A Notebook Full of Words

We Have Moved

Delorfinde — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:03:45 +0000

This blog is no longer being updated. Though you are welcome to hang around and read old posts, they’re not likely to be very interesting. I recommend you head over to my new blog …

http://delorfinde.wordpress.com

which is sure to be fascinating

If, however, you’re a completely newbie and don’t know how you ended up here, head over there anyway because it’s much more interesting than over here and there are PICTURES!

Thank you for your readership and I look forward to seeing you around at the new blog. Don’t forget to comment so I know you’ve been!

An Apology

Delorfinde — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 07:22:46 +0000

I haven’t written an entry for quite a long time. For that I apologise. But I do have several reasons, one of them being that I had some business cards printed, I gave them to my family and they had this blog address on them. My sister came on and made some remarks …

It’s very distracting writing a blog that your twenty-year-old sister could be reading any of the time. Besides, I’ve been pretty busy, what with music exams, chemistry exams andjust general stuff. And I had Writer’s Block for a week, meaning that there was absolutely nothing to say about my work!

But I thought I’d talk about myself, just for a change. You see, this blog is all about writing, and I don’t just write. I’m a dancer — I’ve recently been asked by my teacher to join the advanced class, even though I haven’t been dancing very long, though I haven’t decided whether to accept — and a musician.

This is about music.

I was brought up to play classical, and that’s what I have lessons on. But I’d much rather play Irish traditional and that sort of thing, meaning that there is often conflict between me and my teacher and my parents! I play the fiddle (taught violin), the flute and the piano. I’ve also taken up the tin whistle, but I don’t tend to count that.

Fear Of Failure

Delorfinde — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:11:52 +0000

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of “Fear of Failure Dreams”. I had one of those last night. You might or might not know that I play lots of instruments, but one of my recent instruments is the piano, and I’m supposed to be taking my grade 2 this term.

This formed the basis of my rather alarming dream.

I was in the music rooms at school, though I’m not sure what I was doing there. I hate the fact that dreams are so hard to remember! Anyway, so I’m just hanging about with my friends, having fun, chatting — that sort of thing.

And suddenly my eye fell on a sheet of paper. It had a heading “ABRSM Music Exams, Summer Term 2010″. I picked it up and saw the date. It was next week!

What a boring dream. But it was also extremely frightening. Do you know what I think it means?

I need to practice my scales.

Proof Copy and NaNoWriMo

Delorfinde — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 15:12:46 +0000

I am very pleased to announce that my proof copy (purchased from www.createspace.com using my coupon earned in NaNoWriMo) has arrived. For those that don’t know, this is a pre-publication, or self-publication, copy of a book. It’s intended to be read through, checked, any typos and omissions corrected, before the book is properly published. Anyway, mine isn’t being published but I do now have an awesome copy of it

That’s another benefit of National Novel Writing Month! Most years, though I don’t know if it will happen again this year, the self-publishing company CreateSpace gives a coupon to each and every winner which means they can receive a proof copy of their novel, free of charge. If you don’t want it, you can pass it on to somebody else. So why aren’t you signed up to NaNo yet?

Of course, there are tonnes of other benefits. For example:

I’d never finished a story before I did NaNo; now, I’m on my fifth/sixth novel.
It’s a great way to let go and get used to writing things ‘off the cuff’! Helps later when you need to write an essay in 30 minutes with no planning… :/
There is an amazing community spirit, and you can make some awesome friends!

Some of my friends have decided to participate this year.

Elorithryn (pen name)

SpookOfNight (pen name)

Raina (pen name; wordpress blog is www.rainaclyll.wordpress.com)

And of course, there’s me: Delorfinde

So I won’t be alone But you, readers – are you taking part? And if not, why?

Write or Die Stats – June

Delorfinde — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:07:37 +0000

I Killed My Ankle

Delorfinde — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:51:50 +0000

You can probably guess from the title what this blog post is about, so I’ll just say one thing: PE should not be compulsory. I spent the afternoon in hospital — my first time since I was two, and I was going for a clean record — I’m on prescription painkillers that are double-strength, my whole leg is wrapped in a support bandage and I can’t walk …

This is not fair. Especially as I’m a dancer.

Prayer please?

Write Or Die – Again!

Delorfinde — Sun, 30 May 2010 13:33:47 +0000

That’s got to be one of my records I reached the 1500 mark just as it hit 00:00 and pressed done … uber fast typing going there!

Unsung Hero Update

Delorfinde — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:03:13 +0000

So, how’s it going with you? I’m okay. Unsung Hero — my latest novel, but this time not a 50,000 word challenge — is going well! I’m almost at 60k, and I’m not too far into Part 2, so that’s good. Everyone’s who read it so far has liked it and only one didn’t cry their eyes out. So that’s also good.

Mind you, I cried when I wrote it. I cried to hard! I do that a lot when writing books, though it’s normally because the computer just crashed and lost it all. That happens to me a lot.

Technology sucks. Here, I have an idea. Comment on this post and tell me about all your least-favourite technology incidents. Whether it’s things crashing or what…

And the best one will be reposted for everyone to read. Not that too many people come on here, but you know…

Write Or Die Stats

Delorfinde — Thu, 20 May 2010 11:51:58 +0000

:(

Delorfinde — Sat, 08 May 2010 19:44:24 +0000

I have that feeling. Have you ever killed off a character? Yes? Then you’ll know how it feels.

You know when you really love them and you’re thinking, “But I have to kill them! It won’t work if I don’t!” And yet you get to the chapter and you can’t bear to write it…

And you have to. You write the chapter and your characters are in tears. Your MC is lying there, covered in blood or whatever, dying in a very dramatic, touching way. The guy she loves is crying his eyes out, holding her body, blah blah blah. And you’re sitting at the computer, or writing in a notebook or whatever, and you’re in tears.

Happened to me earlier. I’m sorry, Jennie! It had to be done!