Validated

I tell you what, I saw that finish line and I took off.  Two days ago (we're pretending it's still the 27th, so on the 25th I had 8,751 words remaining.  Even though that's pretty close to 9,000 which is pretty close to 10,000 if you divide it in half it doesn't look so bad.  I decided that I would LOVE to push for the over 4,000 a day and finish today (the 27th).  Distractions come and hot water heaters break, but my resolve never faltered.  I pushed through and passed the 50,000 mark just before midnight.  Unfortunately, it took me longer than those ten minutes to figure out where the validation button was hiding, so NaNoWriMo thinks I finished on the 28th.

But we know the truth!!!

I wrote 50,021 words in 27 days.  Really it took me right around 42 hours of actual writing time (let's not talk about procrastinating, I mean, contemplating time).  For the final day, my stats:

Your Average Per Day: 1,853
Words Written Today: 4681
Target Word Count: 50,000
Target Average Words Per Day: 1,667
Total Words Written: 50,021*
Words Remaining: 0
Current Day: 27
Days Remaining: 4
At This Rate You Will Finish On: November 27, 2011
Words Per Day To Finish On Time: 0

*I feel I must mention that even though I "won" NaNoWriMo, I haven't actually finished the story.  I do have a few more scenes left to go, even though I can feel it winding down.  If I'm really good, I will push myself to finish the actual story by the end of the month.  If not, I know I need to finish it soon.  Even so, I am fully celebrating crossing the hurdle of 50,000 words, especially since this is my first year attempt.

Sighting the Finish Line

I know I updated yesterday, but I have to comment about today's success.  Today, I needed 38,333 in order to be on par.  At one of my stopping places, I was at 38,333 precisely.  Yes, I wanted to add "he said" to the end of the sentence, but I left it 38,333 for a couple of hours just for fun.  Tomorrow's par is 40,000, but I planned to take Thanksgiving off, so I preferred to pull ahead rather than behind.  Happily, my stats tonight are these:

Your Average Per Day: 1,754
Target Average Words Per Day: 1,667
Words Written Today: 3,529
Target Word Count: 50,000
Total Words Written: 40,356  
Words Remaining: 9,644 
Current Day: 23
Days Remaining: 8
At This Rate You Will Finish On: November 28, 2011


That's right.  I now have less than 10,000 words to finish NaNoWriMo.  Now I think I am going pass 50,000 words before I run out of novel, but that's okay.  I would rather have that problem than try to write 10,000 words of fluff.


I would love to validate my novel early, and I have a pretty packed work schedule until into December, so here's hoping I stay ahead of the curve.

Happy Thanksgiving to all & to all a good night!

The Myth of Writer's Block

Okay, this is the Week 3 update for NaNoWriMo, but I cheated and waited until I had good news before posting this.  To explain the title, I don't believe in Writer's Block -- it's just a mythical creation to excuse a day off.  Still, I do believe in Writer's Boredom which is what struck this week.  I reached a surprisingly muddy part of the story and found that I hated the story, the characters, the very concept.  The beginning of the week I piddled around, and produced a lousy amount of material.  Last Tuesday, I had set the goal of 3,000 words since I didn't have work -- I ended up with 276.  Pathetic.  Finally, I threw in a completely random and inappropriate flashback, just to write something out of context.  By the end of the flashback I had figured out how to continue and suddenly, it was like the faucet had been turned back on.

I think the hardest thing to do is to remember to think ahead.  I'm no good with outlines, so most of this is on the fly, but once I come to the end of the scene I want to know where to go next.  I think that's what got me in trouble early last week and I needed the time outside the main story to decide how to continue.  The benefit of this experience is it helps me learn what kind of writer I am and what I need to do for lengthy projects.  Hopefully, at the end I can say that this particular project was a success.

