50,000 words later... A decade of NaNo

I started "writing" ten years ago. TEN YEARS PEOPLE! That's a long time. And I still haven't published anything. (insert sad face)
There were many, many times over the years that I gave up. I quit. I felt so unsuccessful! I was finished with this writing journey I began. But after a few weeks, I'd get cranky and annoying and bored. So I'd write again and my attitude changed.
I needed to write like I need air (that's a little dramatic, but how it felt).
I remember so many "firsts" on my writing journey. First rejection, first ugly story, first friend to snub me after they were nationally published, first critique group.
One of my firsts was trying NANOWRIMO, or National Novel Writing Month, which is set in November. Basically, write 50,000 words and you've written a novel.
Now, I'm a little competitive, so when I heard about NaNo, I decided to give it a try. That was in 2009. Since then, I've "won" NaNo seven times. I took off a couple of years because writing in November is hard and I wanted to focus on my family more

I've worked on, edited, will edit, all of those seven stories. I think that's success. 
What about you? Do you Nano?

Just to record what I've done, I'm adding those stories here:

2009 My Village

2010 Ranch Boys (I'm editing this one soon)

2011 Crooked Moon 

2013 Thirty Days

2014 Caleb the Hick (I'm going to work on this one soonish)(37K words)

2015 Belle of the Ball (13K words)

2016 Grace

2017 Christmas Wishes

2019 Snowy Kisses

The Waiting is the Hardest Part by Joanna MacKenzie

I thought this post from Nelson Literacy Agency was very timely with NaNo, or wrapping up your NaNo and sending out query letters. 

What do you do while you wait for the perfect agent? 

The Waiting Is the Hardest Part

By Joanna MacKenzie
At some point during your publishing journey, it will seem like all you’re going is waiting. There’s a lot of hurry-up-and-wait in publishing, and it’s hard to know what to do when you feel like you have nothing to do. Here are a few suggestions for how to pass the time:
1. Write Something. Ideally, something completely different. The best way to not dwell on the project that’s out with agents or editors is to get busy with new characters. Don’t write the second book in your planned series. Don’t rewrite the manuscript you just queried. Start a new project. Try out that idea that’s been kind of taking shape in the back of your head but that you think is way too off-brand for you. Even if you turn out to be right, every project hones your skills and makes you a better storyteller. You still have a few weeks of NaNoWriMo left!
2. Socialize. These moments of in-between are great opportunities to become the best literary citizen you can be. Part of being a successful author is being connected to your local publishing scene, no matter how small. Get out and network. Hit up a conference, a reading, a lecture series, or a local publishing drinks event. Not only could you have the opportunity to vent about the waiting with other writers, but you might also make some valuable connections for the next steps in the publishing process, such as asking for endorsement quotes.
3. Get Online. Waiting is also a great opportunity to get your social-media house in order. I’m a firm believer that writing should be your first priority, but if you’ve hit “the end” and sent that manuscript out into the world, you now have some time to focus on your professional online presence. Make sure you have the infrastructure set up for your social-media accounts as well as an author website or landing page, and start creating an online community for yourself by following and interacting with other writers.
4.  Read. If you’re someone who can’t read while they write, or if you can’t read within your genre while actively working on a project, then waiting for your agent or editor to get back to you is a great time to catch up on what’s recently been published. In addition to being an entertaining distraction, reading other authors might help you find new comp titles for your work or inspire you to diversify and write in a different genre.

What do NaNoWriMo, Literary Book Gift, Cashmere Gloves have in common?

Have you heard of NaNoWriMo? 

November has been declared National Novel Writing Month. Thousands of humans around the globe try to write a WHOLE entire novel in thirty days. 

How many words, you ask? 50K Fifty thousand. 50,000

That's a whole lot of words, people. And it's not as easy as you think. 

But it's a fantastic way to get lots of words written down and out of your head. 

There are many tools someone in November can use to help. This is one such tool that I love.

#shoutout to Literary Book Gifts for allowing me to trying out their cashmere, fingerless gloves! 

I LOVE them! 💝🧤

They are soft and warm! Perfect for cold days writing at home or in the library. 

