Well, today ends the second Weekend Write of 2010. Right now, I am not focusing on storytelling. Over the last month, I realized that first and foremost in my agenda is school, so most of my major writing will be delegated to that. I was driving myself crazy, thinking I “lost my touch” because I wasn’t writing thousands of words a day. I am still being creative; I’m just using my talents to write my academic works–and that’s OK.

Having said that, I decided to use this weekend to get various writing projects done:

1. Article for my The Write Life for You series
2. Article for The Blood-Red Pencil
3. Finish and submit an article on letter writing that’s for possible publication
4. Write/finish site visit project for my Usability class

In total, approximately 5,000 words.

And I’m happy to report that I completed all the writing activities for this Weekend Write, and I’m already thinking about what I’ll do next month. Next month presents an interesting time for me. Spring break will have come and gone, and I’ll be moving into the last full month of the spring semester. April is ScriptFrenzy, and so I will want to make sure my outline is developed for the script because I do hope to at least TRY to work on a screenplay during April. Luckily, I have an outline on the back burner, so I won’t have to work on that, but I will have to reread it, get back into the characters’ minds so that I’m ready to write in April.

More than likely, I’ll do the same thing in March I did this month–work on articles to submit.

How is your writing going?

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Yes, it’s a little after three in the morning. I’m still up. But not for long.

Had a very slow start to my Saturday and was really not in the mood to do much of anything. In fact, I didn’t start making any significant moves until well after 6 p.m., and I didn’t start to do anything WW related until nearly 11 p.m.

But I did start, and I completed most of my Weekend Write tasks for Saturday, so that’s something.

Today, my goals were to write some articles and submit to online outlets I have columns with. Also, I wanted to break out the next novel project, look at it, and make a plan to see where to go with it next.

Well, I wrote the articles. In fact, I wrote two additional articles, so I was very pleased with that.

I didn’t, however, work on the next novel project.

SO, that will be my goal for Sunday. Tomorrow, I’ll talk a bit about the next novel project, and wrap up my first Weekend Write.

See you then.

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Leading up to my first Weekend Write, I have to admit I was nervous. All this month, I’ve been supposedly working on an outline for a novel I was to write and to gear myself up to work on it during the months of February and March.

There is no shame to my game, so I’ll tell the truth: I did nothing. Been dealing with school, getting back into the swing of things (still not there yet), and a big bout of depression. I barely could get my  mind around school-related issues, so doing anything creative was out of the question.

But I planned to use WW as a wake-up call. I told people about it, so they were expecting me to do something, and never being one to disappoint, I wrangled up the nerve and energy to do SOMETHING creative.

And I’m proud to report the first day has been successful.

And this is mostly the case because I had a deadline! I was asked if I’d like to contribute to an anthology and to be considered, I had to submit an outline for a story. The deadline? The 31st. I was supposed to have been done this, but yeah, well, not making excuses. I just didn’t do it.

So I used the vast majority of my waking hours today to develop a story description, my characters, a scene breakdown, and then an outline for the short story. As I type this, I have a sisterfriend-writer reading the outline before I ship it off. Crossing fingers the outline is accepted and I get put into the anthology. I’ll let you guys know what happens with it.

Also, while working on the outline today, I began to think about my writing life and what I want from it. Been so out of the loop with my own writing lately that I had begun to lose what defined me as a writer and thus what I was going to do to illustrate this definition storywise.

Well, I have a strategic plan now on where I plan to go, what I plan to do…with more on that coming soon.

Let’s just say that for the first time in a long time I feel like writing again. And THAT is awesome,

My goal for tomorrow’s WW? It’s two-fold. I have some articles that need to be written and submitted to online outlets I have columns with. Also, I want to break out the next novel project, look at it, and make a plan to see where to go with it next.

Will holler tomorrow.

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Well, as many know, I didn’t get a lot of writing done the second-half of 2009. With starting a doctoral program, most of my time was used reading, reading, reading and writing, writing, writing…PAPERS!

