I has a happy fountain pen. My wonderful, lovely, beautiful, and marvelous wife bought me two bottles of the ink pictured at left. This fantabulous ink is now in one of my fountain pens and is beautiful to behold.

I was so excited about it, I wrote a letter to my grandmother last night. She should have it by the end of the week. Unless of course, the mail gets bogged down because of the weather.

Thanks, Honey!

Damnation, Hold the Phones and Wake Up Aunt Tessie! I finished the Novel! EARLY!

It needs work, it's not based on a novel by a man named Lear, but it does have a beginning, a middle and an end. And that, my friends, is what a story is all about. Those are the things you need.

I know there are internal continuity gaffes. I know that scenes in Autumn are immediately followed by scenes in Summer. I'm pretty sure that some of the characters have two names or are described as looking different in different places. I'm likewise certain that there are places where it doesn't read too dreadfully, and others where it is apparent I didn't have a clue what I was doing.

So what?

It's the first time I ever wrote a book. 211 pages, double spaced, in the period of 28 and 3/4 days. With a couple of days off for good behavior and mental health. I did it.

Even though there were times I didn't want to. The relentless pace of NaNoWriMo made quitting easy, but I wanted...no, needed to finish this. For nobody else but myself, I needed to finish this.

To be honest, I don't know how people with kids do this, or college students, or high school students...or anyone with all manner of distractions do this. I really don't. I don't have a lot going on in my life besides the things I choose to do, so not getting this done would have been a complete 'FAIL' on my part. I really tip my hat, no...scratch that, I take off my hat to those of you who did this with kids wanting/needing attention or studies needing attention or whatever else took your attention away from NaNoWriMo. Even if you don't 'win' but kept on going, that makes you winners in my world.

It's all over. I intend on putting the manuscript to the side and leaving it there until February, at least. Then, we shall see.

I passed 41,000 words yesterday. That's 168 pages of double spaced printed out writing. I have never in my life crammed so much story into a narrative as long as this.

Yet, it still feels sketchy. Incomplete in some respects. I know I will be going over the 50,000 word goal to tell the story to its logical conclusion. But my writing style (read: lazy) is such that I spend more time telling rather than showing. It reads ham-fisted in parts, and in others it is not so bad. It isn't the steaming pile of doo-doo I expected it to be, but it sure needs another cycle or three in the word-tumbler.

Since I am ahead of the game and have next week off (YAY for vacations!) I am for the most part going to take today off. Going to spend it with Elaine, and go to visit one of her school friends. Have a nice dinner, hold hands, enjoy her beautiful smile, stuff like that

Then, tomorrow It is back to the book. Hopefully to hit my goal before the end of the week.

I have passed the 30,000 word plateau. Today I am sitting at 32,000 and change. Roughly 128 printed pages, but only 80-some if it appeared in a paperback book. This little statistic, more than anything else, is very depressing to me. I've been sweating, straining, and forging ahead on this story, feeling like it was a novel...only to find out that this is roughly a novella...

And in looking things over, I can see why. I have focused so much on the main characters, that there is nothing else. Just the plot points and very focused character development. Throw away characters have nothing more than names, stage entrances and exits. Most don't even have dialogue. In fact, it seems there is a dearth of dialogue in places...lots of prose. I struggle with writing compelling dialogue. At least to my mind, I do.

Anyway, here's an excerpt

Oh well, onward is the driving force of NaNoWriMo. Write crap if you must, but write. I think I'm going to tuck some in-between chapters in and see what happens...

Between goofing off, football, goofing off and being easily distracted, my writing goal for the weekend was missed.

I really wanted to hit the 30,000 plateau by the end of my writing time yesterday, but it didn't happen. I only managed to get to 29,300 some and was just too tired to go any more. Mine eyes were gritty with weariness, bones were tired...and that was probably from the fab dinner Elaine fixed.

I have a soft spot for Jenny-O Turkey Roasts. I mean, for all I know they make them from stuff they sweep off the floor. I know not and care less. Anyhow, every so often one of those bad boys sounds good. With mashed potatoes and green beans. Yum!

I have a mystery turkey meat sammich for lunch today and maybe, I'll get to my writing goal.

It has become a grind.  The giddy feelings of the first couple of days have been replaced with the knowledge that getting ahead in the word count is short-lived.  As quickly as that happens and you rest on your laurels, you can get behind and playing catch up isn't nearly as fun or exhilarating as being ahead of the curve. 

And this is one of those writing exercises where the goal is quantity.   No other motives for writing than pounding out a big ol' pile of words that resemble a story.  I have a strong desire to create something I can work with in revision when this is all over, so that makes this more workmanlike that I had originally envisioned.

