Still at it!

I bet you thought I had given up on this blog and forgotten all about my loyal followers.
Not a chance. I am halfway there with over 26000 words. The story is really messed up and in outline form in some places and other spots actually have conversations and make sense!
I am having a hard time with it though I must admit. I keep changing gears as I write the story. The premise is the same, but the road map to get to the end keeps changing.
That might be a good thing, I don't know, but forcing myself to sit and write is the hardest part.
So I wrote on a sticky and placed it above my screen "I am a writer; I write books".
Now when I find myself drifting and not wanting to be sitting in my chair,  I read that aloud. Does it help? I don't know, but it doesn't hurt!
I also have written the following on my notepad, and I refer to it every single day. "Do Not Multitask! and Do Not Give Up!"
Until next time,
Carol

Time for an update!

After one week of serious writing,  I found myself yesterday very angry with myself.  Feeling pretty smug about having 9457 words so far towards my goal, only to find out that yesterday, according to the NaNoWriMo daily update, I should have been at 10,000 words. Ok, so no big deal I thought. I will just go back and write some more until I have hit their goal. But then, I continued to read the rest of my email. 

I had joined the google group for the software program that I am using to write this novel, (yWriter), and discovered that I did not read the installation instructions thoroughly  and made a big mistake. 

Yep, as technologically savvy as I am, I didn't see the caveat that read,"Do NOT use Dropbox as your backup location" 

Are you kidding? I thought.  I use Dropbox for everything!!! 

I emailed the thread to see if there was anything that I could do in order to fix this other than the tedious task of copy, pasting, saving, re-installing and then pasting it all back in the correct places. So, after an hour and a half of wasted writing time, sniff, I humbly succumbed to my dried out eyes and shut the laptop down. However, you will be pleased to know, that I created a new backup and it should be fine now. 

This mistake was huge to me, because I have wasted half of the time (a year and a half), that I have allowed myself to pursue this dream before going back to the "real world". 

So, a little bit of advice here, RTFM!

Have a good one, I'm off to my room to write. 

November 1st!

It has finally arrived. November 1st, the NaNoWriMo challenge. I wont write much in today's blog because I have 1400 words to write today as a personal challenge to myself. Let's see how this works out. On your mark, get set......write!

Haven't Given Up

Happy Friday, Everyone!
For those of you who have been wondering if I have changed my mind about this?  Well, the answer is, Nope!! Not even close to giving up on this little adventure. Once I have made up my mind, I usually stick to my commitments. This is one of those that I can’t let just disappear because I have put myself out there. (Not only that, but Gary would never let me ever live it down). 
As I continue to prepare, I am amazed at the different resources out there for writers.  One of the things that I have found interesting is that there are programs out there to help scatter-brained people like me to focus.  Imagine that!! I have had to use programs before, in order to finish a paper because I get so distracted and tend to go off on many tangents. As a matter of fact, when I taught middle school, I was famous for being that teacher who could talk about anything once the kids distracted me from the subject.... until it was time to assign homework! (Remember that kids?) Anyway, I digress.  One of my favorite programs is Inspiration! Inspiration is a program that helps you put your thoughts into a coherent order and then it transforms into an outline from which you can write. It is also a great tool that I some times use for planning out big projects and organizing them. As a teacher I would use this to organize my units, or just help me put into perspective the time required for some projects. If you have never used this, you should really check it out. You can actually download a free 30-day trial. http://www.inspiration.com/
Once I discovered how to use this program, I have never written a paper without it. As it is, the book I am currently on, has the whole story laid out in an Inspiration document file, just waiting for me to write it. The only problem is, once again, I have waited so long to write the story, that I have changed my mind about many things pertaining to the story.  Like character names, and how the story evolves, etc. So I have decided that in preparation for this challenge, that I will start with a fresh document in Inspiration and go from there without stopping during the month. 
I have also found websites that are helping me to prepare for this event. http://www.publishyourownebooks.com/category/ebook-writing/
They have some really great ideas! Personally, I am excited for this challenge! I have been sitting on this book (and others) for years!  Now, I am finally going to finish the first draft! Will you get to read it? Not the first draft, but perhaps I might be tempted to edit and publish it...who knows.
Tune in for my next blog when I give you a tiny insight to what the book is about! Have an awesome weekend everyone!

