Well, NaNoWriMo 2010 is officially over for me this year. Interesting how the win was so important to me last year, but not this year. I thought I had it in the bag for sure, and I should have. I easily type almost 2K words in a single hour. No idea why I couldn't pull it off this year. I suppose I allowed myself to be distracted too easily? I may or may not attempt it next year. I don't know yet. I suppose I'll find out then.
I finished up at 35,011. Oddly enough, I see this book easily reaching 60K and maybe more. However, the pressure is off to write it and I can revert to taking my time and editing a bit as I go without feeling guilty. ;-)
Oh! I was writing some messages out on Writing.com and I think I found out why I didn't win. About what? Halfway through, I started wishing it was over already so I could move on with my new dreams and hopes. Hopes and dreams that were going to take a lot of work, that's for sure! In the end, I may very well have sabotaged myself so I would have an excuse to throw in the towel early and move on. To tell you the truth, that feels like the right answer. I could see myself doing that. :-P
Yeah. I'm working on becoming published now, and I'm being serious about it this time. As Beverly said in Eureka in an episode, "Talking is easy. Doing is hard." So, that's what sabotaged my NaNoWriMo win this year. That might be why I was wondering why I felt okay with losing when I should have felt bad. I'm moving on to bigger and better things. LOL Sorry, had to laugh at the cliche. I just pictured myself standing on the edge of a cliff, a breeze blowing my hair back, and I'm standing there with a straight back with the most officious look on my face like I was better than everyone else. lol Too funny. What makes that so darn funny is that I know I have a long way to go. I know I'm not better than anyone else, and that I make oodles of errors. Besides, the last time I checked, everyone could get better at what they do. ;-)
Now! It's time to end this lovely post and this lovely blog. I have officially moved over to my own website! That's what I've been doing this week. It might change before too long. I'm not sure what the heck I'm doing at the moment. So! Without further ado, if you'd like to keep tagging along, I'm now at www.erinjroberts.com. Don't be surprised if the URL goes down in the next few days. I'm seriously thinking of switching my hosting over to a paid site so I can make it "fancier" so that it reflects me better. Maybe. I'm still thinking about it. :-D
Until then, see ya!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Final Day
Well, here it is, November 30th. It is officially the last day of NaNoWriMo. Today has gone not near as good as planned. Not that I had a plan, but I did plan to write more than I have so far. I was hoping for at least a major push for a win. Silly me. I should have thought of that sooner while it was still even a possibility. lol
Of course, I woke up last night after my last post. Did I write? Of course not. I sat and watched Eureka with my husband instead. Then, he did the smart thing and went to bed. I wasn't tired then, so I stayed up. Story of my life, actually. So, I picked up "How to Grow a Novel" by Sol Stein and started to read.
You know, it's about time I found another book on writing that actually teaches me something! This one taught me why people like my writing. hehehe I get stuck up like that sometimes, so bear with me. I know I still have a lot of work to do and I'm not perfect by any means, but I understand now. I also understand why "The Day SHADE Came to Call" is getting better reviews than "Whispers of the Past" ever did. I'm currently fixing "Whispers of the Past" so that it's 'right.'
Anyway! Goodness. Meandering brain. I did learn why my books are interesting to people, but I was also sideswiped by several excellent ideas for "The Day SHADE Came to Call." So, I went to bed last night knowing I'd tackle them today. Whoo hoo!!
Enter today. Gack! That sums it up right there. lol Hubby didn't get me up right away, thank goodness. Turned out he had to come back home before going to class anyway, so he let me get 2 more hours of sleep. That would have been awesome had I gotten to bed when I should have. Yeah. Then, I got all snippy and growly at him and basically told him to go away, take the car, I'd figure out a different way to get to the doctor's appointment. Why do I do those things when I haven't had enough coffee? Sheesh. Thank goodness he knows I'm a pain in the butt in the morning. He came home at lunch and I was able to get the car from him.
My writing morning consisted of ... *drum roll* ... 1,000 words. Took me about 45 minutes to get that much down. Hurray! Unfortunately... I have my son's cold now. Boo hiss. So, I'm very tired and very cold due to the fact I am tired. Such a nasty combination. Anyway, I finished writing up to the point where I'd need to look into the reason why some guys like sports beyond all reason. Umm. I have NO idea. I might need to ask out on Facebook if anyone there knows. lol My brain curled up and fell asleep, so my body decided it liked that idea. I woke up in time for the car to come home. Yay.
So! That was a LONG entry to say, I'm definitely not going to win. I only wrote 1K words so far today, and my awesome ideas from last night are still way off in the distance. This book is going to ROCK! The further I get into it, the more I like it, and the more I realize it's going to outstrip the 50K word goal from NaNo. However, I think I'm going to go and write down my awesome ideas I had. I need to get them down since several of them are at least 2-3 chapters down the line. I'm a linear writer, I have problems skipping around. So, yeah. Off to write down my ideas.
