December 1, 2019

I finished NaNoWriMo at 57,000 words (give or take).  I have learned a lot about writing in that romance writing class that I took.  Funny, I thought I knew a lot.  It gave me some more tools to use and now maybe when I have time again, to start over and deconstruct my story and reconstruct it.
(Although-they call it revising and editing).  Well, that's what it would be.

Did get a job.  Doesn't pay much, but it is better than sitting on my butt wondering how I am going to pay the bills this month.

National Novel Writing Month

Here it is almost half way through the month.  I am currently rewriting a story that I have been working on for the past two years.  Last year, i was working so much that I didn't have time for writing or crafts or anything.

This year, I am not working and it feels weird.  I have been taking a romance writing class through Gale online.  I have been thinking about some other classes.  But I am also trying to get a job.  (I can find them, but to apply, but never get past there).  Something will click eventually.

I am not halfway through since I have been trying to do other stuff.  I have been volunteering at the museum quite a bit.  I have been trying to catch up on projects.

forgot about this

It is now 2018.  Most of the projects from 2016 have been finished.  for updates, check out my other blog

https://colbysandraetc.wordpress.com/

This was the blog that I used for my Master's in Instructional Design and Technology degree from Full Sail University.  I have continued to use that one since I really forgot about this one.

Right now, I have finished yet another "novel" during 2017.  It is about a yarn and consignment shop.  I still have Zoo Story to work on.  I get crunched on the first three chapters and never get passed that part.

I am afraid that this story isn't much better.  Unfortunately, I have misplaced two other attempts at novel writing.  (but this is temporary).

Been a while

Took a week off in August.   Went to the cottage with Robert.  Didn't get much of my own stuff done except for the furniture for the doll house.  (well, almost all of it).  Some pieces still need work.

Christmas letter-not done.

Project for Theresa - not done

Banner for Church - not done

Doll house furniture - not done

Did finish Project Angel Hugs though

Gave up my puppy, horse, cow and pig.  Also my "scarecrow" dolls, which I made into regular dolls.
Not caught up on court records....

Haven't quite finished several Christmas stitching projects or any sewing project that I have started.  and I have quite a few.

Only wrote 1000 words for Nanowrimo.

Worked over 40 hours in one week at Joanns.  Been working over 20 the last few weeks.  Very close to 28 hours.  Wish someone else would be hired.  Getting tired and don't have a lot of time to do some of the things I wish I could do.  Will be taking some time off after Christmas.  Maybe then... Yea, right

jul

Had a week of vacation from Joanns.

Thought I might get some writing done.  Not really.  Spent most of the time getting caught up on sewing and crafting projects.

Did manage to get some reading done.

Whew!

Looked over this blog.  I have been attempting to sit down and write for almost 3 years down.  Maybe it is time to think of something else.  or just sit down and write.

I have purchased several sets of books for help in writing, but haven't finished many of them.  Started several, but never finished.  Have two courses to work through, but get stuck every time.

Seem to get stuck while taking classes.  Had several Coursera classes on writing, but doesn't seem to stick.  Like the girl in the commercial.. "Nothing stuck".

I keep thinking about the fact that I have tried to sit and write, maybe 1000 words about nothing at all, and it doesn't seem to work very well.

Or I have to write a "life event" and all that I can think about is something flat and boring.  I don't really want to share a "life event"... there are too many and too personal.  so I handed in "a family of veterans."  too boring... not a Life event.  (It is if you think about what my family is made up of).  so I dropped the course.  It was a Coursera course anyway.  Still have to finish three others.  Slowly working toward ending one.  May make it.  (after two tries).

Still have to work on the history of the Sheboygan Youth Band.  Do I have any other sources?  What happened to the band between 1975 and 2005?  There are 30? years unaccounted for. We have lists of people and parade participation from papers that others have saved, but what do we really have??
Some one else's information.  Maybe I need to look at it with fresh eyes and go from there.

Update 2016.

Finished the last writing project.

As part of my NaNoWriMo experience this last year, I finally finished my work on the Jill and Lyle story.  I bought more writing books and have been doing more reading on writing than actual writing.

I have not made a resolution to write more, but I really should.  I thought that I had a "writing blog", and I do, just wasn't sure which platform I was on..  At least I found it.

Need to write 3-5 compound/complex sentences.  There are three types.  (which I didn't know).  This is not the same writing class that I had when I had the last writing class.  (the one with the 15 sentence paragraph.  Now it is working with types of sentences and different punctuation which was kinda glossed over.

