My perfect NaNo

NaNo no no WriMo

Well it is that time of year again.  A month of writing without editing.  Purging your mind of a all it's thought without critic.  Well I would love to say I am partaking.  I am in some ways... I am writing but my process this year is painstakingly slow and deliberate.  I am aiming for 20,000 this year wish me luck!

Writing/editing day!

Went to my writing group on Thursday and read a mildly edited piece.  Wowzers it was a real stinker.  Course my group was truly supportive (gotta love em). 

What do you do when you have a not so good read?
 Buy a book of course.  So I bought "Bird by Bird" by  Anne Lamott.  She has a chapter called shitty first drafts that I would absolutely suggest anyone out there who wants to write, read.

With that said I edited my first 4 pages today.  I will probably re-edit those same 4 pages tommorrow and then move to something I will have to read next week so I can stop feeling the need to point out the crappiness as I read. 
I am telling myself I can drive from LA to DC in the dark with the headlights on.  I only have to do a little bit and the end will still be the end.  Thanks Anne for the advice!

Editor

Met with my editor today.  Wow, do I have a lot of work ahead of me.  I wish I would have done this long ago.   She didn't hold back, I hope, and I am glad because it helps to hear someone elses take on my work.

So in the end I need another couple of characters and a whole lot more conflict!  Fabulous! I walked away with an idea in mind and on the drive home had a good solid lead on how to pull it off. 

Put in a call to my best buddy all though school who still lives in the area and she helped me remember the name of the spot where the "accident" is bound to occur!  Overall it was a very productive meeting and I am actually excited about getting back into the editing! 

The ever better news is next thursday I will be able to get to my book group and get a little much needed support! 
Here I come Dead Bunny Club!

Sent

I did it.  I sent in one of my stories.  I am relieved in a strange sort of way.  Number two I do on Sat!

Ages

OK it has been ages since my last post.  I still have not sent in my writing.  I am having difficulty deciding on a title (kinda important to have) and well just plain putting it off.  I did edit and cut so i was at 500 words the next day.  I couldn't get the dang thing to copy and paste into the email and after much frustration got my darling husband to help me. In the end he retyped the whole thing in for me without a word.  Now that is a good man!  I think he kinda wants to make sure I actually do submit it.  Not sure why I am being so weird about it.  I think I am actually more afraid they will like it and then what?? finish editing it?  Hours of agonizing over each sentence.  Editing is definitely not my favorite part.  Well now it's in a draft email.  Tonight I will write my trusted posse the Dead Bunny Club (writers group and no we don't kill bunnies heck i won't even touch them I am so allergic)  Then by Friday I will send it out! Deal?  If I do then what hmm a Carmel apple as a treat? 

Writing again

So you may have read in my recent post a comment from a writing friend.  There is a competition happening through kidlit.com  check it out on my sidebar I have posted  a link. 
Anyway, I am editing a couple of my books to send in the first 500 words.  Wow talk about nerve wracking how do you make sure the first 500 sell your book??

Here is the first few sentences of each.....

Under the Surface (better known as stinky Jimmy in my writing group)

As I look back now at 35, I see that the most pivotal time in my life was the summer after my eighth grade year. To think that in one summer I learned more about the world than in all my years before and most of my years after, is really a testament to the impact one person has on another.

The Naughty Fairy

Phia Lee moved to the dead end, of the dead end, of the dead ends. Well not just Phia but her whole family which was her, Mom, Dad and of course her Beagle Lou.

Just to give you an idea, 500 words is about 2 1/2 pages......

Wish me luck, or wish me skill would be better.

NaNoWriMo

I am questioning my ability to make the grade this year.  The year Sophia was born I took a pass on Nano.  She was born Nov 17th.  2006.  This year after 5 days so far of sickness and 2 sick kids and very few words written I am thinking maybe the goal of blogging daily and the addition of two short childrens stories could be a big enough goal for a woman of little sleep.  This would mean I took a pass the years the kids were born.  This seems to be realistic and fair to well me.  How dissappointed will I be in myself at the end of the month ... quite. 
Will I maybe be a bit healthier? Yes.
Will it be the end of the world? No.
Well I will ponder.  I do still have time to catch up.

NaNoWriMo

I would prefer to talk about Halloween being that it is my favorite holiday, but of course I must begin and the beginning.

My purpose in bloggersville is NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. The month where all things good and bad take a backseat to writing. Where dishes pile up and laundry overflows. My poor husband shoulders much of the household burden except for the cooking, well because he can only prepare food that is ordered, boiled or micro waved fro enriched, fortified and preservative filled chemical concoctions that only resemblance to food is in taste and texture.

My 5th year as a Nano novelist, quite impressive considering I have 2 children under the age of 2 and a rewarding career as a teacher/librarian. Unimpressive in that I have yet to edit a one. A shout out the the dead bunny club. The writing group that so kindly accepts me when I do occasionally attend during summer vacation and other miscellaneous holidays.

This year I am taking a stab at non-fiction. What would it take to become a blogger? With that said I am off and running- well seeing how it just took be 2 hours to get this written and posted more like stumbling start.

Join the Nano fun at nanowrimo.org.

As they say "SLEEP IN DECEMBER!"