Yikes! I’m doing NaNoWriMo

For those of you who may not be hip to the writing lingo, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, which is actually an international phenomenon.

Writers from all over the world commit to writing 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days during the month of November. (You can plot out your novel in advance, but you can’t start writing until November 1st.) There are no prizes or anything—just 30 days of insanity followed by a sense of triumph at the end. (And bragging rights, of course. )

Historically speaking, November is usually one of the craziest/busiest months of the year for me, so I’ve shied away from the whole NaNoWriMo thing in the past. This November is really no different, but now that I’ve already gone through the experience of writing a novel over a short time frame with Storm Rider, I thought I would give it a shot.

I have no idea how this is going to go, but I figure it’s a good kick in the pants to get a chunk of writing done. I’ve added a progress meter to the sidebar of this blog, which I will try to keep up to date.

About my NaNoWriMo Project:

OK, so I’m taking a break from Lasniniar to focus on a new fantasy project that came together really last minute. It might go beyond the 50,000 word mark, but at least I will make some good progress if everything goes according to plan.

The current working title is Kingdom of Strife. I don’t really have a lot of details yet, since it’s all still coming together, but I’m hoping to be able to share more info soon… I usually plan a lot more than I have for this project, but I’m going to try to have fun with it (while maintaining my sanity) and see what happens.

So that’s what I’ll be doing for the next 30 days… Wish me luck!

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? Have you participated in the past? What was your experience like?

Your Own Worst Enemy: Self-sabotaging things we tell ourselves

["scream" by obyvatel]

We all get down on ourselves at some point. For whatever reason, things just don’t seem to go your way, and reaching your goal seems impossible. This is usually when that annoying little voice in your head starts to come out and take charge, running a smear campaign against you.

The voice reveals all your faults (both real and imagined), and does everything in its power to try to get you to give up. That inner voice can be so convincing, we often find ourselves repeating its lies as if they were true: Continue reading →

Getting Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

["slow down" by Bongani]

A while back, I was watching Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, and something the trainer said to one of his makeover candidates really made me stop and think:

“You have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

That one little sentence has been lodged in my brain ever since. It’s so simple, yet so profound. Continue reading →

Idea Ninjas: The ongoing battle against insomnia

["cat" by patataj]

The Battle:

Every so often, when I’m working on something new, I get hit with a bout of insomnia. My ideas wait until I’m all sleepy and vulnerable, striking like ninjas from the darkness. This usually results in a frustrating, internal conversation with my overzealous brain: Continue reading →

Pets and Perspective

Xena in mellow cat mode

Sometimes, I think our pets have it all figured out. (OK, maybe they don’t have everything figured out. Those laser pointers can still be a real puzzler.)

I was watching my cat having one of her luxurious naps today when I realized she’s going to be one year old this month.

One year can seem like nothing, but she went through quite a bit of upheaval before finding her forever home with us. After that, there were vaccinations, the whole spaying procedure… Then it hit me. Here I was, dwelling on her experiences, while she couldn’t care less! (Probably because she can’t even remember what happened 10 minutes ago, but you know what I mean.)

In that moment, I really envied my cat’s ability to just live in the here and now. Being able to remember past experiences is valuable, but I know I’ve wasted lots of time and energy focusing on things that are over and done. And when I’m not thinking about something that’s already happened, I’m usually thinking about the future instead.

My take-away is to try to spend more time enjoying the journey instead of rushing from one goal to the next while wallowing in past events somewhere in between. Life’s too short for that.

If I forget my new mindset, I’m sure my cat will remind me by sprawling in the middle of my desk or bringing me one of her favorite toys to play with.

Xena in Warrior Princess mode

How do you remember to live in the moment? What lessons have your pets taught you?

Finding Your Flow

["jump for joy" by jessics]

You know that feeling when everything seems to kick into awesome mode and just flow? Tasks that were stilted and challenging suddenly become effortless and you feel like a genius. When you get in this state, nothing can stand in your way.

The problem is most of us (me included) just stumble into it. Eventually, we get distracted and it ebbs away, slipping from our grasp. So how can we track down and harness the elusive flow and get into the groove on command? Well, I’ve been trying a few things… Here’s what’s been helping me: Continue reading →