Fantasy Football thoughts

After 15+ years of not playing fantasy football I was talked into playing this year in a small league.  I don’t know about any of you, but playing it sure changes the way you watch on Sunday.  Before this year I had pretty much given up on the NFL for the college game on Saturday’s, but I have to admit fantasy football is fun.  Having the NFL ticket helps too though.  It’s nice being able to watch any game you want and track your players live.

However it’s also frustrating.  Somehow every time I bench a player they go off the next week for huge points.  My defense did it to me this week.  I bench San Francisco for Atlanta and what happens they get 5 sacks and 2 INT’s for touchdowns.  Really?

Anyone else looking forward to seeing Notre Dame in the BCS Championship game?

Writing Milestones

Some days this month have been about pushing through to make sure that I am on track with my word count.  Then there are days like today that are filled with excitement and milestones.  I just finished a very important chapter in my book where my main character goes though some serious emotional and physical trauma and comes out stronger on the other side.  It was so amazing to write those last words of the chapter and to see the character transform.  It was even more powerful to know that I did it.

This month I am finally learning what it means to really be a writer and not just a person who likes to write every once in a while.  I am growing by the day just like my characters.  I am learning that I have control over their story and my own.  Today I have so far written close to 4,500 words and I am not done.  I can’t stop because the story demands that I work on it and finish it.

Today was an important day for me because I pushed past a wall to see that I am becoming what I have always wished, dreamed, and hoped for.  Today I can say that I am a writer.  When I finish the story I will be able to proclaim that I finished my first novel. 

So far my book is going better than I could have ever hoped for.  

Good luck to everyone who aspires to dream.  Work a little bit on them every day and you can make them a reality.

Good night and God Bless.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!!  I hope everyone is taking some time out to spend the holiday weekend with family and friends.  I myself had a great day on Thursday.  I cooked the turkey for my wife’s family this year and it was a great success.  It was nice to catch up with family, watch some football,  and I even managed to get in some Black Friday shopping to get a jump on Christmas.   I love this time of year; there is Christmas music on the radio, and people are nicer to each other just because.

It has been a busy month of writing for NaNoWriMo but all is well and I can see the finish on the horizon.  As of today I am close to 39,000 words.  I have only 11,000 more to go to make my goal of fifty thousand words in thirty days.  I can tell you this NaNoWriMo is not easy.  I would not be this close to finishing without my family whom have been super supportive during this endeavor.  Some days are better than others and as a result other projects, helping around the house like I would like to, and sleep have gone on the back burner for most of the month.  I did get the Christmas lights up (Yay for a burst of warm weather) and the lawn mowed one last time.

On the story front I am still really excited.  I can see the story developing and I can’t wait to see where the story is taking me.  My goal of having a finished first draft by Christmas still stands, but I see the story being a little longer than I first envisioned so we will see.  Either way I will be editing by the New Year. 

A few last notes before I sign off and get back to writing:

1.        It’s nice that the election is over and my phone is done ringing off the hook with robot calls telling me why I should or should not vote for somebody.

2.       Bowl season is almost here and it’s nice to see Notre Dame relevant again.  They should win tomorrow and they will in all likelihood verse a SEC team. (I was so hoping for Notre Dame vs. Oregon)

3.       Ski season is coming soon and I hope we get a lot of snow this year.

Have a great week!!!

NaNoWriMo Update

Excitement is putting it mildly. I am three days into NaNoWriMo and I am just over 6000 words into my new novel. So far the process has been going smoother then I could have ever imagined. I know the hard part is going to come at around 10,000 to 20,000 words, but as of now I am basking in optimism.

To anyone else out there who is engaged in National Novel Writing Month: keep plugging away. It’s the weekend so try to get ahead; that is what I am going to do. Plus remember its daylight savings time tonight so we get an extra hour. That’s an hour to catch up on the sleep you will be losing later writing or an extra hour to write tonight.

So far for me it’s been great. My wife is as excited as I am and is helping out in every way she can. Plus being ahead of schedule I have been able to do a Boy Scouts event with my oldest son last night and take him to his flag football game this morning. Today it’s writing till the football game this afternoon then more writing tonight. Tomorrow’s schedule includes church, helping my wife’s Uncle with some electrical work, a pizza dinner out with the family, and more writing to end the day. One thing I am trying to do is make sure that everyone gets as much of my attention as I can give and none of my kids feel left out of neglected. Friday night was Family Fun night and I spent some quality time with all three of my kids before I hit the keyboard. My writing session went late into the night and did not end until 1:30 a.m.
My tip for the day: Stay organized and ahead in whatever your job is if you want to be able to find time to write. As a teacher I am so busy during the day in the classroom and I am trying to do more with the time I have so that I can stay ahead with lesson planning and grading.

