Being my character when I'm not: NaNoWriMo update
Halfway through day 5 and 10,755 words into the novel, I'm exhausted. And that's after a day off yesterday.Sure, there are a million things going on as well as writing a novel in one month (like launching a new issue of an annual journal and preparing for a poetry feature this Sunday, not to mention normal life). It would be easy to blame any one, or all, of those other things, but I'm sure it's not the other things (even if I still don't have the books from the printer). It's definitely NaNo. And I think I know why.Firstly, writing a n

NaNoWriMo update day 2
Just taking five minutes out to let you know how I'm going with this November craziness.Well, as I wrote my schedule when I thought I'd be off on a family camping trip, I'd planned to write only 1000 words by the end of today, and I did more than twice that just yesterday.Actually, signed off last night with a total of 2210 and hit the 5.5K mark a couple of hours ago. Since then had to pick up 7yo from school (who has been feeling much better thanks) although came home alone as he's off to a friend's. So, I have one hour to write then to go pick him up, which will take a while as it turned into a dinner invitation for both of us.I'll try to hit 6K before

page seventeen launch: Nov 7
Okay, in case it's a little small, err, tiny, that's 1pm on Sat 7 November at Burrinja cafe, 351 Glenfern Rd, Upwey (cnr Matson Dve). The launch will be followed by regular poetry gig, The Word Tree with Sean M Whelan as feature. If you can't come, you can pre-order (up until Sat) at the special price of $15 by p

first or third?
A few days ago I tweeted something like this: aaarrrrrrgggh, first or third person? Coin suggests... first.Of course I was talking about the novel I plan to write during NaNoWriMo. Usually it would have been a no-brainer as I would have assumed first person without a second thought. But I toyed with the idea of using several of the character's points of view and being me, had difficulty making the decision.I went with first, as the tweet suggested, and even though the decision was made, I was surprised with the response, as if first person is writer-suicide. And I just don't get it.To me, writing in third person is tough. Particularly in the way I suggest

What was I thinking?
I've been interested in having a go at it for years. Can't recall how many exactly, but last year it would have been insane to try with a two month old baby and the year before was crazy enough with the million things I was doing anyway (like finishing 2nd degree, teaching at TAFE, producing magazine, preparing for 2 week camping trip).So, now I've finally plunged into the acceptance and enrolment stage of NaNoWriMo, I'm not really sure why I'm suddenly starting to have that WTF was I thinking feeling?Perhaps it's that November begins in just 4 days. Perhaps it's because I feel like I haven't done enough