Because I Suck At The Blogging, That's Why!

Dear Secret Blogiary,

I admit quite readily, that I suck at keeping things up to date. I still have a Micheal Phelps calendar on my wall from 2009 open to January. I never flipped to page to see the next awesome Micheal Phelps photo. Never.

In any case, I have some good excuses umm, reasons - yeah, reasons - good reasons for not posting.

First, I'm boring. I haven't done much. Okay, really I have actually been doing a lot. But most of it is all just "regular" stuff - playing with The Girls, doing laundry, procrastinating.

Second, I am stressed about the whole stupid house situation, dejunking and packing. We found a nice house to rent and the move is on (have I mentioned this yet?).

Third, I am scouring and applying for jobs. I don't want to change jobs because of the economy but I also don't want the job I have. What a conundrum. With the move upcoming, I need something though. Once we move, there is no way that I will be able to commute to work! I'll be working to pay my gas bill!

Fourth, surviving the last weeks of school and trying to maintain my composure. And truly, surviving the last few weeks when the students have shut down because they took the FCAT and clearly have nothing more to learn takes a lot out of a person!

Fifth and quite honestly the most important reason, I have actually been quite diligently researching and planning for a story.

I am going to try a June NaNoWriMo (right, 'cause I need to stress about more stuff) and although NaNo is about a novel in a month, I am not going to rush too much on this one. I have some heavy hitting science research to do so the plot doesn't end up like a bad SyFy movie.

And let me just say that having to resort to the research librarian because I can't find an obscure text about 18th century farming techniques in Florida is slightly awkward.

"So, are you doing a paper?" He asks.

"Um...not exactly, just researching." I reply.

"For...fun?" He asks, one eyebrow popping up into a near perfect arch.

Seriously! Why can everyone else do the Spock eyebrow?

"Well, actually, I need it for a story."

"Oh," he says and I get the feeling he is actually disappointed. "So you're a writer?"

"Yes." I say my face disappearing into a Farmer's Almanac. "Do you think you can get the book about farm tools?"

"Sure," he says, "I'll have to put a request in for it."

I nod. "Thanks," and turn back to the shelves.

He was totally mocking me. I know it. Snarking almost.

So that's where I am. Counting down the last few days of the school year. Searching for a new job. Scribbling notes. Packing. Reading. Plotting.

Breathing. Just breathing.

NaNoWriMo Update

Dear Secret Blogiary,

This will be my last NaNoWriMo update for 2010.

I AM A WINNER!!!

After a great struggle in the last week, I managed to stumble over the 50k mark last night. From the get go this year’s NaNo was a struggle. I did not plot and plan as much as I have in previous years and I feel that my story certainly shows the effects of inefficient planning. With a critics eye I can honestly say that my characters were one dimensional, flat and static; not a single one of them grew or developed. The plot, weak though it was, did not drive the story and I spent a good twenty thousand words meandering throughout a very stagnant middle.

Also, I did not end the story. I just stopped writing in the middle of a fight scene between my main character and her sister. I had had enough so I walked. All of my investment, my time and effort, I just walked away and that was okay, because really, I do not think that the story would go very far to be a viable polished piece.

Please note my use of polished rather than published. Over the month, I have heard a number of critics slam NaNoWriMo as, and I am paraphrasing here, stupid, hack work, fan-fic crap. These critics who are “published” writers seem to think that NaNo detracts from the written word and they miss all the good that NaNo has done: the surge of interest in writing, the donations to libraries, the connections that the WriMos make with others. All this done in the name of literary abandon!

Do these critics honestly believe that just because a writer writes fast, produces quantity that we expect to be published on December 1? That seems to be the case, but I can tell in all honesty, that most of the WriMos I have encountered are intelligent, word wise people who know that what ever they produce in November is a first draft. It will need polishing, tightening and sometimes, yes, we toss the whole thing out, as I plan on doing.

Now, someday, I hope to be published. Someday, I hope that I have a story that people are moved by. But until that happens, I will continue to participate in NaNoWriMo because the way to improve my writing is through writing. And that is what the critics should focus on. People are writing! Words flowing from the mind through the fingertips so fast the sometimes the word processor can’t keep up with you!

That’s writing, uninhibited by rules and structure, (okay…we all still follow rules and structure, but still). Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in six meager weeks. SIX!! And it was an instant success when it was published. Walt Whitman kept reworking and republishing Leaves of Grass until he died. So who is to say how long a work of genius should take? I’ve seen romance writers publish four novels in a single year. Stephan King publishes one every year or so.

NaNo comes around once a year; a crazy month long adventure that is entertaining, exciting and enjoyable. It is a break from my “regular” writing: blogs, short stories, novellas and yes, novels. I may not be a published writer, but I am still a writer because, my friends, I have stories to tell that are just about near to exploding out of my head!

I write because I love words.

I write because I have stories to tell.

I write because it is who I am.

