7,711 words total in separate document (so far)
July 1st
The story is at a fast pace right now, making my keyboard sound like a hailstorm. It's making it hard for me to stop for the night, but I think I've found a semi-suitable place to stop.
Last night I had 4 hours of sleep, and that was a bit too much for comfort. I woke up feeling okay, though. The day went well. I only started feeling sleepy towards the very end of my workday, which was a good thing. But it's not a habit I want to adopt. I like keeping track of how much sleep I'm going to get each night. Let's see... if I go to bed at 3:30 (It's in a few minutes, but it's approximate), I'll get 5 hours of sleep. I like to get 6 or 7 at least. I do best on 8 or 9 hours of sleep, but that almost never happens during the workweek. My mind is somehow more busy during the workweek, which means my imagination is more awake and my inspiration factory is running fluidly.
I am yi[ong this with my eues c;sed/ = I am typing this with my eyes closed.
Sorry if I accidentally cursed in your home language (if applicable). I couldn't keep my eyes open. They felt heavy all of a sudden and it was too hard to open them for a moment, so I decided to experiment to see how how I could type with my eyes closed when I am this tired. As you can see, not very good.
Let's try it again:
I am yo[ing this whith my eyes cloed. = I am typing this with my eyes closed.
Mind you, I'm normally fairly good at doing this when I'm not falling half-asleep. Get more sleep, kids! I'm not your sleeping role model! I have problems. I am not a normal living human being. I am a zombie (sleep-deprived person) with the knowledge on how to cure my zombie disease and turn back into a normally-functioning human, but I am not curing myself because I have a craving for brains (writing).
It's 3:42 AM now. I must... *dozes off for nearly two full minutes, having a dream I can't remember* squish my pillow with my face. Good night (and day!) to you.
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1:24 AM
8,068 words total in separate document (so far) <--Haha, I originally pasted a jpeg link to a video game character here! Oops. Sorry about that! (That was funny, though.)
July 2nd
I felt very sleepy, so I decided to close my eyes and relax. Unable to open my eyes again, I started to fall asleep. A long moment later, my head jerked up from dipping low to the side.
I am wiped out. Pooped. Done. Exhausted and tired. All this week, I've had little sleep and still done alright at work, even on the busiest days. Today was brutal, but I had loads of energy. I always get a strong thrill from being busy like that. Rush, rush, rush! Do all sorts of things! We need you! Without it, I doubt myself and go over my failures, awkwardness around certain kinds of people, and my embarrassing moments.
Anyway, I finished work today feeling like shelving several cartloads of books (equivalent to feeling like running a marathon!). ...Which is exactly what was there. Why? It's the 4th of July weekend. This Monday is the 4th of July, and people are returning their books, DVDs, and other library materials all at once because they are making room to have several family members coming over to celebrate with them, etc. Last year, it was crazy. The morning of July 5th had in store for Circ (Circulation area of the library. That's where we check in and check out books, as well as get them ready on book carts to be shelved.) a surprise: A huge mountain of books spilled in from the outside book drop! This is why it's best not to turn in your CDs and DVDs through the outside book drop on the day of a holiday, when the library is closed, if you can help it. It's understandable when you absolutely can't, but keep in mind that CD cases might crack.
This is the sixth or seventh time that I dozed off and jerked my head up, so I think I'll this right now. (It's 2:02 AM, and I get to sleep in tomorrow. Hooray!"
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2:20 AM
8,613 words total in separate document (so far)
July 3rd
I don't know what to type here. as I am very sleepy right now. I'll try to post a picture of a sunset or something interesting here tomorrow.
For most of the day today, instead of a lot of writing, I had to do a lot of research for a couple of things in the book I'm currently writing. I'm satisfied with the results. In addition to the research, I also daydreamed several of the scenes I'm currently writing until I was satisfied.
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3:25 AM
8,719 words total in separate document (so far)
July 4th
[Either my computer was being slow for no apparent reason, or Blogger just wasn't working right. I can't remember. It was late at night, so I wrote down July 4th's log.]
