Stacyverb

Camp NaNoWriMo: Done!

People, I can't believe it.  I just uploaded my humble work-in-progress to Camp NaNoWriMo headquarters, and their word counting gizmo verified that I have, indeed, written 50,084 words in 29 days.  HOL.EE.CRAP.  Do you know what that makes me?

 

A winner, folks!  A novelist, the Camp web site is calling me now.  Well, I don't know about that.  What I've been writing is not a complete novel (yet), and it certainly isn't good (yet).  But I have 50,000 words that all belong to the same story, and that is HUGE for me and my fickle writing habits.

Did I believe I could do it?  Yes and no.  I believed I could write 50,000 words in a month if I really set my mind to it.  But I didn't really believe that life would let that happen.  I knew I would try as hard as I could to do my part, but deep down I figured something would interfere and keep me from reaching the goal line--I'd get sick, or my computer would accidentally delete my file, or something. But, no--I DID IT.

How did I do it?  By writing every day.  Sleeping seven hours a night instead of eight.  Exercising for 30 minutes instead of 45.  Writing while I ate lunch instead of surfing the interwebs.  Doing less reading, very little mandolin practicing, and no sewing at all.  Turning down an invitation to the movies with friends.  All those little bits of time added up, and even though I sometimes resented having to squeeze writing in where other activities would normally be, I trudged on.

And no, I don't really win anything, and no, nobody's work gets "discovered" at Camp NaNoWriMo (they don't even read it).  This challenge was never about anything like that.  It was about making myself do it.

Think you'd like to try your hand at Camp NaNoWriMo?  There's another session coming up in August.  I'm just sayin'....

Camp NaNoWriMo: Halfway

Hey, campers!  For those who missed it, I'm one of the insane participants in Camp NaNoWriMo, attempting to write a novel (or at least 50,000 words of one) in one month.  Let's check my progress:

Earlier today, I hit 25,000 words.  So the month is slightly more than half over (every hour counts when you're NaNoWriMo-ing) and I'm halfway to the goal--not too shabby!

A few people have asked me what my novel is about.  The short answer is: I don't know.  The long answer is: it's not really "about" anything yet.  I have characters, scenes, dialogue, exposition, etc., but I don't have what anyone would call a plot.  Carrie assures me that this is normal, and that a story can emerge from all this babbling.  I just have to keep going.

And so I continue to plug away.  If this were a real camp, I imagine this might be about the time I would start to get homesick.  Some days it's hard to keep writing.  Sometimes there are distractions, or things I would rather be doing (like sleeping instead of getting up early to work on this), or the words just aren't coming.  And even when they do come, are they any good?  We CampNaNoWriMo-ers can't be worried about that right now.  This event is an exercise in quantity, not quality.  We'll all make improvements later.  But we can't improve upon something that doesn't exist, and that's what this camp is all about--making something that didn't exist before. 

How about you?  Tell me about a time you made something out of nothing.

Camp NaNoWriMo

So, all of a sudden I'm writing a novel.  Which is really weird, because as of about 21 hours ago, writing a novel was not in my immediate plans at all.

It's all Carrie's fault.  She casually posted something about Camp NaNoWriMo (something like, "This is cool.  You should do it."), and even though she made it clear she wasn't going to participate herself, suddenly a bunch of our mutual friends and I are signed up to do it.  That Carrie--such a sorceress she is! 

Anyway.  Maybe you've heard of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), an event that takes place every November.  The idea is that you sign up, and you write 50,000 words (about 175 pages) in one month.  The site helps you keep track of your word count and cheers you on.  Last year, more than 256,000 people participated.

Camp NaNoWriMo (motto: "An Idyllic Writers Retreat, Smack-Dab In The Middle Of Your Crazy Life") is the new summer version of that.  In theory, I'll have 50,000 words of a novel finished by 11:59:59 on June 30.  Let's be clear--I expect this novel to be a big steaming pile of crap.  But the idea is to get words on paper (or screen, really), then worry about editing and all that stuff later.  Even if I don't reach the word count goal, I'm hoping I'll still be pleased with my attempt and will be able to build on it from there.  We'll see.  I honestly have no idea what will happen!  I'll keep you posted.

Author Talk: Anne and Sam Lamott

Last night, as part of the Dekalb County Public Library's Author Talks series, I went to a reading by author Anne Lamott and her son, Sam.

When I learned about the event a week or two ago, I debated about whether or not to go.  Lamott's book Bird by Bird is a classic about the craft of writing, and I've owned a well-loved copy of it for years.  But to be honest, I haven't read any of Lamott's other books and wasn't particularly interested in the topic of the talk, the new book on which she collaborated with Sam about the birth of his son and her own transition into grandmotherhood.  So I was torn, but in the end I decided to go.

 

Sam and Anne Lamott

 

The Lamotts took turns reading passages from the new book, Some Assembly Required, and bantered a bit in between.  The readings were funny, and moving, and the familial chemistry between mother and son was clear: these are two people who genuinely not only love, but like each other.  After the readings, they took a few questions from the audience.  Some were about this book specifically, while others were about the craft of writing.  It was nice to see that I wasn't the only one who came to the event because of BbB.

Following the Q & A, the Lamotts signed copies of SAR.  As the crowd began to form a line, Anne made her way to the signing table and passed by where I was, and stopped to chat with me.  She saw I was holding my copy of BbB and graciously offered to sign it (so often, authors won't sign anything but their current book, let alone a dog-eared paperback copy of an old one).  She was very kind, and before she continued on toward the signing table, she thanked me for coming and gave me a hug.

