The Confabulator Cafe

Author: slundberg

  • What Makes us Confabulators

    When we embarked upon this experiment a year ago, I’m not sure any of us were sure exactly what we were doing, or where we were going. The Cafe has evolved a lot since then, and we continue to define what it is we do with every assignment. I’ve learned something new about myself and my writing each week, not only because I’m forced to look closely at my process for each assignment, but also by reading how my fellow writers approach their craft. I think I’ve learned as much from them as I have from myself.

    One or two specific assignments stand out in my memory, but my absolute favorite category has been Confabulation. (more…)

  • A Bright Spot in the Darkness

    Photo belongs to Digital Blasphemy
    Photo belongs to Digital Blasphemy

    I am something of a holiday junky: I enthusiastically celebrate them all.

    But I really love Christmas. I am one of those people that everyone hates who starts listening to Christmas music the second Thanksgiving is over. I fight with myself every year to wait until the first day of December to put up lights and decorations.

    However, Christmas means something a little different to me than a lot of people. I’m not religious. I don’t celebrate Christmas as a Christian celebration. I should probably call it something different, but I feel that the idea of Christmas has evolved to the point where it can mean whatever we want it to mean these days. (more…)

  • The Lonely Attic

    The Attic – 1999

    Dan had felt pretty ambiguous about his family’s move into the manor house, but the discovery of the attic came as a pleasant surprise. It hadn’t been listed as one of the rooms of the house, and somehow they had missed the door. When they first moved in, nobody had noticed it, but one day he opened a door he thought was a closet and found stairs up to an attic instead.

    It was a huge room, spacious, and windowed on three sides. It was kind the kind of place teenage boys had their room in movies and such.

    He had to have it.

    “Merry Christmas,” his mom said, halfway sarcastically. “If you clean it up and find a way to move all of your stuff up there, it’s yours.” (more…)

  • You Can’t Go Wrong with Books

    Writers are not hard to buy for. I promise you, they are probably the easiest group of people (aside from kids – why do I have twenty things I want to buy the five-year-old but can’t think of a single thing to buy my Dad?) to shop for.

    Why?

    Easy. We love stories. Anything that comes in story form is perfect for us.

    (more…)

  • Wrimos are Never Alone

    I survived another NaNoWriMo: my seventh year hitting 50k, my fourth year as Municipal Liaison. I submitted my completed grammar final last night and the boyfriend and I are still on speaking terms.

    I’ve even gotten a little bit of Christmas shopping done.

    I am relieved and amazed I made it through the month. I’ve never had so much going on in November before. Not since the very first NaNo I signed up for in 2005, where I was finishing my second to last semester as an undergrad (taking 12 hours), working nearly full time hours at a job, and trying to put together grad school applications (which included studying for the GRE). That year I wrote roughly 1,000 words and then promptly and enthusiastically surrendered.

    (more…)

  • Escape from Hell is Nigh

    It’s been a weird month. Although I suppose writing a novel that takes place entirely in Hell could have something to do with that.

    It’s also been a stressful month, so at times it’s been figuratively Hell, as well as literally (literature-ally??)

    I knew going into November that it was going to be a tough one. December seemed very far away, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to sit back and relax again until then.

    I wasn’t too far wrong, although there’s been more relaxing than I originally thought. It’s just guilt-filled relaxation. The kind of relaxation plagued by panic – I have an eight page final exam due in a week and I haven’t started, I’m almost six thousand words behind on my novel, this house is a filthy mess and I’m losing my shit – so even as I’m relaxing, I’m freaking out.

    I’m almost there, though. Only a few more days of NaNo, and right now I’m back on track word count wise. I could write what I have left in one day if I had to.

    Then I can focus solely on my final for a few days before I spend all of December sleeping.

    Although I still have plenty of other responsibilities in December. My duties here at the Cafe, holidays, family, and I may have some responsibility to my novel to actually see it through to the end.

    It’s been a wild ride that has been loads of fun, but many times I was bucked off. In the spirit of NaNo, I kept getting back on the horse, writing more words, and I think somewhere in there might be an entertaining novel with an almost-plot when I’m done on Friday. I might have to cast it loose to my beta readers to see if it’s worth my time, and I will have to be prepared if they tell me it’s not.

