NaNoWriMo musings

The writing hasn’t been happening lately. I haven’t developed an idea that I’m excited about. Even my two not-quite-finished novels don’t excite me right now. Still, I want to FINISH NaNoWriMo…even if it turns out to be trash…I WANT to reach that 50,000 word goal, come November 30th.

I started writing this post a few days ago. Since then, I’ve had the beginnings of a MC, but I really wasn’t feeling her…I think maybe it was the name…still need to work on that. However, last night, while doing dishes, (funny how that activity spurs the muse of so many writers), I got a glimpse of a story waiting to be told. So far, it appears the genre will be paranormal romance. Woo hoo! I’m starting to get excited, and well yeah, a little stressed too, because it’s already the 18th, and I’ve been procrastinating, ruminating for this long, and how am I ever going to be prepared on time, and November is just 13 days away….

‘Nuff said. I’m off to ruminate some more!

almost 25 things things about me

1. I’m an only child and the daughter of an only child.

2. My grandmom had my mom at 30, my mom had me at 30, and I continued the tradition and had my daughter at 30.

3. I dreamt of my son several years before I had him.

4. I dreamt of my daughter long before I had her, too.

5. I periodically have strong feelings of déjà vu, and I think I’m almost clairvoyant.

6. Still consider myself a New Yorker, although I haven’t lived in the city for 10 years.

7. My dad died when I was 8–i feel bad that I barely remember him.

8. My grandfather died when I was 16, and I feel guilty because I miss him more

9. I love cheese–the best and worst words in my vocabulary are "extra cheese".

10. My family is from Puerto Rico, but I speak very little Spanish.

11. I love shrimp…I can eat them all day.

12. I have hearing loss in my left ear. It has been getting worse little by little since I was 2.

13. Grandma taught me to crochet when I was 6, and I taught myself how to knit when I was 24.

14. I cannot sleep in a totally quiet room. I need the TV or a radio.

15. Love dogs, hate cats. But cats like me, for some reason.

16. I hate nuts of all kinds. Peanuts or peanut butter especially, makes me gag.

17. Even as an adult, I love a bowl of kids cereal for breakfast, and sometimes even for dinner. Great snack food!

18. I read a lot, and I read fast

19. When I was in middle school, I read the Bible from beginning to end, simply because I had nothing else to read at the time.

20. I read 132 books last year.

Art has gotten in the way of my art

I’m not writing.

I’m drawing.

I’ve recently become enamored and obsessed with Art Journaling. All over the internet are journals with text and artwork combined into something awesome. Check out the 1000 Journals Project to see some samples of 1000 journals that were sent out into the world. I have no intention of doing such a thing with my own journal, but I am looking at different ways to express myself. And I’ve been making Zentangles. I don’t know how to describe them, other than saying "artful doodles". Way cool looking, and makes me feel like I’m an artist. LOL

I’ve also been on the Absolute Write forum. That forum is so huge, that I don’t post often, but there is so much information to absorb. I’m trying out a few of the writing exercises I’ve read about on the forum. More about that another time.

I didn’t mean to ignore this blog, and I will try to be more diligent in the future.

lack of discipline

I’m suffering from a lack of discipline. I’ve learned the hard way that December is not a good month conducive to heavy or consistent writing output. I’ve not even gotten past 4K this month. Sad, oh so sad.

I admit the holidays was a huge distraction. So much so, that I left off in the middle of a scene, and now I have no idea where I was heading. No matter. Hopefully it will come back to me at some point.

I’ve come to the realization that when I am taking on a new endeavor–be it a hobby, or a new interest that sparks my attention, I immerse myself. My latest "thing" is journaling. I’ve tried several times over the years to keep a journal–either on paper or on the computer. They never seem to last for long, and they always turn into some sappy "he loves, me, he loves me not" type of entries. And I’m at a place where I am facing my mortality, and have the need to leave something behind to my children.
Add to that I’ve been back on the fountain pen kick. With my new Lamy Safari, I am really enjoying writing. To that end, I’ve taken on some new pen pals, and hope to reconnect with some old pen pals.

I expect this will impact my writing, but in a good way. Getting used to documenting my surroundings, journaling feelings, thoughts, and impressions can only help with the writing of fiction.

Looking forward to 2010.

Christmas

This is the first year that I’m really feeling the true meaning of Christmas. I’m excited about the gifts I’m giving. And even though there is still a bit of selfishness [and I bought some stuff for me], I’m pleased with the gifts I was able to purchase.

And now Im broke.

pen & ink

I have fallen in love with my fountain pens once again. I finally got a Lamy Vista fine, and I love it. I’ve been looking all over the Internet for a lime green Lamy to no avail. Guess I missed the boat on that one. Next will be the limited edition pink and orange.

