What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #4

I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2014 because of a dare. Someone was planning to try the 50,000 words in a month challenge and dared me to participate. I didn’t think the word count was achievable, but I also thought I had nothing to lose if I tried. I barely made it over the finish line that first year. I have participated ever since. I’ve learned several important lessons during the nine years since joining the battle for words in November. Some of them apply only to me, but there are several that a fellow writer might take and run with. A good place to start is at the beginning of what I learned from participating in NaNoWriMo #4.

What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #4

As a rule, I don’t do cheesy. I don’t enjoy stuff that appears overproduced and is done to create some form of phony emotional response. When I feel someone is trying to get me to climb on a bandwagon, I find myself running in the opposite direction. But some somethings are cool despite their chesty factor. Mardis Gras beads are a perfect example. Some conditions contribute to the coolness factor. They must be thrown from a float traveling down a street in New Orleans to be considered cool. Bonus points are added if they are sewn into the costume of one of the New Orleans city Indians when they march on St Joseph’s Day. Those are the coolest beads of all.

NaNoWriMo holds that coolness attraction for me. All those badges you earn for reaching goals during November might look like glorified Girl Scout patches, but it still feels good when you earn one. The whole concept would be laughable if it didn’t light a creative fuse in people. I don’t generally participate in projects like NaNoWriMo, but I am drawn back yearly to the quest for 50,000 less than perfect words. It’s a cheesy, cool thing to do, like yelling in the crowd for beads to be tossed from a passing float filled with creative fun. 

Maybe you don’t do cheesy cool.

Okay, I respect that. You do you, and I’ll do me. You don’t have to wait for NaNoWriMo to roll around. Sit down at your computer today, or wait until January and start the new year writing. Laissez bon temps rouler. It’s all good.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!

The Heart Thief

In high school, I had a young teacher straight out of college. She came up with the idea to have us study song lyrics as modern poetry. We’d pick the words of a song and analyze what the songwriter was trying to say. I thought it was a cool thing to do at the time.…

by henhouselady

Entry 339: My Brain Needed a Rest

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps and got stuck in ditches, and sometimes…

by henhouselady

What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #3

I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2014 because of a dare. Someone was planning to try the 50,000 words in a month challenge and dared me to participate. I didn’t think the word count was achievable, but I also thought I had nothing to lose if I tried. I barely made it over the finish…

by henhouselady

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The Heart Thief

In high school, I had a young teacher straight out of college. She came up with the idea to have us study song lyrics as modern poetry. We’d pick the words of a song and analyze what the songwriter was trying to say. I thought it was a cool thing to do at the time. I still like the idea. I want to revisit that practice on this last leg of my Golden Shovel Poems. I plan to take the lyrics of some of my favorite poems and use each word to end my lines. Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower will be my first selection. I might as well start this off with a master like Mr. Dylan. Therefore, this new Golden Shovel Poem will be titled The Heart Thief.

 Terrance Hayes invented the Golden Shovel style of poetry. This form of found poetry allows the writer to take a favorite poem and use it to make something original. I experimented with found poetry last year when I wrote Blank Verse poems. Now, I am having fun writing Golden Shovel Poetry. 

The rules for writing a Golden Shovel Poem and The Heart Thief

While researching this style of poetry created by Terrance Hayes, there seem to be four simple rules. You can use as many lines of the poem as you want, and the poem will end with you being your creation. I find this idea interesting. Written below are the three simple rules.

1). Choose a poem that you like. Currently, I will use Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower.

2)Use each word in the line or lines as the end word in your poem. Make sure they stay in order.

3) Construct an entire poem around them. The meaning doesn’t have to be the same.

4) Give credit to the original poet who wrote the line or lines you used.


The Heart Thief 



It was easy to say no

I didn’t need a reason

Because my heart wanted to

Take what it could get

Without the need to be excited

About the emotion and the

Guilt of being a thief

For stealing everything he

Wanted and he remained kindly

With the heated words he spoke.



