Tag: NaNoWriMo

Curse The Digital Devils!

So, you know when you have everything planned to happen a certain way and then you check while you’re away and it doesn’t? So it seems the next portion of my story, “The Journey” disappeared into the matrix and I’m left with what appears to be a two hundred and thirty seven word draft that was the only part I had actually removed from the story. Thanks a ton devils from the digital land! Technology is incredible and until it decides it doesn’t want to work for you any more. When the computers rise up, they’ll simply drain all of our bank accounts to zero, order more computers for back up and crush us mercilessly, MERCILESSLY I SAY!

Phew… now that my insanity plea is solidified it seems I have to rewrite my story post. But that’s fine. I was sort of happy with its direction. But first, how are you NaNoWriMo Writers doing? Let’s see here…

Ravings of Nonsense has added a few words, getting up to eight thousand, one hundred and seventy eight. Don’t give up!

I think we’ve lost M.L. Swift and J.R. Vowles to the NaNoWriMo heavens… their last counts, are the last ones we have. Let us know how it’s going gents!

Christine Fichtner hasn’t posted a new count, but was at a healthy thirty thousand last I posted and she’s informed me that she’s at thirty eight thousand now! Home stretch Christine! You’ve got this!

Valourbörn hasn’t posted an update either, hopefully Alex is still crushing the word count, especially after getting back on track!

ElitistGeek was sitting at twenty seven thousand last week and I’ve noticed the old tracker is at a delightful thirty six and a half thousand.

Nikki and her Novel are sitting pretty around thirty eight thousand. Here’s to hoping she makes up the smidgent she’s missed and I’m confident she’ll get it done!

Morrighan and her Muse are sitting at thirty three thousand, which is a bit behind but nothing to worry about! I think she’ll definitely pull through in the days ahead. Hopefully she’ll leave the editing for December and just focus on the art of writing! Not that editing is a bad thing, but November is National Novel Writing Month, not National Novel Writing and Editing Month (Man, that’d be a mouthful… NaNoWriEdMo)!

I think there will be a few who will achieve the fifty thousand word goal they’ve set for themselves! This is a great effort whether you wrote five hundred or fifty thousand. To write is what we are celebrating! You’re all winners in my book and I’d like to see you all celebrate the win of making the effort and the time to write this month! It’s not easy, especially in the holiday season!

As for me… I’m embarrassingly still at the eighty five thousand mark of editing my novel. My partner wants to read it so badly and I guess as this is my first foray into seriously looking at publication, I’m nervous for anyone to read it. I could finish it tomorrow. I could finish it right now. But a part of me is purposely holding back and I can tell. Some of my writing is really well done, but I definitely feel I could easily add another ten thousand words in description alone as the story is so dialogue heavy.

Either way, I’ve got to rewrite a continuation of The Journey and I’ll post it ASAP! Blah! Cheer on the above writers and reach out,  follow and like them! Maybe that will get them back into the swing of things! Later and wish me luck!

In a last line to all you NaNoWriMoers out there… think of it like this, until December, Deleting is a form of Censorship! Get those words out there and hit those numbers!

Me Fail NaNoWriMo? That's Unpossible!

Oh Ralph Wiggum of Simpsons fame, you slay me!

So as NaNoWriMo comes to a close, the number of sad posts about failure, quitting, excuses, blame and procrastination are admittedly on the rise. I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again, just because NaNoWriMo designates who wins by word target, I believe any writing would be worth celebrating in this day and age of distractions. But there are indeed some failures.

I’m talking about those people who wrote utter crap for fifty thousand words. I’m not talking subject matter either. But basic punctuation, ignoring conciseness for word count and inattention to detail… these stories won’t make it to an editor’s desk at all, because frankly if the postman can’t read where it’s going, then it goes nowhere! Simple things like the uses of there, their and they’re and its and it’s just to name a couple! I would say read more while writing, maybe even do 30 mins of reading, and then of writing. The reason? Autocorrect is terrible at grammar (it can barely spell sometimes).

In any story where you write a huge space, your writing changes, ever so subtly. The people who don’t learn anything from page one to page three hundred aren’t cut out for writing. Let alone winners of some challenge.

Some of my loyal followers here are struggling, but they’ll get there. I have faith in them!

Well, the main purpose of this post is to let you guys know that I’ll be away for the weekend and hopefully my part two of The Journey will pop up as it is scheduled to do tomorrow! I’m quite exhausted as retail had a busy week for me and loads of training. I’ve had a nap every night this week, except tonight… which explains the heavy eyelids!

