My NaNo total etc..

As you can see from the badge in my sidebar, I finished with 15, 387 words. Not bad, considering I only managed to write on 8 of the 30 days. An average of 1923 words per day. I really wish I could have found more time for writing, but things were crazy over the last month. So I'm going to let go and just be happy I managed to achieve what I did :)

Life is super busy overall right now, between work, school prep, writing, Christmas prep (I'm knitting quite a few gifts) and just housekeeping, I don't have much spare time. Grey weather has affected me somewhat, but I'm taking my Vitamin D like a good girl and working through the blahs. It's hard to believe we're at Christmas yet again - our second in this house! Hopefully we'll find a good tree for the deck over the next couple of weekends.

I'm so looking forward to starting school. Working at the library has been a real eye-opener for me, making me realize just how right I am for this kind of job. Why didn't I figure this out earlier? Oh well, better late than never :)

Back to writing - Deborah Cooke/Claire Delacroix had a great blog post the other day about Boulders (the huge obstacles that tend to arise in the middle of most mss). What do you do when faced with those plotting obstacles? I try to play the What If game, as well as examining the story elements Deb talks about.

I always love to hear how other writers deal with the elements that plague us as we write our masterpieces.

Teresa

Currently Reading: Stately Pursuits by Katie Fforde
Also Currently Reading: The Write Type by
Link of the Day: Top Ten Plotting Problems by Alicia Rasley

Slow but steady progress...

Another 2000 words yesterday, for a grand total now of 8032. I didn't write at all on the weekend as Sean and I had plans for Saturday. Sunday I probably should have written, but was in a total funk, despite exercise and yummy birthday cake from my m-i-l (chocolate zucchini cake - just scrumptious). It took me a while to figure it out, but finally I realized that even though I don't mind the rain on a conscious level, the overall lack of sunlight recently has left both Sean and me with mild cases of S.A.D.

On Monday I worked a full day and was just zonked in the evening - we watched two more eps of Robin Hood before turning in early.

We'll see how things go today. This afternoon I have a phone interview for the Library Tech programme I applied for, then have some related email testing to complete and return within a strict time limit. It's possible I'll get more of Henri and Madeleine's story written once all that is completed. Not sure I'll be able to concentrate on it before the interview. We'll see.

I know for many people this means I'm not taking NaNo seriously enough, but for me, NaNo is a chance to kickstart my stories and gives me a goal to work towards. I can't just drop the rest of my life, it doesn't work that way.

So - how 'bout you? Are you surviving November weather? (well, we know those of you in SoCal and TX are *g*, but the rest of us aren't so lucky!) Does the weather affect your mood/writing?

Teresa

Currently Reading (and almost finished): The Intelligencer by Leslie Silbert
Link of the Day: Cats in Sinks (silly fun for a grey November day)

Just past the 6000 word barrier...

Not bad for three days writing. In the end, yesterday, I didn't get any writing done. I went to work, came home and talked to my mum on the phone for quite a while, then made dinner. Sean and I also watched two eps of The Tudors and by the time he went to bed (he was working the early shift this morning, waking up at 3:30 am) I was just too beat to write.

But I've made up for it today and added another 1900 words to my total. It's possible I'll get more in later, after Sean and I have celebrated my birthday with lunch :)

Here's a photo of me with my little NaNo writing companion:

From Blog Photos

She made sure I stayed put, though in this shot the paw she had on my shoulder is kinda lost in my hair *g*.

After finishing today's quota, Sean and I went out for lunch to celebrate my birthday. It was back to the Wild Bistro for yummy sandwiches and more of that Licorice Spice tea. Now I'm settling back down with the laptop to answer some email and see if my characters have any more to tell me before it's time for dinner.

Hope you're all having a great day :) Even those of you here in rainy BC with me.

Teresa

Currently Reading: The Intelligencer by Leslie Silbert
Link of the Day: Old is the New New

Today's NaNo work at the Wild Bistro...

netted me 2184 words, for a two day total of just over 4000 words. Yay! I may even manage more tonight.

The Wild is a fantastic place to write - lovely atmosphere, yummy treats (the Elvis muffin is delectable) and a wonderful selection of herbal tea (today's choice - Licorice Spice).

Here's the setup I had there for a couple of hours:

From November 2008

Once again, the story just flowed AND my characters started adding to the plot. I was almost loathe to stop, but it was getting to the point where if I didn't, I wouldn't have finished the errands I needed to do on the way home in time.

Still, I was pretty thrilled to break the 4000 word mark in just two days and to have surpassed my daily goal by over 300 words :) Tomorrow will be more tricky as I have to work during the day and the lunch room isn't the ideal place to write. Hope to write in the evening instead, but it will depend on just how tired I am. Then again, Madeleine and Henri might not give me a choice!

