Personalized NaNoWriMo

Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. All over the world, prospective novelists are beginning their writing goal for the month of November, of 50,000 words. The gargantuan goal of writing a first draft of a novel in one month is motivating and exciting!! In the past weeks, I asked myself if I should join in the fun. I do want to write a YA novel, after all.

 

I discovered by questioning myself about my writing goals is that NaNoWriMo is not for me this time around in it’s true form. As much as I want to write a novel, I will not be conquering a novel 2,000 words a day (25 days, 30 minus Sundays and Thanksgiving Day). There are other stories in my head that need to come to life first!

 

I will be adjusting NaNoWriMo to fit the goals I have! I want to write more children’s stories! I want to submit my completed Toilet Monster story! I want to update my blog on a regular basis with helpful, hopefully inspiring, and enjoyable information! I decided my “NaNoWriMo” time should help get me to where I want to be. Also, my very first responsibility is to my family. Some may insist that it’s only one month, but I’ve had enough pull me away in the last six months or so. More about that later.

 

After all the considerations of time and goals, I have decided on my personalized NaNoWriMo. It will still motivate and stretch me. My overall goal is to create my regular working routine. It will require dedication and sacrifice. I am a busy woman with many responsibilities! Early mornings will by my ally. Here’s what’s going to happen. There are 30 days in November. I don’t work on Sundays, so we’ll subtract those 4 out, 26. I’ll also let myself enjoy Thanksgiving Day, so I’ve got 25 days. I will write 500 words every working day. 500 x 25 = 12,500 words! My stories, submissions and blog articles are included in the word count. I will update my blog at least twice a week. I will write at least 4 new children’s picture books. I would love to make my goal higher, but I don’t want it out of reach. If I’m plodding along on 500 words and I can increase it, I will! Mark my words, this is the beginning of something beautiful.

 

Is NaNoWriMo for you this month? Is it what you need to stay motivated to get that fantastic novel idea out to the world?? Or do you need to adjust it? Don’t let this be an excuse not to accomplish 50,000 words! That is not the point. If you’re going for those 50,000, stick to it! It’s a fantastic goal and many great novels have been printed from this awesome NaNoWriMo month! If it’s not for you, find what goals will stretch you this month, and get to it!! Make sure your ladder is against the right wall!

Jump on the Freight Train!

I've been wanting to work toward my NaNoWriMo goal, but  I freeze up when I feel overwhelmed, and dear oh dear I feel overwhelmed! I need to melt my nerves!

I thought I had my plot lined out and my characters sorted, but it seems to be a freight train riding off without me. I'm not sure if I should take back control (which my natural tendencies dictate), or if I should just hop on and see where it goes. The latter is likely to take me to a messy, but a more interesting story, so I feel more inclined to hop on the train. It sure is hard to let go of control though! Ah!

Ok, so the plan: Refocus. Turn off the editor voice. Let go and just write, write, write. Dedicate time to it each day. I really do have so much to do during the day as a mother and homemaker. I suppose I'll be getting lots of great practice at time-management and prioritizing. As much as I would love to super scrub my floor right now, I need to realize that some things can wait until my daily or weekly quota is met. After my story is completed with over 50,000 words by the end of November, I'll have lots of material to work with to make a fantastic novel that I will be proud to show to you all!

Any other suggestions?

2200 Words and Counting

It's amazing to see so many words appear on the screen during these first few days of NaNoWriMo. Actually I usually type my story with my eyes closed. I feel like my imagination can work better that way, I see my story unfold with my eyes closed. Silly? Maybe, but it works for me.

The story is taking me into new characters and plot depths I didn't expect. I heard once about an author's character dying and the author crying while she killed him. I've thought I would probably cry too, but I haven't understood how the death might come as a surprise. Isn't the author, well, the author of the story? I'm learning that isn't necessarily so. My story seems to be taking off with the characters and I'm just typing with my eyes closed.

Underdog Vs. Champion

I was talking to my sister earlier today about my New King story and another story I've just thought of, and she said,

"America seems to be osbsessed with the underdog, but there's something to be said for the champion" Oh, yes...she's brilliant. Here's her blog. http://casgrace.blogspot.com/

Well said, and I agree! We are referring to the underdog who seems to fall into just the right situation to conquer. Even so, they can be heart-warming, fun, and the journey to get from underdog to winner is exciting and makes a great story, but what about the champion? The character who trains for years or even decades, who is fully qualified, shouldn't he also win?

NaNoWriMo Prep

There's about one more week of NaNoWriMo preparation! I'm excited to get started, but I'm certainly glad to have a bit more time!!

I think I'm going to get my notes up on the wall where I'll be doing most of my writing. I'll hang my character bios, plots, settings, etc so that I will hopefully keep each character's voice and mannerisms unique. I think I'll hang up some key words too. Maybe I'll throw in a new vocabulary word. Yeeeees!

What are you doing to prepare?

Ready, Aim, Ugh!

The plan tonight was to put my kiddos in bed then write, write, write my plot and character worksheets for NaNoWriMo. Afterward, I would lie down in my bed for a restful nights sleep. It was a lovely plan! My kiddos thought differently.
Oh well, that's the beauty of working at home. I get to be with my angels at bedtime. I have a little time left tonight to figure out what worksheets are needed in order to be prepared to begin my NaNoWriMo novel on November 1. I'll begin/continue the actual worksheets tomorrow.

Lesson learned: Work during the day because the night runs out of room.

NaNoWriMo Plot Party!

I went to the NaNoWriMo plot party, and I'm so glad I went! There were about 16 people in attendance. They ranged from the older, experienced published novelist to young writers, quirky and loud. The gal who sat next to me was easy to talk to, and has published a novel already and is working on her next novel.

I planned on talking to more people, but the tables and chairs were set up so that I was only sitting near one person. Her name was Cheri Lasota. She had some great ideas and questions that helped me form my plot and characters. Thank you Cheri!

It's always great to meet good people. People who you can learn from, and people who you can relate to then think, if they can do it, then I think I can too. Hopefully I can pass that on.

During the plot party I concentrated on my New King story. I'm so excited about the characters that are being formed, and other characters who have transformed. The result is an almost completely changed story. The storyline has blossomed into a tale that could be a great novel! I'm so excited for the possibilities!

So for the next 15 days or so, I'll be preparing for NaNoWriMo! Filling out character worksheets, scene plotting worksheets, and doing a little math to figure out how many words I need to write each day in November minus Sundays to complete at least 50,000 words, 176 pages! Whew!

If you want to check out Cheri Lasota's book, check out http://www.spirehousebooks.com/ on Twitter she's @CheriLasota.

NaNoWriMo

Did you just say, "Eh?"

Yes, NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month! Hooray! At my last trip to my local library I read a poster about NaNoWriMo, suggesting to write a novel! Participants begin writing November 1 and finish a 175-page, (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30!

NaNoWriMo is "a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved." Hmmm. Sound familiar?

So if any of you fit that criteria, maybe you should check  your local library to see if they're playing along. Mine is having a plot party on October 13th. Apparently there will be fun and games to help me prepare and plan my novel. That way when November 1st comes around I'll be ready to start!! How about you?