Happy Thanksgiving!

The Language of SIsters

Sisterhood is a process, and it is unfolding every day in this house.

Elliot is constantly communicating with Maya, using hand gestures to say "Hey, I want that" or "Come here" or "It's okay, Maya"... or sometimes, "I really want a fist full of your hair," though we're trying to curb that one. Between her improvisational sign language (poor second child, I haven't even looked at the baby signing book!) and the growing number of actual words she knows, she usually gets her point across to her big sister.

So I should not have been surprised yesterday when Maya anticipated Elliot's needs before I did.

Tired and dragged down by the rhino virus (thanks preschool!), I was basically ignoring Elliot's pleas to get out of her high chair in my rush to finish dinner. She had cheerios and a board book. She was just fine.

I was even too tired to protest when Maya pushed a chair over, pulled out a sippy cup, and filled it with water from the door of the fridge.

Instead, I kept chopping my vegetables and internally practiced my 'calm-mommy' response: "Uh-oh, Maya, you should get a towel and clean that up." It takes a bit of practice to override the instinctive, "WHY?!" scream.

Then Elliot was suddenly content. Looking over, I saw Maya standing next to her, patting her on the toes while Elliot guzzled the fresh water. "See mom, she was just thirsty."

Her sister knew.

The End!

Nearly 66,000 words in 23 days. Woo hoo!

This was an exhilarating process. The book essentially followed my outline, though it reach the mile markers in much different ways than I expected. I grew weary in the middle, disenchanted with the shape of the story, and disheartened that it was a lot of movement and interaction without much depth or meaning.

Surprisingly, plugging on to the end was extremely effective. The very last paragraph I wrote somehow summed up the meaning I was after. Now, armed with my handy NanoNotes document where I stuck every revision idea that occurred to me, I should be able to rework it into something a little more satisfying.

Funny how one goal flows into the next. First it was 50,000 words in November. Then, when I hit that last Monday, the goal was to finish the story in November.

Now that it's done, I want to reach a cohesive second draft before my brithday... And after nano, I know I can get it done!

The End

The two sweetest, most restorative words in the English language. Yesterday around 3:30, I added those 2 to the nearly 66,000 others on my 230 page manuscript, and declared myself an aspiring novelist.

Whoo hoo. I finished in 23 days!

I learned a few things in the process.

1. Anything I write while the girls are awake and playing among themselves is likely to have is likely to have gibberish somewhere in the middle of it :)

2. Tell Maya you're writing a book and she'll fill you with inspiration (for example, it should have a dinosaur, but no scary monsters)

3. Spending a couple of hours a day slamming out nearly 3,000 words of fiction leads to an overactive imagination... A funny trait in kids, but kinda irritating in adults when nearly every conversation derails on a tangent: "wouldn't it be funny if ..."

Phew,my November novel writing is over, just in time for pie baking season!

Maya's Rocket

Style!

Winner!

Notice the little icon on the right? It has been tracking my progress all along.

Yesterday, I reached 50,000 words on my speed-written novel.

Now, of course, I have a new goal. FINISH the novel before Thanksgiving!

I have at least another ten thousand, maybe fifteen to write if I'm going to give it an actual ending. So I'm still typing away every chance I get. And I'm haunted already by all of the changes I want to make in draft 2!

Seriously, this has been a fun experience.

Thanks for bearing with me on the scant blog posts! I'll pick it back up with more stories in December.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this.

Maya and I built a cardboard spaceship today, classic cold weather entertainment. At one point, we had to stop and watch Elliot as she billygoated herself up onto a chair in the kitchen, then onto the kitchen table, where she proceeded to dance a little Irish jig, each step shuffling her closer to the edge of the table before I snatched her up.

Now no place is safe, and Elliot must start learning the meaning of "No." We've reached yet another milestone!

Lil' Farmer

Onward

Impossible to know where I am with the story... maybe half-way, but hopefully 2/3 of the way.... I made it to 40,000 today, and am hoping for 60ish by the end of next weekend. And am hoping that leaves me with a full first draft, so I can do some holiday baking.

It definitely has it's own momentum, and is a lot of fun to write.

The "Inner Editor" problem is really more of an issue now than before, though. Typos I can live with, but now that I have a much better idea of how the story will wrap up, I am so tempted to read through what I have and make it all line up with that.... Instead I'm just keeping a separate file of notes so I don't forget what I had in mind for Draft 2.

Also, I'm starting to get more and more haunted by the other idea I had in mind for Nano. I didn't pick that one because it seemed to silly, but I keep thinking about ways to make it strong. Once the creative juices start flowing, it becomes a flood pretty quickly!

