How Not Finishing NaNoWriMo This Year Is A Good Thing For Me...

...And Shows You How Much NaNo Has Helped Me As A Writing And A Person

     2015 will be the first time in 8 years that I haven't finished NaNoWriMo.
     From 2009 to 2014.
     A lot of words.
     I've written many books during NaNo, Many of which turned into either stuff I've published, plan to publish, or split into short story or micro story series. NaNo has always been so much fun to me, and so much of a learning experience, but before I get to what me not finishing this year means to me I'm going to talk about why I'm stopping my NaNo on Nov. 21st with time still to go.

     Last year I got a new full time job that takes up 10 to 11 hours of my day, That in itself is why I've had to put things like Tin Universe Monthly and Tin Universe Daily on hold until a time when I can get enough things finished and ready to go so there will be no more delays when I restart the series.

    But day job aside I'm also older now, 40, and with age I've found more focus as a writer.

    Also finding more pains all over.
    But that's just old man speak.

    Anyways, Tin Universe Middle Grade Series has become my focus. This series is the most fun I've ever had as a writer and I think the series and my writing is getting better with each book released. That means where in the past I might split my focus along 8 billion projects because frankly I needed that chaos, that release frenzy, now I need something different.

     And that note brings me back to what not finishing NaNo this year means to me. I think artists go through stages in their lives. This is different from person to person but myself as a writer I have went through several.
     From my fan fiction days when I needed to do that to learn how to dive into the water before I even knew how to dog paddle.
    To as I went through my years of learning and trying to get work as a film script writer; which is where I learned that getting on with a story, not getting obsessed with words{especially from someone with my limited brain power}, and thus my way of thinking is born.
     Next came a number of years of depression and fear and during these years I needed to create and release and that is what I hungered for more than anything else. To create and release, to create and release. A lot of people went after me during this period saying I was being lazy or not fulfilling my potential, but it truly saved my life to just create and share.
     Now things have turned around a bit. Now I'm trying to find myself as a writer at 40. And at 40 I can easily say- Ok, wont be able to do NaNo this year but I will be using this month to help drive my fuel on making Tin Universe Middle Grade Series #3 the best book I've ever written. And now that is what I not only want to do, not only what I need to do, but making each story I release the best story I've ever written is something I can do. The journey brought me here and NaNo was a large part of getting to this point.
     Oh, and I'm not going to stop doing NaNo, its just shifted for what it means to me. Go support NaNo: https://store.nanowrimo.org/donations so it can be there for yourself and others in the future.

COMING DECEMBER 22nd, 2015

Written by me and edited by Tina Caceres

(c)System * Publishing

brian c.williams

start at the beginning,

Tin Universe Monthly #1: Stereo

The book that started it all.

It's FREE

Or the first  two Tin Universe Middle Grade books,

Tin Universe Middle Grade Series #1: Mildred Betbeze

$1.00

Tin Universe Middle Grade Series #2: Sasha

$1.00

How Not Finishing NaNoWriMo This Year Is A Good Thing For Me...

Writing Plans For 2015 or BEST PLANNED PLANS ARE SURE TO GO ALL WRONG AND THINGS GO TO SHIT

As always I have lots of writing plans for the new year, more than likely too many plans, but I say what the Hell?
Really.
That's a question.
What the Hell?
I'm old now, I no longer care about my weaknesses or insane nature touches. I'm committed to get better every day and I've embraced my obsession with ideas and to see that I don't want to create beautiful things as a fact is good thing for me. Structure, form, and straight lines have never been in my soul but I've fought that to do what I was told was the right ways to tell a story. Now I'm driving a course that embraces what I feel natural.

Now that the writer boring boring boring is out of the way...

First up are Tin Universe plans:
-Tin Universe Monthly? returns to being Tin Universe Monthly but with a new style of content. I'm going to try a Tin Universe Daily series which will be made up of posts to the Tin Universe site of text conversations, emails, and brief conversations between characters. At the end of each month these website posts will be collected into the Tin Universe Monthly release for that month. I'm really excited about doing this because it's different and will force me to go onto the computer after work on a daily basis and thus get other writing done while there.
-Tin Universe Daily {see above}
-Tin Universe Middle Grade Series #3 will be released on Christmas day. I'm really juiced up for this book and finished the zero draft today. I think people will really like it. The response to #2 has been good in the few days since its release.

