No NaNoWriMo for Me: Instead, It’s JaNoWriMo 2021

Posted on October 29, 2020 by A. Elizabeth West

November looms yet again, when writers everywhere try to cram 50,000 words into one month!

I am not participating in NaNoWriMo this year. I have a project (Book 3 of the Tunerville trilogy), I’m outlining it, and I even started a rough storyboard for the book trailer. What I don’t have is time.

As you know, I’ve been job hunting for an excruciatingly long period. I still haven’t been hired anywhere, but the state of Missouri did recently offer free CompTIA IT training to workers displaced by COVID-19. I qualified for this due to being a long-term unemployed person whose job hunt was completely derailed by the pandemic.

Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay / captions Elizabeth West

So now I’m preparing for the Project+ certification exam. I can’t write a book and do that simultaneously. However, this should bode well for the future. Not only will I have a certification to add to job applications, but I’m boosting the rudimentary project management experience I obtained at my last job.

Confluence is with my editor. Deadline: Thanksgiving. Although I doubt we’ll have any guests this year, I need to be ready to hit those revisions in December. I hope to have most of this study and maybe even the exam knocked down by then.

I promised you I would finish the trilogy, and I will. With that in mind, I’m launching my own personal, month-long writing challenge in January, which I will call JaNoWriMo!

Note: this is not an official thing, so don’t go looking for it online (edit: whoops, somebody did it!). It’s just me adapting to a crazy situation and the tendency for the Universe to make me sit here for months and then pile it all on at once.

“I only f*ck with you because I love you.” – Universe, probably

Image by Fine Mayer from Pixabay

I doubt I’ll finish in one month, especially if I find employment by then (sooner, please, so I don’t have to move during the coldest, wettest time of the year). Someone could even offer me a job out of state, since remote work is now a legitimate way to start. If so, cross your fingers that this hypothetical company happens to be in the increasingly narrow list of areas where I’d actually want to live.

Weekly updates for JaNoWriMo might work better. I’ll also pop a word count meter up on the blog so you can see how it’s going.

As of this writing, we have no clue who will win the 2020 U.S. election, what will happen in the aftermath, or whether we’ll even have democracy by January. All we know is that it will probably be very unsettled and chaotic for a while. I feel for anyone doing NaNoWriMo this year; the added stress is sure to derail you, but don’t give up. The whole point is to get you working.

Artists and writers are scribes of history, whether or not they include actual events in their work. So keep creating. Keep doing the thing you love. It will get you through these dark times. It will help others who need a breather, or an escape. Your voice is important.

See you soon!

NaNoWriMo 2019 Day 5: Crash and Burn

Posted on November 5, 2019 by A. Elizabeth West

Y’all, I just feel terrible.

I know it’s from a commercial moving site, but this post describes exactly how I feel right now. Everything hurts. Everything. And I didn’t do the actual moving work.

Worst of all, I will have to do this all over again when I find a job and a place. I just can’t even think that far ahead right now. Selling the house put so much extra stress on me that I suspect it made things worse. Or maybe it’s because I’m not a kid anymore.

My mom and I went out to run errands today, and she was trying to show me where stuff was. Nothing she said made any sense. It’s doubtful I’ll be able to remember it without googling a map.

Hmm, I thought she said turn left but I don’t think this is quite right . . .

Anyway, I’ve been slowly getting back into the story mindset I had before the move, when I wrote the outline. There is no way I will make the NaNoWriMo 50K goal, but I might be able to finish the book by January.

I AM NOT GOING TO QUIT.

NaNoWriMo 2019 Day 4: Move Complete

Posted on November 4, 2019 by A. Elizabeth West

First, let me say that the move went pretty smoothly. Dad engaged a couple of Mennonite dudes and they showed up at 7:00 am this morning with a trailer, loaded all my stuff, drove for three hours, and then dropped it off in two different places. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Dad.

I would post a pic of him but he would kill me, so please enjoy this picture of my former neighbor’s cat. His name is Charlie.

Photo by Elizabeth West

Second, I am totally dead. In order to be ready, I had to get up at stupid o’clock after not sleeping very well. It’s going to be a really long day for the Mennonite dudes; they probably aren’t even home yet and they started earlier than I did.

Third, there will be no NaNoWriMo’ing today; I am so tired I can barely type.

Fourth, I was not selected for Pitch Wars, so I guess that’s it for Tunerville currently. I have feelings about that; I spent so long with it, but I’m too tired to unpack them right now. At least now I can concentrate on the new book.

