Day Seven

Today was a truly beautiful day of ups and downs and ultimate triumph.

It started off with a trip to my first official write-in. I got there around 1:30 and no one was really working. We all talked about how the first week had treated us, what goals we wanted to reach, what our characters were doing behind our backs...even about the one insane person in our region that has already 'won' Nano by hitting over 50k words. (And he's still writing.) In fact, we did very little in the way of writing until around 3:00 when it was time for a box of doom challenge. I drew 800 words this time, something I probably could have achieved had I not been handwriting everything. There was no way. I did make 539 words in that sprint though, so I was quite proud for the circumstances. Then at 4:00 it was time for another one, but this time I took a dare rather than a word count challenge since my hand was trying to cramp up. I don't think it's adjusted to the writing lifestyle yet.

I got home around 5:30 after getting hamburgers for my hubby and I. Then it was back to the writing block for me. Now the funny thing was I'm at an extremely important scene. At the write-in I wrote the beginning of the scene during the first BoD. Then I wrote the end of the scene during the second BoD when the dare I drew worked perfectly for that part of the scene and not where I'd left off. So I came home thinking, "Great! I've already written the beginning and I've already written the end. This is going to be easy!" It totally was not easy. In fact, I panicked a little trying to figure out the massive load of logistics that go into the art of dueling in my world.

Here comes the guild to the rescue! (The guild is what I've decided to informally call my regional writing group. I feel like we're a bunch of online entities that only meet up once and awhile but still talk to each other all the time....which then makes me think of my husband and some of his World of Warcraft friends. Just go with it.) They seriously saved the day. They asked what my problem was, what was going on, and then began throwing out tons of suggestions from worlds they'd already encountered in film, tv, and books. Then they altered their suggestions and began creating their own based on my comments I gave. And they helped me right up until I understood just how to write it all. Hooray! It was a bit of a struggle still, but I knew just how to get there at last.

Now, don't even get me started on the discussion we had about each of our weird writing tics. Mine are...special.

My two favorite quotes of the day from the write-in:
1) "I believe it is essential for children to have low self-esteem."
2) "Do people in comas count as an inanimate object?"

Now while you ponder those two things, good night my friends. Tomorrow is another day.

Words Today: 1915
Total Words: 12006

Yours Truly,
Mrs. C

Day Six

Writing is hard work!! I'm pretty sure that was my mantra today. I got to my word count goal for the day, but the words just didn't seem to come very easily.

I'd like to take a moment right now and give all of my currently-introduced main characters a talking to.

Kevan: What are you doing? No really, what are you doing? You're confusing even me and I'm the one writing you. If only you would have told me all of this when we started this journey, I could have made your path here a lot easier. Get it together already.
Rekani: You just weren't satisfied with your current role, were you? I do agree with you however. I think you fit better into the role you've assumed now. But please, don't get too overpowered. Keep the personality, but don't become a master of your skills. I quite like you the way you are and I think readers will too. I don't want to have to start cutting your scenes just because you want to be too important.
Chalem: You're only just showing up, but I think you're being an even better dark hero than I'd imagined you as. Good work! You're the only character not behaving badly so far, but I'm sure your time will come.

But on that note...I think I've left off at quite the exciting scene just in time for tomorrow's write-in!

Words Today: 1752
Total Words: 10091

Yours Truly,
Mrs. C

Day Five

The day five entry is coming the morning of day six. Sorry about that! But I stayed up until just before midnight last night working on writing and didn't feel like anything except going to bed when I was done.

Day four was not the best of writing days, but I knew it would probably happen at least once. (In all honesty, it will probably happen a lot more than that.) I'm just proud of myself for getting something down on the page that day.

