The pursuits of happiness

I know it’s the middle of November and not only did I miss out on NaNoWriMo, but I’ve had a hard time focusing on anything in the writing realm. I’m trying to bust out of that funk with my blogging and then slowly moving back into my novel. Thus, the current goal is to just write. Something. Everyday. Whether it be journaling, longer emails, blogs, exercises, or novel revisions, something will be done everyday.

I have been reading. I’m racing to finish New Moon before the movie comes out on the 20th. I’m not enjoying the second book as much as the first one, but it’s still entertaining and I do plan to finish the series. In addition to my other books in progress listed on the right, I also picked up Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. I’ve been trying to keep up with the Las Vegas Weekly because its fairly liberal compared to the local community newspaper and it reports on not just the most popular stories but the more obscure ones as well. And the writing is great - witty, sarcastic, honest and thorough. So, E.L. Doctorow, an award winning novelist, spoke at the Clark County library last Sunday and though I didn’t make it to the lecture, I loved what the LVW wrote about him and thought I would check out his work. Ragtime seemed unique and it won an amazing award (award here). I’m not big on mainstream fiction, but this piece borders on historical fiction with a bit of fantasy thrown in. Doctorow’s imagery is beautiful…and sometimes painfully frank. Every once in a while it’s nice to branch out into the literary world.

I’ve also been doing some major soul searching. In particular, I’ve been looking into what I’d like to do with my life career-wise. Now, I’m not one to base my worth or define myself by what society terms a “career”…BUT, I would like a steady paycheck and my writing isn’t bringing in any sound income. Honestly, I don’t want my writing to be about *income* per se. I mean, I wouldn’t mind if writing made me vast amounts of money, but I would be just as pleased if it only brought in a few dollars. The writing makes ME happy and that’s what’s most important. Work wise there are a ton of other things that I’d like to learn/do before I move on from this life. The key here is learn. I love school. And I’ve been to many, just to see what I like and what I can gain from the experience. I’m thinking its time to go back..for good. I have my degree in history and I’d like to get my Masters in history as well. And who knows, maybe even my Doctorate. I thrive on research and I don’t think I’d be a horrible teacher either. It would also help me greatly with my writing. Especially since I have thousands of ideas for historical romances. And how horrible would it be to have to study abroad for a few weeks? As for what I’d like to study specifically, definitely European history. My undergraduate degree was in a concentration in Medieval studies, but I’m ready for something different. I’m really interested in British history during the Regency period. All of that era fascinates me and I’d love to become an expert on such a rich and complex time in our history. Fall registration at UNLV is already closed, but I’m gearing up for next fall if everything goes as planned. I’d need letters of recommendation (it’s so nice to have a former instructor as an ex :-P), writing samples, statement of intent, and an application and fee. Luckily, no GRE is needed for a Masters. It will take some work, but I’m excited about getting back into improving my mind.

Next on the list, improving the body.

the wrap up

Christmas isn't quite here yet, but on the horizon of a new year I thought I would get a head start on wrapping up 2008.

October - finished the first draft of my FIRST (yes, I said FIRST) novel and did a dance of joy, survived layoffs at the casino I work for, had my boyfriend's ex wife and daughter move in with us, had dinner with an ex-boyfriend who told me I was one of the smartest women he ever went out with (you know it!), spent Halloween preparing for NaNoWriMo.

November - began writing my SECOND novel for NaNoWriMo, continued to write like fiend, went to visit my family in Southern CA for Thanksgiving (got fat), survived more layoffs at the casino I work for, finished my SECOND novel for NaNoWriMo with 8,000 words on the last day.

December - went back to revising my FIRST novel and getting prepared for Christmas.

I won't be going home for Christmas Eve or Day, but we'll be heading to Southern CA the weekend after.

