Have New Headphones, Will Write!

Now that the kids are finally getting better, I have been able to start enjoying the new headphones that my husband bought for me. Right now I'm listening to the sounds of the Amazon rainforest while I type this entry. So technically, I'm also researching while I write this. I started writing a short story for the shared world that I am participating in with a group of other writers, and it takes place in the rainforest, which is why I need to familiarize myself with its natural sounds. Of course, trying to describe some of them might be a different matter altogether...

Eh, I'll muddle my way through that when I edit. For now, it's all about the crappy rough draft with lots of bracketing.

What's that, you say? Bracketing?

Bracketing is something I started doing in college, when I was writing a lot of theology papers. I didn't always have the precise words for the thoughts I wanted to formulate while I was working on the rough draft, so I would write some approximation of it in a little set of brackets, so I knew to go back and fix it later, and that way I could keep going before I lost my train of thought.

Bracketing served me especially well when transitioning into the madness that is NaNoWriMo. It satisfied my inner editor enough to keep going instead of getting bogged down in searching for the precise words I wanted to use, and thus making it much easier to make word count. I get to be compulsive, but not so anally compulsive that my brain shuts down and doesn't get much accomplished.

(Dang, this is a long Youtube clip!)

Speaking of getting things accomplished, it's time to work on that short story and then see if I can write any more of that article I alluded to in my last post. Especially since my husband keeps looking back at me and the laptop from the PS3 game he is playing. I have quickly learned that this means he is thinking about stealing the computer from me to look up a gaming hint. *sigh* Need to fix the other computer!

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Stop the Madness!

So I made the mistake of signing onto Twitter this morning. Normally this wouldn't be a problem. This morning, however, I was greeted by a couple of tweets by one of my friends, regarding Camp NaNoWriMo.

Gaaah!

Now I'm tempted to join in the madness all over again. But I need to be editing my book, Anemone's Song. And even more important than that, I need to finish the short story I promised my friend I'd provide for the publication she is editing at, The Forge. I really just do not need this distraction again. I have plenty of my own, thank you.

Willpower! Must...have...willpower. Must...have...

... ... ...

Maybe I could sort of join in by editing along instead of writing? That breaks the rules, but--

*slaps self*

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Camp Nanowrimo and Writing Chaos

I can't believe I haven't written in this blog since January. Er...scratch that. Yes, I can. My little boy arrived three weeks early, back in February. He was due in March. The good news is that I finished typing up my book shortly before he decided to arrive. Needless to say, I wasn't doing a lot of writing after he came.

Now that he is 3 months old, however, things are getting a little easier. Or enough easier that I've started potty training my daughter and editing my book.

But alas, the editing must be put on hold. For Camp Nanowrimo, perhaps? No. Although it's tempting. Quite tempting. But I've made my husband promise to slap me silly if I try to take that on; I'm supposed to be concentrating on my editing, after all. I'd like to have this book ready to send out by sometime next year.

So what, then, has forced me to turn my attention away from editing?

A short story.

I'm trying to write a short story at the request of a guest editor, for a publication called The Forge.

So, it's back to writing I go. Hopefully, since I only have about a month to write it, my submission won't totally stink. I had a vague idea for a short story (and I say vague, because, really, it was only a title) recently, so now I'm trying to spin a plot that I think is compelling enough to submit.

Well, we shall see. The worst that can happen is that the editor takes back her offer, right?

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A New Year is Fresh, With No Mistakes in It...

Well, I survived the madness that is Nanowrimo--but not without totally scrapping the original story I had been working on during day 3. My mind kept going to the characters from my current work in progress (completely written, but working on typing it up and editing it) so I started Nano all over and began writing the sequel to it. That worked out much better, and I didn't find myself struggling quite so much with scenes.

Oh, I still had tough moments, but nothing like I had been, and certainly nowhere near as horrible as 2009's debacle.

However, starting over put me three days behind on word count, and I had to skip a lot of naps (not easy for a pregnant lady with an active toddler to give up, mind you!) and pull some long sessions in the evening to catch up. But, after a few days, I finally managed to. Yay me! I'm still so proud of myself for catching up and managing to win Nano after all of that!

But on to my writing goals for 2011...

Yes, I am resuming my list of writing goals for the year. I never managed to do it last year, due to circumstances, but I need something clear to strive for, writing-wise, this year--something that I can focus on besides the loved ones that I've lost the last two years, and the general worries and stress of day to day life.

