Deborah Wright

I've moved!

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:04:00 +0000

My blog, that is.

I won't be deleting this blog (never know when you need a place to blog in an emergency), but I also don't plan on updating it anymore.

I'll now be blogging on my own (wordpress-driven) website. Find me here:

https://deborahwright.net

The End of an Era

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:39:00 +0000

I'm blogging about attending the launch of STS-135 Atlantis today over at the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA blog. Come on by and see the pictures!

I'll have more to say about the launch later. And possibly video, if I can get the time to download/edit what I took.

Hip Deep In Plot

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Tue, 31 May 2011 17:45:00 +0000

I'm talking writing over at the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA Blog. Come on over and join the conversation!

Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:31:00 +0000

I'm talking about my Social Media Bewilderment today at the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA Blog. Come on over and tell me how you use social media--or how you don't!

What Are You Afraid Of?

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:30:00 +0000

I'm talking about fear today over at the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA Blog. Stop by and tell me what you're afraid of.

The Things You Learn About Yourself When You Write

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:53:00 +0000

I knew that I was a research junkie. How could I not know that? Researching has been at the top of my writing procrastination list for, well, forever. I get caught up in the things I'm reading, the fascinating facts I'm learning, and somehow manage to avoid what I should be doing--putting words on the page!

If you'd asked me last week, "What do you like to read?" or, "What are you passionate about?" I would've said pretty much the same thing I've said for years: mystery, fantasy, adventure, science fiction, technology. Same old, same old. It's all still true, but the epiphany I had--that came as I recovered from a dazed glut of historical research for my current writing project--is that over-arching all of those interests is a love of history.

Yep, I just realized that I'm a history geek. Who knew? All this time, I've been denying my love of history. You could've knocked me over with a feather. After all, I never showed much interest in history in school. I got decent grades in all the required history classes in high school, but I only took the required-to-graduate history courses in college (and was grateful at the time that that was all I had to take). And I always agreed with everyone who said history was boring (except for one minor exception--even as a kid I was fascinated by the 1930s-1940s).

Somewhere along the line, that changed. I still have the fascination I've always had for the '30s and '40s, but that fascination has now expanded to include the 1920s as well. Heck, I've been researching everything from 1800 to 1930 recently and I've loved every moment of it. Think about the descriptions historians use to refer to various times: the Victorian Era, the Gay Nineties, the Gilded Age, the Edwardian Era, the Roaring Twenties, and the Jazz Age. How could you not want to know more about a time called the Gay Nineties or the Gilded Age?

How did people live? What did they think and believe? Was it different in New York than in London? What technology existed and what was being invented? What about the leaders of the day--what did they think, not just what did they do? So many changes in national boundaries and governments occurred from 1700 to 1900 in Europe and across the globe, it makes me a bit dizzy when I'm reading about multiple eras.

When I glance at my bookshelves--we won't go into how many there are at this juncture, ok?--I can't help but notice that history books take up a significant amount of space. The picture in this post is of one of the shelves of non-fiction in my house. You can see there are several eras represented, from ancient to modern. I don't claim to have read them all cover-to-cover, but even those I've only skimmed so far have yielded valuable insights.

Sometimes I feel like I missed out by not taking some of those college classes when I could have done so, but then again, maybe I needed to find this infatuation on my own, in my own time, so that it's fresh and new and my enthusiasm is high and ready to propel me into writing.

Because at the end of the day, as fun as I'm finding all the historical research, the things I'm learning are fascinating for one ultimate reason: they're fuel for my story. And that's definitely something to be excited about!

How about you? Are you a closet history buff? Do your friends look at you strangely when you suddenly say things like, "Did you know that Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain were close friends?" Or do you--*yawn*--nod off when confronted with anything remotely related to history?

Setting Writing Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Join me over at the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA Blog today where I'm talking about writing goals. I've set mine—have you set yours yet?

Watching Movies for Visual Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 18:45:00 +0000

I'm sure other writers watch movies and TV shows for visual inspiration—I can't possibly be alone in that. Heck, I can even watch a movie for other reasons (like, er, entertainment) and be struck by a scene or setting and think, "Hey, that would make a cool location for a story!"

