The Smallest Things

I am by no means a perfectionist. If I were then I would be far thinner, far more attractive, and have a better job. Instead, I’m a somewhat average person who, at times, fails and succeeds. And yet, with that promptly shoved into my head each time I review my own work, I am often left disappointed.

It’s not that I require absolute perfection. In my opinion, and mind you I’m only twenty-two so what the hell do I know, perfection is impossible when it comes to the endeavors of humans. We’re a species formed from failure and thank God for that. Nevertheless, even if we cannot attain perfection, we should still strive for it. Simply assuming that we are unable to reach our goal and thus we should avoid it is not only a defeatist point of view, but it goes against our very humanity. Perfection can only be seen after a series of failures, forcing you to realize that every mistake you made is absolutely priceless.

And then there are those moments when you have to sit back in your chair and let out a nice, violent sigh. I speak, of course, about the second chapter of the NaNoWriMo novel that I put up not long ago. To be quick about it, the writing was fine, but I made the big mistake of not doing a quick proofread and taking out the small mistakes.

I know, I know, this is not a huge deal, especially considering this is, at the very best, a rough draft. Still, for somebody so competitive such as myself, for somebody who loves writing not simply as a way to earn money but because it was my one escape as a child, making stupid mistakes is painful.

I think I might be taking this too seriously, lol.

-Irish

P.S.: This entry was not proofread or edited in any way. Whoops?

Chapter 2

For whatever reason I have been unable to write as of late. Some would love to call it Writers Block, gnashing their teeth at the invisible devil and trying to explain it is not their fault. In truth, my inability to write is my inability to cope with personal issues. I’ve gotten to point, much to my dismay, that I’m even becoming physically ill from the problems I’m currently facing. It doesn’t help that in the last four days I’ve only had about three hours of sleep.

Anyhow, since I have nothing new to offer anyone in terms of sagely advice, I figured I would post the second chapter of my NaNoWriMo novel. Admittedly, the chapter is not edited and has many grammatical errors. You’ll have to forgive my apathy.

This’ll be a long one II

A while back I posted the very first chapter of the NaNoWriMo novel that I wrote. It was entirely unedited and had basically been written in total haste. This, of course, made me look like a complete fool. Then again, grammar has never really been my strongest quality. So, after a few months time, I decided to edit it a bit. Much to my dismay, however, I was thoroughly intoxicated and this is what happened…

This’ll be a long one

Alright, I’ve finally decided to post the first chapter in my NaNoWriMo novel. Before I do, however, I want you, dear reader, to know that it was written in haste. I did not sit down and plan this book. Instead, I thought of the beginning, the middle, and the end. And then, as feverishly as I could, I began to write and not look back. So, this is not edited in any possible way and trust me it shows it vividly.

Also, before I post it I figure I should give you a brief rundown on the story and how it came to be. Firstly, it was written on a dare. My good friend knows that I absolutely HATE fantasy novels, especially elves and orcs and fairies and all of that garbage. So, to torture me, he dared me to write one for the NaNoWriMo contest, and since I cannot turn down a dare I wrote the fifty thousand words. Secondly, this story is about a group of soldiers escorting a diplomat through a war-torn area of the world they reside in. That’s all you need to know, really.

Alright then, here we go…

A Brief Update

Unfortunately it seems I am not very good at multitasking. Isn’t that one of those qualities only women can truly excel at? Sorry, I’m not sure if that’s sexist or not anymore. I was yelled at yesterday because I opened a door for a woman at a clothing store. She said something to the effect of, “I’m not a cripple, I can do it myself.”

I was so shocked I did not respond, so let me respond to her right now: FUCK YOU!

Sorry, I should avoid cursing. I hate writing the F-word, it feels so.. tacky. I don’t even like writing other curse words, the only one that I do favor is damn and all of it varients. Then again, that’s not really a curse word. When I’m with friends, however, I love rambling off every curse word that I can. Granted, I also don’t watch for run-on sentences when I’m speaking. In fact, when I am with friends I become a grade-level writer. This is to say I ramble a lot and use words I should avoid.

Anyhow, onto the update…

I just hit forty-five thousand words for my NaNoWriMo novel. In truth I should have been done by now, but, as I predicted, life has been busy in the last week. I was all set and ready to finish up the last fifteen thousand words of my novel last monday when POOF, real life jumped in way of the car and I hit it going a hundred miles an hour.

I’ve cooked three turkey’s thus far, I’ve been to two pre-Thanksgiving parties (a week early, mind you), I was forced by the overtly hetero section of my brain to watch Alex Smith and the Niners lose horribly to the Packers, I’ve been dealing with a few friends and their abrupt conjoined catharsis, and I’ve been watching dozens and dozens of holiday movies and shows. Oh yeah, I have family I’m dealing with too, though that actually makes me happy.

However, I took the time both yesterday and today to start writing again. I’m now at forty-five thousand as I mentioned beforehand and trying my hardest not to give up now. In truth the story is not even close to being over. I could continue on for another twenty thousand words, which I will be forced to if I ever want to publish this damned thing. Granted, I don’t think a publisher wants a story where the ogres are brilliant strategists and the elves rival the Nazi’s in their malevolence.

-Irish

A Red Eye and some Words

My Swollen Left Eye

I finally hit forty thousand words on my NaNoWriMo novel. Admittedly it seems that life has gotten in the way of me reaching fifty thousand before the twentieth, as I hoped I would. Nevertheless, I am still content with having ten days to write ten thousand words.