So, in light of that, I've not only decided to resume my writing goals for the year, but I've also decided to keep it (somewhat) simple. My writing goal for this year is to finish typing up my work in progress, Anemone's Song, and edit it. That's it. That's what I want to accomplish writing-wise this year. Anything else is just icing on the cake.

And really, considering that I will have a new baby and a toddler to care for, it will be no small feat if I manage this. But I caught up during Nanowrimo, didn't I? When I get discouraged or need motivation, I will try to remember that

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Wondering (Once Again) What I Got Myself Into...

I feel so incredibly tired after taking my daughter trick-or-treating tonight. Granted, with a new baby on the way, that's not too surprising, but I'm determined to stay up a little longer and see if I can make it to the official start of Nanowrimo.

I'm a little apprehensive about doing Nano this year; I spent most of October wavering back and forth about whether I would participate or not. Last year was very tough, and I almost didn't make it through the week three slump. I blame it now on not knowing my characters well enough before I started, and for not having a good plan of where I was going in terms of scene progression.

And THAT I blame on my book, Anemone's Song, which I had just finished writing only weeks before Nano 2009 began. So I was burnt out and didn't plan much for last year.

This year...eh, I didn't plan at all. And that's not for lack of ideas. I had a few neat ideas rolling around in my head, but I never managed to settle on one of them.

So, that's why I'm totally winging it during Nanowrimo this year (heaven help me!). This has the potential to be very painful for me. But I hope I'm wrong about that.

If nothing else, maybe I can manage to do some typing on Anemone's Song during November, and begin editing it, since I'm not taking things so seriously this year. (Famous last words, right?)

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Life: Full Speed Ahead

I finished my NaNoWriMo novel and won this year for the third time in a row, making my streak 3 for 3. Boy, was it ever tough, though. Despite my best efforts otherwise, Anemone's Song, the novel I finished in October so that I wouldn't have it hanging over my head in November during Nano, haunted me anyway. I kept having the desire to work on that instead of my Nano novel. It drove me crazy.

I suspect that's why writing during Nano this year was so difficult. I hit the third week slump hard this time around. It wasn't pretty, folks. But I forced myself through it out of sheer willpower alone. I think that was a good experience for me. Writers need to write, and not simply when we feel like it. We must write when it is difficult, and when we would really rather do anything else but glue ourselves to the chair and the keyboard.

Now that November is finished, however, I have returned to working on Anemone's Song at last, and I am much happier for it. I have a new temp. job at the moment, which is less than thrilling, but it helps pay the bills. In more exciting news, I began to write a column on Examiner. com, so I am getting more experience under my belt professionally. Writing articles for it has helped me to practice some of the skills that I am reading and learning about in order to possible dip my toes into freelance writing in the future.

My truest love will always be writing novels, though. As poetry is my weakest form of writing, writing stories are my strongest. Nothing makes me feel more alive.

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From Deadlines to Nanowrimo

At 11:07pm on Friday, October 2nd, 2009, I finished my novel, Anemone's Song. I finished two days past my self-imposed deadline, but at least it is complete. What can you do about a child who suddenly gets sick with pink eye and a bad cold, after all? Even after I put her to bed in the evening, there simply wasn't enough time left to write to completion. So, I worked myself half to death, but I did finish it two days later than scheduled. Now it can't hang over my head during NaNoWriMo. I don't need distractions like that.

In terms of NaNoWriMo, I am still contemplating what I shall write. I have some stray ideas, but nothing solid yet. I'd like to write something with Native Americans, maybe a historical fiction of some kind, but I'm still researching and trying to decide what I want to do.

What is everyone else doing for NaNoWriMo? Have you decided yet, or are you like me and still without a clue?

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When Life Gets Tough...

...get to writing! Or keep on writing. Either way, this is what I'm determined to do. I missed my deadline to have the book finished by August, so now my goal is to finish before the end of September. I really don't need this book interfering with my ability to write during Nanowrimo, and I'm certain that it will, if I know that it's sitting nearby, aaaalmost finished, but not quite.

Mostly, the reason I missed my own deadline was due to a lot of craziness and stress in my life. Perhaps it's understandable if one knows my circumstances, but to me it isn't. Instead of writing through the pain and emotions, I stopped writing, which only magnifies everything and makes it worse.

