6 posts tagged “diary”
A lot of writers keep diaries. And even if they don't keep personal diaries (you never quite know who's been reading something they most definitely should not have been), they almost always have some form of writers journal.
For about a year now, I've been on a personal mission to find a piece of software -- or anything electronic in any size, shape or form that will better enable me to keep my writers journals. The only two conditions are that it has to be simple (in approach and visually), and that it must not keep things in a proprietary format. I've stumbled across some useful stuff that qualifies for the first condition, but they all fall over on the second. Which is too bad, because it means I still won't make the transition from my A5 sized spiral notepads to something a little more tree-friendly.
As it happens, I do keep a diary too. But that one is on the computer and has recently been amalgamated from several discretely themed ones. But that gets kinda confusing too. And my tech minded brain started to think of input fields and databases and all sorts until...... stop! I had the answer: tagging.
Yep, wonderful tagging. In my simple text editor I add my diary entries in reverse chronological order, and tag particular paragraphs with [tig] brackets, rather like Vox posts ;) So instead of [this is good] I'll put in something like [dreams], [characters] and that sorta thing. Searching and identifying paragraph content suddenly became a whole lot easier.
But surely there must be a better (although I defy you to find a simpler) way to markup content? Do you keep a diary or journal, and how do you go about organising the mass of content?
Dear Diary
Well... it's over. Thirty days of endless scribbling, absorbing and regurgitating words... of almost fever-pitch madness as words tumble onto crisp white electronic screens, one after another after another.
At least that's the theory. Shame I never got past day 9 and some 13,000 odd words to find out. But I enjoyed it for that one week and the pace certainly was achievable despite an early dip -- had I not chosen that moment in my life to take some time out, I'm pretty confident I woulda done it. Maybe next year then.
But for now, this is C signing out... x
This is the last in a recent series of articles on NaNoWriMo. Read the entire collection:
Day ... er 7: Annihilation
Dear Diary,
Where did it all go wrong? Maybe when the RSI started creeping up on me bit by bit. Or perhaps, it happened when the day job got in the way of the real job. Either way, it's a moot point. The fact is, I haven't written anything since I last wrote... oh actually, aside from the couple of thousand words that bumped the total to something just over 5,000 words. But really, that's it. Caput.
Now, the procrastination is starting to creep in. That's the trouble when you miss a day or two, the rhythm gets broken and before you know it -- bang! Gone. I've dug around in old school files, typed out an old essay, and even blogged. But written? Nope, no sirree. I even tried culling my time-wasting surfing habits, to no avail. And eating the latest issue of the Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine certainly got a few of my writer cells perky, but even that wasn't enough to get the ink rolling.
So, I guess it's back to the drawing board. Literally.
This is the 6th in a series of articles about NaNoWriMo. Read the last article here.
Day 4: Crawling
I figure I need to write another 3,000 words by the end of today. And then I'll be okay. Already, I've got some 500 or 600, having draggedmy weary ass outta bed a lot earlier than I really would have liked. If I get on target, maybe then, I can start walking.
Let's hope so. While I can feel myself dropping into a rhythm of sorts, I also know this pace is delicately balanced and could dive at any moment. Tomorrow, for instance, I'm back at work. Who'd care to bet on how the word count survives that? Not me.
But it's not all bad. The manuscript is picking up nicely. I remember why it was stuck in the first place: a lot of bad action and stale characterisation. But a little time away, like in most relationships, has helped me approach the story with new insight. The characters flow much more in tune with their real selves and the action is sharp and a genuine consequence of their personalities and a culmination of the situation in which they find themselves. I'm happy with what I've written so far, and for those of you who know how sharply my inner critic bites, knows it says a lot. I'm four chapters in, and nearly four thousand words along. It could be a whole lot worse.
This is the fifth in a series of articles about NaNoWriMo. Read the last article here.
Day 2: Elation & Pain
Dear Diary,
Nearly 48 hours in and the clock is ticking away. Unfortunately, yesterday was a complete wash out with a total word count of... wait for it... zero. Yep, zilch. I let it slide. Everyone is entitled to one bad day, right? But that meant I was already facing a deficit of 1,700 words today. By midnight tonight I need to have typed out a grand total of 3,400 words if I'm to stay on target. Hmm.... I sense pain.
The good news is that I wrote. What, you want more good news? That's enough surely. Believe me, the fact that I wrote is beautiful. The fact that I picked up my aging manuscript, blew the dust off the metaphorical cover and pimped up a couple of chapters despite missing my early morning alarm call, is way more than good. That's astronomical. And... (drum roll) I managed a staggeringly unimpressive 1,500 words. Well, can't win 'em all.
Today, I wrote, and that's good enough for me.
This is the fourth in a series of articles about NaNoWriMo. Read the last article here.
Day 1: kick off
Dear Diary,
Last night it was all looking a bit like a no-hoper. After a week of methodically sorting through my chapters and arranging them, word counting and attempting to draw an outline, I was beginning to think I might have a chance at achieving the 50,000 target. I also got my painting equipment at the ready -- in case of any troubling moments of procrastination or the dreaded writer's block. So far so good. Then, a couple of days ago, it all went down the plughole. I was left, pretty much staring at the accelerating swirl of water, wondering where it all went wrong.
And this was it: I lost focus.
I let life get in the way. I had a nice series of articles half-written out in my head and ready to blog. Didn't get written. I had ideas of drawing out a brilliant outline for my novel. Didn't get done. Plans of routine and structure. Gone. Life got in the way. It sounds so simple and so horribly complicated at the same time. There is nothing you can do about life. It gets in the way. Real life problems distract you, claiming valuable focus and mental energy. Something comes up at you from the left and it's all you can think about to carry on living -- forget the writing. But when the dust settles and life flows into something resembling harmony again, you find you're very much where you started, except time's moved on, and horror, with no words to show for it.
So this is what the last few days have taught me. Sure, life gets in the way, and you may falter for a few hours, a day or a few days. Heck even for a month. But afterwards, when you can breathe, and think of something other than surviving the moment.... start writing, and keep writing.
This is the third in a series of articles about NaNoWriMo. Read the second article here.
