Happy Halloween!!! This is my favorite holiday -- dress up, candy, movies (Tim Burton), and party time! What could be better?? I'm dressed up as Velma from Scooby-Doo -- pink turtleneck sweater, brown plaid skirt, loafer shoes, glasses and bangs. It is one of the few outfits I could get away with at work.
(Are you dressed up today?)
I'm currently reading Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass and to date, it's one of the best books on writing I've read. Plunging into the depths of what it means to write great literature, Donald makes the reading engaging, super-instructive and then shows you the bullet points of the chapter. He also uses real-world examples (Jurassic Park!) to show you what he means. Basically the perfect book on writing (for me).
The most helpful chapters so far...are all of them. Seriously. The
last one I read, on plot, was extremely helpful as I contemplate the
structure of my novel -- did you know different genres have "ready-made" plots?
Trying to stuff all this learning into my brain while I'm plotting my NaNoWriMo novel feels like I'm in college again (which isn't a bad feeling at all, remarkably).
As for the NaNoWriMo activities, on Saturday we had our Kick-Off party at church, where we were given grab bags of helpful handouts (a NaNoWriMo calendar among them), candy, and odds and ends (including an official NaNoWriMo sticker which is going on my computer!), all of which we used during the afternoon. We made our own Mad Libs, wrote out plot bunnies and plot ninjas for each other (they're VERY different), and ate things like goldfish crackers and fun-size candy bars. It was fantastic. We also talked about our books with each other and spent some time helpfully adding in snacks and procrastination devices on our friends' sheets (Survival Sheets -- what to do when you have writer's block!).
I missed the Character Mixer online (sad face) but heard it was a riot. I'm going to do more online events this year -- as well as attend some of the Sunday write-ins at the library!
I think I finally found a title for my book (still toying with it but I like the sound) and today I'm plotting out the scenes of my book. My goal is forty (hopefully that means I'll be writing between 60,000-80,000 words, which is typical length for a novel, even though I only need 50,000 to win NaNoWriMo) scenes. I've written about 1/4 today and realized that I have a problem: I don't know what the ending is yet. !!! I'm struggling to keep the tone consistent and while I don't want it to be a heart-breaking, sad book, I don't want it to be saccharine, either. One writing book said that an ending, to be completely satisfying, must contain something the character gained and lost. In other words, the character needs to have gone through something and possibly lost someone/something to gain experience/insight, etc. So I'm keeping that in mind as I plot today.
Are you doing NaNoWriMo? Or have you read a really great book lately that I should read/review?? Tell me in the comments.
See you Friday!
Showing posts with label NaNoWriMo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NaNoWriMo. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Write Wednesday: Mixed Bag
Welcome back to Write Wednesday!
Today I'm going to be talking about:
A Beginning, A Muddle and an End -- Avi's unconventional book on writing (a sequel!)
Worldbuilding using The Five Senses (as discussed in Monday night's NaNoWriMo event)
AND the YAmazing Race -- a 50-blog hop around the web with PRIZES and introductions to new books!
Are you excited? You totally should be. (Mostly about that last bit, right??)
Avi's A Beginning, A Muddle and an End is a sequel to his thought-provoking The End of the Beginning -- but it isn't a typical sequel. The End of the Beginning speaks about the meaning of things, while A Beginning, A Muddle and an End: The Right Way to Write Writing is specifically about what it means to be a teller of tales (The books feature the same main characters, a snail and his friend, an ant).
A Beginning, A Muddle and an End is hilarious -- I laughed through most of the book. Avi cleverly twists words, offers advice and pokes fun at the way people look at writers (even writers themselves) and the process of writing.
If you want a fresh look at creating stories and living like an author instead of plodding through a dull and dusty text, try this one on for size.
In our local chapter of NaNoWriMo, we like to get together BEFORE November 1 and gab, gab, gab about what we're doing -- we also like to play games (Expando Sentence, Word Wars and role-playing as characters are among the favorites), eat more than our weight in candy, and buy waaaaay too many pristine and shiny new notebooks. And also, err, learn stuff that will help us in our crafting of novels come November 1.
