CampNaNoWriMo: Lets do this!

Tags

Blogging, CampNanowrimo, Distraction, Handwriting, Motivation, Writing

It’s that time again, yes CampNaNoWriMo is here again, and this time I’m determined not to fall behind even on those days where I really don’t feel like writing. I just need that little kick to keep me going.

*sets daily alarm to add a nudge

This also means if you see me hanging about on Twitter for a lengthy period of time then feel free to give me a poke and tell me to stop procrastinating as I will just be there avoiding the writing.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy writing because I do, I just lack discipline to do it daily and tend to drift to it only at times that I feel the need to. I (like everyone else) get a little preoccupied with all the other things going on and Twitter is really a rabbit hole for me, I think it’s actually even worse than WoW. At least with WoW I have to be at my PC but Twitter can even catch me which on my notebook or phone.

I have tried handwriting and keeping away from the electronics but let’s be honest once you get out the habit of handwriting it becomes almost alien to do so and it’s slower. In my case it is often illegible afterwards too or gets lost, so a word document is definitely the best way to go for me.

So that’s my warm up exercise complete, let’s get stuck into the storytelling and see where it takes me.

3am and still awake

Tags

awake, Blogging, Insomnia, life, Motivation, passion, thinking, work, Writing

I don’t know what it is about 3am but I always feel more alert, more alive somehow. Even though most of the day has been spent walking around feeling like a zombie with my brain only working on autopilot: there is something about this time of night (or morning) that kicks it into gear.

It might be the fact that my body finally feels balanced with all its levels or perhaps the caffeine taken earlier to prop me up for the day finally comes into to its own. It could be the fact that 3am allows me to actually just enjoy silence and finally I feel relaxed enough to enjoy it. I’m not sure what it is about 3am – I only know that it works for me.

Ideas race around my brain and I begin to think about all the possibilities (and sometimes the impossibilities) that life could hold and feel more inclined to want to reach out and grab them. Maybe it’s just my brain working overtime but in the dead of night is when things actually feel possible.

I start to plot together ridiculous ideas of future plans and how I can leave the rat race and focus on something more fun, something I can throw some passion into – This is about the time I start to believe that sitting in a box, staring at a screen whilst making money for somebody else is a terrible idea and maybe I could just use some creativity and keep myself afloat without the daily grind, or at least make the daily grind something I can feel happier doing.

Then I get to thinking about all the things that I want to do and all the things I should do, then all the things I need to do…and alas I’m back at square one knowing that I have to at least try and sleep so that tomorrow isn’t even more terrible.

I guess tomorrow I can at least say I updated a neglected blog (even if it is only inane wittering) so that’s one thing more than I did yesterday…slow progress is still progress I guess 😉

July CampNanoWrimo

Tags

CampNanowrimo, goal, hot chocolate, Motivation, planning, Random musings, Writing

 

Yes it’s here once again, that lovely boost from a writing camp: yes CampNaNoWriMo really does help to add some focus to the everyday writing aim.

This time around though I am not rolling up prepared and pitching up an idea to write about. Nope, instead I’m having a good old clear out , a spring cleaning of thoughts and ideas if you will. This time around I am just typing, any little thing that pops into my head because let’s be honest my brain is filled with so many weird and wonderful (or just plain bizarre) thing that sometimes it gets a bit hard to focus on one solid project. so instead I feel like I need to get a lot of things off my chest, sketch out a few ideas for stories to get back to at a later date. Trawl through anything left unsaid that I just want to vent about but not necessarily out loud, and perhaps flesh out a character or three so I can use them in future.

My main aim this time is just to type and get back into the habit of it, with the idea to actually make it to the end of a NanoWriMo this time. This year I want to be more focused and actually complete the Novel draft. I would like to go in with some kind of vague plan and direction. OK, I know this will most likely change as the days near yet still if I’m prepared maybe I might just get there this time.

So here’s to July may it be a good testing ground for me and a great experience and productive for those of you who entered camp *raises hot chocolate*

 

CampNaNoWriMo- Day 1

Tags

CampNanowrimo, Motivation, Support, Writing, Writing Prompts

Ok ok so I was a little late to the party today but thanks to Tim’s Nano prompts

 

Some pink fizzy stuff

Source: Yellow Tail

and some encouragement from CampNaNoWriMo cabin mates, I managed to get off to a flying start ringing in at 860 words. A lot of which were used to explore a character so I’m happy with this. I need to keep most of it under wraps however I can share the warm up waning moon sprint.