They aren't bulky or thick, so they don't get in the way of typing or turning pages. They can be kept in a coat pocket or a purse. Everyone will be jealous of not only your style, they'll be jealous of how warm your hands are as you read and/or write.

Have you ever done NaNo? 
How did you do??
Have you ever wanted to do NaNo?
It's never too late to start!

National Novel Writing Month AKA NaNoWriMo AKA NaNo

Are you doing NaNo this year? 

I'm going for it! 

I'm TaffyL if you want to be buddies.

NaNoWriMo Pep Talk from Jim Butcher

Awesome pep talk from Jim Butcher! 

Beware, sweet, innocent, aspiring writer. People aren’t telling you this, and they should be. NaNoWriMo participants are being deceived into thinking that being an author is a good thing. But you don’t know. You don’t know the horrors you might face as a professional, published, full-time author.

I could tell you. I could go on for hours about all the things that threaten my peace of mind. I could for you a tale unfold that would harrow up your carpal tunnels and chill the very marrow of your finger bones: tales of the constant questions, the unending deadlines, the mind-bending task of deciding each and every day which hours you will spend writing.

But never mind all of that. Best not to dwell on the worst. Instead, let us concentrate on what you must do to avoid this horrible fate, and save yourself agonies untold.

First and foremost, and I cannot stress this enough: do not sit down at the keyboard and write on a regular basis. This is a trap. You can tell yourself that you’re only doing it to scratch an itch, that you only need to get a few hundred words written and then you can set it aside—but the siren clickclickabulation of the dancing keys will do more than merely produce words on a page. It will condition you to want, nay, to need to do it each and every day.

And if that happens, there is simply no way, in the long run, to avoid the most lamentable and horrible fate of finishing a novel.

Whatever you do, do not seek feedback from readers and other writers. Bad enough that you work in a vacuum, allowing the authoric energies to work their demonic way on your thoughts—if you add to that the feedback of the work’s intended audience, you will only establish the primary mechanism of making your writing more effective for those for whom it is meant.

This is a doubly pernicious practice! Not only does it seduce you to create more material for your audience, but it creates more audience for your material in an infernal feedback loop. I cannot stress to you enough how much you need to avoid this part of the process! Save yourself!

A further horrible mistake I can recognize only in retrospect: do not inform yourself about the publishing industry and the demons who labor therein. Oh, certainly, those people, those editors, may seem to be witty and charming and friendly at writing conventions and on workshop panels, but make no mistake. Their only purpose in life is to draw you into their evil plans, and force you to labor for them while they help you hone your writing craft.

Many aspiring writers are intimidated by editors, and I cannot help but emphasize how much credit you should give to these instincts, placed there for the protection of your sanity and whole mind. If you allow yourself to overcome this natural inclination, it may be too late for you to escape your fate.

Finally, I can only encourage each and every aspiring author out there to quit writing at the first opportunity and never look back. This seemingly harmless activity is anything but, and if you cannot break its hold on you, if you continue to make up one excuse after another to keep typing, if you find yourself promising yourself “just one more novel” and never draw away from it, you will inevitably be drawn into published perdition.

All you need do is quit! Just say no! And you will be saved! But if you continue, and continue, and continue despite all the sane voices trying to sway you, you will be drawn into the maelstrom of madness that is the life of a professional writer.

Dear NaNoWriMo participant, I beg of you, listen to me! You cannot know the horrors you will face! Run! Flee! Turn aside from this dark road!

For if you do not, I fear that one day, you will find yourself writing with other damned souls like me.

Jim Butcher is the author of the The Dresden Files, The Codex Alera, and the upcoming Cinder Spires series.

NaNoWriMo pep talk from Brandon Sanderson

I LOVED this writerly pep talk from Brandon Sanderson! I totally needed this today. Now go flame the spark...

Pep Talk from Brandon Sanderson (2014)

Brandon’s Website
Brandon’s Books
Writing StoryBundle

The toughest moment in my writing career came in 2002. I had just finished my 12th novel, but so far hadn’t been able to sell a single one of the things. Earlier that year, I had been rejected by all 13 MFA programs I’d submitted to.

