yakalskovich | NaNoWriMo is one month late

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NaNoWriMo is one month late

There is a rather new American custom, called National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo; it has existed for ten years or so, and the goal is to just sit down and write a novel of 50.000 words in the month of November to prove to oneself that one can.-

floppy_hat is doing this year, for example. Very admirable and challenging project.

Only, if it means to celebrate the success of one who did just that, it's one month late, I learned today.

I was at a lecture about literary St. Petersburg, hoping to learn one or two useful factoids (I did), and there I heard the following astonishing story:

In the autumn of 1866, the famous writer Fyodor Dostoievsky, who was always in debt because he was addicted to gambling, fell prey to a truly evil publisher who paid the writer's debt, provided that Dostoievsky gave him a new novel to publish on November 1st of the same year; otherwise, all past and future writings of Dostoievsky should be forfeit to that totally ruthless and cruel publisher. Dostoievsky signed that, and despaired. He *did* have a novel ready in his mind, but how should he get that down on paper inside just one month? This was 1866; no recording devices were yet around, and even typewriters had not yet gone mainstream. His friends advised him to hire a stenographer and dictate all that text; so he placed an ad in the classifieds, and a rather genteel and very young lady showed up at his door the next day. So, all through October 1866, he dictated his novel "The Gambler" (how apt!!) to her during the day; at night, she took her shorthand notes away and had them written in longhand, and he did his other work (he had yet another novel in the works which was going to be "Crime and Punishment", but that was far too long to attempt doing in a month). In the morning, they corrected the last day's work and then went on with the dictation. And they did it - without a break, within 26 days!! On December 1st that year the novel was published, and the satanic publisher's hold on Dostoievsky was broken.-

Three months later, he married the young lady, and his life decidedly took a turn for the better from then on.

May that be an inspiration you, Lazuli (a.k.a.

floppy_hat ), and all the others attempting just that without evil publishers breathing down their necks, or any charming collaborators keeping them on track...

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You know, I've actually read that book in German, had to read it when I was in Switzerland. I didn't know anything about the writing of it though, fancy that. I've fallen woefully behind on my novel though.... hmmm... perhaps I should try to get some writing done tonight...

Do write more of your novel, dear Lazuli. The whole point of the exercise is to prove that one can do it, isn't it? Now at least we know that Dostoievsky *did* do it in 1866, although he had a stenographer instead of a computer the way we have nowadays. People don't normally marry their computers, though, although some have occasionally been accused of trying...

now if only i had a stenographer i know i could do it.

Yes - the computer is always there and doesn't anything, while the stenographer sits there if you don't dictate, looks at you from gentle, innocent young eyes if you stop, and costing money by the hour.

Here she is:

Print her out and hang her over your computer; that's the best I can offer you.

And: this comment of yours can apply for the title of New Comment to Oldest LJ Post ever. You rarely comment on a year-old post, normally...

it's more the talking back factor, but mostly the not-having-to-write-it-down-myself that would help me alot.

s'your fault for linking! :P plus, i personally like people to comment where the content is, not from whence the link came.
from whence. never used that one before ...

Well, more than a pic, I can't offer.

And yay for rescuing "from whence" from the dusty depths of the OED. Like Storm Constantine did it with "calenture". Now, even Terry Pratchett uses is.

And it makes sense, that comment thing; I was just amused.

gah, stop confusing me with your split personality!

i know "calenture" as/from the title of one of my favourite lps from one of my favourite bands of long, long ago.

whence shall i go with calenture on my mind.

This is not a split personality, it is called and RPG or role-playing game. Perfectly legit fannish activity; nothing mental about it!

Oh, is it? Which band?

it sure is if you keep deleting my pretty boy and then answer with the voice of a blond girl! puh.

the triffids.

You'd rather have me this way than blond and virtual? Ahh, well. The you shall have him if I'm logged in as he, from time to time; but I can't promise I won't keep being confusing, as the captain really isn't of this world, so to speak.

I shall have to look that record up, then. Calenture. Hmmm.

have i answered this already? lj been a real bastard.
anyway: yes.
i just don't like clicking on your mail and be told that the message has been deleted, that was all!

hm, i don't know if you would like them, but even less if you can find the triffids anywhere. they split up ages ago. their singer died :°(

i was going to use triffids as the word in the hangman game, but thinking you might drop in i didn't.

Of course LJ is a bastard; everybody keeps posting while watching the election. And no, I'm not looking at it. I can't do a bloody thing to change it, and I will not inflict that on my nerves. I will see what transpired when I leave for work around noon.

OK, if I metapost as whoever, I will leave it, were I talking to you. But don't worry if you meet even weirder creatures than the Good Captain that way.

