Music Recommendation: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Once a year (at least in Michigan), they play this song on the radio. I've been listening to it since I was a child and, in a strange sort of way, I've loved it ever since. There's an interesting amount of history wrapped up in the lyrics and, once a year, there was a discussion about it (usually taking place in the kitchen). This year, because I apparently lack the skills required to use a calendar properly, I missed the song on the radio. So, since I wanted to hear it, I decided to post it here.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot

Seems kind of weird to say happy listening, so I suppose I won't.

Anyway, 500 words toward your NaNo novels!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello, everyone! And, while I'm at it, Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are celebrating!

As promised, the photo above is of this year's pumpkin, Brighid.

She's been my constant companion throughout this year's NaNoWriMo season.

Sitting in the same corner Mabon used to inhabit, she's added a bit of life to the room

and, thankfully, a bit of inspiration.

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 Now, onwards with our next order of business.

You may have noticed that the usually scheduled posts have not occurred over the last week or so. Truthfully, I'm having a bit of a rough time coming off of hiatus. Being out of school, I can't seem to keep the days straight, which is proving to be a bit of a problem. However, I've actually been missing for a different reason. On Friday and Saturday, I was out of town and, on Monday, my internet wasn't working properly. We're upgrading our internet service at the moment, and we haven't gotten the new modem, yet. So, currently, our internet service is a bit spotty and strange.

My apologies.

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Last, but not least, I've got a bit of news for you.

As of right now, I'm not actually intending to continue with NaNoWriMo. I still want to write, but I've had very little time to do so this November. And, if I'm honest, I've had even less inspiration. So, the rest of the NaNo posts that I was planning probably won't appear. Instead, I'll be resuming the usually scheduled posting in December (when NaNo is done and our internet is - hopefully - fixed).

I'm not actually going on hiatus again, so, not to worry. We're not that far off from December and I'm going to take some of the remaining time in November to write up some stellar blog posts.

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Anyway, I think that's about it. Now that you're up to date, I'm going to go and start working on what scraps of NaNo that I've managed to put together. And, with any luck, some coherent chapters will actually form. 

Best wishes to everyone and I hope your novels are going well!

 

NaNoWriMo: Day 17

This. Is. Not. Going. Well.

Officially, I'm at about 10,000 and some words right now. In case you don't know, that means that I am horribly behind on my word count. I need motivation and inspiration!

I still haven't let myself go into the NaNoWriMo website because of the forums. However, I can say this for certain: I am a novelist in distress!

Help?

Anyone?

Whatever. I think I'm going to go to sleep now. Night.

NaNoWriMo: Day 14

Hi, everyone!

Guess what? It's Day 14 of NaNoWriMo (pretty close to half way through)!


Last week, I left you guys with a post moaning about how my NaNo was* going. After I made that post, I dove into my file bank and attempted to settle on an idea to work on for the rest of National Novel Writing Month. Now, as I've probably mentioned before, I'm an incredibly indecisive person, so this really wasn't the sort of task I wanted to face. And, truthfully, I couldn't face it alone. I thought through a lot of plot material - poking far too many holes - and realized that I wasn't any further ahead. So, I consulted a couple of friends for input and I thought some more on what they said.

Finally, after several days of pacing about in the massive amount of possible stories to write sludge, I came up with a new idea and, thus far, I think it's going to work!

You may have noticed that the word count on my NaNo page has not changed. That is because I've come to the realization that I'm sort of addicted to the NaNo forums. So, if I want to get my writing done, I can't go in there. On Thursday**, I will update my account with whatever I've done (and I'll probably browse the forums for several hours).

Now that I'm feeling somewhat back on track, how are your novels doing?

500 words if you you've read this post!


*Read: Wasn't

**Also, regarding the Friday post: I completely lost track of days and I forgot to post on Friday. Therefore, I will also post on Thursday this week. Sorry about that!


PS: Look forward to a writing soundtrack later this week!

NaNoWriMo: Day 7

Hello, fellow NaNoWriMo participants.

How are you today? 




We are officially one week into NaNoWriMo and our novels should be at 11,666 words as of today. Key words in that sentence: Should Be.


My word count is currently comfortably nested at 2,290 words... as it has been since day one. Yes, you read that right, I haven't touched my novel at all since the first day. Why? Well, truthfully, I had this novel all planned out ahead of time - not to mention it is a rewrite starting over from plot bones - and I'm completely bored with it. (Note: This is not a surprise and I should have foreseen this. It's happened before.)

However, this week, I am returning to NaNoWriMo with a new vigor. And... I'm starting a new novel. (So much for my plans of committing to the first one, huh?)

From this point forward, I'm going to pour my time into an idea that crept across my mind last night. And, with any luck, I'll be able to pump out 50,000 words by the end of the month. There are still three weeks left, after all, and that should be plenty of time to not only win, but produce some decent material.

I sincerely hope that all of you are having better luck with your novel beasts.

Signed,
Novelist in Distress

PS: I still love you, NaNoWriMo!
PPS: Write 100 words if you read this post...

NaNoWriMo: Day 4

The adoptable threads on the NaNoWriMo forums are great. I use them quite often, and I'd like to give something back. Now, I could throw these on the forums over there, but it's NaNo month here, too. So, drawing ideas up for one of my favorite threads...


Adopt a character quirk?

1. Have a character who insists on being on first name basis with all of the workers at (fill in whatever place).
2. A side character always drops things.
3. A small child insists on wearing their alien/octopus costume... everywhere.
4. Two words: Annoying scarves. 
5. A character wears coffee filters as hats.
6. Have a character that nobody actually listens to when he/she says anything important.
7. A character always answers "I love you" with "mm-hmm".
8. A character always sings "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell.
9. Sometimes there exists a character that whines about the ugly sweaters a relative makes for them. Well, your character only wears those sweaters - whether they're nice or hideous is up to you - but your character likes them.
10. Fluffy slippers anyone?
11. Have a character who makes their own fashion - and it's always stellar - outshining everyone else.
12. A character talks to their pet fish, and the character believes it's their best confidant... even though the character has a best friend.
13. A character believes they are invisible. They aren't.
14. A character makes analogies... all the time... and the analogies always involve a boat.
15. One character dreams of having a giraffe.

Now, get off of Blogger and go write your novel!

PS: 200 words if you took one.
PPS: And 300 words if you read this post.

Ink Wednesday

 In the spirit of National Novel Writing Month, here are the writing tools I'm using this year!

• OpenOffice Writer: Writer is the equivalent to Microsoft Word in the OpenOffice suite. I've been using this program since about 2008, when I switched over from Microsoft. And Writer has become the main program I use for writing, so it's definitely in use during NaNo.
• OpenOffice Calc: Calc is the equivalent to Microsoft Excel in the OpenOffice suite. This is the program I use for most of my outlining while I'm writing. It also helps me keep track of my current word count during NaNoWriMo, since I don't write in the same document the entire time.
• Scrivener: This year, I've downloaded the Scrivener trial for Windows. I'm still learning how to use it, so it's not my only writing tool. However, thus far, I think it's a pretty cool program and if I win this year, I think I might look into purchasing it as a gift to myself for winning. The NaNoWriMo site has a thread under the 'Special Offers' forum that offers discounts on Scrivener to NaNo participants and winners, so you might want to check that out if you're interested and participating in NaNo.

What programs do you use to get you through NaNoWriMo?