Although someone asked me about some writing ideas and how I feel about sharing them. Here’s your answer!

  1. Upon drilling into the center of the Earth, scientists find the first man, still alive.
  2. Hell is the final defence for the world against demonkind and is run by a former archangel.
  3. A man attempts to commit suicide, only to find out he is invincible and turns his life around.
  4. A man is released from prison, only to end up on a bank heist with a psychopath. Trying to do the right thing, he tricks the psycho into focusing on him and tries to end the battle quickly.

There’s four ideas I have on the backburner at the moment. If you’re inspired by them or want to use one feel free to just link back to here! Anyway new post should go up tomorrow, and my head is going to hit the pillow like a sack of pennies.

Thanks for putting up with today’s post, hopefully I will make up for it in the next post! Also if you’re doing NaNoWriMo and are close… Monday is coming… and you know what that means! The celebration of the wins and the stugglers on their road to 50k. Ciao and good luck! I leave you with my two images to keep me going and they are widgets on my Dashboard screen along with my post it notes filled with ideas!

You Should Be Writing
The Avengers Assemble, to make sure you’re hitting the target you set for yourself!
Oh Sean Bean, you'll die in my story too... don't worry!
Oh Sean Bean, you’ll die in my story too… don’t worry!

The Journey – Broken Dreams

“Do you remember how you got here?”

The man’s voice echoed in the tiny room as I glanced up from my dazed state. Reality hit me pretty hard as my eyes readjusted to the stark white room with no windows. “No.” I replied quietly. My eyes finally focused back in and I glanced to the man asking the questions. His suit was a charcoal grey and the white shirt beneath it seemed brand new. His tie perfectly matched the colour and fabric of his blazer and he hummed through a three day old growth of a beard that still seemed masterfully groomed. He glanced up from the pad of paper in front of him and tapped his pen as he hummed. With a sigh, he stared into my eyes, long and hard. The icy blue pierced into my very soul, and I felt a quick shiver fall over me. His voice stopped me from staring too long.

“Do you know, or understand where you are?”

As he asked the question, I considered my answer. In reality, no. I had no idea. He leaned in with an examining gaze and wrote tiny words onto his notepad.

“When can I leave?” I asked impatiently.

“You’ve been in an accident. I’m the doctor examining you psychologically. My name is Doctor Harris.”

With his words my mind flashed back to what felt like mere moments before I ended up in this room.

***

“Tamara, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” My father said gruffly. “It was just a nightmare, nothing more.”

My father had always been a stubborn man, his unmarked trucker’s cap barely hiding the salt and pepper mane beneath. He spoke of a dream, a dream I had that felt so vivid I was sure I’d lived it. “Dad, I’m telling you. We were on this very road, it began to rain, something hit us and you didn’t make it.” I could feel the tears welling up inside again as it brought me back to that moment.

My father shifted uncomfortably in his seat and tugged at his seatbelt. I could tell he felt uneasy, but he wanted to be strong for my sake. “I won’t have this discussion again. You’ve said this every time we take this road. We haven’t died yet, have we?”

I crossed my arms in a huff. Of course he was right, or we wouldn’t be having the conversation. “But tonight is different.” I protested.

“You said that the other night.” My father grumbled as he fixed his hat. “Still alive though, right?”

“Yes, but tonight we were forced to take this road! It was a tad convenient that the other road is flooded out!” I could feel my pulse racing. I glanced out the window and looked for the rain.

“It’s just some dam overflowing, it happens Tamara.” He said, his patience growing thin. “Turn on the radio, I’d rather not talk about dying while I’m trying to drive. Don’t need a self fulfilling prophesy.”

I reached for the radio dial and a small tinny thud echoed from the roof of the van. I paused a moment to look at my father and then the heavens began to pour. My heart was trying desperately to escape my chest, beating against my breast bone like a hammer.

My father swallowed hard as he squinted through the rain. “Coincidence.” He muttered while flicking the wipers on. As they whirred back and forth, clearing litres of water away from the windshield, I watched my father turn on his high beams. I’d never seen him use them;  his night vision was impeccable. “It’s just a precaution, Tamara.” He said softly.

We drove another ten minutes before we came to an intersection. The four way stop seemed useless as there were no cars in any direction for miles. We sat a moment until my father turned to me. “Do you want to go back? I don’t want you to feel ill like last time.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, dear god, yes.” My eyes darted from windshield to side window and back to my father. “This feels too familiar. In fact, it feels nearly the same.”

“What’s different?” My father asked finally, his curiosity had been piqued.