For the time being, I’m literally the nerd in her mother’s basement until I find a job in the nearby bigger city or somewhere else. Thankfully, I’m in my own comfy bed.

Image by LUM3N from Pixabay

I’m not going to miss Old City, but I will miss people, and I guess I’ll miss my house. It was kind of annoying, but it was home for quite a while. I cried a little about leaving it. But someone new will live there now, and he’ll probably fix it up. It needs someone to love it and improve it. I needed a new start, and a bigger job market.

So I’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully with a word count.

NaNoWriMo 2019: Day 3 of the OMG I am Dead

Posted on November 3, 2019 by A. Elizabeth West

Today’s word count: 0.

Spent all day packing and cleaning. Am too tired to breathe. Every part of my body hurts. My hair hurts.

Tomorrow, very early, I move. I’m not doing most of the work, so hopefully by the time I drive 200 miles, unpack some stuff, and rest a little, I’ll be able to crank out some pages. I’ve got a long drive to think about it.

This is my last night in this house. Though I won’t miss this city, I think I’ll miss the house a little. It was super annoying a lot of the time, but it was home for quite a while.

If I could have made a life here, I might have stayed, but there was just no way. Obviously, I don’t belong here. Well, if I get everything I ever wanted, I’m not going to complain!

Come on, universe! I’m ready!

NaNoWriMo 2019 Day 2: Slow Going

Posted on November 2, 2019 by A. Elizabeth West

I think I wrote about 149 words today; I don’t think the next two days are going to be very productive.

I tried thinking about my story while packing, but then I ended up thinking about packing, sorting, and why I can’t seem to get rid of 87,000 t-shirts. Balls!

This song has been stuck in my head all day. You’re welcome. :)

NaNoWriMo 2019 Day 1: Uh Oh

Posted on November 1, 2019 by A. Elizabeth West

I’m behind already. Well, the same thing happened last year and I hit the target, although I did start with 15,000 words already written.

Today, I signed the closing paperwork on my house, a rather emotional event. Then I came home and did some packing. I only have two days before I move — most of it’s already done. All I have to do is:

pack my dishes and the things I’m actively using
put all the rubbish in the bin for one last pickup
take some stuff nobody wants to the thrift store
drink a gallon of milk (it won’t survive a three-hour drive)
clean
and do some large loads of laundry.

I’m also leaving a bunch of stuff for the buyer. He’s getting all the appliances, some furniture, and a few things I don’t need anymore or can easily replace later (cleaning stuff, snow shovel, etc.). None of it’s junk; it’s all stuff he can use.

The Catalyst is a working title. I don’t know if it will be the actual title. But! I did finish my outline last night, so I sort of know where this story is going, although I have no idea what will happen.

This Shiba in a swing seems unbothered about it.

I’m pretty tired, y’all.

NaNoWriMo 2018 Day 6: The Blue Wave Has Begun

Posted on November 6, 2018 by A. Elizabeth West

Y’all, I only managed 211 words tonight. We’re making history all over the country.

Massachusetts elected their first black Congresswoman
Michigan and Minnesota are sending two Muslim women to Washington
Colorado chose the first openly gay governor in the U.S.
Florida restored voting rights to over 1 million convicted felons
KS elected the first Native American woman in Congress ever
Women are kicking ass everywhere

We didn’t win everything. Beto O’Rourke lost to Ted “Zodiac” Cruz, but that frees him up to run for president. I hope he does, and I hope he picks a woman as a running mate. Or I hope Kamala Harris runs and picks Beto as her running mate. Either way, I’d vote so hard for that ticket.

Climate denier Rick Scott won a Senate seat in Flori-duh; good luck with that when sea levels rise and flood the entire state, suckers.

And Bannon-backed Trump asslicker Josh Hawley beat Democrat Claire McCaskill in Missouri (precipitating my exit from the state that also got a travel warning from the NAACP; goodbye, you racist pesthole).

Good news; he didn’t beat her by much. Voters this year have been fierce.

And although Missouri state legislature looks to stay solidly red (ugh), voters seem to have approved an amendment to improve ethics and campaign finance rules and curb redistricting. Also, it’s early, but it looks like medical marijuana will pass. And the minimum wage increase too, hopefully!

I hope your races are turning out the way you’d hoped. Don’t be discouraged if they didn’t. And don’t be complacent if they did. We have only just begun our work. Keep participating, keep voting in local races, and hold our newly elected representatives accountable.

Celebrate wins, mourn losses, and tomorrow, we roll up our sleeves and push that Blue Wave forward. On to 2020!

