I’m a Winner!

 I made it! I typed out 30,000 words during the month of February for the JeRoWriMo Challenge. What I have now is the rough draft of a novella, which I have to edit—a lot. I had an idea of where I was going with this short book as far as naming characters, giving the story a setting, a timeline, and a loose plot. However, most of it was written pantster style, which is definitely a fun way to write for me. Some people have a very detailed outline when they write. I don’t. I have a flexible idea of what I want. So, things can change as I go along. 

While I was writing with such determination during the month, my house got very dusty. Sigh. But having written 30,000 words was so much better than dusting. Now off to editing!

💗 💗 💗 💗 💗

Writing Challenge

Once again I am participating in JeRoWriMo, the New Jersey Romance Writers answer to NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo is held every year in November. I've never attempted it because Thanksgiving is in November, which always includes a big family dinner. In addition, with Christmas looming ahead and all the hoopla that holiday involves I know I would be doomed to fail if I set a plan in motion to focus on writing. There are too many distractions in November!

But February's big holiday is Valentine's Day, which need not involve much preparation. February is usually cold and sometimes snowy, the type of weather I consider perfect for writing. I’ve finished several books with the help of JeRoWriMo.. The goal is 30,000 words. I never know if I will make it that far. One year I didn’t. Still, I managed to write more words than I would have without the other members of NJRW cheering me on.

Nancy Herkness started NJRW's writing challenge years ago. It has helped so many writers to accomplish more than they every thought they could. The challenge is open to those who are members of NJRW.

I am looking forward to finishing my current WIP!

❤❤❤❤❤

Did I Write Myself into a Corner?

I joined the #JeRoWriMo challenge again this year. Every year the New Jersey Romance Writers challenges their member to write 30,000 words during the month of February. So far, this year I've accumulated 20,000 words! 

This year I did not write myself into a corner as I have done in the past. However, I left out a very important fact about a secondary character's motivation, which explains everything about her behavior. 

Is there an easy way out?

There's plenty of advice online, but I found Ken Levine's suggestions useful for me--and perhaps it would be helpful for anyone.

The most important thing to remember is that the story can be fixed. It will be much better, too.

Have fun writing!

Another Writing Challenge!

I’ve written a quite a few books—not as many as some authors—but the ones I’ve written are important to me. I wanted to write them. I had a story to tell and I wasn’t happy until the book was finished. All along, I have been self-motivated. I set goals for myself. I hold myself accountable for writing every day. I don’t watch television, I don’t play games, and there’s lots of dust in my house. Nevertheless, I am not a hermit. I go to writing workshops, I crochet with my prayer shawl group, and I have fun making oil paintings. Hubby and I enjoy the company of our friends. I like to try new recipes, but I enjoy going out to eat as well. My daughters aren't far away and we see each other often.

Like many others, I’ve found there is no end of things to do even though I have been retired from teaching for quite a while. I am busy. I have a schedule, but sometimes that schedule intrudes upon my writing time and I wind up not getting as much done on my work-in-progress as I would like.

However, the New Jersey Romance Writers hold an event every February they call JeRoWriMo—which stands for Jersey Romance Writers Month. During the month of love, everyone who signs up is encouraged to write 30,000 words. Cheerleaders offer accolades to the writers who report in every evening to note their day's word count.

A similar event occurs in November--National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo, but the challenge there is 50,000 words and it's in November. Thanksgiving happens in November as well as other Christmas preparations. I've never attempted NaNoWriMo because I doubted I would ever succeed.

But what happens in February? There's winter, where gloomy weather often makes a perfect writing day for me. There's also Valentine's Day, a great holiday where I get treated to dinner at a restaurant. No cooking for me! No cleanup! Plus there are gifts of chocolate. It's great to write while eating chocolate.

Also in February there's our Presidents' Birthday holiday, Ash Wednesday, and Lent. In other words, there are few social events. It's a great time to put other things aside and pump out words. So far, this month I've put down 16,451 words on a book I initially began writing five years ago, but set aside to write something else.

I have too many ideas. 😜 But it's fun. I'll be doing some spring cleaning in March, but for now it's time to write.

Play

Daughter #2 came home for a visit this weekend. While she was here, she got out an old ancient glockenspiel and a melodica, which hubby purchased many, many years ago. Daughter #2 proceeded to record the sounds of both instruments, experimenting and blending the tracks together. The end result was something that sounded like mood music from a movie soundtrack. Spooky music. It was delightful.

