Needle and ThREAD: Stitching for Literacy

Harriet is fortunate to have a library “book bus” (that might be “bookmobile” to you and me) service near her home in Norway. It will surprise no one here that she makes excellent use of it.

In November, the local paper did a story on the Book Bus, featuring an interview with Harriet. I asked her to share the story with us. Here is her translation with further thoughts and asides in parentheses.

Since I’m posting image captions in green, my buttinsky comments will be in red. I’m sure there will be some.

Tone, the librarian and me.

The caption by the big picture reads:
The Extreme Reader, Harriet, considers the day of the Book Bus the highlight of the month.

“Extreme Reader”—How much do you love that? And look, everyone, it’s Harriet! Wave to Harriet!

People In Books (Travelers In Books) Deliver Literary Pleasure in Amtaland Each Month (Amtaland = The Land of The Amt. Amtstidende = The news from the Hamlet = Amt = a tiny village, but it is of a greater size nowadays.)

Do you know that hours of free enjoyment rolls in to a place near you every month?

The driver of the bus, Lise Gyldmar, thinks she has the job of her dreams. It is the rare combination of two professions: library staff (a non-librarian) and a professional driver. While she still was a driver of the bus between Oslo and Lillestrøm, her male colleagues spotted a Job Posting they thought may fit her.

“I sent in an application without any hope of getting the job,” says Miss Gylmar. Today she has no words to explain how good it is to be at work.

“I am really enjoying my work. It was hard to work as a route bus driver! This is just a pleasure! People look forward to our arrival! Often we see them standing and waiting for us.”

People wait for the books they have ordered from the “Fylkesbibliotekets” website (the website of the County Library) to have them delivered by the Library Bus. Or they want to explore the “snurrehylla” (= the spin shelves) containing films or look through audio books, CDs, the children’s book shelves, search for crime and mystery novels, or whatever else they are interested in. And if they do not have any special interest “i farta” (Idiom alert: on the go / on the move / at the moment), there are two workers on the library bus who have a lot of suggestions.

The Library bus is a welcome sight around the area of Nesodden and in Frogn.

Lise Gyldmar is not a professional Librarian, but Tone Sandum Lindh is, and she has toured this area with books for many years.

“The borrowers in Nesodden are very enthusiastic,” says Lindh. “Maybe it is in the genes?”

“Enthusiasm is inheritable! We have many “andregenerasjonslånere” ( = second generation borrowers) who have grown up with the book bus. People here make the most use of us: the more one is accustomed to borrowing, the more the borrower borrows.”

“andregenerasjonslånere”—an example of looooong Norwegian words that count as just one word during NaNoWriMo.

This is especially true for the lady who awaits the bus at the Alværn stop. At Alværn the bus stops in a residential area of wooden townhouses (“wooden townhouses” is not quite the right word), and Harriet Gleditsch climbs into the bus as she does every single month.

Harriet Gleditsch is what we call an Extreme Reader.

That’s what we call her, too!

“It is the highlight of the month for me when the Library Bus arrives with new supplies,” she says.

And supplies are needed to a person that, on average, reads one book a day.

“I use our ordinary library as well. But I grew up with The Library Bus, and I have become so familiar with Tone (the Librarian Tone Sandum Lindh). She finds books she thinks I will like to read. And she gets what I need: for example, the books I needed about the subject of children’s literature when I was preparing for the discussion in the American Reading Circle I am a part of via the Internet,” says Gleditsch.

Hey! That’s us! We’re famous in Norway!!!

One of the pleasures the employees have is meeting many types of people.

“It is very nice. Many of the regulars have this as a nice ritual,” says Lise Gyldmar.

The bus she drives was built as a Library Bus about twelve years ago and is named “Fia” (a girl’s name, and a character from a book for children). It is the “søsterbus” (sister bus) of “Finbeck” (a boy’s name, and a character from a book for children “Finbeck And Fia”) that was new in 2007.

“søsterbus”—that’s an example of the Norwegian tendency to smoosh multiple words together into one. Cool!

“Do the books stay in place on the shelves while you drive?” the photographer, Ruben Skarsvåg, asks.

That is not a problem. The shelves have a thirty-degree slope.

Lise Gyldmar drives the bus for three weeks and uses the last week for maintenance. In this way she can keep within the time regulations for driving and rest time. She thinks she has a dream job!”

How she can have time to read a whole book in a day every day, Gleditsch explains, is because she makes reading a priority.

“It takes six or seven hours for me to read a book, and when I do not watch TV, I actually have that time. Moreover, I have learned speed reading, a way of reading without saying the words in your mind while you read, so you take it in faster. I use audio books as well, but that depends on whether I like the way they read the book,” says the “lesehesten” (= reading horse, that is a book worm, book bug, book monkey, and so on).

