It's progress.

18,680 words written in November 2012.

Not a novel, but more than one-third of the way there.

It's progress.

Coming to the end.

Well... November is almost over! I've successfully kept up with my own writing goal this month, to write something every single day. Counting today, there are only 5 days left to this lovely challenging month of scribbling stories.

I've already heard that most of the NaNoWriMo-ers that I know are nearing the end of their 50k aspiration. I'm really not sure how they did it, or found time for it, but apparently it can be done. :-)

So, where am I in this jumbled mess of thousands of words? .:. I've now made it up to 15,600 words. If I get a couple more thousand in for the month, I'd be fully content. I guess we'll find out in just a few more days.



Here is one of my favorite parts of my book:

The ship was a colossal culmination of the most modern Edwardian accomplishments. From bow to stern, the R.M.S. Titanic was a beauty, even Effaline had to agree with the common opinion, and she was not fond of admiring nautical capabilities. This especial morning marked the beginning of an important day in history.

How far have you made it? .:. I'm eager to hear updates from my blog readers. Oh, and feel free to link up your ink-infused posts from this month.



~*~ I'm linking up to Snippets of Story on Katie's blog!

A dozen days of writing.

Today is the twelfth day of intense writing for many people this year. It's so fascinating to peek over at just about anyone's blog and find out that they have some sort of writing goals for month too!

I'm extremely curious to know how far everyone has made it so far. At almost the halfway point in the challenge, are you on track for getting almost halfway to your goal? If you've stopped by to read my blog, I'd love to hear your thoughts and goals. Comment below and link up your writing-related posts in the monthly Sharing Our Bookshelves event.

My aspiration for the month .:. To make progress each day of November, whether it be by writing a few hundred words in my story, or by fleshing out some of the details that I still have yet to figure out by the end of the novel.
---I'm hoping this is the story that I can eventually (not this month though!) turn into my first novel. Currently I'm at 8,000 words.


My story is historical fiction. And, my! There are so many topics to research in order to get all the details just right: River Thames, Henley-on-Thames (an English town), the R.M.S. Titanic, the Gilded Age, the Edwardian era, train connections in England, the life of British servants, the 1912 Olympics.... the list goes on. But it's certainly an enjoyable set of topics to learn about while I write.

What kind of topics have you needed to research for your writing projects?

Sharing Our Bookshelves {November 2012}

Ah! I've been writing in my new story, and feeling quite excited about the project before me. Day 1 and Day 2 of November (MyWriMo) have been successful writing days. I feel like I've gotten so much more work done than I have all year. And that's with just a few hundred words for both days day. More about writing later on in the month.

There are a couple Favorite Finds that I just had to share before I let any more time go by. And also I need to post the monthly link-up for Sharing Our Bookshelves. --- As usual, the link-up is open all month long for anything book-related or writing-related... so if you're posting on your blog about your writing... come share, so that we all can read!

Favorite Finds

The Children's Titanic Paper Dolls
{Simply Vintagegirl}

I'm terribly excited about the new paper dolls that Emily Rose and Breezy Brookshire have been working on. A complete set, including playsets of the Titanic and the unforgettable people who lived and died on the great ship.

Giveaway: Win $20 in Graphic Design
{Pixel Berry Pie Designs}

I'm giving away any prize from Pixel Berry Pie Designs to a special winner, who can choose a new blog header, an Etsy banner package, (any other type of graphics) or free ad space for their blog or business.
Contest ends November 5th.

Sharing Our Bookshelves

The month of writing, November.

Dear scribbling-inclined friends,

Have you thought about utilizing November as a month of being able to write that story?---the one you've been wanting to get down on paper? I have.

Is the thought of joining our NaNoWriMo-ing friends a bit daunting? I mean, 50,000 words, really? For me, yes.

>>> Join me in MyWriMo this November!

MyWriMo stands for My Writing Month. It's the month that you take your story to new places, but you don't have to follow the rigid schedule of the NaNo-ers.


I wasn't sure if it was too late already to introduce the idea, but I was finally persuaded to make it happen. So, you may be hearing more about this from me throughout the month as I strive to work on my writing this month. I'd love to hear what you're doing!

A couple November thoughts

November is coming to an end. And with it, the big month of writing ends. How are you faring with your writing? Have you met your goals for the month? I'm curious to know what kind of progress all my friends have made.



November 30th is also the LAST day to enter in the giveaway for the READ or WRITE sign from My Heartfelt Designs! If you haven't entered yet, be sure to get your name in the contest. Winner will be announced on December 1st!

GIVEAWAY: for the writers & the readers

To make things exciting for November, especially because of the NaNoWriMo hype going around right now....

I'm giving away a simply delightful prize that a lot of you are really going to like. The prize comes from one of my favorite shops on Etsy!