Cracked

35,000+ which is great. Really, it feels really good.

And yesterday I did something I really haven't done since college. I let someone else read my writing!

I sent the book so far to a friend, who certainly would have encouraged me no matter what. However, I actually believe her enthusiasm for the story. I, of course, am already fond of it, and it is great to hear someone else rattle on about these people who have been sharing my days....

And it's a good thing I let her read it. Without a little positive feed back and external enthusiasm, I might be tempted to give up in spite of a good head start.

The real world is banging on my door with determination, in the form of loads of relatives complaining about not seeing us enough, planning trips to see us... plus, last night a sick three-year-old that almost guarantees a sick 1-year-old... and probably a sick me.

But I'm motivated to finish the tale, for myself and my friend.... and for the second draft that will be even better than this one.

So 5,000 more words done, and a whole lot more to go.

Wide Open Spaces

I recently went through all of the toys in our house, sorting, cleaning, donating, tossing, and rediscovering tons of exciting things that had gotten lost around the house.

We ditched the big bed in the playroom and officially moved Maya's little bed downstairs, opening up a much bigger space for play.

We also removed the closet doors and the doors to the cabinet, mostly to limit the finger pinching possibilities. This brought neglected toys from the closet out into the lime light. Both girls have been playing nonstop ever since.

OH YEAH!

I'm at 30,000 plus a handful, and this story has it's own momentum now.

I still have a long way to go in the story arc, but the plot has thickened, so to speak, and it seems to take fewer words to cover each event now.... and the character's are surprising me by demanding new and different roles for themselves.... forcing them on the track I had originally mapped out would work against the unity of the story, so I'm following them and the story's logic where it goes.

For now though, after a piddley 1,500 words for the day, I'm breaking to make cookies, have a dance party with my girls, and watch a movie this evening.

I want 40,000 by Friday night though, so I'm planning on three big days coming up.

Sisters

Picture taken on an early November, unseasonably warm, adventure day in Tamarack park.

28,477 - but a struggle

I think I put in about 3,000 words today, which isn't bad at all for a day home with the girls. Our first day trapped inside by the bitter cold weather.

Funny, because last week at this time it was 75 degrees and we were picnicking in the woods.

The story has turned a corner, with all sorts of struggle and plot horrifying my characters, which is good. The cast may be too big. They seem to scatter on me when I try to take up another voice for the next section. All that will be fixed later.

What's really problematic is that giving people in my personal life a heads up about November being busy has backfired. Somehow everyone, EVERYONE is giving me the "I know you said you were busy but I need you to...." or "do you mind if I..." or "It's just one weekend..." So I feel like I've been fencing the demons of the real world, trying to demand my right to escape into nano world.

Exhausting, but I'm holding my ground!

I imagine December will be a very social month.

Pace and Piddling

I passed 25,000 words today, by a few hundred. It was a nice milestone... technically half way through the word count at 9 days in.

I'm about a third of the way through my planned story arc, though I've deviated a bit, so I'm not really that sure where I'll end up (which is a good thing! Keeps it interesting). I can see the mile markers, but keep surprising myself with the road in between.

If that makes any sense.

I'm guessing that to really finish a (rough, rough) draft of this beast, I'll need to hit about 75,000 in November. That is the new goal... not 75,000... a total draft. I would like to make it through the skeleton.

To do that, I've already bypassed two scenes, summarizing them instead of writing the whole thing, simply because I thought they deserved a little more time and attention. The more action-packed, immediate scenes seem easier to write, and I can forge ahead on those to reach the story's end. Later, I can pull back and take time creating of the MC's portentous fireside story telling of an invented 1918 folktale....

Anyway, it seems to have it's own momentum, and I like each scene is a little stronger than the last one.

Taking a break tonight to watch The Fall, which seems to be a good lesson in story telling, judging by the reviews.

I can't believe I haven't done Nano before!

Like a Baby

We don't have very many pictures of Elliot sleeping in her crib.

We've captured shots of her sleeping in a stroller, in my bed, and even one of her sleeping in the high chair. We haven't been brave enough to sneak into her room and make camera clicking noises, certain that the reverberations of that digital "meep" sound would send the sandman racing to the house of some other lucky parent... it's happened to us before, you see.

Finally, though, at 13+ months, Elliot's developed some better sleeping habits. I attribute it to the fact that she can now have blankets, pillows and cuddly animals in her crib, making it a much more alluring place to snuggle.

Isn't she sweet?

