All the Words!

I know I was really naughty and didn't write a single word on this blog the entire month of November and half of December. But I was writing 50,000 words somewhere else--on a Google document that held my novel. And after that was over, I just had to have a break from social media and crap.

Every year, thousands of writers all over the world participate in National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November. That equates to about 1667 words a day, and the end result is novel that's about 100 pages.

I have tried the past two years, but I decided not to finish both years because I was in college and was working 30 hours a week.

This year I have a full time job, but I don't have homework. So I decided that this was going to be the year that I finished.

I wrote every day except one, and it was one of the longest months of my entire life. It was a blast, but it was harder than I ever expected it would be.

I had to give up a lot of things. This blog was one of them. I also didn't write in my journal, or read the book of the month for book group. I barely did house work or laundry and cooked really simple meals. I still found myself staying up late to get my word count in for the day, but I got it done.

I did tweet a lot. Sorry if you follow me and I spammed your feed. It was one way to really get the crazies out when I was really frustrated.

I reached 50,000 words on the last day, at about 9 p.m. The event was pretty anticlimactic  All I wanted to do was just go to bed. And although I got the word count, my novel is not finished. It's close though.


Here are some of the songs that I listened to:







(And like every other Lana del Rey song out there.)



(And like every other Ellie Goulding song out there.)


Anyway, I'm going to write more on here. I'm ready to be back.

Making it up as I go

I am really big into life evaluation. I worry that sometimes I spend more of my life analyzing my time than actually living my life. Anyway, the point is that finals are coming around the corner. That means another crossword puzzle to construct, a few papers and lots of studying to do.

Because I was home for Thanksgiving break, and when I came back I was busy doing stuff with my cousins and Sam, I neglected to go grocery shopping. I will be fine... I have food, but I don't have fresh food, like eggs or milk or bread. [sigh].

So I tried to make muffins, right, like I do every weekend. And I was all, "I can just make up my own recipe... la la la..."

I mean, I did it once before, right?

Um, they are gross. Embarrassing thing is that I gave them to my home teachers before I even tried them myself. And they were nice and they lied and said they were good! When Sam and I ate them, we just could not eat another bite. So now I feel really dumb. And I think I need to stick to recipes that people have actually tested. Maybe I'll try to fix it, but for now, just know that today's Muffin Monday is gross so I am not even going to post the recipe.

And yes, I am aware that I forgot to post about muffins last week. Forgive me. Here it is! This recipe is delicious, and there is more sugar than flour.  They are technically financiers, which is a French Muffin. Oui Oui!

And Sam got to separate the egg whites from the egg yokes. He was very excited about that.

So finals are just around the river bend... and as close as I am to finishing it... I'm giving up NaNoWriMo. I'm 37 thousand words in, and I could still finish...But no. Let's face it, I'd rather be spending time with Sam or doing my homework. Because I'm shamelessly in love and school is important (even though I am seriously lacking motivation).

And I know that writing it here makes it official. And I hate to say that this is the second year in a row that I have come short of 50,000 words. I have done much more than I did last year--I think I got to 17k?--and I have a legitimate story.  I started with nothing and now I have this little plot and a million characters and I love them, and they are their own people.

Ya, lots of psycho madness goin' on right now. Thought I'd just rattle on to the world about muffins and writing and love.

I am going to write more soon. I promise. More scenes from the weekend:

-Meg

I'd rather be a comma, then a full stop

Tonight, after I said a witty comment, someone told me that I should have a blog.

And I was all, "I do! And I post my muffin recipes there."

Then I felt bad because I lately that is all I have ever done, so sorry. I'm going to talk about interesting things now.

Like how my tonsils got all huge and gross and I couldn't breathe or swallow, and so I had to go to the doctor. But not the doctor in Salt Lake, the doctor in freakin' Odgen because the clinic I go to here was randomly closed for staff training.

But whatev's. I got to meet my mom and she brought me egg drop soop [sic, I think it's better that way].

I did not get caught up on NaNoWriMo... not yet anyway. I want to! I have lots to write and I don't always have motivation, but I force myself and then words happen, so ya. I'm still too concise for my own good. I still let my readers fill in the blanks too often. But one thing I took from my acting class is this: you have to know everything, even if you don't use everything. So in the final product will I take out unnecessary things? Sure, but for now they're there so I'm forced to think about them.

OK, that's a lot of meta data.

I'm really tired and I'm still sick, so I'm going to bed, mmmk? Thanks.

-Megan

Writing, and other strange acts

I actually wrote this a few days ago, but forgot to publish it. So here goes.

