Writing Sya

Updates
11.30.2005

I have just finished reading a forums thread where someone has lost their entire novel in a spectacular computer crash. Talk about major cringe factor! Well, if it happened to me, I would have been majorly pissed. This is why I make backups all the time. Save them to different types of disks (cd, floppy, zip, jump drive). Save in multiple formats. E-mail each draft to yourself (and don't forget to check that the files didn't get corrupted while you sent them!). Upload them to your website if you have one and don't care about publishing. Send a copy to someone else. And print out a hard copy. At least you will still have the paper version if your computer crashes, your disks get erased (or broken), your e-mail eats your inbox, the server crashes, and if for some reason, the Wayback machine forgets you.

This is why I went to the local Kinko's this afternoon to have this year's novel (and my 2002 novel--I realized I never made a hard copy of that one for some reason) printed out. There is no such thing as too many extra backups.

* * *
My advice for reaching 50k: This is my fifth win, so I should hope I know what I'm talking about. After going through the rigors of Nanowrimo for so many years and seeing others go through it as well, there really is only one thing that will guarantee you success at putting down those words--write.

I don't really care what your excuse is. Crowded schedule? People have won Nano through school work, exams, moving house, personal problems, jobs, getting sick, natural disasters (or non-natural disasters), and various other obstacles. Don't say that you've stopped writing because you had to clean your house before your mother-in-law comes to visit. If you want to reach 50k, you'd better make time.

Well, what about writer's block? Work through it. Write a different part of your story first. Write something totally different and tack it onto your word count anyway. Do a writing challenge. The main thing is, don't stop, or writer's block will block you for the rest of the month.

And what about the people complaining that they could hardly write any more because they're writing crap? The problem is--you're rereading your stuff and letting your inner critic get in the way! Don't reread your stuff during November. Save it for later. If you're worried about continuity and consistency--throw that out the window. All of this can be fixed later. And don't tell yourself that you're writing crap. (Have I ever told you that all the threads in the forums about writing crap annoy me to no end?) That is the ultimate defeatist attitude that will bring you down. What you're writing is a first draft. And no first draft is perfect.

* * *
Addendum: Why do most of the published authors participating in NaNo seem to be romance novelists? This is a question asked by Odds-n-Ends who I found through a search that somebody did on this site for published authors. You know, I've noticed this trend as well and I have almost no idea why this is so. Why almost? Well, romance is pretty much the only genre these days in which publishers (particularly publishers of category romance) regularly accept manuscripts under 100k. This doesn't mean that authors in other genres are dissing Nano (oh, on the contrary--Neil Gaiman thinks it's a great idea). More likely, Nano just doesn't fit with their own goals.

* * *
Novel Stats

Word count
Total word count: 74725 (according to Nano validator)
50,000th word: poured
Last word: necessary
Word count did not include author byline, chapter titles, the quoted poem by Lucille Clifton, section markings, or the words "The End."

Number of pages
In 10pt Times New Roman, default margins, single spaced: 97
In 12pt Courier New, 1 inch margins, double spaced: 341

Current ranking
Word count, all: page 7

[ posted by sya on 5:56 PM : (0) comments ]

11.29.2005

Finished!

Yes, I am indeed finished with the story in 74,725 words. This is the longest thing I have written, ever. I've been writing around 4-5k the past couple of days and my brain is fried. Meanwhile, I will give you the summary. I'll blabber more tomorrow when I'm feeling more coherent.

Summary: The city of Amanthus may be mysteriously rotting from the inside out, but Zan Hu has other worries. Her Uncle Elliot has passed away leaving several people clamoring after Zan, urging her to complete the research that he has left at loose ends. There's also the Museum director who's after her uncle's machines. Then there's her strange patron funding her work--why is he so adamant in following her around? Oh, and there's another thing that has her worried--changing into a fox at the most inopportune moment.

If you're curious and aren't afraid of reading a first draft, you can go to the "novel" link on the above menu to read the entire novel in several installments or to download the entire thing to read at your leisure.

[ posted by sya on 9:59 PM : (0) comments ]

11.28.2005

Erg. Less than 500 words to 70k. I can almost taste it. And I'm going to finish this thing tomorrow--no matter what! So tomorrow will be the big finale with the villain and everything.

