I have become like ocean waves to a pebble; I write and rewrite and rewrite to try and make my story as smooth as possible.

This requires the patience of a wave.

Maybe three or four novels later I’ll be able to do this quick.

Maybe a first novel should have a clean, simple story structure. Perhaps writing a self-contained novel or a few more short stories would’ve saved me from writing so many worthless scenes and entire chapters that weren’t needed.

Sometimes I regret the difficulty of this project. There are too many layered events and abstract ideas for anyone as ill-experienced as me to tackle without stumbling. A lot.

I’m bleeding for this book. They say all writers do. Which makes me wonder how there are so many books.

Just like my son, day by day, my book’s growing and developing. I guess that’s all that matters.

Woo-hoo! Here we are, at the dawn of 2010, feeling accomplished already; who needs New Years Resolutions?

Writing every day isn’t an easy thing to do, it’s one of the biggest hurdles an aspiring writer has to face. But it couldn’t hurt to resolve to write (almost) everyday from here on forward, could it? :)

The break-down:

1. A “Knock-out” is 0-249 words. (After the three Days of Reprieve are exhausted!)
2. An “Update” is 250-999 words.
3. A “Session” is 1,000-1,667 words.
4. A “Tougher-than-NaNo” is anything greater than 1,667.
5. A “THE END!” is when you’ve completed your WIP and type ‘THE END’.

1st: Read the rest of this entry »

 Well well well, 2/3rds of the way through the month, are we? I applaud you! 

For those that aren’t innit, think of all the words you could be writing by switching to NPI. And that’s not such a bad thing, is it? Like … free fish n’ chips or something. Only they’re not free, but they’re easy. As easy as standing up, some blokes might say. Or sitting down and typing, as it were. Others might even say ‘laid back’.

The break-down:

1. A “Knock-out” is 0-249 words. (After the three Days of Reprieve are exhausted!)
2. An “Update” is 250-999 words.
3. A “Session” is 1,000-1,667 words.
4. A “Tougher-than-NaNo” is anything greater than 1,667.
5. A “THE END!” is when you’ve completed your WIP and type ‘THE END’.

1st: Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome back. It’s impressive you’ve made it this far. But I must warn you– the month’s only a third of the way through. And, outside in the wintery winter,  it grows ever colder.

/begin out-of-sync lips/

Your laid-back-fu is good.

But mine is better.

/end out-of-sync lips/

• 10 days in, guys! Grats!!
  Let’s see how we did…
• The break-down:

1. A “Knock-out” is 0-249 words. (After the three Days of Reprieve are exhausted!)
2. An “Update” is 250-999 words.
3. A  “Session” is 1,000-1,667 words.
4. A “Tougher-than-NaNo” is anything greater than 1,667.
5. A “THE END!” is when you’ve completed your WIP and type ‘THE END’.

1st:

These past five days have been some of the most writerly days I’ve ever experienced. And– Holy gravy, I’m first?!? And you know what? It wasn’t too bad. I didn’t feel too stretched out; still worked each day, and still spent lots of time at the hospital with Max.

Yep, NPI Laid-back Edition: So easy, even a caveman can do it. ;)

2nd: Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, I’m watching each and every one of you, just like the Geico money.

(for those not familiar.)

And so far everyone’s doing an excellent job– OR ARE THEY??? Well, everybody’s still innit at least.

With the first five days done, let’s see where we stand.

• The break-down:

1. A “Knock-out” is 0-249 words. (After the three Days of Reprieve are exhausted!)
2. An “Update” is 250-999 words.
3. A  “Session” is 1,000-1,667 words.
4. A “Tougher-than-NaNo” is anything greater than 1,667.
5. A “THE END!” is when you’ve completed your WIP and type ‘THE END’.

1st:

Merrilee, as usual, is a fierce opponent! But ouch, two Days of Reprieve already. Five days in and this is getting verrrry interesting. Laid-back, but iiiinteresting. Yep, she’s kicking our laid-back butts.

2nd: Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the relaxed version of the Novel-Push Initiative!!!

Remember we’re taking it easy this December; we just want consistency, so write every day if you can—those 250 words will come to you more easily as the month rolls on. Quality above quantity, and progress above no progress! …

So … what I’m trying to say is it’s all about consistency, not quantity. And not necessarily quality, either. Just progress. Yeah. I think…? Um, scratch that. This is a laid-back NPI so you can babble on in your writing as much as I just did if you want. To arms!

Updated Roster (so far):

1. Deb (BklynWriter)

2. Janette Dalgliesh

3. Julie K (Selestial)

4. Kait Nolan

5. L.

6. Merrilee Faber

7. Nick Enlowe

8. Ryan G. Sanders 

9. Terri (angbuf)

Good luck everyone!

((BTW if it wasn’t obvious I changed the text to white, so hopefully it’ll be a little less punishing on your eyes.))

Right before crap hit the fan in my life, I was writing every day. It felt good. There were days, weeks and months when I was at the hospital and found myself missing writing.

I tried bringing a spiral notebook/legalpad/3-ring binder along to handwrite some chapters.

I tried printing out chapters to edit by hand.

But the hospital room was unforgivingly uncomfortable.

The wooden arms on the seats insisted on digging into my sides, while my legs would fall asleep if I left them up or down for too long. The seat itself was hard, leaving my butt sore. I just couldn’t win.

Which sounds like nothing but excuses, I realize. But there were also important things constantly on my mind, such as my wife’s health and well-being.

But I really wish I would’ve had a working laptop during that time period….

I couldn’t afford one without a job, though. I was at an impass.

But, oddity of oddities, I did manage to fully work out my calendar. Today, for instance, I can tell you that November 23rd is equivalent to Eighth of Tower in Lura, and the farmoon is going to be a New Moon by nightfall, therefore the Crimson moon will be full.

Which makes me sound like a worldbuilder who wants to be a writer, I realize. My only excuse for this is that the calendar was easy to write on. And I was comfy.

Once my new job got easier and I pretty much knew my child was going to pull through and be safe, the keyboard beckoned again.

I’ve been writing—a little during work when inspiration strikes and much more at home during the later hours. I hope to carry that momentum over into the next Novel-Push Initiative.

(By the way, NPI is going to be a one-on-one affair unless somebody else fancies joining up….)

Now more than ever, I want to know how it will feel to complete this project. One novel. Several revisions. It must be done.