NaNo Journal: November 26-30

11-26-11
3:16pm

Nursed a headache all day yesterday. Went to bed at 6pm for a nap and slept til 8 this morning. Still have the headache. 5 cups of coffee and 3 cups of water isn't making it let up either. (I should have known this meant something worse than "just" a headache was happening. Keep reading.)


Nothing written yesterday thanks to that but I'm on it now.

Day 30

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

A shadowy figure is standing under a dying street light on your street. You aren't sure but they appear to be staring directly at you. You blink, and they are gone. What? Where... *knock knock knock*

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 29

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

You great uncle passed away in a faraway country and has left you everything as his sole heir. What did you get?

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 28

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

Congratulations! You're having twins! Tell your family the news! Including your Mother-In-Law who hates your guts and is convinced that you are a plague upon her family.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

50k!

I crossed 50k sometime today while writing Myrel's story arc. I ended his story at over 51.5 k. Three and a half days of NaNoWriMo left in the month and I'm only about 8.5k short of my 60k goal. Off to find out what Ash and the Drogil are up to. Perhaps I can wrap his story up in a couple days as well. Then I will have just a few chapters left to wrap up Immo2!

I'm having a beer and a happy dance right now to celebrate. The below image (thanks to Wikimedia Commons) is celebratory fireworks. Enjoy!

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

Keep writing folks, no matter where you are in your personal goals. You can do it!

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 27

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

Your boss just left you an urgent voicemail. It has nothing to do with work though. What's up?

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

NaNo Journal: November 19- November 25

11-19-11
8:30pm

I wrote for several hours last night before I finally went to bed. I managed 3,727 words. That is still going on today's total. I'm too lazy to go back and amend the last journal entry. :)

Kids are asleep. Parents are headed to bed. Time to get some writing done!

12:32am

I had another great night once everyone went to bed! I'm finally reaching the end of Brausk's story for Immo2. This is going to need to be cut way down but I really like where the story has went the past few days.

Day 26

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued. (This is Anne Bonny, a pirate! Arrr!)

Pick someone from history and write about them as if they had a Twitter account. What would they tweet at pivotal points in their history?

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Daily Posts to Resume

I really enjoyed the past couple months writing a daily post on a specific subject. It allowed me to share some of my interests without talking about myself. Over the past few months, until NaNo took over my life (and blog), I managed to share some of my favorite fairy tales, thrift shopping locales, and books. I also shared some personal stories and helpful information. It is my hope that readers have enjoyed these posts as much as I have.

I know that as a writer, I should be pushing my writing. But the fact of the matter is that I don't like to do that. Yeah, yeah. I'm supposed to be branding myself for the interwebs. Meh. I enjoy writing, just as I enjoy a myriad of other things. After a lot of soul searching and debate, I finally decided what I will be writing on from December 1st until I feel inclined to change it up again.

Here is my *new* list of dailies (and a short explanation for each) to look forward to once the madness of NaNo is over:

Monday Machinations: So a machination by definition is [intrigue, plot, or scheme]. On Mondays, I am going to address such things, be it current events, famous historical episodes, television shows/movies/books, whathaveyou. We'll see if I can get really creative when I'm digging around.

Tuesday Treats: It seems like every month has a holiday built around food. Here in the north, we had Sweetest Day on the 3rd Saturday of October. All of us Americans had Halloween on the 31st of October and Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday of November. Then Christmas rolls around for our Christian Americans soon. Pagans have their own holidays around this time of year: Mabon, Samhain, and Yule (the actual names might be different depending on the particular Pagan flavor). Hanukkah, Yom Kippur, Kwanzaa, and many others join the list. And those are just holidays that have passed recently or are coming up soon! I am going to take the opportunity to post some of my favorite recipes on Tuesdays, possibly with pictures. I highly doubt they will be *my* pictures so I will try to site where I lifted the recipe and the photos whenever possible.

Wednesday Weird: Getting your news from mainstream news outlets is like getting ice cream from a butcher. You might get *something* resembling ice cream, but all bets are on it *not* actually being ice cream. I just made that up. Anyways. Weird news happens all the time. My friends share the strangest stuff in my Facebook newsfeed. Yahoo news has a section of their site dedicated to it. Wednesday is one of those days that we all need some funny in our week. I'm going to find weird news, pictures, videos, etc. to post on Wednesday. I'll be sure to provide commentary on why it struck me as odd. Chances are, it won't be why *you* find it weird. I'm weird like that.

