Merry Wanderer of the Night:
writing

Last night I kind of officially threw the hat in on National Novel Writing Month. I currently have about 17,000 words and there is no way I'll be able to catch-up in a week. When I first looked back on last year it seemed like this year should be just as doable. But in reality my job actually requires me to do real work now, whereas last year I just sat at a desk and worked on homework. I also lived in the dorms last year and didn't have to deal with any real life responsibilities, like cooking dinners and cleaning. And I had a lot less night classes. All three of these things seemed to contribute to my downfall this year.

But I'm not giving up entirely. I'd still like to write another 15,000 words before the end of the year, which is a goal that seems doable to me. And as far as writing goes, I've been more successful this year than I was last year because I have produced five essays this month that are great starts. I actually want to work with these essays more and continue honing them. At the end of last November I said I would go back and edit my novel, but I never did. I never edited it because I didn't feel passionate about anything I wrote. I think I learned more from National Novel Writing Month this year than last year. I learned what process works well for me when writing an essay, and I pushed myself to write some narrative nonfiction which I've never done before.

Overall the experience was a success. It got me in the habit of thinking about essay topics all the time. Whenever I had a conversation or saw something happen I thought about how I might turn that into an essay. The truth is that great essays are all around you, you just have to be aware. I think that is what essaying is all about-- being aware of what is going on around you and how it fits into a chain of reactions. So while I didn't win in the sense of getting 50,000 words, I still consider this year a win.

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I was struck by Bonnie Rough's essay, Walking With an Essayist, this morning for two reasons. One, I love to walk and have been doing far too little of it as of late. What is it with essayists and walking anyway? I feel like we do so much of it. Fiction writers must be runners. Poets are swimmers. Two, I'm working on an essay collection for National Novel Writing Month and was inspired by Rough's thoughts on writing. Hopefully other NaNoers will find this essay inspiring even if they're not working on essays this month. You can read the entire essay online at Identity Theory.

Rough starts the essay saying she wants to speed through her walk because she has an essay she wants to work on when she gets home, but then her inner essayist reminds her of what a favorite writer, Brenda Ueland, said about walking:
“‘When I walk grimly and calisthenically,’” I recite, “‘just to get exercise and get it over with, to get my walk out of the way, then I find that I have not been re-charged with imagination. For the following day when I try to write there is more of the meagerness than if I had not walked at all. But if when I walk I look at the sky or the lake or the tiny, infinitesimally delicate, bare, young trees, or wherever I want to look, and my neck and jaw are loose and I feel happy and say to myself with my imagination, “I am free,” and “There is nothing to hurry about,” I find then that thoughts begin to come to me in their quiet way.’”
Bravo, says the Essayist with brisk applause.
The essay continues in this manner with Rough thinking about the essay in one way and her inner essayist coming out to remind her of what Brenda Ueland said about writing. I love Rough's description of her inner essayist, and how she treats her like a frenemy in the essay. At one point two other walkers are giggling and Rough thinks they are laughing at her inner essayist because "she is wearing ruffled gauntlets under a purple cape pinned by an enormous brooch. But it turns out they don’t even notice us. Between hysterical gasps, they cough out words to each other."

Rough gets excited about the idea of her essay and begins to think about who will buy it, even though she hasn't put a word on the page yet. Her inner essayist comes in here as well, asking her how she can think about such a thing when she doesn't even know what she is making yet. I think all writers experience this. Our excitement about what we're writing makes us have so much faith in it and we think about where we will take it. But then we end up writing for that person we want to take it to, rather than writing the essay for itself.

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On Monday I created a video to share how badly I'm doing on National Novel Writing Month this year. I had one really good day this week where I wrote over 3,000 words, but then it all kind of fell to the side. Working on an essay project is a lot more challenging than working on a fiction book because I can't really just make a bunch of stuff up. At the same time, when I finished National Novel Writing Month last year I never wanted to see what I wrote again. I can already tell you that won't be the case this year. In any case, I'm hoping to do a lot of writing this weekend so I won't be very busy doing much else (except writing a paper or two).

I'm going to share a beginning of an essay I struggled through this week. I'm really excited about the idea but still need to fill it out more. The essay is titled On Planes.