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I'm about to write, now. :-) Check back in a little bit for July 5th's log. I won't write very much tonight because I want to go to bed early. Every holiday is the same: People turn in a ton of books and other materials in the outside drop box, so I'm going to have to really work fast shelving tomorrow. The weekend was already busy because people were returning their books, etc. before they left for the Independence weekend to visit family, etc.
How was my 4th of July? Relaxed, cold, and sleepy. Living in the Pacific Northwest comes with the perks of cool, wet weather. It was mostly cloudy for most of the day, and it rained several times. Since I've seen the same, boring parade every year without seeing much of anything new in it, I chose not to go see it with my mom and sister. It was early in the morning, too, so I definitely did not want to go. (After all, I was awake until almost 4 AM last night. Lol.) It was cold and breezy outside, so I never took foot outside. I later hooked up my laptop to our new flatscreen TV so that we could watch the Orlando, Florida DisneyWorld fireworks and the New York Macy's fireworks live stream online. It was a treat compared to our city's budget cut funded firework display. Again, my mom and sister went to go see it tonight and were disappointed. It was even shorter than last year's display. Oh well. At least we got to watch the good stuff.
Besides from that, my head has lately been sparking with ideas. I've been writing side notes. I can't tell you much, only that it has to do with... I'll give you a one-word clue... instincts. You may not think that is a big hint now, but you'll understand later. ;-)
Alright! I'm off to write!
...
And I'm back to deliver tonight's word count, etc.:
2:01 AM
9,134 words total in separate document (so far)
July 5th
I hope you had a happy and safe 4th of July (for those who apply)!
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Teaser: I can't say I didn't write today, but it wasn't where you think I did! ;-D
...Okay, it was the very beginning of G4:O. Yeah, so I'm writing all over the place, now. But I'm not keeping track of how much I'm writing for the very beginning, because I'm writing it longhand while I'm on my break at work. So I guess you can say that I am writing all over the place literally and figuratively. Heheh.
So, I put a halt on writing the main body of G4:O (where I stopped) so that I will know what has occurred in the very beginning and where things left off before certain characters left the place they were at in the beginning.
...That might have been a tiny spoiler. Oh well. You won't have any idea of what's going on when you start reading G4:O, even if you do know it.
"But you just revealed that these characters will be leaving this place for a while!"
But you don't know anything else, do you? How long they are actually gone, for instance? Because even though I've technically been working on this book for a while now, I'm still far from being done. Actually, I don't know where G5:? (I'm not telling you the abbreviated title yet) even begins. I think it might just turn into the same issue that Christopher Paolini had when he was writing Brisingr and Inheritance: Brisingr got too long, so he had to make another book.
Only difference: I already know G5:? will exist. I just don't know how long it will be and where to cut off G4:O. Yes, I don't know when G4:O will ends and G5:? will begin. There are some things I no longer remember when I was planning G5:?. After all, I daydreamed the book series (from G3:DF onward) several times without being able to type anything down (when I was age 15 - 17).
All I had was pencil/pen and paper. It's much slower-going when you're writing longhand, especially when you've got a pinky finger knuckle that suddenly starts to cramp and hurt as though someone were twisting it hard. And no, I still haven't got it x-rayed, yet. I know it healed wrong. My aunt was such a heartless creature, she simply took a lightning quick glance at it and waved it off, saying "You're fine! You don't need to go to the hospital!"
Anyway, there are many things I don't remember, and some things I remember and choose not to keep. I'm sometimes thinking about it, though. It has to do with one important character. He drives me nuts, really. Think of it like this: You don't want your readers to know much about a character, so you make yourself not know much about him, either. It doesn't make sense, does it? But that way, he/she remains a mystery. Which is just who this person is. And why he drives me nuts. And if I feel this way, you definitely will feel this way. It's like a torment, but it's also like a self-challenge of patience. ...Okay, I need not say anymore. I'm probably driving you nuts just talking all cryptic here. Sorry about that.
