The Green Bar

I hit it. The mythical green bar. And I even got it two days early.

I'm not done yet. Still a couple of chapters left to go before I validate.

I started the process of moving the blog last night, but it's not going very well. Something about DNS pages that I can't access, and my blogger address belonging "to another user." Who is me. But apparently Wordpress doesn't understand that and I can't figure out how to clear it up. But 11pm is really not the time to be worrying about that. It's a recipe for disaster. Suffice to say that I'm fighting with not just Google now, but also Wordpress. I just want a blog that works. Is that so much to ask?

I hope that those in the US had a good Thanksgiving, full of good food and companionship. I did actual baking for mine. From scratch. Which I don't think has happened...ever. And it turned out surprisingly well. I think I might go have seconds to celebrate my success.

Nano Progress

I blame Nanowrimo for the semi-erratic blog schedule. I've been shooting for 2,000 words a day. I haven't made it every day, but most days. If I don't think that I can hit 2k, then I go for the 1,667 that the website lists as a goal, and if I'm really not feeling it then I do whatever the number under the "you need to write this many words to finish on time" heading. Usually by the time I've hit that number, I'm on a roll and it isn't too hard to keep the momentum going long enough to reach one of the higher goals.

I haven't managed to take one of the typewriters out to a write in yet. I keep trying to, and it hasn't worked out yet. It doesn't help that the character I'm working with right now seems to be the only one who doesn't like to be written on the typewriter.

The goal of Nanowrimo is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I suspect, however, that this story won't wrap up until around the 70,000 marker. Last year I made the mistake of stopping after I hit 50k, and that story remains unfinished on my hard drive. I want to keep this one going beyond December 1, keep it rolling until it's actually done this time. If I'm lucky, it'll be finished before Christmas.

Anticipation and a Half

If all goes well, I'll be hitting the 50% marker on my Nano draft this afternoon when I get off of work. I thought about forcing myself to write the 4,000 necessary words all in one go last night, but then my Amazon package arrived, including two books that I've been dying to get my hands on for the past month. The timing was perfect, since I finished my last read before I left work yesterday (and no, the third book in the Virals series did not disappoint. It's left me clamoring for another book, but it looks like I'll be waiting at least a year for it. In the mean time, I'll be downloading the companion short story once I get my next paycheck).

House of Hades has been all over Tumblr since it's release last month, and I've been actively trying to avoid spoilers, with little success. But now my copy is here. I might not come up for air until it's done!

Another thing that arrived yesterday that I've been looking forward to is my Netflix of the Great Gatsby--the new one. I'll be watching that on our big screen, rather than on the laptop like I usually do. Even if the story sucks as much as I remember, it should be stunning to watch. I can always put it on mute, right?

Things I've learned about Nano this week

1. The first 500 words are the hardest, at least for me. But once I get past that, get the ball rolling, it just becomes easier.

2. Cats are terrible at taking dictation.

3. If I can't have Storyist, then Scrivener is a passable substitute.

4. I can't write and watch TV anymore. And writing with music is now a distraction as well. When did I get so old that I can only concentrate on one task at a time?

5. I Write Like is highly addictive. And when it tells me that I write like an author I dislike, it gives me motivation to up my word count and change up my dialogue and writing style to try to get a different response.

6. I've forgotten what sleep is. 

The Weekends, Where Do They Go?

If the typewriter forum is any indication, it's a miracle that anyone is getting any actual writing done this weekend.

So far I'm ahead of the curve, but I'm not getting cocky yet, especially since I'd planned to DO THINGS this weekend, and they went down the drain rather quickly.

I did get a little cleaning done though--you can see the top of my desk now! It's very exciting. Of course, the fact that it is now relatively clear means that the cat has claimed it for his own, specifically that spot between the Sterling and the laptop where my blank paper and outlines are laid out.

I had planned on doing a typecast for today's post (that's the paper, rolled into the platen and waiting), but then Missouri came home and I decided to be nice and not use the typewriter since the noise bothers her (I do not understand this phenomenon. I find it soothing, personally).

So, how was your first weekend of Nano?