Sometimes, though, I'll put in a dvd just to watch the settings. In that case, I generally end up gritting my teeth and trying to endure the movie to the end, because 9 times out of 10 the movie in question is pretty awful. And I find myself wondering how other people do it. How do other people manage to sit through an excruciatingly dull or just plain crappy movie in the name of research or inspiration?

And then, just by accident yesterday as I was watching such a movie, I hit the mute button when I meant to hit pause.

A whole new world of movie watching opened up before me. Not only was I able to focus on the sets and costumes—the whole point of watching said movie—but I also found myself making up my own story to go along with the images on the screen. Brilliant! (Well, not the made up story so much as the fun I had doing it!)

In fact, it was so much fun that I'm already making lists of movies, bad and good, to watch this way. Yeah, that's right, I plan to watch movies I love this way, too. See, I tend to watch favorite movies over and over again (kind of like I re-re-read favorite books) and it gets easy to multitask and do other things while listening to familiar dialogue. Watching those movies as silent film will require me to actually focus on the screen. I figure there's plenty of things I've never noticed before, just waiting to be discovered. Should be an interesting exercise.

Have you ever watched a movie or TV show without sound? Deliberately? What did you learn?

Oh yeah, the movie that spawned this great discovery? The Shadow, 1994, staring Alec Baldwin—a movie that's really only watchable in one of two ways: 1) with plenty of alcohol, or 2) as a silent film.

Revitalizing the Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 04:13:00 +0000

New year, new resolutions. Last year is dead and gone and good riddance to it. I've got my fingers crossed that 2011 will be much, much better.

The only resolution I'm making is to finish a novel this year. I won't predict which novel, or what genre it will be, but I vow that 2011 will be the "Year I Finished A Novel."

As part of my re-focusing on writing, I'm also pledging to blog frequently. And I'll once again be a regular contributor to the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA Blog.

SATURDAY CHECK-IN

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:03:00 +0000

Join me for our Saturday Check-in over at the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA Blog. How's your progress coming?

Where I'm Blogging Today

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:19:00 +0000

I'm blogging about Gone With The Wind over at the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA Blog. Come on over and join me!

Where I'm Blogging Today

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:10:00 +0000

I'm blogging today about that rarest of magical creatures, the published author, over at the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA blog.

Come on over and join the discussion!

2010 WRITING GOALS REVISITED

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:54:00 +0000

My life has changed rather disconcertingly since I posted my writing goals for the year in January and for the last three months I've only been writing in fits and starts. Though I did get a nice boost of enthusiasm attending my RWA Chapter's yearly writing retreat in February. Three days of nothing but writing and talking about writing while staying in a house on the beach at the Oregon coast—fantastic! At the end of the weekend, I'd written a few thousand words and thought I'd finalized my writing projects.

Alas, not so. Characters nagged, plots sagged—or worse, became boring—and enthusiasm waned. Between that and Real Life Stuff ™, I felt myself sinking to a new low. I decided to take a few weeks off and give my subconscious time to work on things. Hey, that approach has always worked for me in the past when things were going to hell with or without a handbasket. I don't ignore a problem; I just give it a rest and let it sort itself out in my back-brain, so to speak.

It worked, too. I've got a new plan—a cunning plan—to get me where I want to be (typing "The End") even sooner. Okay, so maybe it isn't so much cunning as it is hard work. But it is a plan! And I think I'll call it a plan from now on, rather than refer to it as a goal. Plan just seems more concrete to me for some reason.

Without further ado...

My Updated Writing Plan for 2010

1. Work on one project at a time and stick with it to the end. Write a minimum of 7150 words per week.
This will get me to a first draft of Project #1 by July 1st.

2. Start second project in July. Write a minimum of 3850 words/week.
Continue working on Project #2 during edits of Project #1.

