Ryuu's Writing Calendar

[Ryuukokoro]

Hopefully the fact that this is posted publicly will potentially be embarrassing enough that I will not slack off and will actually write each day.

Please feel free to post here and poke at me if you see a day has gone by and I haven't updated it! XD It will help keep me motivated. <3


May 9 -- 3299/3000 goal met!
May 10 -- 877/750 goal met!
May 11 -- 839/750 goal met!
May 12 -- 1594/750 goal met!
May 13 -- 846/750 goal met!
May 14 -- 750/750 goal met!
May 15 -- 0/750 goal not met
May 16 -- 1668/1500 double goal met!
May 17 -- 0/750 goal not met
May 18 -- 1589/1500 double goal met!
May 19 -- 765/750  goal met!
May 20 -- 0/750 goal not met
May 21 -- 0/750 goal not met
May 22 -- 0/750 goal not met




Old Calendar:
March 23 -- 323/250 words goal met!
March 24 -- 623/250 words goal met!
March 25 -- 276/250 words goal met!
March 26 -- 380/250 words goal met!
March 27 -- 866/250 words goal met!
March 28 -- 573/250 words goal met!
March 29 -- 260/250 words goal met!
March 30 -- 343/250 words goal met!
March 31 -- 667/250 words goal met!
April 1 -- 318/250 words goal met!
April 2 -- 459/250 words goal met!
April 3 -- 362/250 words goal met!
April 4 -- 627/250 words goal met!
April 5 -- 345/250 words goal met!
April 6 -- 274/250 words goal met!
April 7 -- 368/250 words goal met!



April 8 -- 654/500 words goal met!
April 9 -- 570/500 words goal met!
April 10 -- 556/500 words goal met!
April 11 -- 554/500 words goal met!
April 12 -- 695/500 words goal met!
April 13 -- 751/500 words goal met!
April 14 -- 606/500 words goal met!
April 15 -- 565/500 words goal met!
April 16 -- 689/500 words goal met!
April 17 -- 570/500 words goal met!
April 18 -- 530/500 words goal met!
April 19 -- 677/500 words goal met!
April 20 -- 541/500 words goal met!
April 21 -- 636/500 words goal met!



April 22 -- 819/750 goal met!
April 23 -- 1365/750 goal met!
April 24 -- 776/750 goal met!
April 25 -- 1585/750 goal met!
April 26 -- 836/750 goal met!
April 27 -- 861/750 goal met!
April 28 -- 0/750 goal not met
April 29 -- 1547/1500 double goal met!
April 30 -- 774/750 goal met!
May 1 -- 782/750 goal met!
May 2 -- 0/750 goal not met
May 3 -- 0/750 goal not met
May 4 -- 2298/2250 triple goal met!
May 5 -- 893/750 goal met!



Current project: Started a fanfic heh heh... ^^;;

[Taruia]

*pokeity poke poke* XD

[red_uni387]

*joins in the poking*

[indigowulf]

*gasp!* 7 hours into a new day and you haven't met the goal for the day yet? *pokes* hehe

*pulls out streamers and confetti to celebrate goals met*

[Ryuukokoro]

It's 1 am but still counts for today! XD

[red_uni387]

I wants to read your book! :O

[Ryuukokoro]

lol you can when it's published ^^



Bleh, everything I wrote today is pure crap. -_- Just managed to make the goal. But I'm going to have to totally rewrite it later...so tired... *rubs eyes* Bedtime yup.

[red_uni387]

I can't wait

*squishes* my friend has days like that too, just no inspiration D: more ideas will come soon, perhaps you need sleep <3

[indigowulf]

still, getting it done makes you feel better, and gets your brain trained that it has to work on this, maybe youll start dreaming up great plot and dialog or something because you're forcing yourself to focus Im proud of you!

[Ryuukokoro]

Well more "word-barf" came out tonight (as I have termed it). XD Tomorrow I don't have to go to work til the evening so I'm going to try to actually finish this scene and edit it to sound somewhat decent!

