Nearing the End of Days: NaNoWriMo 2011 (Days 26-27, 52150 Words)

This morning, bathed in the glow of the lamplight, sipping on fresh coffee, watching the sky brighten from the all encompassing black into the defined shapes of fences, trees, rooftops and telephone poles, I find I am having a hard time believing there are only a few days left in November. This November has been so full...with so many different kinds of things happening, from concerts to sandy walks along the ocean's edge. I have listened to countless hours of music. I have written over 50,000 words that span 136 pages (so far). I have traveled (in my book) halfway across the country and nearly back. I have spent time with amazing friends who inspire and challenge me. I've crunched leaves with my feet. I've stomped through puddles. I've made a million small discoveries about myself, about my characters. I have laughed. I have cried. I have tried to learn how to play the ukulele (but due to the Great Ukulele Conspiracy of 2011, I have been unable to get my hands on an instrument (with effective strings)).

I am having a hard time imagining my mornings starting out any other way. Every morning I've had to call my own, I have gotten out of bed, eager for the writing time to begin. It's never been so easy for me. I've never felt so compelled.

If we are only counting words, I have already won this year's NaNoWriMo. Friday night I crossed over the 50K line, the word count needed to submit your novel and "win." My plot isn't quite wrapped up, my characters are stranded in South Dakota and need to find their way back and to their ending. I am optimistic that can do this in the next 8,000 words and have set my sights on crossing the 60K line before the calendar rolls over to Thursday and December is born. It's only 2,000 words a day, which is below my daily average. It will be a personal best.

More than ever (once some edits are worked out) I am looking forward to sharing this work with some of you. In the past year, these characters and their lives, have really taken a hold on my heart and my imagination. The other night, they even made a guest appearance in my dreams!

The sky is now bright and my characters are waiting for me.

"The most tender place in my heart is for strangers. I know it's unkind, but my own blood is much too dangerous."

          from Hold On, Hold On by Neko Case

Pier Park on the morning of Thanksgiving

Controlled Chaos and Pepper Spray (NaNoWriMo 2011, Day 25, 48140 Words)

Controlled chaos. Those are the words I choose to use to describe this (work) day.

I read stories about the woman in a Wal-Mart last night who used pepper spray to clear people away from the areas she wanted to shop. 20 adults and CHILDREN were injured by her actions. Why? So she could buy a bunch of useless crap that won't mean anything in a month? A year? It completely baffles me that someone would do that to other human beings. All to get a "good" deal...which you can often find on other days, with less crowds. Black Friday has become more about the hype than the good deals.

I seem to recall living in a world where I felt safe at a big box retailer or on a college campus. I seem to recall growing up in a world where the only people who used pepper spray were either afraid of rapists or police officers being aggressively attacked.

Clearly I wasn't paying attention while the world around me changed.

This has been a year of personal reflection for me, a time of focusing on the things that are important. And by things, I do not mean material possessions. I mean time...time to read a good book, go for a walk in the world (where thus far, I have yet to encounter pepper spray), to listen to music (live and recorded), to eat a good meal with family and friends, to write this book that is near and very dear to my heart. Time to create new things...with yarn, with buttons, with food, with friends.


Life is too short not to do those things that are truly important to you and spend it with the people who are important to you.


This is why, for the past 24 hours, I've spent a minimal amount of time writing. I've less than 2,000 words to go to "win," and I can probably wrap up the plot in about 6,000 if I have to. I still have two full (non-holiday) days off out of the next 5. I can't wait to see what happens next.

"I was wanting you to love me, but your love it never came. All the other love around me was just wasting all away."

           from Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell by The Flaming Lips

What I can't wait to finish reading.

Thankful (NaNoWriMo 2011, Day 24, 47003 Words)

Last night was the night that I just couldn't do it. I tried, I really did. I barely eeked out 600 some words and marginally progressed the plot forward. Some days are just like that. I guess I'm thankful that I've been fortunate to have had so few this month.

