Due to a move and lack of internet, I've been unable to post and unable to write since Wednesday night. So time for a last minute eight hour word sprint. I'll check in at midnight!
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National Novel Writing Month consumes a lot of November but for synchronized skating teams, November is also the start of the competitive season. So a little time out from noveling and a little time in Kalamazoo at the Kick Off Classic with my fabulous Flurries and . . . drum roll please . . . a gold medal! Lake Effect is undefeated! Between final practices and the competition and a team after party at Erbelli's, though, I managed less than 200 words. So back to it . . .  Since I decided a couple of years ago to go back to school to get my MFA, it actually hasn't been that long since I had to write one of these. I took a risk with format writing my application essay for Vermont and instead of an actual essay, I wrote a mock interview with myself. As VCFA is the kind of school where this sort of creative experimentation is encouraged, it paid off and I got compliments from the admissions staff. Still, I had been a little nervous waiting for the response. Vermont was my top choice and I wanted in bad. Today's writing goal is to get my character to write her college application essay, and Breelynn wants ESMOD even more than I wanted VCFA. Considering how many drafts I had to do just writing my own, this should be a good way to get my daily word count in. :-) P.S. - Though Breelynn won't be doing an Elle Woods application video à la Legally Blonde, I couldn't resist posting this!  It might be the snow outside. It might be the shopping trip downtown with my aunt and all the holiday decorations. Whatever it is, I'm feeling a lot like Christmas.
I'm normally a firm no-thinking-about-Christmas-until-you're-digesting-turkey sort of person. But I'm also an obsessed-with-my-characters person (good if you're a writer). So I compromised a little today by letting myself think about what would be on my characters' holiday wish lists. Breelynn would totally swoon for the button-up, lace trimmed leg warmers and copy-cat the fabric "indoor snowballs" for her younger sibs. Jonah would score bringing them special glasses (think like 3D movie glasses) that make pictures appear over top of twinkle lights. For himself, though? I'm going to have to think about that one. In addition to wish lists for characters, I also like to think about what my characters already have. What's in their lockers? Backpacks? Cars? Bedrooms? Our stuff tells stories about us, and your characters' stuff can set a mood through creating the setting, inspire memories about a particular object, give insights into their personalities, and so much more. Right now I'm off to write a couple scenes inspired by stuff Breelynn keeps in her bedroom. They probably won't be as good as what just went through your mind. ;-) But that's what December edits are for. On second thought, might have to do that after I shovel. Psst - Michigan! It's not December yet! You can stop snowing now... Here in Michigan, our weather is evidently trying to get in on the NaNo fun by creating its own blank pages outside. There's a swirl of a snowstorm through my window that's beautiful yet not very inspiring for my set-in-the-spring novel. What to do? Start a new winter novel of course. (What? Did someone just call me a procrastinator. Yeah, you called it.) All snarky comments aside, I've got my NaNo words in for today so I'm going to play with something else for awhile. (And maybe play in the snow a little, too.) 
It's an old Jewel song as well as great advice for writing, advice that I was reminded of today by Stephanie Perkins's official NaNo pep talk: "Whatever you’re interested in—now matter how silly or how small—put it in there. Your brain will be excited to see it." (See her entire funny and useful post here.)