Day five started out very hectic at work, which may have worked to my advantage on the Nano front. I was so wrapped up all day in work that I didn't think about my novel at all. Then I came home and had dinner to make and at the rate the day was going I wasn't sure if I was going to get much of anything done. Hubby came home and after dinner he played FableIII for me. I'm awful at games but love watching them, so he's agreed to only play that one when I'm around. Means I have to give a little of my time to him there or he'd never finish! (haha) But right about 9 o'clock I decided I should at least try writing. After all, I only had 3 hours left in the day to make any sort of word count and I would have been very upset with myself today if I didn't have at least a couple of hundred words added.

Last night was the first of the Friday night write-ins my regional group is holding. I don't feel comfortable enough with my driving skills to drive out to the location it's being held out and it's at night no less, and my night vision really isn't the best so I don't like being around unfamiliar areas if I'm driving in the dark. But our wonderful MLs created a chat room that all the regional Wrimos can log into at any time during November, and last night I used it to virtually attend the write-in. I showed up just as they were getting ready to start a Box of Doom challenge too!

A moment here to explain. The Box of Doom is supposed to be a device to get writer's who are stuck back to writing. You draw a number and the number you draw is the number of words you are supposed to write in the time limit given. The point is not to think long and hard about what you're writing, but simply to bang out your word count. This often can result in utter crap, but this is November and that doesn't matter. Your word count does. You can fix or delete the crap in December.

Now I had never done a BoD challenge before. I was a little nervous, especially since I'd come from a 369-word day just the day before. I just knew I'd get something silly like 500 words and I'd panic and fail miserably. (Time limits aren't always my friend.) But as it turns out I have quite the competitive Nano spirit and the BoD was the best possible thing to get me writing. I had just opened my manuscript when one of the MLs drew my number. 950 words in 30 minutes. I had about 10 seconds of "You just asked me to create HOW MANY WORDS RIGHT NOW???" and then suddenly a burst of "950 words? Oh you're so mine..." just like I was hunting some elusive creature and knew I'd catch it in the end. And it turns out that I did! 961 words in 30 minutes. Talk about being proud of myself. Not only did it boost my word count, but it got me in the mood and I was able to finish ahead of schedule last night so that I caught up with my cumulative total and made up for day four.

Now it's day six and finally the weekend, but with the weekend comes so many chores I have neglected all week. Tune back in later tonight to see what I manage to create today! And maybe, if I start getting some comments or more followers, I might post a few little excerpts every so often. :)

Words Today: 1903
Total Words: 8339

Yours Truly,
Mrs. C

Day Four

Today was the worst day so far. It was not a successful day; not even close to one. I don't think my brain has hurt so much in a long time. No, it isn't a headache, but an actual full feeling in my brain of this pressure that seems to be stopping all but its life-giving functions. My imagination is still feeding me the story, but my brain has the words on lockdown and absolutely refuses to give them up. I know. I've tried. So I've decided to let it sleep. I was a little ahead and am now a little behind, but I'm not worried about catching up. I figure I'll try to write at least a normal day tomorrow, then hit it hard on Saturday and Sunday. It's only day four, right? I'm not worried yet. Besides, I still wrote at least a little which is what really matters.


Words Today: 369
Total Words: 6433

Yours Truly,
Mrs. C

Day Three

Today I realized two things:

1) I'm beginning to remember how much I love writing. Even the parts where I just want to bang my head into a wall because it all feels pointless. Yes my friend, even those.

2) I've developed a terrible habit of being brilliant at work, full of words brimming to the edge of the teacup and spilling into the saucer which then overflows onto my desk and soaks the insurance applications and my checklists and drowns my computer before sweeping up my chair and carrying me off on a sea of text. But at work I'm supposed to...you know...work. So little if any writing gets done, and what does happen is only a few lines jotted down here and there. Then I get home and......nothing. Thus this has developed into a situation I am not fond of.

So for the third day in a row this has been my trend.

