Writing Exercise 051

This is my last writing exercise in November. It had been an eventful and exciting month full of writing, and thus my triple drabble is just about that. :)

2016/11/28 – NaNoWriMo 2016 (triple drabble)

Everything began with November 1^st; no, even before that ideas were forming, plotbunnies were jumping around and waiting to be released. This year was a year of beginnings, of progress and commitment. And NaNoWriMo was just the icing on the cake: fifty thousand words, thirty days, one goal – ready, set, go!

For a while the world passed me by and it was just me and my words. And a promise. Creativity blossomed, chapters sprang into creation, page by page, word by word, letter by letter. Characters came to life, inhabited my dear Neverbeen Universe and invited to come along on their wondrous adventures.

The write ins fuelled my motivation, propelled my wordcount forward. I made new acquaintances, found writing buddies to push through the hardest parts and cheer them on in turn. I truly enjoyed the excited and creative atmosphere and the notion of finding likened minds close to home.

The Dead Pete Society was crowded with bubbling creative heads; sprint after sprint we incited each other's enthusiasm. But I missed them. Separated by oceans, our hearts are reaching out to one another.

November 8^th, and I won, but I wasn't done yet. My novel wasn't finished, so I continued. Two days later the last word was written; 60,894 words crammed into 47 chapters, 60,894 words of ambition and accomplishment, 60,894 words… and I did it!

I celebrated that day.

But I didn't want NaNoWriMo to be over so soon. So I thought of what to do. Then I remembered my other works needed translation, too. Therefore I resumed writing, I continued the fun and the flow and the fantastic feelings. Days swept by, hours ticking beneath the clicking staccato of typing. Before I knew it the end of November is here.

Let's celebrate the finale of an awesome month!

Advent, Advent...

It's the first Sunday in Advent already.
Do you feel christmas-y yet? Have you bought and packed the presents for your loved ones yet? Have you set up an Advent calendar?
Yesterday my fiancé and I strolled through a Christmas market. There were lots of booths with sweets, glühwein, handmade toys, candles and spices. Christmas trees with fairy lights everywhere. It was beautiful and the atmosphere was nice.
But today is going to be a cosy day. The first candle of my Advent wreath is lit, and it remains for me to wish you a happy first Sunday in Advent. :)

The Long Way Home

Finally I had the time to do another speed painting of a view I had when driving home. It's very simplistic, but I hope the atmosphere comes across. This painting is called "The Long Way Home", and I used acrylic on a 30 x 30 cm² canvas.

Writing Exercise 050

This is my 50th writing exercise already. This means also there have been 50 weeks of writing straight. :o
If you've read all those you've come a long way, and I would like to thank you for your company along those weeks. Today's writing exercise is a drabble about the weather. Here it is:

2016/11/21 – Storm (Drabble)

It starts with a drizzle and a cold breeze. Then eventually the wind picks up, ripping leaves from the trees and hurling them along. It howls and moans ghastly around corners, rattles and tugs at windowpanes. As the heavy clouds darken the sky the rain drops become heavier; they fall like beads on a string and patter, patter ceaselessly. Strong gusts toss and tug treetops, shake them, break them. Then suddenly a blinding light illuminates the darkness, just for a second. One, two, three… Only moments later an earthshattering crack roars and rumbles from the hills. The storm rages on.

The things to do in November

Aside from NaNoWriMo there are still a lot of things to do. I've just looked at my calendar and I noticed next week is the first Sunday in Advent already!
Time sure runs by fast when you're absorbed by writing. :o

So have you prepared for Advent yet? Are your places decorated with fairy lights and baubles and candles and fir twigs yet? Have you tasted the first gingerbread and speculoos yet?

I'm just getting started. And while I cudgel my brains about Christmas presents for my loved ones I realize it's already this time of the year again...

Certainly you'll feel cozier and more comfortable when the room is dipped in the warmth of candle light, when the baubles gleam and the fir twigs spread their soothing fragrance. You may snuggle on your sofa or armchair with a cup of hot cocoa or tea and be pleased as punch that you don't have to be outside where the first snow of this winter thaws and cold rain patters against your windows.

So get yourselves in the mood for Advent; take your time and find some inspiration how to prepare your home for the coldest but coziest season. Because winter is coming! ;)

Writing Exercise 049

Welcome to another writing exercise of mine! :D
And don't forget to gaze at the full moon tonight, as he won't be as close to Earth for another 70 years or so. Yesterday it was already a sight to behold, but I expect tonight to be even more splendid. Obviously, this week's drabble is about the moon. So enjoy!

