My 1011 NaNoWriMo month came to an end 15 hours ago and I went to bed feeling fantastic, slept the best I have all month ans woke feeling terrific, lol It is a good feeling knowing we forged ahead - however much for the month.

My WIP  (Work in Progress.)

At one point today, I was brought to tears as I edited/rewrote to better effect a passage. That makes my novel a three hanky novel so far. lol :-).

I have just completed the edit of the 11,500 word long chapter 7 where I deal with the internal within the mind of many of my characters. This is the chapter before a big action chapter. This was the one I needed some beta readers for and thank those who helped me :-). I was anxious that this more talk less action, but getting a gimps into the mindset of all characters, chapter not be too long yet not leave out essential information.

I will put this chapter aside now until I am alone tonight and can listen to it in my Read4ME program and hear my typos so I can fix them.

NOW :-) Seeing as NaNoWriMo is over :) I begin the more balanced lifestyle goals and put away, a full months worth of washing, lol :-).

_ I am one fifth of the way though this the edit of my NaNoWriMo novel and yes with 120k words written it was time to edit. 

I am bringing all the POV into deep third person and increase the mystery ... not explaining everything as I go way of telling the story.  It is time for a shower and change of scenery and some real life.  I hope to return with a passion to the editing again tonight. I am shortening some scenes and adding new ones as I work though. 

I do sometimes wonder when you actually know when a final edit will be a final edit...lol...then I remember my art training and I recall how you know this.

You look at a work of art and ask, "What does it NEED?"  When it does not need anything...that is when you STOP!.

Never ask "What more can  you do?"  Because you can go on sticking another bird in it and over tighten it up with details until it is amateurish and ruined.

Remember to ask the right questions of your WIP (work in progress) and it will give you the right answers :-).

_16,000 words edited in one session... On to the next  chapter....still so far to go ...but begins to wonder if I can focus on it...can I get this finished in November?   I don't know.  I just needed to come up for air and take a break.  I should do some exercise, but I'm obsessed with my novel right now.  I want to complete another chapter.

Most of my editing consists of placing all of the novel into a deep third person POW and past tense plus increasing the element of mystery to the plot. I am not struggling with where to go, I never have.  I have never faced writer's block in my life, doubt I ever will.  Time management and motivating myself to achieve a balanced life and find time to fit in all I want to do ans all I know I should do is the only problem I ever face. 

I feel pleased today I took the brave move of closing my successful EBay art sales shop and going only for the sales I make from my own website as this will give me more time.  That reminds me, tomorrow is Monday and I will have those completed EBay sales to post out, that means an interrupted day, so i should write like mad now as I will not have as much free time tomorrow.


Making Ideas Happen Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality

By Scott Belsky


Thomas Edison famously said that genius is 1 per cent inspiration, 99 per cent perspiration. Every day new solutions, revolutionary cures, and artistic breakthroughs are conceived and squandered by smart people. Along with the gift of creativity come the obstacles to making ideas happen: lack of organisation, lack of accountability and a lack of community support. Scott Belsky has interviewed hundreds of the most productive creative people and teams in the world, revealing one common trait: a carefully trained capacity for executing ideas. Implementing your ideas is a skill that can be taught, and Belshy distills the core principles in this book. While many of us obsess about discovering great new ideas, Belsky shows why it is better to develop the capacity to make ideas happen - using old-fashioned passion and perspiration. "Making Ideas Happen" reveals the practical yet counterintuitive techniques of 'serial creatives' - those few who make their visions a reality.

About the AuthorScott Belsky is the founder and CEO of Behance, the software and design company dedicated to enhancing productivity in the creative community. He oversees a social networking site used by more than 30,000 creative professionals from around the world. He has consulted for media and Fortune 500 companies, including GE and Hewlett-Packard. In 2010 he was included in Fast Company's '100 Most Creative People in Business' list. Prior to founding Behance he helped grow the Pine Street Leadership Initiative at Goldman Sachs; he received his MBA from Harvard Business School.


