Word count: 19,780 - only 244 words behind schedule!
Ha! Today I had a turning point. I suddenly realized which questions I needed to answer before I could proceed with anything akin to purpose. And, believe it or not, I had the wherewithal to actually write these important questions down before they swirled back into the eddies of my thoughts, never to be heard from again. Will tack up this list of questions on the kitchen cupboard and on the bathroom mirror and on the ceiling above my bed in a large font (just kidding) and ponder them all day tomorrow. Tonight, I shall go to bed at a reasonable hour...
Sinterklaas has arrived in the Netherlands! We ate lots of kruidenoten and the girls put on their Zwarte Piet suits. Both girls have terrible colds and their ears must be blocked, as they are talking MUCH LOUDER THAN USUAL. As all of you will agree, they are not the quietest children anyway... pooh.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Friday, November 11, 2005
Day 11
Word count: 17,086... 1,252 words behind schedule, but making progress again
Am forging on... The first act as it were is complete, the stage set for the 2nd act where my characters are going to have to show what they are made of. I had wanted to include historical data and spent a good deal of time in the weeks prior to NaNoWriMo gathering source material. I am finding that I am only using a very small percentage of the information I have, and am scrambling to find information about very practical things I hadn't even thought of.
Does anyone happen to know anything about the history of trains in Germany and the Netherlands? Trains and meetings on trains seem to keep popping up, and I had originally thought to set the story in the last two decades of the 19th century. And if a lady were to go to a concert of Bach in Munster (with umlaut) where would she go? And could she take a train home to her fashionable neighborhood just outside Munster (still with umlaut)? And are there any fashionable neighborhoods just outside Munster (you betcha, umlaut again)?
You get the idea.
I read somewhere in the guide book that it is legal to invent facts if necessary, to be researched and edited at some later point. Am afraid though that if I miss too many stitches, I'll have to pull the whole thing out, wind up my wooly fiction back into a ball and start over...
Quote for the day (to leave you with a fine metaphor written by a guy who knew what he was doing):
In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Maddy: What are french fries made of? Us: Potatoes.
Maddy: What are potatoes made of? Us: Potatoes.
Maddy: Here, have my pickle. Us: Why, you like pickles.
Maddy: What are pickles made of? Us: Cucumbers.
Maddy: Oh. It looks like they are made of frog...
Maddy can explain how milk is really made of grass. She goes into such wonderful detail, her teacher asked her to go to another classroom to explain it to the children there. Maddy said the boy she likes in that class listened with his mouth wide open, he was so surprised... hee hee.
Am forging on... The first act as it were is complete, the stage set for the 2nd act where my characters are going to have to show what they are made of. I had wanted to include historical data and spent a good deal of time in the weeks prior to NaNoWriMo gathering source material. I am finding that I am only using a very small percentage of the information I have, and am scrambling to find information about very practical things I hadn't even thought of.
Does anyone happen to know anything about the history of trains in Germany and the Netherlands? Trains and meetings on trains seem to keep popping up, and I had originally thought to set the story in the last two decades of the 19th century. And if a lady were to go to a concert of Bach in Munster (with umlaut) where would she go? And could she take a train home to her fashionable neighborhood just outside Munster (still with umlaut)? And are there any fashionable neighborhoods just outside Munster (you betcha, umlaut again)?
You get the idea.
I read somewhere in the guide book that it is legal to invent facts if necessary, to be researched and edited at some later point. Am afraid though that if I miss too many stitches, I'll have to pull the whole thing out, wind up my wooly fiction back into a ball and start over...
Quote for the day (to leave you with a fine metaphor written by a guy who knew what he was doing):
In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Maddy: What are french fries made of? Us: Potatoes.
Maddy: What are potatoes made of? Us: Potatoes.
Maddy: Here, have my pickle. Us: Why, you like pickles.
Maddy: What are pickles made of? Us: Cucumbers.
Maddy: Oh. It looks like they are made of frog...
Maddy can explain how milk is really made of grass. She goes into such wonderful detail, her teacher asked her to go to another classroom to explain it to the children there. Maddy said the boy she likes in that class listened with his mouth wide open, he was so surprised... hee hee.
Day 10 (and a half)
Still 15,285, so 1,385 words behind schedule. Aaack. Goodbye V.I.P. lounge!
