Encounters of the Austen Persuasion

(Brownie points for that pun.)

Some days, I just ooze Austen. The past two weeks have been no exception.

Between The Jane Austen Handbook, a long conversation on the merit of various Austen heroes, and the discovery that Dan Stevens played Edward Ferrars in 2008, I daresay it's been an Austen occasion. Not counting the Darcy encounter...

... is it so wrong if I prefer Matthew Crawley? *blush*

HA! Now you want to read about the Darcy encounter! Well, you're going to have to wait. First, I owe you a 100 for 100 Challenge Update!

Day #: 17
Today's Word Count: Haven't written for the day yet!
Overall Word Count: 4,598


This challenge has been an absolute blast, as well as a huge burden. On the bright side, I am so glad to be writing every day. Hitting 100 words is easy for me. I average between 300-400 per day, and on good days, I hit above 700. NaNoWriMo has conditioned me to churn out larger amounts of work in single sittings. Knowing that I'm actually doing something about the story inside of me feels amazing. I'm so blessed to have these stories. I really hope that someday I get to share them.

On the not-so-bright side, this story is hard. I know virtually no historical details about early 20th century Ireland. Who can blame me? It's not like the information is easy to find or I can just meander down to my local museum. I'm searching for needles in haystacks when it comes to finding historically accurate details. I'm taking lots of liberties just to get the story down at this point. I know I need to read some more, and I wish I had some guidance on where to look. Now more than ever I am desperate to visit the Emerald Isle. I was once promised I would go there someday... The only question that remains is when.

Isn't it *gorgeous*?

Now, about that Darcy character...

There is this guy. He looks kind of like Daniel Vincent Gordh(geous). He says things in a very Darcy manner, where you're not sure if he's just out of his element or being mean. Yeah. Everyone tries to pin this guy down, but we can't. *facepalm*

They don't call him Gordhgeous for nothing.

Well, this weekend, the boy actually talked to me. (Wow. That sounds so middle school. Don't think of it like that.) It's just, he isn't exactly known as a conversationalist. But he was pretty talkative yesterday. However, being the dork that I am, all I could think of was this:

I HAVE NO LIFE. I think I need to get out more.

Final note: WHAT IN THE NAME OF JANE IS THIS?

... Pride and Platypus?

100-4-100: Day 1

Day #: 1
Today's Word Count: 340
Overall Word Count: 340

Time for my first 100 for 100 Challenge update!

Obviously, I exceeded my 100 word goal... by over 200 words! Excitement! Of course, this felt like scribbles compared to the 1,667 words I churn out per day during NaNo. I think that's why I produced more work than I needed to: My perspective has been distorted by too much NaNoing.

I found that I couldn't hold out any longer: I'm writing that Irish novel I always drone on and on about. I'm trying to research as I go. Not great for historical accuracy, but fantastic for getting a feel for the "spirit" of the story. I wrote all of my stuff today at school, which meant school filters. I found it ironic that Google Docs is blocked at school, but in my search for facts on pipes, I can access a wealth of information concerning how to smoke pot. The school system at its finest.

What I wrote isn't exactly poetry. In fact, it's teetering on being pure garbage. But you know what? This wonderful story that has been pent up inside me for over a year now is getting a chance to see the light. I'm certain that I'll hate what I've written: the crummy attempts at prose, the foolish mistakes, the cringe-worthy historical inaccuracies. Yet today is Day 1, and for today, I'm going to enjoy the process. Just this once.