NaNoWriMo Update

Dear Secret Blogiary,

What I should be doing is sleeping, but what I am really doing is working on my NaNo novel to try to up my word count so that when my family arrives on my doorstep tomorrow and demands I entertain them while they wait for my amazing Thanksgiving Day Feast Extravaganza!

So...

No Tuesday Bananagrams today instead bask in the awesomeness that is my word count:

40162!

Yeah. Yeah. I know some are already done. But I am beyond pleased with my progress.

Have a Great Thanksgiving All!!

NaNoWriMo Update

Dear Secret Blogiary,

Oh how those plot monkeys have been working!

I am pleased to announce that the first week has gone exceedingly well! My word count is 15333 as of tonight and that is with me being a total bum over the weekend wasting time with silly things like laundry and grocery shopping and playing D&D.

If my word count keeps it up, I think I will be way ahead of the game and get a great enough word count cushion that I might even be able to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with the family. This would be especially helpful as I am apparently the one who is going to cook the Thanksgiving dinner...

...Who am I kidding?

I am always the one to cook!

We all could use some clarification sometimes

Dear Secret Blogiary,

I spent a good portion of today writing. I used the "Writer's Book of Days," and ended with a decent 2,600 word short story. I was getting ready to post it, when I thought all of a sudden about copyrights. I am in the process now of researching copyrights and blogs and as soon as I get the information I need, I will be more willing to post stories to my blog. Until then, please enjoy this picture I drew on Paint depicting my workspace.

I only wish that it was this clean and sparsely decorated.

Blogtoberfest Kick Off!

Dear Secret Blogiary,

It is almost that time of year again. You know, when would be writers crawl out from what ever manuscript they were feverously working on, and prepare themselves for the glorious madness that is NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month. Thirty days of faced-paced furious typing to reach the all powerful 50,000 word count.

Working in devoted frenzy, I managed last year to finally hit that word goal. I am determined to do so again this year too. In fact, I can guarantee that the stakes are much higher this year.

It isn’t just hitting a word goal this year; it is about completing an entire manuscript. I’ve mentioned the trouble I am having at work and how Mister W is all for me quitting. Well, we’ve decided that I am in fact going to quit. We are planning for me to tender my resignation on December 1 with my actual end date as the 31st. This date allows us to settle any accounts and debts as well as start working with a real estate attorney to gracefully walk away from the house.

So this year, NaNo is vitally important. If ever I am to hack it as a writer, now is the time I need to start proving it.

Writing takes time and practice and unfortunately, when things get crazy-busy, daily writing is the first thing that I sacrifice to eke extra time from the day. As such it is not often that I post a blog the same day I type it, sometimes it takes a day or two to get it out, proofread and posted. But in order for me to get back in my good writing habits, I am turning October into BlogtoberFest! Original, right?

For 31 autumn days, I will blog daily, maybe even posting, not once but twice a day. I will blog about my life as I have been doing, but also, I intend to post some creative writing pieces as well. I will be using “A Writer’s Book of Days” by Judy Reeves to help inspire some of my writing exercises and when I do I will post the prompt along with my writing.

NaNoWriMo Countdown is ON!!

Writer's Block of Doom (when one has too many stories and a massive inability to focus on one of them)

Dear Secret Blogiary,

NaNoWriMo is almost upon me and I am struggling to find a direction. I have two new story ideas that I have been toying with the past couple of weeks and I am equally enthralled with both.

The first is a romance spoof that pokes fun at the ridiculous vampire and werewolf supernatural romances*, the second is my favorite genre, post-apocalyptic.

I also have an older epic fantasy story that has been sorely neglected for a number of years and just this past spring and early summer, I dug up the papers, files and notes and read through them all.

The easiest and least time consuming one would be to go with the older story. I know the characters, the setting, and the plot. Some of the story has been written but for NaNo purposes I would ignore the previously written work and only count the new.

There is something to be said about the familiar. The characters are comfortable, I know them and there reactions. They deserve the attention quite honestly. The only hurdle that I would need to overcome is that the older story was co-created. My BFF and I worked for a good two years at the plot and the background – epics do indeed require a good bit of planning.

We are still BFF’s but she isn’t stateside currently and I feel sort of guilty working on a project that we created. Granted, she has given the go-ahead to do so before, but part of the fun of the story was that she was involved and we could bounce ideas back and forth like a rabid game of ping pong.

The romance I am considering has the characters established and a basic plot outlined. I know what I want to accomplish and where I want to end, but I’m not as passionate as I once was about it. And at this point I use “romance” very loosely. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that my idea leans more to the satirical than the romance.

The post-apocalyptic story is a newer idea that I got after watching one too many late night History Channel shows. I have a main character and a title. Not much else. For the purposes of NaNo, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, having an open concept will allow me more freedom to incorporate crazy dares and more the story the way the character needs it to go. And as it is my favorite genre, I am leaning towards it.

So, Secret Blogiary, which should I choose?


*I’ll save my rant about Twilight, et al., for another post.