Haven't take several other classes (Forensic Science, Intro to Management, Graphic Design)... tried some others but they had deadlines and unrealistic expectations which i couldn't fulfill.  At least I tried.
Got busy with some Youth band stuff, volunteer work at the history museum, moved Rob's mother, and tried some new sewing projects.  (doll clothes of different kinds, quilted placemats, pillowcases, machine embroidery, and backpacks).  Still have several Christmas projects to work on.  Trying different yarns and some different projects.  Actually worked on something other than scarves.  I made a basket, a bag, and a cowl.  Tried arm knitting too.  Still have several projects to finish.

Writing competitions

I finally took the plunge and entered a piece into a writing competition.  I finally heard from them the other day.  It was in the form of "sorry you didn't win".

In other words, "thank you for entering our contest.. but your writing isn't good enough."

I have had enough rejection from employers, and I am tired of that.  I just don't apply for very many jobs anymore.  If you figure that I had to apply to 4 jobs a week and actually only got one in August. from Oct. 2012 to August 2013 there are alot of rejections.

Some reject you right away saying "you don't have the qualifications we needed."  Some just wait until they fill the job and then let you know that "we filled the job.  thank you.'  some you don't hear from at all.  Even if you get an interview, it may be weeks before you get the "sorry you weren't good enough for us. We enjoyed interviewing you (at least that is what they say) and then they say.  "We hired someone else."

I don't even try raffles, or anything like that (especially Publisher's Clearinghouse.. who actually wins that?) because I already know that I won't win.

So, my question for the year 2014, do I give up on writing?  Or do I just continue to write blogs, journals and bits and see if anything comes together?

I will let you know.

topic-Traditional ethnic food

here are some sentences that i wrote to help me write my paragraph.

Topic sentence:
               A traditional ethnic food for Sheboygan, Wisconsin USA is the bratwurst.

Supporting details:
                      A bratwurst is a spicy, fatty pork sausage which is served on (bread) with ketchup, mustard, onions and pickles.  I prefer pickles and ketchup.  The bread is a roll which is crunchy. 

Picnics are a great place to serve these sausages, many people serve baked beans and/or potato salad with these sandwiches.

Brats are typically cooked on an outdoor grill.  Some people prefer to par boil them, or partially cook them in butter, onions and beer before finishing them on the grill.

Many meat markets and sausage companies have their own version of the bratwurst.

Every summer our city has a festival celebrating the cooking and eating of this sausage.

Concluding sentence:
     The bratwurst is celebrated by families in Sheboygan, WI, USA.

A minimum of 15 sentences???  That is not a paragraph that is more like one half of a composition.

I just re read the assignment for my writing class.  They want a minimum of 15 sentences... Never heard of a paragraph that long...

Title: Bratwurst

Topic sentence:  A traditional ethnic food for Sheboygan, WI, USA is the bratwurst capital.


Supporting sentences:  (already explained what it was and how it can be cooked).

Bratwurst are also used as a fund raiser for many people as they are very popular..  People will eat them all the time.

Bratwurst are also served at local football and baseball stadiums.  They are easy to eat.

Other toppings can be added to bratwurst, which include: sauerkraut, fresh or fried onions, yellow or brown mustard, pickle relish, sweet pickles or dill pickles, some people might like peppers or other vegetables. My favorite is dill pickles and ketchup.

Bratwurst is made with spices specific to a meat company.  One meat company's product may not taste the same as another meat company's. because of the recipe and % of pork, beef and fat.  It may also have different spices in the sausages.

Bratwurst are also called "brats", with a long 'a' sound.

Last assignment in Writing class is writing a paragraph using one of five topics.  I will not be posting this online today... it may come later in the week.

I need adverb clauses, and adjective clauses.

1. which keeps the city warm... (adjective)

2. who tries to get things done... (adjective)

3. which is connected.. (adjective)

Apparently, I got these.  Now, for the adverbs.  which I am missing...


1. Because the neighborhood is so close... (adverb)

2. After summer ends, the tourists go home. (adverb)

3. When you need to go somewhere (adverb)


For the disadvantages, I need to make sure there are phrases, let me see what I have.

Noun phrases...

1. unless you work in a nursing home.

2. in a nursing home

3. Because the neighborhood is so close (not sure...)


Verb phrases (guess i got this.. now I have to put everything together)

1. to buy

2. to visit, to get

3. visiting, buying, shopping, knowing, knew,

Practice with phrases and clauses 2

Disadvantages of living in my town

Because the neighborhood is so close, everyone knows everybody's business.

It is hard to get a job, unless you can work in a nursing home, hospital, fast food restaurant or manufacturing facility.