3. Edit first draft of Project #1 in September.

4. Edit second draft of Project #1 in October.

5. Complete final edit of Project #1 before submitting to Golden Heart.

By the end of the year, my sticking to this plan will accomplish the following:

1. Two finished novels.

2. One novel entered in the Golden Heart.

In all of this, I'm making one huge assumption—that Project #1 will be worth submitting to the Golden Heart. Of course, I won't know until I've written it, will I?

Back in the Saddle...

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:50:00 +0000

Long time, no update! Yeesh.

Lots of things have been happening, some not so great, but I'm back and rarin' to go. In fact, I've taken over the weekly check-in post at the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA blog. You can catch my first post for that today. I'm hoping the responsibility of running the check-in will keep me motivated to make actual progress on my novel.

I've also made a final decision on which project to focus on. I'll be posting about my updated goals tomorrow.

Ah...it's good to be back. :-)

Updated Writing Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:00:00 +0000

It isn't even two weeks into the new year and I'm already revising my writing goals. I attended a terrific meeting of my local RWA Chapter last week and the topic was all about goal setting. After mulling over the discussion and looking through the handouts, I realized that I only really had one goal (write every day) and it was too nebulous to get me where I want to go this year.

So, I worked on updating my goals and this is what I've committed to within the Chapter. Might as well go public here, too. :-)

My Writing Goal for 2010

1. Have a book ready to submit to Golden Heart in November

In order to meet that goal, I need to break it down into more manageable pieces. I'm targeting 100,000 words. Here's what that looks like right now (these may change as I reassess where I am each month).

1. First Draft finished no later than September 1.
2. First Draft edits completed by October 1.
3. Second Draft edits completed by November 1.
4. Final Edits completed before sending in contest entry

Here's how that breaks down for a monthly word count: 12,500 words/month for January to August.

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:40:00 +0000

2010. It's a nice number, isn't it? Though technically not correct, I'm treating it as the start of a new decade. I'm more than ready to leave the turbulent '00's behind. Change is in the air for me this month, my friends, and I plan to make the most of things.

I've refined the goals I put together early in December in a comment on the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA blog. I've tried to make them specific so I can easily track my progress. Ready? Here we go.

Writing Goals for 2010

1. Write Every Day
I learned during NaNoWriMo that when I wrote every day, even if it was only a couple hundred words, that I did much better than if I skipped a day. The more days I wrote in a row, the more total words I wrote. Writing begets writing, if you will.

2. Update my weekly progress on the Saturday Check-in post of the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA blog.
I'm making this mandatory for myself as my way of being publicly accountable for my progress.

3. Blog about my progress and my trials and tribulations on my personal blog at least 3 to 4 times per week.
This is another thing I did during NaNoWriMo that worked well for me. Not only did it help keep me focused, it was another way of writing every day, even if the words didn't add to the story.

4. Reassess my goals on a monthly basis.
How many times have I set goals for the year in January and then never looked at them again until the following December? Not this year. This is the year I truly treat my writing as a second profession and that means treating my writing goals as I do my other professional goals. Therefor, I'll reassess my writing goals at the beginning of each month and revise them as needed.

The ultimate goal for 2010 is to have at least one finished manuscript. I'd really like to have a manuscript ready to submit for the Golden Heart. I believe if I keep focused on my four specific goals, that these bigger goals will fall into place.

Whew! Time to take a break and have a glass of champagne. I'm excited about the coming year. How about you?

Gearing Up For The New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:06:00 +0000

I know I've been AWOL from the blog -- and from writing -- the last few weeks. I do have an excuse. My husband underwent total knee replacement surgery three weeks ago. He's recovering nicely, but the first few weeks have been hell on my writing. Things are starting to get more manageable, so here I am.

Actually, I'm chomping at the metaphoric bit to get started on my post-NaNo project. Maybe those weeks of enforced setting it aside were a good thing. It feels fresh and new, rather than a rework of the concept that took me through NaNoWriMo. Right now I'm in the stage of going over my character sheets and re-reading my notes to re-familiarize myself with everything. I'll probably tweak the concept a bit more before I actually start, but surprisingly not much.

