Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Tuesday 4th November, 12:11

I finally got the word count to work. You will notice that I had to change the widget. Anyhow, here is an excerpt for you ...

Random Explanatory Paragraphs that May or May Not Be Repeditive

Their farm, Emery, was situated on a little travelled road out the back of the township of Oakien, a firmly Aetolian village. This arrangement suited both the inhabitants of the farm and village happily. The orphans were naturally guarded in their approach to those outside their foster family, largely due to their unique circumstances. The villagers were wary of such a large and mixed family. Grace had married down to be with Menoe, which was frowned on, but not unacceptable. The Barlet boys were pitied, yet still acceptable. The remainder of the children, with the exception of Nikoli, were not generally associated with by the villagers.

Alaena was not only, to the best of knowledge, a bastard, her pregnant mother stumbling across the village shortly before her birth, her father unknown, but also a half-blood. She showed characteristics of both races, suggesting that her father had been a Kinari man. As such she could never be completely accepted within Aetolian society, whilst any of Kinari blood distrusted her just as much.

Taira’s parents were taken by Kinari forces, causing villagers to shy from association with her, lest they be incriminated and suspicion cast on them, despite that she was quite young when her parents were taken. Joet and Jesamine’s home was burnt by the members of their previous town, as their maternal grandfather was Kinari, and their parents strong believers in the Kinari rule. Despite their beliefs being the opposite of their parents, the two Faran children were avoided by the general Oakien public, for the crime of possessing Kinari blood, if nothing else.

Chianna, Thien and Kieren were purely Aetolian, orphaned by nothing more sinister than a severe illness that had taken a hold of both their parents, but their residence with such a diverse group of people at Emery was frowned upon. Owenn was the most unaccepted of the inhabitants of the farm, being of gypsy blood. The large family at Emery largely kept to themselves, and were a tightly knit group, highly defensive of each other. The villagers, for their part, generally left the farmers alone, disapproving of the acceptance of the Erskyn couple in taking in such a number of orphans, and with such disreputable backgrounds.


Seeing no caravans that signalled either the imminent arrival of the traders or the gypsies that often accompanied them, Alaena turned to look across the forest. A wind blew across her face, making her feel as if she was flying. She closed her eyes and leant into the wind, keeping hold of the trunk, until noises from below signalled the return of Nikoli and Owenn, with their carthorse.


That's all folks!
Love and light,
Lindsey

Monday, November 3, 2008

Dear ...

Dear Menoe and Grace,

Please stop taking orphans under your wing. You do realise I'm going to have to think up horrible deaths for their parents at some stage. Yes, I know that there was a lot of illness in medieval society, and as such that is a ready excuse. That doesn't excuse your actions. You come up with the deaths. I don't want to. I know you're generous, I love that you're generous, but come on! 9 and a half orphans, as well as your own son is enough! Learn to say no. Please. Thank you, however, for providing such interesting stories for the word count. You can see I rewarded you with your own son for your excellent contribution. Congratulations.

Love,
Your Adoring Author, who may or may not strangle you. NO MORE ORPHANS.

~

Dear Author,

Stop rabbiting on about the stupid orphan backstories. Or at least write about them in a mildly interesting and sophisticated way. Why the heck did you choose orphans for heavens sake??? Everything sounds so morbid! Get on with the story for heaven's sake.

Love,
The Author

~

Dear Eleth,

Please stop badgering me. I know you want to be included, I want you to be included. You just have to be patient. She hasn't even made it to breakfast yet. She can hardly eavesdrop on you if she's faint with hunger. She has to talk to Joet first. No I don't love Joet more than you. Yet. I love you, Eleth, I swear, but honest to god, I think we may have ourselves a little love triangle happening. I swear I don't love him more than you. I promise.

Love,
Your Devoted Author

~

Dear Joet,

What the heck is happening with you? You haven't even said anything yet and I'm falling in love with you. I think that after your part is over, you may have to be re-introduced later. I really do. So hurry up and ask her to cover for you while you go see your lady friend. She may even feel a little jealous. Then you can corner Serah to find out where she really is, and go off and rescue/join her. I think you'll have to wait until after the battle however. Sorry. I see infinite possibilities for you!

Love,
Your Author Whose Affections are Increasing (Don't tell Eleth)

~

Alaena,

What is the point of your story. Seriously. I know that you have to go save the kingdom. I know that you want equality. But you're falling into the trap of being one of those annoying charcters who seem to know everything. You're only 19!! You can't know everything!! You can't suspect whatshisname from the start. You're going to have to trust him first. Don't blame this on me. I know that it's entirely my fault - but I'm blaming it on you!! I blamed you first.

Love,
Your Confused and Annoyed Author

~

Dear Whatshisname,

I know I gave you a name, but I don't like it anymore. Get a new one!! That is all.

Love,
Your Name-Searching Author

P.S. Don't you dare become a love interest. I'm not dealing in love squares. She'll hate you anyway. You can't avoid it. Sorry. Y.A.

Stoopid Slow Site

Well, apparently I can't get to the 'My NaNoWriMo' section, which means that, as the gadget thingy on the front page isn't working, I can't update my word count (The failure to load of the site is not at all helped by the tendency of my internet to die at random intervals) Therefore, that little calendarish thing over there says 0 words. I respectfully disagree. I have 1,889 words. Damn right. In my *ahem* study break *ahem* I have written 1,889 words. Nya nya to the silly not working site.

In between studying, I've worked out that I have a grand total of seventeen (17) days in which to complete WriMo. Which means I need to avaerage ... 2941.1764705882352941176470588235 words per day in those 17 days. I have also realised that I need to figure out secondary character names!! Do you know how annoying it is referring to characters as 1, 2, 3 etc? And then trying to find that later to switch it?? Especially if the work is really long and you're not going to have a chance to go through and check it all makes sense (right tense etc). Especially when you mix up the numbers.

ANYWAY. I must reurn to my Chemistry study (OMG THE SITE IS WORKING) Apologies, that was a false alarm. Honestly, how am I meant to update if I can't access the site?? I'm not a major failure. I PROMISE.

Grr

Love and inspiration,
Lindsey

ETA: I did update my wordcount. FINALLY. The widget thingy still isn't working properly though.....