This month I am grateful for Camp NaNoWriMo – and another 32,000 words written of Rhiannon’s story – and for just how stubborn I am, and determined… And I’m grateful for high tea with a sweet friend, and my sweet hubby’s endless patience when I’m writing…
With thanks… Friday April 1… Jillian day 5 + 10,000 steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 1 – 1005 words…
Today I am grateful that I kicked off day one of Camp NaNoWriMo with 1005 words – I’ve committed to a thousand words a day for this month, so I was happy with that, especially given how frustrating and time-lacking today was. And it was so awesome to (re)start writing Rhiannon’s story. Last July, my first Camp NaNoWriMo, I wrote 35,000 words of my first Into the Mists Chronicle, which started off as Rhiannon’s story, but somehow during that month became intertwined with Beth’s story… I hadn’t looked at it since then though. And funnily enough, even though I’d planned to re-read it all yesterday to see where I’m up to and what has happened and should happen, as usual I ended up being flat out all day, so I still haven’t revisited it. But I’m kinda liking that anyway, and maybe I won’t re-read it until halfway through, or even at the end 🙂
I really love how once you start writing, it begins to flow, and suddenly the story starts to emerge. I had no idea what I would write today, yet once I had a pen in my hand and a black sheet of paper before me, and starting scribbling out words, more words came. That’s why I truly believe you can’t wait for inspiration to hit you, or motivation to fill you – you need to sit down and start writing, and then the inspiration will come. Maybe not immediately, but the more you write, the more you’ll want to write, and the more you’ll get caught up in the story, and discover the ways to get from point A to point B, and all the fascinating twists and turns and detours along the way. I also don’t believe that motivation exists, I think it’s a lie we tell ourselves – and an excuse to allow ourselves not to write our story, or create our project, or start a fitness journey, or make our dream come true. If it does exist, it’s totally fleeting, and not reliable at all. Instead you need to rely on dedication and commitment, on discipline and plain old hard work. Very rarely do I want to write, but I make myself do it because I have a goal I want to reach. I never really have time to do it either – I just have to make time…
I found this Harper Lee quote amusingly relevant for my total lack of preparation for NaNo: “Courage is when you know you’re licked before you even begin, but you begin anyway and see it through, no matter what.” It would be easy to say this month will be too hard, and I’m too busy at work, and too behind, but where’s the fun – or the reward – in that? 🙂
Anyway, I’m glad I got up early and did a cool Jillian workout – old school back, biceps etc, which was tough but kinda fun – and that I managed to get it done and be ready to leave by 7.30…
I’m happy I made it over to the Diggers to say hello and drop off the car with time to spare, and still got to work on time, and that I made use of every single second. I was missing my train-to-work writing time, but I at least scribbled down sentences at traffic lights (and was amused to be annoyed that peak hour traffic wasn’t too bad!)…
I’m glad I got a fair bit of work done at the magazines, although there were lots of frustrations that took me away from the issue I’m supposed to be working on, and I didn’t get a chance to escape for even ten minutes at lunch to write, but I tried not to panic about it…
I’m grateful for the beauty of the night-time dark when I finally managed to leave, but frustrated that I had to stay late again.
But I’m grateful that I finally got to write on the bus home, and grateful for a short but sweet cute night with Juz…
With thanks… Saturday April 2… Camp NaNoWriMo day 2 – 1030 words…
Today I am happy that I got my just-over-a-thousand words typed in, even if it took twice as long because I waited until 11.30 at night to begin, and my brain was going off on slightly delirious tangents. Not sure how much of it actually makes sense, but that’s a problem for next month 🙂 After lamenting my foolishness in not having done it earlier in the day, I was very tempted to skip it and do two thousand words tomorrow, but that thought was awful enough to make me force myself to stay up until I got them done 🙂 It wasn’t inspiration or motivation tonight, it was sheer stubbornness and strength of will 🙂
I’m happy that I finished typing up yesterday’s words, and caught up on With thanks notes and emails and stuff, in the morning…
I’m grateful for time with Juz, to chill out, and catch up, and dream of new adventures…
I’m happy that we could pop over to visit the Diggers, and glad we got off the bus early to pick stuff up for them, and got in some good walking, including a rather nasty hill. I’m so tired that I decided that that would have to count for today’s workout…
I’m grateful for a relaxing night, and Daredevil, and despite my desire for an early night, I’m kinda glad I stayed up stupidly late to get my daily Camp NaNo words done…
With thanks… Sunday April 3… Camp NaNoWriMo day 3 – 1022 words…
Today I am grateful for the extra hour in the day after the clocks went back…
I’m happy that I did a little bit of writing in the morning, as well as a little research.
