Nanowrimo 2017 The Plan

I love a good plan. Maybe even a bad one. Having a map in front of me with stops and fun all planned is something I find exhilarating. Even if I never follow it again, I enjoy making a plan. However, I do intend to follow this one because my life is such right now that if I don't make time for Nanowrimo then I will not be victorious this month. And more than crossing the 50k mark, I want to, hope to, finish a working draft of my novel, the same novel I have been working on for three years and dreaming of since 2007, or perhaps all my life. 2017 is my year of yes. Yes I will finish. Yes I will make the adjustments necessary in my life to do this. Yes I will relax and have fun and not sweat the small stuff. Yes I will let it go if my kids want to play or my husband wants to talk or we have a spontaneous family movie night. Because I know my spontaneous family (and self!), I have decided that there is only one time when no one will need me.

5 am.

Yes, this is my plan. To pry myself out of bed, or at least prop myself up for an hour of writing in the morning. My motto will be: I have the rest of my life to sleep. 30 days of 5 am. I can do this.... zzzzz..... This will not be me. :)

The delicious quiet of an early morning. And the advantage over night time writing (my first Nanowrimo plan) is that I will not be tired. At least not once I wake up properly.

So in order to wake up at 5 am (I am thinking as I write), I will need to go to bed at 8 pm. I am a 9 hour baby. Somewhere along the way I discovered that 8 hours is not enough for me, along with the fact that it takes me awhile to unwind and fall asleep.

8 pm bedtime.

This means also getting my kids to bed at 8 pm. Which means last snack at 7 pm, and supper at 4 pm. Those are our normal times but we slid out of them this summer and have yet to get back. Plus the fact that my son, now 8 years old, wants a 9 pm bedtime.

So my evenings have less down time because I am constantly prodding children along the path to bed, but the overall rewards are great if I can do it.

Go me! And please help me, Lord. Without you, my efforts will not be crowned with success.

P.S. One thing I forgot. I am hoping and working toward 50,000 new words this Nanowrimo. As of today, I have 30,066 words.

The Cracks My Writing Falls Into

I found this phrase in my old writing files that I am sorting and deleting. It describes perfectly how my writing time slides in and fills the edges of my life. It reminds me of these pictures of Japanese pottery, although I go back and forth about which is the gold and which is the clay. My attitude and I are also a work in progress.

Photo: Wikipedia

Leftover Words

It turns out that having 20 unfinished first drafts or so is not all bad. Using Bibisco, I have now chunked it out into rough chapters and scenes, copy and pasting my favorite parts from various drafts. I picked Babisco off Google's list of free writing software because it sounds like Nabisco, but now I like it for itself and love using it.

I have 22, 398 words. And an outline! I am coming into this Nanowrimo with far more than any other year. Yay!

My writing affirmation for when the going gets tough is:

KEEP SHOWING UP.

There may be a day that you give up, but it is NOT TODAY.

Time to read some Nanowrimo posts as encouragement and reward. Or browse Tiny Houses. I'm actually off to do a lava kit with my son that he got for his birthday. 

Things I Want to Save

I am deleting my numerous book-related files and Word scraps, but there are a few things I would like to save.

George Orwell - Why I Write

Barry Schwartz - The Paradox of Choice

C.S. Lewis - Three Ways to Write for Children

Chris Guillebeau - The Happiness of Pursuit

Francis Frangipane - The Three Battlegrounds

"Writing a novel is more like a marathon than a sprint. Unless you're doing Nanowrimo, then it's like college all over again." Me

The name of the land and home we do not have yet - Piedras Paradas

Nanowrimo 2017

My daughter is now in preschool and my son is in 2nd grade. We live in the U.S. now, although still deeply connected to Ecuador and our ministry there.

I just finished moving the best parts (I hope) of my story from Word into Bibisco. I love how I can piece out the chapters and scenes, and move things around. Every time I use it I feel like the impossible is slowly becoming possible as I see my book taking shape. I am at the tipping point of my excitement overcoming my discouragement and fear.

I just moved the last scene over and feel tired. The skeleton of my story is mostly there, with a few missing bones here and there. My next step is to flesh it out, edit, edit, edit, then let some other eyes in. Then perhaps a professional edit, then sending out my manuscript. What a trip this has been and will be!

My goal is to finish the skeleton and muscles by Christmas. Actually sooner, by November 28. Nanowrimo here I come, again! The third year is the one. Ha ha.

So here I am again, taking a break from writing by writing. My new motto is: Writers Write. That's it. Like Dory would say, "Just keep writing, writing, writing, wriiiiiiiting, wriiiiiiiting, what do we do we write, write, write."

 I will now go and sign up for Nanowrimo. A treat to tell myself, "Well done. You are still here."



(I came back to add this year's participant badge. Yay! This year's novel is a go! Time for recess.)