My victory over the forty thousand word limit came with some bitterness, though. I went to a friends party last night and ended up getting into a fist fight with a guy I use to know in high school. Not sure who won, though he was bleeding and I was not. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with my left eye swollen. I couldn’t open it initially but the swelling went down eventually. Now it’s better, but red as hell. I’m just happy it didn’t bruise.

I promise, I’m not usually a violent man. Truthfully, I haven’t been in a fight since I was in high school. It was sort of fun in some strange way. I miss getting into fights. I know it must sound strange, but there is something archaic and yet brilliantly fun about breaking someone’s nose. We all have that little cavemen in us that craves violent and carnage. I’d be more worried if I went out looking for fights.

-Irish

Back to Work

Alright, it’s not exactly work per se. Nevertheless, I am returning back to writing my NaNoWriMo novel. I’m currently at thirty-five thousand and the month is officially half over. So I basically have fourteen days to write fifteen thousand words when it only took fifteen to write thirty-five thousand. I think I’ll be alright, but you never know, I could suddenly forget English.

Sorry to gloat about this, but I’m proud of myself. I’m thoroughly shocked that I was able to even get this far, I figured I would have quit around seventeen thousand. I will admit though that in my haste to write I have forgotten to shave so I am beginning to look like a proper hermit. You know, the sort that doesn’t actuall leave his cave and has an affinity for ground squirrels. They are adorable.

The worst part about doing NaNoWriMo is easily the fact I have spent more time writing than I have anything else. I’ve stopped watching the news, I’m halted my search for a proper vocation, and my relationship with family members is growing thin. Speaking of which, I’ve actually lost weight because I’m not eating as much. I dropped a pants size. I’m not sure if that’s healthy come to think of it. Oh well.

-Irish

Another Lost Weekend

I could so easily sit here and write another five thousand words from the time the sun comes up today (already has, unfortunately) to the time it falls. Tomorrow I could do the same. By the end of monday I could be finished with my NaNoWriMo novel with fourteen days still remaining… I think. Sorry, my math is terrible.

Instead, however, I’ll willingly lose this weekend so that I may fall into a bit of happiness. I hit thirty-five thousand words last night, so I think I’m doing fairly well. I might even write a second novel for NaNoWriMo. Who knows.

 

NaNoWriMo Update: 32,122 words

I’m relaxing.

Yes, the unemployed, reclusive assholes who has no prospects in life except writing is now relaxing. By relaxing, mind you, I mean that I am not writing currently. Well, I am, but only on this blog, so that doesn’t count. I’m speaking specifically of my novel. I just hit the thirty-two thousand mark, meaning only eighteen thousand words left and I am F-I-N-I-S-H-E-D.

If we’re to count each day so far, and I have not written each day, then I am over fifty percent done and it’s not even the fifteen yet. It may seem as though I am gloating, but the truth is that I am incredibly proud of myself. I was doubtful I would even hit twenty-five thousand and now I’m close to thirty-five thousand. However, the problem I am facing now is the most obvious: the story…

Unfortunately, I am not even half way done with the story. I just hit the middle, actually. Also, I have to admit to something: I did not think of the end before I started writing. I’m at the part of my story where something tragic needs to happen so that I can continue on and bring about the end, but I didn’t think of what that tragedy was going to be. So, while I relax and play some Modern Warfare 2, I’m going to try my damnedest to think of it… alright, that’s a lie.

-Irish

27,054

I am now officially half done with my NaNoWriMo novel. Well, to be fair, I’m a little bit more than half. Twenty-seven thousand and fifty-four, to be precise. I started on the 4th of November (of course) and took the weekend off. So, essentially, I’ve written 27k words in four days.

Sadly, it seems that some individuals are already finished. Well nuts to them. Hope they enjoyed it.

Once I am finished with the novel I will begin the oh-so fun process of uploading it, chapter by chapter, onto my blog. Remember that old thing? You know, A Fall of Man, or whatever it was that I called it. Yeah, well I’m doing it again, but this time I’m doing it because I know for certain this novel will never be published. How do I know this? Well, I’m assuming no fantasy publisher is interested in good goblins, evil elves, and other non-traditional (a.k.a. ripped off) plots and ideas.

Also, there is political intrigue.

In case you are not aware, I am NOT a fan of fantasy novels. I absolutely abhor the whole idea that everything must be the same – orcs are always evil, elves are hippies, humans are greedy, and dwarves work in mines. Hell, the only reason I am writing this type of novel for NaNoWriMo is to convince a friend of mine that it is entirely possible to write a good fantasy novel while flipping the old stereotypes.

My goal is to make sure this is a good story, all the while avoiding the cliches like a plague. I’ve already almost fallen into a few of them, so I am beginning to understand why some authors do. The first one was the obvious: enchanted weaponry. However, I made the weapon dissolve immediately, thus making the whole idea of an enchanted weapon that glows entirely impossible. Granted, it didn’t actually glow, but thats not the point.

The second cliche I nearly found myself being pushed into was of The Chosen One. This is the one that I hate the most and actually spoke out against in the very beginning. Nevertheless, there is a group of… we’ll call them carolers, who are using the main character. At first it was a religious sort of hero thing, but now I am simply using the relationship between the two that of a parasite and its host.

Alright, I’m off to write.

-Irish

P.S.: This entry has not been edited, proofread, or otherwise made legible. I am far too busy acting busy to pretend to be an intelligent individual. Now I’m going to go make a sammich and play some more World of Warcraft.