NaNoWriMO 2014

NaNoWriMo 2014 starts in just 6 days on November 1. NaNoWriMo challenges you to write 50,000 words in 30 days. It breaks down to 1667 words a day. I tried it last year for the first time and fizzled out at about 15,000 words. I lost steam, motivation, and ideas. This year I'm trying again.

My idea for this year's writing came from a dream I had a few weeks ago. The dream gave me two main characters, their names, and occupations. Plus a vague idea of what should occur between them. When I woke I wrote down as much as I could remember and knew I needed to find out what would happen next. I'm very excited about giving this story a go.

Have you ever participated in NaNoWriMo? If so, how did you do? If not, why not give it a shot?

Being scared

     

     I am a sucker for a good quote. I recently read this one from Chris Guillebeau.

"That's the promise: you will live more curiously if you write. You will become a scientist, if not of the natural world than of whatever world you care about. More of that world will pop alive. You will see more when you look at it. Writing needn't be a formal enterprise to have this effect. You don't have to write well. You don't even have to "write" exactly - you can just talk onto the page."

     I have two journals going at the moment and plan on copying this into both. I love the idea of talking onto the page. It makes writing seem so much less formal and like anyone can do it. So if anyone can do it it certainly means I can do it. Writing scares me but if I don't write then my brain just fills up to the point where all I hear is the incessant chatter and I can't sleep at night. For the most part I've only ever written down thoughts that had to do with life or my feelings about something. 

     Only once have I written down the stories that play in my head. I think up the equivalent of a 3 hour action movie in my head all the time. I play out different scenes, change the characters, scout locations all in my head. I often wonder if I would be any good at writing them all out. I tried out NaNoWriMo last year but didn't get very far. I don't have the writing skills at this time to make things flow. It's all very chunky and pieced together. I know that if I write more this will get easier but yet.........I don't. 

     I will hit this great big wall of China type resistance and nothing happens. I suddenly think all my story ideas or dumb or have been done before. I think I need to type it all out because it's faster then hand writing it but then never take the time to do either. I am full of excuses and I know that's all they are. It's funny what you can talk yourself into or out of if you try hard enough. Might be time I focus all the energy on making things happen. 

   What do you find yourself resisting?

Link Love with a Twist

I love to see the weekly round ups of every one's favorite links for the week. I thought it would be fun to include a few of the ones I visit each week. It's nice to have them all handy in one place. Hope you enjoy.


Nubby Twiglet

Blog Society

Elise Blaha

Susannah Conway

What are some of your favorite link round ups?

Book Talk

Where I talk about the books I've read in the past week, am currently reading, and what I plan to read next.
The synopsis link will take to each books Goodreads page. I am giving my opinion on each book with very little to no spoilers whenever possible.

 Synopsis

I read this book the end of last week. When I first heard about it it seemed to be either a book you loved or you hated. I fell somewhere in the middle. For me it was just okay. It was a unique take on vampires and I found it to be entertaining. Though the story wasn't anything extraordinary I still felt compelled to come back to the pages just to see what would happen next. I liked it enough to try another of Holly Black's books. I gave this book 3 stars. 

Synopsis

This book was mind-blowing, amazing, heart wrenching. I loved every page. It tells the story of two best friends during WWII. Maddie is a pilot and Julie is a spy. That right there should be enough to make you want to read this. There were so many twists and turns. I didn't see any of them coming. I stayed up late to read this and tried to keep reading even when my eyes were screaming at me to rest. I did a lot of yelling out loud about this book. So many times I said "that did not just happen". This book was incredible. Five stars for this wonderful tale of friendship. 

Synopsis

This is the second book in the Covenant Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I love this series. It's a quick easy read and I fly through each book. If you like books with some paranormal aspects and romance I recommend this series. Four stars for this second book in a series. Looking forward to reading the third book. 

Now on to what I am currently reading.

Synopsis

This is the third book in the Vampire Academy series. If it wasn't for all the great reviews on Booktube I'm not I would have ever looked at reading this series. Each books gets better and better. The series is seriously addicting. 

This weekend I plan to read:

Synopsis

and then the companion novel to Code Name Verity:

Synopsis

What are you reading?

