Welcome 2012!

Happy New Year!

2012 Writing Deliberately

2012 Writing Deliberately

Goals

I'm ready for another Year of Writing Deliberately.  A Year of Writing Deliberately was born back in 2010 when I read about Jennifer's idea of the Year of Reading Deliberately, the thoughts started rolling about in my head about being deliberate with not only my reading, but also writing as well. 

Deliberate - "Done with or marked by full consciousness of the nature and effects."   How often do we go through our days on auto pilot, not giving conscious thought to what we are doing.  Never fully in the moment, but thinking about what needs to be done next, splitting our attention away from what actively doing at the moment.  

I discovered through Julia Cameron's The Artist Way the best way to go about things is to be there in the moment, stay positive and write goals:  Daily, weekly, yearly.  To help me with my writing goals this year, I am going to continue to be a part of A Round of Words in 80 Days, the brainchild of Kait Nolan.   Click here to participate

The challenge will run in 80 days increments, 4 times a year with a break between. 

Your goal can be anything you like as long as it is MEASURABLE. If you’re already in the middle of a WIP, that’s fine.  Tailor your goal to suit that.  You may even want to set mini goals (I want to finish the last 40k of this novel.  Then I want to spend the last 20 days revising it at x pages a day.).  There are a lot of elements to writing a book other than the writing itself.  Plotting.  Outlining.  Character Interviews.  Whatever.  Set your goal to match wherever you are right now on your WIP.  If you want to use your Round for editing a novel, that’s fine too.  Just know that this is, at heart, a writing challenge, so all the weekly inspirational posts will be geared in that direction.

There’s no mandatory daily word count. Every writer is different, everyone has different schedules.  You set a goal that works for you.  Find a way to make writing a priority in your life in a way that FITS.  But set SOME kind of schedule and be CONSISTENT.

 

I have 5 works in progress started during National Novel Writing Month:  2007 - Floating on the Surface, 2008 - Winter's Illusion, 2009 - Eyes in the Ashes, 2010 - Red Thief and

2011 - Blue Steel.   I've reviewed each story and since my brain is totally immersed in Blue Steel, going to work on it first.

My goals for 2012 

1) Blue Steel:  Update novel Bible, research story points, complete characters sheets, edit, and polish, find beta readers and ready for querying.

2) Breakdown into measurable weekly goals.

3) Take an online Writing Course through Savvy Authors and/or Gotham Writers Workshops.

4) Join IRL or online Critique Group.

5) Write at least 2000 words a day which equals 4 handwritten pages front and back.  I hand write all my stories, then type them up essentially completing a 2nd edit. 

6) Develop 2012 Nano story - Green Ice (working title for now) and utilize K.M. Weiland's suggestions in Outlining Your Novel to prepare the story first.

7) DYI MFA -  Read and study the following craft books.

• Reading Like a Writer - Francine Prose
• Revision and Self Editing by James Scott Bell
• Characters, Emotion and Viewpoint by Nancy Kress
• Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell
• Story Engineering by Larry Brooks
• On Writing Romance by Leigh Michael
• Art of Romance Writing - Valerie Parv
• Writing Mysteries - Edited by Sue Grafton
• Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell
• Elements of Style by Strunk and White 

Now we just need to work on our Health, Home school and business goals which I won't detail here.  

What goals are you setting for yourself for 2012?  


~Cheers to a wonderful, happy, creative, imaginative, writing new year!

Merry Christmas

Immanuel is with us by James Seward

Whispers White

The snow comes down in whispers white
And covers everything in sight
Making all that Heaven might
Know that this is Christmas Night.

Swirls and swirls of flying flakes
Dance, then glance the heavens, and makes
Me thank the Lord for no mistakes
In delivering his Son for all our sakes.

The snow comes down in whispers white
And covers everything in sight
Making all that Heaven might

Know that this is Christmas Night.

