Meri Benson's Blog, page 20

Days of Winters Past

 December has passed in a whirlwind of no snow, which for Chicago is very unusual. December is a very busy time of year for me. Not so much in the way I would like, because I wish it was more writing intensive than it actually is. Work gets very busy, because we have fellowships that are being worked out, and interviewees to fly in and all that so I spend a lot of time working on travel things for my work. And then there’s my office’s Holiday Party. I’m in charge of it, from drinks to food to decorations to music to room reservations and all that’s in between. The only think I’m not in charge of is the alcohol. But naturally, all that needing to plan out, and then actually do day of, means that I’m running lots.

All the running means that I’m not really doing much in the way of writing, because I don’t really have a lot of time to think. But at the same time, after NaNo and all that push, it means that I get a small break in my life so I can kind of recharge on the writing front. I still have high hopes of finishing my NaNo novel before the new year begins.

And later this week (or the way my life goes, next week), I’m looking to post about my goals, both reading and writing wise. Because I want to try and really stick to with more of each.

Are you going to post goals for next year for writing or reading? Let me know in the comments!

Days After NaNoWriMo

So, we’ve had a whole week since NaNoWrimo finished. Usually it’s a time of celebration for finishing word counts – which I totally did! – and getting into the groove of editing.

But, I always am amazed sometimes at my family. During the month of November, because I’m participating in NaNoWrimo and I’m pretty vocal about it to anyone that will listen, I’m given slack on things like house chores, or the want to wander off after household duties are taken care of because ‘she’s writing’. But any month other than November, and it’s always the ‘oh no, you need to help with this or that, or oh no, we need to be shopping or socializing’.

My biggest problem is, I’m not just a once a month writer. Yes, I put a little more heavy handed emphasis on my writing in November because I’m trying to get 50,000 words in 30 days, but that’s not where my writing lives and dies either. I’m an aspiring writing. I still have a novel to finish because the conclusion didn’t wrap up during November. I also have a short I’m looking to publish once I finish it as well – because my brain had to come up with an entirely different story set in the last week of November but I think it’ll do well as a couple shorts.

Not to mention, I have to edit the novel I finished last year, the one that’s been re-plotted twice, rewritten three times, and took two NaNoWriMo’s to finish. That novel. It’s only in first draft form. Still needs a LOT of work, and if I’m going to get to it anytime soon, I need to be able to sit down and finish this novel – and short.

I will blame my brain occasionally for things, because as soon as I start to wrap something up, it rolls into a sandbox and starts to design new characters and plots. Which, I’m not exactly complaining about, I swear. My cup runith over when it comes to plots and characters. It’s just the timing. I’m about four chapters from finishing my current WIP novel, and now I have this new plot to run with in short stories that’s wanting to distract me. And it’s not just sitting down and jotting the plots out to look at later. No, if I don’t run with the plot right this second, write down where it leads me – through usually a minimum of four pages typed – then I can’t have the brain power to work on said older project. Because my brain prioritizes like that.

If I’m being honest with myself, and you my lovely readers, I actually have five WIPs that are currently in various stages of Draft 1, and one WIP that’s drafted and on the editing board. My High Fantasy novel needs edits. My Cozy Mystery novel needs me to wrap it up now that I’ve run through the mystery climax. My Horror Short Anthology needs a LOT more attention, as that has five to six stories in it. My Modern Mythos short needs me to hammer out the plot so it’s more coherent, and will run for a few books at least. My Space story is patiently waiting for me to just focus and continue. (All of those were in the works before NaNo – though it’s the Cozy Mystery that got written during NaNo) And now I have this I’m not even sure what to name it short that I’m guessing will run for three to five books if I’m careful and don’t run myself into corners.

Six projects I find myself wading through after NaNoWriMo. And not a lick of give from family now that the month is over. I get that I don’t make as much noise during the year about my writing to them, because at the end of the day it’s still just me toiling around with my words and my worlds. But, it’s not any less important for me to do either.

Since NaNoWriMo, I’ve worked on the Cozy Mystery a little, but not as much as I’d like. That and the random short that butted in are my two priorities to wrap up so I can hand them over for edits while I work on other things. At least once they’re done and off to my trusted editors, I can rest easier knowing I only have four WIPs running then.