I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs since—including books that topped the bestseller list and others that crashed and burned—but no moment in my life has been more poignant than sitting with the latest in what seemed like an endless stack of unsold novels, wondering what I was doing with my life.

What I didn’t know was that the process had already begun—the spark had dropped onto the grass, and a fire was smoldering that would change my life forever. A year earlier, in 2001, I’d submitted my sixth book to an editor. Eight months had passed with no communication, other than a short follow-up I’d sent about three months after the submission. (The editor replied that he’d gotten the manuscript, but said nothing else.)

That book, Elantris, was still sitting on the editor’s desk. He hadn’t looked at it. He wouldn’t until April 2003, after which he’d call me in a frenzy after reading all night, demanding to know if the manuscript was still available. He made an offer on the spot.

But in 2002, I sat there, contemplating my future with despair, completely unaware that within months I’d have a major book deal. Ultimately, I shook off the discouragement and started work on my thirteenth novel. But I do sometimes wonder what my life would be like if I’d given up, moved on, then gotten that phone call eight months later with an offer from an editor.

You could be writing the book that changes your life. You could have already submitted it, or self-published it. The spark could be starting a fire for you as well. You don’t know, and you can’t know. That is the thrill of being an artist, of working for yourself, and of telling the stories you want to tell.

Don’t give up. Keep your eyes on the project you’re working on right now, and make it the best that it can be. More importantly, love that process. In the end, that’s what made me stand up and get back to work on book thirteen: the realization that I loved telling stories. No stack of unpublished novels, no matter how high, would change my enjoyment of this process—no more than a finished set of dives would make a scuba enthusiast feel discouraged about diving again.

Maybe that fire has been sparked for you, and you don’t know it. But even if it hasn’t been, you should write as if it has. Because this thing you’re doing isn’t about publication, bestseller lists, or reviews. It’s about you, your story, and the victory inherent in completion.

Pep Talk from Holly McGhee

Holly’s Website
Holly’s Books

Dear Wrimos,

Of everything I have ever learned as a literary agent and as a writer, there is one lesson that I think is more important than any other: you must write for your life.

And so this is for those of you who have always known that you wanted to be a writer, and for those of you who write every day. It’s for those of you who have yet to put a single word on paper, too. It’s for those of you who are lonely, hopeless, and depressed, and to those of you who have never suffered a day in your life.

This is what I know:

Sometimes if you haven’t touched your laptop in a while, you begin to fear it. You’re afraid to start typing and you’re afraid not to start typing. Writing becomes a stranger—and without realizing it, you’ve closed the door on your closest friend, your imagination.

You’ve got to honor your imagination, for it is your ally.

The good news is that the simple act of getting words down again instantly un-sticks you! Writing moves your thoughts and feelings through you and out into the world, and the doors of possibility and wonder open before you again. Just like magic, you are free.

I learned this the hard way.

There was a time in my life, not too long ago, of utter darkness. We had moved from New York City to the suburbs so that our children could have a backyard to play in. It was a catastrophic move for me. I craved the anonymity and solitude of the city, but found myself surrounded by neighbors—I didn’t know how to be in this new world. I did not fit in. I felt trapped. After some time, I didn’t see the world in color anymore either, only grey, and after more time, I didn’t want to get up in the morning.

And then a character, Dessert Schneider, came charging into my life. I didn’t know that my white knight, the one who would save my life, would appear to me in the form of a conniving, confident, bossy third grader who demanded I write her story. I opened the door a crack—and then eventually I opened the door all the way, and I wrote her novel, in her voice—my fingers were on fire. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was writing for my life—I was writing my way out of the darkness and into the light—into believing in myself again, reacquainting myself with my imagination.

The world is at your fingertips, literally. Just as you need to breathe, just as you need sunlight, just as you need water—if you’re a word person, you need to write. Sometimes you may know where you are going, and other times you may be embarking on the long road to possibly nowhere—it doesn’t matter—you’re getting the words out.

Writing fuels your imagination, which makes you want to write more. And your imagination is always loyal, and it will save your life if necessary, as it did for me. Your imagination is there in the loneliest of times, and in the joyful times, too.

Write for your life.