SO, our MLs (chapter heads, municipal liaisons) produced a World Building Online Event. We eagerly logged on around 8:00 and chatted back and forth the entire time whilst 'listening' to the moderator about how to deepen our world using the five senses.
We took one character and plunged them into the busiest street in our world (for mine, that was in the middle of her city). We were told to write out:
3 things the character sees (landmarks -- particular to him/her)
3 things the character smells
3 things the character tastes (defeat, smoke, etc.)
3 things the character feels (pavement, jacket, etc.)
3 things the character hears
These were scattered throughout the chat, not all at once. It was a fantastic exercise because we had to close our eyes and take a good, hard look at how detailed our worlds were. I thought I had a pretty solid grasp on mine (I went through 30 Days of Worldbuilding, after all), but I realized I had left out a few of the senses. Grounding the character in the world will also help the reader, which is highly important since, you know, you want someone to enjoy your writing (even if it's just you and your family!).
It gave me a lot to think about and I might even go do some research (wander around downtown) so I can get the authentic take on a middling size city and its smells, sounds, sights, etc. It was also interesting to read everyone else's -- some were extremely detailed (the food descriptions were mouth-watering), some sparse, but all were unique and interesting.
We also did an exercise where we had to have the character overhear a line of dialogue (mine was, "Where is that glittery little freak?") -- VERY HELPFUL when establishing tone and pronunciation, vocabulary, etc.
another thing we did was discuss what made our stories OURS. What differentiates mine from my friend Mage Raven's story? What's the unique thing about my book? Being able to articulate that was encouraging and inspiring.
The last thing we did was to create a string of words that gave us the "feel" of our novel, something that will help us get 'in the mood' when writing as quickly as possible. For example: upon reading A Series of Unfortunate Events, I might say the string of words consisted of the following -- dreary, eye, mysterious, V.F.D., library/books, siblings, adventure. All of those would bring to mind the series and help me flesh it out. Does that make sense?
It was an extremely helpful and productive event, as you can see -- even for someone who's already spent a lot of time on worldbuilding!
OK -- so, the two most exciting parts of the post:
1. LEMONY SNICKET'S NEW BOOK CAME OUT YESTERDAY. (Who Could That Be At This Hour?, Book 1 of the All The Wrong Questions series) My friend texted me last night to say he had bought it and was halfway through AND IT HAD ALREADY ANSWERED THE QUESTION ABOUT THE QUESTION MARK IN THE OCEAN. AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway...
2. Take part in the YAmazing Race! Project Mayhem (a collection of awesome middle grade writers) is doing a ridiculously cool blog-hop contest and the prizes are out of this world -- books, bookmarks, author-signed copies, stickers, mugs, tees, keychains, etc. YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS. Each leg of the race consists of about 12 books, then you fill out a quiz about the synopses you read and then you can complete the next leg of the contest (there are 4; I've done two already). Also, most authors are doing a separate giveaway on their blog, so remember to look for that as well. The rules and contest info can be found here: YAmazing Race
Hurry, it ends Monday, October 29th! Good luck!
...See you on Friday for First Lines!
Today I'm going to be talking about:
A Beginning, A Muddle and an End -- Avi's unconventional book on writing (a sequel!)
Worldbuilding using The Five Senses (as discussed in Monday night's NaNoWriMo event)
AND the YAmazing Race -- a 50-blog hop around the web with PRIZES and introductions to new books!
Are you excited? You totally should be. (Mostly about that last bit, right??)
Avi's A Beginning, A Muddle and an End is a sequel to his thought-provoking The End of the Beginning -- but it isn't a typical sequel. The End of the Beginning speaks about the meaning of things, while A Beginning, A Muddle and an End: The Right Way to Write Writing is specifically about what it means to be a teller of tales (The books feature the same main characters, a snail and his friend, an ant).
A Beginning, A Muddle and an End is hilarious -- I laughed through most of the book. Avi cleverly twists words, offers advice and pokes fun at the way people look at writers (even writers themselves) and the process of writing.
If you want a fresh look at creating stories and living like an author instead of plodding through a dull and dusty text, try this one on for size.
In our local chapter of NaNoWriMo, we like to get together BEFORE November 1 and gab, gab, gab about what we're doing -- we also like to play games (Expando Sentence, Word Wars and role-playing as characters are among the favorites), eat more than our weight in candy, and buy waaaaay too many pristine and shiny new notebooks. And also, err, learn stuff that will help us in our crafting of novels come November 1.
