Five Weeks To Go

Thanksgiving sunset

   Thanksgiving is over and so is my major work commitment that kept me from participating in NaNoWriMo. I'm looking forward to the next five weeks when I can better balance work and writing.
   The month wasn't a total bust because I did get a few scenes written, mostly this weekend while I was on the road to visit family. This coming five weeks, though, is the make-or-break period for one of my 2012 goals -- to finish one of my WIPs. I have two contenders and need to focus on one of them to make this goal.
   To that end, I just bought Rachel Aaron's awesome writing book, 2K to 10K: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love. I've heard Rachel interviewed on several podcasts and was inspired by her approach to figuring out she could write faster. She developed a three-prong approach centered on knowledge, time and enthusiasm. Knowledge is knowing what you're going to write before you start. I'm more of a plotter than a pantser, though I'm not fully in either category. Time is tracking your productivity to see when you write best and under what conditions. And enthusiasm is keeping yourself excited about what you're writing. I've read the blog posts, but the author has added to that in the e-book and it is  worth far more than the 99-cent price.
   This week, I'm working on the project formerly known as the novella and I'm going to finish the outline, so I will know what scenes need to be written. I have a pretty good scene list, but it's lacking the last 20 percent. Taking Rachel's advice, I'm writing the end first and will then figure out how to get there from where I am.
    And where I am right now is in front of my computer with a couple hours before I need to go to bed. So I'm going to get started... now.

Resolutions – October Update

    This has not been a writerly month (it’s a word) (I had to check). The reason? I will be spending November in trial and when that happens, the month before is spent preparing for that trial. When preparing for or in trial, my client deserves my full attention. So no guilt that I only wrote 3,825 words in October. Frankly, I’m not sure when or how I managed to get that many words onto paper.
    Here’s the break-down: I wrote on six days last month; I wrote 3,263 words on the sequel to the novella, 152 words on the suspense novel, 168 words on last year’s NaNoWriMo project, and 242 words on the novella. Not great. Still, it’s better than last year, when I wrote one day and only logged 368 words in October. Yes, I had a lengthy trial last November, too. I really need to schedule work better so I can take part in NaNoWriMo next year.
    I'm now at 128,256 words for the year. That's not too shabby. Even with last month's anemic efforts toward my writing goals, I'm ahead of last year at this time, when I had 85,019 words done. The end of the year is fast approaching, though, and one of my goals is to finish something in 2012. 
    While not writing, and when not working, I have been thinking a lot about story structure, raising stakes for characters, and motivation. I have many handwritten notes about what I want to do once December arrives and things return to normal. At the top of that to-do list is “nap,” but a close second is “write.” I’m actually looking forward to the second item more (and I do love to nap).

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.