zwei_hexen | Write every day! - July 2022

ysilme

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ysilme here: 233 words for day 15; half of them for the final rewrite of the before-last chapter of the WIP while wrestling down that one stubborn phrase. The rest was a first draft snippet for a bingo fill.
I'd also like to ask your advice: as you know or have guessed, English isn't my first language, but actually my third. While my vocabulary in general isn't half-bad, I find I'm often struggling with certain descriptions, particularly of landscape, as I'm lacking the kind of detailed vocabulary I'd need, and dictionaries only get you so far. Can you recommend any reading that might help me in that regard, with a lot or detailed landscape descriptions, or do you have other suggestions what might help me increase my vocabulary? Thank you!

sylvanwitch here: Ugh, more adulting ahead for me today, but I made sure to write first, adding 679 words to "The Factory" and finishing the first draft. YAY!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

mific

Managed a final push with 1960 words to finish my CAP RBB fic. Fine-tuned it a little after a night's sleep and I think it's done. Whew!

From:

china_shop

Congrats! *\o/*

From:

sylvanwitch

WOOOO-HOOOOO! *\o/* That's an amazing wordcount! *does happy finished draft dance* YOU ROCK!

From:

ysilme

Congrats!

From:

china_shop

16th: a meta post, and more work on my outline.

Can you recommend any reading that might help me in that regard, with a lot or detailed landscape descriptions, or do you have other suggestions what might help me increase my vocabulary? Thank you!

Oh, good question! I can't think of anything right now, but I'll sleep on it (and hopefully others will have good ideas). <3 <3 <3

Good luck with that one stubborn phrase! <3

From:

sylvanwitch

YAY for outlining when you need it! :-)

From:

china_shop

Thanks! (Today I woke up and realised the new outline doesn't work, for reasons. Never mind.)

Anyway, mostly I wanted to say congrats on finishing your first draft of "The Factory"! That's awesome!! *sends celebratory cake*

From:

sylvanwitch

Thank you so much! *enjoys cake*

From:

ysilme

Go you for outlining and posting meta! *\O/*
Thank you, the phrase eventually gave in. ;op I got good tips already, but if you happen to think of something else I'd be happy to hear it!

From:

ljm

Day 16: I woke up weirdly early and got in over an hour of editing this morning, with several hundred new words added, and some deleted.

From:

sylvanwitch

Oh, excellent! YAY for being productive despite (or because of) the early hour!

From:

regshoe

Day 16: 500 words, and I have finished the first draft! \o/ Total word count is about 17,000, I think (difficult to tell exactly because of parts of it being handwritten).

ysilme—not to shamelessly grab the opportunity to promote my fandom or anything :D , but I can highly recommend D. K. Broster, especially The Flight of the Heron, for that! Her landscape descriptions are gorgeous, and she has a nicely erudite vocabulary. FotH is in the public domain, and there's a free ebook here. Rosemary Sutcliff is another historical author who's amazing at landscape descriptions—Frontier Wolf is my favourite of her books, and it has a lot of good nature and landscape in it.

From:

sylvanwitch

*does the happy finished draft dance*. Woooooooo-hooooooooo!!!!!

That’s awesome! Go, you! *\o/*

From:

ysilme

Thank you, also for the link!

luzula already got me interested in the novel and I checked for it on gutenberg.org, but there are only other novels by D.K. Broster there. The one you linked to I didn't know yet, very useful! I'd put it on my long book TBR, but with your rec re: landscape descriptions I'm going to check it out soon. I'm generally interested in the time and region; I have a few larger reading preference areas (?), and one is Age of Sail and Regency novels with Great Britain and Scotland, so this caught my interest right when luzula mentioned it. I've read a few Sutcliff books already, too, but all in the German translation, so this is also a very useful rec!

From:

regshoe

I'm glad it was helpful :D Yeah, FotH has only been in the US public domain (which Gutenberg uses) for a couple of years, so it's not there yet—Canadian copyright law is rather more liberal, and Faded Page is a good source for books that aren't eligible elsewhere!

Speaking of the other novels by Broster on Gutenberg—I can't resist mentioning that Sir Isumbras at the Ford is there because I made and uploaded the ebook, and both it and The Yellow Poppy are also excellent novels and pretty good for landscape descriptions, if you're interested in the Channel Islands and northern France.

From:

ysilme

TBH I'm grateful Gutenberg is accessible to me again finally - due to our super strict copyright laws, it hasn't been possible to access the Gutenberg library in Germany for several years now, and I actually got a VPN just for this purpose. I'm not entirely sure but if a title is accessible to me (without VPN) on Gutenberg migth even depend on its copyright in relation to German whatever (time limit? orginal copyright?). I forgot which titles of Broster I could find on Gutenberg when I checked a few weeks ago; I downloaded two, The Yellow Poppy among them. Sir Isumbras doesn't ring a bell, but I'm going to check it out - how awesome that it was you who brought it online, thank you so much! They sound useful indeed also for my research purpose, particularly since these might be landscapes I'm familiar with (France from travelling, channel islands from countless documentaries ^^ ).

