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Thursday, May 6, 2010

NaPiBoWriWee Is Kicking My Butt!!

Today is Day 6 of NaPiBoWriWee. Don't even ask me where Day 3,4 & 5 went. Up until I started typing this I thought we were on Day 5.

Today, I have only 2 and a half picture book manuscripts written. NaPiBoWriWee is kicking my butt. But that's ok because I still have two manuscripts to work on if nothing else.

What happened? Well, my excuse is lack of sleep. I had a sick baby for 2 weeks prior to NaPiBoWriWee starting and I didn't get much sleep. I can't do much writing until the kids go to bed and this week I have been going to bed right after them. I just can't stay awake.

I'm going to continue to try to write more manuscripts this week and see where it takes me. If I don't get all 7 done this week I might extend NaPiBoWriWee and change the name to NaPiBoWri2Wee for myself (I can do that right?)

I'm sure you're all feeling the pressure, too. Let me know how you're doing. Are you having better luck or are we in the same boat?

Sunday, May 2, 2010

NaPiBoWriWee Day 2

Good Morning

It's day 2 of NaPiBoWriWee. Some how I finished my first picture book manuscript last night. Not sure how I squeezed it in. I probably stayed up later than I should have. I'm feeling sluggish this morning. I guess staying up late and getting up at 5 AM to tend to a sick baby 3 days in a row will do that to ya. Here I am Sunday morning, no makeup, drinking my first cup of coffee to try to get myself going. Can you tell what's on my mind?


(Be nice, I'm half asleep here)

While drinking my coffee Jim Hill and I had a little twitter conversation about being distracted today by children's shows on TV. There are some great shows and we both admitted we liked watching them. Sometimes I find some great story ideas from them. (Without copying them. You don't want to do that!) Here is a great writing exercise: Watch the beginning of a children's show and then write the ending using the characters from the show. I often watch the ending of the show afterwards and compare the endings. This helps me get my creative juices flowing for writing my picture book ideas. (Just so I'm clear: I am not suggesting you steal ideas from TV to write your books. Come up with your own ideas.)

So today I am unsure which story I will tackle next. I have one rhyming idea which I might work on that little by little throughout the week, one story idea that doesn't have an ending and several more I have to go lookup because I'm too tired to remember. :) I'm looking forward to writing today and now that I have had my coffee I feel ready to go.

How are you doing today? Did you need your coffee? How do you get your creative juices flowing? Let me know what you're thinking or send a comment just to say Hi.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

NaPiBoWriWee Day 1

All right! Here we go.

It's Day 1 of National Picture Book Writing Week (NaPiBoWriWee) - writing 7 picture books in 7 days.

If you haven't already, there's still time to let Paula Yoo (the hostess of NaPiBoWriWee) know you are participating in the challenge and get entered into a draw.

How are you doing so far?

In typical Auntie Flamingo style, I'm already behind! I have the pen and paper out but I have written nothing. Zip. Nada. Ziltch! But the idea is boucing around in my head and once the kids are in bed I'm hoping I have the energy to let it all pour out. It's not unusual for me to start off slow. By the end of the week I will be flying and perhaps write 2 manuscripts in one day. It also doesn't help to have a sick 17 month old clinging to me. Hhmm, is that a 'reason' or an 'excuse?' It donesn't matter because I plan to have something written by the end of the day.

If you're behind like me then Paula's Day 1 b;og entry will comfort you. Read it here. http://paulayoo.com/content/napibowriwee-2010-day-one-sat-may-1-2010#comment-1026

Having problems registering on Paula's site? Read http://paulayoo.com/content/napibowriwee-2010-day-one-part-2-sat-may-1-2010

Be sure to leave your comments and good luck!