She wears out so many bookmarks that she has started to make them herself and will soon have an exhibition of them at the local library “Nesodden fastbibliotek” at Skoklefall. (That name is actually a historic reference and the actual place where the people lay down the sticks—the skokler—that connected the horses to the wagons, to let the horses rest.) Now she has a brimming bag of books.

I want to hear more about speed reading, Harriet. I’ve considered trying to learn it.

Everyone else, we’ll see and hear more about Harriet’s bookmark exhibition in the New Year!

“What are you most looking forward to read of all the books you have borrowed this time?”

“In general I like French and Japanese books, but I look forward to all of them, really. The biggest event is perhaps to come home, go through and study what I have brought back with me in the bags this time. I read them all. It is a luxury for me to be able to gorge on books in this way.”

Tone Sandum Lindh takes it as her obligation to give attention to literature that is not promoted in popular media.

“It is all about the very good Norwegian literature that does not get special help from the publishers.”

She calculates that the readers in Nesodden and Frogn borrow approximately 1000 books from the Library Bus every month. This is a lot compared to other places the bus serves. The bus is very much visited in the ten stops in Nesodden and Frogn.

One Thursday every month the bus stops at Alværn, Blylaget, Fjellstrand, Jaer og Myklerud, and two other places at Nesodden and Bøhlerengen, Dal and Kopperud in Frong.

“We have three regular ladies at the stop at Blylaget who turn up every time. It is only these three people who use the library bus at this stop. In our area, we rent out more than what is usual elsewhere.”

Djamahail Isaev (12) is looking for the book about football titled “Best I byen” (Best in town). Sandum Lindh does not have this book in the bus this time, but it can be ordered for the next time.

“Usually I rent movies and things with exiting action or football,” says Djamahail Isaev.

Nesodden and Frong represents exactly one ninth of the ninety stops that are spread around in the Akershus municipalities. A lot of people do not know about this kind of bus.

“We really appreciate our regular borrowers, but we understand that a lot of people can only use the library bus during certain periods in their lives! Most of the Library Bus visits are during the day; hence, it is more convenient for homemakers to use. But we are having more and more routes that cover late afternoons as well, so it should be more convenient for those who work.

“At Fjellstrand the bus stops between four pm and five-fifteen pm (4:00-5:14pm). At this stop you can get off your regular bus and onto the Library Bus before you go home to dinner,” says Lindh. She emphasizes that everyone, no matter regular or occasional use, are welcome in to the “Bokbussen”! (=The Book Bus, we like to call it that instead of The Library Bus, that is the official new name for the bus.)

Lise Gyldmar and Tone Sandum Lindh have been working since nine o’clock this morning when they left the starting point at Fylkesbiblioteket (The County Library) at Kjeller. (The name or word “Kjeller” translates as “the basement,” but it is a huge area and not a basement in a building! It has this duality in Norwegian as well.) In a very discrete cabinet they have a microwave to heat up their dinner.

“Usually we have our lunch break at Varden, but now the route has changed a bit to make new openings, and we have dinner at Blylaget instead. We are not going home until about 7pm tonight.

“But then we are almost closed on the weekend,” smile the ladies in the popular bus.

By Ann-Turi Ford
(Translated by Harriet)

The shelves in the bus have a thirty-degree slope so that the books will not fall out.

Facts:

* One Thursday every month the Library Bus stops at Alværn, Blylaget, Fjellstrand, Jaer, Myklerud and two other places at Nesodden and Bøhlerengen, Dal and Kopperud in Frong.

* The next time the bus arrives here is at 17.th of November and 15th of December.

* see more details at http://www.akershus.no/tema/kultur/bibliotekbussen/

We had a bookmobile that stopped by the preschool I attended. I wasn’t much into books, but I found the bus and service extremely cool.

In the past year or so, there was talk of trying to arrange something like a Book Bus for the distant communities in the Mat-Su Borough where I live. I’m not sure what happened to that plan.

Does anyone else here have access to a book bus?

Thanks so much for sharing this story, Harriet! It’s an honor to know and e-chat with a famous Norwegian Extreme Reader!

The Short Shelf
Book Services by Barb Weber

Note from Jen: All links to Amazon on this page are my (not Barb’s) Affiliate links. If you click on one and then make any purchase, I, and subsequently Stitching for Literacy, will get a small commission used for needlework outreach. Your purchase price is not affected. I hope you see this as a good opportunity to fulfill your needs and help S4L simultaneously.

Of course, there are many Christmas books out there, just as there are more than enough children’s books in general. Here are a few great choices that may be less familiar.

Again of course, the number one must-read every Christmas is How the Grinch Stole Christmas,by Dr. Seuss. (‘Nough said, right?)

But do you know Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree, by Robert Barry? Mr. Willowby’s beloved Christmas tree is too tall for the perfect spot in the parlor corner! But not to worry, the excess is trimmed and passed on repeatedly, to the joy and benefit of successive Christmas merrymakers, from the upstairs maid to the household mice. “Oh, wasn’t it grand to have a tree exactly like Mr. Willowby?” This rhyming tale is brimming with holiday cheer.

