IWSG & NaNo Fun

 

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!  

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November 1 question: November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?

I love Nano!

I think your love/hate/apathetic relationship with NaNo has to do with how your brain works. We're all different, and like everything else, NaNo won't work for everyone.

I have an intuitive brain that works on my characters and backstories long before I start typing about them. I don't plan/think about the story itself, but I have a glimmer of the crisis scene at the end and I usually know a couple of scenes. When I start typing, the story starts to flow and my subconscious works on the next scene while I'm typing the current one.

If you're a plotter and have your planning ready to go, NaNo probably works too, as long as the timing works.

Whenever I'm drafting, I aim for a NaNo amount of words daily. Actually I aim for 2000 because that's the safe zone to make up for days that are more difficult.

If your brain thrives on external pressure, the graphs probably make you happy. External pressure normally makes me buckle, but NaNo is all about building the word count, so I don't think of it as pressure - it's more joy of writing.

This year I thought I would write Book #4 in my upcoming series for NaNo. But my brain was whirling with the story and I wrote it in late September/October instead. #oops

I'm hoping my brain is ready to draft Book #5 this month, but if not, I'll at least get new words to celebrate.

So to me, NaNo is about joy and fun. Does your brain or writing style match up with NaNo?

IWSG & NaNo

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!  

November 2 question - November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?

I LOVE NaNo!

WAY back when I first stumbled into writing for fun (at that point I had no actual knowledge of the publishing biz) I learned about NaNo. Sounded like fun so I jumped in. This was on November 1st.

I started a new project and won. My prize? A rambling mess of a story that required a ton of edits! I learned so much from writing that mess.

Since then, I've done NaNo fairly regularly. Now, I have a much better idea of how I write a story, and my projects no longer require all those edits. I still don't outline or plot in advance, but the characters and main points of a story percolate in my brain long before I start chapter 1.

We all have different ways of writing a story, so the NaNo experience might not be for everyone, but it makes me happy. NaNo is all about the joy of a community focused on writing. As part of the IWSG, we all know something about that!

How about you? Do you NaNo? Are you a rebel?

If you want a NaNo buddy, I'm @jemifraser over there!

Can You Visualize This?

I can't.

Here's some proof.

A couple of days ago (a few days into November), I realized something strange. I was working on my NaNo project and had accomplished my daily word count goal and had an extra thousand words padding the story. In all I had about 6500 words written.

For the first time in my life, I'd written an outline. This outline consisted of:
- character sheets for my main characters
- a story path for each of my MCs
- a path outline for the story (main outline)
- descriptions of 2 of the main settings in the novel

In all, I had over 6000 words written in preparation to write the story.

Altogether, that's 12 000 or 13 000 words.

As I was writing, I came to a part where my female MC takes off her helmet and tries to fix her hair. And that's when it hit me... I had NO IDEA what my MC looked like.

I didn't know hair colour, length or style. I didn't know her height or build.
I didn't know any of that about my male MC either.

I knew them as people but I wouldn't have recognized them on the street.
Of course, not recognizing people on the street is a special talent I have...

How about you? Are you a visual person? Do you know what your characters look like?

IWSG & NaNo

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

And we’re revving up IWSG Day to make it more fun and interactive! Every month, we'll announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

November 1 question - Win or not, do you usually finish your NaNo project? Have any of them gone on to be published?

I adore NaNo! I first stumbled on it just as I decided to try out this whole writing thing. Since then I've written several 1st drafts with NaNo - and finished them all. However, I haven't published (or even queried) them.

Why?

I'm still learning and I know they're not quite there. I believe they're close - but not close enough. Not yet. Maybe one day.

This year, I'm trying NaNo again - but this time with a twist. This time, I'm going in with an outline. I'm a pantser at heart so I have no idea if attempting an outline before I write will be a good thing or a bad thing. I'm worried having an outline is going to make me freeze, but there's only one way to find out!

I'm going to need all kinds of chocolate and support. Hope you're all up to the challenge of making sure I don't give up!!!

How about you? Are you a NaNo-er too? Any plotting tips to help me think this might actually work?

Eclectic Tastes

For anyone who's been following my blog for a while, you probably know I have rather eclectic tastes. I've really noticed this while I've been working away on my NaNo project this month (reached 50k last week!!).

I don't like writing in silence, I prefer to have music or the TV on in the background, but my TV tastes don't match my writing tastes at all!

I write contemporary romance.

I watch sports, mysteries, and all kinds of SF.

