We didn't put last year's novels up for critiquing either, though we did have one kind soul who was willing to tear into as many as he received. Funny how I don't see him around this time... I think that was takyris and he's around, but busy testing Mass Effect 2.

So are there any other grand-scale writing workshops / contests like this, any other time of the year? This is the most productive I've been in writing in forever, and I like the deadline and communal feel going on. I feel that's really what's pushing me to finish. (also, number one as of this post! woo!)

We're neck and neck! =)

Oh ho ho ho ho! I'm gonna rock my character's world. She's gonna hate me It's almost fun just to see what they do!

over 2k, finally... currently hoping to at least end the day less than one day behind.

Agh, seeing all those giant wordcounts is just making me want to get back to writing! Better eat dinner quickly so I can get some words in.

Ok, I'm starting to write for tonight. I just want to publicize that I have Dragon Age installed, but I'm writing instead of starting it. I want a cookie.

Aye, I'm going to give myself Dragon Age as a reward if - and only if - I make it to 50,000 words. I don't trust myself with having it around while these words have gone unwritten. I know I don't have the resolve needed to prevent choosing the game over the novel.

Ugh. I have Dragon Age coming in from GameFly this week and I don't know what to do. Part of me thinks I should send it back and wait until December, the other part of me is weak.

Let the former part of you prevail! You're doing great so far, don't give up now!

All people who avoid Dragon Age and get their writing done will receive internet cookies galore!

God damnit. I'm outlining this next part I'm about to write, and I just realized I've got a lot of names from the Iliad in this story. I don't know what the heck, it wasn't intentional, and I haven't read or seen anything about it lately. My two main characters are named Hector and Ulysses. Would that be too distracting? I wouldn't want people trying to draw parallels to their namesakes, since there aren't many, at least no intentional ones. Or maybe change Ulysses to Achilles for more pointless allusions?

Okay, okay, I'm going to be strong and leave Dragon Age for December. It'll be a great reward, at least!

Yay! Wooot! =) I know how you feel too, VanityPants. I've been eagerly anticipating it for quite some time... I'm holding at bay as best I can. =)

Hey, who knows, maybe we'll finish our NaNos a couple of days early and get to play that much sooner! It'll be worth it, I'm sure. Edit: Geez, look at that word count on VT! Nice!

Thanks! =) My story has descended into meta-noveling: Beatrice is reading her departed husband's journal, which reads like a novel. So in a way, my novel has become a novel about a woman reading a novel. Hopefully sometime in the next 15,000 words or so, she'll put it down long enough to start killing ninjas. =)

So if THINGS IN MY LIFE WOULD STOP BEING SO HECTIC, I can write tonight. After dinner at TrackTown pizza, though. VThorn: sounds like you're writing metafiction, whereas im writing metaphysical fiction

Dubai/nanomachines/zombies/MMOs/singularity story that's been ruminating for a couple of years That actually sounds awesome! Not to scare you off, but my 2006 nano attempt was about MMOs and I totally botched it. Nothing that happened generated any tension because it was all pretend.

I have caved and started writing a novel. Perhaps I'll be better at this than plays.

God damnit. I'm outlining this next part I'm about to write, and I just realized I've got a lot of names from the Iliad in this story. I don't know what the heck, it wasn't intentional, and I haven't read or seen anything about it lately. My names have been completely arbitrary. There is only one I had a preconceived name for and I recently just discovered she was the main character. When I say completely arbitrary, I mean it. I have a ruff-n-tuff cop which uses four-letter words every sentence. I named him "Matty" which I'm pretty sure is a girl's name. The name just fell out of my fingertips as I was writing it.

Yeah, so far I've been getting pretty lucky with names, knock on wood! Things are just coming to me. It helps that for the Fey I can pretty much just make things up as long as it sounds exotic, and that the children captured have odd names. Hal, that made me think that his real name is Matteo and everyone just calls him Matty or something!

Woo, on a roll tonight! Quoth, you'd be so proud of me with my sprinting

Usagi, this is me being proud of you. Look I am sitting here being proud. I also need to do at least two more sprints to hit my word count for today so I should probably get on that.

Usagi, this is me being proud of you. Look I am sitting here being proud. So proud.

I'd have to say my biggest flaw in writing is dialogue. I like to think its fairly realistic dialogue (as I write it I try to wonder if it sounds natural), but the thing I hate, hate the most, is how you "address" the quotations (I don't know a better way to put this). ie: said John, yelled Karl, stated Fred. I hate seeing people trying to use more exhagerated ways of saying "said", but at the same time I don't want to repeat "said" after every quotation. I feel there are three variations: said, asked, replied. I want to keep it simple, but at the same time I don't want to be repetitive. Any takes on this?