[kaplods]

Originally Posted by marbear24

Kaplods - I'm starting bright and early tomorrow morning. Tonight, I'm working on homework so that I don't screw my class grade up *too* badly by doing this

As far as your name question - I tend to either go by name meanings (if I know it) or by word association. (I'll go with word assocaition since most people aren't dorks like me and don't have a knowledge base filled with name meanings . ) So like Cowan to mean is visually similar to coward... so I would think of a not so noble character. Tavish reads lavish - so someone very superficial and flasy. Ennis is another form of Angus - so that would be intersting if your characters were twins (or very similar) because normally twin are seen as a reflection of one another. But the combination of Ennis and Angus was not one of your choices... so I'd have to go with Ennis and Fergus. I'm pretty apathetic towards Fergus - it just seems very Irish, there's really no other association I hold with it.

Hope that helps.

Helps a lot. The brothers actually are twins, and while I was originally thinking to name one brother "twin" (Tomas, Tavish, Tevis, Tomus, Tomnus, Tamnus, Cowan....) and the other "first choice," (Ennis, Angus, Fergus - I'm also leaning away from Fergus), and work with the dynamic of a "favored" son who is irresponsible and selfish and a less favored son who is hard-working, reliable and unable to win his parents' approval (or so he thinks).

I'm thinking that giving them names with the same meaning might be an even
better idea - the dynamic instead would be in standing out, achieving, establising an independent identity apart from the other, because of the tendency of some to treat twins as a "unit" instead of individual. Also, since both names mean "first or best choice," each is trying to be the undisputed owner of the title.

I think I am leaning toward Ennis and Angus. Angus and Fergus are too similar, and there may be a character named Fenris - and Fenris and Fergis are definitely too similar.

[gardenerjoy]

kaplods: Here are my answers to your questions. Thanks for sharing your process with us -- and let us know what you decide!

1. Cowan

2. Cowan

3. Angus

4. Tavish

5. Fergus

6. Angus

My favorite pair is Angus and Cowan, with Ennis and Tavish as a close second.
I like your new idea, too, of Ennis and Angus.

They all sound Irish and therefore pretty foreign to me. Angus, being a type of cattle, has some odd connotations, but not so strange that I would stay away from the name. And hasn't Fergus been used in old Westerns for the dumb guy? The others are different enough that they don't have many associations for me.

Last year, I happened to wake up at about five minutes to midnight so I actually wrote for half an hour. I'm open to that again, but the plan is to start in the morning. We have our first official write-in for the St. Louis area tomorrow afternoon so I should get some good writing in.

marbear24: good job on getting school work caught up -- I paid all the bills this week for the same reason!

Sweetcaroline: sounds like a great situation for your characters to grow!

Hope everyone has a good time tonight or tomorrow when you get started.

[midwife]

2247. I'm happy! I keep thinking, "This is crap, this is crap," and it probably is a little but some things are fleshing out. I have no idea where I'm going with it. My MC is currently eating a Twix after the trauma of finding a body.

[marbear24]

I'm at 4156. If any of you want to add me as a writing buddy, my user name is maryanna. You can pester me if my word count is sucking!

[gardenerjoy]

I just got to 4600. Most of it yesterday, but I wrote a couple of scenes today. I'm finding that my scene by scene outline and the plan to write two scenes a day is more motivating than the word count. That was a surprise since last year I had not much of an outline and it was only the word count that spurred me on.

I went to our big Sunday write-in. Last year, I went early and bought a sandwich for a late lunch. A sandwich that has more fat in it than I'm currently eating in a whole day! This year, I arrived a few minutes late and supported the restaurant by buying a cup of tea. The sandwich craving didn't hit until we were nearly done, so I was able to make it out the door without consuming calories. Now, I just have to convince myself that tea is the always the appropriate accompaniment to a write-in.

[gardenerjoy]

Is everyone remembering to exercise? I didn't yesterday and by late this afternoon my body was thinking I was sitting too much! A nice workout to my hula DVD loosened things up nicely!

[Sweetcaroline]

I got off to a good start yesterday about 1000 words... today I'm at 600+ and usually get a second wind around 11pm... I'm having fun... no pressure ! (yet)...

I did 45 mins on the TM at a good clip and a planned quick stretch turned into about 20 mins on the ball doing 'core'... so far so good... I was in Walgreens and Halloween candy was half price... I rushed by it !

[lizziep]

i'm at 2169 which isnt too bad considering i moved yesterday and have been unpacking today. i have this week off so i think i can get a good head start.

[gardenerjoy]

Eating while I write hasn't been a problem for me -- I just don't do it (thanks to someone's gum suggestion, I just chew gum instead). But eating to take a break from writing is proving to be a bit of a problem. Yesterday, my afternoon snack grew to three times it's normal size just because I wanted a longer break. I probably needed the break, but I surely didn't need the calories! Any suggestions for taking non-food breaks from the intensity of NaNo?

[marbear24]

Hot tea? It takes a while to drink, and if you don't put milk or sugar in it its calorie free. Plus like chamomile tea really calms me down.

[midwife]

Laundry?

Sort of kidding, sort of not. Anything I can do quickly, like switch a load of laundry, empty the dishwasher, wipe down a counter....gets me out of the chair and a small task done.

[kaplods]

Wasted half a day today. No writing, but I spent the day crocheting fingerless gloves to wear while typing or crocheting/knitting.

My hands (especially the right one) have been going stone cold after only a few minutes typing or needlework, so I crocheted fingerless wristlets with a pocket in each glove to slide in those chemical handwarmers. I can wear the pocket against the palm, or wear them on the other hands, and the pocket will be on the back of the glove.

For typing, it's easier to type with the pockets on the back of the hands, but when I'm crocheting, palm-side works best.

I'm wearing them right now (the pockets are empty, though), and the hands and wrists feel nice and toasty (typing is a little slower and more awkward, but I think I'll get used to it, and be back at my usual speed before long), but the fingers are still really cold (the handwarmer packets will help with that, but I'll have to buy some. I used the last one making the mits).

I just can't seem to get and stay warm. The thermostat is fine, so it must just be me. If I'm feeling like this when the temp outside is in the 30's, I hate to think what it's going to be when the temp outside is below zero.

[lizziep]

funny i was just lamenting that i didn't have a pair of those myself!! I'm up to 4959 but I still feel i'm a bit behind schedule. every time i sat down to write today i ended up playing on the internet. perhaps i should turn my wireless off until I've met my quota for the day! lol.

[marbear24]

11,497 words in - I've decided I hate what I'm writing and am starting something else. Haha. At least I write really fast, otherwise 50,000 would be impossible!

[Sweetcaroline]

I'm lagging behind a bit at 3100... just when I had a nice little schedule planned out, I'm starting to get distracted by outside influences. I'm chosing exercise and getting my food right over sitting down to write...
They're calling for 'snow' here over the weekend... I know the snow will prompt me as my story takes place in a blizzard... LOL... Keep going everyone..

Marbear... Very impressive ! Keep going...