As before my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy. I will be saying many extra prayers tomorrow morning during mass for all of you.

 

Be safe, keep warm, and God Bless.

Thoughts on NaNoWriMo, Halloween, and Hurricane Sandy.

Tomorrow is the day.  Let the writing begin and the lack of sleep start to stack up.  National Novel Writing month may test my dedication, but I plan on coming out the other side a winner with a finished first draft.  I feel that I will approach this the same way I did running a marathon: training is important, but in the end you need to pace yourself and keep running.  Writing a novel in one month goes the same way: pace myself and just keep writing.

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Tonight I will enjoy a fun evening of trick or treating with the family.  We will order pizza and the boys will each have some friends come over to go out with. We will bundle up and go head out. I am prepared with about 20 bags of candy for the flood of kids.  I love today.  Where I live Halloween is amazing.  The subdivision is filled with kids and families can be seen everywhere.  Parents have fires in their driveways and laughter can be heard in the air.  It may be cold and it might rain, but it will not dampen the spirits of my boys who woke up early this morning very excited to get ready for school and the days Halloween festivities.  My daughter does not know what today is all about yet, but she does love dressing up and at just over a year is adorable in her princess dress. 

Afterwards the writing starts.  My goal is over 1700 words a day with an attempt at 2000.  Revision is to be put off till December.  I will try to get some blogging in as well.   Have a great Halloween and happy trick or treating!!!!

On a sad and reflective note my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone on the east coast and beyond who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy.  Watching the coverage on the news has been very sobering and I know that the recovery will be long and hard.  In times like these we need to be able to lean on our neighbors for support and strength.  It is humbling to see the destructive power of Mother Nature and inspiring to see the enduring power and resiliency of the human spirit. 

To everyone involved and those on their way to help: stay strong, be safe, and God Bless. 

National Novel Writing Month is almost here and so is the World Series!!!

Today I signed up for Nanowrimo and I am really excited.  I am going to try and write a full novel in only one month.  I have reservations about the time I have to write with work and family to contend with, but I am encouraged by the support I already have at home.  My wife is fully behind this endeavor and has told me she will help in any way that she can.  I have an idea, a plotline, and noble intentions.  Now comes the moment that I need to step up to the plate and put my pen (or in reality my keyboard) behind my mouth. I will try to keep everyone updated on my progress here on my blog.  For anyone who has gone through National Novel Writing Month what are your tips for success and for those who have never attempted it check it out at http://www.nanowrimo.org/

On a different front the Detroit Tigers are in the World Series vs. the San Francisco Giants and I for one am very excited. I remember 1984 as a kid and was there in 2006 when Maggs hit the walk off homerun against Oakland to go to the World Series.  This year I will watch the games through the eyes of my own boys who are as excited as I am to watch their Tigers win it all.

Visiting other Writer's Blogs

Today I read a very interesting blog post at http://thewritepractice.com/become-a-writer/.  The author Joe Bunting wrote a post titled, “5 Reasons you Should Consider Becoming a Writer”.  It is a really well written piece that lays out reasons to write other than to get published or to make big money.  In fact it speaks to the reason we all began writing in the first place.  It you are interested please go to the blog.  This was the first time I visited it, but after reading it I am sure to go back again.  Being new to blogging I don't know the etiquette for reposting comments I made somewere else but below is the comment I posted on his blog in response to the article:

F. Scott Fitzgerald said that “You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.”

I write because I want to say something positive about the human spirit and the potential within us all.  I write because I have stories that need to be told and ideas that need to be expressed.  I want people to come away from my writing full of hope and imparted with the idea that you can rise above your means to become a better person.  A storyteller is saying so much more than the words on the page and the actions of their characters.  In my stories I am weaving a much bigger narrative that says something about life and the limitless possibilities therein.  When I first learned to read I remember being amazed at the world out there just beyond my door and enchanted by the fact that the words on the page could transport me into the worlds of Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Alexandre Dumas, J.R Tolkien, F. Scott Fitzgerald, David Eddings, Johann David Wyss and countless other authors.  These books were not only great adventures, but they taught me something.  In those pages I learned about honor, respect, love, tradition, & faith to name a few.  I saw in those pages how to be a better man.  That is why I write.  I want to tell a compelling story that says so much more then is on the page.  Writing is exciting and a good story that needs to be told is why I sit in front of a keyboard seeing where it will take me.