In my last post, I talked about how creating baby steps (aka little goals) and incentives for accomplishments will help me and you win National Novel Writing Month. At the end, I said "baby steps, that's all it is," and the moment I published that post I could already hear fellow readers saying EASIER SAID THAN DONE! in my mind. So I just HAD to continue that concept of "baby steps" in this post...
I. am. SO. PUMPED. for. NANOWRIMO 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jeez, I don't think I could add another exclamation point. Well...maybe one more. !!! (Three more, actually) :) Starting on November 1st, every participant from around the world will be doing this crazy, seemingly impossible, incredible, amazing, wacky thing called National Novel Writing Month.
What: NaNoWriMo
No really...WHAT: Write a 50,000 word novel (or part of a novel) in one month, averaging about 1667 words a day.
Who: YOU! And anyone else who's brave enough
Where: Planet Earth (who knows? Maybe on other planets aliens are doing it too XD)
When: November 1st to November 30th
Why: Because we can
How: Journals, Microsoft Word, napkins, StickyNotes, any other means you can use to document your work
Say whattt? You want me to write a BOOK in a MONTH? Mmhmm, yes, with me please! :D NaNo is so much more exciting when you know other people who are doing it too! That way, you won't feel insane for choosing to participate and you'll have someone to discuss your NaNo adventures....from your daughter's eagerness to participate in "the fun writing excercise that mommy's doing!" to sleepless nights of wrestling with your characters to the EXTRA 500 words you grilled into your laptop in one day.
In fact, having a buddy to write with is so important to me that I will disclose my NaNoWriMo username: Gwendolyn92. Feel free to add me as your buddy on the NaNoWriMo website! :)
You don't have to be an author or even a regular writer to participate. You don't even have to be good at telling stories. For NaNo, write a how-to book, a suspense thriller, a guidebook on blogging, a book filled with your poetry whose word counts all add up to 50,000 words, whatever you want. As long as it's a book, you can write it for NaNoWriMo!
I've participated in NaNoWriMo since 2006...it's become a sort of yearly tradition for me. Instead of a chore-like obligation, I see it as a way for me to take a little bit of each day to really dedicate time for me and my writing. Nothing else. (Except for maybe a cup of hot chocolate to last me until 2am) For this year's contest, I will be working on the last half of my already-published novel, Sophie, which I wrote for NaNoWriMo 2008. I can't guarantee that I will win, but I CAN guarantee that I will have fun with this (crazy) project and complete a big chunk of my novel. And to me, every word counts!!
~TRA
P.S. Expect more posts on NaNoWriMo in the near future and for the next month and a half. ;D Don't worry, I'll still update on other aspects of life, hehe.
Add some milk to the muffin mix and stir! stir! stir!
Sadly there wasn't enough muffin mix to fill all the tin cups. :(
D'oh....unfortunately I lost track of the time and they came out a little burnt. We literally had to "wolf them down," starting with the top and eating the meaty cake parts inside. They were still delicious and sweet...as you can see, I forgot to take photos until only 3 were left!
Mmmm....CHEEESSSEEEE!!!!!
After the meat was thoroughly cooked, we put it all in a napkin and placed it in a bowl to get all of the extra fat and oil out. Great way to slough off unwanted calories and not feel sluggish after eating!
We didn't use big taco shells...instead we used those Tostinos taco chips that look like bowls. They were so cute. :) Crunchy and filling.
Hope you all are having a great week, filled with delicious things to eat!
Pandora: Best radio EVER. You can pick your own "stations" based on the type of music, artist, or song you type in. With this app, you'll be able to listen to your favorites AND discover tons of other songs that you can be guaranteed to love!
Now when I say "once again" I mean I've decided to put my all back into writing and have become totally and completely immersed within it. Once again. Before, I was only putting 50% of my passions into writing because I was also Pre-Med and trying to become a doctor. Then, after a revelation (basically, I got the exact same bad grade in Chem 101 Lecture and Lab) in which my awful grades in Science contrasted sharply with the joys I felt from writing for the features magazine and recent praises I received for my article made me realize that writing is what I'm meant to do...and no matter how much I try to deviate from that path, it will always pull me back in to where I belong.
As you can see, I pretty much went through a mid-first-year-of-college-crisis. XD But I think almost every college student goes through that "Undecided Major" mode...which makes me feel better and not so alone. =]
Since I am pretty much changing my life career after changing my college major, I've decided to revamp the way I blog. I know I am bad at goals and promises and such, but I assure you this blog plan will be one that I work towards a little bit each day. :D
My New Blog Plan:
1) This whole writing-a-big-post-every-few-weeks thing isn't exactly what I call ideal, so now I'm going to post everyday or every other day...even if it's something little like a quote or a single YouTube video or big like a list of 2010 Top SmartPhone Applications (*cough* coming up next! *cough*). :)
2) Create and update a Resources page for all you lovely readers. There will be different categories and under each will be websites and other blogs that I find very helpful are particularly interesting/intriguing. Sorry, I won't be taking requests for right now.
3) Create and update a My Work page in which I'll be showing you some work that I've done as well as a little information about my self-published book, Sophie.
4) Participate in blogfests. One of the greatest things about blogs is the blogging community and the fun you have getting to know other bloggers :) Plus, as an avid writer, blogfests sound soooo awesome! Hmm, maybe I will host one of my own as well...
At the end of the year, I'll be posting a poll to find out what you'd like to see more of in my blog. Thanks to all of my readers, so much, for sticking with TRA blog!
~TRA