Still working on Nano novel, and I’m writing longhand. it’s been great!! It’s been a long time since I’ve written longhand, and it is working well for my writing.

Today I received Noodler’s Lexington Gray. I immediately filled my Jinhao pen and went to work. The flow is smooth, and I neverthoight I would care for gray ink, but I really like it. I also got some invisible ink, and I can’t wait to playwith that

Preparing for 2010

I’m not good at resolutions. The quickest way for me to fail is to set something in stone as a "new years resolution". Still, I do want to have plans for 2010. To that end, I’ve signed up on 43things.com, and even though they are listed as resolutions, there are things I will accomplish in 2010.

One of my things is to Finish What I Start. I’m a great starter, but my track record on finishing is pretty much nonexistent. I am determined to have at least 1 finished novel by June. Even though the past week has been really bad, I’m still working on the #novelpi. I’m still handwriting and enjoying it immensely. I figure I will start typing in as I finish each chapter–which will invariably increase the wordcount. I’m confident that 2010 will be a year full of writing.

Another project that I’m taking on for 2010 is the 365 Project. Another one of my "things" is to take more pictures, so Project 365 is just a natural. I’ve already started carrying my digital camera with me (with freshly charged batteries), and I also have my very lovely iPhone camera. It sounds so simple, and maybe for a photographer it is, but taking a picture (a good picture) every day seems only slightly daunting. I love the idea of documenting my year in pictures–whether those pictures will mean anything to anyone besides myself remains to be seen. No matter. The goal is to take more pictures, and that is what I’ll do. In fact, I plan to start earlier than January 1st, and hopefully will have some shots to post this week.

I’ve been chasing another addiction the past couple of days. I bought a moleskine-clone at Barnes & Noble the other day. And that leads me to another "thing" or goal: creating a daily journal habit. I’ve tried this one before, and it just never quite catches on with me. Or maybe I simply didn’t put enough into it. I have been trolling pages and pages of websites devoted to Moleskines, and yeah, I want one of those. I want to end the year (or end the journal, whichever comes first), and have bunch of pages of my thoughts, ideas, doodles, reminders. A written version of Project 365 so to speak.

I feel it in my heart that 2010 will be a good year. I plan to make it so.

FINALLY

Some progress.

156 words today, and I’m on a roll. I can see how this scene is going to end, and Serena will have more questions than answers. And that’s a good thing!

checking in

Well, the past few days have been…interesting to say the least. The Novel Push Initiative has taken a back seat to real life, culminating in an emergency visit to the doctor yesterday with extra added EKG, blood tests, and upcoming stress test. Then to top it off, last night I was stranded for a little while with a really flat tire. I’m feeling fine now, but

Here is my tally:

12/11 – 96 words

12/12 – 166 words

12-13 – 34 words

Ok, so not an impressive tally, BUT I did write every day this weekend. Yesterday, I’m claiming “doctor’s orders”. As much as I wanted to, I could not mentally put two words together. Instead, I burned some time playing on Facebook. I’m back at work today, and trying to take it easy.

I’m a little stuck. I want to go back and revise, and am trying hard not to. For the past week or so I’ve been writing longhand. I figure when I reach the end of the chapter, I’ll type it all in…I’m expecting the type-in will add many additional words, and I’ll be back on track. I think I was overly optimistic with being finished by New Year’s. I don’t want to get fixated on a deadline, but on the other hand, I need to develop that discipline to produce consistently and quickly. I wanna be s. L. Viehl when I grow up. She knocks out multiple books per year, every year. Not only does she produce book after book after book, she is multi-published in multiple genres.

I remember reading years ago, that it was frowned upon to work in more than one genre. Now, I’m getting the impression that not only is it more acceptable, it is even encouraged. I think the same thing is happening in the entertainment industry. Hip hop artists are now actors, singers, entrepreneurs, they are all diversifying according to market demand. Smart business practice if you ask me. I dream of being published in multiple genres, but it won’t happen unless I develop the proper tools NOW. That said, I’m going back to work. J

stock photos

I visit a lot of author blogs. And I see that they post pics that they’ve found on the internet. Not just celebrities, but some models and/or regular folk as well. These photos often serve as inspiration for their characters. My question is this….where do you find such photos? Usually the ones I find look like Microsoft Generic Clipart. I did find one picture of my MC, but that was from a makeup ad. I’m starting to think she is too pretty, so I may see how I can alter her look with Gimp or Photoshop.

So if anyone is actually reading this…any website suggestions?