S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 6

Off to Tinker

I'm bailing on you all today to try and fix what the malevolent Windows update wrecked. And try not to slam my head on my desk too many times. And try not to insult the unhelpful help people.

You know, I don't mind the fixit blues when I screw up things, but when others mess with my hardware? Without permission? And then tell me it's my fault when I didn't do anything?

I'm trying to work here, Microsoft.

Anyway. I'll figure it out. I always do.

See you on Friday.

NaNoWriMonday: Week One

The first week of National Novel Writing Month went pretty well for me. I hit my counts almost every day, and doubled up on last Saturday's in order to participate in the official double-up day. I like what I'm getting on the page; Emma is as strong a protagonist as ever. I plan to go to another real-life write-in or two this week.

What I'm struggling with is being so far outside my comfort zone. Writing-wise, I prefer to be alone in my bat cave getting the work done. I'm fighting that desire every day, tooth and nail, as I try to join in with the local writing community, at least for the next month. It's not that I dislike socializing as much as a sense of being on display. People are suddenly paying attention to me when I'm usually invisible. Actually if I were invisible I'd be a lot more social. Anyway, I'm not going to cave into it, but it is a real challenge.

Also, the reason I'm so late posting today: evidently thanks to a malevolent Windows automatic update, I now can't get anything uploaded to my Google Docs account. Once I have time to spend the obligatory eight hours chatting with the help people while they have me do things that don't resolve the problem, I'll try a restore. But in the meantime, updates on Haunted House Style will have to remain in the holding queue until we figure this out.

How is NaNoWriMo going for you? Let us know in comments.

NaNoWriMo Kick-Off

I attended my very first National Novel Writing Month meeting on Wednesday, and met with about a dozen writers who are participating this year. Everyone welcomed me and made me feel right at home while I was there. The ML passed out an interesting packet, some stickers and held three word sprints that were fun. I acquired a new NaNo buddy and a writing dare, and knocked out about a thousand words, so it was a productive exercise, too. I'll be attending more meetings this month when time/life permits.

I'm doing all right on Emma's second book, too; I passed 5K this morning. I'll have to fill in some backstory for new readers, but right now I'm focusing on forging ahead and nailing my daily counts. I love writing in Emma's voice so it hardly feels like work. For those who want to follow my progress, I'll be posting links at the bottom of my NaNo posts, like this:

Haunted House Style 11/3/17

NaNoWriMo Begins

Welcome to the first day of National Novel Writing Month. For the next thirty days, writers all over the world will be racing to pen a 50,000 word novel, and I'll be one of them. I'll upload what I write and edit each day on my Google Docs account and post links here so you can follow my progress with Haunted House Style, my sequel to Ghost Writer .

Throughout November I'll be reporting on how I juggle this with my day job, thoughts on how to improve productivity, whine about problems (just a little) and otherwise detail how the experience goes for me. I also plan to paticipate in at least one of the official NaNoWriMo real-world events -- my very first time doing that -- and I'll let you know how that/those go.

If you have an account set up on the official NaNoWriMo site, and would like to be my writing buddy, my user name is Lynn Viehl, and my novel information page is here. I promise to nag you at least once or twice during November, and I'd love to hear how your novel is coming along, too.

I'm really excited about this opportunity to continue Emma's story. If you're also diving in, welcome -- tell us what you'll be writing in comments.

Added: Haunted House Style 11/1/17

Wishing You

NaNoWriMonday: Ask PBW

It's been forever since I used this graphic in a post. Makes me feel nostalgic for the blogging days of yore.

I had family visiting last week, so I didn't have a lot of time to do anything but work and cook (which is also why I like to prep early.) Today I'm going to finish gathering what I need for my NaNoNovel notebook, and tinker on my chapter summaries a bit, but otherwise I'm good to go for Wednesday.

Since we're 48 hours away from the start of National Novel Writing Month, I thought I'd make myself available for any questions you might have today about NaNo-related stuff. If you do, post them in comments before midnight EST, and I'll do my best to offer advice or find you an answer elsewhere.

Graphic credit: © Yellowj | Dreamstime.com

Circa 1853

To feed my love of all things Victorian American I purchased a couple of partial Godey's Lady's Books from Threads and Memories on Etsy; both date back to the mid-nineteenth century. The illustrations (three in color) are marvelous, as are the fashion plates, embroidery patterns and stories. Ladies who read these issues got the latest style trends, from even as far away as Paris, gardening ideas, every day advice and even sheet music and floor plans for a cottage.

All of the content is very polite and proper, of course, which I think makes it even more charming. Have a look:

Timing

This morning I'm going to see how long it takes me to write this blog post plus the scenes I've planned for my morning writing session, by using the Pomodoro timer on Marinanratimer.com. The timer gives me writing sessions of 25 minutes with 5 minute breaks, and (if I remember correctly) a 15-minute break after I finish four sessions. I can also pause it if I need to do something that won't wait until my break, like answer the phone or the call of Nature.