Right now, I've got my Fringe DVDs playing - not exactly on the same wavelength as my romance. My other DVDs are along the same lines - Firefly/Serenity, Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Battlestar Galactica, Grimm...

Not quite sure what that says about my brain. Maybe because the genres are so different, I'm not confused at all about what's going on in my story and what's on the screen. I do know I focus better on my writing with my TV faves (or sports) are playing on TV.

Or else I'm a little crazy - which no one has ruled out yet!

How about you? Do you write and watch the same genres? Or do you like to mix it up a bit?

Spring Optimism

Camp NaNoWriMo is here and I've pitched my tent and am camping out for the month. While we still have piles of hardened snow in our front and back yards, we also have these popping up, so spring is finally on the way!

After piecing together my last draft and doing a round of revisions, I needed to let it sit for a bit, so it's a perfect time for NaNo.

I've set my goal at 30k for the month, but I'm already over 20k, so I know I won't have any trouble meeting it.

This story is a companion novel to the previous draft and another in my potential Bloo Moose series. I feel like I'm finally making progress incorporating conflict into my stories, and the last 3 stories will hopefully be publishable after a few more rounds of revisions and edits.

Maybe it's just spring making me optimistic, or the excitement of NaNo, but I feel I'm becoming a stronger writer and hoping I'll have the confidence to put those stories out there when they're ready!

How about you, is spring making you optimistic too? Or am I the only delusional one around here?

First and Last Lines

A year or so ago, I read some advice on writing out the first and last line of every chapter in a list (if this was on your blog, please give yourself a shout out in the comments for me!).

I don't remember all the reasons, but as I'm reading through my NaNo novel, I'm keeping track of these lines in a file within my Scrivener folder and I'm finding some interesting things.

• only a few of my first lines really stink
• some of them are even pretty good
• my last lines are often very short - 1-3 words
• my characters are pretty sarcastic
• putting the 1st and last lines together gives a great summary of the chapter's emotion
• reading the list through gives a great sense of the story - and of the pace (which I always need help with). Much more helpful for editing than I expected

Doing this has helped me see I've grown as a writer too. I'm coming into scenes later and exiting earlier - trusting in the reader more. (Thanks to my fabulous CPs once again!!!)

Have you ever tried this? Any great first or last lines to share?

Keep Calm & Scrivener On!

So, I'm reading through my NaNo draft and finding lots to like...and more than a few things that just don't work. Pretty normal for a 1st draft, I'd say.

I've now realized I've got to switch the order of 2 of the Major Events. This will entail millions (or so it seems) of ripple effect changes throughout the entire story. More or less a complete rewrite while keeping the essence of the story.

Slightly terrifying! Exciting too.

If you've used Scrivener, you know that you can make notes on each file (scenes for me) and notes for the entire document. I use that one to keep track of the Big Idea Changes I need to make -- things like making one character more evasive, make the other crankier, keep the sexual tension up, add description etc.

I also keep a couple of folders that aren't part of the ms. Inside my Outlines folder, I have my rather pathetic attempts to plot. One is a (far too brief) synopsis, another has a chart outlining proposed chapters, another has a bullet list for main ideas of each chapter, and so on. Because I might actually be the world's worst plotter, there are far too many files and I'm about to add at least one more with my newest ideas for rearranging the plot lines. Hoping to find a method that really works for me soon,

Another folder is my To Do Folder with Things to Add, Big Ideas, & Fix This!

Depending on my mood and need, I can keep one of these files open alongside my current chapter. Or I can keep my current chapter in one window and the new version in the other. GREAT way to use the good bits and eliminate the garbage.

Then, I can easily slip the scenes around the MS with a few drags of the mouse. For me, it makes the rewriting process a lot less daunting and the mountain I've got to climb doesn't seem as steep.

Are you a Scrivener fan? Any tips to share? How do you feel about those major rewrites? Any magic wands to turn me into a Plotter Extraordinaire?

Note to Self

It's a bit early, but I've managed to squeak across that 50k NaNoWriMo finish line! The draft's not done yet, probably still another 20k to go. Hoping to have most of that wrapped up before the chaos of Christmas prep begins so I can let it simmer a bit over the holidays.

When I'm drafting, I don't fine tune as I go. Instead I leave myself notes on how to fix things later.

• this is all telling
• cliche alert!
• this stinks, but the core of the scene is good
• this isn't the right word
• do a find search for probably & maybe
• check to see how many days have passed
• what colour is his hair??
• add in some scene setting
• does the doctor have a last name?
• good place to add description
• blech - fix this

Do you leave yourself notes as you go? Or do you have to stop and fix it at the time?

