NaNoWriMo Report Day 3 : It Had to Happen Sooner or Later

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I may as well get the low word count days done at the beginning, right? No, not right, but that's what happened yesterday. My word count at the end of the day was 6,675. That leaves me a little bit ahead of where I should be right now (5,000 words), but my flex zone is shrinking.

Losing track of time, traffic, other excuses and reasons. My Monday word count was low but I'm not beating myself up about it.

I did get to the pool and got in my laps. Which is great and my body will thank me. But it left me with less time than I'd hoped and then I forgot something and had to go by home, at which point I gave up the getting in my word count before work plan.

Letting it go. And moving ahead. Back to writing the novel and seeing what happens on Lisa June's walk. Especially given what happened before she headed out. I will aim for at least 1667 words as Lisa June aims to increase her pace.

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NaNoWriMo Update Day 2: New Charaters, Foreshadowing

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photo: Christopher Allen

, Old Light Board: Masonic Temple Theatre

Let me start with my updated word count, because ... I closed out day two with 6,273 words. That is really good.

And I like the story so far.

And, no, I still don't really know what it's all about. But I have met a couple of interesting new characters. There was also another piece of information planted which may grow into a tree. And I ended my writing session with a bit of intrigue.

That is the strategy I am trying to use this year to keep me coming back to the page and to keep the story (maybe) more cohesive than some NaNoFirstDrafts. Leave *myself* hanging. End the day's writing session with something to come back to. If I can't do that in the writing session, at least try to have something interesting, exciting, or a big twist by the end of the day.

That happened today. The two new characters both work in a theater in Minneapolis. (No influence from having recently spent a week with three fabulous writers from Minnesota - no, not at all! And thank you to Jessie, MB, and Judy.) The planted seeds happened at the theater on closing night of the production.

The "ooh, what's going to happen next? What's it all about Alfie?" moment at the close of my writing session was a dusty stretch limo pulling away from the curb. This happened as the lighting and sound operators were sneaking out the back door of the theater to avoid the lobby crowd after the show.

A fun writing day and good momentum on the story.

Oh. And no dead bodies. No body parts.

photo: Insomnia Cured Here, Dusty limo

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NaNoWriMo Report Day 1

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At the end of the first day of NaNoWriMo my word count is 4,214. That is a good amount to get this novel on the way towards 50,000. That also includes a little trip to Salem with my partner, for her meeting with the owner of The Art Department Inc., where she'll be teaching an art workshop in three weeks: I had put my laptop in the car, in case I was able to get in some novel writing while she was in her meeting, but that didn't work out. Which was okay.

I also had to do my laundry today. In previous years, I've made sure everything is clean before the NaNoKickOff, but I didn't get to it this year. It didn't turn out to be a big deal, because I can write while my clothes spin. And I did.

Two more characters have joined the cast - the stage lighting operator and the sound operator for my MC's graduate school friend. It seems there were a couple of big deal producers at the closing night of the play who have some extra money to throw around. The director is hoping for a little of it to come his way.

So far, no dead bodies and no body parts. This is good. This year I'm hoping I might write a novel, not a mystery. If it turns into a mystery, that's fine. Really, it is. But I thought it would be fun to try, again, for a more mainstream story. Try for a different type of plot and story progress which doesn't involved dead people.

Besides, I have the mystery novel I'm already editing. One other year I set the intention of not writing a mystery and it turned into one. I've read a couple of outstanding novels recently which weren't mysteries, so I'm hoping those will rub off a bit. I have nothing against mysteries, I love them and read a lot of them. I'd just like to try something else for a change, but I will still follow where the characters want to go.

So far we're in theaterville, two of them. One the world of my MC stage manager, the other of her old friend who is a director, and his lighting and sound leads.

For now, it's good night. I want to catch some sleep so that I can swim and write before I go to work tomorrow. Because once I'm at work, I doubt I'll get any words built on the novel; unless something exciting happens and I can write in five to ten minute spurts!
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The Annual Strengthen Your Writing Practice Event is Under Way

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After the countdown to midnight the event commenced with a hearty "go!"

About forty-five NaNoWriters gathered at PDX (Portland International Airport) in the food court to start another year of NaNoWriMo. Some of us were from NaNoPortland and some were from NaNoVancouver (WA). Here in the Pacific Northwest we are not the last group to get started - but almost. Hawaii and her time zone neighbors still had another hour to wait after we were well under way.

The goal of the midnight NaNoWrite-In is to get your first day's word count in before you go to bed. For some of us, the time is not a problem. Like me, because I often work very late, so staying up until 2 AM is kind of normal. For some, that is well past their bedtime and their bodies were dragging along, kicking and screaming with their characters, asking why they couldn't wait until morning; real morning.

