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The Art of Writing

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No, this is not another post about NaNoWriMo…though I’m finding it an incredible way to practice my craft. As I mentioned over at fellow Test Driver Tami’s blog when she asked what people expected to get out of it:

I am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of writer – and this story is taking me in all kinds of places I wasn’t expecting. It’s exciting – and only happening because I am making an effort to write every day.

SO that’s it really – I want to teach myself some discipline – to get into the habit – to make it a priority – to have it be a part of my life like I know it should. And the freedom of NaNo – the wild crazy literary abandon that seems to come with this project, is incredibly inspiring and just plain good for the soul.
If I end up getting a book ready to submit at the end of this, it will be icing on my cake.

But, as I said this isn’t a post about Nano (or wasn’t supposed to be at least).

Over at my idol’s website (you know the one…PW herself) a longtime homeschool contributor OMSH (Oh My Stinking Heck) ran a wonderful post about the writing activities she has her first grader do. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to try tbis with Miss A. I say “try” because Miss A can be extremely difficult when I ask her to just try something and see how it goes. She likes structure and order and a clear list of expectations (personally, I think so she can know exactly what to complain about). So I was worried how she would react when I handed her a blank page and told her to just go for it.

The activity is to draw a picture of anything your little heart desires, then write a few lines talking about the picture. I told Aishtyn I would not be checking her spelling, to just write the words as best she could and it could be like a mystery for me to solve if they weren’t “just right.”

I have to say, she did awesome! She was thrilled when I could actually read 99% of what she had written. I’d love to show you her first effort, but my scanner is still in limbo until the husband re-intalls everything (remember my terrible horrible no good very bad day?) As soon as it’s up and running, I’ll add it in. Or maybe I’ll just take a picture of it and add it that way.

The activity sheets are available for FREE at this very cool little site (where a variety of other cool writing pages are also available). I am adding this to my weekly homeschool repertoire: along with Fractions Friday, we will now have FreeWrite Friday. I look forward to all the wonderful glimpses into Miss A’s mind…and the improvement in her reading and writing too of course!

Thanks again to OMSH for such a great idea!

ETA: Here it is, Miss A’s first Friday FreeWrite

miss a viper story

“This is me on the viper. My first time. What is it like? said me.”

(On the last day our local theme park was open, she was finally tall enough to ride some of the bigger rollercoasters, it was a great way to end the season!)

Sprint Results: The Big Mac Rap, a discussion of woolen undergarments, and parquet floors

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The scene sprint turned out to be quite productive. I logged just over 3k and got out at least one well developed scene and left plenty of ideas in limbo but with a promising start. Some highlights from Thursday’s scene sprint:

-my heroine performs the Big Mac rap for a man who reminds her of some cross breed of Hagrid and Laura Ingalls’ father

– while a new friend helps the heroine figure out how to put on the array of clothing required in the 1880’s, a heated argument about the pros and cons of woolen underwear ensues…and my heroine ultimately chooses to go commando

– during a scene in which an argument takes place in a dining room (ball room, maybe?) I mention striding across a parquet floor…now I need to go and see if a parquet floor is actually what I think it is, and if they even existed in estate homes in the time and locale I have  found myself in

Scene Sprint

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Yesterday my NaNo count was barely above 100 words, and those pathetic few were  snuck in while Miss A did her math and Lil’ G ripped a bookshelf apart.

I did manage to log 7miles on the treadmill while Lil’ G napped and Miss A played dress up and watched  some library DVD of Hannah Montana and Zach and Cody for the umpteenth time.

Today, amidst laundry, dishes, getting the rest of the Halloween decorations put away, starting Miss A’s science fair project with her and keeping Lil’ G from turning all the knobs of the stove on (her new favorite) I am hoping to whip out at least 2k.

I know to do this it will have to be done in fits and starts, so my plan is to engage in scene sprinting. I don’t know if this term has been around, but I just kind of made it up, something I would have my kids do once upon a time when I was a high school English teacher.

