I once heard a quote that went something like this, "A writer is someone who writes every day." If that's true, then I'm definitely a writer. Especially these days. Not only am I editing like crazy, I'm getting a lot done on my rough draft. I spent yesterday afternoon while the kids were napping doing research. Research is usually my least favorite part of writing, make that next to editing. But I have to get the details right. This time I'm doing a lot of location research since my next book is supposed to take place in South America. Sadly I can't actually go to South America to do my research so I'm stuck with Google maps and Wikipedia. Bummer.
I was so excited last night when the kids finally went to bed to settle down and get some writing done. My favorite part of writing is working on a rough draft. Basically, it's writing from scratch, coming up with things on the fly. I love watching a story come to life on the page. I like to close my eyes and imagine a scene, hear the voices in my head and then be able to put what I'm seeing into words. It's really awesome. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's never written before. Earlier in the day yesterday I wrote about four pages, longhand. Last night over the course of two hours I wrote a dozen pages, also longhand. When I was finished my arm was really tired and I had ink smeared all over my hand, but it was so worth it. My brain was fried, but in a good way.
I think I also finally worked out the entire "big picture" of the three novels. Which is kind of huge, right? Trilogy here we come!
Ah, delusions of granduer...
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Plotting...
For once in my life I couldn't sleep last night. This is completely uncharacteristic of me, since I can usually sleep no matter what. Even if I'm not tired. No, seriously, I can literally sleep anywhere at any time, just try me!
Except last night. Not surprisingly I think it was due to too much caffeine. I had a cup of coffee at right around eight thirty. Matthew and I were just starting a movie and I didn't want to doze off during the final fifteen minutes like I usually do. There are so many movies I still don't know how they ended.
Anyway, right before I got in bed and tried to sleep I had pulled out several of my many notebooks containing my writing. Specifically the ones with my second book's rough draft. I haven't made it very far, just a basic outline and the first three chapters. Well, I got them out because I needed to write a few sentences before I forgot them. Literally like three sentences, but they were really good sentences. Because I couldn't sleep, I spent a lot of time last night thinking about my second book. Like I said, I have a little bit of it already written. But even though I have an outline already finished, it's a very skeleton plot line. I'm relying a lot on my own ability to come up with the little details on the fly. Which shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Somehow, in the middle of the night, halfway between sleep and awake I came up with the entire storyline. Not just the basics, but details. Important details. Lines of dialogue. Action sequences, oh and the culmination of the story and the grand finale. Let's not forget, the big kissing scene! Ha ha.
Part of me wanted to get up and write it all down before I forgot. But I think it's pretty well cemented in my brain and I should be able to recall it all when necessary. Now I'm sort of really amped up to get to work. But, and there's always a but, I still need to finish the first. Since they are part of a series, you can't have two without one.
More than ever I'm determined to finish. And who knows what will happen after that. I've decided (not that this was ever really a question) that I will someday try really hard to get published. No matter what it might take. I want it really bad. Not to be rich or famous. But to share what I've written with everyone. That is my dream. And what's the point in dreaming if you're not going to aim high?
When I do get the chance to sit down and write my rough draft for book two it should go pretty quickly. I mean, I wrote the rough draft for book two in just eight weeks. Oh and I definitely have ideas for book three cooking already. It's going to be awesome!
Yes, book one has a name, as does book two. Wanna know what they are??
Except last night. Not surprisingly I think it was due to too much caffeine. I had a cup of coffee at right around eight thirty. Matthew and I were just starting a movie and I didn't want to doze off during the final fifteen minutes like I usually do. There are so many movies I still don't know how they ended.
