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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Just about made it through the Thanksgiving weekend and NaNo day 24

English: DC USA, Target, Black Friday (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today was another wild and crazy day at work…ya just gotta love retail the weekend after Thanksgiving!!  But we’ve almost made it through the busiest weekend of the year.  Of course, next weekend will be busy too.  And the weekend after that…But I’m starting to get a glimpse of that light at the end of the tunnel…The district manager stopped by for a visit again today.  Thankfully, he said we looked good, everything is full and things are going well.  So, maybe just maybe, this will be a good thing for my future with the company.  Keep your fingers crossed, okay?

I was so tired when I got home last night that I couldn’t write one single word.  But I think I kind of made it up tonight…almost 3000 words…and some decent stuff, I think.  The  stomach-churning kind of good, if you know what I mean.  What I’m writing right now is really one of the biggest, most emotionally draining scenes in the entire book…I’ve thought about this for quite some time so it’s nice to actually get it underway.  It’s not finished, not by a long shot, but I’ve got it sounding the way I’ve imagined it…and that has put a smile on my face.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.  Started your shopping yet???

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NaNo day 14 and I had the day off work!

Sleepy Head (Photo credit: kpishdadi)

After working 13 hours yesterday, I was almost too tired to sleep…almost.  I woke up around 4 am and was awake for about an hour.  When I finally dozed back off, I was able to sleep until right around 8 am!  Ahh…I needed it, for sure.

I had to go to CVS and Kroger (and I’ll tell you a little secret, I bought some Christmas presents today…hmm…at one of those stores?  What could it be?  Come on, you know  I can’t tell you today, it’s a secret!!).  Came home and did a little housework, sat down for one of three writing sessions.  Ended up writing a lot longer than I thought I would during that first session.  The second one was relatively short and I just finished the third session a few minutes ago.  Ended up writing almost 5000 words today, hit that 30,000 word count mark at the same time.

I think I wrote some pretty good material today…one scene seems to be pretty moving (yes, I did re-read it after I’d finished, I know, I know…that’s not how you’re supposed to do it in NaNo, but I couldn’t resist).  I meant to copy a paragraph from that scene and post it here tonight, but I forgot and now I’m too lazy to go back and do it…maybe tomorrow…

So, all in all, a pretty good day off today…now to get ready for the busiest week of the year at work…whew~

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Perfect autumn day and day 11 of NaNo

English: Bow Bridge over The Lake in Central Park on Thanksgiving Day 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It was almost 60 degrees when I left for work this morning (oh, at around 5:30 this morning), not too bad for less than two weeks before Thanksgiving.  Other than it being pretty windy today, it was a gorgeous fall day.  Of course, I was at work all day, but I still made it outside a few times to check things out.  I don’t want to talk about tomorrow though, a drop of about 30 degrees and possible snow in the evening…what?  I’m not sure I’m ready for that!

Work flew by today, couldn’t believe how fast the day went.  After I finished setting the ad and had started on some other projects, I got a call from my boss (hmm…do I still call him that while he’s gone to another store and I’m acting manager at our store?  Not sure about the protocol for that.)  Anyhow…he told me that the district manager had just left his store and was on his way down to visit us!  Yikes!!  I’d have never figured that one since we just saw him on Thursday…It’s pretty good to have friends in the know, isn’t it?  So we had a good visit with the DM, got a good score on the visit, and lots and lots of customers in the store.

When I sat down to write my story for NaNo, I knew where the story was going.  This was a scene I’d been thinking about for quite some time.  So, in some ways, it was easier to write…you know, I didn’t have to think it through, didn’t have to wonder what was going to happen.  But I was surprised at how difficult it was to write.  I guess I’m emotionally invested in this one, I sure didn’t want that little boy to go through what he was getting ready to face…but…I got it going and faced my emotions.  I’m probably about a third of the way through this scene right now and I don’t think it will get any easier to write…I’ve kind of got that fluttery, uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach about what the kid is going to have to deal with.  I just keep telling myself this is all going to make him into the man he’ll become.  So, we’ll see how tomorrow’s writing goes.

