Tuesday, November 19, 2013

NaNo, Body Wash, Crayons and Twitter

It starts in the shower.  You’re standing there, sudsy, and it happens.  Light shines down from above, ethereal music plays all around you, and you realize …

I have an idea!

And it’s not just any idea it’s THE idea.  But, it is so undeveloped that if you blow too hard it will waft away into nothingness.  It is so perfect that you simply must memorialize it in some way, because without it you will never be a success.  Ever.

But you are standing – naked, wet, covered in Bath & Body Works Twilight Woods body wash (because, yum) – in the shower.  The idea is fading away and you’re clinging to it desperately hoping for a solution.

And then it happens again … you have an idea!

Bath crayons.  Your children have them so you know they exist.  If you just get yourself a snappy little set of bath crayons you could write down any ideas that pop up while you’re in the shower.  Sure, you might look like you’re a few crayons short of a box (see what I did there?).  But, when you have that perfect idea written down on the wall of the shower, not lost in the nebulous of forgotten ideas, it will be worth it.

This is the most brilliant idea ever!

And then you realize you lost the original idea.  The bright, shiny, most-perfect-ever idea … gone.  You claw the inside of your brain until it hurts but it’s no use.

Then you think - you need to put this on Twitter.  Surely someone else has gone through this and can wallow in pity with you. 

But then you wonder, how can you get this into 140 words?  Maybe it should be two tweets … but then you have to put those 1/2, 2/2 tags at the end.  When people do that, you never know which part of the tweet to re-tweet and/or favorite.  So you don’t.  And that kind of ruins it.

Then you think, you can just do a blog post.  That seems like overinvestment but – why not.  It was, after all, the best idea anyone ever had.  It deserves a blog post.

Then you realize the water is cold and you still haven’t washed your hair.

What … just me? 

Fine be that way.

Anyway … you might have noticed I’m procrastinating with my NaNo project.  Something like this was bound to happen. 

Back to the trenches. May the words be with you!


P.S. Go buy bath crayons and save yourself the trouble.  Trust me, they’ll be worth it next November.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

To NaNo, or Not to NaNo - A NaNoWriMo Story

A few months back, when wandering around the Twitterverse, I came across an account with a funny name.  All my writerly heroes followed this account with the funny name.  I was intrigued.

Fast forward until today - I'm trying to write an entire freaking book in 31 days.

Too far forward?

NaNoWriMo is the name that intrigued me oh-so many months ago and it belongs to a fantastic organization - almost has good as a unicorn that farts rainbows.  Almost.  The blurb from their website is below, because there is no point in me trying to explain something they've perfected ...

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 p.m. on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel.


Better now?

Ok, so I've taken on this ridiculously insane challenge (that you all should consider doing) and I figured what better way to procrastinate than to write about procrastinating.

So without further preamble, I introduce you to my first week of NaNoWriMo.

Day One: 
This is the best thing ever.  I am the best thing ever.  I am going to write a book.  It will be a good book.  It might be a publishable book!  ALL THE WORDS!

Day Two: 
I'm doing it.  I'm really doing it!  I've written words!  I've talked to other word writers on Twitter!  This may not be my finest work but it's good!

Day Three:
This is hard.  I mean really hard.  I am glad there are other people slogging through this with me.  This would be so hard without so many people to sprint with! This book is just a tool to teach me to write.  It's not going to amount to much, but that's ok.

Day Four:
This is about the process.  Just focus on the process.  Finish the sprint with as many words as you can.  Trust all the NaNo emails and keep going.  Why do you use 'really' and 'so' ... every.other.word.  My book is pure shit.

Day Five:
Fuck it.  Fuck it.  Fuck it.  I am going to go read something. *reads whole book*

Day Six:
WHY DID I READ!!  My head is full of another author's voice.  Another characters story.  WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU.  IDIOT! *sucks it up and cranks out words*

Day Seven:
BBBLLLAAAHHHHHH.  But you know, this story isn't so bad.  I'll write a little bit.  This book could be a book.  A real, whole book.  It's not so bad.  After all, 'really' and 'so' are good words.  People like them.  Tomorrow, I will do even better.  I love NaNo!

Goodness help my family ... there are 24 days left.

Total word count to date: 16,614.  BAM!

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Thoughts, Tips and Tricks - JRW Conference 2013

And now, finally, a complete dump of the notes I took during the panels at the James River Writers Conference.  I spent a lot of time writing notes specific to my own novels, but below are some things that are universal.

Better late (and disorganized) than never.

Suspense Across Genres

  • If you're a pantser, still know what the last scene in your novel will be.  This will keep you working in the right direction.
  • Vary the pace and speed throughout the novel.  Add mini-cliffhangers, character building, and backstory during non-action scenes.
  • Tell a minimum of two stories.  A character story and a world story are a good starting place.
  • There should always be part of your story that happened in the past, and part that will happen in the future.
  • Tropes are ok, it's good to start with one.  But make sure there is something unique to add depth and interest.
  • Characters are easier to care about, when they care about something themselves.
  • Every character should have a flaw.
  • Build your world through your character's eyes to prevent the dreaded info-dump.
  • Your characters have a past, remember to put that into scenes as a way to build characters, build world and create suspense.
  • But, don't add so much backstory that you take the reader out of the current scene.

Writing for Children
  • Make sure that your writing is honest to the voice of a child, not what you'd want to tell a child as an adult.
  • Making teacher materials, even if you are self published, is a nice touch.
  • Don't write to teach a lesson.  Kids will pick up on it immediately.
  • Once your novel has been published it belongs to the readers, the children, and not you.
Misc
  • Sid Field's 'How to Write a Screenplay' is a good tool for writers in all genres.
  • The key to good editing, is distance.  Make sure to take time between when you write something and when you edit it.  The more time, the better. (for example - I edited this right away. sorry)
  • Trust your reader when you're explaining things.  Don't over explain or beat them to death with explanation.  Readers are smart.
  • Look up 'beats' and try and see them in your writing to keep forward momentum.