From:

regshoe

Argh, yes, I've heard about that. From what I can see the actual copyright term in Germany is the same as in the UK, author's life + 70 years, but of course that means some of the works on Gutenberg that are public domain in the US are not in Germany, and I suppose Germany is just really strict about enforcing it? Good that you can access it with the VPN! Anyway, the other books of Broster's on Gutenberg are The Vision Splendid, which IMO is much less good, and The Wounded Name, which possibly doesn't have so much in the way of landscape descriptions (it's basically wall-to-wall slashy hurt/comfort)—but I digress—I hope you enjoy whichever of the books you decide to read, and get useful landscape vocabulary from them. :D

From:

ysilme

Yes, Germany is super strict in enforcing any copyright laws - as a consequence, for example, using copyrighted images on a German-based server is a bad idea as this can get you into ufunny legal trouble.
The Wounded Name is the other one on Gutenberg I had before - and slashy hurt/comfort sounds really good! XD
I just remembered something else that has, if I remember correctly, also decent or good landscape desriptions; I read it about 27 years ago so I'm not sure: A Time of Gifts and the sequels by Patrick Leigh Fermor, the author's retelling of his journey from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople on foot before WWII. I can only recommend it if you aren't familiar with it, it's wonderful.

From:

regshoe

I certainly recommend it if slashy hurt/comfort is something you like :D

A Time of Gifts and the sequels by Patrick Leigh Fermor, the author's retelling of his journey from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople on foot before WWII. I can only recommend it if you aren't familiar with it, it's wonderful.

Ooh, that sounds good! Thank you, I'll keep an eye out for it.

From:

badly_knitted

July 16th - 1000 words for the challenge with the 1k limit =)

Also got the laundry mostly dry and did some gardening. Tomorrow will be hotter but still manageable, then the major heatwave is due to hit for two days, so I'll be hiding indoors during the worst of the heat...

From:

sylvanwitch

🎉 Congrats on that excellent word count and on getting chores done like a boss before the heat moves in. I do hope you’re able to stay safe in the heat.

From:

badly_knitted

Thank you!

My house tends to stay reasonably cool, so even in the heat I'm hoping I'll be okay. I have ice packs in the freezer if I need them though.

From:

ysilme

Congrats to the aweseome word count! I hope the heat won't be too bad for you. We're looking forward to at least two rather hot days ourselves, but as the nights are still really cool hereabouts (which is unusual but SO MUCH appreciated, no matter that my veggies aren't super happy about it) and it's always been no more than two or three days this summer, it's really bearable.

From:

badly_knitted

Thanks!

I hope your poor veggies survive the alternating heat and cooler nighttime temperatures. I'm facing one night where it's unlikely to drop below 21C, but I'll survive that. Tonight shouldn't be quite that warm, and Tuesday night should be significantly cooler as rain arrives. I've been having to water my apple tree so it won't drop ALL of its apples.

From:

ysilme

So far everything is growing really well, despite the really cool night temperatures - we've had mostly 16°C and below these last weeks, with a few nights even as far down as 10°C, while day temps are between 21°C (rare) and 35°C (about two or three days every two weeks so far). They're a bit more susceptible to blight/mildew and brown rot, despite the dryness - we've had a drought in early summer when it's also been hotter overall - but so far, my usual counter-measures of either garlic or low fat milk solution is sufficient; but I need to apply it more often than usual, and need to be more diligent in removing affected leaves. But harvest-wise it's a great year so far, and we're indulging in cucumbers and zucchini, and by now also more and more tomatoes. The peppers (only my second year growing them) are large and many, and I have high hopes to have a good harvest in a few weeks - last year was a bad vegetable year and even so I got a lovely harvest out of them.

From:

badly_knitted

That's quite cool, but it's ben similar here in central England, at night at least. Glad you veggies are coping and being productive. I envy you all your delicious things. I haven't been growing stuff in recent years partly due yo health issues and partly because I've been focusing on clearing the undergrowth. I don't have much space where I could grow anything, but that might change once the trees are down.

From:

ysilme

I wish you luck for that! I need to be very spoon-conscious about gardening, too, and for many years I was doing container gardening for spoon reasons as well as not having better options in the garden proper - we have space but very dense, hard, soil, too much wind and too much shadow/less sun in most places. Before I could switch to proper (framed) beds I had a few rectangular containers, we call them mason's containers meant for mixing concrete, cement or grout etc. They're very sturdy, UV-resistant, cost only a few € and the rectangular version with 90l capacity were large enough to grow 2 tomato plants or 3-4 cucumber plants. The downside was I needed to buy new potting soil every couple of years (which I try to avoid for plastic waste reasons mostly), and I needed more water than you need with regular beds. But the plants grew really well in them and setting them up for the next wear was a doable effort with some planning. I've also used to grow lettuce and herbs in window boxes and am still growing strawberries in them; the latter works extremely well. High beds are another option if you don't havea good soil or soil at all, or need to make use of unfavourable places, and pallets provide an affordable way to build them. We have one made from a converted wood composter lined with pool liner and it also served me really well for at least six years now. It needs redoing as the liner has become pierced by some weeds, but I wanted to enlargen it anyway so it's ok. Container gardening offers all kind of additional optins if you aren't aware yet, it's cool what you can do even with small spaces and adverse garden options these days. You can also google "botte tower gardening" - I tried that with much success for a few years, but stopped again since for one I'm trying to eliminate plastic (at least any that's not durable/will keep for several years) from my gardening, and also I can't get plastic bottles for free as we have a deposit system for drinks so you pay even for the empty ones, and I don't know anybody who uses non-glass bottles for their drinks to ask them for them. ^^ I do have an idea how to adapt the idea using sewer pipes, but I haven't got around trying it out yet. But growing with that system works great indeed!
Last year we finally built proper beds with wood-frames of about 25cm height, and bought soil to put in. There's our regular soil below so the water can drain, but we didn't have to dig that up and mix it with sand etc. to get lose enough soil for planting, which was a blessing. I have much more energy these days but even so setting the vegetable garden up this year was really taxing and exhausting, and is hard even with my husband's help.

From:

badly_knitted

My main problem is that the garden has become so overgrown because it was neglected when I was full-time carer for my late mother. There's also too much shade over the whole garden thanks to tall hedges, shrubs, and trees in neighbouring gardens. I have a sunken lawn so technically I already have raised beds all around it, but the soil is very poor and full of shrub and hedge roots. I also don't have many spots where I can put containers without them being in the way. Where I used to grow my tomatoes in large pots is currently cluttered with pots of some cuttings I took earlier in the year.

I'm gradually clearing weeds, brambles, and ivy, cutting back overgrown shrubs and hedges, and I'm having two problem trees removed at the end of next week which might let a bit more light in, so maybe that will open up some spaces where I can grow things once I get them cleared of weeds, but it's a slow process.

I tried growing beans in a tub a few years ago, but it's very windy where I live and it kept getting blown over. This garden has never been very good for vegetable gardening. Clay soil, wind, too much shade, but it's what I've got, which is why I've done container gardening wherever possible. There are also a lot of slugs and snails here, and vine weevils that would most likely destroy root crops, so I'm at a disadvantage. But I've been gardening since I could walk, so I refuse to give up just because everything is against me ;)

From:

luzula

I see that

regshoe has got you covered for fiction! For good non-fiction landscape description, you could try A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold.

The 16th: Probably only 100 words or so, but I went through and edited that short story I wrote during my trip, and finally managed to write a good ending for it! Funny how hard those last few sentences are sometimes. It's off to beta now.

From:

sylvanwitch

As someone who struggles more with endings than with anything else, I say CONGRATS on finding those final sentences! That is so awesome!

From:

ysilme

Yes, and I've commented already that your posts about The Flight of the Heron got me interested already, just further downon my reading list which I now changed. ^^ A Sand County Almanac sounds very useful and intresting, too, thank you!
Congrats for editing and finishing that short story, that's cool! :oD

From:

luzula

Oh yay! Do let me know what you think of Flight of the Heron. : )

From:

chanter1944

A handful of sentences for day 15, and a handful more for day 16, in amid camping with family. I wasn't tracking word count, whoops, but there has been progress on a certain project both days.

Edited to add: 140-ish words for day 16, as it turns out. :)

Edited Date: 2022-07-17 02:43 am (UTC)

From:

sylvanwitch

YAY for progress, particularly during a camping trip--that's marvelous! ENJOY yourself! :-)

From:

sanguinity

ysilme: Landscape words are often specific to particular kinds of landscape, in my experience -- mountainscapes use different words than river valleys use different words than deserts, at least for the kinds of things you find within them. Do you have a particular kind of landscape in mind, or just in general, or?

sylvanwitch: Good job getting the writing in first, and HURRAH for the finished draft! *does the finished draft dance*

Jul 16: I'm going to have to be more disciplined and start writing BEFORE going hiking, because it seems I'm not good for much after. Alibi sentence.

From:

sylvanwitch

Thank you so much!

YAY for an alibi sentence, post-hike. Speaking as a hiker myself, I concur that IF I can manage to sit down and get words in first, there are almost inevitably many more of them than if I wait until I return. That said, I also find that sometimes I just want to get out on the trail and not be bothered with writing, so... Priorities. Hmph! ;-)

From:

ysilme

*g* I hear you on this kind of discipline! But words happened, go you!
Yes, you're right of course. I'm actually looking for both, general landscape descriptions - which will hopefully help me to find it easier to write down what's in my head, as I recently not only struggled with vocabulary but also with just how to go about describing my landscapes; but also for descriptions of certain types of landscapes. Mostly seascapes or rather coastal areas and regions, particularly where rock, pebbles, boulders and cliffs are involved; beach types which aren't wide and sandy; but also sometimes mountainscapes and river valleys - my characters do get around a lot, it seems. *g* Some are much easier for me - anything forestry isn't difficult, and hilly landscapes feel also easy enough.