{ THE PRIZE }



A WORD SIGN
from . . .
My Heartfelt Designs




Well, there's more.
The winner can select any of these! It's your choice!

I have one of my own, which I enjoy seeing there on my desk. If you get one of these, I tell you... it makes a good reminder to read or write! You can hang these signs on the wall, or set them on your desk, table, or on a bookshelf!

Made from wood & handpainted

Size varies for each word, but approximately:
10" inches long & 3.5" inches high

Would you get one for yourself, or for a gift for a friend?





Visit My Heartfelt Designs on Etsy to see more items
& to read the details about the prize.


Please fill out the Rafflcopter form below to submit your entries!
Contest ends on November 30. USA & Canada only.


(can't see the form to fill out above? just leave a comment below with your name & email and you'll be entered)

MyWriMo: Day 11 {Special News}

How are you all faring during November? How much progress have you made in your writing? I'd love to know what you've accomplished, so please share.
I am advancing through my current story. I can't say that I have several thousand words yet, but I like how the story is coming along.

Now for some news you all will enjoy!! > Monday the 14th, here on my blog, I'll be having a giveaway for a special prize!
Remember this lovely "write" reminder on my desk?



The little sign comes from this lovely shop: My Heartfelt Designs
...and look at all these:



You're going to have the chance to win one!! So, make sure to stop by next week.

Favorite Finds #27 {Writing Edition}

Looking for some writing inspiration this month? Splendid posts about writing can be found at Rachelle's blog, Inspiring Daring. Anytime I visit, she has new thoughts about her latest writing motivations. I've been finding good tidbits in other blogs too, especially in certain posts like this one called Writerly Rambles: Tense, and by scouring the fantastic articles posted on the Southern BelleView blog--I actually just found that place, and it is quite wonderful.

The Author Culture site contains some good thoughts to keep in mind about writing, and I found this post of theirs to be particularly entertaining: Pre-Writing Preparation (read if especially if you need to lighten up a bit before settling down to write). You might also like perusing some of the questions & answers presented on Wordplay, and then read through this article: 5 Fun and Easy Ways to Lengthen Word Count.


There are many many methods of tracking down the perfect character name, but if you need to acquire a name for your character quickly (you can always change out their name later on), then grab one (or a few) from the Random Name Generator.

If you can't put your finger on a certain word you're trying to think of, type the definition into the Reverse Dictionary and it will show you possible choices for a matching word. Handy!

Another writing tool I found recently: The Bookshelf Muse. If you need help describing a scene, a character, an emotion... they have a helpful list for all these things, ways to describe scenes or actions, all packed into their sidebar. For example, look at all the wonderfulness in the entry for bookstore--reading a book in the aisle, the woodsy, dry scent of paper and cardboard, carrying a basket heavy with books. All that and more.

If you're looking for other girls who are writing this November, you can look in my sidebar where I have a list of my blogging friends who are writing this month, whether they're doing Nanowrimo or not. I, for one, enjoy keeping up with everyone's progress.

MyWriMo: Day 1, and Sharing Our Bookshelves {November 2011}

Today is the start of NaNoWriMo, for many people. For myself, it is the opening day of a month in which I hope to move forward in, concerning my writing. My only goal is to make progress. The focus is not on what my word count will be at the end of these thirty days, but simply on the fact that I did accomplish something. Months have passed since I last tried formulating a story worth writing, and I don't have much to show for in 2011. This is why I would like to set aside this month to have something to remember the year by.

I have a new bit of inspiration for the month too, as you might have seen in the photo here. Glancing at the word "write" on my desk is sure to be a motivation, don't you think?

Throughout November I will probably post here and there about what I'm doing, and I hope to hear what you other writers are accomplishing throughout the month too. You are welcome to link to your posts on the linky below, and we can all click over and read each others' posts. (Remember: Sharing Our Bookshelves linky is all about connecting to readers and writers, so whether you're posting about your November writings, or your recent reads, please feel free to link up, all month long.)

"The great advantage of being a writer is that you can spy on people. You're there, listening to every word, but part of you is observing. Everything is useful to a writer, you see—every scrap, even the longest and most boring of luncheon parties." —Graham Greene, British author

November Writing Plans

The obvious fact is that November is on its way, which requires plans of action to be made for the tasks of writing throughout this next month.

For me, I don't think that NaNoWriMo would be able to find time to run its course for me this year. What I'm thinking about is still having November to be a month full of writing... it just won't have a 50k novel at the end. So...



Anyone remember last year? To re-introduce the idea: I invited anyone who wanted to join me, to each create our own personal goals of what writing we would like to get done through the month---so that we're not totally left in the dust of our NaNo-ing friends! Well, I'd like to do MyWriMo again for this year. I have some stories I've been thinking about for a while, and I sure would love to get them on paper! I was wondering if anyone else would like to do this with me? The more, the merrier! We could each have our own "MyWriMo". We'll all have different goals. Mine is to finish some stories, so that I'll have some completed projects from this year.