I couldn’t remain there

Where all the degraded are

Weeping with many

Tears shed here

I couldn’t remain among

The deserted because of us

The ones who

Continued to feel

The ones that

Despairing for a life

Free from longing one that is

Lived in desperate beauty, but
Between the sigh and the cry a

Heart thief turned it into a joke.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!

What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #4

I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2014 because of a dare. Someone was planning to try the 50,000 words in a month challenge and dared me to participate. I didn’t think the word count was achievable, but I also thought I had nothing to lose if I tried. I barely made it over the finish…

by henhouselady

Rich Men

In high school, I had a young teacher straight out of college. She came up with the idea to have us study song lyrics as modern poetry. We’d pick the words of a song and analyze what the songwriter was trying to say. I thought it was a cool thing to do at the time.…

by henhouselady

Entry 338: I Need to Think The Process Through

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps and got stuck in ditches, and sometimes…

by henhouselady

One thought on “The Heart Thief”

  1. A nearly universal experience, powerfully written of. You have a way of walking us through the inner processes from way back near their beginnings, so that we reach the beautifully described ends with full impact. Nice job.

    Reply

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Entry 339: My Brain Needed a Rest

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps and got stuck in ditches, and sometimes the scenery becomes tedious. The repetition of editing can become monotonous. Computer glitches can become obstacles along the path as tiresome as construction zones. It can leave a person stuck in technical traffic for hours. The best solution to such problems is sometimes to drive a different route. Please fasten your seat belts and prepare for this new stage on my writing journey. Therefore, I titled this post Entry 339: My Brain Needed a Rest.

Remember, editing is an important part of the writing process. Editing is where the artistry takes place. It’s where a writer thinks with their head to catch mistakes. Editing is the sweet spot where the delete button comes in handy. It’s where the creator decides which words belong to the reader and which ones remain with them.

My morning pages and Entry 339: My Brain Needed a Rest

This morning, there was no word count or pages. Rooster and I took the day off. My brain needed to rest. It had been working so hard during November. It’s not easy to make it through the NaNoWriMo challenge. All that writing can take a toll. We need to have a little fun.

What I am currently reading and Entry 339: My Brain Needed a Rest

Sorry, I didn’t select the next book I plan to start today. There are a couple of Margaret Atwood’s on my bookshelves. I read The Handmaid’s Tale and enjoyed it.

The music I selected today and Entry 339: My Brain Needed a Rest

My guy characters are traveling in a car. The characters wanted to listen to heavy metal, so I picked Stone Temple Pilots Core this morning. I needed to take the edge off, so I put a Chicago’s Greatest Hits CD on next.

The stuff going on in my life at the moment and Entry 339: My Brain Needed a Rest.

(This is the part that might get boring. You can skip it if you want.)

Rooster and I left town for the day. The temperatures have warmed up, and it hasn’t started to rain yet. We are on the good side of a front, so what would have amounted to lots of snow will be rain. It was a great travel day. The road construction on the highway is done for the year. It looks like they made progress. We visited several of our favorite spots in Indianapolis and returned home as it got dark. I feel energized and ready to get back on it tomorrow.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!

What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #2

I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2014 because of a dare. Someone was planning to try the 50,000 words in a month challenge and dared me to participate. I didn’t think the word count was achievable, but I also thought I had nothing to lose if I tried. I barely made it over the finish…

by henhouselady

The Message

In high school, I had a young teacher straight out of college. She came up with the idea to have us study song lyrics as modern poetry. We’d pick the words of a song and analyze what the songwriter was trying to say. I thought it was a cool thing to do at the time.…

by henhouselady

Entry 337: Bringing the Players Together

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps and got stuck in ditches, and sometimes…

by henhouselady

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What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #3

I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2014 because of a dare. Someone was planning to try the 50,000 words in a month challenge and dared me to participate. I didn’t think the word count was achievable, but I also thought I had nothing to lose if I tried. I barely made it over the finish line that first year. I have participated ever since. I’ve learned several important lessons during the nine years since joining the battle for words in November. Some of them apply only to me, but there are several that a fellow writer might take and run with. A good place to start is at the beginning of what I learned from participating in NaNoWriMo #3.