It does make you eager to read it so you can understand what I'm talking about, though, right? But that's not why I said these things just now. I just wanted to torment you. Muahahahaha! ...Just kidding. No, I said all this because I felt the need to give you another clue as to what I'm writing and what kinds of problems I'm having currently. Because every once in a while, it's good to keep people interested in whatever projects you're working on. It also gives a future reader insight into what they're waiting for so that it's worth reading my writing log blog posts. I don't like making it too boring for people. Patience is worth rewarding. :-)
-July 7th
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2:24 AM
9,138 words total in separate document (so far)
July 8th
Yes, I just wrote only 4 words tonight. It might not have been worth it to log here, but I did it anyway. I can't stay awake and am bound to doing anything stupid like this. Avoid getting only 5 hours of sleep, folks! I can sleep in tomorrow, though.
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2:17 AM
10,609 words total in separate document (so far)
July 9th
Yay! I reached the 10,000+ word mark!
How I'll reward myself: Sleep tonight, cookies tomorrow. Yeah, I'm a sort of Cookie Monster. Lemon cookies, sugar wafers, snickerdoodle, oatmeal raisin (A lot of people I know don't like it, but it's good for you.), anything I can get my hands on.
Just no coconut. I don't like coconut anything besides green coconut water.
Why: The favor and texture just don't fit well together for me. That strong, perfume-like, soap-like flavor when you bite into something that crunches similar to shredded carrots, but combined with the noisy, watery pops of a million tiny bubbles (like eating styrofoam).... No thanks.
But I've heard about how oftentimes a person will have a strong dislike of a particular food and end up allergic to it anyway. That was me in case of becoming allergic to lemongrass. I first tried it in Thai food. It has a similar taste and texture to coconut, only stronger and more lemony and minty. Remembering that, I recently looked it up and re-learned that coconut was in the palm family (Duh!). Then it clicked on in my head: "Oh, yeah. I'm allergic to [some other food I can't remember right now]."
...Oh! I remember why I looked it up! It's because I recently tried dried dates (for the second time in my life, after many years) and had the same loathing for them. Dates and coconuts are both in the palm family.
...I've been dozing off several times, and my cat is right next to my computer purring like a nut (pun intended). I must obey her commands.
P.S. Sweetie just said "go to bed" the clearest I've ever heard her say it! "Oh-oo-beh?" I'm so happy! Now I must really go to bed! ^_^
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Happy Birthday, Cousin Sara! :-D (P.S. To those who don't know: I have 9 cousins! She's one of my closest ones, despite living 70 miles away.)
I would have written more (I always feel like writing more), but my mom went to bed late and I got distracted by a TV show she had fallen asleep to (Stupid science! Why do you have to be so interesting??).
Sweetie is on my leg, and although she looks very comfortable, her 7 pound body is making it start to cramp and hurt. I often sit criss-cross-applesauce (Hey, that's what I call it, okay? It's much better than calling it "Indian style", which is how my mom learned it in school.) ...Okay, she's off. She drank some water and is now grooming her face in a chair nearby.
...Nope! I had a newfound burst of wakefulness (likely because the part where I'm writing right now is getting a little more exciting.). That rarely happens, I have to tell you.
Here's the real writing log info:
3:18 AM
11,241 words total in separate document (so far)
July 10th
Good night/morning!
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3:04 AM
11,770 words total in separate document (so far)
July 11th
I was waiting for a private video to upload from my camera, so I wrote while I waited (But I wanted to write anyway). Unfortunately, I got carried away and ended up writing a whole hour after it was finished uploading. Oops. Off to bed!
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2:43 AM
12,104 words total in separate document (so far)
July 12th
I sneezed 7 or 8 times today (2 because something floated into my nose. Yuck!), and right now I'm blowing my nose a lot. I hope it's not the beginning of a cold. I most always feel too miserable to write. (Sometimes it helps to make a "tissue walrus", but it eventually gets to my head, where I can't think and focus. I'm the kind of writer that needs very little distractions. Night time is perfect for this, but colds? A writer's worst enemy.) But it might be irritation. Last night, I was stupid enough to clean the bathtub with non-watered-down vinegar and without the bathroom fan on, so my nose and eyes stung for several minutes until my mom came in and was like, "Whew, Jen. You need to have the fan on. It's very strong." ...Where. Was. My. Head? So, of course, I ended up being nasally and respiratorily miserable for several hours afterwards. This might be a result from it, too. We shall see what tomorrow brings....