~anonymous~

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

2011 A Round of Words in 80 Days wrapup

A Round of Words in 80 days is wrapping up today.   I am very thankful to Kait Nolan for creating the writing challenge.  It encouraged me to set writing goals and to stick with them.   Unfortunately my eyes were bigger than my stomach and I didn't accomplish as much this year as I wanted too.  At the beginning of the year, I had planned on finishing Red Thief, editing another story and getting it ready to query and take a writing course.   I set a goal of writing 500 words a day which ended up not being a bright move for me because I didn't finish my first draft of Red Thief until September. Well, I do have finishing my Bachelor's Degree as a good excuse because it did involve a lot of writing.  Anyway, it gave me two months to do other things and then I jumped right back into the Nanowrimo pond with Blue Steel.  Since Nano I have kept up the daily writing of 1667 words and the story is progressing nicely. I hope to have the first draft done by the end of the year.  I'll have some nifty new goals to work on at the beginning of the year.  For the past month or two, I spent a lot more time writing and a lot less time online.  I hope to get back to visiting everyone on a regular basis again soon, soon, soon.  I miss my blogging buds. 

A side benefit of ROW80 was being involved with a wonderful community of writers, making new friends, discovering some interesting books and learning alot from everyone. Getting a look into the writing life of another writer is always enlightening. 

How did everyone else do with their goals.  Go see here.

Welcome Winter, Merry Christmas and I'll see you round the virtual water cooler.   ~cheers~

Little town with big christmas spirit: - Hallelujah Chorus

Combine a teacher, 5th graders and the small town of Quinhagak, Alaska, the Hallelujah Chorus and see what you get. Guaranteed to put you in the Christmas spirit.

Row80: Swearing over the goalposts...

I have gotten derailed and may have to move the goal posts.  Sick kid and hubby and cats and Christmas decorating and life have collaborated to derail my writing progress.    Somebody get me a violin.  I haven't made much progress in the past week. I'm sitting at 66,000 and my projected goal for the day is supposed to be 74,000.   I have some work cut out for me.  The past couple days I've sat down to write and it hasn't gone smoothly.  So, today and I know you aren't suppose to do this because it is a rough first draft after all, I went through the entire thing, organized and outlined what scenes I do have to figure out where I was, because it is a mystery after all and what did I do with the dang clues.  I think I have a handle on it now and am ready to proceed forward.    Yaahoo!

Also, I came to a decision about my main character.  She is a prosecuting attorney and since she can't swear in court, I decided she won't swear in the rest of the her life.   It was interesting because I had never really given it much thought before.  An attorney has to be articulate so it stands to reason, right.  They can't be telling the judge the ruling is f'ed up or the defense attorney, well I think that is bs.  Can you imagine? *facepalm*   I decided that in order for her to not to slip up in court, she just wouldn't use those words at all.  It seems to have rubbed off on the rest of the characters as well.  They find themselves catching it and changing a word midstream in order not to swear around her.

I noticed something interesting the other day.   You remember orange county choppers?  We hadn't watched it in a long time.  I just can't stand shows in which folks can't communicate without using the f word in every single sentence.   Hubby got me to watch the American Chopper Live Build off and I have to say I was really proud of Paul Tuttle Jr.   Through the whole show he took the high road and I don't think I heard one swear word come out of his mouth. He refused to say anything negative and I think he deserved to win. I think Senior thought so too and wanted him to win, which is why he came out with such a bizarre design.   Senior and potty mouthed Jessie James couldn't censor themselves for anything and it just goes to show, money doesn't buy you class.  Paul Tuttle Jr exhibited true class and when he started acting like an articulate adult, people started taking him more seriously.  

What do you think.  Is it more effective to have only the bad guys swear? 

That's my insight for the month.  Row80 ends in another week.  However my goal is to finish the first draft by the end of the month, so I have 16 days left.  Going to do my darnest to make it.  Wish me luck.

Check out how everyone else is doing here.

2012 Read 52 books in 52 Weeks

For the fourth year in a row I am hosting the Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks reading challenge.  I am having so much fun with this challenge, coming up with weekly posts about books, books and more books.  This past year I've enjoyed exploring different themes and introducing folks to books they never considered reading before.  

The goal is to read one book (at least) a week for 52 weeks. It can either be easy and casual or kick it up by exploring new authors and genres. I enjoy discovering new authors.  There are several mini challenges to make it fun which include: 

12 in 2012: Read 12 books in 12 different categories

A to Z challenge: Read books alphabetically by title and/or author.

