Top Five Ways You Can Tell That Betsy, Ramona, and I Are Doing NaNoWriMo*

*NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. The idea is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Yes, it's crazy to think that a novel can be completed in 30 days, but I do believe that a lot of great ideas can make it onto paper (or onto the screen) in 30 days. (It was fun to read Rainbow Rowell's pep talk, which affirms exactly that perspective on the process.) Then the real writing starts. Deadlines are my friend. So is revision. 

So, for the month of November, I'm exercising some writing/fiction muscles that I haven't used for a long time. Betsy has completed NaNoWriMo twice before, in 2011 and 2012, but Ramona and I are novices. So, Betsy can often be found these days nodding sagely at us and saying things like, "Yeah, I felt that way my first year, too." 

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And now, the Top Five Ways You Can Tell We're NaNoing: 

#5 
I (apologetically and sheepishly) use "NaNo" as a verb: "Dinner's in the oven, guys. I'll be NaNoing and then we'll eat in about an hour."

#4 
I tell the kids that it would be obviously, patently, ridiculous and unacceptable to pad one's word count with sentences such as, "She was very, very, very, very, very, very tired." Then I create a character who says things such as, "I really, really needed to be here."

(Do as I say kids, not as I do.)

#3
I am sometimes caught with a dreamy look on my face, my lips moving as I play around with dialogue.

#2
I am counting the words in this blog post. I'm thinking it's a shame there isn't someplace to log the number of words in a blog post so that I can feel a purely mathematical sense of accomplishment.

#1 way you can tell we're doing NaNoWriMo:
We are focused on sharing an adventure and a goal. We have shared synopses ("Oooh! That sounds compelling, Betsy!" and, "Ramona, that is an amazing idea! And it's so you!" and, "Mom, this sounds cool! And I love your names!") We have guarded works-in-progress. We have emailed each other pep talks. We've checked in on one another's word counts ("Mom! I wrote 4,000 words today!")

We remind each other that although writing is a huge amount of work, creativity is an enormous amount of fun.

We are having a lot of fun.

Poetry Friday: One From Ramona

Happy Poetry Friday, and Merry Eve of Christmas Eve!

Here's a little gift from Ramona -- a poem she wrote the other day. She wanted to send something to Highlights Magazine, so she plopped down at the coffee table with pencil and paper and, minutes later, said, "Here, Mommy!"

Off it went to Highlights, and now it is winging its way to you.

(photo thanks to stock.xchng)

Birds
by Ramona


Bluebirds with wings so bright,
you fill the world with light.


When you fly, I feel I can, too,
and soar up in the clouds with you.


And maybe even eat a cloud.
Just one.
That would be fun.


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Plenty of other writing going on around here lately, too. I've got a couple of projects going. Though Betsy is relieved to be finished with NaNoWriMo, she's at work on two new stories. And Anne-with-an-e is working on something (story? novel? She's not sure...) about a deadly virus (which is right up her biological alley.) On top of all that, though I've horribly neglected our Writing With the Kids blog, we are still doing the annual Christmas Fan Fiction Challenge. We'll be reading our compositions to each other tomorrow night, over dinner.

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The Poetry Friday roundup today is at Dori Reads.

Writing With the Kids

This year, Anne-with-an-e once again led her "Christmas Fan Fiction Challenge."  The idea is to start with characters from Harry Potter, and write a Christmas story based on one of the challenges Anne offers us.  This year, the themes from which to choose were "The Hope of Christmas" or "A Retelling of A Christmas Carol."

The results of the challenge are over on our writing blog, Writing with the Kids. 

Anne chose the "Hope of Christmas" theme, Betsy did A Christmas Carol with Snape as Scrooge, and Ramona the Renegade came up with her own theme, which she called "The Gift of the Wizard." I think she remembered that one of last year's themes was "The Gift of the Magi."  (I left Ramona's story just as she wrote it, re. spelling and punctuation, etc.)   I went with "The Hope of Christmas" (and go easy on me, as I threw my assignment together the day before it was due. Don't tell my kids.)

I'm sure the kids would love to get a few comments, so if you have time, head over and let us know what you think.

Writing with the Kids

I've been meaning to start a little blog for the kids' writing, a place where I can post things they're working on or have completed, or just things they'd like to share with others.

I have the beginnings of it here, at Writing with the Kids.

The first three posts are from Anne-with-an-e's "December Fan Fiction Challenge." She asked each of us to write a Harry Potter fan fiction based either on O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi, or on one of the HP characters recalling a Christmas memory. I must admit that I was busy in December and I kept putting it off, but when I finally sat down one evening to write a story, as a gift to Anne, it was such silly fun. So, be kind ... as fiction goes, mine's awful, but as a gift to my daughter, it was priceless. We read the stories to each other for the first time over Christmas Eve dinner.

I hope to update it soon with a little more from each of the girls, including Ramona.