As for the latest chapter, I suppose an alternate name could be "In Love and War" because there is both a fight scene and a love scene. Personally, I find violence far more easy to write than the gooey emotional stuff. Fighting bad guys? No problem. Writing an intimate scene? It's like getting your toenails pulled out. I'm always second guessing myself. Should I really write this? Or maybe this? Oh no, I couldn't possibly put that in.

On the forums, I've read about two extremes. Some people find it really easy writing sex scenes and then they find that they can't stop and neglect the plot. For other people, it's really hard and it ends up as an impediment for the word count rather than a benefit. I can't say I'm in the camp of people who find that this stops the writing process altogether--because it hasn't. It's just that I'm afraid I'm not doing my characters any justice.

But then again, hey, if my characters are happy, I'm happy too.

[ posted by sya on 11:43 PM : (0) comments ]

11.27.2005

In the word count rankings of all participants, I am now on a single digit page! That is, I'm currently ranked 354 of 59576. (On the 18th, I posted that I was 1727 of 58969.) I'm not really trying to beat anyone since I've already passed the 50k mark. I just want to finish the story. Only five more scenes to go! (And possibly going over 70k - yikes!)

[ posted by sya on 11:59 PM : (0) comments ]

11.26.2005

Arg. I'm still plugging along. The story's still not finished. But I do know I only have a few more scenes to put in. Actually, not that few. Around six, I think. I'm going to try for 1k more tonight and tack that onto tomorrow's word count. This will be the first year that I'm going over 60k and all I can think of is--oy. Yes, I'm still following my outline. Next year, I'm going to put in fewer scenes.

Since the end is sort of looming, I am currently thinking about what sort of story I want to do next year. This year was a first in that I've actually done an obviously fantasy/steampunk story set in a non-modern world. (Previous years were more like a mix of urban fantasy, horror, occult, and mystery.) Next year, I want to try something different as well. Maybe sci-fi. Or heaven forbid--literary fiction.

[ posted by sya on 8:56 PM : (0) comments ]

11.25.2005

I've noticed an interesting thing about the new flash profiles. In previous years, all you saw was the total amount of words that somebody wrote at the end of the month. Now, you can track a person's progress. It's quite telling. Some people are rather consistent writers while others write in fits--a lot some days and nothing on others. Of course, this does not take into account the people who do not log in their word counts every day.

[ posted by sya on 3:29 PM : (0) comments ]

11.24.2005

Today, I looked at my stack of writing notebooks and I've finally realized that I have 1400 handwritten pages of stories from the past eight years. These pages are your normal sized, college ruled sheets, everything written single spaced and on both sides. If I estimate 600 words per page, front and back, this means I've written nearly 300 words on average, every day, for almost a decade. This is not including other notebooks in which I have notes about stories or anything which I have worked solely on computer (like all my Nano novels and many short stories).

The output of my compulsive hobby nearly boggles my mind.

[ posted by sya on 11:55 PM : (0) comments ]

Pessimism

I think this year is the first year that cities get to challenge each other because Nano is keeping regional stats. About two days ago, Asheville, NC challenged Nashville in a word count competition that's lasting until the 28th. Right now, I'm feeling pessimistic about my hometown. Too much country music and not enough writing!

Asheville, NC - 616,052
Nashville, TN - 597,872

And to top it off, my city has even fallen in rank from 93 to 95 sometime between yesterday and today. Perhaps, you might say, that I should try to calculate word count totals regardless of whether or not people have put down regional affiliations and see where that gets us. But just take a glance at the raw numbers and you can tell where the real ranking is.

Nashville has 100 participants while Asheville only has 36.

Asheville has:
3 people in the 40k range
7 people in the 30k range
2 people in the 20k range
7 people in the 10k range

Nashville has:
1 person over 100k
5 people in the 50k range
4 people in the 40k range
12 people in the 30k range
9 people in the 20k range
13 people in the 10k range

Or, you could just say that I'm acting bitter. Whatever. I just think this is one example of how flawed the current regional ranking statistics are.

[ posted by sya on 1:17 AM : (0) comments ]

11.23.2005

Ah! Time to mutter about the writing progress...

I'm very close to 50k now. Less than 3k at the moment. If all goes well, I'll reach the threshold sometime tonight. But this does not mean that my story is done. Oh no. I'll continue writing the darn thing until it is finished and I'll make myself write fast enough so that I finish by the end of the month.

