NaNo Prep by Bonnie Le Hamilton

We have all heard the saying about the best-laid plans. We all know something will go wrong, so why do we bother making them? I had a plan for when I would work on my post, last Saturday – didn’t work. Other things got in the way. Unfortunately, I also didn’t work on it Sunday or Monday. Tuesday, I was going to work on it in the morning, before I went to work at the book scanning center – well that didn’t work.

I’d like to say that things that got in the way were important also, but most of the time, what happened was my ADD. I can honestly say that on Sunday, instead of working on my post, I did some brainstorming with Konnie about my hopeful NaNo project. Whereas yesterday morning, I didn’t get anything done because my brain refused to settle down and concentrate.

Last night I was going to work on it, right up until I realized my ADD made me forget to put my yogurt back in the fridge yesterday morning. Meaning I had to make a quick run to the store, and by the time I got back, I had a fatigue headache. I went to bed and now I am frantically writing hoping I have enough time before I need to get this up.

All I can say is, if this keeps up, I’m going to have a really tough time with NaNo this year. I do know, I’ll be able to take my computer with me and work on my writing while I’m volunteering at the Pocatello Visitor’s Center. The thing is, that’s only three hours a week, and I most certainly can’t do the same for the eight hours a week I work at the book scanning center since I am there to help with the work, not do my own thing.

And yeah, I know plenty of people have full-time jobs and or are students and still manage to complete the NaNo challenge. I actually applaud all such writers, but I have never before had to worry about finding enough time to write! This will be my first year where I have to work my writing time around work. Yeah, I know it isn’t even twelve hours a week, and three of those, I can work on my novel, except when someone comes into the center.

Of course, there is also all the time I spend with my sister-in-law and all the other club meetings I attend. Then again, two of my clubs are writing clubs, so I don’t really have a problem there, they’d clearly understand. The other one is the knitting group, and my sister-in-law attends that with me. Since she doesn’t participate in NaNo, I’m not sure she’ll understand that I might not be up to attending during November.

Then again, she knows I write, and about NaNo, so maybe she will.

But all in all, I think I finally have an understanding of what Konnie goes through, and frankly every other person with more on their plate than I usually have, when it comes to finding writing time.
In the past, my problem was always just balancing my time between writing and chores. This is clearly a lot harder when I’ve promised some of my time to other people. And the hardest part is the biggest chunk of my time I no longer have for writing I promised not to other people but to my Savior. My work at the book scanning center is my service mission for my church. As I said, I can write at the visitor’s center, and everything else is just stuff I’d like to do, but don’t have to, except taking my sister-in-law to her appointments.

And that’s something I’ve had to deal with for several years now, except the years I didn’t have a car.
I have a car now.

Actually, having a car now is why I’m so busy, and having a cat again is why I’m so far behind on my chores, because he’s an active kitten, and he’s knocked things down or tore apart bags which had other things in it, scattering those other things all over the house.

Yeah, my house is a mess, and I’m not sure I’m going to have time to deal with all of this before November, which I’d really like to do, so I didn’t have to worry about it during NaNo. Then again, I’ll still have to do dishes, feed the cat, clean the litter box, and pay my bills.

Life goes on, but at least I do have an inkling of an idea for NaNo now!

How about you? What are you doing for NaNo?

Happy writing everyone!

NaNo Prep by Bonnie Le Hamilton

National Novel Writer’s month is less than a month away and I’m still editing. I wanted to be done with this round long before now, so I could prepare for NaNo. The problem is, I lost my manuscript. By some accident, which I still haven’t figured out, I lost what was the most up-to-date version of my WIP.

That isn’t to say I lost it entirely. I’d sent a version to Konnie. The trouble was I’d started edits and tweaks before she sent it back with her critique. I was to chapter sixteen with those changes when I lost it. So, I had to start all over, using a copy of her critique as my WIP, fixing, then deleting her comments.

Now I’m to chapter twenty-one out of thirty. Though I’d really like to be thinking about what I will write next month.

On top of that, I now have a copy of “Save the Cat Writes a Novel” and I got lesson in this method of outlining at the writer’s conference Konnie and I recently attended; I’d really like a chance to study it some more and possibly utilize it this year, if I have time.

But, as always, time isn’t on my side. I’ve had one issue after another the last couple of weeks, that has me way behind on all household chores, and every time I try to catch up, something else happens to put me behind, again.

I must prioritize, just like any other writer. Are the chores more important than writing? Not really, I need clean dishes and clothes. But other things can wait a little longer, I guess.

