Shrek 4: The Review

Shrek Forever After [2010]

Shrek Forever After Movie Poster

So, I don't just like to watch action films or adult-rated films. In fact, every now and then I like to branch out and see a kid's movie. And I rate kid's movies differently than I do movies for teens or movies made for adults. Why? Because not all children films are really made for adults. This is definitely not one of them.

Synopsis:

This is a movie about the character's you've come to know and love from the first three Shrek films. It starts out with a birthday party for the three ogre children Shrek and Fiona had and slowly Shrek becomes more and more angry at the life he's living. Finally, he just wants to break away and is granted the opportunity when handed a magical contract by Rumpelstiltskin. Well, as anyone could have guessed, the contract has two sides to the deal and so the rest of the movie is about getting the contract null and void (to put it in the simplest of terms).

The Verdict: 3 / 5 Stars

Unlike the first film which had a really nice, new flavor to it (something different that was about the same old, so it goes), this movie didn't have that sort of charm. And since the second movie (Shrek 2) is in my opinion the best one yet, there was a lot on the table. Unfortunately, the plot line was so predictably the same and the fantasy land that it's based in just wasn't played up the way it should have been. So I felt like there was a lot left to be desired. For instance, in Shrek 2 they really play up the fact that Far Far Away is a hip, cool town. They play up the characters, they really work on the theme of the fairy tale, and because of that it has the same charm the first one had but with just more of it. This one did not exactly have that. In fact, it was like they made up their own charm instead of working with what fairy tales told.

Beyond that, the plot was as basic as it could get. You knew when everything was going to happen, you knew there wasn't going to be any plot twists, and you knew who the bad guy was and what he was going to do. In fact, the plot was so easily laid out for anyone over the age of 6 that it really hurt the story. So I would have loved in they would have reworked it to add in some sort of twist that would leave me thinking about it in the end. Too bad.

And if that's not bad enough, I felt like all the characters weren't played up very much in this one. It was a new movie all about Mike Myers instead of about the entire cast. I think that's what really made the charm of the second one was the large ensemble of people in it that all played an astounding part. But this movie, with the exception of the cook (that I liked) there wasn't much of a cast to be had. Donkey was Donkey, Puss in Boots was fat, and Fiona played up her usual sort of character. So it would have been nice to have seen more of the side characters come in, maybe develop them some more. I think that's what was missing and why I subtracted another star.

My personal feelings? 3/5 stars, as in it's worth it for the kids to see.

Source Code: The Review

Source Code [2011]

Source Code Movie Poster

Alright, so the movie I'm actually currently in the middle of watching is, imagine that, Source Code. I'm writing this review now because above all, I'm sort of board with the plot. But no worries, we'll get to that in a second.

Synopsis:

So the story starts with a man who wakes up on a train, not sure where he is or who the person talking to him is. Immediately things start happening, the situation starts moving onwards and then, bam, the train explodes. The man then wakes up in a dark room with a  glowing screen in front of him. He's strapped into a chair, talking to someone he's never met before. Then they start informing him what's happening, he's in a version of a simulation and he has to go back. So, the story continues where the main character begins going back and replaying the same last eight minutes.

The Verdict: 3 / 5 Stars

The acting is exactly what you would expect from Jake Gyllenhaal, really good and brings you into the whole thing. And the other people around all take up part too, helping with this action flick to make it better. So why not a perfect score for this movie? Well, what great acting and nice action cannot replace is an amazing story, which this movie lacks. From the second time through seeing the train scene I had the whole thing figured out, to which I'm not going to say what, but I knew everything about the main character, I knew who was causing the problem, and I just was bored the rest of the way as I watched him jump through a bunch of loops (some of which were stupid and made no sense) to get to what I had figured out on the second time around. And even now as I keep watching through this, I just know exactly what's going to happen. So it's less interesting.

Don't get me wrong, I have all the love for movies where they play back the same scene again and again and you learn it's got a deeper depth than that. But this one wasn't that thick, in fact it was lacking depth and that's what hurts me. I was really hoping for a project that left more to be wanted. And not just in the repeating scene, but also in the current world where real things are happening. The people just aren't as interesting as I was hoping. So it hindered what would have been a cool idea. Overall, 3/5 stars is what I'd give this for that large story lapse.