I was a bumbling, tall girl in a giant leather jacket my father lent me so I could pretend to be Amelia Earheart. I was twelve and I thought I wanted to get my pilot’s license. My father had his and I knew he always wanted to be a pilot. I didn’t want to become a pilot, but I thought being able to fly a plane would be something that would bring my dad and I closer together. We could sit in the cockpit together and fly over cornfields and soybean fields and talk about what we thought of that yellow green earth.

Amelia Earhart saw her first airplane at the Iowa State Fair where her father tried to interest her in taking a flight, but she was too afraid to ride in what appeared to be a very unsturdy airplane. Approximately ten years later she took her first flying lesson.

My dad took me flying when I was three weeks old, I’ve never met someone who flew sooner than that, and it’s always been a source of pride for me. I used to have a recurring dream about it. I was outside of the plane in the dream, floating by it. It was yellow and black like a goldfinch. A small plane made just for three people. I looked through the window of the plane to see a small, baby version of myself sitting in my mothers lap. I am sleeping with a smile on my face

How are your projects going?

Ready When You Are, C.B. did this for last weekend's Sunday Salon and I loved the idea!

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It's almost that time of year again! Thanksgiving? Christmas? Snowy weather? What is she talking about? National Novel Writing Month! For the whole month of November writers across the world commit to writing a 50,000 word novel. If you write every day that comes out to about 1,667 words a day. I did NaNoWriMo for the first time last year and I won (meaning I wrote a 50,000 word novel). Last year I attempted to write a young adult book, but it was very difficult for me to write stylistically. This year I hope to write something I'm more interested in and something more usable for me-- which means this year I'm planning to write an essay collection. I have ideas and admittedly some essays to start with. Even though I have some things written already I'm going to edit them during November to make them fit with the collection I plan to write.

I was more successful than I planned last year and I think part of my success was having a writing buddy. My boyfriend joined me in NaNoWriMo and we wrote together every night. We really encouraged each other and it was great to have someone to bounce ideas off of. If you're participating in NaNoWriMo this year I would really encourage you to find a writing buddy--even if its just someone on the Internet. A lot of writers outline before NaNoWriMo. I did write an outline last year, but this year I don't plan to. I've kept random thoughts in various journals throughout the past year and I plan on using those as my ideas.

Who else is participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Feel free to add me as buddy-- my screenname is ashbrux and I promise I'll add you back! What worked well for you last year if you did it?

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When I started blogging I was extremely frustrated with my nonfiction writing class. I wanted to write, but I just didn't feel like anything was working. I didn't feel inspired or encouraged the same way I did in the first nonfiction writing class I took at Iowa as a freshman. So, as a lot of you know, I decided to take a break from writing. Or just a break from writing classes, because I'm one of those people who will just always write. After all, I'm a blogger. After a semester off and some time to think, I found myself turning back towards writing essays, so I decided to take another writing class this semester. To push myself even further, I decided to do a reading in conjunction with the literary magazine I work on.

Four weeks after volunteering to read I am sitting in front of my computer frantically trying to get something out. I have several finished essays I could fall back on, things I've written in past classes and edited. But I just want to have something new. Something really great. I wrote one essay my freshman year that I really loved and ever since then I've just been trying to get back to that essay. Although I reread the essay over the summer, and found several things I wanted to revise. So even that essay wasn't the best it could be.

Maybe I'm being overly critical of myself. When I do read an essay I've written or have someone else read they usually so lots of really good nice things about it. But... I don't know. I'm just having a hard time writing the way I used to. I have a lot of ideas, which makes it that much more frustrating. I write down idea on top of idea on top of idea. Then I sit in front of my computer to type and... nothing. Blank stare. Flashing line. Wordless.

I don't aspire to be a writer. It'd be cool to get an essay published and so on, but that isn't really what I'm pushing towards. I don't feel as if that is what I'm called to do. So why do I have to take is so seriously? If it's just a hobby then why the obsession. I don't know.

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I really enjoy writing and I like to read what other people think about their writing practice, so when I saw Views from the Loft: A Portable Writer's Workshop

available on Netgalley I decided to try it out on my nook. This book is a series of short essays and interviews by authors who have attended the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. I gather that these all came from a literary journal the Loft publishes under the same title. A lot gets covered in this book, including several genres within nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Most of my favorite essays were about memoir writing, and particularly enjoyed reading writers thoughts about fair representation in memoir writing.

