Can I Write a 50,000 Word Novel With No Ideas for the Characters or the Plot?

 

I felt like I was stuck at home for so long, and then in recent days, we have taken trips to North Texas, to Chicago, to Arkansas, and then to North Texas again. We loved seeing our family and we loved doing some traveling, but we are happy to be at home now.

I got my vaccine booster on Thursday. Hurray! I can see a return to my Christian Meditation group and the YMCA very soon.

I'm officially old! I celebrated a wonderful 65th birthday last Monday. 

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book Girl: A Journey through the Treasures & Transforming Power of a Reading Life by Sarah Clarkson ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm reading nothing but nonfiction this month:

Adventures on the Wine Route by Kermit Lynch

Extraordinary Insects: The Fabulous, Indispensible Creatures Who Run Our World by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson

What's So Special About Dickens? by Michael Rosen 

If God is Love, Don't Be a Jerk: Finding a Path that Makes Us Better Humans by John Pavlovitz

The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher

SJ at Reading with a Llama notified me last week that I was the winner of her Halloween Giveaway! I will be receiving three books, a tote bag of my choice from Mabel & Nanny's Designs Etsy store, and a Witches Brew scented candle from Sandy Hollow Fragrances & More. Here's the tote bag I chose. Thank you so much!

NaNoWriMo has begun. I have no characters. I have no plot. I don't even have an idea for my book. Will that stop me? No, I will write anyway. Let's see what happens.

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

Nonfiction November: Week 1: Your Year in Nonfiction

Books I Would Hand to Someone Who Claims Not to Like Reading

Hiking in Arkansas: Lost Valley Trail and Hawksbill Crag Trail

Good Thing #1:

I got my vaccine booster!

Good Thing #2

We are not traveling this week.

Good Thing #3:

I had a fabulous birthday.

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. 

Hiking in Arkansas: Lost Valley Trail and Hawksbill Crag Trail

We recently returned from a week of hiking in Arkansas. 

The first day we arrived we did two hikes.

LOST VALLEY TRAIL 

Buffalo River National Forest

3.09 miles

376 ft. elevation gain

1 hr. 55 min.

'

HAWKSBILL CRAG TRAIL

Ozark National Forest

3.36 miles

780 ft. elevation gain

1 hr. 56 min.

Books I Would Hand to Someone Who Claims to Not Like Reading

You say you don't like to read? Forgive us, but we librarians think that's impossible...Optimistically we feel like you just haven't found the right book.

Or perhaps you once loved to read...but someone, perhaps a high school English teacher, forced you to read something you loathed and now you have lost your love for reading?

Never fear. 

Here are some books you might try. 

Something short like a graphic novel?

Maus. March. Relish.

How about a novel told in verse?

Out of the Dust.

The Lover's Dictionary.

Or a novel written in the form of a diary?

These is My Words.

A comic book?

Strange Planet.

The Far Side.

Maybe a kids' book?

Where the Sidewalk Ends. 

Anne of Green Gables.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Something with compelling characters.

Lonesome Dove.

True Grit.

Something people have read and loved for centuries?

Favorite Folktales from Around the World.

Something browsable. Just read the parts you want and skip the rest...

The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World.

Atlas Obscura.

Lonely Planet's Beautiful World.

Something with a movie tie-in?

The Martian.

Ready Player One.

Something spooky or mysterious?

The Secret History.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

A book by a fabulous writer?

Anything Bill Bryson.

Anything Erik Larson.

Anything Charles Dickens or Jane Austen.

And if these don't work for you, please don't give up. Contact me. I have lots of other ideas...

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.  

Nonfiction November: Week 1: Your Year in Nonfiction

Week 1: (November 1-5) – Your Year in Nonfiction with Rennie at What’s Nonfiction: Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions – What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year? What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

What nonfiction books have you enjoyed the most this year?

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown

The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman

Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants by Doug Tallamy

Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good? by Michael Sandel

The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It by Robert Reich

A Swim in the Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of Elements by Sam Kean

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

Fred Rogers: The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Fred Rogers

Yes, and…Daily Meditations by Richard Rohr

Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year? 

