I have an idea for a travel book for kids. It's interactive and based on travel games I played in the car when my family went on car rides when I was young. These are the same games I "forced" my kids to play when they were younger.
I threw my idea out to a friend the other day and she said she didn't think it was going to work. She thinks that kids these days have movies and electronics and wouldn't be interested in car games.
And I'm now concerned that she might be right!
Remember "Mr. Mystery" books? They had games and puzzles and you used a mystery pen to reveal the hidden answers. We LOVED to travel with those and now they are difficult to find. Has the allure disappeared for kids?
Tell me what you think. I have a lot of fabulous ideas for this and I'm planning to pursue it still, but only to a point. If there is a significant lack of interest, maybe I'll change my focus to revising my novels and outlining the next. It's not like I have a lack of projects.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
More creative time
Part of my new years resolution is to make more creative time in my life. I aim to have just a few hours a week that are mine to create something, whether that be quilting, scrapping, writing, or something else. It's time away from the gym, chores, cooking, and work. It's good for the brain.
I've made a slow start at it. I had to actually get some work done in my creative space in order to make it a place to feel like I can actually do something besides work. But I have spent several weekends in a row making things. And it feels GREAT!
This week I got to read a story someone I know is submitting for publishing. I just read it and gave her a few suggestions. It's a really neat story and I hope it gets published. She wrote it off a prompt. I think I might make it a goal to write something for publishing. I loved to read hers and hope that someone would like to read mine. (Though her amazing level of creativity makes me feel quite intimidated). I'll link to her story if it's published. You should read it too.
Yay, for creative 2017!!
I've made a slow start at it. I had to actually get some work done in my creative space in order to make it a place to feel like I can actually do something besides work. But I have spent several weekends in a row making things. And it feels GREAT!
This week I got to read a story someone I know is submitting for publishing. I just read it and gave her a few suggestions. It's a really neat story and I hope it gets published. She wrote it off a prompt. I think I might make it a goal to write something for publishing. I loved to read hers and hope that someone would like to read mine. (Though her amazing level of creativity makes me feel quite intimidated). I'll link to her story if it's published. You should read it too.
Yay, for creative 2017!!
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Win!
I did it! I have logged my 3rd Nano Win!
I don't have to tell you that I'm pretty excited, but I will. I'm pretty excited about this!
This story budded in late October. I was starting to panic because I didn't have a plot yet. But then there it was. It evolved over the course of the month. There is a lot at the front that isn't going to stay because of the direction the story took, but every word written helped lead me there, so they are all important.
If anyone ever has a desire to participate in Nano in the future, I'll give you a tip here. Go all in. Sign up. Fill out the profile on the website. Make buddies on the site. Participate in the forums. Donate something, even if it's a dollar. Go to the write in's. Go all in and invest in the process. Get to know your Municipal Liaisons, we are there to give you encouragement.
It really does help to be part of the community. It helps to feel supported. You will learn tricks and tidbits that help with your word count and creative process.
Not to mention it is FUN!
I cannot put this novel to the side and make a promise to edit later. I know me. I won't get back to it. I would probably have to start over. I have to do at least some editing now. Now, when I know what is missing at the beginning. Now, when I still have the *feelings* that I tried to convey. So, I will, make the promise to keep going. This has now become Decembers Problem, and it is almost December.
I am looking forward to reading some books again though. I haven't felt like I could pick up a book all month. Not without guilt that I could be writing instead. There is a stack. I didn't stop collecting them in November, I just paused on reading them.
Celebration and TGIO party is upcoming. I'll put editing in my planner and see how that goes. I've never edited a book before. This is going to be a first.
I don't have to tell you that I'm pretty excited, but I will. I'm pretty excited about this!
This story budded in late October. I was starting to panic because I didn't have a plot yet. But then there it was. It evolved over the course of the month. There is a lot at the front that isn't going to stay because of the direction the story took, but every word written helped lead me there, so they are all important.
If anyone ever has a desire to participate in Nano in the future, I'll give you a tip here. Go all in. Sign up. Fill out the profile on the website. Make buddies on the site. Participate in the forums. Donate something, even if it's a dollar. Go to the write in's. Go all in and invest in the process. Get to know your Municipal Liaisons, we are there to give you encouragement.
It really does help to be part of the community. It helps to feel supported. You will learn tricks and tidbits that help with your word count and creative process.
Not to mention it is FUN!
I cannot put this novel to the side and make a promise to edit later. I know me. I won't get back to it. I would probably have to start over. I have to do at least some editing now. Now, when I know what is missing at the beginning. Now, when I still have the *feelings* that I tried to convey. So, I will, make the promise to keep going. This has now become Decembers Problem, and it is almost December.
I am looking forward to reading some books again though. I haven't felt like I could pick up a book all month. Not without guilt that I could be writing instead. There is a stack. I didn't stop collecting them in November, I just paused on reading them.
