April's Coming by Bonnie Le Hamilton

I can’t believe its nearly April already! Where has the year gone? And I have yet another grand-niece. Claire gave birth this past week, so yes, Konnie is a first-time grandmother, and there’s been a lot of other things going on here, but nothing so momentous as all that. I did manage to make some baby blankets and get them sent to Claire before her baby was born, just barely, which in and of itself is an accomplishment.

With me, finishing anything at all, let alone on time is an accomplishment. I tend to flit from one project to another, and since not all my creative endeavors fall in the category of writing, I haven’t been doing much of any writing, or editing, for a while. I have been knitting, sewing, and crocheting. The last two evident in the blankets I did send to Claire.

I’ve wanted to do some baking, just haven’t had the time when I had the energy to do it. (I’m blaming that on my age.)

And well, I do tend to get distracted easily, I’ve mentioned that many times before, but now I seem to have another excuse for why I don’t always stick to a task until its done, but sometimes I do stick to it (I do have 6 rough draft novels completed) anyway, my problem might be explained by an article Claire sent to Konnie (and Konnie later sent to me) about the signs and symptoms of WOMEN who are actually undiagnosed on the Autism Spectrum, and boy do a lot of those things describe me! You can find the article at http://taniaannmarshall.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/moving-towards-a-female-profile-the-unique-characteristics-abilities-and-talents-of-asperwomen-adult-women-with-asperger-syndrome/

Fair warning, it’s a rather long list. And it describes Konnie’s daughters too, which is why Claire sent it to Konnie. Claire had seen herself in the list, Konnie saw her twin and all her daughters in the list. One of the big ones was that such a woman has one of the forms of ADHD or ADD and are at lest mildly OCD. BINGO!

And that’s just one thing on that list that described me. Konnie insisted she saw more of me than any of her daughters in it, but it sure explains why her youngest daughter runs, skips, or walks up and down their hall incessantly. I’m the one who always has something in my hands to fiddle with, or I play with my hair or drum my fingers, or snack. There are other things I do. There seems to be no doubt about it.

And the first thing on the list was that such women quite often have average to high IQ’s; that’s me and Konnie's daughters. Meaning Konnie has four kids and a sister on the spectrum, not counting a niece, a nephew, and possibly a sister-in-law, that I know of.

And I’m already off track. I was going to talk about Camp NanoWriMo, which is in April (hence why I’m surprised its nearly April). Who has signed up for it? What’s your goal?

I’m going for editing 100 pages of Forbidden Connection. I really need to get that done.

Who’s with me?

And yes, I know editing isn’t writing. If this were Nano, I’d start or at least add to some unfinished story, but as I can set my own goal for the month, I’m editing.

To sign up, go to http://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in to sign up, and you can use your Nano username and password.

Anyone want to be in a cabin with me?

What are your goals for the month? What are you working on? Do you have a project in mind?

And one more note, do any of you have a story that includes April Fool’s Day? I know I have one, though I’m not much for jokes and stuff, and I only mention the little brothers of the heroine pulling pranks, but not what they are. Have any of you written a scene where the character pulls a prank, or joke on another character for April Fool’s Day?

I can personally say, that other than once trying to change places with Konnie (and that was on a dare) I’ve never pulled any April Fools pranks (something else on that list above). I have been accused of pulling April Fools prank when I wasn’t. The last time that happened my father accused me of doing so when I called and told him I was having twins on April 1^st. He told me to call him the next day and say that again.

Konnie took my side, knowing full well I wouldn’t joke about anything, let alone that! And I wouldn’t. I don’t joke, and I hardly ever get jokes. The people who can make me laugh are few and far between. And maybe I should write a character like that sometime.

Happy writing everyone!

Camp Nano part 2 by Bonnie Le Hamilton

Camp Nano is over, and I’m telling you right now, it wasn’t easy for me. By the 14^th, I’d only finished 14,835 words, when I should have been to 22,580 words. Meaning two weeks into the challenge, I was 7,745 words behind!

 By the 21^st I was at 28,016 words, when I should have been at 33,870. I was closing the gap, but I was still behind at the end of the third week of the challenge!

I do know why I got so far behind. I kept realizing I had a plot hole, or I needed to show something sooner,  or some scene I’d already written wasn’t right, but if I changed it, I had change certain things that came before it, so I kept going back. In fact, by the 21^st, I’d gone back through my entire manuscript 4 times editing and adding things, which wasn’t helping me at all.

Then came week four.

On the 22^nd I managed to get to 32,521, but I was still short of where I should have been, 2,962 words short to exact. But I had least closed the gap further.

On the 25^th, I realized I had another plot hole, and a few other things I needed to change entirely. But it was the 26^th, and I had plans on the 31^st, which I couldn’t change. So I decided that I didn’t have time to go clear through my manuscript (which, may I remind you is the one I started last November, so it isn’t nearly 50k long, it was closer to 75k on the 26^th, and I’m a slow reader/editor ), so I determined to just write some notes, and press on. I had to finish. I set the goal; I was going to make it.

So, I moved forward, on the 26^th I not only managed 3,158 words, I closed the gap! I was right where I supposed to be for my goal. Wahoo!

Then on the 27^th I did 3,022 words. I had 5,039 words to go. I thought I can do this; I can finish before the 31^st. All I had to do was to manage 2,520 on Friday, and 2,519 on Saturday. Since I had been managing at least 3,000 words a day, I knew I could do it.

So I started writing on the 28^th with the goal of getting a minimum of 2,520 words, but I also told myself, if I could manage more, I should. And I did! When the day was done, I wrote 5,039 words! I reached my goal on Friday the 28^th!

Now talk about perseverance and determination, writing that many words in one day took me all day. It was after 8 in the evening when I finally finished, but I did finish.

And I know not many writers have the time to spend an entire day writing but I’m so glad I could, and that I could reach my goal. And now to take a few weeks from writing to get some other things done around here, like laundry and dishes, and mopping the floor.

Yeah, I neglected a few things so I could write all day. But don’t all writers do that at least some times?

Happy writing everyone! J