Another successful NaNoWriMo

I once again participated in National Novel Writing Month. In spite of moving across the country, packing up my apartment and going on a crazy business trip, I did make my word count, barely. I did get off to a really strong start and might have finished up early ut I was railroaded by various things that lead to my not finishing my word count until about the day before the end of the month. I think that is the latest I have ever gone with this event. Normally I manage to get my words out and validate early then I am burnt out for the next year. I hope this year I can keep writing and finish the story. I ran out of words and time but I still have story. I hope to get my schedule settled and get some writing done. My goal would be to write a bit each morning since I am up earlier then I need to be. So if I can get it done before I leave for work, the better. But still a pretty cool thing to do. Maybe one of thee days I will get it published, in the meantime I am hoping to podcast the first novel once I finish this current novel. Keep an eye out here for more information about that. Not sure when that will happen though.

Slowing down?

I don't have a lot of stuff to do at work lately. I know there is a pile of stuff coming up, mostly in the form of paper work, but after that I really don't have any projects I am actively working on. My one project will be sending me out of town shortly on a business trip which is never fun. So I feel like I am slowing down. I get home and have no desire to do anything at home. I sit down and watch episodes of stuff I download for viewing and knit. I am working on a large lace project. I have a few things on back burners that I hope will come through soon. I don't have the motivation to work on them from home, plus my internet connection disappeared so I work on them a little at work. Hopefully they will bear fruit soon. I also have a new white water meetup group I started and I am waiting for that ball to start rolling on that one. I am already up to 100 members in about 2 weeks, which is great, but we have to wait for the water levels to drop before it is safe to get out on the river in any large numbers. Right now there was so much rain that the river was at flood levels. I am still planning on going out Friday night with some people, on a flat water, protected section. Then again on Saturday morning as I need the exercise. I really do need to get out of this funk I seem to have slipped into but it is hard. Work is no longer challenging, nor interesting. The economy sucks so I can't just find another job and move on.

I have started a new writing project. I have already fleshed out most of my outline, at least enough to give me a good start. I have started writing each point as a section and have about three sections finished now. This is almost 6,000 words. I haven't actually done much work at the writing group gatherings as I keep forgetting my iPod cable. At first the iPod was the storage location for my outline. I finally moved the outline to my google docs and then I couldn't get a connection the last time I was at the cafe. This week, there was no writing gathering as no one was able to make it. I went home and watched more stuff while knitting. Oh well. At least I have some kayaking friday and saturday, plus a beer meeting saturday afternoon. The I leave on a business trip which are always boring. At least I will have plenty of time to get some writing done.

My book is in hand!

I received the proof copy of my book today and I am really jazzed up by it. I can't wait to show it off. I wasn't really sure what to expect as it was hard to figure out a few things based on what the web site was telling me. I had a bit of a hard time conceptualizing certain things and I did get a few minor things wrong. Mostly they are things that unless I pointed them out, I doubt people would really notice it. The book is now available at Lulu.com for purchase. I kept the price down as low as possible but I find that Lulu.com is a bit pricey on their softcover format given the number of pages I was printing. In the end, the novel came up to 160 pages in the larger format and 310 in the smaller format and that was after I had resized the font down a little to be closer in font size to an actual paperback novel. I didn't really think the novel was going to be that big, but I am rather impressed not only by the 310 pages but by the feedback I have received from readers. I had a hard time settling on a title but finally went with "The Valley of Hope" I chose a nice picture from my Appalachian Trail pictures for the front cover which I think suits the book nicely. The book can be found here for anyone wanting to purchase a copy: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-valley-of-hope/6654388

Formating work

I have the editing finished for the most part. I also slogged through most of the grammar errors that Word picked out as I was fixing up other edits. I am sure I missed something somewhere but I have to move on and hope I catch it as I go through and work on formating. The formating wasn't a simple thing. I assumed I could set up most of the stuff with document wide settings but I was wrong. I was able to set up an inner margin and an outer margin that way plus set up different headers depending if it was an even page or an odd page. Otherwise, I had to go through each chapter and make sure the chapter titles all lined up in the same location, as well as formating the first letter of each chapter to a larger drop-letter format which required some placement work too. The last thing was to go through and format all the section dividers into something a little nicer. The bear of the work is done and I am now ready to upload to the site.

