yannik

Choices and Chances - weekly word-count - week 5

o_yannik@op.pl — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:21:40 GMT

Over double the weekly quota. WOW! 11771. Total - 32983. Gotta keep writing now. And working too...

OMG! Milestone!!!

o_yannik@op.pl — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:18:15 GMT

I've finished third chapter today. I've written over 5000 words today! I wrote the first turning point, messed things up and sent my boys to America. Tomorrow they sail off (or in two weeks book-time). It's one fourth of the book. OMG. I'm brainless.

Choices and Chances - weekly w-count - week 4 and some meta

o_yannik@op.pl — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:10:38 GMT

Firstly the weekly w-count, that is lame this week. Only 4174, but overall I’m still ahead of the goal (which after four weeks is 21000) with 21212. Lovely number, but as you can see my “ahead” is just-just.

Now, two quotes of martyn44 , because they seem to fit together in one general meta.

“People like to read about people, at least some of whom they can empathise with” by David Gemmill,
and “I try to create sympathy for my characters, them turn the monsters loose” by Stephen King

And though I think Stephen King meant the outer monsters, I’ll talk about the inner ones.

Or about their inner cylon.

Cylons, as most of my f-list knows, are evil. For those who do not know: they look like us, they have human physiology, and they claim to have human conscience. But do they? They wiped out billions of inhabitants of the Twelve Colonies in a nuclear blast. They pursued the mere leftovers -- 50 000 souls -- of humanity across the Galaxy, reducing their number to barely over 30 000. They are machines. They had been created by men as chrome robots with artificial intelligence, but then they demanded freedom of choice, free will. They rebelled, run away, and in secret built the humanoid models (those that look like us) on their own, in order to infiltrate the Colonies, and destroy the humanity once and for all.

The humanoid models are the children of humanity, but they are programmed. But they have human physiology and can feel. Can love. Can even have children. But they were responsible of anihilation of the human race.

Are they human, then, or not?

I think we, humans, do pretty awful things to each other, as well. That’s why I think cylons are us. Or the cylons and those leftovers of humanity could have been our ancestors, in times of, say, Atlantis, so we now have all those bad quirks. Although I can’t say that Bill, Laura, Lee... are so crystal clear. And only one of them can be a cylon, now, if any, so, at least the other two are human for sure. And they are all very beautifully flawed.

Someone, please tell me why am I doing a Battlestar Galactica meta, instead of my novel meta?

Okay, what makes people, people? Their flaws? Their inner monsters? I think so, because if a story character is crystal clear, (s)he becomes a caricature. Unreal, unrealistic. And we can’t really empathise with a character that is flawless, because we are not flawless, and when reading about someone like that, we could feel we’re worse, and we might dislike him/her. At least that’s how I feel. So my characters have flaws.

What, then, makes Ethan human? What makes Cornelius human?

Ethan craves control. He organizes his brother’s wedding, and moves it from the family mansion in province to London, because it so suits him, without asking the said brother’s opinion. Of course he has his very valid reasons, but Reginald is pissed. And this is only one of the things Ethan does without asking others what they want. Reginald wants independence, wants to be on his own, with his wife. But Ethan can give him independence... on his terms! What independence is that? He forced his older sister into marriage for the good of the family. Of course in those times these things were done everyday, but by fathers, not younger brothers. Even if those brothers were Dukes.

If he can’t give orders, or otherwise openly rule others’ lives, he manipulates them. And he does it so skillfully, he’s not even always aware of that manipulation himself.

I could justify his need of controlling those around him right away of course, but I shall resist the temptation. There’s the whole book to justify it, or change it. Here, I talk only about flaws.

Cornelius’s main flaw is self-centeredness. Not selfishness, because he is very willing to care for the others, if he’s only told they need care. He’s unable to see it for himself. All he sees are his misfortunes and his tribulations. Most of the time, he thinks he’s the most miserable man on Earth. Then for a brief moment his eyes are opened by someone, and he sees suffering of those around him, but that he quickly forgets.

This self-centeredness results also in Cornell’s inability to read other people’s expressions: anger, friendliness, and the such. And his general disinterest in those. He knows he should read all that and be interested in other people, but he tends to forget it. This makes him a perfect target for manipulation.