If I read the interviews in a magazine, I might have enjoyed them more, but it seemed like a lot of the same questions were asked of the writers and several of them gave similar answers. I think the pacing in the book could have been a little bit better, with similarly written things spread out a little more... or perhaps omitted. My biggest problem with this book was that it was really too much information all together. After finishing it was hard for me to come away with the book with any real clear ideas on how I could improve my writing or for things to try. I think this book is better for dipping into from time to time, rather than to try and read straight through.

I do think this book is worth a look if you love to write. I wouldn't recommend it for a reader who just wants to hear about writers writing. And if you love to write, I would recommend this book as inspiration and not as a guide to read cover to cover. Find a topic that interests you, there are some nice subject divisions in the book, dip into that subject for awhile and then turn to writing with those ideas in mind. If you get stuck, come back to the book if you want.

I give this book a C.

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I decided not to take a writing course this semester because last semester's was productive, but kind of a pain in the ass. I felt like I needed to take a break from writing. I told myself, like everyone does, that I would write even when I thought I wasn't in a class. I have written zero since winter break. And I'll be honest with you, I haven't really missed it until recently. The only thing I've managed to write are lists, which takes me back to high school when lists were the main thing I wrote. I kind of considered myself to be a list essayist. Now I consider myself to be a... writing school dropout?

Last night was the first time I'd written in forever, and it felt so good. It felt way better than it did all last semester, when I was forcing myself to write about ridiculous things that I cared nothing about. I know they say practice, practice, practice and write, write, write. But I hate that feeling of being told to write. I can write shitty stuff on my own thank you. I do it most of the time.

But part of me kind of feels like a failure for not continuing writing. I probably won't take another writing class in college, at least I don't know when I would. I'm pursuing other interests. But does that mean I'm quitting? I'll be honest, I've quit a lot of things. In fact, most things I've started in life I've quit. Band. Choir. Speech. Journalism. Driving (although this is kind of a circumstantial thing). Basketball. Golf. Frisbee. Bass guitar. Okay, this is just getting depressing. And all of those things I regret, at some point, quitting. But honestly, I don't miss any of them. Maybe I don't really know what I'm saying right now. But what I think I'm trying to say is I'm afraid that not taking a writing class means I'm quitting writing. And I don't like that. It makes me feel weird.

I finally finished NaNoWriMo last night. I don't really feel like I have finished a novel. Like my boyfriend said, I just feel like I've written a bunch of words. I have two weeks left of school and then I want to go back and read my novel. There are several things I know need to be changed. At one point my main character was going to get a job and then I just sort of forgot about that part. I really didn't know where my story was going to end up, so the ending has a lot of build up to the ending and I think there needs to be more in the beginning for it all to make sense. I'm looking forward to reading my boyfriend's novel more than mine because his sounds absolutely ridiculous.

Final Word Count: 50,032
Pages: 207
Total Time Spent Writing: 24.5 hours
Revisions: 135

Congratulations to everyone else who finished a novel this month! If you didn't end up finishing your novel that's okay, there is still hope. I failed miserably last year and succeeded this year even though I was ten times busier. And if you didn't participate this year, you really should do it next year! I'm planning on it.

Sidenote: I know college students use "not enough time" as an excuse to skip NaNo, but I managed to get it done on top of work and all my other responsibilities. It was a great homework break and now that I have thirty pages to write this week I am not scared. The tactics I used to help complete NaNo have turned into really useful tools for completing papers. Plus, once you have written 50,000 words in 30 days you realize that nothing is impossible.

I did writing sprints for the first time tonight and I am so pleased that I did. I've really been struggling with my novel the past few days. It seems like I have to drag myself to it and I've skipped writing a few times, although I usually make it up the next day. Writing sprints really helped me get past word count tonight because it broke up the time. In general I have been writing 1,667 words in one sitting every day. I get distracted and write really long chapters.

No to be conceited, but I like my book. There are some serious problems with it right now that I will definitely need to edit later, but I'm proud of myself for getting this far. I a couple ideas for novels I want to write in the future. I'm not sure if I'll try to tackle one during the summer or if I will wait to start one for NaNo next year. If nothing else, I have never written this much for so many days. On top of everything else I have going on in my life it is seriously amazing.

Word Count thus far: 37,275*

*That means I only have 12, 725 words left!!!

Well it's halfway through the month and that means I'm halfway finished writing my first novel!

I'm really proud of myself for getting this far. As I've said before, having a writing buddy (my great boyfriend, Jason) has really helped me. For those of you who started and quit, don't be ashamed. I quit last year, in fact I barely started, and now I'm on my way to finishing. Here are some things that have helped me succeed so far this year.

