Those of you who are my Facebook friends know I've dealt with a plague upon my household this week. High fevers, aching body parts, and severe croup have afflicted us, and as of tonight, no one in my family was left untouched. Needless to say, I have not met my NaNo weekly word count quota--but I have met my lifetime quota of 3am steam showers with the kiddos. I shuddered when I hopped on Twitter and saw the flurry of #1Kin1hr hashtags. If someone had started a #1Win1hr, I might have succeeded. Maybe.
But I'm back in the swing of things today, and am once again plugging away at my ms. I came across the best NaNo poem today while reading Jill Corcoran's blog. The poem is titled Working is in Progress by Jacqui Robbins from her blog, Jacqui's Room. It only takes a minute to read, so you can get inspired and then get back to your novel. I'm going to type quickly (maybe even #1Kin1hr), because I probably don't have much time before the next steam shower.
Happy NaNo'ing!
Showing posts with label NaNoWriMo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NaNoWriMo. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
NaNoWriMo Incentive and Inspiration
As we move into the second week of NaNoWriMo I thought I'd share a couple of great posts I've read recently that talk about persevering far better than I can.
The first comes from Chuck Wendig and his Terrible Minds blog. I like to think of it as incentive. You know, yes I can so finish my book!(Please note there is a fair bit of swearing in the post, so if that's not your thing, you've been warned.)
25 Reasons You Won't Finish That Story
Number 18 is one that is usually true for me.
18. Haven’t Answered Any Of The Critical Questions
Ask yourself: what is this about? Why am I writing this? Why will anyone care? Asking yourself some fundamental questions before you write — plus several others while you write — can help keep your nose to the grindstone and allow you to feel settled in both direction and purpose.
Also check out his list of those questions. He's got some really great ones.
The second is totally inspirational. It's about sticking with it when you've got that horrible feeling that you have completely failed at writing the book you wanted to write. It's a great guest post by Sara Zarr on Nova Ren Suma's blog:
What Inspires Sara Zarr
I bet you can't guess what it is. Failure. Yep. Go read why. If you've been feeling stuck, you'll be inspired to keep going, I swear.
The first comes from Chuck Wendig and his Terrible Minds blog. I like to think of it as incentive. You know, yes I can so finish my book!(Please note there is a fair bit of swearing in the post, so if that's not your thing, you've been warned.)
Number 18 is one that is usually true for me.
18. Haven’t Answered Any Of The Critical Questions
Ask yourself: what is this about? Why am I writing this? Why will anyone care? Asking yourself some fundamental questions before you write — plus several others while you write — can help keep your nose to the grindstone and allow you to feel settled in both direction and purpose.
Also check out his list of those questions. He's got some really great ones.
The second is totally inspirational. It's about sticking with it when you've got that horrible feeling that you have completely failed at writing the book you wanted to write. It's a great guest post by Sara Zarr on Nova Ren Suma's blog:
I bet you can't guess what it is. Failure. Yep. Go read why. If you've been feeling stuck, you'll be inspired to keep going, I swear.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
How is the NaNo'ing Going?
It's less than a week into NaNo, and I'm already realizing what a LONG month November is going to be. I'm just shy of 14,000 words, so the word count is going well, but two thousand words per day is a big commitment. Also, did the people who thought up NaNoWriMo realize that Thanksgiving is sort of a major holiday? I'm trying to get ahead because I know how crazy my Thanksgiving week will be, not to mention the baby shower I'm hosting for a truckload of ladies next week. How do other people plan their NaNo writing around life events? Any tips that don't involve getting up at 4am, or ingesting large quantities of methamphetamines would be greatly appreciated.
On the plus side, this is the first time I've used Scrivener to plan out and write a novel, and that has helped a ton. Things seem to be flowing better than in previous novels, and having a beat sheet has kept me on track with where I want to go next. Being a former pantster, I thought outlining would stifle my creativity but I'm actually having a blast with this book. I've also had time to shower this week--several times--and even cook a few meals, so my family is on board with my holding a laptop at all other times of the day.
How about other NaNo'ers out there? How's it going? How are you staying motivated? Anyone else scouring their kids' Halloween baskets for writing fuel?
