Today is the last day of November and the end of NaNoWriMo.
If you are one who has already or will be typing the end today — congratulations!
If you are one who threw in the towel days or weeks ago — it is not the end of the world!
The earth is still in orbit, the sun still rises in the east, the Apocalypse has not occurred (unless I missed it) and if you can pinch yourself then the Messiah has not arrived. Be thankful.
This is not the end.
This is only the beginning.
Write on!!
The deadline for NaNoWriMo is fast approaching and Christmas is around the corner — tick-tock… tick-tock…tick-tock… tick-tock 
How’s your ending coming along? Are you going to leave us with a cliff hanger and chomping at the bit? Is there a wild twist/turn of events that makes us say Wow!
Will it be a happy ever after (HEA)? Does a character need to die? Will good triumph over evil? Maybe all of the above?
It’s your story, you get to decide how it ends and how you present it to the world.
And just think when you’ve typed The End you can get busy hitting the thrift stores in search of the perfect hideous sweater for your grumpy old aunt you secretly despise.
Write on!!
English may be the most recognized language worldwide but it is also probably the most confusing.
Even in English speaking countries we have such a vast collection of dialects (or sub-forms of English) that it is not always easy to interpret what is being said. Add to that the accents, grammar arguments, idioms/colloquialisms and hell (pardon my French) – we don’t understand what we are trying to say half the time.
It is no wonder other cultures complain that English is confusing; there are too many words that have so many variable meanings.
For example: In the tiny world where I grew up a cock was a rooster… a male bird. That’s all it was!
Yo! Yo! Yo! Hold the jokes – you are in mixed company here. Besides, there is a point to this.
For me that WORD still summons the image of a rooster, a gamecock to be specific.
That is until something else is implied by accompanying words or a facial expression.
As writer’s all we have are words!
The reader can’t see your face and they are probably not from your neck of the woods.
While you are writing I want you to consider how your audience interprets your words; your story.
Keep it real and reel them into your scenes in such a way they don’t feel like they are struggling through a foreign film.
After all you are writing for the world to read, right?
Right!
Write on!!
Friday I combined tasks because I was busy getting ready for a wild week-end. Today I’m linking the same challenges because of said week-end.
I’m tellin’ you things got cRaZy and I [might be] getting too old for that sh*t.
Anyway…
Who doesn’t love a colorful image?
Whether it is a brilliant photograph; a lively painting or a dynamic story created by stringing words together, people love color.
But be careful the details in your composition aren’t obscured by color.
Although a little purple in your prose can be captivating too much might leave the reader in a [not so pleasant] purple haze – like the one I am recovering from today. 😉
Write on!!
I’m busy today so this photo prompt serves a dual purpose/challenge.
• Seven days, seven black and white photos of your life, no people, no explanation.
• Writers write what you don’t see.
An empty playground could just as well be an abandoned mall or a vacant house.
Why is it deserted?
Feel the essence and let the words flow.
Write on!!
Sometimes our thoughts meander…
And sometimes a character doesn’t reveal a fact about their past that is somehow pertinent to their future.
In such cases feel free to digress.
Try to deviate without losing/confusing the reader, e.g. dedicate a chapter to expose what they were trying to hide, like that hideous hat I was so fond of. 😉
Write on!!
Plots and characters are like plants and seasons; they come and go. They bloom, hopefully they shine and then they perish.
But even in their perishing they can serve a purpose.
It’s only natural.
For you NaNoWriMoers right now just write. You can decide what goes into the compost pile later.
Write on!!
You know I mentioned going to Benton Arkansas last Friday.
It was a nice break. We shopped a little, ate too much, chattered like magpies and — well, I just had to see the old sanitarium/asylum aka “nervous hospital” where Karl spent most of his life.
Thank goodness my family is as adventurous and crazy as me.
There were no observable signs that forbade us from entering, so…
We considered going in a window but oddly enough we did not have to.
The doors seemed to beckon and willingly opened without the slightest resistance and ta-da, we were in.
Exploring the dilapidated history in search of answers and ghosts and what-ifs.
And possibly inheriting a demon or a deadly disease. 
What does this story have to do with writing?
This: Every now and then you have to break the rules to spice things up.
Of course you need to know the rules before you break them and sometimes the rules are not obvious.
Write On!!
It will be necessary to choose a genre (or a narrow list of genres) when you get ready to submit/publish but don’t let that annoying detail inhibit your writing.
For now just write; your story can be catalogued later.
Here is a brief overview of primary genres. Glance at them and move on.
Action/Adventure: fast paced exploration with conflict.
Erotica: focuses on the sex, not the romance.
Fantasy: Magic other worldly, mystical and mythological.
Horror: anything that invokes fear/dread.
Literary Fiction: focus on the quality of writing style/prose over the narrative/plot.
Mystery: involves solving some sort of crime.
Thriller/Suspense: creates tension which can involve action or mystery.
Romance: love and intimacy without the down and dirty details of said intimacy.
Science fiction: think aliens, alternative worlds and high tech
Westerns: usually taking place in America’s ‘Old West’; cowboys, etc…
Women’s fiction: all about the woman e.g. growth and hope.
I just finished packing to head to Benton Arkansas for the weekend and I thought about the movie Sling Blade.
Sling Blade is a drama. No, there is not a drama category listed above because drama is written for performance. The paperback copy is categorized as screenplay. As a screenplay it is listed on Amazon as follows:
#1100 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Movies > Screenwriting
#5851 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Television
#26979 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts
Now allow me to detour a moment because I do love me some Billy Bob Thornton. I am also excited about visiting Two Peas in a Pod Flea Market and some dear kinfolks in Benton where Sling Blade was filmed.
Ahhh. I still cackle when my [adult] kids slip into character and quip, “fried taters, Mhm.” “With mustard and biscuits. Mhm.”
If you are familiar with the movie Sling Blade you’ll be familiar with this line, “Some folks call it a sling blade; I call it a Kaiser blade.” Yeah, I heard some of you saying, Mhm.
Well I have a sling blade too (along with a few other tools) but I call it a limb-chopper. 
People can call it what they want but that will not alter the way I use my limb-chopper. I use it to chop limbs — all sorts of limbs.
I call it what I want to; I use it however I please BUT if I decide to sale my tool… my merchandise, I will need to identify it properly and list it in an appropriate category.
See what I mean? Mhm?
The Real Janna Hill in 