ROW80 2013:3 3rd Update

It has been a couple of weeks since my last update, but I have been busy in that time. I've been keeping up with my writing goals and my art goals, as well as plodding away at my research. I picked up the keys to my new office today; it has my name on the door and everything :)

In other big news, I resigned from my contract at my retail job a few weeks ago, so last night was my last night. I am still a casual there so I will get the odd shift every now and then, but since I'm essentially doing more than a full time load at uni already, something had to give.

Anyway, progress:
Creative Goals 

• Write at least 500 words per week: Yes, and have managed closed to 1,000 words in the last two weeks. Most of that was for my main WiP, but there were a few hundred words added to a side project as well.
• Do one painting or drawing each week: I do have a painting in progress, which is almost finished; all it needs is the shadows from the objects on the table and background. I've reached that point of a painting where it's actually turning out quite well and I'm terrified I'll screw it up, so I'm practicing glazing on scrap bits of canvas before I do it to the painting (hoping to finish it this week). This is acrylic on a canvas pad:

I also hit up the local art supply shop when I saw they had a big special on... I couldn't help myself :)

Academic Goals

• Begin research on PhD topic: Have started reading academic articles and jotting down a few notes. Also started doing some reading for my coursework units.
• Teaching stuff: Have started looking over class material since tutorials start next week.
• Research assistant stuff: Not much to do this week (still need to get software on my computer)

Health Goals

• 20 minutes slow exercise-bike riding per day: Yes :) Have also been trying to eat healthier a well, which has mostly gone okay except for today (I had fast food for lunch AND dinner).

I don't think Judgemental Dog approves of my art supply shopping spree: 

See how other ROW80ers are going here.

ROW80 2013:3 2nd Update

Not a great deal of progress since last check-in, but I did catch up in the city with some uni friends I hadn't seen for a few years for a night of drunken retro gaming (Super Smash Brothers on Nintendo 64 for the win!), and since it was my first social outing in more than a year (yeah, I don't get out much aside from the odd lunch haha) it was good to have a nice break from anything work/study-related. I spent Saturday afternoon writing so I have already met my weekly quota, and should be able to do more before the next check-in (I know that once uni really gets into motion I will have a lot less time).

Anyway, progress:
Creative Goals 

• Write at least 500 words per week: 700 words of actual novel-writing on Saturday, plus a few hours spent re-reading the WiP and the outline. Even if I wasn't actively adding as many words, I feel like it was helpful to get some more ideas percolating in my brain for when I have another good run at word-slinging.
• Do one painting or drawing each week: I did a few watercolour exercises, but no full paintings.

Academic Goals

• Begin research on PhD topic: Not as such, but I have been trying to refine what my research question is. Basically at this stage all I have is a bunch of semi-related questions, but it's more than I had last week...
• Teaching stuff: NA.
• Research assistant stuff: Not much to do this week.

Health Goals

• 20 minutes slow exercise-bike riding per day: Every day except today. For some reason by the time I got home from work my knee was really sore. I did try doing some exercise but only made it to about five minutes before I had to stop.

Sorry, Judgemental Dog, I'll be good next week :)

Click here to see how other ROW80ers are going.

ROW80 2013:3 Goals and 1st Update

Here I am returning to ROW80 after sitting out for the last Round and a half. I know, I know... I crashed and burned back in January and pretty much fell off the face of the earth in ROW80 circles. For the first half of this year, I did very little writing, aside from a few small bursts of intense productivity. Some of that was probably due to increased workload from both jobs, but some was because of the Self Doubt Monster rearing its ugly head. But now I am hoping to change that by starting to write regularly again, even if it's only a small amount. I've written 4,000 words today, probably spurred on by the fact that this is my first full day off in months, but I need to keep that momentum, or at least some of it, if I'm ever going to get this manuscript finished.

So, here are my goals for this round:
Creative Goals 

• Write at least 500 words per week: Yes, this is a pretty small amount; some might say too small. But in light of what will be a much higher work load this year, I'm wary of setting too high a word count in case I can't reach it, which will make me feel all guilty and self-loathy which will probably affect my academic progress in a vicious circle of suckiness. 500 words is probably doable in an hour or two, which shouldn't make me feel too guilty about writing when I should be researching/studying/marking or whatever.
• Do one painting or drawing each week: This is a tentative goal, but I'd like to at least try to re-hone my artistic skills, even if it's just with small sketches.

Academic Goals

• Begin research on PhD topic: I officially started my PhD last Friday. I sort of have a rough idea of what I'm doing for my thesis, but need to refine it and put together background research, as well as clarifying my actual research question. Because I am doing my PhD full time I am expecting my progress in other aspects of life to be be relatively limited due to time/energy constraints.
• Teaching stuff: We finished exam marking earlier this week and the next semester doesn't start til the end of July, so no goals here yet.
• Research assistant stuff: Ongoing work where I'm doing some new graphics for an educational website. Still need to get the necessary software on my computer, though. (actually, need to upgrade computer because this one is on its last legs)

Health Goals

• 20 minutes slow exercise-bike riding per day: My knee is still crap, and it looks like it always will be (at this stage the surgeon has essentially said, "Yes, your knee is buggered, but not quite buggered enough to warrant an operation at this stage"). I'm limited to non-weight-bearing types of exercise but I still need to maintain my fitness somehow. I can at least walk (mostly) normally, though I still have to wear the knee brace and use the walking stick, and slopes give me a lot of grief.