I'll be back at the end of the night to give a final NaNo word count, but I know for sure it won't be 50,000. I'll keep telling myself I don't mind, but I think I do on some level or else I wouldn't have to keep saying I don't mind. I'll think about that later. For now, an FB poll and my idea sketches.
Of course, I woke up last night after my last post. Did I write? Of course not. I sat and watched Eureka with my husband instead. Then, he did the smart thing and went to bed. I wasn't tired then, so I stayed up. Story of my life, actually. So, I picked up "How to Grow a Novel" by Sol Stein and started to read.
You know, it's about time I found another book on writing that actually teaches me something! This one taught me why people like my writing. hehehe I get stuck up like that sometimes, so bear with me. I know I still have a lot of work to do and I'm not perfect by any means, but I understand now. I also understand why "The Day SHADE Came to Call" is getting better reviews than "Whispers of the Past" ever did. I'm currently fixing "Whispers of the Past" so that it's 'right.'
Anyway! Goodness. Meandering brain. I did learn why my books are interesting to people, but I was also sideswiped by several excellent ideas for "The Day SHADE Came to Call." So, I went to bed last night knowing I'd tackle them today. Whoo hoo!!
Enter today. Gack! That sums it up right there. lol Hubby didn't get me up right away, thank goodness. Turned out he had to come back home before going to class anyway, so he let me get 2 more hours of sleep. That would have been awesome had I gotten to bed when I should have. Yeah. Then, I got all snippy and growly at him and basically told him to go away, take the car, I'd figure out a different way to get to the doctor's appointment. Why do I do those things when I haven't had enough coffee? Sheesh. Thank goodness he knows I'm a pain in the butt in the morning. He came home at lunch and I was able to get the car from him.
My writing morning consisted of ... *drum roll* ... 1,000 words. Took me about 45 minutes to get that much down. Hurray! Unfortunately... I have my son's cold now. Boo hiss. So, I'm very tired and very cold due to the fact I am tired. Such a nasty combination. Anyway, I finished writing up to the point where I'd need to look into the reason why some guys like sports beyond all reason. Umm. I have NO idea. I might need to ask out on Facebook if anyone there knows. lol My brain curled up and fell asleep, so my body decided it liked that idea. I woke up in time for the car to come home. Yay.
So! That was a LONG entry to say, I'm definitely not going to win. I only wrote 1K words so far today, and my awesome ideas from last night are still way off in the distance. This book is going to ROCK! The further I get into it, the more I like it, and the more I realize it's going to outstrip the 50K word goal from NaNo. However, I think I'm going to go and write down my awesome ideas I had. I need to get them down since several of them are at least 2-3 chapters down the line. I'm a linear writer, I have problems skipping around. So, yeah. Off to write down my ideas.
I'll be back at the end of the night to give a final NaNo word count, but I know for sure it won't be 50,000. I'll keep telling myself I don't mind, but I think I do on some level or else I wouldn't have to keep saying I don't mind. I'll think about that later. For now, an FB poll and my idea sketches.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Anymore?
So, I was looking at my word count (31,944) and at my team on Writing.com, many who have gone on to complete at least 50,000 words, and I had a thought. How far can I push tonight and tomorrow? Then I remembered a few things.
1. I'm incredibly tired and haven't woke up yet, even though I've been up for over an hour and I'm on my 3rd cup of coffee.
2. I have a sick kid at home. However, he's generally happy with video games for the most part. He has immunizations tomorrow though, so this will be interesting.
3. Those darn immunizations means I need the dang car. Hubby told me at dinner that he's been enrolled in some class that requires full battle rattle and he'll be gone until 7. No!! That means I have to get up painfully early to have the car. I hate getting up early.
I don't know. I guess I could pull out the ol' notebook I've been writing in and get to work anyway. Well, after I find chapter 10 on my Netbook, that is. I apparently didn't upload it into my Dropbox account, so I don't have access to it on this computer. Boo.
I know that each page side equals approximately 250 words. It has for as long as I can remember. So, I could write my little heart out between now and then and count how many pages I finished. Since I won't cross the finish line, it doesn't matter if the count is a little off. If nothing else, I'd be that much closer to finishing my book. I've had several people ask me to keep writing it even though my NaNo win is out of reach. That has to make you feel good, to be asked to keep writing it as they're interested in reading it. :-) Yup. I like it.
What the heck. The win is out of reach, but hey! I'd be writing! That's better than nothing. :-D
1. I'm incredibly tired and haven't woke up yet, even though I've been up for over an hour and I'm on my 3rd cup of coffee.