2016/11/14 – The Moon (Drabble)

On your way home the twilight fades into nothingness. Shadows arise, the path plunges in darkness. But fear not; you have a pale companion looking over your shoulder and smiling at you. He lights your way and outshines the stars in the sky. Reflected sunlight, but much gentler, soothing even. Not a cloud can hide him forever, not a veil of mist can reach him. Yet he will be there as a silent witness, a monument of calmness, of hope. For the night is less uninviting when he is there to gaze upon you and remind you: home is close.

I did it!

So far NaNoWriMo has been a blast to me. :D
I've been to two write ins and it was so much fun and motivated writing, that it propelled me forward.
I hit the 50k words on November 8th, and I finished translating my novel 'Ravenous Adventures' on November 10th with a wordcount of 60,894. Wow. That was fast, don't you think? :o
But I decided the story wasn't over until the fat lady sung, and so started translating my second short story collection 'More Untold Stories of Neverbeen Universe' and continued NaNo.
In the meantime I'll lay 'Ravenous Adventures' in the hands of my trusty betas and hope they'll like what they read. By the way, I'm looking for more betas, for both the English and the German edition. So if you're interested, tell me. :)

Writing Exercise 048

Despite the fact that I'm pretty busy with translating Ravenous Adventures for NaNoWriMo, I managed to write a little something this week. It's a drabble about... writing. :)
Enjoy!

2016/11/07 – about writing (Drabble)

First there is blankness, whiteness even. Fingers hover above the keyboard, itching to move and press the keys. Then from nowhere – or so it seems – there sparks a thought, or something less than a thought; nothing but a vague image which gradually becomes pin sharp. It morphs until it forms an idea. Suddenly a faint smile, eyes light up briefly – a soundlessly pulled trigger. For a long while nothing but a fast clicking fills the air, as letters destroy the blankness. Abruptly the frantic tapping stops. The creak of a chair, a sip of cooled coffee and a contented sigh.

NaNoWriMo is here!

NaNoWriMo has begun.
Three days in, I'm at over 33k words already. :o

On Tuesday I went to a kick off write in in Essen. There I met a bunch of other authors from the region. At some point we were about twenty people even! Everyone was so motivated, and with the exception of two breaks we wrote and wrote and wrote. It was awesome and amazing. I was totally in the zone, and the people I met were really fascinating and nice. Someone even brought muffins. :D

The location was great, too. You had to pay a low entrance fee, but all the drinks were free and there was a brunch buffet, which was tasty. We had a fireplace chamber all to ourselves and the atmosphere was really cozy and productive. There were even activities like yoga or art exhibitions in this building.

I'd like to go again and write together, but as the other write ins are scheduled for Saturday-Monday, I probably won't make it. Weekends are reserved for my beloved fiancé. <3

Anyway, the members of the Dead Pete Society are equally excited about NaNoWriMo. We're writing and cheering each other on, inciting and motivating. And it feels so good to be in the flow.
It's so much crazy fun, and November has just begun! :D

Writing Exercise 047

Do you believe in ghosts -- if only for just one day?
Today is Halloween, the night of the hauning ghosts, and living dead, and roaming monsters, and the supernatural.
Maybe you might want to keep your eyes open. You could witness something extraordinary. ;)

The last writing exercise of this month is also the last writing exercise before NaNoWriMo.
Of course, the topic is Halloween, but I hope you enjoy this drabble.
Have a nice holiday tomorrow!

2016/10/31 – Halloween (Drabble)

Tonight is the night. It is All Hallows' Eve. Big and round, yellow and orange, the pumpkins grin at you. Everywhere you go they sit on porches, railings, doorsteps, ogling you, laughing at you with sharp teeth and wicked eyes. At night their ghastly grimaces burn in the darkness like haunting creatures – lurking and waiting, ready to pounce. They look as if they might come alive any moment to haunt you, to taunt you. The wind howls and echoes their imaginative laughter from the trees. It feels as if they'd come for you, and maybe they do. Run, don't walk!

Trials and Tribulations

November is fast approaching, and I'm really excited about it. :D

I decided to try the trial version of Scrivener, but it took me all night to get it set up the way I need it (the tutorial was very long also). I'm not convinced yet.

As I tried to import the files I needed, nothing happened. I reread the tutorial, tried again... nothing. By the time I copy/pasted forty-seven chapters manually I was almost fed up and ready to bin it.

But I thought to give it a try, and I did. One chapter down, I think it's only half bad. The split screen option is useful for translating, and the NaNo daily target wordcount function is inciting. I have to change the font every chapter as it is preset, but that's minor trouble.
I decided to stick with Scrivener through NaNoWriMo, as I'm reluctant to try Papyrus, since I might be stuck with a shut down trial version before Novemer ends.

I just hope, the export function works better than the import function, so I can decide whether to keep it or not. If all goes well I might have found an early Christmas present...

Apropos of November, next month will be very busy, and as I'll be preoccupied with translating my novel I don't know how often I'll be able to blog. I'll try to at least continue my weekly writing exercises, but no promises.
I hope you're still with me when November is over!