Random Rambles #1

     Random Rambles is going to be a weekly feature where I talk about whatever random thing is currently swimming in my head.

     I was talking to my dear friend Anna about how I get all these ideas in my head for things I want to do or write about and instead of taking a few minutes to write them down I let them fade away. I wondered why I do this when at the time I really think I have good ideas. It occurred to me that it is at times easier to let the ideas fade then to take the time and effort to make those ideas come to life. How crazy is that? I don't want my ideas to fade away. I do want to act on them. Especially the ideas for writing topics. I admitted to Anna that what I really want to do above any other creative idea I have is to write and write often. I want this feature and a new one I'm posting about later on in the week to get the writing juices flowing. I have wasted so much time in thinking and not acting. It gets tiring to hear my inner monologue on how I'll do it tomorrow or next week or after I do the dishes.
     I am not a particularly busy person. I don't have a lot of activities or events to attend. My responsibilities are few. I have tons of time!!! I cannot continue to let fear hold me back. What is fear holding you back from and what can you do to push it out of your way?

July TBR

I went to the library yesterday and picked up a few books. These are the books I hope to read in the month of July. I may add or take away some books but want to at least give all these a shot.

From top to bottom:

Glass Heart by Amy Garvey. This is the sequel to Cold Kiss which I just finished today. Cold Kiss was okay but not great. I did like enough though to see what happens in Glass Heart.

Storm and Spark by Brigid Kemmerer. This is the first two books in the Elemental Series. This is a new author to me so we'll see how it goes.

The unbecoming of mara dyer by Michelle Hodkin. This is the first in a trilogy. It's about a girl who wakes up in the hospital with no memory of how she got there.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. I've heard a lot of things about this book on Booktube. You either hate it or love. I'm interested to see which group I fall into.

Changeling by Philippa Gregory. This is the first book in the Order of Darkness series. Years ago I read Philippa Gregory's historical fiction books and thought I would give this book a chance. 

I've linked each title to it's Amazon page if you would like more information. What are you reading?

My Intentions

Source

 I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about what I really want to post here. So much thinking in fact that it has kept me from writing which is not what I wanted. I'm going to declare my intentions and then simply get to writing. I want to post about my everyday sometimes boring life. I want to post about books I'm reading and what I'm excited to read next. I want to post about my love of Sci-fi shows and action movies. I want to post about the challenges I face and how well or not so well I overcome them. In a nut shell I want to write about everything. That's what this blog will be about and it's about time I got to it.

Currently.....

Reading...The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy. On book two and loving it. 

Listening...To a very quiet office.

Loving...that my workouts are making me stronger.

Thinking....to many thoughts to list :)

Feeling...like I should be doing something but can't remember what. 

Wanting...to finally get the last of my moving boxes unpacked!

Needing...more time with friends. 

Enjoying...watching Ted Talks like this one from Adam Braun. 

The Perfect Pen???

Is there such a thing as the perfect pen? I have no idea. All I know is that I stop myself from writing because in the dozens and dozens of pens I have I can't find the "perfect" one. This one doesn't feel right in my hand. That one doesn't have the right color ink. The excuses go on and on while the page remains blank. 

At the end of the day it doesn't matter what type of pen or pencil or crayon I use. What matters is that the words were taken out of my brain and put on the page. I can't let little things like the search for the "perfect" pen keep me from doing what I most want to do - write. If I do then all I have is a closed empty book to add to my already large collection of notebooks waiting to be filled. 

I don't want that. I want the words to come out. I want them out of my head so that I can make room for more. What excuses do you make to keep you from writing, or painting, or starting that project you were so excited about?

Glue booking

     I am obsessed and captivated by glue booking. I take scraps of paper and magazine images and glue them down in a 9in x 6in sketch book. I pick only those images and colors that make me smile. I want an entire book filled with such images. 

        There is something so pleasing about cutting and pasting. It allows my brain to shut off for just a little while. I don't think about anything other then where to put the next piece of paper down and what color washi tape I should add. Hours slip by so easily!