Jane Austen: Read all things Jane Austen

Mind Voyages: Explore the hugo and nebula winners, take side trips through the different decades reading the nominees.

Well Educated Mind: Explore the classics in five categories: Fiction, Autobiography, History/Politics, Drama and Poetry.

To sign up and find out more, check out Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks. 

"We all have choices" my mother said.

One of my mother's favorite sayings our whole life has been "We all have choices." My brother recently posted this on facebook at the request of my niece. You never know it's getting through until suddenly they say yes, they were listening. My brother is the eloquent one in the family and says it best: 



"Throughout my life, I've had many mentors - my dad, martial arts instructors, teachers, friends - and learned a lot by making my own big mistakes. And each of these have taught me specific lessons, different details about how to continue to grow and change. But there is one person who taught me one lesson when I was very young. Who has throughout my entire life taught me ONE singular lesson. It's become such a common refrain that it's become sort of a joke among our family. And yet, I have recently come to realize it is THAT lesson which has become the foundation of all my other thoughts and how I've lived my life.

It didn't matter if it was clothing, dating, staying up too late, jobs or food. My mom's philosophy was unwavering: We all have choices. Which I have taken to mean: Know the implications of the options available to you, make a choice, and then accept the consequences. No excuses.

"We all have choices" sounds like a pretty basic idea, right? It's catchy, it would fit well on a bumper sticker or t-shirt. But it has far-reaching implications if you embrace it as a foundation for how to live.

The first implication is that options always exist. There are no if/then statements that are infallible. There is no set of circumstances that can result in one and only one response (we're talking interpersonal stuff here, not math). There are ALWAYS options beyond the ones that seem obvious to us.

One of the most memorable books I've read with this topic was Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Bartelby the Scrivener." One day Barteleby simply decides, "I'd prefer not to." He chooses not to work. When told to leave work, he chooses not to do that. He chooses not to eat. Eventually he dies in prison and starved to death. It's not a comedy. But it makes a good point - even the things we think of as "mandatory" are not. We always have choices, we just may not like the consequences.

Let me restate this again. There is no situation with only one response. We can choose to respond to anger with kindness, to betrayal with forgiveness. We can choose at any moment to eat differently, drink differently, dress differently. We can choose to drive on the wrong side of the road, rob a bank, or quit our jobs. There are always options.

The second implication of "We all have choices" is the reason most people cannot embrace this idea. It is the implication that WE create our lives. Where we are in life right now - our health, our jobs, where we live, our friends, every relationship - is a result of OUR choices.

Oh, I'm not blind to the fact that we are presented with various "stimuli" that create challenges for us or that may seem to bias us in a particular direction. But here's a few thoughts...

We do not control other people, but we do control how we react to them.
We do not control the genetics in our body, but we do control how we treat our bodies.
We do not control the economic status we were born into, but we do control our motivation, drive and work ethic.
We do not control the tragedies that are inflicted upon us, but we do control whether they make us stronger or destroy us.

Let me share a couple of true examples:
There were 3 brothers, born into a family where the men traditionally died of heart failure by 45. 2 of the brothers accepted "fate" and lived normal lives, both dying middle aged. The third brother ate right, exercised regularly and reduced his stress with things like yoga and meditation. He is soon to celebrate his 85th birthday.

There were 5 siblings, born into a low-income family in a bad neighborhood. 2 died before 20 from drug overdoses. 2 were in jail multiple times before ending up in prison for life on various charges. One worked odd jobs to pay his way through college, became a counselor, got married, had a great son and is a joyful positive person who has passed on that gift.

Here's where I seemingly have a big disagreement with a lot of people. I look around us and see that we are trained to be slaves. Through school, society, our upbringing, our churches, television, movies, our political structure, you name it. There is a vested interest for lots of people in controlling us. Whether it's to get our obedience, our money, our vote, our affection, there's hundreds of motivations for other people and institutions to convince us that we are powerless. That only they can tell use what to do or think. To convince us that some stimuli have only one response. Or to convince us we can only choose from within a narrow range of options. In short, that we have little to no choice about anything.

