It's Marathon Time!

It seems to me that everyone these days is running half-marathons or marathons (not to mention mud-runs, rock-n-roll runs, color-runs, you-name-it runs). I can't quite decide if it's the era or the age bracket I've entered. Or both.

As a former varsity cross-country runner, one would think I'd jump on that marathon-running bandwagon. But, really, I'm not that interested in the marathon-stints. I certainly don't mind doing the Hood-to-Coast relay races and I'd probably enjoy the aforementioned runs in the parenthesis up there yonder, but the thought of marathons just makes me tired.

I will, however, be participating in a marathon this Saturday.

A marathon of words! The first annual NaNoWriMo Writing Marathon! And I can squeeze it in between my concert on Friday night and my concert on Saturday night. Woot!

Since I've been struggling to work on my novel whilst all this musicky (technical term) is going on (did I mention that my students are going to state for soprano clarinet, bass clarinet, and in a wind quintet?!), this is just one more incentive for me to keep plugging away as I attempt to balance my life. Just like I used to balance on a balance beam when I did gymnastics.

Wish me luck!

Life, Procrastination, Realization, and why a 50,000 goal isn't just for novels

I have been silent for a while on this here my blog. That's a bad sign. Why? Because it means I haven't been writing. Granted, life has gotten a bit in the way. But really that's just a way to say I'm a procrastinator.

Well shoot. I already knew that about myself. After all, I did (and do) my best work at the 11th hour (or should I say the hours between 1 and 3 am? ;) ), while burning both ends of the candle (how many metaphors can I fit into this?).

That's why NaNoWriMo is so good for me. After all: it gives me a clear and steady deadline.

This past year, I chose not to do NaNoWriMo. Not because I don't have a thousand story ideas calling out to me from the ethers of my mind (au contraire, mon ami!), but I felt I owed it to my two previous novels to really hunker down and get to some serious revising.

That lasted all of three days until...I ordered new A clarinets to test out...(*note: that is not a typo, I ordered clarinets in the key of A, as in not Bb clarinets.)

On the plus side, I have a fantastic and beautiful new instrument to play. The downside, of course, my writing greatly suffered.

So November passed in a blur of instruments,  December in a flurry of holidays with no snow, January hit and suddenly I turned a year older (seriously, how is it that 27 actually feels older?). My brother temporarily moved in with us (which totally threw off my groove) and my grandfather passed away. And forget February, that's an entirely separate beast all of its own: SOLO/ENSEMBLE. And while it was worth every minute I spent working with my students (it totally paid off! State here we come!), I found myself at the end wondering why yet another month disappeared.

I sit here now, though, fully aware that it's March. And I'm okay with that. Here's why:

A few weeks ago I realized that while I may list a thousand reasons for why I'm not working on my writing and while I may be an inherent procrastinator, here is the real truth as to why I hadn't started seriously revising:

I had absolutely no idea where to start.

I had a full-blown draft of a novel (two, actually), and every time I sat down to edit or revise or do anything besides stare at words...I just felt completely overwhelmed. In all the years of writing I took in college, in all the years I've counted myself a writer (since I was about 3...) I have never truly been taught by myself or anybody how to revise anything longer than a short story.

Thankfully, I remembered I bought Scrivener. One day I sat down and inputted my stories. I felt pretty darn pleased with myself. Days passed. That dreadful overwhelming feeling started to creep back into my system.

Then I realized something else:

I don't have to work on the entire novel at once! 

I know, I know, this seems like such a simple concept. But it's akin to realizing that I didn't have to start at the beginning either. More importantly, Scrivener is set up in such a way that I can just isolate scenes and work on sections or subsections — whatever inspires me that day.

Renewed, I finally started tampering with words. Even deleting some. Heck, today I removed an entire sentence! (It was a bit superfluous after all.) I felt so empowered, so good about how much I accomplished that I even felt I'd written something good enough to allow my husband to read one scene. And if you know anything about me and my writing, you know how incredibly private I keep it.

So there you have it folks. I'm recommitting to my writing: one scene at a time.

Meanwhile, I've also taken the idea of 50,000 words and translated it into my practice-time on my clarinet. As of last week, I start a 50,000 hour practice log countdown. It will probably take my entire lifetime to accomplish (hey, it's more realistic than using my serial number on my instrument: 633994!). But I need goals and deadlines. I thrive on those. And after only a week, I am down to 49,990.50

Moral of the story?

Well, I don't know. I haven't finished revising it yet. ;)

Read-through of NaNoWriMo 2011 novel complete! Huzzah! (Too bad that's the "easy" part...)

Thanks to a fantastic program called Scrivener, I have finished the read-through of my 2011 novel. (Yes, you and I both would have preferred the words: I have finished my novel. But novels take time.)

I am, first of all, very excited about the Scrivener writing program (and the fact that I got 50% off for being a NaNoWriMo 2011 winner certainly doesn't hurt!) With this last novel I wrote, especially, my thoughts and ideas are a bit helter-skelter. And the added fact that I have a flashback story that is interspersed throughout the novel makes organizing it a bit of a nightmare. Until Scrivener. Now I can isolate just the flashback story and read through it sans rest of novel, and then I can insert the various portions in their correct locations in a neat and orderly fashion!

As for the story itself, there are definitely some great scenes and some terrible scenes: those I wrote in fervent excitement, those I dragged from the depths of the deepest mud (and which need to return). There are brilliant character revelations as well as some flat character moments that need to be polished until the diamond in the rough can actually be "scene". (Bwahahaha.)