Anyway, right before I got in bed and tried to sleep I had pulled out several of my many notebooks containing my writing. Specifically the ones with my second book's rough draft. I haven't made it very far, just a basic outline and the first three chapters. Well, I got them out because I needed to write a few sentences before I forgot them. Literally like three sentences, but they were really good sentences. Because I couldn't sleep, I spent a lot of time last night thinking about my second book. Like I said, I have a little bit of it already written. But even though I have an outline already finished, it's a very skeleton plot line. I'm relying a lot on my own ability to come up with the little details on the fly. Which shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Somehow, in the middle of the night, halfway between sleep and awake I came up with the entire storyline. Not just the basics, but details. Important details. Lines of dialogue. Action sequences, oh and the culmination of the story and the grand finale. Let's not forget, the big kissing scene! Ha ha.
Part of me wanted to get up and write it all down before I forgot. But I think it's pretty well cemented in my brain and I should be able to recall it all when necessary. Now I'm sort of really amped up to get to work. But, and there's always a but, I still need to finish the first. Since they are part of a series, you can't have two without one.
More than ever I'm determined to finish. And who knows what will happen after that. I've decided (not that this was ever really a question) that I will someday try really hard to get published. No matter what it might take. I want it really bad. Not to be rich or famous. But to share what I've written with everyone. That is my dream. And what's the point in dreaming if you're not going to aim high?
When I do get the chance to sit down and write my rough draft for book two it should go pretty quickly. I mean, I wrote the rough draft for book two in just eight weeks. Oh and I definitely have ideas for book three cooking already. It's going to be awesome!
Yes, book one has a name, as does book two. Wanna know what they are??
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Whelmed...
So if you can be overwhelmed and underwhelmed, can you ever just be whelmed?
I can't remember what that's from, but it always makes me laugh. That's basically how I feel right about now, just whelmed. Better than overwhelmed, which is what I was feeling earlier today. Not to continue to beat a proverbial dead horse, but this homeschooling stuff is hard work! (Yeah, duh, I know!)
Anyway, it doesn't help that I'm the type of person to purposely overwhelm myself. For some reason I like to feel like I've accomplished a million things in my day. So to feel that way I actually have to accomplish a million things in my day. Get it? No? Okay, moving on. This morning was one of those days. In fact I started feeling so overwhelmed with everything I needed to do I sat down and made a list, which didn't make me feel any better! Great, right?
Well, it did help, I guess. Because I got most of it done. I'm just getting really good at multi-multi-tasking. For example I went ahead and did lesson plans while Elijah was read out-loud to me. And then I made my menu and grocery list while he was doing math problems. All of this was only made possible because Sophia has (knock on wood) started taking TWO naps again. HALLELUJAH!
Seriously though, if she goes back down to one I don't know what I'm going to do. I need that extra time with just one kid.
So that's about the long and short of it. Still left on my to-do list, edit chapters 7 and 8 of my book. Um, yeah I'll get right on that...
Monday, August 15, 2011
The good, the bad, and the ugly...
I've been meaning to sit down and summarize our first week of school for some time now, but understandably haven't had the time. Basically the title my post sums up our week quite succinctly. It was good. It was bad. And it was sometimes ugly. I don't think you can expect much more from a first week of school.
Let's start with the good. We learned a lot. We had a lot of fun. Things ran smoothly and according to plan. We finished all our work in our lesson plans for every day. Sometimes we even finished a bit early. It was great. For me, I managed to get all my housework done every day in a timely manner. One of my biggest fears was that I would end up doing laundry after bedtime or something crazy, or be vacuuming at midnight. But so far that hasn't happened.
And now onto the bad. I have to admit (for reasons far beyond my control) I wasn't in the best mood all last week. Because of that I was errr, how should I put it? Crabby. There, I said it. I was crabby. Because of that I had very little patience for a certain student of mine who doesn't like to sit still, doesn't always follow directions and basically drives me crazy. So yeah, we had some bad moments. But I don't think it was anything more than I expected. I expect for us to butt heads sometimes, that's the nature of homeschooling your own child. You know them too well, so you have higher expectations of them.