“Not sure, but I-” My breath abandoned me while I watched the car crumple like paper around the man who had raised me. I tried to scream, but the words came out in a ringing sound much to my dismay. Slowly, the car lifted from the road and began to separate nearly perfectly in two. My father’s side of the car lifted up and out of reach, his hand extending to me for aid. Strangely everything moved in slow motion, my hands couldn’t leave my body and I watched as the other half of the car, and my father, disappeared into the rainy night sky. My half of the car hadn’t completed its journey as the forces of gravity and momentum tugged at me from every which angle. My blond hair whipped me in the face, as fragments of glass showered me like the rain. The world spun a few more times, until finally coming to a rest with the open side of the car facing the sky.

I stared straight into the rain, unblinking as the water washed away the shock amid the tears. It was just as I’d dreamed it. Every detail.

My head pounded, I tried to move and found that I was most likely bleeding internally. Breathing became a labour and staying awake suddenly became a chore. With the click of the seatbelt, my weakened body collapsed to the door frame atop many small square shards of glass. Safety glass my ass, corners are still sharp when you’re lying on hundreds of them. It took the entirety of my strength to pull myself to my feet, and after a moment, I pushed myself over the jagged shards of metal jutting out from the car’s torn midsection. A few cuts, nothing really to worry about.

“Da-ad…” My lungs gasped for air halfway through a one syllable word, probably not the best of things. A deep inhale did nothing to quell the fire in my chest as I coughed into the night. “Dad!” I screamed between coughs, I knew in my heart I didn’t want to see him. But I also knew I had to. “Dad!”

My eyes settled on a hunk of metal wrapped neatly around the trunk of a tree. I’d never made it to this part in my nightmares. With no concept of what to expect or what to do, I tried to rush to the wreck. Despite the entirety of my focus being on the mass of metal, my peripherals weren’t seeing any other vehicles. “What the heck hit us…” I whispered to myself as I wandered up and onto the road. Down the lane I watched as car lights flickered in and out of the fog.

“Hey…” I called as I began waving my arms. “Hey! Help!” My lungs hated that sentence as I coughed up some blood. Definitely not good. As the car approached, I noticed it was a classic car. Not modern in the slightest, but decades older. I stood directly in front of it as I waved my right arm wildly, my left arm felt a bit numb, but I only needed one to attract attention.

The car careened past me and vanished quickly into the fog across the road. More lights suddenly caught my attention and I tried desperately to fall out of the way. As I landed, my body lay in the cold snow, much to my shock.

With an ear shattering crash, the next vintage car crashed into the thick field of trees off the side of the road. My eyes stared at it, as both passengers lay dead in the snow beyond the tree. My mind grew fuzzy and I turned back to where my father’s wreck was. “Dad?” I called out, but to nothing. Unblinking, I stared at the four way intersection or where it used to be. A single straight road travelled for miles in either direction. Panic set in, my heart raced, my lungs heaved for air. “Dad…” The words whispered out and were lost in the breeze.

***

“Miss, are you listening to what I’m asking?”

I glanced back to my interrogator from my memories and clenched my jaw. “Not really.”

“Maybe you just need some rest.” His voice was firm and in an instant two men wheeled in a cot and set it up in the corner of the room.

“Maybe.” I said. “Am I in some kind of trouble?”

The man stared long and hard at me for a moment. “No, not yet.” He cleared his throat and collected up his notepad and pen. “But that will depend on your cooperation.”

As the trio of men left me alone, I could feel exhaustion hitting me like a boxer punching a speed bag. Cot, table, floor; wouldn’t matter, sleep would be incredible.

***

“Do you think she knows?” A voice whispered from the darkness.

Doctor Harris entered the dark room with a clear wall looking in on his patient. He shook his head in response. “No, I don’t believe she does.”

“What if she finds out?” The voice asked urgently.

With a shrug, Doctor Harris turned to the man asking the questions. “She cannot control it, nor can she leave that room.” He stated. “It’s travel proof and we have nothing to worry about Sir.”

The short bald man beside him leaned forward into the dim lighting from Tamara’s room, his dull complexion even duller in the unflattering light. “We may have to extinguish her.”

Doctor Harris gasped. “Wait Val, no! We need to understand how she can do this with just her mind!”

“It’s too dangerous.” Val’s resolve was final. “In the blink of an eye she travelled back seven decades and killed a blood line by getting in the way of a family car. The President for twenty ten? No longer exists.”