[Ryuukokoro]

Ha, managed to write a whole bunch! It wasn't part of any particular novel, just writing a random scene with an rp character. But it feels so much better than trying to punch through that other scene that keeps refusing to be written...

[Silvanon]

<.<  *pokes*

[Ryuukokoro]

Hee hee thank you Sil!

Managed to scrape out 260 words tonight, but too tired to do any more. Gonna go crawl in bed and sleep for 10 hours or so. Been a really emotional day and I'm pretty seriously depressed right now but not anything I want to talk about online... -_-

Regardless of my emotional state, my goal is still to write every single day, so write I shall. I had to erase all the word barf I wrote Thursday and Friday, but I think I finally have this scene worked out in a way that sounds good so tomorrow I should be able to get through it. Hopefully.

[indigowulf]

Suggestion: allow yourself time for editing. Maybe make it where if you go through the last 500 words and edit them and make things flow better, that counts as 100 words for that day. That way you can "schedule" your editing and still feel you've met your goal, since editing is just as important.

[Ryuukokoro]

Tis a good idea, indigo! ^^ Editing is indeed giant part of the writing process.


Sigh. Fighting with best friend = depression = not in the mood for writing. Got my daily goal today but didn't finish the scene.

[Ryuukokoro]

Ha! Finally finished that scene! Well I took some shortcuts with it and ended it a little earlier than I had originally planned, but it's good and I like it, so ha!

Tomorrow... on to something else...

[Ryuukokoro]

Harum... I've been staring at this blank Word file open for a while. Now that I finished that scene I'm not sure where to go next. *taps fingertips on desk*

[indigowulf]

*cheers you on* doing great so far!

suggestion- development flavor for character.. 3! Random number lol

[Ryuukokoro]

So I have noticed I've come to the end of the dates I made for myself, so... I've made a decision. For the next two weeks I'm going to write 500 words per day.

I'm a little nervous. This is the longest I've ever gone forcing myself to write every day, all the other times I tried to make a new year's resolution or something, I always ended up breaking it. I attribute my success to you guys, knowing that you're here watching me and checking to make sure I fill out my calendar every day. ^_^ (This must be why joining a weight loss group like Waist Watchers is more successful than dieting alone...)

Still, doubling my goal from the last two weeks is a little unnerving. >.> It shouldn't be! Professional writers usually write MUCH more than 250 or 500 words every single day. I can do it, I know I'm just as good as they are. I just gotta push myself! And no more waiting til midnight or 1 am to jot down a couple paragraphs quickly so I can crawl into bed....

Well, I hope you'll all continue to support me in the next two weeks as you have the last two. And if I do manage to continue my dedication, maybe at the end of the next two weeks I'll push myself up to 1,000 a day. Oi! Scary thought! >.<

[red_uni387]

you can do it Ryuu! don't think about your old resolutions or stuff like that, just focus on your goal right now <3

[Ryuukokoro]

Finished my goal this morning for once, rather than waiting to write at night! ^^ I'm going to try to keep this up.

Hard because they usually make me work morning shift at Dairy Queen, and I'm all tired out by the time I get home at 5 pm. Yay for day off!

[Ryuukokoro]

Well it's 4 am but I managed to get the 500 words needed. Ugh, so tired... it was all senseless rambling that I'm sure won't make sense in the morning! But still got my goal! *drags self to bed*

[Ryuukokoro]

Late night again (there's never enough hours in a day!) but for the first time in the past 3 or 4 days I feel really good about what I wrote today. Came out good! ^^

[sera]

Congrats, Ryuu! *super proud of you!*

. . . i should totally do something like this. D8;;;;

[Ryuukokoro]

You should it's really fun!

My streak of enthusiastic writing lasted only one day though. Back to dragging it out like a 20 pound fish at the end of the line, yankyankyankdraaaag.

[red_uni387]

*squishes* but when you finally get that fish out all that dragging is totally worth it <3

[Ryuukokoro]

Ha, fish is hauled up for another night. XD I'm 50% satisfied with what came out this time.