What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #3

Let me tell you a big secret about NaNoWriMo. The word count doesn’t matter in the least little bit. It is participation that counts. The whole 50,000 words in November was designed to inspire people to write.

Your big dream is to write the great American novel someday. You have this great idea stuck in your head but have put off sitting down to do the writing. You might have good intentions but lack inspiration beyond the first sentence. You are stuck and keep putting it off because you lack time. Then, you come across the NaNoWriMo challenge and have an Eureka moment. November is the time when you decide you are going to do it. You get 20,000 words into the project on November 30th. That is when you realize you won’t achieve your goal, but at least you started down the right road that will keep you writing.

The whole point of NaNoWriMo is for a person to put their bottom in the chair, boot up the computer, kick up the pen, or stroke the keys on a typewriter, and write. This challenge might be the big push you need to get moving in the right direction.

Maybe the word count is important to you.

I can see that happening. You think you’ve failed because you didn’t hang in there for the entire month and suffer the way a writer should. If you need to suffer guilt about it, go ahead. Whatever floats your boat. Go ahead, beat yourself up. Once you have finished mentally flogging yourself, sit down at the computer and write. It’s your story. Tag your it. You are the only one who can tell it to the world.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!

 What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #1

I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2014 because of a dare. Someone was planning to try the 50,000 words in a month challenge and dared me to participate. I didn’t think the word count was achievable, but I also thought I had nothing to lose if I tried. I barely made it over the finish…

by henhouselady

Winter Funeral

Okay, Word Daddy is missing in action. He must be on another one of his cross-country road trips. I hope his motorcycle breaks down and leaves him stranded in Tucumcari. Sorry, I shouldn’t talk smack about my unreliable muse. I decided to hang out with the Golden Shovel Poems for a while longer. What can…

by henhouselady

Entry 336: The Best of Times

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps and got stuck in ditches, and sometimes,…

by henhouselady

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Rich Men

In high school, I had a young teacher straight out of college. She came up with the idea to have us study song lyrics as modern poetry. We’d pick the words of a song and analyze what the songwriter was trying to say. I thought it was a cool thing to do at the time. I still like the idea. I want to revisit that practice on this last leg of my Golden Shovel Poems. I plan to take the lyrics of some of my favorite poems and use each word to end my lines. Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower will be my first selection. I might as well start this off with a master like Mr. Dylan. Therefore, this new Golden Shovel Poem will be titled Rich Men.

 Terrance Hayes invented the Golden Shovel style of poetry. This form of found poetry allows the writer to take a favorite poem and use it to make something original. I experimented with found poetry last year when I wrote Blank Verse poems. Now, I am having fun writing Golden Shovel Poetry. 

The rules for writing a Golden Shovel Poem and Rich Men

While researching this style of poetry created by Terrance Hayes, there seem to be four simple rules. You can use as many lines of the poem as you want, and the poem will end with you being your creation. I find this idea interesting. Written below are the three simple rules.

1). Choose a poem that you like. Currently, I will use Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower.

2)Use each word in the line or lines as the end word in your poem. Make sure they stay in order.

3) Construct an entire poem around them. The meaning doesn’t have to be the same.

4) Give credit to the original poet who wrote the line or lines you used.


Rich Men



Those sharp-dressed businessmen

With manicured hands and fake smiles they

With more than enough to eat and drink

They think they understand my

Dilemma while  talking over wine

They disregard the plowman

Scoping soil as fast as they dig

They think they understand my

Kin, the salt of the earth.



Spoken by all and understood by none

Rich men know nothing of

A world that can’t relate to them

They measure the cost all along

A road they didn’t walk and the

Lane with the dotted yellow line

Speak about things they will never know

With the voice of authority, they say what



Knowing that we won’t understand any

Of the double talk that comes out of

A word slingers mouth or that it

Has no meaning here and that is

The measure of what it is worth

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!

