The Writing Vein
. . . A place for inspiration and exploration . . .
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
Not Yet Fall, I Promise
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Did You Know: Scarlet Maples Hold Their Leaves Until Spring?
Sometimes it's the simple things which bring pleasure, maybe even joy. Or in the case of such a simple fix, it brings us a sense of safety. Which will seem ridiculous when I tell you what it was.
Somehow it fits. With this photo I took almost a week ago: the moon through the scarlet maple, still full of the rust colored leaves from fall, waiting for the spring bud to emerge, green, pushing away the crisp leaves. I was sitting in my car, a few minutes of transition from the drive home from work, before going into the house.
The moon in an a nearly totally clear sky. Its light bright and soothing, lightly illuminating the places out of sight from the ineffective street lamps.
The very simple thing I did a few days ago? I bought small, palm-sized motion sensor lights to put on the stairs. The light fixture on the top stair landing has always been funky, but it gave out several years ago. No one wanted to replace it for us, because - well, reasons. No way either of us are going to try to install or repair anything involving electrical wires. So we're always extra cautious going up and down the stairs at night. There is a little light bleed from the front porch, or a little on the landing if the upstairs light is on; but there are dark patches with very little usable light. We've managed. We've never fallen. There is railing. And. For safety reasons, adding light on the stairs seemed like a good idea.
It was and it is. Every time I have to go up or down the stairs at night right now, I smile. I can see each step. I can see the piece of mail I forgot to put away. I can see the water bottle I left on the stairs. I can see the fanned corner at the bottom.
Such a simple solution. No holes were drilled, no wires messed with, no big expense or major time investment. Yet we are safer and more comfortable moving through the house at night.
A little light on the stairs, which automatically turn on when we approach, and turn off about 10-15 seconds after motions stops.
I wonder what other simple solutions are just around the corner.
Next week I will be meeting with a beta reader of the manuscript. He is one of my "book lights" I'd say. I look forward to seeing where his light falls and where he found shadows, or what questions remain.
I don't think there is a this simple of a solution for getting the manuscript from here to publishing. But maybe keeping the focus on each step, each edit, each round of feedback will do the trick.
There is a bit of light coming through and a path going forward. Like the moon through the scarlet maple anticipating spring. Like me with my slippered feet making their way more confidently down the stairs for a cup of nighttime tea.
One step. One light. Keep going.
Friday, December 1, 2023
NaNo 2023 Is A Wrap!
Letting the graphics speak for themselves today. Well done, me!
To clarify: yes, I actually wrote 104,284 words from midnight November 1st to 11:59 pm November 30th. That is a Double NaNoWrimo; my first double NaNo.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Final Day of NaNoWriMo 2023
Saturday, November 25, 2023
Days 22-25: NaNoWriMo 2023
My current word count is 91,979 words written since November 1st. That is amazing and feels good. This year is my highest word county by far.
I keep writing that "I'm not writing much on the story." But I realized today that I am writing My Story. And I have some pieces for a fiction story, which are based on My Story. So, there is that.
It has been an interesting NaNoWriMo. I am - obviously - writing a lot. I have written every day and, I'm not sure what my average daily word count is, but it is high. I have written at least the 1667 words on almost every day; there are a few which were closer to 1000. I think I have this write every day firmly entrenched now. It's not a rule, but I have been doing this for over a year now - the writing every day. It helps to not put a lot of rules and restrictions on what I count as "writing."
We are in the final month - less than a month - of the Mavens of Mythmaking with Ariel. A full year long class coming to an end. I have much to do to get my final project wrapped up, so that is what my focus will be now. I've fallen behind again, in feedback and such. I am keeping up on the reading and I've been slowly working on the manuscript. Too slow. But I'm taking a new direction at this stage of things, thanks to a conversation with my old-new writing buddy! I am excited to have time with her, again, to be able to reconnect one on one about our writing and support each other. This will definitely help.
Below is my landing NaNoWriMo page, with my current stats and my writing graph. There is more on the site, but this is a good overview. NaNoWriMo is working through some problems and I hope they work it out. For now, I'm using the site as I have been - which is a tracking page. The organization changed significantly several years ago; and not for the better in my and many people's opinions. I don't know a lot about the current issue, but the Board is involved and I hope the truth and resolutions happen.
For me? I'm happy. I am at 184% of the goal and I think I am going to aim for 200% - in other words, a double NaNo. I've never done that before, so I guess I will now. I have just over 5 days to complete 100k words in 30 days. I can do this!
NaNoWriMo 2023 general stats for Dot. |
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Monday, November 20, 2023
Days 18-20 NaNoWriMo 2023
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a super moon over ex-Fred's house. photo by Dot |
Friday, November 17, 2023
Day 17: NaNoWriMo 2023
Words written on 11/16 = 6847
The coast writing retreat has been exactly what I needed it to be. A place to sleep until I wake up. With minimal writing interruptions. There is no wifi here, which is obviously not keeping me from updating word counts, going online for brief periods, and so on. But because I'm relying on cellular data, the connection seems less than ideal and it uses a lot of data to go online.
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"Lighting the Way" comic by Dot. 2022 |
Thursday, November 16, 2023
Days 15 & 16: NaNoWriMo 2023
Current word count, at 4:00 AM on November 16th, is 64,188.
My writing buddy and I came over to the coast after we finished work at 8pm on Tuesday 11/14. We had to pick up her things and pack them into the car. But quickly, because we wanted to stock up on food for the rest of the week from Trader Joe's; which closed at 9pm.
We made it.
We got some iced tea and ate in the car as we made the nearly three hours drive.
The nice thing about driving so late at night is that there is significantly less traffic. Less traffic means the drive is less stressful. Generally I am not stressed on longer drives - I actually like it, and I can find it soothing, when not dealing with aggressive drivers.
It was lovely to wake up to the ocean today. The misty sky, looking out over the waves until I couldn't see them any longer in what I thought was an incoming storm.
The wind shifted and pushes the clouds, the fog south. Maybe that was where it was heading all along.
I did a lot of writing today, around a scheduling mixup with a couple of interpreters I'd placed on a show, added a matinee. The situation that created when I had to find a new interpreting team for the interpreted matinee fell into my "no work unless it's urgent" category. Working with the somewhat intermittent internet (no wifi at the place we're staying - yay!), I was able to get a second team for that second performance, connect everyone to each other, notify the theater. And now, hopefully, there is nothing else "urgent" which comes up related to work.
I want to focus these next few days on writing.
I am long past the 50k in 30days writing goal. But I am still writing. I am still playing the quests in 4TheWords. And editing. Still working on the edits - which are going very slow. I have to step those up, for sure. Somehow, I will. I am hoping to shift the bulk of my writing time to the edits, to get it done.
This is the graph from the NaNoWriMo website, showing the trajectory of my writing this month. The angled dotted line is the 50k in 30days target; my actual writing word count is highlighted in yellow. Looks good!