Hi everyone!
This is just a short post - a few exciting things are happening at the moment. I am doing an amazing challenge for the next two days - 50,000 words in 48 hours so wish me luck! The way this works is that I work flat out as long as I can - I CAN take breaks but I will have to stop the clock during them and restart it when I'm ready to start again. However, I do need to complete the 50,000 words in the 48 hours to win the challenge so I'll have to utilize my time wisely. I know a few tricks to speed up the writing so I'll probably be using them all. One good thing about posting about the challenge on the forums is that everyone knows I'm doing it so a) I'm accountable! and b) I can't back out even if the going gets tough. Unusually for me I am going to write on the laptop - I prefer writing by hand but can't figure out how I could reach that amount of words (except, perhaps, if I write in shorthand) and also I have a problem with my hand - the treatment has worn off so writing is very painful. At least using the laptop I can keep a check on my word count. If I reach 50,000 words ahead of time (unlikely, I admit) I will try to carry on if I'm physically capable. People have asked me what I'd do if the story I'm writing was finished before then - in that situation I'd simply start another one in the same document (that's unlikely though - especially as this is my first ever book for adults (as opposed to an adult book, if you see what I mean). In answer to a question I was asked last week, the most amount I have ever written in one day was 25,000 words (yes, you read that right, TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND WORDS) so I'm pretty sure it can be done. According to the rules I need to write an actual story - not simply write one word 50,000 times! I also have to update here and post sections of hte story (the more sensible ones). Why am I doing this? Well, apart from the fact it's for a charity that is very close to my heart, it's a great way to get first drafts of books written. The first draft is never great (as I discovered to my cost when I wrote The Wishing Tree in 3 months and sent it out after reading through it immediately ... no wonder that was never published with some of hte mistakes that contained ... BUT it is the skeleton and I can put the flesh on it and polish it up until it shines like the top of the Chrysler building in the midday sun a few months later.
Paul starts filming today - we'll be thinking of you back here in cold, miserable England Paul, while you enjoy filming in temperatures of 80 degrees or more. Jealous? Who me? You bet! :-) Good luck to Bree and Scott (who has bravely stepped into the breach by playing a character at short notice) and MEGA THANKS TO TESSA (of course, to the rest of your lovely family as well) for everything - and especially what you wrote to me on Thursday.
Several people have said they are having problems viewing this site so I'm trying hard to fix the glitches. I'm going to try republishing it live and see if that makes any difference. Apologies for the technical problems - I'll have it fixed as soon as possible. Please feel free to leave any messages for me on the website and I will respond.
Plenty more pages being added over the next week or so so keep your eyes peeled. For now, though, I'd better hurry and get ready for that challenge. Please let me know if you want to sponsor me! It's for a good cause - the Alzheimers Society.
I'll drop by on Tuesday or Wednesday and let you know how I get on! Massive thanks to everyone at NaNoWriMo for all their support. Special shoutout goes to Rosie, Tenyo, Tessa, Lesley who I believe has just joined, the two K/Christines, Keri and all my writing buddies. You guys will get me through this and your support has been invaluable ... this is the only chance I have to do the challenge so I'm going to clasp the opportunity in both hands.
Take care everyone, see you all soon!
Mel!
This is just a short post - a few exciting things are happening at the moment. I am doing an amazing challenge for the next two days - 50,000 words in 48 hours so wish me luck! The way this works is that I work flat out as long as I can - I CAN take breaks but I will have to stop the clock during them and restart it when I'm ready to start again. However, I do need to complete the 50,000 words in the 48 hours to win the challenge so I'll have to utilize my time wisely. I know a few tricks to speed up the writing so I'll probably be using them all. One good thing about posting about the challenge on the forums is that everyone knows I'm doing it so a) I'm accountable! and b) I can't back out even if the going gets tough. Unusually for me I am going to write on the laptop - I prefer writing by hand but can't figure out how I could reach that amount of words (except, perhaps, if I write in shorthand) and also I have a problem with my hand - the treatment has worn off so writing is very painful. At least using the laptop I can keep a check on my word count. If I reach 50,000 words ahead of time (unlikely, I admit) I will try to carry on if I'm physically capable. People have asked me what I'd do if the story I'm writing was finished before then - in that situation I'd simply start another one in the same document (that's unlikely though - especially as this is my first ever book for adults (as opposed to an adult book, if you see what I mean). In answer to a question I was asked last week, the most amount I have ever written in one day was 25,000 words (yes, you read that right, TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND WORDS) so I'm pretty sure it can be done. According to the rules I need to write an actual story - not simply write one word 50,000 times! I also have to update here and post sections of hte story (the more sensible ones). Why am I doing this? Well, apart from the fact it's for a charity that is very close to my heart, it's a great way to get first drafts of books written. The first draft is never great (as I discovered to my cost when I wrote The Wishing Tree in 3 months and sent it out after reading through it immediately ... no wonder that was never published with some of hte mistakes that contained ... BUT it is the skeleton and I can put the flesh on it and polish it up until it shines like the top of the Chrysler building in the midday sun a few months later.
Paul starts filming today - we'll be thinking of you back here in cold, miserable England Paul, while you enjoy filming in temperatures of 80 degrees or more. Jealous? Who me? You bet! :-) Good luck to Bree and Scott (who has bravely stepped into the breach by playing a character at short notice) and MEGA THANKS TO TESSA (of course, to the rest of your lovely family as well) for everything - and especially what you wrote to me on Thursday.
Several people have said they are having problems viewing this site so I'm trying hard to fix the glitches. I'm going to try republishing it live and see if that makes any difference. Apologies for the technical problems - I'll have it fixed as soon as possible. Please feel free to leave any messages for me on the website and I will respond.
Plenty more pages being added over the next week or so so keep your eyes peeled. For now, though, I'd better hurry and get ready for that challenge. Please let me know if you want to sponsor me! It's for a good cause - the Alzheimers Society.
I'll drop by on Tuesday or Wednesday and let you know how I get on! Massive thanks to everyone at NaNoWriMo for all their support. Special shoutout goes to Rosie, Tenyo, Tessa, Lesley who I believe has just joined, the two K/Christines, Keri and all my writing buddies. You guys will get me through this and your support has been invaluable ... this is the only chance I have to do the challenge so I'm going to clasp the opportunity in both hands.
Take care everyone, see you all soon!
Mel!
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