the pieces of my life

Being sick is not condusive to writing a novel. Now I’m way behind. Haven’t written for two days. Probably won’t write tomorrow either, given my schedule. It’s gonna be a major writing weekend.

Word count: 20,809. It’s difficult not to go back and edit. I’ve thought of things I want to add in from previous days, but then I realize that’s just inviting editing, and that won’t get me to 50,000 words. Must just keep plowing forward and save additions and rewrites for later.

Word count: 18,525. I was hoping to be a little farther ahead, but that’s okay. Spent too much time this weekend working on work, which made me not want to sit in front of the computer anymore and write. Our Saturday dates at Zoka’s to write, though, are a tremendous help, forcing me to churn out words when I would normally not feel like it and therefore not be bothered.

Went tonight to watch Adam play hockey. I had no idea what was going on. Half the time I finally caught sight of the puck, and then, whoops, there it goes and I have no idea where except there is a mass of bodies shooting in a whole new directions. I could barely even recognize Adam, buried as he was under all that gear. At first, I couldn’t figure out which one was him from the front (his number was on the back) until someone else pointed out that the other short guy in the black shirt had on red sweats. Duh. This is the first, and most likely last, game of his I’ve seen. The other games are all at 11 p.m. on weeknights, way far away. This one was way faraway too, except that for a 6 p.m. game, I can make it. Unfortunately, they lost to the Geoducks (and if you can’t say that name properly, then don’t even try), 2-8.

Word count: 17,287. And do you know why? Because I rock. That’s why.

Oh, yeah, baby! I have not only caught up, but I am now ahead, which is good, as I’ll have to stop two days early to go to Nevada to work the lovely graveyard shift maniacally wrapping gifts like some psychotic elf on speed. Got 2,818 words done today, which brings my word count 14,385. I’m still not sure how this story will end up, although it’s flowing much better now that I’ve placed it on the kibbutz, and I’m actually enjoying myself. To help me set the mood, I have a photo of my kibbutz sitting underneath my computer screen, and I’m now writing with my Walkman on, listening to the tapes of pub music I made while I was there. And while the novel is settling in, it’s making me miss travel. But who knows–maybe someday Adam and I will make aliyah. I can still ask in Hebrew where the bus is or for someone to hand me the milk. That should be good enough, lo?

Joy! I’ve caught up! Made up for the trashed day and the skipped day. Well, okay, I’m supposed to be at 11,662 and I’m at 11,567, but that’s friggin’ close enough! Yeah! My novel has lots of digressions, and a few out-and-out rambles, but it’s got a progression to it. Fewer than 40,000 words to go. I can so do this.

Tricks I’m using. Be verbose: similar vs. not dissimilar. Same idea, twice the words! Contractions? A thing of the past!

Oh, it gets even worse. In my novel, my character is reminded of “If You Had Wings.” I, of course, start singing the song. Adam looks at me blankly, and I ask, “You do know what that is, don’t you?” “Uh, a TV show?” he asks, in his “duh” voice. Doesn’t know what If You Had Wings Is. I used to love “If You Had Wings.” You didn’t need a ticket for it, so you could ride it as many times as you wanted (which was a lot, but only if Peter and Carol had the patience for it, for by the time I was old enough to go to Disney World without them, the ride was long closed). He also has no recollection of GE’s Carousel of Progress:

Well, looks like the robins are getting ready to celebrate Valentines day today. What year is it? Oh, right around the turn of the century. And things couldn’t be any better than they are today. Yes sir, buildings are towering now as high as twenty stories. And moving pictures flicker up on a big screen. We have almost 8,000 automobiles in this country and we can travel by train from New York to California in less than seven days! And I even hear tell of two brothers from North Carolina who are working on some kind of flying contraption. [He chuckles to himself.] It’ll never work. Closer to home, we’ve now got gas lamps, telephone and the latest design in cast iron stoves. And that reservoir keeps 5 gallons of water hot all day on just 3 buckets of coal. Oh boy, it sure beats chopping wood. And isn’t our new icebox a beauty? Look at that! Holds 50 pounds of ice.

Everyone now, “Now is the time, now is the time, now is the best time of our lives.”

Word count: 7,560. Still way, way behind. But, I’m making progess. I’m counting on tomorrow night to make up for a lot of lost time. My novel is definitely a novel about life on the kibbutz, but I haven’t quite figured out where it’s going. Maybe she has a romance? Maybe not. I have no idea. This is a lot tougher than I had thought it would be. The main character is me, but it’s completely not me at the same time. I think there’s mostly me in the omniscient first-person narrator. My main character (the third person one) is experiencing things much differently than I did. Basically what I’m doing is using my old diary as a frame for events, and then having my character react to them in her own way. And since I don’t yet know her very well, it’s hard to say what she’s going to end up doing.

Word count: 6,255, which means I’m almost 4,000 words behind. I’m counting on this weekend to do some serious catching up. It’s my own fault. Last night I was exhausted and couldn’t force myself to write. This morning, I churned some out after the gym, but there’s so much more to do, and we have our Aleph-Bets class tonight. I may just have to stay up late, to get at least 2,000 more words done. Tomorrow night I have no plans except to write, so that’s what I shall do.

Day 5 of Nanowrimo. If I’m to keep on target (for a Nov. 30 end date, not even the Nov. 28 end date I need to finish before I leave for Fernley), I need to write about 3,000 words today. Currently I’m at 5,357. I’ve changed the focus pretty dramatically, making the main part of the story third person, although there’s a first-person narrator. You can tell I’m rereading Kundera. I’ve decided to write about the trip to Israel after all, but it will be more fiction after all, as I’m making it happen in today’s environment, and my character is beginning to drift away from who I am. Writing in the cafe on Saturday morning was actually a huge help. Changing environments was good, and having the support of others made me sit at the laptop (my work one) longer than I normally would have. Mary, Eugene, Simon, and Betsy showed up, so with Adam, myself, and a friend of Eugene, we had a pretty good-sized group there. One woman came up to us and asked if we were a writing group. She’d never seen so many laptops going at once. We must have looked pretty silly, but it did the trick.

Saw Monsters, Inc. on Saturday night. I’m hooked. Can’t wait to see the extras on that DVD.

Work will be difficult to concentrate on today–I’ve got my character running through my mind. Must get a lot done so I can get home on the early side and pump out those (gasp) 3,000 words. As if.