2. I have a sick kid at home. However, he's generally happy with video games for the most part. He has immunizations tomorrow though, so this will be interesting.
3. Those darn immunizations means I need the dang car. Hubby told me at dinner that he's been enrolled in some class that requires full battle rattle and he'll be gone until 7. No!! That means I have to get up painfully early to have the car. I hate getting up early.
I don't know. I guess I could pull out the ol' notebook I've been writing in and get to work anyway. Well, after I find chapter 10 on my Netbook, that is. I apparently didn't upload it into my Dropbox account, so I don't have access to it on this computer. Boo.
I know that each page side equals approximately 250 words. It has for as long as I can remember. So, I could write my little heart out between now and then and count how many pages I finished. Since I won't cross the finish line, it doesn't matter if the count is a little off. If nothing else, I'd be that much closer to finishing my book. I've had several people ask me to keep writing it even though my NaNo win is out of reach. That has to make you feel good, to be asked to keep writing it as they're interested in reading it. :-) Yup. I like it.
What the heck. The win is out of reach, but hey! I'd be writing! That's better than nothing. :-D
Friday, November 26, 2010
**Fizzle**
Well, it's the end of my NaNoWriMo adventure, I'm sorry to say. So sad when you look at the beginning of this blog and see all the energy that was flowing. However, real life stepped up and slapped me back down.
Today, I spent the afternoon at an urgent care clinic to find out my son had strep throat. The past two days were spent keeping his temperature down and caused a serious lack of sleep. Today, the third day, I took him in. A fever lasting 3 days is not normal. At least he's on antibiotics now and his fever has officially broken. Hurray! Powerful stuff they put him on, and I'm glad. :-) I'm now on the alert and watching everyone else in the house, including myself. I'm hoping and praying that he's the only one, but you never know.
I am going to continue writing this book, however. I'm enjoying it and I'd like to see where it goes. It will be a slower journey and I can return to writing by hand. To tell you the truth, I'm looking forward to that. Also, with the end of NaNo, I can focus on some of my other goals.
Yes. While NaNoWriMo did not end in an official win for me, I did finish up around 32,000 words. That is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. Also, it opened the door to new thoughts and new dreams, which makes it an overall win, which is much more important. So, don't feel bad that I didn't "win," because in the end, I did. :-D
Today, I spent the afternoon at an urgent care clinic to find out my son had strep throat. The past two days were spent keeping his temperature down and caused a serious lack of sleep. Today, the third day, I took him in. A fever lasting 3 days is not normal. At least he's on antibiotics now and his fever has officially broken. Hurray! Powerful stuff they put him on, and I'm glad. :-) I'm now on the alert and watching everyone else in the house, including myself. I'm hoping and praying that he's the only one, but you never know.
I am going to continue writing this book, however. I'm enjoying it and I'd like to see where it goes. It will be a slower journey and I can return to writing by hand. To tell you the truth, I'm looking forward to that. Also, with the end of NaNo, I can focus on some of my other goals.
Yes. While NaNoWriMo did not end in an official win for me, I did finish up around 32,000 words. That is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. Also, it opened the door to new thoughts and new dreams, which makes it an overall win, which is much more important. So, don't feel bad that I didn't "win," because in the end, I did. :-D
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
I was sitting here thinking about working on my story, and my mind keeps returning to the great day we just had. I put enough food on the table to easily feed more than twice our number, but we were the only ones to eat it. We have enough leftovers in the fridge to serve the entire meal all over again. I had my husband ask his buddies in his company if anyone wanted to join us, but they all had plans. Most were going home to their family for Thanksgiving while one was spending the weekend with his fiance. So we ended up with a ton of food. It's interesting how something like that can reveal, while we're almost poor by U.S. standards, we're still better off than many others. Yes. It was definitely a day to be thankful.
Here in a moment, I will convince myself to go write. I might not get my 3,000 words, which is my goal, but I do hope to get at least the 1,667 daily NaNo word goal. It's almost 2K words more than I had this morning. ;-) Now, to do that by 11 my time so I can sneak in at least one episode of Eureka before bed. hehehe
Here in a moment, I will convince myself to go write. I might not get my 3,000 words, which is my goal, but I do hope to get at least the 1,667 daily NaNo word goal. It's almost 2K words more than I had this morning. ;-) Now, to do that by 11 my time so I can sneak in at least one episode of Eureka before bed. hehehe
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
New Plan!