Three days and counting

Only three days left until Nano gets into full swing. Do you have your outlines? Your notebooks? Extra ribbons? A backup drive?

I've been woefully lax in my typewriter repairs. I've set the Woodstock aside for the moment, since I don't plan on using it as my primary machine. Mostly I'll be using the laptop since I type faster on it than anything else, but the Sterling is still on my desk ready for drafting and problem solving and outlines. It's my goal that before Nov. 1 I'll pull out the Skyriter and finally wrestle that draw band into place, since I'd love to take it to Nano meetups and it's slightly easier to carry around than the Sterling (though Carffrey may still get a field trip or two if the Skyriter doesn't behave) And no, the Woodstock and the Royal aren't going anywhere. My back will not allow it, and carrying a 40lb behemoth into Panera is slightly ridiculous.

Besides, Henry is very touchy when it comes to being moved.

Nano Training

I mentioned last week that I set up a training schedule. It’s nothing too fancy, but after writing sporadically over the summer, I knew that I needed to work up to 1,667 words, seven days a week.

This is what I came up with:

As you can see, I broke it up into blocks, each between 7-12 days long. I started with 100 words a day, before I made this list. I did that for three days, then realized how easily 500 words were coming, so I jumped right into that. I know that 1,000 words is a bit of a hurdle for me, so I gave myself longer to practice.

Within each block, I gave myself challenges. The first block is “freestyle,” which meant I could write on anything, or everything, so long as it added up to 500 words at the end of the day. My 1,000 and 1,500 word blocks are also freestyle. And yes, I count blog posts towards my totals.

My 700 and 1,200 word weeks were “short story sprints.” For the first one, I worked on an existing short story. For the second, I plan on writing a new one, which will (with luck) be the final installment of the Post Club.

The final stretch before November is 1,667 words a day on a dedicated project. I don’t have to finish the project, I just have to work on the same one every day.

I'm not doing so well on my training. Not horrible, but I've missed a few days. I think it'll be easier once Nano actually starts, and I can work on the project that I'm actually excited about at the moment, instead of whatever is mildly interesting at the time. And this week I haven't much wanted to write, because of the whole "I'm not longer getting published" thing. I'm starting to get back into the swing of things now, though.

I like crossing things off my list. Having a schedule is satisfying, I think, and I’m finding it useful since I’m writing two books and knitting a bunch of samples this month.

What kind of training do you do for Nano? How early do you start?

P.S. Posted this on the typewriter thread in the Nano forums. I'm just going to leave it here. :)

It's That Time of Year Again

I'm back!

Did you miss me?

And guess what: It's that time of year again.

The weather is getting cooler. The leaves are changing, if they haven't vanished already. Even though the Halloween decor hasn't been put up yet, the crazy's are already coming out, making their lists and planning how they will spend the last few days after Thanksgiving.

No, I'm not talking about Christmas. Nanowrimo, of course!

Around the time my Blog Break started, I began outlining a training schedule for myself. I kept saying that I wasn't going to do Nano this year, because with a book under contract, I doubt I'll have time. But...

I might as well give it a go, eh?

Once again, I'll be joining the Typewriter Brigade on the Nano forums. I'm not committing to doing an entire novel on the typewriter, just because my time is so limited and I'm faster on the computer than on the typewriter, but I did do my entire outline on the Sterling, and I'll probably work at least in part on the typewriter, now that I have two portables. If you're part of the Columbus region, you might see me at the occasional meetup with a typewriter. I'll be the one with the blue hair, if the typewriter isn't enough of a giveaway.

Long Time, No See

I took a break from my writing break and have been working on a couple of stories that have been running through my head. The first is a sequel to "Birds of a Feather." I had another sequel written, but was very unhappy with it. We'll see if try number two is any better, or if seconds in a series are doomed to be the poorest.

The second is also a sequel, but due to where it falls in the timeline, it reads as a stand alone. I think I mentioned it before--Part Deux of the Nanowrimo story I did last November, only rather than taking place in Victorian England, this one is set in 1925 in New York. I suppose it's not so much a sequel as a book set in the same world, but about 30 years later.

