The "Write Approach"

Answers While I'm Dreaming

2013-01-05T06:39:00.000-08:00

     I'm not sure why this happens, but many mornings when I awaken, some epiphany awakens within me at the same time. It is as though during the night my mind is working and in the morning it presents its answer to me. One time I remember waking with the understanding how by taking the angles of the location of a star in the sky from two separate places on earth, you can figure out the distance of that star from the earth. (Note: I didn't figure out exactly how, just that it suddenly made sense to me how it could be done.) More recently, because I am taking a logic's class in my academic studies, I have awoken to more logic related answers. This morning. however, my awakening epiphany had more to do with how I could finish my latest novel's second draft within three months.

      I finished the 50,000 word first draft of my book A Coward's Solace during November and have not gone back to the book since. That is not unusual for me. After focusing on NaNoWriMo during November, besides celebrating the holidays with my family, I also have a lot of other work to catch up on that I didn't do so during December, I normally put the book aside for the month and focus on other things. Now that December is over however, I knew that I really needed to get back to it because I intend to have the book published by the end of the year.
      This December I had Soldiers Don't Cry, The Locket Saga Continues published. I intend to publish A Coward's Solace this coming December so my goal for January, February and March is to add another 30,000 words to the book and have it ready for my editor by the first of April so that the book can be published by December.
      The idea of writing another 30,000 words in three months seemed like a lot to me. I thought there's no way I can write that much in three months.
      My mind, however, saw that getting the answer was important to me, so this morning it presented me with the answer. If I broke down the 30k into daily word allotments, I would need to write only have to write 400 words every day of the week with weekends free for catch up or additional editing.
      On top of that, my mind gave me the added bonus of letting me know that I should add another scene to the front of A Coward's Solace and make it from the viewpoint of my protagonist, Head of Stone.
      While it was still fresh in my mind this morning, I wrote that first scene which of course added just over 400 words. Because it is already the 5th, I will have to write 400 words every day in January to keep up,or up my word count if I get behind, but I believe that 400 words a day is an easy amount to write every day. (After all, I wrote 1667 every day in November!)
   I have two published novels in The Locket Saga. When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don't Cry, The Locket Saga Continues. A Coward's Solace will be the third book in the Locket Saga Series. My question today is, do you ever wake up with new ideas? If so, how do you capture these ideas? If not, try this: Before you go to bed tonight, write down a problem that you need to solve. In the morning, write down what you think the solution might be. If a solution doesn't come to you, write down anything that you think might help you find the solution. Do whatever it is that you wrote that might help you find the solution. If the solution still hasn't come to you, write down your problem again and ask your mind to solve it for you. Keep following these steps until you find a solution.

2013-01-04T07:24:00.000-08:00

      Happy New Year Everyone! I love the change in years because it is a time when we are able to reflect on our lives and change what we don't like about our lives and add to our lives things we do like. The problem is that a few days later, we are back to the same old routine. We have changed nothing. Experts say that one of the big reasons that we fail is because we try to do too much at a time. A better approach is to take bite sized changes, make them routines and then add to them.
      This is the premise to the program started by The Fly Lady . The fly lady teaches how to clean and keep your house clean. She begins with "shining your sink" and builds habit upon habit throughout the year.
      This is also the premise that I am using in creating my own daily systems for my live including my writing. My system is called SOFF which is an acronym for S-start, O-Organize and Outline, F-Focus, and F-Finish. For an overview of the system check out Daily Planning: Increase Productivity
      This is how this relates to increasing my writing productivity. I will set aside specific times each day to work on writing projects. During this time, I will START the project, I will organize my writing time to do specific things. For instance, if I have designated the time to write my first draft, I won't spend it researching or checking emails. I will ORGANIZE my space to make writing the easiest process to do during that time. I will organize my materials and I will OUTLINE what it is that I intend to write. Once I know where my writing session will begin and where it will end, then I will write. This brings us to FOCUS. During my writing session I will focus on the project at hand. If during the session I think of something that doesn't fit, I will quickly write it down so I don't lose the thought. If I need to further research sometime, I will put the item I need to research into brackets {} but I will make sure that I don't break stride. FOCUS is the key to this whole process. Finally we come to FINISH. At the end of the writing session, I will quickly edit what I have written, I will determine what I will need to do next, then I will be done for the day. In the overall scheme of things, I will finish the projects I start before I start new ones so that I don't end up with a pile of unfinished writing projects. Each time I START writing, I will work on projects already started first and then move onto ones that I want to start.
        I have two published novels in The Locket Saga. When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don't Cry, The Locket Saga Continues. And like most writers, I have many more writing projects in the works. What are you currently working on, and do you have a system that keeps you productive on a daily basis?