***

To Be Continued – Possibly… Thanks for swinging by, this is a growing concept and this is sort of how I imagine the start of that story. The whole concept would be that Tamara could go back in time and try and save her father but in the process destroy her existing self all the while trying to stay one step ahead of the Tempus, a secret order bound to control time travel and police the preservation of the existing time line.

Anyway! This has been an enjoyably creative evening and I look forward to posting again tomorrow. I’d love to know what you think of this piece of writing (Unedited, so I apologise for any mistakes I may not have picked up) and the over all style. Things I personally don’t think I did well? Capture her emotion at all, I tried to go with dazed and confused but it almost sounds to me cold and not that emotional at all. Let me know if you agree!

A few quick call outs as some people thanked me for naming them as they got a few follows and likes. The support is helping, so please reach out and touch another writer so they can feel the same way you felt getting a new like or follow! It may be that one thing that makes them post more to their blog or get back on the ole’ NaNoWriMo horse… Every little bit counts!

NaNoWriMo Filler: Don't Be Wordy!

So today I had a nice post planned; it was going to be creative, it was going to be fun.

After reading a few hundred odd NaNoWriMo Day Nineteen posts, I snapped. I lost it. Why you ask? Because people are using words as filler.

Now, I know what you’re thinking… a book is filled with words, what’s the big deal? The big deal is I was always taught conciseness. People are going out of their way to avoid using contractions and being super descriptive… and for what?! To reach some silly goal?

First thing I’ll say from my milk crate with my megaphone is if you’re doing that, for the love of the writing gods and your muse, please stop. You’re not doing yourself any favours, and you’re not winning. I can write fifty thousand words of rubbish too, anyone can. I understand it is a goal to work towards, but the person who “fails” NaNoWriMo at forty thousand words with a finely written story has in my mind achieved more than writing an additional ten thousand words of rubbish.

Bleh!

Sorry for the rant, but my brain imploded and my inner writer exploded like Bruce Banner turning into the Hulk. It was uncontrollable, and I apologise.

So I’ve ranted and raved and yelled from my milk crate… but what can we do to add to a story and not have it be meaningless? Okay, let’s talk about productive filler, shall we?

The first thing I love to do is add in a character. More characters add depth to the story if done correctly and also add emotional fodder. I mean this wholeheartedly. In a story where you may have finished with thirteen thousand words from the target fifty thousand, adding in a character earlier (around ten thousand words in) can offer you a chance at some side stories as well as protagonist interaction. This can drive depth of your protagonist as well as help the story progress. Also this offers a fun opportunity later if you decide you want to challenge your protagonist. Death is virtually mainstream now in movies and literature (Thanks George R. R. Martin for killing off every character I’ve loved) but the things that make those stories successful is that it progresses past that point. A character dies, how does your protagonist react? Were they responsible? Will there be underlying guilt? Adding in a character puts the muse hard at work at weaving them into the story and makes it much more rewarding than lengthening every don’t and it’s to do not and it is.

Another fun thing to do is play with foreshadowing… this is another of the tools in my belt and I love it because it makes a story feel real. Also it is fun as hell that the hobo in scene two is secretly a man who is a fantastic swordsman who the characters have to return to later, and when they were already so close to him. Having things like these happen gives your readers those “Oh wow!” moments that keep them not only turning pages forward, but backward as well! I love trying to surprise the reader with things that make sense, but also it keeps the story interesting as it’s not just the main conflict that is driving the story. Sometimes it’s the tiny moments that push the characters that are most rewarding! If that isn’t clear enough email me or comment and I’ll try to explain it better with some examples!

So I suppose in short, please find more creative ways to fill those fifty thousand words. I beg of you not only as a fellow writer, but as a reader. NaNoWriMo is a writing challenge, but I think instead of just writing fifty thousand words they should celebrate quality over quantity as we are enforcing terrible habits into potentially good writers. I think if you complete a story arc, and it is over twenty five thousand words, that is something to be extremely proud of. Forcing some arbitrary number upon you and making you feel as though you’ve failed isn’t the writing celebration I’d be hoping for. But hell, I’m just glad they’re celebrating writing at all so I’ll take it!

Okay, so now that all of that is out of the way… here is an update from me (embarrassingly). All excuses aside, I have not moved from my eighty five thousand word mark in the editing of my novel. I have written a ton more in short stories and ideas behind the scenes, because when I have a good idea I experience the creative dam shattering and flooding a poor empty screen with words. I have thirteen one line story ideas on post it notes on my Mac Desktop… and I revisit them everyday. But all of that aside… damn you editing… damn you.