And we buy into it. The iconic 80's band Devo said it perfectly when they sang, "Freedom of Choice is what we've got. Freedom from Choice is what we want.". We find comfort in allowing ourselves to be bound by structures because it absolves us of personal responsibility for our choices (and we give up our freedom for the comfort of being "part of something."). Those structures cross every boundary. The Liberal, the Libertarian, and the Conservative, the Christian, the Pagan and the Atheist all are capable of being mindless slaves to a structure. This is not to say these structures don't have value - it is to say that for too many people, once they choose to identify themselves with one, they then shut off their minds and allow that identification to become all that they are. I don't believe in "my side right or wrong." Everyone is right sometimes and everyone is wrong sometimes.

Where was I? Oh yes, ranting... So, we are raised to give up control - to accept that we have no choices in life. Even if we manage to retain our independent thought from a raft-load of "institutions" who can benefit from our mindless loyalty, we are brought low by the biggest lie of all - that we are not responsible for anything we do.

Instead, we have hundreds of reasons for our actions:
I have ADHD. I'm bi-polar. I was abused. I was ignored. I was an only child. I was abandoned. My parents were divorced. I'm just an angry person. I was raised in a bad neighborhood. I'm an alcoholic. I'm a drug addict. I have a disease. I'm poor. It's the government's fault. The rich people's fault. The poor people's fault. The aliens from Mexico's fault. The aliens from Mars's fault.

Or, "That's just who I am."

And the biggest radioactive-monster mother of all reasons, "That's how I feel."

All of that, by the way... all those reasons... those are crap. Those are not reasons that create behavior, they are excuses we use to rationalize that how we behave is acceptable. Yes, when you are a child in a kept environment your choices are very limited. And yes, we have programming from those experiences that haunt us through our lives. But some people choose to rise out of abuse and hatred, break the cycle and become wonderful people. And some people choose to wallow in their pasts forever.

That entity that enslaves us the MOST; that entity that whispers in our ear that we have no choices, that entity that tries to convince us we are not responsible for our own lives, is not an institution. It lives inside of us. There is no jail more effective than believing you are not free.

Call it whatever you want - the horse, the Shadow, the Anima/Animus, the Id - it is basically a collection of memories, experiences, childhood traumas, beliefs, biological programming, chemical reactions, even reactions to foods we eat, that creates an impulse. Those impulses manifest as unconscious thoughts and ideas that drive our behaviors. Most of the time we self-identify these impulse as our "feelings."

Guess what? There is absolutely nothing sacred about these feelings. Somehow, at some point, we bought into this crap that if we "feel" angry, we must act upon it. That saying, "I feel X" excuses any reactions that result from that feeling. People say, "Well, I'm just an ass," or, "I'm just a bitch," as if that excuses their poor behavior and decision-making. It does not.

Feelings excuse nothing. The belief that we have no options is illusory. And the very first choice is choosing to believe that we have choice. Because our programming is so strong, we may have very little choice how we FEEL. But we have tons of options on how we BEHAVE. Including not creating situations that elicit those negative feelings in the first place.

But I digress. Everything else is details. Choosing how we spend time. Choosing our external environment. Choosing our relationships. Self-control. Awareness. These are steps along the path - they are concrete tools to help us take control of our lives. Of living from Conscious thought rather than reaction.

But the first choice is deciding to choose. It is accepting that there are always options. It is accepting that we have the power to create options and make decisions. To be fair, this is a disquieting way to live. Because it means accepting responsibility. Understanding that we each live the life we've chosen. That each person is ultimately responsible for our own success or failure. For our own happiness. Whether we believe in God, Allah, the Goddess, Cthulu or the Great Space Turtle - they have better things to do than spend each day making us happy or miserable. Whether by science or miracle, we are each possessed of life and options. Everything else is up to us.

We all have choices. What will you choose?"

December personal nanowrimo bootcamp

December word count chart

December is designated as my own personal novel writing boot camp.  I am determined to finish the first draft of Blue Steel by the end of the year instead of dragging it out over several months. So I am pushing onward and upward, 1667 words a day.  Made up my own little blackboard for incentive and pressing on.

