Timewaster's Guide Archive

So now I have 40,000 words on the novel I started with NaNoWriMo. Yay! I'm at least half done, and very excited. 

Way to go.  If you keep that up you'll be much better off than the ones that only write in November. 

You should have signed up for NaNoWriQua (National Novel Writing Quarter)  instead.

level three won't take a few hundred. More like a couple dozen

I was just being silly.   But I suppose I shouldn't joke about breaking forum rules since posting just to post is a big no-no.

(I hope this post doesn't fall into that category.   I get the feeling I'm walking on thin ice . . . step carefully, Hauf!)

This does look cool.  It has the look of a well crafted fantasy.

But what do you folks think about Pullman's philosophy which includes an extreme dislike for C. S. Lewis as well as being hostile to religion in general?

http://www.surefish.co.uk/culture/features/pullman_interview.htm

The book ends with Lyra, the trilogy's heroine, having a vision of a Republic of Heaven. What are the key values in the Republic, rather than the Kingdom, of Heaven?

Firstly, a sense that this world where we live is our home. Our home is not somewhere else. There is no elsewhere. This is a physical universe and we are physical beings made of material stuff. This is where we live.

Secondly, a sense of belonging, a sense of being part of a real and important story, a sense of being connected to other people, to people who are not here any more, to those who have gone before us. And a sense of being connected to the universe itself.

All those things were promised and summed up in the phrase, 'The Kingdom of Heaven'. But if the Kingdom is dead, we still need those things. We can't live without those things because it's too bleak, it's too bare and we don't need to. We can find a way of creating them for ourselves if we think in terms of a Republic of Heaven.

This is not a Kingdom but a Republic, in which we are all free and equal citizens, with – and this is the important thing – responsibilities. With the responsibility to make this place into a Republic of Heaven for everyone. Not to live in it in a state of perpetual self-indulgence, but to work hard to make this place as good as we possibly can.

I admit that I am a fan of the overtly Christian Lewis and I'm not sure I can get excited about an overtly anti-Christian Pullman.  But I'd like to know what others think.

(If this question isn't appropriate for the forum then I apologize and will try not to be too offended if it's deleted.)

Breeze - Stephen Fry.  And if we can work in Hugh Laurie as one of the others on the team....so much the better.

Execellent!   But why not have Stephen Fry be Sazed and Hugh Laurie be Vin?   . . . no that wouldn't work, would it.

Just a reminder to all you NaNoWriMo people, make sure to post you totals here and PM me about reaching the goal by December 7th (Thursday) if you want the snazzy award for 2006.

60584 words

http://www.nanowrimo.org/userinfo.php?uid=128744

Hey, I win an award!

Thanks, Parker.  It was all new.  And as expected it's a total mess.  It needs major work.  And it might not be worth the effort.  But I must say NaNoWriMo has given me some confidence that I lacked previously.

Malfoy sure seemed uncertain about killing Dumbledor.  Perhaps there will be some redemption of Malfoy?

And Professor McGonagal will end up being on Voldemorte's side.

And Dumbledor told Snape to kill him if he had no choice.  So Snape will end up helping Potter at the end.

Or more likely Snape was tied up in the basement and the Snape that killed Dumbledore was Mrs. Weasley using a polyjuice potion.

Isn't part of her style to get you questioning everything?  I enjoy the stories, immensely, but since Rowling used polyjuice potions and had MadEye Moody be a bad guy, I don't trust her anymore.  Too much like Mission Impossible - Tom Cruise pulls off his face and he's really the bad guy with a rubber mask and a voice modifier.

I do like the Harry is a Horcrux idea.  But she'd get better tension if Ron were the Horcrux so that Harry has to kill Ron to be able to kill Voldemort.

My two main goals for the last week of NaNoWriMo:

1) Finish the novel - not just get the word count but have the story finish.

2) Adjust my life so that the daily writing sessions can be a regular part of my day.  Part of the idea of NaNoWriMo is to ignore regular life, to neglect nearly everything but writing.   I want to practice balancing everything so that in December I can keep writing WITHOUT neglecting everything else.

Have any of you had success with number 2?   Do you have any pointers for me?

http://map.byu.edu/Map.html
or
http://map.byu.edu/campusmap.pdf
See the line of 4 or 5 tiny buildings (next to number 85) just south of the Marriott Center (#56)?  I think we're talking about the building on the east (right) side.  Is that right?

Last Thursday or Friday during lunch I went for a walk.  (I work in the Harmon building at BYU.)   I walked past the Marriott Center and was shocked to see that the buildings were gone.

I didn't spend much time inside but I've always liked the old buildings that make the campus feel a bit less like an "Institution."  And they pulled down the trees as well.  I used to enjoy walking around the buildings just for the trees.

They left stuff in the buildings before demolishing them.  I saw a painting in the debris.  Not a good one, but a painting.  Perhaps there's some Leading Edge stuff left behind?  Does anyone want me to take my shovel go over there and look for a story they might have lost?