Meet Seren!

This is Seren, the female lead in the novel I'm writing for NaNo in just two days! C sketched her for me, so it's not an exact representation of the girl I see in my head, but she's pretty darn close.

I can't believe it's finally almost here! I signed up three weeks ago, and now it's nearly time to put my money where my mouth is and crank out a novel in 30 days. To be honest, I'm excited and a little bit nervous. I've been outlining and profiling for weeks, so at this point the story is practically bursting out of me, but it's a little daunting to think that I have this amazing story and only 30 days to tell it. I hope I'll be able to finish it, and at the same time do it justice. It's a very complex world I've woven in my head, and I want to make sure I tell it right, in a way that other people (who don't live in my head) will understand.

I'm a very character-driven writer. I let them speak to me and have a say in where their story goes. I'm hoping that Seren and Silas, the male lead, will be cooperative and tell me their story. :P

Keep watching here for more updates...and maybe an excerpt or two!

J

Buuuuuuddddddyyyyyy...

I have a couple of writing buddies for NaNo now. :) It's exciting, because the whole experience is a big deal, and I get to share it with some pretty awesome ladies. I'll have two people who understand exactly what I'm going through, and will be able to keep me on track during the month. Have I mentioned that I can't wait for it to start?!

In other news, I've sort of started #51. It's going to take me a freakishly long time to get through all the songs in my iTunes, as I have over 5500 songs in there. I could listen for two weeks straight, with no sleeping, and still not hear it all! Needless to say I'm not in a big rush to finish this one. :P I'm going to do it though...I'm listening to Acceptance right now, and they're in the first position. Here we go!

J

I registered!

I registered for NaNoWriMo today! :D I have never been more excited for anything in my entire life...except for my wedding of course. I spent a little while browsing the forums and looking up community events in my area, and I get happier and happier the more I look.

Words simply cannot express how big a deal this is for me. I'm notorious for editing my work instantly, over and over again, until I feel like it's good enough to be on the page. I have NEVER written anything the way NaNo asks you to, and I'm interested to see how I do in November. The idea is to create, not produce polished work, and my inner critic doesn't do well with that. It will definitely be an adventure, that's for sure!

I need to get back to outlining...more later!

J

A few updates...

The last week has been pretty chaotic with work and C's schedule, so I haven't had much time to do all the things I've wanted to. There are a few things that I've accomplished though.

I put ten bucks in my piggy bank for completing one task. I'm on my way to $1000, and couldn't be more excited! It seems like a long way off, but I'm so happy to be doing the tasks on my list that it doesn't even bother me much. The adventure is more exciting than the money I'll save, which is the way it should be (in my opinion).

I've started outlining my characters and basic plot for my NaNoWriMo project. I'm not disclosing anything here (yet), so don't look too hard for it at this point. I haven't had as much time as I would have liked to work on it, but I'm hoping that's going to change when I have the day to myself tomorrow. :) More on that later!

I've also started researching cameras for my upgrade. I've been seriously considering becoming a professional photographer lately, and it's a task that I put on my list. The only problem is this: the camera I currently have isn't really designed for professional photography. It's a glorified point and shoot, and has really lost a lot of battery-saving power over the years that I've had it. It's definitely time for an upgrade, and I'm really looking forward to it. I just want to make sure I'm getting the most for my money, so I've been doing some research. Luckily, C is willing to split the cost of a new camera with me, as an "investment" he says, so I don't have to come up with all the money on my own. I'm so lucky. :D

I don't really have much else to report...hopefully I can get back on track in the coming week.

J

Now what?

The next item I'm going to cross off the list is (probably) going to be #39: Attempt NaNoWriMo at least once. For those of you who have no idea what this means, which is probably the majority of you (:P), let me explain.

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It takes place every November, and it's set up like a contest with no prizes. Basically, you have from 1 November until midnight on 30 November to write a novel of 50,000 words or more. There are no judges and no prizes...it's really just a way to get your creative juices flowing and write with abandon. You aren't supposed to edit for the entire month, and the only person who actually reads it is you. The manuscript is scrambled for protection and robots count the number of words to make sure you have enough. The whole thing is based on the honor system, but in my opinion, truly dedicated writers are proud of their craft and would take the challenge very seriously.

I have three Novembers over the course of my 1001 days. Most of you already know that next November is out for me, what with everything else that will be going on at that time. :) I want to make sure that I actually get to complete a novel at least one of the times that I try it, so I'm going to do it this November. It can count as a test run if I fail, and at least I'll be able to cross #39 off my list, but I'm pretty confident that I can crank something awesome out in a month. I've found lately that my creativity has been a little stifled, and I desperately need to get back to self-expression. It's a huge stress reliever for me, and I miss it.

The next three weeks will be spent brainstorming and outlining in an effort to get ready for NaNoWriMo. I've had an idea in my head for a long time, and I wrote the basic outline in a notebook after dreaming about it. I just haven't really done anything else with it. The rules of NaNoWriMo say that you can't use any prose or poetry you've already written...everything has to be original, but outlines are ok. You can bet that I'm going to have a spectacular outline ready by the time 1 November rolls around so that all I have to do is sit down and go to it! :D

Wish me luck!

J

#49 Make a wedding countdown

Well, there's certainly no time like the present. :) Since my start date is also exactly 13 months out from our wedding, I thought it would be appropriate to start a wedding countdown right away. Rather than do a lame paper countdown or some sort of calendar on the wall, I got a little creative.

Every day from now until the wedding, I get to eat one jellybean and C gets to eat one M&M. The green and blue are close to our actual wedding colors, and the purple really is the third color. I used my sample ribbon to make the bows. :) I'll take a photo on the 11th of each month so everyone can see how much the amount goes down.

One down, one hundred to go... :D

J

And so it begins...

I've been in a bit of a rut lately. Since moving away from home, things have settled into a bland routine of work, home, dinner, spend what little time I can with C, bed, repeat. Don't get me wrong, we still do fun things and enjoy ourselves. I just feel like I'm not challenging myself enough anymore, and I'm missing out on a lot of experiences in life.

Recently I came across a friend's blog. She also has a list like mine, with numerous activities and goals that she wants to accomplish over the course of 1001 days. I decided that I wanted one, and sat down to make my own. I got about halfway through before running out of ideas, and turned to the one place that holds whatever information I need: Google. I found an entire website of people with lists like mine, and along with it, a whole host of creative and challenging goals. I borrowed some, and reworked them so that they fit me and my lifestyle, and the result is a list I'm proud of and excited to complete.

It's called the Caterfly List. C and I came up with the name together, after I told him that I wanted to transform into a more courageous and adventurous person at the end of this process. The list is the transformation stage, the path between stuck-in-routine-caterpillar and free-spirited-adventurous-butterfly. And so the Caterfly List was born.

The list is to the left for those of you who want to see it. I'll cross things off there as I finish them. My plan is to update this blog frequently, to keep myself motivated and others up to date on my progress. It starts today, 13 months exactly from the day that I will become Mrs. C, and ends on 7 July 2013, almost 4 years after C and I began dating. I hope you all enjoy this journey as much as I will. :)

J