NaNoWriMo

Nov 30

Phew. The last day of November. I just uploaded my 50K+ words to NaNoWriMo and received my winner badge. And now I can get back to a regular blogging schedule.

Since I’ve been a bit awol as of late, I thought I’d give a little summary of the things you’ve missed during the writing marathon I just underwent. So here goes:

I decided on the new design for my website. It should be up and running by the end of the year. Can you guess which design I went with?
I saw the new Harry Potter Movie. Review to follow, but just as a teaser, I was pretty impressed and now I feel like I have to reread the book. More on that though.
My work started blogging. Ok, I started blogging for work, but I’m roping in some additional authors from around the archaeology lab. If you have ever wondered what a real life museum person/archaeologist does, you should check out the NMSC Archeology Blog. It will also give you some insight into what I do when I’m not writing.
I went home for the first time in 2 years and met my niece for the first time (she’s 2 in February). I also saw my almost 4 year old nephew. Not only are they super cute, but they reminded me about the little things kids find fascinating.
I’ve read a lot. Hard to believe with all the writing, I know, but this month I’ve read: Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews; The Summoning, Kelley Armstrong; The Awakening, Kelley Armstrong; & The Angel Experiment, James Patterson. I’m currently reading The Duff, Kody Keplinger and School’s Out-Forever, James Patterson. As of this afternoon I will also be adding Matched, Ally Condie to my reading list, which came out today. So I’ve been busy and am now way behind on book reviews, but before you know it, I’ll be all caught up, I promise.
And, my biggest achievement – I finished NaNoWriMo! My first draft is not finished, but I’ve made pretty good progress. And, now that NaNo is over, it means I can return to my other WIP. The away time has been good and I’m ready to dive back in and get that sucker ready to go.

It’s been a busy month and I won’t lie. I’m kind of happy to see it come to a close. How was your November? Any exciting things happen? Did you catch any good books or movies? Come up with a new idea for a book? Any big plans for December in preparation for the start of another new year?

Nov 16

We have reached the second half of November. And you know what that means besides turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and my mom’s birthday? It means that NaNoWriMo is half over!

The good news for me is that I am actually on schedule this year. Scratch that. I’m ahead of schedule. When I went to bed last night, I was at 34,365 words, well over halfway to 50,000. Of course, the bad news is that NaNo has made blogging a little more difficult. But that’s actually a good thing because there’s no point in building a platform if you’ve got nothing to show for it (i.e. a book).

I know that some of my 34,365 words are duds, destined to be erased, but isn’t that the nature of a first draft? To spew everything out of your head onto paper? At least that’s what NaNoWriMo is about. And so far, it’s working. By getting everything down, I am able to clear my head. I already know some of the bits that will get cut in my next draft, but in the spirit of NaNo, I’m not cutting yet. I’m going to finish my first draft and then we can talk about the second draft.

So why is it that I can suddenly get my story down?

Part of it is discipline. The discipline of NaNo is something I’m benefiting from and something I’m hoping to be able to take with me into the coming months. I think the other part of it is keeping my focusing, working hard to get my story down in full before it starts slipping away, before I start losing momentum. With my other work-in-progress, I dragged it out, allowing doubt to seep in.

The other part of it was my planning. While I’ve deviated from the outline in some aspects, the general outline has not changed. I know where my story is going and how to get there. I think this is key.

How are you doing with the NaNoWriMo challenge? Are you on track? What’s working for you and what isn’t? And, if you haven’t donated to NaNo this year, what are you waiting for?

Nov 02

My original plan for today’s post was to continue with my website redesign series. But I’ve decided to push that off until later in the week. Instead, I’m going to continue writing about NaNoWriMo.

And so it begins

As many of you know, National Novel Writing Month is officially upon us. In celebration, I took the day off from work. In my humble opinion, it really should be a national holiday, but so far I have been unable to convince any of the higher ups.

I’ve got to say, taking the day off was a great idea. And no, it wasn’t great because I didn’t have to go to work or because I was able to stay in my PJs all day and sleep in until 8 (I’m usually up at 6, so 8 is a big deal). Naturally those things contributed to the greatness of today, but the true greatness stems from what NaNoWriMo taught me about myself.