SO, our MLs (chapter heads, municipal liaisons) produced a World Building Online Event. We eagerly logged on around 8:00 and chatted back and forth the entire time whilst 'listening' to the moderator about how to deepen our world using the five senses.
We took one character and plunged them into the busiest street in our world (for mine, that was in the middle of her city). We were told to write out:
3 things the character sees (landmarks -- particular to him/her)
3 things the character smells
3 things the character tastes (defeat, smoke, etc.)
3 things the character feels (pavement, jacket, etc.)
3 things the character hears
These were scattered throughout the chat, not all at once. It was a fantastic exercise because we had to close our eyes and take a good, hard look at how detailed our worlds were. I thought I had a pretty solid grasp on mine (I went through 30 Days of Worldbuilding, after all), but I realized I had left out a few of the senses. Grounding the character in the world will also help the reader, which is highly important since, you know, you want someone to enjoy your writing (even if it's just you and your family!).
It gave me a lot to think about and I might even go do some research (wander around downtown) so I can get the authentic take on a middling size city and its smells, sounds, sights, etc. It was also interesting to read everyone else's -- some were extremely detailed (the food descriptions were mouth-watering), some sparse, but all were unique and interesting.
We also did an exercise where we had to have the character overhear a line of dialogue (mine was, "Where is that glittery little freak?") -- VERY HELPFUL when establishing tone and pronunciation, vocabulary, etc.
another thing we did was discuss what made our stories OURS. What differentiates mine from my friend Mage Raven's story? What's the unique thing about my book? Being able to articulate that was encouraging and inspiring.
The last thing we did was to create a string of words that gave us the "feel" of our novel, something that will help us get 'in the mood' when writing as quickly as possible. For example: upon reading A Series of Unfortunate Events, I might say the string of words consisted of the following -- dreary, eye, mysterious, V.F.D., library/books, siblings, adventure. All of those would bring to mind the series and help me flesh it out. Does that make sense?
It was an extremely helpful and productive event, as you can see -- even for someone who's already spent a lot of time on worldbuilding!
OK -- so, the two most exciting parts of the post:
1. LEMONY SNICKET'S NEW BOOK CAME OUT YESTERDAY. (Who Could That Be At This Hour?, Book 1 of the All The Wrong Questions series) My friend texted me last night to say he had bought it and was halfway through AND IT HAD ALREADY ANSWERED THE QUESTION ABOUT THE QUESTION MARK IN THE OCEAN. AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway...
2. Take part in the YAmazing Race! Project Mayhem (a collection of awesome middle grade writers) is doing a ridiculously cool blog-hop contest and the prizes are out of this world -- books, bookmarks, author-signed copies, stickers, mugs, tees, keychains, etc. YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS. Each leg of the race consists of about 12 books, then you fill out a quiz about the synopses you read and then you can complete the next leg of the contest (there are 4; I've done two already). Also, most authors are doing a separate giveaway on their blog, so remember to look for that as well. The rules and contest info can be found here: YAmazing Race
Hurry, it ends Monday, October 29th! Good luck!
...See you on Friday for First Lines!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Write Wednesday -- Tips & Tricks for NaNoWriMo 2012
Hello again!
November is National Novel Writing Month. Each November (and now June and August -- Camp NaNoWriMo), writers around the world gather (or stay home) to tap out or scribble 50,000 words.
I started doing NaNoWriMo back in 2009 and I've "won" (hit 50,000 words) every year. This year I also did Camp NaNoWriMo in August (won that one too) so this is my fifth NaNoWriMo. I'm going to share some tips and tricks I've learned over the years in case (and in the hopes) you'd care to join me (please do!).
I'll break it down into three sections: plotting, writing, and revisions.
Plotting:
The first few years, I was a "pantster" (meaning I just wrote whatever was coming out of my brain -- no plotting, no planning, no forethought), but I've learned since then that I'm the type of person who needs an outline. I then experimented with very strict, elaborate plotting (things like The Snowflake Method, which is awesome) and realized that burned me out and I had no desire to start the actual writing.