Teresa

Currently Reading: The Intelligencer by Leslie Silbert
Link of the Day: A fun link from the Historical Archives of The Onion

NaNo progress at last...

Today I managed 1875 words and I'm pretty happy with that. Much of the opening scene had written itself in my head and fortunately it flowed out when I put my fingers on the keyboard. Interestingly enough, I was able to write with the radio on in the background, so I could keep tabs on the US election. I already know I'll have editing to do on the scenes I wrote, but much of that will be word choice etc - one of the things that slows me down is trying to figure out if certain words were in common use during the time period in which I'm writing. I hate jarring readers with something that's obviously not right. But I've learned when doing NaNo just to keep going and go back later to fix those kinds of things.

So, if you're doing NaNo too - how is it going?

If not NaNo, how are thing with your ms?

Teresa (very impressed with Obama's speech and really hoping he's able to stick to the promises he's made)

Currently Reading: The Intelligencer by Leslie Silbert
Link of the Day: CBC News America Votes

A slow NaNo start...

I really wish today was November 1, so I could start with a bang, but it's not. Tomorrow we're going into Vancouver, so other than in the ferry line-up, I won't be able to write. But with me NaNo is never an every day thing, because much as I love writing, and I do, I won't give up the other things in life that make me happy, like spending the day with Sean, just to say I won. In the end, my writing is still secondary to my life with those I love. And I'm not ashamed in the least to say that.

Teresa

Currently Reading: The Intelligencer by Leslie Silbert
Link of the Day: RévolutionFrançaise.net

Practise really does make...

ok, well, not Perfect, but it certainly improves almost anything we do, including writing. Of course, we all know that, but with writing it's sometimes hard to SEE the improvement. Sometimes it takes seeing it work in other areas to believe in its efficacy.

As regular readers know, I'm a big fan of Nia. This month marks two years since I began regular Nia classes. (Stay with me now, this DOES connect to my first paragraph *g*). I loved it almost right away, but one of the few moves I really didn't like at all was the shimmy. Why? Because I couldn't shimmy to save my life - I'm not kidding, I looked like an idiot trying to make my shoulders do something they'd never done before. And at 40+, they really weren't keen on learning something new and different.

My mother-in-law told me to just keep at it, keep trying that shimmy and eventually, my body would adapt and I'd be able to do the move with at least some measure of competence. So I did, much as I really hated it and was relieved when we did less shimmy-intensive routines. For at least a year, I swore I'd never get it and that I might as well give up.

During my second year of Nia, however, I noticed a change. It was subtle at first, just a little bit of movement. Then one day we came to a shimmy section of a routine and I realized I was doing it properly, not brilliantly, mind, but well enough that someone watching would know I was shimmying. It was so cool. Now I really enjoy the routines when we shimmy, all the more so because it was something I worked so hard at and finally saw the results.

In our writing, I believe it happens the same way. We write and write and write, sometimes never feeling like we're making progress, as though our dialogue is still stiff, our narrative awkward and our pacing all wrong. We work hard at it, get critiques, read craft books and study the writing of others. And keep on writing. And then suddenly, it jells and those reading our work see it as well.

Granted, most of us never achieve writing perfection, but just like me and my shimmy, we do reach another level, after months/years of very subtle changes as a result of our constant effort and study. Changes we can't see on a day to day basis, but changes that are there nonetheless.

So, the next time you read your work and think it's crap, remember me and my shimmy.

In Other News
Today I'm sending off my application to the Library Information & Technology Diploma Programme at Langara College in Vancouver. Yep, that's right, I'm hoping to go back to school in January, as I'm applying to the Flexiple Participation Option, which means I'll do everything online. I had thought of the MLIS programme at the University of British Columbia, but nothing there is available online and the thought of commuting, even two or three days a week was pretty daunting. This way (if I get in) I can keep working at the Sechelt Public Library - I'm one of several casual Public Services Assistants hired recently. So far I'm just loving my job and wishing I'd made this career choice 20 years ago. However, I can't change the past, so I'm at least trying to change the future by applying to the programme and working over the next few years to earn that diploma.

Does this mean I'm going to give up my writing or my attempts to get published? No way. I often work better when I have more on my plate, though at certain times I imagine my mss might suffer a little. But writing has been a part of my life for so long that I feel confident in my ability to fit it in, even when things get busy. My characters generally give me no choice.

In view of all the above, I've decided I might as well attempt NaNo again this year, to help jump start me on one of my stories that I've pretty much completely revamped. I had a chapter or so written, but decided a few months ago to change much of the backstory and plot (encouraged to do so by my hero/heroine), so this will give me the opportunity to get going and see what happens.

So - anything new and exciting with you? If you've gone back to school, did you enjoy it?

Teresa

Currently Reading: The Intelligencer by Leslie Silbert
Link of the Day: Wonders and Marvels

Snow!

We had snow the other night and woke up yesterday to this:

and later in the morning saw this:

My deer friend came back!

