So long, November

The days are growing shorter when I really, really need them to be growing longer. I need 30-40 hour days.

It's the end of term and evverrrryytthhinnnngggg is due.

Do you see how big that everything is?

That's how much is due.

As such, I've taken to decorating my house for Christmas. I've printed out a Christmas tree, a Christmas village, and spent far too many hours cutting out paper snowflakes.

My priorities are nowhere near straight.

Anyway, my news for today: I didn't win NaNoWriMo this year, which sucks, but I needed time to write my essays and stories for class (and to spend hours cutting out paper snowflakes).

I'll do a NaNo 2.0 during the second half of December, when things have settled down.

I'll be back soon, but before I go, let me show you a cool video of my Great Uncle arresting Lee Harvey Oswald (It was Oswald's first arrest. The Disturbing the Peace arrest. Not the, you know, killing the leader of the free world arrest.) My aunt sent it to me earlier today. If you're interested, it's somewhere in this PBS special, which I cannot access in England.

I like to play Degrees of Separation.

For example, I know someone -> who knows someone -> who has monthly meetings with J.K. Rowling.

I know someone -> who knows someone -> who knows someone -> who knows someone -> who works for John Green.

This is probably my strangest DoS.

I know someone.

Who knew someone.

Who killed J.F.K.

Best,

Julia

An Unexpected Journey

I went on a walk on Sunday, entirely by accident. I only meant to go to the park near my house, to drink coffee and listen to a podcast, and enjoy the little daylight we get now that winter has just about come. There's a fallen log just ahead of the lake that would have been a wonderful place to sit and enjoy the sun.

And then I saw this sign.

And I was curious.

Where did this footpath lead?

How far would it go?

What fallen trees and other treasures would I find along it?

I began my journey.

Goodbye, lake.

And goodbye, Autumn.

Look at those sad, bare trees.

And I left my park completely, hoping I'd have enough podcast to listen to on my way back home.

I walked through one field after another, following the public footpath signs all the way.

Crossed a bridge made for much more interesting journeys.

Got stared down by some sheep.

And as I came to the end of this new, long field, I discovered I'd walked halfway to the next town, not around the park, like I'd thought I'd done.

Somehow, my podcast was still going, so I meandered down some country lanes.

which are not like any roads in the US. These can fit a single car (sometimes) and are fortified by wicked looking hedges.

And sometimes stone walls. It was a lovely walk, really. Although I had absolutely no idea where I was headed for most of it.

Finally, I made my way back to a field that I was familiar with, just at the edge of the park. The sheep did not want me in their field.

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With podcast left, I made my way back home.

Through all of the winter scrabble (I came across a peasant on this trail).

My podcast, which was much longer than usual, ended as I walked up the road to my house.

In the end, my little detour took me through more than five miles of hilly English countryside. And although it was a beautiful and invigorating stroll… I think I'll stick with my fallen tree this week.

Best,

Julia

Halloween + NaNoWriMo

Things have been... foggy here lately. November arrived and so did the mists. Remember how an old nickname for the UK used to be "the misty isles?" This is a thing right? I'm not just making this up? I've gone a bit nocturnal recently (whoops) but when I am awake for the little daylight we have here, anything more than a few dozen yards into the distance is a hazy grey.

I love it.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. This year, I got dressed up as a witch and went into the city to celebrate with my friends. We had a marvellous time.

I usually take a little longer than most people to transition from Halloween Mania to Christmas Frenzy. Early November is still Peak Spooky Time. The leaves are still changing! There's still just the slightest chill to the air! And here: the fog. 

The fog is great. Nothing seems to suggest a cozy day inside with hot chocolate, a wool blanket, and a couple of ghost stories than fog.

You know what also rolled in off the hills this November?

That's right! This year I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month!

Next September, my Manuscript is due. It's the crux of this entire course. A 35-40k word book for children. So far, I've been writing about 1,500 words per week. Usually over the course of two days. For assignments due in class (ie. rarely part of my manuscript). This is far more than I wrote all summer, but if I wrote 1.5k words of my manuscript every week, it would take 27 weeks to complete a draft of my manuscript.

That's half a year.

And first drafts are never any good.  Second drafts generally have some okay content. Third drafts can be acceptable on occasion, but are never as good as a forth draft.

Do you see where I'm going? Because I saw where I was going with those 1,500 a week. 

I needed to give myself a little kick, change up my life to make writing the priority.

NaNoWriMo has a pretty silly premise: write 50,000 words in a month. In this particular month. Even if they're terrible words. Even if your story is only 40,000 words. Even if your story is 250,000 words. Even if you get in a huge fight with your family over Thanksgiving and you're super stressed out and you have no time to write this week at all.

November is a terrible month for me. The term will be winding down and I'll have all sorts of things due: rewrites, essays, picture books, etc. But I've decided to be bold and give it a try anyway. I like watching my word count go up on their handy little graphs. I like having scores of other people writing at the same time. I like the pep talks. Basically, I like the outside motivation and the optimism of it all.

Worst case scenario, I'll have an extra couple thousand words of my first draft written.

I'll keep you updated as the month wanders along. In the past two days, I've already written nearly 3.5k.

Until then, here are some of my favorite links about NaNoWriMo (if you are so inclined).

An interview with Stephanie Perkins

A Pep-Talk from Rainbow Rowell

25 Things You Should Know About NaNoWriMo

Best,

Julia

Autumn in Bath

Let's pretend two months haven't passed since my last blog post. Let's pretend that I've kept you up to date on all of my adventures in Bath and Corsham. Let's pretend I told you all about how much I am loving my master's program, visiting Bath, living in Corsham, going to school at Corsham Court. About how easy making friends here was. About how I've settled in more easily than I imagined possible. It's been a busy few months. You have to cut me some slack.

So now that we've gotten through the important stuff, here's a collection of photos I've taken showcasing how absolutely gorgeous autumn has been in Corsham and Bath.

I'll be back very soon with a post about my campus.

Best,

Julia