Noise on the Roof

Okay, Word Daddy is missing in action. He must be on another one of his cross-country road trips. I hope his motorcycle breaks down and leaves him stranded in Tucumcari. Sorry, I shouldn’t talk smack about my unreliable muse. I decided to hang out with the Golden Shovel Poems for a while longer. What can…

by henhouselady

Entry 335: Not Young Birds

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps and got stuck in ditches, and sometimes…

by henhouselady

Destruction

Okay, Word Daddy is missing in action. He must be on another one of his cross-country road trips. I hope his motorcycle breaks down and leaves him stranded in Tucumcari. Sorry, I shouldn’t talk smack about my unreliable muse. I decided to hang out with the Golden Shovel Poems for a while longer. What can…

by henhouselady

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Entry 338: I Need to Think The Process Through

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps and got stuck in ditches, and sometimes the scenery becomes tedious. The repetition of editing can become monotonous. Computer glitches can become obstacles along the path as tiresome as construction zones. It can leave a person stuck in technical traffic for hours. The best solution to such problems is sometimes to drive a different route. Please fasten your seat belts and prepare for this new stage on my writing journey. Therefore, I titled this post Entry 338: I Need to Think The Process Through.

Remember, editing is an important part of the writing process. Editing is where the artistry takes place. It’s where a writer thinks with their head to catch mistakes. Editing is the sweet spot where the delete button comes in handy. It’s where the creator decides which words belong to the reader and which ones remain with them.

My morning pages and Entry 338: I Need to Think The Process Through

I’m still plugging away at finishing my book. My morning pages didn’t exactly shine. I am stuck in Chapter 29, attempting to make the movements seem realistic. I think I wore my mind out during NaNoWriMo. Maybe it’s time for a break. I need to think the process through.

What I am currently reading and Entry 338: I Need to Think The Process Through

I plan to finish reading Mark Sullivan’s Beneath a Scarlet Sky today. Ino Lella lived a very exciting life. He did some amazing things. There were a few interesting twists at the end of his wartime story. It seemed like Pino had more courage at the beginning of his life than at the end. Maybe it’s that way for all of us.

The music I selected today and Entry 338: I Need to Think The Process Through

I listened to Damien Rice’s O this morning. He is an Irish singer-songwriter born in Dublin. Rice once traveled around Europe busking in the streets. O was his breakthrough album.

The stuff going on in my life at the moment and Entry 338: I Need to Think The Process Through

(This is the part that might get boring. You can skip it if you want.)

It’s colder today than it was yesterday, and that’s saying a lot. I had to break down and buy a new coat. I’ve had my old one for five years. It wasn’t as warm as it should be for living in Indiana. We had lunch with family members, and people’s cars weren’t starting. My daughter’s car got stuck at the restaurant. It is early in the year to be experiencing these temperatures. Rooster and I went to the gym and exercised despite the urge to stay inside and hibernate.

The saddest thing about the current weather is that the wind has stripped the last leaves from the trees, and they are now all naked. They almost look violated. I prefer a well-dressed tree.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!

Entry 334: Computer Issues

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps and got stuck in ditches, and sometimes…

by henhouselady

Wakefulness

Okay, Word Daddy is missing in action. He must be on another one of his cross-country road trips. I hope his motorcycle breaks down and leaves him stranded in Tucumcari. Sorry, I shouldn’t talk smack about my unreliable muse. I decided to hang out with the Golden Shovel Poems for a while longer. What can…

by henhouselady

Entry 333: No Time for Procrastination

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps and got stuck in ditches, and sometimes…

by henhouselady

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What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #2

I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2014 because of a dare. Someone was planning to try the 50,000 words in a month challenge and dared me to participate. I didn’t think the word count was achievable, but I also thought I had nothing to lose if I tried. I barely made it over the finish line that first year. I have participated ever since. I’ve learned several important lessons during the nine years since joining the battle for words in November. Some of them apply only to me, but there are several that a fellow writer might take and run with. A good place to start is at the beginning of what I learned from participating in NaNoWriMo #2.

