NaNoWrimo 2019: The End of the Road

Did I completely flake on seeing my project through to the end, if not to 50k, at least staying writing until the end? Yes. Yes, I did. There's a good reason--the day job. It's the slow season, so if there's work presented to me, I'm going to make it a priority. I really wanted to do more with the NaNoWriMo project, but when it comes down to it, I have to take the immediate payday over everything else.

I was busy enough to not provide Patreon updates as well, so I will be back on the posts every Friday schedule from now on. I hope I can come up with some new, exciting stuff for all of my patrons for the month of December. Things are looking up, if I can just keep to my schedule. Holidays throw me off--not only do I have the holiday, I also end up with a day of recovery from said holiday.

Now I have to go find some caffeine to counteract the leftover turkey coma I feel coming on...

NaNoWriMo 2019: Week 3

As it usually happens, I hit my major hiccup around the 15th. That's the point where you realize the month is half over, and no matter what you push out of the way, you may still fall short of the finish line. Of course, that shouldn't stop anyone from continuing to write, so I got myself back on track and the words are still coming out--just not at the lightning pace I would need for 50k.

If you haven't been following the daily updates, here is what you have missed:

Day 15, 16 & 17
Day 18
Day 19
Day 20
Day 21

That's all. Time to get back to work. 

NaNoWriMo 2019: Week 2

I don't want to take up a lot of my writing time working on this, so let's just say I'm still in the game. I am totally a lap behind the rest of the pack, but I'm still in it, I'm still working on it. If you haven't been following the daily posts on Patreon (and why not?), here are the posts from the past week:

Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14

Now I'm getting back at it. 50k in the near future? Maybe!


*A Freelancer's sidenote: What's up with all the follows on Medium? On the surface, that's great. I thought I suddenly had a hot title there. Nope. Three follows in two days, zero article views. I see your game. No follow backs from this gal. 

NaNoWriMo 2019: Week 1

NaNo 2019 is in full swing, and I'm chugging along. Am I where I want to be in the process? Of course not, but that's not going to slow me down. I did have a hiccup or two on the word count. Can you believe I should already be well over 10k by now? Crazy. I'll get there, but I'm definitely going to have to break a few of my personal tech rules, including not working on Saturdays and shutting my computer off by 6pm on weekdays. Working on Saturdays does feel a little weird. That's my me-time. Okay, it's my T.V. time. Whatever.

Remember that you can follow my progress with first line/last line of the day, all posted on Patreon and all posts for NaNo are public.

In case you missed any of my Patreon posts:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6


Happy Writing!

Next Up: NaNo 2019

NaNoWriMo 2019 is nearly here! I'm as prepared as I'm going to be with half an outline and no character names. I guess I still have today to prep those, because there are six main characters. I need names.

Every year I want to win. This year I'm GOING to win. It's not to have the feeling of accomplishment or to be able to brag that I did it. I know I'm going to win because I have a good idea, I have the will to get it done this month, and this is a huge test for me to not let distractions get in my way. Too easily I bend to distractions and because my line of work is always evolving, I have to be able to evolve with it. Also, I need something to transition into the revision phase because every other project, no matter what phase it is in right now, is just not speaking to me. I know putting the work in would help me get past that on any other project, but I need something fresh right now to get back into the groove.

So what can you expect when you are following me on my NaNo journey? Every year I try to find new and exciting ways to share the process and some of the project without giving it all away. The idea I came up with this year is to post the first line and the last line of what I write each day. Not only does it give a glimpse into where the story is heading, but it will keep me accountable throughout the process. I'm going to post these on Patreon but I'm going to make these posts public so anyone can see them. Of course, if you like those posts, there are many more that you can catch up on for just $1 a month (hint, hint).

It's time to get ready for this next great adventure. Oh, and Happy Halloween!

Tides Turning

I have always been the type of writer that worries I'm not managing my time well. That often boils down to feeling guilty for writing anything that doesn't have an immediate payout. Oh, how the tides have turned...

This week is all upside down. I've managed to find quite a few freelance projects, and guess what? For the first time in my writing life, as I was working on these projects, I feel guilty for not spending the time writing my creative stuff. When did all this change?! I guess it's keeping me balanced. I'm pretty sure the guilt comes from the fact that half of the freelance work is on spec, so no guarantee that it will sell, and the other half is relatively low paying with a lot of technical issues to navigate. But that project is one of those perfectly mindless jobs with no actual writing--a dream if I wasn't spending fifty percent of the time getting tasks kicked back for no reason.

I have managed to sneak in a few moments of creative writing anyway. I also had one of my books included in a giveaway through Prolific Works. As of writing this, there have been 105 downloads. I can't wait to see those 105 reviews start rolling in...

... 🤣
... 🤣
... 🤣

Okay, I think I'm done laughing hysterically. If I get one review out of it, I'll be ecstatic.

That's it for this week. NaNo's getting closer and I've got an outline to finish...

October is Going to Fly By

What do writers call October? Pre-NaNoWriMo season. And that's just how I'm planning to treat it. Because I know that November will be an intense time trying to start and finish an entire first draft, I'm using October as one of those cleanup months. I plan to take all of those half-finish projects that have been lingering and finish them. I'm mostly talking about shorter works--poetry, short stories. But if there's a revision project I can tackle, I'll throw that on the pile too.

I've also been thinking about all of the pieces I have around that are finished but need an update. This includes my spec scripts--something that I haven't had the chance to use yet, but know that I should keep on hand.

First, I will have to fully abandon my sitcom spec and write a new one because the show I wrote it on is not television anymore. I didn't know that my drama spec needed an update until last Thursday. The script is for Law & Order: SVU so I thought I would have it around for a while as is--at least until the show went off the air. Nope, there's a couple of glaring twists they put in last week's premiere with Carisi getting a new job and Benson getting a new title. I scoured the internet for information on whether a slightly outdated script will still work, and it looks like it now has a six-month expiration date, then I should rewrite it. This script still didn't have that final polish (it was a few pages short), and I have had a second SVU storyline floating in my head for a while, so doing a rewrite won't actually be that bad.

But it does make one think: spec scripts are only used as calling cards, so how many of these scripts have been created only to be forgotten once it was used to get someone in the door? I bet there have been lots of great ideas left in the recycling bin...

- - -

That's the plan for October. If you want to stay updated, watch this space, join me on Patreon, and make sure to check out what new items show up on Medium.