notes are in order

managed to avoid the manuscript the whole day yesterday.

just cleaned the house and saw “the girl with the dragon tattoo”, the fincher one.

pizza and vino after and sleep.

the vino crossed out the melatonin nightmares that i am really refreshed.

* * *

mass later and maybe more notes as to the next chapter.

these, on bond paper and on the moleskine.

i think i have figured what really works for me, writing wise:

1. one concept statement

2. three acts that plots the general arch (reversals, and what not)

3. a very vague idea of how it ends.

4. old-school long hand for notes on bond paper (regimented) and on moleskin (sporadic and carry everywhere)

5. ms word only for real words that should make it to the page

so far, this is working and the aspect ratio of a chapter a week is not yet broken. i really, really hope i finish this novel by spring.

* * *

fincher’s version was excellent except for a couple of dumbing down of scenes for middle america.

rooney mara was superb. and not just because of her shaved pudenda.

* * *

joy’s gastro something is still acting up and i am getting restless about this.

i just want to be able to eat what i want but this consideration is bothersome.

i hope her meds work or she finds  a better doctor.

* * *

on they way home from the cinema, joy told me that some trees already have buds in them.

it is dark and i wasn’t able to look but i want to believe that at least for once we get an early spring. while this winter wasn’t much of a bitch as of last time, i really want it to end now. please.

moonsoon rain

it is hot today. but wet. earlier, the rain was of the tropical kind that i missed the sound of drops on yero.

***

slept before 9 pm yesterday and woke up at 5 am. wrote in the bathroom and basically let the words drip onto the page. except that the page is ms word on a mac. chapter 8 is done and is the second longest chapter after chapter 2.

stats as of today:

• 235 pages
• 50, 762 words

***

melatonin dreams continue and all sorts of weirdness are fucking up my sleep but i cannot afford to wake up at 3 am. no matter how productive it is, the adrenaline crash is what fucks up the entire day.

4 pages worth of notes

all for act 2, no matter how many the chapters would go.

another page, the fifth is devoted to a single character as i vacillate over the one thing that would make him either good or bad.

i still don’t know.

chapter 8 stands at 25 pages and 5,000+ words long and i still have to incorporate 2 scenes to close it.

maybe it will happen today. or the weekend.

chapter 9 is already in my head but i still want to keep it a bay.

* * *

last night, i finally managed to eat at japadog, that vancouver export.

combo number 1 is the classic which i ordered.

the meal comes with drinks and fries, of which there are a lot of choices.

the salt and pepper were superb although i am tempted to try the curry next time.

maybe over the weekend.

films for the weekend

 

the american one stars ezra miller of “after school”, and IMHO is set to be the next joseph gordon levitt if he isn’t careful of his career choices.

the spanish one is directed by f. javier gutierrez, rumored to direct the latest incarnation of “the crow”.

melatonin to the rescue

slept at 11 pm, awake by 5 am after taking melatonin.

i feel refreshed more than what the valium did but it is the fucking nightmares and weird dreams that i have to deal with in that magical moment just before waking–dreamsickness, i think is the term–that is only downside.

but.

6 hours of sleep is better than 3.

more melatonin tonight unless i get really hammered by stella.

* * *

chapter 8 is getting there.

the very ambitious plan is to cook bacon and eggs and write 16 pages today.

and not to fuck around with the already written chapters, no, not even reading them for reference or continuity.

momentum is key. someone already died and things are gonna get fucked up.

* * *

reading these, when time allows:

valium to the rescue

took valium at 11 pm yesterday to arrest the waking up at 3 am.

it sort of worked as i woke up by 5 am, refreshed and adrenalized.

i miss the writing in the bathroom, though.

* * *

yesterday i wrote around 1, 800 words, a very respectable amount but not quite the 3,000 that i used to churn out the past week or so.

laundry and cooking, and sleeping at odd hours to regain energy got in the way.

later, the goal is to add 3,000 words and drive the chapter near its end. the scenes are in my head, they just need to be written down.