One year I didn't go to the midnight write-in. I thought it wouldn't make a difference and I had scheduled myself to work and I thought, really, No Big Deal.

I was wrong.

For me, being there at midnight with other writers, all driving our words towards a common goal, is important in terms of the tone for the month. I set an intent and follow it with an action. In community. Most of these people I don't know at all and may only see once or twice during the month, if that, if I can get to a write-in where they also happen to be. Most NaNoVembers I only make it to one or two write-ins. So the bulk of my NaNoNovel is written alone, at home or in a coffee shop, on breaks at work, in my car.

Midnight as October becomes November is my This Is It time.

It is also my annual renewal to daily writing. The daily writing practice is my struggle. I make the commitment, I do it for awhile, then a day slips here and there, then I miss two consecutive days. I keep trying.

Balance! Balance? Yes.

Even in NaNoVember, I sometimes miss a day or two. Not many, because it doesn't take long to fall behind in the word count. Which is another reason I go to the first midnight write-in : to get a head start on my novel. I will write again today, try to get another full day's word count in the story. This gives me some flex room for the busier days when I can't get in as much time and the goal of an average of 1667 words per day becomes undoable. (I am deliberately avoiding the word, "impossible.") This is also the reason I have taken to scheduling a personal writing retreat around the middle of every NaNoVember: to catch up to myself in word count and sprint ahead. I take three to four days and go to the coast just to write. I pack up some food and huddle in an ocean front rental with my laptop, a bottle of wine, good food, and let the water and sand and air support and inspire at whatever hour of the day or night and I write. And write.

So every NaNoVember, I recommit to writing every day. And if it doesn't happen every day, then I make sure to have some longer blocks of time committed to my writing. Like the recent writing retreat in Rockaway Beach with a wonderful group of writers.

Okay. My word count when I left the write in was 2520 words, by 2:15 AM. As I was drifting off to sleep, my main character, whom I thanked profusely for showing up at 12:02 AM this morning, told me that I gave her the wrong name. I promised her I would change it when I got back to the laptop; I agree that her real name is better.

Get ready for my NaNoWriMo daily updates. Another commitment I make in NaNoVember: to post my word counts each day and give periodic updates on the story, probably.

The working title of my 2014 NaNoWriMo novel is "Cue the Dramaturg." So far I have my main character, Lisa June, and her cat, Charlie Dean. Lisa Jean's best friend, Christopher, has been mentioned but we haven't met him, yet. I think he will be making an appearance soon. There has also been mention of Lisa June's ex, Minea, whom we also haven't met and their has been a little foreshadowing about the Ex, but I don't know what that's about, yet.
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Announcing TIPS I for 2014-15: RID CEUs Approved

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RID has approved up to 3.6 CEUs (CMP and ACET) for the third session of the Theatrical Interpreting Preparation Series (TIPS), Part I, workshop. Preregistration is required and deposits must be received by November 25, 2014. The workshop begins on Saturday, December 6, 2014. See the flyer for full details (link below in overview).

This season I am also offering the TIPS III Study Group (currently under way) and I will be offering TIPS II in April 2015. For TIPS II, Sign Coach Irene Jazowick will be joining me to work with participants in the mentored intensive workshop.  I am also developing a new focused Study Group for spring 2015.

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Theatrical Interpreting Preparation Series (TIPS), part I

overview

Description: This workshop will provide participants training in and exposure to the process of performance interpreting, using theater as a vehicle. This initial training is intended for new interpreters, but all levels are welcome. We will meet twice a month on Saturdays for four months, beginning December 2014. Participants will learn different approaches to theatrical interpreting and explore topics such as script analysis, incorporating characterization, translation, altering signing style for the venue and the production, linguistic considerations, and more.  Through a series of meetings, combined with exposure to specific interpreted performances, participants will gain the basic skills necessary for a variety of performing arts situations. Completion of this training is a requirement for the advanced mentored training, which goes through the entire process from receiving the script, translation, preparation, to interpreting a performance of the project show.

You can access the TIPS I flyer here, which includes the dates, fees, included plays, presenter bio, and the registration form.

Fee: $450 includes tickets to all four shows. Preregistration is required with a $100 deposit due by November 25th; this is non-refundable and includes a ticket to the first play. If paid in full by or on our first meeting, you will receive 10% off the workshop fee.

