A Writer's Life

Salt Lake, day 1

I'm back from SF.  It was an amazing trip, as usual.  I'm lucky to have fantastic brothers who chose such great partners...helpful, kind, intelligent, interesting, insightful, funny, good-natured...and that's just the beginning of the way I would describe my brothers and the people who they love.  I feel like we all mesh really well together, which makes for a really relaxing weekend, even as the dishes are piling up! 

I was talking with a girlfriend recently who was sad about the people her siblings had married...she said the dynamics of her family relationships had changed, for the worst.  Mine haven't..and if they had, I would only say that it was even better than ever.  It made me happy to see my daughter comfortable wandering into the kitchen to chat with Shilpa or having her pass the Wii mote to Nate or talking to Ryen about books they've both read or shopping at Daiso with Bud.  

I come back from SF nourished, and not just with organic food cooked to perfection.  My brothers set the bar on having good people in their lives, and I want the same for myself, and for my daughter. 

Rachel

P.S.  Wondering if I stayed on plan in SF?  I did.  I couldn't always calculate if my meals had exactly the right macronutrients or not, but I feel like I made good choices.  And I can't remember if I posted before or not, but I'm very close to hitting the high twenties in body fat percentage, and I'd really like to see that number this Friday.  So, I'll be working out hard three times and making sure that my nutrition is spotless. 

P.P.S.  I will be starting the rewrite of my novel today. :)  Stay tuned for more...and for more interesting blog titles starting December 1.  I decided I might as well use up my theme through November...

SF, day 2

Greetings from San Francisco.  I love being here with my family.  Today we walked to the Blue Bottle for the best coffee ever, and on the way there, we encountered a man who told us, "we can make this easy or hard."  I didn't know what he was talking about it, until he bumped my brother with his body.  Yeah, he just wanted us to move out of his way, after which he yelled "have an f-ing great day."  You too.

In SF, I think about the endless opportunities to think outside of the box.  For example, tonight, all six of us are going to see New Moon.  Since only half of us saw Twilight, we decided that we should watch it last night.  Since my brothers are super tech savvy, we were able to review a number of different options for Twilight: we could rent from a regular video store, we could rent from a Redbox, we could watch via Roku, we could download via itunes, we could watch via Comcast on Demand, we could buy and watch via Amazon, or we could go to Target and buy the movie.  Who would think that there'd be so many "at home" ways to watch a movie?

That's just the beginning. I also realized how simple it can be to think outside the can.  At lunch, we had the most fabulous squash soup.  In talking with my brother and sister-in-law, I realized that there's no end to the number of healthy and on-plan soups that I can make with a single simple recipe.  Broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus...all "free" on my current nutrition plan.  I think I will be "stocking" up on soups this fall and winter, how exciting! 

Soon, we're off to check out the Japanese Dollar store.  Our plans for a bonfire dinner at the beach are on hold due to a prediction of rain, but we'll add that one to the agenda for another year.

It's wonderful being here.  My brother keeps me endlessly supplied with coffee and he even bought the super cheap club soda that I love.  The conversations are on-going, and J. is thrilled to always have someone who is willing to either craft or play mario with her. 

Rachel

Nano, afternoon 25

It's official.  I'm verified as a winner with 50,118 words.  I found out this morning when I logged into the nano site.  Pretty cool to have a webpage greet me with YOU WON!  Yay!

I'm packed and ready to head out to SF in a couple of hours.  I'm to the point where I'm just ready to go! :)  But J. isn't home from school yet, and the shuttle won't be here for another two hours.   I need to eat meal 5 before we leave for the airport, but it's too early to start cooking the very lean hamburger. 

So, here I am, just chilling out by the front window and thinking about working on revisions to my book.  I'm struggling a bit because I like some of the hospital scenes that I wrote, but when I move Karen into just the science lab, I'm going to have to either lose or change some of those scenes.  There has to be some way to merge those moments together...still reflecting over just how to do it.

I also need to re-chapter my story.  When I started writing, each chapter had a "box" title. The evaluation box.  The gift box.  The cake box.  The pizza box. The black velvet box.  Somewhere in the middle of the writing process, I lost my chapters.  Now I need to go back through and sort through all of those boxes and stack them up in the proper order. 

And, since it's only fitting that a book on thinking outside of the box includes some creativity exercises, I also started writing one to go at the end of each chapter.  You know, a novel that's a marriage of fiction and non-fiction...kind of like those chef mystery stories that include real recipes.  I need to write all of those, after I'm done sorting chapters.

My other immediate rough draft task is to work on my characters.  I feel like one of them is strong, interesting, and consistent.  Another one is supposed to be a caretaker, but she's a little too ice princess at the moment.  I need to get her figured out a bit more.  And there's one character that's just too flat--I don't think I really started understanding who he was until the end of the book. 

One of the things that held me back from revisions last year was that I felt overwhelmed by reorganizing my novel.  I think I've got a better handle on this story, hospital/science lab notwithstanding.  And I've got a personal reason to take this one to the next level. 

Rachel

Nano, night 23, part 2, 50K

I'm not sure how it happened, but I hit the 50K word mark tonight, which makes me an unofficial Nano winner.  I can't verify until the 25th, so tonight I'll have be happy with the knowledge that I wrote (a pretty bad and very rough draft) novel in 23 days and nights.  I got what I wanted from my words...an ending that made me happy, even though my character didn't quite do the right thing.  And I got one obvious plot twist, which I may or may not change in the next draft...and one plot twist that I didn't realize until I'd almost finished the epilogue.  Spooky the way it works!