This story has got all kinds of fun stuff going on in my brain, so I declare next week to be 1920s week! If you want to join me, feel free to blog about all things 1920s related. Yes, I'll be throwing in a typewriter or three, but I'm saving those for Friday. Fashion, movies, music, art--whatever inspires you, feel free to post about it.

I'm still focusing on my designing--more on that coming soon--but sometimes it's good to take a break. Keeps the creative juices flowing.

Novel Preview!

Wait, it's Tuesday? How did that happen?

Sorry about the delay. I had some technical issues on Monday and spend the entire day trying to fix them. Turns out it was an easy fix once I had some help, but since I'm still re-learning Windows, I was lost and thought I'd completely screwed things up.

But, as promised, here is the second preview installment for the KnotMagick Post Club. Below is the prologue for the novel (which kind of still needs a title...):

Prolgue: Theo

Picadilly was busy, filled with people on their way here or there. Street vendors pushed carts through the crowd, calling out their wares of meat of questionable origin on a stick or baked into a bun. The smoke of London and general stink of city streets made my nose itch. I held back a sneeze, but kept my eye on the target: an unassuming looking man in a jacket and top hat, a deceptively decorative walking stick at his side.

                I glanced across the street at Thomas and nodded once. He nodded back, moving in the direction of the man. Further up the road, three others from our unit mobilized. He might not have looked like anything special, but it was a well known fact that the unassuming man in the top hat was running half of the illegal trade in dragon eggs in the city, and who knew what else.

                Wes, my partner, had suspicions that he was tied to the Rhinoceros Brigade, which had once been the largest crime organization in London. I’d known Wes most of my life, and when he had a suspicion, you could almost bet it was fact.

                As I passed a ratty looking man with a wheelbarrow full of fish, the sneeze won. It bent me double and left me searching for my handkerchief, even as Thomas and our quarry moved further north. I blew my nose and tried to catch up even though my eyes were still watering a little.

                That was when it hit me.

                Like a punch in the stomach, or trying to walk away from a coach only to realize your sleeve is caught in the door as the horses take off at a gallop, the scent made me stop. My knees went wobbly with disbelief.

                It can’t be, I thought. It was impossible. I hadn’t smelled that scent in seven years; I never thought I would again.

                I turned.

                And there she was.

                She wasn’t at all like I remembered. Seven years ago she’d been a playful eleven-year-old with pigtails, freckles, and a singing voice that would make angels cry, who hugged everyone and frequently fell asleep with her head on my shoulder or in my lap.

                Now though, her own mother wouldn’t have recognized her if they’d met on the street. Or if she did, she’d faint from shock.

                She was pretty in the way a burlesque dancer might be; the kind of beauty that made respectable women give her wide birth as they passed, whispering behind their hands at how scandalously short her skirt was, baring her ankles in broad daylight. It was the kind of beauty that made good men blush and turn away, and not so good med follow, come what may.

                Lace gloves covered her from fingertip to above the elbow, and the low, plunging neck of her dress wasn’t disguised by the matching lace shawl, which didn’t do much to cover the bareness of her white shoulders, either.

                Her hair was darker than when she was  a child; auburn now instead of ginger, and twisted and curled over her shoulder in something almost ladylike. Her face was too sweet for the expression she gave me, which turned her red lips up coyly.

                Her eyes were the same gray I remembered, but were so heavily lined that I could hardly tell she’d gotten them from her mother. The look they held didn’t help.

                She opened her mouth once, then closed it. She raised her finger to point at me. “I know you,” She said at last, tapping me on the chest. I was so flabbergasted at seeing her again, I couldn’t speak.

                She turned a slow circle around me, trailing her hand across my shoulders, looking me up and down.

                I shouldn’t have, but I allowed my appearance to return to it’s natural state. Instead of hiding my eyes—wolf’s eyes, with a light blue center and dark blue ring—I allowed them to show. People found it unnerving, so I usually used my talent as a shapeshifter to turn them brown. I could change the color, but not the pattern. Brown made them less noticeable. I always tried to be less noticeable. It helped, in my line of work.