Here are my stats from the end of today (as I said, not actually representative of the week):
Your Average Per Day: 1,673
Target Average Words Per Day: 1,667
Words Written Today: 3,560
Target Word Count: 50,000
Total Words Written: 36,827  
Words Remaining: 13,173 (looks pretty good, I'd say!)
Current Day: 22
Days Remaining: 9
At This Rate You Will Finish On: November 29, 2011 (how I hope this is true)

Meet Algernon

Btw... I realized in writing the post below that I never introduced my new car.  Meet Algernon:

Algernon is a nautical blue Toyota Matrix (pre-owned) with everything I could have wanted and more.  Poor Richard the Lionheart fell in a terrible accident, but he died nobly, protecting his family and even strangers.  Algernon and I took to each other right away and he has graciously stepped in to fill the void Richard left behind.  Oh, and did I mention he has a sunroof?

20,000 Words Onto the Page

This update pertains to yesterday, so take a moment to pretend it is Sunday, November 13 and the end of the week.  This was an interesting week now that the show has closed and it was my first pure American Greetings week since I started in September.  Monday was a very important day.  Algernon went on his first road trip with Mom and I to College Station and carried home his first load -- my desk and three boxes of books.  Oh, and while in CS I had to go to Hastings.  And buy two more books.

The rest of the week I pretty much devoted to writing a book and getting caught up from performance week.  Friday, I met trouble when I got sick.  I managed to write for a full 5 minutes, churning out a prolific 130 words before succumbing to a medicine-induced sleep (I slept the entire day.)  When I read the thing in December, I'll see if those 130 words stick out horribly.  Fortunately, I had the rest of the weekend to make up for lost time.

What I found this week is that it does start to come more naturally.  Last week I sometimes struggled to get 450 words out of a half hour, this week I'm consistently getting 650.  However, my concern for the weeks ahead is that I'm going to run out of story.  I may need to do something drastic!  For this week however, I am proud to report that I have caught up!  Here are the stats from last night:

Your Average Per Day: 1,646
Target Average Words Per Day: 1,667
Words Written Today: 3,325
Target Word Count: 50,000
Total Words Written: 21,402
Words Remaining: 28,598
Current Day: 13
Days Remaining: 18
At This Rate You Will Finish On: November 30, 2011


This is the first time it has told me I will finish in November!  Woohoo!

Silence Will Fall

When you see me next ask, me what happens when a show that has 168 (called) sound cues needs to perform without a working sound program.  SPOILER:  It's an experience.  The story is much better in person with wild hand motions and a myriad of sound effects, or I would post it now.

That's the teaser; the meat of this update is a status report with NaNoWriMo, now that November has started and I've been through a week.  Write or Die is the only way to do it.  As the catch phrase says, it puts the "prod" in "productivity" (I saw that a few days ago and I still find it hilarious).  I always set it to 500 words in 30 mins and sometimes I struggle to make it through and end up with around 400 and sometimes the words just fly from my fingers and I end up with 600.  Interestingly, I usually have more trouble with the first chunk of the day and just fly through the second portion.  This is nice because while I may not have 500 every 30 mins, I consistently have 1000 every hour.

Which is to say in plainer terms, I have been making good progress despite my busy week thanks to the useful tools at my disposal.

I did fall behind my personal goals for the week and certainly fell behind what's "par" for the course, but I still feel good about what I squeezed in and am hopeful for the month as a whole.  What I've written so far is absolute rubbish, but that's the whole point of this thing.  Keep going, no matter what.  I've made a lot more progress in six days than I would have in six weeks if I kept trying to make it unrubbish.  (Please forgive me as I modify an extremely British term for my purposes).  I'm already a winner.  So here are my stats so far copied from the very helpful chart on the NaNoWriMo site.