I’m grateful for a long walk with Juz…
I’m grateful for a migraine free few days…
I’m glad we chilled out together and did a Daredevil marathon…
And I’m glad that I stayed up late to finish off my NaNo word count, and grateful for the beauty of the rain as it started to pour down, but it’s after midnight, so it’s time for bed 🙂 Sweet dreams! xx
With thanks… Monday April 4… Jillian day 8 + 12,778 steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 4 – 1341 words…
Today I am grateful that I got my NaNo words written, with some to spare. Funny how I often get more written on at-the-magazines days. I guess it’s cos I have to be focused and take advantage of every spare moment – I wrote on the train, scribbled a bit more while waiting at the chiropractor, typed in a little bit of it while waiting for things to print… it’s still a crazy mess of scenes and ideas and fragments, but it’s coming together…
I’m glad I got up at 6am so I could work out before heading off to work – an awesome Jillian chest and tris day – and happy I managed to sneak in some extra walking so it was almost 13K steps…
I’m glad I got lots done at the magazines…
I’m (kinda) glad I went to the chiropractor, painful though it was – and embarrassing too, since not only did my health insurance thingie not go through, my new credit card didn’t work either. Add in a a migraine in the afternoon, and it wasn’t my best day ever…
But I’m grateful for the beauty of the autumn night when I left the magazines (and a little shocked too – turning back the clocks has made night fall dramatically earlier!)…
And I’m grateful for some time with Juz, before I headed back into my little purple office to type up my NaNo words 🙂 And now, the pumpkin time has passed, so I’d better get to bed! xx
With thanks… Tuesday April 5… Jillian day 9 + 13,561 steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 5 – 603 words…
Tonight I am grateful for a cute date night with Juz – meeting after work for a quick dinner, then going to the preview of The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Which was pretty cool – not quite as great as Snow White and the Huntsman, but way better than the crappy reviews I’ve read tonight! I’m grateful for time together, cute lemonade slushies, and making our way home through the cool dark of an autumn night…
I’m glad I got up early enough this morning to do a double Jillian workout before work – I was already feeling it from yesterday, and by tonight I was feeling it from today. Yay!
I’m glad I got heaps done at the magazines…
And I’m happy that I scribbled down some NaNo words on the train to work, and that although stupidly tired and wanting desperately to be in bed by the time we got home tonight, I’m glad I stayed up to type them in and add just enough to keep my average up – 603 words, which makes an average of 1000 words a day… So now I can go turn into a pumpkin, knowing I wake up tomorrow with a clean slate and can get straight to work – today’s words done, and note written. Sweet dreams! xx
With thanks… Wednesday April 6… Jillian day 10 + 11,577 steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 6 – 1236 words… Dark moon blessings…
Wishing everyone much magic, healing and insight on this enchanted dark moon day, as the energy of the new moon approaches. May you journey within with courage and find all the answers you seek. Let go of what you no longer need, look within to your own wisdom, and trust your intuition. Much love and bright blessings. Blessed bee! xx
Today I am grateful for a day to work at home, although I spent quite a lot of it sorting out credit card payments and stuff after the fraud thing, which took much longer than I’d hoped…
But I’m happy that I did a cool 65-minute BodyCombat session, repeating a few tracks to really make my shoulders burn 🙂
I’m grateful for a night in with Juz, catching up on our days…
I’m grateful that I write these notes. Yesterday I had a migraine, but I was so busy writing about all the good things in my day that I totally forgot to mention it 🙂
And I’m glad I got some writing done and that the story is beginning to come together. By midnight I’d hit 1236 words, and I kinda wanted to keep going, but I figured sleep might be the better option. At least I know what to start scribbling about on the train to work in the morning…
With thanks… Thursday April 7… Jillian day 11 + 11,814 steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 7 – 777 words… New moon blessings…
Wishing everyone all the love, energy and inspiration of the new moon, and the passion and power to begin whatever it is you’ve been longing to manifest into the world… May your month unfold with all the promise, passion and potential you seek… xx
Today I’m grateful that I got lots of work done at the magazines…
I’m happy that I did 65 minutes of Jillian yoga – I really needed the stretch, and it’s Jill, so it’s still a tough workout 🙂 And I’m glad I got lots of walking in too…
I’m glad I scribbled down some more of my story on the train to work then home, although by the time I started typing it in I was kinda delirious, so who knows how much sense that part will make! But this month is all about writing – I’ll worry about how good the words are next month. First drafts don’t have to be perfect, they just have to be written 🙂
With thanks… Friday April 8… Jillian day 12 + 11,039 steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 8 – 2377 words…
Today I am grateful for a beautiful day!
