Notes « Journals of Journeys

13Nov/08Off

A Day Off And Day 12

Being well ahead of the game with three more write-ins scheduled for the remainder of the week and knowing that with the kids off from school, I wouldn't get much writing done anyway, I took yesterday "off." I even spent some time on the novel in progress that I had set aside to take part in this year's NaNoWriMo. No, I didn't write. The kids and I drove up into the mountains and took some snapshots of the colorful array of leaves (not as rich as I would have liked seeing that I apparently missed the window and the drought made it less than breathtaking.) I'm hoping to use some of the snapshots for the cover of "Olly, Olly Oxen Free" the working title of the book.

(c) 2008 All Rights Reserved My nature quest didn't stop there. I went spelunking today. Virtual spelunking, that is. Apparently not all caves are alike, or so Mira Beck, the protagonist of my current NaNo novel, has learned. And so she had to take me along to a few good sites where I could learn more about some caves. The Oregon Caves to be specific. It was definitely not something I could just make up, but it was well worth the trip and something I look forward to actually doing next summer when the caves open again.

Which brings me to a point for novice NaNo'ers. While it's helpful to know what you're talking about as you write your novel, be careful how much time you take doing such. Get down the points that are pertinent to the story, know that you are writing fiction so you can always make up a place, thing or person and fudge a little bit. You can flesh it out later (make it your mantra, there's always NaNoEditMo in the spring to work on editing your novel.) It's easy to get caught up in the more finite parts of the novel so you have to be firm with yourself and set limits. Say you have two hours to write and are getting stuck, spend 15 minutes max doing some surfing and then move on whether or not you have what you were looking for. You simply have to keep plugging away and moving toward the goal of 50K words (you might even find that you're not finished with your novel by 50K and that's okay, too!).

After tonight's write-in, I'm up to 28,326 transcribed words and estimate I have about 34,866 words written longhand. Not too shabby, although I know there have been others that have already reached the goal (what a shock that was to learn!)

Write on!

Filed under: 2008, Day by Day, Journals, Kathie, NaNoWriMo, Newbie, Notes, Writing No Comments

9Nov/08Off

Days 8 and 9 and No I Am Not Behind

Flair: Caution Novelists At Work Today is a catch-up blog, but I haven't been having to play catch-up with my NaNoWriMo challenge! I wizened up and took some earbuds with me today so I could plug into the iTunes music library loaded into my laptop and jammed to those while transcribing. It worked well although I later learned Ry-guy, who accompanied me to today's write-in, was "embarrassed" his mother was "rocking out." Meh. Between being out with fellow comrades, chatting about the craft, guzzling down a week's worth of lattes at each write-in session (I've been to about 4 already and have another to go to tomorrow) and logging onto the free wifi connections at the various coffee houses we've been meeting at, I've found I don't get as much transcribing done as I would like. Tomorrow I'm going to make sure I don't log onto the Internet, either, and see how much more progress I make. I'll update my word count at the end of that session and we'll see how I'm doing. Right now I've got an awful kink in my neck and am seriously considering scheduling our next write-in over at the mall where they have several massage chairs set up and actual people giving neck and shoulder rubs. Twelve bucks for twelve minutes or three lattes. Yeah, that's worth it!

Until tomorrow, NaNo, NaNo!

Filed under: 2008, Day by Day, NaNoWriMo, Notes, Writing 1 Comment

8Nov/08Off

Day 7 Pick Write In Locations Wisely

NaNoWriMo Crazy Times So, you're having a write-in, eh? For those of you out of the loop, a write-in is where fellow writers gather at a public place to write. By doing this, some writers feel more motivated to write, can ask a question regarding their current work-in-progress and just share the "vibes" man. I have several words to the wise about picking a write-in location. Call it your voice of experience speaking.

Choose a place where the ambient noise isn't invasive. A coffee shop set in a brick walled building with a raised ceiling isn't a good idea. The noise reverberates to such an extreme your writers will get headaches and not much writing will get done. Likewise, a brunch house playing trance music at deafening levels will be just as problematic.

Tables and chairs are always a consideration to take when hunting down the right place. The coffee house we wrote at last night had seats that were a bit too cushy and tables that were so high, I had wrist spasms for the better part of the night. We've since relocated our upcoming write-ins because I simply can't handle another day of that.

Speaking of tables and chairs, it would be wise to check the locations first. A cafe with nothing but small round tables that fit just a couple people (but in reality, maybe one person with a laptop and notepad) could be a bit of a put-off for your invited fellow writers.

Foot traffic is another consideration. Try to snag an area that's a bit out of the path of doors and general foot traffic (such as nearby the restrooms). If you're first to arrive for a write-in and didn't organize it, mention it to the employees you're there for a writing group and indicate where you're sitting, then move to a location that's a bit out of the way. By telling someone that you're there, you won't be worried about whether your fellow writers will find you and can concentrate on your writing.

