NaNoWriMo | BulgingButtons

October 14, 2016
by BulgingButtons 3 Comments

To Nano or Not to Nano? 2016 Version

NaNoWriMo is coming up… soon. Before we know it November 1 will be on the calendar and National Novel Writing Month will be upon us. It’s a beautiful thing, this challenge to write a novel in 30 days, and it can be done. I know. I’ve done it.

Well, sort of. I’ve written a draft of a novel. The whole thing, beginning, middle, and end. There are characters, settings, conflicts a plenty, and even a resolution. But is it done? Not be a long shot.

When did I write this manuscript? crest-bda7b7a6e1b57bb9fb8ce9772b8faafb

2013.

Gulp.

Yes, it’s been three years. It was a glorious time, really. The ideas were flowing, the words jumped out of my head and through my fingertips onto the screen. Not all days were like that, but overall it worked! I tracked my progress diligently, and worked hard to deliver those 1,600 words per day. Some days I didn’t make it, but other days made up for it. By the end of the month I did it. I finished!

Now I’m in revisions. Still. To be fair, I didn’t touch it for a long time, but also to be fair, I’ve been really slow about revising. Good thing I belong to a terrific writing group which forces me to bring material for review from time to time, or I might not be working on it at all. So why do I keep doing it?

First of all, at this point I have a lot of time invested in it. Sure, I haven’t worked on it every minute of the past three years, but it’s been part of my life for that length of time. I’d hate to just cut it loose and say that it doesn’t matter.

Secondly, and more importantly, I think there’s something to the story. Each time I work on it I’m surprised by how much I actually like the story. My writing group is encouraging (and they are NOT a smile and nod type of group, they tell it like it is), and frankly if I can figure out a little bit of a plot hole I think I could be done with it soon(ish).

The problem is that plot hole seems like a canyon at the moment. When I wrote the draft it all made sense, but when I reread that section (a very pivotal scene) I realized that the motivation for the characters actions was completely missing. The action simply doesn’t make sense without some type of explanation, and silly me, I forgot to include it. At the time I know why he did what he did, but now for the life of me I can’t remember, and it’s causing a problem. I need to figure it out so I can move on!

All that leads me to November. Am I ready to start a new project? I have ideas, and I think I could commit the time, especially now that the boy is in college. It might be the spark I need to get me going creatively, and maybe as a result I’ll come up with a stellar solution to the plot hole in manuscript number one. Maybe.

What do you think? Is this a challenge I should face or a burden I’ll regret?

December 1, 2014
by BulgingButtons 2 Comments

Building Habits

It’s December 1, which means that I’ve officially succeeded in posting every day for the month of November, making me a NoBloPoMo winner! Of course I don’t think there are actually winners and losers for that particular challenge, but since I missed my 50,000 word goal for NaNoWriMo by a long-shot, I’ll take what I can get.

I’m actually pretty tickled that it’s December, and I still feel like I have plenty to write about. Rather than feel drained, I feel energized. I’ve gotten into a daily blogging habit, and I’m feeling the need to keep on going. Yay me. Too bad I’ve had so much trouble establishing other good habits.

I always seem to take one step forward then two steps back. At least as far as my health and fitness go. I want to lose weight. I want to move more. I want to get off my medication. But apparently I don’t want it badly enough.

Oh sure, I’ve been walking more, and I really am enjoying it, but it’s not enough.

I’ve also been trying to include more fruits and vegetables into my diet, but that’s not enough either.

My situation calls for more drastic measures. Measures that I don’t feel like I have at my disposal at the moment, like strength and determination and willpower.

I’ve heard so many times that you just have to decide to do it, then make the changes. For some reason this approach is generally offered by men. Maybe we really are wired differently in this aspect? Or maybe we’re all individuals and we each have our quirks and hang-ups. For me, it’s my weight.

It seems that for each good choice I make, I make five poor ones. I’m working hard to balance that out a bit. I’m going to try to keep on moving. Today I tracked my steps with my phone (which means not all of them since I don’t carry it around all day), and I had more than I’ve had in the past week. The walk before work got me off to a good start. I have to thank my son and my dog for allowing me to join them.

If I can sit down and conjure words every day, then sure I can lace up my sneakers and take a walk around the block. I may even just walk myself into a new good habit.

November 18, 2014
by BulgingButtons 2 Comments

Is It Really Only Tuesday?

I’m ready for the weekend. I feel like I’ve put in a full week already, but a glance at the calendar (as if I really have a calendar) confirms that today is actually only Tuesday. Dammit.

Like most people I have certain little routines and rituals that take me through the week. Yesterday I decided to revisit an old one, the Monday night Weight Watchers meeting. Oh yes I did.

I’ve been watching myself balloon up to a scary size with a correspondingly scary weight, and I’m tired of it. My giant sweatshirt doesn’t look giant on me, but it does make me resemble a giant. My airline seatbelt days were looking like they were on the path to extender city, a destination I would rather avoid.

There is no shame in going back, at least that’s what they say, because face it, most people who lose weight don’t keep it off. They count on people going back. They make good money on us.

The way I see it is this: I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again, and one of these times it will stick. Maybe it’ll be this time. I would like that a lot. So here I go again. Wish me luck.

Another Monday night tradition has become tv watching. I know I said I was going to reclaim my time, but I’m hooked on both Dancing With the Stars and Sleepy Hollow.

Good thing we have a DVR, because by the time the meeting was over and we had cooked dinner DWTS was almost over. We got comfy and started watching the recorded show from the beginning. By the time it was over, I was ready for bed. Sleepy Hollow would have to wait until some other time.

And writing? What about writing? Um, well, uh… there hasn’t been too much of that lately. Aside from blog posts, that is. I’m terribly behind on my word count for NaNoWriMo. I’m starting to feel like it’s NaNo-NoGo or NaNo-TooSlow. I’m not giving up, though.

Then there’s all the usual stuff that happens in a week. Mine all sort of seemed to happen yesterday and today. I’m beat, I truly am. I did have some great conferences with my son’s teachers this afternoon. They told me things that I already knew, but it felt good to hear it from someone else.

There’s more, too, but I can’t keep my eyes open. Maybe tomorrow I’ll edit this post and maybe tomorrow I’ll decide that it’s garbage, but for tonight it’s my daily offering.