Establishing a Routine

When I wrote my first book (yes, I have written a book), I had to establish a routine. (Yes, I'll discuss that book in a minute...bear with me; I do have a point).  It began every morning at 5 am, I would write for an hour each weekday, and then go to the gym to work out and then off to work I went. The book got finished (but didn't get published). The point is, that I had a routine! For someone like me, that made all the difference in the world. I wasn't going to post daily to this blog until I actually began the November challenge, (and I still might not), but I have been prodded to by my niece Erika. She suggested that I post daily, as to gain interest and snippets to entice while I research and prepare. Hmmm, not sure I will do that. Why? Well, as I said, the challenge starts on November 1st. Yes, I have a ways to go, but daily? Maybe, let's see how my muse wants to proceed.
Back to the routine. If you could see the space that I am preparing for me to sit and write every day, you would simply shake your head in disgust and say what a mess!! I have "projects" in medias res everywhere!!!!  I am up to my neck in pictures, and cross-stitch, and quilting; just to name a few. So, my plan is to take care of some of these projects by either finishing them up or getting them out of this room! The clutter, I must admit is overwhelming. So, to write everyday right now means that I have yet another tool to procrastinate.  Those of you who have seen this room would say, "Leave her alone to clean up that mess first, then she can write!"
Now, about that first book... Oh, you thought I forgot? Nope. Picture this...The year, 2000 and I am in northern Maine: Caribou to be exact. I am riding on the back of our snow machine with my husband Gary. BAM! Out of the blue, an idea strikes! So, there I am...riding, and thinking. Slowly I begin developing the details of the book. Once home, I start scribbling down everything I could think of, and the next morning, I begin my routine! I finish the book as I said earlier, and I have a writing partner, Lynda, who I would share a couple of chapters in order to help me edit. I love having a writer as a friend as they are such a big help in so many ways! Anyway, I digress. The book is called "And Sew I Stitch". It was finished in 2001.  It is a book that is about a woman who learns to cross stitch in middle school, and each chapter is based on an event in her life, and at the end of each chapter is a cross-stitch pattern that relates to the previous chapter. I have sent this out to a couple of publications, but I hadn’t really pursued it too much, because I needed more time to create the cross stitch designs.  I haven’t touched it in years! I will, but for now, I'd like to get this novel that has been in my head for 10 years, onto paper, and into your hands.  

Preparing the canvas

One would think that with all the training I have and the teaching of websites that I have overseen, that I wouldn’t break the primary rule: make sure that you don’t use fancy font! In my effort to quickly get a website up that was halfway decent looking, I inadvertently chose to accept a template "as is". It wasn’t until I asked a couple of my tech geek friends to take a look at the site, that I quickly received comments on the font.  I have since changed this ghastly oversight, and am now continuing the process of "preparing the canvas" for my book.

Over the years, I’ve had some epiphanies for book ideas, only to be in the strangest of places, with nothing to write on. Thereby having to repeat the idea over and over until I find a piece of paper to put my "great idea” down. These ideas, notes, and novels to someday write, usually end up in a folder soon to be filed or lost somewhere on my desk mountain. Since I have committed myself to do this adventure, each time I sit here at my desk and begin to review my notes, I realize that I have a lot of notes for a lot of stories!! They just ramble through my head, and when I pick up a note, an idea, my brain immediately starts thinking of where this could go, and how to develop the characters. But do I actually sit and write? No, because I am so ADD, (attention deficit), that I find many other things to do first! So, this is going to be quite a ride, for any of you willing to read my ramblings. For myself, taking this challenge is the only way I will be forced to finish this first book. Then, and only then can I pick up my notes on one of my many other books, and continue their stories. 

My muse is smiling at me, because now she knows, that I finally am going to follow through and allow her to stay. I'm just glad that she has returned...

Have an awesome day!

My challenge to me!

So it seems that my muse is back, and I am finally ready to move forward. Right now I am trying to decide if I want to keep this blog or go to something else. For the time being, this  (Blogger) seems to be working well.
I will keep you informed on this decision. Now, as far as what to blog about, Well, perhaps because I am going to take the challenge in November at http://www.nanowrimo.org/  I have officially resigned to complete my first rough draft by the end of November. I am doing the preliminaries right now. So far, my husband Gary has laughed himself silly when I announced that this was really going to happen. So now I think the challenge is more to show him that i am capable of doing this, rather than satisfying my own need to FINALLY finish my novel. 
I have thought about blogging about interesting ways to teach integrating technology.  But right now I seem to be leaning more towards my book. Perhaps later on as I get a lull in my creativity, I can write about what I know...and that is how to make learning more interesting, and how to integrate technology into your curriculum. So, what ever my muse tells me to blog about...that will be my topic. 
Wish me luck!!