What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #2

I discovered I receive great joy from competing against myself. One of my big problems in life is that I hate competing in a contest where there is a loser. As a kid, I was a good runner, but I hated to race because I felt great guilt if I beat another person. The big problem is that I have a very competitive nature. I have always found the outcome of any contest in life is better when the person I am challenging is me.

I suck at card games, contests of any kind, and that holiday gift-giving ritual that is often done more to impress others. My best moments come when I set a goal and strive to achieve it. That’s how I got through college as a thirty-year-old student with dyslexia. After my studies, I had a three-point 9 GPA. I strove every semester to receive an A in a class. I discovered that I sucked at math, but I exhaled in history and literature. The papers I wrote were riddled with grammar errors but were fantastic regarding content. I used the same tactics when it came to walking. The goal of 10,000 steps a day is a worthy challenge. I bought a fancy watch and surpassed that goal by a few thousand steps most days.

Setting a goal and competing against myself to accomplish it drew me to NaNoWriMo, like a hungry lion to a fat antelope. The only person keeping track of my word count is me. I don’t lose anything if I fail to accomplish the 50,000 words. What I get out of the adventure is 50,000 words and a feeling of accomplishing something when November 30th rolls around.

Warning: This might not work for you

Maybe you need the thrill of competition with someone to get your creative juices flowing. There are a lot of people who accept the NaNoWriMo challenge. Get with one of them and compete for word count with one another. You have an entire year to find your partner. Who knows. It might be a lot of fun.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!

 Words Written in a Pink House

Okay, Word Daddy is missing in action. He must be on another one of his cross-country road trips. I hope his motorcycle breaks down and leaves him stranded in Tucumcari. Sorry, I shouldn’t talk smack about my unreliable muse. I decided to hang out with the Golden Shovel Poems for a while longer. What can…

by henhouselady

Entry 332: Added More Words

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps and got stuck in ditches, and sometimes…

by henhouselady

 The Walking Blind

Okay, Word Daddy is missing in action. He must be on another one of his cross-country road trips. I hope his motorcycle breaks down and leaves him stranded in Tucumcari. Sorry, I shouldn’t talk smack about my unreliable muse. I decided to hang out with the Golden Shovel Poems for a while longer. What can…

by henhouselady

2 thoughts on “What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #2”

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The Message

In high school, I had a young teacher straight out of college. She came up with the idea to have us study song lyrics as modern poetry. We’d pick the words of a song and analyze what the songwriter was trying to say. I thought it was a cool thing to do at the time. I still like the idea. I want to revisit that practice on this last leg of my Golden Shovel Poems. I plan to take the lyrics of some of my favorite poems and use each word to end my lines. Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower will be my first selection. I might as well start off with a master like Bob Dylan. Therefore, this new Golden Shovel Poem will be titled The Message.

 Terrance Hayes invented the Golden Shovel style of poetry. This form of found poetry allows the writer to take a favorite poem and use it to make something original. I experimented with found poetry last year when I wrote Blank Verse poems. Now, I am having fun writing Golden Shovel Poetry. 

The rules for writing a Golden Shovel Poem and The Message

While researching this style of poetry created by Terrance Hayes, there seem to be four simple rules. You can use as many lines of the poem as you want, and the poem will end with you being your creation. I find this idea interesting. Written below are the three simple rules.

1). Choose a poem that you like. Currently, I will use Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower.

2)Use each word in the line or lines as the end word in your poem. Make sure they stay in order.

3) Construct an entire poem around them. The meaning doesn’t have to be the same.

4) Give credit to the original poet who wrote the line or lines you used.

The Message



I read the words written there

It seemed like something that must

Capture my attention and be

Taken seriously by some

And ignored by others around the way

They might eventually sort the truth out

When they realize the high cost of

Disregarding what’s happening here.

The point of everything written and said

The words like tiny birds and the

Sad Sly smile painted on the face of the joker

Never comprehending who they addressed to

The sarcastic smile and the

Words spoken by the thief.



He mentioned that there’s

Too much of a good thing, too 

Make us for something much

More than the illusion and confusion

And I thought that I

Could understand, but I can’t

There is something in the message I don’t get

When no is yes and yes is no

The result doesn’t lend any relief.


Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!

Entry 331: Keeping Score

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps, got stuck in ditches, and sometimes the…

by henhouselady

 Falsehoods

Okay, Word Daddy is missing in action. He must be on another one of his cross-country road trips. I hope his motorcycle breaks down and leaves him stranded in Tucumcari. Sorry, I shouldn’t talk smack about my unreliable muse. I decided to hang out with the Golden Shovel Poems for a while longer. What can…

by henhouselady

Entry 330: I Have My Word Count

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps, got stuck in ditches, and sometimes the…

by henhouselady

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Entry 337: Bringing the Players Together

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps and got stuck in ditches, and sometimes the scenery becomes tedious. The repetition of editing can become monotonous. Computer glitches can become obstacles along the path as tiresome as construction zones. It can leave a person stuck in technical traffic for hours. The best solution to such problems is sometimes to drive a different route. Please fasten your seat belts and prepare for this new stage on my writing journey. Therefore, I titled this post Entry 337: Bringing the Players Together.

Remember, editing is an important part of the writing process. Editing is where the artistry takes place. It’s where a writer thinks with their head to catch mistakes. Editing is the sweet spot where the delete button comes in handy. It’s where the creator decides which words belong to the reader and which ones remain with them.

My morning pages and Entry 337: Bringing the Players Together

I started Chapter 29 during my morning pages. Because I no longer care about the word count, I won’t bother boring you with that. The characters have reached a point in my book where they all stand on a precipice. One wrong move and one or more of them will end up dead. The bad guys will be brought down if they make the right move. I’ve decided to send them unexpected help. Bella will have unexpected allies come to her aid. I am unsure how to work it all out, but Irish men, Indians, a werewolf, and the NYPD will all join together to bring things to an end. Now, all I have to do is figure out how to bring the players to the stage without anyone finding out about Will Chandler’s big secret.

What I am currently reading and Entry 337: Bringing the Players Together

Mob rule explodes in Milan at the close of the war. People seeking revenge kill anyone they believe is a Nazi sympathizer. There is a big problem with that. The mob ends up killing people who performed courageous acts by working undercover to defeat the foe. Within a short period, two people Pino cares about are murdered. I am almost finished with Mark Sullivan’s Beneath a Scarlet Sky. This book won’t have a happy ending.

The music I selected today and Entry 337: Bringing the Players Together

I listened to Bryan Adams, so far so good, while writing this morning. The words to the album weren’t capitalized.

The stuff going on in my life at the moment and Entry 337: Bringing the Players Together.

(This is the part that might get boring. You can skip it if you want.)

It’s turned cold. The wind blows out of the north, stripping the last fall colors from the tree branches. Rooster and I stayed inside where it was warm this morning and worked. Did I mention there was a problem getting my passport? I have to mail them my birth certificate. The one I removed from our papers was a copy. We thought it looked weird, but the woman at the counter accepted it when I applied. I’ll mail the right one this afternoon.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!

Cold Surprise

Okay, Word Daddy is missing in action. He must be on another one of his cross-country road trips. I hope his motorcycle breaks down and leaves him stranded in Tucumcari. Sorry, I shouldn’t talk smack about my unreliable muse. I decided to hang out with the Golden Shovel Poems for a while longer. What can…

by henhouselady

Entry 329: About to Place My Characters in Mortal Danger

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps, got stuck in ditches, and sometimes the…

by henhouselady

Telling Secrets

Okay, Word Daddy is missing in action. He must be on another one of his cross-country road trips. I hope his motorcycle breaks down and leaves him stranded in Tucumcari. Sorry, I shouldn’t talk smack about my unreliable muse. I decided to hang out with the Golden Shovel Poems for a while longer. What can…

by henhouselady

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 What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #1

I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2014 because of a dare. Someone was planning to try the 50,000 words in a month challenge and dared me to participate. I didn’t think the word count was achievable, but I also thought I had nothing to lose if I tried. I barely made it over the finish line that first year. I have participated ever since. I’ve learned several important lessons during the past nine years of joining the fray in November. Some of them apply only to me, but there are several that a fellow writer might take and run with. A good place to start is at the beginning of what I learned from participating in NaNoWriMo #1.

