December IWSG: I Unofficially

The Insecure Writers Support Group is brought to you by founder Alex J Cavanaugh. This month Alex has the help of these co-Hosts:  J.H. Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker , Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey! Please go visit them. The optional question for the IWSG is: What are five objects we'd find in your writing space?

First, I'll answer the question.
I don't need much in my space: a laptop, a notebook with my notes, couch or bed, and since I write mostly early morning, I need steamy hot coffee. Oh and Millie, my Mal-shi, is also an "object" in my writing space. I don't exactly invite her, but well...you know. She makes her own rules.

Unofficial

You may or may not remember that I unofficially participated in the National Novel Writing Month. The last week of October, I pulled an idea off a shelf (binder with idea and a few notes), outlined it in another notebook and gave the characters first names only. On November 1, I unofficially started writing toward my goal of not 50,000 words but 30,000 on a middle grade novel. More reasonable for me in November. I prefer short story writing, or so I thought.

I tried it once a long time ago and gave up. There was just no way to write 50,000 words during the second most busy month of the year, work a day job and participate in holiday shenanigans and an important birthday. Officially, I did not write with the NaNoWriMo. Unofficially, I wrote...

20,000 plus a few words...on a MG book that I didn't really "like" the characters and may have shrugged at the storyline.

Did I get to 30,000 words? Nope, but I am 20,000 words richer.

And since I'm not finished writing to the outline, I will continue writing until the outline is satisfied. Then I will put it away (I hope) and rest it. In two or three months, I will be Princess Charming and kiss it awake, and we will make magic again--together.

Along the way I learned:

• (From you all) that I don't have to like a project to start writing it.
• I still have a problem wanting to edit instead of writing new words.
• That writing this way caused ideas to fly out of my brain and into the story.
• Questions were answered about this story.
• I CAN write large bodies of wordage, called novels. WHO knew?

I also learned that I do like this middle grade story (a bit more). I’m warming up to the characters. I don't dread walking inside their world anymore because I'm understanding it better. 

I know the story now.

I didn't write anything else which was difficult for me. I neglected my blogs. Millie probably got less pats on the head. (As if she'd let that happen!) 

Thank you all for the support on the last post.

T.