Writing Exercise 046

Are you a morning person? I clearly am not. But I got used to getting up every day at the same time. And while I always need a while to become fully awake I learnt to appreciate the quiet of morning.
This week I wrote another drabble fitting to the season as I kept this sentiment in mind. Here it is:

2016/10/25 – a morning in late October (Drabble)

It is just past seven o'clock when my day begins. Outside it is dark; night struggles to keep its grasp on the world as it fights the break of day. Lonesome flashes of light pass by; cars drive through the darkness. So still, so quiet is this place… As I grab a cup of soothing hot tea I sit by the window and watch the blackness slowly fade into the morning blues. The lake is still hidden beneath a thick blanket of mist drifting to the sky. By the time I sip my second cup there is a silver lining.

Privacy and Paparazzi

There is an issue that concerns me recently.

Maybe you've heard about the Italian author Elena Ferrante, who was outed by the investigative journalist Claudio Gatti through criminological means. Usually Gatti exposes political affairs like corruption or money laundering; this time he chose to find out the person behind the pseudonym Elena Ferrante. Apparently he succeeded.

Elena Ferrante, who strictly refused to answer any private question in the few interviews she gave, wrote bestselling novels, which enrichen the literary world. She did talk about literature or women-political topics though.
Recently, in an interview she even said she would stop publishing instantly the moment it was revealed who she really was.

Knowing this, why would Gatti expose her? If Elena Ferrante is true to her word, the world has lost a great author thanks to one overachieving muckraker!

But what concerns me even more is that Gatti purposefully ignored Ferrante's wish to stay inkognito; that he trampled on her right to live a private life;
that he rendered the purpose of pseudonyms meaningless.

Why do people choose pseudonyms in the first place if not to keep their privacy private? There are a lot of authors, musicians, artists who assume pseudonyms -- and I am one of them.
I wish that the world is able to access my works, but I explicitly do not want them to access my life any more than I am willing to share here.
I think most of the people who choose pseudonyms feel the same.

The constitutional rights in my country protect the freedom of action, which includes also the informational self-determination. This means I can choose to keep information private; this means I can assume a pseudonym and live my life unimpaired; this means my doing so does not put me on the same level of public interest as for instance politicians or celebrities; this means I don't have to tolerate that people spy on me. My choice is protected by the constitution.

Now shall something that is especially protected and cherished by the law become meaningless in the face of prying individuals like Gatti?

I hope you answered no.

Writing Exercise 045

This week's exercise was a dare from a member of the Dead Pete Society.
For privacy reasons, let's just call him Pete. So Pete dared me to write a short character sketch of how he would appear in a novel. And so I did. Of course I ran this through Pete before I dare publish it on here.

2016/10/17 – Pete: “Write a short character sketch of how I would appear in a novel.”

Pete is stuck with a wife he doesn't love, a dog who bites back and thieves his sleep, a son in high school and a house devoid of happiness. While his broken marriage drags on for years, he finds himself still loving the woman he had had more than a decade ago – a woman he had let go before he got married to another. But instead of daring to pursue this love again he flirts and seeks fleeting adventure, choosing pleasure over passion. Ambitious and a perfectionist, Pete excels at his job, yet he struggles to attain the licences he needs to apply for what he'd rather do – leave the state and start anew. But despite all the frustration he finds the creativity to write fantastic stories and compose beautiful music. One day, as his world crumbles, he decides to forsake it all...

Writers Gotta Write

It's still early October but I'm already fired up for NaNoWriMo. :)

Ravenous Adventures is still in editing mode, but this November I'll translate it. In fact, I wanted to get a bit of a headstart and as my writing buddies from the Dead Pete Society already started their projects I couldn't wait either. It's so exciting when everyone is in writing mood and we cheer each other on. :D

This year is my first time participating in NaNoWriMo, so I'm a bit nervous. Still I'm awfully looking forward to November. Yesterday in preparation for NaNo I watched a webinar recommended on the NaNo page, and it was pretty interesting. I also plan to attend a kick off meeting in Essen on 1st of November, where I get to meet other Wrimos (authors participating in NaNoWriMo). I hope we'll have a great time writing together, and maybe we'll even forge a group that meets up regularly. As the Dead Pete Society members live all around the globe, I'm looking forward to meet local writers, too. :D

Anyhow, I've started writing the German translation of Ravenous Adventures and I'm pretty excited about it. But while I set out to write I ponder my tools.
Usually I use Libre Office, which is just a basic, open source writing program. It is sufficient for my needs, alright. But I wonder...

Some of my writing buddies use Scrivener. There is a trial version for Wrimos, and I'm oogling it.
But on the other hand, someone in the forums of my home region on the NaNo page recommended Papyrus. Which seems just as good to me. I'm not decided yet and I don't want to experiment during NaNo when I need to concentrate on writing.
I might just download both trial versions at the end of October an see what I like better, then get set for November. Or I end up sticking with Libre Office. I don't know yet.