Why time myself? It's been a while since I have, and I need to know (on average) how much writing I can do in a day, a week and a month to better plan my work schedule. For example: I wrote a total of 6,159 words of fiction and a 563-word blog post on Monday, and that's a pretty typical writing day for me. But I didn't keep track of my time writing, so I can't tell you exactly how long it took me to write it. Maybe ten hours, maybe twelve -- I'm really not sure. I had some productive sprints, during which I can write up to 1,500 words an hour, but also had more than one draggy sessions where I likely only knocked out 500 words. There was also an hour where I edited everything I'd written.

Right now I'm at the halfway point of my 25 minute session, and I've written 238 words. That's close to twenty words a minute, which puts me at 1,200 words per hour -- a little faster than I usually write, but blog posts are easy -- I just write off the top of my head and add coding for applicable links. Could I write faster? Sure. But it's not really about speed, it's about consistency. I like to get into a productive rhythm with the writing where I feel comfortable + I'm getting work done at an acceptable pace. Once I know how long that takes me, I can forecast the work I'll probably get done and alter my schedule accordingly.

In November I'll be working on two novels, one for NaNoWriMo and one for work. I already know I need to write a minimum of 5K per day. I'll probably do more so I can take off on Thanksgiving. But having timed myself, I'll also know how long I have to block off every day for writing. It's not perfect -- I'll write slower when I feel like crap, and faster when I get into the zone, but those highs and lows tend to balance out for me.

One neat thing about this timer site is that the tab for it shows you the time if you're working in multiple windows. Right now I have three minutes left before my break. I also just deleted a long sentence that made no sense, so I'm not padding my results -- just the opposite. This exercise is not about how much you can do in 25 minutes, but what you'd actually write on any day -- and on any day I do delete about 5% of what I write while I'm writing it.

Thirty seconds: I'm feeling a little more awake now, and a little more focused. Timers do that for me, too. And now I've reached my five minute break (announced by a handy little chime.)

Total: 562 words in twenty-five minutes.

I think I'll use my break to make a cup of tea and get the laundry started. Also, just to note, there are two other timers on the site you can use; one is customizable, and the other is just like a kitchen timer -- set it and forget it.

Taking the Day

I'm taking the day off to spend some quality time refilling the creative well. See you on Wednesday.

NaNoWriMobility

[I moved Monday's National Novel Writing Month post to today because tomorrow I'm going to unplug and do something else.]

I broke a keyboard last week, something I do once or twice a year. I'm heavy-handed and clumsy due to my arthritis, which is why I buy cheap keyboards; the expensive ones break just as easily. Unfortunately this time I killed my Neo2 smart keyboard, which is no longer being manufactured. Since I can store two hundred manuscript pages on the Neo2, run it for weeks on 3 AA batteries, take it anywhere and even drop it occasionally without a problem I decided to get one off eBay.

The replacement I bought was the last new one listed; which means when I burn up this one I need to find another cheap brand of smart keyboard (there are none), go the tablet-with-paper-thin-attachable-keyboard route (which I will probably break in a month), or start using my much more expensive laptop when I want to take my writing on the go (with which I must use a wireless keyboard because otherwise I'd break the keypad portion of the very expensive laptop.)

Being immobilized irks me because I like to take breaks from the desktop and go out on the porch with my Neo2 for an hour or two. I also use the smart keyboard when I'm getting too distracted by the internet, or my eyes hurt from the monitor glare, or I need to go to the library. During the extensive power failure period after Hurricane Irma I used the smart keyboard exclusively to write and save my laptop charge. Anyway, the new Neo2 is on its way, but in the meantime I'm stuck at my desk.

I want to be mobile next month while I'm working on my NaNo novel for a bunch of other reasons. My story is set in a nearby town, which I plan to visit and write on-scene to get a personal look at some of the setting. I plan to attend at least one official NaNoWriMo write-in, meet some of the local participants and write with them. I may also take a weekend trip, and I always like to do a little writing at the hotel at night or early in the morning. Being mobile also allows me to deal with lack of enthusiasm, so if I start to drag during November I can pack up my keyboard and go someplace that inspires me.

You don't have to be on the move during NaNoWriMo, but having the option to take your writing with you may help you get more done. Also, you don't have to take actual gadgets. I always carry a small notepad with me everywhere in case I see or hear something I want to jot down and remember. Writing in longhand in a notebook or on a legal pad will require you to transcribe it later, but it's a great way to shift gears with writing. You can even take a voice recorder with you on the go and dictate your writing to it. If you've never tried writing elsewhere, this is a great time to give it a test-drive -- you may find it changes your process for the better.

Are you a mobile writer? Any ideas on how to get other writers on the go with their work? Let us know in comments.