As always, Judgemental Dog will be along for the ride:

To see how other ROW80ers are going, click here.

ROW80 2013 Round 1: 1st Update

This week was fairly uneventful in terms of progress; I managed to stay just ahead in some areas and fall just behind in others. I would have liked to make more progress, but it was a bit of a trying week, so I'm happy with what I did. The dog crashed into me while trying to escape from the vacuum cleaner, so that screwed my knee up a bit (more than it already was), and it seems like my car has decided that this is the year it will go to the great big garage in the sky. It likes to stall when the petrol kicks over to gas, though I have managed to device a series of tapping revs that seems to (barely) prevent it from doing so. I did get a delivery of art supplies from America on Friday, so that made the week a bit better :)

Anyway, goal progress so far:

Creative Goals

• Write at least 250 words per day: Most days I have doubled this for Dark and Silent Waters, and have generally managed as many words on my other untitled project as well.
• Do at least one painting or drawing per week: Nope :( All of our kitchen furniture was moved into the lounge room while we had new lino put down, and since the lounge room is the only place I have room to spread out my art supplies at the best of times, I had nowhere to paint.
• Maintain writing/art blog: One post done, another in progress.

Academic Goals

• NA.

Health Goals

• 10 minutes slow exercise-bike riding per day: Monday and Tuesday only; my Dad moved the exercise bike out of the kitchen while we were getting new floors done, and when I went to the garage to use it, he'd piled heaps of other crap on top of it.
• 30 minutes swimming per week: Nope :( That will earn me a nip from Judgemental Dog...
• Go through one sheet of physio knee exercises per day: Every day except Friday and Saturday (knee was too sore/unstable).
• Only one piece of chocolate and one energy drink per week: On track so far.

So, no actual drawing this week, but to make up for it, here's a photo of my furry art studio supervisor examining my new art supplies (judgementally, of course):

The house is more or less back to normal now, so this week I should actually be able to get some proper drawing done. Though Tuesday is out, since I'll be going in to uni for a meeting with one of my PhD supervisors. Need to try to ask a few questions about my scholarship etc, since the amount of time I'll need off following knee surgery could complicate things.

Judgemental Dog wants everyone to succeed this round:

See how other ROW80ers are doing here.

ROW80 2013 Round 1: Goals and Grievances

Here I am, slinking back into ROW80 with my tail between my legs. Yep. I crashed and burned in Round 4 last year, and I bombed out of NaNoWriMo with only around 11,000 words. I managed to juggle all my academic goals but by the time I did that, I often found myself with no creative energy; as a result, I'd stare at my sketchbook or blank screen on my computer and accomplish nothing but feeling guilty over my lack of progress.

The main problem, however, was my knee. About a month after I'd injured it in the bus/truck accident - it was just starting to get better - I returned to work and was ambling around in my department, minding my own business, when some woman's psychotic kid crashed into my knee full force and caused it to dislocate again. After another two weeks off, I returned to work again, but I am on modified duties and can only work limited hours. I also have to wear a knee brace and I need a walking stick to get around, as my knee still gives out on me at times and cannot be trusted to reliably bear my weight. As someone who used to do karate (I was training for my 2nd Dan Black Belt when I had to quit because of my knee in 2007) and used to be fairly fit in general, this is incredibly frustrating. You don't realise how much you take basic things like the ability to run for granted until you can't do them anymore. I can't even take Rex for a walk.

I have seen a surgeon already, and though I have to wait until I have an MRI at the end of January before I can go back and get a better idea of the costs/procedure etc required, it looks like I am going to require fairly significant surgery on both knees (the right one will be first as it is in much worse condition). Basically, my bones are out of alignment, which means the back of my kneecaps have been wearing the wrong way, my kneecaps are too small and my ligaments are too loose, so there's pretty much nothing to hold everything in place. The surgeon estimates I'll be looking at a recovery time of six months, so organising that around my uni commitments will be fun...

I will be starting my PhD this year and I was lucky enough to qualify for a scholarship, which will be a huge help; however, since both academics I've chosen as my supervisors are on leave for semester one, I probably won't be starting until June. I know I must be crazy to be taking on full-time research - it will cut into my writing and painting time even more - but what is life without some craziness :)

So... Goals.

Though I won't be starting my own studies until mid year, I will most likely be teaching in first semester, which begins in early March. This means that, though the last month of Round 1 will be focused more on academic goals, it will still give me nearly two months before that of just working on my creative goals. I also want to add in some health-related goals. My main desire, though, is to get back to writing regularly. As so often happens, I have fallen out of the habit of doing a small amount of writing every day and have somehow ended up doing a few days with intense word counts (2-3,000) and then going several days or even a week without writing a single word.