Sometimes I write stuff that I can't/would rather not share, whether it be because it's something I'm preparing for publication or just because it's random scrawling that wouldn't make sense. But anyone want to read some of my more lucid stuff that comes out? I could post it here sometimes if it's to my satisfaction. :3

[red_uni387]

whoo!

I would love to read parts of your book <3

[sera]

Fffiiiisssshhhh. ^^

i would love to read some Ryuu writings. ^^  <3  Can't guarantee a lot of comments (SPAWN BREAKS MEIN BRAIN), but i love to read wot other people write.  . . . Though i do also enjoy critiquing, so.  *Shrugs* XD;  Anyways.  i would like to read. ^^

[Ryuukokoro]

Hee hee, alright. ^_^ I don't mind posting this, it's not intended for publication. Actually it's already online, because it's part of an RPG I write for. It's rather an epic RPG, each post we make is several pages long. The following is all one post. And it ends rather too abruptly for my liking, so I'm working on a part 2 which isn't done yet.

***************

(The story thus far is that Mouse is a young slave girl who was a stowaway on a ship, and later was kidnapped from the ship by Ralion, a naive young dragon, and taken to this new island where she finds a society of dragons and humans who live together in a militeristic-like society. Right now she can't get away so she must figure out this new land and how things work here.)

***************


Mouse's shoulder muscles strained as she heaved up the shovel full of hot sand. Staggering slightly, she pivoted on her right foot and upturned it into the wheelbarrow waiting outside the stall. It was only half full and already sweat ran down her temples from her damp curls and stuck her tunic to her back. Two full wheelbarrows to empty the stall, then another two full of clean sand to bring back in. . . .

The small girl didn't mind the physical labor. It was actually a relief to have all these chores to do that required so much concentration. Every minute of her day was spent hard at work, either labor or learning. Each night she was falling asleep even as she felt the pillow touch her face. There was no more time to be overcome with sorrow and worry, like when she first arrived. It had been a week since she caught herself at the Wall fantasizing about the Jones on the horizon, and she hardly ever cried in bed at night (last night's dream notwithstanding).

"Mouse, hey! Ohhh, you're not done yet, huh?"

She squeaked in surprise and jerked up straight, sand flinging against the wall. "S-sorry!" she stuttered. A long reptilian head looked over the top of the stall. It was a face she recognized well, and she found a smile for her new partner.

"It's okay, I'll help!" the young dragon offered. His head disappeared again behind the wooden wall as he fell back to all fours.

Mouse poked her head out of the stall to see him standing in the corridor, regarding the wheelbarrow intently. She hastily put in, "Ralion, I don't think you can help with that, but thank you." It was the most polite way she could think of to cover her worry for the mess it would make if he tried to push the wheelbarrow out and tipped it over.

"You sure?" Ralion cocked his head.

She nodded, digging the shovel into the sand-covered floor of the stall. "Yes, thank you though." Turned, dumped it in the wheelbarrow.

For a long moment the dragon stood in the hall and watched his partner. At sixteen feet from snout to tailtip, Ralion was considered an adult but was hardly full grown. The Dragon Barracks could and did house much larger winged soldiers. Ralion standing next to the wheelbarrow didn't even take up half the width of the wide center hallway bisecting the wooden building.

Mouse's only experience with dragons before her arrival was basically Santi, the youngster on board the Jones. Avery she had only seen in dragon form from a distance; Ralion was plenty big enough for her. He looked a lot like Santi in basic shape, with four feet and a long tail and a tapered head on the end of an elongated neck, and of course the two big veined wings. But his coloring was a dark gray with lighter gray stripes running over his body, and a small crest of horns on his head. His eyes were large for his head and entirely yellow; they glowed in the dark, too.

Despite their initial meeting and his somewhat scary (i.e. big) appearance, Mouse soon found that she just couldn't begrudge the earnest creature who had technically kidnapped her. It was such a strange situation, to find yourself kidnapped by a helpful and (almost always) happy dragon who told you he was your destined partner, and now to be on some island and in training with said dragon.... Mouse's head sometimes swam with the strangeness of it.

After seeing that there was nothing he could do, Ralion reluctantly turned and trotted down the hall, leaving the girl to finish her morning chores alone.

