May 19

The Legend of Korra, Episodes 1-6

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Right, so I keep telling myself that I’m going to do some awesome and amazing catch-up posts for every single episode that has aired so far. But then a funny thing happens: a new episode comes out every week, like magic. It’s quite obvious to me at this point that I don’t have time to do proper posts for each episode and the longer I put it off, the more this is going to stress me out because the pile just keeps getting bigger.

So, instead, I’m going to hit random highlights/thoughts for the first six episodes so I can get it out of the way. Maybe then I can keep up with the show. Please no spoilers for episode seven—I have to wait until Nick.com puts up the episode. But from here on out you should get a mid-week post about every episode. Shouldn’t that be fun?

[Spoilers everywhere for The Legend of Korra, Episodes 1-6. Also random squeeing, incoherent fangirling, and other tidbits.]

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May 18

Steady Progress

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Weekly Report

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My early morning writing remains one of the best decisions in my life. I wrote 2,921 words for Uncanny Valley this week and another 4,835 for my Avatar: The Last Airbender rewatch. I’m still failing at working on the rewatch during the week, but that’s okay because I’ve officially crossed the 100,000 word mark on my rewatch.

Apparently I really like to talk about ATLA. And I will put up my thoughts-on-The Legend of Korra-thus-far post tomorrow. (I’ve already started it and everything. Sorry it’s taken me so long.)

I don’t really have a ton to say besides this, except that I really need to come up with a coherent pitch for Uncanny Valley. I’ve had a few people this week ask me what my book is about, and I have failed utterly at explaining it coherently and/or concisely. You think I would have learned from LTUE back in February.

So this week my goal is to write an elevator pitch and to get on top of my ATLA rewatch and building a buffer again. June promises to be a very difficult month at work, and I need to make sure I’ve got everything on the creative side of my life squared away.

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May 14

Book Two: Earth || Chapter Three: Return to Omashu

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Rewatch

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Welcome to the twenty-third installment of my Avatar: The Last Airbender rewatch! Today’s post will be covering “Return to Omashu.” Episode 2.03 introduces a pair of deadly ladies, showcases the cutest sewer-dwelling creature in all of fiction, and spends a couple minutes on a really crazy king.

Please note that while the summary will remain spoiler free (aside for everything up to and including the current episode, of course), the subsequent commentary (and comments) will not be. If you haven’t already seen the series, go do it now. This post will be waiting for you when you come back.

Note: I would like this rewatch to remain spoiler free for The Legend of Korra. Please choose your comments wisely.

[The universe is giving me strong hints that it’s time for a career change. I want to join you on your mission.]

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May 12

On One Schedule and Off Another

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Weekly Report

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My new writing schedule has continued remarkably well. I wrote a total of 2,658 words for Uncanny Valley in my early morning sessions. Even though I met my weekly word count goal, I’m still behind schedule on the whole write-100,000-words-of-fiction-this-year thing. And that’s okay. I only have to write a little extra each week and soon enough I’ll be back on track.

I’m really amazed by how much writing I can get done before I have to start getting ready for work. I’ve never considered myself a morning person, but after that fifteen to thirty minutes of waking up time, I’m actually writing. It also helps that I’ve taken to shutting off the internet during that writing time so I can’t get distracted as easily.

What I really need to focus on next week is working on my Avatar: The Last Airbender rewatch after my day job. I’ve been feeling so self-congratulatory about my early morning writing and exercising three days a week that I haven’t been focusing on my other project. This, of course, means that I still have not replenished my buffer. I’ve been relying on miracles and speed to crank out a rewatch post in sometimes as little as a single day. That needs to stop so I can spend a quiet weekend with a book instead of trying to be clever.

All in all, last week was a good one for me. With the 4,067 words I wrote for the rewatch, I cranked out 6,725 words total. And that, my friends, warrants some salted caramel pretzel ice cream.

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May 07

Book Two: Earth || Chapter Two: The Cave of Two Lovers

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Rewatch

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Welcome to the twenty-second installment of my Avatar: The Last Airbender rewatch! Today’s post will be covering “The Cave of Two Lovers.” Episode 2.02 turns what could be horrible romantic filler into one of the most quotable episodes in the series. This is ATLA comedy at its best, folks!

Please note that while the summary will remain spoiler free (aside for everything up to and including the current episode, of course), the subsequent commentary (and comments) will not be. If you haven’t already seen the series, go do it now. This post will be waiting for you when you come back.

Note: I would like this rewatch to remain spoiler free for The Legend of Korra. Please choose your comments wisely.