On the plus side, this is the first time I've used Scrivener to plan out and write a novel, and that has helped a ton. Things seem to be flowing better than in previous novels, and having a beat sheet has kept me on track with where I want to go next. Being a former pantster, I thought outlining would stifle my creativity but I'm actually having a blast with this book. I've also had time to shower this week--several times--and even cook a few meals, so my family is on board with my holding a laptop at all other times of the day.
How about other NaNo'ers out there? How's it going? How are you staying motivated? Anyone else scouring their kids' Halloween baskets for writing fuel?
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
It's NaNoWriMo Time
Today, November 1st, is the official start day of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). If you're in need of some great tips and free downloads of things like blank beat sheets, check out the NaNoWriMo posts over at Storyfix.com. Even if you think you know what you're doing, the story-planning advice there is well worth going over. I laid out my entire novel for the month ahead of time, and used many of those posts for guidance.
For those of you NaNo'ing along with me, I wish you the best of luck--it's an exhausting, yet satisfying endeavor. My goal for this year is to make my first draft tighter than in previous years, so that I'm not spending another six months in revisions. It's good to have goals, right? Try to have fun with it, and use a NaNo buddy to keep yourself accountable. Now stop reading and get to writing!
How many others are NaNo'ing this year? If you've done it before, are you approaching it differently this time?
For those of you NaNo'ing along with me, I wish you the best of luck--it's an exhausting, yet satisfying endeavor. My goal for this year is to make my first draft tighter than in previous years, so that I'm not spending another six months in revisions. It's good to have goals, right? Try to have fun with it, and use a NaNo buddy to keep yourself accountable. Now stop reading and get to writing!
How many others are NaNo'ing this year? If you've done it before, are you approaching it differently this time?
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
My NaNoWriMo Necessities
It's almost that time again, can you believe it? NaNoWriMo starts November first. And after taking last year off, I've decided I have a goal I want to meet, and NaNo is going to help me do it. I'm just getting started with my prepping (well, sort of), so I thought I'd share my process.
Here's what I personally need in order to have a successful NaNoWriMo experience:
- A Notebook (I like Mead 5-star college ruled, because I'm particular like that.)
- SCRIVENER (They have a 30 day free trial! Perfect for NaNo.)
- Write Or Die (I have the desktop edition, but you can also use it for free online.)
- A set block of writing time each day.
And of course, none of this is even remotely helpful without an idea. Which I have.
So, how do I use these things? I've found that NaNo only works for me when I know exactly what I'm writing. (And by "exactly" I mean, I know what my story is about, the basic plot, and usually the beginning and end - all of which may change once I actually start writing.)
I am not an outliner, but what I do is in the months leading up to NaNo, I fill a notebook with plot ideas, scene ideas, and character info. It's a lot of rambling, but it is SO helpful. And I find that handwriting this, rather than typing it, helps in a couple of ways. One, it feels very free. I'm just playing around. I'm not officially attempting to write a book, which is of course, scary, and difficult. Two, I find that when hand writing, I remember things better, and I tend to sort of ask and answer questions, which helps to flesh out my idea.
Once I've done that, if there's still space in that notebook, I write down a brief description of every scene I know is going to go into the book. If there's not room, I start with a brand new one, because brand new notebooks make me happy. I use this list as my jumping off point for NaNo. I find that if I have a chunk of things that I know I'm going to write, it feels much less scary getting started. Usually these scenes skip over many events I haven't figured out yet and sitting down to write them helps me figure out the rest. (Once I'm on a roll though, I try to save any pre-planned scenes for those days when I feel like I can't possibly write at all.) Also, I find it satisfying to open up that notebook each day and see whch scenes I've already written, and how far I've come. When I get new scene ideas I will also jot them down in the notebook just so that I have them and can cross them off when they're written.
And that means that yes, I'm one of those crazy people that sometimes writes out of order. This is where Scrivener comes in! With Scrivener I can organize as I go. I make each scene I write a separate file in Scrivener which makes dragging them around in index card mode (or just regular binder view) very simple. I also make notes on each scene in the "Documents Notes" section that let me know what information I haven't figured out yet, or what effect this scene has on what I've already written.
