It’s Fridayyyyyyyy!
So, is it just me, or did every day this week feel like Friday? Seriously, each morning my alarm clock went off, I thought, “Yippee! It’s Friday–No, wait. It’s not. Not even close. Beepity-beep!”
I was very happy when I woke up this morning and realized it was Friday–for real. Woo-hoo!
Anyway, it was a busy week for me, but a productive one. I’m proud of myself for not getting too caught up in the mad dash of life and focusing hard on my manuscript. Since last weekend, I’ve knocked out four new chapters, each one approved by my beta reader.
If I keep up this pace, I might finish my second draft by November 1st. Which means I’ll have two months to edit a third draft. Which means I just might have a presentable draft done by my deadline of January 1st.
*fingers crossed*
Besides writing my booty off this week, I had some fun too. I celebrated my dad and sister’s birthdays (back-to-back days), and then put together my costume for my family’s Disney-themed Halloween party this weekend. I had wanted to go as Ursula from The Little Mermaid (you know, do my hair all crazy like octopus tentacles), but my nephews demanded I go as Elsa from Frozen.
Okay, my costume won’t be nearly as glamorous as Elsa’s, but people will get the general gist–er, hopefully.
I also spent some time this week shooting photos and video clips for my friend’s latest film for the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge. These films are silly, but I love contributing to them. They’re a great way to bring the NYC Midnight writing community together, build friendships, and have fun. Oh, and laugh at myself.
A lot.
Like the last round, I needed to use the story I wrote for round 2 as my inspiration. Since Operation Disney revolved around the recent debacles of the Secret Service Agency and Julia Pierson’s absurd Disney quote (“We need to be more like Disney World. We need to be more friendly, inviting…”), I decided to dress up like Mickie Mouse and wave around a toy gun while singing/dancing to “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”.
Here are just a couple of the clips I took:
(And, yes, feel free to laugh/shake your head/mock me. I don’t care–ha!)
I know I look ridiculous, but I actually had a blast while filming. Sometimes it’s therapeutic to let go, act like an idiot, and laugh at yourself, you know? And I laughed at myself a lot. There were many blooper moments, one of which included me accidentally hitting the trigger on the toy gun and dropping it in surprise when it made that motor-like sound. I wasn’t ready for it!
Anyway, here is today’s Friday Funny. I thought it was fitting after taking those pictures and video clips for my political satire piece. The day I wrote Operation Disney, I did quite a bit of research and Googled a variety of things, including Secret Service Agency, Air Force One, Obama, attack, guns, Russia…By the end of the day, I said, “Well, that probably put me on the NSA’s watch list.” 😉
Enjoy!
How was your week? Busy? Calm? Do anything goofy and silly? I know many of you are preparing for NaNoWriMo. How’s it going? Are you ready for it?
Jen’s Weekly Roundup
In case you missed my posts from earlier this week, here you go!
Music Monday – Explosions – Ellie Goulding
You Know You’re a Writer When…Awkward Introductions
Photo credits:
http://giphy.com/gifs/DImeco37S0Fl6
https://www.tumblr.com/search/self+five
http://tatara94.deviantart.com/
Well everyone, this week was a doozy on the writing front. In a nutshell, I felt like this:
So, last weekend I sent my beta reader my latest two chapters. She liked them, but she wasn’t crazy about their setting. “I wasn’t wowed,” she explained. “This is a big moment, and you nailed the emotions and the action, but the actual location wasn’t thrilling. I wanted…more.”
Yeah, yeah. I know what you’re all thinking: “It’s good your beta reader pushes you to do better–to give a reader more. That’s their job.” I know, I know. But, still. Grrrrr.
Horrible, I know. But, unfortunately, true.
Okay, Okay, I wasn’t that bad. But I really wanted to curl up with a big bag of peanut M&M’s and wallow. Maybe chow down on some cookie dough ice cream, a slab of fudge, and an entire chocolate cake.
Fingers crossed my beta reader gives me the thumbs up on the new location I painted for her. If she doesn’t, then I will be buying a GIANT bag of peanut M&M’s and I will be wallowing….And then, after my pity-poor-me party, I will roll up my sleeves, gnash my teeth, and try again. Because, as the saying goes, “You fail only if you stop writing”.
Well, I had one heck of a distracting week. In fact, I was so busy, I didn’t even get one word written for my manuscript. I didn’t even think about it that much. Eeks!
Overall, it was a quiet celebration this year. Actually, most of my birthdays are on the quiet front. Believe it or not, I’m not a fan of the spotlight. Opening presents in front of people, having a group sing happy birthday to me, getting a cake with my name on it…Yeah, I pretty much burst into flames and go up in a flare of mortifying smoke every time. If I could, I’d happily hide in my house all day on August 19th, and then– slowly and cautiously–creep back out on the 20th.