What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #1

I discovered how to not wait for a moment of inspiration to get words onto the computer screen. If I had to wait for my fickle muse to appear, my word count might be 500 by the end of November. Word Daddy has a bad habit of never showing up, especially when I get stuck and need him. The guy is off drinking in some seedy bar or making time with some floozy. When he does bother to arrive, I often wish he was still gone. He tracks mud on my floor, smells like booze and cheap cigars, and gives me lousy advice.

NaNoWriMo has taught me to go it on my own without inspiration. All I need is a good story idea to get started. I’ve discovered if I put one word in front of the other, I soon have a sentence. The sentences lead to paragraphs. Before I know it, I will have a completed page that will soon become a chapter, and I won’t need Word Daddy. It’s funny how that process works.

I used to wait for Word Daddy to appear or for the mood to strike. The thing about working that way was I never accomplished anything. I set out with a great story in my head, and it would fall apart before I managed to get the words to make it to the page. That idea left me thinking I could never finish a novel from start to finish. I had a collection of short stories that needed to be developed. They were interesting but left me feeling like I could have done better. I found myself stuck in a vicious cycle. NaNoWriMo forced me to get into the practice of writing without that euphoric feeling that some fictitious writing spirit sprinkled me with fairy dust.

Warning that comes about writing without inspiration

Working despite how I feel works for me. This strategy might not be useful to everyone. Every writer does the work using their own methods. If waiting for inspiration works for you, I say go for it. Maybe your muse isn’t a self-righteous undependable jerk with a drinking problem. Whatever works for you is good.

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

Be sure to follow Molly on Twitter!

Entry 328: Happy Thanksgiving

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps, got stuck in ditches, and sometimes the…

by henhouselady

The Frogs Lost Love Story

Okay, Word Daddy is missing in action. He must be on another one of his cross-country road trips. I hope his motorcycle breaks down and leaves him stranded in Tucumcari. Sorry, I shouldn’t talk smack about my unreliable muse. I decided to hang out with the Golden Shovel Poems for a while longer. What can…

by henhouselady

Entry 327: A Mind of It’s Own

Keeping a journal has never been one of my strongest pursuits. I find it boring talking about myself for an extended period. This year, I wrote blog entries telling the tales about the things I’ve encountered along my writing road. On this writer’s journey, I’ve run into bumps, got stuck in ditches, and sometimes the…

by henhouselady

8 thoughts on “ What I Learned from Participating in NaNoWriMo #1”

  2. I did NaNoWriMo a few times. Then they got political. I ended up deleting my account. :-/
    One year I did NaNo, November ended, but I was going to keep up the nightly writing habit to finish my book. As I was about to settle down for the evening, my husband looked all surprised and made a “you’re still doing that?” comment. It was so crushing, I was never able to get back into it again. I don’t think he had a clue what an effect that casual comment had on me.

    Reply

      1. Oh, it was a few years ago, right after a certain election. And it wasn’t in the forums. I never participated in those. It was in the organizer communications.

      3. Perhaps is was not as widespread as I thought. I saw it in the support emails I was getting. After just a couple of them, I was so disgusted, I cancelled my account. Aside from the actual content, it’s like… I’m Canadian. STFU about your personal political attacks on a duly elected US president. This is not the place.

        It wasn’t as bad as Ravelry. Yet? I used to participate regularly on there, but it became very clear that one social or political viewpoint could say what whatever they wanted, and post patterns they made displaying their extreme bias and hate, even in forums that were about very specific, non-political topics, but anyone who held a different viewpoint, they could get attacked, banned, and the admins would step in and remove content or users. And this was back in the early 2000’s! I even had to stop going to a real life craft group that met weekly, because only certain social and political views were acceptable. The “love and tolerance” crowd is very hateful and intolerant, that’s for sure.

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