The Paranoid and the Save

So I'm sitting here, writing up a report (Gasp, not the story? And during the summer none-the-less?) for my summer class (Oh, there's the sense) when suddenly and violently my copy of Microsoft Word goes dead. I know, right? That's a dream killer.

Except I guess I use Microsoft Word and computers so much that I've just gotten into a habit of saving every time I stop writing. Not that any of that matters (cause I have auto-save set to like 5 minutes... I hate losing work), but the difference was definitely nice this time since the repair build wasn't a good copy but my 2 minute old copy was excellent. So go me, save some time, dance break!

Now back to what we all really care about, my other Word projects. Broken Falls, as my friend probably has been killing me to write more and more of, will be put on hold until after tomorrow. Why? Because I have a test tomorrow and so I don't think time spent writing a novel will be the best way of studying. So until then, bye bye writing and hello random notes!

With that said, Broken Falls has entered the final story stages. As I told my friend last night (and I know she still wants to kill me for this), I'm at the part where I feel there are lots of mysteries but not enough explanations. Its time to start pulling those mysteries together, showing how they are all solved, and giving the readers what they really want, a conclusion. I know, from me that's a freaking insane idea considering the last whole story I finished got me sent to the vice principals office. I'm not sure why, I thought my story was very nicely depressing... so why would they think I'm suicidal all of a sudden? Which reminds me, don't let copies of your suicidal novels fall into the hands of teachers, principals, loved ones, or generally anyone that you know. Seriously, they all take it as if you wrote a diary about it when in truth some stuff had to be made up to make a better story and they don't know the difference between reality and writing.

By the way, while on that subject, the teacher that got the copy and turned me in for it was totally stupid. She failed to realize that all normal high school students are depressed (Where the abnormal ones end up never achieving anything greater in life) and that writing was a way to let out the steam for them. When did she finally come to realizing this? When she taught the creative writing class and on one paper there were 28 sad, good, emotional stories, 1 terribly written and uninteresting happy story, and then my story which fell right into the omg poetically amazing but no one there cares cause it's a bunch of high school bastards. (I wonder if I still have that short story...). At any rate, moral of the story is all high school students are depressed as they should be.

By the way, I just checked all of my secret story hiding locations and I can't find that story. I found the story that got me in trouble but the other one seems to have disappeared. I'll send that story to my friend, she can read it I guess. (And on another 'nother note, I just found a creepy one that had an ending... I'll send that as well). I've been writing since high school, so the possibility that I have short stories completed is there (and a lot of them I remember but not as well as when I wrote them. My style has changed, my pen name is... well I don't have one yet... and its just kind of weird to look back and think I completed something (Even if it was short).

For reference, my longest completed story is 3,821 words and 5 pages long (42 KB of space) and my current story is 101, 110 words (I didn't make that up, its just weird on its own) and 133 pages long (376 KB of space). So a little bit bigger.

Alright, back to my report... then bed... then class... or something...

Words since last post: 599
Total Words: 101,110

To Answer my Friends Question

My friend asked me a simple question when I secretly sent her the last chapter, which was of course, "Are you being sexy and writing more again?" (Words may have been added or removed to dramatize that last sentence) My simple answer to those that read this blog is yes. Yes I have continued writing my story again and yes I am finding it very much enjoyable. Maybe its just something about the month of July that gets me all writing happy, maybe I'm just kind of in the mood for something kind of horror-struck (Actual horror content of this novel to be decided/determined/decimated). I think its a combination.

I've moved onto chapter ten, which has the most original title ever, though I'm not ready to post it yet so tough luck to all those kids caring (That's like what, three and a half of a stump. Man I have an awesome fan base). Unlike previous chapters, chapter ten is a little bit of everything. Things move forward, plot moves forwards, things are introduced, plot moves forward, things get closer to chapter eleven, plot gets faster, things get faster, people get faster, faster gets faster, and so forth. I know that's not telling much, but I literally just got off of a chapter that was like full-pace run (wait, that sounds wrong) and had to actually slow it down to capture the moment. I know, that goes against everything I said I was going to do, but now we pick it up again since the next chapters are more about the ending. That's right, the past chapters were really all a nice set-up and now comes the action-packed, thrilling ending where suddenly thoughts I had come to closure and thoughts I want to leave open... well obviously stay fairly wide open.

