Feb BIW Day 7 One challenge ends and another begins

This has been a challenging week for me to produce pages for the novel. I'm definitely further ahead than I was at the start of the February Book-in-a-Week. If I look at my overall productivity, this was a very busy, busy week. So I can't complain much.

With the end of one challenge, it's time to prepare for the next and spend the in-between time capturing more words on the page. I'm still working on the habit of getting words down before the day begins. Now that is a challenge. But it's worth doing because I have a lot of distractions popping up during the day. By the evening my brain doesn't have much fuel left to write. My goal for the remaining month is to wake up early, before the dogs begin their morning rituals and the day's demands start, and write--and to do this 21+ days in a row.

Guess I'm setting up for the March BIW. Hope you'll join me. If you're interested in BIW, go ahead and register and get everything set up ahead of time. It'll make things easier when the first week rolls around.

Feb BIW Day 2 Shamed into wordcount

Okay, this morning I wrote 3.5 pages. That's terrific, even amazing, compared to last month's efforts. The question is why? Well, I could come up with a lot of esoteric stuff about my recalcitrant muse and the many teasers I laid out but I don't think that had anything to do with it. I think I was shamed into it. 

Last month I forgot to submit my totals for the January BIW so I didn't even get to the starting gate. (BIW happens the first week of the month.) I floundered along all during Janowrimo but never really got anywhere other than morning posts here. So for February's commitment I signed up for the February BIW. I submitted my goal of 20 pages for the week. I woke up yesterday and couldn't shake the work I was doing on a different project so I never got around to writing on the novel. This morning I had to submit my page count to BIW. I had to send an email with a zero in the header. Shame! Immediately after I picked up my notebook and hand wrote 3.5 pages with a scene coming together as I wrote. No matter the reason, I'm glad it happened--and I don't have to send in another zero at the end of the day. Hurrah!

Janowrimo 2010: Day 20 Taking control of the day

Lately I've had to face the fact that I'm not taking control of my day in the way that I should. When I was working productivity came easy. There were a small number of hours available during the week when I could scratch out a scene or edit a chapter. It sharpened my focus. Now I'm faced with a different set of tasks, goals, and responsibilities while, at the same time, managing more available hours. You'd think it would be easy to find the time and the words. Instead I've realized that I've become more reactive, responding to the events of the day, rather than proactive and resolute to work my plan.

So today I'm going to take a lead from my earlier post this week and make time to write and do so at a different location. A change of scenery might be what my brain needs to make new connections. There's still plenty of time to reach my monthly goal.  

Janowrimo 2010: Day 18 Good intentions aren't enough

I woke up yesterday and infused the day with good intentions. I wrote a small amount while still in bed before I even put my feet on the floor. I planned to participate in Scribblerati's Sunday Write-A-Thon, even showed up. But my brain wouldn't connect the words, let alone the plot, and my good intentions dribbled away.

Intentions without actions are like that. They're nice to have but when they lack the strong girding of a plan they fade as quickly as they appear. I didn't take the steps I should have to make sure my intentions became actualities. I had no focus. I allowed distractions to overtake my initial morning enthusiasm. In the end I didn't glue my butt to the chair and make it happen.

How about you? Have you had good intentions this January only to find the days frittering away? What do you do in response to a good intention gone bad?

Janowrimo 2010: Day 17 A change of scenery?

Writing pales when the day is gorgeous, Sunday, and has a bright sun beckoning. I did try to do some writing when I first woke up this morning and accomplished just under two pages but I sure wouldn't show them to anyone. The words didn't click, the hand moved in spurts, the thoughts refused to come together. Not a pretty thing at all and It's left me with a bad case of the blahs. I suppose it doesn't help that bright sun flashes its come-on enticing me outside. Perhaps a change of scenery would do me good. It's been nearly a week of sitting at the computer with the curtains parted only to reveal dismal wet rain.

The more I think about going outside the more I reflect on how my environment impacts my writing. Maybe that's what I need to do this week. In addition to the daily 100/100 early morning writing gig, maybe a new writing place is in order. Maybe it will stimulate my brain and kick it into cooperation. Panera seems to be the hot writerly place nowadays but I may include a trip to a local Borders, too. And La Madeleine remains my favorite public writing spot. Until then the dogs and I will play in the sun, then I'll join in on the Scribblerati's Sunday afternoon write-a-thon.

Janowrimo Day 16 Working the numbers

Wow, we're past the halfway mark for the month and I have a huge amount of writing to do to meet my January wordcount goal of 20,000. The good news is that I have more than 1700 words. The bad news is that I still have 18,248 to go. All hope is not lost, though, because January is a 31-day month. With 16 days left, including today, if I average 1,141 words daily I'll make it.

From the numbers I might conclude that this hasn't been a very successful effort; however, wordcount alone does not make up the life of a writer. The first thing I had to do was reconnect with my characters and my story. That is definitely happening and getting better every day. I attribute that to making the daily effort early in the morning to get something on the page before the hours mount and distractions and events claim my time. Now I need to extend that effort to longer and/or more writing daily writing time. I'm open to tricks, tips, and strategies.

