Tag: Journal

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November 2024’s GWIC Event Update!

Well… This month’s GWIC event is now history, which is sad because it’s such a FUN event! After updating my word count yesterday, I did a bit of GWIC “housekeepinng” by “tracking miles” (aka words written) for each of my fourteen (of thirty) GWIC stops, and I’m pleased to say that, as one of the 167 total registered passengers during this event, I wrote 16,300 of the 791,386 total words written!

This month’s GWIC event REALLY “jump-started” my NaNoWriMo word count! In the past (pre-GWIC days), I often struggled to “meet my quota” during NaNoWriMo, especially in the middle and towards the end of the month. However, this changed when a fellow writer told me about GWIC! With GWIC being the first full weekend of NaNoWriMo event months (April, July, and November), I’ve never failed to “jump-start” my word count during these months, and this month was certainly no exception! During this event, I wrote 32.6% of my 50,000-word NaNoWriMo goal!!

Here’s the day-by-day breakdown of my word counts for GWIC weekend:

Friday, 11/01/24 — 3,760 words/12 pages

Saturday, 11/02/24 — 2,663 words/7 pages for a total of 6,423 words/19 pages

Sunday, 11/03/24 — 4,909 words/16 pages for a total of 11,332 words/35 pages

Monday, 11/04/24 — 4,968 words/16 pages for a total of 16,300 words/51 pages

So, there you have it: my update for November 2024’s GWIC event. A great time was had by all AND, as you can tell from the graphic above, LOTS of words were written in a single long weekend!

One more thing… Since I’ve been participating in GWIC events for quite a while now, I think it’s high time I started “paying it forward” by becoming part of the group of AWESOME volunteers (including my writer friend who first introduced me to GWIC) known as the “Conductor Team” (since the event does have a “train” theme that I absolutely love). So… I have decided that my next GWIC goal is going to become a “Signal Operator”, which is the first step in being able to host my very own two-hour stop during a future GWIC event — my ultimate GWIC goal, one I’ve had ever since my very first GWIC event! Wish me luck on this grand GWIC adventure!!

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November 2024’s main writing event (NaNoWriMo) has begun!

That’s write… er… right! NaNoWriMo 2024 has begun, and this means one thing: “Update posts”! In the past, I published this kind of post on a daily basis, but that was before I became a full-fledged “night owl”! As such a “bird”, my writing schedule doesn’t always jive with NaNoWriMo’s Web site for updating word counts. Traditionally, the NaNo Web site required all word counts for a particular day to be posted by midnight of that day. Midnight is often when I start writing, so that isn’t usually a deadline I can meet. To combat this problem, I’ve decided to continue doing something I started to do during July 2024’s Camp NaNoWriMo: writing “weekly” update posts as opposed to the “daily” posts I used to publish. So…

Every Saturday, I’ll publish one of these weekly update posts, which will work out well since the last day of this year’s NaNoWriMo event ends on a Saturday. As always, I’ll continue using the same format I’ve been using for such posts — with the only difference being that I’ll list a week’s worth of data instead of just a day’s worth as I’ve done in the past. So… Without further ado, here are the stats for this “week” — from 11/01/24 to 11/02/24:

Friday, 11/01/24 — 3760 words/12 pages

Saturday, 11/02/24 — 2663 words/7 pages for a total of 6423 words/19 pages

As with the first weekly update post back in July, the main reason why the daily word counts are so high for each of these first two days of November is because I am participating in November’s GWIC (Global Write-in Crawl), which always takes place during the first full weeked of a NaNoWriMo event. It’s an event that is extremely FUN, AND it never fails to help me INCREASE my word count tremendously, which is definitely a great thing at the beginning of the month! The “jump-start” in word count that GWIC gives me early in the month is VERY helpful, especially towards the end of the month when I often struggle to “meet my quota” of at least 1,667 words per day.

So, there you have it: my first weekly update for NaNoWriMo’s main event in “NaNo-vember” 2024! If you’re a writer, you should consider participating in a GWIC event — OR all of them, like I do! Need more information about GWIC? Please don’t hesitate to contact me about this event! I’d love to welcome you aboard the GWIC train for a FUN writing adventure in the future!!

