Tag Archives: National Novel Writing Month

NaNoWriMo Day 9

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Word count- negligible.  Just a few notes here and there.  Sometimes when you have to change something, it means you have to regroup.  I’m not worried about it.

I had a job interview today, and for some insane reason, I’m super tired.  It’s quite possible I didn’t sleep very well.  I had a hard time waking up.  You know, one of those mornings where you keep almost doing it, and your dream goes on and on and on?  Like that.

This weekend, I plan to hit it pretty hard, with a break to watch my friend Gracie Gold skate at the ISU Grand Prix Cup of Russia.  The ladies and men’s long programs will air on NBC Sunday.  She was first after the short program (!!!!) so she has an excellent chance to medal.  Go Gracie!  You can do it!

Since it’s already tomorrow there, I’ll have to stay off Twitter for a while so I can be surprised.  Someone will undoubtedly tweet the winner before I can watch.  Rawr.

Oh no you DI’ INT!

Image:  imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

NaNoWriMo Day 8 – Asleep at the Post

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Word count:  1,023.

Too tired to continue.  I wrote two articles for a guest post gig today, took a hard walk, and looked for jobs on the internet.  Tomorrow I have an interview.

During tonight’s session, I ran into a common conundrum in Writer Land, that of the Mysterious Changing Plot Device.   I had something already written for a pivotal event, but now I have to scrap it.  With the changes I’ve made, it just doesn’t make sense.

Nooooooo!

Image:  AmericanCinematiquecalendar.com

I was kind of bummed, but it happens.  I usually keep a file for cuts so I can pick their bones later for useful bits.   There is some good stuff in there I can salvage, so it’s not a total loss.

The good part is that I was able to sit down and force myself to write, even though I’m really tired and I didn’t feel like it.  That’s the mark of a real writer.  I may end up being one yet.

Time to stop now because I can’t see the page anymore.  Good night.

NaNoWriMo Day 4 – Short but Sweet

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756 words today.  At least I got something done.

I also had a long talk with a friend about something that’s been upsetting me, and a revelation I had today.  It was good to hear her voice.  We haven’t talked in a long time (other than on Facebook).  There’s no substitute for actually hearing the voices of your loved ones.

I hope tomorrow will be a bit more productive.

NaNoWriMo Day 3

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976 words today.  And every one of them was a struggle.  Every.  Damn. One.

I did get the sticky plot point explained.  But for some reason, this book is nowhere near as much fun to write as the last one.  It’s ridiculous.  The story has so much more going on.  I know how it ends (I usually do).  I have one awesome scene I’m saving until I’m almost done, because writing that one is going to have me giggling like a little kid.

I don’t have a soundtrack for it, I don’t love my protagonist, and I don’t care about the larger social issues the book addresses.  I thought now would be a good time to get this done, since I’m not working, but all I can think about is that I’m not working.  Among other, more upsetting things.

Hopefully 2013 will be much, much better than 2012.  Of course, that’s what I said last time.

First Day of NaNoWriMo 2012

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Holy crackers, Batman, I got 2,207 words done.

That’s counting some notes I took, since I need to do some further research for this scene.  So technically, I guess it probably worked out to around 2,150 words all together.

A 50,000-word novel written over a month works out to around 1700 words a day, roughly.  To do that, you just have to turn off that inner editor and write.   Part of the thing is that you don’t stop to look stuff up, a bad habit I have.

Well, okay, I stopped one time to go in my chat room and make a light saber noise when “Main Title” of Return of the Jedi came on.

Nerd and proud of it.

Photograph by Elizabeth West

And I stopped again when my phone rang.  It was a recruiter for a job I applied for in April.  Better late than never, I guess.

I wanted to put a NaNoWriMo banner or something on my posts, but for some insane reason, I can’t even sign up on the site.  So screw them.

I hope everyone who signed up is doing well.  See you tomorrow!

Happy Halloween and NaNoWriMo 2012

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Happy Halloween!

Here’s my first attempt at shaving a pumpkin design.  I used a free template I found online.  I think it turned out rather well for a first try.  For those who aren’t Doctor Who fans, it’s the head of an evil robot called a Cyberman.

“You will be upgraded.”

Photograph by Elizabeth West

No matter what you’re doing this year, please remember to stay safe.  Watch those candles around costumes, and never leave them unattended.  If your kids find the stash of candy you saved for yourself, don’t kill them.  Just steal some from their bags.

From last year, but damn funny:

Tomorrow is the beginning of NaNoWriMo.  I told you earlier that I would be participating this year.  I’m not formally signing up, because technically, you’re not supposed to use NaNo for something you’ve already started.  But I have to do something drastic, or I’ll never finish.  This has been unequivocally one of the worst years of my life.