The site upload was another eye opening experience. Just when I thought everything was done I realized I didn't have a book synopsis, nor did I have a cover. I was hoping that the cover generator that the site had would work for me but as I moved through the steps, I realized I didn't like how it was turning out. So in the end, I had more work to do with a book synopsis, which I also placed on the back cover, choosing a cover image and formating that, as well as setting other little behind the scene things that may or may not have any impact on the book itself but required my attention through the process. I did get it finished and requested my free proof copy. I can't wait to see how it looks.

While I was editing everything on the one site I concurrently did things on the other site to ensure I was getting both copies as close in format as possible. I will only be able to see how things turn out when I actually get the proof copy plus the copies I ordered off Lulu.com I really can't wait to see what the finished product looks like but at the same time I am simply exhaused by the whole process.

Edits are back

I just got the edits back from my last helper and there are quite a few. Mostly I think some of them are that I didn't capitalize King and Prince when using them. Otherwise it wasn't too bad. I now have the file in Word and am trying to go through all the edits as well as fixing up the formating as I noticed I had used the wrong page sizing. I have decided that I am going to post the novel to the CreateSpace site to get the free printing for the challenge award but that I like the fact that LuLu has the smaller pocket version available so I will go ahead and set up another book there too. The pocket size is actually what I associate with a paperback novel so it will be nice to have something that will fit on my book shelf in with the other books on the shelf.

Write in's

I have been pretty good the last few times and actually made it to the last three write in's. While I was more productive at the first and last one, at least I have been making a consistent effort to get back into the writing swing of things. The first of the write in's say me revising the personal conflict scenes of my two major characters. I felt this was needed as there was no really reason why they suddenly decided to change. So I had to delve further into their character and the things that were going on around them to make them see what had to change and give them a reason to change. I feel the story works better now because of that. The last write in saw me starting to work on a new project. I really wanted to start on something and tried to start work on something I had been playing with previously but for some reason the story wasn't coming together in my head so I didn't get anything done the last session. This session, I picked up another pre-existing idea and for some reason I was able to go somewhere with it and have been getting good ideas of where to take the story. I have been continuing to work on that story idea trying to flesh out characters and the major story points. Hopefully I can keep the ideas flowing and get more words out onto the page. I think for simplicity, it will take place in the same world as the last story so I don't really have to redefine the rules of the world. I will likely have it taking place in a different location but same world.

Editing work

I have been trying to slog through all the editing work that is needed on the novel I wrote during the National Novel writing month challenges from 2006 and 2007. I have actually been working on the edits for about a month now and feel I am almost done. As I received an email detailing how I could get a proof copy of my novel if I upload it to one of the printing sites, I am trying to hurry against that deadline to get the novel edited, uploaded and ready to go. I have finished most of the editing and have had a few readers also help with the editing. I have realized that there are a few words I should read up on how to use correctly as I seem to use them incorrectly with extreme frequency. My biggest ones are 'then' and than'. I seem to get dinged on that almost every single time I use the word, that now I am unsure how to use them. I might be able to simply avoid using them but not sure I want to have to be that extreme. I am still waiting for some final edits back from my father.

Writing sessions

I haven't been very good about making it to the weekly writing sessions. I really have to be better at going to those as I really want to do more writing. I am currently in the process of editing the first novel I wrote over the first two National Novel Writing Months that I participated in. Over two months I wrote 100,000. The funny thing, now that I going back and editing the thing was that the two parts were written a year apart and there are some strange comments within the text referring to names because I couldn't remember what I had written. I think the editing is also giving me a chance to go back and make sure there is better continuity between the two parts. On a good note, I have had a few friends read the story to get opinions and the feed back has been pretty good. One friend is even helping highlight things that don't really make sense which is making the editing go a bit better. I still find it is hard to edit my own stuff. Guess I will see what happens. Have to start going back to the writing group though.