For an imaginatively different take on a Santa story, try Auntie Claus, by Elise Primavera. Sophie’s Auntie Claus if super! So elegant. So posh. So mysterious. This year niece Sophie is determined to discover her aunt’s seasonal secret, and takes off on an unexpected adventure that leads her to the true meaning of Christmas. Celebrate the selfless spirit of the season with this fun read aloud. It’s fabulous, darling!

A book that strikes a slightly different note, but one that so perfectly captures the spirit of Christmas is The Best Christmas Ever, by Chih-Yuan Chen. It’s a hard year for the bear family. Papa lost his job and things are tight, so it looks like “Santa” may not make it to their house this year. But Little Bear knows what makes a great Christmas, and he sets out to make sure his family has the best Christmas ever. (Hint: Be sure to follow the lovely, spare illustrations closely, from endpaper to endpaper.)

And a final “of course”: what’s Christmas without a family reading of A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens? If you can’t swing reading it aloud yourself, Patrick Stewart’s reading is the next best thing.

Jen butting in to further plug both the original text of A Christmas Carol and Patrick Stewart’s reading. These have long been two of my favorite holiday traditions. Charles Dickens wrote several other Christmas tales, too, that I highly recommend. At first, I didn’t think they were very Christmasy, but after repeated readings and some contemplation, I think I understand what Dickens was aiming for, and the sentiments are, indeed, appropriate for the season. Happy holiday reading!

Barb Weber has been a fan of children’s books all her life (she still has her copy of her favorite Golden Book, The Little Yellow Taxi, torn page and all, and it still chokes her up), and has been a children’s bookseller for over ten years. She likes nothing better than to share her enthusiasm and bring terrific books to people’s attention.

Remember, if you’re buying gifts through Amazon this holiday season, and you access Amazon through a link here (or now on the Funk & Weber site, too), I and Stitching for Literacy receive a small commission. There will always be book links in the sidebar, and the image here is an affiliate link, too:

• You don’t need to purchase the item the link leads to; you can go from that item to something else, and it counts.
• The price you pay for an item does not change.
• Not all purchases count, but it’s complicated, and I don’t know what’s what exactly, so I don’t worry about it.

Someone is actively using these links. Thank you! Others of us are catching on. I can’t use my own links, but I’m now in the habit of using others’ affiliate links, and I think Mike’s got it down, too. (He can’t use mine, either.)

Since inception, we’ve earned just over $5.00 in commissions. Woot! We don’t get paid until we hit $25.00. Sounds insignificant, I know, but, honestly, I’m a champ at making a little go a long way. I’m thrilled and grateful to have that $5.00 on the affiliate account books.

Now, am I saying you should buy books and gifts through Amazon?

No! If you prefer to support a local indie bookstore or your local library or some other book-acquisition method, I applaud your choice. Honestly, I’m a little concerned about Amazon’s expansion into book publishing (Amazon just bought Marshall Cavendish’s children’s line) and who-knows-what else. (Remember Google and the Orphan Works battle? I wish good companies weren’t compelled to grow and gobble.)

But it is also a reliable, convenient, affordable, fast service. I support local indie businesses; I support libraries; and I sometimes buy through Amazon. When, what, and through whom you buy is up to you, and I respect your choice, whatever it is.

However, if you’re buying from Amazon, and you’d like to support Stitching for Literacy, you can do so by clicking through links here.

I’m going to become an affiliate of The Great Courses, too. (Didn’t I say this last year?) I’ll actually plug their products. Mike just bought several new courses; we’re watching two now, and I’m stitching as I listen to them (new bookmark patterns!). It’s the next best thing to having Mike read aloud while I stitch.

If you’re an affiliate of The Great Courses, let me know. Chrissie???

Yay! Yay! Yay! Thanks heaps for letting me twist your arms.

I think maybe there’s more to this book than the title conveys. I recently listened to chapter three about the psychology of price. I find it fascinating and disturbing. I like to think I’m smart enough to not fall for the ubiquitous $whatever.99 ploy, but the studies that are spotlighted convince me that I’m not immune on every level: some part of me that I can’t consciously control is easily manipulated by even obvious price strategies. That bugs me. I feel vulnerable, stupid, and mad at price-setters for manipulating and taking advantage of me.

But I am also a price-setter, as is Gayle (Accents, Inc. owner and Stitching for Literacy Sponsor). Mostly, I deliberately stick with round whole numbers so as to NOT manipulate customers. (Betcha no one’s ever noticed that.) I want to respect my customers, and I want to believe the $whatever.99 ploy is ineffective on my customers, who are all smarter than the dopes who fall for that ridiculousness (re-read above paragraph if you’ve forgotten who this is). But I also need to make sales if I’m to stay in business.

