‘Tis the season for “ideal” writing conditions…

English: A cold day in December! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s cold, and it’s good to be inside! Sage words, I know, but winter has definitely crept in and it’s the perfect time to get that revising/editing completed on the novel before too many more days fly off the calendar.

NaNoWriMo has come and gone, and I’ve read a lot of summaries and testimonials by fellow writers this past week regarding the levels of success attained during that most hectic November. And, for the most part, no one seems to feel as though they failed, even though they may not have reached the 50,000 word target. Most felt that the process of building a draft, albeit short of the “winning” word count, was what really mattered.

I stopped at just over 52,000 words, yet the novel is not complete. As those other writers did, I found the experience of getting a novel that far along to be worth every minute and hour I invested during November. Like them, I now have a solid first draft that needs a conclusion. But that’s for later this winter and spring. Again, that is the true beauty that is NaNoWriMo.

Right now, though, it’s time to get serious once again and put this year’s NaNo creation away–let it sleep and mellow–and knock the cobwebs off The Bet, my next novel to be published. This novel is the one I knocked out in NaNoWriMo 2012 and worked on finishing up over the summer and early fall. Now, I’m in the revising/editing/polishing phase and eager to be finished with it and have it ready for publication before the end of the year. And, as I’ve written about previously, I really have no other excuses now since November with all of its “interruptions” has fled the scene.

December, with the advent of cold and inclement weather, is certainly one of my favorite times to get work done. My ideal time to write/revise/edit/polish is when it’s mean outside and quiet and comfy inside, with calm and pleasant beautiful music in my ear buds. Even though the sun is shining brightly on this Saturday morning, the temperature is not going to climb out of the ‘teens, so it’s one of those “ideal” times to be inspired to work on the novel that patiently awaits in my Scrivener projects folder.

Scrivener (software) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the many positives that came from the month-long grind of NaNoWriMo is that there was no time to think about The Bet. It was forced into that “sleeping and mellowing” stage, away from my eyes, where I might have been tempted to jump back in to tinker with the plot, characters, or setting and distract me from work on this year’s NaNoWriMo novel.

But now that NaNoWriMo is finished, I have re-awakened the story after a month’s hiatus, and much of what I was growing weary with has taken on a fresh, new look, and I have already seen ways to make the whole novel better. Thus, I’m finding the rewriting/revising to actually be kind of fun for a change!

Now, all we need are some gray skies, some swirling snow, and a wonderful sense of shelter inside where it’s warm and comfy. That would be truly ideal writing weather! Without a doubt, I don’t think I’ll have to wait too long for that weather to arrive if current forecasts are correct. Can’t wait!

Anyone else feel the same way? Happy revising, all…CortlandWriter

As word counts rise, the story emerges!

My “window to the world” and the trusty MacBook, fired-up and rarin’ to go for another writing session…

52,660 and counting…

After posting this, I’ll be heading directly back to my Novel-in-Progress, Sandbar’s Secret, to pound out another 1200-or so words, as the days which remain for NaNoWriMo 2013 go fleetingly.

It has been an interesting November so far, and I’m eagerly anticipating the months ahead when I can actually return to the story and fix the many “holes” in the plot, develop strong conflicts, and sort out the roles for each of the characters.

As of this writing, it’s been a pretty simple matter to pile up enough words to surpass the 50,000 NaNoWriMo target. But the story is far from finished!

In many of the posts and pep “talks” I’ve enjoyed reading these past few weeks, there has been a common theme that, as we write, we should turn off our “inner editor” and not concern ourselves with re-writes and revisions—just write! Harvest those words and get them stored away!

And then there is usually something that happens after this harvesting: We discover  better ways to develop our plot, our characters, and our conflicts. This has been the case for me this time around as I began with an idea for the major plot of the story to be one thing, and one of the main characters as the shady one, perceived to be a villain.

As the words have hit the MacBook’s screen, though, the “big” plot idea has changed greatly, and that vile, pushy bad guy has turned out to be pretty cool and on the main character’s side in trying to solve the “big” mystery that is the whole point of the story.