Thursday Thought: I like quotes and inspirational sayings. I tend to share the funniest on my personal Facebook page. I find myself fascinated by idioms and colloquial sayings. Thursdays will be dedicated to such things until I get bored with it. I lived in the South for a long time so I have a lot stored up that I try to avoid using in regular conversation. Maybe I can get the uniquely Southern sayings out of my system.

Friday Five: This seemed to be a pretty simple daily post in the past so I will be continuing my Friday Fives. It shares a little bit of information about myself without going overboard. I think I'm going to try to pick a theme for each month and tailor the lists to the theme. Maybe. We'll see what December has in store.

Saturday Salute: Anyone that knows me understands that I resolutely support our troops. I may not support the government and the status quo, but I always support the troops. I'm going to use Saturdays as a means to talk about different branches of the military (briefly, I promise) and things pertaining to it. I may recognize a particular event, a person, etc. Who knows.

Sunday Scene: I am a bit of a dork. I love John Hughes films from the 80's. There are many other films that I look on very fondly filmed over the past few decades (less so much the current decade). So imagine my thrill when I found that there are several sites that have uploaded the scripts to many popular movies?! I'll be picking some scenes from my favorites to share with you. Don't worry, I will make sure to provide the link to said scripts when I capture them.

So what do you think about those new daily postings? Any qualms? Better suggestions? I'm open to change so long as it is interesting and will keep me entertained. :D

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 25

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

You go into the doctor to get a simple physical for work and end up in the ER. What?!

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has stuffed themselves with some good eats and enjoyed (or tolerated) the company of family and friends. I spent my day split between three places so it was a little chaotic. But I survived. :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I like to tell myself what all I have to be thankful for in this pretty crappy economy. This is what I am thankful for:

• My family that loves me no matter what, even when we are all so pissed at each other that we can't look at each other without busting a gasket.
• My friends that love me no matter what, even when I am bitchy and spend all day ranting about how my family is a bunch of nuts and 2 year olds.
• My passion of reading, writing, and all things contained within. I would be an incredibly boring person without those creative pursuits.
• The United States military troops serving abroad and at home to protect our way of life, beliefs, and freedoms. If I could personally hug each and every one of you, I would do so gladly.
• Other writers and creative people throughout the world that provide a revolving door of creativity and inspiration. Keep on keeping on folks!

Enjoy the rest of your evening folks. Stay tuned tomorrow for an announcement and this week's journal entries. Have a safe night and weekend.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 24

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

It is the storm of the century so everyone is having a "snow day" today. You are stuck at home with your spouse, the kids, and the critters, along with everyone else on the block. Suddenly, the power goes out.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 23

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

Pick your favorite song and write a story based on the lyrics.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 22

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

The local library has a secret passage behind the history section. What is down there?

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 21

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

Create a new public holiday. Explain why, when, how, and by whom it is celebrated.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 20

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

Confront your deepest fear in the form of a rejection letter.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 19

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

You've just been selected as a contestant on American Idol and plan to give a rocking performance night after night! Your evil twin has other ideas though.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

End of Week 3

So we have about 1 1/2 weeks of NaNo left. Once Sunday passes, everyone that is meeting the 1,667 WPD goal should be at or above 33,340. I'm about 10k behind that right now. I'm not panicking. I know I will be able to catch up. Yesterday's writing count was awesome and I can do that again. I just have to stop letting myself get to wrapped up in everything else going on around me. Those of you that have families and jobs while doing this, I do not envy your commitments right now.

I've gotten incredible encouragement to continue writing, even if I haven't managed it every day. My little sisters ask me how I am doing on my novel every day. As much of a pain in the ass they have been the past couple weeks (with school, not just in general... they are wonderful little girls if they would just do their freaking school work!), they want to stay up to date and involved with my noveling. It is quite sweet when I'm not trying to figure out how to legally bind one of them to their desk and muzzle the other one during the school day. :D

My parents, brother, and grandmother have also been supportive in their own ways. Some of them are supportive by just leaving me alone during November. That sound worse than I mean it to be, and they know what I mean. And they know that I appreciate every inch of space they give me while I'm being a crazy bitch. Others are just asking how its going, if I think I'll be able to reach the finish line, and asking about if I'm still having fun. Those answers btw are: Going great, yes, and yes.