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LAST Weekly Update (#4) for July’s Camp NaNoWriMo

Well… This is it. Today is the LAST day of July 2024! Therefore, it is also the last day of July’s Camp NaNoWriMo. So…. here’s my last weekly update for this event, using the same format that was used in previous updates:

Thursday, 07/25/24 — 431 words/1 page for a total of 22879 words/89 pages

Friday, 07/26/24 — 365 words/1 page for a total of 28244 words/90 pages

Saturday, 07/27/24 — 726 words/2 pages for a total of 28970 words/92 pages

Sunday, 07/28/24 — 380 words/2 pages for a total of 29350 words/94 pages

Monday, 07/29/24 — 252 words/2 pages for a total of 29601 words/96 pages

Tuesday, 07/30/24 — 789 words/3 pages for a total of 30390 words/99 pages

Wednesday, 07/31/24 — 641 words/2 pages for a GRAND total of…

Wait for it…

31,031 words/101 pages!!

Now that July 2024’s Camp NaNoWriMo is now history, I realized something: Even though I’m a “winner” (by accomplishing my goal of writing at least 25,000 words) at Camp this month, I didn’t come very close to accomplishing my secondary goal: creating an outline for my current work-in-progress that I would be able to use during NaNoWriMo’s main event in November. I’ve got LOTS of events/scenes in mind (both historical AND romantic), but this month, I have been quite distracted, and therefore, unable to make any progress on putting all of those events/scenes into some kind of logical/coherent outline!

One of the distractions this month was using the “meeting my quota” entries for working on getting this Web site of mine up-to-date by drafting these “update” posts — instead of working on my outline. In addition, I’ve come up with the idea of another type of post for this Web site, but I’m still trying to finalize it, Therefore, I won’t be discussing it any further now, so check back often! Wouldn’t want you to miss out on what I’m hoping will be a valuable addition to this author’s Web site. Speaking of which… I would love to hear — and see — what kinds of posts you publish on your author Web site, so please leave me a comment below.

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Camp NaNoWriMo — Weekly Update #3

Here’s my third weekly update for July’s Camp NaNoWriMo, using the same format that I’ve been using for previous updates:

Thursday, 07/18/24 –392 words/1 page for a total of 24332 words/77 pages

Friday, 07/19/24 — 403 words/1 page for a total of 24735 words/78 pages

Saturday, 07/20/24 — 902 words/4 pages for a total of 25637 words/82 pages

Sunday, 07/21/24 — 404 words/1 page for a total of 26041 words/83 pages

Monday, 07/22/24 — 289 words/1 page for a total of 26330 words/84 pages

Tuesday, 07/23/24 — 714 words/3 pages for a total of 27044 words/87 pages

Wednesday, 07/24/24 — 404 words/1 page for a total of 27448 words/88 pages

Even though the majority of this week was spent just writing a page to prevent holes in my chart, there were a couple of days when inspiration must have struck — as evidenced by the four pages written on Saturday and the three pages written on Tuesday. I’ll take inspiration wherever — and WHENEVER — it comes! Are there things you do that help you find the inspiration you need to keep writing, especially whenever you don’t feel like writing? If so, please take a moment to leave a comment below. I’d love to hear some of your inspiring stories of perseverance and pushing yourself to write!

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Camp NaNoWriMo — Weekly Update #2

Here’s my second weekly update for July’s Camp NaNoWriMo, using the same format that I used in last week’s update:

Thursday, 07/11/24 — 425 words/1 page for a total of 21544 words/70 pages

Friday, 07/12/24 — 411 words/1 page for a total of 21955 words/71 pages

Saturday, 07/13/24 — 377 words/1 page for a total of 22332 words/72 pages

Sunday, 07/14/24 — 431 words/1 page for a total of 22763 words/73 pages

Monday, 07/15/24 — 411 words/1 page for a total of 23174 words/74 pages

Tuesday, 07/16/24 — 347 words/1 page for a total of 23521 words/75 pages

Wednesday,, 07/17/24 — 419 words/1 page for a total of 23940 words/76 pages

As you can tell from the data above, all I did when it came to my writing was to write enough so that I wouldn’t have a hole in my current “Meeting my Quota” chart since I REALLY don’t like seeing holes in these charts! If you’re participating in Camp NaNoWriMo (or even if you’re not), I’d love to hear if/how you track your progress: Word count, page count, or a combination to maintain momentum?