    I’d like to keep writing to at least see poor Kit out of Hell, either way. The poor girl has been working awfully hard for the last 45,000 words. I’d hate to leave her on the brink of escape and never find out if she actually makes it or not.

    We’ll both enjoy the TGIO party once it’s done.

  • The Magical Week Three

    Last week I talked about how my word count would have to suffer while I put the rest of my life back in order.

    Well most things are now ordered, so I am pushing hard to get back on track with word count. With Turkey Day being this week, I’ll have both down time and busy time, so I should be able to keep on pace.

    I am a little terrified, however, because I just got my final exam for my grammar class, and it’s due by December 3rd. And it looks HARD.

    Anyways. That’s where I’m at in life and word count. Let’s talk about much more pleasant things. Like where I’m at in my story.

    I just have to say, that regardless of the year, the third week of Nanowrimo always ends up being magical. My story is picking up speed. The words are easy to write. My characters are developing themselves. Unexpected plot twists emerge in each word sprint. This. The things that start to happen in Week Three are what I love about being a writer.

    It just takes two weeks of hammering your head against a wall to get to this magical point.

    (more…)

  • Day Late, Dollar Short

    Hopefully none of you noticed, but my Cafe post this morning went the way my Nano novel has been going: slow, short, and late.

    Although here it is now. Better late than never, right?

    I’ve realized I’m juggling a lot more this year than I have in previous years – including school and a relationship, both of which are time consuming things.

    I haven’t quite found the right balance of time for everything. Unfortunately, that means everything is suffering slightly – school, relationship, sleep, and wordcount.

    It makes me sad to have to choose one thing over another, but I think my wordcount might have to continue to suffer while I apply some pressure to the other places my life is hemorrhaging.

    I’ll get caught up one of these days, though. I still have half of the month left to get back on track. With my insanely supportive co-ML Christie, and my amazing fellow Confabulators, I will make it through this month with my life in tact (if not my sanity).

  • Everyday I’m Nano-ing

    One thing I’ve learned in all of my years doing Nanowrimo is that it’s important to touch your story every single day, even if it’s only 100 words. Some days you’ll have 100 words, some days you’ll have 10,000 words. The big word count days make up for the small word count days, and by the end of the month, it all comes out in the wash.

    This month, it’s been a challenge to get to my story every day. I know National Novel Writing Month is all about making the time in your already hectic life to write a novel. This year I’m finding it more difficult to make that time.

    I also have yet to write anything I am really excited about this month. It’s tough to make myself face the novel in those pockets of downtime where I could be writing when I’m not feeling confident about it.

    But it’s still early in the month. I know I have plenty of time to catch up, and to figure out how to balance writing with the rest of the chaos of my schedule. And I know my novel will pick up. I like my idea, and I already have an affection for my protagonist. It’s just taking a lot more prep work to write than any year previous. I’m starting to wonder if I shouldn’t have gone with an easier idea this year.

    I’m having a blast as ML and hanging out with my fellow Wrimos, though!

    Hopefully next week I’ll have a more encouraging progress report for you.

    Until next Tuesday,

    Everyday I’m Nano-ing

    /dances

  • The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

    National Novel Writing Month is my favorite time of the year. I see it as a month long holiday designed specifically for writers. A whole 30 days where we can justify putting our writing before pretty much anything else in our lives. A time when new friendships are formed, new worlds are created, and writers everywhere discover their limits – or lack thereof. A month of not enough sleep, way too much caffeine, and thousands of words (around 50,000 of them).

    This will be my eighth year participating, my fourth year as Municipal Liaison for the Lawrence Region, and hopefully my seventh win. It’s kind of fun to think about: winning National Novel Writing Month seven times will mean I’ll have written at least 350,000 words during my writing  career.

    So this November, as Municipal Liaison, I will be writing pep talks, hosting write-ins, spoiling my Wrimos with treats, cheering on those who are ahead and encouraging those who are behind, drinking way too much coffee, trying to fit in the homework assignments for my online class, and also probably finding new ways to procrastinate. (more…)