My friends are also very supportive and have kept me very motivated. Raven and Steven are my biggest cheerleaders. Knowing that they are waiting for the finished first draft of Immo2 gets me working when I think about it. I love them for that.Their significant others have also cheered me on and checked in with me from time to time and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart (Wolfie and Rene, you both rock). Other friends have cheered me on too and they know who they are and how much I appreciate their words and encouragement.

It has come to my attention that I will certainly NOT be finished with Immo2 by the end of November. This 2nd novel is going to end up being waaaaaay too long. But, I'd rather have to cut stuff out than have to add more to it once it is over. Last year, I got the prologue and 2 characters's stories written up. I had hoped to get the other 3 character stories written. I knew that I would need to finish the last 3 chapters when they all got back together after November, but those chapters are already very clear in my mind and shouldn't take more than a week to write. I have this issue when I'm writing where I have to write in a sequential order that probably only makes sense to me. I can't do the whole skipping from chapter to chapter thing. I suppose that is because I am a pantser and the story works its way out as I write.

There is a point to this long rambling post, I swear. The point is that you have to find and accept support from those around you in whatever form it appears. Even if no one is doing back flips every time you update your word count, little things count too. If you are doing NaNo this year, take a moment to thank your support team. Without a support network (that includes your regional writers fyi), I highly doubt many folks could reach 50k.

If you missed Back Up Your Novel Day (on November 7th) and Back Up Your Novel Again Day (on November 14th), take the time to do so NOW. The 3rd BUYND rolls around on Monday, but just think about how much you could lose if you decided to put it off again. Thousands of words. 5 figures of words. Half of your noveling progress! Back your damn novel up already. I have mine on a jump drive, in an email, on my hard drive, and saved to another computer. I back up the jump drive and hard drive at the end of every writing session. I send a new email and download the file on the other computer at least twice a week. Yes, I'm that anal retentive about this. My computer crashed two nights ago and when I got it all back up, Liquid Story Binder had lost the last 300 words I had written. I was livid. It wasn't LSB's fault... another program I was running stalled and jacked up my PC. But still, 300 words were gone! It sucked.

Happy noveling folks! Stay tuned for a blog announcement after Thanksgiving. Lots of things happening in the background here at home base and I'll update you after Turkey Day. Take care.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

NaNo Journal: November 12- November 18

11-13-11 Entry for 11-12-11
1:34am

So technically, this entry is for the events of the 12th because I haven't went to bed yet.

Tonight was the 1/2 Way Dinner for the Cincy NaNo group. It was at an Irish Pub which thrilled me to no end. Had no idea there were Irish Pubs here. And they have Strongbow on tap. Score.

Spent a good hour and a half driving around the Levee trying to find a parking lot that would take debit. I'm an idiot and didn't think to bring cash for parking. Glad I left early! (I have to mention this because I didn't write it in the journal. While driving around, some idiot frat boy walked out in front of my truck. I slammed on my breaks and cracked the window to ask him what he wanted. I thought there might be some sort of emergency. He and his buddy then asked me to take them -somewhere- that I didn't quite understand because they were stupidly intoxicated and couldn't speak without slurring their words. When I told them no, they asked me why I stopped then. It didn't occur to them that if I hadn't stopped I would have ran his stupid ass over.)

Day 18

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

You wake up shackled to a chair and don't remember anything after going to sleep last night. What the...?

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 17

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

While standing in an overnight line for concert tickets, your friends hatched a plan that resulted in a trip to county lockup. How did you get from that line to the slammer?

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 16

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

Your neighbor just had a baby and named her what?!

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 15

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

You start a silly competition with a friend (mustache growing, longest fingernail, etc.) that gets heated. What? Why? Who won?

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 14

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

(Yes that is a leech.)

The one that got away? What about the one that won't GO away?

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 13

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

You've been hired to write bumper stickers. Come up with 5 original phrases that could grace the backend of a Buick.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 12

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

Everyone has a superpower in your world. What is your power and how do you make yourself stand out from everyone else?

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

NaNo Journal: November 5-November 11

11-5-11
11:30pm

Remember, remember... the 5th of November!