And that's where Book 2 comes in... which will of course be titled (that's the actual title... screw the public I want something weird and eye catching). In continuing this blog to continue with my writing, I will now change scope to be different. First of all, the count at the bottom of the blog will be of what I've written since the last blog followed by the current total. Why am I changing this? Because I don't really want to go through the math of figuring out how awesome I've been doing each month and I'm still very much busy and unable to spend time on such things. Instead I'd rather rant (that's what blogs are for). So I'll try to post updates on a regular basis (which for me is what... once every three months maybe except for when I first started) and I'll try to keep the word-counts up to at least 1,000 words, which is about a page and a half of microsoft word single space writing. To my friend, this is good considered its about 10,000 words to a chapter (roughly) and 40,000 words until the end of the book (un-roughly).

So lets get that pace-maker back on and roll through some pages!

Tonight's Count: 1,536
Total Words: 100,511

Post 61 or Chapter 9 Finished

I think its interesting, for the past chapters of the book I've been writing at least 10,000 words. Now I'm actually pulling that back because what I'm really heading for is for something that will resemble what I meant for it to be from the get go. With chapter 8 I really was able to change the pace and the direction, but with that same change in pace/direction I also need to move onto the faster style.

Things happen, they happen much faster, and they probably will continue to happen at that speed for most of the rest of the story. The characters are down, the plot is set up, and its time for things to just unfold naturally. As such, I feel a shorter chapter to get the characters from point A to point B is what's needed.

Now with that said, I don't think that chapter 9 is in anyway less important than previous chapters. It just had a small point to make and a few things to collect, then its time to move on. That's how these things work sometimes. And I honestly thought about continuing it into the next area, but I felt it might be better as its own little thing. In my re-read of the story, I might do the same with previous chapters to make them go faster.


Anyway, onwards to chapter 10...

Words since last word thing: 1512
Total Words: 98,975

3 Months in 1 Blog

So let me just start by saying that I am currently waiting for both Coffee and my computer to restart. With that out of the way, let me also just add that I haven't really written anything in the story since then. Is it out of my mind. Not really. I've just been either stressed, busy, or just not in the mood to write. Worse yet is that I kind of feel like putting down that book and going back to my previous one, RED, and restarting it. Why? Because I have all these ideas on how to do it better and more correctly than before that will allow me to not get stuck and actually finish it.

On that note let me describe how RED current was working out to be. There was a main character who had an interesting (no, really!) past and for some reason decided to spend his life as a detective. He gets a call out from the middle of nowhere and they ask him to find their daughter. Blah blah blah blah, more characters, and next thing you know I was in a hole.

Another important part to RED was that all the characters were based around two scenarios. The first one was that they would all be considered a "color" and as such that would turn into both their name and a bit of their personality. T he second personality was based around a dance of some sort (very subtle in the story, but one could notice it if they were looking). Although I liked the characters that this created, it did not create any seen friction that could continue into a full blown story of amazing proportions. That is a skill that I can only think I have currently been able to develop. And yes, Plots are hard to make and even more complicated to make great.

So what do I want to do to RED that changes it completely and makes it possible to complete? Well, for starters, I want to base characters and the scenes they are in off of colors. In this way I can get a much more dramatic scene (as will be seen in the re-write) as well as a possible self style to the story. I'm even considering taking it to the next level and using it in the text a bit (though most likely I wont on the first version) just to really have some fun with it. The second thing I want to do is add a little bit of LA Noir. Okay, enough of RED, that's actually not even started and I just wanted to give my friends who had read what was written an idea of why I might want to restart. Trust me, its better.

Now back to the update of my life. Lets see, went back to school for my Masters of Science in Civil Engineering and a focus in Structural Engineering. I couldn't get a job without a masters because of the economy, so I went back as I promised my parents. Had my birthday back in January, it wasn't very good. Did not do much but study and work for more of February. Had a lousy Valentines Day (expected). March came around and things finally started to get better. I got out and got to hike, which caused sore legs for a few days but I think was more than worth it. I finally got a "haircut." I put that in quotes because I donated every last inch of it. 10 inches went to Locks of Love and then what remained was shaved off for St Baldrick's Day. If you'd like to see a few of the pictures or donate towards my cause, you can find them here on the St Baldrick's Day website. I'll be adding more soon. Also, the total length was 10.5 inches and I'm glad to be rid of it. It was too long.