I have a few other plans with friends, but they’re aware they’re not allowed to make a big deal about my birthday, so we’ll just be going to dinner and hanging out like we’d normally do…And if my friends are reading this, I mean it. This is your warning: No singing waiters or I’ll put you into one my stories and give you the boot! 😉 )
Here are a few comments from my fellow competitors:
Of course, there have been constructive criticisms as well–which I’m more than happy to hear. One of the main reasons I do this competition is to learn and grow, and I can’t do that unless I hear what’s “wrong” with my story.
How was your week? Distracted? Focused? Anyone else have a birthday? August seems to be a popular month for them, so I’m sure someone out there had one.
In a nutshell, my week was similar to the last few: calm and productive. I’ve continued traipsing through the revisions for my YA manuscript, and despite my ongoing sluggish pace, I feel good about them. As planned, I sent my beta reader the first five chapters of my story, and she gave them the thumbs up.
I will be sending the next two chapters to her tomorrow. I’m not as happy with them–something just feels off…Hopefully my beta reader will be able pinpoint what the problem is. Or maybe I’m just over thinking things and need to carry on. Which I will, as always. 🙂
Oh well. As the saying goes, “Dreams don’t work unless you do”, right?
How was your week? Are you feeling stressed? Or you are kicking back and enjoying some fun in the sun? I won’t resent you if you are…Okay, okay. I might resent you a little 😉
Okay, hold on. Let’s start off on a positive note…
Okay, so now for the not-so-good stuff.
How did this happen? I don’t know! The only thing I can figure is I accidentally saved/replaced the wrong file. *cue screams and tears*…So, yeah. That sorta killed my writing mojo on Wednesday. Once the horror of this erroneous event faded, I made a decision to simply outline those lost chapters, rather than rewrite them. This is a first draft, and these are middle chapters, so why bother rewriting them? As long as I know where the story’s going, it’s fine.
“I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little manuscript, too!”
Hope your week was better than mine, and no tornados tried to sweep you off to the Land of Oz.
Well, I’m not gonna lie. It’s been a rough week on the manuscript front, ladies and gentlemen. I only managed to knock out around 9,300 words…Yeah, I know that’s better than nothing, but I’d planned on writing A LOT more than that. Honestly, I just couldn’t get my act together. Between a draining allergy attack earlier in the week, and a never ending pile of ads at work, it’s been a nightmare finding the time and energy to sit down and write.
What makes this even tougher is I’ve reached the dreaded middle portion of my story. Historically, this is when I slam into a brick wall, even when I do have momentum carrying me. And, historically, this is when I give up and go allll the way back to chapter one to begin revising. However, I made a deal with myself at the start of this draft. I told myself, “You’re not allowed to start over. No matter how hard it gets or how many obstacles try to trip you up, you gotta push through.” AKA, NO STARTING OVER ALLOWED!
How was your week? Are you on a roll? Or are you feeling sluggish and “blah” like me? If you’re on the blah side, all I can say is push through it. That’s what I’m gonna do here.
Man, oh man! Ever since the second round of the 
Of course, I know the solution to my problem. It’s the same simple solution I came up with a couple of months ago when the “butterflies” first swarmed me: I need to, “Suck It Up and Writer Up!” Stomp down and crush those unnecessary distractions. Focus all of my time and energy on my manuscript and get it done! Don’t let anything hold me back. Fight for it. Charge full steam ahead!
So, how about you guys? How was your week? Are the butterflies swarming you, too? Or have you squashed those suckers and been productive?
So, I sat down to begin working on my manuscript when–SPLAT! I hit a giant brick wall. My brain and body pleaded for a day off. I tried to ignore the weary cry, but after a few minutes, it became clear: I needed a break. So, I reluctantly shutdown my computer and spent the day cleaning my house and catching up on a million chores. Er, slowly. I was so tired!
Yup, you got it. My sister gave me that stomach bug (as well as the rest of our family). I spent the rest of the night and most of the next day–well, you know.
Anyways, here is today’s Friday Funny. I posted this on my 
Please tell me your week was better than mine. In fact, I want to hear about all the fun/awesome/amazing/cool stuff you did. Gimme me a boost here, guys. I need it.
This is my sister’s third boy, so…yeah. It’s gonna be a little chaotic in that household. But, it’s okay. If any family can handle chaos, it’s mine 😉 Chaos or not, we’re so excited and feel so blessed to have yet another little angel enter our lives.
How was your week? I hope it was as exciting and blessed as mine!
As you can see, I’m very happy it’s Friday, mostly because that means tomorrow is Saturday and I’ll be able to write all day long without interruption. Well, hopefully. Interruption seems to be the theme of my life lately, and it’s really bogging down my progress with my manuscript. Between work, family obligations, life chores, blogging, writing contests, reading/reviews, I just never seem to have time to sit down and write (*cue long, frustrated sigh*). I even took Wednesday off work to try and catch up on it (and some much needed sleep), but I still didn’t make as much progress as I’d hoped. I need to take a leaf out of my own book and use a variety of tips/strategies for finishing a manuscript in a timely fashion (
So, how was your week? Are you making better progress with your manuscript than me? Read any good books I should know about?
Jen's Pen Den 
