reflection

The Giftstretch // Day 28

~ Tracy Erler ~ 1 Comment

Because writing a novel is a gift. Real-time updates from the final three days of NaNoWriMo

This post is made up of the updates I posted on my writer’s Facebook page and Twitter as I stopped to take breaks. I get real numbers crunchy in these posts. It was fun to post these updates.

Monday, 11/28/2022

9:32am

I’ve fallen behind on my NaNoWriMo newsletter updates. I’ve been sick two different times. I’m actually still recovering from this second round.

Currently, my manuscript is a total of 34,438 words.

Because I’m so behind, my new daily minimum for today, tomorrow, and Wednesday (the final day of the month) is 5,187.

My Dream Big Goal is: 12,229.

Continue reading →

Muddling Through the Middle

~ Tracy Erler ~ 1 Comment

Trying to write 50,000 when life doesn’t go as envisioned

Writer’s note: If this post seems familiar, it was originally written and published on the evening of 12/14/22 on Substack. I wrote it in real time during NaNoWriMo 2022. I have since changed platforms for me email newsletter. (If that still interests you, you can sign-up for “Postcards” here.) However, in making future plans for my online writing spaces, I have decided to house my NaNoWriMo 2022 story here on Mrs. Writer. Very little changes, if any, have been made. Enjoy!

Week 2 // Days 8-14

Week 2 started off with a bang: I came home early from my part-time shift at the daycare with the stomach flu. No writing was completed the rest of that week until mid-day Saturday.

Ant stayed home with me on Day 9 because I was so weak the night of the 8th. I did okay that day and he returned to work the next day. I was able to sit up (after spending most of the prior two days reclining on the couch) in the pink rocking chair and binge-watched the rest of Season 1 and started Season 2 of Boy Meets World.

Continue reading →

Best Laid Plans

~ Tracy Erler ~ 1 Comment

A post-NaNoWriMo Update of Sorts

Writer’s note: If this post seems familiar, it was originally written and published on the evening of 12/11/22 on Substack. I wrote it in real time after NaNoWriMo 2022. I have since changed platforms for me email newsletter. (If that still interests you, you can sign-up for “Postcards” here.) However, in making future plans for my online writing spaces, I have decided to house my NaNoWriMo 2022 story here on Mrs. Writer. Very little changes, if any, have been made. Enjoy!

In real time, a little over a month had passed since I gave the Day 4 Update. The intro will sound funky because you’re reading these back-to-back, but at the time I was feeling better and wanted to give the readers who had signed up for NaNo updates something, so I wrote the post you’re about to read.

I decided to keep it in this series because it portrays an accurate picture of what the creative life can look like at times.

Long Time No Talk

Okay, so November was a roller coaster of things. We’ve officially entered The Holiday Season and all the holiday things are in full swing. We’re two weeks away from Christmas.

I fell off keeping you all updated on my NaNoWriMo journey, but one 24-hour stomach bug on Days 8-9 and a week(ish)-long cold Days 18-28(ish) and trying to recover all energy around those was hard.

Ant and I had a low-key Thanksgiving here at The Hobbit Hole with just us and the cats. And while I missed being with the fam, it was nice not to drive an hour and spend the entire day tired 🙂

Continue reading →

NaNoWriMo // Day 3–er, Day 4 Update

~ Tracy Erler ~ 1 Comment

The one where I re-discovered Harry Potter Word Crawls and Wrote 3,669 words today

Writer’s note: If this post seems familiar, it was originally written and published on the morning of DATE on Substack. I wrote in real time during NaNoWriMo 2022. I have since changed platforms for me email newsletter. (If that still interests you, you can sign-up for “Postcards” here.) However, in making future plans for my online writing spaces, I have decided to house my NaNoWriMo 2022 story here on Mrs. Writer. Very little changes, if any, have been made. Enjoy!