Creative Goals

• Write at least 250 words per day (possibly drop this to twice a week once uni starts). The first 250 words must be on Dark and Silent Waters; anything after that can either be on DASW or on my brain poo project (a term coined by one of my writing course friends, "brain poo" essentially refers to doing a 'conscious dump' of ideas, forsaking attempts at elegance in favour of just getting the ideas out of your head and onto paper/screen).
• Do at least one painting or drawing per week. It can be any medium, just as long as I make some sort of artwork. It will most likely be acrylic, watercolour or pastel, since those seem to be what take my fancy at the moment; my coloured pencil collection lies largely abandoned.
• Maintain writing/art blog. I've done a few book reviews and a few art supply reviews, and though I've been updating some of the art supply comparisons, the blog is kind of idle. I already have some posts lined up for more art supply reviews/comparisons, but I want to be more active with my posting.

Academic Goals

• To be determined, but for Round 1 will basically just entail keeping up with class preparation and assignment marking etc., as well as PhD preparation work (maybe).

Health Goals

• 10 minutes slow exercise-bike riding per day, to try to restore cardio fitness.
• 30 minutes swimming per week (twice a week if my knee can take it).
• Go through one sheet of physio knee exercises per day. I have become lax with this recently because of the pain in my knee, but I really need to start trying to at least strengthen the muscles around my knees again, as the stronger it is before I have surgery, the faster (hopefully) I will heal.
• Only one piece of chocolate and one energy drink per week. Being the sugarholic that I am, this will be the hardest, but I look at it this way; it will save me money on energy drinks and chocolate and hopefully on dental bills as well, giving me more to spend on art supplies life expenses.

So there we have it. I will probably update only once a week, unless anything out of the ordinary happens.

And, of course, Judgemental Dog will be beside me every step of the way (especially when there's food involved).

See other ROW80ers' goals here.

ROW80 Round 8: 3rd Update

Surprisingly enough, I have actually been quite productive this week. Really, it is surprising, because a) I've still been in a lot of pain with my knee injury, b) I bought a new book to read and c) I bought a new Nintendo DS game (I wasn't going to because I didn't want to distract myself and I thought I should save my money for knee-related expenses, but they had it on sale at work and I got some extra work from uni so I had to buy it :D). Any of these things on their own would usually be enough to have me procrastinating til the cows come home (MOOOOOO!), but somehow I'm managed to ration both my reading and game-playing time and mark just under two thirds of the assignments that were submitted last week. I am hoping to get all of them finished by Friday night, as that is when all the assignments for my other subject are due, so I'll have to get started on those ones next :) And, after my two classes on Friday, the semester is over, so I'll have a lot more free time, which I am sorely looking forward to.

Also, I somehow got myself nominated for a Teaching Excellence Award, which was pretty cool and definitely helped make a crappy week less crappy. I most likely won't win since I'm sure there are other academics out there who are more experienced and/or have more nominations than me, but it is a nice confidence boost. Even though I don't have much chance of actually winning, I'm still going to fill in the application (there are a bunch of forms to fill out) just on the off chance it was a slow year for nominations, because the award money could help me pay for knee specialist consultations/MRIs/surgery etc.

On the writing front; I didn't write anything today because I was marking, but I did get in a few hundred words on my main work in progress on Monday and Tuesday night. It sucks that I am unable to go to my normal part time job because of my knee, but I suppose it does give me a little extra time for writing (on the whole, I'd rather be able to walk without the use of a cane and earn money, though). One of my sidelined WiPs (a steampunk fantasy) has also been rattling around in my head again lately, seemingly vying for my attention to be my NaNoWriMo project. At this stage I'm still planning to work on Dark and Silent Waters for NaNo, but I may still dabble in the steampunk one if my muse takes me in that direction. Provided I have finished my first lot of marking, I am going to set aside Saturday as a creative day, where I will do nothing but draw, paint and/or work on my novel (either actually writing it or fixing up the outline, both need doing).

I think Judgemental Dog approves (sort of) of my game-playing and book-reading:

Click here to see how other ROW80ers are doing.

ROW80 Round 8: Goals and Musings

I can predict with almost 100% certainty that I will get off to a pretty slow start this Round, but I'm hoping to get a lot more done in the second half. Next week will be a bit better since the students for both subjects are doing presentations, which means I don't have nearly as much preparation work to do for classes, but at the end of the week, both subjects also have (large) written assignments due, so the week or two after that will be consumed by marking (kill me now haha), as well as bits and pieces for the usability testing I'm helping out with as a research assistant (which should be good experience for when I'm doing my PhD). After that, things should get easier.

Anyway, my goals will be broken up for the first and second parts of the round, ie. The first month, when I'm still busy with uni stuff, and the remaining months, when things should hopefully have settled down with uni (though it will be getting busier at my retail job).