See my dilemma?

Gayle mentions used books in her comment on the Bribe post. This is a tangled ball of floss for me, and has been for years. My SIL works at Powell’s Books in Portland, OR. I love Powell’s. If you’re not familiar with Powell’s, it’s an independent bookstore, with a main store that fills an entire city block, several stories high. They have millions of used books, along with new books, though I think they are best known for their used books.

I have shelves and shelves and boxes and boxes of used books. Because I live so far from libraries and stores, and because I rarely get to town, I tend to buy books I want to read. Because I read a lot and because my income cannot support my reading habit entirely with new book purchases, I buy used books.

Used books also appeal to my conservation side: I want to save trees. Lots of them. I certainly don’t want books filling landfills, and while there are some I want to keep on the off chance I will re-read them, I really don’t need them gathering dust in my house, either. When I’m finished with a book, I’m happy to pass it on.

BUT when I buy a used book or pass a book on, the publisher and author get nothing. I am also an author; I know first-hand how little authors earn. I know authors and illustrators far more successful than I who have full-time day jobs because having a dozen (or more) books in print doesn’t pay them enough to live on.

I want to support authors. I want to support independent bookstores (besides Powell’s). I want to read as much as I do. I want to conserve trees.

How do I juggle these things, balance them?

I don’t have an answer, and I really don’t expect you to, either, but this is an example of the kinds of contradictory positions Cheap raises for me. I am both Cheap and Not Cheap, as, I suspect, most of us are. (No one in the conversation will be berated for their Cheap parts.) It’s interesting to see in what ways I am one or the other and how those two parts do not fit together.

But this is a conversation for January.

Hey, I need book recommendations and Discussion Leader volunteers for subsequent months.

Stitching for Literacy is all about . . . well, let’s face it: it’s about bribery. We bribe kids to read by giving them bookmarks, right?

That works for me. Anything to get kids on the path to reading for fun. The hope, of course, is that they like it. That in the end, they want to keep reading purely for enjoyment.

Well, I’m going to extend this technique to my good friend, Shelly, even though she’s an adult and the most voracious reader I’ve ever known: If you’ll give Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture a shot, I’ll give you this:

This is the bookmark that stars in our Bookmark Challenge Kickoff Video. A famous, movie star bookmark!

The Story Behind the Stitchery

The camera was set up on the tripod. My fabric was laced to my free-standing stitching frame. We marked the floor with tape to show where everything went in case I bumped something out of place. We set this all up in the craft room where we could make it dark and keep the lighting as consistent as possible, since this was going to take some time; I also got up in the wee dark hours to prevent any light changes occurring via the shaded windows.

I knelt in front of my frame (no room for a chair) to make a stitch (one leg of a cross stitch), got up and snapped a picture. I knelt, stitched, got up, snapped (didn’t locate the magic clicker button on a cord until after the project was complete), knelt, stitched, got up, snapped, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat…. My quads got sore from the strange workout.

I’ve been wondering what to do with this particular bookmark ever since. I’m starting to post Funk & Weber-made articles for sale on the Funk & Weber site (not much there yet, but I’ll have more by Dec. 1), and I considered putting this up for sale there, but it feels special to me, and I want to do something special with it. This bribe feels perfect.

I really like the Cheap book, and I really, really want to discuss it. I’m going to postpone discussion until January and try to persuade others to read it, too.

Becca, I love the reader on the audio book. I’m not just saying that to twist your arm. Well, I am twisting your arm, but I genuinely like the reader, too. The tone of the book is sometimes sarcastic and irreverent, and I think she portrays that well. She makes me laugh.

My hope, of course, is that you will all find you like the book and will enjoy reading it. Shelly, you’re free to skip parts that feel too schoolish to you and to stop reading if you really don’t like it. All I ask is that you try it. Of course, I’d like to hear what you think of it, too. To see if you can sort out some of the things that flummox me.

I’m really curious, too, how things in Norway compare to things here.

So…what do you say? Can I bribe you (Shelly) and persuade others (Becca, Kat, and YOU) to read my Cheap book selection? (Harriet, I know you’ve already started it.)

And then can I get some suggestions for titles for the following months? Pleeeeeease?

Bribing, begging . . . whatever it takes.

The Short Shelf

Book Services by Barb Weber

Note from Jen: All links to Amazon on this page are my (not Barb’s) Affiliate links. If you click on one and then make any purchase, I, and subsequently Stitching for Literacy, will get a small commission used for needlework outreach. Your purchase price is not affected. I hope you see this as a good opportunity to fulfill your needs and help S4L simultaneously.

Thank you, autumn!

Here are some great books to celebrate and savor the fall season.