                She seemed to be considering something. Then she slid one gloved hand to the back of my neck, pulled me down and kissed me, right there on the street.

                I took a deep breath of her, tasted her. And there was no doubt in my mind. Despite changed appearance, she was one and the same.

                “Felicia…”

                She pulled back just enough to meet my eyes. She looked confused. Not the reaction I normally get after kissing a woman.

                A shout from behind me.  I turned to see Thomas chasing after our suspect. When I glanced back, Felicia was gone.

 

Whew.

You know what kind of stinks? Moving during the last week of NaNoWriMo.

You know what stinks more? Finding out less than a weeks before you move that the house won't be ready or even livable.

But, somehow (I'm still not sure how) I managed to knock out my 50k. 50,005 words, to be exact, and then I called it quits because I needed to put the computer in a box. The computer with my latest draft, no less, which means that I had to copy/paste a section of an older draft that was on the laptop and validate that, instead, which made my dad give me funny  looks because I was playing on the computer instead of helping clean/paint/fix stuff (because the one thing we made sure worked at the new house before moving in was the internet, nevermind that we didn't have computers to hook up to it yet).

Through luck, skill, and the goodness of friends we managed to get out of our apartment in time, turning in the keys just 45 minutes before the deadline. My dad has been the one doing all of the work on the house, but he took time out with a friend to get our furniture moved from the apartment. Luckily, we were only moving 2.5 miles down the road, and into a ranch house rather than another second floor apartment.

Next week I'll share some before and after photos, and the story of the house. Right now were still in the "in between" stage. Our stuff is here, but not all of the furniture. Most of the rooms are painted, but there's still a lot of cleaning going on and one of the showers doesn't work. And don't even get me started on the basement. I'm pretty sure there are Racnoss living down there.

But back to the story. I squeezed out my 50k, but I still have about four chapters I haven't touched and I think two more that are only about halfway done. I'm going to set that one on hold for a little while, however, because I have some patterns that are long, long overdue. I'll be focusing on those for my December projects. I was hoping to have them done by the beginning of the month at the latest, but that was a bit over ambitious on my part, I'm afraid (so if you're one of my test knitters, I'm very sorry about the delay).

Now I just need to figure out which box my knitting is in.

Urg.

I'm in the home stretch for NaNo, and it's not going as well as I would like. I've been working long hours (thank you, Black Friday) so for the pas few days my routine has been work nine hours, come home, change clothes, go to the new place and clean for three hours, come home, eat something, pack, and then around nine pm I can start writing. At that point, I'm so tired that I've caught myself nodding off at the computer multiple times. I'm missed my target word count two days in a row, but I'm not panicked yet since I'm still on target to finish in time (barely). I will be so glad when this move is over.

It doesn't help that I've gotten to the tricky part of the story--the part that *wasn't* floating around in my  head before NaNo began, so I don't know what I'm doing. And for some reason my characters this time around are all Chatty Cathy's, bent on sitting around talking rather get getting up and getting things done. I think I need to blow something up. You know, just to give them something to do.

And now, it's off to work I go.

Storyist Review

I don't normally get very technical on this blog. Mainly because when it comes to technology and electronics, I'm proably the last person you want to ask for advice (we've all seen my repeated mechanical failures). That being said, however, I did want to share a fun piece of kit that I picked up for NaNoWriMo.

Storyist is a Mac-only word processing program. They're running a free trial for NaNo participants, and are offering a discount towards the purchase of the software, too.

Storyist is different from other word processors I've tried in that it doesn't just create a document, it creates a notebook. All of your notes--outlines, character profiles, world building information, even pictures and reference material--are all in the same file, and conveniently organized on the sidebar. There's even a split-screen option, so you can have your manuscript open at the top, bottom, or side of the page, and your notes on the other. No more flipping back and forth between different windows or programs, because it's all right there. There's even a drop down menu so you can skip to different chapters or scenes within a document. It makes it really easy to go back and check your timeline, without losing your place, particularly since there is a "bookmark" option.