And finally on my update, yesterday I got stood up by all of my friends to go drinking (except Wyatt, who I accidentally stood up because I was so tired I passed out, sorry!). Today I got stood up to go hiking. Sad end of the first half of the school year, but it happens. Now on to Spring Break and then to finish up my first semester as a grad student. Never thought I'd go through so much school (cause I hate it...).

Interesting!

An entire month of writer’s block and in two days time I’m able to break past that. If I had to guess, I would say that in reading other novels I was able to find the words to write what I wanted without compromising the details. So I’ve started to move on to the next chapter.

Chapter nine is very interesting, because I gave the story this sort of momentum in the previous chapter and that’s not exactly something I wanted to lose in this one. Because of that, things are going much faster than previously described and I think my readers will find themselves glued to the book as they are forced through a tumbling feeling.

But don’t take this the wrong way, at the same time I don’t plan to skimp on the details. I feel that although in the previous chapters details were used to really pass pages, they were also used to really set the mood of the novel. Now that the mood is really there, I can move on with what I was really trying to do. So from chapter eight onwards the readers should feel like they are being pulled along a quick line of thought and a rush of feelings as the main character tries to solve the things happening around him. In other words, stuff starts happening and it doesn’t really let up from that point onward (Though my readers may disagree as to where the stuff starts to happen and the momentum begins to build).

I also feel as though one of my worries form the previous journals is being answered in this chapter. I know that to fully fulfill this worry of stopping my character from having a robotic appearance I might have to go back and change him. On the other hand, I give him a real relatable sense from this point onward that may help my friends who are reading bond with him and understand him even more. He has fears, he has hopes, and he has a goal... so to that extent he has a real human feel about him.

As for plot and story updates, there really is nothing new since I know exactly where I am taking him. This next chapter, which I actually named off of a title I thought of using for another book, will lead the main character right up and into the final place he visits for this installment. It also will lead him into what I hope will be the pace for the rest of the story.

Words this Month: 1,402
Total Words: 97,463

December...

The final month of the year and I have several important announcements to start it.

First, I finally bought Microsoft Word 2010 and will now be able to actually write something more. I tried using 2003 and the Mac version of 2008 and 2011, but those versions all altered the text and got me off task. So really I needed to get 2010 just to keep writing and not get stuck on details like all the text being screwed up after I specifically worked on it a certain way. So there’s a plus towards me finishing it.

Second, I feel the need to write! I have ideas flowing through me again and I get up right before I’m asleep to jot down little things I’m afraid I might forget. This is a wonderful piece of news, which basically means I’m once again thinking and ready to make more ideas. So there is another plus...

...except I’ve been quickly jotting down ideas not on the story I’ve been working on, but another one from the past. I suddenly had this brainstorm about the other book my friend said she would kill me if I didn’t finish it and so now I really want to start rewriting it. That’s right happy campers (who aren’t actually that happy), I’ve been thinking about R.E.D. again and I’ve been coming up with a plot-line for the entire thing to include what I want. Amazingly, the plot is really twisted and good and the descriptions I would be heading for would be easy to do because of how well I can envision each scene. So this is kind of a plus and a minus.

Now I just need to refocus all my energy into writing again and then write. I think if I can pull myself out of this rut, finish the book, and move on to redoing R.E.D., well then most of my readers who follow this will actually be very much pleased. To them, sorry I didn’t actually get anywhere with R.E.D. or continue it for something of like 5 years now...

Off to think of working!

On another note, before I go that is, My granddad fell down again and I’ve been having serious insomnia. Woohoo!