I’ve announced as well that I’ve got a pair of puppies coming soon to a few people and I may have even mentioned in the blog at some point. For those of you who like dogs or cute things, I’ve got a picture you may enjoy and I’ll post it below. My puppy is a miniature dachshund and he will be my first pet ever! This is exciting for me because I’ve always wanted a dog and well… when I was looking at the pups this one snuggled right in and made himself at home. Yes, my face melted. I am considering the name Thor and it hurts me that everyone I tell assumes I’m basing the name off the movies. Norse Mythology… it’s a thing. Look it up. That being said… I did like the new movie.

My puppy, possibly named Thor!
My puppy, possibly named Thor!

Also WordPress has deleted my entire final paragraph upon posting. No idea what’s happened there but let’s try it again! So for those of you falling behind in your NaNoWriMo efforts, would you like me to post your progress so it holds you accountable? Or is there anything I can help with? Also thanks to everyone who has emailed me or commented on the blog! Sorry if I don’t get back to you straight away as my inbox went from two emails a day to forty and I am working on getting back to any and all. The more the merrier I say! Also, if anyone takes the time to write to me, I will reply in one way or another! Anyway good luck and hope to hear from you (yes you!) soon!

Someone's Got A Case Of The Mondays: Or NaNoWriMo Name And Shame!

Firstly, I’d like to thank any and all who are participating in this exercise! I spend my whole day at work feeling my phone vibrate only to get home and rush to my computer to see how everyone is doing and where we’re all at! You’ve all made me obsessed with my blog now! Shame on you! (No! I’m kidding! I love you all! Please don’t leave me!) Alright, so now that we’re past the moment of awkwardness I’d like to lead right into this update! I don’t know if I’ll do this daily (Unless anyone finds that it helps!) but today’s post revolves around you NaNoWriMo writers and how you’re doing! Also, I’m going to post some links so you guys out there can toss them a follow or like to help keep them on the right track! As I mentioned yesterday, if you’ve enjoyed me swinging by your neck of the web, please “Pay It Forward” by doing the same to one of these kindly folks daring enough to be named! Awesome!

Ravings Of Nonsense – Last Update = Nov 14th, Word Count = 7200 – After a quick comment about wanting to be held accountable I have found the following count on your page! Where are you at now? How’s the writing going? Let’s see if we can’t cheer you on to your goal of 50k! Toss over a few likes or follows to let them know you’re cheering them on!

M.L Swift – Last Update = Nov 16th, Word Count = 9842 – A newcomer to my blog who is doing NaNoWriMo when he gets the chance! In my effort to drum up some support for him, I’m hoping you kind folks out there will send him a quick follow or like to let him know that his fellow writer’s are supporting him too! Even if he doesn’t “Win” NaNoWriMo, let’s get him to his target of 50k!

J. R. Vowles – Last Update = Nov 16th, Word Count = Below 25000 – I ran across Jason’s Blog and M.L. Swift ended up following me from there! Vowles here decided part way through NaNoWriMo to restart his novel and I’ve been awaiting a new update! Show him some love and lets see if he can get in his 50k before December!

Christine Fichtner – Last Update = Nov 17th, Word Count = North of 30000 – Christine is on a good pace to make it to the fabled 50k mark! Great job and keep on smashing away at those keys!

Valourbörn – Last Update = Nov 18th, Word Count = 26746 – Alex was behind a bit but is back on track after an exciting writing session on Saturday! Let’s see if we can help her get to her target!

ElitistGeek – Last Update= Nov 15th, Word Count = 26954 – “Write” on track, ElitistGeek is well on her way to hitting that sweet 50k mark! If you’d love to, head over and give her a comment, a follow or a like just so she knows we’re watching and waiting with bated breath!

Those are my callouts for today! If you think this could help you let me know via comment or email and if I missed you, just let me know again! Since this blog has seen more action than ever before, I’ve been trying to keep up so I’ll apologize in advance if I missed your comment or missed putting you into the Monday update! Also I wanted to put more, but my internet has suddenly decided to start pushing up daisies… so I am now piggybacking off my mobile (HURRAY for technology!) Tomorrow’s post will most likely be more creative than the past few posts and I’ll end off with some people to support! Also, if I seem to dance around the fact if you are a lady or a gent, please let me know which it is! Sometimes blogs can be so ambiguous as to who is running the show!

Thanks for the patience and talk to you all soon!

Sharing Is Caring

Well, I’ve got a much more interesting following than I did a mere week ago. Now what to do with you… hmm?

