Perpetual Smile

Everyone is getting ready for NaNoWriMo! @mzhartz asked her readers for support, @mystressmanda posted her thoughts about NaNoWriMo and her plot for this year, and @aliciagregoire posted some pre-writing ideas on her blog. (Can you tell I’m spending a lot of time checking out the #nanowrimo hashtag on Twitter?)

I’m really enjoying reading tweets and blog posts about people getting ready. It’s getting me more pumped and I can tell that having other NaNo-ers via blogs and Twitter is going to keep me motivated throughout November.

I spent this afternoon doing some more pre-writing. I flipped through my pre-writing notebook and wrote each scene I’d envisioned throughout the last couple of months (and the scenes I’d first imagined when I first got the idea for my novel over a year ago) on an index card. At the top right of each card, I wrote either Past or Present, depending on what part of my novel’s timeline the scene falls into.

Then, I organized the cards by the order in which I want to write each scene. I now have the first half of my novel outlined in detail.

Since I’m not sure about the rest of it, I made a KWL chart. As silly as it sounds, it really helped! Under K (What I Know), I listed the problems I know my main character and some of the other characters have to solve. Under the W (What I Want to Know), I wrote down questions I have for the novel. (Who does my main character end up with? How does she decide that she is going to let go of her son?) Under L (What I’ve Learned), so far I’ve got nothing. Hopefully I can fill out this section after I’ve finished writing the novel.

Funny how, while using KWL charts in school, I thought I’d never use them outside of the classroom. I think having those questions under W will keep me motivated to finish the novel. I really want to know how it ends! (I thought I had an ending a few weeks ago, but after doing more pre-writing and a little roleplaying in my head, I really have no idea.)

I still want to do a little more pre-writing; I would really like to write profiles for a couple more characters. I do think I’ve got a pretty good handle on everyone, through the roleplaying exercises I did while driving back and forth to school. (Hey, I’ve gotta entertain myself for those thirty-plus minutes somehow!) I did some actual writing of an event in the point of view of my antagonist, so I have a pretty good handle on him. (I also thought of some great ways for him to annoy my main character while doing my index cards this afternoon!)

On a totally different note, if you haven’t carved a pumpkin yet, consider doing one for charity! Zombie Pumpkins has hundreds of stencils you can purchase and download. The proceeds go to a charity that packs bags of things abused children really need. Mike found it over at Proton Charging and showed it to me earlier this evening. It’s for a good cause, and they have some wicked cool stencils available (I really want the Eric Draven one)!

In the last two days I’ve become hopelessly addicted to grape Kool-Aid. I bought a box of those little packets you can add to your water, and that’s all I’ve been drinking. The point was to save some money — I buy a cup of coffee every morning — but now I think I’ll end up homeless, and all because of Kool-Aid.

My cat has found herself an addiction, as well. I bought a pack of Doublemint gum and keep it in my purse. Last night she pulled it out of my open purse and was chewing on it. I put it away and zipped up the purse, but this morning I found the purse knocked aside as if she’d been rubbing her face on it. This afternoon she sat so close to the purse I thought she was going to OD. I think she likes the way the mint smells, but it’s really funny. I put the purse next to her this evening and she rubbed her face all over it and then looked mad when I took it away. Spearmint, apparently, is her crack.

So, tomorrow is the election. I really think that Obama is going to win. I won’t be mad if McCain wins, because I think they could both do a great job, but I really believe that Obama is going to make changes here at home, and that is what we need. I don’t really dislike anyone in this race, which was what made it so hard. Tomorrow will be the first time I am voting, and Mike is voting too. He has never voted and is “tired of rich white guys” running the joint. The really tough part about this race was, like Secondhand Karl said, there was hardly any talk about the issues. I think Obama talked more about the issues than McCain did.

Anyway, politics are boring. How about those jack-o-lantern pictures I promised? Read the rest of this entry »