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So November is coming up soon. I participated in NaNoWriMo in the years of 2006 and 2007. I pretty much fell of the wagon when it came to writing for 08 and never started to pick it up again until October 09. Even then, I can not say my writing has been very focused. I finally finished the Soldier Qualification Serials, but those were not professional and very focused work. Sporadic at best.

I really need to focus on writing a book. I don’t need to write a best seller, I don’t need to write something that is even publishable; though I am going to try. I just need to focus on writing and completing a book. So I will enter NaNoWriMo for the third time this year of 2010. I will write the 50,000 words in 30 days.

What will my story be about. Not sure yet, but it will be fantasy. I need to write up an outline, some characters, and develop a world. Nothing to complicated, but enough that I can put together a believable story in a month. Once this story is complete, I will spend December editing it to a professional standard, then I will either send it off to an agent, or try to sell it myself on this website and the internet.

If any of you are interested in getting some motivation to write, then NaNoWriMo is the month to do it. Thousands of people around the world write to win the NaNoWriMo contest. You win by completing the 50,000 words before the end of the month. If you are interested, check out their site at www.nanowrimo.org

They give you your own little section on their site to post up your word count, tell other WriMo contestants about yourself, and your book. It’s a pretty cool site. It is a fun go. Really, when you think about it, you are only writing 1667 words a day. That is very achievable, especially when at the beginning you are excited and write like 3000 a day. You are then left with a little breathing room from then on.

Check it out at nanowrimo.org

Free Flow Writing 28 March 2010

Where is my purpose? The importance in what I do? There are things I want to do, but I feel no more drive to do them, because it doesn’t seem important. I want to write, I want to write amazing stories that make people think, but for some reason the importance of doing so seems to have escaped me.

Sure I could write a great story, with great characters. A story that people can’t put down, they see the world through their eyes, they feel what they feel, they see the importance of the characters goals, and cheer them on, all the while seeing what is changing the character. They will cry with the characters, laugh with them, and truly feel almost as if they are them. This is a great story, something I want to write, but feel no drive to write.

I’ve identified what makes writing important, the need to explore themes. Stories drive our world, inspire us to do better, make us think about who we are, and if we are living the best we can. This is all important to the world, but in the end I can’t seem to make stories seem important any more. I know I could write a good story. But I can’t bring myself to put myself into it, my soul.

Why is this? Why am I not seeing that the stories I could write will be important to the readers? It makes me sad that the motivation, the love of the word I used to have when I was younger has fallen away. My action when I do not write, the stuff I do to waste time is far less important then writing, but I find myself constantly doing them. Playing video games, sleeping, drinking, wasting time on movies.

Why do I do these things more, rather then write more and put good words on paper that others can enjoy. I have been slowly writing my Soldier Qualification Serial and I enjoy it when I do that, but that isn’t something I have to create. It is just my adventures during my course. No real theme or action, just some good times to share with others.

I need to find my motivation, and the importance again to write. I love reading and have been doing so more frequently, just having finished Holly Lisle’s Talyn. I’ m now reading General Rick Hillier’s “A Sodier First”. His Auto Biography. These books are both great. Talyn is a fantasy, and yet inspires great things from its readers. ” A Soldier First” is full of great wisdoms from a great man that changed the face of Canadian Military History and made our army better and more respected then it ever has been in a long time.

These books started off as an idea within the authors mind. They both realized the importance of the written word, and they found the motivation to write their books, and their books have both had a great importance on their readers.

I need to find my motivation, sit down, and write.

This holiday season the army gave me and my comrades 3 weeks of leave. We all went home to our families to spend this season of giving with our family and friends.

I found this vacation to my old home to be very eye opening. I often notice when I come home from the army that my perspective on things have changed a lot.
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There are days when I realize that I feel I’m not doing things fast enough. Older people tell me to calm down, relax, and enjoy life while I can, because I’m young, I have lots of time. Well I think the opposite is true. I need to do all I can while I’m young, because eventually I’ll be older, and telling people what they told me.

I’m never afraid to die. What I am afraid of is regretting on my death bed that I didn’t actually live. I mean, I have lots that I’m doing right now. I’m in the military. I’ve experienced more then most people twice my age might have experienced. I have learned to enjoy the extra minutes of free time. I enjoy smaller things now.
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I was looking through my writing files and stumbled across a file called “Timed Writing”. It consisted of writing that resulted from an exercise that author Holly Lisle recommends. She says that a great way to get back your writing muse, and let you explore yourself to find out whats wrong with you, is to complete an exercise she calls “Timed Writing”.

What you do is set an alarm for 10 minutes. Then when the timer starts, write down whatever enters your mind. Don’t stop writing to correct, or to think. You must just let your fingers fly. You can write down random words if you need to that don’t make any sense. The purpose is for your fingers to continue moving.

I found that usually your first couple sentences don’t make sense, then you start piecing stuff together, and pretty soon you stumble onto some good topics that your mind has been wrestling with. I love this exercise. It is a great way to deal with your writers block, and any other problems that a person might be experiencing. It allows you to explore yourself and see what is bothering you. It’ll help you answer questions you might have.

That is what it has done for me.

These writings were from 2006. Now of course, some of these writings will consist of things that are for my eyes only because they do tend to go deep into your soul and rip out things that need to be brought to the surface.

But what I did tonight was go through one of my writings and put it into a poem so you can see the main topic that I discussed in this piece of writing.

Enjoy,

Cuyler Callahan

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Bad Words Good Bye

I must find it,
the key to my musing
A longer time spit?
My break is abusing

Words dead ride the page.
Here a word, there a word.
A pig eating a bush of sage,
my words describe a turd

More words I must write
I must meet my deadline
My words need be tight,
or no matter the shrine

A book I must love sweet,
for then I can see true,
a horn announce a treat,
sound me among the few

To this task I must complete,
I need to begin my career
Needs be I discard my heats,
to that end I must now adhere

My fingers must be slick
An oiled piston like fly
Write that piece to click,
my bad words good bye