Me, too & a Question to All JaNo-ers

I, too, am giving up the ghost. My NaNo story just wasn't cooperating, and I refuse to waste my writing time on a story that isn't useable. So, I'm back to editing "Return to Stiller Creek" and working on the new "A Jewel For Geoff" instead.

Good luck to the NaNoers out there!

Also, to the folks here at the JaNoWriMo blog -- is there any reason or interest to keep this blog open? If not, I'm going to shut it down. Though I do admit to having a January NaNo on my mind...

Please let me know?

URGH

So... I started writing on my NaNo book again yesterday and ... it sucks. It's boring, it has almost no conflict, and the characters are wooden.

Yes, really.

And, I contemplated and considered and realized -- I HATE editing. HATE it. Especially when there are major plot changes. So the question I asked myself was: do I push through (because I know I can get 50,000 really sucky words) or do I stop, breath, and brainstorm a little bit so that when this thing is done, it's actually something I can use.


Truth?

I want it to be something I can use. So, for the next couple of days, I'm going to stop writing and start thinking. I'm going to consider what my real conflict is (because the one I thought I have isn't one as it turns out), what the black moment will be (because, oddly, I never had one in mind) and how I can flesh out my characters a little better.

I know that's not what NaNo is about. I know I'm supposed to say "Damn the torpedos (or in this case, the plot) and full speed ahead!", but the last time I did that, I got 50,000 words and a story that was shelved, never to see the light of day.

That's just a stupid waste of time. I don't need to prove to myself I can write a novel -- I've done that. I need to use my time wisely. Do I hope I can jump back in and still make my goal? Absolutely. If I know where I'm going, then writing 2000 words or more a day shouldn't be out of the question.

So... that's where I am. Wish me luck.

Day Seven: By the Skin of My Teeth

I'm barely hanging on. Am about 1000 words behind again today, but will try to make it up this afternoon, with any luck, plus more. Tomorrow is going to be a long, rough day, so I need to do all the computer work I can today, which will cut into my writing time. *sigh*

NaNo Tool of the Day

This is a great site if you're stuck and want a little something to get your juices going again! It's called The Seventh Sanctum, and has a zillion prompts, ideas, name generators, scene generators and more. Be warned, it's addictive and could be a time waster, but it's also VERY helpful.

Have fun!

Day Six: Let's Play "Change the Hero"

I was writing in my story today and realized I wanted to refer to one of Cori's other brothers, so I pulled up the character list from "Kitchen Matches" -- and it hit me: there was NO possible way Zach could be the hero of my story. See, the whole basis of my H & H's relationship is that they shared a kiss in high school ... and Zach is almost seven years older than my heroine!! So, um, they weren't in school together.

And, to be honest, Nick (the brother who is closest in age to my heroine) fits my hero's character profile much better anyway. So, this morning, I went through and changed all the "Zach's" to "Nick's" and then added in some scenes of Nick being his usual flirty, playboy self.

I didn't get my entire total yet for the day, but hope to hit it again this afternoon. I'm only 500 words short, so it should be easy enough!

Day Five: Still Hanging in!

I had a LOT of catching up to do, and didn't figure I'd be able to do it. DH got up early this a.m. again (though not as early as he had been, thankfully), but I got about 500 words this morning before that happened.

Then... a miracle. He left to go to his uncle's place for a couple hours, and DD left to do school. I HAD TIME ALONE. Shocking, but true. And I closed all my email windows, closed my website software, told myself it was okay not to do LASR work for a couple of hours and I wrote. And the moment my NaNo Excel report card said "Way to Go!" in the little comments column instead of "Get on It!", I stopped. I am currently just barely at the word count I need to be for NaNoWriMo (1666 words per day), but that's okay. I'll just keep plugging along no matter what. Slow and steady and all that...

NaNo (fun) Tool of the Day

Wordle!

