I'm a NaNoWriMo Winner

It was an interesting experience.  Can I write 50,000 words in a month if I ignore misspellings, bad punctuation, and places I am yearning to edit?  The answer is yes. I accepted the challenge toward the end of October and I met it today, November 28, 2009.


What's interesting is the feeling now that I can do that.  I can do it.  If I can do that, then I can edit it to perfection and hopefully send it out for the next test:  does anyone want to publish it.  From my writer acquaintances I know that selling your novel can be difficult, but not impossible.

In my case, I know I can edit and polish the book.  I've done that for years as a technical writer.  I know there will be some surprises, but there were surprises when I wrote the draft.  For instance, I didn't know Charlie would nearly drown because he couldn't swim.  I didn't know about the secret tunnel, or that I would gain new friends by meeting adversity.  Once I got going, I just went whoosh!  If I did it once, I can do it again.

If you think you'd like to try it next year, go to the NaNoWriMo web site and check out the rules.  Then next November, let the fingers fly.  I expect to do it again next year.  See you there.

Marilynne

I'm going to be quiet for a while so I can do NaNoWriMo

I'm going to go for it with NaNoWriMo, for the National Novel Writing Month.  The basic is to write 50,000 words of a novel in one month.  With Thanksgiving in the mix, it'll be hard, but I've decided to try it.

You are supposed to write a first draft, beginning to end, without taking time for edits and such.  Word count is the goal.

If you're interested check the link and give it a try.  There are X winners - the number determined by how many people make the 50,000-word goal.  The only prize is a certificate that said you did it.

Check here once in a while.  I'll be posting word count now and then.

Marilynne

November 7, 16, 300 words.   Sometimes the writing is hard and sometimes it's easy.  Today the words just flew from my fingers.

The Dry, Dry, Look of Autum

Wild Garlic

In the drought, even fall has a new look.

The anise flower closes up on itself to make a cup.

Inside the Anise Cup are lots of tiny seeds.

Summer's mint is gone away.

The corn is eaten and stalks remain.

The rose has lost its beauty.

The wood is cut for winter warmth.

Marilynne

An unanticipated reading pleasure

I never saw it coming. We had three good friends: two men who were smoke jumpers and a woman who counseled troubled teens. Put them together, add a bad fire, and a death, and you've got the start of a good book.

It gets better from there. Put these three friends and the woman's daughter together, intertwine their lives, and you have the beginning of a very good story.

I thought it would be about smoke jumpers with lots of danger and lots of fires. And it was, but the story wasn't just about the fires or smoke jumping, it was about these people and what happened in their lives.

Part way through the book it takes an unexpected twist as the man who lost the girl takes up photography in war zones as a way of forgetting. We have some really intense stories of the war zones, a man trying to hide his feelings for the woman, and the man who got her whose live didn't turn out well.

I'm not going to tell you the plot of "The Smoke Jumper" by Nicholas Evans, I'll just advise you to buy it and keep reading it to the end. I got it as a Barnes & Noble remnant. If you go online you may get it at a good price.

Marilynne

My company has come and gone

The anniversary party has come and gone. I'm left with a jillion photos and as many memories. We had a great time.

The night of the party at our house, my daughters cleared off the kitchen island, which has a glass top stove, and filled it with food for the party. That really worked well. We ordered food in so we could just talk and rehash the formal party, which was the night before.

You can see by the picture that the company immediately obliterated every clean surface with something essential to company.

The day before our company arrived, I had the cleaners come in and do the house up proud. The day after the company left, you couldn't tell it had been cleaned at all, but I knew in my heart, it had been cleaned for 6 days of company.

Marilynne

A new day

It's a new day and a new look on life. My problems with Blogger were just a minor bump. It did shake me up when everything was gone. I love my blogging buddies and I hated to see the list disappear.

So, today my list of special bloggers is there and now I'm too busy to do much visiting. Company is coming and I need to get the house in good shape without getting too tired to enjoy them.

My list of things to do is much too long. Housekeeping is not my favorite occupation. So I am prioritizing. What's important to me and what is not? Fortunately my company is coming to see me, not the house.

Marilynne

Clean, then cleaner

It looks like blogspot has come into my blog and wiped everything clean. All the blogs I follow are gone. I was looking forward to going through the list of blogs and reading the new posts, and they're gone.

It's weird! Did they warn us and I just wasn't paying attention? I want my bloglist back.

Marilynne

Later. I posted, then went back to search and everything is in its place. I have no idea why it was empty just a few minutes ago. I feel lots better.

Now I'm going to get busy and read.

Marilynne