Weekly Preview and Review

Saturday - Book Club
Sunday - Visit a church, Write, Movie/Dinner with friends
Monday - WORK 4 hrs, Lessons, Write-in
Tuesday - WORK 4, Lessons, Write
Wednesday - Kickboxing, WORK 4, Lessons, Write
Thursday - WORK 4, Lessons, Write
Friday - WORK 4, Write-in, Co-op
Saturday - Scrapbooking Day
Sunday - Visit a church? Write

Visited our 4th church today. Kids went back tonight for youth group.

Writing is going ok, but this is one novel that will likely never see the light of day. Experimenting with a lot of new things like writing in 1st person.

The weather sure was nice, though I didn't enjoy the outdoors much.

Trying to imagine how to add exercising back into my routine. Afraid of re-injuring my ankle.

Going to an all day scrapbook fundraiser. Need to go through pix and decide what to scrap on Saturday. And then order my photos. Anyone want to join me?

Bob got a great deal on a non-working laptop and David has brought it back to life. So he now has a laptop of his own. He is GEEKED!!!

Had a wonderful time at book club last night. Discussed Gone with the Wind and watched the second part. Then we watched Went with the Wind from the Carol Burnett Show. OH so funny. Look it up on youtube.

David earned his second year varsity soccer pin this fall and received it at the awards banquet on Friday night. A REALLY long program (including a sermon!?) also included a dessert buffet and presentations to the 3 girls volleyball teams and the varsity boys soccer team. Now he wants a varsity jacket.

Suzy and James went to a field trip this week at Petco, a large pet store. They saw all kinds of interesting pets, as well as lots of pee and poop. LOL My friend Donna took them so I could work.

Snippets

Little bits of what's been happening.

Bob found Em's other pair of glasses in the van. Guess HE gets the reward!

I have developed a new "appreciation" for Hugh Jackman. This is mostly due to watching the X-men movies, which I had never seen before and exacerbated by watching Someone Like You over the weekend. (I ordered it on ebay.) Yeah, I know. I say "appreciation" - you probably say "obsession." LOL I plan to go see Australia now, even though I really don't like Nicole Kidman. Yes, it's still showing at one theater near me.

I really don't like the cold and spend my time huddling in layers of clothes and blankets, avoiding going outside. And it is definitely COLD. The kids don't mind though. As I look at them right now, 2 are wearing short sleeves, one is barefoot. I've bribed them to wear their slippers. Yesterday they did play outside, but I don't think I'll allow it today.

I went to a library sale the other night and got a few cool things - books, of course, and some VHS movies. Those are cheap now! LOL We still have a VCR so this is a good thing.

I have been writing - am up to almost 9000 words to add to my 2007 NaNoNovel. My goal is 2000 words every day, including Saturdays. So far this week, I've done it.

I have TONS of books to read, but I am not getting much reading time. I have only finished one book so far this month, but it was really good. A Christian Regency romance called The Falcon and the Sparrow.

Bob got the heating ductwork put in so the girls now have heat in their bedroom. Yes, we've lived here fifteen years and he's just now getting it done. lol He is also working on patching the hole in the living room ceiling (and the boys' floor) where there used to be a register for hot air to rise from the oil furnace that used to be in our living room when we moved in. There was no central heating in our house when we bought it.

We are considering new auto insurance companies. Bob's not happy with the cost of our policy.

I've been exercising 3 days a week and counting calories. It's only been 2 weeks, so I guess it's early yet.

Bob subbed in Sunday School for me last Sunday while I was scrapbooking and one of the students told me later that he did a good job! No, not one of my own kids! lol

I'm still basking in the afterglow of scrapbooking. What a wonderful weekend it was!

Ok, back to reality. The kids are watching a History Channel documentary on the Dark Ages on DVD. I got it from the library with interlibrary loan.

