denise Leora madre

Today is August 1 st , the official end of my self-imposed Nano. (Sidebar: Didn’t know there was a Camp Nano in July in which I could have participated. I’ll keep that in mind for next year.) I started this Nano on June 12th at 17k with a goal to finish my novel. I am at 40k and still in Act One. Believe it or not, this is good.

Image Courtesy of kjnnt / FreeDigitalPhotos.Net So. I have had this blog for almost three months. A blog dedicated to the completion of the redraft of my original novel and its subsequent publication. Yet… I am a few words shy of 17,000 in my redraft with no real idea of when I will finish. I recognize the folly in using word counts as an accurate measure of progress. But I also recognize that unless I buckle down and focus, this novel will idle in a perpetual state of redraft for the foreseeable future. And that will not do. So I—along with my Moo Sisters, Jess and The Ghostwriter—am beginning a self-imposed Nano today, 30 days of working on my novel without interruption. I am also giving myself a few weeks of cushion to fully complete the draft, giving me a prospective end date of August 1st. The good news is I smoked Nano when I did it two years ago. And with a 17,000-word head start, I am practically guaranteed a workable finished product. The… uh, othe...

Image Courtesy of winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.Net I apologize for being a day late with my Reflections. Last Friday I shared that I was writing from jury duty but did not mention my selection for a civil trial which lasted five days. There were two defendants—the plaintiff’s attorney had been named a co-defendant by the first defendant—and we the jury found both defendants negligent in the matter before the court, though to very different extents. When the judge came into the Jury Room yesterday, after thanking us for our service, she discussed her views on the proceedings. What struck me as most interesting was her assertion: “You are each correct in your interpretation of the facts.”

(It's still Wednesday, so this still counts.) Last week I decided not to use the word count as my primary measuring stick for progress, noting however the desire to see that number inch higher and higher. But I did set a goal of getting my MC back home for the incident which leads into the story’s main conflict. So how’d I do? That depends on how you look at it. See, I haven’t written a single word in the manuscript or other related documents since last week. Not a jot or a tittle. Or for the visual learners...

(From Friday, May 31, 2013) I am handwriting this post with a freshly sharpened No. 2 pencil in a spiral notebook instead of typing it on my laptop because I must meet my civic responsibilities. That’s right: I have jury duty. Image Courtesy of jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.Net Sleepiness and hunger aside—I didn't have time for Second Breakfast—my inclusion in this sacred process aptly caps my week. For on different occasions and for various reasons, I have found myself in two seemingly polarized positions. Judge. Defendant. To be clear, I am not involved in any litigation at present… though I have half a mind to sue Ms. Shonda Rhimes for slaying me with that Scandal-lous season finale two weeks ago then leaving me hanging on the edge of summer with no new episodes until September. Surely there exists a law against such cruelty.

Image Courtesy of africa / FreeDigitalPhotos.Net Yesterday I had an epiphany. Although an important indication of progress on a writing project, word count alone is insufficient. As anyone who has participated in NANO knows, a certain number of words does not necessitate cohesion or usability, to say nothing of the other literary components which make a novel worth the read. This caveat is especially true here. Though technically a revision, this go-round with my novel is more like a deconstruction, a remix if you will, so I can take nothing for granted as I proceed. As my MC reminds me every time we meet. So I no longer set arbitrary weekly word count goals, choosing instead to focus on my MC's whereabouts and activities. But I do want a steady uptick in that number in the lower left-hand corner. It makes me smile. So… Wednesday, May 22: 11,157 words Wednesday, May 29: 16,280 words Weekly tally: 5,663 words *grinning*

Today is Memorial Day, the day our country sets aside to honor and mourn those brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. And I won’t trivialize their selflessness by waxing poetic about the death of a character or favorite plot thread. Today I honor and mourn someone I lost, someone who slipped from this life without my immediate knowledge, someone whose death I didn’t understand right away because I was too busy being selfish. My Old Crabapple, my Triple E. My first friend. Image Courtesy of sattva / FreeDigitalPhotos.Net She was my courage, my aggravation, my whimsy. Though seldom philosophical and rarely stationary long enough for serious dialogue, she could knock you on your ass with her dead-on observations and wit. And she died two years ago from a breast cancer whose encore she neglected to mention.