Failures of Years Past

This is my 4th year participating. The first year I jumped into a brilliant story idea only to change my mind 50 pages in. I then threw myself into the next brilliant idea, writing an additional 50 pages. Only to realize that the execution was far from brilliant. In short, I failed.

Year 2 I decided to use NaNo to push myself to finish my book, which was my story from year 1 fully resuscitated and fixed up through the help of tons of plastic surgery and duct tape. Again, I failed.

Year 3 I may as well not have participated. Not only was I extremely ill, but I attended a wedding in Thailand halfway through November. Needless to say I didn’t even come close to completing the challenge.

NaNoWriMo – Finding Your Zen

This year, my 4th year, is the first year I have gone into NaNo with a solid plan. And today I saw the benefit of this. Because I was not distracted trying to think up a plan on the fly, I was able to really focus on the writing. I also learned some things about myself.

1. NaNoWriMo teaches discipline

Ok, in a perfect world we could teach ourselves discipline. But NaNoWriMo gives that finally push to those of us struggling with the whole discipline thing. Through the act of participating in NaNo, I am able to see that I can be a disciplined writer. I can sit at my computer and write on command. I can reach daily word goals. Today, I saw that discipline in action and it was the most productive I’ve felt in a long time.

2. NaNoWriMo reinforces a schedule

Since finishing school, I’ve found it difficult to properly organize my personal life. I spend all day at work organizing my time. By the time I get home, I’m exhausted. I don’t want to think about the order. NaNo reminds us that order is not so hard to achieve, if you are willing to let it happen.

Today, I was willing to let it happen. Before getting out of bed, I had a plan. I decided I would reach 5,000 words by lunchtime. Then I would do the many other things on my list, like going to the gym, updating my blog, cleaning the house, etc. Once those things were done, I could sit down and write some more.

Because I had a set plan, I was not trying to do a million things at once. I knew I had to reach my word count for the day or I would not do the other things I needed to do. And you know what? Not only did I accomplish everything on my list, but I finished ahead of schedule.

3. NaNoWriMo stretches my limits and shows me what’s possible

Following along the same lines as the previous point, by focusing, I was able to get a really good sense of how much content I can produce in a set amount of time, and I don’t think the quality suffered more than it suffers in any first draft. Seeing how easy it is to write 5,000 words in 1 day gives me renewed hope in my ability to actually complete a project. The massive rewrite I’m undertaking with my original WIP (yes, I am currently working on 2 projects) has been disheartening to say the least. Now that I see how much I can produce in a day, I feel like it is possible to finish project 1 and all future projects. I stretched my limits today, at it feels great.

And the Conclusion is…

So what is the point of this extremely long post? I’m not saying every writer should participate in NaNo. But if you are like me and having problems figuring out the time management, discipline, reaching your full potential etc. craziness that is all part of being a successful writer, especially one working a full-time job on top of writing, maybe you should think about participating. It’s not too late to sign up.

Oct 31

I realize tonight is Halloween and you probably have better things to do then to be worrying about tomorrow. But there are some things you can and should prepare before running out to the parties and the trick-or-treating sugar rush that is Halloween.

My NaNoWriMo Checklist

To ensure that you are ready for this year’s NaNoWriMo, make sure you have the following:

Tons of coffee or tea, waiting to be brewed. I personally go for the tea. I like to be relaxed when I write. But I know for many people, NaNoWriMo equals zero energy, and they need every ounce of liquid caffeine they can get
Along the same lines, a favorite tea cup/coffee mug. If you have been wanting a new one, NaNoWriMo is the perfect excuse to get one.
A plot. Even if you haven’t created an outline or character sketches or anything like that, before you go to bed tonight, you should know what you are going to write about. Even if all you have is a plot to steal the world’s light bulbs and the main character learns about it and goes out to save the day, despite his phobia of light bulbs, that’s good enough. You have the general plot and a little bit of information about your character. So long as you have something to draw from, you’re good to go. If you don’t have something to draw from, get cracking. You have precious few hours to come up with an idea.
A NaNoWriMo account. This should seem obvious, but if you haven’t registered, go ahead and do that today. No sense wasting time tomorrow with creating a profile and uploading a picture and writing a story summary and etc. etc. To sign up, just follow this link.
Some NaNoWriMo buddies. Ok, this isn’t necessary, but it makes you feel better going into the competition with other writing mates. It’s really easy to get buddies. You can add me (dragonfly83) or you can search for people in your area/genre/etc. Then you just select the “add as buddy” link below the person’s avatar and congratulations, you’ve got a buddy.
A good music play list. If you like to listen to music while you write, set up your play list now. It will save some serious procrastination time later. And if you need some inspiration about what to include, check out the NaNo Soundtrack forum.
Snacks – nothing ruins a productive writing session like having to run out to the grocery store.
Better yet, the number and menu for a variety of take-out restaurants
Comfortable clothing – I enjoy writing in warm socks, comfy yoga pants/sweats, tanks tops and sweatshirts. If your writing clothes are dirty, wash them before tomorrow
And finally, confidence – confidence in your writing and in yourself. Even if your idea seems like it’s getting crazy or stupid, just go with it. NaNoWriMo should be about having fun while doing something you love. Your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t even have to be good. You have the months after November to bring it to that level.

Do you have anything else to add? What goes into your ideal writing environment? How do you prepare for NaNoWriMo?

Oct 27

To continue the NaNoWriMo countdown, let’s talk about genre.

Know Your Genre

There are many reasons why genre is important. From a business perspective, you need to know your genre so bookstores know where to shelve it. As a reminder to YA writers, Barnes and Noble is now dividing YA based on genre (check out this blog too), just like they do with adult books, so genre really is important to consider.

From the perspective of a writer just looking to write, genre is important because it can help guide you in the development of your plot. If you are writing high fantasy, you better include a quest, because that is what your readers will expect. For definitions of some common genres, check out this post from Jennifer Represents…

Knowing your genre can help provide a mini-blueprint. If you get stuck, you can think about what elements you need to include in your book and then try to figure out how to include those elements. Of course, you don’t have to follow a formula, but you should be mindful of what readers of a particular genre will expect to read.

And finally, for NaNoWriMo participants, genre is important in that it helps you to meet other writers. By including your genre on your profile page, writers can find you by genre. There are also forums set up by genre. The forums are a great place to chat with other writers about any and everything related to NaNoWriMo, your book, writing, etc.. By browsing forums for your genre, you are sure to encounter people who know about your genre and can offer genre specific advice.

So, do you know your genre?

Oct 25

Assignment: Create a plot sketch using this photo as your inspiration

What follows is a quick and dirty plot sketch based on the photo to the left. The plot might be shoddy, but note what I have done here. There is a beginning, middle, and end. There is an MC, a love interest, and a villain. I do not waste time on too much back story, though I note things I may want to research. When I don’t know how to get from a to c, I leave b vague, providing only the most basic of information. I can go back later to fill in the gaps. By creating a short, quick sketch of the general flow of action, I at least have something to work from.

My Quick & Dirty Plot Sketch Example

MC returns from a trip. She has been living a few towns over, working as an apprentice (research ideas for what type of apprenticeship). When she returns to her village, she finds it empty. There is no one anywhere. A stillness fills the air
MC has no clue what happened. She did not hear any reports. There were suspicions of possible trouble because there had not been a word from her family for a few weeks. That is why she was given leave to return.
MC wanders down the empty streets, and arrives at her parents home. It is empty. There is no sign of life. She goes to her room and finds it just as she left it. Nothing is out of place. It’s like everyone just disappeared.
MC is walking through the ghost town. She walks to the statue garden, her favorite place, and breaks down. She cries out of fear, out of loneliness. Everything she knows is gone, and she doesn’t know why. She hears a noise and it startles her to silence. She pulls a knife (she always carries a knife – maybe this has something to do with her apprenticeship) but finds nothing threatening. A man is standing there, arms held out, showing her he has no weapons.
MC lowers her knife, but still keeps a firm grip on it. She doesn’t know this man or whether to trust him. Maybe he has something to do with what happened here. But then, he might know what happened here too.
Man asks MC who she is and what she is doing here. She is offended. He has no right to ask her. This is her home. After snapping at one another, she learns that he has seen something like this before. This is not the first town to vanish.
MC and man return to town and find some mildly stale bread and cheese in the local tavern. They eat a solemn meal and man asks if she has anywhere to go. She says she isn’t going back to the apprenticeship until she learns what happened here. After an argument, the man agrees to take her with him on his travels to learn what is happening to their world.
Travel — see stuff. Learn about one another. Uncover clues to what happened. Run into some danger. Find more and more villages that have disappeared.
In the end, they discover that some evil wizard is responsible. He has been transporting the people to his realm to serve as slaves. They defeat him and everyone is returned and lives happily ever after.