This is my annual Thanksgiving post. I do appreciate that Thanksgiving falls during NaNoWriMo because it guarantees that I'll be writing and I'll remember to do this.

What follows is a stream of consciousness rambling about the many, many things I have to be thankful for. It is not an all inclusive list because, seriously, who has time for that?

I am thankful for sunrises, sunsets, warm rain, trees, the sound of the ocean's roar, lanterns, lists, clouds, a good writing pen, a blank piece of paper, my laptop (and supporting lap desk), coffee/espresso, books (so so so many books), favorite new authors, long-standing favorite authors, Legos, a husband who loves and appreciates me, a dog who makes me smile and knows when I'm having a rough sort of day and sticks by my side to remind me everything will be okay, friends old, friends new, music...so much wonderful music and so many talented musicians, Rock Band, family (connected by blood or other means), cozy blankets, lazy afternoons, breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner (all the meals I get to enjoy when there are so many who don't), lovely alcohol enhanced beverages, a job that doesn't make me miserable (and that can often bring me joy), brilliant (and often inspiring) people I get to work with, tomorrow, yesterday, a night filled with inspiring dreams, road trips, forest hikes, phone calls from someone I miss more than they know, the sound of seagulls, snow days, slippers, fireplaces, hot showers, Smart Wool socks, Doctor Who, listening to a new album by an old favorite for the first time, hammocks, warm summer days, being able to turn the heat on when I want to, photographs, the internet, my iPhone, fences, sidewalks, swing sets, a reliable car, curtains, pillows, Ukuleles, NaNoWriMo!, walks in the park, a sky full of stars, and so many, many other things that it would be impossible to list them all and still enjoy this day of Thankfulness...

"Is it all in that pretty little head of yours? What goes on in that place in the dark? Well I used to know a girl and I would have sworn her name was Veronica."

          from Veronica by Elvis Costello

I'm thankful for a latte!

A Strong Drink Cures All (NaNoWriMo 2011, Day 23, 46185 Words)

I really don't drink that much, especially these last few months. A drink here, a drink there, occasionally two (or three) drinks over yonder. But some days, there is nothing better than coming home, kicking off your shoes, and pouring yourself a glass of hard liquor. This day has been one of those days. Cod how.

Tonight I am thankful for no more driving. I spent 3 hours in my car today. That is quite enough, considering I barely escaped the city proper.

I debated if I should even attempt to sit down and write. (After all, three hours of sitting in a car is quite enough sitting!)  Last night I worked through the first draft of what will probably be the hardest scene I've ever had to write in my life and will probably also require the most editing. I know I didn't get it down right, down the way that I wanted to, but in the spirit of NaNoWriMo, I am moving onward and will let it settle until I can come back to it. Hopefully with renewed energy and better perspective.

I also realized yesterday, after about 4 days of writing, what it was that was bothering me. There was a pebble in my shoe, or a thought I couldn't quite remember, something haunting me I couldn't quite figure out. I placed a significant event in my book too early and it's had an effect on everything that comes after. Once I realized my mistake, everything feels much, much better. Right. David Levithan said a writer can usually tell when they've veered off the right course and I have to say, in this case he was 100% correct. I'm just glad it's something I can easily fix without having to completely rewrite the last 20 pages.

I can hardly believe that in the past three weeks, I've already written 120 pages!

Wow. No wonder I'm feeling so tired. Those pages I wrote the first few days feel like they were written months ago, not days ago. I am so looking forward to the time and space to go back and see how my entire story plays out.

I cannot believe that we're down to the last week of 2011's NaNoWriMo. It's amazing to believe that tomorrow is already Thanksgiving.

"And I am a writer, writer of fictions. I am the heart that you call home. And I've written pages upon pages trying to rid you from my bones."

          from The Engine Driver by The Decemberists

From The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

It's OK (NaNoWriMo 2011, 45053 Words)

It's been a rainy kind of exhausting day.

I just have a song to share and a picture because I'd like to get a bit more writing time in before sleep overtakes me. More interesting things in the days to come...

