*Fangirl Squee*

The first week of NaNo is over. How did you fair, if you had joined in, that is? I've been doing fairly well, and kind of "meh" at the same time. Yesterday was my first zero-day of the month, so there's that.

Calendar designed by Dave Seah

If you pay attention to the end-of-the-week counts Dave has set up, you might notice that I was ahead of the game by the close of Sunday. Yay! I was over by about 700 words, which is a nice start. However, especially after neglecting yesterday, I definitely want to try to aim for only 5-days-per-week for my writing schedule. That way I don't stress over missing days like yesterday, and I don't struggle to make up the words lost. I already took them into account.

Thing there, though, is that if I were to write daily for all 30 days of November, I'd have to average about 1667 words per day in order to finish in time. Only writing five days a week means that each daily goal now needs to be 2272 words instead, and I should have been over 11,000 words by now. However, I only surpassed the 2272 words goal twice last week, which means, for that goal level, I'm a bit behind.

I have my word sprints tonight though, so I should be able to catch up.

A reminder for those who might not know off the top of your head what I'm talking about when I say "word sprints" or "writing sprints." The concept is based on running, obviously. It's basically the artistic equivalent of either going a short distance or only having a short allotment of time, so one has to move as fast as possible.

In regards to writing, you can allot yourself few words, say only 500 words or so, and stop as soon as you hit that word count. However, it's hard to keep track of that and still be creative. So most sprints are in reference to time. It kind of relates to Ali Luke's suggestion of scheduling at least 15 minutes a day for writing. Everyone can spare 15 minutes, right? The idea of sprinting is that the author writes for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 1/2-hour, or even something as short as the time to listen to a single song. Once the author's time is done, so is the writing. Now, this can be a one-time, once-a-day sort of thing. I kind of did unofficial sprints when I would write during my 15 minute long work breaks, and I now do semi-sprints while writing over my half-hour long lunch breaks. Maybe you sprint when you first wake up before getting started with your day. Maybe you do a sprint just before bed to unwind. Maybe you do sprints while commuting on a bus or train. Maybe you sprint while your kid is napping, or even while you have the kid in time-out!

The alternative to a once-a-day sprint, or a "whenever I can find the time" sprint, is what we're doing for NaNo: repetitive sprints. We write for 20 minutes, then we take a 20 minute break to just socialize and bond. We talk about our stories, or nothing at all. We ask questions about roadblocks we're running into, or we ask questions about elements of other people's stories. We read what we wrote, or we are adamant that the non-edited version will never see the light of day. We chat about how we're doing with NaNo, or we sit in our respective corners and impatiently wait for the timer to start up again. Some may even say "screw the timer" and "cheat" by continuing to write during our "break" time. Once that 20 minutes is done, we go back to writing for another 20 minutes, and then another 20 minute break. We keep going with this 20-on-20-off rhythm for three hours. That's 100 hours worth of writing, but sprinkled across three hours so we don't get burnt out.

I'm really hoping doing these sprints will help me get the traction I need. Although I have 9000+ words written, I know I was off my game over the weekend, which is one of the reasons I just didn't bother yesterday. I know that I was rambling, and that I'm probably going to have to redo the entirety of the second chapter once it's time to edit. It also pains me to not edit right now. I'm doing good at keeping my inner critic at bay, but that doesn't mean he's not nagging me to fix things. He's constantly reminding me that this is the worst first-draft of any story that I've ever written. I meander. I ramble. The story is mostly inner-dialog with very little action. It's KILLING ME that I'm doing so poorly.

Then I remind my critic: "Hey, buddy, ease up. It's friggen NaNo! This is supposed to be shit! I don't have time to think and properly craft any of this. Let me pour everything out on paper so my story can develop outside my head. You can have fun sorting through it all next month. Kay?"

That's usually enough to get him to shut up.

Ya know, I've been seeing more and more people naming their Muses - I'm fairly certain mine's a woman, as is Greek tradition - and I'm kind of wondering if I should do the same. I'll definitely have to name my cranky Inner Critic as well.... We'll see if I ever follow through with this.

Back on topic!

So, I'm working on a novel rework of "Peeping Tomcat" while also trying to shove the developing plot of its sequel "One and the Same" onto the back burner. LET ME FINISH ONE STORY AT A TIME, MUSE! Oooooh, yeah, she needs a name.

Anyway, as I mentioned, I had been struggling with getting my traction, but I'm still more-or-less on par with where I should be to finish the story on time. I have my sprints tonight, which should help. I just need to really get into the right head-space, and thinking of elements of the sequel story isn't helping.

What I thought could help was to watch the show again to help me get into Adrien's head. What I found instead is that Season 2 of "Miraculous" started airing the weekend before Halloween, and the first four episodes have already been translated, dubbed, and aired in the UK - at least, I'm assuming it's the UK, because the videos on YouTube had the Disney logo on them, and I'm pretty sure that's the channel that airs ML in the UK.

I tried to behave myself and wait until Netflix has the whole season next month or so - all the more reason I probably should have gone with Varekai this month - ya know, since I'm seeing it this month - and done "Peeping Tomcat" next month since I could binge the second season in December. Oh well, doing them in reverse!

The temptation was too great, though, so instead of watching Season 1 episodes as I planned, I watched the first episode of the second season. I fangirl squealed the whole time.

Basically me:

It only got worse with the second episode. It was like the writers got together and said, "Okay, the Adrienette fans need more love. How about a whole episode dedicated to that? What can we do?"