Creating Your Own Plot Sketch

In creating my actual plot sketch for NaNoWriMo, I began in a similar way, writing down bullet marks for moments that progress the story. I then went back and filled in additional information or made changes where necessary. For example, in my NaNoWriMo project, I realized that the conflicting love interest (yes, I am using a love triangle) should be someone from the MCs past. This worked better than providing two new characters. It created a stronger emotional connection and helped to create motivation and tension. Because I have not yet started the novel, all I had to do was go back to a few places in my plot sketch and make a couple of changes. This was much easier than rewriting an entire chapter.

By laying out the plot in this way, I can easily see where the story is going. I can also make sure that I have a story arc (see my post from Oct. 13 for more on story arcs). When November 1 roles around, I won’t have to waste time deciding what I am writing or figuring out how to make my story work. I can just open up my short plot sketch, glance over it, and then get down to some serious writing.

Now it’s your turn

Do you have an idea for NaNoWriMo? Have you created a plot sketch/outline/etc.? Do you have another method that works for you? If you answered no to 2 or more of these questions, get cracking. November 1 is fast approaching.

If you need more help thinking about your project, be sure check out Wednesday’s post on choosing a genre.

Oct 24

With NaNoWriMo 2010 fast approaching, I’ve got one question for you. Are you ready?

For first-time participants, you may be thinking, ‘but isn’t preparation against the rules?’ Having an idea, an outline, character sketches, etc. is not cheating. You are only cheating if you add words to your word count that you did not actually write during NaNoWriMo.

As a 3-time failure, I will let you in on the secret to my lack of success. I was unprepared.

If you do nothing else…

Have at least a general idea about your story. My first year, I wasted valuable time day 1 trying to figure out what in the world I was going to write. As I’m sure many of you have noticed, November 1 inconveniently falls on a Monday this year. Unless you are taking the day off of work or school (which I am considering), you will have precious few hours on day 1 to add some progress to your progress bar. All the more reason to come in with a plan.

Your NaNoWriMo Story Plan

Having a plan does not mean you need to have a fully developed, beautifully outlined plan. For many, that would take the fun out of NaNoWriMo. A plan can be as simple as knowing your general plot and the name of you MC. This year, I have decided to go with a slightly more detailed plan, but it is by no means the fully sketched out plan suggested by Karen Wiesner in her book First Draft in 30 Days (a great book, by the way).

Because everyone loves an example

To help get your juices flowing, I thought an example was in order. One way I get ideas is through pictures. A picture really can say a thousand words, or in this case, 50,000, if you know how to look at it. Look at the photo and let you imagination flow. Think of some stories you could create from it. The scene in the photo does not even need to be included in your story. You could base it off of the emotion you get from looking at the photo or what the photo makes you think of. Post your ideas and come back tomorrow for an example of a short plot sketch I created based off of this photo.

Oct 19

I’m not usually one to ask for things. Even when I was a girl scout, I felt weird going door-to-door asking people to buy my cookies. Obviously I didn’t inherit my father’s selling skills.

Well, I’ve decided to overlook my aversion to asking people for money just this once. As writers out there are probably aware, NaNoWriMo, or, National Novel Writing Month, is just around the corner. The event, which officially begins November 1, is a month long write-a-thon where writers work towards producing a 50,000 word novel in 30 short days. Sounds fun, doesn’t it?

Wait, there’s more

But, as an organization, NaNoWriMo does a lot more. Through donations, they bring free creative writing programs for kids and adults to over 500 cities and towns, 3,000 classrooms, and 200 libraries every year. As someone who has always found a special friend through writing, I’ve gotta say, I think it’s great to share this great gift with as many people as possible.

This year, I am, for the 4th year running, participating in NaNoWriMo. And, for the first time, I am als0 trying my hand at fundraising.