If you hit the inspector button, you'll find a target-tracking tool, which will let you track your total word count, your word count or time per session, and set goals for yourself (like 1,667 words per day, with a chime of your choice to sound when you reach your goal. There are also a few preferences that you can change under that tab, but the real bonus about this program is that it's simple. It's just for writing. No fancy fonts, no colors or margins or other things to deal with. Just writing, plain and simple.

Manuscripts are automatically formatted to "industry standard"--looking at it, I think that their version of industry standard MIGHT be a little outdated, but don't quote me on it. Either way, I like the 12 pt double spaced courier font. Page numbers, titles, and author's name are automatically put in the header, so you don't have to worry about forgetting to put your name on things. Storyist also exports into .doc, .txt, and .pdf formats, so you have plenty of options for sharing and additional formating/extras if you so desire, and you can chose to export everything, or just part--just your notes, just the character profiles, or just the manuscript. Your choice. According to the site, it also "works seamlessly with the Cloud" but I have not tried this yet.

There are just a couple of things that I don't like about it: While it's designed for Mac, .pages is not an option for exporting, even though that is the Mac word processor. If you decided that you don't like 12 pt courier double spaced, you don't get a lot of options for alternatives, if any. The formatting is pretty concrete, and you'd have to export it into Word to change it. This can make things difficult, if, say, you have an excerpt from a letter, or you want to add images into your manuscript.

It was not designed for writers of nonfiction. If you're going to include images, citations, quotes, or other fancy stuff, stick to Word or Pages and save yourself the headache. A little tweaking to some of the chapter outline templates, and it might be a good place to store research, however. But if you write fiction, screenplays, or scripts, then this is software designed with you in mind.

The general layout of the program is very similar to Pages, so it's an easy transition for anyone used to that program (and Pages, in turn, is relatively easy to use if you know Word). Overall, I found this to be a very streamlined program, free of distractions and hassles. It does what it says on the tin, and it does it well.

As I said, they are running a promo right now. The free demo expires on Dec. 12, so if you want to try it out now is the time. In addition, they are offering 25% off with the NaNo promo code through Dec. 14.

I have every intention of downloading the full version at the end of November (provided moving doesn't destroy my pocketbook). So, if you're looking for a new way to organize your thoughts, this might be a good option.

Nano Progress

Such an uncreative title, I know. But most of my energy has been sucked into NaNoWriMo. The counts are in, and in the past two weeks I've cranked out just over 24,000 words. People, I never write this much consistently in one go. I might write 5k one day, then 3 the next, and then I might not write anything other than blog posts and journal entries for a month.

Obviously, I'm not 100% satisfied with all of the words I've written, but the point is, they are down on the page now, where they belong, instead of floating around in my head where it's so easy for them to get lost. I've written an average of 2k every day for the past two weeks, and have only taken one day off (NaNo thinks it was two, but it wasn't. I just forgot to update my word count until after midnight).

There are a couple of problems with this: 1) it's taking away time normally spent knitting and designing, which is delaying the next pattern release and my Giftmas knitting. For those who have anxiously been awaiting the next pattern/the book I promised, fear not, it is still in the works. Realistically, though, I knew it would be a major challenge to get it out before Christmas, and now I see that it's pretty much impossible. The [Censored] pattern book shall have to wait until after New Years (this probably would have been the case even without NaNo, but this is just making it clear that there is NO POSSIBLE WAY for me to write the book, transcribe the patterns, create the charts, and do all of the necessary formatting--which is extremely fiddly, by the way--for 8-12 patterns in six weeks. Not on my own, at least.)

2) I am just shy of 25k, which marks the halfway point in the 50k that is NaNo. The problem is that I am 2/3 of the way through the book. I sense some serious word padding in my future.

Much as I would love to do NaNo on a typewriter, it is not practical for me to do so this year. I did, however, manage to resurrect my very first laptop (the one I got ages ago when I started college). It's slower than mollassas, but it gets me on NaNo, Google, and all of those other writerly time-sinks, and is just barely within the requirements for Storyist, which is the software I downloaded to write on (more on that next week).

