Camp NaNoWriMo – Lena Corazon

Tag: Camp NaNoWriMo

ROW80: Better Late Than Never

Heyyyy! Okay, I’m a couple of weeks late for Round 3 of A Round of Words in 80 Days, but I finally made it. Anyone have a cool drink to share? I need something to keep me cool during these unexpectedly warm summer days. 😛

It’s been a crazy few months, as most of you have been able to tell. But I’m happy to report that I’ve managed to wrangle at least few things in my life into some semblance of order. As far as the dissertation is concerned, I’ve completed almost all of my archival research, and my committee has approved my proposal. I wrote my very first academic journal article (whoo-hoo!) and while it still needs to undergo the review process, I got an early thumbs-up that eases a lot of my anxiety. And as far as my creative writing goes, I’ve finally been able to dig into TELL ME NO LIES, my steampunk romance/murder mystery/thriller that I’ve been trying to finish for two years now.

Things are definitely coming together.

With that, here’s my list of things to accomplish during Round 3:

WRITING:

Complete edits for Act I of TELL ME NO LIES, and create a detailed outline for Act II
Participate in July’s Camp NaNoWriMo, and write 15k towards SOMEWHERE IN THE WEST

DAY JOB:

Finish archival research
Complete dissertation proposal edits
Start analyzing all the data that’s already been collected
Draft dissertation chapters 1 and 2

BLOGGING:

Aim for 1 ROW80 check-in and 1 regular blog post each week
Visit and comment on at least 5 blogs each week
Brainstorm changes for my blog, to put into action during Round 4

My biggest goal for this round, I think, is to ease back into things without crippling myself with anxiety or fear or any of the other things that have been holding me back this year. I’m feeling a lot more positive and excited about the work I have before, so hopefully that’ll translate into getting lots done!

ROW80: Oh, How Time Flies!

April 13, 2013 / Lena Corazon / 13 Comments

I know, I know, I’ve been all sorts of absent over the last month or so. Where have I been? for starters, there was the family spring break trip to Anaheim, where all of this awesomeness occurred:

The valiant knights of Medieval Times in Buena Park, CA.

Disneyland!

Yo ho ho!

The great Captain Jack Sparrow, for my #teamsprinty loves

Family time at Disneyland.

…and then after I got back from vacation, there was just a lot of “Oh, I’ll write a check-in post on Sunday. Wait, Sunday has passed? Then I’ll check in on Wednesday…” And so on, and so forth.

Then April rolled around (no, I don’t know where the time has gone. I am convinced that some evil genius somewhere flipped a switch and stole at least 3 weeks from me), and I had all this life stuff come up. Nothing serious, mind you, just the life stuff that involves dealing with routine doctors’ appointments, and running all those errands that have been piling up for months, and paying attention to things like the mountain of paper and mail and books that are overflowing from the various corners in which they were stashed.

I was reminded that I had planned to paint my room waaaaay back in July, when I first moved back home, so I took the last week to finally get that done. I think the results are well worth the effort. 😛

Napoleon is wondering, as always, what the heck I’m up to this time.

A before-and-after shot of my desk, for comparison’s sake.

With all this massive spring cleaning and redecorating finished, I’m hoping I’ll have all sorts of renewed energy for creativity and productivity. With that in mind, here are my Round 2 goals. For April, I plan to do the following:

DAY JOB: Finish the first full draft of my dissertation proposal.

WRITING: Write 30k towards TELL ME NO LIES for CampNaNoWriMo.

That’s it. Simple, straight-forward, and to the point… though still a little scarily ambitious. But after almost 2 years of participating in ROW80, I’ve come to accept the fact that I don’t quite know how to do anything less.

So, yay! I’m late to the party, but I’m thrilled, as always, to be here. How’s Round 2 treating everyone else?

ROW80: In Which Lena Vanquishes Her To-Do List

September 12, 2012 / Lena Corazon / 23 Comments

Yup, you read that right. My massive summer to-do list has been conquered. Given that it’s been almost a month since my last check-in, it’s really exciting to have good news to report. Here’s the Awesome List of Success:

This is what happens when I am stressed and trying to procrastinate, and the cat decides he wants to distract me.

Day Job: I wrote my Very Big Paper, which ended up being 45 pages on the history of Catholic sisters in the United States during the nineteenth century. Next, I finished the Paper From Hell, a 16 page paper on conduct literature that included lots of social theory and more big words than you can shake a stick at. And Tuesday night I hammered out a 3.5 page dissertation mini-proposal, complete with some preliminary research questions and a tentative chapter outline. Add in the 6 hours of archival research I’ve been doing each week, and you have one very, very vanquished to-do list.