I’m happy that I dragged myself out of bed early to do a fun Jillian workout, then headed to the station through the cool autumn morning chill for the gorgeous train trip to the Central Coast.
I’m glad I managed to get lots of writing (well, scribbling!) done on the way – there’s something really inspiring about writing with paper and pen…
I’m grateful for a fun catch up with a sweet writer friend – we were so busy drinking tea and talking all things writing, publishing, promo, superhero, life, death and caffeine that we totally lost track of time…
I’m glad I only fell asleep for a few minutes on the train home, and managed to write lots more of Rhiannon’s story…
I’m happy I had time to walk up to Newtown and back to keep my step count up – and appreciative of the cool grey misty early evening…
I’m grateful for a beautiful night in with Juz, catching up on our days, and glad I got half of my NaNo words typed in for the day before delirium set in. I’ll have to finish the rest in the morning…
With thanks… Saturday April 9… Jillian day 13 + 10,237 steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 9 – 1382 words…
Tonight I’m grateful for a fun dinner with friends…
I’m happy Juz and I walked up to Newtown and back through the gorgeous autumn night…
I’m glad I got the rest of yesterday’s scrawl typed in in the morning, and got up to date with my With thanks notes…
I’m grateful for time with Juz, drinking tea (in my Story Queens mug – thank you sweet Selina!) and chilling out…
I’m glad I did a cool Jillian workout.
And I’m happy that I finally got today’s words written – 1382 – despite not even starting until almost 11pm. I’m not sure why some part of me always leaves it to the last minute, but at least I get it done 😉
With thanks… Sunday April 10… Jillian day 14 + 14,361 steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 10 – 1075 words…
Today I’m happy that it’s Sunday!
I’m grateful for time with Juz…
I’m glad I did a cool BodyCombat workout, and hit 85,000 steps for the week…
I’m happy that I could make my twenty-fifth Kiva loan – it’s so cool to be able to help people transform their lives and create their own income…
I’m glad I could pop in to a cute DC Super Hero Girls launch, although I wish they’d make the same cute dress-up costumes for grown-ups, instead of the “adult” ones…
And I’m happy that I got my words done again – 1075 – and that I’ll be in bed by half past midnight, so all good! xx
With thanks… Monday April 11… Jillian day 15 + 10,961 steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 11 – 1101 words…
Tonight I’m grateful for a fun night with Juz – finally getting to watch Star Wars for the fourth time, now that it’s on dvd. It was still awesome – and I still got a little emotional, twice. Such genius story telling – and it was cute watching it with BB-8 and R2-D2, ha ha…
I’m grateful that I got my NaNo words scribbled out on the train to and from work, and typed in, although staying up til way past midnight was a little silly…
I’m happy that I got up early to work out – a cool Jillian shoulders/chest/triceps workout, twice through – and glad I topped 10K steps again 🙂
And I’m glad I got heaps done at the magazines, although this deadline is a little stressy, and I’m happy that I got to see a sweet friend, and glad that although I woke up with a bad head, the painkillers worked. Yay! xx
With thanks… Tuesday April 12… Jillian day 16 + 10,084 steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 12 – 1175 words…
Today I’m grateful that I made time for writing – it was messy and rushed, on the train to work, but for me writing is like a puzzle. For a while I’m writing separate and somewhat unrelated events and moments, all these scenes floating around in my head, being dragged out onto the page, but the more I write, the more they begin to fit together, and the more possibility I see, and the more it begins to flow. It’s a kind of alchemy I think, writing, weaving together thoughts and actions and incidents and consequences. Rhiannon’s story is taking shape, and the timeline is beginning to fall into place, although there is still much weaving to be done, more events to be written of, more magic to grow and take on a life of its own. In some ways it’s hard, because Carlie’s three Mists books exist now, and so some things are fixed, but there is still so much possibility, so many things to discover. It’s hard, and sometimes frustrating, and often times a little stressy and panicked, but I try to remember that it will all come together. There will be an a-ha! moment, when the puzzle pieces fit together. And until then I’ll just keep moving forward, keep ripping my heart out and spilling it out onto the page. Writing is catharsis, is chaos, is healing… and is magic…
