Ramblings-n-Writings

Things are a little tough today in our house. We’re in the middle of another workers compensation crisis. At this point, I just want it to all be over. Almost five years of dealing with them is enough. But I don’t want to whine about that.

I really want to write about NaNoWriMo and my progress. Since I’m finding it hard to be excited about anything related to writing today (or anything else), I’ll just give you a quick summary…

Word count = 6,593 at the end of Wednesday. By midnight Saturday, I need 11,666 words to stay on target.

My real goal isn’t the word count, but to put my story on paper (read about my story here, here, here and here). Even if I fall short on words, I’ll be happy with my progress because it’s one step closer than I was last year.

In fact, I think I already passed last year’s count. Last November I

Continue reading NaNoWriMo Update #1

So, how many words did I write last night? Um… Well, I had good intentions of cracking the whip and hashing out some details. But…

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been stumped about part of my story. I couldn’t write another word until I solved the problem. You see, I was missing the dilemma, what the character battles throughout the story.

My story goal is to write about immigration and detail a journey through Ellis Island, but other than a threat of deportation or sickness, I just couldn’t think of anything.

I needed something that would essentially turn my character’s world upside down. But I didn’t know what.

Discouragement set in because without my dilemma I didn’t have a story and I was failing. I truly believe that God called me to write this story. The best thing I can compare it to is a burden – my story is my burden. I have to carry it

Continue reading Solving a Dilemma

I’ve been caught up in doing “things” the past couple of days. I really want to clear my desk of as much as possible before November. NaNoWriMo starts then, remember?

I think I’m making good progress. Except that I haven’t stepped foot in my office today. Is that a bad thing?

Actually, I did venture into the office while searching for one MIA kitten. The little female races out of the mud room as soon as the door opens. She’s a sweetie. I would love to keep her, but DH says I have to find homes for the two outside farm cats first. Sigh.

We brought the kittens inside last weekend since our nighttime temperatures took a dramatic plunge to 25-27 degrees. The days warm up nicely to the low 60s, but I think 20s is a little too cold for young kittens.

So, they come in during the early evening, learn all about the litter pan, and go

Continue reading Making Time

I’m making slow, but steady, progress on my WIP. The first major change is a new title. I’ve been calling it “Uncertain” partly because I knew my character was uncertain about her new life in America and partly because I was uncertain of the title. Now that I have a better idea of my story, I’ve settled on a new title – “Oceans of Hope,” symbolic of the ocean crossing and the hope an immigrant carries.

I’ve written slightly under 6,000 words so far or about 5% of a hopefully completed manuscript. =) However, what I have is somewhat disjointed. I have a collection of conversations between my characters in little snippets. I need to go back and add descriptions and the meat of the scenes.

When I write, I feel the necessity of recording what’s happening on the “movie screen” of my mind. I see the characters and hear what they say. It’s almost like writing

Continue reading WIP: "Uncertain" Changes Name