Cornelius is also impossibly honest. And even though you might think this is not a flaw, but a good thing, actually, imagine someone you don’t even know, telling you that they don’t like your hair, or that you look fat in that dress, or them walking away on you in the middle of the conversation, because they got bored. Because that’s what dear Cornell does sometimes. He tries to remember this is all impolite, but again, he tends to forget.

I hope this begins to make them human. They have a good side to them, as well. And other, minor flaws, and some totally boring too, probably. And it’s so nice to explore all that.

Instead of writing...

...

Choices and Chances weekly word count - week 3

o_yannik@op.pl — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:11:18 GMT

Didn't post last weekend, because I was away, and during the week had very little time anyway. But last week's w-count was quite good - 5587. This week is even better ( there must be some mistake! no there's not! ) - 8895! WOW! That brings me to total 17038. Just a few more words and I'll have the average 1K words per day. That would be something, heh. Oh, it's good as it is. :)

The story of my stories

o_yannik@op.pl — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:00:32 GMT

truepenny posted this entry about her novels, and reading her and other peoples' entries I thought I'd like to review my own novels. If I can remember tham, that is.

- 2, if I remember correctly, didn't really have a tittle, or I simply do not remember it, and I was writing it back in high school. It was about a mystical world that one could get to through some "gates" from another fantasy world. There wasn't much magic in it, just travel and adventure.

-1, Europa, was science-fiction about an expedition to the Jupiter moon named Europa. Mostly about loneliness in space and disagreements among people. Turned out short, 40k words, or therebouts. I sent it to a contest and never heard of it again.

1st. The Magical Ring - I'm still ashamed of this tittle, but it was sort of force on me by the publisher - was originally tittled by me, damn, not sure how to translate it... "The Wizard and the Wizardess"? That should give you the idea. It was in Polish, and sounded better. Fantasy, travel, adventure and magical artifacts. I invented a new race for this book, the inteligent birds, that held swords with their claws, built cities on the rocks, rode in baskets pulled by goose and were very bird-like. My elves were cat-like, agressive, clawed, liked to fight, have fun and be independent. I loved cats then. Okay, I still do, but I don't have one now. The book was a prequel to my -2nd book. It's the only novel I published and I really think it did not deserve to be published.
And it's the first novel I seriously completed, having an idea about what I was doing. Europa was not completed, by any serious standards.

2nd. The Dragon's Gift - the sequel to the previous one. Darker and ends with the death of one of the main characters. The scene I had in mind from the day one. Yes, I always "Have a Plan". Not published, though I sent it to the publisher who sold the first one. O, well...

3rd. Sister - the final part of the trilogy. I like to have things finished. Couldn't start anything new, until I had this one closed.

In the meantime I had plenty ideas, and wrote a few short stories, but never felt particularly good in them. As I finished the trilogy, my first girl was already one year old, then there came the second daughter, plus I had all the reviews of the first book. I needed time to get over it and raising kids was time-consuming. So I started writing fan-fiction, because it was easier. I could consider those stories novelettes. There were 22 stories, total w-count over 200 K. Could make a novel, ey?

It's hard to give numbers to the next novels, because I tend to swich them back and forth.

4th could be The Prophecy of the Brown Dwarf. Fantasy, dark, nihilistic, first draft almost-completed. Will most likely continue to work on that.

5th - Choices and Chances, the one I'm working on now. My first historical book. And of the newest idea. I didn't have a novel idea after that one, and it was a year ago. But it's good, I have too many ideas anyway.

The numbering of these two may change.

Then there are novels that I plan to write. But having some - even if fictional - control over them is important to me too.

6h - I'd like to be the Guardians, or whaever the title will be. The idea is already some twelve years old.

7th or 8th I plan to make either The King without a Crown, or The Sun of the Dominia. And I fear that I will write them before the Guardians anyway. Or, should I abandon the Guardians altogether?

Choices and Chances - weekly word-count - week 1

o_yannik@op.pl — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:55:46 GMT

My weekly goal this round is no less than 3000 words. No over-exerting dear self this time. And in the very first week I'm already behind - 2556 - heh. But to be honest the week started on Tuesday (April 1st), and I'm going to be counting at the end of the weekend (Sunday), so this week was one day shorter. It's okay, then.

