I received the following writeup from WordPress about my blog in 2012. Following the link it provides even gives you a firework show.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views.
My latest blog feature is a rating system for posts and pages.
Why now? I wanted to “branch out” a while. Writing is still the main focus here; and the “Road to Glory” feature is now a fixture; but an experimental expansion has been in the works.
As Jules Winnfield might ask, “Example.”
Many know I spend time on my heavily-modified PSP. I thought a while about a monthly visual gaming feature. I often play in cycles, and most titles fall outside the realm of popularity: especially since many games are imports or via emulation; which could keep things unique around here.
Going in another direction is a sports recap. I played in various Yahoo Fantasy leagues more than a few years now, and this NFL season I started my own small league; emphasizing on luck and fun rather than aggression or hyper-competitiveness. Yahoo added automated weekly recaps (which I found highly amusing) of head-to-head team match-ups; which I want to retroactively post.
[Note: If any of you have a Yahoo account and want to get in on future action, let me know. I still have a college bowl "pick 'em" league with open slots too at this moment.]
Incorporating other interests can showcase my other facets without perpetuating blogging tropes relying on personal dramatics or day-to-day struggles to keep things interesting. My goal is to keep this place entertaining above all else.
Other past ideas were things like older album reviews or canceled television shows; but working on novels, scripts, or short stories seem a better way to spend my allocated writing time for now.
Many renovations got made to the blog this year, but I want much more: even if things seem at a standstill for now.
What else for the future? I wanted more than just a sidebar and the About heading at the top, such as a contact or feedback area; offering an easier way for people to get in touch or ask questions. One long-in-the-making addition has been a supporter section to thank followers; or paying time and mind to this blog. A timeline or achievements section has personal appeal, but hinges more on my free time.
Some of the above will likely be incorporated into my 2013 resolutions. On that note, a Road to Glory tab would be a great addition to help keep me accountable; since those monthly goals play part in a decade-long plan.
Hopefully the ratings addition proves a great way to see where to occupy my time when not writing; or even what to procrastinate with.
As always, comments (and now ratings) are welcome.
The 2012 OLL season came to a close now National Novel Writing Month has ended. I did more than the goal; as quantity was concerned. My novel is insanely long, but for the moment I sort of like it that way.
Proper tone; cadence; length; narration are all things I can figure out later when I work on a real draft. My chapters aren’t traditional at this point either, but I like that for the moment as well.
On the bright side, I can safely say the story is past the halfway point. After this current section gets finished up…there are maybe four major things before the ending. Rather, four or five locations, then the big ending. Sorry to all who want to read this while waiting for that Transformers reboot: no explosions at the end of this book. Maybe a faint trace of saltwater, but the lead doesn’t end up having a day at the beach.
Then again, there is this…
No, nope – never a part of my plan. I didn’t plan on her leaving Scottsdale in the story. Then again, anything can happen when writing a novel in the Nanoverse.
Back on topic: here’s an auto-generated chart from the Nano site; showing my daily progress in November:
So close to sixty thousand, I know. Maybe next year? That giant bump in my stats was thanks to our Day of Writing Safe and Warm, which is our region’s version of the Night of Writing Dangerously event held in San Francisco. Ours may not be as swanky, but sure can be a game-changer for a Wrimo’s word count.
My favorite way to keep track of November is with this widget:
This has been my word barometer for a few years now; and this season it was on display in this blog’s sidebar. The colors can range from red to green, as I recall. A green box means the daily word count was reached. All the other colors represent a word count below par, so to speak.
My personal hope was to write two thousand words a day. Now my plan is to make up the combined difference of all those non-green days with a newer December goal. This means 2013 will be the time to see if I’ll avenge those orange and yellow boxes.
When I verified my win, I decided to make my forum signature a little easier to see. Here’s what it became:
In case you’re wondering, all the black print and handwriting were lifted from the project I was writing for November.
