NaNo Wrap Up

Actually it was 19 days and 50070 words!

I just wanted to share with you this momentous occasion: I finally won NaNoWriMo.  This is something I've always wanted to do (for years and years!) but always backed away from the last second because "November is buuuusy :'(", or "I work too much, I don't wanna come home and write a novel >:(" or .  It's not that hard to start something but it's incredibly hard to see it through to completion (the three dozen stories I've started and promptly abandoned will attest to that).  I'm always completely gung ho, guns blazing the first week then by the third week I'm procrastinating by playing solitaire, arguing on the internet and watching documentaries on Netflix with names like "The Fascinating Sheep of New Zealand".
 
I am exhausted.  But if NaNo is something you've ever thought of doing, even just in the back of your head, I highly encourage it.  I cannot encourage it enough, actually.  There's just something that makes you feel all warm and glowy inside when you sit back and look at that final word on the last page and go "I did all that".  It's a lot of work and you're going to be inconvenienced and there will be days you will absolutely think to yourself "who cares if I write, nobody will ever see this anyway", but if you push through all that and persist in staying true to your goal you'll find the end result is well worth it.

I just hit 50,000 words earlier this morning, after pushing myself and pushing myself (and the sad part is, I didn't even finish my story.  There's still way more to tell and wrap up.)  But that's okay!  Right now, it's time to celebrate the fact that I did in 19 days (I took off weekends, Thanksgiving and Black Friday) what many people never do in their entire lives.  Yes, the novel is a big steaming pile of crap.  Yes it might possibly be the worst thing ever written.  But the point is, it was written at all.  Woohoo!  I can now officially cross something off my bucket list.  Now all that's left is to revise, edit, revise edit, revise edit and edit some more.

Wait, did I mention editing?

Writing, Batman and the Cake Is a Lie

So when I first started this whole thing my initial plan was to write for 2 hours in the morning, then go about my day to give my ideas time to refresh.  However, I'm starting to find that I want to spend my afternoons (usually reserved for illustration) writing as well - which is awesome, because to me that says: progress is being made.  I am learning to write every day because that is what I am - a writer.  Which is pretty awesome.  I think it's important to chronicle your journey because there are days where you will wake up and go "I've done nothing with myself", to be able to look back and realize that you did is incredibly motivating, moreso than any book or TV program.

I tried scrubbing my kitchen floor clean today and found out how disgusting it really is (hint: very very very much so).  I kind of want to tear it up (seems to be just a sheet of vinyl) and put down Pergo, but I'm not sure how well Pergo would hold up to spills and certain people in our household (me!) dropping things on it all the time.

The Dark Knight Rises is coming out Friday!  I am super psyched - I think Catwoman is awesome sauce (though surely I'm not the only person who thinks she looks like a cosplayer...)

Finally, is this not possibly the most awesome site in existence?  Gourmet Gaming takes food from games and makes them real (ex Portal Cake, Rations from Metal Gear Solid,and the TF2 Sandvich).  Seriously those all look delicious.  Except that sandwich with cereal and turkey and jam.  That's kinda whoa.

Looks like someone has a case of the Mondays >:C

We just finished Silent Hill 2 over the weekend and I'd forgotten what a wreck that game leaves you (this is the only game I've ever played that continually gives me nightmares).  The whole series is disturbing but Silent Hill 2 is truly the icing on a psychologically damaging cake.  I think it's probably one of the scariest games I've ever played (if not the scariest, period!).  Probably the only other one that comes close is the remake of the original Resident Evil for the GameCube (which perfectly nailed its atmosphere).  But even REmake can't compare to the journey taken by James Sunderland, and after some discussion with my husband (bless him for being so willing to listen to me ramble about made up characters in a made up world) it's because nobody is a Chris or Claire Redfield, or a Jill Valentine.  But a lot of us, potentially, could be a James Sunderland.  Under the right circumstances (or the wrong ones, depending on how you look at it).

Does it make a story more interesting when there isn't a clear cut "bad guy"?

I've been writing (because that is what I do) and the deeper I get the more I realize there isn't really a designated bad guy in my story; there are just people whose views and situations are all different.  And they need different things.  And sometimes those needs clash with the needs of others, and that is where our conflicts come from.

Though some people are just asshats, too.

I had a breakthrough today.  A long overdue one, but late is better than never (at least that's what I've always been told).

I never realized how hard it is to write a good character.

That is, I never realized how much work actually goes into learning about your character. And not just memorizing their eye color, weight and favorite food but actually learning their habits, their motivations. What's their favorite memory? Why do they behave the way they do? One thing I've always struggled with is getting inside the heads of my characters, learning their motivations and driving forces. I'll scratch the surface but not dig deep, and digging deep is what you have to do if you want a strong story that resonates with a reader.  This is really what this book is about, I think - learning to dig deep.  I get lazy, and want to stop at the statistics.  Because we are so much more than our weight and eye color, aren't we?

I've been mostly working on my outline today, getting down the history of each of the main characters as well as some secondary ones (that's where this whole spiel came from!).  I feel like I've hit my wall and broken though it - woohoo!

It is the middle of 2012. Where did the first half go?

This year is going by fast.  I swear I just bought my house and painted it (wait that was a year ago...)

What have I learned over the last 6 months?  Probably not as much as I could have, but more than I expected to (so I guess that means I break even).

- I've learned you can't wait for things to magically fall into your lap, you have to go get them.  Because if you do that, you'll spend all your time waiting.  It's better to go out there and get started, even if it seems overwhelming, because as long as you keep moving forward you'll reach your goal eventually.

- I've learned that failure isn't permanent, unless you want it to be.  I like to think of it as part of the learning experience, something that helps you become the person you're supposed to be.

- I've learned there are things more important than a steady paycheck, like being happy.  And not making your husband crazy by grinding your teeth at night because you're so stressed out.

- I've learned how to budget, because when you are on one income that is what you do.  I've learned to enjoy doing things that I might have passed up in lieu of spending money (going to the park, wandering around the mall).  In the same vein, I've learned how to enjoy the little things like cooking and walking the dogs (unfortunately I still haven't learned how to enjoy my garden).

- I've also learned that paint gets everywhere.  Somehow, magically.  It doesn't matter if you're painting your bedroom, paint will inevitably end up down the hall in your dining room, too.

Daily art after the jump >>>