It feels good to be this productive. I've struggled in a few paces, but I've discovered that I work best right after I wake up and right before bed. I usually do about 900-1200 words either before work or as soon as I get home. Then I hit a wall, start pulling my hair out, and go play Threads of Mystery on Facebook for a while. Then I'll come back, and tell myself, "You're only 400 words away from your daily goal," or "Another hundred words, and you'll break 24k" or whatever the next benchmark is, and I'll force myself to hit that target, even if the words are crap. And then I usually keep going and wind up with something close to 2,000 or 2,500 words when all is said and done.

The rampaging Rhino might still decide to scrap everything I've written, or to run down a completely different path. Or he might abandon me completely (he seems to be spending an awful lot of time with Theanab from the Typewriter brigade thread). But in the mean time, I'm going to ride this wave while I've got it, however small it is.

Baby steps. It's all in the baby steps. 

Inspiration Shots

What are you watching during NaNoWriMo? Here are a few of my top picks:

Anime:
R.O.D (Read or Die)
R.O.D the TV
Comic Party

Television:
Castle
The Book Group
Copper
Once Upon a Time

Movies:
The Dead Poet's Society
Miss Potter
The Secret of Moonacre

Is there a show/movie that you're finding particularly inspiring? Or do you eschew television altogether in November?

I was working in the lab, late one night...

Thanks to everyone who commented last week with suggestions on how to remove the platen on the Remington. I spent part of last week finishing with the cleaning of the type bars, and then pulled out my tool kit to take off the platen.

Once I had an idea of what I was doing, it sounded easy enough. Loosen/take out a couple of screws, make sure you know where they go, easy peasy, right?

Except I never actually made it that far. Five screwdrivers, a putty knife, and a can of WD-40 later, all I had to show for my efforts was a nice big divot in the platen knob where my screwdriver repeatedly skipped out of what is apparently the narrowest screw slot in the history of man. Two of them wouldn't even fit into the groove, one was too narrow to get any torque, and the other two just weren't up to the challenge. Even after greasing and leaving it, that screw is in there.

I've done the compressed air routine repeatedly, but there's what feels like 2-3 larger pieces of corroded metal that have fallen off of something else, and fallen under the platen. At first I thought it might be easier to take off the carriage than the platen (since that's the case with my Oliver, and that's the only machine I've been daring enough to attempt such a feat on), and at this point it looks like I might be right--not because that's the way it was designed, but because this machine is just so damn stubborn.

I'm starting to get really frustrated with my typewriters. I think I got spoiled by having my first machine be a KMM in near-perfect condition. But in every case, the machine is just this close from working: The Oliver just needs a new draw band, which I can fix as soon as I get that little clippy-thingy reattached to the carriage (I guess I'm not dexterous enough for that; I've tried a few times and it keeps falling off). The Royalite was mostly functional, I just couldn't stand it--my problem, not the machine.

And then there's the Remington. Which, admittedly, has a laundry list of problems, but most of them are pretty minor. I know there's something off on it, since the capital letters ghost when I'm writing in lowercase and often don't print at all when I shift (Hm. Wonder if that's related to any of the other problems?) I think I'm going to have to break down and take it to a repair shop, if I can find one that works on antiques around here. I found one that appears to be out of a nearby private home, but I will have to call first.

You know, right after I get my laptop fixed, since really, I need that more.

Arg. I give up.

At least for today.

Although, I did find a temporary solution to the laptop problem. Did you know that G4 laptop batteries have dropped from $70+ to less than $20? I just found out. So I ordered one and resisted the urge to order a spare. My old Powerbook has Word and a working internet connection, which is really all I need to write, and with the new battery it solves the "OMG, MUST SAVE EVERY THIRTY SECONDS BECAUSE I COULD LOSE EVERYTHING IF ANYONE TOUCHES MY POWER CORD!!" panic. Because when you're really in the groove, you might not remember to save for ten pages. Or twenty.

Ask me how I know this.

Ahem.

So while one of my writing machines insists on merely limping long when I know it could sing if it wanted to (mixed metaphores, I know. Sue me, I'm writing this pretty late), I have brought another back from the grave. Zombie computers!

