Life in progress

Tag Archives: Nanowrimo


by 33 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – A Cool Million

Only 51 more words to go to hit a cool million. Will I make it?

Photo: National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) site screenshot of my profile, where it shows how many words I’ve written since I signed up in 2004. (They made a major change to the site in 2010, so it says I’ve only been there since then, but they lie!) My word count so far is 999,949.

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

The Magician’s Curse (2.99) on Amazon US and everywhere else (Amazon worldwide, Kobo, etc.)
The Magician’s Blood (3.99) on Amazon US and everywhere else
The Magician’s Soul (3.99) on Amazon US and everywhere else
“The Great Dagmaru” Complete Series (6.99) on Amazon US and everywhere else
The Magician’s Sire (free with sign-up) here.


by 43 Comments

#NaNoWinner2018 – I did it!

It was a tough race to the finish. I was behind by 13K words coming out of the weekend, but I was fiercely determined to finish my novel by November 30th. I had a week to write 21,461 words.

So I devised a method. In a ten-minute sprint I can write 300 words. If I could just do two of those an hour for the seven hours Alex was at school, getting to 50K by the end of the month would be a piece of cake.

And guess who’s going to the store to buy cake? (And all the groceries I’ve been running out of all week.) ME!!

About an hour ago I finished my sixth novel!!

 


by 21 Comments

#SoCS – Meanwhile …

I’m hiding out in the kitchen while Alex is on the computer in the living room. I’m not a mean mom, but he does like to keep me busy doing things when I’d rather be doing other things.

He likes to keep busy. I keep stressing to him that it’s okay to be lazy once in a while (because that’s when I get work of my own done), but I keep being undermined by one of his teachers (don’t know which one, or maybe it’s all of them) who keep telling him being lazy is a bad thing. Problem with Alex is it’s all or nothing. He doesn’t understand nuance and perspective.

Take the Grinch, for instance. Alex is convinced that he’s a mean one, full stop. So we probably won’t be going to that movie. He wants to see “The Nutcracker” today. And he wants to go to the mall, not only to buy birthday presents for his brother, but to spend his own birthday money too.

Meanwhile, Mom’s got a novel to write.

I was caught up on my NaNoWriMo word count as of yesterday, so that’s a bit of a relief.

Finishing up the first draft of Book 3 of “The Great Dagmaru” is proving to be tough. Not because I don’t know what to do with it, but because it’s so angsty. It’s going to be a tearjerker right to the end.

So when I went to start my NaNo project, I rebelled. It’s a romantic comedy. I had to get myself out of the mindset of dark.

I sincerely wish I could decide on a subgenre and stick with it. I may have to publish one under a pseudonym in order to keep my “brand” intact.

Having a brand and being a human being at the same time is difficult.

How boring would I be if I was only dark or light?

Yin and yang would be waaaay out of balance.

Not good for the psyche.

Well that went totally off the rails, didn’t it? Time for the mall…

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

This post which was meant to be about something else entirely is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link to see all the other posts (in the comments) and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2018/11/09/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-10-18/


by 51 Comments

#SoCS – Novel Ideas

I often have ideas for novels but are any of them really novel ideas? They say there are only seven plots in the world. Just like there are only seven notes (not including sharps/flats) and yet look how many variations there are to play them.

I’ve always wanted to be able to play an instrument. I love music. I love listening to people play who I can hear are really feeling the music. But I have no talent of my own. I started with the recorder in elementary school (drove my parents crazy) then I graduated to the clarinet (drove them even crazier) and at one point I even played the oboe. I drove everyone crazy with that – they took me off it after three days.

I inherited my dad’s two guitars – a 12-string Yamaha acoustic, and a 6-string Guild electric/acoustic jazz guitar. The latter is worth some money, but I’d rather play it than sell it. Except I can’t. As many times as I’ve tried to learn, I can’t.  Ah well.

My NaNo project isn’t going very well. I’m having a hard time getting into it, and I think it’s because of what I’m reading right now. I need to be reading a novel that is in tune with what I’m trying to write. So if I’m writing something that is along the purely story-telling line, I need to read something like Stephen King, who is a master of storytelling. Right now I’m attempting literary fiction. It’s a huge leap for me, but I’m trying to get out of my comfort zone a little. I need to read literary fiction, to get the feel of it. Instead, I’m reading two other fantastic books, Eating Bull by Carrie Rubin and Eve of Darkness by S.J. Day. (You can find links to them both in my Goodreads widget on the right side of the screen. Below my twitter feed.) I don’t want to put either of them down but… NaNo is only 30 days long – and I’m soooo behind in my word count. I’m up to 4,300 words – by the end of tomorrow I’m supposed to hit 10K. Not going to happen with Alex at home. I need some fire under my butt. Or I need to rethink my novel. I suppose it’s not too late. What’s another 4,300 words, after all?

Or hey, maybe I just need some background music. Maestro! Where the hell are you, Maestro?

socsbadge2016-17

This musical rant was brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link and see how you can join in: https://lindaghill.com/2016/11/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-516/


by 18 Comments

#SoCS – In Desperation

Last night I had a dream–scratch that, a nightmare–that Donald Trump was my doctor.
Highlights:
-where did you buy your license to practice?
-no, I don’t need a pelvic exam today, thanks
-the question I had but didn’t want to ask: if you become president, won’t you have to move to the U.S. and give up your practice?
After the appointment he walked me out to my car and planted a kiss on my lips to say goodbye. Needless to say, this one’s going to haunt me for a while.
Bleh.

