May Your 2011 Glass always be...

FULL!

I’ve always thought the glass was completely full – half full of water and half full of air!
My husband sees the glass as twice as big as it needs to be (he’s a technical editor).

Here's an idea to make a cold or boring January go by in a flash. Fill a glass half full of water (put a little color in it for fun) and place it where you see it often this month. Put it on a windowsill in the kitchen, in your studio or office. No matter whether you see it half full or half empty, pretend to fill it up with good thoughts, smiles and happiness for a month.

May your glass always be happily full!
Happy and Glorious New Year to all!

52,989 words = a Winner!

National Novel Writers Month, 2010, what an interesting experience. I improved my typing (but not my spelling). Ignored my inner critic, perhaps the hardest thing to do and managed to write 50,000 words + on my middle grade novel, “The Emerald Boots”. It is still very much a work in progress. It still needs some severe editing and elbow grease polishing but the whole story is there.

Much of the novel wrote itself, which was a big surprise. I’ve always heard of the phenomenon where the characters write themselves and emerge with traits you didn’t expect. The plot changes and the challenges I had planned on were far more boring than the ones that evolved as characters and problems converged at the 'The Greater Midwest Traveling Medicine Show'.

I abandoned my characters often: I left Jade and Mr. Diggs swinging from a hot balloon caught in a thunderstorm over Kansas to do the dishes. I turned a lost little girl into the ‘The Girl from the Moon’ on my birthday. I left Jade stuffed into an old tiger’s cage while I fixed Thanksgiving dinner. I found that cats have a wonderful philosophy on life in bed at 3 am during a wind storm. I discovered that the Bernice the Bearded Lady and Ralph the Strongest Man on Earth actually had a thing for each other after my guests went to bed…who knew? And I finished the rough plot and notes and dialog last night during a football game. I don’t know who won; I actually don’t even know who was playing.

But I know that I won as I logged 52,989 words to cross the finish line for NaNoWriMo 2010 (a self-imposed, joint marathon for writers). It’s a good feeling. I don’t think my family thought I could or would do it. I don’t think I thought I could either, but I did!

Now I need to polish, edit, revise, rewrite, sleep, polish, revise and edit some more, then find an agent...piece of cake.

Three more days...

Three more days and 8,075 words to go. I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't wait to revise it into something smooth. I can't wait for life to get back to normal!

Somehow I've managed to keep up with word count with sporadic typing marathons. Somehow I prepared the house for weather blast from the Arctic that hit the Seattle area two days before Thanksgiving and kept us prisoner with sub-freezing temperatures and drifting snow. Seattle doesn’t get snow like this in November. It’s the first time I was hoping for the rain.

The memories of barbequing the turkey three years ago during a power failure and the flavor of charcoal fire-starter flavored turkey haunting my every step as I baked pies and got the house ready for guests, hoping that the driveway would melt before they arrived. Our drive way is 150 feet, a lot to shovel. We did not lose our power however 50,000 of my neighbors did . . . including the grocery stores and gas stations.

Everything worked out fine in the end, although I didn’t write for 3 days. Three more days and 8,075 words to go. I can't believe I'm doing this.

21,477 words on the wall...

21,477 words on the wall,
take them all and
pass them around,
21,477 words on the wall.

It's easy to get lost in a place without time. The last time I looked at the clock...let's see...hummm.....it seems like ten, maybe twelve minutes ago....it was 7:48pm. It is now 9:23pm (Pacific time). When the mind is in the right hemisphere it is not aware of time. The right hemisphere is where creativity lives so I must have had the right address for the last couple of hours.
My, how time flies!

Kate's NaNo Update...

Well, I'm almost to 10,000 (8,773 to be exact) words. It's amazing how these characters invent themselves as I go along. I'm already wondering what will happen next. Do characters in your stories tend to write themselves? Even though I did a personality sketch of each character, I am still discovering their quirks and flaws.

So far this has not been a chore, it's been fun. Only 41,227 words to go. Since this is a Middle Grade novel I probably won't have to go beyond 30,000 words. If I do finish at that count, I guess I'll just start the sequel!

My NaNoWriMo Mascot - NaNo Rhino

Whew, I'm up to 3,562 words for NaNoWriMo this year but a girl can't write all day so I created my own tiny (nano) writing buddy. Meet NaNo Rhino!

One More day of Halloween Fun then...

NaNoRiMo! Next month is November. No, surprise there. And I have joined a group of writers, other blog friends, SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators) friends and associates to do NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

What is NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org)? It is a writing challenge that has grown over the years to prompt writers out there to put their butt in a chair and write. The challenge is to write a 50,000 novel in the month of November (that’s only about 1,600 words a day). You start from scratch with a new idea or one that you have been chewing on but haven't really started. Everyone who participates starts at the same time, Nov. 1st, and writes their brains out. It is designed to get the ideas down and not worry about all the editing or rewriting. It ends Nov. 30th, hopefully with a new manuscript to edit. And a few new friends.

Last year there were 165,000 participants from all over the world and I think the Seattle area came in first in total word count. Must be all that rain and the free flowing coffee. I have talked to several SCBWI friends that have done this and they love it (and hate it). A marathon for writers where you don’t even have to wear shoes! Even if you only get 1/2 or 1/3 of the way to 50,000 words – you still win!

Ever wanted to write that novel? Now’s the time to start.

Details, details...

It is amazing what can stick in your head from childhood. When I'm writing or illustrating I pull from those odd little memories to deepen a character. Details make a difference in whether your character is dimensional or flat as the paper you are using. Details give subtle clue s to the characters personality and can foreshadow events. Details are the 'showing' not the 'telling' that is so important to a good story.

Any thing well remembered from childhood or adolescence works.  I remember a little Halloween song I learned in 3rd grade - that's about 48 years ago now. The words go like this:

Halloween...
The witch is riding high.
Have you seen

her shadow in the sky?
So beware, don't you dare

to even boast or a ghost

to your dismay

will hear you say

you don't care to say a prayer.
Or it may come and
Pull your hair!

The song still gives me goose bumps when I sing it on Halloween night...and I still sing it! I think it might appear in one of my stories someday. What Halloween memory keeps haunting you?