Officially Over But...

Well, NaNoWriMo is officially over. I ended with a mere 10K words to show for it, however I really did get a lot out of this.

As cliche as it sounds, it made me realize that writers are not born as writers. It takes a lot of um, writing to be a writer.

So while I'm not all that jazzed about dinosaurs or dragons anymore, I am going to try to squeeze out another 10K at least so I have something to rewrite.

Today however I'm focused on something else entirely--making Swedish meatballs for Gretchen's annual nighttime wintertime BBQ in the freezing cold. And she's not even Minnesotan!

Keep pestering me about the book, please.

Word count: 10,003

Time's Running Out

OK, so I have admitted to myself that the 50,000 Word Fairy isn't going to visit me by tomorrow midnight. However, this does not mean I am allowing myself to put this project down, and I'm going to at least hit ten thousand words by the end of NaNoWriMo... totally do-able.

I wish I could say I was completely bummed out about this because then this link would make so much more sense... I just have this song stuck in my head courtesy of Ben Folds but BJ Thomas' version is just so much more colorful. Boy can that guy act! I really do love a good variety show.

Word count: 7815

Motivation

Apparently if you give yourself lofty word count goals and a really enticing reward, you just might be able to power through several thousand words at a sitting without even batting an eyelash.

Yesterday, I spent two hours at B&N doing research consisting of reading through all the kids dragon picture books/dinosaur field guides I could find and then finally skimming through a volume of the Best Fantasy Illustrators of 2007--which terrified me, I must admit. I got a million ideas, and worked out a few that had been troubling me.

Last night I decided to lay down the challenge: if I could hit 7K words, Derek would have to come over. And I hit a thousand words in less than an hour. Pretty amazing. :) I don't think he'll be up for being my sole source of motivation so I suppose I'll think of other things. Like the Vosges Chocolat's Mo's Bacon Bar. Or a quick trip down the street to Target.

Regardless, I now have proof that I can do this. So whether or not I hit 50K within the November timeframe (hate to be defeatist but it's not looking so good, folks), I will give myself till December 10 which is one month from the day I started the new (old) subject.

But not quite yet. I'm still assuming I can do it before next Friday...

Word count: 7003

Ah, Civilian Life

Haven’t posted in a while… Since last we spoke: Karen and I reconnected with a long lost uh... sorority sister... i.e. the fabulous Nita Rao (yay) , Jeni got promoted (yay), Derek got back from Argentina (yay), and finally, Mud had a baby shower (yay). All that AND Facebook has yielded several long lost connections, all of whom are just fascinating to click through for hours on end... Only thing is, this means I am continuing to live life as a normal civilian... because all these things really are essential! But I am not doing enough writing. I swear I am going to start ignoring the world outside. Really. That's what Thanksgiving break is for. I feel like I have this massive term paper due at the end of the month and I have done next to nothing. Oh yes, my therapist is having a ball with this. ☺

Word count: 4305

Henry the Great Distractor

My cat is like a two year old child. He sits on my laptop and demands attention when I am trying to focus. It's all his fault that I only got 500 words written last night before moving over to my Dinosaur Encyclopedia and DK/Smithsonian Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife to do research.

I did have time to set up a cool macro so all I have to do is hit Crtl+F12 and it gives me my word count! So I can obsess over it as much as I want without spending hardly any time on it at all.

Word count: 2943

Back to the Drawing Board

Well, after several days of pussyfooting around and not knowing that to do, I decided to follow the advice of Joanne and Derek—and return to the original story. Dragons win!

Argh: I've just scrapped my original wordcount! holy crap, it's the 11th! Damn, 11 days down the drain!

(also it's Becky's birthday!)

(and Sooze's birthday!)

This means I have all sorts of wordcount to make up in the coming days… and tonight I have been typing my little heart out. I took the train just so I would have some brainwaves (and an outlet) at my disposal.

Turns out it was a good decision to head to DC this weekend. I had a good time and it really helped me to clear my head, get back into the groove, and find a bit of new inspiration. I'm really excited about some of the places the story will be going as a result.

I went to DC this weekend for a reunion of sorts with the old Morocco gang: Dave and Stacy, Della, Colette, Jason, Chris, Mary Catherine and Andre. I have proven that I am still terrible at all things sporty (in this case darts) but it was really fun just to hang out. I really do treasure my old friends not only because of the history we have shared, but also because they are really cool people.

