NaNoWriMo Progress and Goodies!

Well, today is day 10 of NaNoWriMo and I am happy to report that I am on schedule at 16K words and counting.  (Not ahead, like I would prefer to be, but this mama has got to sleep sometime!)

There have been a few fun and craft-worthy things going on related to NaNo that I wanted to share.  For one, we met at another writer’s house to make some freezer paper shirts and to write. 

Yes, that’s Raya in there too.  I’ll admit I didn’t get a lot accomplished with her along, I really just had fun. :)


Another crafty thing I put together was a challenge jar for our write-ins.  It was an idea my co-ML and I had, and one jar exists already – I just needed to make a second one so we weren’t trying to figure out how to transport the jar back and forth all the time to different events throughout the month.  


What is it?  It’s something to keep things interesting if you’re feeling adventurous or if you’re stuck in your writing.  The cure for writer’s block is more writing… did you know that?  It’s true!  If you can’t figure out what your characters should do next, quite often, a prompt will help get the wheels turning.  More often than not, you’ll later edit those scenes out, but if it helps you get back on your feet your fingers, then it works!


We opened up the naming of the jar to everyone in our region and came up with lots of suggestions.  So, naturally we used as many of them as possible: 

Does it look extra-scary in black and white?


Anyway, these are a small sampling of the challenges a writer might find inside:

Timed challenges and prompts.  Some easy, some hard, and some ridiculous, quite frankly!  But all in good fun, and available to writers at our events at any time.  We opted to put them on popsicle sticks so that they could be re-used throughout the month and hopefully in years to come.  The sticks seemed like they would hold up better over time than scraps of paper.  And, they have been really popular so far at our write-in events!


And I’m saving the best thing for last – the MOST share-worthy thing was that my care package from my writing buddy arrived!  Terry over at These Peas Taste Funny does NaNoWriMo too, so we thought it would be fun to exchange a November care package.  I just got word that my package made its way to her, so I’m excited to show off the wonderful goodies she sent!  It was comfort in a box, let me show you!

She started off with a lovely note (and I have to apologize for the pictures, because it was all I could do to remember to grab the camera – much less adjust my lighting before digging in):

Check out all the comfort-inducing goodies – handmade cloths, some fabulous peppermint-lavender bath salts:

Cozy crocheted slippers (seriously!!) a couple of handmade bookmarks, some pretties like that awesome jute-and-pearl bracelet over there on the right:

Some edibles, like these AMAZING spiced Italian plums in port sauce, and some tea and coffee for my must-keep-going fix:

I immediately tried the slippers – perfect and SO cute!

Thank you again, Terry, you are an awesome friend!!

If you are doing NaNoWriMo too – look me up over there!  Here’s a link to my author page (where you can also get a preview of what I’m writing).  Drop me a note!

See you back here for Freestyle Friday tonight at 5:00 EST!

I link to these fabulous parties!