1. Having a writing buddy. I know I have already said this but I cannot stress this enough. If you have a writing buddy then there is someone else there to keep you on track. If my boyfriend is working on his novel and I have nothing to do then I have no choice but to work on my novel too. If you can't find someone to write with you in person then follow other writers on Twitter. When you see other writers succeeding in spite of their busy lives you will become motivated too.

2. Write a plot before you write your novel. No matter how vague it is, writing by the seat of your pants is just not a good idea. It's fine if you change your plot as you go along (I've certainly changed mine), but knowing what your story is about will help you tremendously. Last year I wanted to write a Western, but I didn't have a storyline in mind. I just thought I could write in the style and a story would come to me. Bad idea. This year I did an exercise where I summed up my plot in one sentence. This helps keep me on track, but allows me to let my characters grow.

3. Don't let yourself fall behind in the beginning. If you can stay on track those first seven days you will be so far into your novel that it will be hard not to return to it. Well, maybe not hard, but not as easy as quitting a story that only has two thousand words. You may think you will have more time later. You will not. Write now.

I hope everyone else is having a successful NaNo experience. If anyone else has some tips or experiences to share please leave some comments!

I've made it through my first week of NaNoWriMo! So far the story is going really well, although I've been making a few changes to the plot as I've been going along. After forty-three pages of novel my 5-15 page Nonfiction essay seems less scary.

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but my boyfriend is doing NaNo with me. I can't even express how helpful this has been. Most days we write at the same time and we keep each other going. I don't know if I'd still be going without him, last year I ended up quitting after two days. We didn't even discuss doing NaNo together, he just knew I was doing it and started the same day as me. Then the next day he started telling me about his novel. I was surprised and excited to have a writing buddy.

So far the I have just been reaching the recommended word counts, I'm hoping that when November 22 comes I will be inspired and write a lot (maybe I'll even finish my novel! Dream on).

Word count thus far: 11,177

So far this year's Nanowrimo is going much better than last year's. I'm actually keeping up with my story and coming up with a pretty good plot. Last year I tried to write a Western which I think was a little ambitious on my part considering I have read very few Westerns. This year does not require any research on my part, but I'm not getting bored because there are some twists in the story that are making it fun for me to write. I'm trying to only write the suggested word count for the days right now, if I get too excited and write all the time I know I will get burnt out on it.

My story has changed a little bit because of something that happened to me. Yesterday I feel down a bunch of stairs and twisted my ankle, so now I cannot walk very well and my ankle looks humongous. In a sense it was a good thing though because it made me come up with a better way for my two main character's to meet.

I started a discussion in the Young Adult genre forum about how old everyone is. Most of the YA writers who responded were in their twenties, but a lot of them said they had younger siblings that helped inspire them to write YA stories. I do not have this luxury, my main characters are both seniors in high school since that is not too far away from where I am now (but far enough thank goodness!). I'm actually really enjoying writing characters that are in high school because it was a time of my life that I despised. This is my main motivation and inspiration for writing these characters. I feel like I understand their angst.

Word Count Thus Far: 5015

I started my novel today for National Novel Writing Month. After much struggling in my decision I have decided to write a YA romance, or is it really a romance? I chose this over the historical fiction because it required less research. If I had spent October working on research then I probably would have chosen my historical fiction story, but since I did not YA it is. I'm attempting to right a YA novel that I would have read when I was a teenager, which is actually a lot harder than you might think. When I was at the age for YA novels I had pretty much lost interest in them because I didn't feel like they were catered towards girls like me. So maybe I'm onto something, we'll find out.

I wrote exactly 1,667 words today, so I'm right on track!

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) starts for me in two and a half hours. I'm not sure if I'm going to try and get any writing in tonight or if I'm going to do it tomorrow, I probably should start tonight. We'll see.

I'm really struggling about which of my two ideas I should do. The first idea a historical fiction novel about suffrage in America, pretty challenging but I have timeline of events that I would like to include in the story. The second idea is a young adult novel about a nerdy comic book boy, much like something I would have read in my teens. This would be less challenging and I might lose interest, it's hard to tell.

In any case, I am very excited for NaNoWriMo. I will win! I hope. If you don't know about NaNoWriMo, it's not too late! It's a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. We can do this.