Greeting ogres! Happy Friday evening =D

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) Version:

I wrote 3,669 words in the second half of the day to help me catch on NaNoWriMo! For a total of 7,534 words so far. *virtual confetti*

Goal for tomorrow: To write at least 3,334 words

Continue reading →

NaNoWriMo // Day 2

~ Tracy Erler ~ 1 Comment

Celebrating with imaginary confetti

Writer’s note: If this post seems familiar, it was originally written and published on the evening of 11/2/22 on Substack. I wrote in real time during NaNoWriMo 2022. I have since changed platforms for me email newsletter. (If that still interests you, you can sign-up for “Postcards” here.) However, in making future plans for my online writing spaces, I have decided to house my NaNoWriMo 2022 story here on Mrs. Writer. Very little changes, if any, have been made. Enjoy!

This is coming to you all 51 minutes before the dawn of Day 3 hits, but I did! I achieved another 1,667+ words today. On track to cross that 50,000-word deadline on time.

I wrote 1,804 words today. Cue all the confetti.

Continue reading →

NaNoWriMo // Day 1 Update

~ Tracy Erler ~ 2 Comments

Writing a novel or pulling teeth?

Writer’s note: If this post seems familiar, it was originally written and published on the morning of 11/2/22 on Substack. I wrote in real time during NaNoWriMo 2022. I have since changed platforms for me email newsletter. (If that still interests you, you can sign-up for “Postcards” here.) However, in making future plans for my online writing spaces, I have decided to house my NaNoWriMo 2022 story here on Mrs. Writer. Very little changes, if any, have been made. Enjoy!

Spoiler alert! You get to see that I made (and overachieved by 151 words) Day 1’s daily word goal =D

NaNoWriMo Day 1 ended for me at like 10:30pm. On the couch. In my pajamas.

I’ve spent a lot of time planning this novel that I’ve forgotten what it would be like to write the actual scenes. It was a lot harder than I remember.

This is how we started:

Continue reading →

Ch-ch-ch-changes

~ Tracy Erler ~ Leave a comment

Changing things up two months later

Can you say, “Squirrel?!”

Shiny syndrome is real, you guys. It’s been fun, Substack, and you’re a really cool platform, but I’m finally verbalizing what I want and jumping off the bandwagon.

Still want to follow along? Have no fear! Sign-up here to read my email newsletter Postcards.

You can expect:

Continue reading →

What I Read This Summer // 2022

~ Tracy Erler ~ 7 Comments

You guys, this summer was an adventurous reading season!

I spontaneously joined Stephen King Summer hosted by Laura Tremaine. It was a blast! I read two Stephen King novels I didn’t know I actually would haha–IT and Dolores Claiborne. I also watched three Stephen King movies.

I read 14 books this season between the months of June, July, and August 2022.

Continue reading →

Fare Thee Well, Ogres*

~ Tracy Erler ~ Leave a comment

I have said “goodbye” and “see you later” and hugged many people tight many times in the past eight months, with more that happened this month. I’ve been mentally preparing to goodbye to some favorite humans officially since last fall, all of us thinking we’d have a year left—I started thinking of lasts and presents and then it sped way up and then mid-March came and we cried and loved the husband-half of this family who is moving across the country. As this goes live, it will have been nine days since we hugged the wife-half and babies a little harder and longer, saying to them, “See you soon.”

Continue reading →

Finding Cozy

~ Tracy Erler ~ Leave a comment

Tuesday, 10 days before the link is due //

Upon writing this, Ant and I took a walk today in 60-something-degree weather. We wore t-shirts (and not even a light jacket!) and opened our windows before we left. We watered our past Christmas trees—Bruce (doing okay) and Bart (if he doesn’t make it this spring, we may have to call it)—and then we headed to the park to take a walk.

Upon returning home from our walk, the windows remained open and I walked around the house barefoot for the rest of the afternoon.

When I first read through this month’s inspiration for the theme, I had images of Ant and I playing in the snow (during our Bermuda Triangle week*), the Christmas light glow, and wearing slippers and favorite pajama pants.

Continue reading →