Oh yeah, and the ugly. Well, that would be Sophia. No, I'm not calling her ugly. Let's just say she's the proverbial "wild card" around here. You just never know what to expect. Not only in the last week is she trying to readjust her nap schedule, she's also cutting four molars very slowly. It's been insanity. We all get up at 7-7:30 and start school an hour later. Now in the old days she would take a nap exactly two hours after she woke up. Which means I used to only have to put up with her for the first hour of school and then she'd be down for her morning nap. She'd wake up around lunchtime, which would also be the time we'd be done with school. It was a perfect schedule. Well, lately I never know when she's going to want to nap. Mostly she's only been taking one after lunch. Which means she's there for a good part of school. I find myself getting Elijah settled with some busywork, running to switch out my laundry and then back to the living room to read books or play with Sophia. It's crazy...and sometimes ugly.
But we're managing, and we survived (the most important part!). It's definitely a learning experience for everything, but fortunately I'm a fast learner. And I'm quickly catching on to the things that work for us and the things that don't. It's been a little more hectic than I would have preferred and my main downfall has been finding any free time for myself. Though I'm not surprised by this, I'd like to change it. I'm having to choose every afternoon during my 1-2 hours of free time to either talk on the phone with a family member, work out, shower, write, or just relax and do nothing.
*sigh*
So there you have it. The good, the bad, the ugly and the exhausted... can you guess which one I am?
Let's start with the good. We learned a lot. We had a lot of fun. Things ran smoothly and according to plan. We finished all our work in our lesson plans for every day. Sometimes we even finished a bit early. It was great. For me, I managed to get all my housework done every day in a timely manner. One of my biggest fears was that I would end up doing laundry after bedtime or something crazy, or be vacuuming at midnight. But so far that hasn't happened.
And now onto the bad. I have to admit (for reasons far beyond my control) I wasn't in the best mood all last week. Because of that I was errr, how should I put it? Crabby. There, I said it. I was crabby. Because of that I had very little patience for a certain student of mine who doesn't like to sit still, doesn't always follow directions and basically drives me crazy. So yeah, we had some bad moments. But I don't think it was anything more than I expected. I expect for us to butt heads sometimes, that's the nature of homeschooling your own child. You know them too well, so you have higher expectations of them.
Oh yeah, and the ugly. Well, that would be Sophia. No, I'm not calling her ugly. Let's just say she's the proverbial "wild card" around here. You just never know what to expect. Not only in the last week is she trying to readjust her nap schedule, she's also cutting four molars very slowly. It's been insanity. We all get up at 7-7:30 and start school an hour later. Now in the old days she would take a nap exactly two hours after she woke up. Which means I used to only have to put up with her for the first hour of school and then she'd be down for her morning nap. She'd wake up around lunchtime, which would also be the time we'd be done with school. It was a perfect schedule. Well, lately I never know when she's going to want to nap. Mostly she's only been taking one after lunch. Which means she's there for a good part of school. I find myself getting Elijah settled with some busywork, running to switch out my laundry and then back to the living room to read books or play with Sophia. It's crazy...and sometimes ugly.
But we're managing, and we survived (the most important part!). It's definitely a learning experience for everything, but fortunately I'm a fast learner. And I'm quickly catching on to the things that work for us and the things that don't. It's been a little more hectic than I would have preferred and my main downfall has been finding any free time for myself. Though I'm not surprised by this, I'd like to change it. I'm having to choose every afternoon during my 1-2 hours of free time to either talk on the phone with a family member, work out, shower, write, or just relax and do nothing.
*sigh*
So there you have it. The good, the bad, the ugly and the exhausted... can you guess which one I am?
Thursday, August 11, 2011
The Trifecta...
...of insanity.
1.) Sophia is teething, feverish and beyond cranky. So far the only thing that makes her happy is sitting in my lap chewing on my pencil. No I'm not letting her, but she keeps trying!
2.) I have a headache. Make that, "the headache". Y'all know what I'm talking about.
3.) Elijah is being uncharacteristically difficult in school today. Not to mention slow. (This is why I'm blogging during school, waiting for him to do his math!) We'll be doing school until midnight.
