Now What?

Well, that's not actually a serious question. Now that NaNoWriMo, and NaBloPoMo, are over, it's not like I have a dearth of things to do. I have to turn my mind to Christmas, finish preparations for the book launch this week...and I would like to try and keep blogging. I really enjoy it when I'm doing it, but it's an easy habit for me to fall out of.

Tonight I'm going to start a Christmas knitting project--nothing too difficult, it's quite a while since I've done sweaters or anything else really time-consuming. I have a couple of small projects planned, and if they go well we'll see what else I might tackle.

NaNoWriMo was a bit of a struggle this year, but I'm glad I participated, as usual. The story is structurally not good, but I know there are places where, for first draft writing, it's really improved. I saw a big change in my daughter's committment this year as well--she was really engrossed in her story and didn't need nagging or reminding to get those daily words in. It was fun working with her, and with some new NaNoWriMo buds, like my pal Chivalrybean from Second Life who kept me virtual company many writing nights, and others in the SL F&SF Writers Workshop, where we had weekly meetings to keep each other encouraged. As well, my usual supporters, like McDoogle, the AFWD group, and my friends and family had my back for the month. So, thanks, everyone!

I already have plans for a few writing projects to tackle in the new year. I'll keep you posted as they come up.

November looms

Okay, it's...let's see...three days until National Novel Writing Month and National Blog Posting Month. I'll definitely be doing the former; not certain about the latter this year as I have the anthology project still ongoing. Although I suppose that would give me something to blog about.

Not as sure of my footing for this year's novel as I sometimes am, but I'm not going to stress about it. My daughter, son and I are planning an outlining session for our respective projects some night this week, and I hope to come out of that with at least a few details pinned down. And other than a rough idea of the shape of the story, I don't like too detailed an outline, anyway.

I looked last night and now that some of my Second Life writing compatriots are doing NaNoWriMo, my buddies list has thirty names on it! If I can't get enough support to write a measly fifty thousand words, there's something wrong.

Here's to a month of furious creativity!

A month?

Wow, I knew I didn't have time to blog lately, but I can't believe it's been a month! Well, maybe I can. I've certainly been busy.

Mostly with editing. And critiquing. I'm editing stories for the Undercurrents anthology, stories for my writing group, my own work, and articles for a Second Life magazine, of which I'm a junior editor. Also critiquing stories for my online critique group and a couple of outside projects. I'm trying to clear other things away so that I can do a final pass on my novel, but it's hard to get everything else off the list. Maybe I have to re-arrange some priorities.

June is always a busy month with school ending, but the busy-ness seemed to start in May this year, so it's been a hectic couple of months. However, grading day is Friday--hurray! Can't wait to get away from the schedule for a while. And summer has finally arrived here, after a non-existent spring.

The artwork at the top of this post represents the other creative outlet I've had lately--digital space art. It's been fun learning how to create the effects I want, and a great way to unwind after a load of editing. :) I have a small gallery at http://wordsmith101.deviantart.com/gallery/ (check it out and tell me what you like/don't like), and a gallery (A Space for Dreams) in Second Life as well. If you are in SL and would like to visit, the SLurl is http://slurlcom/secondlife/Foxboro/136/178/245.

Maybe I will get back to blogging now. Although I still have a lot on the go, I do feel that some of the pressure has eased.