Luckily, the National Novel Writing Month, the ultimate distraction tool, starts on Tuesday, and I’ve a new novel to commit to paper! Are you in?

As an aside, yesterday was one more reason I love Twitter — there I was, sitting in Ottawa, virtually “attending” a conference miles away…

Speaking of social media, I’m checking out Google+ , too. Circle me! (Is that a verb? Do we have Google+ lingo yet?!)

Right from the outset, we get a clear picture of the couple: the love, the attraction, the exasperation, the patterns developed between any two people who have known each other for a good long time – we warm to them, recognizing relationships in our own lives. The narrative switches back and forth between Penny’s and Wade’s point of view, mostly in the third person and sometimes slipping, with a natural feel, into the deeper thought of first person. Both characters have wonderfully distinctive voices, with Ms Woodward settled deeply and comfortably inside each character’s skin, and their vocabularies and ways of speaking and preoccupations feel, again, natural and true. Wade’s sections have movement and adventure. Penny’s battles are different, on the domestic front (and here I will say that for me, Penny’s sections took a little longer to get going: they felt somewhat static until she actually left the ranch). I admired the tenacity of both – especially Penny, who just gets on and does the things she needs to do to keep the household running in Wade’s absence, which is just one absence in many. The details of both worlds are strong, and I visualized them clearly. These characters are easy to “see” and “hear”.

I enjoyed and appreciated the dual points of view, but as the novel builds to its climax,  I did find myself slightly detached from a narrative thread that I wanted to grip me more (and I may be alone in feeling this): having access to both storylines meant we could see what was happening in each character’s world, and knowing that both were safe caused a lessening in the tension for me. Maybe one of the character’s points of view could have been “blacked out” here, so that we had no access? But that might have felt forced or unnatural, and maybe it wasn’t the point:  one of the major themes of the novel is the endurance of love. Wade has always come home before and will keep coming home and this time is no different. Lastly, some copy-editing choices (I didn’t understand the occasional lapse into single quotation marks for dialogue, for example) and errors made me stumble in my reading. But on the whole, this is a fast-paced novel from a writer who knows her subject matter and her region, and even her trucks…!

I’m so proud of, and inspired by, everything those ladies have managed to accomplish so far.

I went to my first meeting last night, and got so riled up and inspired that I wrote 300 words this morning. All flat out and sweaty-like. Yippee!

In the future we’ll be critiquing work, but last night we talked about integrating writing into our lives. We talked about the reasons we don’t write. Do you squander your time on TV, Facebook, Fritter Twitter? (*User raises hand*) You should put yourself through a “time audit” (I loved that) and figure out what you can cut.

Is THE FEAR blocking you from writing? (*User raises hand*) How can I possibly write if it isn’t coming out perfect, first time, every time (well, I may as well go check my Facebook… again)? We reminded ourselves of the freeing beauty of shitty first drafts. We talked about breaking things down into tiny, doable little units. Someone said she was spurred on by watching the word count grow. Not by a fixed amount per day or anything like that, but just that it was “higher”, and “higher” meant a good day. Someone else said she made word-count charts and time goals and that physical evidence of her progress kept her going.

We talked about establishing the habit of writing. The crazy rituals we have to do at the start of a session. Lighting a candle, say; or maybe putting all the “bad writing” thoughts (all the “you suck, you will never write anything good, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” thoughts) into a toy troll and simply *turning him around*, away from you, when it’s time to write — so the bad thoughts can’t interfere, see.  Kind of like a voodoo writing doll?

I confessed that when I’m planning to write, I put on my Writing Uniform, i.e. any one of my NaNoWriMo t-shirts that happens to be clean. Once I’m wearing the Writing Uniform, I have to write. I’ve also just bought myself a “Write Like A Motherf$*ker” mug. Drinking out of it is holy and must only be done while the Church of Writing is open. It works.

So I was wondering… what are your rituals? What gets your ass in the chair?

I collected them all, one a day, and have pasted them in below. There are some fantastic nuggets here, to mull over whether you’re revising (me) or starting something new (also me). Thanks, Donald!

So here they are. A couple of them are a little longer than your usual 140-character tweet, because I thought his “introductory tweet” to the actual prompt was useful as well, so I included it, or because he answered someone’s question.

01 What’s the worst thing your MC does? Whom and how does that hurt? Now work backwards, set it up to hurt even more

02 What’s the most selfless thing your MC does? What good change or effect does that have on someone unexpected? Add that in

03 Find any violence in your ms. Delete any shock, fear or horror. Replace with two *conflicting* emotions that are less obvious.

