Friday, November 4, 2011

Dogs and Writing, redux

Back in July, I did Camp NaNoWriMo, and had a lot of fun with it. I haven't re-read that novel yet, and though I wrote "The End" on the last page, I rather think it has another few chapters to go before I can consider it properly done. I blogged, then, about both writing and keeping the Elka happy.

But, it's November, and time for National Novel Writing Month proper.


I started my novel at midnight, as I am wont to do. The working title is "Zombie Safari", and it is somewhere in the chronology of my previous Steampunk novels (don't worry, they haven't been on the shelves for you to miss. Yet.) I got to 10, 023 words today. Elka has faithfully ridden the couch with me, and this time, has yet to contribute random keystrokes that I need to edit out. My little girl is growing up! Of course there are dogs in it, as apparently that's inescapable for me at this point, but they are not the main characters, and are not Dobermans (gasp! I know!) but rather Rhodesian Ridgebacks (Or Rhodesian Lion Hounds, as they were called in the time period in which I'm writing) because, well, that's a breed they've got in Africa, where they keep the safaris.

But, I have something else to tell you. I have another blog. This one is about writing: the writing process, books, inspiration, all that good stuff. It's also on Blogger, and is called Authorized Musings. It took me a dreadfully long time to come up with that title, fodder for a blog post, I'm sure. So, if you're interested in reading still more by moi, and in the types of books and web sites that I might recommend outside of the purview of Dogness, then hop on over and give it a look. It's still fairly new, so a manageable amount of posts to catch up on ;)

7 comments:

  1. Life outside dogs?! Does that even...exist?! I'm impressed. We'll check it out!

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  2. It's very hard, I assure you. And doesn't quite exist, as it's still me, on the same couch, with Elka here. She's just not the subject all the time!

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  3. I'll check out your new blog -- I too occasionally write about other things than dogs! Just curious. Do you know if there is a nonfiction version of NaNoWriMo? I'd love to take part if so.

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  4. Actually, Edie, it's funny that you mention...I just found somebody's web site, that mentioned somebody else had created a non fiction NaNoWriMo!

    Write Nonfiction in November: http://writenonfictioninnovember.com/ , but it doesn't look like it has the web site and community setup that NaNoWriMo does? I only just glanced at it, I could be wrong!

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  5. Thanks very much for this link, Jen! Of course I always decide to participate in projects when they're already started... I think I'll put a note on my calendar for next October!

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  6. Wow, good luck with the novel. I'm very impressed. I wouldn't know where to start. I'm glad it's got dogs in it:)

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  7. @Edie well, now you've got the whole year to research and outline, so that next October you can just write!

    @Greyhounds CAN sit: you start with the beginning! Really, you can go back and edit after the month is over. The point is to stop talking about writing a novel and just write the freaking thing! I've found that I include dogs a lot, and have even before I got Elka (a prior NaNoWriMo novel that took place largely on space ships included a Doberman puppy). It's a lot of fun to write dogs, and I do try to make them character-like, if not full time characters. Too often, they're just accessories, or "window dressing", when I'm reading a book that's written by what doesn't seem to be a dog owner.

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