Saturday, October 30, 2010

while I wait

.
 Have I told you that NaNoWriMo is nearly here?

It's true! Just today; then tomorrow; then the annual writing frenzy begins. At the end of tomorrow. Or maybe it's better to say it's at the cusp where Halloween is over and November begins.

I'm ready - which, for me, means I've made time in my schedule to write. That I'm excited. That my laptop is charged for the big launch because I won't be getting to the write-in site until 11:30 and all of the plug-ins may be in use - but I'll be fine because I have an extended battery - which I didn't buy for NaNo, but when the battery needed replacing I did consider the month of November and the times I may be without an outlet so a long-life battery would be nice to have.

"Ready" to me doesn't mean I have a plot of characters or an outline. Ah, no. I am what they call a "pantser." I am not a plotter. I'm sure you get the picture: by the seat of my pants? Yes - I absolutely understand those who want a plot and to know where the story is going. But that's not my style - and doesn't seem to be my characters style, either. I have no argument.

This year I do have a working title and a setting. The setting is based on a real place and, yes, I've been there. The title and location came from a quickwrite I did in my online writing group.

So, while I wait these final few days, I've done a few other things to prepare. I bought a hot air popcorn popper. Quick, easy, and a much healthier snack than the microwave - besides, I can pour in the kernels and continue to write while it pops: no need to pay attention, shake, smell, etc - waiting for that terrible burn smell. It's obvious when it's done and it won't burn. I bought a whiteboard : the store had 11x17 side on sale, along with thin colored pens - beautiful! Quick notes, reusable - now I just need to get it up before midnight: I haven't decided where, but I will. I bought and hard-boiled two dozen eggs - it's a start! I have my writing dates set up. My laundry is done - I'll need to do more later (duh), but I'm set for the start-up of intensive writing.

And - tada - I made my own desktop calendar! I've used desktop calendars that others have created the last couple years. Some beautiful ones, some fun ones. Then yesterday as I started my search through others' offerings, I was wishing I knew how to make one myself. Then, there it was. One of the designers had put up a template. Aha, I thought! Yes!

There were no instructions. But I still figured it out. It's not as shiny, professional as some - but it's mine. I wanted one to go with my theme, which lets me know where my word count is in comparison to the daily average needed to make it to the finish line as a winner (with 50,000 words). A visual reminder. This year I'm really into visuals. So, here is what I made. If anyone wants to use it - you can. It's free. The photograph is not mine - it's from someone's vacation (I'll go search out where it came from). It's nothing fancy - but it's where my story takes place. And *I* made it. *smile*
The quote at the bottom right of the inset calendar is from Margaret Atwood. I didn't put that information on my copy, since it was only for me and only on my computer. But you need to know that "A word after a word after a word is power" was written by Margaret Atwood, not me! 

.