The Enermazing Weekly Ticker (17) 28th November – 4th December2011

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Just a quick note today…the last few days I had limited computer access time, which I used mostly for catching up with comments on other blogs. There was no time for browsing or research of anything, and I’m already in a hurry to get off the computer again.

Kathy (Pocket Perspectives) passed the Liebster Blog Award to me – thank you so much, Kathy! I’ll nominate “meine 5 liebsten Blogs” (my 5 favourite blogs) some other day, once again a difficult decision…

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Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee:Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Enermazing Weekly Ticker (16) 21th – 27th November 2011

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Nearing the end of NaNoWriMo with less than 10k, the best tip I can give you this year is not to stop – November may be over soon, but life goes on.

In case you are over 40k, you can still catch up (my last year’s experience). Go and get your certificate!

If not, consolidate. Take stock of what you’ve learned during the past 27 days, about writing and about life, about creating new habits or at least shaking up old ones.

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During this past week, I’ve hardly been on the computer. My email inbox is overflowing with unread blog subscriptions, I haven’t written a single comment, not browsed or surfed or “researched”.

What have I done instead? Increased my body awareness, with special emphasis on the senses of hearing and smell. Did you know that a slipper, a book and a computer cable produce different sounds when being chewed? Did you know that you can train your olfactory sense to make out directions and locations, instantly, the moment the origin of the smell is being produced? I didn’t, until ten days ago, but then again Bob and Scamp were already about three months old when we found them and ready to be house-trained. When we found the puppy last week, it was so young that didn’t even know yet that it had teeth, and now it’s experimenting with how it can put them to use. (Eating is not a problem – weight increase is 40% in 7 days.)

Wolfy-Stop-It! (which is his new name) is teaching us a lot of things, including taking play breaks when we didn’t even know we wanted them, and certainly living in the moment – using every opportunity, however small it may be, to get some of our daily chores done while avoiding to trip over him, or to wipe up another little mess while he tries to help us I hope that as soon as he discovered all dimensions of his body (including his rear end) he’ll realise that not on all occasions it’s sufficient to have all four paws on the newspaper…

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When things go wrong, you’ll find they usually go on getting worse for some time; but when things once start to go right they often go on getting better and better.

C.S.Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia

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My word count the past week: I’ve lost track with all my different wordcounts and what I updated or not. The only one I’m certain of is Magnifica, at about 8,000 total…

The Enermazing Weekly Ticker (15) 14th – 20th November 2011

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When things seem difficult or even hopeless, take another step. If you don’t know which direction to go, let the flow carry you on, just a little bit.

Don’t rely on the obvious, on what you think you see, hear, feel. Thinking blocks the flow, your strong invisible currents which carry you in the right direction with ease.

The last week of NaNoWriMo has begun; I haven’t written more than a few pages for the past two weeks – “the obvious” would be to call my this year’s NaNoWriMo experience a failure and to give up.

Under the surface however that voice, telling me that NaNoWriMo is just one little ripple in the context, has become much stronger: “Stop fiddling with details – trust in the context instead.”

Even if during week three you’ve discovered that your novel is going nowhere, or in the wrong direction, take it from there, do your best for the rest of November and trust in a writing life after NaNoWriMo.

If you’ve come to believe writing is not your thing at all, accept that for the time being. You may be right, or you may be wrong, but dissappointment is certainly the wrong time to make decisions.

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As I mentioned last Tuesday in my post “Playful Professionalism” I’ve been thinking lately about the value of playfulness. In fact, I was wondering how I could bring some more joy and playfulness into my life.

I’ve also written about “dogs”, the stubborn, insistent inner terrier and the inner Schweinehund, both of which bear no resemblance with our two real dogs, Bob and Scamp.

Relieved that I didn’t have to think about a blog post, I sat down early Wednesday morning and wrote two pages, but strangely enough I couldn’t concentrate, without any reason I could think of. After another half page, my husband arrived back from walking the dogs. On his arm was this:

Wolfy - day one

With interruptions like someone gnawing at my toes, it’s already taken me one and a half hours to write these few lines, I’ve got to leave for work now… I’ll write more later, as soon as I get the opportunity…

For now just let me say that the dog rescue centers are overflowing. Yesterday we resigned to the fact that we’ve got a third dog and named him “Wolfy”

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A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it.
Frank Herbert, Dune

Grant me the sanity
to know that my first draft will suck;…
Sara Toole Miller

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My word count the past week: blog : …  – novel: 4 pages

The Enermazing Weekly Ticker (14) 7th – 13th November 2011

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See the quote below for what Winston Churchill has said about NaNoWriMo

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Well, at least I managed to keep up “one post per day” – sort of, in the beginning writing in advance and scheduling, now dragging a day behind.