Celebration and TGIO party is upcoming. I'll put editing in my planner and see how that goes. I've never edited a book before. This is going to be a first.
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Playing catch up
I started off the month behind. I logged 300 words on the first day. Those words were typed in notes on my phone during my lunch break. I was working on a research paper at work during the day and really had no drive to sit down at my computer to type words for my novel when I got home. I did the first 300 words on the first day, so that I could tell myself that I'd started. I didn't make myself write another word until the weekend.
I went to my first Nano Write-in on Sunday. It was amazing. I was about an hour late to the write in. It was well attended. All of the seats around the table were taken. There were word wars and everyone was introduced to the "plot unstickers" that the more experienced Nano ML brings. She has several bags of different unstickers that are really funny. I didn't have to use those yet. But was very much enjoying everyone else talking about them. I got over 5,000 words written on that write-in.
Over the next few weeks I logged some words every day. I rarely made the minimum word count during the week. On Saturdays I had an appointment with my Aussie sister. We do virtual write ins and word wars. I have used those word wars to catch up on word count.
So most of my word count has come from the weekend write-ins and support from peers. And I'm in heaven. I love to hear about every ones progress at the Nano Write-in and the nuances of peoples stories. I'm honestly excited about reading some of those stories eventually.
Even with all the words I'm logging on the weekend, I'm consistently between 5,000 and 10,000 words behind schedule.
I had a four day weekend on Thanksgiving weekend. I had a goal to write 5,000 words each day. And I almost made it. I logged a fair amount on the morning of Thanksgiving. I planned to write some more in the evening. I'd planned to not drink at Thanksgiving dinner, but who was I kidding? I went to bed full and happy that night and slept in the next morning. On Friday, I did log 5,000 words. And on Saturday I had typed up over 1,000 words when my computer rebooted. I lost that work and had to start over. Imagine my frustration! I was able to recreate the scene, and I hope I made it better. I'm going to just consider that 1,000 words as practice. I logged 5,000 on Saturday.
There are are only a few days left of Nano 2016. I still have 10,000 words to write. I'm hoping that I can meet my 5,000 word Write-in average. Then I just have to make a minimal amount each week day for the few remaining days of the month.
I don't think anyone really cares about my word count and the history of my November 2016. But at least I'll be able to look back and remember the track I took to win this year.
To those of you who are still writing this November, KEEP IT UP! IF you hit 50,000 or 5,000, you've started a journey. You're going to go places.
I went to my first Nano Write-in on Sunday. It was amazing. I was about an hour late to the write in. It was well attended. All of the seats around the table were taken. There were word wars and everyone was introduced to the "plot unstickers" that the more experienced Nano ML brings. She has several bags of different unstickers that are really funny. I didn't have to use those yet. But was very much enjoying everyone else talking about them. I got over 5,000 words written on that write-in.
Over the next few weeks I logged some words every day. I rarely made the minimum word count during the week. On Saturdays I had an appointment with my Aussie sister. We do virtual write ins and word wars. I have used those word wars to catch up on word count.
So most of my word count has come from the weekend write-ins and support from peers. And I'm in heaven. I love to hear about every ones progress at the Nano Write-in and the nuances of peoples stories. I'm honestly excited about reading some of those stories eventually.
Even with all the words I'm logging on the weekend, I'm consistently between 5,000 and 10,000 words behind schedule.
I had a four day weekend on Thanksgiving weekend. I had a goal to write 5,000 words each day. And I almost made it. I logged a fair amount on the morning of Thanksgiving. I planned to write some more in the evening. I'd planned to not drink at Thanksgiving dinner, but who was I kidding? I went to bed full and happy that night and slept in the next morning. On Friday, I did log 5,000 words. And on Saturday I had typed up over 1,000 words when my computer rebooted. I lost that work and had to start over. Imagine my frustration! I was able to recreate the scene, and I hope I made it better. I'm going to just consider that 1,000 words as practice. I logged 5,000 on Saturday.
There are are only a few days left of Nano 2016. I still have 10,000 words to write. I'm hoping that I can meet my 5,000 word Write-in average. Then I just have to make a minimal amount each week day for the few remaining days of the month.
I don't think anyone really cares about my word count and the history of my November 2016. But at least I'll be able to look back and remember the track I took to win this year.
To those of you who are still writing this November, KEEP IT UP! IF you hit 50,000 or 5,000, you've started a journey. You're going to go places.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Shaking Things Up
Oh my, It has been time since I have blogged. I'm in a bloggy mood today and it's high time to start writing.
There are a couple reasons that have pushed me into a writing mood. It's never very far from my mind, but somehow the time to write seems harder to carve into a schedule than other, equally important, things. I wonder how other people do it, actually. But I have decided that I'm most successful at it when I simply do it in short bursts in between the other things that are also necessary and harder to rearrange. So I'm practicing that, in these months leading up to Nanowrimo 2016.
