How did it get to be the end of June already? Or maybe a better question is how did so many days pass in succession, as they do, without me noticing? Good grief, the year is half over!
Yes, I have been writing. And thinking, and taking notes, which is an important part of my writing process.
I’ve also been doing a lot of reading. Plowing through novels in my TBR pileup, of course, as well as reading a bit of non-fiction and catching up on bookmarked articles and blog posts in my RSS feed. There are days I feel as if I’ve read the entire internet. Which I guess helps explain how time has passed without me taking note of it.
Either that or someone has indeed invented time travel and it has all gone horribly wrong, speeding us involuntarily along past potential moments of productivity so not only does no one get anything done, none of us have clear memories of the time lost.
What’s that? It’s just me?
Yes, well, I suspected as much. Clearly, I need to hit the reset button on my work habits and be more mindful of how I waste spend time.
I’ve been told there’s a writing thing in July — and April, apparently — called Camp NaNo. An extension of the more popular and well-known NaNoWriMo in November. Their website proclaims:
“Camp NaNoWriMo is a virtual writer’s retreat, designed for maximum flexibility and creativity.”
I’m not planning to participate officially. Mostly because I’m contrary and really bad at following along and obeying rules. But I’m a member of a small group of writers over on The Book of Faces and someone there proposed we have our own informal “retreat” in July, stating our goals in a similar fashion and cheering each other on. So I’ll be doing that.
My goal is to finish the revision of the story I drafted in April. I really hope it won’t take the entire month, since most of the heavy thinking is done and now I just need to write the rest of the words. Then again, the way time is passing, in three days it will be Thanksgiving and 15 minutes after that, Christmas. Unless my A/C breaks down, then roughly a dozen years will pass before summer is over.
Anyone else have big plans or goals for July? Deadlines? Vacation? Long stretches of indolent wave-gazing at the beach?
I’ll be over here trying not to read the entire internet every day, doing my best not to read anyone else’s words at all. Not even the one-word-at-a-time lure of WWF with my youngest sister. *sigh* In fact, other than email and semi-regular goal check-in and whip cracking with fellow writers, my plan is to be internet-free for July.
Ignoring the internet like . . . well, like a cat with a mouse on its head. Probably you can imagine how long that lasted.
Wish me luck. And determination. I’m going to need all the help I can get.
KD James 
I have to confess I’ve never heard of the Book of Faces. But they don’t let me out much, so what do I know anyway. Well, I do know that I feel the need… the need to read. So finish your story. Because I need something good to read. (Yes, it’s all about me. Her too, probably.)
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Oops, sorry! The Book of Faces is what my DD calls Facebook these days. I’m so used to her saying it, I assume everyone will recognize it. 😳
Thanks for the nudge in the right direction, Merry. I’m trying my best. Er, that is, I will be. As soon as I get off the internet.
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Ah. Well, I /have/ heard of Facebook, so I suppose that’s something. Don’t feel entirely out of the loop, at least.
Looking forward to reading the revised version of that zany zestful romp of a story, even though it unaccountably lacks even a hint of ursine involvement.
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Believe me, Merry, you aren’t missing much not being on FB. Or to put it another way, you’re missing a bunch of stuff worth missing. With a few exceptions.
My DD is *still* lobbying for the inclusion of BEARS in the story. I just keep reminding her I don’t write horror.
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Hi KD
“Internet free.” That about sums up most of my year so far. And what a year it’s been. Horrible. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. And I don’t know if it ended just a few weeks ago with the sudden death of a close friend in pretty awful circumstances.
I must apologize for not commenting on the story you wrote here. I read some of it, thought it was very good, and meant to tell you so. But bad things continued to happen, and I just couldn’t go online for any length of time. The Internet has become an unfriendly place, and it’s getting worse.
I hope your writing continues to go well. And I wish you a happy summer.
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Richard, I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been suffering and grieving. Yes, sadly, there are times we simply need to withdraw a bit and deal with life’s trials in solitude. Certainly no need to apologize for it, but thank you for letting me know. I hope you will keep in mind that, when you’re ready, there is also much comfort to be found in the company of others, even if only in virtual spaces.
Wishing you happier times. Or at the very least, more peaceful days.
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My dear Ms. James, this writing stuff is simple.
All you have to do is
borrow— I mean, synergistically leverage aspeechnovel, that was written before. No one will mind. Why write anything new?LikeLike
Yes, apparently it’s as simple as saying no one person has ownership of all the letters and words. Ahem. I’ll get right on that.
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Hi KD…dropped by from The Reef. I’m thinking you took off for the summer from that too! If only I could be so disciplined…I count on it as much as my morning cup of coffee! Anyway, we’ve missed your brilliance over there (speaking for all the woodland critters I know, but I’m sure they do!) and hope that your summer has been filled with meeting all of your goals!
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Hey, Donna! (You don’t need to clarify who you are, I’d know you anywhere 🙂 ) My supposed hiatus has been a bit iffy. I count on that place too and have been reading along, just not commenting in July. Not sure where you get that “brilliance” thing, but thanks for saying so. Goals not quite met, but getting closer. One word at a time.
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One word at a time gets it done. And I learned yesterday that it doesn’t matter whether /you/ think it’s brilliant so long as the readers do 🙂
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LOL! Yes, and sometimes editors are among our initial batch of readers. Evelyn, I’m still smiling at odd moments today over the news of your FIRST SALE. So happy for you!
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