What to Do When Nothing is Happening

2012-04-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I seem to be doing all that I can but I never seem to be able to get anywhere. My writing process slows down. I bite off more than I can chew, and I feel like I'm doing all that I can, but I still don't seem to be going anywhere. This morning I was feeling that way when I received this video in my email. Wow! I thought, this is something I not only have to hear, but I need to share it as many ways as I possibly can. I would love to know if you enjoyed this story as much as I did
.
Please click on the link for the Story of the Chinese Bamboo

Articles for Week 2!

2012-01-16T08:09:00.000-08:00

This week has gone a lot smoother than last week did. I caught up with everything I had to do this past week except for my housework. Here it is Monday, and I have several projects to finish today. Today was the last day of my critical thinking class. I think I did okay. I hope I did okay, lol.

In case you missed last week's articles online.

I started off the week with:

The Plight of Being Lukewarm

On Monday, I continued my series on the Past Presidential Elections. I continued with:

John Adams' Presidential Election

Tuesday, we discovered what it would be like if we lived in 1800 and someone came to visit:

When Visitors came to call in 1800

On Wednesday, we came back to the present and learned how to make pear butter:

Making Pear Butter

Thursday's article showed us some of the advantages of an Online college education

The Advantages of an online Education

The article on Friday brought us to thinking about our health and water's role and potential role in our health:

Keeping Hydrated for Health

And finally on Saturday we looked at reasons for starting a home business:

Why start a Home Business?

You would think that having spent so much time writing articles that I would have had no time to work on my novel, but that is not the case at all. I made a lot of progress on rewriting Soldiers Don't Cry. I am almost done with the second draft, then it's back to the drawing board to look for how to make Soldiers Don't Cry the best novel I have written yet.

If you like the articles written here, and you would like to get my articles directly into your email inbox FOR FREE, how about signing up for Cygnet's Newsletter by clicking here. It's easy and it won't cost you a thing.

The First of my 366 Articles have been Written!

2012-01-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

This past week has certainly been a busy one for me. I said on Facebook that I was going to start of the New Year running, and in many respects, I did. My husband however made a joke, and said that I'd better not run, otherwise I'd hurt myself. I told him that I wasn't going to run, but that a good walk would probably do me some good. This week I discovered that not only was walking good for me physically but was also good for my writing. I walked four days last week. I already walked today as well. Enjoy my article:

Writing for Creativity

Have you broken your New Year's Resolutions already? Have no fear, you can start all over again. You can start over everyday if you want. In fact, you should. Read:

Happy New Day!

This year is an election year. Learn how things were during George Washington's Election

George Washington's Election

This is the coldest time of the Year. Here's a recipe from my pantry:

From the Pantry: Broccoli Potato Soup

It's cold outside, and the kids are bored. Get some work done, and enjoy a movie with your kids. Just don't forget to what the special features. They can teach you something about your writing.

Use Movies on DVD to Show You How to Improve Your Novel

In my writing I do research, and sometimes I discover something interesting that I can't include in my novels, so I write an article. Here's a history lesson for you:

Whatever Happened to the Erie Indians

Not everything has gone smoothly all week, though. Last Saturday, the last day of the year, my freezer broke. Fortunately for me, it gave me something else to write about.

What I did When My Freezer Failed

If you liked any of my articles, and don't want to miss any articles of my "366 Articles in a Year", sign up for my Newsletter: "Cygnet's Newsletter". The first issue comes out January 10, 2012. Not only will every article be available, but also I offer updates concerning my upcoming new novel in The Locket Saga: Soldiers Don't Cry. Available: June 30, 2012.

