Remembrance Day is tomorrow; updates for NaNoWriMo & PiBoIdMo

Today was a busy day for me. I had much to do at Dad’s before I came home for the week, but I also spent lots of time just with him. I didn’t get anything at all written on my NaNo novel, but I got a fun idea for PiBoIdMo before I was even fully awake this morning. That gives me idea #16 for Day 10.

Tomorrow is Remembrance Day here in Canada, Veterans Day in the USA. Since Dad is a WWII veteran we will be attending the special service in the morning. It’s not foremost in Dad’s thinking this year, but we are seeing to it that he gets there since he would not like to miss it. Next year may be a totally different scenario. Following the service ten of our family will be going to the veterans’ dinner with Dad.

REMEMBER AND HONOUR OUR VETERANS ON NOVEMBER 11. THEIR SACRIFICE IS ONE WE CAN NEVER FULLY UNDERSTAND UNLESS WE’VE BEEN THERE. GET OUT TO A SERVICE AND REALLY OBSERVE AND LISTEN.

Have you ever talked with a veteran about the war, and their experiences they’re willing to discuss?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Who do you write like? (and updates: NaNoWriMo, PiBoIdMo)

I really don’t know how writers turn out book after book after book. How do people organize their time to accommodate writing along with all that goes on in their lives? If YOU are one of those people, please give me a hint!

I am a little dismayed over my post yesterday. I didn’t get to it until very late and it went live just seconds after midnight, which meant it was not recorded as a post for yesterday as intended! Now it looks as if I didn’t write a post yesterday for NaBloPoMo.

Today was rather chopped up, which is nothing unusual. I only got a few words written down for NaNoWriMo, but I finished reading through what I wrote of this NaNo novel so far (during NaNo 2010, 2011 & 2012). Now I am ready to continue. Or, I hope I am ready to continue. I stopped last November at a place where I didn’t even know where to go next with the story, and even tonight I got there and … ?? nothing yet. Vague ideas but no solid leading. Tomorrow I hope to find time to listen for direction, see what my characters want to do. But tomorrow is a busy day as I have much to do to finish my week here before I go home for a week. Once home … PLEASE dear Muse, visit me!

I wrote down an idea for PiBoIdMo today, which puts my picture books ideas total up to 15 for day 9.

I want to thank David of barsetshirediaries for sharing about a really cool site! If you are a writer and want to see what famous writer your own writing style and word choice is similar to, then check this out: I Write Like. When I put in my post from October 7’13 – When reality smacks you upside the head – it said I write like David Foster Wallace. But when I put in my post from November 4’13 – Passing on History (Singer Featherweight) – it says I write like H. P. Lovecraft. And when I put in my post from September 9’13 – We all should have a day to play! – it says I write like … Stephen King! hahaha Now that’s hilarious!

Got you curious now, haven’t I? Check it out and analyze your writing. Who do you write like?

Wouldn’t you know! Interruptions caused me to be late finishing this post, so now instead of going live Nov 9 it’s Nov 10. Oh well, at least I AM WRITING! 🙂

[I put this post in the analyzer, and again … I write like H. P. Lovecroft.]

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

NaNoWriMo and PiBoIdMo updates

Friday is almost over as I sit to write this post. I didn’t update yesterday in a post, but you can find my puny word count for my NaNo novel in the link at the top of the page.

I have added all of 18 words to my continuing NaNoWriMo novel, (I know, hardly worth mentioning) and that is just because as I’m doing a read-through (another rule broken!) I am writing in a word here and there. Because I haven’t started a new project for this year’s NaNo, reading the whole rough draft through seems necessary. This is also giving me a better feel for my story, enabling me to see where changes have to be made when I begin editing, and setting the stage for me to begin writing this time until I finish the story. That’s my excuse, anyway!

For PiBoIdMo I wrote a few character names down for a possible story, but I’m counting them all as one idea since I will try to select one of them for a character when I start the story I have had in mind from before PiBoIdMo started this month. I’m not happy with any of them, but can’t seem to pull anything better out of my hat tonight. With yesterday’s idea and one today my total thus far is up to 14 for day eight.

Just a side note: Soon my daughter will be taking her little dog from our home after eight years of his living with us. She is renting a house where pets are allowed, so Sammy will be moving in with his “mama”, and we will be dog-less. Isn’t he cute?

And this is my blog post for NaBloPoMo!

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Writing challenge updates and funny video

Another filled up day. I really need a long sleep. 🙂 This means, of course, my writing got nearly nowhere today.

I didn’t get any NaNoWriMo writing done yet, so my word total is still zero. This is going to be a problem for me, although as a NaNo Rebel I don’t need 50K words to finish the novel I’m writing.

PiBoIdMo I gained two more ideas, making 12 so far.

For today’s National Blog Posting Month post I would like to share this video I found. It is so funny, mostly about cats but you will see a few dogs there, too.

Tell me what you think.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Caregiver Stress Management; challenge updates

Hi All, I hope you had a great day. This is a short post in my effort to do my post for the day.

I participated in a Caregiver Stress Management workshop this afternoon with a friend, one of my daughters, and several other ladies. It was worth it, although I left feeling more stressed than when I went in. So then, why would I feel it’s worth it? Because it pointed out to me that I am not handling my life situation (caregiving and everything else) as well as I thought I was.