NaNoWriMo Badges - The Rest

I just realized I never posted the rest of my badges here. So, here they are....
The CREATIVE NON-FICTION badge is earned for putting barely-recognized real people into your novel or for plundering real-life events or overheard dialogue. No worries, I didn't do the first. What I DID do was have one of my characters basically give the history of the Gold Rush as dialogue. I think that counts, don't you?




The EUREKA MOMENT badge is for the "a-ha" moment when your story comes together. Yes, I did have that moment when my characters really seemed to be MINE.




The CAFFEINE ABUSE badge - sorta self-explanatory, isn't it? I now have to wean myself from the enormous amounts of caffeine.





This is the WORD-COUNT PADDING badge. But I didn't take part in any padding tricks like quoting songs or a triple-named character or one who stutters. lol So, I am awarding this one to myself for reaching 75,000 words. I think that counts as padding my 50K word count, don't you?



There is only one badge I didn't earn. It's the RANDOM ENDING badge. I just couldn't see having aliens come and steal Susannah away from Daniel. If anyone out there actually DID this, I will mail you my badge!

Right now I have the nine badges I earned stuck to my computer desk with funtak. Now that NaNo is over, I will figure out what to do with them permanently.

75,025 WORDS

75,025 words!

I have FINISHED my novel.

Well, it needs editing. It needs polishing. It needs research. Hey, it even needs a title!

But the story is there. It is done!

I feel like Frodo on Mount Doom. "It's over! It's done."

Writing update

I have been stuck on a plot point and have been trying some things to get a fresh perspective. Tuesday I wrote some character sketches, including details that I'll be able to sprinkle through the novel.

Then yesterday I wrote several first-person sections that won't be in the novel as is, but are helping me to work through some plot issues and character motivations. I am also getting a clearer picture of the characters by doing that. Wrote 2500 words last night.

Perhaps today or tomorrow I can push through my plot issue.

I am at 55,000 words now - have earned all my rewards except the last one (Janet!). Why didn't I put a few in between 50K and 75K. Apparently I thought it would be EASY at that point??? LOL What was I thinking??

Unpredictable and Predictable

My daybook is up at Cornerstone. Click on over and give it a read.

Went to a meeting tonight and no one else showed up. That's ok - The hostess (Darlene) and I made our OWN fun. So there, all you slackers!

Ok, I'll give you that the weather was a tad unpredictable. I hadn't known about it before leaving my house around 6. But if *I* didn't know it, how did anyone else?

Ah well. I was glad to have gone! Darlene and I always have fun and good conversation.

I hit 50,000 words today! Only 25,000 more to go. Oh my....

Drippy Lazy Saturday

It's 11:30 on Saturday morning and I am still in my pajamas. Comfy cozy robe..... Don't wanna take you off!

Rain is dripping outside and it's COLD! Bob is walking to the post office to get the mail, and I think he took the youngest 3 kids with him. I am amazed they all wanted to go for a walk in the rain!

Chores need to be done. Each child has weekly jobs that need to be done by Saturday if they want pay for them, they also have Saturday jobs that are just part of the routine. Of course, anyone who has kids (and hopefully some of you who do not) realizes that kids don't usually just do their chores - they need to be "encouraged". So, shortly I will need to provide some encouragement.

David is not feeling well today - sore throat mostly.

James got to play at a friend's house Friday afternoon - had a great time! They played cowboys mostly, from the reports I received.

Bob took James to the pet store and they got the replacement newt for the one that died a few weeks back. He has to have it at co-op on Friday for his oral report. As long as it lives until Friday, I'll be glad!

My co-NaNo'ing friend Sarah is hosting a Write-In today, so after lunch, I'm headed over there for a few hours to write, talk, write, talk, snack, you get the picture. Let me see, I believe 7 people I know personally in this area are doing NaNoWriMo this year! YAY! And my good friend Jen in GA is doing it too - and in fact is nearly done, with 49,000 words already! WOW, JEN, you amaze me!

Ok, the post office crew has returned, so it's time to pour on the speed for a couple of hours!