Because, you know, chaos.

Image:  US Navy- Aaron Peterson / Wikimedia Commons

I’m creating a category—NaNoWriMo 2012—and I’ll probably only be posting updates this month, especially if I find a job.   I’m not restricting myself from publishing any other posts if I think of one, but all NaNo materials will be under that heading for easy reference.  If you’d like to follow me on Twitter, I may be tweeting things there as well during this time.

Good luck to all other writers who are NaNo-ing this year!

National Novel Writing Month – or, That Crazy Writer’s Locked Herself in the Closet Again

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Next month is November and the National Novel Writing Month spectacular, aka NaNoWriMo.  Yes, writers are lazy; why type all that shit when we don’t have to?

What is NaNoWriMo?  It’s this crazy idea that in thirty days, you can bang out a 50,000-word novel.  It’s a chance to take that idea swimming around in your head and birth it out into reality.  Not polished perfection, mind you—that takes a much longer commitment.  Since many writers suffer from butt-in-chair deficiency, NaNoWriMo is designed to force you to sit still and write.

To do this, you can formally sign up for the process at the NaNoWriMo site and participate in the contest.  Or you can do it on your own, whatever.   The site has forums, advice, word counters, and much more.

I hate trying to crap out first drafts.  HATE HATE HATE HATE.  I’m considering doing NaNoWriMo informally this year, just to finish something.

I would like to get some voice recognition software and just talk the damn thing out, like “Then Dr. Equate stabs the zombie four times—no, three—and his evil diseased brain cocktail is about to fall into the water supply!  Yeah!  And super spy Dirk Fabulous shows up and forces him to drink it!”  Same process; no hand cramps. I can clean it up later.

The awesomeness of this would be, well, awesome.

Image:  Victor Habbick / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The current WIP is stalled, but I think I finally figured out something that was borking my story.  By borking, I mean it threw up a giant roadblock that effectively killed forward progression.  This has nothing to do with the fact that my life imploded, by the way; it was a glitch in the plot.

If you want to do this, I suggest you take these next couple of weeks to prepare, if you haven’t already.

Do an outline

I get a rough concept of a book and when I’ve thought it out a bit, I write a synopsis and then break it down into scenes.  Later, I use it to organize chapters.  Since I tend to skip around when I write, the outline keeps me on track.

Get your life in order

My writer buddy James Allder recommended that I make sure I’m not interrupted in any way during my NNWM writing time.  He’s got a good point.  A break in concentration can mean death to a writing session.  Shouldn’t be hard, considering I have no life right now.

If you have one, make sure you get extra crap out of the way so you can sit down at the same time every day and work.

Do a few practice sessions

You may already have a set time you write every day.  If so, good for you.

Here’s your trophy, you self-righteous bastard.

Image:  Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you don’t, I would suggest a practice run.  Take a few days and try it out.  It doesn’t matter if you’re only writing gibberish, just so you get the feel of actually working during that interval.  Mind you, it’s against the rules to work on your NNWM project before the start date.

Remember it’s only a tool

You are not going to produce a complete book in one month.  Let me repeat that, because it’s important:  you are not going to produce a complete book in one frigging month. 

A complete book, ready for publishing, will require at least another few months of editing, rewriting, polishing, submission to first/second/third readers, more editing, more polishing, etc. before you can even think about querying.

Your goal is to finish something, not write a goddamn bestseller.   Use it to get your butt in the chair.  When the month is over, it’s up to you to keep it there.

NaNoWriMo is only a tool.  Its purpose:  to make you WRITE.  In a burst of uncensored, freewriting word diarrhea.   Your brain will open the creativity floodgates and not even the Brain-o-pectate will stop it.  At the end, you will have the bones of a book.

If I do NaNoWriMo—and I think I will—I’ll create a separate category on this blog where I can update my progress and tears.  You may live through the actual process of writing (well, finishing, technically) a book along with me.

Lock and load.

Image:  vudhikrai / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Helpful links:

“25 Things You Should Know about NaNoWriMo”  by Chuck Wendig

Chuck is no-holds barred.   If you don’t like me saying goddamn and shit, you’ll hate him.  But he knows what he’s talking about, goddamn it.

“Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo” by Steve Shepard

Some decent tips, even if it’s kind of an ad for the Storyist software.  I prefer PageFour myself.  Plain old Word is fine; you don’t have to buy anything to do NNWM.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Novel_Writing_Month

History, rules, and more.