As I am writing my novel, and fighting valiantly through the happiness and stress of my life, I have a list of things that I must always remember. I am amazed at how similar those two things are. Perhaps it is a good sign that my novel's character is so similar to me, because she helps me not forget those things which I must not forget. They seem cryptic only because they apply across the spectrum of my existence.

1. I am not the victim.
2. The answer will come.
3. I am fearless.

Today I'm feeling ill, so I'm staying home from class. Although this really isn't making me feel better, because now I'm just stressed about everything I'm missing. I'm trying to use this time to get caught up in all my assignments, but ugh... one day I will done with school!

-Meg

p.s. NaNoWriMo updated. I'm at about 11k words. I would never be able to do it without Sam or Katie. It's far from over but I don't know how I would have even survived this long without their support. I just thought I'd mention that because they are just super cool. 

p.p.s. I came home and a Weeping Angel was in my room, on my compy. Ya, I was terrified, in a happy way.

Creating novels and recipes...

I write what I feel inside of me. So my novel is never going to be turned into a movie, or even a play. It is just my little story, my reckoning with the thoughts in my head. It is my connection with my ancestors. Not my grandma-- not that close. Far, far distant. I'm talking about my ancestors who were hunter-gatherers. And I feel connected with them so I write about it.

It isn't an easy story to explain, and it isn't really about the plot anyway. It's about love, and writing just to write. I love it.

I wrote my own recipe on Sunday, actually. I adapted it from the basic muffin recipe that came in my muffin cook book.  Here it is! (all my muffin pictures are starting to look the same! ahh!)

1 1/2 cup normal white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 or 3/4 cup butter milk (I don't remember how much I put it, so take your pick.)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
chocolate chips

I baked it at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. But check it.

Yes peeps, I made a recipe. I am become domesticated. The world is about to end...! You better believe I'm in love.

-Meg

Life: A prime example of reality

No.

I left my notebook in the choir room. It has my name on it, but still... No. No. No NaNoWriMo words today. I'm so far behind.

Today had so many ups and downs.

I found out that one of my friends from high school died on Tuesday. That actually didn't make me as sad as I thought it would though. Don't get me wrong, I still feel sad that he's gone, but he was sick for a long time and was in a lot of pain.

Heavenly Father loves us. We are his children and I'm thankful to know of his gospel.

Good night.

-Megan

My Word Count is Steadily Ascending

Good morning!

It's exactly 12:27 a.m.

You know what that means:

LATE NIGHT POST

Get ready to roll your eyes and bang your head against a palm tree, (or any type of foliage that might be nearby. I do not envy you if you live in Arizona. I hear cacti are beastly to bang up against.)

So despite taking 15 credit hours and working about 25 hours a week, I'm doing NaNoWriMo. That's National Novel Writing Month. It's absolutely crazy. I'm actually feeling quite nervous about not being able to finish, and I worry about my novel being absolute crap. I'm not worried about the homework I'm currently procrastinating.

But the pep talks and message of NaNoWriMo is to worry about quantity, not content. The point is to just get the words out there and you can fix it later. Although I'm trying to adopt that as my monthly mantra, I've found it to be quite difficult to stifle my inner editor.

I am an editor after all. First and foremost, before a writer. I am learning to be a linguist, and linguists do not write 1667 crappy words a day.

But I've taken to reminding myself that because I am an editor, I will be able to salvage the misshapen creature I'm creating. I trust myself to tighten up my word hoarding sentences and make my verbs more concise and my descriptions precise and relevant.

One issue I keep running into is that the verbosity I adopted to rack up my word count carries over into my every day writing. Which is not cool. I like to call myself the queen of concise. I'm notorious for editing a friend's paper and leaving it 100 words short of the word count requirement.

I'm mean. I know.

I do love my main character though. I think she's the only reason why I'm still writing. I took a different approach. I usually try to force my personality onto my MC, because I always assume that it will be easier to write about the person I know best.

Not the case. Caroline is completely the opposite of me, and I like writing about a girl that doesn't like to read or study, is easily distracted, has no patience. (Okay, maybe we do have some similar qualities.)

Caroline sees dead people. I call them dead people, but they're really not dead. It's more complicated than that, but I haven't found an accurate way of explaining it. Caroline's still trying to figure it out, so we'll be figuring it out together.

But I love the narrator even more. He's this omniscient figure, but he interjects with his own commentary and feels sympathy for Caroline. He's in love with her.

And that's where it gets weird. But I'm learning a lot. I love my book, even if I want to hate it.

OK. Now it's 12:41 a.m. I've wasted sufficient time telling you about my uber boring life as a writer.

You deserve a Merit Badge or something.

-M