| |
| I woke up yesterday morning, with the sudden realization that Nano is upon us! that's right, countdown 9 days til Nano! I've spent ALL day yesterday working on my office; cleaning off and dusting the desk (probably hadn't been done since last year's Nano, heh), taking out the recycled bin (to make room for more shredded paper to come), vacuuming, etc. I printed out my "Nano Preparation" from last October, but haven't had the nerve to look at it yet; it's 3 pages long! heh. I'm going to do the obvoius things, before I tackle The List. I just got up and running on the Nano site, posted in Forums under NC region to get a Greensboro kickoff and weekly meet going, and in the paranormal romance forum, of course, and got the 2009 icon to put on my Allie McCormack website, and got that page updated as well (current hit counts 11,132, LJ count 364). Oh! and I have to check my iTunes and make sure my "Writing Music" playlist is set up right. I'm going to first work on finishing the 2 manuscripts I have *very* close to finished.. "Wishes in a Bottle" and "A Cat For Troy." It seems the publishers I have aimed at (Berkley, Lovespell) have lowered their word count requirements, and so I'm much closer to completion, word count wise, than I had thought. So the next (glancing at calendar again) 9 days, will be spent re-reading these 2 manuscripts, so I can plunge right into writing at midnight on the 1st of November. When I get those 2 finished... nowhere *near* 50,000 words... I'll be starting on a completely different book, "Into the Storm" which is not part of the "Wishes & Dreams" series, nor is it paranormal. This, like "Dancer," is a "book of my heart" that I have a need to get written. - Tags:nano
- Mood:excited
 - Music:"I Will Always Love You"
| |
|
|
Really for me it's the carols and Christmas music, including Handel's Messiah (yes, I'm a pagan. Never mind, it was *our* holiday first! heheheh). I'm very responsive to music, it can send me soaring or dump me in the deepest chasm. Generally speaking, Christmas music tends to make me feel HAPPY, plus I get to sing along to it... music for me is also a participatory sport, whether dancing or singing along, LOL! My iTunes has 598 Christmas songs (not counting the Messiah by various artists), and I start playing them the day before Thanksgiving, and making new CDs for this season, and transferring last year's Christmas CDs out to the car to listen to while driving I also like the outside lights... I rarely have the energy to decorate my home (even the inside, aside from the tree itself and a few items here and there), but I adoooooooore the lights. I got really lucky, the folks that bought the house across the street this summer have kids, and they've really gone to town with the outdoor lights, trees, icicle lights, etc. I've been thrilled to death, I can sit in my recliner and look out my living room window and see their lights, or from my library upstairs, and then I don't feel so bad that I don't have my own up! maybe I'll make some cookies and take them over.... | |
|
|
Are you kidding? I get to still watch them all, on Netflix! Currently I'm watching my way through Dark Shadows and Hogan's Heroes, but also MASH, Bewitched, Gilligan's Island, the Flying Nun, Columbo, Hawaii Five-O, My Favorite Martian, Dark Angel, Fantasy Island, Dead Like Me, F Troop, and hey, they just came out with Here Come the Brides! | |
|
| There's a new site... National Novel Finishing Month. The subtitle reads: "One writer. One unfinished novel. On December 1, the battle begins."