The only other item on my writing agenda for this week is to set some concrete writing goals for the 2010. I had a hard time getting started in 2009, but ended with a rush from NaNo. I want to carry that momentum into 2010 and not allow myself to get sidetracked. I'll be posting my goals to the blog on the 1st.

Happy Holidays!!

NaNoWriMo 2009, The Final Tally

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:40:00 +0000

What an amazing month! Time to pop the champagne! I wrote a total of 17,812 words on my NaNo project, not to mention all of the blog posts I wrote. I haven't written this much in a 30 day stretch for a very long time. To be honest, I wasn't even really pushing the boundaries of what I could have written; I managed all this with plenty of free time to go around. Just goes to show what I can accomplish when I make a paradigm shift from "I need to find time to write" to "I will write every day and the other stuff will work around my writing time".

The first question that comes to mind is: Will I use any of what I wrote? That's a tricky one. I'd have to give a qualified yes. Qualified, because I may not use many of the actual words written, but I'll definitely be using what I learned, about both my process and my story, as I move forward.

What did I learn during NaNoWrimo? I definitely learned (or re-learned in some cases) some important things about process--how I write. The more I write, the easier it is to write. And by that I mean, the more frequently I write, not necessarily the more words I write, though that helps, too.

In addition, I think I'm finally figuring out where I stand on the whole plotting versus writing by the seat of my pants thing. By personality, I should be all about plot and having a detailed roadmap ready before I even start, and that's just how I approached NaNo. However, I've discovered that while that's exactly how I approach most things in life, when it comes to writing, having too much detail stifles my creativity. Even when I tell myself it's okay to deviate from what I've planned, I end up feeling like things are cast in concrete. I do much better when I only have a very loose idea of what the story is about and then let the characters guide me to the plot. It may not be the most efficient way to write, but it's what works best for me, at least for right now. I also learned that consistently blogging about my progress helped keep me focused on my goal.

As for the story itself, I'm starting over based on what I now know. That may sound like a complete failure, but trust me, it isn't. By writing my 17,000+ words last month, I learned what didn't work in my story and what parts I wanted to keep, though in a much changed way. If I continued to struggle with the story in the shape it's currently in, I'd only be setting myself up for frustration and failure. Instead, I'm setting those words aside and cherry-picking the best from them: some of the characters and settings, and a couple of plot points. Now I'm ready to start fresh.

So, where do I go from here? It's a brand new journey, full of new and exciting possibilities. As of today, I'm starting a new (revised?) project. I'm estimating it'll be approximately 100,000 words, give or take. I plan to continue blogging about my progress--at least 3 to 4 times a week--to keep me focused and to share my ups and downs on my adventure. I can't wait to see what's up around the bend!

NaNo Day 27 Words: 0
NaNo Day 28 Words: 1760
NaNo Day 29 Words: 0
NaNo Day 30 Words: 2270
Final Total NaNo Words: 17,812

NaNo Days, The Last Gasps

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:34:00 +0000

I kind of figured that as Thanksgiving struck my NaNo posting updates would slip a bit and, no surprise here, I was right. That doesn't mean that I've abandoned NaNo! No sirree, uh-uh, not me. I've been making the same approximate progress in the past few days as before. That means a few hundred words on most days (and zero on a couple).

The biggest thing for me has been in getting back to writing consistently and, in that, my NaNo experience has been an unqualified success.

This is only the beginning, one characterized by fits and starts, false directions, backtracks and re-workings. In other words, this is writing. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Today may be Black Friday for other people, but not me. Instead, I'm taking the day for myself and spending the majority of my time doing what I love: writing. Lucky me!

NaNo Day 26 Words: 0
Total NaNo Words: 13,782

Get Yer NaNo Update Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:52:00 +0000

Join me for today's NaNo update over at the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA blog.

Today's topic is, NaNo Day Twenty-Something, "Motivate Me!".

