NaNoWriMo Update

This is a simple insertion to say that I have been undertaking National Novel Writing Month in a different way this year. Last year I wrote my dissertation instead of writing fiction. This year, I am attacking multiple projects at the same time.

First, I am writing a separate personal narrative with my four classes who are not participating in NaNoWriMo. I brainstormed in front of them and with them. I drafted when they drafted. After Thanksgiving we will move into revisions. Only then will I share each of those episodes, one of which is part of the math stories. I have a few more of those to write as well. They will appear soon.

Also, I am writing a novel-ish piece of fiction based completely on the Dare Machine on the NaNoWriMo Young Writer's Program site, a great place for students to receive communal support for their monumental undertaking. The Dare Machine is an idea generator for if/when you get stuck. On a whim, I decided to abandon all of my preplanned ideas (I'll save them for later) and surrendered myself to the mercy of the Dare Machine gods. Every scene I write comes straight from the next dare. The challenge comes in typing the scenes together coherently and cohesively.

Currently I am behind my word count goal, but honestly, for me, any bit of writing I do (that is more than responding to email or social media) is going toward my word count. So, as of the end of this post, I am siting at 21,261 words.

Reminder and a Plea for Help (or The Well is Running Dry)

First and foremost, I need to remind everybody that next Sunday, October 20th, is the National Day on Writing.  Since it falls over the weekend, I am going to celebrate the day twice.  First, I will celebrate on that day individually.  Second, I will celebrate on Monday with my students.  Awesome, huh?

I just have one problem.  I'm not sure how I want to celebrate this year.  I started this blog for the NDoW back in 2009.  In 2010 I asked for feedback for help with a publication decision.  Only two people responded.  I guess not that many people read this blog.  The next year was a complete bust, and I blamed it on Fall Break.  Instead of celebrating on October 20th, I began my first of two failed attempts at NaNoWriMo.  2011 definitely doesn't make the writing highlight reel.  Last year, in 2012, I reminded everyone else to celebrate.  I gave my students the assignment to "impress me."  That actually produced quite a bit of good student writing across multiple genres.  I also decided to share the story behind Average Joe--a little history behind the name.

And that brings me back to now.  I have a couple ideas kicking around in my brain.  There's a presentation that my colleague and I are working on that I'd like to squeeze an article or two out of.  The muses have also whispered a poetic line or three; they just didn't show me how to connect the dots.    My committee chair would probably be happier if I buckled down and finished my dissertation proposal.  I'm trying to figure out how to approach NaNoWriMo.  And, like always, sixty-three and a half assorted ideas remain percolating on the back burner.

If any of you have any ideas, please feel free to share.  Anyone have a challenge or something?

Failure Update

So...as most of you would have predicted, the NaNoWriMo is not going well again this year.  On the four days that I've actually been able to work on the novel, though I have over 7000 words. That, in and of itself isn't too bad.  And, yes, I am going to make lame excuses.  You see, I am still writing, just not on the novel.  My stats class and my independent study course revision are kicking my butt.

If I totaled up all the writing I have been doing in other places, just like last year, I'm just about on track.  In fact, I have probably gone beyond my suggested pacing: 25,000 words (since we're half way through the month.

Cool fact: Last week when I came home from class, Amy was alone in the kitchen washing dishes.  Normally, the five-ring circus monkeys are hanging from the rafters, flinging poo, and howling and all that fun metaphorical nonsense.  It was bedtime, after all.  So I went to check on the surreal quietness.  The youngest and oldest were quietly reading on the couch in the living room.  The other three were in their beds (huh? at 7:30?) writing stories!  Makes a geeky English teacher proud!

Weird coincidence: Zac's story is about a protagonist named Ben who meets another character named Jack.  My protagonist's name is Ben, and his father (one of his antagonists) is named Jack.  Cue Twilight Zone theme music.

NaNoWriMo Repentence 2012

So I haven't actually started my novel attempt for this year.  Throw all the rotten tomatoes you want. I have a force field called cyberspace right now.  No, I'm still trying to cram this independent study course together while treading water in my stats class.  I might soon resort to the "dead man" float.  Yep, I did learn something in swimming lessons back in Arkansas so many years ago.

However, life seems to be a little more organized, and I am making progress.  I had an idea in the shower Sunday morning, and I've been laying out plot lines like strands of Christmas lights.  They're tangled, and I'm not sure if they work yet, but the ladder is out, the gloves are on, and it's time to start writing.

Anyone else out there brave enough to take the challenge?

"I'm a Driver, I'm a Winner...

Things are gonna change, I can feel it." These words from Beck (1993) kind of some up the last month or so for me. With all the craziness in my overstressed life, I often feel like a loser because I'm not catching up too quickly. That being said, I'm not going to throw myself in front of a bus or anything drastic like that. I'll just keep plodding along. And one day, I'll catch up.

To exemplify my losership, I attempted the NaNoWriMo challenge at the outset of the month. It started out fairly well. However, life and lots and lots of research reading and writing got in the way. I only wrote 10,911 words out of the 50,000 required. What a loser! That's only an average of 364 words per day. That's just over one page per day. What a schmuck! Right? Of course not.

