Stop!
It’s still early in November and so you can stop for a minute, but just a minute.
Grab a piece of paper or open a blank document and number one through five.
Now, list the main things you want to convey through or with your novel.
Done? Good. Get back to work!
🙂
On Instagram, I’ve spent every day posting a political pin, and today is the final one. Scroll through and see what I chose to share in the last days towards this Election Day. When you’re finished looking and thinking about and commenting, head over to your polling place and VOTE. This is the most consequential and important election of our lifetimes. I just heard Dan Pfeiffer say on The Axe Files that young people felt secure and comfortable under President Obama, they thought they were safe and things were going to be okay – the President has this. Well, I’m 51, and I felt the same way. I was comfortable not paying attention to the minutiae of politics and political discourse for the first time in my life, and now I’m terrified. For my children, yes, but for myself as well. What have we allowed to happen in the last two years?!
VOTE
I Will Vote 11.6.18 from Penzeys Spices. (c)2018
From Star Wars: A Woman’s Place is in the Resistance. In honor of Carrie Fisher.(c)2018
The Liberty Bell. Philadelphia, PA. Remember our history. (c)2018
Equality Includes Everyone. Everyone Equals Everyone. (c)2018
Nevertheless, She Persisted. In honor of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Shethority, Me Too, Times Up. (c)2018
3 pins from Penzeys Spices. Kind heart, Soul (of America), Embrace Hope. (c)2018
A riff on Cyndi Lauper’s hit song, Girls Just Want to Have Fun. (c)2018
Created Equal pin that my son picked up for me on his school trip to Gettysburg. He knows me. (c)2018
NoRA, March for Our Lives. (c)2018
I couldn’t get a pussy hat, so I got a pink pussy cat pin instead. (c)2018
The truth. (c)2018
Looking back on someone who was thought to be a not so good president, but he really wasn’t that bad. He got a bad wrap. The current president won’t have that benefit – he’s the worst. But…Ulysses S. Grant won the Civil War, and wasn’t a bad president, and was actually a good person. Read Ron Chernow’s biography. (c)2018
Science Matters. (c)2018
Be Peace from the Dominican Sisters of Peace. (c)2018
Children First. Education by Educators.(c)2018
Facts Matter. From the Newseum in Washington, DC.(c)2018
Votes for Women. A gift from my friend from the Molly Brown House and Museum in Denver, CO. Suffragettes – votes for women and voting for women. (c)2018
LGBT+ Equality. (c)2018
I can’t even. I don’t remember what the news of the day was that made me post this, but it was probably awful and immigration or free press related. (c)2018
Education by Educators. Odyssey of the Mind in NY. (c)2018
Embrace Hope from Penzeys Spices. Always a good message. (c)2018
So simple, and yet so much meaning. Women’s rights, women’s equality, reproductive rights, ERA. Women’s rights are human rights. (c)2018
I VOTED! Now you. (c)2018
One of the tenets of Nanowrimo and all stream of consciousness writing is just write. Let it flow. Don’t make corrections, just get it out. Edits are for December.
How I do this is if I have a word that I know I don’t want to use, but need it to get the thought across, I will add [th] after I type or write it (I do this regardless of long writing or typing) so I can search for all of my [th]s and then look the words up in a thesaurus. That way, I can keep the writing flowing and get it out, and that works for me. I also keep a list of words to look up, words I find in my travels, words that I want to use, and want to know more about their definitions.
Whatever works for you, come December you’ll need to edit. My go-to resources are Dictionary and Thesaurus. I also use ThinkExist for quotations.
Prompt: Childhood Illnesses
While you were at Barnes & Noble yesterday picking up your copy of the recent The Writer magazine, I hope you stopped off in their cafe/coffee shop. It’s a great place to sit and have a quick drink, maybe a snack and get some writing done. Or at a minimum, jot some ideas and notes down.
If you didn’t have time for that, try out Coffitivity, a sound website that gives you the feeling of being in a coffee shop or other places that are conducive to getting creative and getting some writing done.
The Writer
I have been subscribing to this magazine for decades. At the beginning of my writing career, I would get it along with others to get a feel for the profession and the practice of writing. It is now (and has been for many years) the only professional subscription that I get. It is the best resource for all writers of all experiences and for all genres writers, fiction and non-fiction. Stop by your local Barnes & Noble and pick up their most recent copy. You won’t regret it.
November begins with the Solemnity of All Saints and finishes with the beginning of the liturgical year and Advent. In the middle are parent-teacher conferences, Veteran’s Day, Morning of Service volunteering, church breakfasts, health insurance open enrollment, medical procedures, a court appearance for a traffic ticket, the premiere of Fantastic Beasts, and Thanksgiving.
I’m sure I’ve left things out, and I can hear all of you readers going over your lists in your heads and groaning. I know, I know. I’m sorry I brought it up.
First and foremost, November is about colors. We’ve been very slow at leaves changing colors. They seem lazy and slow to change, and they seem muted with the grey, cloudy, dreary-ish days that have started today, but they’re still beautiful, and mesmerizing as well as introspective.
Second for November, is gratitude. We need to slow down, and remember how lucky we are, and in reality, while things aren’t perfect for anyone, we are still very lucky in so many ways. Now is a good time to think on our blessings and remind ourselves of what we have and simply be grateful.
Third, November is National Novel Writing Month. I have signed on to participate again, and I’m hoping to settle into a rhythm of both updating this website and writing for Nanowrimo, and other writings and creative plans. Look for my daily, 30 Days of Nano column, offering suggestions and tips for a successful writing experience for Nanowrimo or your own writing endeavors.
What’s your minimum that you need to just sit down and write?
I need a notebook/journal/document folder and a pen or keyboard. My notebook fits in my purse, and I pack away an extra pen and a pencil. I don’t normally use a pencil, but they don’t run out of ink, so they’re a good emergency backup.
Have your minimum supplies with you so you can always sit down and write some words, a brief stream of consciousness, a ten minute free-write.
Write daily.
And to write daily, be ready.
“True strength, is willing to be vulnerable.”
– Alaina Huffman
Photographed by Illya Swan for the Supernatural If I Could Tell You 2018 Calendar.
Photo and copyright – Alaina Huffman as photographed by Illya Swan. (c)2018
I will post a word of advice, writing resources, advice, tips, things to think about for the next thirty days of Nanowrimo. Please share some of your own, so we can use this community to support our writing and other creative endeavors that we are all involved with in our lives.
Day 1 of Nano
Get your workspace ready. Keep a clear spot on your dining room table if you don’t have a desk. (I use a tote bag that I can bring to the dining room as well as on my writing field trips. Do you drink coffee? Tea? Set a timer on your coffeemaker, and have it ready for each day’s writing time. Do you like to light candles? Have them on the table, and know where the matches are. Is there enough ink in your favorite pen? Do you have a spare? Do you write in a journal or on a laptop? I use my Kindle Fire and a keyboard. Do you have a spare notebook, a small notepad to jot down ideas that float by? I use a notepad as well as Evernote and JotterPad (this one is new to me).
There is still time to write today, on this first day of 2018 Nanowrimo!
Let’s go!
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 