NaNo Day 20, In Which I Do...Research

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:22:00 +0000

First, a quick update from Day 19. I did write on Day 19--about a page--but, to be honest, I spent a large part of my free time perusing the blogosphere trying to understand the sturm und drang surrounding Harlequin Enterprises announcement regarding their new vanity publishing division, Harlequin Horizons. If you're a writer, published or still aspiring, I believe it's important to be informed as to what's going on (even if you don't write in the Romance genre) and why RWA and SFWA (and potentially MWA in December) have declared Harlequin an "ineligible publisher" over this. After reading many reasoned and passionate blog posts on the subject, the most concise and straightforward information that I found was in Jackie Kessler's Blog. Specifically (so far), the following posts:

Jackie Kessler's Blog Post of 11/19/2009: Harlequin Horizons versus RWA "So you may have heard about this thing called Harlequin Horizons, and RWA’s response. But if you’re not in the publishing industry, you may not see why this is a big deal — and why RWA did the best possible thing any author organization could do."

Jackie Kessler's Blog Post of 11/20/2009: The Day After: Harlequin Blinks "Just because your book wasn’t good enough for Harlequin to pay you for it, that doesn’t mean it’s not good enough for you to pay us for it!"

Jackie Kessler's Blog Post of 11/21/2009: Answering Your Questions "By mentioning Horizons in every form rejection letter it sends out, Harlequin is encouraging authors to use Horizons. By linking to Horizons on its website, Harlequin is encouraging authors to use Horizons. Advertising Horizons in its rejection letters and its website is a huge conflict of interest."

Read them and be informed.

Back to NaNo Day 20. I gave myself permission to goof off on Day 20. You know, step away from the keyboard and go out and have a little fun? There's a new movie theater in town — one of those places that serves food and beverages to you while you watch your movie. My husband and I decided to try it out for a late lunch and matinee. The movie we chose to see? 2012.

If you've read my blog, you probably know I'm an apocalypse junkie. So you know that I was prepared to enjoy 2012 no matter how, er, lame the plot might end up being. I mean, come on, John Cusack and the End of the World as We Know It? Roland Emmerich Blowing Stuff Up? How could it miss?

John Cusack could stand in a field and read the phone book and I'd watch him do it. However...I'm eternally grateful we saw 2012 in a theater where we could order wine. A couple of glasses of Shiraz definitely made the movie easier to swallow. I can't help thinking back to other movies that we waited to rent and see at home, rather than at a theater, simply because we knew after watching the trailers that only copious amounts of alcohol would make them watchable. No longer! Even the most craptastic film (2012) can now be enjoyed in the theater, the way it was intended (well, almost).

Yet even while goofing off, NaNo wasn't far from my mind. At various points in the movie, my thoughts would stray to my story. When I thought, "Jeez, Roland, pacing!", my thoughts immediately shifted to wondering if I had enough action planned, even in the first part, to hold readers' attention. And when I admired the special effects and the sheer audacity of destroying the world, my thoughts strayed to my current opening scene and wondered if an explosion would help.

I guess I wasn't goofing off as much as I thought!

NaNo Day 20 Words: 0
Total NaNo Words: 12,746

NaNo Day 19, I Declare Posting Amnesty Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:58:00 +0000

It isn't that nothing happened on Day 19, it's that I've been taking a break today (actual day 20) and just didn't get around to posting (and I'm too tired to do it now).

I'll post tomorrow about Day 19 and 20. Until then, I'm signing off and (shocker) going to bed early.

Catch you on the flip side...

NaNo Day 19 Words: 225
Total NaNo Words: 12,746

NaNo Day 18, Characters Come and Characters Go

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:10:00 +0000

On NaNo Day 18 I said good-bye to two characters that I'd been clinging to through the changes I'd been making to the story. I realized that they were completely superfluous to the plot and would only serve to distract me. Eventually, I knew I'd end up cutting them anyway, so why wait?

Honestly, it wasn't too hard to bid adieu to Howard Alcott. Poor old Howard didn't have much of a presence in the first version of the story as it was. He was there to provide financial backing for the family business (and, okay, he was the heroine's step-father), but he wasn't going to get much more than a mention here and there. He certainly had no POV scenes that I needed to worry about. So long, Howard, you shadowy-figure-at-best, you.