Halfway +2

I have achieved 37,516! That puts me more than halfway to 75,000. I am ahead by two days! Whee!

I spent the day procrastinating really, however. I even was ALONE in the house for 2 hours and barely managed to write 800 words. Today I also sorted through my downstairs bookcases and updated my paperbackswap.com list, culled out a bunch of books that I wanted off there so that all my offers fit on one shelf. Some of them had been posted for 2-1/2 years and hadn't gone. Time to go!

And all this procrastination? EARNED ME A MERIT BADGE!







That's the Procrastination merit badge, which you can earn for cleaning instead of writing - sorting, organizing and culling bookshelves should count, right? (You could also earn it for skipping writing for 3 days in a row or spending more than 30 hours on the NaNoWriMo forums.)

I also earned a merit badge last night - writing all through my Dave Ramsey class. I wrote about 900 words there. (So you can see that my measly 800 today was really really bad..... lol)







That one is the Secret Noveling merit badge, which you earn for (what else) writing when you SHOULD be doing something else!

I have four merit badges! Now.... what can I sew them on to? That should earn me a bit more procrastination which would lead me to earning the Caffeine Abuse badge... hmmm.... Is it too late to make coffee?

33,000, or you can do it too!

Last night I hit 33,000! This pace means I will make 50K by this time next week.

HOWEVER, remember I am aiming for 75K. So, I still have 42,000 to go.

Now, if you were thinking, "I should have done NaNoWriMo this year. It looks like fun!", well, it's not too late! If I can write 42,000 in what's left of the month, I am sure you can write 50K. In fact, I read in No Plot, No Problem, the book by NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty, that there was at least one person who wrote his 50K in 3 days.

So, if you've been wavering or wishing you'd decided to write a novel this November, or if you thought you would but haven't started yet, GO FOR IT!!!!

Auto-summarize

On the NaNoWriMo forums, I found this interesting thread:

What is Auto-summarize?

A great time waster, really. It gives a "summary" of your novel, which is usually not right, but humorous.

On Microsoft Word (I'm not sure if other word processing programs have this, or how to do it on them) go to Tools > Auto-Summarize. Then, select "Create a new document" (bottom left option) and change 25% to something more suitable - 10 sentences, 1%, it doesn't really matter.

Some of them are REALLY hilarious!

here's the 1st one I read that made me laugh:
I knew I was using the word "nodded" too much! Here's my complete auto summarize:

William nodded. William nodded. William nodded. William nodded. William nodded. William nodded. William nodded. William nodded. William nodded. William nodded

then someone else commented: That guy's head is going to fall off.

Here is another silly one:
Konmos growled.
Konmos growled.
Konmos smiled.
Konmos grinned.
"Konmos.
Konmos snorted.
Konmos grunted.
Konmos growled.
Konmos snorted.
Konmos cursed.

Konmos is my MC. He's a minotaur. This is actually a pretty apt description of him.

Here's another:
Trevor asked.
Trevor followed. "Trevor?" "Trevor. Trevor shrugged. “Trevor!” Trevor didn’t answer.
Trevor shouted.
Trevor settled. Trevor asked.

Hmm... from this it seems that Trevor asks a lot of questions but doesn't seem to care what the answers are.

Here is mine:
Overhead, glass chandeliers burned, illuminating the long narrow space.
“Yes, Aunt Augusta.
“Yes, Aunt Augusta.
“Shy, Miss Monroe?
” came Cora's high voice from inside the carriage.
“Shhhh...” Cora looked left and right.

Five Thousand

FIVE THOUSAND WORDS!

Yes, today I did write 5000 words! I am now at 24,426. I am amazed since last year I was nowhere near this until around November 18-19. It does help that JENNIFER is writing too since she has stayed consistently ahead of me in word count from Day 1. LOL It's like a carrot being held in front of me. Not that I'm competitive or anything.

