Jess, my daughter over at Write Skate Dream, convinced me to take part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I was a little apprehensive about trying to write 50,000 words in a month because my main focus has been writing picture books with around 500 words! I figured my pacing would be too fast and I would come to the end of the novel by word 2,000. But Jess really wanted me to join her in the challenge, so I took the plunge.
Today is Day 9 and I'm 5,122 words behind my daily word count but that's ok because I have written 8,211 words and there is still plenty of story to write! I'm not worried about winning NaNo. I'm simply enjoying the process.
Along the way I've learned a few things about my writing too, like I'm not so good at crafting interesting dialogue. I caught myself too many times using short stiff answers like a simple "thank you" which didn't take the plot anywhere.
I've also learned to rely on what Jess calls a skeleton, which is really a glorified outline, to keep the story moving in the right direction. The more detailed I make the skeleton, the easier it is to do the actual writing.
The most important lesson I'm trying to master by participating in NaNo is to carve out at least an hour each day to work on my writing projects, instead of running around crazy, trying to get everything else on my "to do" list done before I write.
I'd love to hear how your projects are going whether you're doing NaNo or not.
Today is Day 9 and I'm 5,122 words behind my daily word count but that's ok because I have written 8,211 words and there is still plenty of story to write! I'm not worried about winning NaNo. I'm simply enjoying the process.
Along the way I've learned a few things about my writing too, like I'm not so good at crafting interesting dialogue. I caught myself too many times using short stiff answers like a simple "thank you" which didn't take the plot anywhere.
I've also learned to rely on what Jess calls a skeleton, which is really a glorified outline, to keep the story moving in the right direction. The more detailed I make the skeleton, the easier it is to do the actual writing.
The most important lesson I'm trying to master by participating in NaNo is to carve out at least an hour each day to work on my writing projects, instead of running around crazy, trying to get everything else on my "to do" list done before I write.
I'd love to hear how your projects are going whether you're doing NaNo or not.
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| Wikipedia photo by Luc Viatour at www.Lucnix.be |
The Earth Really Does Turn
I know the Earth is always rotating, but other than the slowly setting sun I don't ever have the chance to see the evidence of its motion. Last night I had that opportunity.
The evening was warm and we gazed through clear skies to look at the moon in our telescope. It's dimpled face shone brightly through the lenses. The craters seemed close enough to reach out and touch. Captivated by it's beauty, I kept my eyes fixed. Slowly the moon inched it's way across the eyepiece until it was no longer visible from that position. I don't know how much time had elapsed, it seemed like only about 30seconds, but there it was in front of my eyes. The rotation of the Earth. AWESOME!
KathyThe evening was warm and we gazed through clear skies to look at the moon in our telescope. It's dimpled face shone brightly through the lenses. The craters seemed close enough to reach out and touch. Captivated by it's beauty, I kept my eyes fixed. Slowly the moon inched it's way across the eyepiece until it was no longer visible from that position. I don't know how much time had elapsed, it seemed like only about 30seconds, but there it was in front of my eyes. The rotation of the Earth. AWESOME!
I follow your daughters blog and I really like it! Sounds like you have a the big picture understanding of NaNo and you are doing great! Just enjoy the ride and keep writing! :)
ReplyDeleteI also follow Jess. She's great.
ReplyDeleteI need to wrap up a project before 2012. 50,000wds to go :).
Good luck with NaNo!
All I can say is I'm glad my book has been done - since I never considered myself as a writer and still don't. Because of all other obligations, figuring out how to self-publish the book has been going at a snail's pace... It's also partly because I want to follow an expert's guideline. Supposedly, if I follow it once, then I will always know how to do it the right way. It may be worth it if I were to ever publish a sequel to my first book. Now, that’s a BIG if!
ReplyDeleteI love your attitude toward a goal – to enjoy the process. That's so important.
J.A.- Thanks, it's been a fun ride so far!
ReplyDeleteIsis- Thanks, I'm pretty lucky! Good luck on your project.
Reiko- I can't wait to see the final product!
You're definitely getting there with the word count! I'm doing NaNo too, and it's tough trying to squeeze out so many words in such a short time, but I also love the challenge!
ReplyDelete