On the plus side, using 'Scrivener' has been a real bonus.  Being able to work on different parts of the overall project and not write in sequential order has allowed me to adjust the flow of the plot or the overall plot in general on the fly without sacrificing anything I've created.  In other words, I get to have 'better ideas' after I've penned something and still use what is already there.

Naturally, I have now created some serious plot discrepancies or internal continuity issues.  Mainly to do with timing of events, but the overall flow makes more logical sense.  At least to me.  And having notes in the Scrivener file/binder has been very useful.  AND, as an added bonus, by being a NaNo winner, I'll be able to buy the program for a discount.  Since this has turned to be a practical writing tool, I'm excited about this.  And it gives me a bit more incentive to actually slam out more words.

The story is coming along, and I can already see benefits of this project.  I may not actually do anything with this, even after revision, but at the least it has given me an appreciation of the work that goes into a novel, that ideas keep coming even after you start with a fair idea of where you are going and that this is not a bad thing.

Onward!

I hope to G*d that I don't feel compelled to record every stinking moment of this project, but I want to write a bit about the process I have adopted for this.  Because, I had real misgivings about being able to construct an entire linear story of great length.  My strength is vignettes, short bits and short stories.  That, I'm good at those things.  At least from the standpoint of being able to finish what I set out to write.

As I was poking around the NaNo web site, one of the special offers was for a program called Scrivener.  Catchy title and appropriate because this is designed for writers.   It is more than a word processor, but not loaded with all manner of stuff I don't need.  And best of all, I can write small sections, vignettes or scenes and then stitch them all together later.

So, I will be constructing a novel, building it from smaller pieces assembled before hand.  Because, isn't a novel or novella just a series of small sections?  Put together later?  I realize that I am not reinventing the wheel, as other authors do this.  But, for me, it was a revelation.

So, with that in mind, I got over 3,000 words on my first day by writing in small chunks, and for short periods of time.  We'll see how long I can keep this up, but for today I am content. 

I went to the NaNo Write-In to get an early start on things last night.  The Write-In was held at the Country Kitchen (fondly remembered as the Bitchin' Kitchen in my drinking days) and people strolled in from 11 pm and things got underway at Midnight Sharp commencing with a "Word War" which is a writing sprint for 10 minutes or so.  At the end, everyone hollers out their word total.  Not surprisingly, the 18 year old kid won. 

The guy next to me was writing long hand.  Turns out this is what he's always done and he has a speech recognition program that he reads it all into. 

I left fairly early, mainly because of lap top batter suckage.  It didn't totally die, but close enough.  I was also a little stumped about "What Happens Next" but I managed to suss that out on the way home,  so I banged that out.  I'll be writing off and on today as I really want to build up some word count now, or at the very least, not get behind on the first day.

The "Participant" badge is also a direct link to my NaNo page.  My word count will be updated at the end of each writing session, so it should be current.  If you're interested, that is.

A few more hours and my creative energies will be focused on doing something I have never attempted before with any luck.  To wit, writing an extended piece of fiction.  I hesitate to call this a novel at this point because all it is at present is a loose collection of ideas that may or may not actually fit together. 

I have little doubt that for 30 days I can force myself to pound out fictional drivel in a linear fashion.  I may end up doing that yet.  I have this problem about fiction, and that is that I am real fond of it following the basic structure of

• Beginning
• Middle
• End

Call me crazy, but that's about as far as writing analysis as I care to go.  It doesn't have to be linear in progression, i.e. flashbacks are fine with me, but they have to make sense.  I'm not a huge fan of stuff that doesn't move the plot forward.  Writing tricks to show the writer is clever that don't serve the story are just mental masturbation, as far as I'm concerned.

So, I need to tell a story in long form.  Pounding out 50,000 words of crap should be no challenge.  Spend the time at the computer, type until my fingers bleed and my arms fall off.  That's the easy part. Having it make some sort of internal sense and be something I can work with or actually show somebody in December would be great.  Therein lies the challenge.

We shall see how this goes. 

For our Region, there was a Pre-November Meetup yesterday in gloomy downtown Columbia.  I say gloomy because this rain thing is becoming a way of life.  I think Portland sent us their weather patterns or something.  *sigh*

I had the chance to meet some of the other people in the area who are also doing this NaNoWriMo insanity thing.  It's crazy, man...

So we talked about writer stuff, we talked about other stuff, I listened to stories about NaNo's past and me a guy who is married to a lady who worked in the same office I do now, before I got here.  It's a small world.  Sometimes it seems like we all know a couple of hundred people and they get their faces changed from time to time...

I learned about the Snowflake Method of novel construction, which allowed me to write a one sentence description of the (attempted) novel I plan on speed vomiting through a keyboard next month (ooohhhh....isn't THAT a lovely mental image?).  Next comes the paragraph that fleshes out the novel's direction.