What do my characters want?

o_yannik@op.pl — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:17:23 GMT

So. There was a question on January 6th by astres: Where did the inspiration for your novel come from? based on a quote of Jack London: "You can't wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club."

It's easy. My inspiration came from Horatio Hornblower movies, and from wonderful performance by Jamie Bamber and Ioan Gruffud. It's that simple. And boy, did I go after it with a club once I saw it! It was a year ago, and it's still fresh, pretty and blossoming!

Then there was another question on January 8th by telscha: "What does your hero want?". And the quote: "First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!" by Ray Bradbury.

This requires a longer response, because it's important to know what the main character (MC) wants, so we can deny him that. Or give him that in the worst possible way. Sometimes the character doesn't even know what he really wants, but we - the author - must know that.

Cornelius knows what he wants. He wants to be independent from his father. He would go a long way to get that, but each time he tries, he gets hit upside the head, so he's about to accept his fate. He also knows what he doesn't want - he doesn't want to become like his father when he "grows up". He doesn't want to be a doctor. But it seems he can't escape that. That's how he is when we meet him.

Ethan wants independence as well, but for different resons - he's ill and when striken by his ailment, he's largely dependent on those around him. Another thing he wants is the wealth of his family. He's the head of the family and he makes sure all his younger siblings and his mother are well suited. He also thrives success. He climbs the social ladder very fast and is on the straight way to the highest honors in the Kingdom. These are the things he's aware off.

What he doesn't know is that he wants to have a family of his own. He thinks he doesn't want to have a wife or children - due to his illness. But the truth is he wants to have a heir, very much. And this unaware need is what drives most of his actions. Especially those that will have the most potentially devastating effects.

I think I should find out what is the hidden need of Cornelius, because I'm pretty sure we all have such hidden desires. And they are much more responsible for our decisions, because we cannot control them not being aware of their existence. Well, that's a problem I need to think about. What crossed my mind just now - his needs are negative - not be near his father, and not be like his father. So the truth is he doesn't know what it is he wants, just what he doesn't want.

So what is it he wants? It comes a long way into the past and is so deeply burried, even I had the problem to uncover it, but I think Cornelius wants to find the cure for his mother. The problem is the mother has been dead for nine years. But I think I found the hidden motives for Cornell's actions. He desperatelly needs to find a cure for those he cares about. At least the story will help him to set free from his mother's spirit, even if it entangles him in another impossible situation.

With this I'm rather pleased. I knew these reflections would be helpful. :)

about Forshadowing

o_yannik@op.pl — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:16:20 GMT

In yesterday’s novel_in_90 word-count post mnfaure quoted T.S. Eliot: "In my beginning is my end", and she asked if we try to foreshadow important elements of our ending in our story's opening?
Having thought about it in the hot bath I figured I actually do.

To start off on a funny note, in the first paragraph I said that Cornelius had a clear vision of his future life, which is a pretty obvious forshadowing. Of course Cornelius’s vision will not be realized, instead something completely different will happen. But then, if the UNEXPECTED didn’t happen to our good characters, what would those books be about?

Another thing is not forshadowing exactly, but it’s the mention of the main theme of the story – independence. From other people, from the position we have in world, and the independence of the nation(s). The word “independent” is the 490th word of the novel.

The background to this story will be American Revolution, sometimes referred to as the War of Independence. The story starts in

England

on the 4th of July, when the Declaration of Independence was signed on the other side of the Ocean. The characters don’t know about it yet, but if that isn’t a forshadowing, then what is? The will be a lot of discussion between the aristocrats Cornelius is going to encounter in this first chapter, about the political situation in the Thirteen Colonies. And little he knows that he will be involved in that conflict in less than a half a year.

There are other threads of the story that are not being forshadowed, as well. But I’m not going to disclose them now.

There are often good questions asked in those word-count posts, and I remember I wanted to answer to a few of the previous round question in the light of this book. I think I’m going to do that, if time permits.

Write an novel with us!

o_yannik@op.pl — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:09:32 GMT

Another Novel In 90 challenge starts with a new round on... April 1st. And no, this is not a joke.