So, Part 1 Goals (Oct 1-Oct 26):

• Write 500 words on Wednesdays and Thursdays
• Come up with PhD ideas (must be done before mid October if I'm to have time to submit a decent research proposal)
• Do 1 painting/drawing each week (doesn't have to be a finished piece, can just be a sketch)
• Keep up to date with assignment marking
• Keep up to date with research assistant duties
• Walk Rex twice a week

Part 2 Goals (Oct 27-Dec 20):

• Write 500 words every day
• Do 3 paintings/drawings each week (again, can just be sketches)
• NaNoWriMo (?) If I do this, I'm going to 'cheat' and work on my novel in progress, Dark and Silent Waters, instead of starting a new novel like we're supposed to. I just feel like that's a better use of my writing time and energy.
• Walk Rex every weekday

I was hoping to come into this round refreshed and relaxed, but that hasn't happened... Last week was the mid-semester break when I was hoping to have time to myself (which is something I really need; I can only tolerate a certain amount of human interaction and I have long since exhausted my supply for now), but as usual, the more I wanted to be left alone, the more people kept getting in my face. I also learned the important lesson of "Do Not Post Opinions On The Internet That Are Different To Other People's". Not that it will stop me - I don't see why I should respect other people's opinions if they think I don't have the right to my own - but it was interesting (and a little amusing) to see some of the reactions I got. Ah well... I suppose it keeps me from being bored, though it would have been nice to just kick back a bit :)

Also, I managed to get one more drawing done since the last Round (yep, just one... Family and academia keep getting in my way):

As always, my faithful companion Judgemental Dog will be overseeing my writing antics :)

See what other ROW80ers are up to here.

ROW80 Round 7: Final Update

I've missed the last several check-ins but I was at least able to make the final one :) I finally finished my marking after another bout of illness set me back a whole week, and I have about a week and a half before my next assignments come in. Next week is the semester break so I will finally have time to relax and do more writing and painting. I haven't done any writing or painting since last check-in apart from late last night and this evening, when I managed to squeeze in a few hundred extra words for my novel. I had one of those awesome moments where I was aimlessly browsing YouTube and stumbled across a music video that provided some much needed creative inspiration, so I've been hurriedly jotting down notes for scenes that I'll be able to write later.

I'm also contemplating whether or not I'll do NaNoWriMo this year (I know it's more than a month away, but still...). I do like the idea of just doing nothing but writing for a month (in my case it will be a bit less than a month, as I'll still have exam marking etc to do in early November), but I'm not sure it really suits the way I write. NaNoWriMo is mainly about just letting yourself go and writing and not editing, even if it's rubbish, and I can't really make myself do that; I would rather go a bit slower and try to concentrate more on quality than quantity. I did NaNoWrimo in 2010 and got 50,000 words, but I only ended up keeping about 12,000. I'd rather write slower and just get, say, 20,000 words and be able to keep a larger percentage of it. Plus, technically for NaNoWriMo you have to start a completely new novel and I'd rather keep working on Dark and Silent Waters (I have other story ideas/fragments but DASW is the one that I really care about, really want to see finished). Eh, I'll probably end up NaNo-ing anyway, if for no other reason than it will give me an excuse to consume insane amounts of chocolate and energy drinks without feeling guilty :D

Anyway, I'm off to try to do a quick drawing before going to bed. One day of uni tomorrow and then holidays :)

(edit to update: finally managed to get some art done :D This is my first soft pastel drawing, a pear drawn in Faber-Castell and Rembrandt pastels)

Judgemental Dog has his priorities right:

Find out how the other ROW80ers went this round. See you next round!

ROW80 Round 7: 4th Update

So far I've been keeping up with uni work, though it still seems like the semester is going really quickly (almost up to week 4 already; eep!). I also knocked out two books in my to-read pile, which may not seem like a big achievement, but I've had so little time to read recently it was nice to just relax and read some new fiction. I've also been toying with the idea of beginning my Ph.D next year, though I haven't decided for sure; if I do it, I'll need to come up with a topic. Applications close in October so I still have some time to think about it. I'm torn between wanting to stay in the academic world I enjoy and get to wear the funny hat and have people refer to me as "Doctor" and wanting to go out and get a 'real' job so I can earn money and get my own house. I know that the longer I leave my Ph.D, the less likely I am to do it, although I could probably do it part time while working. I'll have to wait and see. The trouble is that either way is going to take up a lot of my creative time, and I know that's part of working like an adult and all that grown-up stuff (lol), but I have this constant worry in the back of my mind that I'll get to 60 years old and still have no finished novels or no completed art projects of any worth, which then gets that voice in my head saying, "Don't bother trying, you'll fail anyway." I'm sure I'm not the only one who's struggled with this sort of thing, but I still need to figure out a way to shut that voice up :|

Side note: Chuck Wendig posted this article on 25 Ways to Survive as a Creative Person this morning. I think it's well worth a read, and I want to try to work on adhering to at least some of those points.

I haven't got much done on Dark and Silent Waters (which is currently just under the 40,000 word mark), but I have printed out the outline for DASW and cut it up into sections so I could spread it out over the floor (our lounge-room resembled a ticker-tape parade) and work out how each piece fit into the story as a whole. I've made a few notes for a couple of sections and I think I've sorted out the plot hole/implausibility issues for at least some of the problem scenes. I did manage to write another 2,500 words or so on my other work in progress today. It's one I've had on the side for years, before I even started DASW. Aside from Exile (my main WiP for several years before I started DASW), this story is probably the one I've made the most progress on out of all of my begun-and-then-abandoned stories (and, shamefully, there are many of those scattered around my hard drive). I'm not sure what genre it is, but I guess it's somewhere between crime, horror and urban fantasy. I would rather the words have gone towards my proper WiP, but progress is progress, right? ... Right?