Fixing the Text

So I always forget that I just have these texts installed, because I like these texts. As such, the people reading my book may not get the full effect of the text on the page without a few updates. Granted, so far I’ve only used 1 text that needs to be downloaded from the web, but here I am to give it.

http://www.dafont.com/angryblue.font

That will lead to my all-time favorite text, which I think anyone that reads the manuscripts of these novels should probably have since I do use it so often. If there are any other texts I get that don’t come through, please reply to this and I’ll go hunt down their original locations. Like I said, I sometimes don’t remember getting these texts but I do I have them.

On another note, I just tried moving my file from my Windows side (where everything works) to my Mac side (where everything works... but differently) and found that I will not recommend this. I mean, seriously, my book increased in size and lost a ton of the formatting that I do to really give it that flare. So, if you are a Mac user, please switch to windows to read the novel because otherwise you will ruin all of the efforts I put into it.

Thank you for this service announcement...

Change of Plans

Change of plans (Gasp, didn’t see that one coming), but I may not be doing the NaNoWriMo anymore. Besides the fact that I’ve been stressed to hell and thus have not been writing, I also got torn away from Colorado to go visit my Grandmother’s grave in Connecticut. I did enjoy going to Connecticut and seeing her grave, but I did so without my computer and thus greatly lost time in the NaNoWriMo as well as lost ideas/interest in the story I had.

However, I did randomly decided to start writing something else. To what effects it might be, we’ll have to see, but I’m going to send a small portion of it to one of my friends and see what she thinks. It should be weird.

A New Story Now Named

So I know this is not the greatest of ways to start a new story, but it is a start. I have come to the conclusion on what the name of my story will be along with how the entire thing will be written (which is, of course, different than anything I have done before). As promised this is a comedy, though maybe darker than originally planned. At any rate, here is the name of my story for the NaNoWriMo.

The Deathly Letters of Collin Millstone

That’s right, its a book that of course has death involved. Because I plan to make this strangely legible yet easily findable on any aspect to the book, I’ve decided to throw in a “Index of Chapters” (also known as a table of contents). In this way the people that want to read my book will be able to quickly see when a new letter will appear along with what chapter it will appear in. All done by word of course (because I am lazy).

So its a small, short, very slow start, but it is a start. Also please note that I’ve changed the statistic from Total Chapters, which is very vague and hard to understand as to what I might mean to total chapters completed, which gives me a much more easy value to place there. As I finish them I will say so there (of which I currently have not done even one). It’s a start as I keep repeating.

Words for the Novel: 195 / 50,000
Total Chapters Completed: 0

National Novel Writing Month

So starting yesterday was the first day of the National Novel Writing Month or whatever (preferably called NaNoWriMo online, google it if you wish). Anyway, I have planned to actually try to do this challenge since it seems to be not exactly a whole lot more than what I was trying for in past months. Here’s the quick facts:

Goal: 50,000 word novel
Ends: December 1st at 12:01 AM

In other words, write a book in one month that is at least 50,000 words in length. I think I can do it and so I’ve decided to try for it. I will be putting down my other book for the time being and setting out to see if I can accomplish this task of a full book in the month’s time.

What this does not mean is that I am done with Broken Falls (the other book I’ve been working on). I made a promise that I would finish that novel by the end of the year and I plan to stick to that, with much of the final chapters works being done in the next month. So to my friends that are reading that book, do not be discouraged that it has made the shelf like anything else I have written, just know that it has been put on hold for exactly one month and then I will finish the first story in the series. Also, I don’t think I could stop writing that book since I can’t seem to get the ideas out of my head.

The rules will be much like when I started writing my other book for this new one:

1. Words only count for writing in that book
2. Chapter names count towards the total word count
3. Notes do not count towards the total
4. Friends that ask to read it may receive the piece chapter by chapter

And just for good luck, I’m playing this story out with a comedy sort of feel to everything. In other words, expect things to be strange and interesting, hopefully pulling a smile to your face. So let me set the counter to zero and get started writing!

Words for the Novel: 0 / 50,000
Total Chapters: 0

Also, I made one final graffiti that I thought I would post. Its kind of weird for me, but I like it. I don't know exactly what it was suppose to be either, but the main idea was like a plant and bubbles or something and it just didn't come out to look like anything except abstract artwork. Oh well.

Haven't Been Feeling Good

Just a quick little update. I didn't complete last month because I was upset for the entire last week. Short explanation, my Grandma has added stress to my life. Had that same stress all of the first week of this month and it has kind of carried over and just lasted the past few days.