I’ve been battling a headache all day. The above quote is copied and pasted from my personal Facebook page – and yes, it’s a true story. I’m blaming the headache on that. Or the weather or something.

In desperation to find an excuse: okay, it’s not really desperation. But I’ve been contemplating all the stress in my life and all I have to do (read: all the things I’ve put upon myself) and much of it, I think, is due to desperation.

I haven’t had an income, other than my paper route and I’m not even doing that anymore, in the last sixteen years. Desperate as I am for a career, I’m taking editing courses. Hoping to get some freelance jobs, though maybe not until the new year. I’m desperately trying to finish the editing on my other novel, so I can get that published. I’m desperate for the sanity to be able to do all these things… so I’m planning to do NaNoWriMo this year. Yes, just what I need – to force myself to write 1,667 words a day for a month.

Writing it out, I can see much of my desperation is due to money, or lack thereof. But not necessarily just now. I need to secure my future. If my kids ever decide to move out and I lose the money I receive from the government to look after them, with their disabilities, I’ll have nothing at this rate.

I really didn’t want to make this a rant, nor a pity party. Maybe I should have asked ol’ Donnie for some money to keep quiet about our doctor/patient relationship when I had the chance.

socsbadge2016-17

This super scary nightmare post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the following link to see how you, too, can join in the fun! https://lindaghill.com/2016/10/28/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-2916/


by 30 Comments

Let’s go camping! (and #tuesdayuseitinasentence)

Before I get started on my post, I just want to mention how awesome MLW is with her Tuesday Use It In A Sentence prompts. This week, the word is “quest.” Click the link and check out the rules so you can join in too! https://stephaniecolpron.wordpress.com/2016/06/21/tuesdayuseitinasentence-quest/

Okay, so, camp. I’m not talking about the traditional back-destroying, sleeping-in-a-sleeping-bag, sit-around-a-campfire-and-roast-marshmallows-and-drink-an-entire-bottle-of-Jack-Daniels-whilst-looking-up-at-the-stars-and-contemplating-the-universe-type camping. The days of being able to walk the day after sleeping on the ground are long gone for me. I’m talking about Camp NaNo! What is Camp NaNo, you ask? Well let me tell you.

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is in November. During that time, the goal is to write at least 50,000 words, no excuses. Write 49,999 and you lose. But the people who bring us NaNoWriMo also host two “camps” every year. They are in April and July. During the camps you set your own goal. Anywhere from 30 words to 1,000,000 – it’s up to you. Campers are assigned to cabins, and each member of the cabin encourages the others. There can be challenges, there are forums full of experts to help with research, and chats over coffee… it’s fun!

Since I’m on a quest to finish the sequel of my epic novel, I’ve decided to join Camp NaNo in July. I actually started my sequel at the camp in April of 2014, when I managed to write about 30,000 words.

So, who’s with me? Anyone out there already signed up? Have a cabin for me to join? I’m thinking I may start my own, otherwise. Here’s the link: https://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in

Let’s sit around the campfire and roast marshmallows and drink an entire bottle of Jack Daniels whilst looking up at the stars and contemplate writing, without the stiff and aching muscles, together!


by 44 Comments

Nano Poblano Day 12: NaNoWhatever

I’m starting to think writing a novel would have been easier than this NaBloPoMo thing. Writing a post every day, especially when I’m being forced into it, is HARD! Writing a novel when I’m being forced into it, on the other hand, is a piece of cake as long as life doesn’t come along and bite me in the arse like it did during NaNo ’11.

Yep, NaNo ’11 was a doozy. I was going along strong and then suddenly everyone got sick. Alex, my youngest, was in the hospital in Kingston, which was miles away and so I figured I’d sleep there, save the drive home. Only I got woken up at two in the morning to find out my eldest, Fred, was puking up blood. What do you do?

I rushed home as soon as I’d talked to Alex’s doctor the next day–which was almost dinner time–and I don’t even remember what happened after that, ‘coz I got sick. At least I knew Alex was taken care of.

The manuscript that came out of that there NaNo ’11 took me another year to complete, as it turned out. Today I printed out all 627 pages of it–again–so I can give it what I hope is a second-last once-over before it goes out to my beta readers. That should take, oh, a week or so if all goes well.

And no one gets sick.

This post was brought to you by Mr. Mark:

image98

and NaBloPoMo

NaBloPoMo_1114_465x287_blogroll


by 8 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – NaNo?

Answer to the question, “What am I going to do in November?”:
“Well, you could grow a moustache, but writing a book might be easier.”

Thanks, John.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Anyone who would like to try it out, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday, if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are as follows:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Make it either funny or inspirational.

Have fun!


by 28 Comments

Finished!

I just finished NaNoWriMo! 😀

For the record the novel did, indeed, end with a bang. Did everyone die? You’ll have to read it to find out.

*cue evil laughter*

Okay, time for a happy dance!

2013-Winner-Facebook-Cover


by 47 Comments

Na – Nooooooo!

Is it a good sign that I want to blow up everyone in my NaNoWriMo novel? I’m thinking a nice gas explosion would come in handy right about now. Unfortunately that would mean killing off the narrator. I doubt that would go over well in most literary circles.

I think the most creative way I’ve written for anyone to die has to be my story of the unluckiest man alive:

http://neverendingstorydepository.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/unluckiest-man-alive-dies/

What’s yours?