NaNoWriMo 2018 Day 3: Le Switcheroo

Posted on November 3, 2018 by A. Elizabeth West

Okay, remember when I started Book 2 last NaNoWriMo and couldn’t finish it? This graphic shows how far I got.

I’m gonna finish it.

The entire time I’ve been messing around with Invasion, something about it kept poking the back of my brain. I thought this meant I should just write the damn story, which is why I chose it for this year’s challenge.

Wrong!

I’ve been super bummed about NaNoWriMo this year. Prep was fun (especially making those quinoa patties — yum yum), but I wasn’t excited about starting.

Today, while I schlepped around the grocery store, the reason for my malaise finally clarified itself. The problem isn’t one of story but structure. Invasion would work much better as a screenplay. I’ve been flirting with writing one for a while, but I didn’t think I had any ideas that fit.

It makes sense that way. As a book, it just didn’t, at least not in my head. Writing it as prose makes me want to set my hair on fire. Since it’s taken a long growing period and hundreds of dollars to get my hair exactly the way I want it, saving this story for my first screenwriting project makes better fiscal sense.

Works for Hades; not a great look for me.

Image: Hades by Nina-Serena / deviantart.com

That’s some terrific fan art, by the way.

My head has been in Book 2 for a while — in world-building, in character development, in outlining. Why stop now, especially after I did all! that! work! restructuring Tunerville? I still have a very strong feeling it wasn’t wasted, and not just because I’ve learned a ton about craft.

So, here we go. Finished scenes are in Atomic Scribbler. Notes and outlines are too (another great feature; they open as pages in one window, unlike Wordy McWorderson, which only opens them as annoying separate documents).

I haven’t lost much time, since I already wrote a chunk. I doubt I’ll finish it completely by the end of November, but I’m sure the momentum will carry me through.

Now I’m excited.

Blade Runner 2049 score without the vocal tracks
Damn, that was a good film

NaNoWriMo 2018 Day 2: Squeezing One Out

Posted on November 2, 2018 by A. Elizabeth West

Check out this nifty little way for Atomic Scribbler to make me feel inadequate!

The writing program from Bad Wolf Software has a Daily Word Count feature that keeps track of your output and updates a graphic, which opens in your browser.

It’s a little different from Word, but Bad Wolf’s writing programs export your work and merge all your scenes into one document (Page Four, their older offering, did the same thing). I like this because I can move scenes and chapters around in the project window instead of cutting and pasting. Then I can shoot that bad boy out into Word and mold it into a proper manuscript format.

No, I’m not a shill for this program or Bad Wolf; I just like it, and them. They’re a small Irish company with cool products.

I think I’ll post these progress screenshots as we go, and you can watch my productivity wax and wane.

Getting started has been difficult. I’m not sure I like this idea, or these characters, or this concept. Everything could change before I’m finished.

Short post; I need to get up early tomorrow to meditate with my sangha. It’s already past my scheduled bedtime and I need to wind down before I can go to sleep. Plus, I’m hungry. Trying to write when you’re mentally constipated uses up a lot of energy.

Keep checking your voter registration before Tuesday, November 6! And make plans to VOTE!

NaNoWriMo 2018 Day 1: I CHEATED ALREADY

Posted on November 1, 2018 by A. Elizabeth West

Sheesh, WordPress picked a not-so-good time to redesign their editor.* Lucky for me, I pick this stuff up quickly. Also lucky — I always write my posts in Word first so I have a backup in case my website goes blooey.

WORD COUNT: 1,625. I already had this many before it started.

Yes, I know you’re not supposed to begin NaNoWriMo with any actual writing already commenced, but 1) I didn’t officially sign up, and 2) if you know me, you know I do this almost every time.

This book, referred to in last year’s NaNo end post as Invasion, has been rattling around in my head for a while. Though I’ve heard post-apocalyptic fiction isn’t really a thing anymore, when you’re facing a real-life apocalypse (or the potential of one, thanks to the dictator’s ass-kisser in the White House), one’s mind does tend to turn in that direction.

So here I am, attacking the page and pounding the daylights out of my keyboard. “Ruination is the best friend to creation,” as Chuck Wendig so eloquently put it.

He also invented a sandwich called *The Wendigo*. Here it is. It is surprisingly delicious.

Photo: Elizabeth West

This month, you’ll likely get very short daily posts. I won’t talk much about the story; it tends to ruin things when I’m writing a first draft. I learned that lesson with Tunerville. I might discuss things I’m learning, share any news, or maybe just whine a bit. Writing a whole book in a month is tough. I may have to build in time for another MCU marathon.