PiBoIdMo is over, but for me it has just begun

PiBoIdMo is the other challenge I took on for the whole month of November. I learned about it in 2010 and first took part in it then … but let me explain …

PiBoIdMo – Picture Book Idea Month – is the brain child of Tara Lazar. Check her out here: http://taralazar.wordpress.com/about/

The challenge is to write an idea a day during the 30 days of November. The idea can be as simple as the name of a character, or the title for a story, or as complete as the whole outline for a story, or something in between. Thirty ideas in thirty days. Sound daunting? I thought so.

In 2010 I did both NaNoWriMo and PiBoIdMo, and succeeded in both. It was exhilarating, exciting, tiring, fun. This year, I tried both again, and if you read my last post you will know that I didn’t get a win in NaNo, but I’m pleased to say that I did again meet the goal for PiBoIdMo. Yay! I got 40 ideas, maybe more depending on how you count them up.

I didn’t think I could do it. Some days the idea well ran dry, but on some other days I got more than one idea for a story so that by the end I had passed the target. whew!

Again, if you have been following my blog, you will know that life has changed a lot for me. Because of that I really wasn’t sure I could dredge up enough creativity, but I very much wanted to try. And I am so glad I did.

Tara Lazar, if you are reading this … Thank you (again) for a fantastic 2011 PiBoIdMo! 2010 was great, but I don’t know if this one was better or if I was more open to seeing more, but … wowsers!!

Last year I took the pledge, read all the daily posts, commented on some, gleaned a little here and there, completed the challenge, and then I put it all aside. I didn’t even get one story pulled together, so I guess in all actuality I broke the pledge. 😦 Sorry, Tara. (Really I should be apologizing to myself as it is not hurting Tara that I did not follow through, it is my own loss.)

This year I took the pledge, read all the daily posts (and was moved to tears a few times – what was that about??), commented on most, absorbed more this year, completed the challenge, and then … then? Then wow! I had a personal revelation, an awakening in my hopeful heart.

I don’t know ‘where I was’ last year in all of this, but this year… this year! … I realized Tara is making the way for me to move forward as a writer of children’s books. She is giving me all the tools to draw out what I need and what I need to do, and THEN .. after the 30 days were over she didn’t stop there. Just as she had guest bloggers write pre-PiBoIdMo posts this year, she had a few more guest bloggers post for several days afterward. wow! And somewhere in there I got it. I see now.

I took on PiBoIdMo in 2010 for the challenge and fun of it. I learned things, I worked at it, I succeeded in meeting the goal, and I was delighted that I had some nice story ideas that were worth developing … some day. This year, all of the same things but with one major exception. I have to complete by honouring the pledge. And I think I should do it twice .. to include last year, too.

I realized that this is not just fun and games. If I really want to write children’s books then Tara Lazar has handed to me all I need to do just that! duhhh!

This year, I got it, Tara. I understand. That is what the tears were about. That is what PiBoIdMo did for me this year. I am learning how to be the writer I want to become. Thank you.

And one of these days I may just say, “Hello, my name is Lynn, and I am a writer.” One of these days .. 🙂

How about you? Have you had any personal revelations or awakenings lately that have had an impact on you?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

NaNoWriMo – incomplete but not a failure

It is over. NaNoWriMo 2011 ended at midnight November 30.

I did not “win”.

I tried. I even pulled two all-nighters of writing, not getting to bed until 4:00 AM, but it was not enough. I just could not manage the 50,000 words required for a win.

It was my own fault. Getting started was really hard this year. Because I wanted to complete my novel started in NaNo 2010 (50,265 words written then), I think I felt restricted and I had lost my momentum. (Those reasons and life stuff.) Once I finally got going with it, ideas kept unfurling themselves and evolving into more depth and extended drama.

My story is not yet complete. It is getting ready to wind down, though. Some details have to be worked out to fit into the story so that the conflicts and questions can be resolved. I need to write several thousand more words to settle that out.

