Check In- What Are You Doing?

Oh my, I do the same thing with the (???) sometimes I even make it a (????????????????) for a particularly annoying one.

I'm doing research on the British isles too! Though I'm looking for the changes in culture after 400 CE when the Saxons kick the Romans out.

Chanan12:

Oh, looks like you go back even farther in time than I did.

That sounds like an interesting bit of work that you are writing! Tell us more sometime.

I enjoyed writing about Ireland in the 1700's. Our heroes stumbled upon dramatic scenes, but had no idea what was going on. It was a profound sort of irony.

Tell me more about your novel! Even in a private message, if you prefer

RLGreenleaf:

I'm writing a series of short stories and poems that all take place on a mirror of Earth on the far side of the milky way.

I hope to make a novel some day. I can't help but make new characters and stories so I think that putting a bunch of short stuff together will be easier for me.
One of my stories focuses on the conflict between two drastically different cultures.
The conquerors must compromise to keep order and the native people scheme to overthrow their new masters.

If you need any help with your research, let me know. II brains is better than I

The one drawback to a "???" filler is that sometimes it's too generic. If you're stuck on two character names, for instance, or a character and a city, using the same marker for each instance might cause issues when you double back to replace your fillers. I usually do something vaguely descriptive, like "MCFATHER" or "BIGCITY"... but I'm a fan of the search/replace feature in word processors.

Meanderin' back through briefly while I wait for my allergy pill to kick in. Floor finally dried, so the room's back together. Still waiting for the filter in the vacuum to dry, though... need to put that back together tonight. May or may not watch Svengoolie this evening (he's showing the Godzilla with "Monster Zero," which I saw once ages ago but may watch again as something to do.)

There are Plans for tomorrow, so we'll see how that pans out. Should try to get some writing in once my eyes stop itching and nose stops running.

Chanan12:

Your description of your work sounds interesting.

It reminded me somewhat of "Spoon River Anthology", by Edgar Lee Masters, one of my favorite poets. If you are not familiar with it: it is a collection of poems that describe various people living in an imaginary place called Spoon River. Some of the characters are really fascinating.

Conflict of cultures is always an interesting topic, and historically, that Conquerors vs. Natives dynamic arises quite often.

I always need help with research, especially historical. I am not much of a history person, but lean more towards mathematics and the sciences. I am a dunce when it comes to history, and I know it.

In the first book of my trilogy, I managed to include a scene where sir Christopher Wren appears briefly, and an important scene takes place in front of St. paul Cathedral, of which Wren was the architect. I accidentally learned that the cathedral was under construction at the time of my story, so I added it in, and it all fell right into place.

Best of luck with your work. Feel free to share sometime, should you happen to feel brave.

Brightdreamer:

You have a point about the ??? space-filler, but I usually manage to keep them straight, as far as what they were meant for.

I am glad that your method works for you.

I see that you are a Svengoolie fan too, so you must be in the Chicago area, same as me. He seems to be showing most of the Godzilla movies lately. The first one was a serious movie, but the rest were not. It starred Raymond Burr, who went on to play Perry Mason. He was teaching drama at my college, while I was a senior there, and I always wanted to go say hello to him, but never got a chance to do so, unfortunately. I wish I had.

I had planned to do some writing tonight, but one of the hoses on my sump pump broke and I spent a good amount of time fixing that -- we are supposed to get more rain tonight.

RLGreenleaf - Actually, I'm not from Chicago, though I visited there once ages ago. I watch Svengoolie via the local MeTV affiliate channel, Concast willing. (MeTV deals in reruns; used to be older shows, Perry Mason and Andy Griffith and westerns and such, but they're slowly shifting their target demographic to more recent - recent as in 1980's-ish - material.) And I don't know that I'd call myself a die-hard fan, though he's fun to watch now and again.

I also do the all-caps descriptive note thing. BIGBOATNAME, BARTENDER. EASTERNEUROPEANGUY1. One of those things that just made sense at the time.

Currently trying to find a meaningful scene to put in to round out my chapter.
Got distracted helping my bff out of a self-defeating slump, so I'm wondering about incorporating that.

Currently on an extra-long break from writing my WIP because I am super sleepy and need a break, so going to stick some Netflix on and relax for a while. Anybody else get super tired even when they've had a good night's sleep? I just can't figure out why.