Okay, I'm done now.

Enjoy your Halloween.

The Black Gunge of DEWM

While I still have serious doubts about my ability to compete in this year's NaNoWriMos, I am doing my best to prepare. I'll probably do most of my writing long hand, since I do not have a good computer set up for long writing sessions (goal #1: obtain a desk), and none of my typewriters are especially functional--or if they are, portable.

To that end, I have decided to bite the bullet and attempt a full cleaning of the Remington Portable #3, since it is my only semi-working portable.

I got this typer in spring of last year. According to the serial number, it is from late 1930. My great aunt and uncle had it collecting dust in their garage, and handed it off to me. It still has the original decals poorly attached, but in one piece.

I have a few complaints about this machine which have kept me from using it on a regular basis:

1. There's debris in the carriage, under the platen. I've used it anyway, just for short typecasts, but I don't want to use it for long periods for fear of damaging it.

2. It doesn't have a bar that comes down to hold the paper in place. From the pictures I've seen, that seems to be a characteristics of the #3s, but it means that the slugs are really loud when they hit the paper, because the page bounces with ever strike. It's a minor thing, but while I like the sound of the slugs hitting the page, I don't like the sound the paper itself makes when it shifts.

3. When I reach the end of a line, I have to hit the carriage return bar, then very carefully turn the platen knob to go to the next line. The uneven line spacing that results drives me batty, and I'm not sure if this is once again a characteristic of the machine or if something is actually broken.

4. The ribbon spools are smaller than average.

5. The ribbon doesn't always advance on it's own.

6. There doesn't appear to be a way to set the margins, and this one will happily type both before the page begins and after it ends.

I've learned to deal with numbers 2, 3, and 6 for the most part. My solution for #4 (which I will tackle later this morning) is to cut the ribbon I'm using in half so that I'll have 2 lengths of 1/2" ribbon, and to store the second half in a ziplock bag for later use. I might also trim 1/8" or so off the width of the ribbon, because it is just slightly too thick, or it appears to be. Trimming the length might help just by allowing it to sit more evenly on the spool. Since it peeps over the edge of one or the other of the spools, this might be causing problem #5, and if I can kill two birds with one stone, all the better.

#1 is the real problem, obviously. I haven't a clue how to remove the carriage, and generally speaking, I'm hesitant to remove anything if I can't see exactly how to put it back before doing so.

While I can't move forward with that aspect, I've begun doing as thorough a cleaning as I can manage on the rest of it. The outside I cleaned upon receipt, but there were a few areas on the interior that were still quite grungy.  The worst offenders, however, were the type bars, which were covered in an oily black gunge of unknown origin. Soap, hot water, and a toothbrush won't touch it. If I were a more daring or knowledgeable person (or perhaps just much dumber) I would take apart the type basket and try cleaning each piece with a mild poultice of vinegar and baking soda, since the slightly pitted metal will likely never be entirely clean by mechanical methods. Instead, however, I am doing the only thing that seems to work, which is carefully scraping each slug with dental picks. It makes me nostalgic for my archaeological conservation work in Italy, when we spent hours scraping dirt and mystery substances from 2,000 year old ceramics and 300 year old paintings. Is it weird that I find this sort of thing enjoyable?

Cleaned up

Still very dirty. I'm about 1/3 of the way through.

Once I get 1-5 sorted out, there are a couple of other things I would like to do--there's some old adhesive residue on one side that I can't get off. I'm not sure what solvent to try without damaging the paint. I'd also like to reattach the decals, but again, I'm not quite sure what to use. And I want to replace the felt under the type bars, because it's absolutely disgusting. Those are all rather minor things, however, and I can live with those a little longer than I can the others.

Are your machines in ship shape yet, or are you as behind as I am?

___
P.S. The witching Hour comes out on Wednesday!

P.P.S. Were you paying attention, or did you miss it like I did? Saturday was my 5 year blogiversary. Kudos to anyone who as put up with my nonsense for that long. And for the rest of you, I hope you stick around for another five!

