Necessary Distractions

When I write--when I'm really writing or editing or proofing and really into it--I tend to not blog as much. And it's not that I don't still spend way too much time on Facebook and Twitter (That's Facebook and Twitter, for those who don't follow me yet), but I do more reading, forwarding, and replying and not so much musing and initiating. Or I ask research questions that could possibly be answered by Google, but without the nuance that others can give me. (Or because I'm right in the middle of something and will come back to research more deeply later).

This month, I've been doing Camp NaNoWriMo, which they host a couple of times a year to keep us writing even when it's not November. Since I was already writing something, it seemed like a good time to add a little speed to it. Camp Nano has the benefit of you being able to choose how many words you think you can write and/or time you can spend on edits. I signed up for 30,000 words and passed that on day 21. So I took a couple of days off for life, going to my local RWA chapter meeting, and reading, and am back in it to try to finish.

But really, I haven't spent more than an hour or two a day on writing, except for a couple of days in there where the story was coming, but I had to keep researching. Or I had background noise which kept bugging me. Or, like yesterday, I had to get up to stir my soup several times. (Dhal soup with butternut squash in it. And I made naan bread. I'm not a great cook, but I do like spices and bread.)

So of course yesterday, I spent a great deal of time adding a scene about a third of the way through the book and haven't gotten into the confrontation that will lead to the Black Moment. And then the Black Moment, then the resolution, then the denouement.

You see, I'm generally mostly pantser, as I've pointed out before. In other words, I get a few ideas and start writing and see what happens. This time, I started out with a structure. I had been listening to my old CDs in my car and had the soundtrack from The Big Chill in the rotation. And one day, all the vague ideas I'd been having about writing something contemporary and maybe something New Adult coalesced. And, as I blogged a couple of weeks ago, I based the story on the soundtrack. There are fourteen songs in this version of the soundtrack (there are a couple of other versions) and that's what I have to work with. It's an interesting experience.

And now I want to write a series based on Greatest Hits albums and Soundtracks.


So anyway, I have a two week Blog Tour going on through Goddess Fish Promotions. Today I'm at BooksChatter. Drop by to comment and to enter the gift card giveaway!

And go buy the book!