Bit of a snag

It's been a rough week, and until this afternoon, I haven't written much at all. I'm way behind in my NaNoWriMo count, at 14,500 words.

I'm at the toughest part, which is advancing the plot. I have a pretty good handle on the characters; now I need them to act and for things to happen to them.

My advisory panel has been awesome this week, sharing with me what constitutes "drama" in the life of an 8th grade boy. They've also been willing to share details about what happens to the mother-son relationship as boys get closer to their teens.

So, I'll go back to the work, but before I do, I need to reset my daily word goals. With only 15 days remaining, I need to write 2,365 words a day and I can't skip.

That's gonna be tough.

10,950

I'm almost to 11,000 words! And I can't tell you how outstanding this feels.

They might be 10,950 words of crap, stream of consciousness, not really making any sense, but they are there. It's something.

Writing the dad is so much easier for me than writing the son.

And so far, it's been minorly (is that a word?) life changing. There's something about writing about the death of a young mother full of ambition that's hitting a little close to home... can't quite put my finger on it.

Tomorrow's a new day. I'm going to sleep now and opening my prayers with a thank you to God for getting me off my lazy butt and giving this a go. I'm feeling proud.

6,000 and Counting

As of this morning, I have more than 6,000 words of my "novel" written. It's a bunch of crap, but at least it's something.

I'm having the most difficult time writing my 12-year-old male protagonist. It's not a viewpoint I'm terribly familiar with...

The Power of Visualizing

In signing up at the NaNoWriMo site today, I noticed they had an option to upload details about the novel you are working on, including cover art.

Feeling sorry for myself that I wasn't that far along, I quickly checked my attitude and thought, "I can work one up in five minutes."

So I did... what do you think? (I especially dig the line at the bottom of the cover... you know what they say... if you can visualize it, you can make it happen... so why not shoot for the stars... of the Hollywood variety?)

NaNoWriMo: Giving it a Shot

So, after writing my big whiner post this morning at Balancing Business & Babies, I had a change of heart.

I can do this thing. I know it.

Well, maybe I can't write 50,000 words by the end of November, but I can certainly write something.

So, I went out to sign up. You can follow my progress here.

Want to be on a panel?

If you've ever dreamed of being on an advisory panel, now's your chance...

I'm looking to build a very informal "advisory group" made up of moms and dads to boys age 11 to 14 who will help me when I have questions.

All I need is an email address and the ages of your child(ren). I'll submit a question to the group every now and then, which you can answer or not, up to you. And that's it. That's all you need to commit to.

The protagonist in the novel, which is loosely based on my blog, Balancing Business & Babies, is an 8th grade boy. Because I don't have an 8th grade boy (only my 3-year-old to imagine as a 13-year-old), I need some help.

If you're interested, send me a note at kelly [at] desmoinesfamilies [dot] com.

As if I need another blog...

Welcome to The Making of "Truth Be Told" -- the working title of my novel in progress.

And when I say "in progress," I'm pretty serious. I have 547 words, so there is some progress, but it's what you might call moderate.

The plot is still developing, but the gist is that an 8th-grade boy loses his mom in some sort of TBD tragedy. He is extremely angry with her, both for her life and her death, but learns how much she really cared about him by reading the newspaper.

That's because the local paper's editorial staff has decided -- as a tribute to his mom -- to reprint a series of columns she wrote when the boy was a toddler.

The columns will appear in the book, and they will be developed from my Balancing Business & Babies blog, which I have been writing for nearly two years.

It's going to be a challenge, but I think I'm up for it. Wish me luck!