Let NaNoWriMo begin

Ohhh NaNoWriMo.

Anyone who's been a follower for at least a year should remember me talking about it last year. It is pretty much amazing. National Novel Writing Month. You write a 50,000 word novel in a month. It might sound crazy, but I actually succeeded last year.

I was planning on boycotting this year, sadly, because I wouldn't have much time with a 5-week old baby. At 12pm today, twelve hours after it began, I said screw it and started writing. I'm almost 500 words in and I'm determined to at least get a few thousand words. And I learned I sometimes have an easier time coming up with a story if I just start writing without any kind of a plan.

"It was something I never expected to happen in a million years. It so wasn't like me at all."

Some posts from last year:
15 Steps to Writing a Novel - My way
My goodbye the day before NaNo started

So if I'm not writing much, it may be because I'm busy with the baby. Or it may be because I'm devoting any of my baby-free time to writing. Wish my luck on this insane writing adventure.

Ps.. If anyone would like to partner up with me and exchange buttons, get the info here and send me an email.

Untitled

A POEM

NaNoWriMo is over

November is ending

Christmas is approaching

It's time to be spending

Work is relaxing

My life is going good

My grandfather keeps doing better

Like we hoped he would

Tomorrow is my day off

My boyfriend is moving

Time is just flying by

The weather is not improving

15 Steps to Writing a Novel...

The Steps to Writing a Novel: According to Venassa

(When you have to write 50,000 words in 30 days)

Step 1: Have computer open and ready to go. Have thoughts about all you're going to write, and how today is the day that you're not only going to catch up, but get ahead. 

Step 2: Open your web browser.

Step 3: Spend at least 10 minutes on Facebook.

Step 4: Open your writing program of choice. 

Step 5: Spend at least 5 minutes on Blogger, to see if you have any new comments on the post your wrote last week, because obviously you've been too busy to write anything else. 

Step 6: Spend at least a couple of minutes on Twitter, checking for replies, and reading the first 20 or so Tweets on  your homepage. 

Step 7: Open the file for the novel you are working on. Scroll down to the bottom, the middle, or wherever it is you're planning on writing from next. 

Step 8: Visit the NaNoWriMo website, just to see the word count you're supposed to be at. It's nice to see how far behind you actually are before you start writing. 

Step 9: Write a couple of words. Maybe a sentence or two. Take a sip of whatever beverage you have beside you. 

Step 10: Write a little bit more. Decide to check one of Facebook/Blogger/Twitter/NaNoWriMo again. 

Step 11: Actually write for a few minutes. Paste your entire document into a word counter (if you're lame like me, and don't have MS Word) and be annoyed that you only wrote about 400 words. It seemed like so much more! 

Step 12: Check one of Facebook/Blogger/Twitter/NaNoWriMo again, before you decide you need some help. Open up Write or Die. Actually write for a span of 10 minutes without stopping. 

Step 13: Get annoyed at anything that happens, or anyone that comes near you or speaks to you during the Write or Die process. Even go as far as yelling "I'm being timed!!" whenever anyone opens their mouth to speak near you. 

Step 14: Finally get to the point where you're only about 200 words away from your goal for the day, and rejoice in the fact that you're not really behind anymore, even though technically you are. 

Step 15: Close the computer with a smile, and try to make up with the people you pissed off while using Write or Die. Come back and repeat the next day. 

*Note: I am actually currently 93 words ahead! Go me! 

Me, Lately

1. My giveaway ends in less than 48 hours! Hurry up and enter if you haven't already!

2. Nine days in and my NaNoWriMo story is still going strong. I haven't fallen behind at all yet.

3. My boyfriend is kind of mean. You see, he bought me The Sims 3 as a late birthday present. He knows how I'm trying to write a novel this month, and here he is buying me a distraction. I love the Sims. Mine has already had sex woo hoo and had a baby named Charity. I can't get her father to commit though. But I guess that's okay because he's unemployed, a coward, and won't stop playing the guitar.

4. I work two shifts tomorrow - one at each job, but then it's smooth sailing after that. I'm off but paid on Thursday (Remembrance Day), work a short shift on Friday, then off again Saturday.

5. I miss regular blog reading. I'm trying to keep up though.

6. I'm still addicted to Gilmore Girls.

7. My cold is still kicking around, but I'm surviving.

8. I mentioned at the end of this post that if you suggested a line for me to randomly stick into my story, I would tweet about your blog. I am going to do that tonight for all three that suggested a line.

9. Tell me what you've been up to so far this week.

Letters of Intent

 

Dear Lady
(who has a meeting here tomorrow)

Don't come up to me demanding to see the manager unless you actually need to see a manager. A simple "our meeting is supposed to be advertised outside, but isn't" would've sufficed. I got that done for you, no manager needed. No need in pointlessly freaking me out.

Signed
Worker who is tired of getting complained to over very little things

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Dear NaNoWriMo,

You are a lot of work when I am sick. You are lucky I managed to pound almost 2000 words into the keyboard last night, while falling asleep. You are harder than I expected, since I can't get time alone to write, but I am still ahead of the game.

Signed
Crazy Writer



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Dear Jessie

You have been a great car to me for the past 3 years. I've enjoyed our time together. I thought you did, too, but lately you've been making me think otherwise.