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Camp NaNoWriMo — Weekly Update posts

Because this month is starting to get away from me, I think I’m going to switch from DAILY update posts to WEEKLY update posts, beginning today (07/10/24). This will actually work out quite well since the last day of this month’s Camp NaNoWriMo happens to fall on a Wednesday, too. I’ll continue to utilize the same format I’ve been using for such posts — with the only difference being that I’ll list a week’s worth of data instead of just a day’s worth as I was doing at the beginning of the month. So… Without further ado, here are the stats for 07/04-10/24:

Thursday, 07/04/24 — 1539 words/5 pages for a total of 4593 words/16 pages

Friday, 07/05/24 — 1210 words/5 pages for a total of 5803 words/21 pages

Saturday, 07/06/24 — 6033 words/17 pages for a total of 10890 words/38 pages

Sunday, 07/07/24 — 4620 words/14 pages for a total of 16456 words/52 pages

Monday, 07/08/24 — 3879 words/15 pages for a total of 20335 words/67 pages

Tuesday, 07/09/24 — 382 words/1 page for a total of 20718 words/68 pages

Wednesday, 07/10/24 — 402 words/1 page for a total of 21119 words/69 pages

I imagine you’re probably wondering why I wrote SO MANY words between Friday, 07/05/24 and Monday, 07/08/24! I know I was while transcribing the data above — until I realized that this was the first weekend of July, which meant that it was the weekend for July’s GWIC (Global Write-in Crawl) event. GWIC is a full weekend of camaraderie with other writers, but, more importantly, it’s chock full of WRITING SPRINTS! The event is organized as a series of global train stations during which the local hosts introduce writers to their area of the globe AND conduct writing sprints of varying lengths (anywhere from 3 minutes to 20 minutes in length) for two-hour blocks of time — with an hour-long break between stops. It’s SO MUCH FUN, AND it never ceases to amaze me just how many words I’m able to crank out during the GWIC weekend! I’ve got the stats (see above) to prove it!

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July 2024 Camp NaNoWriMo — Day #3

Today’s stats: 5 pages, 1201 words

Camp totals: 11 pages, 3054 words

Yay! I just surpassed my November “progress update post” count, AND I earned a badge for updating my word count 3 days in a row! Going strong, and with this month’s GWIC event starting right after tomorrow’s (USA) holiday, the progress should stay strong, too!

Today, I started skimming through a writing book that I checked out from my local library (and might eventually purchase). It’s called “Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success”, and it was written by K.M. Weiland. I’m REALLY hoping that it will help me accomplish my secondary goal for this month’s Camp NaNoWriMo: create an outline for my current work-in-progress, so I’ll be able to “hit the ground running” on the first day of NaNoWriMo’s main event in November. Only time will tell…

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July 2024 Camp NaNoWriMo — Day #2

Today’s stats: 3 pages, 929 words

Camp totals: 6 pages, 1853 words

Yay! With this post, I have matched the number of NaNoWriMo progress report posts that I wrote during November 2023’s main NaNoWriMo event, and this month is still young! Hopefully, I’ll be able to continue the run I’m on now.

As I did in November 2023, I will be participating in the GWIC (Global Write-in Crawl) event this month, and today was “Packing Day”. Although I missed the actual event, I didn’t miss much — and didn’t mind the fact that I missed it — because this event was primarily for the purpose of introducing the basics of participating in the event to those who haven’t participated in it before. Even though I’m not a new participant, I did check out their presentation, and I loved the continuation of the train motif in the presentation’s slides.

Glad to see that you checked for another Camp NaNoWriMo progress update! Writing will be keeping me busy this month, so I’m curious… What will be keeping YOU busy in July? Please post a comment to satisfy my curiosity! Looking forward to hearing from you!

