well, i think i'm just gonna keep one big journal for november, and update it every night w/ my word count and thoughts. ...so anybody who's not interested in whiney, self-serving poo should probably clear out now.

day ICHI! i started writing at 1.15 am, and it felt a little slow at first, but by the time i decided to say, ok, meredeth, that's enough! it was 3 am and i had a respectable 2022 words. it's not great stuff, rough is thoroughly accurate, but it is 2022 words. i think what i've gotta keep in mind is description. i may go back tomorrow and edit a little. my biggest problem is trying to edit while i'm writing. you can't do two things at once meredeth, they both end up like poo! i just need to set the stage better, outline the props more accurately, i guess. but i like the way my characters are shaping up. it turns out lord shiva has a thing about accuracy. he's very... precise about his speech. which is a nice counter-point to sara's kind of joyful mess.

edit i forgot to say! i have a title now. Unfamiliar Ceilings. coz i was watching some Eva the other night when my muse apparently happened by w/ a big hammer. also, i've got 47,978 words left. ...ouch...

day NI! well, i started a little early tonight, midnight. it was alright. i wrote for about two and half hours, and my pinky is really starting to get sore, so i think this entry's not gonna be long. i'm starting to get into the swing of the story, i'm working up some Themes, i'm doing alright. i seem to have spent a considerable amount of time tonight doing research rather than writing, which i'm not so happy about, but it was worth-while research. anyone here tonight who's played digital devil saga? well, you should. each of the locations you visit are chakra points, and you visit them in the correct order. so now shiva and sarasvati are visiting the chakras in order too, only in my case, each one is a town where Som'um Bad Gon' Happ'n to 'Em. i'm debating whether to put up some parts -or dare i say it, the whole thing- here on dA. there's a short excerpt over at my nano page, but it's not that long. anyway, my worry is that it is Craptacular. i'm really not editing, i'm barely thinking, as i go along, and so it's bound to resemble Feces. but of course that's what nano is for, so... i don't know. i'll think about it. aggregate total: 4173 words. 45,827 to go. i'm beginning to worry that my story's not long enough. my nano report card says at this rate i'll be done on the 23er of nov. shortly thereafter, i will collapse into a gooey mess on the floor.

day SAN! man, i can see this journal's going to be HUUUGE. maybe i'll do a new one every week. that at least would cut down on size. anyhow. aggregate (yes, again w/ the 'aggregate.' i only know how to spell so many words, i gotta use what i got. ) total: 6066. that's a sign, right? hopefully a sign of something good? my report card tells me i've got 43,934 to go. i've done 4% each night, even though tonight my pace decreased 3%. i was so sad, seeing that little red -3% on the spread sheet. :sad: but at this rate i'll still be done almost a week early. which is good, coz i'm gonna need that week to be buried. i was informed at work this afternoon that i will be taking a week-long class in preperation for a test to become a licensed insurance agent in the state of ohio. ... keeping in mind that the last thing i'd like to be is an insurance agent. how boring. oh well, here's how i look at it. i just applied to columbus state for a pc technician degree. [aside? sounds like one of those things you see on the tv commercials. "earn your degree from home!"] [and i just don't care.] if i have to wake up early [ooo so early] for one week so i can get a raise, so i might actually have enough money to pay for this degree, then so be it. i'll get my degree, i'll kick my own ass up outta that store like i was never even there, and i'll get doing something that's fun, instead of something that eats your brain from the inside w/ it's boring-ness. back to the novel. it's going well. i was a bit shocked at how my unconcious brain is so much smarter than i will ever actually be. The Couple is in svadhistana now, and somehow or other, they ended up at these baths. and so during one of my breaks [ooo so many breaks], i'm looking over at my notes on the town of svadhistana, and here's what is says:

2-Svadhistana is positioned near the genital region and it has six petals which match the vrittis of affection, pitilessness, feeling of all-destructiveness, delusion, disdain and suspicion. It is associated with the deities Varuna, Vishnu, Rakini, and the element Water.

