Saoz's Blog

Well, technically I won. I haven't finished, though. Unlike last year, where I wrote without a plan and made it just to the end of the story when NaNoWriMo ended (with some plot holes), I haven't finished the story yet. I originally conceived this story some time ago and have a 16,000 word beginning that can be added to the 50,000 words I have now. I also have to reach the end of the story, then go back and add in the subplot. I've pretty much ignored it and concentrated, for the most part, on the main story. I'm hoping that once it's all done it will be around 100,000 words. I'll also have to tackle edits then.

Since it's very obvious that I need external deadlines, I've signed up with a group that will be devoting December to finishing their NaNo projects. I'll be writing at a much less frenetic pace, though. I just can't keep up the pace I've been working at. And I'll need to start taking weekends off before I burn out! If I procrastinate on the edits once this thing is done, then I'm signing up with another group that has designated March as National Novel Editing Month.

Deadlines. They're a good thing.

I'm doing NaNoWriMo again this year.

Goal: 50,000 words
Amount of words as of November 13, 2008: 22,032 words.

So far I'm just ahead of the word count (where I need to be to reach 50,000 words on November 30.) I'm hoping, over the next few days, to build up a little bit of a lead. I'm finishing a story I'd started quite a few years ago (before insecurity made me quit writing it.) It's a "book of my heart" so I'm very excited to finally have the confidence to give it another go.

And I have to say, it's much easier to do NaNoWriMo when you actually have a plot and an outline! I had neither last year and it was very rough going some days.

I ordered a new computer on Sunday, and am waiting for it to be built.

I'm so excited, yet scared at the same time. It has a good motherboard, a Q6600 processor, 3 GB RAM (Windows XP doesn't recognize more that 3 GB RAM, so it's useless to have more than that. I definitely did not want Vista) ... and an NVidea 8800GT video card (with a 500W power supply, so I won't have to worry about the computer being underpowered.) I currently have an NVidea 5500 PCI video card, so this will be quite the upgrade for me! I just hope I'm not one of those people who experience problems with the game running on a quad core system ... and I pray securerom doesn't blow out my DVD drive!

Now I just have to survive the rest of the week until it's ready.

Have I mentioned yet that I'm very excited?

I can't believe I made it to 50,000 words in one month! Considering it took me 2 years to finish my first book (done before I had children) it's quite the accomplishment for me. I've always worked better with a deadline, though. Now I have to finish it, then I'll let it sit for the rest of December so I can get some objectivity before I tackle editing this beast. I have some ideas percolating for another novel proposal for a contest being held by a romance publisher. The winner gets an editor for a year (not the same as being pubbed, but hey, I'll take it. They can't exactly offer a contract to a newbie author on a proposal.) Second and third place winners get a phone critique from an editor on their first chapter and synopsis proposal. Whew. I feel like I can exhale now!

Yes, I have completely gone off the deep end. This is what I'll be doing in November:



I've hemmed and hawed about doing this since the first year NaNoWriMo was held. This year, I'm actually jumping in and doing it. I'm posting this here to keep me from dropping out when the going gets tough.

I have no illusions about being able to crank out a stellar novel in one month. Rather, I'm using it to kickstart me into making writing more a part of my *daily* life, to kick those perfectionism/procrastination demons to the curb. To paraphrase Nora Roberts, it's okay to write crappy ... you can fix crappy. You can't fix a blank page.

Wish me and my family luck. :)

After a little prodding (and more than a little patience) from a certain co-Moderator, who shall remain nameless (okay, it was AudreyMay - blame her!) I've uploaded a set of three Regency paintings. They're composed from screenshots I've taken from my story, Seasons of Change. Here's a little preview: The Piano Helen Wishing for Love