Hijacked!

Hijacked! Well, all right, not exactly….…. I love journeys that takes me directly from point A to point B.  My NaNoWriMo journey was simple.  Start Nov 1^st (point A) and end Nov 30^th (point B) with 50,000 words of a novel draft.  THAT is not happening. 

My journey got hijacked, sidetracked, and just plain ransacked.  And I not only accept full responsibility for it, but am thrilled about it.  Most of it happened due to not preparing as extensively in October as I’d planned, and then consequently losing myself in self-education and research.

Here’s a few of the places I veered off course: 

• Crafting Unforgettable Characters: A Hands-On Introduction to Bringing Your Characters to Life. This free e-book from K.M. Weiland is full of tips on character crafting and so much more.  I have four well developed characters for my NaNoWriMo novel all due to this guide.

• Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success E-book, by K.M. Weiland.  I spent $4.99 for the  Kindle format.  I’d never outlined a novel before and now have one in the works – this got paired with…

• Novel Writing Help.com – I visited this site for days.  Found it through a small reference on the NaNoWriMo forum…what a GEM!

• The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.  Never again will I struggle to SHOW a character’s feelings. Seventy five emotions are covered and through body language, internal sensations, actions and more.  Again, a $4.99 purchase and it was a surprisingly addictive read!

• I left my laptop, novel notes, research and outlines behind on Nov. 12^th and traveled to SUNY Geneseo to listen to Erika Dreifus read from her novel, Quiet Americans.  I’ve been a follower since the early 90’s and she didn’t disappoint – it was an engaging read and a rare opportunity to share in the process of her writing and her connection to her stories.  A day well spent!

• Reading the daily list of blogs I follow, one of my favorites, Lisa Romeo Writes offered I Should Be Writing Boot Camp – winter 2013.  After emailing with Lisa, I decided to invest in myself and kick off 2013 with this commitment to my writing life.

• The Buffalo News Short Story Contest 2012 submission is due December 3^rd.  After numerous false starts, I woke up a couple nights ago in the middle of the night with the plot in my head.  This is a RARE occurrence for me, but I LOVE when it happens…..

Amidst the detours, I’ve sketched a rough list of my writing goals for 2013, come up with some draft changes for my website and blog, researched a few markets to enter and done a good deal of background research for my NaNoWriMo novel, which I officially now refer to as a “work in progress”. 

Hijacked? Sidetracked? Ransacked?  Absolutely ~ but what a ride!!!!!!!  

And the journey continues…

A Good Day's Drive

The dawn comes gray and damp, the road slick under tires that carry me mile after mile.  The chill is dispelled by the heated seat beneath me and the travel mug of Constant Comment tea beside me, the subtle aroma of orange and spice a familiar balm. 

My brother Craig, in Harrisburg, PA., is the destination.  A day trip there and back to touch base on some health issues with him and to drop off his copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul, finding my faith which housed my piece, “Journey’s Beginning”.  The plan had been for Steve and me to both go, but a nasty cold for Steve sidelines that as we don’t want to tax Craig’s immune system.

As I head out, my thoughts stray to my NaNoWriMo novel for November.  When I decided in September to participate this year, I had grand ideas that through October I’d develop my outline, create my characters and work on my plotline.  And I did work on it. A little. Very little.  I thought about working on it and did a lot of reading on characterization, story structure and plot development.  There was a little mind mapping and a few notes jotted down and I bought my big white board and some snazzy 5 x 7 index cards in multiple colors….all really great distractions, but not much work.

So here I am, five days before November 1^st, with a solitary 12 hours of driving ahead of me, with nothing to do but muse on my novel.  I’ve made this trip alone before and know the lazy distraction of random songs playing, my thoughts skipping from one thing to another.  So, I challenge myself to stay focused on nothing but my plot line and a few basic character sketches. 

Travel by car has always held a special appeal.  There’s a feeling of anonymity, escape maybe, that comes with each passing mile as it takes me further from my daily life.  My mind wanders, following the muse with heightened senses that trigger characters, settings, conflicts and resolutions.

This drive, I set Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by Robert Vaughan to repeat from my iPod through the stereo.   15 minutes and 1 second long, it plays softly in the background for 6 non-stop hours, providing a comfortable cadence for my thoughts to follow.

When I arrive home, I’ve delivered the book, enjoyed the gift of three hours with my brother and have a basic outline for my novel as well as a few mini plots to support it and four basic characters that I have a genuine interest in.   All in all, a good day’s drive.  

Hook, line, sinker...novel. (Or, a tale of NaNoWriMo)

I wrote a novel four years ago.  In 30 days.  It was my first attempt at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), an internet based writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world to get that first draft of a novel done.  DRAFT being the operative word here – the month is all about giving yourself the freedom (countered with the pressure of the tick, tick, tick of the clock) to just get it down on paper!

And in the sense that the challenge is to write a novel of 50,000 words I was a success.  My word count came in at 50,206. The story was creative fiction, based on my participation in a 12 week group therapy sexual abuse survivor’s group.  Yes I know - real light stuff…. The working title was “Creative Destruction” and it told the stories of 11 participants in the group, two counselors and a cast of a half dozen minor characters.  It was quite a challenge and an awful lot to take on for my first novel attempt!   

The first of November found me at the dining room table, computer on, a few handwritten notes and one of those plain white three sided display boards.  The board surrounded my computer on the table.  Not only did it provide me a place to post character sketches on index cards, seating charts, and the story’s timeline, it separated me from my “normal” life in the house.  When I was “behind the boards” I was a writer.  Period.  Not an easy task for a self-proclaimed multi task-a-holic like myself.  It instantly made the dining room table my writing office and as always, Steve & Abe, the two men in my life, respected that for the month and never interrupted me.

I was faithful to the suggested timeline of 1,666 words per day. It was the most dedicated and driven writing time I’ve ever experienced.  Along with the writing, I loved the camaraderie of the online groups, the list of foods (CHOCOLATE!) to help get you through your writing sessions, shared playlists that other writers listened to for inspiration and the weekly pep-talk emails from the organizers, published authors, and regional moderators.  I even broke out of my introvert shell a couple times and laptop in hand, attended a few regional writing sessions at local coffee houses. I felt like part of a writing community. 

I wrote at all hours of the day and night, struggled for words, worked through plot conflicts and rejoiced in the little victories.  I sent my last word count in on November 30^th, and collected my “winner” certificate.  I’d really wanted to see if I had a novel in me, and I did!  Since then, I’ve worked some on the revisions, and someday, the rest of the world may see it, but not right now.  Not only have I not devoted the time necessary to a proper revision, I suspect I’m not yet ready to share that part of myself, even woven into a fictional story line.  

2009 held some deep personal losses for me and although I tried it again that November, I fizzled out after a few days.  Those losses and that fizzle had enough of an impact that I basically stopped writing for a couple years. 

Last fall that changed.  Simply put, I missed writing.  I challenged myself to write regularly in 2012.  I started my blog and am relatively happy with the flow of words that have started again.  Then, last week my fingers typed NaNoWriMo in my search engine, and up came the familiar blue and brown shield.  Then I logged into my account; browsed the forums, looked at the word count widgets and read a few of the author pep talks from years gone by.  Hook, line, sinker.  And who knows….maybe another novel born.  Let the countdown to November 1^st begin - I’ve got a story in mind, a few characters to make it happen and a shopping list in hand.  Let’s see… I’ll need a stash of chocolate, a box of my favorite tea and of course, a new, pure white, three-sided display board.