Books » Business » Management » Strategy. Click here to read reviews of this work or order at a discounted price.

_After two days and nights away from my novel doing other stuff I got a new radical plot change idea for the supposed finished stage of my novel...this came from brainstorming how to make the story more of a mystery.

I then found myself anxious to write and wrote two hours of my work in the middle of the night and just now I will be obsessively writing for though till the end of the month as I work in this new plot change and even better story.:-)


Beginnings, Middles and Ends The elements of fiction writing

By Nancy Kress

Covering the main elements of fiction writing, Beginnings, Middles & Ends demonstrates effective solutions for potential problems, from how to hook the editor in the 1st few paragraphs to building drama and credibililty in prose.'

Books » Reference & Language » Writing Skills. To read revievs or order click link below.

I have been stimulating a good friend of mine who is a writer but hasn't had time to write due to her fitness activities.  After a kick in the fut (friendly) she has romped inn with 54,000 words to complete her NaNoWriMo commitment and i accepted a friendly kick in the but from her and got out exercising as my life has been out of balance too.

I also took two days off from my novel and caught up with my blogging. 

I blog about whatever interests me. 

When i grew up in country Victoria, blackberries growing by the roadside, while not Australian, were common and spraying of them was not common so they were collected for desserts and making blackberry jam.

Here is a combined food and magic recipe printed for the fun of it, for
Blackberry Money Pie / Clobber.

Heat Oven to 425 degrees.
2 8 inch Pie crust, bottom and top
4 Cups Fresh Blackberries
3/4 Cups Sugar
3 Tablespoons Flour
1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon
1, 1/2 teaspoon Lemon juice
1 Tablespoon BUTTER (not margarine)

In a Double Boiler, get all the above ingredients go a slow bubble.

Once to a bubble, Stir 13 times as you chant, 13 times;

"Money Pie work for me,
I need money come to me,
Money Pie as I eat,
Money I will soon meet."

Take off the heat as soon as you stir the 13th time and sit aside.

Now you have two choices, a Blackberry Pie or Blackberry Clobber.

For the Pie, just pour the Blackberry filling into the pie shell and cover the top with the other shell. Cut and shape it to fit your pan. Cut a few air holes in the top crust, whatever you wish is fine, I like stars.

For the Clobber; Slice 1 and 1/2 of the pie crust into dumplings, add Blackberry filling. Pour the whole thing into a baking dish. Cover with the remaining crust, place in any shape on the top you like, I like little stars and moons.

For Pie and Clobber; Place in your oven on a cookie sheet at, 425 degrees and allow to bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the pie in golden brown on the top.

As you remove the Pie or Clobber for the Oven, Say aloud;

"Money Pie we shall Eat,
Money we shall meet.
Blessed Be..."

This is all meant in the spirit of FUN :-) and it may be useful to any writer who has a magical plot. 

Well I believe in hard work to make money, not chants, lol...The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary so back to my writing :-)  Sell you tomorrow, happy writing. xxx 
Kathy

_ Spells By Aprilynne Pike


A magical romance blossoms in the follow-up to WINGS, the bestselling novel described by Stephenie Meyer as "a remarkable debut". "I can't just storm in and proclaim my intentions. I can't 'steal' you away. I just have to wait, and hope that someday you'll ask," Tamani said. "And if I don't?" Laurel asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Then I guess I'll be waiting forever." It's been almost a year since Laurel discovered that she is a faerie, placed with human parents as an infant to help protect the gateway to the faerie realm of Avalon. Although she's come to accept her true identity, Laurel refuses to turn her back on her human life-and especially her boyfriend, David-to return to the faerie world. But when she is summoned to Avalon to relearn her long-forgotten faerie magic, Laurel must depend on the charismatic faerie sentry Tamani. Her feelings for him are undeniable, and she is forced to make a choice-a choice that could break her heart. When a deadly enemy resurfaces and puts both Laurel's life and Avalon in danger, Laurel must draw on all her human strength as well as her faerie skills to save both of her worlds and all of those she holds dear.