I am absolutely rolling in the aisles laughing. ohmigod that is just precious! Naturally, I signed right up <grin> Actually, I think I'm switching novels for this... my previous WIP, "Wishes in a Bottle" is up to like 73,500 words, so if I work at transitioning in all the out of order scenes and smoothing out the whole, it should come right out about 80,000 or over, which is what I need to submit it to a publisher. Since this book is in the same "Wishes and Dreams" series (in fact, it's the first book in the series; the second book is already finished) as "A Cat For Troy," it's not such a leap as you might think, as the characters carry over between the novels. "Wishes in a Bottle" Word Count: 74,500 / 90,000 words (298 pages). 82.8% done! "A Cat For Troy" Word Count: 61,000 / 90,000 words (244 pages). 67.8% done! - Tags:nano
- Mood:jubilant
| |
|
| This morning, I'm like gaaaaaahhhhhhhh! I did actually get to bed about 1:30, but of course I didn't get to sleep until after 4, between the adrenaline high of having finished, all the caffeine and sugar it took to get me to the finish line, my back pain being exacerbated by the cold wet weather, and the cats in the living room playing with the beaded curtain <sigh> So this morning is not a very happy time, LOL. I've spent the last three quarters of an hour sitting here admiring my word count <laugh>
However, a little bit ago, motivated by a NaNo post asking about the quality, I started reading over what I'd written in the last 10 days, and mine is actually in terrific shape! Not counting the fact that I have chapters and scenes all over the board in regards to the plot line/time line; I wrote whatever scene or character I could get to "speak" to me, on the basis that the idea of NaNo was to Just Write. But the writing itself is great, pretty much final draft quality, once I get the scenes lined up and transitioned in. Thanks to NaNo, I now have only about 100 pages to go (plus or minus a dozen or so) to be submission length to a publisher!!!! yesssssssssssss! - Tags:nano
- Mood:jubilant
| |
|
|  I did it! I did it! Right down to the wire, too! Half an hour before the deadline, I had about 52,000, and then the NaNo counter even gave me a few thousand more! I'm going to leave it that way on the NaNo site, tho, 'cause I like their word count better than mine, which is what you see here {{{laughing}}}
"A Cat For Troy" NaNo: 52,500 / 50,000 words. 100.5% done! | |
|
| I wrote this actually in response to a forum post asking how to survive the Christmas/holidays when you're alone, and reading it over, I thought it bore repeating:
Go to the mall! Yes, yes, I know everyone likes to bitch bitch bitch about the commmercialization of Christmas, but if you want to see Christmas SPIRIT, the mall's the place. They have carols playing, people dressed in festive outfits, smiling at each other, children excited about the holidays, sometimes they may have live choirs or musicians or even strolling carolers! See someone looking frenzied? Give them a compliment "Oh my gosh, what beautiful earrings" or "That's a terrific sweater, is it alpaca?" (yes, I'm an alpaca wool fanatic, LOL). Pick the most harrassed looking cashier, make eye contact and give her a big smile and ask how she's doing... and then tell her she's doing a great job. If you're really enjoying the holiday spirit, you can make others feel it too, even if just for a couple of minutes. And maybe she'll feel better enough to smile at the next customer, who will smile back, and maybe you'll have changed her whole day around!
I recently heard someone say, I can't remember who or where, something like, "When I shine to others, I get to see my light reflected back at me." I think that's what the holiday spirit is really all about. Luscious Cat | |
|
| "A Cat For Troy" NaNo: 27,750 / 50,000 words. 55.5% done! "A Cat For Troy" Total Manuscript: 38,250 / 90,000 words (153 pages). 42.5% done! | |
|
| "A Cat For Troy" NaNo: 20,500 / 50,000 words. 41% done! "A Cat For Troy" Total Manuscript: 31,000 / 90,000 words (124 pages). 34.4% done! | |
|
| I may have stumbled at the starting gate, but I'm moving up fast as we make the turn into the home stretch! ! In the four days since I've started this, I've written 77 pages! yes, I know I need to be at 80 pages to be on track, but what's 3 pages between friends? {{{laugh}}}. Actually my mom invited me to dinner last night and I spent the evening with her, it's been the first time we've really sat down for a visit just the 2 of us since Christina (my daughter) left for California back in August. She's thrilled that I'm back to writing again, too. It's nice when your family is supportive, I know too many writers whose families are not supportive, to not appreciate Mom's attitude. The story line is coming along terrifically, my characters are cooperating, and the Muse is riding me without driving me into my grave (always a good thing!) and the ideas just flow in as I need them for whatever scene I'm working on. 123 pages left to go... in 6 days... I can DO it!!!!
