Write Like It's November

 
Most writers know November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, we say as if speaking an alien tongue).  The challenge: to write every day for the month to achieve a total of 50,000 words, a good chunk of a novel.


This is my third year participating, my second year participating as a poet (NaPoWriMo?) and the challenge is to write a poem every day for 30 days.

In 2011, I did it just to see if I could.  I'm not a prolific poet.  Sometimes an idea for a poem will run around in my brain for weeks before it finally comes to rest on paper.  The concept of generating a poem every day was daunting, but I followed the daily prompts from the Writer's Digest and persevered, ending the month with 30 poems.  It's Day 4 of the 2012 challenge and I've finished today's poem, and it's barely after 8pm here in Iowa.

I have learned a few things about writing a poem every day.

1. I can only do it at night, staring out a dark window.

2. The soundtrack to 'The Hours' is mandatory. 

3. Prompts are simply leaping off points, write whatever comes.

4. I ain't writing epics here.

5. And I ain't writing brilliant verse every time, but if I get one or two decent poems out of 30, and a handful of salvageable lines to be used in another poem one day, I have succeeded.

6. Whether you're writing a novel or 30 poems, just fucking write.

Weekend Zen - November 3-4

There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation.

 

                         ~ W. C. Fields

Daily Zen - Friday, November 2

Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you'll be a mile away and have his shoes.                       
                            ~ Steve Martin

Twelve Stages of Novel Writing Grief

In support of those who plan to launch themselves headlong this month into NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), I have identified twelve known stages of novel writing grief. 

1. Idea.
2. Enthusiasm.
3. Procrastination.
4. Self-doubt.
5. Angst.
6. Procrastination.
7. Disgust.
8. Procrastination.
9. Despair.
10. Procrastination.
11. Commitment.
12. Writing.

Note: The first 11 stages typically occur over the course of a decade. The 12th stage lasts six months, give or take a year. (Time frames may or may not be compressed for NaNoWriMo participants.)

Daily Zen - Thursday, November 1

Daily Zen - Wednesday, October 31

Every book is a children's book if the kid can read.
                    
                         ~ Mitch Hedberg

Writers & Dogs

I am as confounded by dogs as I am indebted to them. 

                                              ~ Roger Caras

I share my life with two dogs, Jack & Joey.  Jack was a rescue I adopted in 2006. In the weeks and months following the death of my partner in 2011, he saved my life.  I cannot imagine how lonely my apartment would have been without Jack there to greet me every night, or sleep next to me.

This past July, Joey joined our household.  He was just five weeks old, born on a farm, and he was placed in my arms with a homemade twine leash by two teenage girls who used the annual Delhi Daze to find homes for Joey and his siblings.  It took less than five minutes for the four puppies to be snatched up.

I would never have thought of myself as the proud dog person I have become.  I would never imagined my dogs would become my muses (oh, how I despise that word), but their snuffling and romping and furry selves show up regularly in my poetry.

Today, however, Joey tested the writer. 

Like any writer, I have books.  Lots of books.  This week, I received a copy of Tim Gunn's latest fashion book (confession: I have seen every episode of Project Runway) and 'The Shape of Poetry' signed by one of my poetic mentors, Peter Meinke.  The books were on the coffee table, but while I was working, Joey dragged them into the bedroom and made confetti of Mr. Gunn (in fashion, one day you're in, the next, you're a dog toy).  Poetry did not taste as good; Meinke's book suffered only a couple of tooth marks.

Sure, I raised my voice while picking up the shredded pages; scolding Joey for such a desecration.  Then we went for a walk in the brisk autumn afternoon, my anger forgotten, and now he's sleeping at my feet as I write this. You can only forgive a face like Joey's.  You can only see poems in those sad, brown eyes.

Daily Zen - Tuesday, October 30

If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in the library?

                          ~ Lily Tomlin

Daily Zen - Monday, October 29

Gross ignorance is 144 times worse than ordinary ignorance.

                         ~ Bennett Cerf

Seniors LipDub Monster Mash

I suppose it's the unofficial anthem of the Halloween season, and certainly we all sing along whenever we hear this charming earworm.  I love the spirit of these senior citizens, although some of them appear to be ambivalent about the recreation director's idea.

Superman Takes The Leap

Like typewriters, princess phones, and beepers, the printed newspaper is facing certain extinction.

Over the past decade, with ad revenue shrinking and the juggernaut that is the Internet, newspapers struggle to maintain viability and relevance in our world.  The recent reduction of issues of the New Orleans' Times-Picayune made newsroom editors shiver around the world.

I'm a devoted newspaper reader (although it's really just about doing the crossword puzzle). I grew up with the Des Moines Register and had the good fortune to live in Florida and read the St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Times), both papers have won a handful of Pulitzer Prizes.  When I'm feeling flush, I buy the Sunday NY Times.  Have you picked up a Sunday Times lately?  It used to be a mammoth issue, but now seems almost demure in size.

I fear the death knell of the newspaper though, the final straw, rang this past week when DC Comics announced Clark Kent is leaving the Daily Planet to start his own news blog.  Our mild-mannered reporter has grown weary of covering the Kardashians and the Metropolis Cat Show.

Perhaps what I fear most is being unable to spend $5 on a crossword puzzle.

Weekend Zen - October 27-28

What would the sky be like if there was nothing to see but stars?

                         ~ Kevin Brockmeier

Second Thoughts From the Wilderness

In the morning, I write in
the cabin's tiny kitchen.

Today was day four in my faraway cabin, or as those of you still intimately connected to civilization call it, Friday.