Amazon has a CD by the Triffids that it will import for me from Far Far Away, charging me only 12,99 Euros for the whole thing. And after I ordered that, Amazon suggested Placebo DVDs to me, and I quite like Placebo, so if Triffids automatically makes them suggest that, I'll most probably like it.

you thank that's why?
i accidentially listened to the news 2 hours ago and cannot believe it. i can't. the dangerous lunatic cannot win again!

i don't understand the second paragraph *feels stupid*

they are nothing like placebo. sadly i only have them on vinyl, so i cannot send you anything. i am still intrigued that one mention by meeeee makes you order them *gobsmacked and flabberghasted*

ps: that slasher code thing? would never work for me. because i do say "fiddlesticks" in normal conversation ...

Hei, thanks! It's the icon I use for the Captain when posting slashy logs or suchlike. Or when he talks to his vampire in private tags...

Metaposting: posting as some other identity than you meant to because you're logged in as the one and want to speak as the other. Which is what I was doing the first time youever noticed the Captain and went, "Hey, stop, did you just post with a James Frain icon?"

And I warned you that if I always reply to you as the one I happened to be logged in as, you might get to see some rather strange creatures. As I have no end of sockpuppets at my disposal.

Six at the DW RPG, plus Gimel, plus the poetry journal, plus Grigori at the Crackbar (

milliways_bar) makes nine in addition to the "normal" Yakalskovich account. I am sure meeting them all at once would drive you mental...

mmh - ok, admit it, you are doing your best to ~~pull me onto the dark side~~ get me to read those rpgs!

*goes back to find what the question was*
~~ok, now i can't find what you wrote.~~ i think i will go to bed now.
6 hours earlier than usual. yup, must be sick.
eta: ah, right, it's all clear and it was all clear before i forget it was clear so i must now remember not to forget (again) that everything is clear.

oh goody, i want more sockpuppets.
seriously.

nothing, believe me, could actually drive me ~~any more~~ mental. cross my heart etc. ask my flist. it is always them saying "you are soooo weird" and inching backwards ...

On the Captain's flist, the whole RPG is running, backwards as is usual on blogs. In case you crave distraction at some stage in the future, my dear.

Is this sockpuppet mental enough yet?

says youse to meee who never reads fics but only saves them?!
i really want to finish this one novel, but i never get further than a chapter, and that is killing me.

i like pictures *serene* they don't require reading.

nope. not socky enough either!

Which is why you make icons, huh?

Her's another with just a drawing from somewhere online for an icon. Mental enough yet?

pfffft. i did write! you just did not lower yourself and read it.

gunilla. that's - trauma. did you also have the "gulla" books?

this one nearly succeeded, if only i did not dare click on the mail as i feared a flamer or other nasty individual, not knowing the name.

Where did you write? Wanna see!

och, come on, i thought i was on your flist! i posted it a week ago!

snapewithpotbellyistehhit.

the second part is much better, but i felt too low to post it yet.

Sorry; one does miss things on flists, sometimes.

But you are most definitely on it.

i think by the time it took for me to bloody open this reply page, you might have sent another one.

aaaanyway, i think i am going to introduce *sat* and *ret* signs for you as well (demarcating me teasing you, okay? ;P) coz that's mostly what i did.

i know. if you did not find it yet, go to my page and four down, i lj-cut like a good scout.

OK, read it now. Huh, wild!! Hmm, not a pairing for me, but - wild stuff.

argh. is it really not appearent that this is not!not a pairing for me either?!

wah!

what am i doing wrong!

*cough*

I didn't see it; it is possible to miss things on a flist, especially if they're locked and one is the Captain instead of oneself...

I'm sure I'll find it on your LJ proper.

ah, see, there is another reply. hm. nope, mine was not locked at all. hence i had to remove the very important illustration. hope it still makes a little sense. the second part has been ready for a week, but i find posting (i.e. in four communities) exhausting.

good hunting.

did i answer that ? *feels like donkey*

not of this world indeed - you do elevate james, doncha.

Hah hah hah!!

Not James Frain, the Captain, the RPG character on whose icons I use him. On account of him not being from Roundworld the way we are, but from Discworld.

And yes, I am confusing you again - but just now I'm logged in as myself to read the flocked entries of all the poor depressed Americans on my flist.

i knoooow, but my interpretation is much funnier! ;P

as long as you don't delete and repost, i'm ~~happy~~ not complaining.

the current trend on mine is now a lets-pull-ourselves-together-and-be-strong.

Mine are depressed and saying the f-word, and posting under flock. I offered them asylum on my sofa.

i saw, i especially went to your lj (for this, and to check what i was actually talking about).
epicyclical posted a sane thing about it not being that easy to move to countries people want to move to.
fiendling and wayfairer say stay-and-be-upright etc.

i want your hub.

It's not my hub, it belongs to my for-pay work. But I can borrow it, as it's spare, and there's two of them. And I had one for a few months, during my visitor season, so I could do my Morning Session with the RPG in the kitchen while the visitors were still sleeping on the sofa.

very considerate.
i know people who made the technicians install them a sekkrit second one. or something.

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NaNoWriMo is one month late

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pic alone not good enough

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multiple identities

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mental

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triffids

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hot icon

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ra ra rasputin, lover of the russian queen

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girly gulla

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i hates the snarry!

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Americans on flist

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