The point here? My idea for this story has been lurking around for many years, and I’ve always known the event around which the story is centered would be a certain way, at a certain place in time. It has taken only a couple of weeks, however, for much of that to change—mainly because of the concentrated writing during NaNoWriMo.

Having already reached my goal of over 50,000 words, I feel as though I’m only getting started in the business of getting this novel off the ground. As the word count continues to grow, so will everything else about Sandbar’s Secret….CortlandWriter

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Inspiration from the dental chair…

#nanowrimo fuel (Photo credit: Tojosan)

I’ve read quite a lot lately about writers’ writing routines, methods of getting ideas worked into some kind of novel for NaNoWriMo, and the various places or moments where those ideas “pop up.” Like every other writer, I’m not unique in coming up with ideas for plots, characters, conflicts, resolutions, and the “happily-ever-after” ending in  the most unexpected times and places.

But perhaps this morning’s experience just may be the ultimate example of where ideas for my current novel-in-progress for NaNoWriMo flashed into my mind.

I spent well over an hour-and-a-half reclined in a surgical chair having the second part of a root canal completed. Novocaine is good, and maybe it has some magical power other than to numb the nerves, because all during the procedure I actually did some brainstorming about what the next moves for my protagonist would be. I also pretty much decided several other actions to put into play as things wind toward the big finish.

Everything I thought about—as I lay there with mouth “blocked” open and some kind of latex cover over most of my mouth, the endodontist scraping and filling and speaking in technical lingo of which I had no knowledge—seemed logical and much different from the original stuff I’d planned to use.

Staring up into the bright light above me, while the doctor and assistant worked me over (gently!), I told myself that for the new ideas to work, major rewriting would be in order. But that’s the beauty of NaNoWriMo: Get the draft of at least 50,000 words completed by month’s end, and then the shaping, molding, fixing-up can begin after that. Kind of like what a root canal is supposed to do the affected tooth, I guess!

Happy writing, all. May your ideas arrive in any forms they may, even if it’s while you’re in a dental chair!…CortlandWriter

English: A diagram demonstrating endodontic therapy (colloquially known as a root canal) on unhealthy or injured tooth: first drilling and cleaning, then filing with an endofile, and finally adding the rubber filling and crown. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NaNoWriMo…Rolling Through Week #1

For the past week, I have been firmly ensconced in this year’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and in my last post I wrote about all of the trials and tribulations that the month of November offers, causing me to claw and scrape to reach my target of 50,000 words by month’s end.

I am happy to report that as of now, I have nearly 21,000 words in the hopper, and I’m having fun firing up the MacBook very early each morning and wondering exactly in which direction my story is going to go.

I love the freedom that NaNoWriMo provides in not having to be concerned with editing and revising. Since I’m a stickler for correcting and editing and revising whenever I see a need in my writing, ignoring the inclination to do so is probably the toughest aspect of the month’s writing challenge for me. But this year, I’m finding it much easier to do so.

I think, too, that this year’s effort is enhanced by that wonderful program known as Scrivener. Not only does it allow me to write in large chunks, and then break them up into smaller chunks as needed, but it is ideal for keeping track of the Word Count for each writing session and the overall count for the entire project. I love writing in Composition Mode, without any other distractions, and having the Project Target indicator showing at the lower left-hand corner of the screen. As I crank out those words, the progress bar grows slowly and steadily, and the word totals click off, higher and higher. It was never this easy or relaxing using Word.

So, unless I hit that proverbial “wall” and simply fail to pound out the rest of the story by the deadline, I am pretty sure that I’m on course to exceed the 50,000 words by the end of the month, even though I will be cramped for regular writing time the last couple of weeks. That’s why I’m making a concerted effort in these first weeks of November to harvest as many words as I can. And, of course, it helps when I have a pretty good idea where I want my story to end up–even though just how it will do so is every day’s adventure!…CortlandWriter

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Never the Easy Way!

