Sunday Summary and #ROW80 Update

  1. It’s been a slow writing week.  I haven’t yet written today, but I’m sitting at 1319.  And that was over FOUR DAYS.  I got up to the love scene and they just take me FOREVER.  I find them really hard to write.  It’s SO much easier to kick people’s asses.   I’m still not QUITE done, but by the end it was obviously starting to lose the tone I was going for, so I bracketed it and am ready to move on.  I did do a lot of plotting out of Act 4 this week, though, which was definitely necessary.  I had general concepts for what needed to happen in this act, but not the details.  I did a nice simple Background, Problem, Solution tarot spread to see what I could jog out of my brain for details and I sorted what was missing.  So that was probably my big accomplishment–getting my brain wrapped around where this act needs to go.  I sat down last night and did detailed sketches of the next couple of scenes, the first of which is on today’s agenda, but I confess I’m hanging out in my bathrobe and slippers this morning and watching backlogged DVRed episodes of my favorite Food Network TV.
  2. I have gotten my new laptop totally set up, which is always a chore.  This one has a 10-key on the keyboard, which I’ve never had on a laptop.  I’m glad to have it for those occasions when I’m doing anything with numbers, but it does make me feel somewhat off center when I’m typing.  The old laptop hasn’t had a hiccup, so it seems to be safe to sell as is.  I’ll get on that next week.
  3. I have a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with Windows 8.  After 20 years of Windows interfaces, they’v’e gotten rid of a lot of features (or hidden them).  I’ve set things up as much as I can to look like Windows 7 (which I loved).  The new tile style start menu is easier to use with a mouse than a touch screen (Hubby had been trying to teach me how to use Win8 on the tablet and there was a lot of furious stabbing of the screen because your fingers have no right click) but I still miss having a normal start menu to find everything.  But I’m getting used to it.  A lot of it is just a matter of finding where they’ve stuck stuff.  One of the big complaints I’ve heard from people is not being sure how to turn it off.  Acer has kindly created a button for that on the task bar, so at least I don’t have THAT headache.  I’ve had a few hiccups with some of the programs I needed not working quite right on Windows 8, but I’ve gotten it all sorted, including the deDRM plugins I use to unlock my library for conversion to whichever format I need depending on whether I feel like reading on my Kindle or my Nook.
  4. Round 1 of ROW80 ends this week.   I’m still looking for sponsors for Round 2, so if you’re interested, hit me up.  I haven’t gotten quite as much done as I’d hoped, but given some of the things I was juggling at work and home, I’m pleased to have gotten what I DID get done.  I’m trying to do better about focusing on what was actually accomplished rather than what wasn’t.  I read an article at some point in the last week or so that talked about our tendency to spend all our time and focus thinking about the stuff we didn’t get done from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed, so that we really cement the idea that we’re always BEHIND (which is a stressful way to feel).  I know that this is absolutely true for me.
  5. In case you missed it, yesterday I shared my thoughts about Kickstarter and platforms.
  6. It’s terribly gray and ick looking today.  But it’s not raining at least (which it did Friday and Saturday).  We had a bunch of hail last night.  Not as bad as some areas of the state this week (down in Jackson last week they had some big as a soft ball) but enough to ding the paint on hubby’s truck.   At least HIS hood isn’t made of aluminum like mine is.  I’d have lost half the paint on my car if it hadn’t been in the garage.  I’ve got dings in my paint from BUGS.  I miss the days when cars were made of steel and actually, you know, held up to stuff.
  7. I’ve gotta hit up the grocery at some point today, and then we’re thinking of going to see The Great and Powerful Oz.  It looks cinematically stunning, so of that and Admission, it seemed like Oz was the better choice to see in the theater.
  8. Tomorrow morning I’m finally getting to take my car into the body shop to have it fixed from the asshat who rear-ended me a few weeks ago.  I’ll be in a rental all week (at least dude’s insurance company didn’t fight me on that).  I keep wondering if I should ask the body shop guy to paint the new bumper hunter orange or school bus yellow since this will be my THIRD bumper on this car.  Clearly I operate with some kind of invisibility field that keeps people from seeing what’s right in front of their faces. 
  9. I keep feeling like there’s something I’m forgetting, but I certainly can’t think what it is, so I’m off to actually get some words for the day!

3 thoughts on “Sunday Summary and #ROW80 Update

  1. Some scenes are just slow to write. I have the most trouble with fight scenes, and the love scenes are easy. It would be too easy if all the scenes were easy, right? And, of course, the occasional slow week is okay, too.

    I’ve been contemplating seeing Oz, so I’ll be interested in your take. Have a great last week of the Round, Kait!

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