My Average Per Day: 1,004
Target Average Words Per Day: 1,667
Words Written Today: 2,023 (it was a pretty good day)
Target Word Count: 50,000
Total Words Written: 6,026  
Words Remaining: 43,974
Current Day: 6
Days Remaining: 25
At This Rate You Will Finish On: December 19, 2011 (yes, I know I have some catching up to do, but I think this morning I was poised to finish sometime in January)

NaNoWriMo

I'm diving into a new adventure this year or, more precisely, tonight at midnight.  I decided to participate and am determined to complete National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo.  Every year thousands of people all over the world take the 30 days of November and write a 50,000 word novel.  Every one who reaches 50,000 words wins.  This is one of those situations where a You Showed Up! Prize is quite appropriate, because the goal is steep.  NaNoWriMo focuses on quantity over quality based on the idea that sitting down to write is the hardest part and you can't go very far without a first draft.

I first heard about this in 2005 when a friend threw out the word NaNoWriMo as if it were a common part of the English language.  I thought it sounded cool, but I never had the discipline or motivation to do it and some years I literally did not have the time (I know, I know, you make time, but Cyrano consumed everything).  This year I figured, whyever not?  Let's see what I can do.  I know that I will be starting at a disadvantage since it is tech & performance week on top of my "day job."  November 1, 2, & 3 will be 9:30am to 11:00pm days for me, so I don't anticipate much of a word count in those early days, but the show ends Sunday which should give me the rest of the month to aim high.  I don't really know if I'm prepared or not, never having done this, but I'm hopeful.  If I'm super motivated, I'll post updates meaning my current statistics, not anything more involved than that.

Here are some statistics I need to meet:
Daily Average -- 1,667 words
Week 1 -- 8,335 words
Week 2 -- 11,669 words
Week 3 -- 11,669 words
Week 4 -- 11,669 words
Week 5 -- 6,668 words

(weeks end on Saturdays, except for Week 5 ending on Wed the 30th)

Using Write or Die, I can squeeze 500 words into half an hour.  More realistically, 500 words will take 45mins to 1hour for a total of 75-100 hours throughout the month.  I plan to use Write or Die for that extra push (if you pause for too long it will punish you based on the settings you've chosen -- annoying messages, horrible music, or deleting your text one word at a time) and see how it goes!

Wish me luck, and I'll see you in December.

Johnson City, Texas

Anniversary

It needs to be said:

A year ago today, I graduated from college.


More thoughts to come...

Extreme Makeover: Blog Edition

Hello!  Just a quick note to say that I completely revamped my other blog [scribbles and snapshots] so that it looks a great deal more awesome.  Check it out!

I am also, obviously, playing around with this one as well.  This one was actually a bit trickier to find a good background image.  So my question is, too orange?

USITTTT in Pictures

Lisa and JoJo, my conference buddies

Designer humor... it's the little things in life

Carl and his awesome handiwork

Vending machine at the airport. I still find this incredibly strange.

USITTTT: Day Four

Success!

Stage Expo: There was a continental breakfast at the stage expo, then I decided to tie up some loose ends. One of these ends happened to be me introducing myself to a man I had met briefly when he visited my SM for Christmas Carol who referred me to a different theatre in California who decided to interview me later in the day. The interview went well, one of the best I've ever had, but I was afraid they may not have what I wanted since they were interviewing for internships. However, they have a opportunity for a tour stage manager at a level I would feel comfortable taking on. No promises yet from them or from me, but it's wonderful to have options again.

Session One: Interviewing. Something I'm not that great at, something I don't have a lot of experience with, something I certainly want to improve upon. This session though? Fail. It was poorly organized and became almost entirely question/answer. The questions mostly related to portfolios and resumes which I have a good handle on both. Any interview-related questions were barely answered. For example, one girl asked for go-to questions that the hirers on the panel liked to used. One person gave us a question, then they moved on. Not helpful. There were tiny nuggets of information in the session, but it was far from a gold-mine.

Session Two: Stage Combat. My first major experience with stage combat was over the summer at Shakespeare New Jersey and the fight director was excellent. He trained the actors well and I took copious notes throughout to prepare myself for the show and for future engagements. This session expanded on what he did in practice and showed me just how excellent his direction was. The three panelists were extremely knowledgeable on the subject of stage combat and how it related to us as stage managers. It was almost impossibly well-organized, absolutely informative, and intelligent. Unfortunately, I had to duck out early to make it to the airport on time, but I left feeling good about the new information I had and my understanding of the subject from my previous experience.

