Writer Returns from the Wilderness

It's been a long time I know. After a prolonged stay in the UK to support family, I came back to a major snow storm that lasted almost fourteen days and a week after the snow has finally stopped falling we're now thawing out, both literally and figuratively speaking. I have missed my writing but haven't found the energy or the motivation - up until now. As from yesterday, I entered my 50th year and as this looming date features heavily in my writing goals for this year, I thought I better kick myself back into action. So for starters - here are my goals. My reasoning is that if I post them in as many places as I can, I shall be shamed into making it happen! A lot of fairy dust maybe and not much reality but hey... a girl has to aim high.

This year I'm going to focus on writing historical fiction (with a bit of fantasy for distraction) and becoming published by my 50^th birthday in February 2013. I'm going to take a page out of  a WA members book and write hard, read hard and develop my craft by accessing some online courses which are targetted to developing a particular writing skill. I'm also going to be investing some time into our Family History, which is something I've always meant to do and who knows -  I might find a few ideas along the way.

1.      To write at least 5000 words per week, towards any project (a bit behind on this one for various reasons)

2.      To edit 'The Dukes Shadow' (my 2011 Nano project)

a.       First edit by Feb 29^th

b.      Second by March 31st

c.       Third by April 30th

3.    To revisit 'The Morning Gift' (Historical novel set in Saxon times, written 2011) and devise plan for editing.

4.      To revise at least one Penny and George story per month, with a view to completing series by the end of the year – December 2012

5      To participate in the 100k in 100 days challenge for 'Wolf Moon' (fantasy story started as Monday Muse – Xanthe submissions) but will start Feb 1^st. as you can probably guess I'm already behind on this but as of yesterday am catching up... again!

6      To research options for Nano 2012 and make decision by June 2012

7.      To submit short stories to the Telegraph book club on monthly basis

8.      To submit at least two Monday Muses a month on Writers Abroad

In Absentia

Apologies for not being around but a family bereavement turns everything on its head. Will be back when I'm ready but needless to say very little progress for this writer at the moment... but I will return.
Until Later...

High Winds, Blogging and Fairy Dust...

Don't really mix... internet connection has been terribly dodgy all week and am taking opporunity of a bit of a lull to write a quick blogette. Didn't want you to think that I'd cut and run. I'm still working through PloWriMo and some of it is useful, so I'm going to stick with it. Also just got back into writing habit after NaNoWriMo, it kind of sucked me dry.

So my plans over the festive hols? Well, I'm going to write my 2012 goals and make sure they are laced with a touch of fairy dust but lashings of reality. And it's going to snow, so warm fire, a pile of reading books and a pen and my journal. Sorted.

Until Later...

From NaNoWriMo to PlotWriMo

Well, yes as you can see, I made it! And a day early too. So I'm really chuffed but I've been lying down in a dark room since. Well, that's not quite true but I've had a bad head cold, my Man Friday is suffering from acute sciatic pain and we had to paint the lounge! The break from the daily writing has been good (if not a little enforced - having less than fours sleep a night is not conducive to the creative muse) but I am keen to get back into a routine.

So I've started to follow PloWriMo - this will help, hopefully, in the second drafting of The Dukes' Shadow, and whilst I really enjoyed writing the story I know there are yawning holes and gaps to be filled, so in preparation for the editing task in January 2012 I thought I'd see what this particular blog has to offer. I don't like watching the videos though, for one thing my connection can be a bit fickle but I'm just not a visual person in terms of learning the writing craft, reading about it and doing the exercises are much more my cup of tea...

Until Later

Finishing Post In Sight

Yes, sorry I'm going to blog on about NaNoWriMo again but it's nearly all over. And it is rather all consuming. However I try to get my daily word count done in the morning so it leaves me free to do other things, which surprisingly I have found the time for. I think it's because I feel most inspired by the challenge of producing fifty thousand words (or more) in a month. I know there are some writers who say that NaNoWriMo is something must less than a novel, but 50k (doesn't it sound better in longhand?) is better than no words at all. So whilst I am fully aware that much of what I have written may never appear in the finished product (oh yes, this time there will be a finished product) then it gives me something to edit and improve on. So it's not time wasted, not for me nor all the other thousands and thousands of NaNo scribblers. So what will happen post 30th November? Well, it is the start of the silly season - someone said today that it was exactly a month until the 'X' word - so I think I'm going to spend December looking at all my other projects I've dabbled with during 2011 and decide on the next steps, write out my new writing plan for 2012 (and yes, it might look very like 2011) and outline a plan I have for the 100k in 100 days challenge which starts on 1st January! Until Later...

Halfway there...

So this week I'm dedicating my blog to all those fellow NaNoWriMo writers who maybe struggling or running out of steam. It's over halfway over and things can only get easier as we approach the deadline,don't get hung up on getting it right, just WRITE!

And a poem, which I think I've probably referenced before but it seems to sum up the inspiration I need to get this draft out onto the blank screen.

The Don't Quit Poem

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, 

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, 

When the funds are low and the debts are high, 

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, 

When care is pressing you down a bit, 

Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns, 

As every one of us sometimes learns, 

And many a failure turns about, 

When he might have won had he stuck it out; 

Don't give up though the pace seems slow-- 

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than, 

It seems to a faint and faltering man, 

Often the struggler has given up, 

When he might have captured the victor's cup, 

And he learned too late when the night slipped down, 

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out-- 

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, 

And you never can tell how close you are, 

It may be near when it seems so far, 

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-- 

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

- Author unknown

NaNoWriMo - Modus Operandi

So, it's day eleven of NaNoWriMo (National Write a Novel in a Month for the uninitiated) and I've almost caught up with the daily word count targets. I should have reached 18, 337 but as you can see from my progress meter on the left, I'm a little behind. My excuse is that I was away visiting family and attending a wedding for the first seven days and I'm quite proud that I started and have managed to catch up. It would have been so easy to just not bother.

I've tried lots of ways to structure my approach to NaNoWriMo challenge - this is my third, maybe fourth year - and this year I've returned to my first modus operandi. I wake at around 6.30 am, not naturally you understand but at the behest of my two large Italian sheepdogs who decide it's 'wakey wakey!' time. Depending on the day I will feed them, the cats and the chickens, (my Man Friday and I take it in turns - how is that for sharing the chores) make a cup of tea and return to bed.

Whilst MF is reading and with clear instructions not to laugh, snort or say a word, I open my journal, pick up pen and start to write until I've completed at least 5 pages, if not more. Depending on my style of writing that morning (it is influenced both by my mood and the pen I am using) I can write about 1500 words and it takes me about 30 minutes. This is made a tad easier this year, as I have taken time to outline the premise of the novel and my characters in detail prior to the challenge and have written around 30 one sentence scene prompts.

Later that day, I will process my journal entry onto my PC using the Scrivener programme which does not offer the distractions of Microsoft Word. During this time I can add anything up to 500 words and sometimes will go onto create further scenes that have resulted from the characters actions or is an extension of the plot I had planned. I do not edit or change what I have written down that morning, merely add to it. The morning activity provides an outline, a framework within which to build the scene.

Now this may seem OTT to those of you who go straight to your PC and tap away happily, but my method works for me. And that's kind of the point - I've read a lot of advice about how to 'do' NaNoWriMo and I think the only valid one is - do what works for you.

Until Later....