Day 29: Keep Writing

I am both too young and too old to be very wise and I am struggling through these last days of NaNoWriMo just as you are; what can I say? What can I do to help you get through this? Not much, but maybe these writers can:

"You say grace before meals. I say grace before I dip the pen in the ink."
— G.K. Chesterton"

"There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don't want to, don't much like what you're writing, and aren't writing particularly well"
— Agatha Christie

"I never exactly made a book. It's rather like taking dictation. I was given things to say. "
— C.S. Lewis

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
— Louis L’Amour

“You may tire of reality but you never tire of dreams.”
― L.M. Montgomery, The Road to Yesterday

"Write me of hope and love, and hearts that endured." — Emily Dickinson

"I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I'm simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles."
— Shannon Hale

“Every few weeks she would shut herself up in her room, put on her scribbling suit, and fall into a vortex, as she expressed it, writing away at her novel with all her heart and soul, for till that was finished she could find no peace.”
― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Aha! Today I shall become an author! And I will auth and auth and auth and make a squillion dollars, whoopee!"
— Brian Jacques

"Have you thought of an ending?"
"Yes, several, and all are dark and unpleasant."
"Oh, that won't do! Books ought to have good endings. How would this do: and they all settled down and lived together happily ever after?"
"It will do well, if it ever came to that."
"Ah! And where will they live? That's what I often wonder."
— J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)


Keep writing. Keep telling your story. Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.
~Rita

Day 28: Thanks for Words

For Americans, today is Thanksgiving. That means food, football (not for me,) counting our blessings and thanking God for the good things in our lives.

There are the usual things to be thankful for of course, friends, family, good food, and hopefully the day off. But at least take a moment to think of all the things we have to be thankful for as writers:

Books, libraries, book stores, bargain books, new books, old books…

All the words you wrote this month, in fact all the words you’ve ever written

All of your ideas, the big ones, small ones, bad ones, really good ones, all of them

Every person you’ve met, talked to, or seen this year. You never know who’s going to inspire your next character.

Any advice you’ve gotten this year on writing.

All the criticism that nearly broke your heart; It made you a stronger writer.

Any rejections you’ve had, this too has helped you work harder at your writing.

All the good things people have said about your writing.

Every funny, embarrassing, awful, delightful, and boring moment you’ve experienced, seen, or heard about. It’s all fuel: hoard it.

Everything you’ve learned this year, on any subject.

All the places you been, fantastic places, boring places, strange places; Ordinary places that you’ve been to a thousand times.

Pens, pencils, paper, printers, keyboards, chalk, sand, and thing else you’ve ever used to write record words

Words: All the words you’ve ever heard, or read, or made up.

There is so much that goes into our writing that we take for granted. Do you know that as a homeschooler I have no idea what attending a high school would really be like? I could, however, tell you about canning peaches or about the scent of wood smoke when it’s so cold the snow sounds dry when you walk across it. I could tell you about doing my math under a tree, or watching a calf be born.

What is normal and boring for you isn’t so for everyone. The world is a big place and everyone is living different lives. Sometimes I think that’s all people mean when they say ‘write what you know’ you can make up all kinds of things but don’t forget to use bits of things around you. The world is full of things we can use in our writing, we just have to look, really look, around for them.

Take time to appreciate, and give thanks for, everything that fuels your writing; the things we concisely draw from and the things that we aren’t even aware of being an influence.

Thanks for reading,
~Rita

Day 27: Borrowed Encouragement

Okay, I confess, I didn’t have much done for today’s post so I may have…borrowed some wise words. Really, I don’t mean any harm…I guess I didn’t really ask if I could but, well, I think we kinda need them, so yeah I took them. I mean these are the final days, I needed some help.

So anyway, have fun:

“These are the words you are looking for.” (Jedi mind tricks work every time.)

“Writing isn’t a strict progression of thoughts to words; it’s more a big ball of wibbly, wobbly, writerly… stuff.” (The Doctor said this, well sort of)

“One does not simply stop writing on the 27th of November” (thank you Boromir, that’s exactly what I was looking for)

one does not simply stop writing

“Okay, I can write this! I am, after all, a superhero!” (Larry Boy knows what he’s talking about, well most of the time.)