Now that all the hard work is out of the way, I can head back to Santa Barbara and meet with my dissertation committee next week for my “little conversation,” the final requirement that I need to advance to doctoral candidacy. Accomplishing that means that I’ve jumped all the institutional loopholes — coursework, papers, and all that jazz. In other words, the only thing standing between me and my PhD is the dissertation.

Writing: I didn’t get a chance to talk about this, since I’ve been stuck in the writing cave for the last few weeks, but I did end up winning Camp NaNoWriMo. STRANGE BEDFELLOWS is the poster child for the zero draft, with plotholes wider than the Grand Canyon, inconsistent characterization, and a million other problems, but I think there’s a fairly strong skeletal structure underneath it all. And, you know, it’s like 66k long, and I can’t complain about that.

For fun, and to keep up my writing momentum, I thought I’d try out my first round of Fast Drafting with a nugget of an idea that’s been nagging at me for a few months. (Yes, I am an overachiever. And yes, I am quite clearly a glutton for punishment.) I’ve fallen off the Fast Draft train over the last couple of days, derailed by migraines, the Paper From Hell, and my dissertation mini-proposal, but I am going to try to get back on track over the next day or two. Right now this little project (tentatively titled SOMEWHERE IN THE WEST) has a little over 17k — nowhere near my original goal, but still pretty awesome.

Exercise: I really fell off the wagon in terms of eating well and exercising, but my mom and I have a new plan that we have been implementing for the last couple of weeks. We are now walking 5 days a week, a minimum of 2 miles each day, and we’ve eliminated all the sweet, sugary things from the grocery list. I’m seeing a tiny difference, which will hopefully become a much larger difference in the weeks to come.

Social Media: My blog reading and commenting has been sporadic, I’ve been pretty quiet on Twitter, but I’ve been hanging out on Facebook a little more often. I’ve got a few blog posts drafted, so I might be able to start blogging again in October. This, of course, depends on whether or not I can have some time to unwind and chill out.

-oOo-

At the moment, my most immediate goal is to deal with my “little conversation” next week, and then to spend the rest of September doing nothing but gorging myself on novels, naps, and video games. I will also be carving out time to blog-hop and respond to comments, something that has been next to impossible with my brain all messy and overwhelmed, and my internal settings set to so-anxious-can’t-even-breathe.

Once again, Napoleon is my mentor in the art of leisure.

So yay! How is everyone doing? I’ve missed you all a ton! This ROWnd is winding down, but I’m hoping to wave at all my fellow ROWers in the days to come.

ROW80: Anyone Have a Time Turner I Could Borrow?

August 15, 2012 / Lena Corazon / 10 Comments

…anybody? Bueller?

August is zooming past like some crazy high-speed bullet train, and while I have some things to show for it, I would be quite grateful if it would slow down just a little bit and allow me to take a breath. Or two. Would three be too many to ask for?

I’ve been wandering around in the hangover-like daze that too much caffeine, not enough sleep, and non-stop writing can produce. I am skittish around loud noises. I avoid bright lights. I am more than a little cranky and somewhat anti-social, though of course Napoleon has remained in my good graces.

Napoleon offering his moral support.

The upside to all of this is that I have successfully banished the Doubt Monster using the soon-to-be-patented Doubt Monster Defense System ™. In case you would like to create one of your own, you will need the following supplies:

Glitter bazooka, 1

Bubble gun, 1

Photos of cute animals (like this puppy dressed as a lobster), unlimited

The result? The Doubt Monster’s pure and utter ruin, as Lauren Garafalo proclaims:

So I can happily say that I have words in my head, which is a welcome improvement from the yucky bout of writers’ block with which I was contending at the beginning of the month. But there are not enough words, or I am not writing them down fast enough, or time is passing far too quickly for me to finish… It is complex.

At any rate, here’s what I’ve accomplished since the last check-in:

Day Job: I finally finished my Very Very Large Paper, otherwise known as the “comprehensive exam,” one of two requirements needed to advance to doctoral candidacy. This was a revision of a previous paper I wrote on the history of Catholic women religious in 19th century America. There was lots of editing, lots of rearranging and rewriting, and I am happy to say that the final product was about 41 pages, as compared to the original 27. Still waiting on feedback from my committee, but I have my fingers crossed that it will be positive.

I have another, much smaller paper, to complete by the weekend. Have I touched it? No. Instead I have been obsessing over my dissertation research, which is taking me into the archives of a half-dozen religious communities in the Bay Area. The highlight of the past few days has been seeing the historical annals of the Sisters of Mercy, dated 1854-1885, written in the hand of Mother Mary Baptist Russell herself. Russell led a small group of 6 sisters from Ireland to San Francisco in 1854, where they started countless social services, including the first private-run hospital in San Francisco. These archives are located on the campus of my old high school, so getting a chance to dig into this old history is exciting on both a scholarly and a personal level.

