On July 1st, I'm off to camp for the second year in a row.
Not an actual pitch-a-tent, mosquito-filled camp--more like "virtual" camp.
I already did the real camp thing for a day--that's right, only 24 hours--way back in my 20's (when I was stupid and easily talked into things). It was just about the time the 100 degree-plus weather was killing people in Chicago.
After one night in a hot tent, I said screw you to mother nature and found solace in the air-conditioning at the House on the Rock which is still the craziest thing I've ever seen--ever! It defies explanation. Just go see it. It's about 200 miles outside of Chicago and just all kinds of nuts. Bring the kids!
Once again, I'm participating in Camp NaNoWriMo - where you set your own goal for 31 days of writing. My goal is 30,000 words which I think is an achievable number all things considered. It being the middle of summer, several family birthdays this month and my general propensity for laziness in the hot weather (aka all weather), I think 30k will work just fine for me. I surpassed the same word count last year and I've already started outlining and plotting the rest of the novel.
This year I'm working on "The Girl Who Didn't Go" and clicking on the title will give you an updated and revised sneak peek at the two completed pieces of the novel I already had written.
With the hubby away for the weekend, I'm diving head first into the research portion of it: library books about forensics, crime scenes, profiling, post traumatic stress disorder cover my desk and I've been binge-watching CSI: Miami. Oh David Caruso, you give me a chuckle with your one-liners. Since this story is outside my comfort zone a little bit (romantic thriller maybe?), I'm doing my homework now before I get to camp. At camp, it's all about writing the story.
Another tool I'll use when writing this story is creating what's called a Beat Sheet--based on Blake Snyder's book "Save The Cat." His technique is mostly for screenwriting but transfers well to novel-writing. Tonight I'll put it to the test with the movie "The Kids Are All Right" which has been plotted out on the "Save The Cat" site by Erik Bork since Snyder died in 2009. I'm anxious to not only see this movie, but analyze the story-telling.
But for now, I'm off to study the sequential changes to a body following death. You know, light hearted reading. LOL