I’m grateful for the beauty of the waxing crescent moon as I walked home from the station in the cool autumn dark…
I’m happy that I got up early to work out – a cool Jillian back/biceps workout, that I did twice through cos it was a little short, and kinda empowering and fun…
Not so glad I had to go in to work in the afternoon to chase up some approvals, but I got the mag sent off, so all good…
I’m happy that the heather tea I ordered for Juz in January arrived today. Not sure where it went on its way here from Canada, but it got here in the end 🙂
I’m grateful for time with Juz when I got home – we watched some of the Star Wars extras, and drank a big pot of heather tea on our R2-D2 pot, then stayed up late chatting, about dreams and ambitions and youthful quests…
And I’m glad I got today’s Camp NaNoWriMo words typed in my half past midnight 🙂
With thanks… Wednesday April 13… Jillian day 17 + 11,179 steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 13 – 1197 words…
Today I’m happy that I scribbled down some more of my story on the train to work – I’m making the most of every moment I have 🙂
I’m glad I got lots done at the magazines, but working so late is impacting on my NaNo words. I’m still hitting my stated goal of a thousand a day, but I secretly wanted to write lots more! Still, it’s beginning to sort of come together 🙂
And I’m grateful for precious time with Juz when I finally made it home…
With thanks… Thursday April 14… Jillian day 18 + 12,309 steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 14 – 1050 words…
Tonight I am grateful to Juz for a sweet date night – he met me after work, and we grabbed a quick dinner so we could catch up on our days, then he came with me to see magical author Kate Forsyth in conversation with American author Maria V Snyder, who wrote the Study series and the Glass series that I love. It was really awesome, and inspiring, and they were both so funny and sweet and generous in sharing their time and advice and wisdom. And both are such amazing storytellers…
I’m glad I got up early and worked out before work – a cool Jillian shoulders/chest/tris one – and happy I passed 12K steps for the day…
I’m glad I got lots done at the magazines, and managed to leave on time for the first time in ages…
I’m grateful for a long chat with Mum and Dad when I got home…
And I’m glad that I scribbled down lots of NaNo words on the train to work, but annoyed with myself that I stayed up stupidly late to type them in. After spending the whole day at work planning to get to bed early, I failed dismally. Oh well, I can try again tomorrow night 🙂
With thanks… Friday April 15… Jillian day 19 + xx steps… Camp NaNoWriMo day 15 – 0 words…
Tonight I am grateful for exercise. I had a frustrating afternoon, and was tired and annoyed and almost skipped my workout – but I’m so glad I didn’t. An hour of punching and kicking turned everything around, and I was sooo much happier after sixty sweaty minutes of BodyCombat than I was before it. Working out keeps me sane, and mentally strong, as well as physically…
I’m grateful for an interesting morning with the Story Queens – we trialled a video meet-up, which was a little odd, and nerve-racking, but far less scary than I’d imagined 🙂
I’m grateful for a beautiful night in with Juz…
And I’m… okay… with the fact that I didn’t write a single word today. I sat down at the computer after dinner to write – and Word wouldn’t open, and nor would most other programs on my computer. So I unplugged everything and went to bed and read until late, which was bliss, cos I kinda ban myself from reading during NaNo months… It was a book by one of the Story Queens, The Problem with Crazy by Lauren K McKellar, and it was awesome…
With thanks… Saturday April 16… Camp NaNoWriMo day 16 – 1101 words…
Today I’m grateful for time with Juz…
I’m grateful for a morning spent reading…
I’m grateful for a cuppa and a catch-up with my aunt and uncle…
I’m happy that I wrote into the night, and hit my word count, and am still ahead on my goal…
With thanks… Sunday April 17… Camp NaNoWriMo day 17 – 1544 words…
Tonight I’m grateful for a cruisy night with Juz, and a couple of eps of The Originals…
I’m happy that I wrote a bunch of NaNo words in the afternoon…
I’m grateful to Juz for putting up with my “this story is crap”, “it’s boring”, “why do I bother?” etc rantings…
And I’m glad that I stayed up late to continue writing. It’s still not crystal clear to me, what the story is, but the more I write the more the pieces of the puzzle fit together, so the only way out is through…
