Brittany Landgrebe

Wherein I Resurface and Dispel Rumors of My Death

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Brittany Landgrebe

Dust and cobwebs on the blog

So, I haven’t been around the blog or Twitter or Facebook lately, have I? Yeah, sorry about that. Time SO got away from me.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to participate in NaNoWriMo like I’d planned. *sadface* I was so looking forward to it! Attempts were made, for sure, but I learned a lot about myself as a writer and as a person, cheering on those friends who were able to participate. I’m so proud of everyone who tried! Maybe next year I’ll be better able to do it.

After moving several states northward and in with another couple, things had become hectic. Schedules overlapping or not coinciding at all, and getting used to other people in the house and it not being, you know, MY house. LOL. It’s been good though, having friends around again.

I gotta tell you, it’s tough getting used to living someplace drastically different from what you’ve been accustomed to for 14 years. There are good parts (Friends! Snow! Grocery Stores other than Walmart!), and the not so good parts (Snow melting to slush some days, everyone’s wacky schedules, very little sun for Vitamin D).

Funny, how little I appreciated the sun, until I needed it. After a week of cloudy skies and teasings of snow, I could barely get out of bed and do anything. We found a doctor in our area ASAP, and turns out I was low in Vitamin D. How low? Out of 70-80 units I’m supposed to have in my blood tests, I had 14. FOUR. TEEN.

I totally stocked up on Vitamin D and other supplements.

Now, I’m getting into my new groove. I’m even reading loads more now! All these changes, while rough in the beginning, are starting to pay off.

Expect to see me around more often! I’ve miss you guys.

^_^

Posted in Writing | 2 Comments

Wherein I Give In

Posted on November 9, 2010 by Brittany Landgrebe

Even though I really didn’t want to, I’ve finally admitted something a bit painful to myself.

I am not the writer I need – or want – to be in order to write Dragonpunk.

No, I’m serious. Dragonpunk is about the feel, the theme of Dragon Punk. The idea I associate with those words is still an enigma to me. Like it’s tickling the very edge of my conscious. If only I had some more experience, I could figure out how to get the idea of Dragonpunk across. Not that I want to teach “lessons” with my stories, but I want to make sure the theme isn’t garbled.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not giving up on Dragonpunk. I’m just taking a break. We need some space from each other. After a year of working on it and getting almost nowhere, it’s time to step back. Like my writing buddy Jessica said:

“Trust is a major part of commiting to an idea, yeah .”

And I don’t trust myself to do justice to it.

YET.

In time, with experience, I will trust myself. And by then Dragonpunk will also have matured from a naked bratty two year old that screams “NO!” every time I come with some clothes (the thought there was naked two year old = idea and clothes = plot, etc). The only thing I regret is not listening to my inner self, the one that was truly concerned if Dragonpunk was really my next book. Heck, I’d only written about 3K for NaNo. (I was busy moving much of the time, but still. If I’d wanted to write, I would’ve.)

So… what will I be doing for NaNo, now that Dragonpunk is back on the shelf?

Ideas

Really, don’t you know me?

Posted in Process, Writing | Tagged Challenges, Dragonpunk, Experience, Ideas, Learning, Moving on, Shiny New Idea | 3 Comments

IT’S PANIC TIME

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Brittany Landgrebe

PANIC

There are only 14 hours until NaNoWriMo starts (in my time zone).

And I’m not ready >.<

I have my NaNo novel, Dragonpunk, roughly plotted out. Unfortunately, it’s across 5 different formats: clustering, arc, big board, notebook, and Scrivener. For some reason, I’ve had a hard time meshing all this into Scrivener. I have a tendency to write a good portion of my first drafts in longhand, so that may be it. But I can’t really afford to do that this time around, particularly because of the time I’d spend transcribing into Scrivener, and the subsequent editing and revising that would come from that.

Clearly, this is a time for drastic measures.

*gathers diet Cokes, chocolate, ramen noodles*

Midnight is my deadline. I have to get most of this rough outline/phase draft/plot… thing organized into Scrivener before then. Dragonpunk has been such a difficult book, I know I’ll need a guide to the story if I’m going to make any headway in NaNo, let alone win it.

I like the hodgepodge of planning processes I’ve used this time around; it’s let me really drill down to more detailed aspects that I’m usually not prepared for. Normally I really know the backstory and the overall arc of the story, but not how a Main Character might get through it. Not useful, really, lol.

Hopefully I can do all this before midnight. And then hopefully I can get really into the story and blow through my daily NaNo word counts. Write or Die and I are going to really get to know each other again.

What about you? Are you sort-of prepared for NaNo? Are you just gonna write for fun and by the seat of your pants, or do you have an idea for the story? Are you planning, or will you let the idea guide you?