Overall, this was a fantastic year to be at USITT. The two best sessions were the very first one and the very last one I attended, which gave a great bookend to the conference. I am so so grateful that I was able to come.

The bus trip to the airport was relatively painless, as was getting to the gate. My flight was flooded with conference people, which was not all that surprising. I am currently in Atlanta (may I mention how absurdly short the flight between Charlotte and Atlanta is?) and in about an hour I will be on my way back to Cali. For now, I am going to land the plane, so to speak, on this blog post so that I can enjoy some overpriced Chick-fil-A before I go. All the best!

USITTTT: Day Three

Moderate success.

Both Lisa and I struggled with getting out of bed and out of the room today, so we had a bit of late start. We ran into our LD prof right inside the door which was a plus, but I did not have time to buy a delectable lightly toasted asiago bagel with butter. A not-as-good way to start your day. But we were awake and on time, so it was no rush for Lisa and I to go to our sessions -- separate from each other for the first time.

Session One: Are Students Prepared? I wanted to go to this one because I wanted to know if I had been taught everything I needed to know. And if not, what are the gaps in my education that I need to find a way to fill in? I was expecting there to be a significant number of educators and virtually no students, but the room seemed to be about a 50/50 mix. Also, the discussions were surprisingly more tailored toward the student than the educator which was nice for me. The information was rather straightforward, but as with everything else it was good to hear again and see what emerged as the most important thing to each of the presenters. The over arching theme was simply have the right attitude and find that delicate balance between confidence and humility. Basic principles, but tough stuff and a very fascinating session.

Stage Expo: By this point it became apparent that I was more than just tired, but that I was feeling sickly (still am feeling sickly). I ran into Lisa and we sat for a while exchanging notes on our individual sessions. I think it was a time when it was beneficial for us to be at separate events. I felt a little better after talking to her, but I knew my body was fighting hard against me and I probably had a very narrow window of clarity. I found the NETworks booth (major touring company) and managed to ask intelligent questions and get good information from the people there. I tried talking to some other booths, but I was feeling worse and worse so I found Lisa and took her over the Shakespeare New Jersey booth to introduce her to the people I worked with last summer. She filled out an application and had a very unannounced interview (seemed to go well, especially considering it was so unexpected), then we went to lunch.

Session Two: Management Commission. This is not a learning session, but a what-do-you-want-to-learn-next-year session. They read through a list of proposed topics, got feedback on each of them, and asked for other ideas. Listening to the topics that were brought, it looks like a very good line-up, although I did wonder if there will be enough time for all the awesome ideas that are out there. At any rate, it seems very much like next year will be a good year. Next year, USITT is in Long Beach (oh, just 20 miles from my workplace), so maybe staying put for another year isn't a bad plan... But why, oh why couldn't it have been in Long Beach this year?

Session Two and a Half: Young Technicians Forum. This was a come and go, theatre style science fair of designs and technical displays. But a friend who graduated two years ahead of us had a table, so we dropped by to see his work and congratulate him. Seriously, Carl Booker is a phenomenal costume technician and deserves all the recognition. We even learned about some skills we didn't know he had, like silk painting. Very impressive.

Session Three: Gee, I Wish I Hadn't Done That. Old pros telling the rookies what mistakes to avoid. Alas, I did not attend this session. I had been hoping the jarring stomach pain with every step would decrease throughout the day and that if I just pushed through I would feel better. Instead, I felt worse and worse. After stopping by Carl's table, there was about an hour before the next session and I didn't feel well enough to wander the expo or wait around for it, so I went back to the hotel to rest up. I figured I could count on Lisa to take good notes and share them with me. Still, the title alone certainly caught my interest.

Back at the hotel, I made myself immobile, bumming around on the computer, then flipping through channels. What should I find on the television? Doctor Who, of course! And that was the turning point in my day.

