Day 30, THE END!

527 words

Hallelujah, I can take a break tomorrow. If I want to.

About 15,000 words and 60+ pages (I have a few days' worth of longhand stuff to type up, so this is an estimate). Pretty good month's work.

Day 29

592 words

Imagine this set to music: One more day. One more day. I can survive just one more day.

Throughout this month I've sent daily emails to two members of my online critique group (a group devoted to novel writing). We've been keeping each other apprised of our progress on our respective projects.

Most of the emails have been very short--just the word count and a comment or two.

They both like this regular checking in and want to keep it up. My initial reaction was to freak out slightly--No! No! I need a break.

But now that I've had a chance to think about it, it's a good idea. Accountability and a little bit of pressure help me produce.

But I will take a day or two off now and then. Writing every single day is just crazy.

Electric (and electronic) communication

A little over a year ago I joined the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) listserv. Members include librarians, teachers, writers, editors, and anyone who's interested in kids' books. Each month there are two different topics discussed, and the listserv moderators are pretty good about keeping people on topic.

For whatever reason, the recent discussion of series and formula fiction for kids really grabbed my attention and I read the digest messages eagerly. I even posted a message to the listserv, my first, wondering whether the Narnia books are still popular and the same for the Little House on the Prairie books (I never did see a response).

I happened to post this message the night before Thanksgiving and immediately received 12 or 15 out-of-office emails, primarily from children's book editors. It was kind of fun to see the names of some of the people on the list. Who knows how many people (like me) read the messages but rarely write them?

Thanksgiving night I received an interesting email because I'd sent that message. I had signed my name and below that "aspiring children's writer" and below that a link to this blog. Many of the other writers do the same, and everyone is encouraged to be forthright about their identities.

The interesting email was from an agent. She said she'd seen my message and checked out my blog. AND she'd be interested in reading my work. Cool! She explained who she was (a colleague of an agent who spoke at a conference I attended), plus I recognized her name, so I knew she was legit.

Naturally I took her up on her offer.

Day 28, End of Week 4

523 words

Two more days. No sweat.

Everyday I have no idea what's coming next, but something comes out anyway. I don't know if much of it will be usable, but I'm getting the bare bones of the plot down. That's my main concern in a first draft.

Teach Me by R.A. Nelson

Buying and reading Teach Me was going to be one of the rewards to myself for sticking with my 500 words a day in November deal. My friend, Phyllis, loaned it to me recently, but I think I may still buy it just to study it.

I read it this weekend (saved it for the long Thanksgiving weekend) and really enjoyed it. Nelson does an excellent job of writing from a girl's POV and in first person at that. His writing is original and compelling and his language is rich. I was very impressed with how he conveyed Nine's (short for Carolina's) emotions.

One aspect of the plot seemed a tad contrived. It reminded me of certain moments that movie reviewers make fun of in (usually) romantic comedies where a misunderstanding or miscommunication could be easily resolved if the characters would just talk about it. I think people could argue that what I see as contrived is really a flaw in one of the main characters, and it's this flaw that causes so many ripple effects.

But overall any flaws in this novel are minor and didn't affect my enjoyment at all. It'll be fun to see what Nelson does next.

Day 27

527 words

Mostly dialogue. I love dialogue.

Day 26

502 words

Day 25

507 words

Just five more days.

Day 24, Happy Thanksgiving

575 words

Since I didn't have to cook today or even clean up, getting my words done wasn't too tough. Plus, I was looking forward to my main character finding her first body.

Day 23

514 words

My main character's about to discover a body. Not quite a dead body, but almost.

Day 22 Beginning of Week 4

510 words

I think Mondays and Tuesdays are hard days for me. I've been more tempted these two days to ditch the 500 words thing. But I've come this far.

Day 21 (End of Week 3)

526 words

Had to write fast tonight inbetween seeing Harry Potter after work and watching Medium on TV. I was tempted once again not to do my 500 words, but only 8 more days! Dialogue always goes fast for me, so that's what the bulk of tonight's work is.

Day 20

515 words

Two-thirds of the way through the month.

This 500 words a day thing may be settling into a habit.

I doubt I'll reach the end of this novel before I leave for Vermont in January (to go to the first residency of my MFA program). But I'll certainly have plenty of material to work with.

Day 19

510 words

Stopped at an interesting point this evening with my male secondary character. I'm looking forward to continuing with his POV tomorrow and learning more about a new character who's appeared on the scene. I wrote a basic character profile about this new guy, but it was months ago, and I can't even remember his first name. But I do remember his function and basic motivation. He's one of the suspects in the nefarious activity that's been happening of late.

Day 18

534 words

Thought I might have trouble tonight because we had company for supper, but they left early so I had plenty of time.

Now that I've made it over half way, hitting my minimum word count, it's a challenge to keep it up the whole month. I was appalled the other night when my husband suggested that I not worry about reaching my 500 words goal since we were getting home a little late. I'm starting to understand the allure some runners feel for maintaining their streak of running every single day.

Day 17

522 words

Day 16

511 words

Day 16 was actually yesterday but I didn't feel like posting last night.

For the first time I worried about getting to 500 words. I wrote about 200 after work, before my hubby and I went back to Ames to have supper with two of his hunting buddies who are visiting from New Jersey. We didn't get home until 9:45. I wrote junky stuff but made my word count and got to bed about the usual time.

Day 15 Halfway Point

551 words

Halfway there. Start of the third week.

500 words a day is feeling easier and easier. I'll have to remember this technique next time I start a novel.