Oy....
1.) Sophia is teething, feverish and beyond cranky. So far the only thing that makes her happy is sitting in my lap chewing on my pencil. No I'm not letting her, but she keeps trying!
2.) I have a headache. Make that, "the headache". Y'all know what I'm talking about.
3.) Elijah is being uncharacteristically difficult in school today. Not to mention slow. (This is why I'm blogging during school, waiting for him to do his math!) We'll be doing school until midnight.
Oy....
Friday, August 5, 2011
Gearing up...
For the insanity that is about to go down next week. That's right, it's back-to-school. Technically we were never really out of school, since we did summer school most of the summer. But everything is about to change around here. For one thing, this will be our first year doing school full-time, after lunch and everything. My biggest worry is not how well Elijah will do with this transition, it's how this will all work out with Sophia. Oh that and probably losing my already minuscule free time. It's all about sacrifice when you're a parent what can I say? (Cue dramatic sighing.)
Anyway, yesterday I received in the mail our first shipment of school books. We're still waiting on quite a few more, but it was a good start. I got all my lesson planning stuff together. (Okay seriously I found a really cool website with all these homeschool printables and spent the afternoon burning through the ink on Matthew's printer, oops!). So yeah, then I sat down and did my first round of lesson planning. The rest will have to wait until the other books arrive. Hopefully today or tomorrow, otherwise...ummm?
I know, I know, it sounds like I didn't think this through, huh? I really did. I had actually planned to start the week after next, but all the books were coming I saw no reason to go ahead and get started. So there.
What else? Well. I'm sort of equal parts scared and nervous for next week. For one thing, we wanted to go ahead and start doing a language with Elijah. (Guess whose idea, no really GUESS!) We found a really neat language program for kids his age. They had Latin and Greek, so we let him pick. And OF COURSE he picked Greek. I wanted Latin, but oh well, maybe in third grade. Okay and yeah we can just get this out of the way, my kid is learning Greek and we need to get over ourselves, I know. Trust me, I realize how this might look to other people. But what can you do. Homeschoolers are weirdos, I know, I am one! And the kid seriously wants to learn Greek.
Moving on... the only area in which I'm really unqualified to teach is art. I'm the least artistic person on the planet. My skills, like my mother before me, are limited to smiley faces and stick figures. Also, I'm really not a big fan of anything that makes a mess. Elijah, however, loves to paint and draw (of course he does, right?). I'm always looking for things we might include Sophia in, and this is one of them. I'm really hoping someday she'll realize that crayons are for coloring, not eating. Still waiting... And then I have these insane thoughts like FINGER PAINTING! And PAPER MACHE!!! GLITTER... and then I step away from the coffee pot and forget it
Finger painting...just typing that makes me cringe...
So, anyway, wish us luck, I'm going to need it!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Top five...
I don't think I'm going to ruin your opinion of me at all if I admit to you that I'm not completely thrilled with all aspects of parenting. No one's perfect, right? We only pretend to be...
Anyway, I had kind of a long day yesterday. Sophia is working on her one-year molars still, and Elijah, well, he's just Elijah. We're starting school next week so I thought it would be nice to have kind of a lazy week. Of course that was a terrible idea, since none of us do well without a schedule. Oh well. Next week will be better, or worse, I'm not sure yet. I've never taught first grade with a crazy, teething monster running around the house.
For you reading enjoyment, and for my own sanity, I've compiled a list of my top five least favorite things about being a parent....
Number Five: The questions. Oh lawdy the questions. For those of you who still have children who don't talk I say to you, cherish these moments! You don't want them to talk. Especially if you child turns out to be extremely loquacious* like mine. Just this morning, before I'd even started on my coffee Elijah was asking me how TVs worked, then he asked me what whiskey was. WHAAAT?? (He said he read it in his Tin Tin book, which I believe!)
Number Four: Wiping other people's butts and changing diapers, enough said!