{If you have some ideas for stories (or something bigger like a novel)--maybe you already have something in the works that you'd like to finish up, this could be your motivation. You don't have to commit yourself to the entire month of November either--just take whatever time you'd like in November to do anything you need with your writing.}

If you are going to be posting (or have already posted) about your November writing plans, you might want to come link your posts in my monthly event Sharing Our Bookshelves, and you might find other people doing the same. New links can be added all month long.



To wrap up, if there is anyone up for MyWriMo 2011, I'd love to hear what you plan on doing yourself!

Favorite Finds #14

The Favorite Finds post this week is going to be a little different...
I have many blogging friends who were doing bunches of writing in November. Below I have linked to their final posts about the success of the month.


MyWriMo Participants...

Jessica

Katie

Jennifer



NaNoWriMo-ing Friends...

Alyssa

Eyebright

Georgie Penn

Anna

Beth



Now for a couple links to some lovely giveaways you should check out...

Anna's giveaway - for a handmade darling tote bag!

Emily's giveaway - for a Christmas red scarf!

MyWriMo .:. THE END

Hello to December.
The month of November is now behind us. Everyone's thoughts about this? What did you accomplish?

I had my own goals for "MyWriMo"... Some of you have already heard this... but all I wanted to do during those special 30 days was to finish up some stories that I've begun over the past few months and come out of November with some finished projects. It happened! That was the most writing I've done in a long time, and I'm very proud of my progress. This included 3 different short stories for me, that I was able to finish.

Below are the titles of my stories, along with their final word count.

The Pharridge Gnomes: 3,400 words
The Check: 848 words
The Easter Secret: 17,180 words

As you can see, the first 2 stories were pretty short, and I've already been able to read over these and pretty much edit them. "The Easter Secret" has several pages in it, and that is going to take me a while read, edit, re-do certain parts of the storyline that need fixing, edit some more before it is finished.

So, I'm very curious to hear about everyone else's progress! I hope that all of you who were writing in November got a lot of writing done too.
Oh, and... who already has plans for November 2011??

All the words I use in my stories
can be found in the dictionary -
it's just a matter of arranging them
into the right sentences.
-Somerset Maugham

Favorite Finds #13

Some new "Favorite Finds" for this week. I hope maybe you'll find something that interests you in one of these blogs.

enter the world of. . . {a peek at our NaNo novel} - by Anna
She and her sister, Michaela, have been writing their NaNoWriMo novel together. Anna wrote this description of their story... sounds fantastic!

Ode to the prolog of the Un-Named book...NaNoWriMo '10 - by Michaela
Here is a little glimpse of what Michaela & Anna have been writing. Can't wait until I can read more!

R. M. Ballantyne Book Giveaway - Now to December 27th, each week another Ballantyne book will be given away!

White Blossoms: The Promise - by Katie
Writer's inspiration after midnight... filled with lovely, poetic descriptions.

Grace for the here and now - Just a thoughtful quote I liked.

How to Manage A Business, School, and Family - by Hannah
Sounds a little bit like my own life!

Something brand new - More inspirational words to think about.

Called by Name Photography - A new blog I found. Lovely photos. Check out this one entitled "Classics".

MyWriMo .:. Day 24

Another post about writing! Surprise?

I'm quite pleased with all the writing I've been able to do in November so far. It is so exciting to see each story finished, and then start on the next one. As you already know (if you've been reading along) I've been able to take 2 of my old stories (that had been started months ago) and I finished writing them finally. They were just a couple of short ones. Now I'm trying to accomplish my 3rd story. I think I started it a little over a year ago... at that time, I worked on it enough to write about 8,000 words, but then I left off with the story. It's been sitting in my computer all this time, waiting to be typed on some more. It's actually an Easter story, so it may seem like a weird time of the year to be working on it now... but...I'm really in the writing mood for it. There's still quite a bit more work to do with the story, but I'm hoping I'll be able to squeeze it all in before November ends!

So, my question for you today is... anyone who is writing this month, with the last week upon us, Do you think you're going to reach your goal by November 30th? I'd love to hear what you have to say!

Now for some very true words...

“The difficulty of literature is not to write,
but to write what you mean.”
~ Robert Louis Stevenson

MyWriMo .:. Day 17

We're now into the 3rd week of November. How is that even possible that the time has flown by so quickly? But it's true... 2 weeks have already vanished. About 2 more weeks left.

How is everyone doing with your writing goals, whether it be a novel or other writings... Do you consider yourself to be at the half-way point? Seeing as we are at the half-way point of the month.

To give my own quick update, I've now completed short story #2. It really didn't even take much to finish up. It didn't even need a thousand words added on... the point where I had left off months ago was so close to the end.