Another Successful NaNo

Another successful attempt at National Novel Writing Month. This time I wrote about my adventures along the Appalachian Trail. I hope to edit this and add in some pictures. I was a little worried near the end, I had run out of trail days but I still had words left. This was a departure from my first year participating when I ran out of words, but still had story left. I ended up finishing the story the following year. I did find out that once again the people who run National Novel Writing Month have managed to get a deal again to allow last year's winners to get a free printing of their novel. I am going to have to go back through it and trim a little bit of the fluff, but it will be so cool to have a novel sitting on my shelf with my name on it.

Writing group

I have finally started going back to the Wednesday night writing group. I am not consistent yet, but at least I am starting to go and I have been trying to get back into writing again. I don't think I will participate fulling in NanoWriMo this year as it is too hard on my wrists and brain. I also find that when I finish November and Nano, I am too trashed to even think about writing again for many months. I need to be more consistent rather then writing in large bursts. I also want to work more on properly planning out a story line with background and character development. I have been thinking about taking some writing classes but I am not sure what would be more appropriate. I want to do creative writing but I have actually been making money on journalistic style writing, or knowledge based writing. So I could take a creative writing course and try to bring up the other side. Or I can take a journalist class and try to make more money. I think in the end, I might not do much this year and see what the new year brings. This will give me some time to work more on the creative writing side of things. In the end, I have really only made about 20$ from the articles I wrote for Associated Content. Small change but now I am hooked and want to make more. After all, it would be nice to have a white water kayak of my own.

I'm published again!!

I have been trying to write articles on backpacking and how to chose gear that is trip appropriate. I now have 4 articles up at Associated Content and hope to have more up as soon as I can find more time to write. I thought I would have some time on my business trip up to NY but this has been a much busier trip then the last ones were. My face page can be found here, and that page links to all the articles I have written. It is also possible to get an rss feed or subscribe for updates. This site is pretty cool and while I haven't made a ton of money it is nice to start working on something that I can grow.

I'm published

On the net that is. But it is something. I wrote an article for Associated Content about the different types of backpacking shelter styles currently available on the market. The article can be found here: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/715941/backpacking_shelters_everything_you.html If you read it please leave me a comment and please pass it on to anyone who might be interested in learning more about shelters. I am planning on writing a few more articles so stay tuned. It didn't pay much and I won't get rich on it but it is cool to get some money for writing something. I haven't made anything with fiction but I seem to be doing well with non-fiction.

Backpacking articles

As a way to find out if I am might be able to run a backpacking meetup group, I decided to start writing some articles about backpacking. I felt that this would help me organize my thoughts as well as see if I have anything useful to say. I have been working on a relatively simple post about tents. Or at least I thought it would be simple but it is getting a little out of hand. Oh well. Surfing around and looking at tents isn't so bad. I am actually having a bit of fun thinking about what I want to write about next. I think stoves are up next then I am not sure but I am pulling together a list of things that might be worth writing about and that I have some experience with. Once I finish with the article and if it gets accepted for submission, I will post a link to it here.

Yeah, Finished!!

So once again I finished my NaNo challenge of 50,000 words in 30 days.  Actually I managed to finish in less than 30 days owing to a late and slow start followed by a blaze of glory over Thanksgiving.  A blaze of glory that allowed me to finish 20,000 words in two days leaving me with the story finished and my wrists hurting.  Yes, I did know better, but I was in a groove and wanted to finish.  I will be nice to my wrists over the next little while to give then a chance to heal.  This year was a success on two fronts.  Not only did I finish the word goal but I actually ran out of story.  I managed to tied up most of the loose ends and any untied ends where likely forgotten since last years NaNo event.  I would like to start editing but I get the feeling that will not be happening.  I will be trying to give my wrists a back a well deserved break.  Not that sitting and reading on the sofa has been better for my back but it is better for my wrists.

