Patricia Stoltey

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I’m Using My Time Well…Sort Of

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May-2010-pics-038Thought I’d poke my head out for a minute to see how things are going.

Looks like the A to Z April Challenge is going well. I try to keep tabs on a a couple of regulars like Alex J. Cavanaugh and April J. Moore and then wander through the rest of the list, picking one here and there to sample.

I opted out of participating in the A to Z this year (for the first time since the beginning) but jumped into a Cabin at Camp NaNoWriMo to give a boost to my word count. I’m way under the quota but so far have posted the most words in my cabin. Of course, they might be holding out for the end and then will post their total instead of daily updates. I doubt I will make 50,000 words, but I’m thrilled to have written more scenes in my nearly finished first draft of the sequel to Dead Wrong plus started a brand new story I’ve been thinking about for a long time.

Today I saw a reminder that the deadline for the Tom Howard/John H. Reid contest deadline is April 30th and I checked to see if I had any short stories on the closest flash drive that I could edit and submit. One of them might work. Do I have time? Ten days…maybe.

While I was thinking about that, I remembered I’d signed up for Giles Hash‘s Facebook Write-In/Virtual Write-In so I checked in there and hurried off to work on my Camp NaNoWriMo project. Wrote 1,265 words. I could have done more, but I got stuck on what to name the two guys in the bunker on Wasp Island. I could have just typed XXX1 and XXX2, but no, I had to dwell on it, agonize over it, waste time on it.

I mean, they’re not even main characters, so I could have named them Brown Eyes and Blue Eyes . . . or Guy One and Guy Two. I plugged in the names of my brother and my husband, but it wasn’t working. Finally I got it. Gordon and Ken. Two of the gentlemen in my critique group are named Gordon and Ken. Now that was something I could work with. Writing was speedy after that because I was playing with the dynamics between the two…one wanting to go rogue and the other playing by the rules.

The dumbest things bring me to a screeching halt when I’m writing.

Anyway, I feel I’ve been using my housebound time well most of the time. The biggest bonus is that I have time to read. And that’s what I’m going to do this evening. I’m about halfway through Bobbing for Watermelons by April J. Moore. April makes me laugh, and that’s always a good thing.

So how are you doing this month? Sailing along in the A to Z April Challenge? Participating in Camp NaNoWriMo? Reading a really good book? Suffering from spring fever?

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Comments

  1. Hey Pat – I think you are doing swell! I don’t think it is at all dopey to get stuck on naming your characters. That happens to me a lot and I think it is because it is actually very important. What’s the first thing we do when a baby pops out – name him or her! It is like that initial naming gives them the spark to live and a number just won’t do it – unless it is Seven of Nine (star treckers!)
    I’m having fun with the A to Zed – my fifth year. I’m not writing or revising right now though – I’m in limbo waiting for a manuscript to come back from a hired mentor. HURRY UP!
    See you around the water cooler…

  2. You’re doing well, Patricia. Especially considering our much you took on for this month.

    I love the parakeet poking his head out of the cabinet. He reminds me of one we have when I was a kid.

    • Uh oh! Busted!

      Hi Ken!

      You’ll get to critique it after I get back to attending meetings, so I’m going to make you wait and find out then.

  7. I give you credit, Pat, for diving in and keeping your focus on your writing. I think writers sometimes do have to ‘tunnel in’ like that. I liked your comments about choosing names, too. I’ve gone through that process, even with minor characters, and it can be harder than people think.

    • Honestly, Margot, I think I get stuck on names more than anything else. I change my mind, do the find and replace, and then change it again later (like when I discover three of my characters’ names rhyme or something else horrid). 😀

    • Hi Rachna! I love the simplicity of this site and having both website info and blog in the same place. I don’t have all the extras figured out yet, but I have an expert helping me when I get stuck. And that Alex is a treasure, isn’t he?

  9. Thanks for sticking with me during this A to Z Challenge and for mentioning my book! And well done on your Camp NaNoWriMo progress–some words are better than no words. I’m in a writing rut, so 1200 words sounds pretty darn good.

    • You’re so welcome, April. I’m enjoying your book so much. And I think you’re doing a great job with the challenge. The photos you’re using are a bonus…you girls were so cute together.

      I’m pleased with my overall word count for the month…it’s over 18,000 now. Won’t get me to 50,000 for the month, but I’ll be happy if I can keep the average around 900 per day. It’s a lot more than I was doing before.

    • Thanks, Alex! You pack so much great information in your posts I can’t stay away. And, of course, there’s the way you take such good care of us. Mentioning my site on your “P” post was much appreciated