Let me take a minute though to talk about my experience with NaNoWriMo. I didn't think I'd be able to do it. I mean, it took me over three months to write just over 80,000 on the first novel, but then I didn't really give myself a deadline and I knew I would take my sweet time. I've finally decided to call myself a writer and you know what? We procrastinate. It's inevitable. Armed with that information, NaNoWriMo got me to understand that giving yourself an end all deadline would kick that procrastination in the butt, at least for a few days. It also showed that if need be, I can write 8000 words in a day. I don't recommend that and it's not fun by any means, but it's doable. My comfort zone seemed to be 1000 to 2000 a day. But what helped was the support from others in the same boat. Fellow Nanoers, Maura, Shae, and Noreen, helped push me onward. Being able to see what they were doing gave me the necessary shove to get my words up and if any of them were behind, I made sure to let them know they were doing great and to keep it up. I was proud of them all and I was so happy we all could make it there together.

I can now say I have officially written TWO novels in the year of 2008. My biggest accomplishment yet. OK, maybe second to my four year degree in History, but damn close.

I'll save my New Years Resolutions for a later post, but you'll be sure to find more writing on the top of it.

Quote of the Day: To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the inner music the words make. ~Truman Capote, McCall's, November 1967

can I sleep now?

I've pillaged. I've plundered. And I'm done.

I'm not sure how. I think I've lost feeling in my left pinky finger and rubbed the "n" permanently off my keyboard. But I've finished with a grand total of 50406 words.

I'm dead tired and I have to work tomorrow. Can I sleep now?

Quote of the Day: Writing, I think, is not apart from living. Writing is a kind of double living. The writer experiences everything twice. Once in reality and once in that mirror which waits always before or behind. ~Catherine Drinker Bowen, Atlantic, December 1957

knee deep in NANOness

I apologize to the three, possible four people that follow my blog. The end of October and the beginning of November have been massive months for everything, including a conglomeration of projects.

Halloween marked a scary day. I began the initial read through of the first draft of my novel. It was tough to let it sit for about a month without looking at it and changing bits and pieces. I thought about my story a lot though, and kept an "After Notes" document open for things that popped into my head that I wanted to add, take away, or research. After I finished my NANO words for the day on 10/31 (because I knew Nov. 1 I would be working all day for EOM) I printed out my newly formatted manuscript, all 390 pages of it, and snapped open a fresh red pen. And so it began.. I'm only about 60 pages into it and let's just say there is probably more red on the page than black. Needless to say, I made copious notes, and lines and comments and questions and stars and underlines. It's actually kind of fun. I feel like a teacher, giving the student tons of feedback. It's overwhelming to know what I will come back to once the first read-through is complete, but I'm just trying to take it one step at a time.

I bought two books, From First Draft to Finished Novel, by Karen Wiesner, a sequel to her first book, First Draft in 30 Days, and Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell. Karen's books are wonderful. I even have a novel outlined with her program, ready to be written, but I held off on that one because it's a time-travel and I wanted to begin with a more contemporary romantic suspense for my debut. See, I've got this all planned out! ;-P Anyway, I know Karen, with her more anal style and organization techniques, will get me to a final product. And Mr. Bell, I loved his book on Plot & Structure, so I could only assume anything he did for the Write Great Fiction series would be top notch.

Other than that, I'm about 11,000 words into my NANOWRIMO project. For those of you who've never heard of such a thing, it's National Novel Writing Month. Which happens to be November. Chris Baty began this thing a while back in San Francisco, where people get together and write like crazy to say they have written a 50,000 word novel. I'm sure there's a lot more to it. You can check it out a the website and maybe participate next year! I had heard of it before, but it seems to be gaining more and more popularity. I say power to everyone who is willing to try! And for those who succeed, you are one step ahead of many people who call themselves writers! Keep it going!

I'm working on my mechanic/financial analyst category romance and it's coming along nicely. I already had the plot set to go, but NANO really helps get your characters and creative license moving. It'll be tough in a couple weeks when Thanksgiving comes around and then EOM AGAIN for me. But I'm gonna try my darndest to make that 50,000 mark. Shae is already calling for a write-a-thon. I'm always game.

So let's do this!

Quote of the Day: A critic can only review the book he has read, not the one which the writer wrote. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960