This year, during the August Camp NaNoWriMo, I did some math and created a very basic plot structure. I also wrote a very basic outline, writing down specific scenes before I typed them out each day. It was effortless, easy, fun, and joyous. I've found what works for me.
My advice? Try doing it a different way every time until you figure out what works best for you -- and whatever works, know it probably won't be like everybody else's process and be fine with that. You are unique and your plotting method will be too. It will also grow and change over the years. That's good!
I'm also visual -- so things like collages (cut out pictures from magazines clued to a big piece of cardboard), Pinterest boards, etc. really help me. I create playlists as well -- soundtracks are especially good when you're trying to figure out pacing.
Here's a few things to get you started: The Process of Plotting from WriteOnCon2012, and Create A Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps
Writing:
Some people can crank out thousands of words in a day. Unless I've really thought about it (or not thought at all), I find it almost impossible to write more than 4,000 words a day. I'm much better off making a goal of writing 2,000 words and only going on if I've carefully explored the next section and know what I'm doing. During a NaNo write-in, I wrote 8k but it was complete crap.
My advice?
Again, see what feels right to you -- you might only be able to write 1500 words a day at first (I think the NaNoWriMo goal is 1667 a day to total 50,000 words in a month). Or, you might find 3000 is your sweet spot. Or, you know, you might be one of the crazies (I'm not jealous...) that can pull out 10k a day. Whatever it is, know that there are others who are either slower or faster than you. Rest in the fact that everyone has a different pace and that there are authors who write several books a year and there are those who write one every decade.
Some food for thought: one of my favorite articles, 10 Ways to Improve Your Writing While Thinking Like A Comedy Writer; and another good one from WriteOnCon 2012, Sustaining the Writing Groove.
Revisions:
I'm going to be offering primarily other peoples' advice since I haven't sat down and done revisions in a while. I'm still learning how and while it can be frustrating, I don't think it should or will be all the time.
Advice: Once you've written your novel/play/script/whatever, hide it and forget about it for a few weeks. Let your brain return to normal and once you've given it a rest, pick it back up again. There are more detailed revision processes, but that's the biggest thing I've heard/read about -- just make sure you're distant enough to let your inner editor out without ripping your soul/story apart (right away).
Some things others have to say on the matter: The Index Card and Revisions and The Revision Checklist, both from WriteOnCon 2012 (seriously, a fabulous online writing convention -- I'm 'attending' next year!)
Hope that was helpful! I think everyone should experience NaNoWriMo at least once. It's such a fun process and I've learned more every year. Our local chapter is brilliant and I can't wait to see everyone again!
During NaNoWriMo I'll be posting about my progress, but I'll still be doing reviews and First Lines in between.
Next Wednesday we'll be discussing World-Building -- I found a 30 Day Guide and I'm on Day 6. It is amazing and it's already making me think deeper in terms of story.
See you on Friday for First Lines!
November is National Novel Writing Month. Each November (and now June and August -- Camp NaNoWriMo), writers around the world gather (or stay home) to tap out or scribble 50,000 words.
I started doing NaNoWriMo back in 2009 and I've "won" (hit 50,000 words) every year. This year I also did Camp NaNoWriMo in August (won that one too) so this is my fifth NaNoWriMo. I'm going to share some tips and tricks I've learned over the years in case (and in the hopes) you'd care to join me (please do!).
I'll break it down into three sections: plotting, writing, and revisions.
Plotting:
The first few years, I was a "pantster" (meaning I just wrote whatever was coming out of my brain -- no plotting, no planning, no forethought), but I've learned since then that I'm the type of person who needs an outline. I then experimented with very strict, elaborate plotting (things like The Snowflake Method, which is awesome) and realized that burned me out and I had no desire to start the actual writing.
This year, during the August Camp NaNoWriMo, I did some math and created a very basic plot structure. I also wrote a very basic outline, writing down specific scenes before I typed them out each day. It was effortless, easy, fun, and joyous. I've found what works for me.
My advice? Try doing it a different way every time until you figure out what works best for you -- and whatever works, know it probably won't be like everybody else's process and be fine with that. You are unique and your plotting method will be too. It will also grow and change over the years. That's good!
