h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am knocking this on the head. I could keep posting one liners until the 30th, but that's not really the point.

I was hoping the Comet would be back after a few days but she seems to have gone on strike a bit. I think she needs a new deadline. I like playing chicken with deadlines, and I usually win. Until I don't.

Anyway, the good thing about NaJoPoMo and the like is that it gets me writing, and it gets me thinking of things to write. The bad thing is that I don't have time to write the good ideas up properly, so I either do a bit of a rush job or start posting funny anecdotes. Which is cool, but a bit monotonous after a while.

So, how to combine the enforced writing of November with a bit more time for reflection?

I shall commit the Comet to a column in the Post I think. I'm sure Dmitri will be thrilled. In some ways I'd like it to be a proper uni project for the Guide, but the posts would have to be more informative and a tad less anecdotal for that I think, and I don;t think I have the energy to cover the whole of London properly like that. I may try to write one or two things for the Guide along those lines though. A toddler's Guide to museum going, something like that.

Other Guide entries I need to write (it helps to publicly declare this):

Urban fantasy as a genre of writing.

Mummy blogging.

How to celebrate with food Russian style.

How to make borscht and schee.

VDNKh - my favourite place in Moscow

How to collect Soviet medals (with B)

Should I aim for one a month? That's six months writing there already. One a month isn't too extreme.

I also had an idea for a novel - mainly for the whole NaNoWriMo thing I have promised myself to do sometime. I don't write fiction much so that would satisfy the other decision I made this month, which is that I could do with trying to write better rather than just trying to write something, anything at all. Trying new ways of writing would work towards that. Also, it would give me a reading project too, because I even worked out what research I need to do.

Upon mature reflection…

…what with all that and another writing project I want to commit to on t’blog, that’s too much. Time to reach for the SMART targets, as my work would say. No idea what that stands for, but the point is that it’s no good students saying they will read a newspaper everyday if that’s too much for them, timewise, concentrationwise, dauntwise abilitywise, or whatever.

So what can I actually manage? Well, if, in 2013 I get all those Guide entries written, that’s one every two months, that will about double my output for the last ten years, so there, that’s a target I should be proud to aim for. I think I’ll add one more – something deadly serious, for the stretching myself quota.

Dmitri will be thrilled to hear that I am going to write a *bi*-weekly column, and I’ll do the blog thing in the down week. That’s better.

Still not sure where the fiction will come in, but that’s a long shot anyway.

Perhaps a good idea.

I really enjoyed your descriptions of London. They were most definitely your descriptions, though, not a toddler's, or a baby's. I enjoyed reading about fascinating things in your city, but I felt that the toddlers guide idea would have been even more effective if "mama" sometimes wrote as herself.

If I can offer a small bit of advice...writing is the easy bit. The thinking-through is what takes the longer time. And it's at its best when it isn't rushed.

[Amy P]

I've really, really enjoyed reading the toddler's guide and I was quite impressed with just how much you wrote about each place.

A column for sounds like a great idea, I'm looking forward to reading it.

Amusingly, I get to disagree with KB; I loved that they were Mama writing from her daughter's perspective. And, let's face it, at the moment Comet's perspective is mostly going to be "Thing! Anther thing! Shiny! LIGHTS!". Although Comet is a few months ahead of so might be a bit more sophisticated, I suppose.

I liked the toddlers p.o.v guides.

The thing I find with the novel, is that if you are going to crack on with it then it tends to eat all your writing time. Mine has taken me three months to get to 29,000 words.

So I'm not sure it's a good thing to do whilst maintaining other projects. I'm enjoying it though - something very satisfying about knitting together a longer piece of work.

sprout

I'm another vote for the toddler's point of view guides. They were really informative, interesting and amusing. There must be hundreds of museum guides written from the grown-up point of view, but I bet they don't give as much info about visiting these places WITH a toddler as yours do.

I'll miss your journals for the rest of the month ( that's only another 2 days, where has it gone ) but quite understand - I threw in the towel much longer ago and don't have anywhere near as many plans as you!

Deb

I liked the toddlers guide too

and I would like to you to reconsider throwing towel

*picks up Sol's towel and holds it out, does puppy dog eyes* 2 more posts, go on with you,

nothing wrong with one liners on occasions or working to Hawiian time as far as I'm concerned if that what is gets you across the line

Borscht yes please

*shudders at the thought of any food which contains beetroot*

It's a shame you've stopped, Sol

a - it was so near the end
b - they were fun to read and just right in tone and content
c - I had come to regard you as an upstanding example

Well, I have informed Dmitri of the good news about the Comet's literary endevours, and we are on. I must say I rather enjoyed that conceit, although I do realise it doesn't really read like the Comet's views. That's part of what amuses me, to be honest.

The Comet is less 'shiny, ooh, lights' and more 'now how can I unscrew that light and once I have unscrewed it I think I should definitely take it apart to see how it works'. She can also say her brother's name now, although it turns out we may have made a mistake as her name as she says it is very similar to her brother's name.

Ooooh, a novel sprout? What's it about? I must say, calling mine a novel is perhaps a bit ott, as really it's just an idea which might work for NaNoWriMo. Still.

Thing about stopping is, I'd already missed some 12 midnight deadlines, not to mention failed the toddler's Guide theme thing, so it would have been a technical fail anyway. This way it is a moral win.

I have two entry topics to add for if I go mad an find myself with oodles of free time this year:

How to make plov
How to make polyot cake.

I shall corner the market in weird dishes.

What I really liked about the Toddler's Guide... entries was, when they started to be really obviously written by you, you'd throw in a "Mama says". I found that quite charming.

Deb