Inspiration Monday: Quote by Andre Dubus

Dubus’ quote has been on my mind recently. I’ve been writing, but not as frequently as I want to. Time slips away from me, and I spend so little of it at my computer writing. And when I am at my computer, I have editing work to do.

It would be easier to quit, to say that right now in my life I don’t have the time or energies. But writing is part of who I am, and I don’t want to quit. I don’t want to come back to writing at a better time because there is no better time. Life will only get busier and more complicated.

Come April, I’ll give birth to another beautiful daughter who will want my time and attention 24/7. It’s only going to get harder finding time to write, but I’m okay with that. I’m not going to quit. Writing is what keeps me sane during the crazy turbulence of life.

My Toddler’s Favorite Spot

Recently (or not-so-recently) my toddler has decided her designated spot when I’m at my computer is in my arms. She sits in my lap and usually plays with something in front of her, whether it’s my phone, the keyboard, the mouse, my hair, or a random toy. She’s usually content to play and wiggle in my lap. Sometimes she likes to be adventurous and climb up on the table.

I would be fine with this if she wasn’t annoyed by the fact that my arms reach past her sides to type on the keyboard. That’s where arms, go right? So begins the arms wars. At least she loves me!

But hey, I like the extra snuggles. And here they come as I prepare to begin the annual picture roll DVD for us and family.

NaNoWriMo and My Progress

cover designed by Austin Beckstrom

As many writers know, it’s National Novel Writing Month again, or NaNoWriMo. For those who don’t, it’s an amazing month to write a novel in, or at least 50,000 words. It averages out to be 1,667 words a day, but as I don’t generally write on weekends, I aim to write 2,000 words a day.

This year, I am trying something new. Rather than coming up with a new story as is standard for NaNoWriMo, I am writing a second draft of a novel I wrote three years ago. It’s been a great opportunity to get the second draft done (since the first draft had so many issues I needed a brand new draft), but it has also changed NaNoWriMo for me.

NaNoWriMo is about the word count. It’s about getting the words and ideas on the page, unfiltered, unedited. You’re supposed to write the idea down and worry about editing later. Many writers abhor this method as it promotes really bad writing for a first draft, and many writers love this method because it allows them to focus on getting the story down in all it’s messy glory. I am of the second belief because for me it’s easy to get caught up in editing or revising previous scenes, which makes actually finishing a first draft a very long process. Ever since I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2009, my novel writing has greatly improved. But this year, focusing on a second draft has made me slow down, outline more, and focus on word quality.

What getting a pet did for my writing/editing time

My daughter is 17 months old now, and let’s face it, she is bored of all her toys. All of them. And I still haven’t hit the point where I don’t feel guilty turning on the t.v. to get a few minutes of needed writing or editing time. I try to avoid giving her the t.v. or tablet or phone as much as possible (which I usually fail at).

A few weeks ago, we decided to get guinea pigs. This was mostly my desire, but my lovely husband understood my reasons. I absolutely love pets, but living in an apartment makes pets complicated and extra work. I really don’t want extra work; I’m busy enough myself. But guinea pigs take about 10 minutes a day to maintain, half an hour or more when I get them out for my daughter to play with (which I do because they love stretching their legs and running around). That’s not too much time in the day, and I figured I could make it work.

Getting guinea pigs was the greatest idea ever. Sure, I spend some time in the mornings cleaning the cage and getting them food, but my daughter plays with them all day long. I need two extra minutes to finish editing a project? I say, “How’s your guinea pigs?” and she runs to the cage as fast as her adorable toddler legs can carry her. She giggles at the cage and feeds them her fingers all afternoon. She reads them books. She shares her toys with them. I have more writing and editing time than ever.

my daughter reading a book to her guinea pigs

Watching the Pages Tear

Over the summer I decided that I was going to write my current WIP by hand. It was an idea I loved and was excited for because I was having problems getting into some of the characters and into the action in Scrivener. 35,000 words in and I was frustrated and ready to give up on the story.