Holly

Pep Talk from Marie Lu

Marie’s Website
Marie’s Books

Hey Wrimos,

You’re past the halfway mark. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and you can see the faintest glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. But you can barely breathe. Your brain feels sore. Things might be getting a little rough, right?
I’m not going to give you inspirational words. I’m not going to tell you how hard it is to be a writer or how courageous you are to be doing this (which you are, by the way, didn’t you know that already?). You don’t have time for all that—you’re trying to finish a novel! Today, I’m going to give you some practical tips on how to make it through the third week. The dark swamp. The mines of writer’s block.

Pull your favorite, tattered, dog-eared book off the shelves. Find a chapter that leaves you breathless. Start typing it out in a new document, word for word. Don’t just type blindly; think about what you’re writing. For me, something about this exercise helps me see the genius in the other writer’s storytelling, and will stimulate my own writing and thoughts. Be careful, of course, that you don’t end up plagiarizing it right into your novel… but there’s something to be said for drawing inspiration from another.

Write a long list of all your characters. Then, start drawing random lines connecting random characters to each other. Don’t think—just connect. Afterward, look down at your page. Try to figure out a connection between each of the two random characters you just linked—something scandalous, maybe, or something sweet. Something three-dimensional and unexpected. Some explosive scene that throws the two together.

Turn to a different creative venture. This is the point in NaNoWriMo when you start feeling exhausted, which makes you lazy, which makes your storytelling lazy. Words might not be inspiring you anymore. So turn to writing’s creative cousins. Art. Music. Games. And so on. I personally will draw my characters. You can do the same, even if you don’t usually draw or you don’t want to draw your characters. Take 10 minutes and make a map of your world, even if you’re writing contemporary. Where’s the post office? What’s the layout of this house? What places do your characters love to visit? Draw a random box in the corner. Make that a secret/forbidden/abandoned place. A love hotel. A bar with a hidden basement.

Turn to music: make a playlist of music that matches the mood of your story. Don’t just play it back, either—plug in some good headphones, close your eyes, sit back, crank the volume, and get lost. Play the scenes of your story out in your head. Imagine the lyrics matching your story. Listen to the story arc inherent in the song. Go to where your characters are. Somewhere in the darkness, you might see the spark of a scene.

Of course, none of this can trump the ultimate, time-worn advice:
Just Keep Going.
Write an entire monologue with your main character if you have to. Spend a chapter just exploring the life story of an antagonist. Write a scene with nothing but dialogue between your hero and your villain. Write a steamy love scene between your favorite couple. They don’t have to be scenes in chronological order. They don’t even have to end up in your book. But they will help you to keep going.
So keep going. You’re almost there. Just a little more. You are stubborn. You are exhausted. You are determined. You are a Writer.
Marie

NaNo Pep Talk from Bella Andre

Pep Talk from Bella Andre

Bella’s Website
Bella’s Books

Dear Novelist,
In the workshops I give to writers, I talk a lot about blocking out the white noise (email, Facebook, phone calls, prolonged internet searches for information you don’t really need to know to write your first draft, etc.) and putting on blinders so you can really give your focus to your book. This advice is a lesson I personally relearn with every single book I write.
In the past two and a half years, I have written 10 books in my contemporary romance series about the Sullivan family. Today, I began number 11.
That’s the quick and pretty version, but if you pull back the glossy cover, the past 30 months actually look like this:

• Decide to start my new book.

• Do everything but start the book.

• Make more big plans to start the book, for real this time.

• Freak out about not starting the book.

• Tell myself that tackling the non-writing items on my enormous to-do list is important, necessary work, so really, how could I start the book yet?

• Tick through non-writing items on my to-do list… and get crankier by the day.

• Force myself to sit down with my laptop and stare at the blank page and not get up until I’ve written at least 1,000 words.

• Finally realize (yet again!) that the number-one thing to help both my career and my peace of mind is sitting down and writing. Every single day. From one book to the next.