October’s splendid colors on display at the cottage “up there” in Michigan…Helping to inspire the creative juices for NaNoWriMo in November

I never like to do things the easy way, it seems. My second “go” at NaNoWriMo is set to begin in less than two days, and I have managed to clutter my life with all sorts of things that need tending to—very soon!

Of course, I’m speaking about attempting to finish the revision of last year’s NaNoWriMo effort, The Bet, so that I won’t have that hanging over my head—forever on my mind—as the daily writing effort gears up all through a month that couldn’t be any worse for attempting such a challenge.

After all, I have had several months to be farther ahead with the revision/editing stuff, and having the thing ready to send off to Amazon for all of my eager readers to pounce upon and gobble up ravenously! Well…

Nevertheless, I’m close to having it to that stage and can putter and tinker and polish it some more at odd moments between now and the end of November, thus freeing my mind to focus on getting the next one going and developed through a month crammed with an annual weekend hunting trip to southern Illinois, our annual Thanksgiving family gathering here the week after, a dentist appointment, two book clubs and dinner, picking up the grandsons from school three days a week,  the older grandson’s basketball games every Saturday during the month, and the wife’s medical “procedure.”

Somewhere amidst all of these November items—plus the normal daily/weekly chores I tend to around here—I might be able to find time to crank out the minimum 50,000 words called for! Writing this now, I’m foreseeing many a late-night/early morning routine for the thirty days of November. Normally, I do my regular writing between 7 and 9 a.m. I have a feeling, though, that I’m in for many two-a-days in the month ahead.

The look of Scrivener–doing double duty in the month ahead!

I know that last year was equally as hectic and scheduled right to the brim, yet it didn’t seem so daunting. And then again, I wasn’t trying to finish a novel right up until the start of the new one. I guess I will get things worked out as things get going, and I hit my daily word count targets, but thinking about it all now seems a bit concerning.

But perhaps I will work best under cramped conditions and a calendar that is bursting at the seams. Yes, the more I think about it, the more I believe that it’s the perfect scenario for me to accomplish everything and succeed in this year’s NaNoWriMo. After all, I never do things the easy way…CortlandWriter

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Hey, December!

writing desk with medieval documents (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All right, November proved to be a month with nearly too much to handle, but I have survived!

Jumping into the interesting and challenging program called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), where the challenge is to write a draft of a novel that has a minimum of 50,000 words by November 30, was just one of the items which kept me moving during the month. It required many long stretches of pounding out words at my desk here–words that needed to work for a story and not simply random stream of consciousness–and many chunks of minutes with which to hit that completed 50,000 word mark.

I’m happy to report that I exceeded 50,000 a bit and verified the word count with the NaNoWriMo folks on Thursday morning (one day early) and now have a pretty good first draft to work with–revising, re-writing, editing, proofing–during the next couple of months. I’m planning to make this my next published book. Stay tuned for further developments!

Had a weekend pheasant hunt not come into play in the middle of November, or a five-day Thanksgiving annual family event here in northern Illinois, or a three-day trip to Detroit for a football championship game and visit to daughter Laura’s, I probably wouldn’t have had to write over three thousand words at a stretch. But I’m beginning to believe that I still function best when that deadline is looming ever closer–much the way I operated through my 35-year teaching career. I don’t really recommend “seat-of-the-pants” functioning, but sometimes its the best–and only–way to get things done.

Now, I’m glad December is here and the novel challenge is complete and I was a winner. I have something on which to build a good book (I hope!) and can also now realize that the wife’s birthday is next week and I haven’t done one lick of shopping…not to mention that thing called Christmas hanging just a short hop away! Well, it seems as though I’m about to jump right back into things with time tight and a deadline staring me in the face. It never ends…CortlandWriter

 

The Week After…

English: Oven roasted turkey, common fare for Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrations. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

What a great Thanksgiving it was here at the old homestead! The food, of which there was plenty, was delicious and the friends and family who joined us for a few days were fun and enjoyed themselves. So, the cleanup has been ongoing the past couple of days, and I’ve spent a great amount of time trying to make up for lost writing time during the holiday. Today, already, I’ve written over 3,000 words and currently am around 36,000 words for my NaNoWriMo novel. It’s coming along, and it’s not too bad a read for a draft. Should be interesting as I push to finish it by Thursday.

