Shanna Swendson's Blog, page 299

Another Early Morning

It was yet another early morning, but this time it was because I had to go to the church to work on some music for next weekend's concert. Still, I woke up before the alarm went off, and I was even early getting there. Me being early for something in the early morning falls into the "alert the media!" category.

However, I'm not sure that this earliness is actually good for me. Early birds claim that they have more energy from morning exercise, but I've found that I end up dragging by mid-afternoo

But How Does She Feel?

I had another virtuous morning of getting up early, taking a walk, then still being at my desk a bit earlier than normal. It's supposed to be really hot today, but there was a nice, cool breeze this morning. However, the breeze was from the south, so I suspect that by this afternoon, it will have turned into a hot wind. I was thinking that today might be my first swimming pool day of the season, but that always makes me so tired and sleepy, so I may save that for a finishing the book reward, sin

Being Virtuous

In the category of "world coming to an end, film at eleven," I got up early this morning and took a walk before breakfast while it was still cool. I managed to be at my desk a little earlier than normal while already having had my exercise for the day. I also went to bed pretty early last night because I was really tired (ballet class, but I'd been low-energy all day). I don't know if I'll make a habit of this, but I feel so virtuous right now.

And why is it usually considered more "virtuous" to

Time (and time off)

I tried something yesterday that turned out to be very eye-opening: I used a stopwatch to track the amount of time I was actually working. I did a complete scene-by-scene analysis of the book and then did a more detailed review of the first two chapters, plus read the third chapter to think more about what it needed. If I'd estimated the time I spent working, I would have said about three hours. By the stopwatch, which I started when I started actually working and stopped when I finished, I had

Done (for now)

I finished the book -- well, the first draft of it -- so late Saturday night that it was actually Sunday morning. Then it took me forever to get to sleep because after the adrenaline surge toward the end and the victory dance after finishing, it was hard to settle down. And, wouldn't you know, I woke up an hour earlier than normal the next day. I had time to run to the grocery store and back home, put the groceries away and check e-mail before it was time to head to church. Of course, the tiredn

"Gasp!" Moments

That writing binge I had planned? It, um, didn't exactly happen. Part of that had to do with distractions (my phone wouldn't stop ringing). But part of it had to do with my wacky subconscious. I think I got a lot done, just not in the traditional sense of typing words.

It all started with that out-of-the-blue plot twist that hit me suddenly on Wednesday. I'd just written a pretty big scene, one that I'd been imagining for ages and that goes with one of the major songs on my imaginary soundtrack

Stormy Weather

I got sooo much written yesterday, largely due to some massive storms that came through that meant I not only didn't go to choir practice but also had good rainy writing weather while I stayed home. I may be a weather weenie for being extremely reluctant to drive in the rain, but I consider it good common sense not to hit the road when the tornado sirens are going off and the National Weather Service has just put your specific area under a tornado warning. Considering that not too far from where

Dealing with the Downs

I started ballet again last night, and I was the only returning person who was there. There was one person who'd danced for years and who was returning after a long break, but otherwise it was all beginners, so for once I wasn't the least-skilled person in the class. I was practically a veteran! I kind of liked having to go back to the very basics because when I started, almost everyone had been in the class for a while and I just had to catch up. Now we're starting from square one, and that all

Book Report: YA Fantasy

My productivity slowed yesterday, as I found myself a little stuck on what should happen next, so I went back and re-read the previous 100 or so pages and fixed a few things to set up the rest of the story. Now I think I'm poised to rock and roll today. I also made it through the homeowners' association meeting with only one homicidal impulse, which may be a new record (it's amazing how people seem to see that meeting as an opportunity for the Airing of Grievances, even though they can contact t

Does This Sound Familiar?

I'm definitely in the home stretch for the current project -- about 20,000 words to go, but probably less because this is a first draft and I like to leave room for revisions. Definitely less than 100 pages more to write on this draft. This is normally when I'd fall into a writing binge, but wouldn't you know, this is going to be a busy week. I've got a homeowners' association meeting tonight, then ballet class is now on Tuesdays, then choir on Wednesday. It will be Thursday before I have a free