Today’s start of Sullivan #11 was no exception. I went through every one of the above steps during the past two weeks until I simply couldn’t stand it anymore. When I woke up this morning, I decided the to-do list could wait. Answering emails could wait. A walk could wait. Eating could wait.
But the book could not.
I truly believe that no matter where you are in your writing career, the book is always the most important thing. For a new writer, finishing your first book will likely require great focus and determination. All you want is to finally get to “The End.” But once your book is out in readers’ hands, the most important thing will always be your next book. I’ve seen again and again, in both my own career and others’, that the surefire way to create ongoing success is to write the next book. And the one after that. And the one after that.
Once I finally push myself to start a new book, I always find that’s when the focus finally comes. Fortunately, day by day as I sink deeper into the manuscript, it becomes far easier to block out that white noise and keep focus on the writing.
That’s why I love NaNoWriMo so much. Because it’s all about the book coming first.
Happy writing!
Bella Andre

 http://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks/bella-andre

I love these pep talks from the NaNo website!!

Pep Talk from James Patterson

James’s Website
James’s Books

So Writer, you’re trying to write a novel in 30 days. Has anyone told you you’re crazy yet?
You’re not crazy. I promise. I know because I’ve written a novel in a couple of months. And yes, I’m a human being (just ask my editor, or my wife) and I do sleep. The book even got published. So anyone who tells you it’s impossible is wrong and you should probably stop taking their advice. Unless it’s your mom. Then just stop taking her advice about writing (you should still floss once a day).
There’s no getting around the fact that it’s hard, though, is there? By now you know that better than anyone. Maybe you should give up on this whole novel business and go relax. Or work at a paying job. But I say, keep at it. Because, like I said, it’s possible. And as you must suspect, it’s a pretty fantastic feeling to have written a book.
So how do you do it? Here are some tips on making it to December 1 without going crazy or giving up. (Though if you have to do one of them, I’ve always found sanity overrated.)
Outline. If you already have: gold star; proceed to the next piece of advice. If you didn’t, don’t worry, because it’s never too late to go back and make an outline. An outline isn’t something to be scared of, it’s just a chapter-by-chapter description of the scenes that, lined-up together, make your book. On the count of three, tell me the story that unfolds in your novel. All the way to the last chapter. Now write that down. There’s your outline. Easy, right?
Lie to yourself. Honesty is a great quality, but we’re writing fiction here, so you’d better get used to a little light lying. Tell yourself you can do this. Tell yourself your book will be great. The world will love it and you’ll be the next J.K. Rowling, J.D. Salinger, Art Spiegelman, or whatever flavor of author you hope to become.
Get into a writing routine. Think it’s hard to write every day during NaNo? Most professional writers keep this kind of pace all year round. Holidays, birthdays, vacations—you name it, we’re writing. The trick is making writing into a daily habit. Same time. Same place. Same hot beverage of choice. Every. Single. Day. Again. And. Again.
Don’t do it alone. If you live with somebody, tell them to be unpleasant to you if they see you doing anything else during your writing time. Buy them a water gun. If you live alone, have friends call and check on you. And if you have no friends, you will have no trouble writing a book in 30 days. What else do you have to do? (I’m not knocking friendless people. We’ve all been there.)
Don’t stress. I don’t mean to undermine the above, but remember this is one month, not your entire writing career. Try hard, learn from it, and if you don’t get to 50,000 words, figure out what you did wrong so you can get there next time.
Stop reading this. Start writing. Now. (Or at midnight your time.)
James

NaNoWriMo pre-challenge!

NaNoWriMo pre-challenge!

You have roughly 1month, 1 week and 4 days to finish up your novel or memoir or short stories this month so you are ready to get writing for NaNo.
And you have roughly 1 month, 1 week and 4 days to decide what you want to write for NaNo and get a draft or outline written.
I need to finish writing and editing my WWI Historical Romance and possibly get ahead on the new book I have a fourth of the way written.  Then on the last week of October I hope to wrote out a rough draft for the thriller in my head.
I've written three 55, 000 word stories thanks to NaNo. Last year I didn't have time to write like a crazy beheaded chicken. The year before that I decided to try an outline. It was harder for this pantser but I did it. This year I have a new book in my head and I'm not sure if I'll have an outline this time or not.


What are your goals for the rest of the year? 
Are you particiapating in NaNoWriMo this year?
What are your writing?

