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.

Comments

Huge congratulations on your learnings and your achievement.
And of course Millie got her pats. Muses DEMAND pats.
nashvillecats2 said…
Loved your post. I also don't need much as long as my laptop is working I'm happy.

Yvonne.
Pat Hatt said…
20K isn't too shabby indeed. Congrats on pumping them out.
That's fantastic! I'm so glad that you're working on a novel! (And mine are always short these days....2 of my more popular are only 179 pages and 190 pages. Readers are busy, too, I guess!)

I could eat Millie up. She's just so adorable (and I love animals with strong personalities!)
You don't have to like a project. Good to know.
I see we both came out about the same for November, which is good!
All those term papers I did in the university taught me that I did not have to like a subject to write good prose about it! But I prefer writing about what interests me on the thought that if it interests me, it may well interest prospective readers! :-) Midnight is mystified that I would prefer tapping at this strange keyboard rather than showing better taste and playing with him!
cleemckenzie said…
Sometimes it just takes re-visiting to snuggle into a piece. Congratulations of this new project and have a wonderful holiday. See you again in 2019!
20K is fantastic! Congrats on pushing yourself, for you are indeed richer for it.

Hope you have a safe and Happy Holidays! :)
Jemi Fraser said…
Yay!!!!! that's awesome :)
We have exact opposite challenges - I could write 1st drafts endlessly and ignore the editing and revising stages for very long stretches!
emaginette said…
I do like reading middle grade. It take me back to my son's childhood. I guess, I like it there. hehehe

Anna from elements of emaginette
Diane Burton said…
20k words is more than you had last month. Congratulations! Your insights are terrific. So glad you learned all you did, and that you shared it with us. Best wishes for a great month.
susanbruck.com said…
Congratulations on 20,000 words--that's awesome! And reading your 5 things makes me miss my kitties--they both passed on in the last year--from old age. But I could always count on them to at the very least sit on my keyboard to keep me from typing too fast.

It's good to hear about how you worked on a story you didn't really like. This whole story-writing thing is pretty interesting.
Wow! 20k is a huge deal!!! Congrats! You've learned something new, and realize you can do it. That's a win win. Keep it up.

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas!
Tonja Drecker said…
Congrats on getting so much done! I only completed 2000 or so. So, you way out wrote me. Can't wait to hear when it's done!
Nick Wilford said…
Congrats! A great month. I do think we should try things that we don't think we'd like. Probably learn and grow more that way.
Chrys Fey said…
20K words is excellent. Way to go!
Patsy said…
I do have a 'proper' office in which to write (shared with my husband) but I just as often work away from home, anywhere there's space for my laptop.
Gina Gao said…
Congrats on getting to 20k words! That's quite an achievement.

www.ficklemillennial.blogspot.com

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