Plotting each act for my different characters

One of my favorite things about living in a house with these girls is we are all in one facet or another creative people. Mackenzie is creative in many endeavors, but shines in her career field as a fashion designer for 2b while building up her own business as a custom wedding gown designer. (You can find her exquisite work here.)
Alli is in school pursuing an art degree, and in the meantime, paints occasionally for decor in our house. My favorite of hers I've seen so far has been an incredible sketch of an animated character.
Kim is an English teacher. English teachers were always my favorite, so it's no surprise that Kim and I have lately enjoyed the occasional discussion of Hamlet and existentialism during the few hours I see of her each day. (Being a teacher, she's far from the night-owl I am.)

Me? Well I just do what I can whenever I can. I'm so blessed in my job to have the flexibility to let my creative mind wander, brainstorming new blog posts, tweets, youtube videos, graphics, and sample yearbook pages. (I work at a self-publishing place, by the way.)

I was always intrigued by creative writing. There were several times I had story ideas and characters floating around in my head, but didn't know how to put it down on paper. Then life happened, and I went into journalism - a form of writing that really isn't anything similar to writing a novel. And from there, I always just kept telling myself "I'm not a novelist," thinking that because I didn't graduate with 3 novels and a myriad of poems and short stories under my belt meant that I couldn't be a writer...at least a creative writer.

And then in the fall of 2010, the beginning of my senior year of college, I attended a women's conference at my favorite place - Big Sandy Camp. It was there that my soon-to-be favorite author, Susan May Warren, was the speaker. I was fascinated by her haunting tales of run-ins with the Russian mob and found her hilarious "oops" stories of motherhood enthralling. But beyond her elaborate tales of hilarity and adventure, there was a comfort and an alikeness I latched onto. I quickly found out that not only do we share a love of dancing and football, but that her purpose in writing novels was what I felt as a purpose as a journalist. That first evening, she sparked within me my desire to find that story and write it. And that night, at her minimal display table in the corner, my mother bought me the book pictured above, called "From the Inside Out" by Susan and her cohort Rachel Hauck. Inside that workbook I found another world that to helped me discover that novel waiting to break free. I can't recommend this book enough if you've ever thought about writing.

Fast forward 2 years. I sorta pulled a "me" and let my adventure of novel writing fall to the wayside. Somewhere, in the abyss of my computer, lies a word document with about as much written on it as a sophomore English paper.

Then, last November, someone told me about this thing called NanoWrimo. For those of you who aren't familiar with what that may be, it's short for National Novel Writers Month. The goal of NanoWrimo is simply to write a novel in 30 days. Wait...simply? not so much.
I was a bit late to the party, though, and wasn't even able to flesh out my story and really write before day 30 hit the calendar. I continued for several months, trying to work through storylines, the "why's" of my characters and their actions, and just generally where the story was going. Then I got busy with 3 jobs and was simply too exhausted to really find my characters again.

And here I am, almost a year later, still with a barely written first chapter. But all thanks to my writer-kicker-in-the-butt Sam, she...well, kicked me in the butt.
So, I've VOWED...upon humiliation and death of a piece of my inner-confidence, that 2013 is the year it's gonna happen. I'm committing to finishing this novel by November 30th! I started working through all the remaining how's and why's and what's and who's of my story on Friday. And I believe I have most of it figured out. Now I just have to commit it to words. On paper. (Oh, dear Lord in Heaven, please give me strength to finish this goal!)

So, dear friends, I have 2 weeks to finish up the last of this detailed plotting, and away I will go on this adventure my NanoWriMo friends affectionately call it "The best and worst month of your life." It's a whirlwind, a struggle, a breath of fresh air, way too much coffee (or other legal addictive stimulants), and the best month of your life.  Care to join with me on this journey? You won't regret it! (You may wish to strangle me during that month, but you won't regret it.) Sign up! do it! (Mainly, I'm just begging you to do it alongside me... like a running buddy...because I know I'll need someone pushing me to keep up!)