What I saw while driving back from Nia:

The house with sun-tipped trees in the background:

You can see more pics in my Picasa album.

We're supposed to get more snow/rain today. And glad as I am to see snow now, I'd rather see it in time for Christmas, but as I've learned here on the Coast, that is a crap shoot!

No writing over the last couple of days. I'm completely stuck and have to research a couple of things. And need to brainstorm some scenes. So this year's NaNo won't be quite as successful as last year's, but it still got me started on this ms, which is further along than I was before, so I'm not complaining.

I'm off to do errands now, before the weather gets any worse!

Teresa

Chugging along...

I'm averaging about 1000 words/day. Not bad. One of the scenes will likely need a full rewrite, but I figure at least I got down what I wanted to do with it. Today's words will be harder to produce as my shoulder is acting up again AND I have my library shift this afternoon. Ouch!

It was such a gorgeous day yesterday, we lit a fire to burn some brush and I spent 4.5 glorious hours outside dragging deadfall and feeding the flames. Meanwhile, back in Ottawa, they're getting ice pellets and snow today. Hmmmmm.

And last, but not least, Sean moved the final items out of our storage bin this morning!! So we're now officially completely moved in :)

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends! Enjoy your holiday :)

Teresa

Currently Reading: Book for review

Still plugging along...

I managed another 1360 words yesterday, for a total of just over 6500. Am hoping for more later today, once my errands are complete and workout done.

Time is flying quickly now, with Christmas coming up so fast. I have to get in gear for that as well!

The deer reappeared near the house the other day - this time I noticed it as I was coming up the driveway and managed another couple of photos, one from a distance standing outside the car, and one quite close from the driver's seat, with the window rolled down:



On the home front, we're hoping to get the family room set up this weekend, by retrieving the tv, entertainment unit, love seat etc. Sean did a great job with the paint down there last weekend. As we still haven't decided what to do with the floor, we'll just use a couple of rugs for now :) Pictures next week!

On with the errands, now. Hope everyone has a good weekend, and for those of you doing NaNo - keep on racking up that word count!!

Teresa

Currently Reading: Past Secrets by Cathy Kelly (yes, I'm on another British chick-lit glom)
Link of the Day: Surfulater - a fantastic piece of software for the internet researcher

Today's progress...

was a little less spectacular. Still, I did manage about 1200 words, which is better than nothing.

The rest of the day involved Nia, house inspections, company paperwork and assorted chores. All that had to be done before I could write. And now I have a headache. But I stuck it out for two more scenes, so I've managed to crack 5k, so will be content with that.

Off to see what the kitties want now and curl up with a book.

Oh, and here's what I found in the woodland garden when I arrived home this afternoon:

He/she didn't seem to mind the camera at all, not even the flash. Just posed, then continued to wander. If only it had been a nicer day, the photo would have been better.

Teresa

Doing NaNo is helping...

me get going with this story. I managed another 2100 words today and hope for the same tomorrow. As with last year, I didn't even try to get my words in on the weekend - just not enough time when there was so much else to do, especially as we found out in the afternoon that my brother/sister-in-law, niece and baby nephew were coming up for the weeked. We had a great time with them, which was nice :)

The story is starting to roll a bit now and I'm trying so hard to resist the urge to do anything BUT write, though I did look up a couple of things today. Still, it's cool to get a feeling for my characters and their voices and to learn more about them as I write. Ella has a harder edge to her than I originally thought, but that's ok! I'm just relieved to know that I might not have to give up on this story idea too, as it was looking bleak for a while. I know lots of writers go through this kind of thing and that often the real solution is just to shut up with the bitching and WRITE!!

This seems especially important now as at least two agents have blogged in recent months about a resurgence in editor interest for historicals. I'd be a fool not to try to take advantage of this trend, so I'm also going to have to return to What the Heart Remembers and complete that final read through then submit to a few more agents.

Now, however, I'm going to listen to my sweetie read the news, then head to the basement and put in some time on the elliptical trainer. I keep a notepad and pen on the shelf there in case any more brilliant story ideas come to me :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Oh, and here are some cute shots of the kitties from the other day.

We don't normally allow them on the stove, but they looked so cute I had to get the camera and snap this pic before getting them down and telling them "NO."


Chloe on the stairs.

Cleo in amongst the books on the bookshelf in my office.


Teresa

Currently Reading: The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick

NaNo - Yes or No?...

There's the question. Things here are a bit hectic, but OTOH, forcing myself to write would probably be a good idea. Even if it's only 500 words a day, it will still be better than nothing, which is pretty much my output (fiction wise) over the last few months.

What about you? Are you doing Nano this year?

I've added a new comment feature to the blog, so please let me know how you like it :)

Teresa

Currently Reading: Just Between Us by Cathy Kelly
Link of the Day: NaNoWriMo