Cheering From The Sidelines

  This is the third year in a row where I have a work commitment set for November, seriously cutting into any chance I have to participate in NaNoWriMo. I've never thought that November was a good time to devote one month to writing a 50,000-word novel. But I do love the idea of a community of writers all supporting each other as they work toward that incredible goal.
  Last year, I jumped in late because of a trial that ended the first week of November, and still managed to write about 15,000 words. But this year, I will be cheering from the sidelines. My work schedule is just too busy to even think about writing a new project, getting to know fascinating characters, plotting out a fun story, finding and developing a unique setting...
  Sigh. I will miss the camaraderie this November. For those of you crazy enough to take on this challenge, I'm pulling for you. May the words just flow from your mind. And feel free to join my lobbying efforts for an August NaNoWriMo.

Resolutions – September Update

    After the blockbuster August writing binge, my poor muse was exhausted. As a result, September was not a great month for writing. I felt wrung out, creatively, at least. I’m sure part of this was because I was working a LOT and by the time I got home in the evening, my brain was pretty well mush.
    Even with this break, I managed to get 4,888 words on paper this month. Not great, but better than September 2011, when I wrote 3,367 words. Last month I wrote 406 words on the novella project, and 1,151 on an idea that I needed to excise from my brain and get on paper so it would leave me alone. I wrote 1,495 words on the romantic suspense novel that I’d been neglecting for a couple months. I also wrote 1,582 words on last year’s NaNoWriMo project.
     I wrote 10 days last month, a far cry from my daily writing streak in August. And I did miss it. I’d like to find a happy medium in October – maybe write at least 5 days a week. Still, I am at 124,431 words for the year.
    This year, once again, I have an unavoidable work commitment the first week in November, so I don’t think I’ll be participating in the official NaNoWriMo. I may jump in late, depending on when my work project wraps up. To prepare, I’ve been studying the method put forth by Rachel Aaron in her brilliant post “How I Went From Writing 2,000 Words a Day to 10,000 Words a Day.” She’s also been interviewed on a couple of my favorite podcasts — The First Million Words and The Dead Robots’ Society. I'm totally going to give this a try, even though I'm not starting from writing 2,000 words. I especially love the idea of sketching out the scene you're going to write before sitting down to write. When I've done this in the past, it has helped me focus and write faster.
    One of my main goals for 2012 was to finish one of my lingering WIPs and I haven't done that yet. But I am still confident that I can. I need to take a hard look at the romantic suspense WIP and see what scenes I need to write to get to the end. I already have three potential endings sketched out, but I've been stumped on how to make it to that point from where I am. In the last month, I've had several ideas on that. Now it's time to get them written down. 

View from our Table

   Yes, yes, another vacation photograph instead of an entry. Hey, it's not a cat photo. This time.

Back at the Helm

Point Reyes, Calif.

     After a couple rough weeks of writing, I'm back at the keyboard. Now the problem is which project to work on next? While I work on that, enjoy this photograph from my archives. I'll write actual words to post soon, but not today. Today is for revisiting my imaginary friends and seeing what trouble I can get them into.

Enjoy the Weekend

Boat in the surf, Mexico, 2008.

  Well. I just don't have a lot to say these last couple of weeks. That's not going to change right away, since I have house-guests this weekend and will be busy entertaining. I might be able to get some writing done, but after last month's marathon writing streak, I think I just needed a bit of a break. My brain feels wrung out.
  So, enjoy this photo from Mexico. And enjoy the weekend.

Wish You Were Here? Me, too.

Surf beach, Mexico, 2008.

Resolutions — August Update

    I have long had a theory that National Novel Writing Month should have been set in August, not November. There’s simply too much going on in November — Thanksgiving, holiday preparations, travel, family visits, and if you’re a student, you’re preparing for finals and finishing (or starting) those semester-long projects. But what’s going on in August? Nothing. No holidays. It’s summer. It’s hot (at least here), which keeps people inside during the hottest part of the day. Perfect for writing. Hell, take your notebook outside or to the beach and write.
    My writing progress last month supports my theory. This was the single most productive month I’ve had since I started tracking my word counts. Drum roll, please …
    My total word-count this month:  41,810.

    Now, a small disclaimer:  I’m counting the dates between July 30 and September 2 because that’s how my August spreadsheet is set up. Still, I wrote every day (except one), which was one of my goals for 2012.
    In July, I wrote 3,381 words. I far exceeded my August 2011 total, when I wrote 2,951 words.
    I wrote 28,300 words on the project formerly known as the novella, but which has grown into a full-length novel. I’m pretty close to being finished, with nearly 70,000 words written. I am stumped on the last few chapters, but it will come.
    I wrote 6,372 words on what will eventually be the sequel to this project. These were scenes that I had to write because those characters were haunting me until I memorialized the ideas. Toward the end of August, I began to think about the project I started during NaNoWriMo 2011. This happened when I stalled out on novella’s third act. I ended up writing 7,009 words on this project, though a lot of that was just scene synopses.
    My best day writing, I produced 4,281 words. I have a couple of days when I only managed to get a net gain of 20 or 49 words. These days were the victim of Scrivener’s daily word-count tracker, which will count backwards. I think I deleted some large paragraphs, then rewrote them, so I didn’t have much progress in quantity, though the quality probably (hopefully) improved.
    What was the reason behind my most productive writing month ever? Part of it was a week of vacation, during which I wrote more than 10,000 words. That was followed by a slow week at work, when I was able to leave early or come in late each day, so I had the time and mental energy to spend on my personal projects. More importantly, I joined an informal band of writers at Romance Divas who decided to have a NaNoWriMo in August. That accountability and camaraderie was hugely instrumental in spurring me on to write each day.
    So was having a streak of many days in a row where I wrote. Last night, for example, I didn’t sit down to write until 9 p.m., but I knew I had to produce something or I would have a blank spot on my daily writing calendar. Luckily, I had just gotten a chapter back from my critique partner, so I made some edits to that chapter and ended with a 49-word net gain.
    As of last night, I’ve written 119,543 words in 2012. That is way ahead of last year, when I was at 71,060 by the end of August.
    For September, I hope to finish the novella project and keep up the daily writing. I like the way the spreadsheet looks with all the numbers plugged into the dates. I may also work on the scene list for last year’s NaNoWriMo project, so when November rolls around again, I’ll be ready to dive back into that story.