Toward the end of the semester and into Christmas break, I decided that I could add my creative writing back into my life if I managed my time better. I have done it in the past, and there is no reason why I can’t do it now.

Thus, Weekend Write was born. What is Weekend Write?

Well, I decided that one weekend out of the month, I will devote myself to creative endeavors – whether that’s working on a screenplay, writing a novel, or working on articles for my upcoming book on writing, The Write Life for You. Friday and Saturday of the weekend, I will write, and on Sunday, I will do either an audio or video podcast of what I’ve accomplished.

In addition to Weekend Write, I decided that I would incorporate writing during my school week, too. I will carve out 2 hours of writing time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to work on projects, too.

Creative writing is my lifeline; without it, I’m pretty useless in all other facets of my life.

Tentatively, here are the weekends I plan to write and podcast if you’d like to get your write on and talk about it.

• January 29-31
• February 26-28
• March 19-21
• April 23-25
• May 28-30
• June 25-27
• July 23-25
• August 27-29
• September 24-26
• October 29-31
• November 26-28
• December 17-19

Once my first week of school is through and I have a better sense of project due dates, I will solidify these dates.

And I have my first project, too. Back in 2006, I started a novel titled The Loss of Weight, and for whatever reason, I stopped working on it. Over Christmas break, I read the 20,000 words I wrote and realized I really liked the story, so from January to end of March, I will be working on finishing this novel before Script Frenzy in April; I plan to work on a screenplay then.

I’m excited. I’m pumped.

We’ll see what happens.

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Recently, a fan of CLG Entertainment and The Write Life for You articles I write contacted me. The fan, a writer, asked, “How do you know if you have the talent to pursue writing? Words have always had a powerful pull on me, but I don’t know if I can actually write … Do you have medicine for my affliction?”

I wanted to share my response because I think it might be beneficial to those of you out there feeling, thinking the same thing.

You know, the need to pursue writing often comes before one even KNOWS if he or she has talent. It comes from a desire, a need to express something. The fact that you’re pulled to write is BIG. For me, writing was always a NEED. Started writing when I was 10, and it was all about looking at the world and writing what interest me, then what I didn’t understand, then what I hated, then what I wanted to be made right, and on and on.

That pull to write is important because it will warm your heart when you’re rejected, it will urge you on when you receive criticism, and it will move you to want to learn so that you can better your craft.

First and foremost, I think you need to KEEP the pull. Recognize it. Communicate with it. Nurture it.

Allow the pull to keep you writing.

As you write, think about what you seem “called” to write about. This calling isn’t set in stone, but it’s a great place to begin to think about who you are as a writer and what you hope to convey in your writing.

As you write, READ. Read works you deem “good,” and be able to illustrate to yourself why they are good and what you can glean from these findings for your own writing.

As you write, READ. Read works you deem “bad,” and be able to illustrate to yourself why they might be bad and what you can glean from these findings for your own writing.

As you write, READ. Read works about writing, especially those books that delve into the issues you find you make consistently in your work. You want as many tools in your writer’s toolbox as possible.

Connect with other writers, especially those willing to read and critique your work. It’s important to know what you want to get out of a critique group and what you can bring to that group; you do not just want to jump into a group and wallow within it. And be open to constructive criticism.

And almost as important as your writing these days is your platform – who you are, what you stand for, how your writing reflects this, who you connect with, network with, how you BRAND yourself.

But ultimately, I think it is about the PULL. If you don’t feel moved to write, who will be compelled to read WHAT you write?

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Didn’t think it would happen.

Waited ’til the last minute to even participate and had no real idea what I would write about, but after completing NaNoWriMo the last four years, I just felt the need to do it this year. Would feel like a failure if I didn’t.

The first week was like gangbusters. Wrote a little over 21,000 words that first week. The second week, cleared 30k. The third week, I peter out a bit as school and stress weighed heavily on me. Fourth week, came back and hit that last hurdle and cleared 50k. Total, 50,043 was hit tonight.