The moon wanes to a fingernail as the hollow shriek of the foxes call out in the darkness. I hear them play at night, their soft paws padding on the lawn, noses snuffling into trash cans and paper bags left folded under the guise of recycling. Nobody ever washes out the jars though, nor the plastic packets curled around meat haunches which the fox kits love to lick and suck . They come from far and wide to this hot spot, the only place in the neighbourhood where people are too lazy to rinse.

Hope everyone else enjoyed a good first day, and remember there is plenty of time to catch up !

Source: Lucy Bellwood

CampNaNoWriMo- April 2016

Tags

April, CampNanowrimo, Challenge, Motivation, Writing

I wasn’t sure if I would be taking up the CampNaNoWriMo challenge this time around as I already have some commitments, however I figured that I could combine the two. So I have signed myself up for April in the hope that it might encourage me to write the back story for a some characters that I need to develop. We were giving our mystery cabin assignments today so I popped in earlier to see if anyone was about early, but it was quiet so I left a hello post-it note on the fridge.

Now I’m just sitting here awaiting the inspiration or inclination to start writing, but you know when you have to get something done that it always seems harder to do.

 

Just a little camp support

Tags

CampNanowrimo, Community, Inspiration, Motivation

*waves pom poms for those getting through the first week of CampNaNoWriMo — you can do it!!!

Day 3 – Quotes challenge

Tags

Challenge, Community, Motivation, Quotes

Last day of the quotes challenge – With a shout out to Smile Circulation for the nomination

My quotes today are:

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
― Helen Keller

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.”
― Dr. Seuss

*Reminder* Rules for the challenge are…
1. Post 3 of your favourite quotes each per day for 3 recurrent days. The quotes can be of any other people or it may come straight from your own heart.
2. Nominate 3 or more bloggers with each post to challenge them.
3. Don’t forget to utter a thankful word to the person who nominated you.

I thought it was best to leave my no 3 unanswered as I wasn’t sure who would want to do this however, if you fancy giving it a whirl then – I nominate you! 😀

I love to see a new batch of quotes popping up 🙂

Day 2 – Quotes challenge

Tags

Challenge, Motivation, Quotes

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
― Winston S. Churchill

“Living well is an art that can be developed: a love of life and ability to take great pleasure from small offerings and assurance that the world owes you nothing and that every gift is exactly that, a gift. ”
― Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now

“Only in the darkness can you see the stars.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.

Day 1 – Quotes challenge

Tags

Challenge, Community, Motivation, Quotes

Some of you might have noticed the quotes challenge being passed around and I thought I would pin up mine too.

Thanks to Smile Circulation for the nomination

My chosen quotes are –

“It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able to adapt”
Megginson, L. C. (1963) – (Discussing Darwin’s writing)

 “Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.”
Albert Einstein

 “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
Vivian Greene

I wasn’t sure about picking people for nominations due to peoples’s workloads or not fitting in with blogs so if you want to tag on your quotes – Then I choose you! 😀

Words don’t come easy?

Tags

CampNanowrimo, Motivation, Writing Prompts

Ah but today they actually do!

My writing stats for today are as follows

CampNaNoWriMo story – Words -493

CampNaNoWriMo virtual write in – Words – 354 + 351 + 215 = 920

Email x 2 = 1091

Total words today= 2504 *cheers*

OK so I’m not going to put them into my count however it’s nice just to know that they are there. They are mine, and I can use the prompts to springboard from. I even think i have added a twist into my story from them so thanks Lauren & Chris!

The prompts –

Trading spaces – Are your characters trying to change their environment or are they being changed by them. Do the opposite

Absolute chaos – Just introduce chaos into your scene and lots of it! – in the last 30 secs we were told to introduce something even more chaotic – the twist!

Present, real, or imaginary — Describe a place that your MC finds meaningful. – somewhere your character finds meaning/comfort – where and why?

Right that’s my lot for tonight *hangs up typing hands*