Since my first wilderness journal entry a few days ago, I've learned a few more valuable lessons and I thought I'd continue sharing them.

Note: You may want to print these journal entries. 

In the event you find yourself alone for days in an isolated northern California cabin, these critical survival tidbits will come in handy and you will no doubt be lacking a good internet connection.

Slippers. In my first entry, I noted the importance of packing socks for this journey. As it turns out, the value of socks as foot warmers has been greatly exaggerated. Two days ago, I drove to Arcata and bought some cozy fur-lined slippers.

Dishes. No matter how many plates, bowls, or cups you use during each meal, wash them only once a day. Once your hands get wet and cold, it feels like they'll never warm up again.

Baseball. I listened to the second game of the World Series on the radio. No problem with reception, but I discovered that my brain finds it much easier to focus on a radio sports broadcast when driving than when sitting alone in a room staring at nothing. On the plus side - Go Giants!

Mittens. A good idea. See issue with dishes noted above.

In the afternoon, I move
to the front porch to work.

Fire. (Update) I have tons of kindling and firewood, but ran low on the most essential element of fire starting - newspapers (you remember, those things we used to read every day before the internet came along).

Anyway, should you ever run low on starter fuel for your woodstove fire, paper towels will suffice (Bounty, jumbo roll, no design). Also, the cardboard box in which slippers are commonly packaged will burn slowly and may produce a lovely blue flame.

Walking. Yesterday I took a stroll through the forest. The redwoods and fir trees are stunning, and I can’t describe how beautiful everything smells. I stopped at least a dozen times just to look up in wonder and breathe deeply.

Writing.

… Is hard. Fits and spurts, but it’s happening.

Daily Zen - Friday, October 26

Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.
                         ~ Mary Oliver

Daily Zen - Thursday, October 25

Pay attention to where you are going because without meaning you might get nowhere.                       
                         ~ A. A. Milne

Daily Zen - Wednesday, October 24

Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.

                             ~ Voltaire

Impressions From My First Morning Alone

Quiet. A small wood-framed clock sits atop the refrigerator, and from every corner of my tiny cabin, I can hear it marking the passage of time. Tick-tick-tick.

Fire. When I arrived last night, the owner of the cabin had left a cozy fire burning in the wood stove to welcome me. The fire died out overnight, so this morning it was up to me to re-kindle the flame.

Apparently, it takes more than old newspaper, firewood, and matchsticks to start a fire. I have new respect for arson as an occupation.

Socks. Essential. See issues with re-kindling fire noted above.

Stillness. One other thing I learned in the first two hours this morning – sitting alone at small table in an isolated northern California cabin is not the same as plopping your butt down in front of ESPN at home.

~ Coffee made? Check.
~ Fruit cup eaten? Check.
~ Cell phone picked up 50 times to confirm there is still no signal? Check.

Okay, now what?

Daily Zen - Tuesday, October 23

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.

                            ~ e.e. cummings

Jeff Is Going Off the Grid, But the Blog Rolls On

The Backstory

About a dozen years ago, I began toying with an idea I had for a fiction novel. 

It's a story about a middle-aged guy who wants more happiness in the second half of his life than he had in the first half. He thinks he knows how to make that happen, but after some wacky stuff happens, he realizes much of what he knows about life, well, it might just be total crap. It all works out...maybe. (Can't tell you everything, can I?) It's your typical transformation story, only eloquently told with charm, wit, and an online thesaurus.

Anyway, about 18 months ago I stopped dabbling with the idea and began working on the book in earnest, and earlier this year, I finished a first draft. With more than 400 pages completed and 145,000 words committed to "paper," it turns out - that was the easy part.

Since early summer I have been revising that first draft. The editorial process for a novel, I have learned, can take far less time than the original writing (which is good because I don't think I have another decade in me for this project), but it takes even more focus and commitment. 

Commitment has always come easy to me, but concentration, not so much. Which leads us here...

Jeff's retreat in the redwood forests near Arcata, CA.
(Note: I don't know the woman pictured on the porch. I hope she's gone.)

The Next Four Weeks

Between now and Thanksgiving, I will be living in this tiny cabin, deep in the northern California redwoods. With no internet, phone, or cable TV immediately available, I will be largely disconnected from the real world. 

I'm hoping to find greater focus here than I have been able to muster in my daily life in recent months, and with a little luck and a lot of effort, I should make tremendous progress on revising my novel. 

You Can't Stop The Way Things Turn

I won't be publishing The Way Things Turn each day, but the world will continue to spin and events worthy of note will still need to be...noted.

I've asked my friend and fellow writer Tim Juhl to take over the helm of the blog for the next month, and lucky for all of us, Tim agreed! He will continue to publish daily zen posts, and hopefully, share with you some of his personal views on "politics, culture, and other best laid plans."

Tim will promote his daily posts via Facebook, so feel free to "friend" him. You can find his FB profile here. I will also "share" his blog posts thru Facebook and Twitter every few days when I make way to an internet cafe.

If you want to be sure you continue to see everything posted on the blog, all you have to do is subscribe. Just enter your email address in the "Follow By Email" box near the top of the left-hand column, and follow the simple instructions. You'll get an email each day with links to the daily zen and other posts.

That's it for me. I'm signing off for now. Wish me luck. Many thanks to Tim for taking over the blog for a month and....

...as always thanks for reading!

Daily Zen - Monday, October 22

The best way is just to observe the noise of the world. The answer to your questions? Ask your own heart.

                     ~ Hsu Yun