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Caitlin Black

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First day back at Uni, and I already screwed something up. :tongue Apparently I should've downloaded the topic handbook before class, because they want us to go to a Writer's Festival and today's class was optional because of it. However, it'll still be on tomorrow (the Festival) and I have no classes tomorrow, so I'm going to have to head in and do that.

I then waited in line for the bookstore, and only found 3/6 of the books I need. Asked at the information desk, and it took the worker lady about 10 minutes to actually track down 2 more of them for me. (1 was a last copy, the other I should've found myself.) Also ordered in the 6th book, which should arrive next week - which is good, because I need to have it completely read by week 4.

So yes... I have LOTS to read! My creative writing class may just kill me, though... We have to do ALL of the semester's readings in the first 6 weeks. Eek! And there's also a group assignment to do in weeks 3-6.

Anyway... I've read the first chapter of Nineteen Eighty-Four on the bus home, and once I've had my AW fix I'll be going hunting for the online articles I have to read, and figuring out this Writer's Week Festival thingy...
 

Caitlin Black

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Oh, the good thing though: The books we're reading in this class are all dystopian spec fiction! I've wanted to get into dystopian fiction for a while now, so this makes me happy. :)
 

Caitlin Black

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Just did 5 online readings (most not very long, thankfully) and worked out how to get to the Writer's Week thing tomorrow. Hooray!

Going to try to make a sizable dent in 1984 now.

ETA: Instead of reading 1984, I wound up reading the topic handbook for a sociology class, then did 1 (long-ish) reading for that topic (bought the reader today). After that I read some more of 1984. :) Up to page 44... Slowly getting there!
 
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Julie.G.

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Amber, hopefully you’re feeling better today! Sucks to get sick on the bus and not being able to get home when you’re not feeling well!!

Well, I must confess that I changed my goals. I was going for 1k but noticed that it wasn’t such a good idea when you haven’t figured it all out yet. So I alternate by doing 850 words on day 1 and 400 words on day 2 so I have the time to do some research. I'm doing great so far, I’ve written 2k and it gets easier every day!! :D
 

mrsmig

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Well, I must confess that I changed my goals. I was going for 1k but noticed that it wasn’t such a good idea when you haven’t figured it all out yet. So I alternate by doing 850 words on day 1 and 400 words on day 2 so I have the time to do some research. I'm doing great so far, I’ve written 2k and it gets easier every day!! :D

That sounds incredibly sensible. I may have to try that for myself.
 

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So I got less done than yesterday (I think), but the quality was better. I might not make the 25k - we'll see - but I think when this is all done, I'll at least spare myself one of the many rounds of edits.
 

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Amber, hopefully you’re feeling better today! Sucks to get sick on the bus and not being able to get home when you’re not feeling well!!

Thank you. :) I am doing much better today. I didn't have a lot more than some juice and an Aleve in my stomach yesterday morning (I hate taking pills but my headache the night before wouldn't let me sleep...), and the bus hopping up and down was not kind on my stomach... >.> I made sure to get enough to eat yesterday and today, and now everything is pretty much back to normal.

I am extremely giddy and ready for my superheroes class next term. :D I'm just very excited. This term went pretty well, but I'm hoping next term will be a bit better for me just because I won't be taking quite as many credits as I have been.

My giddiness is making me not want to do my homework. I should really fix that. Especially since I'm taking the 6:30 am bus to school tomorrow. Yuck. :tongue

~Amber~
 

Caitlin Black

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Went to Writer's Week, so I can at least say I went and listened to some things in my tutorial next week. On the train there and back I managed to read another 80 pages of 1984. Woo!

I don't think I'm quite halfway through it yet, but for 2 days' reading, I've made quite a bit of progress (for me, at least).

Now, I need to look into the sociology e-readings... If I can find them.
 

Caitlin Black

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Found and downloaded 5 readings for sociology (for this week and next), read an extra 1 online, and then read 2 in PDF format. Now there's 1 left for this week in PDF format, but I'm taking a break from the screen (after AW fix) to get stuck into 2 "bonus" readings in the reader, which are fortunately in print. :)

*flop*

I think I've read about 120 pages of stuff for Uni today, and I might make it to 170 before I turn in for the night. Depends on how much desire I have to watch an episode of Seinfeld. :tongue

ETA: Read 2 more articles for sociology (the ones in print). 1 was rather short, which helped. Now up to about 150 pages for the day, which I'm quite happy with. :) Too tired to bother with Seinfeld, and I'm not sure if I'll read any more of 1984 tonight. There's still 1 PDF to read for sociology this week, but I'll do that tomorrow I think. (I should add that I have 2 sociology topics this semester - 1 tomorrow and 1 on Friday. The one I've been reading for is a research methods class. The other one I have no idea what the readings are meant to be - nothing listed online, no reader in the book shop.)