While Oliver Finds His Way, by Phyllis Root, isn’t about fall, a beautiful, bright, crisp New England autumn day is the perfect setting—and set-up—for this sweet, empowering little story of resourcefulness and conquering one’s fears for the little ones. While mama and papa bear are busy with chores, Oliver has fun chasing a big yellow leaf. But in his zeal and enjoyment, he strays too far, out of sight of mama and papa. What to do?! First he cries, but then he realizes that that’s not getting him anywhere. So, after thinking hard, he comes up with an idea, and is soon home amid “tumble-down hugs.” Christopher Denise’s illustrations infuse the story with wonderful autumn atmosphere and give life to Oliver’s winning personality. (Works well in board format, too.)

Two good titles involving autumn leaves are Leaves, by David Ezra Stein, and Fletcher and the Falling Leaves, by Julia Rawlinson (illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke). In Stein’s Leaves, with his always-charming illustrations, a bear in his first year wonders at the falling leaves on his little island. Are they alright? He tries to save them, but his winter sleepiness comes upon him, and he looks for a place to hole up for his long winter nap, puts those fallen leaves to good use as his bed, and sleeps the winter away. When he wakes up to a welcoming spring, he’s overjoyed to welcome a new crop of fresh green leaves. (Great as a board book, too.)

Rawlinson’s Fletcher is a caring little fox, and a good friend. And a bit of a worrier. It’s Fletcher’s first year, and when the autumn wind begins to steal away his favorite tree’s leaves, he doesn’t understand, and worries for his friend, and does all he can to prevent the inevitable. But by the end, Fletcher begins to see that it’s time for the tree to embrace its winter mantle. Beeke’s lovely, evocative watercolor illustrations capture the blustery season, and Fletcher’s sweetness and earnest concern. (See also the other two installments in the Fletcher series, Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms, and Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas,for more of the kind, thoughtful little fox’s adventures.)

And one for the autumn holiday, Thank You, Thanksgiving, by David Milgrim. This is my absolute favorite Thanksgiving book. Very simple, but perfectly captures the spirit of Thanksgiving, and, after all, isn’t the idea of being thankful pretty simple? Our little heroine is sent out on Thanksgiving Day for whipping cream for the holiday pie. On the way, this little girl is thankful for all the little things that make life a joy, from warm boots on a snowy day, to the pretty clouds that adorn the autumn sky, and the whipped cream on the pumpkin pie. Read it at Thanksgiving, and practice it the rest of the year.

Barb Weber has been a fan of children’s books all her life (she still has her copy of her favorite Golden Book, The Little Yellow Taxi, torn page and all, and it still chokes her up), and has been a children’s bookseller for over ten years. She likes nothing better than to share her enthusiasm and bring terrific books to people’s attention.

Jen’s confession: this is a few days old. My buttinsky comments in green.

Yesterday: 7513 words, a new record. Hurrah!

Hi there, you people in the real world!

I had to make a choice between writing my story or writing a journal entry to you. I cannot do both, I am so sorry. Here are different aspects of what I have experienced so far:

—1— Guess what happened on my third day of writing: I started after breakfast and was in a good flow sitting in front of a lap top. As you know already, it feels like my fingers go nearly as fast as my thoughts; I do not look at the keyboard or so much at the written text either. This machine has buttons / keys that are very silent, and I like that. The sound had really annoyed me, I think, and I would have to use earplugs at home.

My keyboard is loud, but it doesn’t bother me. I think of it as the sound of productivity.

This computer has a pad instead of the free mouse with a tail, and it has two buttons to click on just underneath the pad, I do not like it and so I ignore it.

I’m not a fan of touch pads, either, but I use them. Our laptop has one. I miss my old eraser head.

After about 365 words or so, I erased a whole block of words (a paragraph?). I did look for the undo system in the new program I am using, and I did not find it. But I found a “reload” button and the pop up text in English sounded very clever, indeed, so I pressed the ok button.

And guess what: all my text diapered. A-l-l-o-f-i-t-g-o-n-e-!

Oh, no.

Panic alert?

Yes!

No, I just looked at the screen for a while, mumbled some words about bad weather and foggy brains (of mine). Then I shook my shoulders and thought that I just had to write it all over again. I know I lost some very clever statements (hahaha), but I was not angry. It was just very important to start on my story.

Truly, I felt a little nervous for the story to go on telling itself to me in real time, as if the erasing never happened. You know: it would like to continue its path without looking back and wait for me! Scary indeed, but that is the panic alert!

After this, I learned my lesson number 1: to press Ctrl S and SAVE a lot of times, all the time! If I ever want to try to reload something later, I am making sure I have something there to reload, right! Plus make a backup every day!

And the lesson number 2: turn off the mouse-pad-thingy at once! The fingers do dance over it and make silly things appear on the screen. (To English writers: A word with a hyphen or apostrophe counts as 1 word, so take away all the hyphens and apostrophes and write “I will” instead of I’ll to give you two words even if the word professor program protests!)