I actually fell asleep with my head on Maddy's lap yesterday afternoon while she was watching a video, and so my window of opportunity to write closed with a soft thud. Went to massage class last night telling myself that it would do me good to take a day off from scribbling, and it did. But now, of course, I gotta catch up.
Welcome to any new readers! As you may have surmised, you have been shamelessly roped into the onerous task of keeping me on my toes, if only in that I know you might be checking in every day.
I should explain that I began this marathon 10 days ago with a secret fear that I would be tempted to give up at some point (really?!), and so did not alert everybody. The possibility of mass shaming was simply more peer pressure than I could bear (yes, I do realize that this is all projection and taking place entirely in my own head, but there you have it). In any case, two days ago I realized that this possibility was just the leverage I needed to lift me up to where I couldn't possibly back down - hence the second wave of potential readers.
Just finished teaching my last session of Academic Writing for the semester, and will now work diligently on my novel. More later...
I actually fell asleep with my head on Maddy's lap yesterday afternoon while she was watching a video, and so my window of opportunity to write closed with a soft thud. Went to massage class last night telling myself that it would do me good to take a day off from scribbling, and it did. But now, of course, I gotta catch up.
Welcome to any new readers! As you may have surmised, you have been shamelessly roped into the onerous task of keeping me on my toes, if only in that I know you might be checking in every day.
I should explain that I began this marathon 10 days ago with a secret fear that I would be tempted to give up at some point (really?!), and so did not alert everybody. The possibility of mass shaming was simply more peer pressure than I could bear (yes, I do realize that this is all projection and taking place entirely in my own head, but there you have it). In any case, two days ago I realized that this possibility was just the leverage I needed to lift me up to where I couldn't possibly back down - hence the second wave of potential readers.
Just finished teaching my last session of Academic Writing for the semester, and will now work diligently on my novel. More later...
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Day 9
15,285: This is 282 words ahead of schedule.
I will tell you something, this is the worst V.I.P. lounge I have ever been in. Stale peanuts, nothing to drink, the chair I am sitting on feels like a rock, my eyes are burning from the dry air and bright screen, and my fingers and toes are ice cold. And it is midnight. Again. And this evening I had to make some major executive decisions about plot twists with very little time to consider. Everything up until now has been a walk in the park in comparison. The NaNoWriMo guide book warned me this would happen, but I didn't believe it would apply to me, the cheerful energizer bunny writer. Guh.
I have received some very encouraging words from some of you in the last two days and they have done me a world of good...Thank you! If you've been thinking you'd like to drop me a line one of these days, now would be a good time. Any time this week. The prediction is that the third and fourth week are considerably easier going for those intrepid souls who get through week two.
The girls are doing great. Maddy is mastering the jump rope this week - there is a sudden jump rope craze at her school, and she is having a great time. She ties all three of her jump ropes together and then onto a wooden post in the back yard and then hollers for me to come turn the rope. The sheer joy in her eyes that she can do it is beautiful indeed. I had a go at it myself, and the neighbor Fred - still on his roof and accompanied by teenage son - had a good laugh. Sonia fell on her mouth yesterday at the playground and still looks like she lost a fight - swollen upper lip. When asked this morning whether it hurt, she said "nah, doesn't hurt". So cool. Tough girl.
I will tell you something, this is the worst V.I.P. lounge I have ever been in. Stale peanuts, nothing to drink, the chair I am sitting on feels like a rock, my eyes are burning from the dry air and bright screen, and my fingers and toes are ice cold. And it is midnight. Again. And this evening I had to make some major executive decisions about plot twists with very little time to consider. Everything up until now has been a walk in the park in comparison. The NaNoWriMo guide book warned me this would happen, but I didn't believe it would apply to me, the cheerful energizer bunny writer. Guh.
I have received some very encouraging words from some of you in the last two days and they have done me a world of good...Thank you! If you've been thinking you'd like to drop me a line one of these days, now would be a good time. Any time this week. The prediction is that the third and fourth week are considerably easier going for those intrepid souls who get through week two.