So the word count I'm posting is just tonight's preliminary count, as I am still going for the quota—I must now achieve 2800 words a night in order to make the 50K goal. Sounds like a lot to me. However this one is flowing a ton better than the other, so I'm happy to admit, I'm only marginally worried.

Thanks guys, for the advice. I'm back to forging ahead.

Word count: 1741 brand new words!

A Quandry

I’m still hovering around the 2K word mark. The problem is this: I had a great idea for a book, then in the process of doing market research, I discovered that something fairly similar exists already as a faux documentary for kids. It was tragic: I ordered the movie from Netflix and got it on the very eve of NaNoWriMo. I got home from dinner on Halloween, popped in the disk, and proceeded to have my creative genius confirmed by their team of expert writers... and all enthusiasm immediately left the building.

That said, my idea has WAY more interesting bits and I really like my story better. However, is it different enough to keep me jazzed enough to write it? And if I do, am I going to get my derriere sued over copyright infringement, even though I had my idea WAY before even knowing this dumb pseudo documentary existed?

I still don’t know the answer to this question. I guess I will stick with the astrology story until the weekend and if it doesn’t pick up some steam, I’ll switch back to dragons, and burn the midnight oil to make up for the lost time.

Today was a banner day in my world. I emailed the HR department to see what kinds of other positions they have available and who else I would need to contact throughout the company. I’d prefer to stay at SH so I’m starting from there...

OK, so last night I made mashed potatoes and ate a half a can of salt and vinegar Pringles, and finished it up with two eggs, a la mode de Melissa (hard boiled and mashed with butter, salt and pepper). Tonight I made a gigantic pot of turkey chili and am having a handful of peanut butter M&Ms. Oh, OK I forgot I finished off the other half of the Pringles too. So I’m still following the NaNoWriMo dietary guidelines, at the very least. We’ll see what the next few days bring!

Word count: 1731

Slow, slow, slow

I haven't made so much progress lately... this is technically Saturday's tally.

Word count: 1592

My closet has never looked so clean!

I've spent the morning digging out all the straggling summer items from my closet. Thank god they are gone! A huge weight is now off my shoulders. Now I'm off to find other essential ways of procrastinating!

One really good way has involved looking for another job. If you hear of anything vaguely related to publishing/business analyst/interface design/product management do let me know.

I've officially changed the story idea. No more dragons. I've moved on to something vaguely astrology-related.

Word count: 552

Time to start baking the donuts

November 1. Mercury is officially no longer in retrograde as of roughly 6 PM. That means it's business time. (Pardon me, but I have to link to the Flight of the Conchords)

It's a pretty daunting task. The way I have my pages set up, it will take something like 111 pages to meet the 50K finish line.

It's been a rough day at work with all the political intrigue raining down, but I did manage to get a whopping single page written. The goal for each day is five pages, so I'm pretty far off... but at least I did not give up on Day 1. Believe me, I have been questioning my decision to do this in light of the crap that's appearing out of nowhere! Guess that's what they call "inspiration".

Guess I've just learned my very own Lesson Number One: Life will never just present you with you the perfect time to start a project.

Word count: 437

Starting NANOWRIMO

I have been psyching myself up over the last few weeks to actually write out 50,000 words this November as part of National Novel Writing Month. So this is it.

During the month of November, I will be in dire need of 1) peace and quiet, 2) not too many (but some! please some!) distractions, and 3) encouragement, support and just a little bit of guilt tripping so I will actually hit the mark by November 30.

I thought about following NANOWRIMO's suggestion of writing out a huge check to my favorite right wing nutjobs (i.e. Focus on the Family), that I would have to send in the event that I don't finish. But I just can't do it. It would kill me after they so thoughtfully gave me that ulcer over SpongeBob a couple of years ago.

So feel free to to make a bet with me--I finish the 50K words or I have to [fill in the blank with an appropriately onerous task] and if I do somehow miraculously finish the 50K words, you have to pay me $50. Or make me a fabulous 4 course meal while I sit by and idly sip pink champagne. Or something like that.

I'm not sure how exactly this works but I think you can monitor my word count from the comfort of your home by visiting my official page. I am certain this will become your new November obsession, as it will be mine.

I'll try to post remotely interesting things here as I go.

Wish me luck!