NaNoWriMo 2011 - Random Facts and Lesson's Learned

This post will prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I can be a little obsessive compulsive! If you don't want to read all the way through, that's fine, but you'll miss some laughs!

Things I Learned During NaNoWriMo 2011:

1. I’m completely insane (I knew that already, but further proof is always fun).
2. I’m not as insane as I thought (There are 5,548 people who signed up of for the Portland area Region alone! Look! I’m not the only crazy person!)
3. Distractions are my friend! Can you say SIMS? Facebook? Books? (I managed to read 13 books during NaNoWriMo) Long conversations with friends? Even occasionally….cleaning?
4. Since I am very easily distracted, to-do lists, notes about where my story is going next, and giving myself motivating rewards are a must!
5. Writing really does beget more writing! I started this blog and made a number of notes about other things I’d like to work on, and I’m really excited about going back and finishing my original book!
6. When there’s a mystery in your story it helps if you know before your characters do what the answer is, but if that fails, walk around the house talking to yourself!
7. I start dialog sentences with “Oh!” too much. I talk like that too.
8. Coffee is my friend!

Beverages Consumed

- Coffee,

- Fancy coffee’s

- Water (Occasionally….ooops!)

- Diet Dr. Pepper

- Gatoraid

- Mint tea

- Hot chocolate

- English Breakfast tea

- Kahlua (not enough!)

Places Written:
-Most of the rooms in my apartment (not the bathroom, but I did figure several things out in the shower)

-(Big) Jam coffee
- Ava Roasteria
- Sweetness Bakery
- On the bus.
- On the side of the road in a bus stop.
- PDX airport
- On airplane.
- In hotel room.
- In a retirement center

Obstacles Overcome:
- Losing 6,000 words (that’s 2 1/2 chapters!)
- Sprained wrist
- Migraines
- Distractions (duh!)
- Writing while traveling (and the exhaustion I end up with on the road.)
- Handling car repairs.

Music: 

- Lots of random stuff. I put my entire collection on random for about a week.

More specifically:

- P!nk - Greatest Hits So Far

- Matt Kearney - Young Love

- Sugarland - Incredible Machine

- P0TC Soundtracks 1-3

- Flogging Molly - All cd’s but newest

Welcome to Live, Love, Laugh, Write!

Welcome to Live, Love, Laugh, Write! My name is Ruthie. I’m a writer, wife, sister, daughter, friend, jewelry artist, and avid reader, who suffers from a variety of long term health problems and gets distracted very easily….is dinner burning? Oh good, it’s not. Where was I now? Ah yes; I am hoping to bring each and everyone of you along with me on my writing journey, sharing the laughter, frustration, chaos, and thrill of writing!

I've been writing off and on for most of my adult life, but my passion for writing started much younger than that. I have been obsessed with books since I was a little girl, and my poor Mom could barely take me to the library frequently enough! I always wanted to write. I wanted to create my own masterpiece that other kids (and later on I changed that to adults) would read, re-read, dog-ear, drop in the bath, and other wise cherish. For years I thought that wasn't possible. I was too impatient with myself, both as a child and a teenager, and I was convinced that I couldn't write anything worth reading because I couldn't figure out how to get the pictures in my head to sound right when put to paper.

Fortunately I got over that - which is a story for another day - and now I can't stop writing!

I've decided to pursue the dream of being published that I've had since I was a small girl curled up with "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe." I don't know yet if that's going to mean self-publishing, or pursuing a contract with one of the major publishing houses, but I'll get there step by step. Along the way I’ll share what I learn, keep you updated on where I’m at in the process, and share some of my short stories as well as pieces of my longer ones.

The first thing I need, obviously, is a book to sell! I am getting closer day by day to having that. I'm in the midst of the insanity known as NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and I'm having a ton of fun! That book will need a lot of work when this month is over, and I'm not sure if it'll be publishable, but I'll keep you updated as I find out! I also have a half-finished book that's currently titled, "Jemnath." I plan on picking that back up when NaNoWriMo is over. Hopefully by January or February I'll have two books in the editing and revision stage and be that much closer to my dream.

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You are invited to join me on my journey! I am still in the planning stages for this blog, and I may not get everything exactly the way I want it until I'm done with NaNoWriMo, but I am bursting with ideas! So subscribe, bookmark, do whatever you need to - but come back frequently to join me on this wild magic carpet ride!