Sneak Peek of Soldiers Don't Cry

2012-01-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

My newsletter is coming out in one week! In it I am compiling the 7 articles that I will have published the past week in various article venues around the internet. You can sign up for it today and have access to every one of them without having to look them up yourself. I have been spending a lot of my time lately working on my novel: Soldiers Don’t Cry. I’ve been working on the edits, trying to get the book up to the length that I want it to be, as well as get some of the major aspects of each of the scenes how I want them to be. One of the things I am working on is what some call “my elevator speech”. You know, it’s what you tell someone when they ask you what you do and you tell them you’re a novelist. You know what they always ask next is “what’s your book about?” That’s where the elevator speech comes in. I have been following Author Kristen Lamb’s Blog http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/. One of the things that she says is imperative is that a writer writes what the novel is about in one sentence. The sentence must provide an active goal for the main characters. As the birth pangs of the American revolution intensify, patriot smuggler and spy Elizabeth Thorton is caught between her loyalty to her countrymen and the love of her life— Philip Randolph, a British Army officer who equally dedicated to his work of bringing the American colonists back under subjection to the king. Does this sound like a plot that moves you to want to know more? I’ve also been working on the blurb for the back of the book. Here’s what I’ve got so far. When parliament closes Boston’s port in the summer of 1774, Yankee smuggler and spy, Elizabeth Thorton is caught between her loyalty to her countrymen and the love of her life—Philip Randolph, a boy she knew when she was a child, returns to Elizabeth’s life as a British Officer in the King’s Own. Philip Randolph, who was, as a boy, so traumatized by an ambush by Seneca warriors where he was left a sole survivor that he is left without any memory of anything that happened before or during the event, now returns as a British Officer in the King’s Own—the enemy of the liberty-seeking Colonists. Can Elizabeth keep from getting caught as a Yankee traitor? How does the loss of Philip’s memory of that traumatic experience affect who he is in 1775 Boston? Is there any hope for their love for one another, or will the threat of war forever keep them apart? I would love to hear your feedback! Don’t be afraid to be critical, either. I would love your honest opinion. Remember to sign up for my newsletter. The premiere edition is coming out next week.

A most Unusual Christmas

2011-12-26T17:01:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday was Chanukkah, Thursday was the Winter Solstice, Sunday was Christmas, and today is Kwanzaa. I hope your holiday was a good one. Now that the holiday season is winding down, and many of us are beginning our recoveries from our holiday frenzy. The past few days have been quite challenging for me. I finished up the work I needed to finish for my college class, and then I planned to drive 120 miles to Springfield to meet my mother-in-law to pick up Christmas gifts on Thursday. I was hoping to pick up my husband who is now a truck driver so that he could spend Christmas at home. (I was to pick him up in the same town that I met my mother-in-law.) It didn’t go exactly as I had planned. He told me the morning that I was going to pick up the gifts that he wouldn’t be able to get in until early Saturday morning, and then had to go back out early on Sunday—the 25th so we decided that we—my husband, daughter, and I would spend the holiday in Springfield. This meant that I had to spend Thursday going to Springfield to meet my mother-in-law, come back home on Friday to get ready to go back to Springfield as early as possible on Saturday. My husband was leaving early on Sunday so I planned to keep the rest of the plans I had on Sunday to meet with friends after we saw him off, so I had to get food ready for that event as well. Friday night I found out that the friend whose house we were going to on Sunday, she was in an accident that wrecked her car (hit a deer), but she was having the dinner anyway. I decided to take the food that I was bringing to her house to her house early in the morning, so I decided to drop off the food at her house Saturday morning on my way to Springfield. I couldn’t get anyone to wake up at her house so I decided to take the food to her daughter’s house. I couldn’t get anyone up right away so I tried the door and it was open so I went into the house. The woman’s husband was in the kitchen when I entered. When I told him what I was doing, he didn’t have any problem with the fact that I was in his kitchen at 5:30 in the morning. So I was off to Springfield to meet my husband. We got there and spent the morning doing my husband’s laundry then shopping, then went to the motel room early. I picked up the keys to the room and went up, then couldn’t remember what the room number was. I went back down to the front desk only to discover that the room number was on the envelop that held the keys. My ability for keeping up with everything that I need to do was used up. Fortunately I had my husband with me now. He went to buy groceries for the trip he was taking on Christmas while my daughter and I decided to check out the pool and the Jacuzzi. After some relaxation, he came out to the pool to let us know that he was back; we then went up to the room and got ready to go out for dinner. We ate Italian. After we got back we opened presents, watched some television and went to bed. In the morning we ate breakfast and then my husband left in his truck for the northwest. When we left for Springfield the plans were to have dinner at noon, but when I got back to my friend’s house, they had changed it to six in the evening. I had been out of reach because I don’t carry a cell phone and I hadn’t been on the internet so I didn’t know the change in plans. So instead of going to her house, my daughter and I went home for a while and unpacked our gifts, then went back into town for Christmas dinner. The rest of the evening was enjoyed, uneventfully with friends. It was an unusual Christmas to say the least, but it will definitely be a memorable one. In less than a week now, a new year will begin. During this week of recovery, I plan to finish things that I’ve started, pay off bills that I’ve accumulated, pay the local taxes, and prime the pump for the upcoming year. During this time my class from school is taking a break, so I’m doing what I can to get ahead in that department. I have written a list of subjects that I will be using to write my 366 articles in 2012, and I have started a calendar that indicates which articles I will write on a given topic for each given day in January. I have started outlines for the articles I will write during the first week in January. This week I am also updating my website for 2012, believe me it needs it. Take a look at it this week and then take a look at it next week and tell me how you like the improvements. I have also started putting together a newsletter that I would be happy to send to you. In it are the articles that I have written that week. To sign up, just click here. The first issue will be out January 8, 2012.

