Caught in a Whirlwind.

No, no update on the word counts today, don't bother looking. I find myself caught in a whirlwind of events that I cannot control; because if I could I'd be laying down a metaphoric layer of glue hoping my feet get caught in it.

I have so much going on in my head, both personally and in the world. The personal rants can be found on my other blog.

I don't need to repeat the tragedy of Virgina Tech, anyone with CNN or the ability to read knows what I am referring too. What has been worrying me is the repeated mentioning of this young man's writing. As if the horrors he wrote about should have warned the teaching staff of what was to come.

That kind of thinking scares me. I write all sorts of things, and yes sometimes they can be very disturbing, but I'm not about to go postal. It is merely my imagination working through something that is bothering me. To judge a person's mental capacity based on what they write...is dangerous. Not to mention the fact that it takes a very large step towards censorship in my mind.

I was relieved to read a couple newspaper articles today voicing a similar concern that I have. Both times it was mentioned that you cannot merely predict something based on a person's writing.

Stephen King (one of my favourite authors, and who, I might add, has written his fair share of terrifying things) voiced his opinion in this article On Predicting Violence. There is also an article in the The New York Times that is worth reading.

My heart goes out to the families that have been affected by this tragedy.

A contest might be a bit premature...or not

I admit I am a bit late, I should have posted this last night but wasn't able to get to it. Ran a bit shy of the goal this week, (like 4,000 shy) my bad. At least the word count moved up and they are good words not merely padding.
Why the lack of progress you might ask? Lack of a key to put it simply.

A key is so much more then a scrap of metal that physically opens a lock. Or a musical term that helps a banker save a spy (bonus points if you know that movie)

For me 'The Key' is a sealed envelope that ends up in my heroine's hands during a rather dramatic event. Sounds interesting eh?

It would be if she would tell me what is in there. She's already looking in and pulled something out but that is when my fingers stop. I don’t know what it is and she isn't telling. It's important too because what ever she finds is the catalyst of my story. I think...

I am willing to accept that she doesn’t quite understand what she has but she isn’t willing to appear that unknowledgeable. Dammit in giving the woman a stronger backbone she has developed a bit too much pride in all things intellectual.

But I need to know what it is. What information does she discover, does it have anything to do with the story because if it doesn’t I could move her forward but she is digging in her heels. It’s important. I just know it. But how? Does it affect her directly or something to do with the men in the story.

Will the contents reveal themselves immediately or is it later in the story that it becomes clear the effect this information has on everyone?

Grrrrr this writing is hard work. I've been obsessing about this point so much I think the right side of my rain is deliberately avoiding the question.

I did have a thought....yes it happens.... If you have any ideas what might be in this envelope/package then write them down in the comments. Remember this is a light weight package about the size of the book she is reading.

If I use your suggestion then when it is all said and done, and published *thinking positive here!! I will give you a copy. You never know it could turn out to be the worst book you have ever read and you end up getting a great workout throwing it at the wall across the room. Expending aggressive energy and making you feel good.

OR

You might really enjoy it, spend a few hours of peaceful reading and by the end be relaxed and feeling good.

It's Win/Win either way don't you think?

Goals, Goals, Goals!

Very true of the C&H comic I posted a while back, I write best when under a deadline. Knowing that I have to get it done or else. I actually got 50,000 words written during the National Novel Writing Month. Why, because there was a deadline.
That was the first year. The second year I procrastinated to the point that I only had 20,000 done. Still that isn't bad at all. Granted over half of that was dumped.

I am taking some advice from Michele Armstong and giving my self small goals. Nothing to outrageous, but enough to keep me on track. I can worry about monthly goals when I have multiple contracts and am trying to promote while writing. (a girl can dream)

Due to an excessive amount of procrastination I am attempting to make public my lazy times. So I will be updating my word counts on a regular basis. Since I tend to post here once a week, at that time I will refresh my counts. If you notice that I haven't update them feel free to harass me via comments or email. My ultimate goal is 5-7,000 a week.

<<--- See they moved *G*