Overall, I like that I gave myself freedom to write whatever popped into my mind, but I think I prefer having a pre-outlined story like in NaNo 2010. If only because with this 2011 novel I will be having to finagle the chunks quite a bit to make the story completely cohesive.

While I definitely have work to do, I am pleased to see that I have some worthwhile material to mold. And, in a way, I'm equally glad that some scenes I can just throw out without shedding a tear.

Throughout all the revisions and edits, I will be learning and utilizing the various tips and tricks and organizational material provided in the Scrivener program. (It has a virtual corkboard! With different colored virtual push pins! And virtual 3 x 5 colored notecards!)

Whatever gets me through the dreaded revision stage, right? ;)

NaNoWriMo 2011 Re-read and Outline to Commence!

Last year at this time, I'd completely re-read and re-outlined my novel from NaNoWriMo 2010. This year, that stage has gone spectacularly well: I confirmed that my writing laptop has a beautiful sheen of dust.

Good thing I found my duster today!

I guess I've been slightly busy after all:  teaching, clarinetting, thinking about writing. Oh, and going on an African safari!

Yes, those are lions!

But vacation is over now, and it's time to buckle down and kick out the heel-dragger in me. After all, re-reading my first draft has to be better than The Professors' Wives' Club. (I suppose some Goodwill items were meant to stay un-purchased...)  I guess when I spend most of the time contemplating how much better I could write a particular book than actually reading it that it's time for me to get back to my own writing!

NaNoWriMo 2011 Complete!

FINISHED!!! 50,236 according to Word and 50,040 according to NaNoWriMo.

Now to sit on my butt and play Zelda without guilt and eat delicious barbecued pizza made by my handsome husband! Huzzah!

Tomorrow begins the week of house clean-up, holiday decorating, and Nutcracker practicing, rehearsals, and performances!

At some point I will write a wrap-up of NaNoWriMo 2011, but I'm sure you all can appreciate the fact that I'm tired of writing at the moment. But the first draft of the novel is complete, for better or worse. And there's quite a bit of the latter, my inner editor says. But that's okay because for now:

I'VE FINISHED! Ta Da!

Muses, Valkyries, and Free Coffee

In the month of November, there is no halftime. Not for writing. It's a bit upsetting actually. Here I am, just having passed the halfway mark, and there is no marching band with an amazing field show for me. Not one. Maybe they weren't ready, since I am ahead of the game. *Sigh* I guess that playing Ride of the Valkyries last night at symphony rehearsal was my halftime show. At this point, if you haven't already, I suggest you click on the above link so that you can experience the epic-ness with me, and then come back while it's playing for the halftime report with Bob and Ralph!

Because, after all, with any good halftime show, we need a good halftime report. And so here goes: 

BOB: "What an exciting opening half, don't you agree, Ralph?" 

RALPH: "Yes, Bob, I do say that it was. It started out slow, I was a little worried there for the first few plays, I felt like the ball just wasn't going anywhere. But then out of nowhere, it suddenly flew down the field!" 

B: "Those Muses practically handed the game over to Team Sondra, do you think they'll have anything left for the second half?" 

R: "Really, only time will tell. Last year at this time the game was a lot closer, but this year Team Sondra has some hidden talents." 

B: "You know Ralph, to be honest I'm surprised. In fact, I think she took a lot of us by surprise. Up until the last week before the big month, she wasn't even sure she'd be competing."

R: "Excellent point, Bob. But apparently that strategy has been working for her. Last year she came prepared. This year it could have gone either way, and there have been some shockers." 

B: "Certainly. Her characters have taken control of the game at times, leading her in what seems to be a crazy path down the field. Do you think that she can keep up with them and bring it home?" 

R: "Time will only tell. But if she keeps playing like she has during the first half--" 

B: "You mean if The Muses keep handing it over." 

R: "I think Team Sondra deserves some credit. Apparently she's been keeping some of those main scenes and characters on the downlow for years." 

B: "I do have to agree, those were some powerful secret weapons. Now, let's get back to the game and see what happens in the second half!" 

*******

Meanwhile, in other news, Costco had great samples today (oreo cookies being one of them) and McDonald's is offering a free 12 oz coffee all day, every day until Nov. 20th. Score! 

*******

Amusing the Muses

I am hoping I won't jinx myself, but so far I'm cruising right along with my novel. Sometimes I stare at the page for a while wondering what mindless drivel will end up on the paper. Yet several days in a row now, I've been thrown a tidbit by the Writerly Muses. And with each delightful morsel, I find myself eagerly flipping pages as my pencils whittle down to mere nubs. (Good thing I have a steady supply from last Christmas in my office.)

More than once my characters have surprised me or new characters suddenly push their way into my story. One character picked an occupation that I never expected (or even knew existed until it appeared on my paper). Another character blurted out something at a family dinner that sent shockwaves...both through the other characters and within my writing. And then, just as I thought my Writerly Muses had deserted me, they dangled a carrot in front of my proverbial writing donkey and voilà! I was off again.

I took a chance on NanoWriMo this year, starting with only snapshots of scenes and no real direction. I don't think writing this freely will work every time, but it certainly does have a sense of liberation. There are certainly moments that will have to be cut or drastically altered in my rewrites, but for now, I'm excited that this might actually turn into a novel. I'll try not to hold my breath, but between you and me, Dear Reader, I'm excited!!!