It’s a horrible time to start a new novel. I just moved to Colorado and started a new job. I have friends here I still haven’t seen! But National Novel Writers Month is upon us and what choice do I have?

NaNoWriMo Participant 2009

The Writing Gurus have been full of chat about NaNoWriMo lately. They say that nobody can write a good novel in 30 days. They say it’s a waste of time… They’re right. But writing fiction is a job for those who ignore good advice. Besides, NaNoWriMo is a good way to meet fellow lunatics and it’s fun, so sorry gurus – I’m doing it!

My project is The Weeping, a book that’s already outlined and structured. The characters are well rounded with histories and personalities.  In fact, the first draft was completed during Script Frenzy 2009. This may be cheating, but the writing world is full of cheats, too.

MY GOALS, November 2009: Survive NaNoWriMo and write 50,000 words of The Weeping.

So here we go, armed only with a keyboard and the will to survive 30 days and nights of literary abandon. My oh my… My heart’s beating fast already. See you on the other side.

Dear Writers – Life’s been crazy! The work has suffered. I could rant about how it’s not my fault, about responsibilities and sudden changes. But I’m not going to because:

Writing is a lifestyle, not a job.

One of my most productive and well-rounded months happened when I boldly posted my goals online in front of strangers, friends and family. So, in spite of (or maybe because of) current challenges I’m doing it again.

October Writing Goals:

Post two new pieces to Short Stories, probably Farin Zarahn and Zombie Romeo.

Complete outline on The Weeping.

Complete any last minute edits to The Things We Crave.

So, hold me accountable and I’ll do the same for you.

A couple of non-writing things are happening at NinJoga.com and GuitarAmbition.com and if you check those out that’d be great.

In other news, please read today’s great post at Zebra Sounds about regrets, “Sorry About the Dead Dog.” It’s a beautiful post by the adult version of a sensitive, writer-child.

Then ask yourself, “If I don’t write today, will I regret it?”

Remember, every day you don’t put words on paper the Dream Eaters win.

Peace,
Lake

Learning how to write fiction is hell on the eyes. Staring at a computer monitor for several hours at a time isn’t like gazing into the sun during an eclipse, but it does put heavy-duty strain on ones vision. As writers, we’d limit our ability to describe the world if we could no longer see it. So we should all take steps to keep our eyes healthy.

The general strategy for eye health is simple – Take Breaks! I’m horrible at this. I like to sink into fiction writing and stay there until exhaustion draws me out. It’s far healthier to set a timer and take a vision break once an hour. Simply get up and look at something other than MS Word. 

One specific technique for strengthening the eye’s muscles and relieving the stress is called scanning. In this exercise one simply looks at various objects and allows both eyes to glide over them. Do so without staring and remember to blink. Its a great exercise to do for a couple of minutes after every hour or two of intense writing.

Goal Update:

It’s 1:03 AM, July 1 as I blog this, time to evaluate my June goals:

• Complete the editor’s revision of The Things We Crave – DONE! In fact, the final blue-lines are almost complete, too.
• Complete the outline for Sinister and send to co-writer – 50% DONE! One of the golden rules about writing is Never Start Until You Know How It Ends. I broke this rule. Fortunately, co-writer is very talented.
• Draft the first free e-book Flesh and Bone- 50% DONE. I’m excited to give you this information.
• Maintain the Gym Schedule – writing books took priority over working out. I’ll work on this one. I’m thinking of taking the 100 Push Ups Challenge. Join me?
• Keep Guitar Fingers Healthy – Guitar is so much fun it hardly seems fair to call it a goal. This one’s a given. DONE!
• Blog every day this month – Seth Godin I am not, I’m afraid. I won’t set this goal again. I like blogging, but I prefer to put up content that is highly valuable to writers and creative people rather than post for the sake of posting. If you look at the posts duing June you can pinpoint (exactly) where I burned out. Lesson learned.

New goals coming soon. Hope you join me in kicking ass!

LL

As I go through my days, I keep thinking about the Dream Eaters and what a huge drag they are on CREATIVES. I have so much to say about this topic and I so want you to chase your dreams and see them fulfilled. For that reason, today I changed the blog’s tag from:

Writer-Musician Pursuing Creativity 24/7

to

Fighting Dream Eaters 24/7

This is because we’re going to battle them together. I’ll share a few tricks I’ve learned over the years. You’ll teach me a thing or two. If the journey get tough, we’ll have each other’s backs. The Dream Eaters got nothing on us, kid. When the dust clears, we’ll stand victorious. Best of all, it’ll be great fun! Just wait and see…

A Quick Goal Update:

On June 1, 2009 I committed to accomplishing a number of goals. Here’s where I stand 18 days in:

The Things We Crave – Final punch list completed. Most of hte coming weekend is reserved for hunting down typographical errors. Almost done.

Sinister – Meeting with co-writer scheduled for Saturday. Half-way done.

Flesh & Bone – Composition book full of notes. In Progress.

12 more days to go…

The novel’s punch list is complete. I’m holding all 240 double-spaced pages of it now. Wow – what a good feeling. The next step is to hunt down and eradicate every type-o and grammar error. I hope my writer friends will assist me! I’m going to write a long blog about the journey from idea to final draft soon, but tonight I’ve earned sleep.