I'm also visual -- so things like collages (cut out pictures from magazines clued to a big piece of cardboard), Pinterest boards, etc. really help me. I create playlists as well -- soundtracks are especially good when you're trying to figure out pacing.
Here's a few things to get you started: The Process of Plotting from WriteOnCon2012, and Create A Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps
Writing:
Some people can crank out thousands of words in a day. Unless I've really thought about it (or not thought at all), I find it almost impossible to write more than 4,000 words a day. I'm much better off making a goal of writing 2,000 words and only going on if I've carefully explored the next section and know what I'm doing. During a NaNo write-in, I wrote 8k but it was complete crap.
My advice?
Again, see what feels right to you -- you might only be able to write 1500 words a day at first (I think the NaNoWriMo goal is 1667 a day to total 50,000 words in a month). Or, you might find 3000 is your sweet spot. Or, you know, you might be one of the crazies (I'm not jealous...) that can pull out 10k a day. Whatever it is, know that there are others who are either slower or faster than you. Rest in the fact that everyone has a different pace and that there are authors who write several books a year and there are those who write one every decade.
Some food for thought: one of my favorite articles, 10 Ways to Improve Your Writing While Thinking Like A Comedy Writer; and another good one from WriteOnCon 2012, Sustaining the Writing Groove.
Revisions:
I'm going to be offering primarily other peoples' advice since I haven't sat down and done revisions in a while. I'm still learning how and while it can be frustrating, I don't think it should or will be all the time.
Advice: Once you've written your novel/play/script/whatever, hide it and forget about it for a few weeks. Let your brain return to normal and once you've given it a rest, pick it back up again. There are more detailed revision processes, but that's the biggest thing I've heard/read about -- just make sure you're distant enough to let your inner editor out without ripping your soul/story apart (right away).
Some things others have to say on the matter: The Index Card and Revisions and The Revision Checklist, both from WriteOnCon 2012 (seriously, a fabulous online writing convention -- I'm 'attending' next year!)
Hope that was helpful! I think everyone should experience NaNoWriMo at least once. It's such a fun process and I've learned more every year. Our local chapter is brilliant and I can't wait to see everyone again!
During NaNoWriMo I'll be posting about my progress, but I'll still be doing reviews and First Lines in between.
Next Wednesday we'll be discussing World-Building -- I found a 30 Day Guide and I'm on Day 6. It is amazing and it's already making me think deeper in terms of story.
See you on Friday for First Lines!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Write Wednesday
Today's Write Wednesday will consist of an update on my writing and
also some insight gained from the Camp NaNoWriMo experience last month
-- and I will also tell you a little about what I have planned for a
coming-up Write Wednesday.
First: An Update (skip if you start yawning)
A friend and I are considering writing a piece together, sort of an RPG-type take on a classic story. We'd be writing back and forth in an attempt to construct a cohesive plot with several characters. So that might take wing in the next few weeks.
I'm also considering ideas for my November NaNoWriMo project. So far I have:
a sci-fi novella about individuality and conformity -- includes robotic skin suits, narrow escapes and mechanics
a drama fantasy about inter-dimensional travel, as well as grief and loss -- includes a talking animal, a possible ghost and a mysterious door
a comic fantasy about a highschool and all the types/stereotypes therein -- includes a rock band, mass hysteria and a conspiracy
Any of those sound remotely interesting?
I've been combing through some old stuff and I'm getting the hankering to mess around with some of the past few NaNoWriMo novels...are my editing chops finally growing in?? I've got three solid novels to work on plus a bunch of short stories and poems and even a series...so I might be editing early next year. How exciting! (And thank goodness I got a bunch of free writing books on Kindle -- they'll come in handy!)
Second: Lessons Learned
This NaNo is the first one that made me feel like a real writer. I spent several weeks on an outline (that I stuck to all the way through, even keeping the pacing), scribbled ideas down like mad and even took notes on some books on writing. There were even moments in the writing process where I was completely immersed with what was going on and after writing it felt like I had to come up for air.
Even after the novel was finished (for NaNo, anyway), I am still taking big gasps of air. All the other ideas fell out of my head as I was consumed by this story. So now I'm looking back at my ideas and deciding which ones I could have the same experience with.