Judgemental Dog doesn't think so:

See how other ROW80ers are going here.

ROW80 Round 7: 2nd Update

I'm hoping that everyone else is doing better than I am so far this round, because aside from a few days of very good word counts, I haven't done a lot :( This was mostly because I had a nasty stomach bug last week and spent most of Sunday to Thursday curled up in the foetal position around the toilet, so I guess that couldn't really be helped, but it is still annoying that I missed out on all that potential writing time. I did have three or four days of 1,000-1,500 word counts, so at least I partially made up for it; I think since my last check-in I've added around 5,000 new words to my novel. I haven't done any new drawings or paintings, but I have been working on a coloured pencil test/comparison for my other blog, since I want to be more active with that blog in terms of reviews and so on.

Eating healthy is out the window for this week; while I was sick I lost several kilos, so now I have to try to put some weight back on to stop my pants falling down all the time :| Also, I just found out I'm teaching four classes this semester instead of two (as well as still working my other part-time job), which is excellent for my bank balance (especially with Rex still on his medication and the strong possibility he'll have to remain on it for life) but not so good for writing/art/web development time. Ah well, I'll have to find ways to get creative with my time management :) The second semester starts a week from tomorrow, so at least I'll have some time to try to catch up on my goals before I start teaching again.

Judgemental Dog is less than sympathetic about me stressing my brains out...

See how other ROW80ers are going here.

ROW80 Round 7: Goals and 1st Update

I know this post is a few days late, for some reason I got my dates mixed up and thought the round started next Monday :| I blame lack of sleep, I'm still trying to get my sleeping pattern back to some semblance of normality after working midnight to 7am last week. Since the last round, I've added around 2,000 words to my novel, but have probably deleted as much in scenes that became obsolete when I wrote and/or revised other sections. I did manage to do a quick, colourful sketch in my art journal:

I also recently stumbled across Pinterest and thought it might be a good way to organise some of my novel-related inspirations (as well as other random things I like), so I set up my own account. Does anyone else here use it? What sort of things do you use it for?

This round's goals:

• Write at least 500 words every day until semester 2 begins
• During semester 2, write 500 words three days a week
• Keep tinkering with novel outline, especially the two problem areas
• Continue developing web folio
• Produce at least one decent sketch or piece of art work each week
• Visit at least 10 other ROW80er blogs each week

I'm only teaching two classes this semester instead of three, so keeping up with everything should be more doable, though I know that once I start teaching again I'll probably drop off a bit (especially considering how badly I bombed with my writing last semester).

To these productivity/creativity goals, I'm also going to add a personal health goal or two: exercise for 20 minutes every day, and start eating more healthy food. Though I haven't put on any weight, I've been lax with my exercise and eating habits over the last few months, since by the time I get home from working two jobs I'm too tired lazy to cook a proper meal or do much of anything. Exercise will have to be fairly light anyway because of my knee issues but some is better than none, and I can probably cook some decent food during the day and make an extra portion for dinner. Hopefully this will improve my general well-being and energy levels.

To finish off, Judgemental Dog seems unimpressed with my new friend, a Pillow Pet:

Good luck for this round, folks :)

See other ROW80 posts here.

ROW80 Round 6: Slinking Back In...

... With my tail between my legs. Or I would be, if I had a tail. I know I've dropped the ball majorly this round, not just with ROW80 but with writing in general. I think I hugely underestimated how much time/energy would be taken up by tutoring (though I think it has been a good experience for me - as well as helping financially when I have really, really needed it - and I'm hoping to do it again next semester). With semester 1 finished, all that remains is exam marking. I've been pretty slack with writing lately; apart from the odd hundred words here or there, I've barely opened my novel since April, though I did write about 800 words today. Still, now that I have more time, I should be able to get more writing and artwork done. I did at least manage to keep up with all my marking though, so there's that. I have also started tinkering with my folio website. It's pretty basic so far, but I have got most of a functional shell working, so I have something to build upon now.

For the remainder of this round, I am going to try to post once a week, which should be manageable. Ideally, I'll also manage to visit a few other ROW80 blogs. As for my goals, I'll try to resume writing 500 words a day, and if I can't write those words for my main novel, Dark and Silent Waters, I'll at least write them for one of my other WiPs. I have been doing a few paintings and drawings lately, so I'm going to try to keep that up as well; practice, after all, makes perfect :D I'll start with a few simple still lifes and landscapes, but at some stage I want to do proper drawings of Rex and of my novel's protagonist and antagonist; I've already done a few pages of preliminary sketches and costume designs.

Judgemental Dog won't let me off lightly for being slack:

  

See how other ROW80ers are doing here.