Perhaps I could stalk all of your NaNoWriMo posts and post your word counts… MWA HA HA, no no… too evil!

Or you could volunteer your information, and I could dedicate a post to you fine ladies and gents beyond the typing glass! That’s entirely up to you, let me know if you’d be okay with that and I may have a weekly monday post that tosses out the previous week’s wins! This would also allow you guys to see who else is following along here as well as how they’re doing so you can offer them support just as I have you! That’s my hope, anyone seen that movie called… umm, what was it? Pay It Forward! That’s it! Well if you liked how you felt when some random guy swung by and tossed you a follow, or a like, or even a fabled comment; I ask of you to pay it forward and offer one of the struggling NaNoWriMo Writers your support so they can know, we’ve got their back too! If you guys would like me to post the title of your story or even a link to your NaNoWriMo page, let me know! I’m willing to go all out!

So I will be the first one to share my story with you… I always struggle to tell people what my story is about because it has been inspired by a number of things. Currently I am up to the eighty five thousand mark of the first edit for my novel, Jefferson And The Magician’s Curse. The lovely cover at the top right was made for me by a young lady who was offering free covers last year by the name of Fena Lee. She did a fantastic job and is actually part of the reason I pushed on. You see, she listened and made me the exact image that I had in mind for my cover and in taking that time she inspired me to be sure I finished the story. I told her that I would use her cover and I think even if I am heading out to get published, I may see if I can use that design as it is important to me.

Would you like to hear some details of the story? You would? I was hoping you’d say that! *Wink*Wink*

***

Magicians and circuses, orphanages and escapes; these are the obsessions of one young boy. As Jefferson the orphan escapes to the circus, he finds his obsession with illusions runs deeper than he ever imagined. Leaving the abusive carers he’d been entrusted to, he embarks on a journey of self discovery and lessons under Gabriel The Great. As they travel, Jefferson learns that most illusionists are part of a secret society of good magicians who protect the world from the forbidden arts.

The forbidden arts are guided carefully in the world by warlocks, evil magicians hell bent on destruction and power. The forbidden arts come with a price. Casting magic normally draws upon the caster’s own energy and spirit, thus limiting the type and strength of the spell cast. Yet the warlocks have the ability to channel the energy of others, through themselves, for greater spell power and destruction. Casting these spells links the caster mentally and spiritually with their victim for eternity, causing most warlocks to hear many voices and leading them into the depths of insanity. Their heart taints black with the Magician’s Curse, the veins blackening outward from over use of the forbidden magic.

Luckily for Jefferson, these magics are nearly forgotten… Unlucky for him, shadows move in the darkness and the forbidden arts begin to rise up, threatening the weakened societies of magicians and the world itself. Will Jefferson fall to the allure of power from the forbidden arts, or will his master’s teachings be enough to guide him through these dark times and into times of peace? As his destiny balances on the edge of a knife, two secret societies and the world await to see who will be victorious… and who will perish.

***

Okay, hopefully that sounds good. It does to me, but I am virtually sleep deprived and worked through… so it could be the equivalent of the song “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and I might not even notice. Strangely enough though, I spelled that right on the first try. Good to know where my brain’s priorities are! I should be able to edit the final fifteen thousand words in the next week or so, but I also have to puppy proof my house. We get our pups (A Dachshund and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) around the seventh of December if all goes well, and here’s to hoping it does! But before that I need to completely destroy and rebuild the back garden and go all “Better Homes and Gardens” on its sorry excuse for a planter and install a raised veggie patch complete with a tiny peeing area for new pups. Should be fun! By the way, I’m a nerd and not handy in the slightest… so, does anyone know if IKEA sells raised planters? That’d make life easy!

In closing, if you do want to be mentioned in tomorrow’s post, please let me know! I’m hoping that everyone will be up for participating, I think it’ll make this particular group closer than others and it gives you that sense of, “I have to write so everyone can see my progress!” Remember, try my five tips from the last post if you’re struggling and I guarantee you’ll start to see results! Either way do what is best for you and good luck with your writing ladies and gents! Thanks for stopping by again!

NaNoWriMo's and Other Writers Unite!

Bam! Before I write anything, thanks again to everyone who is now following my blog! My visits went off like crazy and my phone is constantly vibrating with other writers commenting and messaging me to talk about writing! This has been a great time for me and I am so glad that I have opened up this Pandora’s Box of writers! I feel like I’m not using enough exclamation marks! What do you think?