Sunday Salon: Nanowrimo winner!

November has flown by in a blur and yes I know there are three days left, but I did it and as of today have written 50,197 words.  Happy Happy Joy Joy.  There are holes as big as Montana and there are scenes yet to be written and and an ending to find. I just derailed my main male character by having an old love show up and steal away the main female character.  Where does her heart truly lie?  I don't know at the moment, because I'm really liking the old love.  He kind of jumped in and took center stage and kind of has me rethinking part of the story.  

I discovered something this month as well.  The goal I had throughout the year of writing at least 500 words or one hour a day, well, was just stupid and very limiting, for me.   I should know better than to limit myself.  The words just flowed and felt so good, putting my all into it.  I found myself writing, in the morning, afternoon and evening. Didn't matter what time it was.  I'm no longer going to relegate to a certain part of day.  Nano always resets my writing clock and the momentum usually stays with me part of the year.  Here's hoping I can keep it up throughout 2012. At least that way I'll get a lot more done.  I'm looking forward to brainstorming more on this story, outlining it and researching my plot and characters in heavier detail. 

Cheers to all the row80 NaNoWriM0 participants who have made it and are still plugging away. Thanks to everyone who cheered us on.  Think I'll treat myself to a winner's shirt.

Row80 and birthday Bounty

It's been a couple weeks since I checked in.  I've been writing like crazy on Blue Steel for NaNoWriMo and happy to say as of last night at 36953 words.  Hubby and son have been most supportive in helping around the house. James has a new chore - cleaning his own bathroom.  Not a so happy byproduct (to him) of the craziness of November.  I've been bad and haven't stepped foot on the treadmill.  Too busy typing up my daily scribblings.

I scored bigtime for my birthday and received some excellent writing books.

Happy Dance!   I also have received Lee Child's "Worth Dying For" and Jasper Fforde's "One of our Thursdays is Missing."   James is campaigning for a dog so he got me the DK "The Encyclopedia of the Dog." It was fun looking through it and the pictures reminding me of all the different dogs we had and those of our old long forgotten neighbors and friends as well. Prompted some great memories and stories to share. Plus a great new cookbook - Moosewood Restaurant cooks at home. Yummy new recipes to try.  Yeah!

Haven't had a whole lot of time to visit other rowers but will make up for it in December.  Please check in on them and see how they are fairing.  Chow for now.  Back to writing!   

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's a celebration!

Help me celebrate turning a marvalous

--- 52 ----

Have a glass of virtual champagne.

~clink~ ~clink~

Randomness will lead somewhere - really!

A tip for staving off writer's block 

Open an encyclopedia to a random page, and read an entry.  You might get one good detail (the sacred 'ibis' was revered in ancient Egypt) or a whole line of exploration (St. Dunstan's, a British organization that cares for those blinded in war, was founded by a blind newspaper owner) to shake you out of your stupor.   (Pocket Muse by Monica Wood)

 
Actually works wonderfully well - I know!

Sunday Salon: Being creative

Variations by Richard Messenger

I'm plugging on my NaNoWriMo first draft of Blue Steel.  I started with an outline, then decided to write the scenes that have been floating about in my head.  I had three variation of the same scene so am writing them all and see which clicks and moves the story forward.   Kind of freeing not writing linearly.  I checked out scrivener and see the beauty of the program but because of the learning curve will utilize it when I'm done with Nano and not under pressure.  One less thing to stress over.  I usually write every thing long hand and type it up later.   Have been trying to type the days writing up in the afternoon, however it doesn't always work out.   The pressure to get er done was relieved when I found this clause on the Nano site:

How do I verify if I’m writing by hand?:
Invoke the Luddite Clause!

What you do is write your 50,000 words, then have someone you trust verify that it is, indeed, 50,000 words. Then using something like the Lorem Ipsum generator, submit a file of the exact number of words of your handwritten manuscript to our word count validator.