I tried a new place for Fri/Sat evening writing. After the crap at Starbucks last night, I'm not so inclined to go there again for a while. I found the McD's between the house and EC has wireless. Fantastic! They also have the largest play place in what has to be the entire county. Not fantastic! And a single outlet for the entire lobby. Fail beyond fail. It was fairly quiet though so it will work for a bit. At least on Fri/Sat nights.

Got Spotify downloaded to the netbook so I was able to stream better music than the musiak McD's had. Headphones helped block out the beeping from the kitchen and kids screaming in the play place. Nothing could be done about the single outlet being under the booth right beside the bathrooms though. *sigh* Better than listening to someone tune a guitar though.

Checking In...

Hey everyone! How's it going? In life? Love? NaNo? I'm... not doing so hot. You'll have to read the journal entries I'll be posting in a bit to understand. But I hope you are all doing well, reaching whatever goals you have set for yourself. Hang in there. Week 2 is over. It is smooth sailing from here (we can all hope).

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 11

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

Write about a Scrabble Game (Monopoly, Life, Chutes and Ladders, etc.) that takes a turn for the ugly.

 Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 10

No Picture today. Sorry.

You have a very unusual nickname. Who gave it to you and why?

 Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 9

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

As an employee on the Late Night with David Letterman Show, you've been tasked to come up with a witty, nonpolitical Top Ten list for him to read on air.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 8

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

Rags to riches in reverse. A millionaire loses it all and...

 Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 7

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

After a long, grueling day, you happen upon a magic wishing well. You toss a coin in and *presto*! How has your life now changed?

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 6

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

Create a character with an unusual phobia. Where did it start, and how does it manifest?

 Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

My NaNo Goals

It occurred to me late last night right before I passed out that since I had mentioned making short and long term goals during NaNo, that it may be helpful to let everyone know my personal NaNo goals for 2011. It also gives me extra motivation to see those goals reach fruition. These goals, minus the italic notations, are written on the inside cover of my journal in ink so it is almost like they are set in stone. So here goes.

Long Term Goals:

1. Over the month of November, I will write 60,900 or more words, finishing the 1st draft of Immo2 in the process. (This is an arbitrary number created solely based on my short term goals.)
2. If, during November, I manage to finish the 1st draft of Immo2 early, I will begin writing the 1st draft of Immo3. (If I can start Immo3 this month, I will do so. As it looks so far, this may not be feasible.)

Short Term Goals:

1. I will write enough words per day that my average words needed to finish NaNo will be in mid to low triple digits -500 or less- by Thanksgiving Day, compared to the 1667 per day that NaNo beings with. (Math: I would need to have 46,500 or more words by that day to accomplish this goal. That should be a cinch if I meet the other short term goals below.)
2. I will write 15,000 words by the end of the 1st weekend. 11-6-11 (That works out to about 2500 WPD.)
3. I will write 30,000 words by the end of the 2nd weekend. 11-13-11 (About 2143 WPD.)
4. I will write 45,000 words by the end of the 3rd weekend. 11-20-11 (About 2143 WPD.)
5. I will write 60,000 words by the end of the 4th weekend. 11-27-11 (About 2143 WPD.)
6. On the 28th-30th of November, and on any prior days where I may have reached my target WC faster than expected, I will write at least 300 WPD. (Just in case I end up cranking out my 60,900 goal in a short amount of time like last year -I hit 60k-something on the 11th last year- I am committed to continuing to write for the entire month.)

So there you have my long and short term NaNo 2011 goals. I have some lofty WC goals but I have consistently written over 60k in the past. I know it is possible. Like the note above says, I passed 60k last year on day 11. It was awesome. I then promptly stopped writing and didn't write so much as another word on Immo2 for the rest of the month. Yikes. Also, I purposely set my goal for the first week at a higher WPD because the 1st week always has a lot of momentum for me. The 2nd and 4th week are usually my trouble weeks. The 2nd because I'm exhausted from week 1. The 4th week because of Thanksgiving and family commitments.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 5

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

Baby babble is so cute. At least you thought so, until the day you began to understand it.

 Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

NaNo Journal: October 31-November 4

10-31-11

8:00pm

NaNo starts in 4 hours. I didn't get anything done today as planned. It is Halloween. I should have expected huge distractions for today since I live with two little girls. They look incredible in their handmade costumes though!

