50,000 Words and Counting

Yay! I did it! 50,000 words and a day early, too. Woo Hoo! I'm well into my second installment in my series and feeling good about the outcome.

Here's what I learned from this NaNoWriMo experience--

1) Friends can be great allies, even when they're rooting against you.
The day before I began the challenge I asked my friends and family on Facebook to come up with something (reasonable, but not necessarily desirable) I would have to do for them should I fail to reach the goal.

As Jon Voight (playing bad-guy Jonas Hodges on 24's 6th season) said,

"Stress is the fertilizer for creativity."

That should be the motto of NaNoWriMo. We should all hang it on our walls.

2) Having even a bare-bones plan for what to tackle during writing hours is key.
Each day I would brainstorm leading up to my writing time. This was helpful because I tended to write in the evening, usually ten to midnight, but if you write in the morning, just brainstorm before going to bed so you have a skeletal checklist for the morning.
An example of a day's checklist follows~

Wall of Mirrors

[X]Unity Gatherings held in commandeered church bldgs stripped of any spiritual significance

[X]Gwenna’s gemstone (@ Samuel’s?)

[X] Arrival— feeling checked-over

[X] Meets Erin, gets tour, sees Wall of Mirrors, and Mirror that Matters

I found that on the few days when I went to the computer without any firm clue as that where I was going with the story, it took me much longer to reach my daily goal.

3) Ask for help. When you don't know something, ask anyone who might. Ask your mom, your grandma, ask your Facebook community, ask a stranger.
Some examples of things I asked when I was coming up dry or simply didn't know:
-- What was a chore that you hated or would have hated to get stuck with as a teen?
-- When you have an asthma attack, which would help-- cool air, or warm moist air?
-- What are the turn-wheel passageways called in submarines? Hatches?
Also, Facebook (probably other social networking sites, too) is a great tool for writing prompts. I asked my friends to give me partial sentences to work into my writing one night. I had so much fun with what they gave me. Make sure to reward your friends for participating by letting them see how you used what they submitted. I did this by posting a "Note" and giving collaborative credit where credit was due. I'll post it on here, soon, as well.

4) Daily writing with a goal in mind is a great benefit and achievable. If I do NaNoWriMo next year, or any month in between, I would plan further ahead and set up an incentive plan for when milestones are reached. As it was I just made up my reward system as I went. Not terribly bad. A Cinnabon was part of my Treat day for reaching my half-way mark.
And on that note, Goodbye NaNoWriMo November, Hello NaNoSubMo* December. :)

*National Novel Submission Month where I will take on the task of perfecting my query letter, chapter summaries and polishing the manuscript of my first novel and work to get it into the hands of a reliable agent who can be passionate about my project, too.

Watch My Progress Over the Month

NOTE: this post will remain at the top of my blog for the remainder of November, so scroll down to see new posts!!

Deadline: November 30th, 2011

Full Speed Ahead: using the "find" function and symbols to your advantage

In the world of feverish writing, (as in NaNoWriMo November, or any other time of year when you are trying to get your first draft down) you cannot afford to stop and work out every scene to perfection. The most beneficial thing you can do is keep moving forward, or at least down the page.

For NaNoWriMo 2011, my daily target word count is 2000 words since I am observing a day of rest every Sunday to meet and worship with my church and to spend quality time with family. But because of this high count I have to be diligent to write on my scheduled days, and to keep my forward momentum.

Here's what I do to ensure that my fingers keep typing new scenes--

KEEP CHECKLISTS-- I am writing in Scrivener for Microsoft Windows (now available, Yay!), so I keep a pane open at all times with "Notes as I Write"-- my checklist of things I want to:

• insert in my manuscript,
  
• remember to add in future chapters,
  
• build up into full blown plot lines later.

So, if while I'm writing I have a character, say, trudging through town with a grotesquely overstuffed duffel bag, I may add a check note (which might turn into a series of notes) saying**:
[] Explore what Gertrude is carrying and why this is significant.
[] Is the bag squirming? Is it Mrs. Terrenthal's missing cats?
[] Is it a red herring, perhaps? --a bag full of rats for Gertrude's 11 foot Burmese python?
[] Did the python eat Mrs. Terrenthal's cats???

If I realize that I've left out a crucial detail in an earlier scene, like a character coming into a large inheritance, and I'm going to write about what she's buying with it, I might add**:
[] Insert details about Kara Kitchure receiving news about her inheritance.
[] Are there complications that arise? Does she find she can't trust her friendships with Gertrude and Logan anymore?
[] Is the money doled out over time and she has to plan how to spent it slowly?