I have yet to introduce the drunk monk, the evil cabal, and to explain the tentacle monster which recently ate some people and fought my main character! (Not to mention a whole host of other important plot points.)

How many more words past 50k will this take me? I have no idea.

[ posted by sya on 4:44 PM : (0) comments ]

11.22.2005

From a forum thread: 7 Questions on Your Novel

1) How are you feeling right now about you novel?
All right. I'm still following the outline I made in October, sort of, but the characters have developed certain quirks that have definitely made the tone of the story go one way and not the other.

2) Are you satisfied with your word count?
As of this moment, no.

3) Do you want to get your novel published?
That would be a little too optimistic, wouldn't it?

4) Which week was the worst for you?
I've written every day so far so I can't really comment on this one.

5) How much time do you spend writing your novel?
I spend about one hour doing 1k, so I estimate that by the time I reach 50k, that would be 50 hours spent on writing.

6) What do you think of writing two 50000-word novels at a time?
Extremely ambitious. But not as ambitious as some lady I saw on the forums who's attempting three 50k novels. Personally, I'm neither that fast or prolific.

7) True or False, you think your novel is worth reading.
If you don't mind reading a first draft of a fantasy/steampunk/adventure story for the entertainment value, then yes, I suppose it's worth reading. But if you want to read something that has Meaning and Soapbox-Worth Subjects behind the gloss of a story, then no, this is not what you're looking for.

[ posted by sya on 11:13 AM : (0) comments ]

11.20.2005

I could have written more today, but I was feeling terribly distracted. At least I passed 40k today.

Previous years and dates that I reached 40k:
2004: 11/25
2003: 11/20
2002: 11/23
2001: 11/20

[ posted by sya on 10:19 PM : (0) comments ]

11.19.2005

Okay, I'm feeling somewhat pissed despite doing over 3k at the local write-out at a very trendy and hip cafe downtown. Before you get the wrong idea, I am not pissed at the write-out. That was wonderful. I'm pissed at getting one of my messages deleted on a Nanowrimo Yahoo! group. The moderator asked how everyone was doing so I posted my progress. I swear I did not brag (really, I didn't--there are other people doing better than me), but apparently something was wrong with my post.

Do I sound like an angry and destructive person online to you?

* * *
Anyways, I'm currently compiling stats on ages and genres (yeah, yeah, I have copious amounts of spare time) because I read one forum thread requesting people to post their ages and genres so they could see any trends. You can't see any trends just by asking people to post replies. You have to datamine the profiles.

So far, I'm concentrating on the 13-30 age range. Here are some trends I'm noticing (keep in mind that most Nanowrimo participants cluster around the 18-year-old age range):

*The peak for writing fantasy novels occurs at 16 and rapidly drops off. I'm assuming the numbers will be even fewer when I look at the 31-100 year olds.

*Teenagers mainly write fantasy.

*Late twenty-somethings to 30-year-olds like to write literary fiction and other (although fantasy does come a close third).

*Almost four times as many 17-year-olds than 30-year-olds write historical fiction.

*Not very many in the 13-30 age range write erotica or spiritual fiction. In fact, the numbers are too low for me to tell any trend. I wonder if the peak for those genres occurs at a later age or whether the numbers will remain low throughout the age spectrum.

[ posted by sya on 7:34 PM : (0) comments ]

11.18.2005

Do people really compile soundtracks for their novels? I've never thought about this too much. I do sometimes listen to music when I'm writing but I tune it out so I might as well not be listening to it at all.

But if your Nano novel were made into a movie (completely faithful to your story, of course) and there was a soundtrack for it, what would it be? I think mine would be completely orchestral with a very dark, gothic feel. But not overwrought! I don't have angst as a major theme. And whenever something scary or dramatic shows up, there would be really harsh and dissonant incidental music--like Psycho.

[ posted by sya on 11:43 PM : (0) comments ]

Current Rankings According To Word Count

All participants: 1727 of 58969
Genre: 401 of 7353
Age: 59 of 1445
Lovecraft as favorite novelist: 16 of 298
State: 13 of 235
City: 5 of 99
"Fox" in novel title: 1 of 12

[ posted by sya on 12:33 AM : (0) comments ]

11.17.2005

Hm. As of this moment, 29173 participants have no word count. That's almost 50% of everyone signed up who haven't written a single word. 32805 have written less than 1k (or 3632 people having written something in the range of 1 to 1000 words). To be on track for the 17th, you need to have written 28333 words. Only 3412 are on target or beyond which is less than 6% of all participants.