* * *

"We're SOO late!" Ralion puffed out, rowing wings frantically for a boost of speed.

Mouse just clung to the pommel of the leather saddle at the base of the dragon's thick neck. Weeks of flying lessons and she felt fairly confident when he was sailing at a steady pace, and even takeoffs and landings. But Ralion frantic at full speed terrified her. Though she remembered her instructor's orders to keep her body loose in flight, it wasn't obeying her right now and every muscle was locked. As a result she was jerked back and forth in a motion that made her teeth click together.

Usually Mouse liked flying with Ralion. It was frightful, but a controlled fright; she trusted him and the straps around her thighs to keep her from falling out of the sky. Heart in her throat--half with wonder--she could watch the strange city sprawl all the way to the shoreline below. But that was only when Ralion wasn't flinging himself through the air at full force. Between the dizzying speed, the wind tearing against her face, and the jerking movements jarring the breath out of her, Mouse could only squeeze her eyes shut and wait for it to be over.

Thankfully it wasn't a long flight. After finishing her chores, she and Ralion took to the air and crossed the length of what most simply called the Compound. The East End housed the Dragon Barracks and the lower ranking quarters for humans, where Mouse had her room. Between that and the West End--where they were now heading--stood the training grounds, central offices, and a few scattered empty fields for random usage.

Mouse's eyelids fluttered open as she felt the shift in balance that meant Ralion was angling downward, starting his descent. The circular cluster of buildings down below was very similar to the one on the east side, where her own dorm was just one of many. They were heading for the cleared area in the center of the cluster of buildings. Several dots of movement were rapidly growing larger as they approached.

She shifted her weight backward and inched her knees up as much as her straps would allow as Ralion came in for landing, his wings cupped and sweeping forward and back in slow beats. Mouse closed her eyes as the wind kicked up sand into her face, fumbling with her leg straps by feel alone.

The small girl slid out of the saddle as soon as Ralion bent his legs to bring her closer to the ground. She spent a moment straightening her tunic and trews, because the dragon waiting for them in the courtyard was even bigger than Ralion and pretty intimidating as well. Finally Mouse had to look up.

Their trainer was a much larger dragon than the younger Ralion. Her scales were a rich brown color edged with deep forest green, and horns covered the back of her head in a half-arch, pointing back toward her curved neck. Startling bright green eyes seemed to glow against her dark complexion. Like all the times Mouse had seen her, the dragon had her saddle strapped to her neck but her rider was nowhere to be found.

Those intense green eyes were now bathing them both in scrutinizing light. Mouse couldn't keep the look very long, and glanced away to Ralion for subconscious support. Her partner showed no such hesitance; his head was raised boldly and he looked eagerly up at the large brown dragon. "We're here for our orders, Drall!"

"Orders that you would already have if you arrived on time," the other dragon rumbled.

Mouse found her voice. "S-sorry, Drall," she stammered. "I--" She was about to admit that it was still taking her longer than was expected of her to finish her cleaning chores.

Ralion jumped in--either intentionally or not, Mouse wasn't sure--before she could explain. "I can make up any lost time in the air!" he boasted, flipping the tips of his wings back and forth in the dust of the courtyard. "I can cross the whole of Azure in a flash!"

A smothered "hurr" noise came from Drall's throat, and smoke curled from her nostrils. "Maybe your orders should be to patrol the city border, then, little flash."

Immediately Ralion groaned back. "Draaaaaall! No!" (Mouse wasn't sure why her partner objected to that, but if it was intended to be a punishment, she would take it without complaint.)

There was a little silence, but the girl found she couldn't quite look up, so she couldn't tell what Drall's expression was. Finally the dragon trainer sighed and said with what Mouse thought was some amusement, "You will fly border patrol sometime soon, but not today. Today Matron wants you to go to the Hatchery and take a turn standing guard."

"REALLY!? Yes!" This assignment apparently made Ralion much more enthusiastic. Not that it was any less mysterious to Mouse, who had never heard of the Hatchery and didn't know who Matron was. But because Ralion seemed to like it, she felt reassured that they weren't being punished, and she was ready to apply herself to this new task with some small measure of confidence.