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Presenter: Dot Hearn, CI & CT, has been doing performance interpreting since 1997. Portland Center Stage, where she has coordinated the interpreting teams since 2003, was one of her first theatrical interpreting venues. She has also interpreted plays at IFCC, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Profile Theatre, Artists Repertory Theatre, Portland Community College (PCC), OSF in Ashland, and more. Dot graduated from the PCC Sign Language Interpreting Program and went on to become adjunct faculty in that program for eleven years. Dot earned a BS degree from Eastern Oregon University, with a Liberal Arts degree and a double minor in Theater and Writing. In 2001, Dot attended the “Interpreting for the Theater” intensive week-long training in New York City, which was held at Juilliard. That training and the instructors have been instrumental in shaping Dot’s approach to theatrical interpreting and her mentoring of interpreters new to this specialty area. She also served on the RID task force to develop a performance interpreting standard practice paper.
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Revisiting Razor's Edge - Writers' Block

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I'm happy to report that I am not experiencing writers' block.

But I received an email earlier today from a writer who read a piece I wrote a couple of years ago, which included a link to one of his favorite articles on the topic. (You can read my original post here, from April 2012, Razor's Edge: When Writing Feels Dead.)

The author of the email was Josh Spilker, whom I have never met, but I did click over to the link he provided to a short piece he wrote, 9 Tips To Beat Writer’s Block (Including 1 That Feels Like Cheating). This is a short list of tips and tricks to help kick your writer's block out the door. It's a fun list I thought I'd pass along.

I also wanted to share it because the "controversial" tip is fun and is not often spoken out loud. I have heard it mentioned a time or two, behind closed doors, in the halls. I don't know if I've seen it in print - it probably is somewhere. But it is a nice tip.

The "cheat" has to do with copying. Copying for practice and exercise, "to break the block." It's interesting, because my partner is an artist and I have heard her talk about a traditional teaching/learning technique among artists (really, I'm not making this up!) of copying the work of The Masters. I'm not talking about the "in the style of" paintings, though those do have value, too. I mean really trying to copy a Master's masterpiece to learn about brush stroke, color, line, shadow, and so on. 

Writers can use a similar technique to learn about voice, style, craft, character, etc. Or you can use it to juice the wheels of craft. Click on over to read more about what Josh Spilker has to say. It's worth a few minutes of your time!

 

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Affirmative Assumption, My Writing Retreat Adventure, Part II

One of our walks on the beach.

"Do not ASSUME," the saying goes. "Because when you break it down, it makes an ASS out of U and ME."

You've heard that phrase or something like it, right? If you haven't, well, now you can add it to your list of old fashioned or outdated bits of advice or pack it away in your arsenal of witty retorts.

Assumption has been given a bad rap. I know, I know. It's true that I shouldn't assume that I understand another person's experience if I haven't lived it. I agree, though I may be able to understand some of the feelings or bodily reactions if I have experienced something similar. I know that I can never understand the lived experience of being, for example, a Deaf person in this country (I am hearing), or a person of color (I am white), or a Wheelie ([can I use that term, Bug?]  I am a walkie), and so on.

But it is also true that assumptions can be positive experiences. The writing retreat at Rockaway Beach, which ended one week ago, was proof of positive assumption.

It has been hard to put what I felt into words, in person, when I've tried to explain it to a couple of people. Some success and mostly people "got" what I was trying to say. I'm going to try to put the words down here, as well.

But there was an atmosphere of assumption:
- that each of us are authors;
- that each of us hae a project we were working on or towards;
- that each of our projects are worthy of publication;
- that each of us are or can be published authors;
- that each of us would find our own process about how we needed to take care of ourselves and our writing during the week;
- that each of us would write and process and take breaks, sleep and eat and be involved in group activities as was appropriate.

When the cook was away for a night, we went out for dinner!

That each of us are skilled writers of equal value and importance and writing ties us together was in the air for the entire week. There was no doubt that we were authors and we were writing.

I suspect some people reading this may wonder why that was even a question. Of course. We each went there for a writing retreat. Duh. But it isn't always true when writers or wanna-be-writers come together that there is this total giving over to our author selves as valuable and in a spirit of acceptance that whatever each of us needs to do, she will do it, for herself and her writing. I am grateful to each participant and to Lori Lake. The success of a retreat like this has to have a good facilitator, a good leader, who sets the tone and expectations.

Lori made each of us feel comfortable in our author selves. She made time for each of us individually, before and during and even after the retreat. She led discussions in the evenings, shared resources, was a positive presence throughout the week.

