NaNo comes to a grinding halt

I'm definitely feeling the week two slow down with my NaNo novel. I was so excited to catch up and reach my goal earlier in the week, or rather, at the end of week one, but now I'm having trouble getting myself into it. I wrote a little today but really hadn't written much since my prolific Saturday. It's not that I'm even stuck on the plot - only mildly, nothing I can't fudge through for now - I just haven't felt excited about it. This is a good opportunity to practice what I tell my students and just write anyway. I did write a few paragraphs today at work and left it in a place with some momentum and fresh ideas to put in, so that's good. I'll get back to work on it this evening, but first I have to take care of the other area I'm disciplining myself in and exercise.

I thought once I got over the hump and reached the inciting force, it would be downhill from there, but sadly not. In fact I think this is when most novels are in greatest danger of never being finished, when you realize how much you've written and how far you still have to go.

Don't give up, fellow Wrimos! We can do this. Shoot for at least 25,000 at the end of this week. It's less than the actual count that should be complete, but you'll be halfway to your goal. (Okay, it's only 5 words shy of the 1667 times fifteen.)

NaNo! End of Week One

I am so proud of myself, that I can't help saying it. I have actually reached the one-week goal of 13, 336 words. The weird thing was that I actually paused to check my word count after finishing a sentence that brought me to EXACTLY 13, 336 words. Weird. Then I went on and wrote a few more. I'm in Panera now with my girls working on it further. I think all the noise in here is getting to me, though. It's hard to concentrate. I think maybe the Barnes and Noble would be quieter. Maybe we should think about going there instead.

NaNo has begun!

My NaNo month got off to a good start today. Work was relatively slow, so I kept my laptop nearby and pounded out my first chapter in several hours. Two new characters came to life, that I hadn't planned (but figured I would need to create as background characters), and one ended up having this whole important role in heralding the major conflict of the story which I hadn't had any idea of before. How dare he take on a life of his own like that! It really makes me think these are actually real people who live in my head and are screaming to get out.

I also met with my girls, as I think of them, for a NaNo write-in. It's so much fun to spend time with other writers, especially young ones, with their fresh, amazing ideas, enthusiasm, and because they are my audience so I get to pick their brains for feedback. I hope they all got some helpful input as well.

Sometimes it's hard to keep a balance as I try to help all of my students. I want to give them equal time, but I don't always know if that's happened. I hope they all know that I care about each of them and want to teach them all how to be better writers and improve their work. This is a shameless message aimed at them since I am probably going to give them this blog address to read during NaNo. *grin* Love you guys! Er, girls.

I think we may have difficulty, though, in making our write-ins actual write-ins, haha. Being girls, we tended to talk and get off on tangents. But those are fun too, and help provide inspiration as well, I think. I'm looking forward to doing it again next Saturday, but we won't have to wait that long since Tuesday's class will be a write-in as well.

I'm so impressed with my girls' ideas. They're going to be better writers than I am. And no, that's not said just for their benefit, even if they are going to read this. I really mean it.

NaNo!

NaNoWriMo starts in a little over 24 hours and I'm participating! Expect some updates this month on my progress.

The entry title is a link to the website for NaNo.

I'm taking a risk and trying to write a vampire novel. Never thought I'd be doing that, let me tell you.

The Writer's Journey

I received my copy of The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler yesterday. I am excited about it. But as I started to read it today, I noted that the teeny tiny print is not confined to the introductions, but to the entire book. It has to be size 8 font. I'm not an old granny but still. It's going to be tough to read. And it's a dense book. I'm hoping I can kind of skim some parts I know and just figure out where I am in my own story and pick up there.

I'm also itching to start working on a new idea I have. Something with vampires, that takes them in a direction I've never seen before. But I feel I need to stick with what I started and finish my dragon novel first.

What do you think?

I hope you like the new look of my blog. Although I thought the old somewhat matched my fantasy topics, I felt it was time to freshen things up. Let me know what you think.

I am still working on the content for this blog. I have had some interest in seeing my novel here again, so I may repost it as I make edits. I also want to use this space to provide my writing students with some exercises or ideas, but since I do have a website for my classes elsewhere, it's probably best if this site is devoted to my personal writing career.

This weekend I have been attending an annual writers' conference hosted at my alma mater, so I hope to have some ideas to add here soon.

Say goodbye... and then hello!

The posts in this blog will soon be going bye-bye. I am revamping this blog to use as a teaching aid for Fictional Writing, a class I will be teaching this fall for homeschoolers. I'll be removing posts with chapters from my novel, but may retain some that are more general. Please return in a few weeks for the new, improved Fantasy and Reality.

Types of blog posts planned:
Inspiration for Writing - thoughts on writing or something that inspired me
Writing Exercises you can do at home
Lessons on common writing problems
Updates on the process of writing my novel (without posting of chapters, I'm afraid)