NaNo-Not-So-Much

A few weeks ago, I earmarked this post to be all about NaNoWriMo, and the elaborate training schedule of progressive difficulty I'd set up for myself to prep for this upcoming challenge.

And then it all fell apart.

As usual, I had the best intentions. I had a calender all laid out with daily word counts, starting at my usual 1100 word minimum working up to my roughly 1,700 word goal. I had outlines, and information about research. Character sketches, notes on the world.

Of course, I couldn't actually work on that story, since part of NaNo is that you have to start your writing on November 1. Outlines and research can be done in advance, but no actual writing. So I started practicing my word count on a few other stories. I say a few, because I kept hitting road blocks. Places where the story stalled or veered so far off course that I wasn't sure what to do with it. My characters stopped playing nice and decided to do their own things, mostly involving vodka or shotguns, and these out-of-character deviations left me scratching my head.

"No problem," I thought. "I'll just work on a different manuscript." Except then I'd discover that the manuscript in question was so outdated as to require staring from scratch, or very nearly so. Or it would hit a road bump. Or, dammit, I just didn't feel like working on it.

Sigh.

My process for all things seems to be that I go gung ho for a short period of time, and then I peter down to nothing. Right now all my energy is tangled up in yarn, and writing is not something my brain is amenable to concentrating on at the moment. I keep trying. It just isn't happening.

I did manage to put together the rough draft of novella, a sequel to Birds of a Feather. However, I'm not pleased with it and it may never see the light of day.

I also pulled out Threadbare, and decided the timeline wasn't jiving and the whole thing would have to be scrapped. The rewrite is not going as planned.

I found an anthology that Evie, my Threadbare MC, would fit perfectly in, but the theme is zombies which really aren't my thing. At all. I hate zombies. So that's not going well, either.

Then I had an idea for a steampunk story set during the American Civil War, but I'm having setting issues with that, and other than having my two main characters meet (which I'm not even sure is plausible at this point) I've got thing. Not plot.

I suppose you could call this "writing ennui."

The one thing I have been making progress on is the knitting book. The working title is [Censored], and it will contain about 7-8 illusion knitting patterns with a sense of humor. So far preliminary patterns for 4 of them are written, with 5 complete charts. I'm still waiting to hear back from my tech editor though, which is taking much longer than I'd originally expected.

Hopefully by the time November rolls around, I'll be back in writer mode and I'll be able to crank out at least 30K, which is my personal goal (yes, I know NaNo is supposed to be something like 50K, but I know that's a little out of reach for me right now. Especially since we're moving at the end of November. Where to, we don't know, but hopefully someplace that won't jack up our rent by $100 the way our current place is).

Nano Training Camp

After many years of coercion and nagging, Missouri finally made me consent to take part in NaNoWriMo (a statement which was made under duress, I might add, just so she would shut up about it).

I've voiced my opinion of NaNo in the past, most recently here. I find that deadlines are overrated, and since they don't so much whoosh by me as run me over with roughly the same force as a freight train, the idea of choosing to write for a deadline sounds like very much like volunteering to spend a weekend in a pit of poisonous snakes. Just for the fun of it.

My "free" time is spoken for in the month of June (and possibly July), but I believe that training is in order, at least a few weeks in advance [cue "Eye of the Tiger" and training montage a la Buffy. "I thought it was gonna be like in the movies. You know, inspirational music ... a montage, me sharpening my pencils, me reading, writing, falling asleep on a big pile of books with my glasses all crooked ('cause in my montage I have glasses)..."].

Yeah, it might be starting a little early. But I know that I write best when I have a set schedule, and sadly, my current position prevents that. So I need to find a way to work around it.

I will not be joining as part of the typewriter brigade; I know that much already. I write faster on the computer and I don't have a practical work space where I can set up and leave a typewriter, and since most of my writing will be done when Missouri is asleep...well, I like my head intact.

I have a very, very rough outline written down. I want to get all of my research done in advance (or as much of it as I can). So I put the rest to you, NaNo veterans: What do you do to prepare yourself for a month of nonstop writing?