The second character was harder to delete. Lily Palmer was my original antagonist. Not so much a villain, as the (remote) villain's henchwoman with the power to make her own decisions. She's a morally ambiguous character with a lot of charisma and a sense of humor, but not, ultimately, a heart of gold. Lily is out for Lily, period. If what she wants happens to coincide with something you're after, she'd have no problem teaming up with you--just watch out for the time when your goals diverge and be ready to duck if you actively get in her way.

Lily has great potential, just not for this story. Not the new direction the story's taken, anyway. I have faith that Lily will eventually get her story. Who knows? Maybe she'll end up being the heroine. With Lily, you never can tell. And that's exactly the way I like it.

I may have said good-bye to Howard and Lily (at least temporarily), but I also said hello to three new characters. Well, maybe it's more acurate to say it's one new character and two changed characters. The new character is the alternate universe (AU) version of my heroine's father. The two morphed characters are the AU versions of my heroine's mother and maternal grandfather (who are now deceased in her world). They play significantly larger roles in their new (improved!) versions and I'm enjoying getting to know them.

Ah, the strange peoples inhabiting my head, let me show you them!

NaNo Day 18 Words: 300
Total NaNo Words: 12,521

NaNo Day 17, The Domino Effect

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:47:00 +0000

Yesterday, I mentioned that I didn't get time to write on Day 16, but that I still considered the day productive because of all the thinking about the story that I'd done. On Day 17, that thinking bore edible fruit. I wrote out the descriptions of the plot points that I'd hastily scribbled down the day before and, with a little further brainstorming, those plot points led to even more changes and surprises. The whole thing reminds me of one of those designs made out of dominos, where you tip over the end domino and they all topple, one after another. Remove one of the dominos and the effect stalls out.

Writing is a lot like those dominos, isn't it? Sometimes you get to a point and realize you're missing some dominos--character goals or motivation or something else--crucial to moving your story forward. If you're lucky, you're able to figure out how to make things work. You slap in your brand new dominos and away you go.

If you aren't so lucky, you re-examine the dominos you've already put in place, see which ones might just be defective. Or, in my case, discover that the dominos you used are all spaced too far apart. And...okay...that's as far as I can beat that analogy to death (whew!).

Hopefully, you get the idea. I plead being punchy from lack of sleep. The cats decided that 3am was a great time to chase each other all over the house, making one hellacious racket in the process. My husband, of course, slept through the whole thing. Me? Not so much.

And, hey! I've passed 12,000 words! Go me.

NaNo Day 17 Words: 382
Total NaNo Words: 12,221

NaNo Day 16, Cogitating and Ruminating

noreply@blogger.com (Deborah Wright) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:11:00 +0000

Day 16 was one of those days. You know the kind I mean. Days when you're itching to get to the keyboard, ready for the words to pour forth like a flood. Only to have one thing after another prevent that from happening--not the words, but the getting to the keyboard part.

It wasn't even the comedy of errors I sometimes experience, where strange things happen--big, odd things--and I'm left wondering whose life I just stepped into. Nope, this time it was just normal, everyday little things that cropped up one after the other (unexpectedly), as well as having some things from the Day Job demand my attention.

Usually when these kind of days happen, I can just wait til the end of the day and write before going to bed (late). Unfortunately this was one time where I was just too pooped to do that. Maybe I'd stayed up late too many nights in a row, but I could barely keep my eyes open after dinner, let alone string more than two words together in a row. Sometimes it's better just to bow to the inevitable.

Even so, I thought a lot at odd times during the day about the new direction my story is taking. I even came up with a couple of twists for the plot, jotting them down in my own cryptic shorthand so I wouldn't forget them. I'm still pleased with what's happening with the story.

I may not have written any words on Day 16, but I still count it as a productive day.

NaNo Day 16 Words: 0
Total NaNo Words: 11839