I also haven't heard back about my short story that I submitted, even though it's been over the 6-8 week span the publication estimates for a response. I've determined that if I don't hear from them by the end of this week (week 10), then I will write a prompt letter.

August was my month of bad, horrible luck. Each week got progressively worse than the one before, culminating in finding out that my father has an incurable brain tumor, and leaving me ultimately unemployed again (knowing that it is a temporary position does not help in the slightest when one is laid off). I am hopeful that September will be my month of good luck--or at least be my bend in the road toward one that is.

I'm not yet optimistic about life again, but I'm going to write toward it.

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The Closer It Gets...

...the more nervous I become.

That's right. I still haven't heard about the short story I submitted to that contest back in November (actually, the end of October, because I wanted it out of the way before NaNoWriMo). I have until March 16th, however...I'm supposed to hear about it by then. I check the mail anxiously every now and then, and I have my husband on alert for anything from them, but nothing so far. And honestly, sometimes it's so far from my mind that I forget for a while.

They say no news is good news, but it will really stink if I wait all this time just to get a rejection. Oh well. There's nothing tangible I can do about it, right, so I'm better off turning my attention to other things.

I finally got out of my writing stasis the other night. I hadn't written much in a week or so because I was a bit stuck on the specifics of a detail in the story, but it wasn't a detail I could really skip over and figure out later. Finally, my husband helped spark an idea, and I wrote a few pages last night. I was having such a good night writing after that, I didn't want to stop. But, I finally did, and I think I left off at a good spot. Hopefully it will be very easy to pick up from that and resume my writing.

I could use a little cheer in my life, something to go well. Had a job interview the other week, thought it went well, and didn't get it. There's just a lot going wrong lately; I need something to change for the better. Like a job or a published story. *sigh*

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Goodbye NaNoWriMo, Hello NaNoFiMo!

So I finished up the month of November with 65,115 words for my 2008 Nanowrimo novel. The novel is not yet finished by any stretch of the imagination, but as I'm rather worn out in writing it, I am switching to my Nano novel from 2007 and participating in NaNoFiMo, or National Novel Finishing Month now. I have been working on that story in bits and pieces, but it rather took the back burner to that short story about the vampire cows for a while, and before that I was quite busy for some months with a newborn baby.

But, now that my daughter is older and (somewhat) more cooperative about my time to write (ha ha ha! That's a riot, right?), I have decided to enter Nanofimo for the first time as a challenge to myself to finish up my 2007 Nano novel. Especially since I would like to try to publish this one within the next year. That will be one of my 2009 writing goals, I think.

But, I digress.

The two main goals of Nanofimo are: 1) to add at least 30,000 more words to your story, and 2) to finish the novel. You have to complete these two goals in some form to win. There are some variations on them, but I leave it to anyone interested to read about it on the Nanofimo website, which is , and read about it under the Nanofimo FAQ.

I am looking forward to the change of pace, especially story wise, this month. By the end of November, after working at such a grueling pace on one novel, and only one novel, I get rather tired of that story by the end of the month. So it will be nice to switch back to my 2007 story and work on that. I am a much better fantasy writer than a science fiction writer, anyway. By far. But, I gave it a good shot, and things went much better than I anticipated. Plus, I did not give up.

So maybe someday I can turn that sci-fi of mine into something publishable. For now, I am going to take a break from it and try my hardest to finish Anemone's Song, this month. Wish me luck!

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Ostensibly Halfway Finished...

I have 26,710 words on my NaNoWriMo story so far. That's a little more than halfway finished with my novel, assuming that I only write the 50,000 words required to win Nano. And of course, that is really short for a novel, and I seriously doubt that my book will only be 50,000 words. I'm not even into the foreseen middle of my plot yet. I have a lot of work on this after Nano is over, just to complete it, never mind edit it.

But I will happily set it aside on December 1st and take up Anemone's Song again for NaNoFiMo, or National Novel Finishing Month. I hope to finish Anemone's Song in December, but if I don't, it won't be the end of the world. I'm not going to push too hard for it depending on how I feel at the end of November. But it would be really nice if I could finish that, since I want to edit it and get it published.

Well, one story at a time, right? At least this month. *cackles*

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Off to a Darn Good Start...