[ posted by sya on 3:45 PM : (0) comments ]

11.16.2005

Finally, I've finished the first chapter where there's some blatant magic floating about. Yeah, took me long enough, but there's the set up to consider. Anyways, with the magic, there's actually more questions raised than answered. Sure, now you know for sure that the main character and her patron aren't exactly human, but what, you may ask, was that tentacle monster I threw in the latest chapter. But here's the rub--there is going to be an answer! In previous Nano novels, I always threw in the monster at the very end and didn't explain anything.

Also, I upped the ante on the sexual tension between the main character and her patron. If I decide that there's going to be anything physical happening between them, I'm probably going to go for the kinky Victorian action.

[ posted by sya on 11:49 PM : (0) comments ]

Just a little number crunching, the following rankings for today by genre and by average words per participant, not total words as the Nanowrimo website currently has:

Historical: 10395
Mystery: 10010
Fantasy: 9919
Horror: 9154
Sci-Fi: 9068
Erotic: 9027
Romance: 8643
Literary: 8040
Young Adult: 7924
Chick-Lit: 7885
Other: 7842
Spiritual/New Age: 7049

All Genres: 8705
No Genre: 1475

[ posted by sya on 3:20 PM : (0) comments ]

11.15.2005

Chris Baty mentioned the Wayback machine and the 2001 Nanowrimo website in one of the alumni threads, so I went poking around and found the 2001 Nanowrimo winners list. Yeah, and I'm near the top since it went alphabetically....

[ posted by sya on 11:32 PM : (0) comments ]

Earlier in the evening, I sat huddled in the basement listening to the weatherman on the news talk about "tornadic activity heading your way!" Whatever. I spent that time writing.

[ posted by sya on 9:59 PM : (0) comments ]

11.12.2005

Questions from the Fantasy Forum

Quest ideas for a knight?
He could go out to look for an Artifact of Importance - like the Holy Grail or a legendary treasure or some Magical Widget. Or he could be going out to save somebody - a damsel in distress, a village being pillaged by Vikings, or a castle under seige by an enemy. Or he could go out to defeat Evil - some despotic overlord, a dragon or other monster, the devil himself.

Anime influence?
There is no anime influence in my novel. If there's any influence at all on my novel, it's coming from Sherlock Holmes, various historical documentaries, internet websites with pictures of old machines, and Asian folklore.

Now what exactly are these "Cardinal Sins" of writing fantasy?
I have no idea. Just write your novel. And whenever you get around to actually editing it, then you can ask what you've done wrong. Although I should say that if you begin with a premise that's a rip-off/strong imitation of something that's already iconic in the genre (LOTR, Harry Potter), it will make your editing process that much harder.

Things you never knew about your characters.
Mostly the strange things that pop up concern my secondary characters. For instance, I did not know that one of the inventors at the Academy, Henry Tarlton, has such bad luck at his experiments that at one time, he burned down a shed in his backyard. I didn't know the assistant director for the Museum, Mr. Dardanus, would be so creepy (originally, I thought he was just a bureaucratic blowhard, but I was wrong). And I did not know that the charlatan Greta Del Rassa was such a klutz.

Writing anything outside of Nanowrimo?
I am concentrating on Nanowrimo this month. Outside of November, I write short stories.

What inspired your title?
From a Magic: The Gathering card. Yes, I even own that particular card.

How would you feel if you lived on the Planet Jesus?
Very strange, I'd imagine.

Herbs?
I will have an apothocary in the story, but he hasn't shown up yet. And yes, he will give a lecture on herbs. This will be coming up soon. Very soon.

Swordfighting?
No swordfighting in my novel. But there will be clawfighting and quite possibly some pistols will be fired as well.

First sentence?
"Uncle Elliot's cremation urn was still warm."

What do vampires mean?
Traditionally: undead bloodsuckers. For you: anything you want it to.

Does magic mean fantasy or science fiction?
Fantasy. Although there's that famous Arthur C. Clarke quote: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." So it could go either way.

A dragon! What should I do?
Send a knight to do the dirty work.