Since I’m sharing images, here is something I received at the TGIO [Thank Goodness It's Over] party for our region:
One of these days I’ll open the pack up, but I haven’t had a special enough use yet.
That about wraps up why November is a tough month to keep my attention. Now maybe one of these days I’ll finally finish one of these novels. April and July are the Camp Nano sessions for 2013. Maybe then? Oh, wishful thinking…
Related links:
Since I’m going for another round of Camp Nanowrimo, I decided to let it ride – staying a sponsored camper. It means maybe I’ll be able to rasie another dollar or two for OLL; the non profit organization that puts on the Nano writing events (and more). To learn more, click here or the image below.
You don’t have to donate if you click. You can learn more about the Office of Letters and Light, post on the shout box, or even send me an anonymous mail.
Weirdness – via jessiisthehizz
The image represents the heading a tad. Some literary flatlining has been going on. Not in the blocked writing fashion, but more as a recovery effort. I suppose the blog has become collateral damage as a result…just as my failure to update my writing sites.
In the last thirty days (in no particular order) I was:
Quite a logjam of information! I’ll write about it all, but it will happen more out of sequence than a Quentin Tarantino flick. The winners will be those who subscribe to the blog: since they get notified of my posts…no matter what I set the date as. All the rest will have to keep clicking and checking for anything above which caught interest. I’ll link as I go, meaning I’ll keep this post at the top until late July, but some things may get lost in the shuffle.
I’m not trying to force anyone to subscribe, but there are perks: especially once I give the layout another renovation. Hopefully the posts will all be up before camp starts again, but who knows. I still plan on adding to the “cabin blog” we started before the June session. Call it moonlighting…but I did make a couple posts very similar here as I had there.
More could be mentioned, but I’ll save it for one of the secretive posts. Keep checking back; unless you’re a notified subscriber – since you’ll know the minute something is posted; no matter how heavy on the chronitons an entry happens to be.
Love isn’t my question, but I had to answer it. More specifically, through a prompt posed by the 50 First Kisses competition via the London Screenwriters’ Festival 2012.
Overachieving at an underachiever’s pace, I submitted two entries (which was allowed).
The rules being:
-two page screenplay
-takes place on Valentine’s night
-must have a kiss
Results will be announced July 30th, so it seems. I’ll do my best to keep people posted – should there be an interesting development.
I know I’ve been off my game due to slacking at camp and trying to organize some Script Frenzy unification. My apologies, but I know most of you understand.
Main Character Spotted
Seen leaving…
Destination: Unknown
Of course to quote Anthony Kiedis, “Now that is a lie.” If I let everyone know where she was, someone might want to go out and catch her…and then I’ll never be able to finish the book on my own recognizance.
For fun, I’ll test out the idea of letting you know where she’s been: also to prove I finally got to the “inciting incident” and its consequence, so to speak. You can also check out the scene at that locale [while it lasts] by scrolling down or “hit[ting] the jump” as I like to say.
Spoilers ahead – be warned!
If you DON’T want to be spoiled, you have two options (both which are FREE by the way):
1) Wait until (at least) July for me to start posting chapters on Figment.
2) Check it out from the beginning on Authonomy.
If you enjoy anything you see or read, don’t forget that I am still trying to StayClassy – but I’m not the “hard sell” type.
Enough warnings! Look on if ye dare…
(Click postcard or here for the bigger, more legible version.)
Hello friend,
I am writing from Camp NaNoWriMo, a virtual writing retreat where aspiring novelists from around the world gather to crank out a 50,000-word novel in one month.That’s right! I committed to writing 50,000 words in the month of June; towards an already-started novel.
Besides positive comments and encouragement on my blog, there are other ways you can be dedicated to the cause without writing a single word.
Just like sponsoring a marathoner, people can donate on my behalf as I write towards my goal of 50,000 words. I can even receive a nifty prize for my fundraising efforts on behalf of The Office of Letters and Light; the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that hosts Camp NaNoWriMo. These donations help provide free writing resources for even more kids, teens, and adults around the world!