“Second word of the night and strait on till morning!” (I think Peter Pan said this, he always was clever)

“Weavers of Stories! Of Novels! My kindred! I know in your eyes must be the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day may come when words run dry, when we forsake our characters and leave their stories untold. But it is not this day. An hour of dry pens and broken keyboards when the age of Novelists comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we write! By all that you hold dear in good tales, I bid you stand! Writers of November!” (Paraphrased version of Aragorn’s speech at the black gates)


Good luck,
~Rita

Day 25: Don't Panic but it's a Deadline

Looming deadlines are things that either send us into a blinding panic or motivate us to write as we have never written before.

Take a deep breath and have a piece of chocolate, go to your happy place. You there? Good now stay calm, there’s a deadline coming up fast, but it’s okay because you’re not going to panic. No, you are going to write as you never thought you could.

You are going to sit down and write whatever comes into your head. You are going to write so fast that you don’t even know what it is you’re writing until you look back at it, and you’re not going to do that until the month is over.

Day 24: You Can't lose

We have one week left. Take today to rest up and prepare for what is to come. You are going to need it.

This last week is when you make that final push to catch up. You may survive only on coffee and chocolate. You may go without sleep. You may hurt your hands typing and have to resort to speech recognition to get things done. You may come to view the phrase, ‘word count’ as the product of your worst night mares.

But if there is one thing you will not do it is this: you will not falter, you will not give up, and you will not lose. You will not, you cannot lose in this. 

I know that you will not lose because not only are you not a quitter, you are a Creator. This month has always been about creating something new and whether you reach that 50,000 or whether you could only manage 5,000 every single word is a part of something new. Never before have those words been put together in just that way. Never before has your story been told. This month is its chance, so give it all you can this week.

Give it your best.

Wake up tomorrow prepared to write as you have never written; new lines and fresh ideas. I know you’ve been at this for the past month. I know you’ve worked hard. I know that it’s hard to imagine coming up with anything new this week, the thing is I know you can. You’re a writer, you’ve been at this for weeks yes, and you’ve learned so much. Look at all that you’ve written. Really look at the reality of the number you’ve been watching for the last few weeks. You did all that. You found new creative depths this month. Don’t let it stop now.

Tomorrow you will wake up and carry on with the same passion that you began with. You will write and learn and create. You will carry through. You are a writer; you cannot lose because whatever this next week brings, you have already won. You have won because this month you learned what it is to be a writer, and you became one.

No one can take that.
No one can diminish it.
No one can change it.

You are a writer.

~Rita

Day 23: You Can Keep on Writing

Do you sit down to write with a thrill of excitement or with dread and resentment?

Has the month gotten too long? Does your story make you cringe away? Do you feel like you have nothing more to say?

Well I can understand that. After 22 posts of this sort I sit down for the twenty third and I feel a bit empty. I keep asking myself ‘what else have I got to say? What else have I to give?’

Day 21: Here's Your Options

We’ve got about a third of the month left and for some that may be causing mini panic attacks. If you’re one of those who is feeling hopelessly behind then this post is for you.

Things happen, we get sick or our computer crashes, or we just can’t fit in enough time to write around work, babysitting, and schoolwork. Time starts running out and our hope of completion is slipping away with it.

When we feel like this there are a few things we can do.

Day 16: Just Start Writing

Louis L'Amour

Staring a page and not knowing what to write is a very familiar occurrence. My brain just sputters at me and creativity goes on strike. I don’t know what to do with myself. Far too often my response is to go read a book or check my email. I find other things to do and leave the empty page behind. But the thing is, it doesn’t get easier to start writing the longer I wait. I lose time and who knows how many ideas because I walked away.

Some people call it writers block. To me that makes it sound like it’s out of our hands and we can’t write until it goes away.

 Lies. 

Day 15: That's Halfway

NaNoWriMo 2012

Today’s the halfway point for NaNoWriMo. According to that that lovely little graph you should have 25,000 words at the end of this day, but you know, it doesn't always happen that way.

This time last year I was frantically writing up until the very last moment to get to that 25,000 mark. I had started out behind by about four days and I was desperate to make up that ground by the halfway point.

I didn’t make it. 

Day 14: My Keyboard for a Word!

I need a word; Just one word to give me a start. Not just any word, a word that will give me direction, an idea. I’m grasping at straws, scrambling for something to say. I just need one word, why is that so hard?

The dictionary is filled with words, I could write about any of them, in theory at least. In the practical sense a post on shellfish isn’t going to motivate very many writers out there.