Shapeshifting mutant - naked?
I have shapeshifters in my novel and yes, the clothes do not change with them so they will be naked when they change back. This is much more realistic and besides, the magic I'm depicting is somewhat subtle. This is potentially interesting because my shapeshifters also live in a Victorian Era-like society where nakedness is taboo....

[ posted by sya on 8:02 PM : (0) comments ]

11.11.2005

Questions from the Reaching 50,000! Forum

Pen and Paper anyone?
Sure I use pen and paper, but only occasionally. Typing is much faster and easier on the hand.

What is the last word you wrote of your novel so far?
"marshmallow"

What if we hit 50,000 but don't have an ending yet?
My suggestion: keep on writing.

How long is your longest sex scene?
There is no sex scene in my novel at this point. Because my story is plot-centric and not erotica or even strictly romance, it would be pointless to put in one before the half-way mark. That said, this does not rule out the possibility that I might put one in later.

Nano word padding helping your writing?
I admit there are places where the prose should be tightened, but I have not delibrately resorted to word padding techniques yet.

How fast do you type?
I haven't timed myself, but it probably is sort of slow. I can write about 1,000 words in an hour, including the thinking.

Anyone doing more than 50k?
I'm not planning on it, but if I go over, that's not a big deal.

Post-Nano editing - how hard is it?
Well, I'm still working on my 2001 Nano novel.

What reading level is your novel?
Passive sentences 2%; Flesch reading ease 68.9; Flesch-Kincaid grade level 6.7

Who do you write for?
Myself.

Do you judge people by their word count?
No. Everyone writes differently and some people are just naturally faster than others. This does not mean that anyone is better or worse. In the end, Nano is an entirely personal endeavor and the only word count you should be judging is your own.

Do you write in order?
Yes.

What's your favorite bit you've written so far?
Er, you tell me what's your favorite bit. I try not to reread any of my efforts until this whole thing is over.

Stuck? What works for you?
I just plow on ahead. If I'm stuck, it usually just means I'm not in the mood for writing. The writing itself will probably get slower, but there isn't anything I can do except to just get through it.

How many words per chapter?
I suppose you could call it chapters, but mine are more like sections. At the moment, I'm averaging around 1,500 words per section.

Are you including anyone you know in your novel?
Specific acquaintences, no. But I do exaggerate traits and stick them to various characters.

Reward for words - a system of reinforcement?
I do this for the challenge, not the reward.

Are chapter titles and junk included in word count?
Some people include their chapter titles, but I do not.

Are you letting anyone read your novel?
Since I'm posting this online, potentially anyone can read it. In reality, almost no one reads it.

[ posted by sya on 10:07 AM : (0) comments ]

11.10.2005

Damn it.

Every year this happens--every time someone starts a thread about posting their Nano novels online, someone comes along and shoots it down because it's supposedly bad to do so. Publishers. First publication rights. Yadda yadda yadda. I think someone should put some disclaimer to that effect directly on the FAQ so everyone could read it instead of having threads getting hijacked by know-it-alls who think they're doing what's good for you. Just like those terribly overbearing mothers who want to take over your life.

And yes, before you start lecturing me, I know all about first publications rights, the idosyncracies of publishers about online fiction and the like. I don't plan to take the stuff I've written during Nano directly to a publisher--this kind of thing requires massive rewriting and I doubt the final draft will have any resemblance to the first one.

Besides, I don't get much traffic as it is.

[ posted by sya on 10:27 AM : (0) comments ]

11.09.2005

The next couple of sections, I'm afraid, might turn into info dump sessions if I'm not careful. That is--things are going technical. I know with magic floating about, I might as well just make stuff up, but I'd like to be somewhat accurate with the whole physics of the thing. Which will, unfortunately, involve some research I should have done in October.

[ posted by sya on 12:06 PM : (0) comments ]

11.08.2005

Okay, now I'm sort of pissed. Here's a quote on the forums from someone who claims to be an academic:

"Anyone not intending to publish anything ever is wasting my time if they ask me to help teach them how to write better."

What? Does this mean that this person considers writing worthless if the end goal is not publishing? I thought writing, and by extension wanting to write better, was something that most people like to do regardless of any monetary gain. If everyone doing Nanowrimo thought this way, we'd have far less winners at the end of the month.