Number Three: Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER being allowed a moments peace! Sophia has gotten into the habit of following me into the bathroom lately. Apparently I have a bad habit of not shutting the door all the way, and once I know she's following me in there I just can't slam the door in her face. Well, I guess I could. So she just marches in behind me and shuts the door, like we're going to have a talk or something. And if she's not around, inevitably, Elijah will decide he really needs to talk to me, from outside the bathroom door. Hey, at least he knows to stay out.
Number Two: You can never get enough sleep. I guess I can't complain, considering that I'm not pregnant and don't have a newborn in the house, I get a relatively good amount of sleep these days. Both my kids sleep almost twelve hours a night, and Sophia is napping for 3-4 during the day. My problem is, that no matter how much sleep I get, it's just never enough. I'm always dragging myself out of bed in the morning. I can't remember the last time I felt well-rested in the morning, but I'm going to guess maybe around my honeymoon?
Number One: Being one-hundred percent responsible for two human beings. Getting their meals, getting them dressed, making sure they have something fun to do, teaching them everything they ever needed to know, making sure they are happy, happy, happy, making sure they feel safe, reading to them, brushing their teeth, washing hands, taking them outside to play, teaching them good manners, breaking up fights between siblings, cleaning up after them, playing with them, being a good mommy... no wonder I'm so tired.**
* Yeah, I just used the word "loquacious" pretentious much, Cacey?
** Yes this last one was sort of a joke. We all know how much work kids are, and we all know we love the little buggers to death anyway!
Anyway, I had kind of a long day yesterday. Sophia is working on her one-year molars still, and Elijah, well, he's just Elijah. We're starting school next week so I thought it would be nice to have kind of a lazy week. Of course that was a terrible idea, since none of us do well without a schedule. Oh well. Next week will be better, or worse, I'm not sure yet. I've never taught first grade with a crazy, teething monster running around the house.
For you reading enjoyment, and for my own sanity, I've compiled a list of my top five least favorite things about being a parent....
Number Five: The questions. Oh lawdy the questions. For those of you who still have children who don't talk I say to you, cherish these moments! You don't want them to talk. Especially if you child turns out to be extremely loquacious* like mine. Just this morning, before I'd even started on my coffee Elijah was asking me how TVs worked, then he asked me what whiskey was. WHAAAT?? (He said he read it in his Tin Tin book, which I believe!)
Number Four: Wiping other people's butts and changing diapers, enough said!
Number Three: Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER being allowed a moments peace! Sophia has gotten into the habit of following me into the bathroom lately. Apparently I have a bad habit of not shutting the door all the way, and once I know she's following me in there I just can't slam the door in her face. Well, I guess I could. So she just marches in behind me and shuts the door, like we're going to have a talk or something. And if she's not around, inevitably, Elijah will decide he really needs to talk to me, from outside the bathroom door. Hey, at least he knows to stay out.
Number Two: You can never get enough sleep. I guess I can't complain, considering that I'm not pregnant and don't have a newborn in the house, I get a relatively good amount of sleep these days. Both my kids sleep almost twelve hours a night, and Sophia is napping for 3-4 during the day. My problem is, that no matter how much sleep I get, it's just never enough. I'm always dragging myself out of bed in the morning. I can't remember the last time I felt well-rested in the morning, but I'm going to guess maybe around my honeymoon?
Number One: Being one-hundred percent responsible for two human beings. Getting their meals, getting them dressed, making sure they have something fun to do, teaching them everything they ever needed to know, making sure they are happy, happy, happy, making sure they feel safe, reading to them, brushing their teeth, washing hands, taking them outside to play, teaching them good manners, breaking up fights between siblings, cleaning up after them, playing with them, being a good mommy... no wonder I'm so tired.**
* Yeah, I just used the word "loquacious" pretentious much, Cacey?
** Yes this last one was sort of a joke. We all know how much work kids are, and we all know we love the little buggers to death anyway!
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