With thanks… Monday April 18… Camp NaNoWriMo day 18 – 1062 words…
Tonight I passed 20,000 words for April so far, which I’m happy with given how crazy it is at the magazines…
I’m glad I got lots of work done at the magazines, although it’s tough to want to write when I get home after more than 10 hours straight at the office. But I’m glad I made myself scribble down words on the way to work, and home again, and that I managed to keep my eyes open long enough to type them in…
With thanks… Tuesday April 19… Camp NaNoWriMo day 19 – 934 words…
Today I am grateful for a gorgeous afternoon with a friend, having a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and catching up on life, and writing, and magic, and family, and friends, and all the good stuff.
I’m grateful for a bit of time with Juz in the morning, before he headed off for stocktake and a long, late day at work…
I’m happy that I scribbled down lots of words on the bus to meet Lucy, and more on the train home, although I was too tired to type them in once I got home. I did manage to procrastinate a little working on some logo designs though, ha ha!
And I’m grateful for the beauty of the waxing moon and the sunset sky, all ablaze with colour and magic…
With thanks… Saturday April 30… And catch-up…
Today I am happy that I hit my goal, and wrote 32,864 words for April’s Camp NaNoWriMo. It wasn’t easy, and there were plenty of days I would have much preferred to do something else, but I wanted to do it, so I did.
I’m grateful to Juz for supporting me in it too – not just for making me cups of tea while I wrote, but for encouraging me, and putting up with my what’s the point/this is crap/why do I bother? moments, and not minding that sometimes it meant I was sacrificing our time together… And now I have almost 65,000 words of Rhiannon’s story (I did 32K+ words during last July’s Camp NaNo too), and it’s starting to weave itself together…
And I’m grateful that on this final NaNo day I’d already passed my goal, so I didn’t need to write a single word if I didn’t want to, and could spend the whole day with Juz. We went to see Captain America, aka Avengers 2.5, in the morning (unexpectedly, I enjoyed X-Men First Class on telly that night much more), then had lunch out, then went to visit my aunt and uncle, then had a blissfully quiet night in…
I did get way behind on my notes – but in brief (just for me to remember)…
Wednesday April 20… Camp NaNo day 20 – 1372 words…
I spent the day typing in yesterday’s words, enduring a horrible migraine and finally writing 1372 words…
Thursday April 21… Camp NaNo day 21 – 1017 words…
A frustrating day at home, spending ALL DAY downloading files from Disney then uploading them to send to my designer at work, because our file walls mean we can’t download at work… But I finally managed to write 1017 words before bed…
Friday April 22… Full moon blessings… Camp NaNo day 22 – 769 words…
Lunar blessings. Wishing everyone a magical full moon, and an enchanted month ahead, filled with love, motivation, inspiration and passion. Dream big, then take action to make it happen – it’s the perfect start to a big weekend of Camp NaNoWriMo writing, and the weaving together of words into a story. Much love xx
A crazy day at the magazines, a few meetings, but I managed to scribble in 769 NaNo words on the train to and from work…
And a sad day, that Prince died. I do feel conflicted, that I can be so sad that a musician died, when far more tragic deaths happen every day, in horrendously vast numbers. But at 13, with his posters on my wall (alongside Culture Club and Hanoi Rocks… hmm, sensing a theme there!), and his songs on my cassette player, he did help me understand myself, and the world – or the world I wanted to live in, where people were embraced for who they were, could sing/write/create to express themselves and their inner feelings even if they didn’t want to speak, who didn’t care what anyone thought of them, and where labels that defined sexuality, gender, race or anything else could be flouted and proved meaningless… The flipside was my love of U2, Midnight Oil, Boomtown Rats and Steven Van Zandt, who I loved because they cared about politics and social issues and made me want to change the world too… And perhaps their death reminds us of pieces of ourselves, and touches us so deeply because they are a tiny part of who we are… Amongst many wonderful articles expressing what he meant to people, this one stood out, including a profound tweet: “Thinking about how we mourn artists we’ve never met. We don’t cry because we knew them, we cry because they helped us know ourselves.”