20,4443! WooHoo!

Yea! I broke the 20,000 barrier.

And I got through all of the introductory stuff that needs to happen before I can really get moving.

I've started grouping off my characters, because I'm having a hard time with scenes that involve all 8 of the people in exile on this farm. Characters keep disappearing from scenes, and it's hard to keep track of. So now we're doing sort of a small group buddy system.

Fun, though, and I'm looking forward to a weekend of high drama!

I can't believe I waited this long to write so much :)

Plugging Away

I'm at 18,430... squeaking in a bit more than 2,000 words today and finishing a scene that ended up being more important than I thought. One of the MC's has symptoms of the flu, but the virus is mutating quickly and he says nothing, hoping his strain is not the bad one... he wouldn't want to worry anyone, you know.

Meanwhile, three other characters, who emerged from a camping trip to discover that they're in the middle of a pandemic and a power outage, take advantage of a spring shower to clean off from their camping grime.... I think that scene turned out pretty funny... we'll see.

I much preferred my weekend writing, where I had blocks of the 3 or 4 hours to write, helping me stay focused. Now I'm writing for an hour here, 30 minutes there. By the time I feel like I'm back into it, I'm needed elsewhere, or tired, or want to watch the Daily Show.... Grr.

So, the weekend is coming, and my novel will be better for it.

Though I'm glad I have kept moving, even with the little chunks of time. I'm getting into a rhythm, where I end each writing session outlining (very sketchy) the next scene, or at least my preliminary thoughts on it. That way, when I come back a few hours later, I can pick it back up more easily.

Bejeweled.... or BeCheerioed?

If you ever need a few minutes of quiet time with a preschooler around, a cheerio necklace is the way to go. Maya kept quiet and busy for 20 minutes or more, beading cheerios onto a piece of yarn taped to the table.

Meanwhile Elliot ate her share of cheerios, and I was able to obsessively browse The New York Times and Minnesota Public Radio websites for reactions and initial analysis of the most exciting election of my lifetime.

In the end, I was brimming with predictions about Obama's transition strategy and hopeful messages from around the world, AND I was adorned with a lovely, edible accessory. What could be better.

Nano Day 5 - 16,299

I hit about 2,500 today, though it was like pulling teeth.

Everything I wrote sounded completely uninspired. I feel like I have so many things I need my characters to DO for the plot, that I don't get much time to just BE in their heads or to describe the broader scenes.

Maybe it was just a bad day to write... lazy old muse. Or maybe it isn't as bad as I think. Or maybe it is, and I can layer in the more interesting bits later. I think I have already eliminated a couple of characters... or at least side lined them to really small, bit parts instead of major players. It's just too much to keep track of it all.

And I do need to start taking Baty's advice and keeping a notebook at my side to keep straight the names of random friends or siblings of my main characters, or weird hobbies or ticks they end up with, so that these things can be consistent form one scene to the next.

Grr, and I just this moment realized that I wrote an entire scene excluding a character that was there at the start, and then just vanished.

Not my best day so far. Shouldn't have skipped yesterday; it threw me off!

Yes We Did!

If you missed the acceptance speech, find it on line!

Hope! Healing! Moving past perennial wedge issues! I believe the next four years will in fact transform American politics.

Glad I worked ahead....

Because my 1 year old was up for two hours last night.... as it turns out, raisins upset her little tummy, I think.

Combine lack of sleep with the jittery, media driven angst over the election, and I just can't settle, this evening.

I'm also a bit daunted by the next scene, which has to address bigger events, and pull the plot along, as well as introduce the tribulations of an 8 year old.

Definitely am too tired to deal with it tonight. So I'm taking a break :)

Vote, Vote!

We're doing our part....

After the theft of three signs (two classic Obama and one sassy sign reading "We are better than these last 8 years"), I am very glad we reserved one last Obama sign for the big day.

I planted it close to our house with the hope that tomorrow morning I can adorn it with balloons... hee hee, maybe not. That might be a bit much.

But let's vote!

I've offered my babysitting services to every like-minded stay at home mom I can think of, and I'm on call for a few moms who are waiting in the long lines of North Minneapolis. They might need me to pick up their preschoolers if they don't get to cast their vote before class ends.

Is there anyone in your life that might need voting assistance? Help out if you can!

We're hoping to mark the day for Maya and Elliot, too, including election day gifts (the Barack and Hillary children's books!), and we'll let Maya cast her own ballot for our evening restaurant destination.

And we'll bring Maya with us to cast our votes later today.
Isn't democracy great when you have an inspiring candidate!?