The Collected plans:
-The Collected becomes a monthly flash fiction serial series starting in January because of the good response its gotten. And in November you will get a full month of The Collected as a bonus. I also came up with a idea a few days ago that will start with The Collected #11. Because I need each project to have many unique things about it to keep my interest going. One of the things I've decided to do with The Collected to keep it unique is to reprint all past installments as I add a new one, thus you get everything as you download the newest issue. What I want this to do is slowly build into this huge one big book over time. Now if you have read all the past Collected stories or wish to skip them you can just search for the latest stories title such as NOTICE DIDN’T DO IT. This is something you could only do with ebooks and a free series since I’m not worried about people buying past issues; so if you want to jump on and read you can at any point in the series {starting with #11} and get caught up. Plus it seemed perfect for a series called The Collected.

The God Mark plans:
-The God Mark returns with The God Mark #23 in October with every other day flash fiction releases all month long.

12 Days Of Non-Christmas Stories:
-It seems people liked this quite a bit so I'm going to do it again next year. As with this year I will do one issue of 11 different series free to download each day leading up to the next Tin Universe Middle Grade Series book. Also the issue with the most downloads by December 27th will get a month of flash fiction releases in February of the next year. This year the most downloads went to The Darkness Bite #2.

The Darkness Bite plans:
-{see above}

NaNoWriMo plans:
-Yes, with all above I'm still going to try NaNoWriMo again. It's a lot of fun.

Writing Plans For 2015 or BEST PLANNED PLANS ARE SURE TO GO ALL WRONG AND THINGS GO TO SHIT

Winner Winner 2014 NaNoWriMo Winner Dinner

After a month of writing in notebooks at work, waiting in places, and at home, and four days off of vacation typing typing typing I finished my 2014 NaNoWriMo with a final word count of 79,942

The final pages from typing,

One of my NaNo notebooks I made for this year,

The cover I used for the NaNoWriMo website,

Winner Winner 2014 NaNoWriMo Winner Dinner

That Mark And Beyond

MY #NaNoWriMo just hit 50,643 words. This book is nowhere near the end of this zero draft even. I think it will end somewhere around 70,000. As the great philosopher said, "To infinity and beyond!"

That Mark And Beyond

Now That November Is Over

     Now that NaNo is over and once again the fun of doing NaNoWriMo has not only given me a lot of energy to write 50,000 plus words in one month, it also has shoved down my throat energy for months of writing and fighting and telling people to fuck off and yes, even, a little hope in the new year.

      This month I wont be online in a way that people will notice much, beside random Twitter posts, and will be focused in December on getting everything ready for the release of Tin Universe Middle Grade Series #1.

      Writing my first middle grade book came at a point when I was working on an adult book and over and over I moved back seven steps and forward two and nothing was coming from it so I decided to just sit in a corner in one of our local libraries the way all my writing first started and what I wrote over that day as I filled a notebook was what would become the first book in the Tin Universe middle grade series.

      Funny how things happen that way when writing. I had tried so many times in the past to write a middle grade book but it just never worked out. Hell, The Past Forward started out that way and ended up becoming a YA book when I finished it.

     I think this book might be the most fun I've ever had writing and it also adds to the regular Tin Universe line of books so even though its a middle grade series written for younger readers if you are a following of the Tin Universe stories and you OLD you will still get something from reading these books.

     The 22nd of December is both my birthday and more importantly when I have released my books in the past. With Stereo, The Past Forward, and now with the first Mildred Betbeze book its me once again remarking the day to mean something to me.

      At least I think its when I have released them?

     

      Remembering wrong is a regular ramble for me these days.

      One of the things I've been working on of late is new merchandise designs for new stores at Zazzle. I'm creating a store for all the materials coming out in 2014. Below are a couple things so go buy. The stores don't have a ton of stuff right now but that will change as new merch is released every month in 2014 the same time as stories are released. 

      Remember these items, they make good Christmas gifts or birthday gifts if if you are also so cursed to have a December birthday.

     Become a walking billboard for me :)

     Also also the pennies they'll help me do selfish things like go to the doctor or buy medicines or corn dogs. CORN DOGS ARE SO IMPORTANT!

