Writer – Linda Nelson

Hmm… interesting, my last post was at Halloween. Thanksgiving is only two days away, where’d the time go?

I know what happened. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) happened. By the way, how did you do with your word count this month? I got mine. Did you get yours?

Now that we’re done with that absurd writing challenge, what’s coming up next? Christmas? This is the craziest time of the year. It all starts with NaNo, then turkey in the oven, followed by hordes of Black Friday Shoppers heading out to the stores right after eating their Family Holiday meal. They should remain home to sleep off that bird but no, they run right out and join the crowd so they can fight over that $100 flat screen TV. See this is just the beginning of the craziest time of the year.

We fought with our word processors for nearly 30 days straight, forcing word after word on that blank white screen. They said write a 50k word story in 30 days or less but don’t worry if it is a mess. You will have the rest of the year to try to fix the thing. That is if it is fixable.

I wrote as though I was in brainstorming sessions. Now I have to drag and drop the chapters into different orders in hopes that I can get the timeline correct. Still that isn’t as silly as standing in line for a Black Friday ticket at the local Walmart. It’s the only time of the year when they are crazy enough to break every fire code rule.

Have you ever taken part in that absurd holiday tradition of shopping right after eating turkey? I did one year. The crowds didn’t bother me too much. What did bother me was how hard it was to find the items listed in the Black Friday flyer. Everything was scattered about the store. I thought they were kidding when they were handing out maps. What was I thinking?

Besides NaNo and Black Friday, I find the rest of the season pretty tame. I’m the one who puts up the tree. I’m the one who decorates it. I’m the one who tries to keep the spirit of Christmas alive. Oh wait, I feel a bah – humbug moment coming on. It will pass. I’ll inhale the scent of green pine needles, apples and cinnamon and most of all, chocolate fudge.

Oh, Fudge, the straw that broke the diabetic diet. I have to make several batches each year. This is hard to do without having a sample or two. Then there are the cookies and pastries. Don’t forget the eggnog too.

So, are you ready for the absurdity of this jolly time of year? No wonder people become stressed and angry; look at how crazy we become trying to take part in those traditional activities each year.

[/media-credit] What makes the first American Thanksgiving noteworthy is, for the first time, turkeys were actually consumed after they were sacrificed to “God” (the Christian version of the Babylonian turkey god). duckglow.wordpress.com

image provided by Microsoft Office

Puppy Power!

I remember Scrappy Do from Scooby Do. Scrappy was fearless and full of energy. That’s the way our pup Keelaa appears to be. She runs around like a miniature greyhound, doing figure eights around the older dog Julie.

Meanwhile, Julie barks encouragement, sound as though she is saying faster, faster, faster…

I’m not sure what she is in training for. Maybe counter-attacking the family cats who keep trying to terrorize her by pouncing on her from dark corners. I never realized, cats can be so mean when they want to be.

Me, I haven’t actually run sprints since High School. I’m not sure if I could either. The body doesn’t function the way it once did. I have toyed with the idea of taking up running, and think of it long enough to say, “I don’t know. Can I go that quarter mile?”

Then I’d have to take not just one dog, but both dogs, and the older dog would get to the quarter mile and require either a long rest or a car ride back home. I’m not carrying a 100 pound dog back home.

ROW80:

Sprints can be applied in different areas, like writing, which is what I did all week, except for Friday night and Saturday night.

My secret work in progress is coming along nicely. I have the first draft at 75% done.

It feels good to be able to write once again, after months and months of writers’ block.

I think I needed a different creative outlet to help me think and plot. So, I thought about else I’d been doing when I wrote Aaron & Keja and Witch Book. I’d been crocheting, or knitting, or one of the many craft projects I like working on.

My son has a requested that I make him an afghan. I was supposed to make this for him last winter, but never finished it in time. Since it is getting cold again, I’ve picked the project backup, and now I’m doing the finishing touches, as in the border.

Since I picked the project backup, I’ve seen an increase in my word count, of nearly 5k words for the week.

My hopes for the week are to at least match the word count for the entire week, and be done with the first draft by the end of the month.

How is your writing going?

Are you struggling? Have you considered changing just one thing you’ve been doing when you’re not writing?

I think being able to channel creativity in another form can help open up the channels that fuel our writing muse.

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