Over the four day break I used two to finish writing and the other two to drive myself crazy.  Since I didn't have anything planned, I was absolutely bored out of my head.  I guess I don't deal with down time very well.  I did pick up a few things at the store to continue working on the paddle.  I also avoided Black Friday.  There was no way I was going to deal with either the traffic or the people.  Writing was a good excuse to stay in.

Short week, busy weekend

Although I worked Sunday, Monday and part of Tuesday up in New York, as we worked long hours, this felt like a short week. I have Friday off since I worked Sunday, which is adding to the short week syndrome. So it really only feels like I worked two days this week. I didn't work Tuesday afternoon. This was a combination of not feeling well and getting back late enough and exhausted enough that I couldn't bring myself to walk down to work even for an hour. So I unpacked and finished the book I was reading. it was a good book and I will try to write a little review of it soon. I find I have been slipping a litlte in my posts. I have been seeing someone lately. Add that to the crazy work schedule of this last week and all the kayaking I have been doing on the weekends, plus the intermittent wifi I have, and that means I have been slipping in my posts.

Trying to look on the bright side of things, I did manage to get the whole first chapter of my NaNo writing edited and posted to my other blog. Not sure when I will have a chance to get any other chapter posted though. Time will tell. I am going home for Thanksgiving next week so that should give me a chance to get some things done. The list is getting long. I want to finish up the baby caps I was knitting over the summer and post those for sale soon. I was also going to see if my friend wanted to try to sell a few to her customers. And a friend had a baby recently so I was thinking of giving her one. That is always a good way to get requests and more sales. I wanted to make tags for the hats so that people could contact me or at least know who made them. And that is one thing that has really been holding up the caps.

I am also gearing up for a weekend paddling trip. We are heading out to Eastern Neck to paddle and have fun. We will be heading out Friday night to stay at the camp grounds, then we paddle Saturday. There will be a group potluck to which I will be bringing my Death by Chocolate pie, then we will head back Sunday. I made the pie this morning (cutting it a little tight) but it is less rich than I normally make it. I was making a smaller one this time so I followed the recipe were normally I make a larger pie and increase the amount of chocolate which makes for a richer, denser filling, hence the name. This one will be good but I don't think it will live up to the ones I have made in the past.

Harry Potter

I received a copy of Harry Potter to read from a friend. And, no I am not going to give any spoilers. My friend picked up the book Saturday and spent the whole weekend reading it. I received it Tuesday and finished it Wednesday night. It wasn't bad but the story seemed to drag at points. It was like the author forgot to fill in background information and was now just catching up on it. Slogging through that and trying to determine what was worth reading was rather boring in a way. While I mostly enjoyed the story, I think I would rather have heard the fillet and just been done with it. I know it is a kids book and I tried to disregard the fluff, which did make for a better read. I am not sure I cared for the ending, it seemed a little too tidy but in the end it is over.

I went to the NaNo writing group meeting tonight. We have been trying to find a good location in the Dupont Circle area which is mostly convenient for everyone, but many places don't have plugs or they have limited seating. I am not sure what will happen but each time we meet it is at a different location. I hope we find something and settle soon. I mostly read just so I could finish HP but I want to get back on the writing bandwagon.

Journal Pub and Writing

Yesterday after work, I decided to finally go to the weekly writing get together as I have been missing them in favour of spending time with my boyfriend. The group decided to move locations as the last location was having AC issues and we just had the heat break last night. We are now in Dupont Circle which works great for me as I can take the free shuttle in then either a bus home or the free shuttle back then walk. The location is okay but they have interesting music, plugs for the laptop users (which I think we all are), and free wifi. Wifi is great for research but is sometimes a little bit too much in the temptation department. I managed to stay the course and continue building my outline from my rough draft that I wrote during NaNoWriMo. I am hoping to get that done next week then get back to planning and writing more. I also think I will start minor editing of the first chapter and post that on my other blog. Although, now that I have been looking at this story again, I find I have lost interest in it and might start another that has been kicking around in the back of my head. It would be nice to finish this one first just so I have that accomplishment under my belt before trying to take on another story.