How many WIPs do you have on your plate? Leave the answer down in the comments.

NaNoWriMo – Check Ins – Day 29 & 30

It’s the end of NaNo. November is at a close, the writing madness is – theoretically – over, and the world will return to normal in the lives of all that participated in this year’s NaNo. Though, December, for a lot of people, tends to be the month of edits and re-writes while we go through our novels to make them the best that they can be.

For me, once this draft is done, it will be printed and given to my trusted editor so it can be combed through and then potentially in January I will start the edits for it. I have more projects to continue while it’s being edited, and one novel that still needs me to go through and work on the edits for.

Writing isn’t just a November thing for me, it’s a 365 day a year thing. November just really helps me to put the pen to paper – or in my case fingers to keyboard – a little harder than during the rest of the year.

How did your NaNo go this year? Did you get where you wanted to go? Did you finish in a blaze of fireworks and awesome word counts? Did you fall just a little short and are more determined than ever to win next year? Let me know in the comments.

Words Written Today: 1,725

Total for novel:  36,040 (Total for NaNo with all word counts: 50,830)

First Sentence: 

Brow furrowing, Kael blinked at his daughter.

Last Sentence:

Her dad is super pissed.

 

NaNoWriMo – Check In – Day 28

Today’s words came easier than yesterday’s. What’s weird is that I had more time to write yesterday than I did today. The story is coming along, and I’m getting close to the end. I don’t think I’ll finish the story within NaNo, but it shouldn’t take me too much longer before it’s done. And I’m planning to work on it after NaNo like NaNo is still going on – meaning that I really work at making sure to get at least a couple hundred words a day on it, if not much, much more.

Words Written Today: 1,417

Total: 34,315

First Sentence: 

I think, while he hasn’t admitted it yet, that he’s actually kind of starting to fall for her.

Last Sentence:

I need help stopping him.

NaNoWriMo – Check In – Days 25 – 27

So, the turkey holiday did me in some.

I worked a half day on Wednesday, but I didn’t get much writing done because while work things didn’t eat up my time but life things did. Including getting ready for Turkey day – shopping and cooking so by the time my day came to a close for me time it was 8pm.

Thursday, of course, was Turkey day with family. A 1pm dinner time still meant that we got home about 6pm. After all the food, there wasn’t much in the need to eat for dinner after all the food that was at the family gathering at my aunt’s house. We always have more than enough food between the turkey, mushroom pie, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Plus birthday cake because my Uncle was born around this time of year so we always celebrate his birthday on the Thanksgiving gathering with the family since we’re already all together.

Today, should have, theoretically been a great day for me to get all my words caught up. And I might have some. I’m not entirely sure. See, my current NaNo word count (and subsequently what I’ve been counting on this blog) is only following a novel that I’ve been working on for a majority of November, one I plan to have done and up on Kindle by July of next year (meaning it’s finished, edited and polished in the next eight months – a reasonable plan considering it’s going to be less than 75k) and I’m getting to the ta-da of the climax already.

The catch of my word count is, I’m planning to count the Sims story blog I’ve been writing, because it’s still fiction. And a new story idea hit me this morning, so most of my words today have been on this new idea. Which means my NaNo will have a large jump at the end of the month (in three days, eep!) because I’ll be adding some side projects to my word count. But! because the current count is so small, it’s still got me breathing into a paper bag on whether or not I’m going to reach the finish line, because I’m telling my brain that it’s not allowed to total everything up. I kind of want to be surprised, for better or worse, where I actually fall once the 30th gets here and i put all the words into validating my word count on the site.

Words Written Today:  728

Total: 32,898

First Sentence: 

Come on, Kat, you gotta lighten up.

Last Sentence: 

“It’s definitely something new to see,” Katherine offered as they walked.

NaNoWriMo – Check In – Day 24

I seem to be able to do my best writing while I’m at home, and predominately at night. If I had more energy, I’d write a little more tonight, but I am falling asleep and mixing my senses as I write so this is it for tonight.

It’s better than yesterday, which I’m glad for.

Words Written Today: 1,401

Total: 32,170

First Sentence: 

Because I do agree, I don’t want anything to happen to him again, and things do appear to be escalating.

Last Sentence:

Stephan didn’t answer, just made a shooing motion at the girls until they slipped back toward their tents to get ready for the concert.