And I got a STICKER!  A NaNoWriMo sticker!  wOOt!

All in all, it was an interesting an good time.  I am quite glad that I went.

I am CRAZY!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/517902

I have decided, after discussion with Elaine, to try to do this insane thing.

I still need to come up with a plot, characters, and how to use a Special Needs Groundhog in the narrative somewhere....

But, other than that, I'm ready to go!

(I am out of my bloody mind, I am)

What you see is the cover to the long awaited, long talked about print copy of this fabulous LiveJournal Blog! wOOt! 

Seriously, I'm really only making this available because a few people said they would like a copy.  I really just did this for my own copy.  Still, there is a nifty thrill at holding something in your hands like this, that you created...

This collection was a year in the making.  It is the majority of entries here on LiveJournal over the course of 2008.  Complete!  With even some spelling corrections!  But, no comments.  I elected to not use them due to privacy, copyright and space considerations.  This book weighs in at 294 pages as is, it would have been over 450 with comments.  The comments remain here on LJ.  Where they should be...

The cover was drawn by my friend Bruce Rosenberger.  He hails from Pennsylvania and is a good guy.  Randy Sargent did the coloring job on the cover, which is quite different than my little icon.  It looks pretty darn cool resting in your hand on the cover of a book.  Van Reid provided a swell introduction.  I can't thank these guys enough for their contributions to this admitted vanity project.

If you want to get yourself a copy of this here fine collection, head on over to my bland, boring CreateSpace storefront.  Cost is $13.00, plus S&H.  I get a whopping $0.42 per book sold...so help me retire! (Ha!)

Seriously, thanks to all of you who read this LiveJournal.  Your thoughts and comments since I started doing this have made my experience here just wonderful.  I thank you.

Well, the book saga continues.

CreateSpace is swell.  Just a swell bunch.  After getting my files approved last week, I thought I'd make a change, but decided against making that change and went back to just order the proof.  Wrong.  Wrong!  WRONG!

I had to have what had already been approved approved all over again.  Late...on Friday afternoon.  Which happened sometime Sunday.  Late in the evening.  They had problems with the cover they had already approved.  So, I made the changes, submitted again and they had problems.  AGAIN! AUGH.  So, I fixed it.  Again!  Resubbed and finally got word that all is right with the world.

I am now awaiting a second proof, hopefully all corrected and happy and shiny and ready to go.

Or, to be more precise, the Proof arrived via UPS this afternoon. 

The Proof?  Of what, you ask?  Remember all that blather earlier this year about a printed copy of Radio Nowhere?  All the entries that were literally fit to print, not counting YouTube videos or other embedded media thingies that were in there?  You don't?  Well, it's been so long I forgot when I started carrying on about it, but I finally got it set up the way I wanted to.

And after setting it up and placing the order with CreateSpace, I got the Proof copy today.  Almost tackled the UPS guy to get my box from him, lemme tell ya!  I held the product of a year (2008) blood, sweat and tears (and bacon-y goodness!) in my hands.  I opened it up...

I have to order another proof.  Alignment issues...my fault, totally.

Still, seeing a book that you wrote, or in my case, compiled, in your hands...kind of a neat feeling.

The upside of participating in projects like ReadWritePoem, Three Word Wednesday and other prompt/thought provoking sites and groups is the exposure of others to my work.  Another bigger upside is seeing others works.

The downside, or hard part for me, is leaving comments on the blogs of other poets.  Beyond, "I like this" or "Wow!" I have a hard time writing what I think sometimes.  Or even getting something concrete beyond "I like this" or whatever is going through my head at the moment.

I think some of it is due to the fact that where poetry is concerned, I am a neophyte.  It would be a true statement to say I probably write more of it than I read away from LiveJournal (That means I don't include you on the Mighty FList in that equation).  

So, I struggle.  Mightily...so much so that I have given thought to not playing publicly...but then I wouldn't get to read some great work because I wouldn't always feel like it.  And reading poetry from a variety of sources helps me because I am exposed to so much more....

Anywho, just a few thoughts for a Friday...

Based on the feedback I got from my shorty-short story that I ended up titling "Breakfast on Saturday" that I wrote from a prompt provided at The One-Minute Writer, I entered the story in a Flash Fiction Contest.

They announced 40 winners out of 280 entries.  My story wasn't one of them.  I did a smidge of editing, but not much.  I wasn't surprised, but I am a little disappointed.  Not because the story wasn't "good enough" but because I am human and disappointment is a human feeling.

Part of me wonders how I could have written the story better, or what I could have done differently with it.  I am not so attached to most of what I write that I won't make changes to improve it...

As an aside, it was a 2-step process.  Members of the forum voted and on a 1 to 5 scale, I got 56 votes, for an average of 2.55.  Objectively, that's probably about right.  Personally, "Ouch, Dammit!  That's harsh!"