The concept of scene sprints is simple: take all the little half formed scenes floating around your brain and get ’em out, maybe you write a sentence, maybe a paragraph, maybe a page  – as soon as the words stop flowing move on to the next scene in your head. Later, when the mood strikes, you can go back and flesh the scenes out. It’s kind of like a mental clean sweep – get those scenes out of the way to make room for new ones…all while beefing up your word count.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Hello?

General Suckitude, Life Sucks, Ooops MomentsWrite a comment

I just downed 3 nice size glasses of Pinot Grigio and a fun size pack of peanut m&m’s (stolen from Miss A’s Halloween stash…it’s ok, she doesn’t like the ones with peanuts).  I am feeling better: relaxed, and attempting to not feel guilty that instead of hitting the treadmill to pound out a few miles once the girls are in bed, I plan to sit my ass right down back here and pound out a few K of words to boost my NaNoWriMo count.

It’s been a craptastic day…how was yours? I lost my phone in our local Sam’s Club this afternoon  – I know, because I paused in the milk aisle to post a friend about this weekend’s Bunco, so I had it then – but could not find it when I arrived home. Awesome sauce with a side of sucks out loud.

No luck on finding the phone so far  – I suspended service to it, so if someone found it and was planning a reunion with the family back in Siberia on my dime …well, sucks to your ass-mar dude.

We’ll hold out for a few days and pray it shows up – it’s not so much a cost issue – we are eligible for an upgrade with our phone co.   – but sheesh I dread re-entering all my contact info!

And I just wanna give a shout out to my man…do you know what he said when he found out I lost my phone?

Not:  “I can’t believe that woman.”

Not: “I’m going to kill that woman.”

Not: “Why did I marry this woman.”

Nope.

He said: “I really love that woman.”

And he told me so as soon as he saw me.

Yes, I know I’m lucky.

I’ll try not to lose HIM in Sam’s Club 😉

Now, pardon me, I’m getting back to my novel before the candy high/ wine buzz wears off.

One thing’s for sure, I won’t get interrupted by any phone calls.

How to Write Mo’ during NaNoWriMo

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1 day of writing down and 29 to go…I managed to get 5k of words down, which gave me a nice start, I think. Even on the first day it was a little difficult, once I had jumped the first hurdle: finding some free time away from the husband, Miss A & Lil’ G, I discovered old habits are hard to break and I had the urge to check in on my favorite websites, do a little on-line holiday shopping..that sort of thing. I resisted this technical temptation, and got to it – but found my enthusiasm was taking a dip (perhaps it was the exhaustion…staying up and writing from midnite til 2am is hard on the brain cells.).  Then I discovered my secret weapon – my writing tool that helps me stay on track. As with anything I find difficult to get through – whether it is running or laundry – I find that music makes me enjoy it more: it’s my spoonful of sugar that pushes me through that last mile, helps me finish that last load.

So I was delighted to discover an on-line source for my “sugar.” Ok, I confess, I didn’t discover it…props to the Queen of Hearts for telling me about it (Thanks Sharon!). I’m talking about Pandora, an on-line personalized radio station. At first I was skeptical, there had to be some kind of annoying or expensive catch…but nope – from what I can tell so far, it is as easy as pie to use and even tastier.

They created a  station for me (just type in a fav song or artist), and I left the site running in the background as I typed away. It was awesome! It really was like someone had peeked in my mind and put together a radio station just for me. I heard many favorites, and many songs I love but forgot about, havent’ heard in forever, and songs I had never heard before that grew on me right away.

I had typed in Tori Amos, and got stuff from her but also songs from Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, Cowboy Junkies, Sarah Mclachlan and others – it was a truly great mix (for me anyway, the husband would have been gagging).

There was a Faith Hill perfume commercial that popped on every 5th song or so, but there was an option to mute it out,  so that was hardly a problem.

I am totally sold on Pandora, so if you’ll excuse me, I need to get my spoonful of it and start writing. I gotta crank out 500 words before Lil’ G wakes up.

ETA: They also make cool little widgets, check mine out in the sidebar under Groovin’ Mama.