The big problem is that it is October, and I was going to make Christmas presents this year. Well, the time is gone, I doubt I have time anymore. I can try, but well, what is more important? NaNo or Christmas.

To me both are important. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, particularly because it celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. (For those of you don’t know, I have a rather large collection of Nativities. Way more than I have Eagles and flags, but Independence Day is my second favorite holiday. Eagles, flags, red, white, and blue, and over a hundred Nativities describe my front room.)

And, well, NaNo is writing; writing is my life. That is who I am. I’ve failed to win just two NaNo’s in all the times I’ve done it, and one of those I just had technical problems and didn’t get my win certified. The other time was the year I ended up with a concussion, and couldn’t finish. Needless to say, from the time I heard about NaNo over a decade ago until now, I have always participated, and generally finished.

How do I prioritize things that mean so much to me?

Writing is my life; Christmas is the bedrock of my religion. Family – roots are part of my religion too. Choosing isn’t easy.

I also have the added challenge this year that I am volunteering four hours a week at the local visitor’s center and another eight hours a week is dedicated to my service mission call for my church. Meaning I have fewer hours to write this year than I’ve had in years past, but those things are important too. And I did give my word I would do them.

What sort of things seem to be standing in your way of writing?

I know for a lot of people, Konnie included, it would be scheduling time. Though with Konnie, even if she scheduled time, her family would interrupt. I’m sure she enjoyed all the time she got for writing when she here visiting me.

However, I was surprised the time I came back from my mission service and found she had my TV on. Konnie doesn’t watch a lot of TV, as in hardly ever. I observed her concentrating more on her computer screen than the TV. “Why do you have the TV on?”

“It was too quiet.”

Okay, that’s funny. Konnie is always complaining about all the noise at her house, and how it makes it hard to get any writing done, then when she’s here, she has to turn on the TV to have some noise!
Me? I generally can’t write with the TV on; I’m used to quiet. I actually find I can’t get any writing done while at her place because it's too noisy and busy. It’s useless for me to even try. So, it really is funny that for Konnie to get any writing done at my place, she has to turn on the TV!

Our lives are so different.

Anyway, what are your best tips for getting your writing done or participating in NaNo?

Happy writing everyone!

Nano Advice by Bonnie Le Hamilton

It’s October. For most that means Halloween, and all that goes with it, but for a growing number of writers that means gearing up for National Novel Writer’s month, https://nanowrimo.org, especially if you’re a planner. I’m not much for doing that. I might draw a map or a floor plan, but I’ve never written an outline. So, I can’t give advice about how to do that.

As the days move quickly toward the start, I thought I’d impart some wisdom I’ve learned from all the years I’ve been doing this to all those first timers out there. And I think I’ll begin by saying, if you miss the start, don’t look at where others are and say you’ll never catch up, you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Tomorrow they may hit a roadblock. Don’t give up. This is really more about what you can do, not what others can do. And it doesn’t matter who reaches the finish line first; everyone who accomplishes 50k in the month wins.

And if I can pound out 40k in just fourteen days, as I did this past July for Camp Nano, you can come from behind and produce 50k in whatever time you have left of the month. (If you type really fast, unlike me, you might even be able to manage 50k in a week.) Though I wouldn’t want to make a habit of it.

Which is my next point. Don’t leave it until the last minute. Just remember the old Aesop’s Fable about the Tortoise and Hare. The Hare was fast, but only in spurts, and he didn’t win. He got distracted; he lost focus. Keep that moral in mind. Over the years I’ve been participating, I’ve seen people who typed almost nonstop for the last twenty-four hours, madly trying to finish, and several didn't because they had too far to go. Even they couldn’t type that fast.

Then there’s me, I’ve completed all the Nano’s I’ve entered, except last year, and that was because I had a concussion and couldn’t. (One of those I wasn’t able validate my efforts, but I did meet the goal.) And the only time I was typing like mad was the aforementioned Camp Nano this past July, which was all my fault, because I spent too long editing instead of writing.

Generally, I take the tortoise approach to writing. Slow and steady wins the race. It won’t win a Word War, but it will get me to the finish line, often before the winners of all those Word Wars.

Actually, I know a lady who could type three or four times faster than I can, but she always ended up doing some all-nighters near the end, and not always to success. Sure, she could type fast − that didn’t help.

My advice is to make time to write at least six days a week. Notably, if you find you have minute, or two, take it! Because tomorrow you may not get that much. Steal every second you can find to reach your goal. That way, you won’t have to depend on some mythical chunk of time off somewhere in the future, which may disappear like a mirage; use what you know you have, it might be your only chance.

And most importantly, Happy writing everyone. 😊