"I'm not afraid of the dark when the sun goes down and the dreams grow teeth and all the beasts come out, cast their long shadows. Every time that they start, I'll be right here with you. I'm not afraid of the dark."

          from Long Shadows by Josh Ritter

"Borrowed" from the internet. I'd cite, but I can't remember where...

Occupy NaNoWriMo 2011 (Day 21, 42339 Words)

This morning there is an aggressive wind whipping the trees and the wind chimes. Occasionally it picks up some rain and slaps it against the windows. I feel lucky to be inside, where it is warm and dry and I am wrapped in a blanket and surrounded by books and music. I have a hot cup of coffee and my stomach isn't hungry. I recognize how fortunate I am. I have much to be thankful for.

I read an article that Neil Gaiman had linked on twitter earlier this morning regarding the recent confrontation between the police and the students at UC Davis. (find it here) Regardless of where you stand on the Occupy Movement, it is a smart article that brings up some interesting points about how the protesters are being treated by the police and how this is different than what has worked for decades. I am left wondering what the hell is going on and why.

This has caused me to think a great deal about my book. I already have a pretty big social/political issue that has worked its way into this draft (and will have to be integrated into the first part from last year), but as I think about my characters, who they are, where they are, when they are, and how old they are...well, I am finding it harder and harder to imagine that they wouldn't at least be talking about what's going on in the world and on campuses nationwide.

I think about Matthew Norman's Domestic Violets (just buy it already) and how the economic crisis wasn't in the first draft. I think about how much it shaped the story, how different it would have been without it. The book would have been completely different and well, frankly, not as good.

There is much that comes out of the editing process (the ever lovely Maureen Johnson has a few words to say about this) and I am really looking forward to January, after some time away, to really sit down and see what comes of the next draft.

"One day I left my room, in the evening. It was freezing, the sidewalk shining. But it was okay. I wasn't lonely. I wasn't no one. I was just hoping for a bookstore like the one I prayed for and the music they play there would be Dinosaur Jr. and the people who worked there would be super skinny and super unfriendly and that would make me happy. That would make me happy."

          from Myopic Books by American Music Club

Stepping Back (NaNoWriMo 2011, Days 19-20, 38322 Words)

I did not write yesterday. At all. No NaNoWriMo, no blog, I don't think I even typed an email (ok, I did one at work). I did this with purpose. Sometimes it's important to take a break, to step away. I'm at a critical, very emotionally challenging part of the story (and by the end of this day, I'll have made my way well past the 40,000 word mark). There are a lot of reasons why I chose to step away for that time.

I have a general idea for how the writing will go today, but I also know that it is going to be tough. Empathizing with the situation I have to face, will not be an easy task. Knowing that, I wanted to approach the work while I, myself, was completely rested and not physically and emotionally drained at the end of a very long work week. Also, I missed my husband.

So I traded an evening of writing for some take-out dinner and the time to curl up next to my husband on the couch to watch Easy A (his choice actually, not mine). I laughed. I relaxed. I got to spend the rest of the evening watching my husband sing and dance Pocket Full of Sunshine, which was highly entertaining. For those of you unfamiliar with the song, it is HIGHLY addictive and will remain rattling around in your head for days. You were warned.

Over the last 10 days of NaNoWriMo, I'll be periodically asking for some help from you. Holden, one of my main characters is an obsessive listener to music and is constantly making playlists of different themes. I'd love it if you'd take the time to answer a few music related questions I'll be posing.

First up? Can you share a song that breaks your heart, a song that hits that emotional place inside you? It may make you cry, and if it doesn't, it at least makes you want to. It would mean an awful lot, and as I mentioned (to those of you on Facebook at least) there will be prizes/rewards coming in early December.

Have I mentioned you look lovely today?


           "I got pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine
            I got a love and I know that it's all mine, oh, oh oh oh
            Do what you want but you're never gonna break me
            Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me, oh, oh oh oh
            From Natasha Bedingfield's Pocket Full of Sunshine