 

Anne Lamott and me, now BFFs (well, okay, not really)

 

Hearing Lamott speak in her honest, funny way about writing reminded me that it's important for me to make time for literary "stuff" in my life--writing, reading, and talking to others who love those things.  Even just flipping through BbB while I was waiting, re-reading passages I'd underlined long ago, I found myself nodding a lot and thinking, "YES, that makes sense."  I'm really glad I decided to take a chance on this event.

About Stacyverb

Well, it only took me three and a half years or so, but I finally got around to posting an official "About Me" page.  You can access it from my sidebar, or by clicking here.

This one's for you, 1994 me

This month marks the 18th anniversary of my move to Altanta (my "Atlantaversary," if you will).  I started thinking, what would my 1994 self think about my current life? 

She’d be thrilled that I’m happily married, and to another creative person.  Probably would be disappointed at how much financial stuff is still a struggle, so that I don’t get to visit my family often or travel much.  Surprised that I work at a yarn shop (I don’t think she even knew such a thing existed), but maybe delighted by that as well, because in some ways it does seem like a dream job for a knitter.  Ditto making jewelry—she dabbled in that, but the thought that I could get paid for it would surprise and probably please her. 

Would she be disappointed that I'm not making a living as a writer?  She probably would think I should've published a couple of novels by now.  And what about other kinds of writing?  Back as far as college, I had this vague dream I used to talk about—“the ultimate magazine.”  It would just be a mishmash of whatever seemed interesting at any given moment, which is kind of what my zine, Box of 64, ended up being (on an extremely small scale, obviously) in the mid-to-late 90s. 

Hmmm, isn't that what I was just talking about yesterday--the idea of writing about anything and everything, for this blog?  The concept of a blog would have blown my 1994 self's mind, because she barely knew what the internet was.  (When I left Pennsylvania to move here, a guy I knew told me to keep in touch and handed me a piece of paper with his email address on it.  I thought, "What a weirdo!  Why would I ever need someone's 'email' address?" and threw it in the trash.) 

When I think of it that way, I feel like I owe it to 1994 Stacy to work on my blog more.  Because if she knew I had the ability to write things that (magically, it would seem) would literally be read all over the world, she would be appalled that I sometimes find it a chore or feel blocked, that I don’t take advantage of this opportunity more.  She’d be shocked at how easy it is to feel so connected with people I've never met in person or haven't seen in years, all because of blogs and Facebook and such.  She'd be shocked, but she would think it was VERY COOL.  And it is.  I don't want to forget that!

Insert clever title here

It's been one of those months where stressful things keep happening, and you end up getting not-enough sleep and hemorrhaging money.  Two pet health emergencies, laptop had to be replaced, car got a flat tire, dryer is broken, blahblahblah.  So yeah, I've avoided blogging for the past few weeks.  I can hardly stand to listen to myself--why should you have to?

The other day, someone I've known since early this year asked me if I'd ever thought about being a writer.  She'd read some stuff I wrote here and liked it.  Her question made me feel weird--why?  Because there was a time when writing was such a major part of my life that no one who'd known me for ten months would've had to ask that question.  Also because, well, she just read some of my writing so...I am a writer, right?

So anyway.  Here I am on my day off, in a little yellow house strewn with recuperating cats and air-drying laundry, filling you in on all that.  I really don't have anything to report.  Does that mean I shouldn't blog?  Is this blog just about reporting and documenting my life?  Is it just about posting pictures of cool events I've gone to, and projects I've made, or what?

It's supposed to be my own place where I can do whatever I want.  Somehow I got into a rut of taking photos, reporting what happened, and posting it.  Which is fine, but there's no reason I have to be limited to that.  I need to do some thinking about this, if I can free up some brain cells from dealing with all these domestic crises.

Watch for more randomness, coming soon.

Coupon code for Already Pretty readers

Whew, what a response!  Thank you for all your feedback about my guest post at Already Pretty.  I've been overwhelmed with your comments, emails, etc. and have enjoyed reading everyone's perspectives.

According to my Typepad stats, Stacyverb readership has been up 1400% (!) since Friday.  Whoa.  Welcome, new readers!  I hope many of you will stick around. 

To say thanks for your support, I'm offering a coupon code in my Etsy shop.  Visit the Stacybeads Jewelry shop, pick out some goodies, and when you're ready to check out, enter coupon code APGUEST2011 to receive free shipping on your order.  Get a jump start on some holiday shopping, or treat yourself to something special.  This coupon will expire on 10/31/11.

And if you haven't yet "liked" Stacybeads Jewelry on Facebook, you can do so by following the link at the top of the sidebar.

Thanks again, everyone.  You're fabulous.

My guest post at Already Pretty

Today I'm honored to have a guest post at one of my favorite blogs, Already Pretty!  You can read it here.  Thank you, Sally, for inviting me to write this post.

Vermont Studio Center

Founded by artists in 1984, the Vermont Studio Center is the largest international artists' and writers' Residency Program in the United States, hosting 50 visual artists and writers each month from across the country and around the world.The Studio Center provides 4-12 week studio residencies on an historic 30-building campus along the Gihon River in Johnson, Vermont, a village in the heart of the northern Green Mountains.     

via www.vermontstudiocenter.org

This is me trying out my new "Blog It!" feature, which allows me to create a blog post with one click anytime I find a web site that interests me. It seems to be working. Cool.

I've known about the Vermont Studio Center for a long time, and have known some people who've done residencies there. I've been thinking about applying for it.