The rest at the hotel did me a world of good, so I went back to the conference center to meet up with my people. A I'll-go-out-for-a-little-while meal and hang out suddenly became 11:45 pm. Well. The good news is, my sickliness was steadily decreasing throughout this time, so I was able to enjoy my last night with my Baylor crowd and every minute we have together is so precious these days.

Tomorrow, I fly back to Cali and arrive super late, so I cannot guarantee the timeliness of the last day post. But my overall impression of this year's conference is that it was a very valuable experience and I am so grateful for the time I spent here.

USITTTT: Day Two

Success!

Earlier start the day than maybe I wanted, but I had slept well so I got over it pretty quickly. It was cold and rainy, so we opted to take the shuttle to the convention center which allowed us plenty of time to purchase an extremely overpriced (but super delicious) breakfast. Not a bad way to begin a day.

Session One: Managing Your Boss. When I met up with my college SM mentor later in the day I joked that the session came four years too late. I actually had flashbacks to our relationship throughout the session and felt validated in how I handled the important matters, but I could see places where I things might have gone smoother if I had known. The session was taught by a production manager and his assistant -- they had a good relationship with each other which was interesting to watch and validated the whole session.

Stage Expo: I've decided I'm not very good at the expo style of approaching people. Granted, most of the booths are about lighting instruments or stage floors or automation rigs, things I have no interest in, resources or need to buy, or reason to deal with. Still, I spend most of my time wandering aimlessly and not interacting which isn't exactly productive. I was however surprised to find a sound company that gives seminars and webinars in many aspects of sound design which I am thoroughly looking forward to taking advantage of since they seem to be right up my alley.

Session Two: Conflict. Pretty basic stuff mostly revolving around Be Reasonable, but it's still good to hear experienced people discuss this issue concisely and with a theatrical and specifically managerial viewpoint. The panel again consisted of skilled and dynamic speakers that made the session easy to asorb. Also, they gave us the name of a book to look into -- very helpful.

Session Three: Resumes. Again, fairly straightforward, but still good things to hear. For example, they said you must always send your resume in PDF format over email. Well, duh. But for some reason I had never thought to do so; therefore, I am grateful that it was said. Small things, but they add up and are good to hear again. At the end of that session, there was a chance to meet with a production manager one-on-one to get personal feedback. This is why I went since I have gotten feedback from the same people over and over I felt it was time to discuss my resume with a stranger. The man I talked to really liked my format which was encouraging and was able to give me some advice on content. I still want to get some more opinions, but I am pleased with how the session went.

The last sessions of the day were very uninteresting to us, so we were planning to aimlessly wander around the expo. Since Lisa and I had gotten separated I went down on my own, not sure what I was going to do. By a stroke of luck, I caught both Lisa and our former lighting design professor in the same general area and only a few minutes later our former SM professor happen to come our way. We all agreed that the rest of the day had no value for us and went out on what turned into a quest for dinner.

The first place we went was closed because someone had knocked into a fire sprinkler head which of course caused all the others to go off. We went to a second place arbitrarily and found it was pretty mainstream food so decided to get appetizers then eat somewhere else. An old friend of our SM prof joined up with us and we decided it would be safe to go back to the first place, but the problems were bigger than we thought and while it was open, the kitchen was not operating. We ordered drinks to pass the time and finally realized we weren't going to get any food. So, it was onto a third and final restaurant for the meal. So, it was a bit of an adventure getting our food, but it was an absolute blast to catch up.

Overall, a very awesome day with very awesome companions.

USITTTT: Day One

Success!

