All hail NaNo. NaNo is Dead.

Well for another year anyway.
The eleven months until the next NaNo is our opportunity to polish off the work we have on hand.

I am glad that I found my way into NaNo. I didn't win. But I didn't loose either.
I learned that
1) I need a routine. (Daawh!)
2) I need a computer that isn't used for surfing youtube and google translate by boy and girl child.
3) I need a place to write where my Hubster can't glance at the screen and shout from accross the room. 'Is that a monologue?'

I got stuck in and now I have an idea for a novel.
I have the beginning down on paper. I have the skeleton for the whole story in my head. Its just a matter of getting it all on paper.
Then I need to polish it up a bit. Make sure the characters are interesting enough to catch peoples interest (how do I do that?)
Its only a simple love story with a few twists and turns. I have my photo's of my leading men and my leading lady. So far so good.
I have to admit its the furthest I have gone yet with a story.
I have no where near the 50k word count. But I don't feel like a failure.
So go me.
Until next year.

Quote stolen from Chuck Wendig.

'You know the difference between the two groups? The big herd never finished a thing. Endless novels begun, and just as many never completed. The smaller group — the ones breathing rarefied air — are those writers who have finished something. Most don’t. That’s the big separation. Most never finish what they start. And you cannot ever be a successful writer if you don’t complete the stories you begin.

It’s the first and most critical step.'

I am having trouble keeping my word count up to NaNo's rigourous standards. However after reading that post of Chucks, that quote above in particular I feel re-energised. Its a case of so NaNo says 50k in 30 days, but what if I set myself a goal of getting to the end of each chapter until I have 10-12 good ones and maybe the beginnings of a good first draft. I like my story and the characters its just a time problem I have at the moment.
So I shall carry on and pursue my dream.
If I get this novel to the place where I can say its finished and I am moderately happy then I will have won this particular battle.
Good luck people.

Life Collides

This is what I am calling my NaNoWriMo.
I think its a good title because this is whats been happening to me all weekend.

Instead of being roughly 14000 words on the page I am at 3213, only 223 up from Fri.
You would think the weekend would have offered up more productivity than that.
Ah well thats what happens when you are stretched too far.
Must do better.
Good luck to everyone who is attempting this.

Oopps only at 2190

Well. If you are following the whole idea of NaNo I should be at 7 to 8 THOUSAND words.
Ahem.
I'm a little behind.
Life gets in the way as somebody famous once said.
So back to the grind stone.
I am enjoying the attempted disipline of it.
I am liking my characters in my head at the moment getting them to flesh out on the paper is not as easy. I'll drive on and see what happens.
There are huge plot holes and bits not quite write.
However as those in the know are saying December is NaNoEdMo.
(National Novel Editing Month)
Or else because Christmas will probably elbow it out of the way I'll be doing all that in January.
Oh never mind!

OKay So I've missed the boat a bit.

I decided last night in the middle of feeling terrible because I have the 'flu. And boychild's phone was set to cuckoo everytime it hit the hour and woke me up twice. At 3am and 4am. So I got up and switched it off! Had to be done.
Then I dozed a bit until Hubster woke up at half past six cause the extra hour thanks to daylight savings hasn't kicked in to his head yet.
Anyhoo.......
I am going to attempt the NaNo challenge and write 50k in 30days (less now cause I am 2 days behind.
So
wish me luck!!
Oh and I will be trying something in romance with a bit of comedy.

Life sucks.

I read Chuck Wendigs piece on NaNoWriMo.
Did you?
Now I just want to give up.
The stats he laid out before us are pretty stark.
Especially the one about only 0.04% of the people who complete the
NaNoWriMo challenge ever actually getting published.
That's so bleak.

Sigh.
Grumble.
Double Sigh.

But I seem unable to get rid of this urge to tell stories to sheets of
paper.
Cause lets face it I've never published anything. Not really. Not for
money.
(Does reading out loud to my own private very small very select group of
writers count?)

The white reams of paper are always so accepting.
So happy to hear what I say.
They rarely send me away with a flea in my ear.
I could just say I write for myself but I know that's not true and rings
hollow.
I started off doing this because I thought I could make an income as a stay
at home Mom...but that didn't happen.
Because I never finished anything.
There it is in black and white.
I never finished anything. How can you sell a half arsed attempt at
something.
Then I realised I needed help to polish up my craft. So I did a few
classes at the local 'creative writing' place.
Then global meltdown and money for my CW classes seemed a bit frivolous.
Then Chuck stamps all over my head and my heart telling me that even if I
finished something and even if I continued getting tutoring and even if it
was any good chances of getting published are still at 0.04%

life sucks.

NaNoWriMo 2011 coming soon.

Its that time of year again.
The month before NaNoWriMo when we budding novelists try our hand at
belting out 50k in 30 days.
Or over 1600 words a day.
So far so peachy.

Except I've never done it before.

AND I know I won't be able to get to it every day because............

I have a day job,
I have 2 kids, 1 husband, 1 dog, 1 rabbit , a leaky roof and a demanding
mother (not entirely true).

And while these people (and creatures) profess to support my writing
endeavours some of it rings hollow.

Take the dog for instance; while he doesn't actively discourage me from
writing he does actively encourage me to take him for walks (by nudging my
elbow repeatedly so I can't type and ignore him any longer)
And feeding him only takes seconds -really - as he can manage it all by
himself.
There is no need to do the airplane flying into the cave routine with him
(mothers of small boys nod with immediate understanding)

My husband feels unloved and ignored if I don't make time for him in the
evening (which usually ends up being over an hour).

And my kids- well the kids are a different story. I am afraid of missing
the 'something is wrong' signs so I pester them to talk to me and spend
time with me.
So in reverse I am stopping me writing.
I am the cause of me not getting down to do the nasty business of putting a
first draft together.

And finally I'm not sure November is the month for me to start something
like this. Am I at my most productive at this time of the year. NO!
But as Nike says 'just do it'

And before anyone decides to point it out YES I KNOW I AM THE ONE WHO IS CAUSING ALL THE TROUBLE.
Thank you.