     Also also also if you buy something from one of my stories I'll email you a PDF of Tin Universe Middle Grade Series #1 for free. All you need to do is put STORE ORDER RECEIPT in the subject box of an email with a copy of your order confirmation attached and send to hangofwednesday@gmail.com

Tin Universe Logo Shirt Mildred Betbeze

Tin Universe

Generation Of A God Cover 1

God Mark

Wall Bound Artists And Writers Drunken Brainstorming Sessions T-Shirt

Wall Bound

And since over the past few years I've gotten requests to turn some of the crazy that pukes from me on Twitter and Facebook  into things to sale I created a miscellaneous System Productions store which offers such things as the below poster:

Now That November Is Over

NaNoWriMo 2013

     Did the validation thing for my NaNo book and thus I got this fun thing:

NaNoWriMo 2013

Hit Goal In My 2013 NaNoWriMo

     Just went over 50,000 words on my NaNo with 4,758 words today. This book will end up being double that when I return to it to continue this zero draft sometime in the future and might just be something I will be working on for years and years to come. That is if I have years and years to come. That is if any of us have years and years to come. Its probably my first epic style story and I'm really happy with what I've written so far and have planned out but now I need to return to other projects. I really didn't think I would finish NaNo this year with all the other projects I'm working on for 2014 release but a idea just entered me and I dived right into it. I'll probably write more on this as Nov. finishes up but I'm relieved a bit that I've hit my goal because of all the other projects and once again NaNo is not only an inspiration for me to write a book during the month but an energy feed to keep me going for months more.
     Now I need to get out some fabric paint and update my NaNo shirt.

Hit Goal In My 2013 NaNoWriMo

On The Way To The Apple Core

     I will try to update my blogger with writing updates but probably will end up not doing it that often this month, too much writing to do. From rewrites to NaNo to drafts for 2014 that I'm working on. But if you want to know if I've gone insane yet check out my Twitter: https://twitter.com/hangofwednesday

On The Way To The Apple Core

Again, I must again

    
     As I dive back into another NaNo here's my favorite quote on it from one of my favorite writers. Courtney Summer"NANOWRIMO NAYSAYERS: I'll work on my book after I finish criticizing Nano. NANO PARTICIPANTS: [working on books]"

Again, I must again

NANOWRIMO 2013

     Friends asking if I'm going to do NANOWRIMO next month, the answer is yes, the answer is yes and yes and I'm excited as I am every year. Though I probably wont finish this year for the first time because of revisions and rewrites on current projects.... but that's really not the point anyways in my mind. It's good to finish but its better to just write. It's fun to me. It's a Zero Draft battle royal of story telling.

NANOWRIMO 2013

11/23/2012 In The Amazon The Evil Of The Red Herring

     Just a quick thought that I expressed on Facebook earlier this week to start things off and see if I have anything more in length to say about the subject.

I find it interesting that so many of the writers and editors, some who I respect a great deal, think Amazon is the core of evil in publishing but don't peep a word when it comes to big publishers combining or becoming part of a large conglomeration. Seems a little weak to me.

     The whole Amazon is going to destroy publishing thing has been pissing me since it started. First as I’ve said many times if the big publishers or big chain bookstores could think outside their own footsteps they would have created an Amazon before Amazon. Any situation they may be in is a product of their own shortsightedness.

     And it’s kind of bullshit for people to go after Amazon in defense of the weak, small, helpless little big publishers. Are you really saying I should feel sorry for them, really? That’s like saying I should feel sorry for the government when the fires that been burning for years with them not caring a bit finally reach their toes.

     Anyways, as I’ve also said before if Amazon is on a course to break the system, then I say let it break because it’s a system with a very narrow line of sight. Break, crumble, all fall down, then hopefully be rebuilt better by the people. And if the people once again allow it to be rebuilt as the same sort of stagnant pile of horseshit then it will be our own fault there.

     Another thought I had on Facebook that I’d like to maybe explore a little further here.

     I like red herrings in stories, and I'm not just talking about mystery story red herrings. I like stories that go in dead end directions at times to keep the reader on their toes thinking or at least play with the reader to keep them sharp.

     Maybe it’s just the writer in me but I lose interest a lot when I can predict the course of things in a story and it leaves a bad taste in my mind after reading something when I knew for a long time what was coming.

