We are in the swing of National Novel Writing Month, Welcome
November!!! Not only do we have Thanksgiving to look forward to, but the
abundance of creative activity adding to the written collective. It is amazing
to see how many people are taking part and how far they have come in such a
short time. It's only the 17th for crying out loud...
NaNoWriMo's official website has an amazing assortment of
helpful tools and advice for their participants from famous authors to
NaNoWriMo champions. I wish I had the time to check it all out. I've noticed
that once I get started on something that time flies by and I look up to
realize I've been at it for hours. I get lost in the world I am building and
don't come up for air unless some outside necessity makes itself know.
Truthfully, sometimes coming back to the real world is a jolt, as I am my
protagonist, and my heroine is just another reflection of me.
On another note, I have switched books for my novel, instead
continuing to work on Lost Lady for
this month, though I have started on the
Knave and the Rose. The reason for the switch was that I realized that out
of all of my outlines for the Chronicles
of Odde series(Nine Books), The Knave
and the Rose was the book that I had the least idea about. It made sense to
change gears and focus on something else while I let the plot unfold a bit more
in my head. Along those lines I am editing what I have on book two, The Lost Prince. I am about 3/4ths of
the way done on that novel which was my last NaNoWriMo project. Still have some
plot bunnies to work out there. Editing will help me get my thoughts in order
before moving forward.
Since the weather has finally made a turn and a chill is in
the air, you would expect that I sit down to my computer with a cup of hot coco
or even coffee, though I am not a coffee drinker. Hot tea of any variety sounds
lovely as I write this, but no, I am an iced tea girl. Sweet Tea or Regular I
drink it year round, and find nothing more enjoyable than a good iced tea. Many
fast food chains make it easy to pick up a good drink while I'm out and about,
but there are also some places that I never return too. There iced tea tastes
as if it were some powdered monstrosity sold by the barrel. A good Iced tea is
my reward for going out and getting stuff done! I only mention it here, because
I have two iced tea cups sitting at my elbow, and I wonder if other people have
a beverage of choice, or maybe a snack food that helps their creative flow.
While editing I like to print out copies of my work, usually
Via Staples. My reward points came in and they have a good coupon this month on
presentations. I like my draft double-sided spiral bound with had vinyl covers,
and this time I added tabbed pages that tell my were each chapter is for easy
reference. The extra page will also give me some space for notes as I decided
to forgo double spacing and did single space to save money. We'll see how it
goes...
Printing is also a
time that I back up my drafts. I usually send emails to friends and tell them
to save my drafts. They are most obliging. I would burn cds of my files but I
have noticed that I never really keep track of them. The cds get relegated to a
bin, and then eventually end up in my shed were I store all of the stuff that
is too good to be donated or thrown away. I have commented on this tendency
before and will not do so again, but realizing this about myself, having the
copies out in the cloud or internet seems a much better idea.
I have no advice that is unique or extremely motivating to
give to my fellow writers other than to quote the famous Nike add, "Just
do it!"
I wish you all the best of luck, and inspiration in all its
forms and fancies. Write On!