Is NaNoWriMo right-o for you?

It's all downhill from here. That time of year that brings dread and butterflies all at once. The season many, many writers anticipate every year.We are sliding right into NaNoWriMo time. 
How many of you have experienced National Novel Writing Month in November? Some of you have finished and "won" and some of come close but are still winners in getting words on paper.
I tried NaNo. It's crazy and fun. I, myself, have finished four stories, thanks to NaNo. I've worked and typed and penned and eked out 55,000 every time. NaNo is a great motivator to writing a new story, it's the editing that drags on me.
But November is soooo hard! November is soooo busy! November is full of family activities, Thanksgiving vacation and planning Christmas. My family wants me to be with them during this month.

This summer I heard about Camp NaNoWriMo, a summer camp for NaNo-ers. When you sign up your get cabin mates who encourage you along and fireside talks to get your backside into gear. So I signed up and guess what I learned? July is busier than November! I only got 13,000 words written. July is summer vaca, so everybody is home. And bored. At least in November the kids are in school for most of the month and its easier to find free writing time.

I need to insert here that I made a personal writing rule for myself. This rule makes for a happy home: I'm off the computer while the family is home. See how this rule conflicts with summer vacation?
And I'm not going to lie--NaNo is hard. I don't write on Sundays and many times Saturdays are spent with family, then Thanksgiving break comes along and any other holidays and wham-o! There really are not thirty days to write. It's more like twenty. Which equals *counts on fingers**gives up* a lot of words a day.

NaNo may not seem right for everyone. There are many who write slower than others. And you have to totally turn off and ignore your inner critic. But I believe it's worth a shot. Even if you don't make 50,000, you have started a new story, which is always good. And who knows what that will end up? Could be your next published work.

Positives:
Focused writing
Complete a novel in thirty days
New, fresh ideas will surface
Can be done if you are a pantser or outliner

Negatives:
Stress
Hard to find time to sit and write
Finishing on time 
Harder to do if you are an outliner
 
 
Have you participated in NaNoWriMo? What did you think? How did you do?
When do you think is a good month to do NaNo? February? September?

RhinoWriMo

How's your writing going this month? Are you participating in NaNoWriMo?
Good luck! I know you can do it!
About halfway through November, it's easy to get bogged down in your writing and quit. You need some motivation to carry on. I totally understand.

Well, I'm introducing, RhinoWriMo to you. Just let me know that you're experiencing writers cramp/block and these two rhinos will be coming at ya full tilt.

So sit your backside back down in that chair before you end up hurt.

Waddya say to that? Call RhinoWriMo today.

(They both have unlimited charge cards.) (I had to say it, sorry!)

Back to NaNo??

I was gone over the weekend. Girls only weekend.

I left the laptop with hubby so he could do his homework. (He's working on his MBA online.)
So I took a legal pad and a few pens with me in case I have time to write in between talking, gut-bursting laughter and nummy food. I also took a couple of Christmas books to read for a review.

I surprised myself by writing SIX pages, front and back! So like 12 pages on legal sized paper. Whoopie! Most of what I wrote was based on Josi Kilpack's character sheets. I feel like I know my characters very well now. Plus Storyfix suggested stepping back and writing out bullets of my story. I only got a half page on that because I'm not an outliner especially when it comes to NaNo.

How are you all doing with your writing?
If you're doing NaNo, how's your story coming along?

AND! Do you have a favorite Christmas I can read and review?? I'm stuck. Maybe I'll just read Dickens again...

What's Your NaNo Stat?

What's your numbers?

25225 which is about 50% done!!
How is everyone doing today?
I did well Monday-Friday then had a busy weekend. I didn't get to NaNo today either. I might not even tonight because a hot bath and flannel sheets sound good to me right now.
Were you able to get tons of words typed over the weekend?

*sigh* no. But I am happy about getting ahead last week.

My Third NaNoWriMo

Yup.
I'm going there again this year.
National Novel Writing Month.
Writing 50,000 words in 30 days.
Insanity unleashed.
Can't be done, you say?
I beg to differ.
And so do all those who wrote feverishly during November, edited their work and published it.