This day actually began a long time ago for me. Tuesday was a pretty normal day off, sleeping late but punctuated with extra tidiness and packing. Nine-thirty in the P.M. I leave my apartment for the airport. The usual L.A. drive -- dense traffic, construction in inconvenient places, and a little misdirection from Google at the end of my directions -- and to the airport in plenty of time for my minutes-before-midnight flight where the plane would take off then I would sleep. Right? No. I read for a while, tried to sleep, read some more, tried again, read another chapter, laid my head down on the tray table, almost drifted off then a super trumpety song came to my headphones and it was all over. (Note to self: remove ALL songs with trumpets from phone.) I read until we landed then it was just enough to transfer to the new terminal, grab a small bite to eat, and board again. The second flight gave me a row to myself to stretch out, but two minutes after the captain made his "we have reached cruising altitude" speech, the plane started to descend. All right. It is now 10:00 am in North Carolina (7:00am back home), I have not slept, and I have a full day of conference events to attend.

Got myself to the hotel and met up with my former cohort and conference roommate, Lisa. Both of us half-starved we went on the prowl for food. Came upon a Jason's Deli (there is only one in the entire state of California and while it is within driving distance, I have yet to go), the perfect fix and just as we were settled met up with another Baylor alum who graduated two years before ourselves. Lunch with an unexpected old friend=best way to start a day. We made our way to the conference center for a painless registration and had plenty of time to chill and meet new people before session one.

Session One: Paperwork. Something I do very well. Still, despite my previous successes this was perhaps one of the best sessions I'll attend here. The lecture was concise and thorough, informative and helpful; coincidentally just how you want your paperwork to be.

Session Two: Tech riders. Sounds incredibly boring, but something I have absolutely no prior experience with. Fortunately, the presenters were well-informed and personable. They came from different positions which together formed a very holistic picture of the topic. Altogether, a very good session.

Session Three: Dance Management. Particularly interesting because I just finished a show in which I did all the choreography notation (my first attempt). This session was a great deal more involved than just notation, and as such very informative. Both of the presenters were given the session rather last minute so they didn't have any fancy slide shows or anything, but I think it was better that way. From what I could tell, they covered all the bases which I scribbled down furiously so that next time I do a dance show I have a starting point at least. Another useful and enjoyable session.

Session Four: Food Props. Somewhat less interesting than expected given that it was props-oriented and less stage management-oriented. A lot of SMs were there and we were able to glean some useful information so it wasn't a complete dud, but it wasn't the most insightful session for me.

This was the end of the USITT day for us. We ran through the rain to a pizza place across the street that was out of basically everything, but we were able to get a simple pizza before returning to the hotel. Both of us were exhausted so we hit the sack pretty early (although I did write the first half of this last night -- can you tell?) and after 30 hours of waking, I slept good.

Touristing

Today I was finally a tourist. I have spent over six months in the L.A. area, but I had not been to any of the sights. But this week a group of Baylor friends are in town for their Spring Break so I traveled with them to Hollywood. I have to admit, I found it dirty and with very few attractions, but I had a great time with the ladies and now I can say I have been. After Hollywood, Anna and I met up with some other Baylor girls in Santa Monica. We walked along the promenade and down the pier. I imagine it can get pretty crowded during the day, but it's certainly a place to revisit, a very comfortable place to walk with plenty to keep your attention.

Tuesday night I fly to Charlotte, NC for USITT. Hopefully it will be another good conference and a good vacation. I leave you with pictures from today:

Crazy hats cannot be ignored!

He's just super awesome.

Chia pet fountains in Santa Monica.

'Curse your sudden, but inevitable betrayal!'

Christmas

Home again from a three week tour of Texas -- without a car. As most of my readers participated in the trip, this post will be less a description of events and more a list of thank yous.

Thank you for...

...opening your homes and cars to me.
...driving far out of your way, twice.
...going back to Target for a jacket.
...teaching David cribbage while I was there.
...sharing the pilot of Bones.
...Season 2 of Fringe.
...pastistio.
...your generosity....Lego Star Wars.
...hugs.
...getting me into the zoo.
...a post-season sweet potato casserole.
...Pride and Prejudice....Disney Princess card games
...teaching me to aim and making me use the .38.
...Chick fil A milkshakes.
...big Christmas surprises.
...the flights....reading the book first.
...sharing French fries at Five Guys.

Thank you for being a great big loving family!

Thank you for a Christmas worth waiting for!