 

I will check back in for an update as that time inches closer….CortlandWriter

 

Thanksgiving Week…my favorite!

Weber on fire (Photo credit: brendonjford)

Well, we’ve reached my favorite holiday of the year, and not just the day (Thanksgiving), but the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday leading up to it and the Friday and weekend that follows it. Over the years it has become a special time here at our home, first for many, many years in Naperville and now out here in the countryside of northern Illinois.

I can’t remember the last time I spent Thanksgiving at some other relative’s house. It has always been here at ours, mainly because we love doing it every year and our location puts us between the folks who live in Ohio and Nebraska.

As the years have wound and twisted along, we’ve watched the kids (ours and my sisters’) grow from little ones into “married-with-their-own-kids” people! The fun and tradition–usually full of laughter and all sorts of nonsense–has been a staple here year after year.

Some years have been fully attended; others have been minus some. Now that the younger kids have grown, married, and moved to their various places on the map, it isn’t as easy getting everyone back the way it was when we were all younger. But time marches on, and our Thanksgiving Week is getting into full swing tomorrow (Wednesday).

The turkeys have been thawing in the fridge and the first one, a twenty-two pounder, will get going on the Weber charcoal kettle early tomorrow. I’ll get up and do a smaller (fifteen pounds) on Thursday morning. There will be, it goes without saying, plenty of wonderful turkey for the dinner and those tasty sandwiches later on! There will be lots of cold beer to enjoy in the garage–our sanctum–and many a tale and yarn will be spun with those around us.

Meanwhile, I have accumulated over 30,000 words on my novel for the NaNoWriMo project. Shooting for a completed 50,000 word novel by the 30th of this month. I’m feeling good about it, even though I’m fighting for every piece of “writing time” between now and then. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the days ahead and savor the turkey and the goodness of family and friends who will begin gathering tomorrow.

Metra train No. 1292 arrives at Naperville station (a bit late) on this late Tuesday afternoon. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Happy Thanksgiving to you, readers!…CortlandWriter

Novel Writing Progress and Update #2

Microsoft Word’s “Word Count Toolbar” (Photo credit: Travelin’ Librarian)

I feel like a stranger to my very own blog, not having been here in recent days! But I’m glad to report that I’m nearly half way finished with my novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), just completing my 24,000 word count this morning. What’s even more positive about the whole thing–besides simply piling up a ton of words–is that the story is actually moving along and a lot of fun to write!

The working title is The Bet. It is obviously fiction, but I’m able to draw upon some real-life experiences from my younger and “foolisher” days, and that certainly makes it all that much more solid and organized. It’s a story I’ve been meaning to write for so many years, and this NaNoWriMo has been the perfect avenue for me to actually get it done. I’m pretty much right on schedule to have the 50,000 words completed by the end of the month. As I mentioned in my last update, though, time is going to get a bit tight with my pheasant hunting weekend ahead and Thanksgiving next week. So, in the meantime, I’m trying to exceed a daily output of 2,000 words.

nanowrimo, day 16 goal (Photo credit: paloetic)

 

Stay tuned for the next progress report on The Bet….CortlandWriter

A brief break from the blog posts…

A Road Not Travelled (Photo credit: IceNineJon)

Because I am presently up to my ears in the business of writing my novel in National Novel Writing Month, I will have to take a brief respite from my regular posting on Down Many Roads. I will be checking back in–when I find a time to break from my daily goal of thousands of words–and will post some whimsical thoughts along the way.

I’ll be glad when the election is finished and that our country can be better because of it. I do hope that we obtain the real “hope and change” that we need and deserve! Whatever, we need to move ahead and be better for it….CortlandWriter