[by the way, i wikipedia, don't you?] and i'm like, water? i didn't remember that part. well, some part of me did, obviously. good thing i'm smarter than me, coz otherwise i'd be in trouble.

day YON! ok, before the nano gets started, i just have to say, to everyone out there who has ever thought about watching anime? DO IT. specifically, WATCH GANKUTSUOU. possibly you will find it under the title of The Count of Monte Cristo. it's an anime adaptation of the Dumas novel, set in outer space. now, before you say, wtf? outer space? yes. outer space. and the count is a vampire. they tried taking pictures of him. they tried recording his voice. IT DIDN'T WORK. that anime is Dripping w/ Style. perhaps even STYLE. Dripping. a huge puddle of Style, all over my living room floor now. i'm going to find the people who made this anime, and i'm going to personally see to it that they get whatever they want.

ok, day YON! for real this time. I AM ON A ROLL!!! big baby. i'm feeling good. i think gankutsuou set me going. i require constant anime input, that's tonight's lesson. 8208 words. a full 208 words OVER my personal goal, and like, i don't know, A LOT over the minimum of 1666 words/day. hell yes. in just under two and a half hours. i am ON FIRE!!!



41792 words to go. tonight's installment involved more assassins [i just can't get enough assassins!] and naked people in public baths, and tiny ice sculptures of gods and goddesses. probably it was the subject matter that got me writing at such speed this evening. [speed? that works out to 856 words an hour. that's not even 15 wpm.] [and again, i just don't care.] i think all this late night writing is starting to erode my sanity. i keep trying to save my journal using the ctrl + s macro.

this? right here? this euphoria? this is why i write. coz i'm a junky. a druggie. an Addict. i admit it, i have an addiction. and i just. don't. care.

*goes to sleep before her entire brain explodes*

day GO! i am begging you, for the love of all that is good and right in this world, do not EVER see the life aquatic. that movie bites in the harshest possible manner. it was like they set out to make a comedy, except the guy who was supposed to bring the funny got sick and died.

10,100! oh yeah baby! i've broken the 10k mark! [and they're not even in the 3er of 7 cities] i've got 39,900 words to go. i am feeling good. tonight, shiva and sarasvati, that's my main charas, in case i haven't mentioned that yet, shiva and sara slept together. ...course, in sara's case, it's more like "passed out," but shiva didn't seem too picky about it, as long as she was close.

tomorrow there's a write-in at the new panara's on high st, and even though i loathe panara's and all it stands for, i may have to go, just to be close to fellow sado-masochists. today's big development, besides losing a large portion of my brain to the creeping terror that is the life aquatic, was a little nanomail i got from a nice lady in connecticut. she said she liked the little excerpt that i put up on the nano boards. omigawd! somebody liked my stuff! especially amazing when you consider what crap it is. so, buoyed up by this revelation, i'm posting an excerpt here too! i warn you, i'm not editing, i'm not a novel-writer, and it is Very Rough (tm), but here it is. ...that's right, i'm putting it right here. this is going to break all records for the ongest journal evarz.

It seemed as if all they ever did was walk through deserts. Well, thought Shiva, this isn't technically a desert, but it's so dry as makes no difference. He had suggested several times to Sara that they stop for a rest, but had yet to receive a reply. She was on auto-pilot. The sun was dropping in the sky, it was maybe three o' clock, and so far as he knew, neither one of them had eaten since a light snack almost twelve hours ago in the Svadhistana markets. He had been studying her again as they walked, and now something in her gait made him speak out. "Stop walking," he said, in that same commanding tone he had used to wake her up. She stopped. "Take a seat," he said, a little more gently.

She did that, too, parking herself on a flat-ish rock. "We need to get to Manipura."

"You need to rest," he said. "We'll get to Manipura eventually."

"If the Karanaa catch up with us-"

"We'll deal with it then. Stop arguing." She stopped arguing. This proof that she had to obey his commands, even against her will, gave Shiva a rush of power.

Sarasvati put her head in her hands again. "We left the tent on the train," she mumbled.

"The water canteens, too," Shiva said, taking his own seat next to her. "Are you sure you're alright? You don't look like you feel well. You should lie down."

She raised her head to give their surroundings a cursory glance. Dead grass, rocks, and dirt. "Where?" she asked.

Shiva gave their surroundings that same glance. "Come here." When she didn't move, he stretched his arm out around her waist. "Come here."

