Post Nano

Okay, my Nano was a complete wash as far as workable word count is considered. All I managed was to get a grasp on what the book needs to be about (aside from The Wild Rose Press guidelines for HonkyTonk Hearts), who the players are and what's at stake for each one. Oh yeah, and I proved I am definitely an outline kind of gal.

I think I'm a throwback from members of my family who were all truck drivers. Dad, retired after many years on the road, taught me at a young age how to read a road map. Two of my older brothers and an older sister all drove truck at some point in their lives. Being an over the road trucker (before GPS) meant knowing how to get from point A to point B and in the shortest amount of time. On the road, making delivery deadlines, like any other deadline, is critical to making sure everyone gets paid.

I am a planner. I need to know where I'm going, how I'm going to get there and if there are alternate routes should I need them. My road map stays tucked into the back of my driver's seat at all times just in case (though I have given in to using hubby's GPS when I go to Nashville). As a planner, I need to know all of those things about a book before I can write it. That's what I did for Nano.

I take December off from writing. December is my time to close out one year and prep for another. It's the only way I can manage all of the projects I have going on 24/7. But come January 1, 2012 while the rest of the world is recuperating from festivities and celebrations, I'll be participating in JANO with my local writers group, Sleuths Ink. We do things only slightly different than the big NANO group.

1) we still have to write 50k in NEW WORDS

2) we can work on an existing project AS LONG AS IT'S NEW WORDS

3) member privileges allows for some of us to do a collection of short stories - totaling 50,00 min.

4) we have an extra day to write. That 1 extra day can make a difference

5) members who write 50k + also go into a drawing for a Kindle at the end of the year.

So yeah, I'm gearing up for January 1st. Anyone is welcome to play. But joining Sleuth's does have a couple of advantages. :-)

Wanna play?