Okay, this one probably won't work either, but it's worth a shot. :-D
My plan is: 2K, 3K, 4K, 5K, etc. I bet you get the picture there. Each day, I add 1,000 more words to the previous day. That way, I will swiftly climb the ladder to NaNoWindom! Okay, I'm not so sure about the 3K tomorrow since it is on Thanksgiving day, but I am happy to say I did the 2K today. Which is good, trust me. It took me AGES to get that out of my head and typed. I have no idea what the problem was today, but my thoughts were everywhere but on that book. The good news is that I finished Chapter 9. Hurray!
Sadly enough, that's about all for today. None of my other thoughts were on NaNo. Unless you count, "I'm not going to win this year," or how about, "I put my Netbook on stilts." Oh, wait. No. That last one probably doesn't count. However, I did that while I was supposed to be writing, so maybe it does. Either way... That's all of my NaNo thoughts for now.
By the way, the possessive form of "boss" is "boss's" in case you're curious.
My plan is: 2K, 3K, 4K, 5K, etc. I bet you get the picture there. Each day, I add 1,000 more words to the previous day. That way, I will swiftly climb the ladder to NaNoWindom! Okay, I'm not so sure about the 3K tomorrow since it is on Thanksgiving day, but I am happy to say I did the 2K today. Which is good, trust me. It took me AGES to get that out of my head and typed. I have no idea what the problem was today, but my thoughts were everywhere but on that book. The good news is that I finished Chapter 9. Hurray!
Sadly enough, that's about all for today. None of my other thoughts were on NaNo. Unless you count, "I'm not going to win this year," or how about, "I put my Netbook on stilts." Oh, wait. No. That last one probably doesn't count. However, I did that while I was supposed to be writing, so maybe it does. Either way... That's all of my NaNo thoughts for now.
By the way, the possessive form of "boss" is "boss's" in case you're curious.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Getting Worse
Argh! I don't know what it is with me this year. I started off with such high hopes for this book, and it went bleh on me. Got my high hopes back. I'm all bleh again. The latest bleh happened when I switched to typing. I miss writing by hand and have this incredible urge to work that way tonight anyway. I missed my goal again by two 15 minute sprints. It turns out that I write better during the day. When I'm down, my characters are down. When I'm tired, my characters are tired. Silly characters. They're like my personal emotion mirror. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.
I'm not certain what I should do at this point. I have yet to have a 3500 word day. Without one, I'm in big trouble. Heck, I need 6 of them, and one of them lands on Thanksgiving day. You know, the day where I get to do all of the cooking? At least I can smile sweetly and hand over all the cleaning to my husband and kids. I'll do the pies and fruit salad tomorrow night to get them out of the way. It's easier.
The kids are out of school now until Monday. Maybe they'll let me write tomorrow. You know what? I think I could still win NaNo, but I'm not going to stress out if I don't. I'm still sad at having to give up writing by hand and I know it's influencing how my novel is turning out. I'm already looking past November and wishing it over so I can move on to other things. Mainly things like, retreating back to writing by hand. Editing Whispers of the Past, outlining The Dark Rider, changing my twitter name, and possibly starting a more professional blog. Yeah, my mind is definitely not on NaNo anymore.
Anyway! I'll work away on my book tomorrow. Oddly enough, it's gotten to the point that I can only write during the day. I find that incredibly odd due to the fact I used to write only at night. Weird how that changed. I'm still learning how to adjust to it. I'll get there, someday. Now, though? It's bed time, I guess. I need the sleep so I can write my little heart out tomorrow. Or at least hit that darn 3500 word goal. Hurry up and end, November!!
I'm not certain what I should do at this point. I have yet to have a 3500 word day. Without one, I'm in big trouble. Heck, I need 6 of them, and one of them lands on Thanksgiving day. You know, the day where I get to do all of the cooking? At least I can smile sweetly and hand over all the cleaning to my husband and kids. I'll do the pies and fruit salad tomorrow night to get them out of the way. It's easier.
The kids are out of school now until Monday. Maybe they'll let me write tomorrow. You know what? I think I could still win NaNo, but I'm not going to stress out if I don't. I'm still sad at having to give up writing by hand and I know it's influencing how my novel is turning out. I'm already looking past November and wishing it over so I can move on to other things. Mainly things like, retreating back to writing by hand. Editing Whispers of the Past, outlining The Dark Rider, changing my twitter name, and possibly starting a more professional blog. Yeah, my mind is definitely not on NaNo anymore.
Anyway! I'll work away on my book tomorrow. Oddly enough, it's gotten to the point that I can only write during the day. I find that incredibly odd due to the fact I used to write only at night. Weird how that changed. I'm still learning how to adjust to it. I'll get there, someday. Now, though? It's bed time, I guess. I need the sleep so I can write my little heart out tomorrow. Or at least hit that darn 3500 word goal. Hurry up and end, November!!
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