Is The Year Half Full Or Half Empty?

It's the last week of school already. Wow! Yesterday was June 1. 2009 is half way over. In three weeks will be the first day of summer that brings with it the longest day of the year. I'm not ready for this. I actually want to enjoy this time of the year. As much as I hate the heat, I don't want the end of the year yet. And anyone who knows me knows just how much I love Autumn.

I found out through one of my writer's groups that the month of November is National Novel Writing Month. During that time there is a contest to write a novel between November 1 and November 30. It doesn't have to be good. It doesn't have to have perfect grammar. It just has to be a coherent novel that is at least 50,000 words or more. They tell you not to do anything but write. No editing is allowed. The purpose of this is to get you to write instead of constantly stopping to correct grammar, ideas, or anything else that keeps you from getting ahead on your novel.

I signed up for this. It's perfect because I'm one of those writers who takes 3 hours to write a 4 paragraph email. I have to have it perfect, all the way around. This will help me quite a bit. In preparation for this exercise in prose I have begun a novel now. Unfortunately I missed writing last night, but I'm going to make up for it today. I usually write about what my major interests are at the moment and this story is no different. It's set in Seattle, (who would have guessed?) and it starts with crab fishermen getting off their boats after two months at sea.(no kidding!)The obvious plot is "girl gets boy" or vice versa. But these women also learn to be their own "knight in shining armour." I haven't figured out a subplot for the men yet. The people at NaNoWriMo say to just write what comes to your head. I can write an outline, which I might do even yet, but I need to stick to writing instead of correcting my grammar. It's not as easy as it sounds. Anyway, of course the characters are based on the guys from Deadliest Catch - not specifically, a little from each guy is in my guys. The ladies are based on not only me, but other strong women who are finding their way, or have discovered that they are supposed to save themselves. It does no good to wait around and wait for "Mr.Right" to swoop in and save you from ________. As women, we need to learn how to do that ourselves first. Especially the wife of a fisherman. The men are gone for months at a time so the lady has to hold down the fort. Aside from normal housewife duties, which are numerous, it includes dealing with household repairs and repairmen, car maintanance, being a Mom and a Dad to the children, lawn and landscaping, etc, etc. During this time she is basically a single Mom. She is the safety net for everyone else and has to put them first. You can't do all this successfully and be a simpering weakling who waits around for someone to make your life better. Women (and men) need to learn to make their own lives better before adding another person to the picture. Anyway, that's the gist of the story, now I have to figure out how to make all those points in to a story.

That's about it for now. I'll keep you posted.

I would like it published when it's all done. Some of these novels that were written in a month became best sellers. After much editing, of course. With as popular as DC is right now, it might strike the fancy of a lot of people.