So, as I posted earlier I am trying to finish a novel I have been working on for years and years and years.

I was doing well until I hit the spot I always hit. The place where I tried to finish it over and over and over. 

This is the result of attempting to finish it during National Novel Writing Month when you try to write 1668 words a day. For those of you who don't write - that's a lot of words coming out of a writer's imagination. And most of it is crap and doesn't have any kind of flow.

Until this point, my novel was pretty good, IMHO. But now it meanders all over the place. ARRGGHH

This is the problem. Writers hate to delete their words. What if they lose a pearl of wisdom or the one part a publisher will drool over. 

So, now I'm stuck trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle. I hate jigsaw puzzles. 

But in Gloria Gaynor's words. "I will survive". And so will this story. 

FRIDAY STIR FRY: WTF

 

                                          Morguefile.com free photographs for commercial use

I just want to give this bunny a hug, but I can't because of social distancing. 

I'm sure I am not the only one experiencing pandemic fatigue. 

This is not what I expected in my retirement. I retired June 2020 when the pandemic was just a few months old. What I heard then from "experts" was this would last about a year, especially if we got a vaccine. Then everything would be back to 'normal'. I could spend time with my son and grandsons. I could spend time with friends. I could hang out without a mask at my local pub and baseball game. 

A year and almost six months later, we are currently in a major surge. Thanks Delta. 

My part of the country has been in the nightly news almost every night this past week. Yep, I live in the backwards Ozarks. I used to be proud to be born and raised in this part of the country. Not so much now. How did we become so stupid. Missouri is the Show Me State, meaning you have to prove things to us. But even though science has proved it, and hospitalizations have proved it, and deaths have proved it, many of my fellow citizens have kept their blinders on. 

I'm tired. I'm vaccinated but that doesn't matter now. Because so many people aren't, I am now more vulnerable. Not to mention my 5 and 2 year old grandsons.

Other countries would love to have even one free vaccine. We have three. What a selfish nation we have become.    

FRIDAY STIR FRY: SPEAKERS

 

Disclaimer: I don't know who this speaker is. 

I picked this picture as a generic example. 

I hope he was well received. 

Morguefile.com free photographs for commercial use

Have you ever looked forward to a speaker either at a conference or a writer's group and been disappointed? 

I was a victim of this. One of the writer's groups I'm in, scheduled a well known person in the area to speak at our meeting. I was very much looking forward to hearing this person, and learning details of their profession which might give me some insight into my storytelling. What I heard was nothing what I expected. 

This person was so pompous and ate up with themselves, it was nauseating. They used their time to tell us how smart, how successful, and how religious they were (which I don't understand what that had to do with anything). No time on procedure or insight into their profession. Questions were never answered directly, but twisted around to point out again how important they were. (or thought they were)

I left there very disappointed. I try to take away something from every speaker I hear. What I took away from this: I will never waste my time attending one of this person's presentations again.  

Thankfully, most speakers I've heard have been both informative and approachable. And I much appreciate their insight and encouragement.  

 

FRIDAY STIR FRY: Time For Camp

 I'm camping this July.

Before you ask where and when and how, let me explain.

National Novel Writing Month has what they call "Camp" in April and July. Instead of the 50,000 word goal they want you to write in November, you can do whatever word count you want. You don't even have to work on a novel. It can be a memoir, short stories, non-fiction, even a screenplay.

I have been working on a novel for at least ten years. I start, I stop, I start, I stop. I read through what I have, make notes, jot down ideas, and then nothing. It's a story I feel strongly about. It comes from a dark place. Putting my mom in a nursing home. A horrible time of my life. I have fictionalized it as a young woman coming back home after ten years to bury her mother. It explores her present and her past. I think it's a good story. I have roughly 40,000 words. 

A few years back, I submitted the first chapter in a contest and won second place, so I feel like I have something worth finishing.

My goal this month is to add at least 10,000 words. Right now I'm reading through it again just to get a feel for the characters. I really want this first draft done so I can move on. I feel it is holding me back from other work because every time I start something new, I think about this unfinished work.

Wish me luck! I definately need it.