Not Quite Shakespeare and other stories

*assumes striking Hamlet posture, raises hand dramatically*

"To NaNo or not to NaNo? That is the question."

Reasons to:

• The communal aspect and pressure to succeed helps get the job done like nothing else.
• I like having finished drafts. A lot.
• NaNoWriMo comes but once a year. Actually, that's not entirely true anymore. But November is when the spirit wakes fully.
• I have an idea that I think I could write quickly, and it might be nice to have a break from A.D.'s universe.

Reasons not to:

• After months of drafting, the thought of writing nearly two thousand words a day actually hurts right now.
• I'm not entirely confident that my idea ought to stretch to 50,000 words.

Amount of time remaining to make up my indecisive mind, as of this writing:

Source.

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A day in the life of Maia:

7:30 Wake people by meowing and jumping on them if they don't get up right when the alarm goes off.
7:40 Run as fast as possible around the house, at least ten times.
7:45 Find a toy and wrestle it into the ground.
7:50 Make sure people fill food dish properly.
8:00 Follow people around, throw self on floor and demand attention.
8:30 Watch world go by, nap in window.
12:00 Burrow under covers for six hours of beauty sleep.
6:00 Wake up, follow people around, throw self on floor and demand attention.
7:00 Make sure people clean litter box properly.
7:30 Get people to find a toy and throw it over and over again.
8:30 Knead red blanket and cuddle down on couch with people and computers.
11:00 Run as fast as possible around the house a few more times, investigate kitchen counters, try to get into cabinets.
12:00 Make further excavations in potted plants.
1:00 Search house for new toys to play with and throw around.
2:00 Commence top-secret operations that people shouldn't know about. When bored, get some more beauty sleep.

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For those who wish to read about it: further thoughts on Pottermore Sorting from Travis, Mr. Pond, George, and yours truly are now available on The Hog's Head! Enjoy. Oh, and:

Yes, that's a badger chewing on a snake. To all my fellow Hufflepuffs: you're welcome.

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Writers' link of the week: Jocelyn K. Glei collects 25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer. From Kurt Vonnegut to Neil Gaiman, Jennifer Egan to Annie Dillard, a variety of helpful thoughts. My only suggested addition: Pick the ones that work for you.

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Music of the week: I love finding great new girl bands on YouTube.



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Funny of the week: Mr. Pond wrote a fairy tale and got it into the magazine Enchanted Conversation, and I laughed so hard at it that I thought you might, too. Here's "Royal Ball? Get Home Before Midnight or Magic Happens."

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And now I have a house to clean and a couple of errands to run and novels to write and only 24 days, 12 hours, 34 minutes and 19 seconds to make up my mind about NaNoWriMo. I'd better be off.

Happy weekend!