Wordle is fun and serves a purpose -- words you use most show up the largest, so you can see if you're overusing something (for instance, if "it" or "was" is one of the biggest words, you know you've got a problem!). I did a Wordle on my NaNo novel as it is so far, and this is what I got:



Thankfully, "it" isn't one of the huge words, lol! In any case -- enjoy :-)

Edited to add: First off, I didn't realize, but Wordle is set to ignore common English words, so "it" wouldn't have shown up anyway.

Second, Judy posted her NaNo Wordle here.

Day Four: Chugging Along

Okay... I made up my word count yesterday, but then this a.m. DH and DD were both up early, so I only got a little over 600 words. Hopefully I can get at least another 1000 later today.

NaNo Tool for the Day

Help yourself along with a prompt!

Go to this site at least once a day and use the sentence generated (or something very close) in your writing that day: http://watchout4snakes.com/CreativityTools/RandomSentence/RandomSentence.aspx

Or go to Wikipedia and click on "random article" and use that in your story.

Have fun!

Day Three: A Work In Progress

This a.m. was not a banner morning for writing... I hope to get more in this afternoon. But for now:

Day Two: Still Hanging In!

Well.. things aren't going *quite* how I had planned. My DH is getting up at 4 a.m. to go hunting, so my writing time is getting eaten up a little. He's off all week, so I expect this will be the norm. I'll just have to deal.

Even so, I'm still (barely) keeping up with the needed word count:



Uh oh... my word count meter picture isn't showing. So, my word count total is: 3,478!

Day One: So Far, So Good

I got up early ... thanks to the time change, and wrote!



You?

Yes, I'm Doing NaNo

Okay... so my last post got two responses (Thanks, Melissa and Sarita!), so I'm guessing no one else is up to the challenge.

But, I'm doing NaNoWriMo and I'll probably post here now and then, just because it's a shame to see the blog sitting empty. If anyone else wants to post, come on over and we can support each other!

For now -- some sites to help out with NaNo in case any one stumbles over here.

The Genreality blog has some tips for Time Management and Tracking Your Writing.

Lynn Viehl is offering her Novel Notebook as a free download. It's a great way to organize your writing before you start.

Suzanne Pitner wrote an article on Succeeding at NaNoWriMo.

That's it. It's only two days away. Hoo-Rah.

Starting Anew -- and A NaNo/JaNo Challenge

Hey folks -- don't know if anyone is going to read this post since it's been awhile since the blog's been active... but...

November is coming up -- and that's NaNoWriMo month. I already know I'm too overloaded to complete 55000 words in 30 days, but I want to challenge myself to do SOMETHING during November.

I've decided that writing at least 500 words a day isn't outside the realm of possibility. If I manage to do more, it's icing on the cake.

Anyone else want to join me? And... if you're going for the gold of NaNo, you're welcome to post here as well. I'd love to see posts on accomplishments, ways you work through writer's block, how you set aside time to write and reach your goals, prompts ... even the what line of yours from that day was your favorite.

If no one's up for the task, that's fine -- I'm doing it regardless. But, I wanted to see if I could stir up a little interest. If you are, either leave a comment or email me.

And -- if you happen to stumble across this blog and you're not a member but want to join us, leave me a comment and we'll add you in. The more, the merrier!!

Happy Autumn!

Preparation Pie

If preparing for a writing marathon includes much time in the kitchen baking pies and much time in the music room composing, then Groovy is ready to go. I've already got music worked into novel number two. Now I just need to throw LOTS of baking by a dieting pastry chef into the mix!

I'll be working alternately on three projects:

#1. A YA I started in NaNo 2007 called The Molasses Swamp.

#2. A YA I started for this year's NaNo called Linear Equation.

#3. Something really spectacular (*cough*) for this contest.

In between writing I'll be at the piano composing tunes for the songs that go with Linear Equation and homeschooling my girlies and helping Mulletman keep the driveway clear of snow.

My only actual writing prep is researching mental illness. Other than that I am going to use the week after Christmas to eliminate distractions by finishing up a few naggingly incomplete projects and making sure my house is clean.