Title’s a little misleading because I couldn’t think of one this morning. Basically I looked out the patio door, could barely see the foothills and the deck is wet. We’re expecting rain all day, I think. Haven’t checked the weather report. Anyways, when the sun doesn’t shine on a Monday morning I find my week starting a little slow and cloudy. My true reason for this post is to report on 3-Day Novel Contest stuff. … Read more
It’s time. My plan was to start blogging again June 1st and here I am. Considering we’re closing in on the 2011 halfway point, I thought I’d start with a goals check-in. What have I been up to? Lots and lots of writing and editing, and I’m too excited to report that I’m over my target word count for both so far this year. Rather than write another novel or two this year, I decided … Read more
After 4 days off of doing about nothing this week, I’ve been back editing the last few days. Am up to 19 hours, a few hours further than the challenge suggestion of 16.5. What did I do during my 4 days off, in between naps? Comedy therapy via Trailer Park Boys. I’m a little embarrassed to say I’ve sat through a little over 3 seasons since last Friday. But, hey, laughter is the best medicine, … Read more
What a difference between NaNoEdMo and NaNoWriMo. There are so few participants, you can hear crickets over on the EdMo website. That and the site has been attacked by a spammer, which seems to be keeping people away. There’s no leadership and no one communicating to the group except for a few posts by the editing support staff. Still, I’m set on completing the challenge. I’ve even started some discussions in the Horror & Thriller … Read more
Yesterday was a mellow first day, editing The Courier for NaNoEdMo, just as I hoped it would be. I’m taking a different approach during NaNoEdMo than I did writing 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo, hoping I don’t burn out by day three. When it comes to new stories, I can write like a crazed maniac for days and days. Editing is such a different process though. That approach would probably put me in an asylum by … Read more
We had a neighborhood Internet outage that lasted over twenty-four hours, and we thought the world was coming to an end. Then I realized I could use the time to work on 2011 goals, and they’re done. WHOO HOO!! One of the things I did today was sort through all the short stories I never finished. It gave me the idea to focus on completing some of them in 2011. Reason? My main goals are … Read more
TweetHow FUN! Yesterday I copied Cause for Redemption into the NaNoWriMo word counter for my first time ever, and I’m a winner…WHOO HOO!! Such a little thing, but a great feeling knowing that I’ve finished the contest. Now I have to finish the novel in the next 5 days. Considering I wrote the second book in 3 days, I’ll finish up this book no problem. It’ll be interesting to see how many words the final … Read more
TweetDuring the last couple days of writing Cause for Redemption for NaNoWriMo, I’ve been transitioning Barry’s character to more of a leader to his gang of misfits. This morning I’ve lost sight of his appearance in my head, which used to be very much like Michael Cera. It’s making it difficult for me to properly depict him in the story. Has that ever happened to one of your characters? What did you do to get … Read more
Tweet I DID IT!! WHOO HOO!! 50,000 WORDS!! But when I put the total into the word count field there were no fireworks, just me sitting back in my chair smiling, which was reward enough. In this contest, that number stands out like a 4th of July burst of color in the sky anyways. I reached the end of a scene with a word count of 50,010 and have decided that’s enough writing for today. … Read more
Tweet I’m officially making a list of stupid stuff I’ve done during NaNoWriMo after this one. I set the timer for cooking the rice and when it went off, I heard it, but dismissed it as a malfunction of the timer. Huh! Yes, I burned the rice. Did I mention the other one, running the dryer, twice, without moving the clothes from the washer to the dryer. I might make it through NaNo, but will the … Read more
TweetHappy Monday, all! And so starts another week of writing Cause for Redemptio in NaNoWriMo. I took the weekend off, so I was refreshed and ready to write this morning. Decided to write to 40,000 today, which put me a bit over the daily 3500 goal. Not so long ago I was excited to reach the first 10,000 words written and now I’ve reached the last 10,000. How time flies when you’re having fun! Good … Read more
TweetGorging on peanut butter cookies yesterday squashed the slug right out of me. I’m feeling recharged for some reason today. Could also be that it’s snowing. I’ve been dying for a snowy day of writing by the fire, and here it is. I was just looking back at a few of my previous posts during the contest and saw Celebrating 10,000 Words Today. That happened way back on day 3. As of this morning, TRIPLE … Read more
TweetI’ve officially reached my first day of burnout. Even though I’ve only written 177 words this morning, I’m still motivated to write. Problem is I feel like a slug. So I expect the words to flow slowly today, maybe finishing up 3500 words by tonight. How am I dealing with the burn out. So far I’ve parked it on the couch with a notebook and a glass of ice tea. Am taking a break, watching … Read more
Today, I especially love the stats page they provide for the NaNoWriMo contestants. Check out what mine reads in the lower right corner. Total words remaining is less that half. Words alone cannot express the satisfying feeling of reaching this point. I also wrapped up the first act of Cause for Redemption today…FINALLY! This scares me a bit because I’m now getting into the meat of the novel and have less days than I expected … Read more
Taking a break from writing because I just reached 18,000 words. How’s it going? Just fine. Pressing on, motivated to sit down and write, words are continue to flow, still lovin’ the contest… How does my family feel about me after one week in NaNo? I’ve officially been compared to the crazy cat lady from The Simpsons. Considering the goofy things I’ve been doing the past couple days, I can’t really argue with them. I … Read more
How exciting! Over 10,000 words in 3 days! That’s equal to almost 4 chapters and 44 pages. What I’m really doing is following the advice I got in an email from NaNo. Write hard and fast to start. Besides, I’d really like to take weekends off so writing ahead is a must. Story’s coming out nicely! Lots of fun conflict and action in the first act, although the storyline is slow going. Not exactly … Read more
Yesterday R.J. introduced me to Srivener, a tool for writing documents. Anybody else out there using it? I watched the video and was interested enough to download a free 30 day trial. Ten minutes into playing with it I was hooked. So I’ve decided to use it the next 29 days not only for NaNoWriMo, but to add the 4th draft of book 1 of The Courier. Am I crazy? Oh, and they’re actually selling … Read more
Day 1 of writing for NaNoWriMo is complete, and as you can see to the left I stopped at a little over 3500 words. I wanted to stop at 5000 words, but it’s already past 2:00 P.M. here in Denver and I don’t want to settle into a routine of using Nano as an excuse not to get editing done on book 1. Besides, there were a few things that slowed me down today: I … Read more
I’m SOOOO ready!!!! Bring it on! Outline is pretty much done. Still expect to make a bunch of changes as I write and add new stuff like I did with the 3Day. But, I’ve reached a point where I’m adding way too much detail, so I’ve decided to leave it alone until Monday. I’m feeling antsy about starting. Actually think I was ready to start a week or two ago. Probably because I’ve had the … Read more
I’m taking a short break from editing to say hello and catch my breath after realizing the end of 2010 is just around the corner. And we haven’t had any snow here at the house yet. Did notice lots of new snow on Longs Peak while walking the beagles this weekend though. That’s always a welcome sight. In my last post I complained about how time consuming maintaining The Courier Novel’s blog has become, and … Read more