Today I hosted a Journal Pub. First of the summer, it has actually been a while since the last one. Turn out was very low as usual. People asked for Thursdays and everyone who asked for it didn't bother to show up. I think I will try Friday next week and see how that goes. One of the kegs emptied so I can start another batch of beer. I think I will try to make another stout using a different recipe with no molasses. I also have the chocolate extract so I can make up a few bottles of chocolate stout. I put a different regulator on my CO2 tank. It works better than the last one which was slowly breaking. I also had a leak in the lines somewhere but I suspect it was the regulator. I am still a little afraid to leave the CO2 on as I don't want to needlessly empty the tank. On the other hand there is no reason to leave it on so I don't.

February already?

Where does the time go? I guess part of the time has disappeared into beer making but I really don't have much to do during the week and I assumed that time would start to move a little slower. It seems that it hasn't. There was writing group meeting tonight but I stayed late at work and opted to not go. Also the car was in the shop and I really didn't want to commute over as it was so cold out. I did make it one of the meetings and while the people were nice and I did know one of them, I really didn't get any work done. I think that I really need to read through what I have written so I can get a fresh interest in it again. I really want to finish the story, especially before I forget where I was going with it but also so I can say I did it. What is the point of saying I wrote a 50K word novel if I can't say I finished it. I will have to make the time and energy to go the next thursday and force myself to start reading and outlining what I already have to I can outline and finish an ending. I think I will also post the first chapter to my other blog, I will put a notice on this blog when that happens.

More snow, or maybe not

Its been snowing off and on again for a good few hours but there has been no accumulation. There does not even seem to be a chance of accumulation. The weather here has been a little annoying. It is as if it can't decide to snow or not. Oh well.

I went to a writing group that was spawned off from a NoNaWriMo a couple of years ago. The 'head' of the group posted to the nano board saying they changed to thursday night, so off I went. Good thing I off loaded an updated version of my writings or I would have been left with a slightly outdated copy. I guess I would have had to read the thing and try to outline it so I would know where to go next rather then stumbling around in the dark, aimlessly. I should take the time to outline what I have and try to pickup forgotten characters. It might even help me to figure out how fast things are happening and how to bring things together. I will get to that, but later as the procrastinator in me says.

In the meantime, I didn't get much written but I did get to meet with a few other writers from NaNoWriMo and we did chat on and off over the course of two hours. I will try to go somewhat regularly. I will also have to figure out if it is better to drive there as it is rather close or commute. I commuted tonight and found out they moved my bus stop so I missed the bus. It was cold out so I started walking and picked up the next one a few stops down. It isn't that far a drive but I would worry about not being able to find parking on the street back at the apartment. It does fill up after a certain time. In some ways that has made me less dependent on the car, I really don't want to move the car if I know I can't get a parking again. Also, the car still needs work so I don't want to move it more then I have to.

Novel progress

I am actually up to 14 chapters. I am not sure the last few chapters are any good but at least I am progressing. I have been working on the last two chapters back and forth trying to finish them but with all the typing I have been doing at work I am all typed out when I get home. Then by the time I cook something and eat I feel like it is almost time for bed. I have been doing some knitting as it it relatively easy to pick up and drop. I am knitting a swatch to determine the best needles to use on a pair of mittens for myself. I found a nice pattern on knitty and I have some nice wool that would work well with the pattern I think. At last check I was at 55,000 words. I have actually moved from using Word to using Writely. Word was slowing my laptop down so much it wasn't funny. I had trouble moving back and forth between programs. I didn't even have the entire novel open, I have decided to keep each chapter separate to help with moving chapters around if I need, or to add if that comes up. I really want to get this done as Lulu's has a special offer for NanoWriMo participants that they will print one free copy of a winners novel and send it too them. I think that is great and want to participate in that. If for nothing else than to see my name in print on a novel but I want it to be finished with an ending of some sort. That is much better than just bragging about having written a novel. I have been thinking about releasing a few chapters on the web on another blog. Not sure if I want to inflict this on anyone. Send me a comment if you want to sway my decision or read what I wrote.