I did manage to pound out another 2047 words today, not going to complain about that.  Now if I can get this crazy kitten to stop jumping up on my while I’m trying to write.  And I’ve got a question for anyone who’s writing a lot (NaNo or other writing), anyone else have an eye twitch?  Mine’s driving me crazy!

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Two weeks before Thanksgiving and NaNo, day 8

Thanksgiving 2011 (Photo credit: thisreidwrites)

Can you believe it?  It’s only two weeks until Thanksgiving!  I don’t know how in the world that happened…it’s crazy!  Are you ready to get together with family and friends?  Going to have a nice meal with your loved ones?  Going to do some early shopping?

I’ll have the dinner, then I’ll have to go to work, seriously.  I put a sign up sheet in the break room to try to get some volunteers to work that evening.  So far I have a few people who’ve been good enough to sign up, but I need more.  Oh my…I know no one wants to have to work on a holiday, I sure don’t.  But…we know it comes with the territory when we take the job…wish me luck getting enough folks to work so I don’t have to draft them…

Had a good visit from the district manager today.  He scored me higher than I probably would have, but I’ll take it.  He really is a pretty good guy…wants us to succeed and run good stores and is willing to help us in whatever way he can.

And writing?  Well, that went fairly well tonight.  I thought I was done for the night then, when I checked my word count, I decided I could probably manage another 200 or so words to break the 20,000 word mark.  Unfortunately, no giggles or tears with my story tonight.  But it did come fairly quickly…not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

I hear my bed calling me tonight.  At least I have the day off work tomorrow, don’t have to hear that alarm in the morning (or middle of the night, if you will).  I’ve got a few errands to run.  Need to get the oil changed in the car tomorrow and get it ready for winter (had frozen fog on the windows this morning…that was nuts).  And maybe I’ll manage to get a nap in…ahh…

 

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Election day and NaNo, day 6

A polling place at a recreation center in New Jersey’s 2008 general election (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So, did you vote?  I was there at a little after 6 this morning, thinking I’d get in and out quickly then head out to work.  My polling place was the neighborhood grade school, very close to where I live.  As I was driving up the street toward the school, I glanced over at the parking lot and thought, “Holy moly!  That’s a lot of cars.”   I parked and got out of my car and walked toward the lighted doors.  When I opened the door, I looked up and saw the line running the full length of the hallway where it disappeared around a corner.  Actually the line had snaked down one side of the hall and the end of the line was curved around along the opposite wall.  One of the poll workers was talking about what everyone needed as far as ID was concerned and that there was a map on the wall that listed the 3 precincts voting at this location.  He then lifted his hands over his head and excitedly exclaimed, “I’ve never seen anything like this.  This is so cool!”  That brought more than a few chuckles from the crowd.

As the line inched its way forward, I eventually made it to the corner.  Imagine my surprise when I saw the line continue down another hall!  Wow!  Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like that.  There have been many elections when I walked into the polling place and saw only the volunteers, sometimes one or two voters.

I finally got to cast my vote (surprisingly on paper ballots rather than a voting machine) then made my way back out.  The line was just as long as it was when I had arrived.  Pretty cool.

I posted this on Facebook earlier this evening and thought I’d share it here too.  While I was still waiting in line, a young girl (she looked like she was young enough that this was her first election) and her mother came out after casting their votes.  The girl handed her phone to a guy waiting in line and asked if he would take a picture of them.  They both put on their “I voted” stickers and posed for that special picture.  To see how excited that girl was to have cast her ballot, that, to me, is a big part of what is right with our system (yes, there is a lot that is wrong, for sure), that we have the right to vote and that our votes really do count.  (Well..there is that pesky thing called the electoral college…boo)  Anyhow, as I looked around at the people waiting in line with me, we weren’t thinking of each other as enemies, we weren’t being hateful or nasty, we were all just there to peacefully cast our votes…to exercise our rights and to live up to our responsibilities.  And that’s a pretty cool thing!

Now on to NaNo…I did manage to write a little over 1650 words tonight…unfortunately, pretty much all of them were crap.  Even as I was writing them, I was thinking how terrible it was.  But I did sit down and write…probably nothing that will ever see the light of day…oh, is this my inner editor giving me a hard time?  Could be…

But I am over 18,000 words, so that’s something.  Now, do I dare go to bed and wait until tomorrow to hear the election results?  Oh, what am I talking about, they probably won’t know the results for who knows how long.