Here's to HOPE!

Word Count to Date - 13,784

I'm not up to the math, but I think I wrote about 3,400 words today. An unexpected windfall for a Monday, with both girls home.

I should have predicted this. I like my outline, my characters, the nature of my story. So I should never have worried about the word count.

In college, I was the jerk that wrote with half inch margins and 10 point font so I wouldn't go over the 10 or 20 page limit.

I have words bubbling out of every orifice... gross.. no... I mean, they aren't always good words, but I am loquacious if nothing else.

So my worry, no my expectation now, is that this story is going to take A LOT more than 50,000 words to get down in one draft. I'll just have to cut the slack later.

I would still like to finish the draft in November, so I'll try to keep pulling in the big word counts so I can hit 60,000 or 65,0000.

It went really smoothly today though. All the characters are at the farm, the pandemic has hit, misinformation is spreading more chaos than the actual flu. Even I don't really know what's going on... wait, that's bad probably.

Oh well, this is sooo much fun!

Thank you, Thank you

You are great. All of you. I once posted a gentle reminder that nothing so excites a preschooler as snail mail all their own.

She's too smart to be tricked into thinking credit card spam is for her.

And you have all been fantastic, responding to her letters, tucking in stickers, hair accessories (for her quickly growing hair :), even gift boxes, and generally making her smile every day.
Even Elliot has gotten in on the fun!
What's more remarkable, Maya writes her letters almost completely on her own. She gets the stationary, return labels, stamps, and her roll of Obama stickers, and she assembles the whole thing. If she wants to leave a note, she asks me to write it down for her, but she makes sure that she gets to sign her own name.

Compare this to the 13 year old neighbor across the street, who visited with us while Maya stuffed her outgoing envelopes into the mail slot. The poor kid seemed unclear about which was the return address and which was the actual address.

Is it possible that with the advent of e-mail, snail mail isn't even something kids learn about?

Anyway, if you sent a letter, keep your eyes peeled for the return mail. It may takes us a few days. Today is going to be 75 degrees, so we'll wait for rain!

Day 2 - 4,900 words

I eeked out more than 10,000 words over the weekend.

I was so tempted to just run around outside, enjoying the nearly 70 degree weather, which is unheard of in the northern U.S. this time of year.

And I did get quite a bit of that. But I was a good girl. Just as soon as my hubby's ultimate frisbee tournament was over, I dived right in.

This was an easy 10,000, all scenes that I have thought through quite a bit. I was totally surprised by how fun it was, like day dreaming in class in junior high.

Of course today, my characters were camping, something I love to do, and the main love interest was introduced, so that was fun.

A good start though, and it gives me the leeway I need, with two kids with volatile sleep habits!

Tomorrow I'll post a brief expert, since I think I like what I wrote today.

5,400 Words!

I'm not entirely sure I'm done for the day, but I'm taking a break.

I reached 5,400 , though I'm not that far into my outline... at this pace who knows how long this book will be.

It's really pretty awful at this point, I think. I have no sense of whether I'm actually capturing the mood, the setting, and the personalities that I have in my head.

I have introduced all three of the main viewpoint characters, I have initiated the bird flu scare (everyone loves a good crisis!), and I've gotten one of the three groups to the farm.

If I can get another 5,000 words down tomorrow AND move all of my characters to the rural farm where the rest of the story takes place, I think I'm on track for serious word count success.

So far, it's like taking a little vacation in my head. How fun!

November Novel Writing

That's right, I'm writing a novel in November.

It's part of a totally silly contest, called National Novel Writing Month. During the next month, I, along with 125,000 other crazy people, will attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. That's short, for a novel, about the length of Lord of the Flies.

I heard about the competition last year, when Elliot was new, and everything about being an at-home parent was half over-whelming and half mind-numbing.

A year later, I'm in the groove of parenting small children (mostly). Other people strive to run a marathon. For me, writing a novel has always been a "some day" goal. With my 30th birthday looming ahead, now is the time to do it. Also, when I go back to work someday, I really, REALLY won't have any time.

So instead of blogging, naptimes will be used for crafting a story about a group of disenchanted urbanite professionals who flee the city during a major flu pandemic and struggle to survive not only the illness, economic crash, and panic that accompanies it, but life with minimal technology and outside leadership.

I've written several future-dated posts, to keep the blog going, and I'll post cute pictures whenever I get a chance.

You can keep track of my progress in the little blue box at the right. Peer pressure and an artificial deadline are necessary for a committed procrastinator like me!

Wish me luck!