You see, when you refuse to stop when I push your brakes, it makes me think that you might be trying vehicle suicide. When you get really shaky when we're driving, it makes me think that maybe you're trying to kill both of us, and not just yourself. And I know it's not your fault that your back tire keeps getting the air knocked out of you, but that's just life Jessie. No need to get depressed over it. I promise you are getting fancy new winter tires soon. Maybe even tomorrow. You just have to take is easy and not get so upset until then.

I hope you will enjoy hanging out with my grandfather for a few days. He gets along a lot better with cars than I do. And I promise when I'm driving my grandfather's car, Olive, that I don't like her more than you. You will always be my favorite.

Signed,
Girl who is scared for both of our lives


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Dear Blog Readers/Followers

I love you guys. Have a good weekend!

Signed
Girl who misses regular blogging & reading

Did You Know?

Listen to some 2010 Hanson Songs

RIP Rich Cronin (far right of photo)

Another Short Goodbye

Goodbye because I need to spend less time on blogger.

Not for long. Just a month. A month can seem kind of long. 

Six hours from now National Novel Writing Month officially starts for me. Midnight. November 1st. 

Gone are the days when I could spend hours aimlessly creeping facebook and reading blogs. It's officially time to start spending all my free time writing. My novel won't write itself. Actually, it kind of did. 

I know I mentioned my story idea before, and offered to let people read it. The whole idea has changed. 

I am now going to be writing a story I've previously written, from scratch. Exact same idea, characters, scenes, but written completely new, with no looking at the previously written story. 

The first draft was 36,081 words. Many scenes are lame need to be cut out and rewritten. 

It will be a challenge, and also very fun to re-write the story. It is one of very few stories that I've actually written from beginning to end, and they're all from my high school years at best. It is definitely not good writing. 

The fun part will be actually taking my stories and making them better. Readable. I am very excited to start. 

Now, time to outline and research a bit. 

PS: If someone would suggest a great, unique name for a coffee shop, it would help out a lot. 

The Nano Countdown is On

There are 9.. NINE.. days left until NaNoWriMo officially starts. I've blubbered about this before, a few days ago, and last year, but I am doing it this year. And I am telling everyone, because really, the more people you tell, the bigger loser you look like when you fail, right? So you guys need to keep me in line. 

This is me here. You can spy on me there to make sure I'm actually writing, when I'm not droning on about it in here.

This is my opening line: "Heartbreak, he was sure, was not supposed to feel like this." I adopted it from one of the NaNoWriMo forums. 

"After a couple of mishaps with online dating, Noah Van Hagan gets a little tired of the scene. Deciding he would rather have fun with online dating, than suffer through it, he purposely acts the 'crazy' part. Insert Maddy Cooper documenting his every shananigan, and his ex, Kenley Morris, wanting in on the fun, and the whole game gets too complicated, too quick."

I'm not sure where it came from. But I've been creeping the forums a lot, getting ideas, leaving questions and getting helpful answers (about film school, online dating stories). I'm putting in the work this year and I'm going to rock it. 

So... who wants to be the first to read my literary train wreck in December? 

Welcome, October

In a little over an hour it will be October 10th. 

10/10/2010. Scary, isn't it? 

I just find it scary that it's already 10 days into October. Monday is already Thanksgiving. In 3 weeks it's Halloween. You know what that means? 

It'll soon be snowing here. In 2008 our first snowfall happened overnight on Halloween. 

Here are a couple of amusing pictures I found on weheartit. Excuse the language. 

After October comes November and NaNoWriMo month. I wrote a bit about it last year. To sum up:

2008 - big fat fail

2009 - 2nd big fat fail

2010 - I will rock NaNoWriMo

It stands for National Novel Writing Month. You have to write 50,000 words in 30 days. It seems to possible when you first begin, but so impossible about halfway through the month. For me and my failures anyway. I tried so hard to plan ahead last year, but when November 1st hit, I still didn't have a sold idea to work with. 

Not that I have one this year, but I have my opening line:

"Heartbreak, he was sure, was not supposed to feel like this."

And that is the extent of my planning ahead. I adopted the line from one of the forums on the website. People suggest characters, plots, opening lines, quirks, ideas and you can adopt them. It's fun. 

Anyone participating in this crazy thing as well? Or has anyone even heard of it? 

NaNoWriMo 2009

I am currently one word away from 9000 words. Not bad. I started one story, got completely stuck, started another and I'm just not letting myself get stuck. It's far from my best story, has some 'based on real life' parts, but I think it will get the job done. My goal is to not be behind by the end of tonight. I doubt I'll actually succeed at that, but at least I'll be closer.

NaNoWriMo current fail

Two posts ago I wrote about NaNoWriMo.org. I've started, scratched that idea, and started again. I'm under 2000 words, where I should be writing at least 1800 a day. I'm a bit behind. You'd think with nothing to do all night working the midnight shift (4 days this week) I'd be doing a little better. I don't have the best concentration here at all.

NaNoWriMo Time

I can't believe how close to November it already is. It's almost NaNoWriMo time. www.nanowrimo.org/ "The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30."

I made an attempt last year but lost interest/ideas in my story, so I gave up. It's HARD. I want to try again, which almost seems like a really stupid idea since I'm working 32-40 hours a week at one job, and 4-20 hours a week at the other job. I'm short on free time. But I think I'll try anyway. I just need an idea to work with, cause so far, I've got nothing.