NaNoWriMo Winner in 2012!

     You may remember that last year I wrote a novel which I have worked all year to complete, but I still haven't managed it. The word count is around 85,000 words, but it hasn't been resolved to my satisfaction. I probably know the reason why, as another author put it: "I put everything I know into my first novel." I'm sure I did too. There are many characters and ideas to work out before I'm through, so it will take a while!

     But I'll continue working on it, though a few characters and situations may disappear  before it's finished. I apologize to anyone who has asked me where to get a copy as there just isn't one!

     This year I began writing a new novel. To be a winner on NaNoWriMo, you must write 50,000 words in the month of November. I wrote about 52,000 words, which wasn't as easy as it sounds because I was sick with the worst cold in my life (or the flu) and was in bed much of the time. Another situation was that Lisa and her family had a disaster at their house and moved in with me the end of September. They've decided to sell their house and are moving in here until they can decide what their next move will be. They have a townhouse in Murfreesboro which may come in handy the next few months. We have no idea how things will work out, and  it's hard on everyone to be in limbo.

     I talk about NaNoWriMo.org because I want to encourage anyone who has ever thought about writing to think about joining the millions of people who take the plunge every November. You have a whole year to think about it, it's absolutely free, and you get a copy (sometimes 5 copies) of your novel from Create Space (amazon.com) when you finish it in June. But you must complete it by the end of June to get the copies.  

     AND even if you don't write 50,000 words, the exercise will surprise you the way it pushes you along while you're writing words you never dreamed were in your head. Or, in the case of some people, they've had a novel in their head all their lives practically, but just haven't put it on paper. I was so resistant that it took Lisa, Quinlyn, and Donna to talk me into even trying. I kept saying that I had nothing to write about. And that may still be true, but I came up with ideas and I've enjoyed the process. Quinlyn chose to write 20,000 words and was successful (at 14 years old, she can choose how many words she wants to write above 1,500 or so). She's turning into a wonderfully expressive novelist herself. 

     And I will  say that writing this novel is an exercise which allows all of us  to  experiment and surprise ourselves with what we can do when we put our thoughts and ideas into words on a page. One of the best suggestions I've heard is to write about what you know. We can all do that, can't we? My novel isn't necessarily about what I know, except that I know how people  respond to life, which is what our lives are mostly about--responding to things that happen to us. The fun part is that you get to choose how each character responds to what happens. And one more thing is that if you allow your novel to do so, it will mostly write itself. My novel has turned into something I never intended it to be--one character a murderer and another a spy ? How could that be??? I find it hard to believe myself!  

     I know most of you are busy with holiday decorating and gift buying, but keep Writing A Novel on your list as a possibility for next year. And to anyone out there who gives it a try, I congratulate you because (as NaNoWriMo.org would say) you're already a winner!

Have a great week~

Mimi

    

An Introduction to my Blog

I'm beginning this blog to share a lifetime of experiences and what I hope is "wisdom." I have a large family that includes women of all ages who are moving through their lives much as I did years ago, and it is to all these women that I dedicate this blog.

I began married life (so I thought) as a pretty good wife, housekeeper, mother and Christian. But it wasn't long before I was lost in a sea of overwhelming demands and duties which kept me from being anywhere close to the "woman I wanted to be." So I began a search for what Sarah Ban Breathnach calls the authentic self: I wanted to be the best wife, the best housekeeper, the best mother and the best Christian I could be. If that sounds easy--it hasn't been!

I was going along with a husband, Richard, and three daughters--Paula, Lisa, and Donna-- when I experienced extreme pain in my back. There was a year of doctors and hospital stays to determine the cause, but to no avail. My husband saw my depression and decided that I needed something to divert my attention. He talked me into going to college. I absolutely loved learning, but it was a miserable time for me and my family; however, we got through it. My success was mainly due to my husband and his unflagging support and care throughout those years. The cause of my pain was discovered six years after it began. And so we entered another phase of our lives.

I am explaining all of this to create a background for much of what I will be expressing in my blogs: that while we're planning our lives, LIFE gets in the way and takes us on a path we never expected. While moving through my own life, I added some new ways of becoming a better person: I wanted to be the best writer, the best artist, and the best person in every way that I could become. I have read many books and listened to many talks on changing my life. Sadly, my husband died in 1996, so I'm a widow who views life differently for many reasons.

Where am I now? I'm still moving toward my goal: being the woman I want to be. That still includes being a good mother and now a good grandmother and a good great-grandmother, but it also includes--most importantly--being the best Christian I can be. Toward that goal, I am writing Bible lessons for my brother's website. These lessons are being written mainly for people in foreign countries who don't have much access to Bible teaching. I take the words on the page and put them into my own words, making the message easier to understand. This may sound easy peasy, but it is hard work!

I pray that my thoughts on living in a world of chaos, while doing my best to be a good person, may help you move further in that direction. I have just had my 70th birthday; I'm hoping to make the next 10 years of my life the very best years of my life! And I hope you'll help me with that goal.

Also, along the way, I have improved on my cooking and sewing and housekeeping skills, so I want to share those moments which make me happy to be alive and thankful that I kept on struggling with that recipe, or that zipper, or that paragraph I was writing. I try to remember that everything I'm seeking is out there somewhere and I just have to find it. How to go about that is a subject for another blog!

Love and blessings to everyone who reads my story.

Mimi

P.S. Because I had requests to separate my regular/personal blog from my religious writing, I started a new blog: http://biblememosfrommimi.blogspot.com/.