To Mine Own Self Be True

2011-12-19T12:57:00.000-08:00

This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man-- William Shakespeare.

This quote of Shakespeare’s has become my mantra of late. Actually for the past few years, I have been stubbornly holding onto my own idea of what I want to do with the rest of my life. The way I see it, God created me to be me. He created me to be the best me that I could be, not someone else. I was given a set of circumstances in life, talents, predispositions, weaknesses, and all together, they are what comprise who I am. I am given all these ingredients like a puzzle and have been asked to put it all together into one harmonious package. Too often I have looked at the weaknesses (with help from others I might add) and only saw what I couldn't do. Other times I have looked only at what I thought was good and saw myself as limitless, but then fell on my face because I forgot about the challenges created by the aspects of me which are less favorable. I do best when I am truly in tune with whom God created me to be, even though being honest with who I am doesn’t always seem to be the path of least resistance. My life is like a painting painted in bright and dark colors. The dark colors framing the bright ones causing them to appear to pop from the canvas of time. It is the dark moments, those times in which I am barely able to hold on, that lead to my brightest victories. So what does all this have to do with the coming year? Well, it has to do with the fact that I have unfulfilled desires that need to be explored. I have some wonderful dreams, and in light of eternity, I have only a few short years left to fulfill those dreams in this lifetime. If I'm going to get any of my dreams fulfilled, I need to get on with what I know I want to do. That’s why during this next year I am laying the ground work in making some of these dreams begin to come to fruition. I'm going to be completing my second year of college and beginning my third. I am going to be starting a newsletter after the first of the year, so that I can begin to organize my social networking writing platform. I am also going to be finishing my second novel--Soldiers Don't Cry and publishing it June 30th of this year. I am looking forward to 2012 to being a busy, rewarding year. This all will be the foundation of further plans that I have. I plan to build my own publishing company. This company will not be just for my work, but for the work of countless other Indie writers. I also plan to teach. I love teaching, especially reading and writing. I also would like to begin public speaking. I have been thinking of ways to do that. There are a lot of people who know me who probably can't imagine me going that route. I know I’ve failed them in the past. I failed me in the past. But I know who I am now, and I will be true to myself from here on out.