First Draft Frenzy

Thanks so much for all of your kind words in my last post. Dealing with grief is tough, but we're coping. Mostly :)

I'm having a blast with my new NaNo draft. As of October 31st, I didn't have a clue who my characters were or what their story was, but it's flowing!

Writing first drafts is my absolute favourite part of the writing journey. And, as an added bonus, I'm getting better at them. Usually I have a bit more of a foundation to start with. I don't outline, but I generally have a solid idea of who my characters are, what drives them, what's holding them back, and how they need to grow.

I also usually know (in the loosest sense of the word) my ending. Definitely a bonus (for me) of writing romance is I know the end goal before I write a single word. I want my characters to grow enough to be able to trust another person with their heart.

Sounds simple, which is where the internal and external conflicts come into play - and where the fun is to be had!

So, I'm having a fabulous time watching both of my characters work hard to hide their pasts and shield their hearts, knowing it's not going to do them a bit of good in the long run!

What's your favourite thing about the writing stage you're at right now? Are you a first draft fan too? If you're doing NaNo too, I'm jemifraser over there if you want to buddy up!

Climbing out of the Quagmire

The last few months have been really rough here. A close family member lost her fierce battle with cancer and we're all reeling with the emotions (obviously). My go-to response to fear and sadness and tragedy is cooking/baking and I've stocked up everyone's freezers & fridges with enough soup, lasagnas, meatballs, chili, muffins, and cookies to last them through the next few weeks.

My creativity has been pretty much shot since we heard the news back in January, but I want to give myself a boost, so I've signed my foolish self up for NaNo again. I really don't need another first draft kicking around - I have 3 stories ready for those final revising rounds as well as 3 more first drafts with lots of potential and lots of needs. But, my heart is sore and weary and I'm hoping this might help me rebound.

As usual, I have no plan, no plot, no outline. Heck, I don't even have character names yet. But I think this one will involve some hi-jinks in the snow. Or not. I guess I'll find out soon! One thing I do know is there will be a HEA (happy every after) because that's exactly what I need right now.

So, if you're on the NaNo trail, join me (I'm jemifraser over there) and let's pound out some words together!

And if you're so inclined, pop on over to From the Write Angle, where we're talking NaNo as well.

I Survived

Yup - I survived NaNo again! Yay :)

I ended up with over 60k words for the month. I hadn't expected to be successful this year because my November was nuts, but it somehow all worked out. I think, for me, the joy of NaNo is that there are so many other nuts out there. It's also a competition, so that helps! I also get REALLY excited when I'm writing the first draft of a story, so I tend to do them fairly quickly.

I'm really enjoying the story and I'm nearing the end now. In fact I hope to wrap up the draft and put it to the side for a bit, let it marinate for a few weeks or more. In the meantime, I'm going to go over the draft I wrote for Camp NaNo in August. It's been a great year for first drafts for me!

I'm over at From The Write Angle today talking about some NaNo NoNos. I hope you'll pop over and add your thoughts to the discussion!

Word Sprints

I'm over at From the Write Angle today with my final (probably) post on Twitter hashtags for writers. One of the tags I mention is #nano. As most of you know NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month where a bunch of crazy writers (like me!) attempt to write a 50k first draft in 30 days.

As part of NaNo, there are word sprints to help you maintain the pace. If you follow @NaNoWordSprints, you'll see there's almost always a word sprint going on. Word sprints are timed 'races' where you try to get as many words time during the time limit - anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour from what I've seen. There are no prizes in this race - well, except a boost to your word count.

I don't always announce that I'm joining a sprint on twitter, but I often race along with the other writers. It's fun to see how the word counts match up.

Those in charge of the sprint will often throw in a dare or a challenge - things to add into your scene. Lost sock. Karaoke. Someone is killed on or by roller skates. Or maybe the dare will be to add in a challenge word - like alien or debris.

I rarely take up the dares because they don't usually work for my story, but they often make me smile. Last year one of the challenges was to add in a wild animal. My character was driving through the mountains and that dare added in a great scene about a run in with a moose. So, sometimes they do work out well. Regardless of the dare, the sprints are fun!

Have you ever tried word sprints? Do they work for you too?

(If you have time, I'd love to have you join the discussion over at From the Write Angle!)

I'm a Nut

A NaNo nut that is. (Well, I could qualify in a few nutty categories, but let's not go there).

NaNo is the National Novel Write Month event where tons of crazy folks attempt to write a 50k first draft in the 30 days of November. FUN!