A flicker of something passed across her face and caused her to frown a bit, but she scooted herself closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. After a moment, she gave a short laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Shiva asked her.

"It's funny how circular this world is," Sarasvati whispered.

Shiva tried to recall, but the situation didn't feel familiar. "Have we done this before?"

"No," she said. "I have, but... not you."

Shiva raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Uncertain as he was of their previous relationship, he wasn't sure if the jealousy he felt was appropriate. Another moment passed, and Shiva spoke. "Do you wanna lay down?" He got no response. From her slowed breathing, Sarasvati had already fallen asleep. Shiva felt a smile spread across his face. Wrapping his other arm under her legs, he picked her up and laid her down, arranging her scarf under her as best he could. Then he slid he arm underneath her head, and put his other arm back around her waist. Laying on his side like this, he was able to block the sun from her face. He sighed and closed his eyes. This was nice. He felt her turn onto her side and put her own arm around him. This was very nice.

hope it didn't cause you undue pain. see ya tomorrow!

day ROKU! i suppose if nothing else, this'll get me to review my japanese numbers. for those of you keeping track, this is day 6. i'm at 12,242 words. and gawd am i sleepy. it's 4 am right now. exactly 12 hours ago, i woke up. that's right, i didn't wake up till four in the afternoon. damn good thing i haven't got anything to do w/ my life, huh? [yes.] i've got 37,758 words to go, and i'm at 24% completion. it's only 4% a day, but when you think about it, 24% is almost a quarter of the novel, already done, and i'm only on day 6. well, that picked my spirits right up, now didn't it. what's kind creepy is my daily word count. the third day i wrote 1893 words, and the fifth day i wrote 1892. now on the fourth day [god created the sun, the moon, and all the stars] i wrote 2142 words, which turns out to be exactly the number of words i wrote this morning. like i said, creepy. not as creepy as naraku-baby [gerber creepy], but still creepy. what i've got to remember to do is put up some of the earlier parts, where i describe shiva a lot, so i can have michael do a character design on him. he did one for sara, which you can find here and here. [that second one? kicks rocks.] i've changed the coloring slightly, but the outfit's still the same, and that face is still the exactly same. [let's all pretend we heard those in the right order, shall we?] anyhow, we're coming into anahata, which represents the vrittis of lust, longing, and arrogance, so it's bound to be good times. and i've decided how we're going to destroy the world, so that's a bonus. now i just need to look up some hindu words. maybe i'll even have to buy a hindu dictionary. oh! ah! alas! the sacrifices i must make for my beloved craft! [o crap. here she goes on her language tanget again. folks, it's been a nice night, heaps of fun i'm sure, but i choose life. let's skip outta here before it's too late!]

day SHICHI! omfg! you mean i'm done before 4 am!? well, folks, here we are at the end of week one. what have learned. a? having no clue where i'm going is not enough to stop me from trying to get there. b? spilling vodka on your laptop is a Bad Idea (tm). c? i watch waaay too much anime. i don't know how many of you are writers, but have you ever had that moment where you're writing along, blah blah, and then this idea hits you, and you're like, o my god, there is no way i will ever do that. first off it is far too cliche, and second off-- wait, what happened? why is that scene in my story! i didn't write it in there, i was just saying i would never-- oh. i did write it in there? white lotus petals falling from the sky and all? ... oh. i'm sad. ... coz what i'm saying is, i'm in the city of wind, so i put my charas on hang gliders for an aerial tour of the city, and then somewhere along the way i pushed Sarasvati off of her hang glider some 100 feet in the air with absolutely no plans on how to prevent her from becoming a goddess pancake when she hit the ground. and then suddenly, shiva's jumping out of his hang glider like some hindu james bond, and i'm like wtF and then he's turning statues into lotus petals and i just have to sit back because something has taken over my story and won't give it back.

by the way, 14173 words, 35827 to go. i'm on schedule to be done on the 24er. so i'll have all thanksgiving weekend to recover. probably w/ a lot more vodka. to take my mind [what's left of it anyway] off of my story today, i made the cutest thing in the world.



isn't he ADORABLE!!!