National Novel Writing Month

November 28 was the monumental day that I finished 50,000 words on my novel.  I had had a terrible migraine for several days and began to doubt that I would meet the goal.  There are still a number of chapters to write, but I'm very proud of what was accomplished. 

Amy needed to write 30,000 words in the last week to make goal.  She finished early in the morning on November 29.  Amy joined the local group of NaNoWriMo writers who met each week to talk and write.  Today was the celebration gathering at a local restaurant.  The entire experience has been inspiring for her.

The two of us will be editing and rewriting during January and February.  I'm hoping that she can keep me on track.  It's so easy for projects that are strictly for me to get pushed aside and I'd really like to get this novel completed.

Paige and Allie have been watching me write each evening.  They have asked questions and asked to hear parts of my story.  Last night, Allie asked if I would like to hear her book.  She has been writing up in her bedroom.  Allie had completed 5 notebook pages in a spiral notebook.  This is HUGE!  Allie was struggling to write three sentences for me for school in September.  It took her 40 minutes to write three sentences.  I am so happy that she is excited to be writing a book.  Her writing was much better than I expected.  She used descriptive words, conversation between characters, and variety in her sentence structure. 

Paige has been writing a novel as well.  She hasn't shared it with me yet, because she wants to have her first chapter done first.  She has also been illustrating each page.  I'm waiting impatiently for her to let me have a first look at her work.

Neglecting My Blog

My poor little blog is feeling very neglected lately.  I've been busy writing my book for National Novel Writing Month.  There have been many things about writing this month that have surprised me.  

First, I have always disliked the process of writing.  It's not something that goes along fluently for me.  I tend to spend too much time editing as I write.  NanoWriMo has cured me of this problem.  The object of NaNoWriMo is to get the first draft of a 50,000 word novel done in 30 days, which means no editing.  I'm just shy of 40,000 words with 10 days left to write.  The writing process is becoming much easier and I'm actually looking forward to writing each evening. The kids are leaving me in peace to write and I'm savoring this time alone.

Second, the way that I read books has also changed.  My reading pace has slowed down and I pay more attention to phrases and particular words than I did before.  My oldest daughter (the writer) says that I'm reading like a writer.  Although reading has always given me pleasure, it has become a more active process.

Third,  writing has given me more confidence.  Not in my writing skills themselves, because I know that I will never be a great writer.  The confidence has come from setting a goal and successfully reaching it.  Homeschooling, child rearing, and home making are incredibly worthwhile things to do, but long periods of time pass before progress is seen.  Let's not even talk about the fact that the tasks will never be done.  My personality needs to see things completed.  I relish checking things off of a To Do list.

Fourth, my children are writing much more often without my prompting them or,  to be completely honest, without my assigning writing as a lesson.  My youngest two girls are writing stories, keeping journals, and making a graphic novel.  All without any encouragement from me.  They may even end up enjoying writing, which most of the other children do not.

December at our home will be filled with cooking and crafting, decorating a new space, and many worship services.  My blog should be much more active and I might even have some fun projects.

National Novel Writing Month

November is National Novel Writing Month.  My oldest daughter participated last year and anxiously awaited the return of NaNoWriMo this year.  On October 30, my husband suggested that I join this year.  He thought that it would be fun for my daughter and I to encourage each other.  He's been encouraging me to write a book for years.  My writing isn't mature enough to be a published, but I thought that it might fun to try to write a novel.

Since I made my decision so close to the start date, I decided that it would probably be wisest to write about the humorous things that have happened in our family.  I'm thinking something along the lines of Beverly Cleary's Ramona books.  Between all my children various escapades, there are plenty of stories to tell.

The first chapter was the tale of Joe's Bad Day.  Normally, he was a very well behaved child, but when he was naughty, it was at the top of the rotten behavior scale.  The second chapter is about Katie and her confetti making fetish.  She spent hours in the early hours of the morning and late at night punching holes in construction paper with a hand held hole punch.  Both incidents weren't funny when they occurred, but are truly funny as I look back.

So far, I'm 8500 words into my 50000 word novel.  My blog will probably suffer a little over the next few weeks as I strive for my first novel.