NaNoWriMo – Check In – Day 23

I think my day job is seriously hindering my writing. I feel like the picture above when it comes to trying to catch words when I’m stuck sitting at a desk job from 9-5. Especially when you throw in other factors, like last night I had hoped to write more after I got home from work but taking the car in for repairs, and then picking up the rental ended up taking all night. But the time I finally got to eat and finish dinner it was 9pm. And with getting up at 6:30am for work, that meant basically time to crash for the night.

I’m hoping Tuesday will go better. But, all I know is that we’ll see.

Words Written Today: 583

Total: 30,769

First Sentence: 

So you think that Kael’s daughter has a hand in it?

Last Sentence:

“I’ll make sure that security knows to watch Mitch’s tent like hawks tonight,” Stephan assured.

NaNoWriMo – Check In – Day 22

This weekend has been amazingly helpful for my word count. Today it helped some that it was way too cold to really go out and do too much with all the snow and ice. So I stayed in my room, on my computer and just worked on my story. You’d think I’d have more than three thousand words for an all day toiling away, but really, I’ll be honest, I got distracted by some of my video games during this time too.

World of Warcraft and Sims 4 are serious loves of mine. I have Fallout 4 too, but I’ve been saving that as a reward for my finishing NaNo. There’s a new Sims 4 expansion pack out Dec. 10th as well that that will be a reward for my finishing. There’s going to be some hard core Simming when that expansion comes out, and I can not wait. But until then, totally writing more! And I’m inching back to where I should be.

And right now, I’m so fantastically happy with the little over 6k that I was able to get this weekend. Here’s hoping I can keep the momentum during the work week. Wish me luck! =)

(And if you’re wondering, the kitten in the picture is totally my cutie, and slept next to me while I wrote most of the day today.)

Words Written Today: 3,005

Total: 30,186

First Sentence:

“Hopefully having fun then,” Katherine offered as she smiled.

Last Sentence:

We’ll find out.

NaNoWriMo – Check In – Day 21

Today was actually a nice surprise for me word count wise. I spent most of today at a friend’s house for a game day. We’re playing Fantasy RPG (a DnD kind of game), and we get together once a month for the game, which is an amazing time. And driving home ended up being a fairly large pain because of all the snow my area got. But over all, it was an awesome day. Fun, friends, and just energy that couldn’t be beat. Of course, that also meant that I didn’t write for most of the day.

Even with that, I was able to get a really decent word count tonight. I took some time after getting home to relax after shoveling snow, grab a small bite for dinner. And then I settled in and just worked, worked, worked. And I have gotten the best word count all week.

Tomorrow I don’t have too much on my schedule, so I’m hoping to at least match today’s word count. Here’s hoping I can keep up the momentum. Even if I do actually catch the official word count before the end of November, I’m going to try and do more than minimum to finish on time. It’d be nice to hit 50K before the 30th, and maybe go over. And I know I’m going to count my sims story blog, but I’m really trying to catch word count without it, and just add that story addition as a cherry on the top. Here’s hoping.

Words Written Today: 3,699

Total: 27,181

First Sentence:

Katherine reached to pick up the statue that Samantha had shown interest in.

Last Sentence:

I was just thankful she watched the shop for a little while earlier so I could stretch my own legs and check a few things out.

NaNoWriMo – Check In – Day 20

Today has been a very strange day. The office was eerily quiet, though I’m sure that’s mostly because it’s getting closer to the Holidays, and the whisper of snow had everyone wanting to stay home instead of risk it. Plus, my boss was headed out of the country for next week today, so no boss to tug us all in either. heh.

I was actually able to get a fair amount of writing done today. Which, I’m proud of myself for. Today’s words written is the average I have to keep doing in order to finish NaNo on time, so this is my goal for minimum this next week, though I’m hoping that the quieter it gets, the more words I’ll be able to get up to what I’m supposed to be at fairly easier.

Plus, I’m at a place in my novel where my motivation is starting to kick into high gear, though that also may be the quiet office where I have time to write some too. Either way, I like the outcome of today’s words.

Words Written Today: 2,589

Total: 23,482

First Sentence:

She pointed over at the boy’s camp.

Last Sentence:

She looks like she’s happy tending the shop here too.