Excitement aside, the effect of the community has pushed me to hit back at my editing and hit hard, going from being halfway through to editing roughly a quarter of the book in my past two days off. I edited from fifty six thousand words up to the eighty five thousand mark, and now all I see is the Matrix… but instead of numbers it’s nothing but Arial font, size ten. Thanks to all of you who have commented or followed me back, I have made these strides. If we all stick together, there is no telling how we can affect and influence each other’s writing! 

Today’s post is a post to see where everyone stands in their NaNoWriMo or Current Writing target. So consider this a support group. I don’t expect names or anything like that, but post in the comments your goal, your current word count and if you’re looking for a writing partner. When I say partner, I mean someone to check up on you. I’m fully on board with checking up on all of you if you’d like (I know I would) but if you wanted to break off and just check in with each other. Not everyone posts their progress everyday and knowing that random stranger is going to email you, may be the push you need to give it the priority you want. 

I know from past NaNoWriMos that it is easy to make excuses. Family events pop up, Christmas shopping to do, cleaning, sleeping from working hard, yadda yadda yadda… They all sound important. But I personally think the one thing that helped me the most get to my target of one hundred thousand words was making time for it. Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. I am in no way a morning person, in fact I can avoid sleeping and be just fine(ish), but once I sleep, getting up is the devil. After re-evaluating my priorities, I decided that the only time that was never interrupted was the early morning. No one ever calls you at five AM to say “Hey, Let’s hang out!” So I woke up before work, before my partner, before the sun… and I wrote.

Some of it was drivel for the first while. (Did I mention I’m not a morning person?) Once the routine developed, I began to feel better. My creative juices began flowing easier. I was writing, with NO interruptions! It was a hard fought battle, but I had won! I will do it again for my next novel and I won’t think twice. So, I’ll leave you with the above homework (Comments, Goals, Partners) and the following things I did to get to my “redonkulous” target of one hundred thousand words!

1) Find an uninterruptable time to write, make it routine.

2) Do NOT include research time as writing time. Wikipedia will devour your soul (And free your mind).

3) Instead of setting a time goal, set a word goal. I used to say, I will write two thousand words today. I sat there. I wrote. It was painful sometimes, but it happened and it got easier as time went on. This also ensures you hit your goals.

4) Do NOT over structure. I set plot targets at every twenty thousand words, for example: the following events need to happen before this word target has been met. This allows you much more freedom and allows your characters to “play”. I found that if I designated every scene, the structure confined me where sometimes the characters were enjoying their moment.

5) Always write. No matter what. No matter how terrible you think it is. No matter how boring or unrelated to the story it feels at the time. Write it. The reason is forcing yourself to write through a block can offer inspiration into other directions and forces your brain into the routine you want. Only you can stop yourself from writing altogether, even if you can’t think of anything… just do it. 

Okay ladies and gentlemen, this has been a fun post to write and I am open to questions, comments, concerns, arguments (or discussions as I call them) and homework! If you’ve got the time- homework below and I’d love to know what you guys think of the five things I did to get to the one hundred thousand mark! Embrace the community I am trying to build here within my comments! Participation is key! Talk to you soon and happy writing! 😀

(PS- Thanks again, you… yes you! You may not know it, but you are my inspiration!)

A Quick Thanks!

Wow! So roughly twelve hours ago I decided to embark on a quest to seek out other writers in an attempt to find fellow struggling writers such as myself and give them support. What an awesome community us writers have! The quick comments and follows I’ve received back have been overwhelming and quite frankly made me eager to get back to my computer to see what has been happening! I went from my life time views being around thirteen hundred to over fifteen hundred in that short twelve hour span! My views have exploded and with like minded people! It’s all I could have hoped for! So thank you so much for your support and for all of you who have now followed me, you have my attention! If you need/want/would like anything, and I mean ANYTHING read or just want to chat, feel free to drop me a line!

Also, for those of you stuck during NaNoWriMo, I applaud you. Writing fifty thousand words on a deadline can be stressful and soul crushing. But from my own personal experience with the “Fifty Thousand Words of Doom” I can honestly say do not stress. If you don’t meet your target it is not the end of the world. NaNoWriMo in spirit is to give us writers a reason to get tapping away at those keys and unite us with a common cause; to celebrate the art of writing. People tend to think, “Oh woe is me, I have failed” when in reality, the fact they are writing at all is a success. The only failed writers are the ones who lose passion for writing altogether, so do not let the stress of NaNoWriMo kill your passion. If you need someone to check up on you, I dare you to keep me up to date with your word counts… maybe I’ll even post them here, MWA HA HA! Public shame! (For a good cause :P)

