tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25862886621043340322012-02-17T04:21:48.841ZSvenjanoreply@blogger.comBlogger251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-37492492760184370432012-01-01T18:58:00.001Z2012-01-01T19:00:14.474Z

Yes, alas, time for more spreadsheets... I updated last year's tracker so you can use to track your writing throughout 2012. I made it in three different designs, which you might recognise from my NaNo sheets:You can download it here if you want to use it. Instructions are included as usual. If you liked one of the other NaNo designs better and want to request that, just leave a comment!I also

Svenjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07311211222694570361noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-66711947546049429912011-12-04T13:52:00.005Z2011-12-04T18:35:25.287Z

Well, NaNoWriMo came and went this year without a single update from me - because I was too busy writing to blog. That, and my characters were clamouring to be painted, so I started on that, too. If you're interested in seeing some progress shots, I've started sharing those on my Facebook page.But anyway, now we're into December, and my novel isn't finished. I got to 56,000 words, but I'm nowhere

Svenjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07311211222694570361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-67697658110076309672011-10-30T21:22:00.001Z2011-10-30T21:25:43.318Z

I have a few more wallpapers done - these are new ones, and feature some of my art. The preview images link to the download pages, so work away. Hope you like them and that they help keep you motivated throughout November!

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-79400923299837644692011-10-29T21:42:00.004+01:002011-10-29T21:53:10.446+01:00

I've updated some of the calendars I made last year, so that they show the right date. I've also added two new sizes, for bigger screens. Here's the first batch (clicking on each image will take you to the download pages): Hope you like them! I can change the colours, by the way, so if you want a different colour or size, feel free to ask and I'll see what I can do.Making stuff for NaNo is

Svenjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07311211222694570361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-73331820076169194472011-10-26T17:41:00.003+01:002011-10-26T18:02:37.935+01:00

I've discovered the joy of making book covers and, typically, got quite carried away with it. I have a request thread going over on the NaNo forums and it's had a pretty good response. I also made some blank covers, "adoptables" if you will, some of which are still up for grabs. They're all in this gallery folder (don't mind the title and the name, I had to write something in them after all).

Svenjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07311211222694570361noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-55762897073376698672011-10-14T03:15:00.006+01:002011-10-14T21:30:27.587+01:00

I finally finished updating last year's word count tracker for NaNoWriMo! I made several different designs and several different formats, because I tend to get a bit carried away with Microsoft Excel. So, here's the full pack, containing nine different designs:Click here to go to the download page or download directly (.zip file, 2.6 MB).Each file contains several sheets - instructions, word

Svenjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07311211222694570361noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-73632320363095240382011-10-12T16:37:00.000+01:002011-10-12T16:37:32.953+01:00

So, October is upon us again, which means that NaNoWriMo is coming up. I intend to take part again, even though I have no idea what my novel is going to be yet. But it's far too much fun to skip out on, so I'll have to think of something. I'm working on a new word count tracker at the moment. It would be simple if I hadn't decided to make a few different looks for it. Right now, I have eight

Svenjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07311211222694570361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-40101073370338205932011-04-24T20:56:00.000+01:002011-04-24T20:56:43.224+01:00

More art! More fan art, in fact, this time of Kyp Durron, another character from the Star Wars novels. I did one proper digital painting, which was pretty cool to do because it still amazes me what you can do with digital. The nebula in the background, for example. That was fun. Since I figured out that digital works better going from dark to light, I've done much better with it. Coming from

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-77512923619963720962011-04-21T16:32:00.001+01:002011-04-21T16:34:28.736+01:00

I know, I'm not really doing much blogging these days, but I do have more art to share. I'm working on building up a portfolio at the moment, since I started venturing into digital art, so that's taking up a lot of my time. I've been remiss in posting it all here, so I'm going to catch up on that over the next couple of posts. I started on a series of sorts, inspired by V-Day - the couples of

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-20078742627468517472011-03-04T19:03:00.000Z2011-03-04T19:03:20.622Z

I do quite a lot of fan art, mainly Star Wars, as you can tell by the pictures I've posted so far. I love bringing characters to life, especially fictional characters who aren't represented by an actor or actress. It's a challenge, drawing someone from only a description, but it's fun. And it's very rewarding when you manage to come up with something that also fits other people's images of that

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-87151459554927425032011-01-16T16:38:00.001Z2011-01-16T16:41:33.872Z

I'm a member of a community on LiveJournal which lets you "pledge" for year-round wordcount goals and offers advice and support throughout the year as its members work towards those goals. I made a tracker for myself to use this year, and since it turned out pretty well, I put it up online so others can use it. So, if you want to track your word count this year, feel free to use it. Link and

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-18686546953557519462011-01-15T15:50:00.005Z2011-01-15T16:16:11.787Z

It's been almost two months since my last post, and there are reasons - we've had snow, half the country ground to a standstill, the internet connection got very erratic, there was Christmas, and finally, I ended up playing a lot of Knights of the Old Republic. If you don't know what that means: they're Star Wars video games, RPG-style. Playing them resulted in a lot of fun and a resurging

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-18061071436156910412010-11-23T16:49:00.001Z2010-11-23T16:49:30.613Z