This week’s goal: Finishing the dreaded paper; typing up and organizing all my handwritten notes; working through the never-ending stack of reading on my shelves.

Writing: The day job has taken precedence over my CampNaNo goals, but I am slowly but surely catching up. I’ve written almost 10K in the last week, bringing me up to a little over 13K for the project. If I haul butt and write 2171 words each day, I’ll be able to finish out the month with 50K… we’ll see how that goes. Since I’m participating as a NaNo Rebel this round, the total count for STRANGE BEDFELLOWS is actually 28K, which isn’t too shabby.

This week’s goal: 2171 words each day, every day. *feels breathless just thinking about it*

Social Media: I’ve been lurking around the blogosphere for the last few days, reading and commenting on blogs when I have a spare minute. And I started drafting a few blog posts, including my first-ever book review. Now all I have to do is find some time to type them up (seriously, is there a time turner in the house?!).

This week’s goal: More blog reading/commenting. More tweeting. Polish up the book review to post next week.

Exercise: I’ve been averaging 2-3 days worth of exercise each week, which is still down from my goal of 4-5 days, but least I’m moving. I may have developed a really terrible habit of stashing mini peanut butter cups in my desk drawer. And, um, maybe almond biscotti? Also whole wheat saltines. I may have to work on cutting back… *twiddles thumbs, looks around innocently*

This week’s goal: At least 2 more workout days, more salads, fewer peanut butter cups.

Whew, and that’s it for the moment! I am looking forward to mid-September, when I advance to candidacy and can cool it a little with all the paper-writing. In the meantime, I hope everyone’s having a great week! Don’t forget to visit all the other brilliant ROWers here!

ROW80: Embracing New Beginnings, and Banishing the Doubt Monster

July 31, 2012 / Lena Corazon / 17 Comments

If I had a brain scan taken right now, I think it would resemble one of those houses on an episode of Hoarders: piled high with junk, all discombobulated, disorganized, and frightening. July has sped past me with all the zipping and zooming of a bullet train, and I’m not quite sure when I have to show for it.

A photo from one of my fun day trips: The Golden Gate Bridge as seen from Marin. (Photo taken by the author)

One of the causes of this mental disorganization of course stems from the craziness of moving and settling back in. I’ve adjusted to being home with family fairly easily — maybe a little too easily. There have been all sorts of lunches and dinners out, day trips to fun places, and other activities and outings going on. All this social time has been wonderful, but it’s been eating away at my quiet time. As many of you introverts will know, that quiet time is darned essential, and so I need to do a better job at setting boundaries for myself.

To make things even better, the Doubt Monster has been lurking around for the last few weeks, accompanied by his cronies Irrational Fear and Angst. This means that writing, both creative and academic, has been an agonizing process. Words are wrangled onto the page with back-breaking effort, most of them get deleted, then replaced with approximately the same level of pain. My rapidly approaching (and expiring) deadlines have done little to kick my butt into gear, which in turn brings back the Doubt Monster in all his wonderfully doubting glory, and the cycle begins again.

But it is August 1st! This means that it is time for renewed energy and new beginnings. Better yet, I have decided that it is time to banish the Doubt Monster and his posse into some galaxy far, far away so that I can clean up my mental house and get things in order.

August 1st is also the start of CampNaNoWriMo, which I (of course) decided to tackle in a moment of wild idiocy (supreme overconfidence?). I toyed with the idea of pulling out, but part of me thinks that the forced focus might actually be good for me. To make my life a little easier, I’ll be working on STRANGE BEDFELLOWS, my somewhat-erotic romance that is already 15k long. An outline sort of dropped into my lap, fully-formed and shiny, a couple of months ago, so I’ll be using that as my guide.

My itemized list of things accomplished/not accomplished will be posted on Sunday, but until then I leave you with this picture of my cat, Napoleon. I like to think of him as my mascot in all things associated with lazy, and a welcome reminder that a little rest and relaxation in the midst of all our busy time.

Napoleon, the Little Corporal of All Things Lazy

ROW80: And the Winner Is…

August 31, 2011 / Lena Corazon / 53 Comments

Well, friends, here we are at the end of August, and I have all sorts of lovely news to share. For starters, I did find out that I didn’t win the SheWrites contest I mentioned a couple of weeks back, although there are five absolutely amazing folks who did. However, there are lots of other things that have happened that give me warm fuzzies:

1. I WON CAMPNANO!

Eeep, it's so shiny!!!

Ahem, you will forgive me a wee bit of excitement. There were some days this month when I wasn’t sure if I’d ever reach 50,000 words, but somewhere in the small hours of the morning, I reached my goal. I can hardly believe that I did it, and I am soooo grateful for everyone who’s provided me with encouragement over the past few weeks (EmWantstoWrite, I’m looking at you — those tweets of yours have been wonderful!).