      The image above screamed for words but could have spoken loudly without them. Sometimes I add words but mostly it's about the image and how it makes me feel.

     I love love love bright colors. The brighter the better! They make me smile and brighten my day! What do you do to bring a little color into your day?

Water

     These dark clouds brought with them hours and hours of rain. It was lovely to listen to. I went to bed that night listening to the rain. I thought to myself how soothing it sounded. But then I realized it also sounded really loud and clear. I reached over and touched the windowsill and instantly felt the water coming in. My sheets and mattress were wet on the corner of the bed closest to the window. Turns out there is a leak in the roof that caused water to leak in when the rain was at it's hardest. 

     I had a problem a few days ago with a leaking pipe under my sink due to a clog somewhere deep along the pipes. It was an easy fix and required minimal clean up. This latest adventure with rain made me think maybe the water was trying to tell me something. Maybe I should let things flow their natural course instead of trying to control things or let my fears "clog" things up. 

     I'm doing a lot of thinking about different areas in my life that need some "flow". Are there things in your life that would ease some stress if you just let them "flow" and stopped trying to clog them up?

Skinny Pants

     I did a bit of shopping on Saturday. I wasn't looking for anything in particular just seeing what was out there. I went to JCPenney and walked around for a bit. I found a couple of shirts in my favorite bright colors. Then as I was looking through the clearance rack I saw a pair of dark gray corduroy pants. They just happened to be my size and in petite as well. Figured I'd better try them on. I went in to the dressing room and tried on the pants. It's then that I realized that instead of them being straight legged they were skinny. I am not skinny and had never tried on a pair of skinny anything.

     For some reason these pants felt amazing. I was worried they would be too tight near the ankles (makes me feel claustrophobic) but they weren't. I feel really good in them. They are totally comfy and I love the color. I'm so glad I tried them on. I'm proud of myself for taking a chance on something I felt wasn't for ME. Turns out I was dead wrong. 

    Take a chance on yourself......you just might get a wonderful surprise.

Restlessness

This has been a hard week. It's been full of everything just not going as well as it could have. Lots of little things going wonky in a way that makes you want to pull your hair out or go back to bed until next week. I haven't done any of those things. I've tried just to push through each task that needed to be done and to breathe through the difficult parts. It's left me with the crushing sense of restlessness that I can barely put into words. It almost feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest and won't get up until all the tasks are done. 

Yet in spite of the elephant I had some good times this week. I had an awesome conversation with a dear friend who has asked me to help her with a project that holds a dear place in my heart. I confirmed plans to meet an online friend next week. I did a bit of retail therapy and got some awesome deals. 

I'm still feeling a bit restless but like the clouds in the picture above the feeling will pass and the light will shine again. What do you do when you feel restless?

My Word of the Year

     My word for 2014 is STRETCH. I want to go beyond what makes me comfortable and safe. Now, there's nothing wrong with comfortable and safe but for me it stops me from taking chances and doing new things. I want this year to be about stretching myself both physically by getting into better shape and mentally by trying new things. I don't want being scared to stop me from what could be really great things in my life. I plan to write way more than I ever have. I want to have dinner parties and art journal nights. I may even be thinking of opening my own little business. 2014 is going to be full of new opportunities and I am so excited to see what happens. 

I was blessed to receive this amazing canvas with my word of the year from Anna Meade. Anna does custom artwork. If you have a word for this year and would like a visual reminder to help you along take a look at Anna's website. 

  

In my head....

    

      I've been writing posts in my head for weeks now. I know I've been gone for awhile and there really is no good excuse. I could blame it on the holidays or that I moved but really I could have been posting through all that. Truth is I wasn't sure if I could get out what I wanted to say in a way that made sense to me much less to anyone reading this.

     I'm going through a period of finding out what direction I want my life to go in. I'm allowing myself to really be honest about what I enjoy, what I want to spend my time doing, and what type of people I want to surround myself with. It's been only a few months that I've been having these thoughts and talking to myself about it. I never really had those thoughts before and didn't think a great deal about where my life was going. I was just taking things one day at a time and going with the flow. But now I want more than just being carried away by time. I want my days to be meaningful.