So, there's my 2nd completed writing project for November. Now it's time to tackle story #3... I think it's going to take awhile!


“Be yourself.
Above all, let who you are,
what you are,
what you believe,
shine through every sentence you write,
every piece you finish.”
-by John Jakes

MyWriMo .:. Day 8

Days 1 through 7 of November have come and gone. Week #1 of writing has already disappeared.

If you remember from my original post about MyWriMo, I have a few stories I've begun writing over the past year, but haven't finished them. November seemed to be the perfect month to try and accomplish some writing, as a lot of blog friends are doing NaNoWriMo. Reading their blog posts about what they're writing this month is very inspirational and makes me feel motivated to finish my own projects.

So, what have I done so far in this first week? I have finished Story #1. It's fully written, and it is practically edited. The word count for this short story is 3,340 words. Not much in comparison to what some people are striving to write this month, but... it's totally worth it for me to have finished a story.

As week #2 begins, I'm looking forward to digging in to my next story that needs finishing!

What has everyone else accomplished so far? I'd love to hear an update from you!

If anyone else is interested in joining in this writing fun, just drop me a note! Grab a button here. It's not to late to figure out your goals and start writing.

For me,
writing is exploration;
and most of the time,
I'm surprised
where the journey takes me.
-by Jack Dann

MyWriMo .:. Day 3

November is here. I'm so excited to now be into the 3rd official day of writing.

In just the first couple days of writing, I've added 1,100+ words on my first short story I'm trying to finish. Already, I can feel myself edging closer to the storyline's conclusion. By the weekend, I'm sure the story will be complete. Then it will be time to pull out the next story I want to finish.

What are you writing in November? Finising some projects, like me? Starting something new? What kind of word count are you striving for? If anyone would like to share about your writing progress so far, I'd like to hear from you! Drop me a comment, or post on your blog about it. If you're interested in participating in MyWriMo, just let me know and I'll add you to my list below.


Other MyWriMo Friends:

Katie - Whisperings of the Pen

Jessica - Literary Pursuits

Jennifer - Blogful of Books

Jessie - Number the Stars


Now I will leave you with a couple pieces of writing inspiration.

If you want links to some awesome websites to help you in your writing, take a peek at what Hannah Grace posted earlier this week. In her big list, you're sure to find something that sparks an interest with you... tips, prompts, and other writing tools.

One more thing....

If there's a book
you really want to read,
but it hasn't been written yet,
then you must write it.
{Toni Morrison}

Favorite Finds #10

Here's a few blog posts that I read during this past week. I saved them so I could share them with you.
Please do enjoy reading these young ladies' blogs!

Oh NaNoWriMo, When Shall Ye Arrive? - Georgie @ Before My Penn Has Gleaned

Too hard? - Jane @ Novel Pretender

On the fickleness of words - Margaret @ Painter of Words

Dear Homework - Rose's Daring Adventure

One of my favorite places on earth - Michaela @ The Last Rose of Summer

1 week = MyWriMo

I can't believe there's only one more week of waiting left until November begins. For me, this means MyWriMo! {click here for details} For many others of you, this means NaNoWriMo.

For "My Writing Month" {MyWriMo} I'm not going to attempt to fulfill 50,000 words to make a novel in one month. Instead, I'm looking forward to simply working on some writing projects that I've already started in the last few months (hopefully finishing up some things!)... I think there's a total of 5 different short stories that I would like to work on in November. Can't wait to get started!

How are you preparing for your November writing plans?

I have buttons for MyWriMo. If anyone wants to put one of these on your blog, then you are more than welcome to!




<a href="http://inthebookcase.blogspot.com/search/label/mywrimo" target="_new"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZAvZ1vDO_r5uERkqxFyBzkuPm4UIy5v9iSYc4BUJM-xtKYtspyAVoPj1TBOXsjalNUKSS4AkhJuYBxWFkR0jXYURv-BmcJcVHud5rUgijdmTvOMvXYQxS85TCzsGMqFxDIR4Tx54DJA/s1600/MyWriMo-1.png" border="0" alt="MyWriMo @ In the Bookcase" title="MyWriMo @ In the Bookcase" /></a>



<a href="http://inthebookcase.blogspot.com/search/label/mywrimo" target="_new"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXPXOeoxEALHAOmXinc0dL-fq_YlohZA8cjQRnnGjGRzCyNx5nuUmRnCQfxTayv_tTjxn4Kq9nTv7lCPF_EO1MKFAunaG_8EusQGNZssFLOwdXaSCYUMuDgLrPb8zMjyBSa72oqImXlZc/s1600/MyWriMo-2.png" border="0" alt="MyWriMo @ In the Bookcase" title="MyWriMo @ In the Bookcase" /></a>