Adjusting My Goals

I’m not going to finish NaNoWriMo by tomorrow—my word count is hovering around 40,000. That’s a far cry from 50,000. I’ve had to put the manuscript aside to meet some deadlines, applications and otherwise, and I have a sample due Monday and an outline for a new project due next Friday. Today I am meeting [...]

Middle Muddle

As usual, the middle of my story is bloated up with air and foam. I wave an arm through it, can’t see my own hand. This always happens with me. I think I need to go to a plot workshop. You know, come to think of it, I once did go to a plot workshop, [...]

Sometimes

Sometimes I want to be writing a YA novel, and I move deeply into a scene, sure of what I’m doing, and all is well.
Sometimes I want to be writing simply a novel, a novel I would find on a shelf and read, so then I must be writing literary fiction, and I move deeply [...]

Driving Through the Fog

It was a holiday and I was obliged to take a break from the writing.

Upstate had a heavy fog when we landed at the train station. It enveloped the car, so we could barely see the road ahead. And the roads near my mother’s house—a house barely findable, even with directions—are the tiniest of [...]

Disclaimer

It’s November 19, nighttime, which leaves me a .03% chance of writing anything before bed. I am going away for Thanksgiving on Wednesday. I have 26,526 words. And I just agreed to a project (deadline forthcoming) and to write a sample chapter for something else. (We need money to move.) And I’ve been sleeping late.
I [...]

Behind, But No Matter

I’m somewhat behind. But this morning I think I came to a good stride. I finally got out some words that gave me my high, so as of now, even if I don’t reach 50,000, it doesn’t matter.
Silly confession to follow:
I felt a tad ill on Thursday. I was at work and noticed that my [...]

Internal Dialogue

Admit the following things to yourself, self.
You are not sure if your skill meets up with your vision. The story is better in your head. The pictures in your head, so much better. When you try, and you cannot say that you haven’t been trying, the words that dribble out just don’t have that sparkle. [...]

Flat

I’m sorry, but the writing is just really flat. I’m not sure how to get around this—keep blasting through? take a moment to think? (when? during work? on the subway? at night when I am too tired to move? between headaches?) start over? again? delve deep into my character, much-needed, get through to who she [...]

Far from Home

I’m doing better in terms of words that can be counted (18,627 as of tonight), but I am well aware that I’ll have to cut a great many at the end. That’s to be expected, I know, but I’m not sure how helpful this process will be to me except in sheer pages. The question [...]

10 Words

You heard me. Ten words—that’s all I wrote today. But I have renewed energy and excitement, thanks to a certain someone who knows who he is, thank you (and I’m not sweating the unrelated rejection).
Word count stalled at:

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Day 8: 14316 words so far (28.6%).

But tomorrow it’s [...]

Outcome? Foggy

I did try. I got the answer yesterday. Though technically I think it’s a no, it is a no that leaves some options open. It’s a no that could turn into something, if I kept my head up and kept working at it.
Of course, initially, all I heard was no. And, of course, the news [...]

My Novel Has Multiple Personalities

I’m afraid it’s a serious disorder—I only realized how serious yesterday. As you can imagine, I was so dismayed that I packed up my stuff and skulked off to the day job in defeat. Brilliant reaction.
Your comments were right, though. I can’t give up. What is it, NaNoWriMo Day 8?
But what to do when the [...]

Choke

My story just choked. 13,317 words (46 pages) in and it just sputtered, coughed, and died.
Crap.

Hours

Sometimes I am astounded at the amount of hours that get drained away by a normal day. I have no time, I think to myself, none left to ever get my life back on track. (Wah-wah.) Then I have a day like today, just two hours early in the morning before work, and I get [...]

Supporting the WGA Strike

As I blearily wake up to continue my pursuit of the NaNoWriMo high I’ve had for the past five days, this is the second day the film and TV writers in the WGA are on strike. If you haven’t seen it already, a great post on the screenwriter John August’s site explains reasons here, and [...]

Day 4 Word Count

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Day 4: 6806 words so far (13.6%).

 
But in terms of plot points, it’ll take me 100,000 words at least to reach the end of the story. I need focus.
Still having fun though!
p.s. Oh, and just saw this on Facebook (thanks for believing I can do it, [...]

Determined to Get My Daily 1,667

I have something else to work on today, a proposal I’ve had to delay due to traveling, but I am determined to reach my 1,667 words today, so I’m holding off until I get there. It’s still early in the process, so I’m trying to stay on course. Knowing me, there will be a week [...]

What You Love

It would never have occurred to me, years after graduating college, that the place would mean as much to me as it does now. College was good, sure, but I had always thought that graduate school was where my real-life happiness began, where I wrote fiction full-time, where I edited the journal, when e came [...]

Stopping Now

I can’t think straight. But this is where I am now:

5,685 / 50,000
(11.4%)

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Listening to Nonstop Antioch streaming live right now. Just announced we are staying open! With a new Board of Trustees just for the College to be formed!
I am !!!!!!!!!!.
I am !!!!.
And !!!!.
They’re explaining details. But all I can think is !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.