Nanowrimo has been going really well for me so far. *knocks on wood* This is going much easier than last year. The story is just flowing from me, for the most part. I don't know if it's because I'm just more experienced at Nano, or if I'm not letting myself get as hung up with fixing mistakes and just moving on instead, but something seems to be working.

As of right now, I have 11, 864 words. I am just over a day ahead of schedule. I hope to write even more soon, to give myself a large cushion to fall upon, in case something happens and Eileen doesn't let me do much writing for a day or so. But so far it has been working pretty well. I let her play in the room with me while I type, and it works much better than I thought it would.

The election really got me down, but I'm trying to just move on from that. I may not have wanted Obama for president, but I really hope he does as good a job as people think he will. I hope that at least after all the hype, he can do some good for the economy--at the minimum. But I won't hold my breath.

For now, I'm pushing on with Nanowrimo and pouring even more of myself into my writing. Writing has gotten me through many things, and it will get me through this as well.

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Submitted!

I sent my vampire cows story in to the Writer's Digest Popular Fiction contest, under the fantasy category. It's entitled Put a Stake in It! It was somewhat inspired by my friend Morgan, who suggested similar titles that didn't quite fit. So that's what I finally came up with one morning while watching my daughter. My husband doesn't like it, and informed me so today. He was then subjected to a short rant about how I didn't care if he didn't like it, it's my story and my title and I like it, which is all that matters.

Then he said, "Boy, once you make up your mind, you really don't budge, do you?"

Usually, no. Especially when I didn't ask for your input to begin with. Ahem.

Figured out some new stuff for my nanowrimo story. I have a small, brief character profile for my main character, and I have a sketchy idea for the ending of my book, which is (as always) subject to change.

Now I just need to figure out my other characters before the contest starts...

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Warm Up Those Presses!

I sent the final draft out to some of my editing buddies for feedback and opinions before I turn it in for the contest. As soon as I get some replies, I'll make any necessary changes and enter my final version in the contest. I'm really hoping I at least place in the contest, because I think my idea is really creative, but I won't hold my breath.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to turn my attention to Nanowrimo. I've finally decided what type of story to write. I'm writing my first ever science fiction. But it has a bit of a horror twist to it. So it's kind of a science fiction-horror, or maybe a science fiction-thriller. I'm nervous and excited. I've never written a science fiction before. Most of what I write is fantasy. Still, this is a wonderful opportunity to stretch myself as a writer, and I'm looking forward to seeing what results from this experiment.

Oh, and I've started job hunting! Yay, me! I'm hoping to be employed by Christmas. Prayers and good wishes for that are appreciated!

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Nearing the Finish Line!

I am almost done with my short story, thank heavens! It seems like I've been writing it for eons. I managed to edit it down to 82 words over word count, but I had to change the lackluster ending. It didn't feel right. I wanted something that was quintessentially Wintra. It took me a while to come up with something, but I did.

So now I'm only 144 words over my count for the contest. I can whittle that down easily! Yay! I was honestly beginning to think I could never do it.

Meanwhile, I'm feeling nervous about Nanowrimo. Why? I haven't picked a story idea yet. At first, the problem was that I couldn't come up with one. Now, I have a LOT of ideas...and I can't seem to pick one. *sigh* Will the madness never end?

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NaNoWriMo On My Mind...

I have already begun trying to generate some novel ideas for Nanowrimo in November. I don't feel that I yet have a project that I am enthusiastic about. I have some nice ideas, but none of them are coming together into an actual working plot yet. I'm trying to decide whether to write a science fiction, which I've never done before, another fantasy, which I tend to write the most, a modern day vampire story, or a general fiction story.

I don't have a solid idea for my science fiction story. I'm toying with the idea of time travel, wherein people can travel into the future, but not into the past (as current scientific theory holds). This would mean that, once in the future, my characters wouldn't be able to leave and go back to their time, which would be the past, by that point. But I'm not sold on this yet. My other idea is a sci-fi about some kind of war over a planet's natural resources. The warring factions think it's uninhabited and ripe for the taking, but there's actually intelligent life on the planet, and that later complicates things.

For my modern day vampire story, I intend to re-vamp (pun intended) vampires in a way. I found some interesting things during all my research for the vampire cows story, and I think it would make an interesting story, if I wrote about psychic vampires, who feed off of people's energy, not necessarily their blood.