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In Honor of Old-Fashioned Cook-Outs and Picnics — Italian Potato Salad

With the “Fourth of July” just around the corner, I’m sure many people are thinking about what they’re going to serve at their annual Independence Day cook-out or picnic. I know I am! At this point, here’s what’s on the menu for my holiday feast:

Deviled Eggs

Veggie Tray

“Beddar With Cheddar” Smoked Sausages

Barbecue Potato Chips

Italian Potato Salad

“Red, White, and Blue” Parfaits

“Drumsticks” Ice Cream Cones

A very simple — yet tasty — menu that’s VERY easy to prepare. Of all the items on my menu, the Italian Potato Salad is about the only one that will require some time to prepare, BUT it’s my favorite thing on the menu. I’ve been making Italian Potato Salad for decades, and a cook-out or picnic just wouldn’t be the same without it — as far as I’m concerned!

So, yeah… With America’s Independence Day celebration, a cook-out or picnic (depending upon the weather) will be part of my plans, so it’s time to break out the recipe for Italian Potato Salad — from my beloved “Betty Crocker’s Cookbook” and get started on it! So… Without further ado, here’s this week’s featured “Tasty Tuesdays” recipe.

Italian Potato Salad

2 pounds potatoes (about 6 medium)

1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)

1/4 cup Italian Dressing [homemade or store-bought]

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

1 medium stalk celery, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

2 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed olives or pitted ripe olives

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

  1. Heat 1 inch salted water (1/2 teaspoon salt to 1 cup water) to boiling. Add potatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and cook until tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Drain and cool.
  2. Cut potatoes into cubes; stir in onion, Italian Dressing, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
  3. Just before serving, toss with mayonnaise until potatoes are well coated. Stir in celery, eggs, olives, Parmesan cheese and the dried oregano leaves.

4 TO 6 SERVINGS

Recipe notes:

If I’m in a hurry to make a batch of Italian Potato Salad, I’ll often skip the “cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours” step. However, I’ve found that the longer the potatoes are allowed to marinate in the Italian Dressing, the tastier the final product will be.

As I was transcribing the recipe for this “Tasty Tuesdays” post, I realized that I often do NOT add the celery and eggs when I’ve been making Italian Potato Salad lately. If you like “crunch” in your potato salad, then go ahead and add the celery. As for the eggs, I might start putting slices of hard-boiled egg on the top of my batch of Italian Potato Salad — just like Mom always did when she made her favorite potato salad.

I certainly hope you’ll give Italian Potato Salad, my cook-out/picnic staple, a try and then let me know what you think about it. In addition, if you’ve got any “go-to” recipes for cook-outs and/or picnics, I’d love to hear what they are, so please take a moment to leave a comment below — AND share the recipe with me! I enjoy trying new recipes!!

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Camp NaNoWriMo — July 2024

Today’s stats: 3 pages, 924 words

Camp totals: 3 pages, 924 words

For July 2024’s Camp NaNoWriMo, I will continue to work on a project that I first conceived back in January of this year, and as I told my April 2024’s NaNoWriMo postcard swap recipients: “I might be working on this project in both July and November — and probably every month between then and now.” My word-count goal for this month’s Camp is going to be 25,000 words, which gives me a bit of a cushion to allow for days of not writing and/or coming up against a block.

As I did in November 2023, I will be participating in the GWIC (Global Write-in Crawl) event during the first full weekend in July, which will take place 5-7 July 2024 — with a “Packing Day” on 2 July 2024, a special event on 8 July 2024, and “Baggage Claim” event (in which awards will be presented) on 9 July 2024. I love GWIC because focus on my writing for an entire weekend — cranking out as many words as I can during as many of the GWIC’s TWENTY-ONE stops around the world that I can possibly fit into my schedule that weekend. This event definitely helps build the afore-mentioned “cushion” needed for “winning” Camp NaNoWriMo this month.

Please check back as I WILL be posting regular NaNoWriMo progress updates this month (something I wasn’t able to do back in November 2023 when I only managed to post a a mere two posts with updates). In addition to these NaNoWriMo progress updates, I’m going to be publishing other non-NaNo posts as well, including new “7th of the month” and “Tasty Tuesdays” posts. So, yeah… Please check back often, so you don’t miss anything! Oh, and don’t forget to comment, too!