Oh I’m doing what I need to do to be sure things are running smoothly here at my dad’s, and I am treating him with love and respect (because I love and respect him), and he is not neglected in any way. What I am not handling well is caring for myself, mainly in that I don’t organize my time well – which has always been a problem for me. The hang-up is I can’t stick to a schedule very well or for very long. On my respite time what I want to do is write. And walk. And read. And nap. Then I feel guilty about doing my own thing … resulting in not getting much done at all and I feel guilty about that! We are blessed to have lots of help here, and I feel guilty about that. There’s more, but … if I were to tell you, then … you guessed it! … I’d feel guilty about that!

On to NaNoWriMo report … zero words written. 😦 I’m still hoping and looking forward to after tomorrow to change the nothing total. I’m having a busy first half of the week.

Day 5 of PiBoIdMo: I wrote one idea today for a total of 10. I could likely come up with more but I stopped at the requirement this time since I am very tired and hoping someone will soon ‘retire’ so I can get some sleep myself.

This wraps up my post for today in NaBloPoMo!

Did you do anything fun or educational recently that helped you realize something important?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Challenge updates: NaNoWriMo and PiBoIdMo

My writing challenges update:

NaNoWriMo: I am not doing well when you look at my link (at top of page), but I am thinking about it. That’s a start, isn’t it? 🙂 So far … zero words written.

PiBoIdMo: It’s day four and I have 9 ideas so far. Tara Lazar has fabulous guests again who have fabulous suggestions to help us with our picture book idea writing. I feel good about it this year.

NaBloPoMo: As you may have noticed, so far I am keeping up with daily blog posts.

Health: The first part of this week is busy for me in other ways, so my writing time is chopped up. Monday – an information education session called Understanding Dementia. It was very helpful, some of it new info for me. Tuesday – a Caregiver Stress Management workshop, which I expect to be more of what I need to hear. Wednesday I have three appointments for myself, including with my naturopath and my reflexologist. They have helped me with health issues, and aided me in regaining and maintaining my health – very important to me. I have to be well in order to better take care of others. It looks as if I will have Thursday and Friday for writing. All this takes place when I have someone present for my respite time. It probably won’t be uninterrupted, though.

Writing: I went through a blah spell with my writing, low on inspiration and energy for it. In early Spring one of my daughters got me into a game to play on my iPhone and it has turned into a vehicle of inspiration for my writing. Each day when I ‘visit’ my ‘neighbours’ I leave a little blurb of 120 characters or less. The response has been generally good, and that has served to keep me going. I found it has even released my creative thinking so that now I’m into these writing challenges it could be of help. My wheels didn’t rust or seize up during the slow time. 🙂 In fact, I am seriously thinking about a story book I can write from what I have been posting there. One never knows from where will come the next inspiration.

That’s all for now. I will post something tomorrow.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

I’m participating in NaNoWriMo and PiBoIdMo 2013!

November is again a busy writing month for me. I signed up for National Novel Writing Month for my fourth year, and Picture Book Idea Month for my third year – having passed on it in 2012. I am going to make an honest attempt to do both again even though my life situation (caregiving) has not changed.

After midnight last night a thought came into my mind, then an idea was taking shape, then the thought became the title, and before I went to bed I had a rough ‘rough draft’ of a story for a picture book. Day one accomplished for PiBoIdMo!

Not so for NaNoWriMo, I regret to say, as I have not written a word there yet. I am still writing the novel I began in NaNo 2010, since I’ve worked on it only during the last three Novembers. My word count is a combined total of 123,900 – give or take a few words. When I stopped near midnight of November 30’12 it was at a place one would call a “cliffhanger”, and was a bit exasperating to my sister who read it all after NaNo had ended last year. 😉 She was not happy with where I stopped and told me emphatically I had to finish the story! Even I am not sure what is going to happen next, but my characters will gradually let me know when I get into it again … which should have been today, but that’s not happening!

If you are asking, ” What is she talking about?!” I will briefly explain.

NaNoWriMo – or National Novel Writing Month – is the worldwide challenge to write a novel (really a novella) of 50,000 words in 30 days. You have to start with a fresh idea to ‘win’, but there are many who are NaNo Rebels, which is perfectly fine, too. I won (reached the goal of 50k) the first year but the next two years I participated as a Rebel in order to add to the novel I had begun and want to finish. This year I am doing the same.

If you are interested in checking out NaNoWriMo, click here. If you are taking part in it this year, let me know if you want a buddy.

PiBoIdMo – or Picture Book Idea Month – is the brainchild of Tara Lazar which she started in 2009. It is quickly becoming the widely known challenge to write a picture book idea a day during the 30 days of November. It’s for those writers who don’t want to take on creating a novel but would enjoy participating in a book writing challenge. Some of us do both. 🙂 Each day you write something … anything … a title, the name of a character, an idea for a story, or even a whole draft if it works out for you, so at the end you should have at least 30 ideas for picture books! Cool, huh? I think so! Oh, and there are super guest posts, lots of writing genius shared, and even prizes! I love that I end up with so many ideas for PB’s, even if I ‘win’ nothing. It is sort of like a conference but with so much added.

If you are interested in signing up for – or checking out – PiBoIdMo, click here. Registration closes SOON, so hurry!

Now I must create a new page for my NaNo updates so if you want to keep track of what I am managing to do you can read it there. Click on the NaNoWriMo updates (2013) link at the top of the page. Besides, if you want to cheer me on, Heaven knows I need it! 🙂 It may be crazy for me to be taking this on since I am behind in reading, reviewing, interviewing, but sometimes I need a change of pace to get refreshed and inspired anew. At least, I hope that’s what will happen! 🙂

Are you participating in either of the above challenges?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