P.S. If I do end up sick, I will try my best to write as much as I can.
P.S.S. If you happen to be sick right now, my Auntie Martha recommends putting a few splashes of Tabasco in chicken broth soup (I'm often too hungry for just broth, so I add a little broth to chunky chicken noodle soup and splash Tabasco in it). It works like a charm. Lots of fruit, too. And pineapple, horehound, natural licorice, and natural ginger (I like ginger chews/candy) help with a sore throat. I don't have a sore throat right now, but I know how miserable it feels, so I'm adding that in here for those of you who have it. :-)
P.S.S.S. And yes, I do suffer from allergies. Food, chemical, and environmental! My current allergy medicine is slowly not working as well as it should, so that might have something to do with it. Ugh!
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Update (next day, July 12th): Yep. I have a cold. It's a good thing I stayed home today. My nose is a leaking faucet! :-~(
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July 13th
552 words (handwritten, very beginning of G4:O)
1:51 AM
Yes, I decided to finally log my longhand writing, as well. It just takes up time to count each word. Sometimes, when I start daydreaming or get distracted, I forget which word was which number, so I end up getting frustrated and have to count all over again. I make note every 100 words, but it's still irritating when that happens. I should be counting by 50's instead of 100's, but either way, I end up feeling just as frustrated. It didn't happen this time, so that's good.
Since I didn't put in how many handwritten words I did before (It's 3 pages long, which is just slightly fewer words than I did here, so it's probably about 500 words I haven't recorded here, yet.), and when I wrote them (They were 10 - 15 minute intervals during my break, so I didn't think the amount I'd write each day was significant), I'll have to put the word count in here as one total number instead of bits. I have no idea how many days I wrote. Something like two weeks. No more than four. Heck, I'll just call it three, since it lands in between the two.
I don't feel like going back and counting the words right now, but I'll do it soon. And don't worry, I'll separate it from the honest word count of whichever day I share it here. Example:
"Month #st/nd/th
# words
?:?? AM/PM
And here is the word count of the unknown days I hand-wrote the beginning of G4:O:
# words"
Now, for an update on my cold: Yesterday, I was miserable. Today, I've probably improved by 20% - 30%. It's a slow cold. Normally, I have the majority of a cold for three days, and it significantly improves on the fourth day and is nearly gone or gone by the fifth day. I can tell right now that it's probably slower by at least a day. Ugh-ly.
I hate being sick. I hate not working. It's make me feel unproductive, like I'm not accomplishing anything important in life. I actually love my job. To those of you who hate your jobs, I apologize for saying that. I have friends who have had absolutely terrible jobs, too. I can imagine the horror stories you have about yours.
One of my friends finally just found a job to replace her old one (though, being a babysitter having to watch a bunch of kids all at once, during the busiest time of the year, might not be the best choice....). Her old one was at a Michaels craft store, and her manager and the customers alike treated her like filth.
Customers were mean, rude, demanding, judgmental, and they blamed her for the store's problems. People, just because a worker represents a store by working for it doesn't mean that they actually make the company decisions. Talk to a manager or write a letter or an email to the company and professionally work out your problems with them. Squabbling and yelling at a cashier won't get you anywhere. They just go home crying and talking to their family about their bad day. There are human beings everywhere around the world, and the less human beings are the ones who don't do a lot of thinking.
Her manager, on the other hand, was mean enough to make several people quit. Her manager made her work on Thanksgiving and Black Friday for long hours just because he/she couldn't hire more workers fast enough. She couldn't sit down and enjoy Thanksgiving with her family, she had to sleep. And it was very little sleep. I can't remember, something like 3 - 5 hours of sleep. Brutal. Basically like slavery. And this happened in the United States.