I read a book this weekend (actually, I read several, in addition to finishing off the next to last Outlander book). It is called Finding Fraser, by KC Dryer. And I LOVED it. The main character, Emma, has come to the realization that she needs a change in her life, she is a great fan out Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon, and decides to sell everything she owns, and travel around Scotland in search of her own Jamie Fraser. She sets up a travel blog to document her journey, and has a wonderful adventure.
It was wonderfully written and put the itch in me to write a travel blog. But I have too many responsibilities to sell everything and travel the world to write about it. Emma didn't have kids at home that needed help with their homework and to be driven places. So I'm going to focus on the blogs that I already have, and focus on keeping those up to date for awhile. I don't have a burning desire to travel alone or on the cheap anyway. :)
The other catalyst is that Nanowrimo is coming up and I'd like to *WIN* again. In order to do that I have to pull together a story to write. For the last few years (yes years, it's disappointing) I have had only the whisps of a story. I have very feathery ideas that I can't seem to pull together into a real story. I keep thinking that I'm going to write until they gel, but the haven't seemed to do that yet. So I need to take a different approach. I'm not certain what that approach is going to be yet. But I will be haunting the Nano forums soon looking for some inspiration. Anyone out there care to share how they have come up with their stories? I'm all ears!
This is going to be a good year for Nano. I can feel it.
There are a couple reasons that have pushed me into a writing mood. It's never very far from my mind, but somehow the time to write seems harder to carve into a schedule than other, equally important, things. I wonder how other people do it, actually. But I have decided that I'm most successful at it when I simply do it in short bursts in between the other things that are also necessary and harder to rearrange. So I'm practicing that, in these months leading up to Nanowrimo 2016.
I read a book this weekend (actually, I read several
It was wonderfully written and put the itch in me to write a travel blog. But I have too many responsibilities to sell everything and travel the world to write about it. Emma didn't have kids at home that needed help with their homework and to be driven places. So I'm going to focus on the blogs that I already have, and focus on keeping those up to date for awhile. I don't have a burning desire to travel alone or on the cheap anyway. :)
The other catalyst is that Nanowrimo is coming up and I'd like to *WIN* again. In order to do that I have to pull together a story to write. For the last few years (yes years, it's disappointing) I have had only the whisps of a story. I have very feathery ideas that I can't seem to pull together into a real story. I keep thinking that I'm going to write until they gel, but the haven't seemed to do that yet. So I need to take a different approach. I'm not certain what that approach is going to be yet. But I will be haunting the Nano forums soon looking for some inspiration. Anyone out there care to share how they have come up with their stories? I'm all ears!
This is going to be a good year for Nano. I can feel it.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Nano 2013
I have pledged to take the year off this year. I do not have a story brewing. I do not know what I'd write about. And I want to recharge. I finished last year and tried camp out this year and didn't succeed. So I feel like November would be pushing it.
but....
I keep getting uplifting emails from Nanowrimo in my inbox. And I see the ticker on the blog page set at zero. And I'm finding myself tempted!
Maybe what I need is one or two brainstorming sessions with some friends to get the very basic story that *might* have legs to a point where it could be interesting.
but.... I feel like I am sooo busy this year. Is there time this November to write a novel?
It is only 1667 words a day. It's 1666 words a day!
I was set in my decision to NOT write this year. With one week left until kickoff I'm now undecided. I'll let you know what I decide after the first of the month. At the very least I can use the month to edit an old story, or outline a new one....
but....
I keep getting uplifting emails from Nanowrimo in my inbox. And I see the ticker on the blog page set at zero. And I'm finding myself tempted!
Maybe what I need is one or two brainstorming sessions with some friends to get the very basic story that *might* have legs to a point where it could be interesting.
but.... I feel like I am sooo busy this year. Is there time this November to write a novel?
It is only 1667 words a day. It's 1666 words a day!
I was set in my decision to NOT write this year. With one week left until kickoff I'm now undecided. I'll let you know what I decide after the first of the month. At the very least I can use the month to edit an old story, or outline a new one....
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Book Club
My Pseudo Book Club that I was doing with a friend has turned into a full fledged book club. We have meetings and chose books together and it grew by a couple of people. We have read 2 books together and discussed one so far. I look forward to our next meeting and book discussion. We read Water for Elephants this time. I've been wanting to read that book for a while now. For several reasons. I've heard great things about it. I wanted to read it before I saw the movie and it spoiled the book for me. And it's a Nano book.
The author did a lot of research before the month of Nano and had it outlined and ready to write.
It's motivating to read something so great that came from such a fun event that is Nano.
The author did a lot of research before the month of Nano and had it outlined and ready to write.
It's motivating to read something so great that came from such a fun event that is Nano.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)