Baby This is Ignition! - Ampers&d's BASE 2.1 Journal

[Ampersnd]

Stage 1, Day 28,

I'm now at page 150. That makes 30 pages. I'm not thrilled, but I've worked through the hardest parts of Chapter 3. I'm 10 pages away from being done. Chapter 4 will be a walk in the park.

Today, I started feeling genuine optimism about the future.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 1, Day 29,

I've arrived at page 221 of 252 before becoming far too tired to focus adequately. Trust me, I'm finding all sorts of little mistakes in this draft. That makes 70 pages today. I should finish the 252nd page tomorrow, as well as creating a huge dent in my coveted Chapter 5. After Chapter 5 is done, Draft #4 is done after about 7 days, like what I said. Wow! Draft #5 will be done within 3-4 days.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 1, Day 30,

I finished the 32 pages of the book, and added 23 pages to the chapter on Propaganda. I think that I will add more, but all this happened in one day. I even outlined the Conclusion, which I'll write at the end of it all. I'm going to begin Draft #5 tomorrow.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 1, Day 31,

Today, I took a pretty lazy approach to my book. As a celebration to completing Draft #4, I did something I haven't done in a long while; I jerked off to porn. Twice. That messed me up in the morning, as it zapped my motivation levels.
Nonetheless, I added an Appendix (it's a facsimile of another book's appendix; I'm in the process of requesting for the adequate permission from the publisher), and I've gone through 25 pages in Draft #5. This is shocking because I spent fewer than 2 hours on this second draft, with low energy and motivation. But, these 25 pages are ready to go; I'm completely satisfied with them, and I'd be ready to print those. So, I'm happy with where this is going. Tomorrow, I'll likely wind up at pages 80-100.

I should note that Chapter 5 is technically a first draft, meaning that I will go over it a few more times before being satisfied.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 1, Day 32 (now playing Stage 2),

I'm now at page 80 of Draft #5. It took a little longer than I expected, but I'm flying through the material, and finding occasional small slip-ups.

I'm likely to spend very little time after page 232 since they are Appendixes, although there is a total 290 at the moment. I also need to write a conclusion. I'm very likely not going to finish Draft #5 until July 2nd or 3rd.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 2, Day 1,

I'm at page #163. That makes 83 pages of work! Wow.
That's fantastic, since I'm now 5 pages away from "being out of the woods" with the technical stuff. Chapter 4 is probably going to take 1 hour to do, and then I'll look at the Appendix (probably completely fine as well). Then, I'll have to re-write and add a bunch of content to Chapter 5. And review, and review. And then, Draft #5 is complete!! So, Wednesday will be Chap 4 and appendix. Thursday will be Chap 5 (if I can help it); I'll be packing for my week-long trip.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 2, Day 2,

All but finished Draft #5; it doesn't really need that much editing, save for a couple of word changes.
The only thing I didn't touch was the chapter on propaganda. I will give that a draft 2 treatment tomorrow, if I have a clear mind and a little time. That will be the hardest part between now and publishing the book.

I've submitted the details I want for 99Designs, and it's an open contest for the designers. I didn't want to guarantee a winner in case all the designs are rubbish. We'll see in about 2 days.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 2, Day 3,

My brain is feeling dulled today, my throat hurt during the day, and I can't formulate a proper sentence; I'm starting to wonder about underlying reasons for that; hormonal? neurotransmitters? exercise? diet? lack of sleep? I've noticed that a little scratch on my foot has not healed for 2 weeks; it's not an open wound, but it's a scabby line that's been there for a while. Come to think of it, the wounds that heal leave lasting marks, like a small bruise.

I had enough mental RAM to create references for the Introduction of my book; it has 70 references lol. It is the most tightly packed part of the book. At this rate, I suspect that it will have between 200 - 300 references.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 2, Day 4,

Threw a golf tournament today. It went rather well; I'm happy with how it went.
Once we took care of the administrative stuff, the golf course took care of the rest; then we took care of the prizes. It was a 12 hour work day. Tired.

Going to bed and driving to the big city tomorrow on my own; that will be a 6-7 hour drive. Not much else to say. I won't be able to work on the book until the day after tomorrow.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 2, Day 5,

I drove up to the city; 6 hours drive. I bring all of my equipment to downtown; but it's so incredibly packed and busy (it's Canada Day) and they're shutting down buskers. So, I spend a bit of time there, and I eventually head back. Then, it started pouring.

I left a little discouraged; I saw so many people who were in groups and with their attractive partners. I seem to have missed the mark with certain things; I have an abysmal social life, romantic life, and career. And this is at 25 years old. Even areas that I have worked at extensively has been decaying, and it feels like my singing voice is still miles away from what I want. Some kids figure this out at age 12. I feel like something is off.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 2, Day 6,

Settled into my place in Montreal. I'm only here for a week. I've taken care of everything, and I've spent a few hours on my book. It's slow going, and drudge work, and someone submitted a design idea that I think will be the final book cover.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 2, Day 7,

I woke up and was supposed to do energy work with someone over Skype. But, Facebook chat and Skype both cut out on audio. This was an issue on my end, so I can't do the session during my vacation (which is about the only time when I can do it). I spent my time walking around Montreal; I went to UCAM, and walked through Old Montreal, went up to McGill and Eaton, and then went to the Jazz Festival. That took me about 3 hours. I then finished the references for 2 chapters. I also have my design done for the book cover.

Now, I need to sleep.

[Ampersnd]

Stage 2, Day 9,

I finished the references for Chapters 1-4, as well as the Appendixes. The count is currently at 363 references, with a possible 400 by the end of chapter 5.

Finished draft #2 of Chapter 5 and Conclusion. I'll complete final Draft #3 tomorrow for these two segments, as well as the references for them. Then, I will create illustrations for Chapter 5 and Appendix B. There are many of them, but I think that it will be easy to mass-produce them, since most of them are the same shape, different text. After that, I need to work on formatting. I'm in the final stretch. Payday tomorrow, even though I'm on vacation.

[Inconceivablezen]

Hey Dan, I have one question for you. Are you still getting income from the Kindle books you published earlier?