I am just ROCKIN'!!! - Tags:nano
- Mood:indescribable
 - Music:Theme from "Braveheart" Enya
| |
|
| "A Cat For Troy" NaNo: 19,250 / 50,000 words. 38.5% done! "A Cat For Troy" Total Manuscript: 29,750 / 90,000 words (119 pages). 33% done! | |
|
| "A Cat For Troy" NaNo: 13,500 / 50,000 words. 27% done! "A Cat For Troy" Total Manuscript: 24,000 / 90,000 words (96 pages). 26.7% done! | |
|
| "A Cat For Troy" NaNo: 11,500 / 50,000 words. 23% done! "A Cat For Troy" Total Manuscript: 22,500 / 90,000 words (90 pages). 25% done! | |
|
| "A Cat For Troy" NaNo: 9,500 / 50,000 words. 19% done! "A Cat For Troy" Total Manuscript: 20,000 / 90,000 words (80 pages). 22.2% done! | |
|
| As some of you may know, whether from reading my earlier journal entries or you're a writer yourself, November is National Novel Writing Month. I was signed up for NaNo and moving into high gear when, on October 30th Rascal, my Maine Coon friend and companion for 14 years, had a stroke and died. {{{insert sound of screeching brakes}}} So after my epiphany on Tuesday afternoon, which put me back to thinking about writing, yesterday I thought okay, I'm really going to sit down and start writing. I went back onto Nano and and Romance Divas and made a couple of introductory posts for additional motivation, and settled down for the evening to write. Which I did... from, oh, like 7 p.m. until 3 a.m. Hey, it's what I do ;) So this morning I woke up, and re-read a post I'd made: "I don't expect of course to win in the 11 days remaining" ...for those of you not in the know, NaNo is a month-long writing challenge, to write a novel of 50,000 words (or 50,000 words of a novel) in the 30 days of November. You "win" NaNo, by meeting the 50,000 word goal. No, there are no "judges" or officials looking over your shoulder to make sure you really wrote those words in the 30 days (after all, if you have to lie to yourself to win, you've got more problems than not really meeting the goal, right?). Anyway, last night I did the math, and to write 50,000 words in 10 days would require writing 5,000 words (20 pages) a day. ACK!!! I only do that on the best of best days, when The Muse is with me and life is good. I can usually crank out 10 a day if I really really put my mind to it. So, back to waking up this morning. Suddenly I thought... well... WHY NOT? I only work 20 hours a week (four 5-hour days). If I really concentrate, I could be done with my work by noon and have all the rest of the day to write. Plus, I was just told yesterday by my supervisor that the cancer clinics are closed the entire Thanksgiving weekend; there may be some reports hanging around to be done on Thursday morning, but there won't be more till sometime on Monday. And in addition to that... well, hell's bells! Why not? What's a challenge if it's not worth fighting to get there, right? So, I'M GOING TO DO IT! That's right! I'M OFFICIALLY DECLARING MY GOAL OF WRITING 50,000 WORDS BY THE END OF NOVEMBER!