A challenge for the Coming Year

2011-12-12T10:11:00.001-08:00

During this next year one of my ongoing projects is going to be writing an article a day from January one through December 31st 2012. Since it is a leap year, it means that I will be writing 366 unique articles this coming this year. This is in addition to my blog posts to this blog. (I’m planning to post one every Monday.) This is in addition to the papers I have to write for school. This is in addition to editing Soldiers Don’t Cry. This is in addition to marketing When God Turned His Head. This is in addition to the 50,000 word new novel for NaNoWriMo next November. It sounds like a lot of work, and believe me, I know it is. How will I be able to get all of it done? It’s not like I’ve never done anything like this before either. Back a couple of years ago I wrote 100 articles in 100 days for eHow. I’d probably still be writing for eHow if they hadn’t become part of Direct Media. I don’t begrudge Ehow’s changes. I, too, needed to grow. I learned so much from my time with Ehow. What I learned when I write for Ehow, I can use now to write these articles. First of all, I have to have a plan, and a plan is exactly what I am working on this month. I’ve got a notebook sitting right beside me and I have been taking notes about I need to do to make this happen. I’ve taken one page for each month of the year and written the numbers 1-29,30, or 31 down the side of the page for each day of each month. I have several more pages where I’m going to write down ideas for articles that I want to write. I will pick and choose what articles I will submit for each day of the year. On still more pages I will work through each one of the ideas creating outlines for each of the articles. From these outlines I will then move to the computer to research my material and flesh out my articles. The second thing I am going to do is to schedule time to write these articles and blog posts. As I mentioned earlier, I am going to publish my blog every Monday. As you will notice, I started my blog back up last Monday. I intend to keep this a habit. I don’t like the fact that I didn’t have a blog post in a year. Also at the beginning of each week, I am going to schedule what articles I will be posting that week, and where I am going to be posting them. I have a number of sites where I can post my articles. I am sure I will be telling more about them in the near future. I intend to build up my readership in those sites as well. Again, I will tell more about those sites later. The third thing I must do is determine my subject matter. One subject, of course will be writing online, another will be about marketing. I’ve been doing both now for over 3 years. Plus I’ve had a couple of classes in college about these subjects. I think I can teach at least beginners on these subjects. Also there are still some recipes that I would like to add online. I have learned quite a bit about organization, business, and personal finance. There are also the holiday articles that I can write. I can even glean some articles from the papers I write at school. Just by changing the voice to match my audience, I will be able to recycle those papers into articles. There are also the history facts that I have discovered from the research I have been doing. I have also been discovering info about my genealogy. Perhaps there is an article or two there, as well. Is there anyone else out there who would like to take me up on this challenge? Can you write 366 articles this year? I’d love the company. Comment below and let me know that you’d like to take the challenge.

2011 year in review

2011-12-05T04:10:00.001-08:00

I am shocked that it has been almost a year since I wrote a blog post for The "Write Approach". Time certainly has a way of getting away from me. It wasn't because I haven't been working on other areas of my life, however. It has been a busy year for me. I started working on my bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts in January, and have already started my sophomore year. The fact that I have been in an accelerated degree program has definitely taken a large chunk of my time this past year.

Not only that, but I also have started a part time job. I work Friday nights at an artsy kind of restaurant in West Plains, Missouri called the A La Carte Cafe. Susan and Jon Lumsden are the proprietors of the establishment. The food served is, as much as possible, from locally procured sources. Much of what they serve is also organic. As you might realize from my other blog Simply Living, I support local foods and organic foods. Not only does this establishment have the foods I like, it displays creative outlets. Susan spent many years creating artistic quilts. She has a number of them hanging in the restaurant. Jon is a singer/songwriter. The reason I have the opportunity to work here on Friday nights is because on these nights local musicians from all different music styles come into the restaurant and entertain the patrons. From time to time the restaurant also has special events, some of which I have able to be a part. I have also been busy trying to network on the Internet through Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. During the first part of the year I built my twitter account from around 300-1000 people I was following. During the last three months I have increased my following to nearly 2000 and my followers to over 1500. I hope that by the end of the year I will be able to increase my followers to just over 2000. In March I had a major writing setback which has caused me to play catch up ever since. My husband decided to wipe the computer where I had all my documents. I had recently bought a new computer so I told him that I wanted all my documents stored on a flash drive so that I could transfer them to the new computer. Rather than making sure that I had everything off of the computer, he went ahead and wiped the computer. Later, when it was too late, I discovered that he deleted all of my Microsoft Word files and just saved "my documents" files that had been on the computer. My published book had been deleted from the computer as well as the three rough drafts I had of my upcoming novels. I had to start all over again. Fortunately I was able to find an old copy a draft of Soldiers Don't Cry on an old computer that was here in the house. I have since taken that draft and expanded the manuscript to almost 300 pages. I have been working on editing the book since March, and I plan to publish Soldiers Don't Cry on June 30th of next year.

Where do you find your inspiration?

