NaNoWriMo

To write, or not to write, that is the question thousands of people have been asking themselves for the past month. Today started National Novel Writers Month. This is my first year trying it out.

Just getting set up is a little intimidating. Building a writing buddies list, reading and joining forums, getting encouragement for all quarters. My head spins thinking about it all.

I have been writing today. It's disjointed and sporadic. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to set a goal of 1,667 words per day. At the end of the month, if a person is diligent, they should have 50,000 words completed. That's enough for a full manuscript. What an idea - a book in 30 days!

Having the support and encouragement of other people in the same boat as you makes the endeavor more invigorating and exciting. Hope to find more of our group there. For those of you who are, please add me as your buddy - PattiMO. We also should be able to meet our goals for November doing this challenge.

Happy writing!

Changes

As we near the end of this president's term, many changes have been suggested. Case in point critiquing, there is talk of having a early critique session prior to the meeting. This may work well for some, but I believe it should be put to the membership for a vote. To make sweeping changes without input of the membership is a great way to alienate people. Apparently this change will be tested this next meeting. Someone implied it would be easier to do some of the preliminary critiquing online. This may be so, but to create so much structure and rules in my opinion defeats the openness of the process. I scramble to write each day and to blog every Tuesday. I do not have time to look over a body of work of another writer as part of my work day. I hold a critique session every Wednesday and anyone is welcome. Just e-mail me you are interested.
But I digress. In view of the success of our conference, with so many stepping up to the plate I believe we need fewer rules and regs. We are here to help one another not to throw obstacles on the path of the writer's journey. This is of course just my opinion and as such should be taken only as a single view. I, for one, welcome more discussion on the subject before it is cast in stone.

rememberences

First of all I want to say how glad I am to have rejoined the group. This is a professional organization and one I am proud to be a member of. In the current time of belt tightening I consider my membership as an investment. As we are all writers we are mostly loners. Yet we carry our characters in our minds, thus never truly alone.
In the last meeting it was suggested that we do a profile of our characters. To me a simple profile is not enough. First note physical appearnace, any physical disablity, manner of walking, manner of speach. Then pretend your character is a member of a dating service and is trying to find a mate. What would the request be?
Then have the character apply for a job. What would the experiences be?
And finally have the character visit his/her doctor. What would the complaint be and how would the patient handle it?
Of course no one character should impart all this information in a book, but it gives the writer a formula of sorts to know the under laying factors of the character's behaviors.
Does any one in the group have another method of knowing the hero and heroine more completely? What works for me might not for you. To me that is the greatest thing about writing, there is no wrong way, simply what works or not.
Feel free to jump in throughout the day and make any comments you wish. Any questions? Throw them at me. Enjoy this beautiful day. I think maybe Spring has sprung.