I'M OFFICIALLY DECLARING MY GOAL OF WINNING NANO 2008! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee! Let the E-Ride begin! Any and all messages of support and encouragement are welcomed (please! encourage me!). No, reading them will NOT distract me from my writing (but responses may of necessity be brief, LOL). And now... on to my dictations of last night, let's see what kind of word count that yields me as a starting point :) - Tags:nano
- Mood:excited
- Music:"Let Me Be Your Wings" Thumbelina
| |
|
| ohmigosh, I so do NOT believe it! I made a final choice of a novel to work on for this year's NaNo ( http://nanowrimo.org) project, "A Cat for Troy." I've had the idea for some time, and I wrote the opening chapter 2 years ago, but that's it... so I thought!!! I pulled up the file just a few minutes ago to start printing out the character descriptions and interviews and the few pages I thought I had written... and found FIVE CHAPTERS!!!!! I'm reading them now, and I swear I don't know where they came from! I swear I don't remember writing them, or even thinking them, but here they are! And what's more (as in all the cases where I've discovered unremembered writings), they are very, VERY GOOD!!!!!! I'm absolutely thrilled to death! wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!! - Tags:nano
- Mood:jubilant
- Music:"I Am Woman Hear Me Roar" Helen Reddy
| |
|
| NO, not that kind of progress! That's illegal :P I'm making progress in preparing for NaNo! hehehe. I've got my Allie McCormack website pretty much like I want it, although I may tweak it some more in the next few days. I've turned on my allie.mccormack ID on Yahoo and updated the new profile, and cleared out my old Messenger list. I've found the Triad forum in NaNo and added the NaNo get-together dates to my calendar, and I set aside enough $ to get a Honeybaked Ham on Friday evening, 10/31... although there's a Kick-Off party here in Greensboro on Saturday afternoon, so maybe I'll pick it up after that; that way I won't be tempted on Friday night to get into the ham, ROFL! I adoooooooo Honey-Baked! I have a checklist for preparations printed out, it's huuuge, it's a good thing I woke up NOW to realize NaNo was coming, and not 10 days from now, or I'd be too exhausted to write after getting all this done, LOL. The checklist includes menu possibilities... and NOT a turkey this time, thank you very much! I'd forgotten about that l-tryptophan or whatever turkey has in it that makes you sleeeeeeeepy after eating it (did you think all these years, it was because you ate too much at Thanksgiving dinner???). Spaghetti does it too. Hmmm, I have to stop procrastinating and get some beef jerky made, for quick protein. Last time I had Swiss Colony sausages and cheeses, but that's a little much <grin> - Tags:nano
- Mood:chipper
- Music:"I Feel The Earth Move Under My Feet" Helen Reddy (?)
| |
|
| That's right, I haven't written a word for almost 2 years! I've just had so much going on, including buying a home here in N. Carolina and having several bouts of bronchitis, and suddenly acquiring a Social Life here (I'd never had one before, from moving so much, I never stayed in one place long enough!), that writing has just gone by the wayside. So I woke up this morning, and got the email from Chris Baty about NaNo, and I thought, you know, It's TIME! So over the next few days I'll be re-vamping my website, and my Nano profile et al., and picking a story to write; so far I have 4 identified to choose from, ack!!! LOL! - Tags:nano
- Mood:awake
 - Music:"My Heart Will Go On" Celine Dion
| |
|
| I don't even remember if I set any official goals for 2006, but if I did, it was probably to finish the current WIP "Wishes in a Bottle," which I haven't done (lacking about 40 pages). In fact, I've only written sporadically all year long, I haven't done any networking or been active in various writing groups, and only barely managing to "hang in there" with my crit group. In fact, I always am amazed that they put up with me.
This year I'm going to be less distracted and more determined. I want to finish the current WIP and the next one as well (whichever of the 2 that I've already started, that I pick when I am finished with the current one).
In 2006 I did discover the joys of dictating and transcribing my scenes, which worked incredibly well for me.I just can't imagine why I haven't availed myself more of that, and when I look back, all I see is a year of lost opportunities. I think last year I was distracted by something else that was going on in my life. I am going to put that aside right now, and make writing my FIRST priority, and everything else second. In fact, I'm going to start NOW!
Just as soon as I finish this book I'm reading ;)
- Mood:disappointed
 - Music:"Auld Lang Syne" by Marc Anthony
| |
|
| Yes, I missed a couple of days writing. But then on Wednesday I went to my Landmark seminar and got all motivated again! This morning I woke up rarin' to go, I sat down and pounded out 5 pages. Unfortunately, then had to spend the rest of the day (my day off) doing the week's shopping and various chores, but I got another page done tonight before bed, and the scene is still vivid in my mind to be worked on tomorrow as soon as I get up :) Forward, ho! | |
|
| |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
alliemccormack's journal