Conclusion: All I lost was time and energy, not the story.

—2— It is all about The Confusion in the days before it all started and after!

You mention that outlining and plots were not part of NaNoWriMo. But I read the forum blogs to look for what this NaNoWriMo was going to be like. There were the simplest rules of a game to play, just like you said in the blog posts! But this sounded too easy, just like the rule “There is no such thing as a free lunch!” I just had to be sure it was as simple as the nice people in the tiny films told me on the site.

I wanted to understand the forums and learn to find the theme and subject I needed answers too. There was a lot of talking going on in there, and too much was not what I needed to know. Sorry! I am not a lady of small talk when I am at work. And learning something new is work, fun work, but no small talk along the path. (Boring it may be for others nearby, but yes, it is so very time and energy efficient for me.)

I feel the same way. I’m lousy at small talk and get impatient with it. Sometimes, I think that makes me rude, but I am what I am.

I finally found two pieces of advice I thought I should look into (and I gave up all the rest, actually):

“To be prepared or not prepared, that’s the question”

• From the thread for the newbies in the NaNo forum NaNo for the New and the Insane -A Guide to Surviving NaNoWriMo(sm) By Lazette Gifford (100 pages).
• And from a comment about how to prepare for NaNoWriMo in the Norwegian Forum: Write a Novel, a resource created by Crawford Kilian.

Before reading the files I downloaded, I had a character I would like to write about and something that I knew could happen to her. But I had no idea if this would be enough to cover 50,000 words. I thought that I was to start with almost nothing and during the month build the story bit by bit and get to know all the characters that entered the story as well.

That’s exactly what I do.

But then I read two persons writing tips: You must know your character, and you must have a tiny outline at least before 20 of October.

Pshaw. The only “must” in NaNo is you must write 50,000 words in November to claim you have won.

But it was already October 26th.

Ok, so I just read their advice as fast as I could to understand the good idea they had given very freely and enthusiastically. I was turning very nervous because they sounded like real professionals and had truly very high hopes for my or other readers’ performance.
I liked what they wrote, and I will use some of their ideas for preparations and writing after November is over, I hope.

As a result of some of their advice, I tried to write down events that could occur to my main character. And I wrote something that could happen to the others that she is close to, and whose lives will affect hers in some way. But I never did get that far as to have a proper outline or a good understanding of my character.

My outline was very much on small pieces of white paper (I will take a picture for you) that fits into v-card pockets in my tiny binder. The main events are written on color cardboard. I jump between these elements and write what occurs to me.

I call that being very prepared. That kind of preparation is perfectly legal under NaNo Rules, but it’s not at all required.

To be honest, this is what I wound up doing that first weekend in November, when I tossed my first attempt and started over. The planning wasn’t extensive, but I did come up with a basic three-act structure and maybe half-a-dozen events that could get me started. It’s a handy strategy, to be sure.

It is demanding to remember what I have written, and I do a trick: I do not read it! I think that it does not matter if it goes a little bit wrong, because it is written in pieces and the pieces can be moved to new places in the story later when I edit it-right? (I need a secretary or a big wall for my papers!!!)

Exactly. I write scene titles on note cards and rearrange them as needed.

I just felt very little prepared, and a very high bit of nervous about this event!

But now you know you were actually very prepared!

Then, some days before NaNo started, I received the book “No plot, no problem” by Chris Baty and the workbook “Ready Set Novel!” written by NaNo authors. They were a lot more playful about the writing process.

I love Chris’s book! I love re-reading Chris’s book. It’s how I discovered NaNoWriMo.

The workbook I have used like this: Open it in a page at random, read the instructions, do it. It has helped me some. I did not bring these books to Paris, and I actually miss them.

—3— What a feeling!

When I signed up in July I could hear my critic from within loud and clear. I did think “Who do you think you are? Who are you to call yourself a writer? You are not even funny! What do you have to tell anyone? Do you even think anyone would read your scribblings?” and the song goes on. A day after all this bad music in my ears, I said “Stop! want to write a story that I like to read! That’s it. I am going to do it. What are you so afraid of? It is not dangerous!”

I have kept the critic under the carpet or outside in the garden. It wants to come back, but not yet. I do not miss it, but I know I need The Voice Of Criticism later!

It is all about love, love, love. It actually felt like an old- fashioned crush, but it was a crush on a process. My book is about love, yes, but not like a romantic novel, not yet anyway. It has really been a writing-rush being-in-love kind of thing for me.

And then I felt so tired on Monday November 7th. When I returned to reality and got my head out of this happy fog of mine and the first rush felt over and done with. I did not know how to write or what to write or if any of it was going to be good.

The dreaded Week Two. I blew right through that this year. Huh. Wonder of wonders.