We welcome writers of any genre and style, those who want to learn how to be consistent with writing. Or those who already are consistant. It really doesn't matter what you write, as long as you want to commit to writing 750 words per day. It's not much. It's only three pages. Or around an hour of work daily, making cofee and checking e-mail often included. And the community is really great, welcoming, fun and supportive. It's worth at least a try. Come and join! (or at least WATCH if you're not sure you want to join...):

novel_in_90
.

The Prophecy of the Brown Dwarf - final word count

o_yannik@op.pl — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:07:34 GMT

Well. I guess I need to post this post, finally. I'm done with "Prophecy of the Brown Dwarf". At least with it's first draft.

I've been on vacation the week before Easter, at the sea. Polish sea in March is cold to say the least. The water temperature is 2 degrees, the air temperature wasn't much higher this year (two years ago Easter was late April, so it was warmer), and it was rather windy. But me and the kids spent a lot of time at the beach, because it's oh-so-healthy, lots of Iodine and the such. Well, maybe, but my runny nose turned into sinusitis as soon as I got back home which was some four days ago. I've taken antibiotics (again), because I really don't have the time to get well on my own immune system. Enough about my un-healtiness, though.

Back to The Novel. As I said, I'm proud to announce the first draft finished. Or, well, almost. Chapters One, Two and Three are written okay. For the first draft that is. The story requires a little rewrite in chapters Four, Five and Six. One thread needs to be added, some stuff needs to be straightened up, to be better aligned with the rest of the story. Chapters Seven, Eight and Nine need to be written, because they are in a very-detailed-plotline stage right now. A lot of things happening in those chapters will be a direct result of what happens in the earlier chapters, which is obvious, right? So I can’t write them before I write the earlier ones.

I didn't get to the 100 000 I planned, but finished at over 75 000. And I didn't continue to the end of April as I initially intended. This is all due to two reasons. One is that there were some necessary changes made with the plot in the middle chapters, and I needed to re-assess my approach to some themes. I might overcome this however, and finish the draft of those three final chapters as it stands right now, if there wasn't for the second reason.

I'm now reading "The Song of Ice and Fire" by Georege RR Martin. And this is the book about the same thing I'm writing the Prophecy! Kingdoms waging wars for silly reasons, when a bigger threat of legends awaken anew is hovering above. He even has the similar universe, with some signs and symbols from sci-fi rather than fantasy - the comet, or what? I bet there's an explanation to the weird seasonal changes in his world, as there is in mine... Eight thousand years history? This is only a coincidence, is it? Plus of course the fabulous characters (would I dare match this?), the descriptions of cruelity and death I wasn't capable of, though I had hoped to be, and the detail of the world I can only dream of. Of course the guy has five or maybe seven LARGE (as in 300000 words?) books to write it all, while I attempted to have it all said in two 100 000. I can't possibly match him. I need to re-think the whole idea, to not try to compete with such master, because then, obviously, I'll fail. I have to give it a slightly different angle, but I don't know what yet.

Finally there's this third reason, the one I'm happy about. It's "Choices and Chances", my next project. I already can't wait to start writing it, on April the 1st.

A Quiz

o_yannik@op.pl — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:15:16 GMT

Snagged from

silwyna

A really short Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid. With apparently lots of varying results.

And because I couldn't decide how to answer some questions (and the answer you give to one question detemines what question you are asked next!), I took the test thrice. Um...

You're Prufrock and Other Observations!

by T.S. Eliot

Though you are very short and often overshadowed, your voice is poetic
and lyrical. Dark and brooding, you see the world as a hopeless effort of people trying
to impress other people. Though you make reference to almost everything, you've really
heard enough about Michelangelo. You measure out your life with coffee spoons.

You're Cat's Cradle!

by Kurt Vonnegut

You believe quite firmly that free will deserted you long ago and far
away. As a result, it's hard to take responsibility for anything. Even though you show
great potential as a leader of a small 3rd world country, the choices are all made ahead
of time. You're rather fond of games involving string. Your fear of nuclear weaponry is
trumped only by your fear of ice.