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NaNo, day 4. Really? Only 4 days so far?

Somehow it seems like so many more days than a measly little four days.  But I did manage to hit my goal of a word count total of over 15,000 before the end of the day today.  I didn’t beat it by much, but that’s not the point.  The point is, I set a goal and worked toward it…and worked….and worked.

Where yesterday’s writing was quick and easy, today’s was more of a struggle.  At least the first writing session of the day was a struggle.  When I sat down for the second session, something clicked.  I kind of changed the narrator’s tone and was off and running.  I was able to stop in a good place…a place that will be easy to pick up and head off from tomorrow…you know, after an exhausting 12 hour workday.

For all of you who are participating in NaNoWriMo this month, I hope you have at least a few of those quick and easy days, when the words flow through your fingertips, and your characters take over the story…at least for a while.

nanowrimo, day 13 goal (Photo credit: paloetic)

 

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NaNo, day 3…huge success!

This is about me!

After not writing at all last night, I knew I really needed to hit it hard today.  I planned to sit down for at least four writing sessions…ended up doing five.  Started the day with 1788 words and ended it with (drum roll, please) 10,103 words.  I can hardly believe it myself!

This was one of those days when it flowed…quickly and easily.  There were times when the characters caused me to have a lump in my throat and then there were times when they had me laughing out loud.  Why is it that there are days when those characters want to come out and play and other days when you can’t find them any where?  But I guess that’s part of the struggle to bring a book to life, isn’t it?

I’ve set a goal to hit 15,000 words by the end of the day tomorrow.  I think that should be doable.  See, I really wanted to get a good start this month since I’m pretty sure my 11 and 12+ hour workdays will catch up with me later in the month.  After next week, I’ll have to start working six days a week, so you can see my concern, right?  I’m determined to do this, in spite of how much time I have to spend at my paying job.  It won’t be easy, and I know the thrill will wear off as the month progresses, but I will do it!!  Are you in?

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NaNo, day 2, does it count if you don’t write?

Pen to Paper (Photo credit: Orin Zebest)

It probably doesn’t, does it?  Count, that is.

You see, it’s like this…I went in to work at six this morning to try to get a little done before we got crazy busy.  It was another one of those non-stop days.  Then, on top of all of the tasks I was trying to accomplish, the district manager showed up.  It’s not as bad as it sounds, he’s a pretty good guy.  We talked a little about some of the things I could do to make my job a little easier.  He had some good advice, so that’s a good thing.

Anyhow, I found myself moseying out of the joint around 6:30 this evening…tired and hungry.  I fully intended to write tonight, but have changed my mind.  I’m having trouble focusing and would be afraid to read anything I might write tonight.  So…early to bed…sleep in (no alarm blaring…yes!), then sit down for 3 or 4 writing sessions tomorrow.

Not writing tonight puts my official word count at 1788…goal to be over 10,000 by the end of the day on Sunday.

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NaNo, day 1, the fun begins

nanowrimo (Photo credit: evilnick)

Whew…long day at work today…eleven and a half hours of non-stop action and fun (ahem).  I even forced myself to stop at PetSmart after work…figured I wouldn’t want to do it tomorrow any more than I did tonight, and the crazy little felines were out of treats (am I the only person who gives their cats treats daily?  I don’t think so…).

Did the usual after I got home, threw a load of laundry in, fixed a little dinner, checked in on Facebook, then remembered that IU had an exhibition game, had to watch that.  At half-time, I decided I’d start my writing for NaNoWriMo.  I ended up writing 1788 words and still made it back to see the last half of the second half (not a particularly exciting game, IU way up so I knew I wasn’t missing much).

I’m trying to quiet that inner critic who is telling me that my start isn’t all that good…you know, should I make it more like this, should I change the voice, should I have started somewhere else?  But, I started where I started and now I’m going to see where it leads me.  Seems like there are times when your characters kind of take over the telling of your story and take it where they want it to go…let’s see if that happens here.

Tomorrow’s going to be another early, long day…so I’m thinking I’m going to have to hit the sack and try to settle my thoughts so I can get some rest…you know, so I can do it all again!!

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