October 21, 2012

Writing Tapas-Style: ROW80 Update

My husband took me out to dinner this weekend for some Greek food, tapas-style. We sampled everything from lamb to lollipop chicken (drumstick in a greek yogurt and honey sauce) and finally greek donuts. It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time.

I'm not adventurous when it comes to food. I like what I like, and I only try things when others insist it's wonderful. Even then, I hesitate. But with tapas, you can try samplings of new food without the cost commitment or going hungry.

So, it got this pantser to thinking. I find a traditional outline difficult, it's too much commitment without feeling the flow of the story as it develops, but I can write down samplings of plot developments I'd like to see happen in the story. I pulled out a pack of note cards, ones I bought for my daughter to use when studying.

Then I proceeded to pack my NaNo bag.
 
 
A NaNo bag?

Yes, this is the OCD side of me (how that works with being a pantser, I'll leave to you to figure out). I have been summoned to my first ever jury selection process tomorrow. Yes, I'm 40, but I've moved so often this is the first time a state discovered my residency before I left. Well played, Maryland. Well played. (We moved here 11/10.)

Back to my NaNo bag. I decided to have my writing laptop (a wonderful 40th birthday gift from hubby) in a bag with my note cards, pens, pencils, and a steno pad. For tomorrow, it's my get-things-done-at-court bag. But during NaNo, it'll be the bag I grab as I head out the door each morning to hit Starbucks early. I realize that's the only way I'll be getting even close to 50,000 words done. No distractions.

I'm excited to try out my new tapas-style writing (note cards) and NaNo bag during my jury selection day tomorrow.

What would be in your writing bag?

*****

A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) Update

  1. Planning for Chasing Memories, my NaNo piece ----> I started detailing plot ideas on the note cards. I have five detailed note cards so far. Each notecard ends up roughly being a chapter, so I'd like to do five more by Wednesday.
  2. Make a character list for Chasing Memories ----> I'm making note of characters and names within the note cards so far. I'll transfer them to one list before November 1.
  3. Prewrite two blog posts for November ----> I didn't even write a Fascinating Friday post. Well, I did, but I forgot to publish it, so I saved it for November. That's cheating, and I still only have one post ready for November. I hope to have one more by Wednesday.
  4. Edit three chapters on BT, to get ahead on my editing schedule ----> Done, plus an extra chapter. I need to get four more done this week and two chapters done on another editing project. All by Wednesday. Feeling the pressure.
  5. Spend 30-45 minutes each day exploring the NaNo site ----> Fell behind on this the last few days. Hope to catch up before November 1.
Hope all my writer friends are accomplishing their goals! 

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Much the same as you, except I'd add a bunch of colored post-its, so that I could mark places I needed to change or where I had important thoughts as I was going along. I'd code the colors.....

Helene Poulakou said...

Wow! You're one organized lady!!!

Jokes aside, getting away from home (to Starbucks or anywhere else you find appropriate) is the best thing you can do to successfully reach the end of the 50,000-words challenge.

And congratulations on being so brave as to try out Greek meze (tapas)!!!

Elise Fallson said...

Oh the tapas dinner sounds amazing. Your hubby is awesome! Good luck with NaNo, I'm sure you'll get through it. And the grab bag is a great idea especially since you're often on the go. I didn't join Nano, but reading all these posts about people getting ready for it has got me motivated. I'm hoping November will be more productive for me. Good luck!! (:

Jo Michaels said...

Oh my gosh! I would include my iPad, instant coffee, a pen, and a notebook (the paper and metal bound ring kind). That would get me through anything. If they said I couldn't use my iPad, I'd write longhand :)

Great post today. WRITE ON!

alberta ross said...

well organized:) like the bag idea for someone on the move - couldn't hack starbucks as a place to write:( too noisy by far - but so many of you seem to rush to them - maybe I'm missing something:) all the best and keep smiling

Julie Glover said...

Wow! Nano & jury duty? Be brave, Tia...be very brave.

Jennifer Willis said...

I love the idea of a NaNo bag!

Tia Bach said...

Thanks for all your comments. I didn't end up getting picked for jury duty, but at least I did get my NaNo bag ready!

Jessica Salyer said...

I have a similar bag. The other thing I have is my emotion thesaurus. Good luck with NaNo. See you Dec 1. :)

Tia Bach said...

Jessica, I'm sitting at Starbucks right now and jumped over to look up something. An emotion thesaurus, do tell! Sounds interesting.

I have managed 3,253 words so far today. I hope I can keep it up!

Have an amazing November!