So how do I get those scenes written? I like Write Or Die. (Write Or Die is a writing app that you type in. It counts your words and prompts you with flashing colors and awful sounds, and even deleting your text if you're brave enough to use kamikaze, whenever you stop typing and start staring into space.) I usually set it at 40 minutes and 1000 words on "Normal". I find if I have a general idea of the scene I'm writing, I can keep writing all the way through, and often I will go over the 1k, or I will write more than one scene to reach that 1k with time to spare. When I'm less certain about what I'm writing, I'll do 500 words and 20-25 minutes. The prompting from Write Or Die is usually enough to kick me back into writing. I find that I can get more done by not stopping and trying to find the absolute perfect word. And a lot of times I discover that by having to write something, I end up figuring things out I would've spent hours pondering.
And that brings me to my final necessity. Time. I have to set up a specific time each day where I do this writing. I like first thing in the morning. I will sit down at the computer with my coffee, and my ideas fresh from sleep and just type those 1666 words until I'm done. I don't go over what I wrote the day before first, although usually I'll wake up with thoughts on what to do next fresh on my mind. And I find if I address those first, I'm more focused than if I've checked my email, and read blogs, and seen what's going on on twitter. I'm not normally this disciplined, but it's something about the idea that it's just for one month, that allows me to do this.
And that's my approach to NaNoWriMo. How do you NaNo? Do you find it easier to focus during that month than other times of the year?
Here's what I personally need in order to have a successful NaNoWriMo experience:
- A Notebook (I like Mead 5-star college ruled, because I'm particular like that.)
- SCRIVENER (They have a 30 day free trial! Perfect for NaNo.)
- Write Or Die (I have the desktop edition, but you can also use it for free online.)
- A set block of writing time each day.
And of course, none of this is even remotely helpful without an idea. Which I have.
So, how do I use these things? I've found that NaNo only works for me when I know exactly what I'm writing. (And by "exactly" I mean, I know what my story is about, the basic plot, and usually the beginning and end - all of which may change once I actually start writing.)
I am not an outliner, but what I do is in the months leading up to NaNo, I fill a notebook with plot ideas, scene ideas, and character info. It's a lot of rambling, but it is SO helpful. And I find that handwriting this, rather than typing it, helps in a couple of ways. One, it feels very free. I'm just playing around. I'm not officially attempting to write a book, which is of course, scary, and difficult. Two, I find that when hand writing, I remember things better, and I tend to sort of ask and answer questions, which helps to flesh out my idea.
Once I've done that, if there's still space in that notebook, I write down a brief description of every scene I know is going to go into the book. If there's not room, I start with a brand new one, because brand new notebooks make me happy. I use this list as my jumping off point for NaNo. I find that if I have a chunk of things that I know I'm going to write, it feels much less scary getting started. Usually these scenes skip over many events I haven't figured out yet and sitting down to write them helps me figure out the rest. (Once I'm on a roll though, I try to save any pre-planned scenes for those days when I feel like I can't possibly write at all.) Also, I find it satisfying to open up that notebook each day and see whch scenes I've already written, and how far I've come. When I get new scene ideas I will also jot them down in the notebook just so that I have them and can cross them off when they're written.
And that means that yes, I'm one of those crazy people that sometimes writes out of order. This is where Scrivener comes in! With Scrivener I can organize as I go. I make each scene I write a separate file in Scrivener which makes dragging them around in index card mode (or just regular binder view) very simple. I also make notes on each scene in the "Documents Notes" section that let me know what information I haven't figured out yet, or what effect this scene has on what I've already written.
So how do I get those scenes written? I like Write Or Die. (Write Or Die is a writing app that you type in. It counts your words and prompts you with flashing colors and awful sounds, and even deleting your text if you're brave enough to use kamikaze, whenever you stop typing and start staring into space.) I usually set it at 40 minutes and 1000 words on "Normal". I find if I have a general idea of the scene I'm writing, I can keep writing all the way through, and often I will go over the 1k, or I will write more than one scene to reach that 1k with time to spare. When I'm less certain about what I'm writing, I'll do 500 words and 20-25 minutes. The prompting from Write Or Die is usually enough to kick me back into writing. I find that I can get more done by not stopping and trying to find the absolute perfect word. And a lot of times I discover that by having to write something, I end up figuring things out I would've spent hours pondering.