You're Animal Farm!

by George Orwell

You are living proof that power corrupts and whoever leads you will
become just as bad as the past leaders. You're quite conflicted about this emotionally
and waver from hopelessly idealistic to tragically jaded. Ultimately, you know you can't
trust pigs. Your best moments are when you're down on all fours.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

And frankly, out of the three I agree with the first one the most. Hmm

.

Prophecy of the Brown Dwarf - weekly w-count - week 10

o_yannik@op.pl — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:07:51 GMT

3561
Very lame.

50266 / 100000 words. 50% done!

70 / 120 days. 58% gone!

.

Prophecy of the Brown Dwarf - weekly w-count - week nine?

o_yannik@op.pl — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:57:27 GMT

5197

Shame. But I took a day off yesterday. Planned to do that from Sunday, because I’m starting to feel overloaded. Then I got -- um -- distracted further by this and by that, but I think I wouldn’t convince myself to write anyway, because I had a pile up at work on top of that. And I am overloaded with this story. Maybe I should take a break and write something else for a while? I think I’ll stick with this project till the end of the novel_in_90round, though. Only four weeks left.

Anyway. I am now at:

46705 / 100000 words. 47% done!
In:

63 / 120 days. 53% gone!

What gives - I should be writing 930 words daily.

Plotwise... Not even going to say it.

.

In memoriam

o_yannik@op.pl — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:10:40 GMT

Jeff Healey. He was the first celebrity a “fanned”. Wasn’t very popular worldwide, and barely known where I lived, but somehow I was impressed with him. His attitude maybe? A blind guitarrist, whose debut album was tittled “See the Light.” I used to listen to his music, collecting articles and photos from German version of “Bravo” magazine, because there wasn’t a “Bravo” in Poland at the time, and generally “fanning”. I even got his official fan-club address in Canada, but never really wrote there.

Then I started listening to different kinds of music, although never forgot him altogether. And just this weekend I thought, hey! There wasn’t any internet, or YouTube, when I fanned Jeff Healey! So I youtubed some of his videos and live performances and watched them, still impressed with how amazingly he played guitar. Not my cup of tea anymore, but great he was.

Little I knew he was dying at the time. Died of cancer, yesterday.

Rest in peace, Jeff.

Prophecy of the Brown Dwarf - weekly w-count - week 8

o_yannik@op.pl — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:32:12 GMT

5589 this week

41508 / 100000 words. 42% done!

56 / 120 days. 47% gone!

And I have a cold this week. Nothing to add...

Prophecy of the Brown Dwarf - weekly word-cound

o_yannik@op.pl — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:57:51 GMT

6764

WoW!

35919 / 100000 words. 36% done!

49 / 120 days. 41% gone!

Although, to get down a little from those clouds of joy, I need to remind, dear self, that plot-wise, we’re before a quarter of the book! Oh, well. The weeklie is a goodie anyway. Keep it up, self!

Prephecy of the Brown Dwarf, weekly w-count

o_yannik@op.pl — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:34:44 GMT

2605

2605. That between some kind of pile-up at work; managing kids, while hubbie has his own pile-up at work and visits home for two hours daily on a GOOD day; between worrying that my older one is a wierdo and that maybe she should go to that school where the teachers will not be MORONS, who say she’s reatarded, because she can read (could when she was four!) and calculate hundreds at the age of six, and knows biological systematics, but eats with her fingers and barks at other children sometimes and refuses to take off her hood for a few hours in the morning. Oh, don’t forget crawling under the table for “no reason, whatsoever”. Yeah, I am worried for her, but I KNOW why she’s like that. Now I need to convince the school system, what here, where I live, is a challenge. Especially, since my social skills suck as much as hers. And on top of that the school I’m thinking about only can accept THAT ammount of kids, and there are more applicants than there are places.

Shit!

Now, I’m tired with the book. I’m tired with forcing myself every day to write that 750, and I’m tired that most of the days, there’s less than that.

I hate the fact that this week I wrote less than half the community goal. I try to tell myself that now it will get easier, but will it? Really? Why?

Gads, I could at least WORK today, to have that overload shit out of the way, but instead what? I’m ranting! Maybe I need to rant? HEEELP!!!