04 Choose a middle scene: What does POV character feel most strongly? Evoke that feeling without naming it, through actions alone.

05 What should your readers most see, understand or be angry about? At what story moment will that happen? Heighten it in two ways

06 How does your POV character change in your current scene? Work backwards. Make that change unlikely, a surprise or impossible

07 What does a sidekick or secondary character see about your MC that your MC denies? Force a showdown over it

08 Over what does your MC disagree with his/her boss or mentor? When does the boss/mentor prove to be right?

09 What’s a place in your story where something significant happens? Switch two other story events to that location too

10 In your current scene, what’s a setting detail that delights or disgusts your POV character? Why? Elaborate & add

11 Find a small passing moment in your manuscript. What big meaning does your MC see in it? Add that.

12 During a big dramatic event, what’s one small thing your POV character realizes will never change or never be the same again? Add.

13 For your MC, what are the best things about these times? The worst? Create a passage of his/her take on this era.

14 In your climactic scene, what are 3 details of place that only your MC would notice? Cut more obvious details, replace with these.

15 What’s one thing your MC hates as the story opens? By the end have your MC love that same thing. (Or vice versa.)

16 To provoke a noticeable change, create a sharp provocation. Today’s Breakout prompt zeroes in on your current scene… What’s the precise turning point in your current scene? Make its trigger more dramatic—or less obvious.

17 Who in your story has an ironclad, unshakable belief? Shatter or reverse it by the story’s end.

18 Engaging characters are passionately engaged in life. Their feelings tell us so. Today’s Breakout prompt coming up… Give your MC passionate feelings about something trivial: e.g., cappuccino, bowling, argyle socks. Write his/her rant. Add it. (It doesn’t advance the story, it deepens character. @suelder How does a trivial rant advance the story?)

19 What do you stand for? What about your MC? Today’s Breakout prompt matters… What principle guides your MC? At what moment is it most tested? When does it fail? Put it into action three times.

20 Cut 100 words from your last 3 pages. You have 5 minutes. Fail? Penalty: cut 200 words.

21 Dialogue is an opportunity not to be missed—an opportunity for tension. In the last dialogue passage you wrote double the friction, disagreement, overt hostility or hidden agenda.

22 Exposition, inner monologue, stream of consciousness…whatever you term it, use it to create tension. In the last inner monologue you wrote, insert one insight, question or worry that hasn’t hit you (or your MC) before now.

23 People’s observations—especially of other people—make them interesting. Same is true of characters. What does your MC know about people that no one else does? Create 3 moments when he/she spots that in others.

24 In fiction, obvious emotions rarely need stating. The reader’s already felt them. Find a strong emotion and replace it with a secondary one; find a throw-away moment and infuse it with rich feelings. E.g., “He recoiled in horror!” Ugh. “He wanted to rage, chant a dirge, anything but see this.” Ah.

25 Secondary characters can come and go, making little impression—a shame. Before a new character debuts, give your MC an expectation or fear. Make the reality three times better or worse.

26 MC’s make mistakes but often it doesn’t cost much. Today’s Breakout prompt is designed to hurt. Whom is your MC afraid to let down? What is the sacred trust between them? What would cause your MC to break it? Break it.

27 What you don’t know can’t hurt you? Heck, why *wouldn’t* you want to hurt your MC? What secret is your MC keeping? Who is keeping one *from* your MC? Spill the truth at the worst possible time.

28 Why have your characters merely talk when they can snipe, attack, burn or lay waste—verbally, I mean? Set off fireworks between two characters. What’s the biggest skyrocket you can explode for the finale? Go ahead…kaboom!

29 What’s the emotion or experience you’re most afraid to put your MC through? Go there. Do it. Now.

30 What’s the worst thing that happens to your MC? Work backwards. Make it something your MC has spent a lifetime avoiding.

31 What’s the very worst aspect of the main problem your MC faces? Find one way to make it still worse.

Mine’s here: http://www.amazon.com/Letting-Go-ebook/dp/B004TEYGOO

You can browse through my fellow ABNA contestants’ entries on this page: on the left, the quarter-finalists are listed by category.

You’ll need to download one of the free Kindle apps to read the excerpts.

I’ve been waiting and waiting for Amazon to post the novel excerpts so I could point you all there when I gave you the news, but Amazon has just been saying they’ll be posted “shortly” since Tuesday, so you can go to the main contest page and see my name on a PDF instead, if you really want to! I’ll be back with a link as soon as I have it.