About the AuthorAprilynne Pike has been spinning faerie stories since she was a child with a hyperactive imagination. She completed her BA in creative writing at the age of twenty at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. Aprilynne currently lives with her husband and three kids in Arizona. You can visit her online and read her blog at www.aprilynnepike.com.


Books » Children's » Fiction » Love & Romance_ to order at a discounted price, click link below,

1) Get your current count.
2) Divide by 50,000.
3) Multiply by 100.
4) That is your NaNoWriMo percentage to targetI  I I

I must be at 400%  into my NaNoWriMo tally count.
then though I am disappointed I have not had a moment to write in my novel for 2 days.   Tonight I took care of the fact that I am slacking off on fitness and i went swimming then I was too tired to write my novel. This morning I had 8 small paid writing jobs to get though - got them all done.  They pay bills, novel writing is important as a long term goal. 

Yesterday i did book reviews for commission of book sales...that is another 'job' writers can do and i also entered a writing competition with a short story...another self employed writing job.  So I have done lots of writing for two days, also some fiction and non fiction reading but not a moment available for the novel even with working overtime and a 3am bedtime.  I really must stay out of chats lol...I must find time to write and exercise, but I will pop in as often as I can and I will keep up with my  blogging :-)

Books » Arts & Photography » Language Arts » Composition & Creative Writing
Finish Your Book! a Time Management Guide for Writers By Karen Hodges Miller, Lorette Pruden

Click link below for a time management guide for writers

Do dreams help you write?

Usually when I wake up I have the tip of a dream in my mind and as I become conscious it disappears.  The last two mornings I woke and my thoughts were of my novel; only I had moved my story around in my dreams.  I 'fought' to cling to the dreams and got them down on paper.

I always knew I had a big enough story to write five novels...I tackled one of them in 2010...this year - this NaNoWriMo I am tackling the draft of two of them and the story plan (to write the draft in NaNoWriMo 2012, of the final two novels.  Yeh...I'm a crazy over achiever and I need t slow down and get more sleep and exercise. lol.

It is the beginning of day 13 of NaNoWriMo 2011 and I have 111,000 words written across the draft of two novels that will be around the 100,000 word length, in my Dreaming Billabong series.

I did my first ever word war. today in  NaNoWriMo.

I type with 2 fingers though as I know in advance what I want to write about so this isn't hard work for me.

I only did 350 words in 10 minutes and can see how I get my daily word tally now given the hours I spend writing into the small hours of the night. 2,000 hours an hour by 4.5 hours a day, equals two novels drafted by day 11 and beginning the third novel draft. Not impossible. I just skimp my sleep hours down to 6 hours a night average and skimp on the housework and garden maintenance and had meals pre-cooked in the freezer and salads with grills or frozen vegetables, and braises very little to prepare.

I was well prepared for my Novel Blocking in first drafts, November.

I took time this morning o reread favorite parts of a classic revenge plot with a strong character base.  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. A brilliant book and easy read.  I felt it was just right for my mood now I am almost half way into the manurscript for book one of my Dreaming Billabong series of novels.

Morning of day 5 NaNoWriMo, went well.
I focused on Book one of my Dreaming Billabong series which currently has three novels under development.  I plan to concentrate in this first book of the series now and want to see it ready to the end of first draft stage at around 100,000 words by November 30.  I have then set myself a goal to have it to final draft stage by Autumn 2012.  I have decided there will be no more. Mucking around. I am serious about this writing.  

I am creating a plot line story that is revenge motivated and I studied one of my favorite revenge plot novels, 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' for the 'Hero's Story,' ups and downs of tension, relief and character development. 

Then I gained some insights into my own plot and saw a different way to tell the early story, one I am pleased with. I thought about it for a while,  then using the Dragon Speaking software, I dragon spoke 3,500 new words that tightened up my plot. Hardly a word typed. Giving the hands a rest, although surprisingly they are good. 

I am learning what computer keyboards are injury prone and which are writer friendly.
Full marks to Apple iMac,