     I can enjoy mindless simple stories sometimes but for the most part I believe a writer should duel with the reader, maybe take them to places in thinking they would not have normally gone.

     To update on my NaNoWriMo book.

     Thursday I wrote 6,045 words while watching X-Files all day as a Thanksgiving Day writing sprint. My NaNoWriMo is currently at 66,047 words and marching on. Hope I can at least reach 80,000 before the month is over.

     I took a break on Friday to watch Doctor Who related stuff on the 49^th Anniversary and doing more of that today but writing also.

     And I’ll end this short entry with this.

     A friend of mine who is an editor, we were talking about writing and publishing and something got us talking about writers and their little “Ticks” as she called them.

     She said she pictures writers like Alex from Clockwork Orange in a ludovico apparatus.

     I think she was joking?

     I think.

     "You all are droogs."

     I was happy she included me in the "you all" part because she works with some well known writers, that was until she said, "But remember even within droogs there are levels of quality."

11/23/2012 In The Amazon The Evil Of The Red Herring

11/17/2012 Finished The Finish Line But Not Done

     I didn’t write this up last night because I was busy spending a good day and night with the lady I love taking her car in for a recall repair, having breakfast{we don’t eat out that often now}, going to my local comic shop- Famous Faces And Funnies{had several Doctor Who and Saga books in my folder}, visited the Goodwill{found brand new Harry Potter books for the library and a Gimp manual for me}, eating Chinese food, and watching Amazing Spider-Man.

     By the way if you local check out that link to my lcs, they are having a Mini Free Comic Book Day today.

     But late Thursday I did hit the 50,000 word mark on my NaNoWriMo book. I crossed the NaNo finish line but I’m way off from finishing my zero draft. This is the earliest I’ve ever finished NaNo and that’s good because my personal goal this year has been to hit 100,000 words. I probably won’t reach it but it’s a goal worth fighting towards; which is the point of NaNoWriMo I think, it’s about going for something. The going is the thing so to speak.

     But I do want to finish my zero draft in November because in December I’m going to be releasing several year end things.

     I have to re-release three Tin Universe stories because it seems the first time I released them on Smashwords the files were all crazy pants. The good news is all three will have new cover art for each; so that’s a cool thing. I was never much happy with the covers I made for those projects the first time I released them. Everyone knows I’m not a cover photo fan to start with so replacing them with artwork is always a plus to me.

Tin Universe 3: Landmarked To Death 2.0 Backup story KNIGHT BOOK

$0.99USD

12/7/2012

Tin Universe 4: Dhaka 2.0

$0.99USD

12/14/2012

Tin Universe 5: School For The Blind 2.0

$0.99USD

12/14/2012

     I’ll also be releasing two writing collections.

Sushi Writing With Crowd Editing 2012

$1.00USD

12/21/2012

{A collection of all of my one-shot short stories and vignettes from the year. There’s even a pilot TV script in there.}

Under The Training Book 2012

You Pick The Price!

12/28/2012

{A collection of writing from my Blogger, Live Journal, and Twitter accounts}

     I’ve also made a decision while working on my NaNo this month about next year’s releases.

I have several things planned but the monthly releases will stop for now. I had hoped to be able to work on them properly because I had other people lined up to write stories here and there giving everyone plenty of time to work on their individual stories.

     For many different reasons it didn't work out working with other people and I think I need to focus on full size book releases; so starting in January I will start work on Tin Universe #12: Mystery From Bunker Hill and in around six months I hope to present the best thing I've ever written. I will work on my ass off to try and get it there.

     I have other things I want to release next year but Mystery From Bunker Hill will be my main focus. One of the reasons I was releasing so many projects in the past two years was a fear of dying without people getting the chance to see a view of how I see the word, without my stories getting out into the world.

     My health really hasn't improved but I've changed my view a little on getting my writing out into the world. Though I still don’t mind my stuff going out into the world less than prefect so to speak, a little sushi doesn't hurt anyone, what has happen is I've grown to really like the characters I've been writing and I want them to shine as bright as I can shine them with what talent I have.

     And a F.Y.I. reminding to end this. I will be updating Under The Training book every Friday with my thoughts on publishing and book topics and issues, updates on project releases, and photo blogs because this is where everyone expects me to post them, tried doing a separate photo blog blogger but it didn't work.