But I couldn’t give up. The story had consumed my mind–I dreamed about scenes, thought about the characters while I spent time with my husband and daughter, plotted out scenes when I was supposed to working. I couldn’t let the story go, but I was struggling writing. In desperation, I decided to change how I wrote. I hadn’t written a full story by hand since middle school because computers were convenient and I had more access to one in high school.

The actual process of writing became more exciting to me as I dug around in my bin of old used and unused notebooks, selecting the perfect on. It was a cheap knock off of a five-star notebook I bought at college, unused and clean pages. I had found a solution to my writing problem, a problem I had never really experienced before. Writing was always easy, even though the content was sometimes crappy; at least I was writing something. For once the ideas were great, and I just couldn’t put them on the computer, but I could put them on paper.

Quote by J.K. Rowling

“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” ~J.K. Rowling

I’ve always admired J.K. Rowling and her series. She turned to her writing in the worst time of her life and built up a magical world that influenced nations. But right now, this quote means more to me than ever before. I’ve been slacking off this past month with blog posts. I haven’t written daily on my own personal projects. I’ve done everything a writer shouldn’t do. I’ve been busy with work and more work, family reunions, and my own immediate family, over stretching myself emotionally.

Today, this quote has inspired me. This morning I wrote 250 words of my own projects, and it’s still not even 9 AM. I want to return to my old habits of 500-1000 words a day, and I will start with today. I don’t need a perfect life to build a solid foundation. In fact, the foundation will be stronger if I build it now while it’s hard.

So this is my promise to myself. I’m posting it for all to see. I’m going to write every day even if I hate it or I’m falling asleep on my keyboard. Because it’s better than not writing at all and losing myself–this past month has taught me that.

Reading Quote by Lawrence Durrell

As I child, I thought I read to escape reality. I loved diving into books full of fantasy, fighting, bravery, shrewdness, daring adventures, and skillful robberies. But now, I look back and agree with Lawrence Durrell. I was confirming a reality I already knew existed and dreamed to experience. By reading, I experienced that reality. Today I write those realities.

The Blind Toy

She sits at the sliding door and watches
the vertical blinds swing. She keeps still for long minutes,
moving only to make the blinds dance.

I posted this poem because my precious baby has discovered the blinds and is now enthralled by them. It’s giving me more time to work and write than ever. May she never lose interest in playing with the window blinds.

April Wrap Up and Monthly Crazies

April 30 closed with excitement and small twinges of regret. As you know, I was participating in both Camp NaNoWriMo and National Poetry Month in April, plus keeping my blog updated. It was a month of writing challenges that I loved, and with it came an increased need to read. Every time I write more than usual, I devour the books on my bookshelves. It’s been a really fun month of literary adventure for me.

My April Goals:

1. Write 30,000 words for Camp Nano
2. write 30 poems for National Poetry Month
3. write at least one blog post a week that was unpoetry related (meaning I couldn’t just post poems)

April 2015 Camp NaNoWriMo stats

What I accomplished:

What I Learned from Rereading Harry Potter

my Harry Potter books collection

Once again I’ve just finished rereading Harry Potter, most of it during this past month because I’ve been doing a lot of writing. It’s also because I was gifted a new set for Christmas (the ones with the cover spines forming a picture of Hogwarts), and I wanted to break in the new books. However, I ended up reading my older copies for the last few books because they are hard cover and less likely to be destroyed by baby sitting on them.

Besides being thrown into old childhood memories of losing myself in the world of Hogwarts and Magic, I love rereading Harry Potter because I learn something new about writing each time I read them. This read through I noticed how cleanly J.K. Rowling tied new information and individual scenes into crucial events in the ending scenes of each book and even the ending conflict of the entire series. There were no random scenes in Harry Potter. Each scene and new detail sets up for the final conflict. (Spoilers Alert!)