ETA2: I should also say that I've reached that point where I'm reading entire sentences without actually paying attention, so it's probably a good time to call it a night. :tongue
 
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I got no work done yesterday. Concerts were announced, no sleep was had, and money was spent. Totally worth it. :Guitar: :e2headban
 

mrsmig

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The show is now Officially Open and there are no more rehearsals (until the end of the month when I start work on my next show), so I am hoping to get into some kind of writing groove. I've written nothing but prompt exercises for more than two weeks now, although I've been editing a completed WIP pretty steadily. I don't think I'm blocked, per se, but life is sure getting in the way of my writing.

The bread came out pretty well. I'm going to try a different form today (baguette rather than boule) and see how that works. I've been taking photos as I go and will probably do a blog about it afterward.
 

VP_Benni

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Working on apartment hunting again. Going to look at a duplex on Friday afternoon. It's pretty much exactly what I need, but I have no idea if my mom and I can fill the income requirements (though the rent is $495 a month..) We will see. I'm not getting my hopes up, but you never know.

~Amber~
 

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I did a bunch of prompts today, so that constitutes some actual writing (although not on my WIP). Did some editing, too. And I made some lovely honey-wheat baguettes - delicious. I have the day mostly to myself tomorrow, so I'm hoping to write that blog.
 

Caitlin Black

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Let's see... Woke up early, had my AW fix, then checked my Uni's website. Apparently there were 3 readings I was supposed to do before today's class. There'd been an email about it but, of course, I hadn't checked my student emails had I? But this morning there was a reminder in the main student page.

So I tracked down 1 of them online and wrote down the call numbers for the other 2 in the library. Read that 1, then left an hour early for Uni.

On the bus, read some more of 1984.

Got to Uni, had lunch quickly, then went into the library. Tracked down both readings (introductions from books) and read the first one, and got up to page 10/15 of the second one. Then class was about to start, so went and had that. After class, went back to read the last 5 pages - and realised that it actually ended on page 13. *flop* I may have just about managed to finish it before class if I'd known that!

Anyway, finished that off, and caught the bus home - and read some more of 1984 on there.

So! It's 3pm now, and I've read 45 pages of sociology and 45 pages of 1984 so far today. 90 pages so far... Got plenty of time to push past the 120 mark, which is my personal goal. :)

Oh, and apparently 2 of my 3 classes have presentations as one of the assignments. *sigh* Creative writing has a group presentation, and this social theory class has an individual one worth less percentage of the grade.

ETA: 1 more reading done. This one brings me up to date for tomorrow's class. Yay! Up to about 110 pages today, and will be reading more soon. :)

ETA2: OMG, it took about an hour, but I tracked down the vast majority of readings for my social theory class! *flop* And organised them into weeks (1 folder per week). And made notes about which ones were only online and couldn't be downloaded, which ones I only had links to on paper, and which ones I couldn't find anywhere. *flop*

But I also realised that I'm actually ahead of schedule already! I've done all the week 1 readings: check. I've also done the week 2 readings for creative writing: check. I'm reading 1984 which is a week 3 book: half-check. So hooray! I'm ahead!
 
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Caitlin Black

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Read the topic handbook for today's class, and then read part of a week 2 reading for tomorrow's class (putting me slightly ahead of the game there).

All up, I think I cracked the 120 pages mark for the day. *flop* I could feasibly keep reading that article, except there's about 20 more pages to go, which would take too long and I'm kind of sleepy. So I'll watch an episode of Seinfeld, because I need to decompress a bit and didn't watch anything yesterday. :)
 

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Editing is terrible.

I would like to eat a lot of candy and play video games.

I have no idea if the 15th is even close to a realistic deadline to fix this draft. I knew there were issues, but now "issues" are becoming tons of fresh writing, and even larger sections of rewriting to fit the fresh bits.

Today was supposed to be adding notes to the whole draft (or as far as I could get) by I'm just past 70 pages, and the workload is enormous.