On the other side of the stress that never ends (mainly because there are more stressful people than just my Grandma in my life), I start to get into art. So my output has been to the facebook App Graffiti. I'll post a few of them below so everyone has an idea of what I spend maybe two or three hours on in any given day.

Twilight Woods

Tree in the Blue

Radiance

As You can see, I've had a bit of time to make things like these. I like how these three have come out and all of them were started with the colors I chose in mind, but with the scene out of hand. What I mean to say is that I didn't know what I was going to draw, just that I wanted to draw something. One thing led to another and I had vibrant reds coming down from the clouds and blues lighting up the background. It's stress relieving to just start using Graffiti on facebook.

As far as writing goes, I do plan to finish the book I started (since I am SO freakin close to finishing it). I am, however, in no current rush at this point because I don't have the creativity in me to write. Some would call this writers block, but it's not really a block since I know what I want to write. I just am missing that passion I had when I started writing. I will make this promise though, I'll have that book done before the end of this year. If I don't, it'll become lost in the void of my thoughts for a very long time, and feeling so close to finishing it, I really don't want that to happen.

If I make any more graffiti artwork, I'll try to remember to do a large post here with a lot of it. Until next time (and there will be a next time :D)

One Day Off then Back to Action

I started yesterday off perfectly as far as writing for me goes, got up and was ready to write a thousand words easily. I had my coffee in hand and my computer on the table and was typing away, until I realized I had put myself into a strange hole.

I don't think I meant to bury my own thoughts in the catastrophe that had happened, but I did. I ended up writing myself into either 1 more chapter that explained too much about something I really do mean to start talking about in the second book (it's going to be a trilogy or something, remember?). So I was left with an option, continue writing and send out the eighth chapter as it was OR go back and try rethinking the whole scenario so that I didn't have to do another chapter in there. I chose to take the second option and spend all of yesterday coming up with the revision. I like what I thought of but it wasn't the easiest thing to write, so we'll just have to see what my friends think of it.

Anyway, back on the novel today and continuing as planned towards the final finish. I am only a few thousand words or so away from the end of chapter eight, I can tell from just what is happening, and then I'll send it out to be interpreted by my friends. This chapters has been fun to write and I think it really shows where I want to go with this series, too bad it is far from the end of this book. No, I think I have at least 3 or 4 chapters left before I can end this book (two of which will be devoted to a single place... or at least I think so). That means I have 30k-40k more words to write after this... which is not a good thing for a new author.

The average book length is 60k to 100k words, the reason why being that at 100k words the average paperback book hits 400 pages. If I got over 400 pages, the chances of getting the story published go WAY down. So I'm left with a few options, write a shorter novel and hope to gain popularity off of it (current plan for the month of November... along with the NaNoWriMo). So we'll see what happens.

Last, just wanted to say that I started watching a British television show called Psychoville. Oh my God, that show is amazing. It is weird enough to keep me enthusiastically watching it and crazy enough to meet my standards of interest. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. And just so I say this, it is a dark comedy that you can't find in America.... sad day...

Words for the Month: 14,995 / 40,000
Total Words: 95,054

I'm gonna go write another 5 words to make it a perfect 15k

The Time is Now Midnight!

I did it today, I accomplished writing more than ten thousand words in two days flat. That's really impressive once you consider I normally spend a week writing that many words for my story. Then again, I've felt really involved with this chapter and I've been really proud of the artwork it has become. That's right, I said artwork.

This chapter has changed so much from my original idea that if I read it to myself from ten days back, I'd have hardly known it was the same thing. The basic principle I had so many days ago is still very much present in the chapter, but what happens has become something much more grand than I could have imagined. And maybe this is all because of the process of writing, I really can't be sure, but I am pleased to say that this is by far one of the best chapters I have ever written.

The best part, the scenery is actually really simple and easy for anyone to imagine. It was what I did with the surrounding atmosphere that makes it so sophisticated. I could have written this chapter a thousand different ways, but I'm not sure I would have been as proud as I am. Not only that, but to my readers (to which has now become three people...) I hope they see all the symbolism and symbols I gone to lengths to throw into each place. I think this one might also send a few shivers up their spines.