My NaNoWriMo Fundraising Goal

My goal is to get $250 worth of donations. Not a lot when you think about it. $5 here, $10 there, and lots of people who would not otherwise have the opportunity can suddenly enroll in writing programs and NaNoWriMo can continue to fund itself.

So what will I do for you?

NaNoWriMo Mug

This year I am more prepared than I’ve been any previous year. I have a plot outlined, complete with a working story arc and everything and I’m buying a new tea kettle this weekend and a good supply of tea to help motivate me. Basically, I’m ready to go. I will complete the challenge this year and your donations will help urge me on.

In addition, I will select one donor at random to receive a NaNoWriMo Diner Mug. How cool would that be?

And finally, once I get my book signed and published (’cause isn’t that ultimately the goal here?), I will give a shout out to everyone who donates.

So here’s the skinny

To donate, all you have to do is follow this link and you will be taken to my donor page. Once you donate, my little progress meter will go up. You can also check out my NaNoWriMo page here to keep tabs on my progress and see a brief synopsis of my NaNoWriMo project this year.

Thanks in advance for your donations and if I don’t have your contact info, send me a quick message through my contact page so I can add you to the raffle list.

Oct 03

Yesterday I finally picked up a copy of The Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market, 2011 and I am inspired. I wish I had picked up a copy sooner. If you haven’t picked your copy up yet, I highly recommend you do.

Bitter Sweet Endings and New Beginnings

I have decided to put my WIP on hold. It is a total mess and, while I still like the basic idea behind it, it’s not what I really want to be writing. This book started as something completely different. By the time I reworked everything to make the plot work, I just didn’t love it anymore. Even though I am so close to the end of the 1st draft, that last couple chapters are killing me. I need a break. I need to quit rushing to finish it out of my desire to have something to get published. If it’s not good, no one will buy it. Of course, I’m not trashing the book, just putting it on hold and starting something new.

In reading the articles in the Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market, an idea began to form, and that idea turned into a nice, concise plot summary complete with a beginning, middle and end. There are tough decisions, identity issues, and betrayal. There is a solid setting, character flaws, and suspense. And the best part about it is that the idea came along without forcing it. The same cannot be said about my now on hold WIP.

While I love NaNoWriMo, it did cause me to force an idea. I remember 3 years ago on November 1, sitting in my home office trying to will a plot into my head. Maybe veteran writers are capable of doing that, but for someone writing their first full length book, that kind of thinking can be disastrous. No wonder I have never succeeded in completing a NaNoWriMo.

What next?

This time around, I’m doing it right. I so badly want to dive in and start turning my concept into a book. But I learned my lesson last time. I’m going to sit down and write an outline. I’m going to develop my characters before I even put them to paper. I know that my outline will change and my characters may pick up new traits or abandon other ones, but to write a book without a blueprint can be suicide for a writing career, or at least it can be or me.

Sep 11

I had a crazy dream last night. I blame it on my obsession with finishing my current book and the fact that I am still being haunted by The Hunger Games every time I close my eyes. So in the dream, you won NaNoWriMo by racing up these twisty, windy stairs. There could only be three winners. The winners would finish their books. The only challenge was that the person behind you could throw a knife in your back so they could move up in the ranks. At the beginning of the stairwell, I joined ranks with 3 other contestants. Only problem was, I was in 4th place. But in my dream, that was fine. I didn’t mind helping them get to the top. As we ran, I heard people dropping dead all around me, until finally I was almost at the top and someone came up behind me. The 3 winners had already made it. I convinced the person behind me not to stab me in the back. What was the point? Then I turned and left. The game was over. I did not win, but my teammates had.

I woke up at 3 in the morning and thought this was a pretty interesting dream. At 3 am, I ignored its connection to life in general and only saw the connection in regards to writing. There will always be people looking to stab you in the back to take what you potentially have. The struggle to the top will be long and exhausting. Getting to the top is not something you can do on your own. You need help. A support group goes a long way.

I guess my sub-conscious is trying to tell me its time to find a support group. To all you writers out there, how did you find your support group? Are you still looking for one? Do you think a support group is essential to success?

November Roundup

NaNoWriMo has reached the half way point – where do you stand?