2010-12-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

Where do you get your inspiration? I get my writing inspiration from many different sources. One of the ways I get inspiration is through watching old television shows, reading old books, and watching old movies. I'm sure you get the idea. The reason I go to those things that are old is because they help me see a different perspective than what I would see in what is in vogue today. It helps keep me from regurgitating the ideas of others. I like to look at what was written in the past and see what I like about what I'm reading and what I don't like about what I'm reading. What elements would I like to include in my own writing? What elements don't I want to use or how would I use the events in what I read in a different setting than the one where it is used in the old book?

I love to observe people and I find inspiration from their experiences. I like to try to see things from the eyes of a person that I know who is of a different age group. I can gain insight from anyone. The elderly, the teenager and the child all have unique ways of looking at life. I love to listen to the stories of others. There have been many stories that I have picked up from my father and I have taken advice from my preteen daughter.

I gain inspiration from places where I go. I often like to go into my own backyard and experience the moment in time. I close my eyes and listen and write what I hear, what I taste, what I smell, what I feel. I go through it until I write down every sensation.

I can also use this same sensory inspiration when writing about places that I've been and even places that I've only read about in books. I imagine myself going there and experience the location and write about it through all the senses.

I am inspired by dreams. Several of my books have been inspired by dreams. I have been awakened with an idea that simply wouldn't go away and from it I would create a story. Soldiers Don't Cry the book that I am putting out in June 2011 was inspired from a dream.

I have gained inspiration from my own personal experiences. Many negative experiences that I have had to work through have been fodder for some of my best scenes. I think that 'sharing' these experiences with my characters helps me create not only better scenes but it creates more real characters that not only I am able to identify with but others can identify with as well.

Finally I find inspiration simply by asking questions. I write them down and then search for the answers from within. That is how this blog post was written.

Now I present this question to you. Where do you find your inspiration?

The NaNoWriMo stats are in

2009-12-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

The NaNoWriMo official stats are impressive. Take a look:

* This year, we had 167,150 participants, up 40% from 2008's total of 119,301.
* We wrote a total of 2,427,190,537 words, up 48% from 2008's collective word count of 1,643,343,993.
* This averaged out to 14,531 words per person.
* We had 32,173 winners, up 48% from 2008's total of 21,683.
* This gave us a 19.2% win rate, the highest in modern NaNoWriMo history. (Last year we had an 18.2% win rate; in 2007 it was 15.1%).

Trouble Redefining my Stride

2009-12-05T17:27:00.000-08:00

I haven't written anything for the new Book WRAPS since my last entry. I have written a couple of articles for the newsletter I'm helping put together and I have worked with my husband on creating text for a brochure for our ministry. Maybe the fact that we are working on this big ministry project is getting in the way of all the writing projects I've got in the works. If you'd like to find out more about our ministry, check out Jeff's blog called Seeking the Kingdom

Limbo

2009-12-03T05:05:00.000-08:00

Did I mention it seems strange that the NaNoWriMo is over for this year? I have new projects starting but I'm having a difficult time getting started. Maybe its because the days are so short and maybe there's a little bit of seasonal affective disorder going on. Maybe its just the adrenalin rush from that last surge to get those last few thousand words out so that I could qualify as a winner in the NaNoWriMo isn't there. I'm not sure but I do know that I just don't seem to have the energy I would like to have and I have only written about 500 words for the past two days. I guess that is better than most people but it is definitely not what I've become accustomed to writing during the past month.

WRAPS is started and I've also got a deadline on a newsletter and a brochure that I need to get out so I'd better get my butt in gear if I'm going to make that January first deadline for WRAPS.

The Day After

2009-12-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

Today I didn't have to work on my novel and it seemed strange. I'm actually feeling guilty for no reason. I did start the outline for my nonfiction book today however. It's a short simple but powerful little book. I hope to have it written, edited and published by the first of the year. So far it's only 415 words long.

Yesterday I cleaned the house then today I did a couple of projects I avoided during November. Today I cleaned the refrigerator and reorganized my files. Then I started working on adding names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses to the computer address book. I'm trying to get things organized before the first of the year.

We have a Winner in the 2009 NaNoWriMo!

2009-11-30T13:33:00.000-08:00

That's right folk! This morning at about 9:30 CST it became official. I am one of the winners of the NaNoWriMo for 2009. I took the time to read a little of what I've written and even though it's still quite rough. (I think that's why they call it a rough draft). My official word count is 50063.

