Monthly Archives: November 2011

In time for the holidays is another great subject heading:

verbal self-defense

Maybe it’s a big holiday myth that when families get together, fights break out. Thankfully this isn’t the case with my family. For those who have this problem, there are a couple of solutions that come to mind–either don’t spend the holidays together or, with the help of LC, have a strong verbal defense.

This is one of those subject headings that I stumbled upon and though, “huh.” You, too, can be a word-ninja by defending yourself with your words.

With 450s such as argumentation; contending, verbal; disputing; oral self-defense this subject heading won’t take any crap from nobody. Don’t forget to see also quarreling if you want a fight. And if that isn’t enough to help you out, there are always the broader terms: interpersonal relations, self-defense, and verbal behavior.

What’s the purpose for this sub. head.? Seems to me like it’s missing the obvious debating. Excuse me while I go on a hunt! Cataloger on a mission here–where’s that filed?

Stumbling down a massive rabbit hole in search of “debate”/'”debating” (don’t worry, it’s safely tucked away as “debates and debating”–phew!), here are some more gems: oral pleading, forensic orations, voice culture, debate poetry, occasional speeches, and Chautauquas (under “lectures and lecturing” if you are playing along).

One last jog back to the authorities and LC catalog…hmm, what about an arguments and arguing then? Nope. It’s never quite that simple, is it? Apparently you get any of the plethora above and related terms already discussed in this post for the various verbalizations of life, but not arguments and arguing–it’s just not nice, don’t do it. Argumentation is tucked under “verbal self-defense”, as we have seen, but it’s also lurking under “reasoning” as well, along with “ratiocination” in case you were looking for that.

I originally picked this subject heading for it’s oddity but as I dug into it writing this post, it’s clear that I’ve uncovered a massive grave of worms. Just in time for the holidays! So train yourself to become a word-ninja but please, don’t hurt anyone, especially family during the holidays. Just be prepared, and enjoy!

For the month of November, all the participants who signed up should have their browsers redirect from anything other than nanowrimo.org.

Perhaps that’s drastic, plus I should be able to avoid Netflix on my own willpower but they just have so much stuff to watch! And who can miss Castle on Hulu?! But it isn’t just the Internet that’s the distraction–room needs to be picked up–sure!, laundry needs doing–how many loads can I do?, friends wanna hang out–when and where? But distractions always abound.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that yet again, in my attempt at this wild writing month, that my word count has bested me so far. If writing evenly this month, I should be at 16,670 words rather than 7560. That’s 9110 to go, plus tomorrow adds more and so does the next day. That’s the point of this month, though, to challenge and push the self-proclaimed writer who allows writing to get lost among life. But not this year. I’m putting my foot down now. It may be a Wooster weekend to see Steve but he’ll have to play Starcraft II or his ukulele (a new feat of his!) while I type up a storm. Michigan games are always a half-watched affair, usually nail-biters that really don’t need full attention lest they raise blood pressure through the roof, so those three Saturday hours are fair game for NaNo!

Why is writing such a struggle? This is typical for me. Caught up in the “what do I have to say,” debating if my plot and topics are compelling, and allowing my inner critic to dictate more than I should, means that writing has always been a chore no matter what my desire and passion for it has been. Hence, LIS rather than MFA.

At this point in November, I have in the past congratulated myself making it as far as I did and filed away my abandoned works, promising next year to do better. But those who know me know that I’m a fighter, doing what is necessary even when it’s unpleasant and difficult (like living apart from my husband so we can both get relevant career experience). This November, right now, I’m digging in, staying the course, and finishing NaNoWriMo.

What does that mean? Writing with no worries. Think something sounds stupid, that’s what editing is for! Not sure a scene will work, write it and find out! Wanna change a previous event or character? Leave that old writing and start typing anew! Already this afternoon I’ve written 1040 words!!! Time to play catch up in a grand fashion, and the weekend begins shortly! It is the month for literary abandon, after all.

How’s your word count doing?

While it’s implied in my handle, some may not know that I write. More than just blog posts, that is. Creative writing is a passion on mine, and one that typically gets relegated to the very bottom of all to-do lists. But not this month!

Whether you know it or not (you will now!), November is National Novel Writing Month. The personal goal is to write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November, and while not quite long enough to be a real novel, it’s a great start. Tonight, I typed out 3152 new words to a story that’s been rattling in my mind for a while. This is the month to finally get it on paper.

A daily goal of 1667 words would set an even pace for this challenge, however I want to keep my weekends free from writing so that I can enjoy the rare time with my hubby. That means seven days worth of writing needs to happen in four, maybe five if I feel up to writing after driving three hours home (probably won’t happen). So, for four days, my goal has to be 3125 to make this work and tonight I wrote a tiny bit more–that’s always a good thing. This is my fourth year but I’ve yet to reach the 50,000 word goal. Starting off strong isn’t the issue, it’s keeping it up for a month that gets hard. However, I’ve got the best plan and notes yet as this month begins. I know that this year I will complete the challenge and make the goal.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo 2011? If so, good luck. If not, there’s still time to join!