[ posted by sya on 11:59 PM : (0) comments ]

Ah, I'm feeling in a somewhat depressive funk after reading some threads on the forums that I probably shouldn't be reading (yeah, yeah, I know I should be writing instead of procrastinating on the forums). And people complain other people wanting to read their novels! I don't have anyone wanting to read anything I write. And no, other nano-ers do not count because there's the reciprocating factor--the I-read-yours-so-you-read-mine thing that is totally different.

Sure, I know that this is an entirely personal endeavor. I shouldn't care about such things. But you know, it would be nice to have people who are not writers tell me that this is something worth doing instead of lecturing me that this is a waste of my time.

I am also in a terrible writing funk. I only have about a paragraph written right now and I'm just feeling an appalling lack of impetus about the entire thing.

[ posted by sya on 7:24 PM : (0) comments ]

11.07.2005

I came across a poll in the forums regarding what scenes Nano-ers are planning to put in their novels. Here's the brief breakdown:

*fight scene
*heart-warming scene
*tragic scene
*moment of realization
*animals doing tricks
*battle of wits
*character enters adulthood
*moment of passion
*complete hell breaking loose
*other

I put down fight scene, battle of wits, moment of passion, and complete hell breaking loose. I am definitely doing a fight scene (several, perhaps) and a scene where hell breaks loose. Possibly literally. I'm not so sure about the battle of wits--this depends on whether or not I feel witty at any time this month. As for the moment of passion, er, I'm still debating on whether or not I want my characters to disregard Victorian convention.

[ posted by sya on 9:23 PM : (0) comments ]

11.06.2005

Yesterday, I got some words down at the write-in that was held at the library's cafe. (Food there is too darned expensive. Over three bucks for half a sandwich! And not a very good sandwich at that. At least my characters are being well fed.) Also, I had to write by hand rather than laptop because all the electrical outlets were in bad places. Handwriting is such a pain because after a while, my hand cramps and then I have to type it in the computer anyway.

And ftp did not work at the library. Grrr.

This morning, my characters finally surprised me rather than following along like good children with that vague outline I made up in October. Zan and Caradon are going to duke it out: good fox vs. bad fox. Yay!

[ posted by sya on 12:10 PM : (0) comments ]

11.05.2005

Just for those of you who read this blog, a little bit of not so random trivia pertaining to this year's novel:

42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. I am Nano user number 42. My main character lives on 42 Warden Street.

(Heh. I love my Nano user number. I rub it in whenever I can.)

[ posted by sya on 10:55 AM : (0) comments ]

11.04.2005

Patent Application to Claim a Fictional Storyline. (via Neil Gaiman) This is the most asinine thing I've heard in, well, a long time. Patent a story idea? Pshaw! No story idea is original. Somebody somewhere, sometime has thought up the idea you're thinking of before. The trick is the actual execution of the story. Let's say the storyline is about aliens taking over the government. You would write a different story about the premise than I would. And we would both have different stories than Joe Schmoe next door. Individual books are already copyrighted. What would patenting a storyline accomplish except to bilk people of money and generally stifle creativity? (Unless that's exactly what they want...)

[ posted by sya on 11:22 PM : (0) comments ]

I must try to get away from food themed chapters.

According to my vague outline, I'm still on Day 2 of the story. In a way, this is great. I still have a lot of story to tell. But then again, I still haven't introduced the last major character yet. Well, actually, I have introduced him, but he hasn't had any dialogue. Just other characters talking about him.

[ posted by sya on 8:34 PM : (0) comments ]

11.03.2005

Comic relief rides to the rescue! Well, this Nano novel isn't designed to be comedic drivel (or serious drivel for that matter--maybe adventure drivel?), but the chapter I put up this afternoon made me smile. Besides, I was hungry.

[ posted by sya on 6:23 PM : (0) comments ]

11.02.2005

Bwahahaha! The last time I searched for authors with excerpts, there were 6660 of them. Nanowrimo is taking over the world!

Ahem.

Well, technically speaking, I'm not really doing worse than the previous years, but I'm finding myself terribly distracted. But at least I have the map--about every other paragraph, I'm forgetting where my characters are even though they're not going any place.

[ posted by sya on 8:05 PM : (0) comments ]

11.01.2005

Ha! And you try to write while waiting at a horribly decorated DMV with smarmy city clerks. The place is a black hole for creativity.