Though I enjoyed time with my daughter, I've continued forging ahead with my writing, encouraged by the other intrepid writers of the NJ Romance Writers' Challenge. I'm hoping to hit 20,000 words tonight on my current project. With only eight days to go, I don't know if I'll hit 30,000 words, but I'm delighted with my progress.

It is amazing what you can do when you make up your mind to allow some time for creativity in your life. The dust is piling up, the floor needs washing, but I can do that next week and I will. Right now, I'm having fun and that's worth more than a spotless home.

I wish everyone allowed themselves to play. Coming home from work and watching a television show  is not the same as being creatively engaged. Even adults need to play. Some people have hobbies, and that's good. It's healthy. You can read about it here.

Have fun. Just do it.

With a Little Help From JeRoWriMo

I finished the JeRoWriMo Challenge last night, typing across the finish line with 30,000 words.

The book is not complete. I have another major, climatic scene to write. However, the progress I made this month was considerable and I know it wouldn't have happened without a little help from my friends at the New Jersey Romance Writers, and especially from Nancy Herkness who hosted the event. Whether an author wrote 160 words or 3,000 words in one day, she cheered them on and offered encouragement. Nancy was also writing her own book at the time, so my kudos go to her for all her efforts.

I could not have taken on this writing challenge without help from my family. They understood the importance of it. So I thank my nearest and dearest for cutting me a bit of slack this month.  The gourmet meals will soon be returning to our table. :-)

For those who haven't tried a writing challenge, I recommend it. I have never tried the NaNoWriMo challenge and I probably never will. To finish in that one, a writer must log in 50,000 words in the month of November--a month which includes Thanksgiving and holiday preparation for Christmas. I knew that would be impossible for me, but 30,000 words in the month of February is more realistic.

Now I must get back to the manuscript and write that final scene. Then I will have to go all the way back to the beginning and start the editing process. Watch for Patriot's Pride to be released in a year or so. :-)

Meanwhile, read Patriot's Heart, which is available now. Patriot's Pride will be the sequel to that story.

Preparing for the Challenge

I have signed up again for JeRoWriMo again, the New Jersey Romance Writers' writing challenge. I am going to attempt to write 30,000 words during the month of February. I did it last year. The result of that effort was Patriot's Heart, which will be released soon by the Prism Book Group. For this challenge I hope to finish a sequel for that book. I already have 20,000 words invested in Patriot's Pride. So I've got a head start.

Last week and this week I've been preparing for the challenge. I use a simple character sheet, which you can see here. This is not detailed, but it helps me keep track of the basics while I'm writing. (There are spaces in case I need to add more characters.) I also make up a calendar to keep track of events in the story.

It seems every writer has their own methods. This is the method that works for me.

Wish me luck.

I Finished!

Yesterday I finished the JeRoWriMo challenge, the New Jersey Romance Writers' version of NaNoWriMo. I wrote a total of 30,148 words during the month of February. I actually wrote more than that since I deleted 800 words where I had written myself into a corner. On Wednesday, I came to the end of Patriot's Heart, but I I went right on to the sequel, Patriot's Pride.

Now I need to go back and edit. Once it's ready, I'll have to send the manuscript around and see if a publisher is willing to offer me a contract for it. It may be quite a while until it is up for sale. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to accomplish so much in just one month.

I did not come in first among the other writers in the group. There were many who surpassed me, but it did help to have a cheering squad. My thanks to Nancy Herkness for setting the challenge up. It was great!

Tally for the Week

I have typed out 7,859 words this week in the JeRoWriMo writing challenge. There are writers who have put down far more words, but for me this is good. I will have to do some major editing later, but the point of the writing challenge is to write and forget about editing since the inner editor stifles creativity. The inner editor can also prevent forward progress, which is what usually happens to me. When I'm writing, I often go backwards and edit. Then I move forward, then I go backward and edit again, which means it takes far too long for me to write a book.:^(

This story has taken a few interesting turns. Joshua Huddy made a cameo appearance in the story this week. The heroine's pig has turned into a wonderful secondary character. I originally planned for the heroine's sister to have her own book, making this the beginning of a two book series. However, now I am considering giving the twins their own books, too.

But I'll think about that later. Right now got type out some more words!