My sponsorship page can be found here:
http://www.stayclassy.org/fundraise?fcid=199618
There are also inspirational items in the online Camp Store that would raise my morale to an all-time high. The Camp NaNoWriMo Care Package is the best example; chock-full of campy encouragement. The Campfire Mug is quite nice as well.
(Contact me for actual address if you are so bold and philanthropic, and I’ll do something special on my blog – open to suggestion.)
I really am in it for the writing and not the benefits, but I won’t complain if sponsored or rewarded in the process. If the novel has a moderate success, I’ll have to return the favor somehow.
Thanks for reading my postcard. I’m grateful for any support while I continue my novel in Camp Nano; whether a word of encouragement, monetary backing for OLL, or even receiving a gift from someone especially kind. [The same goes for anyone leaving comments, giving "like"s, or following my blog.]
Wish me luck: in finishing my novel AND staying out of poison ivy,
-Matt Mesnard
[ If you would like to learn more or correspond with this camper, please write back by clicking this link. Be sure to leave contact information in your message so the camper can reply. ]
As most know, I’m soon going to see a similar banner soon – as I head out to camp. Not only will I be this…
But I will also be this…
What does it mean?
“StayClassy is a fast-growing San Diego-based startup that develops an online fundraising product used by thousands of Nonprofit organizations around the world.”
Office of Letters and Light host most of the writing events I talk about on here. Now OLL is aligned with StayClassy for secure fundraising. Since I want to do something to help, I have a StayClassy account now; which benefits OLL.
if you didn’t click on any of the links yet, here’s my profile: http://Mesnard.stayclassy.org
Even if you don’t want to donate, I say check the page out now or in June. Maybe i get points for site hits? No idea.
Thanks for reading all of this, and hopefully it can hold anticipation until the start of June.
In order to get my Nanowrimo 2011 novel finished, I’m heading to camp. Camp Nano, that is.
The idea is to write 50,000 words in a month – just as the November version. What’s the difference? There are two sessions to choose from: June and August – and instead of geographic regions, there are “cabins” consisting of a small grouping of people (four to six as I’ve heard).
This will be the best chance at pressuring myself into finishing my book’s first draft and scoring a printed copy. The deadline for that would be the end of June, so see what I mean?
[Being only enough time for a first draft, I'll slap "uncorrected proof" on the cover and then see what feedback I get before making any drastic changes. Surely much will need done in the proofreading department anyway.]
More to come concerning camping plans. Curious to try it too? Come take a look!
In between all the writing I keep piling up for myself [finishing my screenplay from April's Script Frenzy; MCA thoughts and musings; finishing my Nanowrimo novel from November], I came across an appealing Figment Daily Theme – so I wrote another short story.
The site (though skewed towards a younger audience) has ways to stimulate writing and creativity with things like contests and exercises. Click the above image or here to see the story, but keep reading to learn more about the writing instructions [which I'm still open to suggestion when it comes to the title]. Continue reading
Here’s my progress bar. I hit 50 pages on the 20th, but I know I can still pull off a win if I stay diligent (even if it means a whopper of a rewrite later). Script Frenzy ends at the stroke of midnight May 1st.
I usually write pretty tightly when it comes to screenplays, but that’s what happens when I don’t have enough preparation time to follow my own advice I suppose.
For all of you who have aversions to dots in acronyms, you might not have known I was trying to pass along a national holiday. Reading the banner above should give the gist. For all who want to know just a bit more…
The day is April 12th to coincide with Beverly Cleary’s birthday. The idea of D.E.A.R. originated in the book Ramona Quimby, Age 8.
If you want to truly Drop Everything And Read, all you have to do is click this link, which will take you to a free excerpt from one of the Ramona books. What are you waiting for? =)