Nanowrimo 2009 The End: Admitting defeat so the phoenix can rise again

This year proved to be a giant bust for me when it came to Nanowrimo. It began full of promise with me loaded to the gills with enthusiasm, orchestrated plans, and a network of fellow wrimos to urge me on. I even had a side bet with a friend. The truth is I stumbled right out of the starting gate. Within 24 hours some kind of nasty virus invaded my body and took me down for two weeks. I don't think I ever recovered from that physical blow despite the best of intentions. So Nanowrimo 2009 became a huge disappointment. But I'm not down forever. There's always next year's competition and all the days in between. I still love all the energy and excitement Nanowrimo brings and may even look for one of the other monthly competitions to fire things up a bit. Perhaps I'll expand the coverage in this blog should I stumble across one....

Nanowrimo 2009: Day 18 Getting back into story

Eighteen days into this year's Nanowrimo I find myself having to remotivate and rediscover myself and my story. I spent 10 days with a nasty contagious virus that put me flat in bed and unable to even think coherently let alone write. My desk is littered with piles of junk mail, magazines, and unopened bills. My task list is toppling over from its weight. I have to find a way to bypass that environmental and daily life stress and get back into the character and the book.

I spent some time trying to clear the decks a bit and then had a mini-crisis with my mom this last weekend so in the tradition of most writer's lives, it got in the way. Today is a new day and another opportunity to still get some Nano writing in so I'm going to start small. I plan on one paragraph a day and will be thrilled if it moves into more. How about you? Are you doing a two-step with issues, clutter, tasks, and guilt?

Nano 2009: Late start is better than no start

Wouldn't you know, just as the 2009 Nanowrimo clock begins a nasty virus takes hold and starts up its own ticking bomb. I've lost ten days already in this year's endeavor. That's a huge hit and there's no way you can truly avoid the reality of lost hours and lack of production. Does it mean it's time to chuck Nano 2009 and wait until next year? Of course not.

The nasty bug not only kicked me into bed but it also crashed all hope of attending Donald Maass's Fire in Fiction workshop in Seattle and a big opportunity to hole away and concentrate solely on my writing. I'd been planning and anticipating the trip for months. It's one of those disappointments that takes root and feeds the feelings of missed opportunities and plans gone awry. The good news is that I'm well enough to have those feelings and appreciate them. The bad news is the same.

What to do? There's not much else you can do other than start up the computer, create a quick game plan for the day, and hit the keyboard running. So once I work my way through the mountain range of bills and junk mail and pay said bills, I'll be turning my attention back to writing--again.

Countdown to Nano 2009: Day 2 (Clearing the decks)

Well, technically it's 38 hours and 43 minutes until the mad white-hot writing begins. Planning should be on the downward slide and time left now will concentrate on preparing the writing environment. Clear the desks, get the files containing the daily templates in place, and bring the index cards and scene notes to the table. Yesterday was consumed by a severe neck/back spasm leaving me with a severe headache to contend with all afternoon and evening. Muscle relaxer and pain pills helped. Hoping they finish the spasm off today so my head is clear and my neck and upper back are relaxed and ready for the butt-in-chair approach to story engine dynamics. How about you? Are you ready for Sunday and Nanowrimo 2009?

Countdown to Nano 2009: Day 4 (Side Wagers)

Well, yesterday is no way to greet the advent of Nanowrimo. Wordcount? Zip. Nada. Nuttin'. By the time I got back from a day of errands I didn't much feel like tackling the keyboard. I'll be out today but I really need to buckle down and go for even a very small amount of words. The one thing I did do is take on a wee bit of a side wager with a fellow scribbler Lia Keyes over at Scribblerati, We both have about the same aim in wordcount and similar goals. While Lia is offering a $100 Amazon gift certificate for the Scribbler who manages the highest wordcount, she and I will be throwing down the gauntlet daily as we march toward the finish line. If you want a little extra boost, you might try a little wager with a friend yourself.

Countdown to Nano 09: Day 5 (Stretching the imagination)

Okay, so I thought I'd try and do a little writing every day to stretch the old imagination. I managed to eke out two paragraphs with 197 words. Dismal. Dismal production and pretty dismal content. I'm going to have to do better than that if I want to get excited. Today's production is nil...at the moment. I still have a little over an hour and a half to get a few words in but I can't say my brain is on fire with some dueling characters or atmospheric-ridden prose. Enough kvetching for today. Time to rescrew my head and gin up a better attitude. I hope the rest of the nanobots are having a better time of it.

Another day, another bunch of words

Okay, posted my wordcount for Day 2: 1189. Worked on the same scene as yesterday. I also spent quite a bit of time working on the scene's dynamics and am pretty pleased with the results. There's still more to do but the great thing is this is a brand new scene that I hadn't realized before. I also have a new character, too. So I can already tell the difference from having a concentrated focus on this scene.

NaNoWriMo Begins

Okay, I actually completed the first day AND posted my wordcount: 590. I know, it's not that much but it is a start. I had to deal with a lot of unanticipated distractions, and as you know, as soon as you announce to the world your intention the world responds back with a whack of negativity to test your commitment. So I feel pretty good that I actually did follow through yesterday.

One thing I did yesterday was to revise a scene storyboard technique I learned from Robert Ray's Weekend Writer. Over the years I found a few things that intensify the focus of my first draft and included them. My template is a tool I use to drop me into the scene. By the time I've finished filling it out, I usually am hearing dialogue, hearing movement, and entering deeper into the novel. Once the inital blast of energy is over I copy the actual scene content into a word file and off I go to finish the first draft. It generally works every time. Since I plan to use that process every day this month to move along, I wanted to upgrade it so I'm working off all the items from the beginning.

So how did your day go yesterday? Ready for today?

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