My best writing comes from the pieces of me that I let into my novels, from my own passions and emotions. But, as Stephanie said, these things don't have to be big in order to get your brain inspired. Today, I'm thinking about this quote from the 1989 movie When Harry Met Sally: Harry (to Sally): “I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle in your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” I know Jonah has a speech this swoon-worthy for Breelynn - now off to write it! Six hours of writing time, lots of sugar, humorous raffle items, oh, and an additional 5K in word count ain't bad either.  Today I'm thinking about sports, specifically my favorite sports movies and TV shows because I'm feeling in need of a Coach Taylor worthy pep-talk myself right now. It's been a slow couple of days for my NaNoWriMo project and my word counts are dragging. At the same time, though, I'm remembering that what makes sporting events (and so much else in life, including novels!) awesome is tension. It's not nearly as much fun to win if you didn't have to battle for it, right? So I'm signing off for tonight and looking forward to a solid block of writing time with the OCGR Wrimos during tomorrow's day of Knockout Noveling. What's not to love about Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass?" It's catchy and full of healthy attitude and the girl's got soul. I confess to also being a huge Weird Al fan as well and while I was filling my crock pot and belting out "All About That Bass," I found a different chorus coming out instead... So here's a shout-out to WriMos and crock pots everywhere:
ALL ABOUT MY CROCK (lyrics by Katie Van Ark) CHORUS: Because you know I'm all about my crock 'Bout my crock, slow cooking I'm all about my crock 'Bout my crock, slow cooking I'm all about my crock 'Bout my crock, slow cooking I'm all about my crock 'Bout my crock Yeah, it's pretty clear, I ain't no foodie But I can fill it, plug it Like I'm Miss Betty 'Cause I got my pork, beef, and stuffed peppers, too And all this nice time to just write, I do I see the magazines workin' new time savers We know crock pots are best C'mon now, novel-ers If you can crock it, crock it, just raise 'em up 'Cause every bit of time is precious And us WriMos cannot stop BRIDGE: Yeah, my mama she told me don't worry about tonight She says, "Girl put that meat in the crock it'll cook it right." You know I won't make my guy cook for me all November long I'll just plug in this roast and get my novel moving on CHORUS Hey! I'm bringing slow cook back Go ahead and tell them fancy gourmets that No I'm not playing. I ain't got time for that. But I'm here to tell ya If you wanna write a novel then you gotta have a crock. BRIDGE CHORUS x2 then change to: Nah, I'm all about my book 'Bout my book, just typing I'm all about my book 'Bout my book, word sprinting I'm all about my book 'Bout my book, I'm writing I'm all about my book 'Bout my book, 'bout my book Hey, hey, yeah, yeah, ooh You know you like me noveling... In my last post I had a skating clip with a boat trip - and not the good kind. Well, a couple things did trip up my NaNo journey yesterday but they both proved positive in the end. First, no post yesterday due to server issues. But, said issues meant extra time for writing. And in the NaNo spirit of letting everything out, I decided to send my characters on a trip. As a high school student, I loved foreign languages and took German, French, and Spanish. One of my favorite memories from high school is the summer I spent in France as part of an exchange student program. Since it was summer, no actual school involved - bonus! My first exchange family lived in an apartment in Paris and I had an exchange sister about my age. I grew up near the downtown of a small town with lots of places within walking distance so I never felt hindered by a lack of transportation until my exchange sister introduced me to the Metro. Suddenly, Paris was at my fingertips and I had the greatest guide. My second family took me along on their family vacation. Hello, Mediterranean coast! My host brother and his friend wanted to stay in the hotel room and play video games - huh? I guess if your parents drag you somewhere with topless beaches every year it gets old? Anyway, I was happy to go along with his parents and enjoy the sights *cough* hot Italian boys *cough*. We were supposed to bring small gifts for our families as part of the program, things that represented part of American culture, so I'd brought a box of Jell-O. My host mother told me they were hosting a barbeque and suggested I make this American dessert. Thinking it would be perfect for a cookout, I agreed. The "barbeque," however, simply meant that they were grilling most of the courses of what turned out to be a fancy seven course dinner - and I hadn't even made a Jell-O salad, just a big old bowl of plain lime Jell-O. Oops. So why the memory trip today? Forget a road trip, there's nothing to shake up a novel like an impromptu flight to France. :-) I'm enjoying mining the memories of my own favorite high school trip and hope this post stirs up some great trip memories for you. 
I'm watching your word count!
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Reflections on Writing
I love few things better than a bottomless to-read list of books and firmly believe the world has room for all the stories we want to share. This blog is intended to provide resources and spark discussion about improving writing. Opinions are my own and not intended to discredit anyone else's work, only to open conversation. Thanks for reading!
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