27 Hours and 52 minutes until NaNo time

Nanowrimo logo (Photo credit: wyn ♥ lok)

Of course, that countdown will change often.  With every passing minute.  I haven’t been writing much at all this month.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe I’ve been conserving my finger strength.  Or my brain power.  Or maybe I’ve just been lazy and am trying to spin it so I don’t actually look lazy to all of you.  Whatever the reason, I’m excited to get this version of NaNo underway.  The characters are warming up, ready to approach the starting gate and charge out running full-tilt.

For those of you who will be joining me, let’s make sure we get off to a fast start.  It’s so difficult to play catch-up as the month of November winds down.  If you haven’t already become my buddy, don’t hesitate to do so.  I nag extremely well (just ask anyone I work with, they’ll agree).  Anyhow, just drop by and buddy up.

http://nanowrimo.org/participants/pasuki/buddies

November is also my busy time at work…yea for retail!  But I’ve got a plan.  I’m going to get up 30-60 minutes earlier on the days I have to work so I can get some writing in before I head out to my paying gig.  Then I’ll do another round in the evening after I come home.  Clara may not be happy with me, our visits may be a little shorter, but I’ve got some goodies to bribe her with.  She’ll like that.  And I’ve printed out some work sheets to keep her busy.  Tonight we were practicing math skills using M & M’s…if you have four green M & M’s and you eat one, how many do you have left?  Not sure if she likes the learning or the candy.  I’ll have to make time for her, but probably not quite as much as I’ve had lately.  Do you think she’d understand it if I told her I was writing a book?  Probably not…

It’s almost time…ready, set…we’ll get going at midnight November 1st!  Let’s do it!

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Writing for Camp NaNo

I didn’t get as much writing done last night on my novel as I’ve been doing.  It was my first day back at work from vacation.  Then I picked up the kitten after work last night and spent quite a bit of time with her and Spook…you know, got to make sure Spook understands she’s still my baby girl, poor thing.

So sat down fairly late to write and ended up only putting down a little over 1100 words…still has me at almost 38000 words for the month, but I don’t want to start slacking now after such a great start.  I still need to write 1200 words a day to reach my goal of 50000 by the end of the month.  Definitely doable, but not if I don’t keep at it.

I’ve got a few hours before I have to go to work, so I plan to sit down and do my writing before I go in today…hopefully get more than the minimum today.  I guess that kind of depends on how many things the kitten knocks over or how many times she tries to jump on Spook before I have to get ready!  I’d forgotten how much fun (and how much work) a kitten is…Spook is 6 years old after all, so much calmer than she used to be. But I think she was every bit as active as this little one is…so hopefully they’ll end up being buddies.  Aww…idea for a children’s book…kitties with human attributes, adoption, maybe a separation thing with a reunion at the end???  The ideas are there…now to make the time to take care of all of them.

Kitten playing with Spook’s toy

Camp NaNo, day 17

Aparelho de ar condicionado (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Holy moly, it’s way too hot around here to be camping.  If I can’t have air conditioning, then I don’t want to go.  And who wants to cook hotdogs around a campfire when it’s in the 90s?  I’ll take that icy cold smoothie today, thank you very much. Thank goodness this is just a virtual camp!  I went out early this morning to buy groceries for the week (ugh…I have to go back to work tomorrow…darn, darn, darn!!) and my hair was just drenched by the time I finished carrying things into the house.  Then I went out back and fed the birds, watered plants (I have a tomato turning red!!) and filled the bird bath.  The humidity is horrid!! So I pretty much stayed in the rest of the day.  Read the newspaper, got a little housecleaning done, some filing completed, a little reading for pleasure, petting the cat (when she wasn’t asleep under the comforter on my bed, what’s up with that?  Spook, it’s hot!!  You’re going to suffocate.), and yes, some more writing for Camp NaNoWriMo…another 2137 words today~  I’ve got a total of 35,042 words written now.

I’m serious, over 35,000 words.  And today, the beginning of what I wrote was pretty good and the ending of what I wrote has some potential…funny how your best writing happens when you’re in the zone, isn’t it?  The beginning and the ending of today’s writing session just flowed while I really struggled with the middle…and that’s the part that isn’t particularly good.  Hmm…not sure what the lesson is in that, but I’m sure there’s a lesson somewhere.

I’m having kind of a problem with this writing my novel in 30 days thing though.  There’s no way I’m going to be able to tell the entire story in this first 30 days.  So, am I writing a series here?  Because if I am, then I have to figure out where to end the first book.  I sure don’t want to write a 1000 page first novel and I’m afraid that’s where this would be headed unless I go for a series.  What do you think?  Personally, I enjoy reading a series, so…hey, why not?

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Book ideas

“Books are weapons in the war of ideas” – NARA – 513575 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Okay, as most of you know, I’m writing a book.  This book has  been running around in my head for years, so I feel like I haven’t had to do a lot of planning, outlining, character building, etc.  Seems like that has all been done over the years as I’ve thought about every aspect of this story.  So good…that makes it, well not exactly easier, but not quite as difficult as it might otherwise be.

But today, all of a sudden, an idea for a new book hit me.  I had to grab paper and a pen to start making notes.  Within just a few minutes, I had three pages filled with notes, questions, thoughts…all the who, why, where, what, when, and how things that make a story a story.  It was exciting to have a new story forming in front of me.  To think about these new characters and what made them who they are.  To plot out the path the tale will take. Locale, personalities, and, of course, the plot twist.

So, for all of you writers out there, is that how your new stories take shape?  Do they just smack you upside the head and say, “Write me!”?  Because that’s sure how this felt today.  Which is…um…well..pretty cool!

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Camp NaNo, day 8

NaNoWriMo Camp (Photo credit: arboltsef)

Oh my goodness, I am one tired chicklet tonight.  I had to close last night (work) then work a mid-shift today.  The problem with those darn mid-shifts is you don’t have time to do anything before work and you don’t have time to do anything after work…boo!!

 

Well, okay…so that’s not entirely true…I did write a little over 600 words in my novel this morning and another 1000+ tonight, so still hit my goal for the day.  Right now I’m at 18126 words altogether…most of it’s…you know…less than spectacular.  But some of it’s not bad.  I’m just amazed at how much writing I’m doing.

 

If I can write this much while participating in Camp NaNoWriMo, why can’t I do this on a regular basis?  Seriously.  Why do I need external motivation to do something that I really, really want to do?  Something to mull over, huh?  But…the really cool thing is…I’m doing it!

 

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