novel_in_90 sitrep, week 8, and some thoughts thereof

[lagilman]

Apres le deluge, apparently, comes Spring. The sun is out, the windows are open and the cats have reclaimed the sunporch. I have gone for a walk and come back feeling somewhat mellow. Today may be a good day to be a social creature. Or a sunward-facing sofaslug.

(or, more likely, an editorial letter-writing, proposal-polishing sunward-facing sofaslug.)

Meanwhile, in week 8...


Down Into Darkness: A Retrievers Novel

I've downgraded my word goal to 90,000 for this draft. I suspect it will go back up in revisions -- it usually does. But I'm not going to stretch for it now, at the risk of hurting the pacing or plot.

I'm down to the penultimate chapter, which brings in new players that may amuse some folk following here (hey, if New York's Finest got their moments in earlier books, it seemed only fair to let New York's Bravest get their chance to shine. *pets the guys of the nonexistent Plank Street Station for being so shiny*) Hey, anyone know offhand what the pressure coming out of a 1 1/2 inch attack hose would be?
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The novel_in_90 goal was 67,500 words in 90 days, no excuses. That goal is effectively achieved (barring some sort of unlikely and noxious meltdown in the next few days), although I'm still going toward my 90,000 word count. I had 3 days where no writing at all happened on the project, and 0 days of writing-under-goal when I did open the file. And, more importantly, at no point did I feel stressed, or overwhelmed, or that I had managed to break my brain (okay, one day that happened, but that was when I got mugged by "Illumination.")

[let me amend that. At no point did I feel stressed, or overwhemed, or brain-broken BY THIS BOOK. Other influences have not been so kind. Just so's you don't think Life is Sweet for Her, or anything...]

The goal now is to take what the past eight weeks have taught me, and to keep moving with it. There's still another 34 days left in my 90 day cycle, and 28,000 words to go...

Comments

[lagilman]

I'm certainly going to keep to the patterns I picked up there, yeah. And if the community continues, I may stay with it -- the mock/cheer element is not to be underestimated for those of us who work alone, in the dark, etc. But it will depend on the project and the timing.

[rwglaub.livejournal.com]

Hey, don't forget that this weekend you're supposed to get so intoxicated that you can't tell the difference between Mordechai and Haman.

See you at Lunacon...

[lagilman]

Hey, don't forget that this weekend you're supposed to get so intoxicated that you can't tell the difference between Mordechai and Haman.

without a synagogue, it's sort of difficult to observe Purim. Pity, as I do like hamentashen.

See you at Lunacon...


Nope. Nephew's bar mitzvah that weekend up in Boston. I know I've mentioned that here before...

[rwglaub.livejournal.com]

I must have missed that. Enjoy!

technical stuff

[music-lover3.livejournal.com]

i have a question. if it's dumb, please tell me. when you're writing on microsoft word, how do you find out the word count without doing it yourself? or is that even possible? is it even a feature of word? right now i'm stumped. can you help me?

Re: technical stuff

[lagilman]

how do you find out the word count without doing it yourself?

When you're in the document, go up to "tools." Click on "word count." It will give you an approximate detailing of the entire document. If you only want a section estimated, highlight that, and then click. It's not perfect, but acceptable for estimation purposes. And it is consistent.

That help?

Re: technical stuff

[music-lover3.livejournal.com]

dang. that does. i never would've thought of that. that really helped. i thought that i would end up having to do all the counting myself at some point, which even now sounds daunting. not to mention that i would never have the time to do it! this just makes things so much easier! thanks a bunch!!!!

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

Hey, anyone know offhand what the pressure coming out of a 1 1/2 inch attack hose would be?

You're gonna hate this, but... it depends.

Notes:

Per Lynbrook Fire Department training slides, http://www.vcos.org/resources/Fire%20Hose.pdf, "attack hose shall have a minimum operating pressure of 275 psi." But they're not talking about 1.5 inch hose. See slides for more detail.

Also:

http://people.howstuffworks.com/fire-engine2.htm

And

Forest Service fire hoses are constructed for a working pressure of 300 psi (2064 kPa).

And

http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/pubs/pdf/98511305.pdf


What? You asked!

[lagilman]

You're gonna hate this, but... it depends

Best possible news, actually. Means it can do more or less whatever I want it to do. :-)