The original plan for NaNo had been to start Immo3 but Immo2 is just too much a WIP (That means Work In Progress for those that don't know.) that I couldn't justify rationalize starting Immo3. Yes, I know roughly how Immo2 will end. But I'm hazy on about 1/2 of the story... because I haven't written it yet, and I'm a pantser so the details just aren't there yet.

Starting Immo3 now would sort of be like reading only the last 3 pages of the 1st book in a series before starting the 2nd. You know *maybe* the resolution of the 1st book but absolutely no context to relate to the 2nd. Lame.

So I am taking being a NaNo rebel to a higher degree than just continuing the next book in a series. Instead, I'm continuing with Immo2. *Gasp* No worries, I'm only counting the new words I write in November. I won't count the 60k I wrote last NaNo. Nor will I count the few thou I added since. Yay rebel NaNo!

First Weekend of NaNo!

So how is everyone doing going into the weekend? I know, Friday is over already. But some people don't officially start their weekend until they wake up on Saturday morning. Or maybe that is just me... Whatever.

NaNo kicked off (as I am sure you know) on Tuesday. 4 full days of writing abandon have officially came and gone. Those sticking to 1,667 words per day or more should be sitting pretty at 6,668+ words now. I stopped writing tonight around 10:30pm. It was an early ending night for me for a couple reasons, one of which I am excited to share with everyone.

In addition to writing my 50k words this year, I decided to keep a journal through NaNo to share on my blog. I wish I had kept a journal for the past 2 NaNo's. It would be interesting to read back through them. Some of my journal entries are/will be pretty short. Others are long (I'm procrastinating after all!). I think Friday evenings are a good night to share my entries for the week. If I don't get to it on Fridays, I will definitely get to them on Saturdays. This is an awesome idea, I swear.

So some things to understand about my journal posts:

• Some entries are/will be written at the end of the night, right before I pass out from exhaustion. I am going to post them verbatim from the journal entry (this is a hand written journal, fyi). I will try to add clarifying notes within/under the entry in italics when they make absolutely no sense.
• Some entries are/will be written throughout the course of the day and will have multiple time stamps. I don't know yet if having *time* for multiple entries is a good or bad thing yet. o.0
• If my entry contains stuff about things not NaNo, please bear with me. The NaNo can make even the sanest of us crazy. I temper that with ranting about life so I don't rant about my novel too much.
• At the end of each entry will contain 3 abbreviations and numbers. The first is DWC (daily word count) is just a daily record of how much I wrote. The second is AWPD (average words per day) which is what I currently need to average daily to reach 50k on time. At some point, this number will reach 0. It starts at 1,667 on Day 1. The third is TWC (total word count) and is the combined total word count. This number will reach 50k and beyond even if I have to strangle a few people along the way to get there. (For the curious and math-o-phobes, the AWPD is easily calculated. Get the current TWC and subtract that number from 50,000. Divide your answer by however many days are *left* in the NaNo and that is your AWPD).
• My first entry is actually from October 31st detailing some very important information that may piss a few folks off... and likely relieve a few others. Check the entry for more details.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 4

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

You are running for President. What promises will you make to bring in the swing votes?

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 3

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

You go to the doctor where you get life-changing news.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 2

Edit: 8/15/2012 Images removed. I don't want to be sued.

Write a story in which each new word starts with the next letter of the alphabet.

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Day 1

Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

You bump into a genie and get 3 wishes. What are those wishes and why?

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Launching into NaNo and November!

The NaNo is officially under way! I am going to *try* to keep my procrastination limited this year so my internet activity needs to be lowered. A lot. I'll be checking in from time to time with updates but I don't know if I'll make it daily or not. More than likely, I'll post something like X/50,000 words written. My Twitter is likely to be updated semi-regularly. The same goes for Facebook. Bear with me this month folks. The "daily" postings will recommence on December 1^st, maybe with some changes. I don't really know until December gets here. If you signed up for the NaNo, you can add me as a writing buddy. I'm going to keep up with email so send me a shout if you are stuck or need some encouragement. That kind of procrastination is cool. I have a daily post scheduled for every day this month of writing prompts for those that keep finding themselves stuck. All prompts have been paraphrased from Writer's Digest. All images were collected through Wikicommons. Good luck everyone!