Write a Novel in a Month / NaNoWriMo

As you can see by the badge at the side of my blog I have at least signed up to NaNoWriMo this year. In November 2007 I attempted to write a novel in a month and failed. http://theonlyconsequence.blogspot.com/2007/12/excuses-excuses.html and in the intervening years I have had a few excuses as to why I have not even started. This year I am going to have another go....

The aim is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. That's about 1,700 words a day!!

One of the founders of NaNoWriMo - Chris Baty - wrote the book No Plot? No Problem! A High-velocity, Low-stress Way to Write a Novel in 30 Days. There's a phrase that he uses, especially if you are trying to get the first draft down, which is 'exuberant imperfection'. He talks about how the words on the page that you've written should be like wild beasts and that you're trying to run away from them as fast as possible and getting to the next ones.

This is discussed in Writing Magazine November 2010 www.writingmagazine.co.uk/ The article (by Sally Jenkins) goes onto say; 'Forward planning is key. Try briefly sketching out your novel. Think about how it might start, who the characters are, any major plot twists and where the story is going.'

I have been thinking about a Chick-lit, positive, feel-good book, because that's what I feel people need and (hopefully) want in the current climate. I have read a teenage girly novel and an older love story / chick lit and I think I have the start of an idea.....

The trouble is I need to start writing TOMORROW!!

Goodbye Steph

Today we said goodbye to a dear friend who always had a smile on his face. Not yet 40, he had had a heart problem all his life and suffered a fatal heart attack. He didn't really do much to help himself. He smoked and drank and hardly ate at all. But he was like a little boy; always up to mischief with that cheeky grin on his face.... God Bless.

They played a couple of songs at his funeral I now won't be able to hear without filling up; Stone Roses - Sally Cinnamon, and The Beautiful South - One Last Love Song, and the following poem was read out:

Remember by Christina Rosetti
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

Six Word Competition

In August I entered the Arvon Six Word Competition http://theonlyconsequence.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html

And the winner is...

We Buried the Whale at Night.
Sarah Hymas


The shortlist
Sneakers. Stilettos. Courts. Brogues. Wellies. Slippers.
Jackie Juno

Caribbean recipe. Broken plates. Dessicated coconut.
Marie J Maurer

Aliens landed, singeing granddad’s tended lawn.
Jane Osis

Detention again. Alone with Mr Brown.
Laurie Porter

Imaginary boyfriend. He came and stayed.
Martha Routen

www.arvonfoundation.org/p225.html

A Writer Returns....

......to the group I refer to as the 'Poison Pens'. Not actually sure of when it was I last attended the group but I think it must have been over a year ago. Was glad I finally made the effort. There were 3 people I knew and 2 new members. All members at Saturdays group seem to attend other groups outside the PP. At the moment one a month is all I have time for.

But I have been finding time for my writing and took along a 'work in progress' - my Christmas poem which I started for a competition in www.writingmagazine.co.uk/. Was very pleased / impressed with the comments made by members, and intend to do something with it in the next few days. Closing date not til December but first it is the National Novel Writing Month starting on the 1st November: www.nanowrimo.org/

Mental Agility...

Since having Jamie I often worry that I have 'Baby Brain' and sometimes even worry I have early onset Alzheimer's! I think (this is my theory) its just the strain of having to remember to do so many things - not just for Jamie but for me, daddy and the house as well!

Recently however, I was really interested to see the experiment run by the BBC where six celebrities took part in an experiment to explore the prevention of ageing. www.bbc.co.uk/tv/features/theyoungones/

What the programme showed was that - once again - it is all in our minds. How we see ourselves has an effect on how we act and how we age. If we think we are younger, our bodies and our brains will act younger. We just must believe we can do things! It was sad to see that people making the assumption that an older person needed help, actually led to them becoming dependent; they began to expect help and did not try! Its all about having a youthful mindset and taking control of your own life. As Liz Smith put it; 'We need moments in our life where we can come alive'. In other words as M.Scott Peck says in The Road Less Travelled 'Your destiny is in your own hands.' www.mscottpeck.com/

Just read...

Cherry Crush by Cathy Cassidy www.cathycassidy.com/ A book written for girly teenagers and if I was 13 again I would have gone and read all her others! As I am a few years older than this I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I don't think I will be attempting to write a 'teenage' book myself. I don't think I would be able to emulate Cathy's style. And I was more of a tom boy than a girly girl so my life experience isn't quite what I feel is required. However, I still feel I may have a 'Chick-lit' book bobbing about in my head and so we shall see. Off to start another book (reading not writing) that is written more for my age group!

Grab a book...

Its a wet weekend, so I am going to follow the advice of Sophie Heawood, The Independent, quoted in Writers’ News www.writersnews.co.uk December 2009

‘Grab a book, get reading and get the rhythms of somebody else’s words running through your head like a marching band. The drumbeat of another story, another life, another cast of characters, another sky.’