Saturday April 23… Camp NaNo day 23 – 1059 words…
My wrist and my knee had been hurting a bit – not terrible, and not an injury, and not constant, just some twingy pain at different times – so I decided to take a week off from working out and see if it helped – the first time in three and a half years that I’ve taken off more than two days in a row (once or twice when I was sick). I thought it would be really hard mentally, that I’d miss working out, and be itching to do something each day – that maybe I would end up caving and starting again before the week was up… But nope – it was *easy* to take a week off 🙂 And it made me realise that it’s a huge act of will to work out every day. I don’t give myself enough credit for that…
It was definitely *awesome* to get a bit more sleep, and not have to get up at 6am – but my knee and wrist didn’t really get any better, which was good and bad – good because I don’t feel like I should stop working out, but bad because there’s no real solution, but good because I’m back at it tomorrow 🙂
Sunday April 24… Camp NaNo day 24 – 400 words…
Today I’m happy that I did 65 minutes of Combat’s Ultimate Warrior workout – it was so nice to feel that tightness in my muscles again…
I’m grateful for time with Juz, and an afternoon spent with Margie and Pete, and a quiet night in, and not much writing, but that’s okay, I’m still on track…
Monday April 25… Camp NaNo day 25 – 0 words…
Ha ha, I thought it would only take an hour to finalise my files for the hardback edition of the Into the Mists Trilogy and the ebook, but alas, I worked for 12 hours straight and still didn’t finish… And wrote no NaNo words, but was okay with that 🙂
I did do an awesome Combat workout though, and spent some time with Juz, so all good 🙂
Tuesday April 26… Camp NaNo day 26 – 2000 words…
Today I’m happy that I got up just in time to do a cool BodyPump workout before work…
I’m glad I got lots done at the magazines, and sent two mags a day early as my days switched this week cos of the holiday…
I’m a little spun out that the Egg Faeries turned fifteen today!
And I’m grateful for a bit of time with Juz when I made it home, and glad I got 2000 words written…
Wednesday April 27… Camp NaNo day 27 – 2567 words…
It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, but today I’ve written 2567 words, and hit my Camp NaNo target, which was 30,000 words by April 30 (with 197 to spare). I’ll keep going til the end and see how many more I can get down, as there’s still a fair bit of story to go, but I figured I should pause for a second and acknowledge that I met my goal… With last year’s 32,000 words, Rhiannon’s story is weaving together well 🙂 And now back to the Trilogy hardcover files. The fun never stops, ha ha, bt I’m glad I made time for a cool hour of BodyCombat…
Thursday April 28… Camp NaNo day 28 – 900 words…
Lots of walking, a stupidly long day at the magazines, and 900 words written, although not typed in until tomorrow…
Friday April 29… Camp NaNo day 29 – 1203 words…
This morning I typed in yesterday’s words, which was around 900, then for once was kind of inspired, so kept going and wrote another 1200 for today. The more I write, the clearer it sometimes becomes, so I figured I should keep going while I was on a roll… It meant it took me longer to get around to working out, but an hour of BodyPump in the afternoon made me happy.
And I did a tiny bit more work on the Trilogy files, but not heaps – Friday night is Cute Night, so I knocked off to start baking vegies – listening to Selina Fenech’s amazing audio book of The Memory’s Wake Trilogy (my first audio book, and it rocks!) while I chopped – then chilling out with Juz, catching up on our days, watching the latest episode of Arrow (so sad that it’s continuing to suck, with not much hope of redemption, sigh), and staying up too late 🙂
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