ROW80 Round 5 - 13th Update

I know, I know, I've been a bit naughty and missed the last two updates. The first one was because I hadn't really done a lot worth writing about, and the second was because I was busy with work (both jobs) and writing. What I lacked in productivity for the first half of last week I made up for in the second. Oh yes, I made up for it. *cue maniacal laughter*

Three days in a row, I managed to get a little bit done on my main novel in progress, Dark and Silent Waters. I think I got around 2,000 new words for that story, which was pretty awesome since I'd been lagging on it a bit lately. But the real fun started when I started playing around on 750words.com after seeing other people talking about it in the ROW80 Facebook group. Since DASW is kind of 'solidified' in my mind, I found it difficult to be as spontaneous with that story, so instead I decided to start hammering out some of the other story (the one that was a random mash-up of genres) that's been bugging me lately. It seems to be settling more into the fantasy Feudal Japan setting, so at least it has some direction... sort of (and it still seems to want to develop into a romance, though I have no idea why). Hoping to at least get something out of it, I started story-rambling in 750 words... and ended up getting more than 1,000 words three days in a row. Yesterday I actually wrote 5,000 words, which is more than I usually write in a week. Sure, most of them are probably rubbish, but hopefully now that I'm back in writing mode, I can keep up the momentum. At this stage I have what could be an opening (or perhaps second) chapter for the story, which makes me happy; I like to write chronologically, but usually I just can't and end up bouncing around through my story in any old order.

I do feel guilty about not working on my main WiP. I really want to finish it, since I feel like it has potential and I also feel like it's something I can finish, if only I can work out a few small plot kinks. But this new idea is so shiny and fun and it's eating all my creativity :( I've already got around 6,000 words for it, after only a few days of writing, which I suppose is a good thing, but I really wish I could have added those 6,000 words to DASW instead.

Anyhoo, I have to go finish marking some uni stuff before bed. Adios!

Judgemental Dog was so pleased with my progress he even dressed up for the occasion:

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P.S. More Judgemental Dog news: Late last week the vet said we could decrease Rex's medication for his bowel disease to two doses a week. This has made a huge difference to him. He's basically back to his maniac-puppy self, bouncing around like a fool and full of energy. His appetite seems to have returned with a vengeance, since he is now eating all of his food at mealtimes (and then trying to scam some from us as well; he nearly knocked off my ham roll the other day, living up to his Austrian crime-fighting namesake). His paw is completely healed, which means we've been able to take him for a few walks (only short walks, though; every day lately has either been scorching hot or full of torrential rain as is typical for Melbourne). He'll have to be on the medication for a while longer, but at least at this stage it seems he'll beat this bout of the disease as well.

ROW80 Round 5 - 12th Update

I missed the last check-in, but that was because I was busy writing (so I don't think Judgemental Dog will be too hard on me). Unfortunately a lot of it went towards some other random story, but at least a few thousand words went towards my dark fantasy novel. I'm still stuck on the last scene of chapter two; it's almost like I'm afraid to write it because I know it will be crap. Still, I keep plugging away at later chapters, in the (possibly vain) hope that it will somehow prod my brain into punching out the early chapters. I also have one half-chapter or so that I really like, but that I think will probably have to be cut out because of plot/continuity issues. Hopefully I can salvage some of it.

Yesterday I got my revised thesis/journal article back from my supervisor, so now that I've made the last few small changes (delete a sentence here, rephrase a sentence there), it will be good to submit to the journal :D Since uni starts back next Monday and I'll be tutoring two days a week (as well as working four days at my other job), it will be good to have it off my plate.

The review on my Sakura Koi watercolour paints I wrote last week seems to have been getting a lot of hits, so I'm wondering if I should make art reviews a regular thing on my writing blog. It would be a good way to exercise my non-fiction writing muscles (with all my art supplies I'm in no danger of running out of material lol). It will also give me an excuse to buy the new range of water soluble wax pastels Derwent has just brought out :D I should also start doing book reviews again, since I haven't done one since late last year.

I also checked up on my illustrated children's book, Belvedere, and discovered that in the last week I've sold two more copies. I know it's not much, but still... Yay! :)

I haven't had any chocolate or energy drinks in the last week (I know, people who know me are going "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE REAL BEC?!") since I'm actually trying to be a bit healthier. Plus I figure the less I spend on sugary stuff, the more money I'll have for art supplies and books :D I can pretty much feel my synapses hammering at the inside of my skull, shrieking at me to eat something sweet.

I would shank a mo-fo for some M&Ms right now, is all I'm saying.

No Judgemental Dog photo this week. Instead (because I was really really bored) I decided to make a Judgemental Dog video. Here is His Judgemental Holiness playing with the new toy I got him, a giant novelty tennis ball:


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ROW80 Round 5 - 11th Update

Since my last update, I finally managed to meet one of my ROW80 goals for this round; finishing the first draft of my thesis in journal format. I managed to get it from 70 pages or so to around 18, and I've just got it back from my supervisor. Luckily there were no major changes that needed to be made, so I've spent today just fixing up all the little bits and will soon send it back for another look.

For the rest of this week, I want to squeeze in some writing and some painting, as well as mucking around with my modelling clay. I did a bit of writing last night and a bit more this morning; not much in the way of new stuff, just fidgeting with chapter 1 again, since I want to give the second draft of it to my workshopping group to look at. I've had a few ideas for paintings and created a few sketches, so hopefully my artistic muse will smile upon me this week and let me bring some of them to life in more detail. I had a bit of a play with my art supplies today, attempting a small watercolour painting of a rainbow lorikeet (below) and a pastel drawing (which came out crap because apparently I'm just rubbish at using pastels). Since I was bored, I wrote an art supply review on the paints I used for the lorikeet; you can read it here.