The end result was this:

Among two other adorable moments that I won't get into because they are semi-spoilers and not nearly as cute as this one, the main draw for the episode occurs when Marinette's best friend Alya oh so subtly pushes Marinette into Adrien during a slow song. Adrien's reaction is to not only instantly ask Mari for a dance, but to drag her onto the floor before she can even answer. He then places her hand on his shoulder, took her other hand in his, wrapped his spare hand around her waist, and then WALTZED around the room. I mean, seriously, who does that!?

Then, because the way she started this whole interaction wasn't subtle enough, Alya proceeded to do what every Shipper of the show has been dying to. Alya "discreetly" slow dances with Nino over to Adrienette, spins away from her partner, grabs Marinette's hand from Adrien's, drapes both of Marinette's hands around Adrien's neck, and then moves both of Adrien's hands to Marinette's waist before spinning back into Nino's awaiting arms. The faces on Marinette's and Adrien's faces are priceless!

So what does Adrien do after such an awkward and mildly intrusive encounter? He smiles at Marinette, shrugs, LEANS IN TO REST HIS HEAD BESIDE HERS, and continues slow dancing! I mean, COME ON! How has he not realized he likes her yet!? Also, the reaction from Marinette when Adrien just rolls with Alya's new dancing arrangement is too cute.

I've watched this episode probably every day since I saw it was translated. It's really helped me with those sweet "Adrien MUST like Marinette" moments. Best is that if I need more inspiration outside this episode, there's even more to choose from throughout the second season. Nearly every episode has SOMETHING to draw these two together.

The third episode was very heavy on the LadyNoir shipping, and I'm a little peeved about this one. Not because I'm not a LadyNoir fan, but because, and sorry for the spoilers by the way, Nadja Chamack ends up getting Akumatized. For those who don't recall, that's who I had as an Akuma Villain named Headliner. Pretty much the only Akuma villain I had figured out.

I was also having her be Akumatized for similar reasons as the actual episode. In the official episode, it's because Nadja's ratings aren't as high as her producer wanted to warrant a prime-time show. In my version she was berated for being out-scooped by Alya. So... being yelled at by a superior because she doesn't have the big scoops the network wants in both my and the official versions. At least I was on par with the basic reasoning she'd be Akumatized.... I also had the necklace that she always wears as the item the Akuma absorbs into, while the official episode has a sort of electronic bracelet that registers ratings. So, two for two in the fact that it's a piece of jewelry. Finally, Nadja's motives while Akumatized are fairly similar in the official and my versions: truth about Ladybug and Chat Noir. In my version it's simply who they truly are. In the episode Nadja was trying to prove that the superheroes were dating. Which is where all the LadyNoir shipping comes in.

Side note: I don't know if the creator had always planned to include this factoid, of if he threw it in because so many fans had speculated on the possibility, but Chat Noir totally purrs in this episode, and it's adorable.

Anyway, back on topic, the fourth episode had another really sweet "Come on, Adrien, confess already!" moment, but it's a bit of a spoiler, so I'll skim over that one.

The fifth episode of the season thus far introduces a new character Kagami. Supposedly, she's intended to be another potential love interest for Adrien, because, ya know, the kid loves anime, so now he has to live in his own G-rated harem anime? Anyway, regardless if Kagami actually does evolve into a new love rival for Marinette - along with Chloe, Lila, and even herself as Ladybug - the episode has Ladybug trying to keep Adrien out of harm's way from an Akuma. There are so many super cute moments since this episode means Marinette, as Ladybug, gets to spend time rescuing, staying close, and even holding her crush Adrien - the holding is whenever she needed to scoop him up to swing out of danger. Meanwhile, Adrien tries desperately not to showcase how smitten he is around Ladybug, but also tries to hide the fact that he's her partner. Obviously the Ladrien episode.

Which means we should get some more MariChat goodness coming up in the near future. Seriously, I think Tumblr wrote the second season.

While I can justify that I did get a great of deal of writing done after the episodes inspired me, I am also using the episodes as a way to distract me and procrastinate. I need to find more of a balance between watching an episode to be inspired and actually getting around to writing. I'm also unsure if I should include any new information I'm getting from the second season, or should I just go with what was shown in the first season only, in order to avoid spoilers..... At the same time, though, by the time I'll be done editing, the second season would have been out for long enough that it shouldn't really be much in the realm of spoilers.

I'll have to play it by ear, along with everything else, I guess. I just need to buckle down and actually get to writing. I want at least the second chapter done by the time I'm done with the sprints tonight.

OH! And one last thing! I haven't checked on my blog views in a while, and so when I did today I was surprised at how many of them they were.

I know, it's kind of hard to see with my screen grabs, but the word underlined is "Miraculous." Okay, it makes sense, it's a popular show and a large, active fandom. It's only natural that tagging my latest blog posts with "Miraculous" would bring in more readers. I wasn't sure how many actually stuck around to read my posts though, at least, until I scrolled down. I cut a bit of a time jump into the above picture. Anything below the arrow are posts before I even watched "Miraculous Ladybug." Yet those used to only have about 50 hits. There is no reference to the show in any of those posts, and yet they all have over 200 hits now, and some have over 400! What the heck!?

So, for any of you who might be going back and reading more of my blog after "Miraculous Ladybug" brought you to it in the first place, thank you. Feel free to leave comments. Love you all!