Native Americans...nature...writing...political systems...and spirituality

What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? 

Yes, and...Daily Meditations by Richard Rohr

What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

I hope to read at least a few out of the stack of nonfiction I've accumulated this year:

What's So Special About Dickens? by Michael Rosen 

The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs by Tristan Gooley

Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott

Adventures on the Wine Route by Kermit Lynch

Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide by Tony Horwitz

7 1/2 Lessons About the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett

She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity by Carl Zimmer

The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death by John Kelly

On Animals by Susan Orlean

Something Needs to Change: A Call to Make Your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need by David Platt

I also hope to find some great new-to-me nonfiction books.

Back from Arkansas and Off to North Texas

 

We are back from a week in beautiful Arkansas. Now we are off to North Texas to see our granddaughter, Bailey, at Senior Night at her high school and our granddaughter, Annie, on her 6th birthday.

 What I Read Last Week:

Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Hummingbirds' Gift: Wonder, Beauty, and Renewal on Wings by Sy Montgomery ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Renewal: How Nature Awakens Our Creativity, Compassion and Joy by Andres R. Edwards ⭐⭐⭐

What I Am Reading:

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (Novel)

Book Girl: A Journey through the Treasures & Transforming Power of a Reading Life by Sarah Clarkson (Books)

The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher (Food Nonfiction)

The Art of Eating by M.F.K. Fisher (Food Nonfiction)

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (Classic)

Have you read Lincoln Highway yet?

The Stanley Tucci memoir?

I've recently found my way, for the first time, to Gilmore Girls. How delightful it has been to discover that one of the GGs, Rory, is an avid reader. This week, I ran across this fun post: The 70 Most Relatable Gilmore Girls Moments for Bibliophiles.

I heard Jonathan Franzen speak about his new book, Crossroads, this week via Zoom at Houston Inprint. Now I need to read the book, I think.

Last week I posted here on my blog:

My Little Free Library: Trick-or-Book!

Nonfiction November is Coming!

Wondrous Words: Shinrin-yoku or Forest Bathing

(with lots of Arkansas hiking photos)

Good Thing #1

We are off to North Texas this weekend

to see our granddaughter, Bailey,

at Senior Night at her high school!

Good Thing #2

We will also see our granddaughter, Annie,

on her 6th birthday this weekend!

Good Thing #3

My birthday is Monday!

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. 

Shinrin-yoku or Forest Bathing

I read Renewal: How Nature Awakens Our Creativity, Compassion, and Joy by Andrés R. Edwards during a recent trip to the forests of Arkansas. We spent six days taking seven hikes for a total of 20.55 miles. 

Here are a few quotes from Renewal and a few photos from Arkansas.

"Some of the most interesting research on the connection between health and nature is coming from Japan. Walking and spending time in forests, known as shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, is a popular form of preventive health care in Japan."

"Studies are now proving the health benefits of spending time in forests. Yoshifumi Miyazaki from Chiba University, Japan, discovered that going for a 40-minute walk in a cedar forest lowers the level of cortisol, a stress hormone, as well as blood pressure and supports the immune system more than a similar 40-minute walk indoors in a lab." 

"Qing Li from Nippon Medical School in Tokyo has shown that trees and plants emit compounds known as phytoncides that when inhaled give us therapeutic benefits akin to aromatherapy. Phytoncides also change the blood composition, which impacts our protection against cancer, boosts our immune system and lowers our blood pressure."

"The psychological benefits of green exercise include reduced stress and anxiety and improvements in self-esteem and mood as well as reduction in blood pressure and an increase in vitamin D from sunlight. Taking a walk outdoors in nature has also been shown to be effective in cases of depression."

"Having access to parks and nature has also been linked with longer life spans and a lower risk of mental illness in Japan, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands."

 

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.  Feel free to get creative! It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion and is now hosted at Elza Reads.

 For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.