I also fell off the wagon and bought more art supplies -.- But it wasn't my fault, they had a huge sale on making it like a hundred bucks cheaper than if I bought the same stuff in Australia and I couldn't help it :O Still, Rex is on a lower dose of medicine now, and I've worked a bit of overtime lately, so at least I won't have to live on canned soup and noodles since I spent most of my money on art supplies...

Judgemental Dog thinks life should be all work and no play.

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ROW80 Round 5 - 10th Update

Short update this week, since I have to go to work soon and I don't have that much to report. I haven't quite finished my thesis but I should have it done by tonight, or tomorrow morning at the earliest. I just have one more section to finish (it's a pig of a section though) and some formatting to do and then I can email it to my supervisor. After that I'll just have to wait til she sends some feedback, so I can revise it and hopefully send it off to a journal for publication. I want to return to the conference paper I wrote last year as well, so I can try to get that published too, but I'll most likely end up doing some sort of artsy stuff; I got some modelling clay on sale the other day so I want to see what I can do with it.

Healthwise, Judgemental Dog continues to improve; he's a lot more cheerful and bouncy than he's been in a long time, and he seems able to walk normally now, without any pain. He's starting to get a bit hyper though; he needs a good walk, but we're not allowed to take him for a walk for at least another week, just to make sure his paw is completely healed. Since the infection had got into the bone, he's got to stay on the medication for at least another week, but it looks like he'll avoid needing surgery.

Judgemental Dog should have no reason to nip me this week.

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ROW80 Round 5 - 9th Update

Since last check in I've finished editing another section of my thesis (the methodology). Only a small section, but at least it's still another bit that's out of the way. Wednesday and Thursday weren't too bad for productivity, but Friday I had one of those days where I woke up and just knew I wasn't going to do anything useful (so I went shopping instead XD). Then, when I settled in on Saturday for what was meant to be a whole day to myself, my old man decided to clean the house to within an inch of its life (even though it was cleaned on Thursday) and to be as noisy as possible while he was doing it, occasionally nagging me to fix something he'd messed up in the first place. Knowing that even if I got into the writing frame of mind I'd probably be interrupted straight away, it was very difficult to stay focused on what I was doing, and today wasn't much better (it did mean I got to spend some time reading though, which was good).

I am struggling to make myself adapt to writing in a non-quiet environment. Ideally I like to work in silence when writing non-fiction/academic stuff (if I'm writing my novel I like quiet music that suits the scene/genre I'm writing), but I don't think I'm ever going to get that while I'm living at home (and I can't afford to move out yet). It seems that every time I set aside writing time lately, my family decides they have to pester me every five minutes or have their TV cranked up to maximum volume. And yes, I have tried asking them for peace and quiet when I need to work on something, but they insist on disrupting me. They know they're doing it; they just don't care. For now all I can do is try to do my writing late at night and early in the morning and say, "To HELL with a healthy sleeping pattern!" Though now I'm starting to get a cold. In the middle of summer. Poo.

I did get some good news though; the other day my Honours supervisor called me and asked if I wanted to tutor in one of the subjects she was teaching, so I'll be teaching three classes a week for that subject, and hopefully more in some other subjects as well (the official staff line-up won't really be decided til the end of Feb). This will give me something else to fill in my days apart from my normal retail job in the evenings, and it will be a good boost for my bank account. I'm also meeting my supervisor later this week to discus my thesis, so I need to make sure it's done by February 7, so I can email it on Wednesday. If I don't get it done, I will offer my rump to Judgemental Dog for a good, solid nip.

On the Judgemental Dog front; on Thursday evening we got a call from the vet with Rex's blood test results. They said we can decrease his medication from two doses per day to one. Not only will this be good for us (the medicine will last longer so we won't have to pay for it as often, cushioning the cost a bit), but it's already making a difference to Rex; though he's still not eating much, he's a lot happier and more like his old self. Since the weather is so hot, he's not up to doing much anyway, but hopefully once the cooler weather comes he'll start being more active, and working up an appetite to go with it.

Judgemental Dog tries to protect his mistress from the dreaded Desk Goblins, with varying degrees of success...

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ROW80 Round 5 - 8th Update

Since my last update I've got a few more pages culled from my thesis. I think my literature review section is more or less okay as it is (have cut it down from 16 pages to about 5), so next I'll be trying to cut down the methodology, prototype description and results sections (which will involve a lot of fart-arsing around to redo all the screenshots and diagrams). The last week or so has been a bit of a washout as far as productivity goes; between the constant interruptions, stressing about the dog and lack of sleep (yes, those last two are probably related), I've had difficulty focusing on my thesis to really get anything done. Needless to say I haven't made my deadline, which makes me feel bad. I feel like I should have started it earlier - and I probably should, after uni I had a month of not really doing anything since I was burned out from study - but it annoys me a bit that, as soon as I decided to start on it, life kept getting in my way (lesson to self; don't take time off, it will only end badly). I really wanted to have it emailed to my supervisor, but all I can really do is finish it as soon as possible and send it to her when it's done.