But new trends are also beginning. Such as my lead character developing a whole new personality. Had I met this guy 7 years ago when I first had this idea I wouldn't have recognized him. My Kevan, have you changed! Mostly for the better. Though right now he's in some random "searching for myself" mode that I don't quite understand but he insists on being in. Here's hoping he snaps out of that soon. And Rekani? She's a spunky little thing, but I don't think she's really decided how she wants to approach the situation. Then again, what 15-year-old girl have you ever met that knew what she wanted?

But I'm sticking it out. Working hard. Hardly working sometimes too. (Like now, whenever I update my blog.) My word goal for tonight was to reach a cumulative total of 5,000. It was a personal goal, but also the minimum "requirement" goal from Nano's website if you go by their daily counter. But tonight I tried a different approach. I run on Word 2007 and it likes to give me a convenient (and constant) reminder of how many words I currently have in my document. And because it is on the screen at all times, I am checking it every three seconds. Not very conducive to good work. So tonight I covered it up and just wrote until I was tired for the night. To my pleasant surprise I once again both met and exceeded my goal. Good night everyone. =)

Words Today: 2430
Total Words: 6064

Yours Truly,
Mrs. C

Day Two

I began my day by reading the first NaNo pep talk. I giggled and read it aloud in a grand voice.  Just because I could.
"As a writer, I am the master of my domain. I'm the boss; the most magical genie; the lord and ruler of every character, creature, and event in the world of my creation. It's a pretty awesome feeling, having all that power." --Lindsey (She's the NaNoWriMo program director.)

I like the idea of this power, but then I'm just not sure what to do with it. I guess November is also an exercise in how to be a ruler, both of yourself and of that which you create. Still, the best piece of Lindsey's advice is this: "Don't forsake your kingdom if it starts to seem silly or pointless, or you have no idea what your next order ought to be." Right now that's exactly where I'm at.

While I was at work and not comfortably seated at my writing computer today I kept having random words come to me. So I jotted them down as I found the time in between projects. Just a few here and there. This was a good thing, because where I left off last night I was quite stuck. It meant I'd slept off my writer's block. Then I got home, typed up what I'd handwritten, and quickly finished up that scene. Excellent, tonight might be easier than last night.

WRONG.

I'm staring at my computer blankly again, wondering what the heck to do. So I started writing this. I will be back when I finish staring at my screen to wrap up this post....Please put on some intermission music in the meantime.

Finally...I met my quota (even exceeded it a little!) for the night. Someone told me on Sunday that if you get stuck and need your word count, start a lively conversation. To whoever told me that, thank you for that brilliant advice. :)

Words Today: 1956
Total Words: 3634

Yours Truly,
Mrs. C

Day One

So today didn't really start off in the best possible way. I couldn't sleep last night, then when I did my dreams were full of nightmares. I woke up late and didn't have time for breakfast. Then I still made it to work late because I lost my keys. Work was alright, nothing spectacular, yet nothing spectacular was expected so no disappointments there. Then came a mass of errands: drop off rented movies, take back books to the library, recycle, go to the store (staples such as bread and milk are good to have), etc. It's a wonder I made it home with any sanity left. Not to mention I am significantly preoccupied with the mess of my home and trying to catch up, something I have yet to do and something that is definitely not easy to do during November. Oh dear. What have I gotten myself into?

But then I did get home and I had to start writing. I banged out 590 words like it was nothing. Hooray! Great start! 30 minutes in front of the keyboard and I'm 1% of the way there. Feeling strong! But now what? I can't rightfully introduce most of the other characters yet (my story is told in first person and everyone is still fairly scattered about), but something has to happen.

Can I just say the internet is a horrible horrible invention when it comes to distractions? I start researching what kind of trees grow near ocean climates, only to end up reading fellow Wrimos' blogs. Then I decided I don't need to know what kind of trees grow near ocean climates yet. I only need to say "tree" and move on. Editing is for December, right? At least that's what they keep telling me.

