Well, I'll tell you..NaNoWriMo was a good thing, and a bad thing. A good thing because it got me writing in a mega way without worrying about getting it "just so", and a bad thing because once it was over I was burnt out. Also, everything that was neglected by the hours of writing once again surged to the forefront and writing was on the back burner.
Keep posted...Sylvia will be blogging soon as well!

Well folks, I did it! I finished my 50,000 word NaNoWriMo quota- yesterday! That is about all I did yesterday- write. I started off the day 2,500 words shy of the 50k total, and the ol' adrenaline just started pumping, and I didn't stop or take a break or ANYTHING until I hit the 50k mark. Actually, I went to 50,250 for good measure. I ran it through the counter and all, but I had heard stories of people who wrote what they thought was 50k, and found out too late that their word counter didn't match up to NaNoWriMo's word counter. And I don't like to take chances like that, soooo.....I'm all set. Not officially, but unofficially. Black Friday, first thing I do is run that puppy through their counter. Wish me luck!

Well, here I am over halfway through NaNoWriMo. Did I make every word count like I said I would? Regretfully, no. We lost power for a few days at the beginning of the month and we reverted to survival mode. Writing fell by the wayside. When power came back on, and I got caught up with my painting, housework, etc., I also tried to get caught up on my 1667 words per day total. I'm sorry to say that I had my character sing "A Hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall" not just once, not twice, but FIVE times! Well, he lost track of exactly how many bottles of beer were on the wall, and had to start over. And then another character just had to join in, and everyone knows you can't join in at seventy-four bottles of beer on the wall. You have to start at a hundred and do it right, darn it!
I caught up to my daily quota, and I'm now on track to reach my 50,000 word grand total by Black Friday, or by Grayish Saturday.  (Sorry, but I'm just weird.)
It's been an excellent tool for me, forcing me to put writing first on my list of things to do every day. I plan to continue writing an hour or two a day once the NaNoWriMo madness is all over. Sylvia's just itching to get going on more adventures...... I hear her school is planning an Art Contest, and Sylvia just loves to draw and paint.....

I've finally decided on a NaNoWriMo subject! I've been fiddling around with a story for quite a few years now. I had about 8 chapters done when my computer crashed and all was lost. Sob!  SO.....Popcorn Prairie Dogs will finally be written! Ta Da! I know, I know-another humorous story. I just can't help myself. For such a serious looking person, I surely have a lot of odd, twisted stuff down deep inside :)
I'm aware that some people just write- well, basically garbage- to get to their 50,000 words, but I intend on making every word count. Famous last words, huh? We'll see what happens once that clock gets ticking.....

.....is definitely half the battle! Tweaking a scene here and there, query rewrites..... I think the query letter is a million times harder to write than the story itself! How much of yourself do you put out there? Summarizing the story in a paragraph or two? Not as easy as you'd think. I'm working towards a deadline of Nov. 1---and then out the query letters and manuscript go into cyberspace. Wish me luck!