Not even halfway through the month, I have already discovered that for me it is far easier to do a bit of daily fiction or my usual notes/random journal which no-one will see than get something ready and out – I’m not surprised I was never tempted to become a professional writer…

But then again, some professional writers might be horrified by the idea of having to do 7 meters of traditional Cretan macrame fringes (these two links lead to two macrame blogs) before Christmas

“Each to their own” is what creates variety and balance – our task is to live our own life the best way we can.

Sorry if I haven’t commented on your blogs for a week or more; I’ll make up for it as soon as the number of blog posts returns to “normal”.

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If you’re going through hell, keep going.
Winston Churchill

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Tired of writing – or reading about it? Try these for a change:

• Elizabeth’s Mirth & Motivation & Inspiration: 24 Ways To Follow Our Joy…
• “While there is no denying that this is a story of injustice and suffering and corruption it is equally a story of resilience, perseverance and hope.” Trisha/Creating Reciprocity on Half the Sky
• Artistic creativity is hardly ever limited to one medium only – see author C.B. Wentworth‘s Project Art Journal: Page 3 and step-by-step tutorial on how to make your own art journal

My word count Day 13: blog : 280  – novel: 0

Btw: You can still join the Writing Buddies – and it’s not too late to sign up for NaNoWriMo 2011, either

The Enermazing Weekly Ticker (13) 31th October – 6th November 2011

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Back up your writing every day – at least in two different places.

A simple trick: Send the files attached to an email – to yourself. All it requires is two email addresses

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I’ve added a new section to the menu: “Specials”. Under “November 2011 | NaNoWriMo – But Not Only” you find a collection of all posts this month, with links to the respective pages.

I hope you find what you are looking for

Maria

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Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
Mahatma Gandhi

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength!
Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Tired of writing – or reading about it? Try these for a change:

Lesh, The Mindful Foodie, has committed herself to a 30-Day Vegan Easy Challenge, 1–30 November 2011

Need some Light in the Dark – or a quick’n'easy craft project to procrastinate with? Have a look at the tutorial on Guerilla Goodness.

Do you want to be a muddy puppy? The choice is always yours Let yourself be inspired by Kathy’s Pocket Perspectives on “Muddy Dog” Thinking.

My word count Day 5: blog posts: 550  – novel: 1,000 = 4 pages

Btw: You can still join the Writing Buddies – and it’s not too late to sign up for NaNoWriMo 2011, either

The Enermazing Weekly Ticker (12) 24th – 30th October 2011

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Remember the door behind the curtain? Well, I managed to unlock the lock with a hairpin and some WD-40. The door opened by itself as if only waiting to be released from bondage, and I stepped outside.

Nothing had prepared me for what I saw there – the glimpse of green grass and blue sky I had had through the gap had been totally misleading…at the best. In the light shade of a tree and hidden from view by the door was a wicker chair and a small table with a stack of ruled paper, my favourite fountain pen, and a calender leaf of November with NationalNovelWritingMonth written in bright red all across…and I’ve so tried to ignore it…

That hairpin was my idea to share my last year’s NaNo experience, the comments to What I Learned Through NaNoWriMo were the lubricant.

Tempting, very tempting after half a year of non-stop non-fiction (and that includes reading). Should I give in?

I decided on a compromise. I went back inside and filled The Enermazing Project from the steam-cooker into the slow-cooker.

Compromise first half: I’ll only attempt 25k words of fiction.
Compromise second half: On this blog, I’ll do a post a day all through November – which may not make up 25k of non-fiction, but must suffice.

The theme for the November posts will be “Writing” (who would have guessed…), to be more precise: “How To Survive NaNoWriMo Healthy And Sane”.

As not every visitor to this blog will be interested in reading about writing, and some may not give a, uhm, dime about it, many of these daily posts will come from My Enermazing Toolbox, with tips and tricks on how to make writing – or whatever else you do with your life – easier and more enjoyable.

If you are such a non-writer, please substitute the above title with “How to Survive Life Healthy And Sane”, and see and find out how you can transform the writing tips into life tools

Hope to see you on Tuesday

Maria

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Every thought willingly contemplated, ever word meaningly spoken, every action freely done, consolidates itself in the character, and will project itself onward in a permanent continuity.

Henry Giles

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I’ve had a “Writing” category since I started this blog, and I was a bit shocked to discover that I’ve done so far only one lonely post related to writing, on 3rd August:  Featured: WriteGirl.

I’ve updated the post now with a few links – and reveal whether The Communicatrix had to shave her head or not