So I may be invoking the Luddite Clause later in the month.   Mentioned it to hubby and he gave me a really weird look.  However, I going to try really hard to keep up.  The time change has given me my extra hour back in the morning and I'm loving it.  I popped out of bed at 7:00 bright and bushy tailed (well, not really) and ready to write.  I never really did adjust when we sprang forward in the spring.  I could hardly drag myself out of bed until 8 something and dinner was constantly late.  Back to a normal schedule now.  We'll see how long it lasts.  *grin*

Trying not to read unputdownable books for the during of November so I'm not tempted to continue reading when breakfast is over.  Finding there aren't many of those in my TBR pile.  Nora Robert's latest book "The Next Always" came out November 1st and of course had to read it as soon as possible.  Never take a book to bed that is unputdownable.  *yawn*    I also discovered Gail Carriger's "Soulless" was also not an easy book to put down.  I'm now looking forward to reading the rest of the Parasol Protector steampunk series.  I did find one book that was putdownable and managed to limit my reading to breakfast, so won't mention the name since it seems it would be an insult to the author.  Nor that it was boring, just not exciting enough. I'm currently reading C.J. Lyons (new to me author) medical mystery "Warning Signs" which is the 2nd book in her Angels of Mercy series. Not sure why I didn't start with the first book, but its good and not having any trouble following.   Sort of unputdownable so saving it as a reward for the afternoons.  Will Power!!!!

ROW80 goal - 1667 words a day for the month of November. Check out how everyone else is doing here Have a great weekend!

It begins - Nanowrimo 2011

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Sunday Salon: October Wrap Up

Doorway to the stars by Josephine Wall

October has been an interesting reading month.   I discovered Nalini Singh Guild Hunter series and explored 17th century England in Iain Pears An Instance of the Fingerpost.  Dipped my toes into Christine Feehan's Dark Series and the world of the Carpathians and thought the characters were way over the top emotional until I read Bram Stoker's Dracula and saw the connection between the two.   I hung out with Eleanor Brown's The Weird Sisters in the town of Barnwell and visited again with Eve Dallas in J.D. Robb's 33rd book in the In Death Series New York to Dallas.   And I chewed my fingernails to the quick as angel Jim in J.R. Ward's Fallen Angel series 3rd book Envy battled evil Devina for yet another soul.    I seem to be on an angel versus demons kick lately.

Plus I finally learned how to properly outline with K.M. Weiland's Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success.Wonderful, wonderful, book with great advice that really hit home and made so much sense and really gave me a kick in the right direction.  Has been really helpful in preparing the story will be writing for Nanowrimo.  It was released at just the perfect time.

As I been working on my characters back stories, I'm getting to know them better and coming up with more ideas for the story.  Still need to get a handle on my Villain and will be working on he and his henchmen for the next couple days. I revised my synopsis and it seems to make more sense now and be a bit intriguing at the same time. 

"Three German shop owners who specialize in repairing antique grandfather clocks have died within 3 months of each other. Homicide Detective Quinton Donovan is positive their deaths are connected. Then he receives reports some of their customer's homes being broken into and clocks stolen or damaged. His investigation leads him to Elizabeth 'Jersey' Lee, an assistant district attorney who is investigating Brian Finnegan, owner of a large microchip design firm and son of one of Boston's prominent rich families for fraud. Jersey and Brian once had a tumultuous relationship which ended badly and now they hate each other. So why were both their  fingerprints found in the clock maker's shop?"

So while I'm partaking in NaNoWriMo, decided that when it comes to reading, I need to find some books that are not unputdownable. I read during breakfast and if the book is too good, then want to continue reading instead of writing. Books are so distracting. *grin*  My Row80 goals will be quite simple for the next month:  1667 words a day.  Anything else will be icing on the cake. 

I have a few scheduled posts (thinking ahead for once) that will be coming up so you won't be bored while I'm writing my little fingers to the bone. (key violin music) Hee Hee! 

Off to carve pumpkins. 

Monarch by Michelle Davidson Argyle Giveaway Winner

Have you been waiting with bated breath for the winner of Michelle Davidson Argyle's book Monarch.  Sorry it took me so long.  Distractions don't you know.   Without further ado - Drumroll please! 

The winner is: 

Melanie Leeson of Beauty and the Armegeddon

Congratulations! 