[SECRET TUNNEL, SECRET TUNNEL, THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS, SECRET SECRET SECRET SECRET TUNNEL~]

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May 04

Writing Lifestyle Changes

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Last week I struggled with working up the motivation to write after frustrating days at work. I kept telling myself I deserved to relax, and it was too much to expect me to really go back to work after a day at the office.

After a few self-indulgent days of pity, I realized I was getting in the way of my own dream.

Ever since I really started trying to write a novel all the way back in 2008, you guys, it’s been a remarkably unproductive four years, one of my greatest challenges has been to sit down and write after eight hours in the office. It just hasn’t worked, not consistently at least, and it has always been derailed when I needed to stay late or take work home.

Last Tuesday night I decided that I needed a radical change in my life because writing is really and truly one of my priorities. That meant I got up at the completely evil 5:30—an hour before normal—in order to write. And despite one time where I forgot to set the alarm (and still woke up early on my own, ha), I have stuck to that schedule.

And I’ve found I’ve really liked it. Yes, it takes me a while—too long, perhaps—to wake up enough to actually be able to type coherently, but I’m still doing it. This new schedule has netted me 3,940 words over the last week and a half, which is infinitely better than what I was doing before. Here’s hoping this becomes a good habit.

(And on a completely different note, I wrapped up season one of my ATLA rewatch with an astounding 81,729 words—plus an additional 4,792 words for the first episode of season two. I certainly wasn’t expecting that kind of output when I first started the project.)

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Apr 30

Book Two: Earth || Chapter One: The Avatar State

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Welcome to the twenty-first installment of my Avatar: The Last Airbender rewatch! Today’s post will be covering “The Avatar State.” Episode 2.01 shows us why Aang’s Hulk impersonation is a horrible thing and gives us a firebending, lightning-generating prodigy.

Please note that while the summary will remain spoiler free (aside for everything up to and including the current episode, of course), the subsequent commentary (and comments) will not be. If you haven’t already seen the series, go do it now. This post will be waiting for you when you come back.

Note: I would like this rewatch to remain spoiler free for The Legend of Korra. Please choose your comments wisely.

[Maybe you should worry less about the tides, who’ve already made up their mind about killing you, and worry more about me, who’s still mulling it over.]

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Apr 26

Reflections on Book One: Water

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Rewatch

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The first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender was a lot of fun, but I’m glad the first episodes I saw were from season two. Now, don’t get me wrong—season one is still leaps and bounds above the standard fare aimed at kids. However, while I was doing this rewatch I couldn’t help but thinking I can’t wait until we can get to seasons two and three.

[The best adjective I could come up with this season was uneven.]

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Apr 23

Book One: Water || Chapter Twenty: The Siege of the North, Part 2

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Welcome to the twentieth installment of my Avatar: The Last Airbender rewatch! Today’s post will be covering “The Siege of the North, Part 2,” the final episode of the first season. Episode 1.20 gets us up close and personal with a face-stealing spirit, shocks us with some brutal deicide, breaks our hearts with a noble sacrifice, and horrifies us with a roaring rampage of revenge.

Please note that while the summary will remain spoiler free (aside for everything up to and including the current episode, of course), the subsequent commentary (and comments) will not be. If you haven’t already seen the series, go do it now. This post will be waiting for you when you come back.

Note: I would like this rewatch to remain spoiler free for The Legend of Korra. Please choose your comments wisely.

[Whatever you do to that spirit, I’ll unleash on you tenfold! Let it go, now!]

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Apr 20

Math Makes Writing Simple

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Weekly Report

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First of all, life is a lot easier when you’re not pulling crazy overtime for your day job. I was able to write 4,176 words for my Avatar: The Last Airbender rewatch. More importantly, I was finally able to get back to Uncanny Valley for the first time since March. Despite the struggle of getting back into a project I hadn’t touched in over two weeks, I managed to write 1,259 words. And it was all thanks to math.

As you may recall, I made it my goal to write 100,000 words of fiction this year. As you may also recall, I’ve been pretty horrible at it thus far. I’ve been trying to get different aspects of my life in order this week, so I finally sat myself down and faced my writing goals head on. Back at the start of the year I had calculated that it would take writing 278 words per day in order to hit that goal.

However, since I’d only managed a measly 4,400 words the entire year, I was expecting that the 100,000 words would be entirely out of my reach. To my surprise, the math said that I only needed to write 371 words per day or 2,594 words per week. Huzzah for the power of division!

I issued the write-100,000-words-by-the-end-of-the-year challenge to a couple friends, and now I would give everyone who reads this the same challenge. Just take however many words you’ve written thus far this year, subtract that number from 100,000, and then divide it by the remaining days/weeks in the year.

I think you’ll find that the number is surprisingly low. What’s keeping you from reaching it?

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