Coop's Column

NaNoWriMo

2009-10-30T15:29:00.003-05:00

This is it! I've registered and am ready to go!

NaNoWriMo

2009-10-27T18:18:00.002-05:00

NaNoMo starts Sunday. I have never participated before, thinking I would leave that to the more experienced. This year I decided, why not?

I write really slow, so I decided this would be a good experience for me. I challenged my daughter, and we both signed a contract, holding each other to attempt 50,000 words in the month of November.

I've got my plot pretty much figured out, but my daughter still hasn't outlined anything. I really thought she would have a better chance than I of reaching the goal. I've never seen anyone write so fast as she does. Maybe her starting NaNoMo off with no concrete plot idea will give me an advantage!

I started this venture with a positive frame of mind. 1667 words a day doesn't seem so daunting. I feel confident in my ability to do that. Until my mathematically inclined husband felt the need to break it down. There are 1440 minutes in a day. That means I have to type 1.157638 words a minute. Every minute of each twenty four hour period. THAT sounds daunting!

I started to feel a little bit panicked. A minute is not very long. I remember when I worked production. We had less than a minute to examine each piece of merchandise. I remember the frenzy that drove everyone, the frantic pace to try to make production every day. Out of necessity we shut off the "inner editor" that told us maybe that piece didn't match the computer description, that this wasn't a black dress but a black shirt, instead. The ultimate goal was to make production, to avoid getting a paycut.

I guess it may have been good practice. Unlike when I worked production though, this time I'll have the opportunity to go back and fix my mistakes. Also, I am reminded as I sit in tax class, brushing up for the coming season, just how long a minute really is. My boss had us do an experiment. We try to keep up a conversation with the customer as we prepare their taxes. Sometimes, though, this gets hard to do. I tend to get lost in concentration. When you are setting on the other side of that desk, with no conversation, watching someone work, a minute seems REALLY long!

Take your pick. This minute can stretch out into an uncomfortably long amount of time, or fly by with the frantic pace of trying to make production. I prefer to put it back into the realm of 1667 words a day. This is do-able.

Stuck in a Rut?

2009-08-12T10:19:00.004-05:00

I don't have cable or satelite TV. I don't really watch a lot of TV. There are a few shows that have caught my interest, and I have started to notice a theme.

On the Fox network, I watch Bones and occasionally House. At the close of the 2008 season, both Booth and Dr. House were experiencing trauma, losing their minds, and being put into a mental ward.

On the ABC station, I have watched Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters. The recurring theme here is to make everyone gay, or at least experimenting with it.

The shows I have watched on CBS, seem to focus on twenty somethings and their sex lives. These young people spend thirty minutes talking about their sex life, or lack thereof, and plotting on how to make it better.

Do they have the same writers for all the shows? Or do the "themes" come from the producers? I understand the pressure these writers must face in having to have new material for the shows. I applaud them on producing it quickly and consistently. But lately it seems that they are stuck in a rut. The shows share the same underlying theme.

I agree with the episode of Boston Legal, in which the little retired lady tried to sue the networks because there was nothing on TV to watch. This was one of their best episodes. They revealed the demographics of the network shows, how they're all geared to a younger audience. Boston Legal was the only show on Network television that all the stars were over fifty. Sadly, their last season was their best. The entire season they threw caution to the wind, and poked fun at themselves, at the networks, and thumbed their nose at everyone. I found it refreshing.

As writers, it is our job not to re-hash the same old thing all the time. We must constantly find a new angle, a fresh way of presenting an idea. I realize that is a challenge, and getting harder all the time. (How many different ways can you say I love you before you run out of ways to say it?) Is the challenge not what drives us, though?

Writers Meeting

2009-08-01T22:16:00.002-05:00

I attended the Ozarks Romance Authors writers meeting today. We had a hands on lesson about blogging, and creating a blog space. Boy, I could have used that last month! Very informative. I came home and created a blog on Windows Live, through MSN, then I blogged on Yahoo. The one on Yahoo dissapointed me. It didn't have any customization to it, anyway not that I could find. The one on Windows Live is your own web Page, fashioned much after a MYSpace page, I imagine. (I don't know, I don't have a MYSpace page.) It was very easy to set up and navigate.

An update on the Bluebird fledglings. They have pretty much given up the storm doors. Although one of them has parakeet syndrome. If you leave your car in the drive, instead of putting it in the garage, he flies down to sit on the side of your car and peck in your mirror. I finally put a mirror out in the yard just for him, in an effort to keep him off our cars. It worked! It's so funny to watch him sitting out there pecking at that mirror. I have never seen a Bluebird act like that.

My First Blog

2009-07-15T00:36:00.002-05:00

This is my first blog. It seems like it took a month to set up my blog page! I plan to write about writing, but also about whatever takes my fancy.

We've got two families of Bluebirds raising this year. One family has moved into the Martin House we installed. When their youngsters fledged, I thought I was living in an old time science fiction movie! They landed on my storm door, chattering like crazy. I tried to chase them off, but they kept coming back. As soon as I shut the door and walked away, they were back on it, chattering.

How do I get rid of these birds? I called the Conservation department and followed all of their suggestions, but none of them worked. They've been there for three days!