Oh My Goodness!

I have not written in this blog for most of this year. Not that it is a bad thing... just been busy with everything. Whether it was with my ANWA responsibilities, family, or writing don't have time to do anything else... it was something.

So I will try and be better about this. I got a new faster computer this fall and I'm enjoying it. Still transferring stuff from the old one to the new one and all that fun stuff. Go me!

But I'm still writing. In fact, I did NaNoWriMo this month... half the month was great. Then I hint a block... not sure if it was because I was trying to make the text too perfect or I just couldn't find my happy place? For about a week, I suddenly was too tired to do anything by time the evening rolled around I wanted to just go to bed. And I did. Then Thanksgiving hit and I had guests at my home and I think worry and a racing mind killed the muse there.

SO, NaNoWriMo... the point is to make you write and to develop good stable writing habits right? So it was a success if it got me to write 10K words this month. And that makes me a happy camper.

This evening I opened a twitter account:

twitter.com/writtenvein

Yep, I tweet now.

And at the end of this year I will no longer be the President of American Night Writers Association. Yep. My two years is over. I'll be back though. It's been fun! I've learned so much and it really helped me to gain the confidence that I was lacking at that point in my life. I can say with confidence I feel more like a writer today then I ever have been in my whole life. And I'm certainly writing more than I ever have before too. All thanks to ANWA and attending conferences!!

Which reminds me... LTUE anyone? Gonna be here in February! And then of course the wonderful ANWA conference the following weekend! Yep that's right readers, February is gonna be really crazy fun with conferences and stuff!

The ANWA Conference "Writing at the Speed of Life" is a two day conference this year with pitch sessions and a workshop the Friday before. You can register for the conference here. It's gonna be really fun so register now all the details are at the website. You can also follow the conference tweets as well at:

twitter.com/ANWA_LDS

ANWA Conference 2011 is also on facebook too!

Okay well, now I gotta go write.

Working...

I have had a few projects on my plate this month. I'm getting more readers and I wanted to post something quickly so I don't let any of you down who are looking for inspiration or just want to something encouraging to read.

ANWA... I made a new logo for American Night Writers Association. I've been working on it for a little while. But finished it and shared it with the rest of the Executive Board and they put their stamp on it. It will be featured in the newsletter for January 2010. So stay tuned!

Writing Goals... Remember NaNoWriMo last month? I only wrote 12,000 words during the whole month which is the most I've ever written in any one month in 2009. Well, I beat it this month. I hit 12,000 words half way through December and I'm not done yet. Again another stay tuned to see how many words I get to. (I'm practicing to see just how many words I can write in one month. Without killing myself or wanting to kill myself. eheheh)

Okay, so that's it. Those are the two big ones I've been so focused on when I'm not running around the house putting out fires and keeping the kids from injuring themselves or each other. I have been contemplating on what I will continue to write about in this blog... hopefully something that gets everyone excited to write more in 2010!

Once Upon A Meter...

"When there are no words speak from the heart and you shall surprise yourself."
~ Unknown

Because of NaNoWriMo, I have written approximately 11,000 words on my WIP (Work in Progress) bringing my total amount over 33,000 words! It took me 5 months to get to roughly 28,000 words. (About 5,600 words a month?) So in terms of what I've written in a month that is amazing! I've doubled what I have normally writen in a month. Maybe some of the big writers put in more than that, I'm still learning and I've got little kids to contend with. I'm just excited about my strides!

And let me tell you it has taken a ton out of me to get that far. I feel like I've been obsessed with words. It's always on my mind every day to try and plug further. But it has really done great things in terms of my word count. I will definitely come back and do this next year if I'm not insanely obsessed with something else. And even if I am, I'm still going to try and do it. (Yes, I am a nut. Hey, I'm a writer! I refuse to be normal!)

Hopefully by then I'll be done with this story and on to the next one after that, which I believe I'm really going to have to do at this point. (I'm starting to come up with the plot of the next novel already. Er... I'm seeing it start to take form.) It's all good.

I've really enjoyed having a little word meter to track my progress while writing. Because of this, and the fact that Nanowrimo will be ending soon, I am going to place a word meter on my blog. I don't know if the Nanowrimo meter works the rest of the year? Keeping a meter though, it's just because I want to make myself keep to goals and sharing those goals. When you write them down and tell others about them, you have to keep yourself up to the standard. Everyone will be watching and waiting and hoping you do what you set out to do then.

I will be keeping a word meter on my blog, so everyone knows I'm working even if it is slowly. You can come back and check my progress, make sure I'm still working! My goal is to have this story finished by June 2010, the same month I started it in 2009. Then I'll start the next one. Then there is the whole editing thing... oh the possibilities!

Here are the word meters I found if you'd like to add one to your blog:
NaNoWriMo Word Meter (I'm assuming this was before they had their own.)
6 Word Meters and Trackers from Spontaneous Derivation
Writertopia Writing Meter
Leigh's Word Meter
Wordmeter by Svenja

Requiring a log in/account sign up to track:
The Life Literary - Writing Counters
Word Count Widgets - National Novel Writing Month
StoryToolz
Luminary Writer's Database
Margaret Fisk's Word Advance Progress Meter

Now I just have to decide which one I'm gonna use!

A Come Back?

So I've pooped out on my blog lately. But I'm making the rounds and getting at least a post up to get back on the wagon today. Just a goal and goals are good because they keep us going. Especially wonderful when you feel like you just don't wanna. And this week writing in my free time... I just don't wanna. Bleh.

(See I knew I shouldn't have signed up for NanoWriMo!)

But alas! The week isn't over yet.

So I had to do a shout out here about podcasts. In the last 3 months I've become a fan of podcasts. I've found some fun entertaining casts, not about writing, that have hooked me into the fun that podcasts are.

Today I started browsing around for podcasts for writers and writing topics. I found a few. And once I've found a few that I like I will definitely add them here. If I don't find what I want, who knows maybe I'll start my OWN!

For those who aren't very familiar with what a podcast is... basically it is like a radio show but on the internet. (It's so easy to produce your own podcast that those who do them usually aren't paid or trained professionals who have had a long career in media production.) You don't have to have a iPod or other similar device to listen to it. Some can be listened to right on your computer/laptop or via iTunes. Or you can download the file and burn it to a disc and listen to it in your car. So don't worry just because you don't have an iPod you won't enjoy the same show that I may talk about here. You most likely will if you have a computer with audio capability.