I visited friends over the weekend, so the only writing I got done was on the train there and back. Still, I’m creeping towards the finish line. 46262 / 50000(92.52%)That won’t complete my novel. I’ve barely gotten started with the actual storyline, in fact. I’m pretty sure that once I’m finished, it’ll all be rewritten again. But that’s okay. If you’re not doing so well, or if you’re lagging

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-30762464441357809162010-11-16T18:53:00.000Z2010-11-16T18:53:23.448Z

I fell into a bit of a slump two days ago, only managing 400 words for the entire day. My plot had gotten away from me, and I had to get it back. The idea that may well have saved the whole book came to me while drying my hair, of all things. Just goes to show you what these things are good for. 35,008 / 50,000(70.02%) The trouble - or at least my trouble - with something like NaNo is that when I

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-30917213513283571932010-11-12T17:30:00.001Z2010-11-12T17:34:06.151Z

Still on-track, and having more and more fun with my story. I have a feeling that a lot of this stuff will be cut during editing; I doubt that an in-depth description of the party that my characters are currently attending is very vital to the plot. Or relevant at all. But it's being written anyway because relevance is for December. 27,791 / 50,000 (55.58%)I don't spend all my time writing,

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-21287868632546594552010-11-09T21:24:00.001Z2010-11-09T21:36:53.536Z

For a miracle, I’m actually well ahead of my target word count at the moment. 21,802 / 50,000 (43.6%)Don’t let that fool you, though. It doesn’t mean that I spend the whole day writing. It’s just that I don’t have a job, or anything else I need to be doing, so I have a lot of time to procrastinate and still get some writing done. In honour of that (sort of), I’m going to share ten of my favourite

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-20441538724277967272010-11-05T13:44:00.002Z2010-11-12T17:32:55.638Z

Five days in! How are we doing? Any major plot derailment yet? 9,186 / 50,000(18.37%)I’m on track for now, but sometimes, it’s really hard to get going. Sometimes, you find yourself staring at a blank sheet of paper, or a blank document, and the words just won’t come. I’ve had that problem more than once, but there are a few things you can do about it. One strategy is to just start writing. I

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-75594009132020553512010-11-03T13:10:00.001Z2010-11-03T13:11:07.795Z

3,633 / 50,000 (7.27%) I haven’t really got terribly far yet. I’m on track with the word count, but don’t even ask about what I wrote. My main character and I aren’t getting along. Or at least, we weren’t over the past two days. She’s kind of boring. So she’s getting a makeover today, to make her more interesting and give her more fire, which should fix most of my problems. There’ll probably be

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-42686269099932095302010-10-31T20:28:00.000Z2010-10-31T20:28:24.605Z

It’s the eve of Halloween, which means that we’re right on November’s doorstep – a scary thought if ever there was one, right? Having all the tools and programs you need for writing is one thing. The other thing is... do you know how you’re going to get through November yet? Got your inspiration and motivation all sorted out? If not, here are some suggestions. Let’s start with music. Lots of

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-19313108577565777122010-10-30T16:23:00.001+01:002010-10-31T20:31:07.958Z

I thought I’d make a list of things that might come in useful during November, for inspiration, motivation, or just to make the process of writing easier. There are, as it turns out, quite a lot of useful things out there, so there will be two parts to this. I’ll talk about writing tools in this first part; inspiration and motivation will be in part two. I use Word for writing, because I’m just

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-30646899021166987902010-10-25T15:49:00.000+01:002010-10-25T15:49:45.950+01:00

I'm finally beginning to get the hang of digital painting. The problem with this time of year is that there's less and less daylight for drawing; for digital painting, though, that's actually better. So last night when it got too dark to draw, I went to the computer and ended up with Underworld fanart! Clicking on the picture will take you to the big version. It took me about three hours to do,

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-19732527238598998532010-10-24T12:38:00.000+01:002010-10-24T12:38:17.944+01:00

I have some more wallpapers for you today. The first lot takes the theme from this blog, but I played around with colours a little, so there are three versions which each come in three sizes, all combined in one .zip file. (You can either download the files directly, or you can go to the download page to see a bigger preview and more details and info first, that's why I'm putting in two links.)

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-67456838735796171212010-10-17T20:43:00.001+01:002010-10-17T21:45:37.188+01:00

I only realised this year that people make NaNo wallpapers, and I love the idea. Making wallpapers is fun, although I don't think I've ever shared any of mine online. Well, that's changed now. I finished my first set of NaNo wallpapers earlier and uploaded it on DeviantArt. It's basically the same one, but it comes in four colours: Download the pack from this page There's more information

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-35050556540467325072010-10-12T12:02:00.000+01:002010-10-12T12:02:02.542+01:00

I presume you already know what NaNoWriMo is, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this, so I shan't explain it. I’ve taken part for the past two years running and won both times, so maybe I have some advice for those who have never taken part, or never won. So, how do you win it? Well, really, it’s pretty simple. 1. Sign up for it on the official website. 2. Write 50,000 words over the course of

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2586288662104334032.post-64427246234274143012010-10-11T14:32:00.001+01:002010-10-15T14:45:41.017+01:00

It’s occurred to me that before blathering on about stuff, I should probably give you some reasons why I’m qualified to do so. Anyone with half a brain can create a blog, after all. In the immortal words of Doc DuFrayne, blogging is “just like being a real journalist, but without all the hassle of like, liability and accuracy.” So, what do I know about writing? My anthropology M.A. thesis last

Svenjanoreply@blogger.com0