Here, There be a Writer: Wednesday #ROW80 update - Writing and Stuff

Today is a laid back day. I am home from work because it's been slow. So, I am taking advantage of the extra time on writing projects. Since my last update I am moving right along, "Movin' right along in search of good times and good news, With good friends you can't lose, This could become a habit! Opportunity knocks once let's reach out and grab it (yeah!), Together we'll nab it, We'll hitchhike, bus or yellow cab it! (Cab it?)"

I woke up this morning read a few chapters of "Inheritance". I hate to push aside my reading, especially when I have a serious reading goals to keep up with this year. Or there's the fact that anytime I go into a used book store or a Salvo (Salvation Army Store) when there is a fresh load of books on the shelf, I am dangerous. I now have the complete "Hunger Games" trilogy, a copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Diary of Anne Frank", and "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie. I think I need to revise/create a book list for the next few months, if not this whole year.

Currently, I am on page 53 of "Inheritance" by Christopher Paolini, not too far in, yet. I am planning on diving into it one this week. Here's a thing; when I finished Brisinger I needed time before starting the next book. It was so much to take in. When I am reading series (mostly fantasy/sci-fi series), I usually need time to digest the story before getting thrown into the next story. It has to do with not wanting to forget the story in six months time and also because sometimes I want to savour the story I had spend A LOT of time investing in. Most of the fantasy/sci-fi series that I read are pretty intense and/or very detailed.

I have so many other series to read or re-read, not counting the small collection of Piers Anthony books given to me by my friend, Jane when she moved to Wisconsin.

This is why bookstores, both new and used are dangerous to me. I buy books. I already had a crap ton o' books (see photo for example). I often wonder if I will ever get through 'ALL TEH BOOKS' in my 'to read' collection. Then I remember this:;there is something gratifying in reading, getting lost into a world, feeling the words tickle your mind. Enjoy that description! This year I set to read 25 books total (on Goodreads.com). I have read 3 books so far. It would be great to surpass that number. Last year I didn't quite make my goal of...(which I conveniently forgot just now). Working on changing that. Maybe I should at least try to had a schedule of books for the next few months. I am going to be learning Shakespeare's "The Tempest"  (playing Trinculo) through April and I think I an going need to have a more detailed schedule, This is so I can still make good on my line learning and still read 'ALL TEH BOOKS'. Let's start a general list of book and series I want to read or re-read this year (this list is a work in progress):

*Inheritance (by February 15th)
*To Kill a Mockingbird (by February 28th)
*Hunger Games
*Diary of Anne Frank
*His Dark Materials

*Ink Death (to re-read Ink Heart and Spell)
*Windhaven
*Mark Twain works (at least 1)
*Jules Verne works (at least 1)

Also, this morning, I started work on a short story that I started earlier in the week. Something that I started with the help of a writing prompt. One little picture of a birdhouse and a story came to me. It's exciting. I sometimes have trouble writing shorty stories. Not completely sure if it's a lack of inspiration or I get distracted by other projects. I'm a bit like Dug the Dog from the movie UP. "Hi! My name is Dug...SQUIRREL!" Oh, well, I'm feeling good about the story. It's a bit random. Not a full scale story, but it is a story. I really need more practice at writing short stories. Now, I just need to edit it today and have a complete first draft by day's end. That means I made my first story goal for ROW80! ~w00t~

Poetry update time! Yes, the obscure poetry month is going very well. I have been sticking to Villanelles, Terzanelles, Rondeaus, Triolets, Cinquains, and Pantoums. I think that I prefer to improve on these style instead of adding other forms to the list. Maybe for another month's challenge? Most of these forms requires rhyming and I am finding that I do need more work on my rhyming and  rhythm. It's not so bad, really. I use rhymer.com as a tool to help me find words to use, but there are skills in finding the right rhyming words for the right poem/line, not just picking from a list. It's a handy tool and I will not stop using it, but the more I write in these forms the more I am able to think rhyme on my feet.

Yesterday's poem and the one I am most proud of so far this month:

1-21-2014: No two Snowflakes... (via Ken Corey)

Terzanelle: ABA'/ bCB / cDC / dED / eFE / fAFA'

No Two Are

Have you ever noticed the smaller details
of the delicate icy lace of a snowflake.
Once upon a time, when the Boreas's gales

blows across the tundra at daybreak;
Like the magnolias in the spring are, these
of the delicate icy lace of a snowflake

float upon the winter's breeze
and no two such are quite the same.
Like the magnolias in the spring are these,

There are no pattern for their frame
each one is uniquely in design
and no two such are quite the same.

A rarity of beauty most opaline--
quite the sight, when you see how small
each one is uniquely in design.

Made from the very own winter's squall.
Have you ever noticed the smaller details--
quite the sight, when you see how small.
Once upon a time, when the Boreas's gales.

1-21-2014 12:08 pm

This is going to be a full week, filled with Improv and LCP's Annual Dinner, and Tempest. Tempest rehearsals start gearing up this week. I am hoping to keep to my goals, at least to some of them. I know that with ROW80, if I need to I can revise my goals. That makes me feel good. I am also not going to overly worry about whether I make or fail to make these goals. I am just going to keep pushing as much as I can. When I just do it, I feel the most productive and positive about my work. That's really what I need to remember. Also this, "If you really want to do something, no one can stop you. If you really don;t want to do something, no one can help you." ~James A. Owen

Have a Great week, Dear Readers!