My method the last two years consisted of not thinking, just writing. Turning off the inner critic. Typing without thinking.

My first story was over 50,000. It was about an African village. A young girl was told by the medicine man whom she had to marry. The intended groom was old. The girl's mother helped her run away. She made it to America, learned and grew up, returned to Africa to find her village slowly dying. She gave them a way to live again.
I have no idea where that story came from. Seriously. It wasn't ANYWHERE on my radar. The MC has a very distinctive voice. I haven't written a strong voice in any of my other stories so far. It's my next story to be edited.

Last year I typed without thinking again. The story that evolved was a dystopian story. One day the moon shifted in its orbit, causing tidal waves and earthquakes. A group of teens learned they would find a sort of "Eden" in the "big crack" that runs down the middle of the earth. Many people seek it and many are taking advantage of these people. They are led to a prison instead. The teens must find Eden and figure out how to free all humanity.

Once again, how did that story come out? No idea. I had NEVER read dystopian before.
This year I want to try writing with an outline in mind. I have no idea if it will work.

What about you? 

Are you signed up for NaNoWriMo?

If you've written like crazy in November, what was your method? Was it successful?

I Am A Winner! NaNoWriMo style

List of NaNoWriMo pros and cons:

Pros:
Finished @ 50363!
Finished before Thanksgiving dinner.
Typed a totally different genre than I have before.
Have another interesting story to work on.
Didn't edit.
Didn't care.

Cons:
Apparently, the NaNo muse deemed this only Book One.
Have another interesting story to work on.
Didn't edit.

More pros than cons is good!
Have a great week!

NaNoWriMo Pep Talk

Hi novelist!

Lindsey here, Community Liaison for NaNoWriMo.

Last week the love interest in my novel did something kind of abhorrent. He drugged the neighbor's dog and blamed it on his girlfriend. I couldn't believe he did that! It was a completely unauthorized move. But once it was done, there was no undoing it. All the things I had planned for him to do and say in upcoming scenes were all wrong—suddenly my knight was a first-class jerk. Even if I went back and deleted the scene, I'd still know what he was capable of. (It seems I have a "no take backs" approach to my characters.)

So I did what any overly emotional, sleep-deprived writer would do: I broke up with him. And in doing so, I kind of broke up with my novel, too. This started having all kinds of adverse affects on my life. I lay awake at night, puzzling over how my good guy went so bad. I couldn't get to work in the morning for all my distracted agonizing over what to do. I was getting out of the shower with shampoo in my hair, leaving the house in my slippers, and dazedly driving to the grocery store instead of to the office. My character was everywhere, begging to be heard, asking to be redeemed. My word count was getting further behind with each passing day, and I was well on my way to being haunted by an imaginary being. But he didn't feel so imaginary; I'd brought the story to life, and those characters, and that world. It was just dangling there in limbo, derailing my focus and turning me into a bit of a loony.

Though I still had no fix in mind and was far from forgiving his behavior, I returned to the scene of my character's crime and gave him a second chance. And you know, the apology that poured forth was fairly epic. His girlfriend forgave him. It was so good that even I forgave him. In fact, this foray into his dark side has done some really great things for the depth of his character. He is less jerk and more bada##. (I added number signs) The novel has righted itself and everyone seems back on track for the rest of the story to unfold.

In this coming week, if you find yourself mired in a dead end, bored stiff by your protagonist's lackluster performance, or generally feeling that your plot is tripe, don't despair; you actually have the answer. Don't do what I did and shelve your novel. You'll probably go nuts. And you'll have to live with the knowledge that there is a half-dead story out there, haunting you with its zombie characters and shadowy half-world, just waiting for your pen stroke to set it straight. Because that's all it takes: returning to the wreckage and committing yourself anew to the phoenix-like resilience of this world you're writing.

I'll see you at 50K!

Lindsey

Pep Talk From Gail Cason Levine

Gail Carson Levine's first book for children, Ella Enchanted, was a 1998 Newbery Honor book. You can learn more about her writing at http://gailcarsonlevine.blogspot.com/

This is an email I got this week:

Dear NaNoWriMo-ers,

I'm not even the tortoise of writing. I'm the slug. And you are more than hares, you're cheetahs — writing at seventy miles an hour. I have to fictionalize even to talk to you.