I've done NaNo for a few years now. This year I participated in Camp NaNo thinking I would do that instead of the traditional NaNo. November is always crazy busy. It's report card time for me and these take hours and hours of work. Thankfully I've been working on them for the past few days, because I've jumped right back into the NaNo pool.

Why? Because I LOVE first draft writing. I love the little graphic on the site where you can see your word count grow. I love knowing I'm in the company of so many other writers. I love the word sprints. I love the silly questions on the Reference Desk forums. And I have a Shiny New Idea banging away at my skull.

So, if I'm not around, I'll be pounding away on the keyboard.

Send chocolate!

Any other NaNo nuts out there?

Writing Seasons

September has been an absolutely chaotic month for me. I had an incredibly productive summer for first drafts. I finished one first draft - added between 25 & 30k, then joined camp NaNo and wrote another 60k. I finished off that draft in the first week or so of September.

Now I`m in revision mode. I`m back to the story I finished in the early part of the summer. I'm doing a read through right now, doing minor revisions and seeing what needs to be done. While I'm moving at a decent pace, I feel like I'm back to snail mode.

Is it the difference between first draft writing and revising? Or is it the day job taking back a huge portion of my day and energy? Or is it all in perception?

My favourite part of the process is first draft writing. I LOVE this stage and could probably do it forever. I have so many ideas calling to me all the time.

But I've learned to enjoy the revision stage too - and during the school year, it's much easier to do revisions than first drafts. So, I'll try to enjoy the less frantic pace of revisions while I hope for more time in the coming months.

How about you? Do you have certain times of year when you prefer to work on different stages of the whole process?

Camping

Call me crazy, but I signed myself up for NaNo camp last week. I didn't sign up on the 1st - I hadn't planned to sign up at all. Then a tweet caught my eye and I thought... why not?

That complex romance/mystery/cozy/suspense idea has been niggling anyway. I've got a few more weeks before school starts. I'm going to be out of town and computerless for some of this week, but I'm trying to bank some words now.

I had about 10k written when I made a comment to my crit buddies about my male MC having a great backstory, but not enough oomph in his current story. A couple of golden comments later (LOVE my crit buddies!!!) and it clicked. I'd taken a wrong turn. Made things happen too quickly. The guy had already solved his issues. He was too mellow.

So...

Goodbye 10k.

Yup, I started from scratch. At first I thought I could use some of what I'd written, but within the first scene I realized I wouldn't.

Was it a waste of time and effort? Absolutely not! I know the town, the people, the interactions between the leads and I have a better handle on the male MC. This time around I'm doing a much better job of sprinkling in the backstory and upping the conflict. Yay!

But I'm still counting that 10k for NaNo!! :)

Have you ever scratched everything you've done and started again? Did it make you feel better too?

Querying that NaNo

I'm over at From the Write Angle today talking about querying that NaNo novel. I hope you'll pop on over and join the discussion.

I finished up the 50k on Saturday - but I'm nowhere near the end of the story. I do believe some major editing will be happening in the new year! :)

(I turned off comments here hoping you'll pop on over to say hi at FTWA!)

Whale!

If you need a laugh, click on the video - it's under a minute. And it's Dory - speaking whale!



I could have posted the 'Just keep swimming' link instead, but this one cracks me up. Anyway, it's NaNo and I haven't been able to visit the bloggy-verse as much as I'd like. It's also been report card season -- which isn't nearly as much fun.

Don't you think the writers for these animated movies are brilliant? I do - the humour is priceless. And then the actors bring it to life. Hopefully our characters do the same for our dialogue.

Anyway, I felt like it was a good time for a smile and Dory/Ellen is always a great choice for that!

Which animated movie/character cracks you up or makes you smile?

Gutting Pumpkins

My pumpkin carving skills are limited. Especially since I hate the smell of pumpkin and usually use markers instead. :)

This guy's skills are slightly superior. Check out these samples...

For lots more check out The Pumpkin Gutter site. How are your pumpkin carving skills?

Hope you all have a Halloween weekend - watch out for those goblins!
P.S. Are you ready for NaNo?

NaNo Nuttiness

Hi! I'm over at From the Write Angle today talking about NaNo. I love National Novel Writing Month, (NaNoWriMo or NaNo for short). Not sure if I'm Nano-ing or not this year (yes, it's a verb!) - what about you? Any good NaNo stories to share?

Please pop on over to discuss how writing a 50k novel in 30 days is/isn't nuts!

I've turned off comments in the hope you'll visit me there! Thanks :)