The girls are doing great. Maddy is mastering the jump rope this week - there is a sudden jump rope craze at her school, and she is having a great time. She ties all three of her jump ropes together and then onto a wooden post in the back yard and then hollers for me to come turn the rope. The sheer joy in her eyes that she can do it is beautiful indeed. I had a go at it myself, and the neighbor Fred - still on his roof and accompanied by teenage son - had a good laugh. Sonia fell on her mouth yesterday at the playground and still looks like she lost a fight - swollen upper lip. When asked this morning whether it hurt, she said "nah, doesn't hurt". So cool. Tough girl.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Day 8
13,683, a whopping 297 words ahead of schedule. According to the NaNoWriMo rule book, staying on schedule during week 2 puts me in the V.I.P. lounge. Yeah!
Am really well and truly tired, so will simply sign off for the night now. Until tomorrow...
Am really well and truly tired, so will simply sign off for the night now. Until tomorrow...
Monday, November 07, 2005
Day 7
Week one is officially over, and I am precisely 21 words ahead of schedule, sliding in at a grand total of 11,689. I decided that for such dedication and perseverence I deserved an official NaNoWriMo participant icon on my post for today (it was offered free of charge on the NaNoWriMo website. Wish I looked that fit in tight running shorts. Come to think of it, shouldn't he be a she lugging a computer under his, eh her arm?). In any case, this icon feels like a gold star did in kindergarten, and I am keeping it, so there.I am experimenting with a form of fiction in which various characters speak, write letters, and write diary entries, but in which there are also sections that are written in the 3rd person with dialogue. I am feeling my way in the dark, here, and enjoying it immensely still. Don't know if it will ever be readable, but it is a great way to practice.
Maddy and Sonia were terrific today. We made chocolate chip cookies after school (which I shall also reward myself with momentarily), and both were covered in flour and had sticky faces from licking the batter off the beaters and spoon and bowl and fingers... Maddy went out into the back garden and called up to our neighbor who was working on his roof "Hey, Fred: Do you want a cookie?!" Fred did want, and Maddy was sure his wife Marion would too, so she brought a little foil packet of cookies over. Meanwhile, Sonia strapped on Maddy's bicycle helmet and then got Maddy to help her strap on her rollerskates. She's two years and two months old! Wonderful stuff.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Day 6
Word count: 10,146
Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen... I am over a fifth of the way home! All of this writing at every opportunity has exacted its toll on the Venema household, however, so felt obliged to roll up my sleeves to clean house and do laundry today. There are limits to how many dust bunnys a person can tolerate, and we were all down to our skivvies.
Maddy and Sonia entertained themselves with the facepaint kit for far longer than I had dared to hope - I managed to vaccuum two floors and scrub the bathroom before they appeared before me as clowns. They had taken turns doing eachother's faces, and the result was interesting indeed - Sonia's face tended towards cubism, and Maddy looked like she had met Jackson Pollack in person. Fantastic!
The ladies Louise and Birgit are still waiting on the train to arrive in Leiden - the granddaughter interrupted to tell a story told to her by Louise. Persistant, this grandaughter. Her voice is probably closest to my own, but I am starting to see where we are different and so she is becoming more of a real person on the page. Sanne, she is called. She was very useful today in helping me out of a corner I had backed myself into with Birgit. None of this, of course, will make any sense to any one reading this, but when my novel is on the shelves in your neighborhood bookstore, all will become clear... ; )
Quote of the Day:
Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen... I am over a fifth of the way home! All of this writing at every opportunity has exacted its toll on the Venema household, however, so felt obliged to roll up my sleeves to clean house and do laundry today. There are limits to how many dust bunnys a person can tolerate, and we were all down to our skivvies.
Maddy and Sonia entertained themselves with the facepaint kit for far longer than I had dared to hope - I managed to vaccuum two floors and scrub the bathroom before they appeared before me as clowns. They had taken turns doing eachother's faces, and the result was interesting indeed - Sonia's face tended towards cubism, and Maddy looked like she had met Jackson Pollack in person. Fantastic!
The ladies Louise and Birgit are still waiting on the train to arrive in Leiden - the granddaughter interrupted to tell a story told to her by Louise. Persistant, this grandaughter. Her voice is probably closest to my own, but I am starting to see where we are different and so she is becoming more of a real person on the page. Sanne, she is called. She was very useful today in helping me out of a corner I had backed myself into with Birgit. None of this, of course, will make any sense to any one reading this, but when my novel is on the shelves in your neighborhood bookstore, all will become clear... ; )
Quote of the Day:
"Believe that you can do it, under any circumstances. Because if you believe you can, then you really will. That belief just keeps you searching for the answers, then pretty soon you get it."
– Wally "Famous" Amos