So am I done now that ten thousand words have passed, the normal average length of my chapters. I think not and I might actually be far from it. I'm not certain that I will need another ten K to do the job, but for sure I will need a few thousand more just to finish the explanations I have ended up in. And yes, I thought about breaking this part up into two separate chapters, but the problem is that the whole thing lies in such perfect unity with itself that I thought breaking the pieces apart would only ruin and not strengthen the value anyone will find by reading it.

To tomorrow I will write more, the ideas are still flowing vibrantly through my head and I have probably enough to keep writing peacefully onward for some time. I wish I would have known how much joy I'm getting out of writing this a few days ago, but then again I probably would not have developed the ideas I have. It's that strange state where I wish I had done so sooner while at the same time it would not have been as great had it been performed before the best time. There has to be a word to describe that, someone out there probably knows it.

And for now, have a wonderful night!

Words for the Month: 12,445 / 40,000
Total Words: 92,504

Quick Update (sorta)

Just a quick update, but I wrote a little bit more before I decided to turn in for the night. Also, I noticed I haven't done many posts this month. That made me feel bad, like I was disappointing a crowd that does not exist. So now I'm trying to make at least one a day to make up for the lack of posting I've done for the previous parts of the month.

On another strange note, this month sucks compared to the last two. Yes, I've gotten lazier and lazier as I try to force myself to continue writing. And yes, I am trying to complete this month so desperately because I know that if I do I win a huge prize and get to laugh a whole lot as my ex-girlfriend wonders how I mysteriously was able to get not 1 or 2, but 3 months of meeting a strange goal I've never tried to before. That's right, I'm trying to complete this month for the fun of amazing her and seeing her reaction. Sometimes life gives you lemons, and then you laugh cause you just saw a car explode. Sure, it might have been your fault the exhaust was clogged with lemons but who would know that.

Anyway, quick update, things got done, stuff happened, more commas where used, a person talked to me, interesting things, reviews, fans, worlds of worlds, and end quick update.

Words for the Month: 7,152 / 40,000
Total Words: 87,211

Also, note that for today I never made over 5,000 words and I never got to play my games... stupid me not working harder to get video games... Also again also, I've strangely already used lemon in my labels... how did that happen?

Hmm.... it seems to get worse...

Well, this month is far from what I had planned it to be. I guess it could be worse, I could just be starting today. Oh wait, two thousand words in is close enough to starting today that I might as well as feel as if I've really made no improvements at all. Darn.

At any rate, I'm trying to pick up the pieces of the story and get back on the horse, then build a puzzle because I have the pieces. I don't recommend this, it is hard to make a puzzle while on a horse's back. If I've done my calculations right, I need to write approximately 3,500 words every damn day for the rest of the month starting tomorrow if I don't write anymore tonight. That's no good. That's no good at all...

Procrastination, something I'm known for and something I tend to do when I find myself stuck. Well, I've decided to procrastinate on my procrastination (wait, is that possible) and so I've started writing all over again. On the good side, I have about a million ideas to write about for this chapter and the next one and the one after that. Actually, some of those ideas are funny and I can't wait to get to them... to bad I still need to finish off this idea for what Chapter 8 is really about. Curse you chapter 8, with your character changing things and so romantic writing. Yea, I personally think this is about the greatest writing ever and I haven't written that much. I wonder if that means it'll really draw attention from my friends.

Anyway, I've started a new goal system where I can't play video games until I write 5,000 words that day. Does this mean I won't procrastinate? Hell no. What it does mean is that I will actually start writing some God damn words each day just for the chance of playing video games. And I'm going super strict on this rule so to my friends who play Starcraft 2 with with (and yes, I did just mention it again, hello South Koreans) sorry.

Also, just so I feel like the South Koreans get some meat with what I'm saying, I feel Starcraft 2 has been a disappointing game so far. The story was lacking and the only movie I liked in the game (which was real CGI) was the one that shows part of the plot from the last game. Sad day. On the other hand, I love playing the multiplayer even though it has nothing new to offer me. Seriously, I wish they would have spent more time evolving the multiplayer instead of just giving it a face lift and a required basic AI update. Oh well.

