NaNoWriMo - in progress

Over the past few years of blogging, I've found that my posts run about 500 to 750 words.  With my handy dandy new program (Writeway), I have acts broken to chapters broken to scenes.  I started with a mandatory 3 chapters per act, 3 scenes per chapter.  There are there in my outline, which is visible.  I can go back and forth, up and down.  The only thing is when I work on the synopsis, I need to break that down into the plot notes. So I started with 27 scenes.  I also write articles that are limited to 250 words.

27 x 500 = 13,500  750 = 20,250 words that are pretty much taken care of.  Then I have subplots that added another 27 scenes.  I added location descriptions=9 more scenes.  Prologue and Epilogue adds another six scenes.  Total = 69 scenes @ 750 words = 51750, @500 words = 34500 words (15500 short).

Because I know I can write my blog post in about two to three hours, what with editing and all, I know I need to write 3 scenes per day.  As I've fallen behind due to other commitments, I need to write four or five scenes per day to catch up.  Being able to see my outline as I write, which at this point has mostly blank spaces, is a great motivator.

So knowing the above breakdown, if I made my scenes level off at 750, I'm at my word goal.  @500 words, just need to add another 250 words to 62 scenes or add another subplot making 27 more scenes and add 250 words to 8 scenes.

Because this is the first year I've actually taken time to plan, I had a short synopsis to start with. Again, thanks to my handy dandy new program, I was able to write the synopsis while at the same time being able to look at an outline.  What I did in the past was use this outline to write my story.  Then didn't take time to look at my synopsis as I felt that was editing.  {Actually, a little laziness was the culprit as I didn't want to keep looking back and forth, then having to search after accidentally closing the documents.  Then, didn't like my desktop being cluttered-accidentally clicked open documents I had no interest in looking at.}

This year's synopsis is right there and I've fleshed it out.  And the little note cards are there, although I've only used one or two of them.  The character sheets are where I've filled out the things I need to remember.  And I actually imported one of the character sheets from my short story collection.  And any new stuff is entered right on the character sheet.

Gone are my spreadsheets, my documents for different parts of the story.  I have story ideas that will be transferred to this handy dandy program as soon as I find the time.  And there is a place for photos and such.  Not sure about this one.  Alas, I learned to my great disappointment, that I can fill up an 80GB storage device pretty fast with the pictures I take. {Currently, 4000 pics plus a couple full system backups.}

Well, aside from the fact that I'm started to ramble attributable to NaNoWriMo's shushing of the inner critic, inner editor, I'd like to say that I'm no longer a pantser.  My English teacher's words of wisdom all those many years ago have finally sunk into what my father affectionately calls my "little bird brain."

ChiMiigwetch to my fellow bloggers and authors, my faithful supporters among my family and friends.  And now, I'm off to NaNoLand once again.

Native American Month 2012

Dance

Jingle Dress - I am a Jingle Dress Dancer.  I grew up with an older woman teaching me.  I started by Fancy Dancing/Shawl dancing.

The Gathering of Nations has some links for the "contest" style of dancing.
Indian Country Today had a video featuring Fancy Shawl and Jingle Dress.

There are a variety of links for contemporary style and old style dancing.  There are some other links for the traditional powwows.

Minnesota Historical Society - Ticanaga or cradleboard picture.  Methinks I posted a picture of one at some point in the recent past.  I linked this one to show items hanging from the headbar.

Here is a link to poet, Al Hunter's website.  He has published three books, "Beautiful Razor: Love Poems & Other Lies," released this year by Kegadonce Press. "Spirit Horses" and "The Recklessness of Love: Dreams & Regrets."  Listen to "The Diet" from his latest book.

I had hoped to post more links for this month.  Still about 10,000 words short of where I wanted to be with my NaNoWriMo novel.  Forgot how busy it gets when Halloween starts.  I have worked on the synopsis, filling in the story I wanted to write.

One thing I'd like to caution anybody who tried one of the tips I posted here and there on my wanders in, near and through various sites on the net: If you use a family tree program to track your characters, do not, I repeat, do not name the in-between generations with the same names.  My stories are widely separated in centuries.  I foolishly switched between first and middle names from one generation to the next, just so I could figure out how many generations as this was a requirement for one of my characters.

Hmmm.  Now, I spent the better part of November writing about someone who was in the wrong century for the storyline I had my heart set on.  Alas, my whole timing was made clear to me when I looked up solar and lunar eclipses.  After figuring out how to read the tables, math and making sure an eclipse would be seen or at least felt, I discovered that I had to move two different characters in my tree program.  Which, of course, threw the program out of whack.  And then I had to make sure all my notes on the characters transferred and....  I feel like I could be one of those cartoon characters that throw the whole kit and caboodle out the window and then, magically, have it brought back in good working order bopping me on the head. Well, if wishes were dollars, I'd be able to...I don't know what.  Have a lot of dollars, most likely.  Ahh well, back to the writing board.

November is American Indian Month

I will be posting links to American Indian sites, events and history during the month.  Many of these are organizations that I personally attended meetings, conferences.

November is Native American Heritage Month.  The link goes to The National Congress of American Indians established in 1944.  There is a variety of links and resources here.

Indian Country Today  has an article about the current policy on Eagle feathers.

WaSaa-Inaabida -- We Look in all Directions

An Anisinabe series in the words of our People.

Military links:
US Navy

List of Tribes at IHS - List of the Federally recognized tribes.

Smithsonian Exhibits

Arts and Crafts links:
Indian Arts and Crafts Board Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990.
Directory of Arts and Crafts- link is on the page as there is some info