My general fiction idea isn't developed enough for me to feel comfortable talking about it yet. The other alternative I've thought about is to combine my modern day vampire ideas with some of my sci-fi ideas. Maybe a genetic experiment goes wrong, and scientists accidentally create human vampires, and the story chronicles the effects of that. I don't know.

I think my preparations for Nanowrimo were easier last year, when I already had a solid story idea and notes for November far ahead of time.

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And I Didn't Even Give Myself Carpal Tunnel.

I just finished typing up my story in its entirety. I'm surprised it didn't take more than a couple of days, considering I can only work on it during my daughter's naptime (and considering she often doesn't cooperate with the whole napping thing, despite a regular routine). Now I can print out a copy and begin some preliminary editing.

Yesterday I wrote a little fresh material on my Mer novel, which I have now given a title (finally). I have decided to call it Anemone's Song. It will probably be changed if it ever gets published, but oh well. This is a fine working title for now. I don't totally hate it, or find it corny, like my other list of title ideas that I've been kicking around for a while.

I'm hoping to get some more work on my Mer novel done before Nanowrimo, but I doubt I'll finish it up by then. What may happen is that I switch from my new Nanowrimo project at the end of November to Anemone's Song on the first day of December, or NaNoFiMo (National Novel Finishing Month). Just for a change of pace. November really takes it out of you. Last year, I took a long sabbatical from writing after it. My husband calls it a long, drawn out writer's marathon.

He's right. But I did it.

Here's to hoping I manage to finish this year. It's looking bleak, but I'm clinging to hope.

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I Should Never Go Into Government...

...because I can't even run a household that well.

My husband has a new work schedule. It's very similar to his old schedule (which has crazy, weird hours), except that he works four days out of the week for ten hours, instead of five days out of the week for eight hours (this excludes the DJing he does on the weekends). This makes it harder to get things done, because we have to try to get our shopping, laundry, etc. all done on one day of the week (unless he happens to have the weekend open, but since it's busy season for DJing right now, that's unlikely). It also means I have to take up the slack on cooking again since he has to leave much earlier in the mornings.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mind cooking. I really like it. Yet it's hard to try to fit cooking, dishes, writing, etc., into the evening when/if my baby decides to wake up every couple of hours, or if she won't go to sleep at her normal bedtime. On the whole, it makes life a little frustrating right now. More than a week went by where I didn't do any writing at all, really, and I started to get really tense and snappish because of it.

Ever know that feeling?

I did manage to do some writing last night. I really want to finish this short story soon, though. I feel like it's been dragging out long enough, due to my unpredictable writing schedule. I don't know how on earth I'll do Nanowrimo this year. I really don't.

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Slowly, Slowly, Comes the Progress.

It has been a busy week. My sister and my nephew have been in town, and I have been visiting with them several days of this week. Between that and caring for the baby, I have only managed minimal writing this week. However, I am taking advantage of the situation to ask my sister questions about cows and other general animal questions as they become pertinent to my story.

I believe I am halfway finished with my story. I look forward to completing it and turning my attention toward my Mer novel again. Hopefully I can work on that some more before Nanowrimo.

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Time Management

I would really like to finish my short story soon. Yet I have been unable to manage more than a paragraph or two the last couple of nights, after my daughter goes to sleep "for the night." There are so many other things to do: cook, do dishes, shower, do yoga, etc. It's the only time of day that I have much time to accomplish anything. But I feel like I have to choose between several different activities every night, and since the family needs to eat and I desperately have to be clean or I get grumpy, writing doesn't always make the cut.

But now, as my daughter slumbers in her swing for a late afternoon nap, I have some extra time on hand to enjoy a cup of tea and think about how in the world I can find more time for everything. Or at least more time for writing, if possible. This made me wonder: how do different writers manage their time? Do many of you organize blocks of writing time into a strict schedule, or are you more casual about it? What are some techniques that you writers who are also parents use?

This subject has me thinking ahead to Nanowrimo in November, and I'm wondering how I can possibly finish and win it this year if things stay as they are now. I need a better system. I've considered keeping my notebook nearby as I play with my daughter throughout the day, and jotting things down here or there. Of course, this runs the risk of being interrupted a lot and losing some great stuff. It also gives me pause because I don't want it to become a habit. I don't want to be one of those mothers that is always focused on something else and never present in the moment with her kids.

I have a lot to think about.

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