Oh, and btw, I’m really posting these weeklies for my own reference later, but it’s lovely that you comment on them f-list, makes me feel important somehow. THANK YOU! :*

29155 / 100000 words. 29% done!

42 / 120 days. 35% gone!

And eta: I’ve just read a very nice comment on my story and got a new shiny nick-name for my character, so now I’m a little better. Thank you suffolkgirl. Also, I think I finally started to *get* the readers. There are two readers, actually (*wink-wink, girls*), so who knows, maybe I only get a specific kind of readers, but their reactions are exactly how I expect them, so that’s lovely.

Prophecy of The Brown Dwarf - weekly word-count

o_yannik@op.pl — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:28:50 GMT

4355

Could have been better, but could have been worse too. I forced myself to write over 400 words today. Wouldn’t write them if it wasn’t for the novel_in_90 obligation.

I must also note that this weekend I overcame a huge obstacle on my path. I wrote the scene that had refused to be written some three years ago, when I’d last attempted to write this book. I’d stopped writing then. So as of now, I’m entering an uncharted yet territory. Well, not exactly uncharted, as I have a detailed plot-line for the rest of the book. Actually I’m hopin once I finish this chapter, writing will become much easier.

As of now I’m at:

26550 / 100000 words. 27% done!

In:

35 / 120 days. 29% gone!

Prophecy of The Brown Dwarf - weekly word count

o_yannik@op.pl — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:31:14 GMT

22195 / 100000 words. 22% done!

28 / 120 days. 23% gone!

Still one percent behind myself. Aaaargh!

Prophecy of The Brown Dwarf - weekly word count - Week Three

o_yannik@op.pl — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 07:03:56 GMT

Okay, I’m admitting this, I’m gonna finish this draft at the end of April, there’s no other way. But I can’t allow myself any leeway any more. Hmmm...

17434 / 100000 words. 17% done!

21 / 120 days. 18% gone!

Brilliant discussion on writing

o_yannik@op.pl — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 07:06:05 GMT

If anyone's interested in "why it's so magical to WRITE"--

( This is why )

I'm all choked up after reading most of people's responses, but I think what moved me the most is this, by martyn44:

"The magic will come when it wants to come. We don't control it. What we do is make ourselves as ready as we possibly can be to serve it when it does make an appearance."

Off to write my today's 750.

Prophecy of The Brown Dwarf - weekly word count

o_yannik@op.pl — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:14:09 GMT

Bad. 13064

13064 / 100000 words. 13% done!

14 / 90 days. 16% passed!

Also:

1 / 10 chapters. 10% done!

However I count it, I'm behind with regards to time. Unless I admit I'm going to finish this in April.

14 / 120 days. 12% passed!

Doesn't look so bad then. But I didn't think I'd have to admit to that in only second week.

I'm having trouble, because this is, like, seventh draft really, so I want it to be not-all-crap. I'm trying to write it well, think too much, don't let the words flow, and end up writing nothing. Today was a total disaster. Gotta try harder tomorrow then. Here's to tomorrows!

Memememe

o_yannik@op.pl — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:05:34 GMT

First meme as well, and last I'm afraid. They take too much time. ;)

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Customer Handling

2. Graphic Designer

3. Architect

4. Town Clerk
But I consider myself a writer, though all the money I ever earned for that are less than I now earn in a month.

Four movies I would watch over and over:
Not good with movies, so I'll change it to:
Four music records I would listen to over and over:
1. Battlestar Galactica Soundtrack. All seasons. Not all the pieces, but many

2. Nigel Kennedy and the Kroke Band "East meets East"

3. all Clannad

4. Simon and Garfunkel "Best of"

Oh! And four books I could read over and over (or rather four series...):
1. Walter Jon Wiliams "Aristoi" - this one is a book actually
2. Orson Scott Card "Ender's Saga" specifically "Xenocyde"
3. Frank Herbert "Dune" and the all that
4. Jacqueline Carey "Kushel's Legacy"

Four Places I have lived

1. Krakow (Cracow) - was born there

2. Kielce - where I grew up
3. Krakow again where I went to Technical University
4. Wilkowice near Bielsko-Biala - a very short, very weird period of my life.
Then back to Kielce where I live now. All in Poland of course.

