Crazy Month

This month has been a crazy one for me. I just feel like a lot has been going on.


- writing a novel (in a month)
- trying to make it to write-ins every week (which I've managed to do so far..)
- celebrating our 7th anniversary with my husband
- having to go to the doctor because I was sick
- not getting a minute of sleep last night and getting a call this morning because a family member is n the hospital and it could be serious.


I was going to say that this month seems to be dragging, but then I realized that Thanksgiving is this week and holy crap it's almost December and I've only bought 3 gifts.


Anyways, I'm going to go make coffee and try to just get through the day. 




NaNoWriMo Update:


Day #21
Words Written- 36,462
Words Remaining- 13,538

Quick Update

I thought I would just check in to let you know how I was doing with NaNoWriMo.

I am almost to that half way point.

Somehow I have managed to stay mostly on track. 

Day #15
Words Written- 24,543
Words Remaining- 25,457

You Capture: Fall

This was an easy You Capture.

Fall is my favorite time of the year.

I love when the leaves change color.

NaNoWriMo Update:

Day # 10
Words Written-14,354
Words Remaining- 35,646

I'm just a little bit behind today. I guess that means I'd better go write.

Quick Update

Just thought I would check in to do a NaNoWriMo update.

I actually got a little behind this weekend. I went a couple days without writing anything.

However, I went to a write-in on Sunday night and I was quickly caught up again.

It's amazing what a few hours surrounded by other writers can do for your word count.

Day #7
Words Written- 10,104
Words Remaining- 39,896



In other exciting news, I felt my very first earthquake on Saturday night!

It was pretty exciting.

At first I had no idea what was happening. I heard some noise outside and my windows were rattling, which doesn't happen often. I thought that there must be some really strong wind outside. Then I realized that the wind doesn't usually shake my couch.

I looked online to see if it was what I thought it was and the only place I could get any information was Twitter. Nobody was talking about it on Facebook and none of the local news stations had any information until later that night.

I guess Twitter is the new source for late breaking news.

Can't Sleep

I was up at 5 this morning.

Actually, I never completely fell asleep. I had to hang halfway off the bed just to keep the dog comfortable.

That's why it's 6 in the morning, I'm watching Marley and Me, and I've already started a load of laundry.

I figured, why not write a blog post too?

I thought you might want an update on NaNoWriMo.

I will say this, either it gets harder each time I do it, or I just forget how hard it is.

I'm pretty sure it's harder this time around.

That might have something to do with the fact that about 6 hours before NaNoWriMo started, I threw out pages and pages of outlines and character profiles and decided to go with a different story.

A story I knew nothing about. I had 2 characters and a very vague plot idea.

That was it.

Still, I think I'm doing pretty good.

Day #4
Words written: 6,503
Words remaining: 43,497

My goal is to reach 8,000 words today.

I'd be really happy to hit 9,000 but I'm not sure I can do it on no sleep.

We'll see. I'll keep you updated.

I Made It!

This is it!

The last day of BEDO. I have blogged everyday in the month of October!

I have enjoyed the challenge of sitting down and writing something everyday. Some days where better than others, but that's life.

I probably won't be blogging daily anymore, (especially with NaNoWriMo starting tomorrow) but I hope that I will blog a little more frequently than in the past.

I have a lot to do today. Now that NaNoWriMo is so close, I'm starting to feel like I'm not ready.

Since I'm running out of time, I'm just going to focus on cleaning up my writing space and go over my outline one more time.

I'm off to do that now.

I'll be updating here every so often to let you know how NaNoWriMo is going.

NaNoWriMo

I've been talking a lot about NaNoWriMo this month.

With only two days until it starts, I can think of little else.

I thought it might be a good idea to just write a post about it.

I came up with a few very basic tips for anybody who thinks they might want to try writing a novel in a month. ( I should mention that everyone writes differently and what works for me might not work for you.)


1. Plan- It's a good idea to have at least a basic outline of your story before you start writing. I know not everybody works this way. There are some who don't like any outline at all, they just sit down and write. There are some who create very detailed outlines and character descriptions. I'm tend to fall somewhere in the middle. I like to have a very basic outline that I can follow, but not one that I'm so invested in that I get upset if the story starts to take a different direction.

2. Network- If you can find a friend to join NaNoWriMo with you, that's awesome. If you don't know anybody else who writes, check and see if there are any local write-ins. It's a great place to meet other writers who are going through the same thing you are. Also, write-ins give you a chance to catch up on your word count if you fall behind.  Last year I wasn't sure I would finish in time, so I went to a write-in and I was able to write about 5,000 words in a couple of hours. I was able to finish my novel a couple days early because of all the work I got done that night.

3. Write- This seems obvious, but it's also the one thing that keeps people who want to write, from writing. If you want to write a book, at some point, you are going to have to sit down and actually write. You have to find the time and you have to write. It can be scary if you've never done it before, but that is what #2 is all about, finding people who are going through the same experience.

That's about it. I could write pages of things you should or shouldn't do, but I wanted to stick to the basics and these were the first 3 things that came to mind.

I would add one more thing. If you do happen to reach your goal of 50,000 words in a month, you should celebrate it. My favorite thing to do when I win NaNoWriMo is to buy a winner's shirt.

Then you'll have something to wear to remind yourself and everyone else that your are a writer.