Good luck apartment hunting Amber! I want to see pics of bread, MrsMig! Hang in there with the schoolwork, Cliff Face
 

Caitlin Black

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Thanks, Coffee. :)

And I hear you on the never-ending edits! One book I've been trying to fix is being just as difficult as yours - which is why I haven't touched it lately. Really need to think about that one.
 

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Editing is terrible.

I would like to eat a lot of candy and play video games.

Every step has got its tough edges but still don’t forget to be proud of yourself for finishing a draft in the first place. Many people aren’t even able to do that! Maybe you can watch some youtube videos about other people trying to edit their book. I watched a bunch of movies about people writing their first draft. And yes, they blabber a lot but still made me quite motivated to go for it myself!

I’m still trying to accomplish my first draft. But I hope this time I will get it right! I have reached 4k today and I’m slightly ahead of schedule. Six days ago I had to force myself to do my words and it was my last ‘to do’ on my list. Now, I start early in the morning and I have to force myself to stop! I was up last night, because of my baby boy who is sick, and couldn’t get back to sleep because I had lots of ideas for my writing today.

I did realize it’s kind of ironic that I haven’t been so loaded with other work in months (the fact that my baby is sick and we bought a house we want to renovate) and I’m still able to do my words. Motivation is really the key word! And knowing that having lots of time can make you very very lazy! ;)
 

Caitlin Black

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Read another 30 pages of a sociology article this morning (at home and then on the bus to Uni) which finished that one off. Read another chapter of 1984 on the bus.

Got to Uni, went to class, and then apparently the tutorials were starting in week 1 for this one, so I had an hour and a half to wait. Went to the library and found a bonus reading - but only read 5/27 pages, because OMG it was written so poorly! Comma abuse, unclear writing, far too much terminology... So yes, I gave up on that one. Went back outside, and read another 20/25 pages of another sociology article.

Had my tutorial, then got the bus home. Finished that article, and read 2 more chapters of 1984.

So, that makes 55 pages of sociology, and *checks* 30 more pages of 1984, making it 85 pages today so far. :)

Getting my AW fix, then more reading I guess. I'm still ahead of where I need to be, which is good, but I can't slack off just yet.
 

Caitlin Black

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50 pages of sociology stuff read so far today. I'm actually further behind on today's workload than I had anticipated...

Along with getting up later than expected, it took freakin' forever to organise exactly what needed to be read!

Those 50 pages also took about 3 hours, which is just... Gah! Anyway... Taking an AW break, then on to the next article.
 

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I got to work at a Tool concert tonight. :D It was pretty fun. A lot of high people were asking very strange questions at the help desk. I had no idea how the counter guy kept a straight face. I also got to ride a tricycle for about half an hour while I was on my break. There are some strange items in that room.

I have two Japanese homework assignments, two English readings, and an essay due next week. That's not too terrible. It could be a lot worse. But, then again, it IS dead week...

I am tired. I've been up since 5:30 am. It is now 1 am the next day. I've had enough. Time for bed.

~Amber~
 

Caitlin Black

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Nice! Tool's a good band. :)

Okay, so I managed to do 1 more reading for sociology... My day's page count is sitting at only about 65 though... Seems my reading productivity is getting worse. Ack!

Maybe I'll try to read some more of 1984 to get the page count up closer to acceptable. Though I am tired and want to sleep...
 

Caitlin Black

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Only read 30 pages of sociology yesterday, as it was a Sunday and that means spending time with the grandparents. Another 15 pages of sociology so far this morning, and apart from a couple of readings only available in print in the library, I've now done all of the week 2 readings. Not bad, considering week 2 doesn't start till tomorrow. :tongue

Going to get stuck into the week 3 readings soon. (Though 1984 is a week 3 reading, so I've already done a fair bit of that.)

ETA: Another 40 pages of 1984 read, along with 10 pages of sociology. Today's count: 65 pages. Running out of steam here, but I'm making progress into next week's readings...
 
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:) I wasn't allowed inside the concert (they were sold out), but I could hear pretty well from the room I was in on my breaks. It was a lot of fun. :D And I got paid for it. :D :D

I have three assignments due this week. Two of those are rather small, and one of those is worth 50% of my grade in that class. :e2thud: Yay...

I wasted the weekend away pretty much. :tongue I watched a lot of TV and spent a lot of time gaming. Sure, I got SOME stuff done... Just not much... ;)

I'm going to pack up for school tomorrow and go to bed. I still have half of my Japanese homework to do in the morning, but I'm leaving later than usual so it'll work out. :)

~Amber~