Is the story good? Hell, it’s not even a story any more. By week three my interest in the story peter out, so I began jumping into various sections and just writing, so right now, I have a mess, and I probably won’t even go back to it. But it did get me to writing even during the stressful first semester of my doctoral work, so that at least tells me that if I’m more structured I can write something good during this time.

I’m proud of myself. Now, to finish the semester and get into a new project!

Want to hear an excerpt of NaNoWriMo project, Educating Sophia? There’s a new excerpt below! You can check out the first two excerpts at Shon Bacon @ PodBean!

Excerpt Three of Educating Sophia

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Didn’t post yesterday. Got to 13,043 words on Day 4.

Today was my long day at school. I usually get onto campus about 8 a.m., and I don’t leave campus ’til about 8, 8:30. Was lucky enough to have a class canceled and managed to get in about 1,500 words, and then just before midnight, I knocked out close to 900 words.

SO, today’s total was 2,324 words. My overall total right now is 15,367.

Hope to get to 17,500 words tomorrow.

The cool thing right now is I came up with a rather exciting (for me anyway, lol) way to develop the story, so now there is no worrying about writing in order or fingering out the whole story. Right now, I’m writing pieces as they come.

Thinking about making the story interactive, so my creativity is “webbing out” right now, and whatever it links up to in reference to this story, I’m tagging it, writing it, and syncing up to the next thread of the story.

Exciting times, I say. Exciting times.

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Well, today, I wrote about 2,100 words, and my total NaNoWriMo word count is 10,050.

Proud of self. Have written and not let it get in the way of ALL the other things I have to get done.

In the midst of writing today, I got a bit stressed; this is why I need an outline, LOL

I didn’t think I would hit the 10k, but then I had a bit of inspiration, something to add to the story…and thus the beginning was changed, too.

Instead of just showing you some words on the screen, I decided to create a podcast of me reading the first pages of my NaNoWriMo ‘09 project, Educating Sophia.

I hope you enjoy it.

Leave comments!

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Well, I jumped into whatever it is that I’m writing. Still don’t have a firm grasp of plot or anything; I’m just going where the words take me.

On day one, I wrote about 5,200 words.

This morning, I woke up and went to Starbucks, got me a white chocolate mocha and a slice of pumpkin bread and wrote before doing anything else. Got about 2,800 words in.

Sitting at 8,015 words for the first two days.

My goal for myself is to get to at least 30,000 words during NaNo because with school and all, I’m not sure I can hit the 50k. If I can cross the 15k mark by Sunday evening, I will be happy.

And proud of myself,

How are you guys doing on NaNo thus far?

Hope to put up an excerpt soon!

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It’s been a VERY long time since I’ve been over here.

And school is the time-sucking culprit!

I’ve been busy with school and reading and research…and now am about to get into the part of the semester where papers have to be written, so it will get even more crazy.

HOWEVER, I do plan to work on a NaNoWriMo project for November. I’ve participated for the last four years and have “won” each year, and it felt wrong to at least not try to write something this month.

This is a challenge for me on several fronts:

1. Usually, I outline my NaNoWriMo projects. I’m going into this completely cold with a title, a character name, and fuzzy thoughts on what the story is about.
2. I’m in school, and school is like a full-time job plus double-overtime. It’s going to be rough.
3. I haven’t written anything creatively in nearly three months. A record for me, so I’m very rusty.

Because of this, my goal is to do a NaNo-Lite. No, this doesn’t actually exist. As we all know, NaNo has people attempting to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I’m going for 30,000 words in 30 days. Still a lot of words for a woman with barely enough time to do everything else in her life, but I think I really do need this so that I can feel – at least mentally – that I’m still creative.

I’ll be posting throughout the month, giving you guys updates on my writing challenges, of which I’m sure there will be at least ONE.

For now, I’ll leave you with my title: Educating Sophia.

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