Nanowrimo has me wiped today. Have a kitten.

By the time you are reading this, I will be up to my hips in Nanowrimo…again. I think this is the fifteenth time I’ve done this, but this will be the third time I’ve won (God willing). Of course, the only thing I get for winning is bags under my eyes and a manuscript that needs some love and doctoring. But, hey – I don’t do these things because they are easy. I do them because they are hard.

Do I recommend Nanowrimo to everyone? Only if you want to see what it takes to be a dedicated writer now. I’m crazy and driven to do this. I’m one of those people that says ‘do it’ to anyone who says they wanted to be a writer. Go for it. Take this November to fire up your word processor and write 1700 words a day – about maybe two hours of time. You can miss a couple of shows. You don’t have to speak to your spouse all the time. Your pets can take care of themselves. Write to soothe the muse.

This blog is going to be a little short because I do have to get in my word count for the day, and I wanted to touch base a little. I didn’t want anyone to think I’d abandoned the blog again. Updates will come, but there won’t be a lot to it, sadly.

So – bear with me this month, keep writing and I will look forward to a more substantial update / after action report come December.

Today is going to be a bit of a rest day for me. Only going to work on the outline at work, and when I come home, I’ve got laundry to do. I’m starting to feel a little burned out on writing the outline, and I know I am not going to get it finished in time for Nanowrimo. I’ve got a good third of the book outlined, so it’s not like I am going into this without some sort of plan. Not that it’s stopped me before.

The whole thing is daunting, really. While, yes – I’ve finished books in less time, but there is something different about this one that I can’t really put my finger on. I’m not dreading it…maybe a little intimidated by the idea of a hard deadline. Also – I have an idea for another horror novel that I might pick up in a while (horror is a subset of fantasy, right?). It all seems larger than me to accomplish, but I am going to try anyways. The worst that can happen is I don’t finish it by my deadline of December 31^st, with days off for Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and the day after Christmas.

I can do it.

On other things, my mini painting has gotten a little better. I’m not going to worry about layering, glazes and the 3-D look. I am just going to paint for me. I’m not going to compete in contests, I’m not doing commissions. This is as close as I am going to get to a visual artistic medium, and to he honest – this is for mini I am going to use in my D&D games. No one cares.

I don’t know why I am feeling so anxious about Nanowrimo this time around. I’ve won it a couple of times now, I’ve been in it longer than I can remember, but it seems really larger than me this time. Maybe it’s because I am really throwing myself into it this year. Going to all the write-ins, getting up earlier to get an extra hour of writing in and working in three writing periods (morning, lunch and after work).

I’m sure it’ll all smooth itself out when November 1^st rolls around and I am clicking away on the keyboard. Wish me luck.

I promise to get back to the goofiness next time around.

I never thought I would say this – but I am beginning to like outlining.

Maybe it’s the fatigue talking from getting up at 4 A.M. I started serious outlining with Catastrophic Christmas Party because I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget any of the (hopefully) funny scenes. I found myself sticking to the outline, which was a simple ‘one-page-one-chapter’ outline that was concentrated enough for me to put in what I wanted to happen in the chapter, but vague enough to let me come up with what should happen.

Now, I am doing a more detailed outline for my Nanowrimo project. It’s really good for giving me a roadmap because I like to wander if left to my own devices, and in that wandering forget some scenes I really needed.

When I started, I figured that if I wrote it in my head, and then just transferred that to paper, that would be enough. Ha! I found myself wandering all over the place, often ending up with a thematically far different story than what I started out with. Not a good outcome for someone trying totrain themselves to hold to a deadline. I mean – does Stephen King outline?

I also had his problem of ending stories. So the outline more importantly tells me when to start wrapping things up.

So, from here on out, I am going to outline every novel I start…except the ones I’ve already started and have stubbornly not finished. You know – everything else I have done.

With this outline coming along and taking up a lot of my time, I need to figure out how to balance it and revise Christmas Party for the December release. I haven’t gotten the manuscript back from Nancy, but writing the Nano project is going to take up a lot of my time. It might end up being a Sunday only thing, since that’s the one consistent slow day I have. I just hope I can get it done in that amount of time. I might not wait for Nancy to finish reading it, I should go on ahead and hop on it.

Other than my hair being on fire with all these projects, I am doing well. A little tired from going back to waking up at 4 A.M. to try to get some outlining or blogging done. By the way, this blog is brought to you by Death Wish Coffee. Death Wish Coffee – Sleep is for the Weak!

I hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of fall. This has been a mild summer, don’t you think? I also hope that this winter will be mild as well. At least my car has heat in it for a change. Never skimp on a car, folks. That’s the only bit of wisdom I can share with some certainty.

That’s all for now, hope to hear from you soon and I’ll catch you in the next one.

Well, I’m about ready to start the tenth and final chapter of The Catastrophic Christmas Party and man…am I relieved. I am feeling less and less inclined to finish this and more and more inclined to throw myself into the research for the next novel. This is not a good sign for me. I should be able to finish the chapter by Sunday and pad a couple of other chapters (maybe re-write another one from the ground up). I am going to finish this by the end of September, only because I have to give Nancy enough time to read and give me her feedback…and re-write places. I know of one place I need to patch up. Still aiming for a December release date.

As far as the other project goes…I still need a better title. Immigrant Voices is a little…well, it doesn’t set well with me. It’s not like I need the title tomorrow, but I just want to find a better, more clever title. I’ll think of one, I just need to give it some time.

Speaking of the research – this is a chore that I love. My notes are pretty in depth and I take care to print them as neatly as I can with the heavy Ritma pen I use. I have more information about drug treatments for paranoia schizophrenia than I can shake a stick at. The only think I lack is information about treatment beyond drugs. I’m going to get to that this weekend, maybe Saturday night. Whee! Saturday night! No, seriously – I am looking forward to getting this done because it gets me closer to starting this novel and getting it done for printing by next year. That’s a deadline I can handle – having it done by this time next year. Will probably miss it, heh.

That’s all as far as my writing goes – trying to get one finished so I can start the other one with a clean conscience and a focused mind. I’m doing a lot better than I was this time last year. I finished the rough draft for two novels and closing in on a third – might even get a fourth draft finished by the end of the year? All depends on how quick I write. Might do the 4 A.M. thing during Nanowrimo to get a better lead off. The next one is going to be a long one at 90K words and I want to get it done by the end of December. Completely realistic.

Thanks for dropping by and taking a look at things. I hope to have some more books on the right soon to sell soon. When I do – trust me, you’ll know. Have fun, stay safe and see you soon.