It has two Wal-Marts which have taken business away from smaller shops.  The smaller shops which would encourage specialty shops cannot exist because there is no one to buy from them during nine months of the year.  Tourists mainly visit in the summer months.

There are too many restaurants and bars for the locals to visit so many of them don't last very long.

Practice with clauses and phrases 1

Advantages of living in my town.

The buses can take you almost anywhere.   It is located near Lake Michigan, which not only keeps the city warm in the winter, but cool in the summer.

Everyone in your neighborhood knows you.

People have easy access to the mayor, who tries to get things done.

There are several shopping areas where people can visit different types of stores including: grocery, clothing, department and maybe several specialty stores for clothing, games, or food.

It is not far away from major shopping, and two bigger cities are within a two hour driving distance.

It has a large local library which is connected to several smaller libraries.  There are many different and various religions.

Module 2 Writing Activity

In your journal, continue your observations of the scene observed in journal 1.  Note several vivid action verbs that you have already used. Revise some of your sentences using action verbs and/or write 2-3 new sentences with action verbs. Try not to use any of the forms of “to be” (is, are, was, etc.).  Underline the action verbs in your sentences. Again, you will want to keep all of these sentences at hand as you do the peer reviewed writing at the end of the unit.

this is the scene that I was using... looks like I have to work it over a bit.

As I stared into deep brown eyes of my dining companion, I was unaware of the hustle and bustle going on around us.  Servers were getting orders and visiting with their customers.  The hostess showed more customers to tables around us.  My companion and I spoke to our server and ordered. The server was efficient and the food served quickly.  We dug into the deep fried fish, I had perch, while my companion ate cod.  The plates were filled with French fries, coleslaw and rye bread.  

I wrote this in the past and as you can see there are many "helping" verbs and not as much action.

The sentence "servers were getting orders and visiting with their customers" can definitely be changed.

"I had perch, while my companion ate cod."

"The plates were filled with French fries, coleslaw and rye bread."  Most of this is quite bland and needs more action to show the hustle and bustle of the busy restaurant.

Quite boring and needs more work.

Writing Assignment 1 for coursera Writing class



The tall purple flowers bloom near the bird feeder in my small backyard garden.

The small blonde woman walks determinedly towards the coffee shop where she will purchase breakfast.

2nd or third attempt seems to be ok.

This is what I will turn in.

this is for the second post of journal writing

Verbs                                                                 

1. saw

2. discuss

3. have

4. was

5. hung

 6. leap

7.crawl

8. spun

Adverbs

1. suddenly

2. always

3. lovely

4. darkly

5. romantically

6. sharply

Writing journal for cousera

I am going to be using this blog for my writing journal for my current coursera writing course.

The assignment was to write nouns and adjectives describing a scene.
                                                             

1. bed
2. computer
3. printer
4. books
5. clothes
6. light
7. closet
8. walls
9. chair
10. desk

Here is a list of adjectives:

1. blue
2. messy
3. clean
4. cold
5. warm
6. green
7. light
8. dark
9. three
10. seven
11.  

March

Things are changing.

My coursera courses are almost finished.  Yea!

Snow is melting.  We actually got almost 17 inches the other.  On top of 6 or 7 from previous snowfalls, so there is quite a bit of snow that will have to melt.

Today is sunny which makes everyone feel better and think that spring is finally on the way.  However, there is still the tournaments.  Minnesota tends to get at least one more storm during Boy's basketball tournament.  I am not sure what happens in WI.  Haven't been here that long.

Camp NaNoWriMo is next month.  I may use that to rewrite Jill's story.  I know that was ok at one time, but it needs updating and an ending.

There is Writer's Digest Writing competitions in May.  I am going to seriously think about those as well.

Book club is in about two weeks.  I have finished reading the book (again).  I still want to go over what happens in each chapter so I have the story straight.

It's the end of February.  Not much has been accomplished this month.

I start my Romance book club discussions next month.

I have shoveled a lot of snow.  Today as I look out my window, we have 14.5 inches (supposedly) on the ground and it is heavy and wet.  I haven't done a lot of shoveling, but what I did was tough.  I have already been outside three times for a total of about 2 1/2 hours and still can't get from the house to the garage.  I do have the front shoveled out.

Still no job.  Been to one on-site interview this month.  Have plenty of applications out there.  Was hoping something would work out. But alas.

As for the novel, got started on forms and looking at it, but really haven't done much else.  Always seems like something else needs to get done first.  I have a bare bones book, but not much else.  Seems like I am very good at starting a project, but not so hot at finishing.

Started several more afghans and crocheted items this month.  Maybe that's the direction I should head. Still thinking.....