I think the beginning is the hardest. I have so many of these fantastic scenes in my head, but they're all at random points throughout the story and none of them are at the beginning. How do you begin anyway? Readers are so judgmental these days. If you don't grab them right away, you've lost them for good. Oh my. Let's get this story rolling.

Words Today: 1678
Total Words: 1678

Yours Truly,
Mrs. C

Merry Samhain and Blessed Be

It's October 31st, a day which comes with two feelings: 1) Hooray! It's finally here!! 2) Wait, how did it get here so fast? EEP! In other words, it means I'm both excited and terrified about the journey I'm getting ready to set out on.

Ironic that today is Samhain, a time of new beginnings as well. It's the Celtic new year, a time to shake off the old year, look back on who you are and have become, and prepare for the new challenges ahead. What's ironic about this holiday that occurs the same time every year? It shows up the day before the biggest, scariest challenge I've taken on in years. Writing 50,000 words is not a scary task. Daunting, definitely, but not so much scary. What's scary is conquering myself. I have a severe lack of belief in myself, something that always magnifies in incredible ways when you're starting off on a track leading you to something you've always dreamed of. I'm scared of shaking off the old me, but then again that's exactly what Samhain is about.

I went to the pre-kickoff party today. (The kickoff party is late at night and with work in the morning, it just wasn't the best idea for me.) It was refreshing to meet so many people in the area that I suddenly had so much in common with. We're a hodge-podge of randomness, regular people with irregular hobbies (for most of us it seemed that way anyway). I can't wait to spend more time with all of you at the write-ins and the TGIO party in December. More on those later.

Tomorrow begins the journey. Tomorrow I try to begin the path of conquering my fears of myself. Tomorrow I take the first steps in the direction of my dreams. Thank you for following me, for cheering me on. I need all of you, both now and all the way up to the very end. (And the end is not just the end of NaNoWriMo, the end is publication....then hopefully many more publications after the first!)

See you tomorrow.

2 hours 5 minutes and counting...

Yours Truly,
Mrs. C

I think I...well, no...wait...really? Hmm...

If I've learned anything recently it's that I have no idea what exactly it is that I want. I have general ideas: I want to get out of debt, I want to do NaNoWriMo, I want to stop feeling stressed at work by silly little things, I want to finally get my home "moved in". But the truth is I don't know the how or the why of any of that. Such is life I suppose, but I am a complete and total scatterbrain at times. What does this mean? It means I've changed my mind again. You should probably be used to it by now.

Do you remember that post earlier this month saying I wasn't going to do a word count? Well I've decided I will. It's too tempting. It will be my triumph or my downfall, but I've got to know! I'm still going to do a lot of long-hand writing, especially at write-ins, but I'll be doing my best to type it up each night and report with a word count. This sounds like very little sleep. I suppose I should rest up this weekend and prepare to re-adopt my high school lifestyle of sleeplessness.

What I DO know is that I want this week to hurry up. I'm ready to write!

4 days and counting...

Yours Truly,
Mrs. C

Like Waiting for Christmas

I'm very proud of myself, I actually did what I said I was going to this time! Last night I sat and worked on the outline. I typed up a few headlines for scenes I've always known about, then while I was sitting and staring at my page knowing I needed LOTS of filler and couldn't just write a few main scenes it all just started coming to me. Town names, people, histories... Certainly not everything, not even close, but far more than I'd imagined thus far and let me tell you, the feeling of excitment was like Christmas Eve and being six years old all over again. (I'm so looking forward to meeting our local group to be around people that understand the same feeling.)

But while we're waiting for NaNo to start, here are a few videos for your enjoyment. The first is barely over a minute and quite adorable. It also explains NaNo to people who have no idea what I'm talking about.

NaNoWriMo

Now for the second one. A song, brilliantly written. I haven't even done NaNo yet and I know it perfectly describes it already. Go listen!

The NaNoWriMo Song

Tell me what you think. =)

11 days and counting...

Yours Truly,
Mrs. C