long game than just replacing key figures but surely more effective.
Aren’t you doing exactly what you hate most in Humans: killing with no more concern than when you turn off a light?
I am not a computer. Test me. Ask me to solve any… Equate… Transmit… Christine! Christine, let me prove myself!…
Don’t you see Roger? Everything you’ve done has proved it isn’t you.”
I AM Roger Korby!
Kirk, Korby, and Chapel (Star Trek: The Original Series: What are Little Girls Made of?)
Korby is revealed to be an android too and shortly afterwards he vaporises himself and Andrea. Doing this ends the threat and the galaxy is safe.
This episode review has been in draft for a long time. The truth is that I don’t really have many thoughts on it. In fact while watching TOS it felt to me like there was a bit of a hump to get over before getting into a string of really good episodes.
I struggle with TOS. When I think of where I would place it in a ranking of all the Trek series I don’t know where to put it. I think I now know the reason for my confusion…
Watching TOS is live visiting an elderly relative. That sounds weird but here me out because I have thought this through…
Visiting grandma is usually fun. You play games, have chocolate, watch television, perhaps help her with her housework, and have a nice conversation. However sometimes Grandma will say something wrong. Well not wrong exactly but something that indicates the generational gap. She might describe a black person as ‘coloured’ for instance. And it is not because she harbours any racism necessarily she is just using the language in the way she grew up with it. (Incidentally I wonder what words of mine my nephew will cringe at in thirty or forty years.) And so we cringe inwardly and move on.
Watching TOS is like that for me. It has some great episodes and ideas but some of the ideas and the lines haven’t aged well at all. Kirk can be a bit creepy at times, mind you so can Riker but we’ll get to that much later, and so I have to remind myself when it was made.
I feel that TOS hasn’t aged too well. When I first saw it it must have been at least twenty years old. TNG is now over thirty and it feels like it has aged far better. Although TNG still has its moments of cringe.
What are Little Girls Made Of? is an interesting episode but in my view it is also unremarkable. There are lots of better episodes which we will get too soon – next up is: Miri.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
It is funny, and also sad, how a birthday changes as you get older. When you’re young it is exciting. It might mean going to bed later. It might mean being allowed to do something new – either from a legal perspective or because your parents now deem you old enough. However there comes a point where a birthday is just another day.
I am starting writing this on the 14th – my birthday is the 17th and the day has just crept up on me. At one time I would have been so excited now I am kind of meh about it. It is sad.
I have spoken before about feelings of sadness and depression and I think that on my birthday is when it really comes in to focus. My birthday is a milestone I am 32 now (it is now the 17th) and it can be a sign that another ship has joined the fleet of missed opportunities. That is how it feels sometimes at least. I am not in a relationship and I am still figuring myself out. And sometimes I think I always will be.
I know exactly how Kirk feels.
Lately I have been thinking of fundamental changes I could make to my living situation. I live in a studio flat and at times it feels like not enough space. I have come to realise that it is not the amount of space but how it utilised. I am renting and the flat came with a bulky bed with little storage – one of those that lifts up would be far better.
I love this space – I would have a library instead of the walk-in wardrobe.
I have been watching a lot of videos of these tiny homes. I say tiny but this place is better than where I live. The clever use of space is wonderful there is so much you can do if you have control. We are heading into a new year and living in a place like this lovely house would be amazing.
There are only two things you need for a tiny house – money and a place to put it. The first one should be doable, even a loan could be paid off in five years and be no more than rent over those five years, the problem is the second one.
I encourage you to go to this YouTube channel these videos are great.
The world hasn’t really woken up to the idea of tiny homes yet. This seems a little silly. There is often talk of it being impossible to own your own home in the current economy and a tiny home can make that possible. Land could be set aside in cities for such constriction. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a street of these little houses each one unique? And that is not even getting into what it could do for homeless people.
The number one house in this video costs $5000. It would be so cheap, on a governmental scale, to provide a home for all the homeless in the UK. Brexit has cost so much money just think of what that could have done to help the homeless and others in great need.
It is now the 22nd of September – yes it has taken a long time to write this. Yesterday I was out with my family. We had a beautiful sunny day and went to Margam Park. I hadn’t been to the park in a long time and it was wonderful to walk in the sunshine. I got a Lego set and some money from my parents and a book and some money from my brother.
Today I am okay and sometimes that is all that can be said. It is early still as I finish this and then on to the next task. Today is a good day. My feelings are often problematic as I know that deep sadness will return but that is tomorrow.
Oh and I picked up my repaired phone – they did a great job.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
Unstable Orbit 