So it's October 31st. I’m back from trick or treating in a robot costume, worn to honor Isaac Asimov, who wrote or edited more than 500 books in his lifetime. After removing my tin head mask and my metallic gloves, I pig out on candy corn and think about today's accomplishments.

I dug a shallow grave in the backyard and buried my print thesaurus (starting tomorrow, the first word I think of is good enough, even if I use it seven times on every page), dictionary (who cares how ophthalmologist is spelled anyway?), usage books (I can figure out the difference between lie and lay later), encyclopedia, atlas, and my beloved books about writing. I taped blackout curtains over my windows.

My techy friend spent hours tinkering with my computer. She's assured me that it will combust if I try to reestablish connections to the internet and email. The single thing I'm keeping is my cell phone in case I start to go into cardiac arrest, but the keys are smeared with battery acid, except the 9, the 1, and send. My family and friends and Meals-on-Wheels have sworn to deliver food to my door, which will be kept closed to protect the world from my intensifying body odor.

Now I tape my list of rules and advice (culled from friends, my mom, the buried writing books, and, mostly, my own hyped-up imagination) to the wall next to my desk.

-Sleep at least once a week.

-Eat at least once a day, but not constantly. Don't forget the essential fatty acids (Mom).

-If my fingers freeze from carpal tunnel syndrome, I have ten perfectly good toes, a nose, and quite a few teeth.

-When I'm not happy with how things are going, turn off the screen and keep typing. Don't turn it back on until the crisis is over.

-Don't check my word count more often than every fifteen minutes.

-Dream sequences can eat up a lot of pages, and they shouldn't be logical.

-Short words count just as much as long ones.

-The perfect is the enemy of the fast. The good is the enemy of the fast. The halfway decent is the enemy of the fast.

-When I run out of plot ideas, write about setting and what each character is wearing, in exquisite wordy detail. When I run out of setting and apparel, write about the voice quality of each speaker, speech mannerisms, facial ticks, body language.

-Keep my music loud enough to drown out my thoughts. Thinking is the enemy of speed.

-Remember the infinite-monkey theory: Endless keystrokes will eventually produce Shakespeare or at least words and maybe a story.

-Never edit.

-Never ever go back.

It's time for bed. I must get a good night's sleep, my last for a month. So of course I toss and turn until 3:00 am, when I realize the month has begun. I get up, stagger to the computer, and type, "It was a dark and stormy night." I’m on my way!

Now, seriously, not fictionalized, with all the earnestness I can command, here is the only important piece of advice, which is crucial for any speed of writing, any kind of writing: Do not beat up on yourself. Do not criticize your writing as lousy, inadequate, stupid, or any of the evil epithets that you are used to heaping on yourself. Such self-bashing is never useful. If you indulge in it, your writing doesn’t stand a chance. So when your mind turns on you, turn it back, stamp it down, shut it up, and keep writing.

Good luck!

Gail Carson Levine

Rewrite, Restart, Redo

I was reminded today that NaNo rules are that the participants start from scratch. I did last year and was amazed what came out of my brain with no thought given to the writing. I put on loud music and just let my fingers type. Usually, I write out my thoughts and story but for NaNo I just type. It was a very interesting process.

This year I had an idea and a few pages hand written so that is what I used for NaNo. I don't feel the freedom to just go without thinking because I already have a preconceived notion where the story and the characters are headed.

But today, today, I let guilt get me. I sat down and just let my fingers go. The first page was utter nonsense. Kinda like my brain was spring cleaning. Then the story started to flow. I have no idea where it came from, but now I have over 5000 words in two hours! WOWSERS!

So I am starting my word count over. The story is strange; not one I would have thought up by myself! The creativity is just flowing and I take absolutely no credit for it.

I feel like I am on a high or like I am free from any constraints. It's fun! It's invigorating! And exciting.
Here is a shout out to my NaNo buddies! The word count for my NaNo 'buddies' is AMAZING! Keep up the good work!
And for those who are working on other writing goals, You Rock!