I'm going to drink some water and have a protein shake to celebrate...and then I'm going to rest my hands...and then I'm going to read the whole thing over again. 

And then I'm going to start the second draft.  I think.  Maybe.  I've got people who want to read this horrible thing, and I'd like to make it a little less horrible for them, lol.

50,000+ a little more for good measure,

Rachel

Nano, night 23

I am happy.  I've been happy all day long...and I had a conversation with someone late this afternoon that inspired me to come home and write.  I started writing the moment after the lean steaks went into the oven, and I kept writing while eating said steak, brown rice, and green beans.  Yes, it was eat, type, eat, type, eat.  Such is a writer's life.

Good things are happening in my life and that makes me happy.  I feel good...and I don't know if it's because my blood pressure is under control, because of my fitness and nutrition, or just because of the other nice things that I've been surprised with over the last couple of weeks.  But it's all adding up to the best I've felt all year. 

I'm also happy because I am over the 48,000 word mark.  I may hit 50K tonight.  Or I may stall out.  I don't know yet.  No matter if I finish or not, I wrote an ending that gave me the feeling that I wanted to feel.  And that makes me happy, too.

Now to write the epilogue.  I think there just may be a beach and a cottage there yet.

Rachel

Nano, night 22

I'm at 46000.  I'm still scared to write the ending, so I wrote some back story instead.  But it's important back story that will tie the whole thing together when I work on the second draft.  My arms are sore from my super hard workout at the gym and I'm getting a headache from the clouds moving in over the mountains.  I need to get my daughter's clothes into the dryer and then I'm going to hang up her new Christmas dress and unpack my brand new bellissima perfume. 

I know that when I type "the end," it won't really be the end.  My story got really complex towards the end, and I have to figure out who is involved in the conspiracy and why.  And I also feel like there's another twist waiting to happen but that I just haven't learned what it is. 

I want to feel completely satisfied when I hit the 50K mark, but I don't know how to guide the story to that ending.  And, in my fifth year of nano, it's not going to be enough for me to simply hit the word count.  I want to feel a certain way, lol.  No, I'm not asking for too much.  Or am I? 

Allowing the words to arrive in precisely the right moment,

Rachel

Nano, morning 22

It's Sunday morning, and I've eaten my breakfast and my snack and am finishing up my first water bottle for the day.  However, I haven't written a single word in my novel.  However, my kitchen is clean, lol.  Where's the  National November Kitchen Cleaning contest when I need it?

I gave my daughter an editing project to work on last night, and I was surprised and pleased at her eye for detail.  She knew when paragraphs needed to be indented, when the logic of the piece was "off," when bullet points were inconsistent, when commas were missing, when headlines were missing, when words were spelled incorrectly, and more.  She even had a comment that something in the piece was "ambigious."    Her private school education is expensive, but I am pleased with the return on investment.  I thinik I will write her grammar/literature teacher a note to tell him thanks for teaching her so well and so much.

We're off to the mall.  I have a gift card for Dilliards, and I think I want to buy some new perfume. 

happy Sunday morning,

Rachel

Nano, night 21

I'm at 45,064 words.  Less than 5,000 words to hit the finish line. 

My daughter and I went to Applebees for dinner.  I picked that place because I know I can go there and eat off their Weight Watcher's menu.  After eating chicken all week, a piece of lean steak sounded appealing.  So, that's where we went.  Unfortunately, their customer service was horrid.  Our waitress forgot about us...but we eventually got served.  However, the older couple that was sitting across from us never got a server, not even when they asked politely.  The waitress said she already had seven tables and was too busy.  They got up and left after twenty minutes.  How disenchanting.

Meanwhile, there's a police car parked on the road to my house.  Why?  For the silly reason that In and Out Burger has opened in my area.  I think it's ridiculous that people are literally lined up all the way down the street and into my road...for a hamburger and fries?  I guess I will have to re-evaluate my thoughts on whether or not it's worth it.  But I'll wait for a day when I can get my food in less than 1.5 hours.  Oh well, maybe it beats the wait at Applebees.

For my daughter's craft project tonight, she wrote a Thanksgiving poem and turned it into cards for my brothers.  She's sweet. 

I don't know if I have any words left tonight or not.  The ending could come slowly or all in one big rush.  No matter how it happens, I'll let you know.

happy Saturday night.

Rachel

Nano, afternoon 21

Just hit the 44065 mark.  It's just me, Lifetime television, hot coffee, and my cat today.  My daughter will be home in about an hour, and then we'll go do something fun.  I'm to the big reveal in my novel, and I'm alternating with wanting to write it and wanting to savor it.  The anticipation is pushing me forward...and holding me back, all at the same time.

I'm wanting to go back and read my daily novel updates from last year.  I think it would be interesting to compare my process from two years in a row and see where things are the same.  And different. 

happy saturday afternoon.

Rachel

Nano, day 21

Comcast arrived bright and early.  I've got a shiny new modem. :)  And a few more words in my story to put me at 43,107.  My daughter and I might be going to see New Moon tonight, so I'm tallying up some words now before we go.  I'm still happy about what happened last night and that's spilling over into my writing.  It's a good thing.

I recently learned that someone who I know at work is a nano participant as well.  I think that novel writing might be getting contagious.  The more words in this world, the better, I say.  I had a conversation about the novel writing process last night, in which I admitted that I'm currently filling in bits and pieces of the story, in preparation for the ending.  Now that I'm getting close to "The End," I understand that much more of "The Beginning." 

Will post more updates as the weekend progresses.

Rachel