Do you have experience with either of these programs?
Which one would you choose and why?

Please, let me know. :o
Until then I'll keep writing, writing... because writers gotta write. ;)

Writing Exercise 044

Here is another one of my weekly writing exercises. This time the topic is lullaby, and I wrote a drabble.

2016/10/11 – lullaby (drabble)

Ears attuned to the slightest change in breathing patterns, you instantly pick up the soft whimper. You wish you could just turn around, pull the blanket over your head and sleep. Instead the whimper evolves into an inarticulate cry. “Maybe it will go away if I wait long enough?” you think, but you know you have no such luck. The cry becomes louder. So you've finally had enough and get up. Bone tired you trudge over to check. You lift the tiny body, pace around the room and sing lullabies. Finally – hours later? – the crying stops. The joys of parenthood.

I would like to point out that I have no children, and that I don't intend to ever have any. So this is pure fiction.

Oktoberfest

It's already October.
NaNoWriMo is approaching, and I'm really looking forward to it. I updated my NaNo site, then set out to get a bit of a headstart... which means, I actually couldn't wait for November to arrive. By now I've translated 6 of 47 chapters. I feel like I'm on a roll, and that's just great. :D

In the meantime, October is a month full of events also. As you know 3rd of October was the national holiday in my country, but there are also All Saints and Halloween...and Oktoberfest. XD

While I'm not a huge fan of this event, my fiancé and I once had a funny conversation about misheard lyrics. I don't remember the song, but we both heard 'beer woman'. So we joked about how Beer Woman was a new superheroine of some sort, who saves the Oktoberfest when they'd run out of beer. Here is the quick sketch I drew with SAI:

Writing Exercise 043

I'm a day late for the topic of this week. I should've posted this yesterday, I'm sorry. :/
Yesterday was the national holiday over here; so this is what this week's drabble is about.

2016/10/04 – 3^rd of October (drabble)

Leaves are rustling in the wind; already turned black, red and gold. Summer's last sun rays fade into the mist as it rises from a lonely lake, gone forever. Autumn's hymn heralds a day to remember – a day of unison, a day of commitment, a day of a past overcome. Let us build a memorial in our name, to remind us of who we are, what lies behind us and what we can achieve as one people. Let's celebrate, let's mourn and honour this day. A flag is rustling in the wind; proudly dancing in black, red and gold.

Winter is always coming

As I realised the day after tomorrow is October 1st, I understood there is but a month until NaNoWriMo. I'm really looking forward to November. It'll be a month full of writing, and I hope I'll be able to reach my goal and finish my novel on time. :D
Anyhow, thinking about November made me think about winter in general. And therefore I have a picture for you, which I drew and colorated with Oc Canvas. It is part of another picture, and those who have read my first book "The Untold Stories of Neverbeen Universe - Short Story Collection" may know it. So either read my book to see the whole picture or enjoy what you get here. ;)

Writing Exercise 042

A new week, a new writing exercise! This time I wrote a triple drabble. The topic was 'the Walking Dead', which is a (in my opinion very good) horror series about...well, zombies, but mostly it focusses on the survivors of a zombie apocalypse, how they cope, how they survive, how they stay human in a world where there is no society anymore. What I did with this topic is -- ah, see for yourselves. ;)

2016/09/26 – The Walking Dead (triple drabble)

One day I woke up and felt something was different. I couldn't say what it was; I just knew my life had changed.

As I was still too tired, I didn't ponder and just stumbled out of bed then shuffled through the corridor. I was pretty hungry so I intended to raid the kitchen. On my way down I suddenly slipped and tumbled down the stairs with a dull thudding noise. I moaned. It hurt less than I thought it would, though. I got up and popped my joints back into the right place before I dragged my feet into the kitchen. But I found it just as empty as my stomach. I groaned, for I needed to stock up before I could have breakfast.

The bakery was just around the corner, so I didn't bother dress up further and left the house clad in my pyjamas. My neighbours wouldn't bother anyways. They didn't even greet when I looked their way. I didn't mind. The bakery was overrun with people. I peeked inside but didn't deem it worth the trouble. Instead I crossed the street, got almost run over by a speeding car, but stumbled safely towards the butchery. I had a craving for fresh meat, and as this place was self-service I happily helped myself. I had forgotten my wallet, but the butcher didn't mind; I often chalked up, so this was no problem at all.

As I returned home I noticed someone break into my house. Some people just had the audacity! Growling, I approached – intent on catching those thugs before they could steal my things. When I surprised them raiding my empty kitchen they were shocked to see me. They pointed a gun at me, but I pounced on them quickly.

What a feast for an undead!