Four TV Shows that I watch:
1. Battlestar Galactica

2. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

3. Star Trek: Voyager
4. Lost

Four Places I have been:
1. Great Britain (London, Plymouth, Land's End, Giblartar (okay, I'm cheating, I know, but I won't fit Spain in here, so...)

2. Italy (Venice, Florence, Rome, Capri)

3. France (Paris - my honey moon!, Nicea)

4. Czech (Prague, Kadan, Klaszterec, Karlovy Vary)

People who e-mail me and message (regularly):
Heh, I'm not really e-mailing any more. Most of my correspondence goes through comments in people's posts, and them commenting to mine. So...
1. Claire

2. Jessie

3. Silke

4. Helen

Four of my favorite foods
1. Scrambled eggs

2. Bread with cheese and salad

3. Chocolate

4. Boiled eggs

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. where I am, I like it here
2. only doing something else, namely writing, but it's too late and thoughts don't stick

3. asleep in my bed

4. somewhere where it's not so damn cold

Things I am looking forward to this year:

1. Finishing "Prophecy of the Brown Dwarf"

2. Writing "Choices and Chances"
3. Maybe checking if I'm ready to write "Guardians"

4. New season of BSG

weekly w-count

o_yannik@op.pl — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:48:18 GMT

Need to post this for self for future reference. Re-posted from

novel_in_90

Will be cheating now: 9069

9069 / 100000 words. 9% done!

I'm cheating, because I started mid-December, but the progress is a progress...

7 / 90 days. 8% passed!

9% prevails over 8%, so I'm still ahead, though not much. :(

On the other hand I've always though I'll finish this at the end of April, not March. But for now I'll believe I can do it within the Ni90 round.

PIMPING !!!

o_yannik@op.pl — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:14:35 GMT

Yo! Forget New Year! On January the 1st starts The New Round of Novel In 90 !!! Write a novel in ninety days. It's easy! It's only 67500 words. In three months. That's 5250 words per week. And 750 words in a day. It's not much, it's three pages, about an hour daily. You can to it! I can do it! I'm going to do it! Or so I keep telling myself.

To all the writing peoples on my f-list - come in and join novel_in_90 ! It's fun, it's supportive and it's productive. I know it works for me. Drop by and check out if it will work for you, too.

Don't know what it's all about? Here's the world's fastest not-faq:

by matociquala

Do I have to start on January 1st?

No.

Do I have to type "the end" at the end of the manucript?

No.

So just writing 67,500 words counts?

Yes. Most novels these days are longer than that, anyway, so if you're starting from square one, you might not finish on time. That's okay. You'll be so close to done by then that if you don't finish afterwards, we will mock you.

Will there be another round after this one?

Round?

What do I have to do to participate?

Write an average of at least 750 words a day for 90 days on the same project.

Do I have to start a new project?

No.

What do I get if I finish?

Not mocked.

Who will track my progress?

You will. There will be a daily post to comment on and crow. There will be a weekly post to out yourself on if you failed.

If I don't make wordcount, who will make sure I report it?

Only your own dark knowledge of inner cowardice. But if we notice you not turning up for roll-call, we will probably mock you behind your back.

What do you get out of this?

I lose a month's vacation. I'm just here to make </a></font></b></a>atheilen do her homework.

What's the purpose of this?

Making </a></font></b></a>atheilen do her homework. Or, you know, teaching people that writing books is mostly about getting their butt in the chair.

Are there any other rules?

No.

Can I work on a revision or a short story collection or a bunch of different projects?

That's between you and your God. Why on earth would I have control issues about what you're writing? On the other hand, if you work on seventy different projects, you will be defeating the purpose of, you know, having most of a novel done three months from now, so I sort of think you're wasting your time and continuing bad habits.

And we might mock you.

Can I work on other things while I work on this?

Dude, why should I care? I have a novella due April 1st. You can bet I will be working on two things in tandem.

What's this about, then?

Self-Discipline.

Bitch. Who died and elected you God?

What makes you think I'm in charge of anything?

Convinced yet? Yes? Good. Remember to write your 750 words on January the 1st and then click

novel_in_90

to report! Or, you know, January 2nd, if you party too long on New Year's Eve. :)