I am so amped up on life right now! Having this much interaction on my blog has really struck me and I have procrastinated most other duties I had for today just to rush back to this very page and speak to you all again! I haven’t been this excited about writing in a long time and I really hope that I can share my wins with you as I myself struggle to get the fabled published book. Because I’ve been so inspired, I must indeed rush off and get back to it and today I leave you with one of my oldest surviving pieces of writing (everything else was lost to floppy disk failures, failure to back up or the fabled room flooding) but here is my first published poem in a compilation from high school (Oh God, that was just over a decade ago…) aptly named, Not Quite Nostalgic (I’ve posted this awhile ago, but it still holds a special place in my heart). Hope you enjoy and stay tuned… I’ve got some wild ideas coming up! Exciting times ahead!

Thanks again everyone! TJ – The Canuck Amuck

 

Not Quite Nostalgic

A sea of hope, a beach of sand.
Some have never seen nor heard,
The whispering winds across the land.

Though I have seen many a time,
The lapping waves, in all their beauty,
Rising and falling, almost in rhyme.

The tide across the sandy beach,
No worries or cares, just silent sounds.
No lesson to learn, nor to teach,
Not quite nostalgic, yet my heart still pounds.

To Blog, Or Not To Blog… Perhaps That Is The Question.

Today’s mission for my blog is not to write something profound, something incredible. No, today it is something different.

Today I start seeking out other struggling writers. I seek them out because there are creatives out there working nine to five jobs who dream of success and want to get better. I seek them out because as I write the posts for this blog I feel as though my words fall on deaf ears. It sure is fun to get a few views. But wouldn’t it better if I got more? Of course!

Today I start to form my own circle of writers who want to be heard and want to read other people’s work. After all, some of us have to work at writing to be good, and only through reading and writing can we indeed get better!

Why am I doing this? Well if you read over my past posts, you’ll notice that I started writing with another person and that has proven quite fun and rewarding. The act of us bouncing a story back and forth has been interesting as we misinterpret each other’s ideas quite frequently; so where one leads the story, the other most certainly does not follow. The simple act of passing it back and forth has ignited some insane creativity flare which has me wanting more. It’s like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” novel where your choice is limited to a thousand words… and then your characters are left to someone else’s devices. 

If you’re reading this, I hope you’ll comment. I hope maybe you’ll shoot me an email. I hope that maybe after the hours and hours searching hundreds of blogs I may stumble across a few people who are like minded or at the very least excited about the creative process. I’ve reached out to you, read at least one post and now you may be returning the favour. If so, I whole heartedly thank you. 

I decided this year I wouldn’t NaNoWriMo… the reason being not only had I written a one hundred thousand word novel, but it taught me a thing or two about writing. I learned that if you just get out of your own way and write… it’s extremely easy. Is there such a thing as writer’s block? Perhaps. But sometimes smashing words into a keyboard mercilessly will prove worth the effort!

After reading this post over, I have decided to leave this as my fragmented thoughts for the day. I’ve been growing so frustrated with writing for no audience that after deciding to reach out I have followed many, many… sooo many blogs today searching for writing and NaNoWriMo tags in hopes to find and connect with those kindred spirits out there!

Also, as a final note… to any of you who may come through here while I sleep or have come through here while I have been on a whirlwind reading and post writing storm- Thank you. No really, just you ladies and gents stopping by is support, something to get me back into the habit of writing. Not only that, but it has been super hard in Australia to find people who share my passion for writing. Well, it has been easier now that I’ve switched stores to one closer to a University! But I do hope you all find something you enjoy on here or at the very least check back every once in awhile to see how insane I’ve gone!

Until the next post! 

NaNoWriMo – OF DOOOOOM.

Alright, out of the gates I am up to date. Tomorrow however I am busy from sun up until sun down and I have work the next day. The biggest challenge for me is going to be to find time to write, not so much the actual writing itself. I have a great concept, thus far the pacing is feeling right and I’ve decided to hell with the plan (I ran out of time for that) I’m just going to cram out as many words a day as I can until my little fingers make it.

Although I just updated my word count and it says we are on day three. Damn. I also start moving house next week. Plus stocktake at work. Plus social commitments.

It’s a damn good thing I am already bald!

Keep watching here for exciting updates as I struggle to not only maintain sanity but also write a book, move my house, help run a stocktake, travel and keep people up to date on how my writing is going.

So…

Why the hell didn’t I just grow a moustache this year for november?

http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/tj_edwards is my progress! Wish me luck! (Or send me chocolate covered espresso beans or crates of red bull)