Tuesday, November 07, 2006
On The Radio
Woke up with my right wrist throbbing. It felt like I had fallen on it and sprained it and I began to wonder if it some kind of repetitive strain injury brought on by all my intense writing. I also sit at a keyboard for the day job as well. When I got to work I found the pain was worse when I had my hand on the mouse. My chair is quite raised so my arm points down towards it. I lowered the chair so my elbow was horizontal with the table and it seemed to do the trick. Hopefully the throbbing will die down though. The last thing any writer needs is a bad wrist or a bad back.
There is one thing that has annoyed me about getting up at 5am to write. The radio is full of pish DJ's. I imagine most people (me anyway) would rather listen to music than a couple of boring unintelligent morons prattling on and on and on about how wonderful their lives are because they got a backstage pass at the X-Factor Live gig. What's wrong with playing music? I was sure DJ stood for Disc Jockey - not Deranged Conversationalist.
Normally I listen to Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2, but occasionally I'll tune over to Chris Moyles on BBC Radio 1. Wogan is the undisputed king of radio, but at least Moyles is funny, unlike the boring Scottish morning DJ's from independent stations who have nothing to say at all. The inane laughing that comes over is enough to make you put your head through the bus stop window.
The problem is, Wogan and Moyles don't begin until 7am, which is when I arrive into the office. So I spend most of my journey with the radio off or scanning channels just to find anything remotely interesting. This morning it was Classic FM. Relaxing and not in anyway annoying.
Got circa 2k written early doors over breakfast and during my lunch break. Well pleased with that. It set me up for writing the evening so that anything I did after that would be a bonus towards the daily goal.
Priorities and perspectives is something talked about a lot during NaNo, whether between writing and external factors, or between different areas within the writing sphere. NaNo has helped me look at some things differently. For example, I am writing early morning, midday and in the evening every day just now and my word count is through the roof. Does that mean I am more productive? Or is the NaNo Factor coming into play and making me prioritise everything to suit the novel?
I think it's a bit of both. I'm making the time and doing it no matter what, and as a result I am very productive. This is not to say I am less productive in other months, I just have other things to work on. I have cleared the deck for November to do this, but I also have other things I do throughout the year, which just because they do not contribute to a word count, does not mean I am any less productive.
So what to take from this thought? I think I need to prioritise more early mornings, put more time aside then even when NaNo is not on. I also need to understand and not beat myself up over the fact last month's output was crap, and remember I spent a lot of time promoting my work and doing research.
It can't all be about sitting writing. There has to be a balance.
NaNo words today: 2658
NaNoWriMo Progress
There is one thing that has annoyed me about getting up at 5am to write. The radio is full of pish DJ's. I imagine most people (me anyway) would rather listen to music than a couple of boring unintelligent morons prattling on and on and on about how wonderful their lives are because they got a backstage pass at the X-Factor Live gig. What's wrong with playing music? I was sure DJ stood for Disc Jockey - not Deranged Conversationalist.
Normally I listen to Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2, but occasionally I'll tune over to Chris Moyles on BBC Radio 1. Wogan is the undisputed king of radio, but at least Moyles is funny, unlike the boring Scottish morning DJ's from independent stations who have nothing to say at all. The inane laughing that comes over is enough to make you put your head through the bus stop window.
The problem is, Wogan and Moyles don't begin until 7am, which is when I arrive into the office. So I spend most of my journey with the radio off or scanning channels just to find anything remotely interesting. This morning it was Classic FM. Relaxing and not in anyway annoying.
Got circa 2k written early doors over breakfast and during my lunch break. Well pleased with that. It set me up for writing the evening so that anything I did after that would be a bonus towards the daily goal.
Priorities and perspectives is something talked about a lot during NaNo, whether between writing and external factors, or between different areas within the writing sphere. NaNo has helped me look at some things differently. For example, I am writing early morning, midday and in the evening every day just now and my word count is through the roof. Does that mean I am more productive? Or is the NaNo Factor coming into play and making me prioritise everything to suit the novel?
I think it's a bit of both. I'm making the time and doing it no matter what, and as a result I am very productive. This is not to say I am less productive in other months, I just have other things to work on. I have cleared the deck for November to do this, but I also have other things I do throughout the year, which just because they do not contribute to a word count, does not mean I am any less productive.
So what to take from this thought? I think I need to prioritise more early mornings, put more time aside then even when NaNo is not on. I also need to understand and not beat myself up over the fact last month's output was crap, and remember I spent a lot of time promoting my work and doing research.
It can't all be about sitting writing. There has to be a balance.
NaNo words today: 2658
NaNoWriMo Progress
Colin 9:02 pm