Anyhow, back to the drawing board.  I've not lifted a pencil to attempt to draw in a few weeks.   ;-)

If you have any thoughts, I'd sure love to hear them.

Please!

Ugh.  I look out the window a few minutes ago, and I'm greeted by a leaden sky that insists on raining on us.  Again!  A quick peek at the radar shows a mish-mash of colors and on a weather radar, that ain't a good thing.

For us, I'm glad because the worst is heading South.  For the poor slobs living South, I feel all kinds of "OMG!" type pity.  It doesn't look pretty.  There are a couple of yellow boxes and a big red box.  That can't be good.

And somewhere, I have a desk.  It is buried under work.  Which is a good thing.  I am not complaining.  Work is Job Security and that is a Good Thing.

And on happier thoughts,  I've written about 25 or so baseball haiku.  I think they are all pretty bad, but I'm making progress. 

Tomorrow is Three Word Wednesday.  Might be a good time to play along.  It makes writing FUN!   Thursday brings us "Get Your Poem On" courtesy of the fine folks at ReadWritePoem.  The prompt is on the front page, and Thursday is when that'll get posted here with a link from there.  Again, it's a great idea and I had some fun with it.

From the One Minute Writer:

Friday Fiction: Breakfast

-------------------------------------------------

He sat there pushing his cup around, the coffee growing cold.  Jim was wondering where Larry was.  For 17 years, they'd had this running breakfast "thing" at the Broadway Diner.  They never formalized it, but it was a part of the routine of both men.  With rare exception, Saturday mornings found them where Jim was, waiting for Larry.

It had all started quite by accident.  Jim had been a regular already.  Took his breakfast by himself, reading the paper.  Larry started coming in regularly and as such, Jim would nod at him either on his way in or out.  That became a brief, "How ya going?" which graduated to, "Mind if I join you?"  Jim still brought the newspaper, but never touched it.  Always left it behind when they left.

They'd never discussed the way things had happened.  That might have changed things between them.  They talked about their lives, dreams, families and solved the problems of the day.  The only nod to the arrangement would be a mention. "I'll be on vacation, so I may not be in next week" and that was it.  They never said "goodbye" but parted with, "See ya..."

It was with this in mind that Jim sat there wondering what was keeping Larry.  His reverie was deeper than he thought because the gentle hand on his shoulder startled him.  It caused him to slosh his coffee.  He was grateful it has gone cold at that moment.

Looking to his right, he saw a woman about his own age.  She looked at him with a sad smile on her face, "You must be Jim."

"Yes..." he allowed.

"Well Jim, I'm Norma.  Larry's wife.  He has spoken of you often over the years such that I feel as if I know you and you're my own dear friend.  Which is why it pains me to tell you..." and here her voice caught.

"Why don't you sit down, Norma."  Jim invited, waving to the vacant seat. 

As soon as she was seated, and had a cup of hot coffee in front of her, she looked a Jim with that sad smile. She opened her mouth to speak, but Jim interrupted, "Larry won't be coming down here anymore, will he?"

"No. He won't" a small voice responded.

Jim thought for a moment, "Let's order us some breakfast, alright?"
 

And I must confess.  Publicly.

I have turned my back on one whom I have expressed love and devotion to many, many times.

My new notebook isn't a Moleskine....No, I have strayed...

Rather than spend the money to keep up the expensive relationship, I was swayed by the cheap harlot, Piccadilly Journals!

That's right.

Rather than plunk down the usual $10.95 they ask for a Moleskine at Barnes & Noble, we stopped at a Borders Bookstore on our recent trip and they had these Moleskine look-a-likes for $3.99!   On sale!  Buy one, get one free!

So, I strayed...nay, I turned and fled!  Fled to the binding of a slightly inferior, yet equally as portable (and cheaper) notebook.

Does this make me wrong?

Peace is more than lack of strife.  It is a willingness to listen.

---

War's Gain?

The "War to End All War's"
Ended nothing
           except millions
It gave rise to "The Big One"
which plunged us into
A war of Chilled fear
the Enemy under every bed
Duck and Cover
just seconds away
Awaiting the button's push
Thankfully that never came.

So, let us step back

And listen

To each other
              other points of view


And to the quiet voices of the millions
searching for Peace.


----------

The above is a couple of things I submitted to the "1,000 Pieces of Peace" project that therer2doors  posted in a writing community we both belong to.  I don't know if they will get used or not.  If so, great.  If not, that's fine to.  What matters is the thought.  The idea that Peace is worth working towards and what it is...what war causes and costs.

I'm not one who usually verbalizes my thoughts on this subject.  Still, it is something I would love to see in my lifetime.