I really enjoyed writing this book. It truly is amazing how much you can get done in a month when you've got a goal and a deadline. They say that the hardest part of the process is during week two and even though I was pressed during that time, I think the hardest part for me was those last 1000 words. I thought I'd never get done. (The truth is, it really didn't take me any longer to write those 1000 words that it did to write any other 1000 words. It just seemed like it.)

This afternoon I straightened up the house and tomorrow I begin another project but this one won't be as strenuous. Tomorrow I start working on my nonfiction book--WRAPS. It's going to be a much shorter book (75 pages)and the process won't be as intense.(I only plan to work at it for a hour per day.) My deadline for this book is the beginning of the year. This one I will self publish and self promote. I'm going to spend January reworking a lot of When God Turned his Head. By setting goals and deadlines, I am finding that I can do amazing things.

Day 28 of the 2009 NaNoWriMo

2009-11-28T15:55:00.000-08:00

The book is coming along quite well, I've less than 4000 words to write and two days to write them in. I'm just coming up for air long enough to write this blog to show that I am indeed working and that I really haven't dropped off the planet. I've missed a few days of writing here and there for various reasons throughout the month but for the most part I have written every day. I've learned so much. I can't wait to finish and bring myself into the 2009 NaNoWriMo Winners circle.

Day 26 of the 2009 NaNoWriMo

2009-11-26T19:04:00.000-08:00

we are in the last week of the 2009 NaNoWriMo. I have written over 43,000 words so far. I've just got 7000 words to finish. I must confess, writing pages for my book has been taking most of my writing time so I haven't been working on my blog or on my other writing projects. I've also rediscovered a bad habit that I know is an addictive habit. Freecell. Freecell is one of those things that taught me to never get involved with those game applications on facebook.I can waste two hours easily just playing freecell. I'm not sure why I've suddenly started doing freecell again. Maybe it's because I'm some how stressed out and freecell relieves that stress. I'm not sure.

Yesterday I was able to get extra done on the book and I almost killed of my favorite character. She was one of my supporting characters in this book and one of the main characters in Soldiers Don't Cry. I'm not going to tell you how but I will tell you that she survived the writing session and will go on and probably be part of the next book in the series. I'm not sure if killing of some of my favorite characters is a pathology but it certainly makes for interesting fiction.

Day 12 0f 2009 NaNoWriMo

2009-11-12T05:34:00.000-08:00

I was doing so well last week. I was well ahead of schedule when Sunday came and I couldn't write all that day. Monday came and I caught up with most of what I didn't get written on Sunday and finally did get caught up on Tuesday. Today I only need to write about 1000 words to break 20,000 words! Whoo-who almost half way done! Thought I'd better get out here and let everyone know that I'm still plugging away at this novel and that everything is going well. I'm already thinking about the first rewrite. The first draft of any novel is a mess compared to what it ends up. Mostly what I'm writing is the actions of the main characters and the scene setups. Next month I'll begin what I call second draft and that's where I add details. It's still a long way from being ready to publish. I'm not ready to rewrite yet and there is a word count of 1667 still staring me in the face this morning. I love it when the word count is finished by ten o' clock in the morning. That didn't happen yesterday but if I get to work, It could happen today. My husband should be proud of me though, the writing is getting done and so is the housework.

Day six of 2009 NaNoWriMo

2009-11-06T07:54:00.000-08:00

The word count continues to go up. This time in record time. I finished my 1667 words before 9:30 am. I've been careful to pace myself this first week. I've been very careful not to burn myself out by doing too much too soon. I'm thinking though that maybe I'll try to pick up the pace a bit next week so that hopefully I can finish the book by Thanksgiving. Wouldn't that be nice. 50,000 words finished by Thanksgiving. Even at the rate I'm going I might be able to come close Today my word count is 10,732. Over 700 words ahead of schedule.

Fifth Day of the 2009 NaNoWriMo

2009-11-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

I have been successfully been able to write my entire 1667 quota before 10 am every morning so far. I'm really happy with my progress so far. I've been learning a lot about how to write this first draft efficiently. I am mostly concentrating on creating action and dialogue and I'm not too worried about descriptions and other details right now. today I had to do a little research for the chapter I'm going to be working on tomorrow. There's a ceremony that I wanted to find out. I took a couple of wrong turns and couple of dead ends when researching on the internet but within half an hour I had the information I was looking for. I started taking notes on a piece of paper what I thought I'd need but then changed my mind and just copied and pasted the information right into my chapter for tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll edit the material to fit the story, add in personal details about how my character dealt with the ceremony, what is thoughts were etc. The chapter shouldn't take long to write. It'll be easy to rework the information in such a way that I won't be plagiarizing.