The pep talk mail was really helpful: “Don’t Get It Right, Get It Written!” I decided to write about a nice part of the story and think of how to connect it later. And, swish, by some Hermione wand, I was back in my good writing mood again.

Yes! You can figure out how to connect things later. This is exactly my approach. Just wake up and continue or start a new scene; don’t worry about how it will fit with the others.

My second week’s period of feeling down lasted 2 hours. That was it. But it was a good wake up call to remember that I have to take it all in small bits and pieces even if it is fun. No falling-in-love rush lasts forever, and everybody knows how exhausting it is after a while, but oh so fun!

It makes me want to cry! My Main Character experiences something awful!

In my mind, I make up things to happen, fact. I make things up, fact. When I was awake one morning I was thinking of what things could go wrong, looking for some bad events to make the story exiting and give the Character some trouble to deal with. And suddenly a very sad thing happened, and I cried!

What?

It was like a film in my head, and tears ran down from my wet eyes. I could almost not believe it. Me crying over this?

Uh…I cry all the time when I write. And I laugh, and I get angry. I take it as evidence that what I’m writing is good. I think it’s good to feel whatever emotion your character is feeling. So, good job!

This is strange. I must be very exhausted. (And you know what, I was, yes. I had too much work to do in addition to my storytelling!) But it is interesting that things I like to keep safe in the story turn out to be big-time problems.

This is a good thing. Problems are what stories are all about. It’s what keeps them moving. I often have to consciously throw my characters under the bus (idiom alert) because I tend to be too easy on them, and that makes for a dull story.

I have not written that part yet. I will wait until the last week of NaNo. Then I can cry because the fun is going towards an end, right? I need an excuse to cry over my own words. (Turning red!)

Pshaw! Cry away. I grant you permission. And I guarantee you won’t be alone.

On the plane, I wrote another sad event, and I had to look out on the wing of the plane to think of something else and not start to cry. What strange things happen to those who write! And I also laugh when characters do things I think are funny.

Been there, done that. Crying on planes because I’m reading or writing something sad or moving. I can cry at the drop of a hat (idiom alert).

—4—The self-biographical aspects in the writing process.

It puzzles me that this is so much a personal journey, since I am affected emotionally as well as testing my brains on writing and plotting. Maybe it is because it is the first thing I write?

No, ma’am. This is the journey each and every time. I think if a writer were to outgrow this part of the experience, s/he would stop writing. I would say this is the primary reason writers write. I know it’s why I write.

But the scary people in the book also scare me off! I think I have a strong ability to imagine things, yes! Nothing wrong with me then, thank you, just headstrong tale telling going on!

I am also thinking of the things the subconscious is putting in the text: the abilities the people get to have, the things they dare to do, the things they avoid, the good advice that is coming from a person all the time. (I really should listen to some of this advices myself! They are actually clever things. I do not know where I have found it, or maybe I have been stealing it from a help-yourself book somewhere. Sorry then.)

There’s a great quote which I’ll mangle for you now. I think it comes from Mark Twain. It goes something like, “A good writer remembers everything he hears, but forgets where he heard it.”

Are all this abilities things I would like to have for myself? Are these talents I envy? Is this know-how I want to learn? Or is it just fun to make it up and has nothing to do with my wantings and needs, desires and wishes?

Is the oh-so-very-deep theme going on between the lines in this story something that is about me? My character does not belong anywhere, she socializes as well as it gets, but does not belong. She works hard and still gets nowhere on the ambition ladder because it is not for her.

But of course she has a secret. She does not know it yet, but I do! And that has nothing to do with me, or . . . ?

I have to think of this later, but it is very intriguing and vexing at the same time. I do not want to write a biography about myself! But I want to use the things that touch my feelings because it may touch others as well. What do you NaNoWriMo and writing and reading experts think of this?

You sound like a writer to me!

—5— More to learn and more to do.

I really am enjoying this!

Yay!

I will do it again.

Double yay!

I am in a new path in my life. I am determined to learn to write good sentences, exciting paragraphs, and deep stories full of feelings and themes. I need to learn the craft. I will learn by doing it, by writing, and I will read books and look at what I like. I will read books and discuss them, and I will write—did I say that already?

It has been falling in love all over again. And I was so exhausted of all this eagerness, feelings of enthusiasm, and my head just going on about things to do for the characters.

It is all about love love love.

I have one word for you, Harriet: Hurray!

I feel the same way.

So who has read Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture? And who’s ready to discuss it?

I am so glad to have read this again, and I hope someone else has read it, too, because I really want to discuss it. As the holiday season approaches, and as we’re bombarded with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday bargains, this is a great time to step back and look at some of the realities and consequences.

Even if you don’t want to discuss the book, I do hope you’ll read it.

But I hope you’ll want to discuss it, too.

Please?