     F.Y.I. Reminder 2, every Saturday, if you are into political ranting, check out my Live Journal. I’ll be posting a update there tonight.

11/17/2012 Finished The Finish Line But Not Done

NaNoWriMo 11/9/2012 Update

     

     Not going to reach my goal for today tonight because my stomach is hurting way too much for leaning over a laptop anymore than I've already done today. Was also planning to write a publishing related blog entry tonight but don't really have it in me right now, but that will be the plan from now on for Fridays to be blog entries on writing, publishing, or related topics.
     I'll also continue to put my photoblog entries here just because that's where everyone is use to coming to find them, post news releases on projects, and reviews when I find the time to do them{which isn't often.} And if politics are something you like discussing, check out my Saturday political writing on my Live Journal. Link found on the right by scrolling down a little.
     To update things on how my NaNoWriMo is going. This has been the most enjoyable year I've ever had taking part in my November Holiday. My second favorite holiday overall just below Halloween.
     This year I've averaged Per Day 4,262 words. That's the best I've ever done and I'm going to end up hitting 50,000 way ahead of any point I've hit it in the past. I've always finished a little early but never this early. I went in this year wanting to hit 100,000, you know because all the cool kids have to hit at least 100,000 for all of their books or its not really a book, and that's realistically possible now and I was being a bit sarcastic there too.
     Today I've written 3,350 and me being disappointed in that number shows how well I've been charging ahead so far this month on this story and how much fun I've had torturing these characters.
     My total Words Written is 38,361. Good but I would have really liked to have hit 40,000 tonight but I'm writing this laying in the floor and that's fine for a quick blog entry, not so good for writing a book.
     I have Remaining 11,639 words. Still seems like so much but that's a tired mind saying that.
     Target NaNoWriMo Word Count 50,000 but as I said my Personal Word Count Target is 100,000 words. I think my sanity can hold out but there might not be anyone alive by the end of the month. That is any characters still living.

Now to bed to watch some TV with the lady I love.

NaNoWriMo 11/9/2012 Update

NaNoWriMo 11/4/2012

     Only wrote 3,202 words today. Wanted to hit 5000 but still not feeling that good. My total NaNoWriMo sits at 15,099 words. I have a goal this year were I really want to hit 100,000 words. The most I've written in a month is 60+ and my longest published work is 49,430. Speaking of which, go to link and, buy things, then I can buy teeth. That's called begging. I ant too proud.

NaNoWriMo 11/4/2012

NaNoWriMo 2012 Day One

Salem keeps jumping in my lap trying to keep me from reaching my personal goal of 5000 words for the first day of NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo 2012 Day One

NaNoWriMo 2012

     The past three years I have taken part in and finished NaNoWriMo and it's been some of the most exciting, fun, and productive times of my writing life. I think the more you write, the more your brain can get clouded with thoughts of what a story should be; so I think its really good to just freely exercise that writing muscles from time to time without watering the process down. To me doing NaNoWriMo is like running. All the machines and routines are great but sometimes you still need a good run for your life to get your heart up and survival skills ready to strike. It also cleans out the brains caches so to speak.

     My writing area war room or war corner is more accurate. The rest of the room, well, you don't want to see that. Nothing to see but diplomas, dirty underwear, and cat tunnels.

     With all the normal writing I do every month adding NaNoWriMo to that will mean I will have to get all the way away from things like TV and the internet which I usually have playing in the background to keep the voices at bay. With NaNoWriMo I let them out.

     There is no TV in this room and I will be writing on my really really old laptop which can't connect to the internet even if I wanted it to.

     P.S.- all of my November releases will new editions of previously released projects so they will just have to be reformatted and uploaded.

     Maps, my cool handmade raven coaster, and some of the research books which are always on my desk. Since this is NaNoWriMo I'm not going in with much of a idea of what I'm going to write about so I don't need specific research books so the everyday ones I keep will do.

     If I need something specific OFF TO THE LIBRARY!

More of my everyday research materials. These are also things I can mindlessly flip through when frustrated with something I'm working on. A lot of cheap bin books from B&N are in there. You know the kind- A Million Ways To Say Fuck and the like.