Luca did an amazing job of meeting a myriad of dietary needs and preferences, with delicious and healthy meals. With making sure there was a variety of options for our make-our-own breakfast needs, which happened from the time the first person got up around 6am until the last of us got up around 10am. She also led us in a couple of collage nights, designed specifically for our retreat. Again, Luca was another great leader in the assumption that each of us would participate or not in the collage nights, as we needed to do for our author selves that week.

It was a week of being present. Of writing. Of knowing that I was in the right place and with the right people. Affirmative assumption can be a very good thing.

Rockaway Beach, OR  10.11.14

My Writing Retreat Adventure, Part I

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October 5-12, 2014, I was at a writing retreat in Rockaway Beach, Oregon. It was held at the Oregon Writers Colony house, which has an ocean view out one side of the house and a lake view out the other. There were eight wonderful women authors and we were led by author Lori L. Lake and fed by poet, artist, and caterer Luca Hart.

I will admit that I was nervous going into this adventure. Excited and nervous - what I have come to call, lovingly, "anxietement" (the melding of anxiety and excitement, which often feel very similar to me). It is outside of my norm to go away for a week where I don't know anyone. I had met Lori at a conference, I liked her, I liked her writing, I was drawn to what she had to say and it resonated, and she had been very friendly and approachable in email conversations. And that was the only person I knew at all. After I arrived, I did find that I had seen - and possibly met briefly - a couple of the other other authors, but I didn't *know* anyone. And I was going to be sharing a room with someone I had never met. There was nothing to fear and it was a wonderful week.

We don't all have our author websites up and running yet, but I'm sure that all of us will, soon. Here is the list of the fantabulous writers I spent the week with, and their websites.

Lori L Lake

Jessie Chandler

MB Panichi

Judy Kerr

Rae Richen

Laura Morrison

Linda Vogt

Julia Ingram

Luca Hart

I miss them all and there have been dropped hints/requests for organizing a reunion next year. Count me in!

back row: Me, Lori L Lake, Laura Morrison, Julia Ingram;
middle: Rae Richen, Luca Hart;
front row: Linda Vogt, Judy Kerr, MB Pinichi, Jessie Chandler

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Big Breakthrough

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I have put in many hours this week on the novel. I am not done yet. Each step I make gets me closer to completion and yet, sometimes, farther away.

I was going to type, "farther away, it seems." But that has been one of my own discoveries this week is how much I qualify and discount in my story. Especially this story which was first written six years ago. I believe that my writing has improved in many ways since that time, but there is still room for improvement, need for feedback from outside eyes and brains.

This morning I started working on the timeline and plot map, which includes physical location of characters and movement in the story, where important events take place. I have made note of needing to that for at least a couple of weeks. This week, here, I have noted it and it was a major thing I needed to do which I put in my notes. I was going to start it last night, but it was late, I was getting tired, and I knew I wanted to start on it while I was fresh.

Which I did this morning.

I had to stop for lunch. I tend to overtake one end of the main table when I'm writing here. At least I have up until now because I am taking notes on one set of paper and making revisions and have my laptop. I take up space. So I paused for lunch. No problem.

After we were done eating and the table again cleared, I got back to it.

And I DID it! Making the map was slow at times. Some incidents and connections were not as clear as they seemed on the page or in my head. Who went where. What happened before or after what, was complicated.

I was happy it was complicated because I don't want my novel to be boring. But it wasn't as easy to plot it out as I thought it would be. Silly me.

Amazing things happened as I plotted and circled. Drew solid lines and dotted lines.

I realized that the section I moved to the front of the book was not an attention grabber, a hook. No. It really did have to be the first thing that happened. That is the inciting incident. It has to happen first or nothing else makes sense. (Or perhaps it's too twisting and manipulative to make it not be the first important thing.)

I also realized that the reason I moved it to the front originally, the thing I thought had to happen? It couldn't happen there. No way. It had to happen in a different time and place.

That was the big breakthrough. Once I realized that, things really fell into place. Not all of it easily; some events still had to be figured out, counted and timed in a way, noted and considered.

Which I did. I had the visual map. Then it got to a point where I had to write it out in a first, second, third, etc way. In that process I discovered that there were two incidents at one point - they needed to occur somewhat concurrently, so I had to do some thinking about how I wanted to place them in terms of story interest and timing. And I did that, too.

So, now. What's next? I believe I can move forward with rewrites now. Actually with some re-vision. There are no major changes in characters or the significant events. But there are some other changes related to the story and I think I understand now and it will move forward.

This will not be a fast process. But I have a map now. I know where the characters came from and where they're going.

Now it's time to get back to it. I was so excited that I wanted to take a writing break to write this update from the fogged in Rockaway Beach.

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