And that brings me to my final necessity. Time. I have to set up a specific time each day where I do this writing. I like first thing in the morning. I will sit down at the computer with my coffee, and my ideas fresh from sleep and just type those 1666 words until I'm done. I don't go over what I wrote the day before first, although usually I'll wake up with thoughts on what to do next fresh on my mind. And I find if I address those first, I'm more focused than if I've checked my email, and read blogs, and seen what's going on on twitter. I'm not normally this disciplined, but it's something about the idea that it's just for one month, that allows me to do this.
And that's my approach to NaNoWriMo. How do you NaNo? Do you find it easier to focus during that month than other times of the year?
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
NaNo NoNo's
First, an announcement: Get ready for next Tues. when the uber-awesomesauce author Carrie Harris will be interviewed here at Sisters in Scribe. Carrie is the David Hasselhoff-loving, zombie-crazy author of Bad Taste in Boys, and I've already pre-ordered my copy. Have you?
Now, unless you live under a rock, in a cave, or in space, you've heard of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I'm not participating because I finished writing my new novel late last night (woo hoo) and will use November for revisions. I'm a little exhausted and will make this short and sweet. If you are NaNo'ing this month, good for you! It's very empowering to pound out a story day after day until you finish. In fact, it's why I've done my own personal NaNo in Oct. the last two years. If you write some every day and make progress in your story by the end of NaNoWriMo, you're way ahead of the game. But if you should happen to beat the odds and complete your story by Nov. 30th, here are a few NaNo NoNo's:
1) Dec. 1st is NOT the day to query. Not even if you think you just wrote the best novel of all time. Yes, it may have the potential to be the best novel of all time, but on Nov. 30th. it's just not there. Really.
2) Jan. 1st is NOT the day to query. First of all, agents might be hungover or in the process of drinking heavily (because of the holiday, not because I think agents are drunks). Also, as much as you think it's ready, your manuscript probably still sucks. And if it doesn't totally suck, it's likely to be in a phase of 'mild suckage.' Have you run the entire thing by trusted readers or a critique group? Have you made changes accordingly? If not, do that instead of querying.
If you can avoid those two major pitfalls, you're doing great. Fact: The publishing business is slow.
It's easy to grow impatient and want your work out there as soon as possible. I completely understand that as patience is not one of my own virtues. But you want the work that's out there to be the best it can possibly be. You want it to shine so bright that it looks like a diamond amidst a sea of cubic zirconia. Bottom line: If it's not polished to the point that you can see your reflection in it, don't send it.
What about you? Are you NaNo'ing? If you NaNo'ed before, how did it go?
Now, unless you live under a rock, in a cave, or in space, you've heard of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I'm not participating because I finished writing my new novel late last night (woo hoo) and will use November for revisions. I'm a little exhausted and will make this short and sweet. If you are NaNo'ing this month, good for you! It's very empowering to pound out a story day after day until you finish. In fact, it's why I've done my own personal NaNo in Oct. the last two years. If you write some every day and make progress in your story by the end of NaNoWriMo, you're way ahead of the game. But if you should happen to beat the odds and complete your story by Nov. 30th, here are a few NaNo NoNo's:
1) Dec. 1st is NOT the day to query. Not even if you think you just wrote the best novel of all time. Yes, it may have the potential to be the best novel of all time, but on Nov. 30th. it's just not there. Really.
2) Jan. 1st is NOT the day to query. First of all, agents might be hungover or in the process of drinking heavily (because of the holiday, not because I think agents are drunks). Also, as much as you think it's ready, your manuscript probably still sucks. And if it doesn't totally suck, it's likely to be in a phase of 'mild suckage.' Have you run the entire thing by trusted readers or a critique group? Have you made changes accordingly? If not, do that instead of querying.
If you can avoid those two major pitfalls, you're doing great. Fact: The publishing business is slow.