Don't be offended if you're not getting the responses you were hoping for when organizing a write-in. Not everyone can write that way. And, as a writer, don't feel put upon if you decide you'd prefer not to attend a write-in. I repeat: not everyone feels comfortable in those settings.

I won't update my word counts, both transcribed and longhand. I didn't get as much done and really would like to be working on writing so that I can meet the ultimate goal which is to get this done and move back over to the work-in-progress I set aside so that I could participate in NaNoWriMo this year.

To all my fellow writers, write on!

Filed under: 2008, Day by Day, Journals, Kathie, NaNoWriMo, Notes, Writing No Comments

7Nov/08Off

Day 6 Do Not Mess With The Ninja Writer, Foo

This was a miserable day for writing. My protagonist doesn't have to deal with bassackward garbage companies and customer service representatives claiming the customer cussed them out nor do I want her to have to deal with that. She's got enough crap to deal with as it is with a ghost chasing her and everything! I hate it when life interrupts with writing. It made me come dangerously close to bringing out the damned Ninjas. So I opted to put on my Ninja hood and write. There. Don't mess with the Ninja writer, foo'!

All my plans for pep talks and other newbie NaNo advice has gone poof. You can thank the garbage company for that. And yeah, I now have solid, indisputable evidence that (oh my husband is going to like this) I was right, they were wrong. Imagine that. So that'll just have to wait a day with the exception of this little snippet of advice: 1.) Why are you surfing the net, didn't you read the rules of engagement from the start of NaNo? 2.) Write! and 3.) If you aren't signed up for receiving the pep talks and other worldly advice coming from the esteemed Letters of Light (the foundation NaNo runs under), do. There are some great author letters coming out and wonderful pep talks. They've been doing this for 10 years now and they know what they're talking about. Maybe even more than I do. Eh, or not.

I think I may have transcribed a mere 200 or less words in the mix of all the mayhem yesterday (Day 6) but I did manage to write out via longhand another 10 pages, so that's about 2830 more to add onto the already staggering count. Of course, that's not official until it has been typed up. I'm hoping with the four write-ins scheduled over the next four days I'll be all caught up with the transcribing and by this time next week, done. And no, I'm not going to shoot for the double goal I did a few years ago. I am aching to get back to the work in progress that I had been editing before NaNo started. I mean, I dream about that one, so it has to get done!

Ciao! And for all my writing homies, write on!

Filed under: 2008, Day by Day, Journals, Kathie, NaNoWriMo, Newbie, Notes, Pep Talks, Writing 2 Comments

6Nov/08Off

Day 5: The Essence of Music

Flair: Bother me in November and I'll kill you with a pencil. Thanks NaNoWriMo Today I met with three other writers for a write-in, some of us working on our NaNoWriMo novel, some on other works in progress. We met at a coffee shop just a block off campus that played some swanky music during the majority of our session.

Music, as you may recall from my first NaNo post, is for many a vital component in the writing process. For Stephenie Meyer, author of the wildly popular Twilight Saga, it was an inspiration during the writing process, has become the soundtrack for the movie due out later this month and has just been released to the public with zillions of downloads off her site and across the Web. Of course, Stephenie's not the only one to use music to help inspire, calm and whittle out a few more well chosen words. However, I'm a bit brain dead so I won't go surfing about to look for some examples. That's your homework!

The choice of music being played at the shop was a bit, well, culturally centric and soon we were laughing as one piece moved to another. It changed my mood a few times and the tenor of the transcribing I was doing (I almost rewrote an entire chapter just because of the music!) For one writer whose novel takes place in Louisiana at one part, the music seemed to pop into her novel. And then it jumped back out and slid over into mine as the tune was a Caribbean calypso bit that reminded me of the Day-o song from Beetlejuice. Alas, I wasn't permitted to play the Twilight soundtrack I have loaded since one of the writers has yet to read the books and doesn't want anything giving it away. The end all was when a song I instantly recognized as the one Lucille Ball's husband, Desi, sang and a bit later, a very old gentleman sitting nearby confirmed I had it right when I overheard him sharing with the employee who changed the track on the CD (she didn't like the song) that was the theme song to The Lucy Show (actually, that wasn't, it was just one of the songs Ricky's band played on one of the episodes.) It was a bit embarrassing to be able to recognize it in just a few strains. I suddenly felt very, very old especially given the man who spouted off about it across from me.

Point being, music can help shape your writing, take it on a tangent you might not have expected as the author. I, for one, will be snagging the headphones. I really don't need to have my characters cavorting through a Parisian cafe or taking a trip to a dude ranch in the middle of the desert. Attending a write-in? Traipsing off to a coffee shop to get in a few hours of writing? Grab yourself a CD and some headphones for backup, just in case.

End of the day word count (transcribed): 15181. Estimated total word count (longhand) is (let's do the math!) 1 page = approx. 237 words X 91 pages = 21567. Not too shabby! How are you doin'? Look for tomorrow's installment with some thoughts and ideas on how to bump up your word count ('legally') if you're laggin'.

Write on!