Oh yeah, I earned my 5K-in-a-day badge today. (The official name is The Rally Badge and you can get it for writing 5K in a day or by overcoming a 10K deficit.)

I have written at least 2500 words every day. If I can keep it up, I'll have no trouble making 75K by the end of the month. So we shall see - can I keep it up? Do I have that much story in me?

That's actually my second badge. I earned the first one before I even started. It's the NaNoSocializing badge. There are several ways to earn it, but I earned mine by dragging a friend into NaNoWriMo with me. (waves at Jennifer)

NaNo 14771

I stopped tonight at 14771 - exactly 2500 words more than yesterday! I put two counters in my sidebar. The calendar counter is set for 75000 words (rather than the NaNo 50K). The other counter (just a progress bar) is an official NaNo counter set for 50K. If you will recall, I am aiming for 75K as that is more likely a size to be published.

I couldn't write during the day today - it all happened tonight after 10pm. Actually it was probably more like midnight by the time I actually buckled down and wrote anything.

A few details - this is a Christian romance set in the American West in the late 1800's. The exact year is unimportant, but it is likely 1881 or 82, unless I run into some anachronisms along the way. My heroine is a young woman from the East who is traveling as a companion to a rich older woman. My hero is a witty charming man from a rich family who has made the personal sacrifice to be a circuit rider (aka saddlebag preacher).

The story was giving me fits at first, but I think I'm getting into the groove now. At first I was avoiding writing, but now I find myself wanting to get back to it.

Tomorrow I have no plans other than the normal household things. I am going to try for a 5000 word day tomorrow. I am posting it here so at least I'll have some accountability. If you see me online, ask me if I am writing!

Nano Progress

Whoa, I realized I've been neglecting my readers here. If you are on facebook or gmail, you've been able to stay on top of my word count saga. lol But I should keep this updated as well.

So, I reached 10,000 words this afternoon. Last year, I didn't get to 10K until November 13th! Go me!

I am feeling some frustration with my plot, but I am going to push through and write anyway.

Reaching 10K means I get to order my shirt. Which one do you like?

Official Shirt

Zazzle Shirt

CafePress Shirt

I do need to write about 1100 more words today to stay on track with my goals. Since I want to hit 75,000 by November 30 (instead of 50K like last year), I need to do 2500 words a day. So far so good!

1031

Word Count - 1031

It would have been higher except I started doing some research. I chose my time period, but it is one with which I have only an average knowledge. More later, if I actually decide to stay with it.

NaNoWriMo

Well, it's here! National Novel Writing Month begins!

Stay tuned here for writing updates, but not much else. lol

NaNo Reward Ideas Needed

I need some ideas for NaNoWriMo rewards. I have a few, but I'd like 3 more to fill in the blanks.

What I plan is to have word count goals and something to do or get when I reach them. For example, last year, I ordered the NaNo shirt when I hit 10,000 words.

Any ideas for me??

I ordered the set of 10 merit badges tonight too. I REALLY wanted those last year and I can't wait to get them and sew them on... something. Those aren't tied to word count, though, so I need some other prizes too. They don't have to be big or expensive. Just motivating.

Do I Need More Stress?

I didn't take the promotion at work. There were a lot of factors in my decision, but when it came right down to it, I thought, "Do I need MORE stress in my life?" Of course, I told myself that I did not. Then I asked myself, "Is more stress in my life worth $100 more a month?" And I said, "Self, no. More stress is not worth $100 an month."

So, there you have it.

I told them today.

And then I got the most boring job tonight - the one I HATE. lol

But... HA! I came up with an idea for a new novel while I was bored out of my mind and sketched a rough plot outline. This one is going to be a Christian romance novel and I am going to pitch it to Harlequin's Steeple Hill line of books. There are other lines of Christian romance novels, but I will start with Harlequin.

I am going to write this baby fast fast fast. Maybe I will have my own little NaNoWriMo for March.

By June, I sure would like to NOT be working in the plastics factory. That would be really really great.