Anyway, bottom line, I boycott Michaels crafts stores. Something that's allowed to slip by like this is a good indicator that something seriously needs to be fixed within the company.
So, I understand if you hate your job. I'd hate it, too.
If there's a problem, go to HR (Human Resources). If there is none, do some research and find out who can put the bully in his/her place. Talk to your local government and ask them who to call about it, if nothing else. Remember: No matter how important they are to the company, you are important as a respectable human being who deserves being treated like everyone else. Your caring about and concern over others ("If it's possible to bully me, others could be next. And I don't want that to happen to anyone else.") is your best defense.
P.S. At every single job my mom has worked at in her life, including her current one, she has been a victim of workplace bullying, discrimination (just because she's a woman), and unfairness by bosses/managers/owners/supervisors and coworkers alike. She hardly ever listens to my advice because she keeps being too afraid and wanting to wait until problems are actually bad (which "bad" seems to have no limit....), so maybe you can. You're strong. I believe in you. Be your own hero. Don't stop until it's done.
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July 14th
11:55 PM
49 words (editing very beginning of G4:O)
I only wrote as much as I edited tonight. I like to go back and read a little before where I leave off before I continue writing. I saw some sentences that needed to be rephrased and more specific, so I fixed them. Then midnight happened, which means the next day (July 15th).
I don't know how much I wrote afterwards for these early morning hours of July 15th. I'll count them tomorrow (one of the most annoying things about handwriting your written works is counting how many words you wrote.). I'm too tired, because I write until I can barely stay awake anymore.
My cold is almost gone. I sneezed five times today. The nose-blowing happened mainly during the first half of the day. I've been able to breathe out of one nostril through most of today (besides the sneezing and nose-blowing sessions, of course). For most of today, I have felt a bit dizzy, especially when I look around, get up, and walk around. It's probably just from fluid in my ears or sinuses. I was quite dehydrated the other day. My lips were so chapped, they shrunk and split in two places. Painful. I was drinking plenty of water throughout the day, though. Only slightly chapped today, and the splits are healing surprising fast.
...I don't know why I'm sharing all this to you. It just makes me feel like somebody out there cares about my health, I guess. I don't have that much of a social life.
*starts to fall asleep in chair*
*gets startled awake by Sweetie getting up from her chair (small scratching sound) and looking at me intently*
I know she did that on purpose. She wakes me up nearly every single time it happens. Sweet little girl.
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July 15th
Approximately 12:30 PM
220 words (editing and writing very beginning of G4:O)
And here is the word count of the unknown days (about 3 weeks at 5 - 15 minute intervals midday) I hand-wrote the very beginning of G4:O (three handwritten pages):
711 words
P.S. I'm not writing about basic things (from here till the end of July on this blog post), such as how my day went, because it's actually August 9th right now. I was sick with a cold, and just when I felt all better, I was hit with a burning throat and cough, then nasal congestion and some sneezing, then an ear infection that temporarily wiped out most of my ability to hear out of my left ear. I was so exhausted, I could not possibly bring myself to write. Whenever I get sick, my head is usually not clear enough to write. Plus, it's not convenient to have to cough or blow your nose a gazillion times in a matter of minutes. But don't worry. I'm about 90% all better, now.
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July 16th
Approx. 12:30 PM
4 words (editing very beginning of G4:O)
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July 17th
Approx. 12:30 PM
59 words (editing very beginning of G4:O)
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July 20th
To be continued... (I was in the middle of counting words and lost track at 63 and 52 because I kept falling asleep.) *next day passes by (It's the earlimorn of August 10th, now.)* (I spent the day counting the rest of the words I wrote up until now.)
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July 21st
412 words (writing very beginning of G4:O)
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July 22nd
1 word (editing very beginning of G4:O)
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July 25th
2 words (editing very beginning of G4:O)
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^Referring to the last two days above
It's weird how even before you experience symptoms of illness, your brain begins to struggle concentrating or thinking clearly. I was having trouble with inspiration at that time. Then I think Tuesday (July 26th) was when I started having a burning throat and trouble talking, followed by a dry cough.
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