Here are my stats:

Your Average Per Day … 1,071

Target Word Count … 50,000

Total Words Written … 32,150

Words Remaining … 17,850

At This Rate You Will Finish On December 17, 2011

Yes, I wrote 32,150 words. A lot of words, but not enough for a win. But, I do not consider that to be a failure, just an incomplete. According to my stats, if I were to keep at it the same way I would meet the goal in 17 days. If today is any indication, that is not going to happen. I got up at 7:00 AM, took care of the dog, went back to bed and didn’t wake again until noon! (All-night writing binges do not a wakeful mind make. 😉 ) But do I even want to keep up the same pace until the 50,000 words have been written?

What I want to do is finish my novel’s first rough draft. And rough it most definitely is! Once I bring the story to a satisfactory end, then begins the editing. Oh my! I have plot holes, repeats of scenes but in different ways, – a couple of those, and they were by accident because once you begin NaNo you are not supposed to go back and reread or you will not have time to finish .. so you just write on, – I have names mixed up, facts missing, details confused, a time line that must be established, and unnecessary fluff to be sifted out. For this to become a readable novel there is yet much work to be done.

*Laura, do I sound like a writer to you? 😉

NaNoWriMo 2011 is over, but the challenge has not ended for me. I have a novel to finish!

Do you get totally wrapped up in your writing projects so that you cannot stop until you have them done? Or do you easily put them away to work on at a later date? Do you lose your momentum or inspiration if you wait?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Next post: PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) update.

I’m a NaNo Rebel

Yes, you read that correctly. I’m a NaNo Rebel.

Last year, November 2010, I participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and met the goal of 50,000 words, going over by about 265 or so. I started with nothing and got the main part of a novel written .. if it can be edited to be suitable as one, that is. I even kept track here on my blog by making daily reports. This year, although my available time has changed considerably, I decided to try again – but as a Rebel.

What’s a NaNo Rebel, you ask? Someone who is participating in NaNoWriMo and bending the rules a bit. (There is actually a category for rebels, so it’s not considered cheating.) Instead of starting from scratch I am picking up where I stopped last year with the purpose of finishing the story I left unfinished. I ‘won’ last year by writing over 50000 words, but the story itself has not been completed. I would like to finish it during this year’s challenge, otherwise I may never get back to it.

You also may wonder how I am doing this time. Not well, I’m sorry to say. I got off to a slow start, not writing anything until day 7, and then I wrote less than 500 words. That is not good at all, seeing as by that time I should have had over 11000 words down. The ideal is to write 1667 words a day, so for day 22 (today) I should have over 36600 words written, but .. you guessed it! I’m nowhere near that number. I have over 5000 words written but much less than where it should be at this late date in the 30 days allotted. I’m in big trouble if I want to ‘win’ NaNoWriMo this time. Or should I see it as a HUGE challenge and try to get ‘er done anyway?

I also am again participating in PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) and have several more than the 22 ideas needed by this date. I’m not worried there, but I believe that I have fewer really good ideas this year. A scarce few of those may make good picture books, but I’m sort of pulling them from the bottom of the barrel, it seems.

I’m wondering if the way I have to divide my life now is what’s making the difference. My muse is not sure when to come out to play anymore. 🙂

Oh, well, I will keep plugging away at it.

Are you taking part in NaNoWriMo this year? Do you try any other writing challenges?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

NaNoWriMo 2010 is over — I WON!

Yes, NaNoWriMo is over for another year. If you have not been following my posts — this is the first NaNo challenge for me and I WON! That means that I met the challenge of writing 50,000 words in 30 days – with a few words over just to be sure – and I now have the certificate to prove it. Yay!

My ‘novel’ is not completed, though. I stopped writing in a place where there are three conflicts set up to be resolved, but I think it was a good place to stop for this challenge. Now I have the personal challenge of completing my ‘novel’ and doing a LOT of editing.

Writing my last post I was SO TIRED, and I had to laugh today when I read it over and saw the typos I made last night. And I don’t know why I didn’t say in that post’s heading that I had won in NaNo. Too tired to think it through, I guess. 🙂

Last night I also signed the pledge to verify that I had completed PiBoIdMo, and now we wait to learn who, of all of its participants, win those great prizes that Tara Lazar gathered to give out on December 3 or 4.

