Watermark

Winner!

Well, I did it. I'm not sure what I did, exactly; and I'm not sure why -- but I did it.

Writing

That blue & white bowl is for -- get this -- organic lollipops. Yep, I actually bought such a thing, on my pre-Halloween Good Food Store NaNoWriMo preparation shopping trip. I kept reading about all the food one consumes during this marathon, what makes the best snacks, on and on -- so, among several other things, I got these.

As it turns out, I don't actually eat while I write. How does one do that, anyway? Both hands are busy on the keyboard. But lollipops -- those work. One or two fruity lollipops per day.

If I'd thought about it, I would have realized that I never have eaten while I write -- even when writing by hand. Though occasionally I write while I eat. A different thing entirely.

Niki asked in a comment: Will we see results of your writing here at the end of the month?

And the answer is . . .

Um, no.

Because. Because I am writing without expectation. Because it is an exercise. Because I've no idea if there will be anything worth sharing -- and if there is, it will take several months, at a guess, to get it into shape.

Just now I am confronting the necessity to kill off a character I love. The necessity is as organic as those lollipops, and as unintended. I didn't resist the lollipops, but I am resisting this ... murder.

Story writing is so different from poem writing. More different than I had anticipated. One difference, for me, is that I'm avoiding reading fiction. In fact, I'm hardly reading anything. When I am writing poems, I am reading poems, with no fear that some other voice will intrude on my own; quite the contrary, nothing inspires a poem for me like reading other people's work. But now I am cautious, wary.

It will be interesting to see how -- if -- this experience changes the way I read novels, once I do so again. I've never read with a critic's eye; I tend to fall into a book, and then fall out of it at the end. It has to be pretty bad for me to watch it while I read it. But I suspect I am going to be more attentive to things like structure and plot and character development from now on.

Just don't take the magic away...

[Today: 1550 words. So far: 43,694 words.]

To my blogging friends:

I am still writing, and managing some kind of daily post -- but what has suffered is keeping up with you. I am not commenting, not because of my usual circumspection, but because I am not there. Aside from the few days around the election, I have barely been online. A bit of skimming here and there, and that's about it.

Yesterday began badly, with much pain and little enthusiasm. I gave myself permission to skip writing, but pushed myself though taffy to get to the local NaNoWriMo meeting -- and I'm so glad I did. They listened, they encouraged, and I came home feeling much better, re-energized.

I told my poetry mentor last week that my 'novel' has the same problem that my poems often do: a poverty of verbs, a paucity of action. Then one of the NaNoWriMo  cohorts said that literary fiction is focused more on character and less on plot. Clearly, that is what I'm writing.

Literary fiction. Yes, indeed.

And when I'm not being literary, I am staring at undemanding TV. Mostly house & garden TV. All visuals, little thinking. My brain is sort of -- dense -- right now. I realized, during this morning's walk, that I'm not even taking photos. I walk along, thinking about this unreal world I am making, and not of the real one I'm walking through.

Three more weeks of this, more or less.

I hope you'll stick through it with me. Wait -- I hope you'll stick with me through it. This.

Gosh, I'm tired.

 

[Yesterday & Today: 2087 words. So far: 32669 words.]

Well, I'll Be . . .

Today was a breakthrough day. Today I discovered that I actually am writing a story. Maybe not a novel, and maybe not a good story -- but a story.

[Today: 2568 words. So far: 28,283 words.]

Made for Watermark

  This week's prompt was: take a snapshot of poetry. I did my usual snapshot poem yesterday, but I also found this:

This is just what I pictured, when I named this blog: the ephemeral nature of poetry, of writing -- of everything, actually. We work, and write, and post -- and no matter how long it lasts, that lasting is brief. We catch a moment, and it's gone in a moment.

I didn't  check the dictionary defintions before choosing, but it works even better than I had imagined:

1. a mark which is made on some types of paper during its production which can only be seen if it is held against the light;
2. a mark showing the highest or lowest level that a river or the sea reaches

Of course, I've been thinking about writing a lot lately, with NaNoWriMo pushing me to my expository limits. Yesterday, facing a blank wall, I realized I could read the next chapter of the book:

If you still don't know what your characters are doing in your book, Week Two is the point when you should panic.

Hee hee.

Just kidding.

