Adara VS June 23: Twitter Imposters, Camp NaNo Plan + Kitten Spam
In this video: I review my writing progress in Jun 23, imposter issues using pen names, six month old kittens, and Camp NaNo plans.
Visual Description:
Shows Adara sat on a chaise longue by a window typing. This footage is interrupted repeatedly by footage of two black cats: playing with toys, in a garden wearing blue harnesses attached to leashes, then cuddling with Adara on the sofa. The ending image shows a dark starry sky above a forest canopy with the words ‘writing my story one word at a time’ in the stars.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to The Canopy!
This video is a combined six month birthday celebration for the kittens who turn half a year old on the 4th of July, as well as a look back at writing progress in June. So expect lots of kitten spam.
After a record-breaking month in May, I took a short break to rest from all the formatting and editing I did for my first novel Drawing Red. I have chronic fatigue and I'm heat intolerant, so add in a UK heatwave, and I was pretty much out for the count this month from doing any major work.
During that time I gave my first novel to a couple of proofreaders, and I made some very slight changes to typos across all the formats. I also try to rearrange some notes for a chapter in my second novel, but that was as far as it went. The comparison of going from something so polished and with so many layers in my first novel to the very rough first draft of my second is jarring. My confidence was also knocked by the time it's taking me to write it. One big thing slowing me down is my need to get back into the headspace and the voice of the other main character, with this novel being dual POV. I honestly questioned if it would be better to rewrite the thing from one protagonist's point of view, but then I remembered why I originally chose to go with dual in the first place, and that is because it suits the story. There are two main characters in the story.
I'll forever have a bond with novel one in a very special way. It was the first one that I finished. But given the amount of time I've spent with it, it's pretty certain that if I spend the same amount of time with novel 2 then I will also have that bond with the second novel as well.
In terms of planning my stories, I am a meticulous plotter. But in this case it seems like my plotting process also slowed me down. Every chapter I'm finding I need to stop and rearrange my answers to a bunch of questions that I originally asked to find the contents of them into chronological order. It's pretty time consuming, which I'm not entirely convinced is being helped by my autism, and I've realized I'm likely better off setting myself a time-based goal for effort worked as opposed to a word count goal for Camp NaNoWriMo in July.
Speaking of goals, since I mainly thought a lot about writing and I didn't do a great deal during the summer heat in June, I've decided to skip recording my time in my diary for this month. It will be a waste of paper. And although I normally have a tariff where I can buy books at the end, I'm happy reading through the books I have lying around on my to read list instead of buying new ones as a reward for this month. So that's all fine there.
Another big thing that I would like to highlight that happened this month was on Twitter, where something scary happened and I gained an imposter account; which was an account which had my banner, my photograph, my name and my username, was my name but with zero one added to the end. I'm raising this because I use a pen name, and to take the account down as an imposter, Twitter first wanted to meet to verify that I owned the account. This needed to be photographic ID like a driver's license or a passport, so you can see the issue there. Thankfully they know that sometimes people do use pseudonyms, so they also asked for proof of where my pseudonym was linked to my name e.g. is there a document where you are registered. Thankfully I've done paid writing and I've done writer related services for people before where I do disclose my real name for the sake of transparency, followed by: working as 'insert pen name here' on my invoices. This may not apply to you if you don't use pen names, or you may never want people to find out your real name to begin with, for whatever reason. As it is, my passport combined with an invoice was enough to show that I was genuine, and the account was removed. After I uploaded the ID, the account was removed extraordinarily quickly, so I can't say for sure if a human actually checked my ID, or if simply going through the motions and uploading something - anything - was enough effort for them to think I was real. So please beware. The fake account tried following up my followers, and then when people follow them back they immediately started DMing them.
As for the cats, we managed to get them out into the garden on a few of the cooler days. They are a bit like toddlers, getting into everything but with the ability to jump to the highest places and crawl into the smallest spaces. They are only allowed out in their harnesses and on leashes, but they're starting to gain confidence now to approach the front door more often when it opens. Combine that with their ability to jump up so high, and we had to come up with a way to open our windows in our house safely without them trying to get out. So we've installed a very effective mesh net over one of our larger windows upstairs, so the cats and the house can have some fresh air, while enjoying the sounds and smells of the outdoors. They spend a fair amount of time there now, and I'm confident knowing they won't fall out of the window from upstairs. I'm happy that it works, because I've seen one of the kittens climb up it and to be supported on it by his entire weight, and it didn't budge.
By the time you see this video Camp NaNoWriMo will be here. I have a goal of aiming to work on my novel for at least 30 minutes a day. On days when I know I'm going to be busy or I likely need a rest, I plan on spreading this work out over other days, boosting those days to 45 minutes. With short sprints I think I can do it.
I hope you all have a good July however you choose to spend it. I have to go now as I have a first draft to write as I continue to write my story ...one day at a time.
Credits:
Thumbnail and ending image created free using canva.com
Music credit 1: ending theme – Adara Spence Music
Credit 2: Beloved - Sakura Girl https://soundcloud.com/sakuragirl_off...
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/3ji1zZc
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/omTgn4GQcKAMusic
Credit 3: Soon We'll Fly by Ghostrifter Official https://bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA
3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/35reep7
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/q2vomZqSJuE