Sometimes, when the young girl was feeling contemplative, she wondered how strange she was to accept things like this without even a token objection. She felt like she should fight conforming to these people out of some sort of principle, but she just didn't have it in her to refuse an order. It was so much safer to obey, stay quiet, avoid notice, and wait. Traits that had been instilled in her since her birth as just another faceless slave of her former Madame.

It was true Mouse missed Orwiss and the Jones more than anything, and she hadn't given up on returning. They had become her family, and she urgently wanted to at least get word to them about what had happened to her. But everyone here said that was just impossible, and she didn't know enough about her current situation to find otherwise. It had been weeks since Ralion had shown up out of nowhere to scoop her up and bring her far away across the sea. She had been learning as much as she could all that time. Every day she absorbed more information more about what life was like here; eventually she would discover exactly what she needed.

For now, Mouse thanked her trainer and climbed back up into the saddle of her dragon silently. Ralion chattered happily about what would await them at the Hatchery as he paused for her to get strapped in. Then he spread his wings and cupped air as he leaped upward to the sky.

[sera]

Awww!  This world seems quite interesting!  i just want to fluff poor little Mouse, but i adore the brashness of Ralion!  hehe  This makes me miss the old PBeMs quite badly.  *sad sigh*  Very lovely, Ryuu. ^^  Thank you for sharing with us!

[Ryuukokoro]

Thank you for the kind words, sera! ^^



*waves arms around* Had a bunch of errands to do after work today and then the internet was turned off when I got home because my bill was late and I just got it paid off and working again and now I'm tired and want to go to bed! >.< Booo! *drags open a writing document instead*

[Ryuukokoro]

Theeere done... *drags self to bed*

[Ryuukokoro]

Aaand ta-da! I've done it! I wrote 500 words every day for two weeks! ^__^ Whooo!!! *throws confetti into the air*

It wasn't always conherent stuff or stuff working toward an actual product (sometimes I just write random characters in random scenes that wont' ever be used in anything... haha) And too often I keep putting it off until midnight where I scramble to write something quickly so I can go to bed... and I try to get up early in the morning to write but I end up sleeping in...

BUT I've still managed to do it every day for two weeks! Whoo hoo!!

Well then, the next step is to increase my load. I don't feel comfortable going up to 1,000 words a day... that's a huge amount of time and I can't even get up out of bed in the morning lol. But I will go up another 250 words! My new goal....drumroll please...

750 words a day for two weeks!! Starting tomorrow! Wish me luck!

[YourLoveOnly]

Good luck Ryuu!
I've been silently stalking this thread from the beginnging ^^
You're doing great!

[Ryuukokoro]

Aw, thank you YLO. ^^


But blarg, my wonderful streak og writing every day has ended. -_- I've been so busy today with Kohaku that I am too wiped out to write today. I've tried but all the words are all bobbling around un my head and I can barely write this out! (II fell asleep in front of the laptop by accident and just woke up so I'm writing this before going back to sleep)

I'll write twice my goal tomorrow, to make up for it, but I still fel bummed for breaking m y streak. Boo.

[Ryuukokoro]

Whoo, I did it! Wrote double my goal for today, to make up for yesterday! Yay! *proud* ^_^

[Ryuukokoro]

*curls up in the corner* Rrrr, Ryuu has been a bad girl. Missed two days of writing. -_-

I tried really hard last night but was exhausted and passed out in front of my laptop with my word file open. Gonna try to write three days worth today but not sure if I can do it... :\

[Ryuukokoro]

Eeee omgomg I did it! I caught up and wrote three days worth of words today! ^_^ Yay!


But I will be very very determined not to miss any more days. Must be dedicated! Dedicated! >:B

[YourLoveOnly]

O.o Triple?
I want your talent and motivation for when NaNo comes xD

[Ryuukokoro]

lol. Well when NaNo comes around you have to do 2k like every day. Not just the days you mess up and have to catch up.

Bleh. I'm annoyed at myself for those red letters left in my calendar. >.< No more of that, Ryuu.