Here's how I'm still a winner: If I calculate everything that I have written for my novel and my doctoral work, I estimated this morning that I'm up to about 38,000 words. If I consider everything else I have written in the course of my 1 1/2 jobs, I take it up to 49,000. If you count my blogs, FB, email, and other correspondence, any any other garbage I may have scribbled over the past month, I beat the 50,000 word count quite a while ago.

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner Point #2: If I could have written instead have read over 1000 pages of research in the past four weeks, I believe I could have easily made my daily word count. On the two days when I actually had the time available to work on my novel, I achieved my goals quite handily.

So, you see, no soy un perdedor, Beck. I've actually accomplished quite a few impressive things this month. I've just taken to heart the advice of John Perry's article: "How to Procrastinate and Still Get Things Done." I might adopt this as my mantra. Not really, but it's fun to think about.

And believe me, this novel will be finished this school year. I'm going to try it again next semester when I'm only taking one class and will have a student teacher. "And my time is a piece of wax fallin' on a termite, who's chokin' on the splinters."

Yep. I'm a Slacker...Sort Of.

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything on here, but it's also been a long time since anyone read this either, so nanny-nanny-boo-boo! No one even tried writing a zombie haiku for me. That's okay. The contest here had much higher quality than the year before even though not quite as many students participated. Maybe they were too bust fleeing from the undead hordes to stop and encapsulate their experiences in seventeen syllables.

Lately, I have also been "writing" research papers.

Enough said about that. The project that I am currently enjoying and stressing over and falling behind in is my first ever attempt at the NaNoWriMo challenge. I'm trying to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. I'm having my 9th graders honors classes do it as well, although I let them set their own goals. I must say that for the most part I have been impressed with this group. Nobody transferred out. Then again, I kind of broadsided them with the project only a few weeks before we actually started the typing.

Anyway, if any of you have any suggestions for complicating a sixteen-year-old boy's high school social life, I'd love to hear from you.

So, there. That's why I haven't posted lately. I'm a slacker.

P.S. I also didn't celebrate the National Day on Writing. Some idiot thought it was a good idea to have Fall Break on that day. So happy belated Day on Writing. You should all go celebrate or join me in my NaNoWriMo endeavor.

Saving Face

Okay, so I'm really only writing this blog post to save a little face. I haven't posted anything of substance for quite a while. You who question if I have ever posted anything of substance might not be too far off. Just duck when I throw something blunt and heavy at your laughing mug.

Life is passing at warp speed, and I feel like I'm just trying to hold onto the starship by means of a tow cable. Re-entry might cause complete burnout, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Another semester of my Ed.D. has begun, I'm teaching 4 preps, 3 kids are in soccer (and I got suckered into coaching a sport I don't know much about--yes, again), I continue my second job as an independent study grader, I'm trying to wake up early to lose some flab, and list goes on. But I still don't think I'd trade what I have for anything else, even if it included a Baconator or two. For more about my weight-loss battle, check out my other blog: Fatty's Blubber Blog, which is long overdue for a story or two.

Come to think of it, there are about 6.8 bazillion topics that are overdue for me to write about. Anybody wanna give me a prompt or an idea that will kick me off again? Or do I stick with the Dickinson parodies I started (but never went past the second one)?

I do actually have an idea to write about, but I want to save it for NaNoWriMo. I'm going to attempt it with my 9th graders. It scares the pee pee out of me, but I'm plunging in anyway. I'm looking for something quick and easy to keep the rust from building up. Writing papers and student handouts isn't really doing it for me.

Now that I've rambled, and secured a second post for this month, I'll shut up so you can hear the crickets in my mind. (The hamster is on strike.)

Penance

Okay. So I just realized that I did not post once single time in the month of November. I wish I had some really cool excuse like I took the NaNoWriMo challenge and I was 50,000+ words into a novel that was accepted by a big name publisher, or even a small publisher, but that would be lying. I’m just a slacker who has been trying to tread water.

Truthfully, I might have written 50,000 words over the past month, but they would probably be tied back to “provide more specific details” and other such generic feedback. In fact, I’ve written so often lately that I do it in my sleep. Well, not really, but close.

As penance for my slackership, I will post post-Thanksgivingly daily (maybe) for the month of December regarding what I am thankful for. And next year, I’ll do NaNoWriMo, but I won’t be like this dude in this clip I stole about writing a novel.

So, for today, I’m thankful for my wife Amy who tells me to do my homework. I know, it’s kinda generic, but I really appreciate all her efforts to keep me on the scholastic straight and narrow. Research about educational philosophy and theoretical frameworks are much less interesting than…well…just about anything. There are so many good books that I don’t have time for that I need to read. I need to write. I need to watch football. I need to watch basketball. I need to eat. Apparently, sleeping has become optional lately. So, I am thankful for Amy who keeps me on track. She’s awesome. Oh, by the way, all my reflections are done for one class. Only two more papers to go this semester!