Writing... what's that again? ;)
Just kidding. Though honestly, November was one of those months where writing definitely was pushed to the back burner. In exchange, a lot of wonderful things happened. My friend Kenzi came down and spent about two weeks, we had a Bible conference (with more friends!), did our annual sibling Christmas-shopping trip, my niece was born (yep, second time being an aunt in less than two months!), we had a make-shift Thanksgiving (due to my niece being born that week), and about a hundred other smaller things filled the month. So November wasn't much of a writing month for me.
However, I did get to do some brainstorming on a writing project and make wonderful progress with character development and ideas.
And the last week of November, when I was "just getting back on track" with normal-life stuff, God allowed me to put in a few thousand words in another project! This one was a completely an unexpected blessing. Our family went two nights to sing at a revival service over an hour away. I usually don't write in the van, because I sit in the back seat and have ruined two laptops with the jostling (just trust me on that one ;) ), but since our family has diminished in size, I was a front-seater, which isn't nearly as bumpy as the back seat. Added to that, I was writing while my writing-sister, Rachel, was nearby. So we did a ton of brainstorming as well.
So writing hasn't been as much overall since last writing update, but what has been done has felt very productive.
Nat is still in the hands of beta readers. I have gotten helpful feedback from a couple of them, and the remainder are hopefully going to get my their notes by the end of December so I can start the New Year off with editing his story.
How you can be praying
I'd appreciate prayers for wisdom. As many of you know, I teach around 30 music students, run WAJN (arranging and publishing music books and CDs), and assist with our family's singing group, as well as write. Many times, it is hard to know the balance of what I am to do when--when am I to be fully available to my family, when am I to set apart writing time or arranging time, etc.? I am beginning to see that it's a day-by-day need for direction. Yes, there are dozens of stories that are just begging to be written, but I don't want to write at the expense of being available to others and following God. So, many times, I just need wisdom with how to balance my schedule.
How can I be praying?
I wouldn't want to leave off without asking how I can pray for you. Whether it is in writing or something completely different, I'd love to pray for you. If you want to keep a comment private, please say so at the beginning of the comment and I will not publish it or you may email me at amandaterobooks {at} gmail {dot} com.
How many of you did NaNo? What were your goals and did you meet them? Tell me a little about your story, too. ;)
6 comments:
Praying for you! I'd appreciate it if you would pray for me about scheduling as well. I want to balance my writing and family time responsibly.
I didn't officially do nanowrimo, but I had a 50,000 word count goal. Got around 21,000 in, but I was very pleased to have gotten that much in!
I had two projects going on, book 5 in my Battle for Heritage Series (Civil War...too sad! It's 1865, so I'm drawing to a close and my characters hate me ;)) and a WWII Christmas Short story, based on a true story that I want to post on my blog eventually! It's basically about a woman and her child helping stranded American and German soldiers have a Christmas truce. Loving it!
I also published my first Christmas novella this month! Praise the Lord! I'm already receiving positive feedback!
Congratulations on becoming an aunt again. I will pray for you and your writing. You are so talented,in your writing and music. God Bless.
Marilyn
Cannot believe I forgot! Congrats, Auntie! Just found out at thanksgiving that niece /nephew #6 is on the way! Yippee!
I did NaNo this year. It was my second attempt. Last year my goal was 15k and most of the time it was like pulling teeth. I reached my goal, but I didn't finish my story and it's a mess. So this year, I chose to finish a novella, and aimed for 8k. Well, this novella just flowed and flowed, so I had to keep boosting till I reached 14k!! So I finished a story idea floating around for a long time AND had an amazing NaNo complete with a critique partner and writing buddy, and Word Wars. <3 I will be praying for your writing and I'd appreciate prayers on the “Shaft of Light” series! <3 And wow! a niece!!! Congrats!!
-Katja L.
@ Ryana – thanks for the prayers! And I definitely will do the same for you. :) 21k is a good number. Ooh, drawing to the close of the CW… that is gonna be tough! And I love based on true stories! And WWII. ;) And thanks. :) Wonderful for niece/nephew #6—must be so much fun!
@ Marilyn – thank you! I really appreciate it.
@ Jewels – I’ve recently become the queen at accidentally deleting comments. :P So sorry my fingers slipped with yours! But I *did* read it and I really appreciate your prayers and will pray for you too. Babies are indeed such a beautiful reminder and blessing—thanks.
@ Katja – that is too funny about the goals and missing or surpassing them! I’ve done very much the same with goals too. It all depends on how well it flows. I’m hoping everything is going smoothly with “Shaft of Light” series.
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