I'm ALIVE!

Just letting y'all know that I'm alive.  I haven't been blogging lately, so I figured I'd explain why.

First of all, I'm not dead.  So that's a good thing.  I've come back!  (From the future, believe it or not.  But that's a different story for a different time...better to be told in different places.)

I've also decided that NaNoWriMo can go die down a hole.  There is no way I can finish 50K words by December.  I have about 21K.  I have decided that those other people who already have their count limit don't have school to do, or any social lives, or any more school, or other things to take care of like getting out of the house once in a while.  And I'm pretty convinced they don't stop to eat, either.

Secondly, I have just come back from a weekend with the family for Thanksgiving––so, go figure, not much writing done.  My calves have bruises and scrapes up and down the insides from not wearing any gaiters or chaps when riding.  I really needed some polo wraps that last day, but didn't get them.  Stupid me.

And I'm tired.  Very tired.  I didn't get very much sleep to say the least.

Ping Pong was especially competitive, and when you're not sure which side of the family you should root for, it can get nasty.  Jumps were built, horses ridden, turkey eaten...  My mother got out the Amish carriage and hooked her draft horse up to it and took everyone for a ride.  My cousin's colt spooked and ran all over the place because of that incident, and my other cousin's horse shied and started bucking a bit.

I helped finish painting the side of the barn with my cousin, Jake.  I have grey paint in my hair now because he was up on a ladder and I was down below.

Went out shooting.  More riding.  Ate some pie.  Rode again.

Discovered that when both the four-wheeler and the bike don't have any brakes, it's probably not the best idea in the world to let your little sister take your cousin for a joy ride: her riding the four-wheeler with him being dragged along behind on the bicycle, holding a rope––through all the cactus and rocks.

Played my guitar, sang until my voice was hoarse, and watched my grandma cajole her grandsons into dancing.  My guitar also has a hole in the side, but that's beside the point.  I don't really want to think about it.

So that's about it for November.  I'm surviving, y'all.

Cheers.

-Newsie

NaNoWriMo: Day 2

So...  It's day two of NaNoWriMo.  For my fellow writers participating in this event, how are y'all faring?  Are you alive?

I have a feeling I will be pretty sick of my novel before I finish it.  Writing over 1,600 words a day just to keep up with an average quota is exhausting.

But it is also satisfying.  I really don't know what I'm going to do when I get to the parts I haven't planned out yet.  I have written an outline [you really should be proud of me], but not a very thorough one I'm afraid.  So it should be interesting, to say the least.

To survive this ordeal, I have been listening to a steady diet of Braveheart.  I swear that music turns me into a writing machine!  It is just so beautiful and full of inspiration.  Enya has been very beneficial, as well.  I'm also planning on drinking lots of caffeine.

I probably won't be writing much tomorrow, seeing as I have the SAT test.  Not looking forward to that much, but hoping I'll do well.

In the meantime, NaNo-ers, good luck!  Keep the coffee cups full and your pens writing.

-Newsie