Now that I can stress less about the dog (will get to this soon), I should be able to concentrate a bit more, so I'm going to set a new deadline for Monday February 6th. I'm working nearly every day until then, but mostly only short shifts in the evening, so I should still have enough time during the day to make some good progress. I want to get it out of the way so I can get back into writing my novel. And I've applied for more tutoring work this year, so if I do end up getting some, I don't want to have to still be worrying about getting my thesis revised and published.

Anyway, to end the update on a good note: We took Rex to the vet last night, fearing that his limp was caused by a displaced hip and knowing that, if this was the case, we'd probably be forced to put him down (a $2000 operation on top of the $2000 we're already paying for his medication for his other disease would have been beyond us, especially since he's so old and ill that the operation could well kill him). Basically for the last several days, we'd all been mentally preparing ourselves to say goodbye to our faithful old dog. However, XRays showed no structural problems in either his hips or his paws (well, his hips have always been a bit dodgy, but they're no worse now than when he was young).

Instead, on examining his paw, the vet concluded that it's simply an infection in his paw (albeit a fairly serious one), possibly caused by a grass seed or something picked up while he was walking. He has to have some fairly hardcore antibiotics for the next two weeks, and he may need some minor surgery to clean it out if it doesn't come good by itself, but considering how worried we were, it's a pretty good outcome. Dad's been washing his paw with an antiseptic lotion, and already the dog is able to walk almost normally (still with a visible limp, but at least he can put weight on his leg now). We also managed to get him to eat a whole bowl of food (we had to pour chicken gravy all over it, but it's a start), so hopefully his appetite will start to return.

Judgemental Dog is just never satisfied.

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ROW80 Round 5 - 7th Update

Not much of a writing update today, because I'm not in much of a mood. Over the last few days I've done some more revision of my thesis, though not as much as I would have liked (every time I set aside time to work on it, my family decided to pester me). I'm hoping I'll actually get some time to myself; I find it difficult to get into 'work' mode when other people are home since I pretty much know I'll either be constantly interrupted or have to put up with blaring TVs or radios. I'm not sure if I'll get my thesis done by the end of January like I hoped, but I'm still going to try, though it means I'll have to spend the next two days solid doing nothing but revising. *sigh* If there's a god of chocolate and energy drinks, pray to them on my behalf O_o

I still haven't touched my novel, but I did write another random scene for the fantasy/steampunk/Feudal Japan/western mashup my brain came up with a few weeks ago, and even came up with a name for the lead female character. One thing that's odd though is that the story seems to be developing a romance thread, which is not normally my thing; I love explosions and battles and fantastic quests as much as the next girl, but generally all the touchy-feely stuff alternatately bores and nauseates me. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the story turns out when I eventually start working on it seriously.

To be honest, I don't think I'll get much writing done over the next week anyway. Rex is not well. We still don't have his blood test results yet, so we don't know if the medication for his bowel disease is working, but I had to stay up with him for half of Thursday night because he was being sick, and he still isn't eating. When I woke up on Friday morning, he was limping badly, and by Friday afternoon he was no longer able to put any weight on his hind left leg. He can't jump up on Mum and Dad's bed, and he won't run to the front window to bark when the postman comes past; two of his favourite hobbies. He has an appointment with the vet on Tuesday to get his blood test results and to have some XRays. He seems to have pain in both his hip and in his paw, so we're not sure if the two are related or completely separate problems. Either way, it'd be nice if the poor old fella could catch a break.

Judgemental Dog was not amused by the photo Dad took of him and set as their computer desktop background...

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ROW80 Round 5 - 5th Update

Family dramas have meant I haven't got as much done as I would have liked since Wednesday, but I've started to make up for it today, writing just over 800 words for my novel and cutting another 8 pages or so out of my thesis. I think one of my later chapters is almost complete, but I still haven't done enough work on the first part of my novel, which is what I really wanted to make progress on.

I also went to a writing workshop meeting yesterday - the first I've been able to attend in months - and it was good to catch up with some of my writerly friends again (and there were biscuits and cake :D). I didn't workshop anything myself, but hopefully I'll have something to submit next month (I've written plenty, just not in any logical/discernable order lol).

I'm hoping that this week I'll have more time to myself; for the last month there's almost always been someone else around annoying me about something or other, which makes it really hard to focus on anything. I still have a fair way to go on my thesis, and I want to make more progress on my novel, since my forward momentum has kind of faltered since the start of the year :(

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, I leave you with my latest work of art (some of you will have seen it when I posted it on my Facebook account). Entitled "Rainbow Dreams", it's hailed by art critics as a daring look into the darkest recesses of the human psyche. A journey through light that brings together heart, mind and soul in a harmonious crescendo of ecstasy.

It's also the results of me scraping off the acrylic skins that dried on my paint palette after I did my children's book illustration backgrounds last year. Hey, if Pollock can make millions from making a mess with paint, so can I, dammit!

Judgemental Dog seems impatient for me to get some writing done...

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Rex was feeling pretty poorly over most of the weekend, causing us all a bit of worry. He seems to be slightly happier now, though he still hasn't eaten much. He's due for another visit to the vet on Tuesday night.

P.S. If anyone else has Words with Friends and wants to challenge me, my user name is RebeccaJFleming. Look forward to playing :)