This is my daily word count record. I can’t help it; I look at that, and I think boooooring. There’s something very dull about the just-over-par steady-eddie pace. Part of me wants to fall way behind and then make a heroic comeback. That seems so exciting. But I really hate the stress and panic of being behind—more so in things with substantial consequences, but even in this, I wouldn’t like to be way behind.

Truth be told, though, I don’t think the excitement of making up 20,000 words in two days would be all that fun, whereas I find forcing out 2,000 words every morning very fun. I may be boring, but I’m having a heap of fun being boring. So there.

Day 12: Jen’s Stats

Day 12: Harriet’s Stats

Harriet’s stats are anything but boring. She’s like a NaNo Olympic star on her way to eight gold medals.

Check out her comment on the last blog post. She’s not only writing her story, she’s acting it out in airports across Europe.

Ziggy, if you make me a NaNo Buddy (I’m shmooo—three Os), I’ll post your stats here.

Ziggy’s our come-from-behind NaNo Hero candidate. She’s writing only on weekends. Yowzer! Talk about a nail-biter. You can read her strategy in the comments on the last post.

I’d ask her to tell us about Word Sprints, but I can’t bear to steal any of her writing time or words. She needs them. Maybe in December. A couple of years ago, I tried participating in some Word Wars in an AOL regional group, but I found that very distracting, and possibly slower than plugging along on my own. It’s hard to believe I wasn’t into into a game or competition, but so it was. I may have another go if I can connect with Ziggy or Harriet out there somewhere.

If this were a race, I’d put my money on Harriet. I don’t think the dreaded deep, dark forest of Week Two is even going to slow her down. I predict she’ll hit 50,000 words mid-month and keep cruising to an 80,000+-word finish.

I, on the other hand, will putt-putt-putt my way through the month, but I believe I will reach the 50,000-word goal. I wasn’t so sure of that until yesterday.

I usually love Week One, when anything is possible and choices are infinite. Having started several NaNos with nothing more than a character name and an un-popped kernel of an idea, it’s hard to imagine starting with even less, but I did this year. I chose a character name, age, and gender on November first. I gave him what I thought was an interesting personality trait. And then I gave him a problem.

It worked. I wrote 2,000 words, and generated three rough but interesting ideas in the process. On November second, I created a funny sidekick character, wrote another 2,000 words, and came up with a very vague idea of how to reach beyond my usual story strategies to try something completely new and different. I wanted to break out of my usual style of realistic-with-a-touch-of-goofy. I was playing with ghosts. Ghosts! (I don’t do ghosts.)

On November third, I had no clue how to proceed with my vague idea. Worse, it didn’t excite me. I gave my 2,000 words to Harriet and let her story inspire and challenge me.

On November fourth, I wrote 22 words and decided to wait for the weekend to regroup. Four thousand words behind my desired pace isn’t dreadful.

November fifth. Ah, November fifth. I got up early. I turned on the colorful ceiling lights. I made tea. I lit candles. I sat down at the keyboard, and I journaled. I thought through my fingers.

I didn’t like my story. I didn’t want to just stretch my writing muscles and revel in the wondrous and astonishing NaNo experience; I wanted my NaNo effort to help advance one of my current projects. There’s so much I’m trying to do; it would be nice to add extra juice to something I’m already cooking rather than drizzle a tiny bit into yet another pot. Already, there aren’t enough burners on the stove for all I’ve got brewing. Narrow your focus, consolidate, specialize, niche down—these things are hard for me.

I actually thought about writing 50,000 words of a new needlework class—or three. I have a backlog of classes and projects I hope to create. But, oh, writing a novel is so fun!

How about a needlework novel? Hmm…maybe. I tapped out some ideas in my journal. How about a Stitching for Literacy novel? Hmm…possibly. I cranked out some ideas for this one. How about an Ari’s Garden novel? Hmm…I let my fingers do the thinking and they clicked out several ideas, which led to more ideas, which led to more, which started to get more detailed, and led to characters with names and personality traits, goals, and problems. Ideas, like raindrops on a window, began to move, join together, and flow. (Oh, yeah, it’s NaNo season. Time to write crap.)

I pulled out story structures and plugged the ideas into them: The Hero’s Journey, three acts connected by major turning points. Connections between the plot and subplot boiled up like geysers. Oh, dear dog, I had an outline! Not to mention buckets of enthusiasm.

And so I started writing.

It is November 6th, and I have just over 10,000 words. That’s 2,000 words behind where I’d be if Life and I were perfect, but it’s a fine place to be. In fact, I’d rather be here with the story I’ve got than to be 2,000 words ahead with the story I had.

I can’t wait to see what the NaNo magic does to these ideas.

As of Day 7. I finally leap above the steady-as-she-goes gray line after floating aimlessly beneath the line during Week One.

I am so grateful Harriet nudged me into this. And I am so grateful to hang out with and be inspired by all you smart, thoughtful, and creative people here. Thanks, all!

Psst, Ziggy! How’s it going?