Sunday, and we're heading out soon to a Thing, so I'm websurfing to keep myself from writing (and thus losing track of time.)

Weather's warm, pushing toward hot. I'm debating whether it's cutoff weather yet or still just light jeans weather. Either way, it's probably time to dig out the sunscreen.

Away I drift.

I was that way for a long time; then I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I got a CPAP and now get much more effective sleep.

Cooking Sunday roast. Parboiling spuds before they go in with the chicken. Its a dreary Sunday evening.

Stressing about this interview now. Maybe have a beer. That'll do the trick.

And I'm back. Hot day - glad I went with the cutoffs. We went out to a "country village" themed shopping area - old-look buildings, a few wandering chickens, etc. - whose owners recently sold development rights, so it probably won't be there for too much longer. Sorting pictures as I type.

Tomorrow's supposed to be even hotter than today. And me without ice cream... or the ambition to go to a store to get ice cream...

Post #2000, and I have to dance about it somewhere.

L.C. Blackwell said:

Post #2000, and I have to dance about it somewhere.

Click to expand...

Yay!

It's Monday, and Allegra struggles to keep up with a skyrocketing pollen count. (I considered that Zyzal stuff they're pushing, but many reviews indicate it's a glorified sleeping pill.) Another warm day is, well, warming up. On the plus side, it's probably too warm to fool around with heavy yardwork, so I'm off the hook for that. On the downside, heat is miserable.

Already been told we're going to a store "later," so I'm waiting to be informed of when it's "later." Need to get that short story hammered out still...

Oh, and we finally heard from that second day camp about their logo. Not nearly as fun - frankly, a bit tone-deaf - but it shouldn't take too long. Just have to round up some public domain stuff and arrange it in a vaguely attractive manner. Or maybe I'll just do most of it with vectors like last year... (It's at least mildly more creative than "Day Camp goes to Camp," which is the theme we keep expecting from these people.)

Away I go to cruise PD archives...

Spent a large part of yesterday trying to find a new laptop. This one is 6 years old, and showing its age. I want to get a new one while I have time to choose. Didn't get too far with that though.

Editing today.

Cooking a Chinese style chicken curry. Had plans to write tonight, knew exactly what I would write when I was in the car, but now the long day wears on, and the commuter queue muse has danced off down the path. I know this song too well; I eat, I watch TV, and off I go to sleep. The great book remains unwritten.

About to have five days off from writing (and everything else). The bad news is I missed getting my fourth draft done in time. No, I'm not taking it with me.

Driftin' back through for no earthly reason, save procrastinating on writing and site work and getting an eye appointment for new glasses. Chicken salad dinner night, which means all I have to do is take it out of the fridge when it's dinner time. (Made it up earlier.)

I got a logo together, but I won't be sending it out for a few days. (No sense making them think it was easy... )

Now, I really ought to be doing Something Useful. Should look at getting that eye appointment.

Trudging through on Tuesday. Don't mind me...

Not much worth noting has occurred. Worked a little on my review site, got an eye appointment for next week, and made minor progress on that story. And I just got in from yard work that suddenly had to be done in the heat of the afternoon, because apparently telling me what needed doing before then wasn't possible.

Now I'm probably going to cool down with a quick round of Titan Quest, then find something more productive to do before dinner.

Waiting for my wife to wake up for work. Watching Weather Channel. Just uploaded my Youtube video for the night and just generally tired. Can't wait for a good nap.

Wednesday, and they're backing off on cooler weather and threats of rain.

Dropped the ball on writing or much else worth doing yesterday, so I hope to make up a little lost productivity after work. (Don't laugh - it could happen!) Also need to send that logo out this afternoon.

Nose is still itchy. Should start up the sinus rinse regime again.

Off I wander, to kill about ten minutes before I leave for work...

Trying to learn more about the structure of character arcs from KM Weiland

and also stressing about creating a blog/website, as I have no idea how and the sheer volume of information about it on the internet seems so overwhelming Just have to take it one step at a time!

We've got bloody bees again. Something about our barge boards is really awesome to bumblebee kind.

Not happy. Suppose it doesn't matter, its not like we're moving any time soon. Argggh.