Lesson No. 1: Keep Being Interested
If I could throw a situation at my characters and keep them involved (and myself interested), I had a great night. I pulled at least three 4k days because it was easy to keep my attention. Note to self: Plan in the outline for awesome stuff.
Lesson No. 2: Be Willing To Be Surprised/Just Go With It
The general idea I had for the novel was funny (to me) but I didn't have the tiny details worked out. During the process, I started putting the pieces together and soon had several layers to my otherwise general, straight forward plot. Instead of wrangling the plot this way and that, I rolled with the punches, jotting down memos to myself as I went so I could go back and make the beginning of the book stronger without having to worry about writing AND editing.
Lesson No. 3: Allow Your Influences To...Influence
I have two main characters in the story, and I felt bad when I realized just how close they were to characters on a TV series I'd been devouring almost daily (I have to catch up! The new season premiers in October!). But the further I got into the story, the more the characters developed into their own beings. But the influence/inspiration of the characters helped me pace the storyline, write the dialogue and keep the tone I wanted, and even gave me some ideas about the twists and turns in the story. Without that inspiration, my story just wouldn't be as strong.
Third (and last): I have another interview coming up! We'll be talking to a playwright/author about her influences, story ideas and more in a few weeks. Also -- more stuff on Hufflepuff coming up as well as a review (or two).
Keep reading!
First: An Update (skip if you start yawning)
A friend and I are considering writing a piece together, sort of an RPG-type take on a classic story. We'd be writing back and forth in an attempt to construct a cohesive plot with several characters. So that might take wing in the next few weeks.
I'm also considering ideas for my November NaNoWriMo project. So far I have:
a sci-fi novella about individuality and conformity -- includes robotic skin suits, narrow escapes and mechanics
a drama fantasy about inter-dimensional travel, as well as grief and loss -- includes a talking animal, a possible ghost and a mysterious door
a comic fantasy about a highschool and all the types/stereotypes therein -- includes a rock band, mass hysteria and a conspiracy
Any of those sound remotely interesting?
I've been combing through some old stuff and I'm getting the hankering to mess around with some of the past few NaNoWriMo novels...are my editing chops finally growing in?? I've got three solid novels to work on plus a bunch of short stories and poems and even a series...so I might be editing early next year. How exciting! (And thank goodness I got a bunch of free writing books on Kindle -- they'll come in handy!)
Second: Lessons Learned
This NaNo is the first one that made me feel like a real writer. I spent several weeks on an outline (that I stuck to all the way through, even keeping the pacing), scribbled ideas down like mad and even took notes on some books on writing. There were even moments in the writing process where I was completely immersed with what was going on and after writing it felt like I had to come up for air.
Even after the novel was finished (for NaNo, anyway), I am still taking big gasps of air. All the other ideas fell out of my head as I was consumed by this story. So now I'm looking back at my ideas and deciding which ones I could have the same experience with.
Lesson No. 1: Keep Being Interested
If I could throw a situation at my characters and keep them involved (and myself interested), I had a great night. I pulled at least three 4k days because it was easy to keep my attention. Note to self: Plan in the outline for awesome stuff.
Lesson No. 2: Be Willing To Be Surprised/Just Go With It
The general idea I had for the novel was funny (to me) but I didn't have the tiny details worked out. During the process, I started putting the pieces together and soon had several layers to my otherwise general, straight forward plot. Instead of wrangling the plot this way and that, I rolled with the punches, jotting down memos to myself as I went so I could go back and make the beginning of the book stronger without having to worry about writing AND editing.
Lesson No. 3: Allow Your Influences To...Influence
I have two main characters in the story, and I felt bad when I realized just how close they were to characters on a TV series I'd been devouring almost daily (I have to catch up! The new season premiers in October!). But the further I got into the story, the more the characters developed into their own beings. But the influence/inspiration of the characters helped me pace the storyline, write the dialogue and keep the tone I wanted, and even gave me some ideas about the twists and turns in the story. Without that inspiration, my story just wouldn't be as strong.
Third (and last): I have another interview coming up! We'll be talking to a playwright/author about her influences, story ideas and more in a few weeks. Also -- more stuff on Hufflepuff coming up as well as a review (or two).
Keep reading!
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