Talking to my husband over supper tonight I realized that I really did accomplish quite a bit of writing last month (November) — 50K words for NaNoWriMo, 30 picture book ideas for PiBoIdMo (I actually got 44), and I completed and mailed out the Autumn issue of Valley Sunshine newsletter.

No wonder I’m tired. I am ending this day early. Hopefully tomorrow I can get more accomplished in my house than I did today.

And it’s now December! Time to get my house in order to start decorating for Christmas!

So, how was your day? Have you started Christmas shopping and decorating?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Day 30: NaNoWriMo & PiBoIdMo

Tuesday, Day 30 of NaNoWriMo — I’m SO TIRED! Last night I stayed up and wrote until 4 AM. As I posted yesterday I did what I said I would do … wrote until I couldn’t stay awake to write another word. That is just what happened. (I’m glad I did this because I had several interruptions today that would added stress to completing.) So at around 4:30 AM I had just relaxed beside my husband and his alarm went off. I went to sleep and slept until my alarm went off around 8:30, then I was up and wrote until I finished NaNo. So I WON! It’s a feeling of accomplishment and relief that I actually completed it and got my ‘novel’ validated on time on the site. I did use the program that generates paragraphs and words. When I finished the challenge and posted my word total, then I generated the number of words I had recorded – which was 50265 – and submitted that to make it official. (I’m actually having trouble staying awake right now to write this post.) I have the NaNoWriMo challenge 101% completed!

Even though I completed the 50K challenge, my story is not completed. I left a major conflict unresolved and hope to continue writing to finish the story.

PiBoIdMo ended today, too. I completed with 44 ideas. It was a wonderful experience for me.

Have you pushed yourself beyond what you thought you could do?

Thanks for readings, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Day 29: NaNoWriMo & PiBoIdMo

Monday, Day 29 of NaNoWriMo is the best day for me yet! The pressure is on and I have to finish this! I spent most of today writing, thinking, writing … and writing, thinking writing some more .. but mostly writing. Just writing. whew! I wrote 5073 words today! Can you believe that? One more day of this challenge and I can write no more that will be counted. My total word count stands at 44257 which means that as much as I managed to put on paper today I have to do that and more before tomorrow at midnight. 5743 more words should do it, but to be safe in case of miscounts I will try to write 5800 more. I will not be stopping tonight until I just can’t stay awake to write another word.

A very good thing is that I found a program that will generate the number of words I need posted to the NaNo validator once I reach 50,000 words.

As for PiBoIdMo, today I came up with two cute ideas, so now have 43 to my credit. Surely something of all those will be worth turning into a picture book manuscript! The PiBo challenge ends at midnight tomorrow too, and then there will be winners announced soon after – winners who are chosen among those who finished with 30 PB ideas. I would be thrilled to win something, but I already have from one of the daily blog posts of encouragement. (Remember the bug caricature from Day 19, Nov. 20?) And, besides that, I am so much further ahead now since doing PiBoIdMo in discovering what I can do and how to brainstorm for picture book ideas. So, yes, this has been a very good experience for me.

Have you found encouragement lately to keep you going?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Day 28: NaNoWriMo & PiBoIdMo

Sunday, Day 28 of NaNoWriMo — Today was a busy and rather jumbled up day. This evening I am so tired I just can’t think my way through this. I have only written 657 words and I am going to be “hitting the hay” soon — going to try to sleep longer tonight. This means that tomorrow I have to WRITE probably all day or as much of the day as I can. I’ll only have Monday and Tuesday to finish this challenge.

I visited a writers chat room tonight and got some tips from Wrimo‘s in there. Some of the writers there have participated in NaNo and are doing it this year, too. One lady got a book published that she wrote during last year’s NaNoWriMo! Cool, huh?

A big problem has arisen for me, though. It seems that I have to type all this over so that I can submit it for validation, and I haven’t finished writing it yet. But they gave me tips regarding that, too, so I will be very busy the next two days. All the more reason for me to get more sleep tonight instead of writing until midnight and then blogging about it after that.

So, my total is now 39184 at 79% completion.

I also wrote down an idea for PiBoIdMo so I have 41 ideas for that challenge. I certainly hope that from all this writing something good comes out of it eventually. 🙂

Do you have any dreams you are working on?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