Day 14 (End of Week 2)

511 words

I was tempted to do some revision today, but I decided to leave it raw. The purpose of this experiment is to keep the forward momentum. That seems to be working. So far I haven't had to stay up late to get my words done or skip watching a favorite show. I've been fitting the writing in. Huh.

Day 13

556 words

Today was another day for two shifts. I wrote about half this morning shortly after I got up, but didn't finish because I had other things to do. (Tried to run in "wind advisory" conditions. I felt like a cartoon character running in place. Then I went to the Art Expo in Des Moines today with my sister. It was at HyVee Hall in the new events center. A fun variety of art. Found Christmas presents for my step-kids.) I finished this afternoon.

One thing I've noticed is that even if I haven't left myself much of a thread to continue with the next day, there's always some tiny little bit that'll work. Sometimes I worry too much about the big picture stuff.

Day 12

530 words

Wrote longhand by candlelight tonight since we had a power outage for about three hours. Longhand works well on days I have no idea where the story is going next.

Day 11 (Happy Veterans Day)

612 words

Pretty darn good for a Friday night. Had to take a little nap first.

My main character is about to go visit her grandparents, and I've decided they live in Ames in the retirement community my friend, Phyllis, lives in. I didn't name it, just its proximity to the high school, which I find amusing.

Phyllis has a cute little apartment, which I'm also appropriating to some degree for my fictional grandparents.

Day 10

533 words

One-third of the way through the month!

All this first draft stuff feels so much like reading a new book and wondering what's going to happen next. I'm not sure how my subconscious does it, but ideas percolate to the surface that fit the whole chain of events. Cause and effect are working without me thinking about it consciously right now. Maybe it all started earlier this year in the novel writing class.

Day 9

510 words longhand

My critique group met this afternoon at Hawthorn Cafe on campus (Iowa State). I stayed behind and wrote my daily minimum. I had another event to attend this evening on campus, so I figured it was best to get the writing out of the way before hand. Waiting until I got home tonight would have been dangerous.

Last night I stopped a couple of sentences shy of a chapter ending. So tonight I had just a thin thread to pick up on. Maybe it was the hand moving across the paper that did it. Whatever, the thread didn't break.

More stuff came out. The new chapter got going okay and something rather surprising happened to up the tension. But not really surprising considering how my main character treats her body sometimes.

This writing gig is just magic.

Day 8 (Beginning of Week 2)

529 words

Had to take it in two shifts, before and after watching Commander in Chief with Geena Davis and Donald Sutherland. She makes a great president and he makes a great meanie.

I'm glad November's short (but February would be even better).

Day 7, End of Week 1 of Modified NaNoWriMo

526 words and an accidental death (fictional, of course)

Day 6

538 words by 8 a.m.

Day 5

598 words. Could have done more, but I don't want to jinx myself or dry up the well by going too long.

I pounded them out this morning, finishing by 8 or so. I didn't want them hanging over my head all day making me feel guilty.

During the week I write in the evenings because I work all day. Getting up early to write doesn't appeal to me, especially during the work week. Ick. Of course it's easier to find excuses not to write in the evenings, just like with running, which is why I'm a morning runner. But having some kind of motivation, like writing every day for a month or a looming deadline makes it easier to get it done.

If I'm feeling especially tired, a light nap before writing seems to help.

Day 4

502 words.

I was tired tonight and the words came anyway. Maybe those people who suggest writing every day are right. Still crazy, however.

My friend Diane Nelson asked what else came in my recent Vermont packet. Besides the sample schedule with the days packed with workshops, seminars and lectures, there was a sample list of lectures with brief descriptions. There was also a booklet with advice on how to prepare for the residency. This included suggestions such as reading recent work by the faculty and how to dress for winter in Vermont.

A couple of forms were in the packet too, including one asking for copies of immunization records. I was supposed to show proof that I'd had two separate measles vaccinations. I found my childhood info easily enough, but had I ever gotten a second one?

When I mentioned this to my husband, he said, "Check your Army records." Sure enough, in the "Welcome station" at basic training in January 1995, they gave me a needleless blast in the arm that included a measles vaccination. And I had the record to prove it. Guess that painful experience (the whole Army Reserve service, not just the shot) has been of some use after all.

Today I received another Vermont College envelope. It included a housing form and a form to send back with up to 20 pages of a novel (or picture books, but I'm sending a novel) for critique. The letter said to list people I know on the housing form. I only know one person, and according to her blog, she's a loud snorer. I can jab my husband with an elbow when he snores. I don't think a roommate would like that. So I'm not listing her. Besides, she probably has a regular roomie anyway. I'll just leave it up to fate.

As for the novel excerpt, the staff takes great pains to urge students not to send stuff that's polished or that no longer reflects our skills. The point is, of course, to get feedback for revising. This seems obvious to me, but maybe that's because I've been in critique groups for years. There are bound to be some students who've never been critiqued before.

The piece for critique is due later this month. Then Vermont copies and binds them together and ships them back to us students to read before the residency. They'll put us in groups of 10-12, so I presume I'll only be reading stuff from my own groupie.

Day 3

519 words. So far so good.

I'm focusing on teeny tiny increments, one sentence to the next. One tiny action, piece of dialogue, bit of setting, or slice of emotion. This seems to help me slow down my action a bit and not overcharge my pacing.

Day 2

508 words in 40 minutes. Woo hoo!

Day 1 of modified NaNoWriMo

518 words.

I need to think of a good reward for the end of the month. A friend is doing the real NaNoWriMo and has devised a system of weekly rewards for herself including a massage one week. Of course she deserves it for writing umpteen thousand words in a week.