Having a shaky, hazy, or problematic plot heading into Week Two is absolutely fine, and is a predicament common to many month-long novelists. . .

So, I feel better. Still lost, but better.

[Tuesday:  1371 words. Yesterday: 781 words. So far: 22854 words.] I know you folks must be getting bored with this, but I kept losing track -- so this is for me, not you.

Wave via The Generator Blog.

Halloween Detritus

I snapped this photo on the river path, the day after Halloween. I intended to upload and post it then, but I've been a bit distracted . . .

[Today: 3694 words. So far: 20702 words.]

See That Bear?

That's Nellie. & that's where I'll be, all month.

You can look forward to lots of short posts.

Like this one.

Today I went to the local NaNoWriMo write-in, and took photos. Now I am very, very tired.

[2119 words in the past two days. I'm slowing down.]

Happy Samhain

From Wikipedia:

Samhain (IPA: [ˈsawənʲ]) is the word for November in the Irish language. The Scottish Gaelic spelling is Samhuinn. The same word was used for a month in the Celtic calendar, and in particular the first three nights of this month, the festival marking the ending of the summer season, and the end of the harvest. A modernized version of the festival continues today in some of the traditions of the Christian All Souls' DayHalloween. The name is also used for one of the sabbat feasts in the Wiccan wheel of the year.

Here's a little seasonal entertainment for you, though you will need flash to play. Click on the beast to wake it, then click MORE to feed this little purple creature, and it will follow your cursor around its cave.  [If you click into the BunnyHero Labs, BEWARE: POPUPS!]:

adopt your own virtual pet!

What, you don't think that's scary? Consider its name.

See that blue box on the sidebar? Well, you probably don't, as most of you read me elsewhere -- that blue box is my NaNoWriMo wordcounter. Yes, I'm serious.

How do I know I'm serious?

I've spent the last two weeks preparing. Not preparing what I'm going to write -- I still don't have a clue -- but preparing to write. I even pushed past my natural introversion, and attended the local NaNoWriMo kick-off get-together. Strangers. Mostly young, energetic strangers. And I plan to attend the weekly writing meetings, too.

So, I am clearly very serious, even though I don't know what I'm doing.

NaNoWriMo too scary for ya? Maybe this is more your line:

NaBloPoMo is an alternative to November's NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, the program wherein you crank out a novel in thirty days.

Some of us lack the imagination, stamina, and self-destructive impulses required to write a novel that quickly, but, by Grabthar's Hammer, we can update our blogs every day for a month!

[I wish I could remember where I saw this -- if you think it might have been you, let me know, and I'll add your link to this post.]

Now, if trying NaNoWriMo is scary, how frightening would it be to try both?

Well, let's find out, shall we?

The deadline for getting your url on the participants list below is, oh, let's say November 1 at 11:59 p.m . . . No cheating and backdating posts, either. You're on your honor. Prizes!

When I moved to Alaska, a friend saw me off at the ferry. As I was sitting in my car, waiting to board, I -- without warning to either of us -- shouted at her: What the hell am I doing? Why didn't you try to stop me?

She said she had tried to stop me, but I ignored her.

Now, why did I suddenly think of that?

NaNoWriMo

Yes, folks, it's approaching that time of year again. Don't take that PARTICIPANT icon too seriously; I haven't signed up.

Yet.

I did sign up two years ago, to no discernible effect, except a sudden and severe attack of writer's block. Last year I didn't even consider it.

But this year I find myself thinking about it. Again.

I'm thinking, maybe if I just decide right off the block (so to speak) that I won't try to win -- that is, make it to 50,000 words -- but set some goal that is more realistic for me, given my unreliable energy -- it might be a fun and useful project. I did manage -- nearly -- a poem a day in April. Fewer words, but more editing.

Do I have some pressing idea for a novel? No, I don't. Maybe I would write something else altogether. I did splurge, and send for the book. I also sent for The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness and Ethics, which was recommended by Beth Ferris. Perhaps the two together might give me a direction.

Or perhaps I don't need a direction. Maybe it would be useful to just sit at the keyboard and spew.

You never know.

Have any of you done this?

Thinking about doing it?
 

NaPoWriMo ~ #20

I've added audio to the following Snapshot Poems:

12 April 02006
05 April 02006
22 March 02006
16 March o2006