My word count is 9009.

Day Four of 2009 NaNoWriMo

2009-11-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

Today I was again done writing the 1667 words by 10 o' clock in the morning. I'm starting to develop a routine that works well for me. I'm hoping that I can continue this pace, not just through the month but beyond as well. I'm finding that writing 1667 a day isn't difficult. Because the book is actually in two parts right now, (Three if you count Elizabeth's diary entries), I actually have to plan what is happening the following two chapters rather than just one chapter. It's almost like writing two different books although later they will merge and hopefully in such a way that you didn't really expect would happen. There are hints in this book in several places but I hope that everyone that reads it will be shocked when they find out what who Head of Stone is.

I would have written in here earlier in the day but I had to catch up on a backlog of emails because my daughter had her dentist appointment yesterday. (no cavities, maybe braces but I doubt it. She just got her front teeth in and they haven't entered their final position yet. Her brother's teeth when they came in were in a worse position but they straightened out just fine.)

I'm glad I've read about how even famous authors had a lack of confidence concerning their writing. Stephen King had thrown Carrie in the trash. Ray Bradbury thought his writing was crap. Puts my own self-confidence or lack of it in context.

Day three of 2009 NaNoWriMo

2009-11-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

Today I've completed my third day of working on the first draft of my novel and have completed the third chapter. I have already written 5324 words of my new novel. Over 1/10th of the way to finishing 50k! There's a lot more drama than I expected this early in the book. I'm not having any trouble writing 1667 words a day and today has taken the longest of about 3 hours. My daughter has a dentist appointment this afternoon so I'll be taking her to the dentist.
I was going to write in my blog yesterday but I couldn't because I messed up the password on the internet so I couldn't get on and I had to wait until my husband got home before anyone could get back on. (I don't know the password, can you believe that?) But I did write yesterday and I did get the housework done yesterday and I even took the time to make two loaves of banana bread. The house is clean, there's fresh baking in the house to snack on, and I'm right on target with my book. Life is good.

The 2009 NaNoWriMo Has Begun!

2009-11-01T08:16:00.000-08:00

Good morning today begins the 2009 NaNoWriMo. I am happy to inform you that I have already written my quota of 1667 today and it was done before 9:30 this morning CDST. In all the excitement, I forgot to set the clock back so it was actually 8:30 CST. Did I tell you that I'm writing a chapter a day? Each day is a separate chapter of 1667 words. I know they are short chapters but they are just the first draft after all. The best part I think is that I didn't utilize my outline in the word count so I've got a fantastic start to finishing my novel all 50,000 words this month!

If you're just checking this blog out for the first time, and you don't know what NaNoWriMo is, check out my first entry in the blog and check out my eHow article How to Write a Novel in a Month to see what I'm talking about.

Day -1 and Coutning

2009-10-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

Twis the night before NaNoWriMo
My daughter's out trick or treating with my spouse.

I'm not a poet so I won't do the poetic fingernails on the chalk board to irritate you all this fine Halloween Day.

Today I worked at trying to get some last minute work done before the big kick off. I sorted through the papers on my desk. (Found some important papers I've been trying to find and I dressed my daughter for trick or treating.

My daughter and husband love going out trick or treating together. Both of them love scary things and both love candy so it's a perfect fit for them. I on the other hand prefer getting caught up and ready for tomorrows event.

Here's my plans to try to get the 1667 words per day. I'm going to try a little experiment. I timed myself not too long ago on how many words I could mentally create and type in 5 minutes. I was able to type 187 words in five minutes. I tried it two more times and I was able to write about 162 the second time and about 150 the third time. So in fifteen minutes straight I was able to write 1996 words four 15 minute sessions or in one hour of actual writing time per day or only 30 hours during the whole month. It looks reasonable in theory but can I do it in reality?
We'll see.

I'm going to try to keep daily tallies on facebook and twitter as well as try to write something in here on a daily basis. I won't be writing in here until I've completed my word count for the day. and don't be surprised if I'm not very wordy. Please be sure to leave comments either here or facebook or whatever. I love the feedback.