     There are some blank note cards and also some with many notes on things I wish to take on in this story. Story elements I've been weak with writing in the past, words I use too much, themes I want to explore, and notes from previous NaNoWriMo years.

     A little inspiration spot. Two gifts from friends. One is a metal pen holder with a nice quote about writing and the second is a encased band aid with a note from a friend who I no longer talk to. And also a piece of art by the very cool artist Brenda Kirk. If you want to buy something by her she has a store here.

     So if you have never attempted NaNoWriMo give it a try. Check your local area for meeting spots. They happen a lot at libraries and bookstores with cafes or just cafes. Find writing buddies if you think that will help. I go solo on mine and don't do the meet ups but it's good to still join a local group on the website. Sometimes it helps when just needing to talk to another writer.

     And finally, remember finishing isn't everything, it's diving in that matters.

NaNoWriMo 2012

Where I talk about Podcasts, my writing plans, and cool shit....not warm shit..........never mind.

Wonder What I will talk about today?


   People asking about Chaos Read and Tin Universe. Basically what I did was push everything back a month. I've also decided Chaos Read will end with the conclusion of the In The Past story but will probably start back sometime in 2013.
   For those who enjoyed Chaos Read, I'm going to collect Chaos Read: In The Past soon in one ebook volume with some extras like a art cover and maybe a couple interior illustrations. When I do collect the stories it will still be on the You Set The Price! method as was the series. When the collection comes out will depend on finding funds to hire an artist and finding the right artist.
   I also have ideas for two other collection getting all of my stories on a few collections for those who would rather read the stories in that format. When I do the collections I will try to make them something special by including such things as art covers and interior art.
   I'm still doing monthly story releases but by not setting a stone cold dead release date it gives me a chance to try and make the stories as good as I can.
   The following it what I see from this month to the end of 2012.
   May: Chaos Read #5: In The Past part 4.
   June: Quoit.
   July: Tin Universe #11: The Hillbilly Jungle part 4.
   August: Chaos Read #6: In The Past part 5.
   September: Tin Universe #12: Mystery From Bunker Hill part 1.
   October: Tin Universe #13: Mystery From Bunker Hill part 2.
   November: NANOWRIMO {no story  release as I will be working on writing a NANO book}
   December: Tin Universe #14: Mystery From Bunker Hill part 3. {More than likely I will also probably be re-releasing a few older poetry collections in Dec.}


   While I'm here I'll also write out a blogging schedule. I wouldn't do this but people have asked me about it and also told me I should do it. {though how much I keep to this is all up to life and what I feel like writing about.}
   Monday: Video game updates. I talk about my latest wins and loses and screams and throwing of controllers while playing video games. For the most part I only play sports games.
   Tuesday: I'll talk about podcasts, webshows, and webcomics that I like. I hope in the future to turn Tuesday into my own vlog day but that will happen whenever I get up the courage to do it.
   Wednesday: I'll highlight a projects of mine from the past or present or something coming up. Total and complete self-promotion.
   Thursday: Music Video playlist. I'll post YouTube music videos and maybe talk about what the songs mean to me.
   *also every blog will include cool things I've come across online and my rants.


Check Out These Cool Things:


PodCRASH with That Chris Gore.


If you like Batgirl check this out. Found on DC Women Kicking Ass.


Making It with Riki Lindhome 41 Kumail Nanjiani


Avenged Dork Tower


Rants and Rambles. Or rambles and rants:


Yes lets further fuel the fires of violence ready to explode across this country. But hey it's just talk. No one in America shoots.....at......... politicians....... And by the way Steelman, threats aren't protected as free speech. Shut the fuck up there.
@thinkprogress: Tea Party activist on Sen. Claire McCaskill: "We have to kill the Claire Bear."


Give them time, they will get back to the good old days soon. These jerkoffs are just getting started.
@thinkprogress: FACT: Last time North Carolina amended their constitution on marriage it was to ban interracial marriage


I'm surprised security stopped the guy when they decided it was a domestic issue. Because those are private aren't they, should be keep in house, within a family.
@CNN: Gun parts found in boy's stuffed animals at Rhode Island airport.

Where I talk about Podcasts, my writing plans, and cool shit....not warm shit..........never mind.

Hey, I wins at something

Hey, I wins at something

OFF WRITING

NANOWRIMO

OFF WRITING