Demons and Saints

Today is Halloween! Yes, there will be masquerades and mayhem and treats and tricks, fun scary times indeed. But nothing will compare to what comes up if we are blessed to wake up tomorrow.

Tomorrow is All Saints Day. It’s the designated day to remember the souls of those gone before us. There are variations on the day but the underpinning theme is similar. Basically, for me it’s the day we remember people who are no longer with us. But that’s just part of what is special about tomorrow.

Heading into the Fray

Today, football, ghosts, goblins, witches, warlocks, miniature football players, batman and superman characters, werewolves, angels, tiny teachers, Frankensteins, ballerinas, a hippie I met this morning; all will celebrate and amp up our imaginations. They are our excuses for increasing our stores of caffeinated sugar, chocolates and some healthy treats too.

Tomorrow, All Saints day, puts a different spin on my contemplations. Remembering spirits of those missed recently and long ago, invokes more sober thoughts. The sentimental tempers the raucous devil-may-care ideations spawned by the replica of Spawn walking down the street.

All Saints day inevitably brings me from memories of people, to thoughts of death in general. Bringing contemplation of what things would be like if they were still here, what they’re doing over there. Wondering if there is a way to find out before I have to go there.

It’s all for good. For tomorrow, November 1st, we dive in to 30 days of writing.

Writing Time

November 1 marks the start of NaNoWriMo for the novelist just aching to get out. The challenge is 50,000 words, (1667 daily) in thirty days.

November 1 marks the start of November PAD Chapbook Challenge. The ambitious poet summons his whit to churn out verses in accord with a prompt a day, for 30 days.

There’s always something going on in the writing realm. I mention these two because I have participated in these and will again this year. Check them out. Find one that interests you. Or do your own thing. But, join the writing time of November.

Get Ready! Get Ready! Get Ready!

For me, like many others, today is a big day. I’m not a trick-or-treater. I won’t be dressing up or handing out candy. I will be thinking about what could possibly come to me tomorrow that will see me write what reads like the inspired writing I’d like it to be.

Today, I’ll be polishing up the last poems for this month, studying my lessons extra long, completing the last tasks on my to-do lists. I’m making room for tomorrow to write, whenever I start, without the expectation of any interruptions. My plan is to eliminate all the known distractions. My goal is to be able to write freely.

Estimating Good Stuff

Work goes on. Life goes on. Shutting out everything is not an option for me. But, clearing up dangling tasks is a good plan since I can be such a procrastinator with my creative writing. I will give my ruminations, and machinations all the room I can create for them. And just go with the flow that issues forth from writing in communion.

Have a great Halloween today. Bless us, here and gone, for All Saints Day on tomorrow. And, I wish you fulfilling writing throughout the month of November.

I finished the month only on a partially successful note. Both ventures were a great deal of fun, and brought me some valuable insights. I even learned from trying to do them in the same month. One thing I took from November’s activities is that they are do–able in the same month.

NaNoWriMo: My Incomplete Success

First the bad news: My novel remains unfinished. I didn’t meet my goal of 50,000 words by November 30. And I’m alright with that. In fact, I’ll be fine with it but not yet—hat’s coming.

And the good news: While I was disappointed in myself for not finishing, I know what stopped me. Now, it’s not that I have good excuses because I don’t. I just learned more about me and the land mines I allowed to stop me. Tells me a lot about what to look out for next time. Yes, there will be a next time.

The other good thing that came of this effort was that I learned that I still have the passion to write long pieces of fiction. And, my biggest take–away is that I have the beginning of a novel that I really like. So, while I didn’t make my deadline, I’m still going to write the novel.

2009 November PAD Chapbook Challenge

The poems are done! I finished them on time even though I got a little behind a few times in the month. That was quite thrilling for me but that’s only half the project.

The rest of the challenge lies in completing the poem edits and submitting them before January 5, 2010. If you would like to read the poems visit the roundup on my page the 2009 PAD November Chapbook Challenge, under the Poems main tab.

This project was very much worth the effort. I learned that I have the strength to let poems go out into the cosmos of cyber space. I trust my editing more. Not that it’s all that good, but that I know how to carve out and leave in what reflects me. I make what works for me and offer it up to others to enjoy or not.

Making changes on the fly, working to find the right words came easy and hard depending on different factors—but the changes came. I’ll be exploring in more detail what I got out of these activities. Come back and check it out. Tell me about your writing project experiences.

By the way, I would have finished this post yesterday but my brain was a lot fried from the challenges. I didn’t have my sea legs back yet. Or would that be sea fingers? As a bonafide landlubber, I’m not even sure I have permission to say that. At any rate, I’m better today.