It's easy to grow impatient and want your work out there as soon as possible. I completely understand that as patience is not one of my own virtues. But you want the work that's out there to be the best it can possibly be. You want it to shine so bright that it looks like a diamond amidst a sea of cubic zirconia. Bottom line: If it's not polished to the point that you can see your reflection in it, don't send it.
What about you? Are you NaNo'ing? If you NaNo'ed before, how did it go?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
NaNoWriMo or Revision Hell
So my lovely critique group cohorts are all participating in NaNoWriMo and, I'm guessing, won't be posting much here this month thanks to their aching fingers. I went back and forth deciding between becoming a first-time NaNo participant and doing revisions on my recently completed YA ms. Revisions won out thus making me the lone NaNo holdout in my group, and it's why I'm in the midst of revision hell right now. Side note: If you don't think revision hell is an actual place, you haven't been to my house. Here's the thing though - I'm having fun in hell. Who knew?
Here's how my first draft revision went down: I went through about 20 chapters tonight and revised the heck out of them. Then I realized that due to all my brilliant revisions, I created an inordinate amount of additional things that needed to be revised. There must be a mathematical formula that supports this - e.g. for every one thing you change, the resulting things that require changes grows in an exponential fashion. At any rate, I changed a secondary storyline, re-wrote scenes, deleted scenes, polished dialogue and killed a character (and by killed, I mean I took them out of the story altogether - I didn't maul them with a candlestick).
Then I settled into my pillows - because what better place is there to do revisions than in bed - with my laptop, my green tea, and my printed manuscript (the one now scattered over my bedspread with my chicken scratch notes scrawled on it) and sighed. It dawned on me that as fast as I'm capable of working, this process won't be a quick one - in fact, it will take me longer to revise the book than it did to write it. That was an eye-opener. Not to mention that my wonderful critique partners haven't yet read it and that's when the heavy revisions will begin.
So why am I finding it fun? Because even after only half of one revision, my book is better. It's better now than it was yesterday and with more feedback from beta readers and critique partners, along with countless other revisions, it will get even better. On the business end, I have no idea how this will turn out - if the book will get published or find an agent - but that would be icing on the cake. I'm writing the best book I can and am having a blast doing it. Talk to me when I'm on revision number 19, and I may not sound so cheerful...:) Where are you in your revision process? What number revision are you tackling right now?
Feel free to comment about anything you want: NaNo, revisions, whether the Saints will go undefeated, etc?
FYI: Elana Johnson from Querytracker has a fabulous post with tips on the revision process. Her blog is filled with great info and can be found here.
Here's how my first draft revision went down: I went through about 20 chapters tonight and revised the heck out of them. Then I realized that due to all my brilliant revisions, I created an inordinate amount of additional things that needed to be revised. There must be a mathematical formula that supports this - e.g. for every one thing you change, the resulting things that require changes grows in an exponential fashion. At any rate, I changed a secondary storyline, re-wrote scenes, deleted scenes, polished dialogue and killed a character (and by killed, I mean I took them out of the story altogether - I didn't maul them with a candlestick).
Then I settled into my pillows - because what better place is there to do revisions than in bed - with my laptop, my green tea, and my printed manuscript (the one now scattered over my bedspread with my chicken scratch notes scrawled on it) and sighed. It dawned on me that as fast as I'm capable of working, this process won't be a quick one - in fact, it will take me longer to revise the book than it did to write it. That was an eye-opener. Not to mention that my wonderful critique partners haven't yet read it and that's when the heavy revisions will begin.
So why am I finding it fun? Because even after only half of one revision, my book is better. It's better now than it was yesterday and with more feedback from beta readers and critique partners, along with countless other revisions, it will get even better. On the business end, I have no idea how this will turn out - if the book will get published or find an agent - but that would be icing on the cake. I'm writing the best book I can and am having a blast doing it. Talk to me when I'm on revision number 19, and I may not sound so cheerful...:) Where are you in your revision process? What number revision are you tackling right now?
Feel free to comment about anything you want: NaNo, revisions, whether the Saints will go undefeated, etc?
FYI: Elana Johnson from Querytracker has a fabulous post with tips on the revision process. Her blog is filled with great info and can be found here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
