Nano not

Blech! What a crappy month so far. No writing done in weeks! I haven’t been so blue in forever.

No Nano

I haven’t written anything for nano in a couple of days. I had nearly 2000 more words on Monday, but today is Thursday. I’m not going to worry about numbers today. Okay, that’s a lie. I’ll check the word count a dozen times while writing. My goal is to write something everyday! I’ve got the morning to write. The kids only have a half day.

nanowrimo

I had a productive day – total words 3687. But I can’t get onto nanowrimo.org to update my count. grrr.

Nanowrimo

I’m trying Nanowrimo for the third year. I haven’t completed it previously but I am determined to this time around. I’m writing Jolaklir the Dragon, a story that I’ve been pondering for some time. If it’s still rattling around after so long, I must still find it interesting.

A brief synopsis: Glory-seeking Jolaklir is transformed into a dragon in defense of his people. They will sing of him throughout the ages. Is a song any consolation when he finds that he can’t be turned back?

I’m odamoganak on the nano forums but I don’t really have time to play on them much. It took me two hours today to reach 967 words. I’m going to have to pick up the pace if I ever want to it 50,000.

Wish me luck! 

On the edge

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         Age had folded her face – maybe late fifties. She pulled her Solara up next to me and walked to a shop several doors down in the strip mall.

She left the keys in the ignition, the car running.

I could steal that car.

It would be so easy. Five, maybe ten seconds and I could be gone.

The few people around would never notice.

She returned less than a minute later, clutching a box of cigarettes. Behind the steering wheel, she lit a butt before backing out. No seatbelt.

Does she know how close to the edge she lives?

~*~

This ain’t the city

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Mother Nature, a country road and a truck equals road kill. I cringe when I see those carcasses: frog, snake, and skunk. I’ve taken out a pigeon, a smaller unknown bird and whacked a raccoon. I swerve to avoid the chipmunks – there’re just so cute.

Coming home yesterday, my husband and I saw something on the road still moving – a turtle. Worried, we stopped to take it home to our pond.

First snapper I’ve ever seen. With that long tail, it was positively prehistoric.

I did touch it. It’s off the road.

But it ain’t anywhere near my pond.

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The world just is

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Two things happened on Friday that had me thinking. First, a red-tailed hawk sailed not ten feet over my head while I was out walking. Second, a great blue heron glided past me and settled on a river stone as I sat by the Quinapoxet River. 

My first thought was to search for meaning in these two events. Native American tradition sees birds as messengers, with hawks and herons carrying differing messages. But as I dug deeper into animal symbolism, I found so many different meanings for each animal, depending on the originating culture, that they, in effect, became meaningless.   

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Challenges 100 Words

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Currently this blog challenges me with determining a topic and writing exactly one hundred words. 

Some topics are there and ready almost without thought. Others are so immense I couldn’t scratch them with one thousand words. Some days my brain goes on vacation. 

Writing one hundred words is excellent editing practice. It’s amazing how many words can be cut without losing meaning. Word and WordPress count words differently. I often count directly to be sure. Contractions are one word. 

Along with writing my novel, I’m hoping to try some very short fiction. It should be good practice for distilling ideas.

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Snowflake and Stranded

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I had set this project aside, but with new determination I’ve begun working on it again. This year I want to write a complete original novel. 

My plot is riddled with clichés but I’ve got quite a bit of Stranded figured out. I’d like it to be a romance, but I’m having trouble writing it from a woman’s POV. The man’s story is better. 

I’m trying out the Snowflake Method to see if it’s useful for me. So far the short summary is: A marooned space captain must decide between ending a war and being with the woman he desires.

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Nuns at Six Flags

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Saturday at Six Flags I saw threes nuns in full habit – black veil, white tunic and long black rosary beads. What a contrast to the excess of the amusement park. 

Nuns represent reflection and simplicity to me. And here they were whooping it up on roller coasters. 

I could rant at length about overindulgence, so evident in all the dimple thighs and pooched bellies. Nuns at Six Flags could be a great metaphor.  

But really, they came for the same reason that my family attended – to have fun. 

Pure entertainment is indulgence, but what joy would life be without fun?

 ~*~