Row80 Mid Week Check in - A bouquet of sharpened pencils!

Courtesy of Melissa Doroquez

Shiny Pencils: In the midst of prepping for Nanowrimo 2011 and getting all my duck in a row which includes a nice new shiny notebook and sharpened pencils. I discovered my creativity flows best writing it all out rather than staring at a computer screen. Just have to make sure not to write too fast and my writing's legible so when I go back can actually read what I wrote. Have had a few head scratching moments in the past trying to decipher cryptic sentences. *grin*

30 days - 30 scenes: Have a simple outline of 30 scenes and then got to a point where wasn't sure which direction I was going to go in, so stopped and turned to researching characters. It'll either become clear as I think about it or will come to me by the time I get there.

Nesting:  Between researching and planning, have been cleaning and decluttering. Feel like I'm nesting.   Blogging will probably sporadic during November so may be doing quickie row80 check-in's on group facebook page.

Check in with other ROWers and see what they are doing.

My gift to everyone participating in Nanowrimo - A bouquet of shiny, sharpened pencils. Have fun!

Sunday Salon: Reading and Planning

"I'm thinking of" courtesy of Davide Restivo

I finished reading Dracula by Bram Stoker today. I think I know why it took me so long to get around to reading the story.  Age.  As I get older and learn more about writing, the more I appreciate the classics.  It was interesting finally getting to know Jonathan Harker, Van Helsing, Lucy, Mina, and Dr. Seward. It was written back in 1887 and in a unique format - in a series of letters, diary entries and telegrams. Makes for an interesting read. Since it is the Victorian age, the dialogue is long, flowing, pretty at times just to say the simplest thing. I enjoyed it.

I'm still working my way through K.M. Weiland's Outlining Your Novel.  I now have pages and pages of notes and now need to organize a bit.  I came up with my premise sentence or in other words - elevator pitch.  I read it to Father and he started talking about run on sentences and grammar, etc.   Not the point, dear.  He's a stickler for that stuff.  After he got past it, he said he liked it.  He's been enjoying helping me brainstorm. Every time I come up with an idea, he has much to contribute.  He's great for the technical and spy stuff.

I'm working on scenes, setting, and character background and backstory.  I always considered myself sort of a pantster with a little bit of plotting thrown in.  This time I'm plotting with a bit of pantster thrown in. We'll see how it goes.    A lot to do with only 8 days left to November, however....   My timing is perfect.  We just completed 7 weeks of lessons and are taking a week off.  We usually home school year round with 3 to 4 weeks on and one week off so we all are quite ready for a break.  Will have plenty of time amidst making James Sonic the hedgehog costume for Halloween.   I also printed off Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method which I finally get it and will be incorporating it because he has some really great suggestions. 

Speaking of suggestions, be sure to check out Em and Lena's weekly mashup of writing links on the Fun Not Fear! Nano support group blog.  

Plus I've been checking out Literature and Latte's Scrivener and after having completed the tutorial, am in love.  Going to give the window's beta version a try for Nano.  I'll be spending the week typing in my notes and exploring it a bit more. Should know by the end of the week if it's doable for me. 

You know how I asked this question in last sunday's post:   "At what point does your mind blow up from too many characters and different story lines?   Is it possible to channel them all and keep the stories straight?"   The earth is in alignment and there once again is synchronicity.   I received Holly Lisle's weekly tip email and the question was exactly that.  Her answer: 

I strongly recommend working on one project at a time.

If you work on multiples, then I recommend having one in planning,
one in first draft, and one in revision AT MOST.

I do not EVER recommend working on two first drafts, two revisions,
or two planning stages simultaneously.

The reason is:

1) With one project at a time, you stay focused and get it done.

2) With three projects, but each in a different stage of production, you can still maintain your focus because each sort of work is different enough to require different parts of your brain, different actions, different ways of thinking.  You can maintain a clear separation between each project and what you're doing on it (though it's hard).

3) With two or more projects at the same stage of development, you   end up wasting time going between notes on your different characters and worlds, trying to keep your stories straight.

Thank you Universe!  Check out how how ROWers are  doing and be sure to leave them a note of encouragement.