I could write about procrastination, I’m very familiar with that topic. But if I did that I might never get this done; particularly if I decided to do more research on the subject.

Inspiration, now that’s a nice word. I could use that. I could write all about inspiration. But now that I think, it’s a rather broad topic and one I’m not very up to date on.

I want a good word, the perfect word, to build this post around. I want it to be just right; I want it to be special.

Something inspiring, something worth your time. Poetic, vibrant, alive. All I need is that one word, I’m sure of it!

Oh, a word, a word, my keyboard for a word!

Day 13: Today You'll Write

Today is a good day: Today you get to write! Yes that’s right you get to spend every spare minute of this day writing.

Today you will discover new things; you will go to amazing places and incredible things there.

Today you might write a death scene. It will be tragic, or triumphant, depending on whether or not you liked that character. In any case there will be food later, well hopefully.

Today someone might fall off a cliff. Or climb one. Or maybe they'll have a picnic there.

Today you will write paragraphs that start with different words, not just one. Or not I mean if it’s a good word why not reuse it?

Today things will happen, good things and bad things, lots of things. Things that you will write down to show the world. Or maybe you’ll keep these words, just keep them for you alone.

Whatever story you are trying to tell, today is a good day for it. Why? Because today you will write.

Today, yes today you will write.

—Rita

Day 13 of NaNoWriMo

Day 12: The Moment of Giving Up: Don't

Sometimes we have nothing to say. No brilliant plot twists. No new characters. No jokes. No tears, laughter, shouts, dances, songs, mornings, nights, fears, hopes, smells, sights, sounds, feelings, or cravings: Nothing to give that blank section of the page. No words. No wisdom.

Oh yes I have those moments; those days.

 We run out of thoughts or don’t know where to start. We grasp at tendrils of inspiration, almost crying when they slip through our fingers. We turn away from our keyboards and go look for something else to do. We tell our selves we’re looking for ideas, sometimes we are. Sometimes though, we’re just running away.

We’ve discovered that writing is hard: its work. It’s no longer romantic and right now it certainly isn’t fun. We want to stop.

This moment, right here, is the moment in which more might-have-been’s have been born than any other. This is the moment of giving up.

But we can’t. We have stories to tell, dreams to follow, we can’t give up! But sometimes we do. We walk away and let our stories fade into dry husks in notebooks and on hard drives.

Day 11: You're Doing Alright

You don’t need to finish. No I’m not telling you to quit, I’m talking about your story. You don’t have to write the whole thing this month; yes NaNoWriMo challenges you to write a novel in 30 days. That doesn’t mean that any actually expects you to do it. What people do expect is for you to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. The operative word here being ‘of.’ Your story can be longer than that, most books are.

You don’t need to worry if it doesn’t look like you’ll be finished with your book this month, you have next month, and then next year to finish it. By the end of this month you should have a good sized chunk of it written up, a chunk you can add to, carve out, and polish up into a full sized novel of your very own.

But right now you’re working on that first big chunk. No I take that back, you’re working on little 1,667 word sized bits (give or take) that are slowly being cobbled together to make that big chunk. Really, if you look at it, I’d say you have a pretty sizable chunk already. Just think what it’s going to look like when it’s three times that size!

Take a moment to think about that, just sit back and look at what you’ve gotten done in the last ten days. Maybe it’s not everything you’d hoped for but it’s still pretty cool. Yeah, you’re doing alright.

……

Okay, moments over, go write another bit :)

~Rita

Day 6: My Inner Drill Sergeant

What do are you doing here? This is a blog, a collection of writing yes, but it’s not your writing. This isn’t your blog and it certainly isn’t your novel, so why in the name of Webster are you dawdling around here! You are supposed to be writing! You can’t write here therefore you have no business being here. Why do you even have your browser open? Oh, you were updating your word count were you? I hope it’s the full quota and you’ve finished for the day, because if you think I’m going to tolerate you hanging about while you are supposed to be writing you are sadly mistaken. What’s that? You came here for encouragement? Well not today. I haven’t got time to be coddling anybody! You want advice? GET WRITING! That’s what this is all about isn’t it? Writing! So go on and get to it! NOW!

Ahem, I hope my inner drill Sergeant didn’t scare anyone off. If you’re looking for something a little gentler feel free to check the archives. (Oh and I really do love seeing you here, just come back when you finish your word count, things should be calmer then.)

Rita (and the Inner Drill Sergeant)