Now for the impressive part, look at all the work I've so far done just today...

Words for the Month: 5,541 / 40,000
Total Words: 85,600

Been Sick

I've had some sort of stomach bug or something the past few days. As such, I haven't gotten much writing done even though I know exactly what I want to write about. I'm trying push myself through all the haze and come up with the words I need, but in all honesty that's not going very well. So I haven't done as much as I would have liked by now (by now being the 16th of the month) and I fear the worst for meeting this month's goal. Then again, maybe like last month I'll find strength and make chapter after chapter without problem.

Chapter eight is an interesting one to write about, the final part of the green pool side of the story. I knew I wanted to stay in the realm I had created just long enough to explain a few of the many rules, but short enough that I could get back to him being with other people. That's one of the problems I'm encountering too, there is less to write about when everyone who I've created isn't in the same world as the main character. Oh well, one more chapter and they will start seeing one another again I guess.

I think the importance of this chapter is it drives a real difference between this story and some of the other ones out there, more importantly the series that originally inspired me to make something of this caliber. It is a simple idea, but it completely changes how everything else works in the world, the mechanics all different. I'd like to note that now.

Anyway, going to try writing more later and catching up some more, but for right now I just want to take a nap.

Words for the Month: 2,319 / 40,000
Total Words: 82,378

Chapter 7 is complete!

So I'm getting back on the fun bus and writing again (after a week long break from writing). I hope to hit this month running, but that seems to be not happening yet. Oh well, at least I'm getting back into and today is far from over yet as well!

I'm surprised that I didn't need as much as I thought I would for this chapter, but the next one is even more confusing and strange and, if I left the chapter off just right I should have yet again succeeded in pissing off my friend who hates drop endings. More things are just ahead of the main character and I've been ever so kind as to hint at what is about to happen, though we'll see if the clues are easy to pick up on.

I think the name of chapter eight can be revealed as well, since it offers no more help to my poor friends reading this. It's called The Home She Grew Up In and although I'm telling the name right now, like I said it really doesn't offer a whole lot more to them. I can easily say this will be an interesting and confusing chapter to write and the ending will, of course, leave my friend hating me (I've got this one pretty much planned out as well). Actually, I've been thinking about this story for a while now and I know exactly where I am going with it (though there are still some details I need to work on when I get there). The way the first book will end is pretty much set in stone, it answers a few of the mysteries I've opened and leaves my friend hating me for ending it that way, which is perfect.

I'm going to write more later, but at least I got started on this chapter! Also, my friend Wyatt should stop distracting me...

Words for the Month: 1,005 / 40,000
Total Words: 81,064

Getting Closer

I made a bad choice today of going with my Mom to a home improvement store. I forgot that those places are like the black holes of time and souls once you walk inside of them, at least for my family. We spent three hours in two home improvements stores and only bought one track light. We went in not for a track light. In truth, we went to the first store in look for a type of door, which did not exist, and then for a hook, which also did not exist. Then we went to the second store (which was not the same as the first... as in not the same company) and went looking for a medicine cabinet. They had one that was what my Mom wanted, but the package was opened and she feared it was already broken. We did not buy it. However, we did end up finding a track light that I don't want to hang but I know she is going to try and make me hang. I plan to try not hanging that piece of crap. We also searched for the imaginary hooks again, which still did not exist.

So three hours later I came back with two things. One was an idea for some stuff that will happen later in my story (and it is really cool, can't wait to write about it). I've noted it into my sticky note for this story (which I usually don't think TOO far ahead with, else I might get bored). Anyway, the second thing I brought back was a huge bag of annoyance. I didn't want to write and I didn't even want to watch TV. All I wanted to do was lay down and sleep. I chose to write though and ended up spending an hour trying to make 1,000 words make sense. I gave up and decided to play video games for a little. That seemed to help.

Anyway, just finished up writing a little bit more and I'm getting closer to making my goal for this month. Hopefully by tonight I will be within 5,000 words of the goal (and I'm hoping to be within 3,000) so that writing for tomorrow won't be too bad. I'm positive that I'm going to make it this month though. Amazing considering where I was like 10 days ago.

Words for the Month: 34,528 / 40,000
Total Words: 74,571