Less (can be so much more) On writing and Nanos

My aim this year is for Less.
Less clutter. Less junk. Less stress. Less rubbishy food. Less screen-time.
I'm fairly sure tens of millions of others are starting out the year with the same resolutions.
As I've started the year with a binge shop of massive proportions, checking out op-shops from Maleny to Mont Albert, Morwell to Morayfield, I'm not going too well on the less clutter. But on the plus side I shouldn't really need to shop much for the rest of the year. And I do have bags of stuff piled at the door to go back to other op-shops. It's a beautiful cycle. Sort of.
The other thing I've decided to do less of is… writing. Last year I clocked up over 150,000 words, mostly in three lots of National Novel Writing Months.
I loved the rush. The drive. The community. The sheer satisfaction of getting the words down. The thrill of spending dedicated time with my beloved characters.
I was also distracted from my kids, drank too much coffee, ate too much sugar and fat, didn't sleep enough and had spiralling stress levels from trying to juggle everything else while also finishing my novels (or 50,000 words of them) to deadline.
November? When my Beloved had his BIG, all important exams, I was just recovering from two months of morning sickness, which had immediately followed two months of bronchitis and sinuitis and my Beloved had various ailments?
I. Don't. Want. To. Think. about how stressed I was. I can feel my shoulders tense just trying to remember it.
Do I love thinking about the gorgeous gem of a story I wrote that month, gleaming on my desktop just waiting for a polish? Why yes, I do.
Did I love spending all that time with my characters, discovering unexpected plot twists and delving into new layers? Absolutely.
Was it immensely satisfying finally getting down a story I've been thinking about for o, eleven years.
Well, yes.
Do I want to do it again this year?
Not a chance.
This year, I'm taking it slowly. While I feel a pang, (or two, or twenty, or two hundred) for all the stories I'm desperate to begin, whose characters keep clamouring at me, write me, write me, I'm going to put them on hold for now. While I might write down the odd note, or scene or even chapter here or there, I'll block my ears and let them nag a little longer.
I'm still going to do Nano's this year. But I'm chopping them in half. In each of the three NaNo months I'm only going to write 25,000 words. And I'm not starting anything new. I'm just going to finish off the three novels I wrote in last years Nanos. Green Dragon Waking - a story of a world of wishes, a girl who dreams true and the turmoil that comes when a wrong is righted. Overly Caffeinated Werewolves -    a tale of a edgy barista who has to confront becoming a were-wolf queen, her sister's kidnapping… and the fact she inexplicably can't drink coffee anymore, and The Toad Lord - a retelling of the fairy tale of the frog prince set in Scotland in 1801.
I can't wait to step into my magical worlds.
But I'm so relieved to have decided to do less. 

Yay, me!

As of right this minute, 3.40pm, 30^th April 2013, I’ve completed Camp NaNoWriMo. For the uninitiated that means that in the last 30 days I’ve finished 50,000 words of my novel, Overly Caffeinated Werewolves (Are not Pretty), and I'll get all sorts of cute goodies like computer badges and half-price writing programs.

 Yay me! Happy Dance! I'm a winner - it says so on my stats page and I didn't even need to run anywhere or muck around with a ball!It’s a wonderful feeling. A nice solid, bulk of work, sitting there emanating good vibes at me from the heart of my computer. There's still another 25-35,000 words to go, but the main structures there, and its been so much fun to write and I can't wait to juggle it around a bit and see what happens.

So, yes, my manuscripts a mess. Things are all higgledy-piggledy and towards the end there I was just writing scenes with neither placement not correct punctuation. 

Stuff happened I did not plan and that still vaguely perplexes me. Did I know the Sun goddess and her fiery chariot were going to play such a strong role, or that Mia would go hang out with the Greek style, but double-breasted, Amazons in Amazonia, where the Sun and the Moon have a massive break-up fight in the middle of the river?

I didn’t have a clue. But she did. And they did. And I think it will work.

Nor did I know Mia's detectiving would lead her to the land of the Were-Cats and the sad tale of the were-wolf and the were-cat who fell in love and had kittubs, who become the Lands first police force….

Okay, I admit, when you don’t have the time to think things through plots get messy… but I’m sure given a few strong blows and some nails I can hang it all together!

But the words are there. I’m confident that with a bit of play I can make something fun and strong and full of fizz from them.

And now, now I can finally edit! Those pages that weren’t quite right so I rewrote them? Those extra adjectives that so aren’t my protagonists style. Vamos! They go.

I just have to wait until I’ve uploaded the words and it’s all been verified and I  can hack into the manuscript with an ax and remove all the dead wood and really see it’s beautiful  trunk and branches.  (Have I played with that metaphor enough? – the trees out the window before me are stunning falls of sun-caught gold, so I’m very ‘treed’ up.)

Presently, thanks to too many 4am writing starts, I am a tad sleep deprived, and possibly a little too caffeinated. When you have to stop and think before you can work out how many coffees you've drunk, the suggestion is there's been a few too many. 

But... oo. Happy shivers. Hello, my little manuscript, I'm very pleased to meet you!

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee

I'm way, way behind on my Camp Nano word count. Which is strange 'cos I'm completely loving writing Overly Caffeinated Werewolves, but If I'm to get my 50,000 words by the end of March, I need to so get onto it. At the moment I'm blaming the evil tummy bug for the delay, but I can't help feeling a real writer would have just ploughed on right through.
Anyway. I'm bringing out the big guns.
Coffee, Coffee, Coffee!
So:
(Homemade) Coffee Candles. Lit.
Coffee: In Mug. Double Shot. Friends of Same, East Timorese Blend. Courtesy of Mum.
Music: Coffee Playlist, Itunes.
Presently Playing: The Coffee Song, The Coffee Protection Society.

Wish me luck! I'm aiming for another 10,000 words by... o, tomorrow night. 23:59 hour.

What do you do when you want to get a lot done in a short amount of time?

My Kind of Camping...

It's April 1st today. Easter Monday. April Fools day. My prizes go to Australian Geographic and Google for April Fools day pranks.
And... wait for it, it's also the starting date for Camp Nano, which is like NaNoWriMo, where you write a novel (or 50,000 words) in the month of November, but you can chose the word count you want to aim for and you don't need to write a novel - you can write a script or short stories or whatever. Everyone is also allotted 'virtual cabins' and cabin mates to help keep you accountable and to try to raise some campfire cheer.
Anyway, I've chosen to work on a novel and aim to complete the first 50,000 words by the end of April. I'm not entirely sure I'll manage it, but I love the thought of trying it. The idea of being completely immersed in my delicious and highly caffeinated story for 30 days? Mmmm. Yes please. Happy shivers.
So the kids and I gathered kindling and I lit the fire today and we watched if for most of the evening - and may I say it was a very well lit fire and a beautiferous blaze. My beloved and I drank spiced tea (in the vain hope the ginger would settle our tummies - the tea was delicious, our tummies are still tumultuous) in front of the fire and outside the stars appeared in a high Autumn sky.
Now, with the kids asleep and the fire died down, cosy in bed in my fav flannel jammies,  all warm and fuffly from the dryer, it's time for me to open a new document and begin writing my brand new and sparkling (but not in a vampy way) novel!
Seriously, forget pit toilets miles away and no hot-water, this is my kind of camping!