* * *

i have somewhat caught up with the reading materials.

“distrust that particular flavor” by william gibson is nearly done and so are the backlogs of new york magazine and the new yorker.

it is the TV that i have to find time for.

i haven’t seen a single ep of californication and alcatraz.

shows i’ve watched are the layover (all eps) and the late late show (a single ep).

i don’t care about fringe anymore.

oh, there is revenge, too, my head candy this winter.

* * *

resolution is out now, motherfuckers.

go and listen to maybe the only band that is pushing the boundaries of rock as we know it today.

the 4 a.m. routine still continues

chapter 8 is already begun.

stats so far from chapters 1 – 7:

210 pages and 42,988 words.

judging that i have just ascended act 2, this will drag into the 100K – 120K novel.

same deadline of april 9, this year.

yep, i am in the bathroom as i write this, eating pickled cucumber and mr. chips.

don’t yuck there.

 

snow

despite the fever and the chills last friday, i ventured out to the snow as it just might be the first and last this winter. docs and the north pez failed to keep out the chill that i sort of killed the fun by demanding that we defrost to shake shack. got myself a bottle of vino before we soldiered on to the reservoir where once again, blood stopped flowing to my extremities. we retreated back to the house before the sun set (we left around 11.30 am) and had vino with chorizo. and then we slept where i had the vaguest sense of having winked just for five minutes when it was already 10 pm by the time we woke up.

the temptation to drink valium was great but the jedi in me pushed me out of the house once more to watch “haywire”. soderbergh can do no wrong.

***

the 4 am waking up still continues. i write inside the bathroom as the sofa is still being occupied and i don’t want to wake up my wife by turning on the light by the by the bedroom.

I don on my hoodie and jeans and sit on the toilet with the macbook tethered to the hair dryer socket and fire away. so far, writing inside the bathroom is effective for me. chapter 7 is almost done and i can’t wait to go to the next.

april 9 is nigh and i want to really submit the manuscript by end summer.

so help me gods.

***

two things arrived in the mail:
1. employment authorization card with my yakuza photo–i can now work at uniqlo if i want to.
2. van halen concert ticket–i opted for a 3 day, 7 buck delivery method as i wanted a physical ticket than a printed one. also insured it just in case. last i heard, front row seats are now up for bids starting at 6,0000 us dolyares.

such a shame that michael anthony is no longer with the band but at least there is david lee roth.

***

now i rest a bit before the writing resumes. whoever tells you that writers have it easy have not a clue.

another iPhone entry

no rain and a bit of sun today. hoodie weather and generally nice, this being winter.

but.

we are going on another trip to the doctor as joy’s flu or whatever the fuck it is, isn’t going away. more loss of precious time.

***

chapter 7, the start of act 2, is at the bond paper.

this needs a bit of plotting as act 2 is where the story either falters or flies.

normal writing on the manuscript returns tomorrow at 4 in the morning.

***

really looking forward to van halen at msg. van halen being the band that saved the planet from the perils of disco.

imagine hearing “jump” played live.

chapter 6 done

the fastest ever i have ever written happened  while trying to stay sane during the last two days of madness.

* * *

chapter 6 is done and chapter 7 will start in a few hours.

everything is falling into place and hours ago while i was shaving, the final scene arrived, complete with snippets of words that just make it into the manuscript. both the scene and the words are now in the pages of the moleskin.

i hope this writing momentum continues. my self-appointed deadline is on april 9, araw ng kagitingan. no other reason excepting that march might be a little to near.

* * *

the cold is in full offensive this time. i am in bed (bed seems to be most conducive to writing nowadays) in a hoodie and woolen blankets.

a proper coat and doc martens is in order later. but still there is no snow although a miserly flurry descended in the afternoon.

* * *

i have yet to catch up on my tv, movies, and magazines. and even blogs.

* * *

i hope this shit passes away quickly. i want to japadog and drown myself in cheap asahi at st. mark’s.