Goals for 2014–November Update
Poems read: 1032/365
Poems written: 413/365
Short stories read: 386/365
Short stories written: 21/52
Books read: 118/52
Submissions: 6/24
Videos made: 9/100
Sketches made: 349/365
Art pieces made: 51/52
Bookbinding–made 32 books this year
In Progress:
- Sketching–Doodle a Day continues!
- Ink Drawings
- Charcoal
- Markers
- Watercolor
- Digital
- Photography
- Mail Art
- Knitting
- Cake Decorating
- Origami
- Cooking
- Finger Paint
Need to Do:
- Urban Sketching
- Music Composition
- Quilting
NaNo–Day 30
At 82,752 words, I am amazed at how much I wrote this month. This is the first year that I finished before the 27th (finished on the 21st). And I finally (FINALLY) validated my NaNo novel, so I officially won NaNo, even though my novel is not quite at the end yet. It has been a strange and wonderful month, considering that I have not spent years fantasizing about this story and set of characters, instead starting at the beginning and being spontaneous as I went along. This has completely changed my approach to writing novels. I didn’t do the usual round of world building questions and answers like I typically do with fantasy novels until the third day when I had questions about the world and its rules. And I think this is a trilogy, my first novel that isn’t a standalone. I’m looking forward to reaching the end and rereading this novel next year.
NaNo–Day 26
On November 25, I made it to 74,063 words and on November 26, I made it to 78,934 words. After five days of not knowing how the novel ends, I had a breakthrough. So now the goal is to either make it to 100,000 words or to reach the end of the story.
NaNo–Day 24
71,099 words. This is the first NaNo that I have finished the 50,000 words so early (reached that milestone on the 21st). Now the goal is to reach the novel’s conclusion. In order to reach the 70,000 mark, I bought three drinks from Biggby (I had a coupon, okay?) as motivation. And it worked.
NaNo–Day 23
I enjoyed a local write in and was so inspired with my story that I wrote some more at home. 65,073 words.
NaNo–Day 22
57,877 words. I have introduced two new characters, and I’ve picked names for four more. This novel still has not reached a conclusion, but it has started a new and interesting arc.
NaNo–Day 21
I made it to 48,454 words on the 18th, and then I took the 19th and 20th off. I watched some vampire movies for inspiration since my characters encountered vampires. Now I have 52,518 words, but my novel is not complete yet. I did get my reward in the mail today for finishing NaNo–the first season of Marvel’s Agents of Shield Season One, so I watched the first five episodes.
NaNo–Day 17
45955 words. My secondary character nearly died but survived. The new character conceived last week appeared. My characters are on a new journey that coincides with the previous journey.
NaNo–Day 16
41288 words. Wow. I can’t believe that I’m almost to the finish line, though now I realize this book is more likely a trilogy than a standalone novel.
The second day of Winter Wheat sessions was also successful. I attended a session about rejection with Laura Maylene Walter. I’m inspired to attempt 250 submissions in one year (2015, here we come). My bookbinding session went very well, attended by 27 people, each making three books. Mary Biddinger spoke on how to turn a pile of poems into a book, so I am excited to try her organization suggestions with my pile of poems (time, alphabetical, etc.). And lastly, I wrote myself out of the box with Chelsea Cooper and Michelle Deschenes. I enjoyed the Twister exercise and photo prompts.
Bookbinding Adventures
In preparation for my session at Winter Wheat, I finished some bookbinding projects I started. I made a noble stitch sidebound for a friend with the bird cover, attempted a new stitch pattern for the blue speckled cover, and sewed two more journals, one with the Coptic Stitch and the other with the French Link Stitch. I like both of these stitches because they let the pages lie flat when I write, making it easier to not worry about the inside margin being unusable or unreadable. I lucked out with the one journal and had the shape of a phoenix appear on the front. Serendipity for my NaNo novel!
The first Winter Wheat readings and sessions went well. I enjoyed hearing Sharona Muir read from “Invisible Beasts” and Anne Valente read from “By Light We Knew Our Names.” My first session dealt with zines and micro-presses, where we made an X Book and added a cover. My second session was improv, where we played several games, like naming seven things you wouldn’t want to find on the beach, superheroes, and freeze. Always say, “Yes, and?” I used the improv exercises as a prompt to write about a roommate trying to write a NaNo novel and being stuck. My own NaNo novel is at 36,191 words.
Suzanna and Writing 