In honor of this success, I’ve posted the first scene of TELL ME NO LIES. It’s the version that I polished up for the SheWrites contest, though it will most likely end up getting pulled apart and tweaked later on down the line. Check it out if you are so inclined. 😀

2. Blog Love!

The second piece of awesome news: Last week I received my first-ever blog award!

I was given the Liebster from both Emilia Quill and David A. Ludwig, two bloggers and writers that I had the wonderful opportunity to meet during the 7 Virtues Flash Fiction Challenge earlier in the month. In addition, Isis Rushdan, a new friend that I’ve made through the Writers’ Platform-Building Campaign, gave me an honorable mention.

I’m incredibly grateful, especially because I started blogging back in May without any real expectations, beyond trying to be accountable for my writing goals through ROW80. Somewhere along the way, however, I have met some wonderful people who I am quite proud to refer to as friends.

More exciting than receiving the Liebster is the chance to pass it on. These are the rules for the award:

THE RULES:

Show your appreciation to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
Post the award on your blog.
Bask in the camaraderie of the most supportive people on the internet—other writers.
And best of all—have bloggity fun and spread the love.

With that in mind, here are my top five picks, chosen for their overall awesomeness and supportiveness. Ladies, you’re all wonderful!

EmWantsToWrite (@EmWantsToWrite)
Nadja Notariani
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell (@lapidaryprose)
Marie Andrews (@marie_andrews)
C.M. Cipriani (@crystalcip)

Swing by their blogs, add them on Twitter, leave them lots of love. Ladies, I look forward to seeing who will receive the Liebster to next.

On the topic of friends, I’m looking forward to going out to the Castro tonight to celebrate the 26th birthday of one of my closest buddies, Chris. We’ve known each other since 3rd grade, and still fondly reminisce about our “puppy love” days, even though he came out a couple of years ago.

My bestie and me, 5 years ago

Now that NaNo’s behind me, I think I’m going to take a few days off, as I’m feeling slightly frazzled and brain dead. I need to focus my attention on my thesis, since I haven’t gotten too much done on that front. I’ve also got a hefty stack of books on the TBR list, so I’m going to tackle those as well. I’ve also been a little swamped and missed Monday and Tuesday’s blog posts, so hopefully I can take some time to queue up a few posts this weekend. With roughly three weeks left until school starts back, I want to make the most of my remaining free time.

Don’t forget: Today’s the last day to jump aboard the Writers’ Platform-Building Campaign! It looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun (and I’ve seen some friendly ROW80 faces as well), so check it out.

ROW80’ers, we’ve only got a couple of weeks left of Round 3! How goes your progress? Swing by to check in on everyone here.

ROW80 Check-in: Playing Catch-Up

August 17, 2011 / Lena Corazon / 16 Comments

Late Sunday night, I made the last-minute decision to enter the SheWrites “We Love New Novelists” contest. The contest was advertised as a way for five un-agented novelists to “sail to the top of the slush pile” and have their work read by a panel of editors and agents.

I heard about the contest a couple of days beforehand, and initially decided not to enter. It required a 2000 word excerpt, preferably from the first chapter, and the opening scenes of tell me no lies was riddled with holes, not to mention over 4000 words long (I was planning on saving the intro for last so, hence the messy state of affairs). The contest also asked for a cover letter with author bio and synopsis, and that felt like too much work as well.

It hit me, though, somewhere in the small hours of Monday morning that not submitting was a silly idea, and so I dropped everything for two days to rewrite, edit and polish things up. I ended up scrapping the original opening scene of the story and redoing it, deleting passages that I loved but no longer fit (ack, sacrificing the babies is such a hard job), and killing off adverbs and dialogue tags and all of those other things.

The resulting entry is 1976 words long, and after reading it aloud a few times last night, I rather love it. It’s not perfect, but I’m proud of it and that’s what matters.

I also managed to cobble together a cover letter, which made me want to scream and throw things and pull out my hair in frustration. When it came to dealing with the synopsis, I utilized Stacy Green’s latest post on writing a synopsis and Roni Loren’s 5 tips for writing a synopsis. I also drew on Jami Gold’s recent post on writing an author bio (it literally popped up on tweetdeck as I was trying to write my bio. Serendipitous!) and Nathan Bransford’s series on writing query letters. I’m so grateful that there are so many resources out there on the web, otherwise I would’ve been totally lost.

I’m a couple of days behind on NaNo, so hopefully I can make up the 3000 words or so that I’m behind. And I really need to buckle down on my thesis and a few other responsibilities that I’ve left languishing on my to-do list, so for the rest of the week I will be playing catch-up.

Hope everyone’s doing well this week! I totally fell by the wayside and didn’t visit any blogs on Sunday, so I’m going to try to make up for it this afternoon.

Lena Corazon

Flights of Fancy