USE SYMBOLS-- When I'm typing out a scene and I come to a spot where I can't think of the right word and I know I need to move on, but I want to come back in revisions and change it, I will surround the non-preferred word with multiple parentheses.
Example**:
Logan drew his gun and pointed it at the target in the distance. He spread his stance and aimed. But couldn't shoot. A gun seemed too heartless a way to take down the (((mythical animal with one horn))).

I do this also with instances where I don't remember a distance, a direction, or a specific color.
Example**:
The air was still and the night music pleasant as Logan left his house and crossed the (((fifty feet))) to Gertrude's front stoop. Gertrude gazed (((north))) toward the glowing peak of Mount San Fiasco and wondered if the (((purple))) stone set in its ivory base was hidden among the burning forest there.

This way, when the time comes, I can easily jump to these sections by utilizing the handy little "Find" function and searching for "(((".

I also use symbols when I want to write a scene that I'll have to insert into an earlier portion of the manuscript but don't want to take the time to find and place it correctly now. I separate the scene from those surrounding it by entering
<><><>
above and below the out-of-place writing. And, again, when I'm ready, I would do a "Find: <>" and move the resulting scenes to their proper position.



That's how I do it, how 'bout you?


**BTW, the above examples are purely for the purpose of this blog post and do not represent my current project or characters. :)

My NaNoWriMo Tool Box

I'm slowly compiling a list of the things that are most crucial to my success over this month of Word-trackery.

• pens. My favorite are the Pilot Precise rolling ball, extra fine. They are nice and smooth and you can get them in a multi-color pack which keeps note-taking creative and fun, and can help organize my thoughts into category-by-colors.
• notepad. Small enough to fit in my purse and be used on the sly in case I hear a snippet of dialogue that strikes a creative chord, or see a crazy hat that I must write about.
  
• Google Calendar phone app. Set with reminders to track my Write-ins.
• Advil. Can't allow a headache to cripple my word count.
• Big Train Vanilla Chai. Gotta wash down the meds with something, might as well taste good and keep me awake, to boot.
• water. It's imperative to keep hydrated, which can help with avoiding the dratted headaches in the first place. Much as I love the taste of Vanilla Chai, nothing quenches like a tall glass of good water. And, yes. Thanks to my momma, I am a water snob. Aquafina, Dasani, or Sparkletts are the dessert waters of the H2O choices out there.
  
• VOICE RECORDER!! This is one of my favorites. I discovered while writing the first book in the series that long bouts on the road are a goldmine for talking myself through plot road blocks. Simply turn off the music and ruminate out loud about all that could happen and usually the best course will outshine the rest and cause me to look ahead with great exuberance toward the night's writing appointment. But it is crucial that I record this brainstorming train of thought because, invariably, I will forget some of the details I was most excited about and then sit and waste time trying to remember them again when the time comes to write!
• laptop. (with a charged battery for when I'm not near an outlet.) For those valuable opportunities to sit down and plug in to my manuscript.
• Scrivener for windows-- with NaNoWriMo presets. What a great manuscript processing tool. You can set each text document with a goal, and it will track your progress in the footer with a bar that begins blank, turns red, then yellow, then green when you are in the final stretch of the day's word count goal. Nice visual encouragement.
• headphones. To listen to music in public, so as not to be disturbed by chatty strangers.
  
• thumb drive. to back up my writing, lest I lose everything. *gasp*
  
• timer. To keep my fingers tapping away, or limit my research time.
  
• backpack. A way to lug all this stuff around with me.

And that is how I've been able to manage so far. We'll see if I realize any other items of necessity as the month goes on.

Bring on the Reinforcements!

I reread my last post and thought what a defeatist tone it had when I said that I would be happy to say I survived, rather than won the NaNoWriMo challenge. So, to boost my drive, last night, hours before NaNoWriMo officially began, I posted on Facebook a request that friends and family enter their ultimatums for me if I don't reach my 50,000 word goal by November 30th. They came up with some gems, these among them:

I would have to:
--give a weekly sixty-minute massage for six months to my Mom.


--sew my friend a gypsy skirt.


--take my niece and nephew over night once a month for six months so my sister and her husband could have a date night. (they are a joy, so this one isn't so much of a threat as some of the others, but, as my mom lovingly refers to them, they can be energy vampires.)


--Provide dinner three nights a week, with drinks to boot, to a bachelor friend of mine. However he didn't specify a duration, so I'm assuming this is only for one week. His loss in not being more specific. ;)


--do all of my math-teacher-friend's grading for a month.


--cook a Christmas ham for another bachelor.


--Run a 5k with a questionable friend. Yech! I hate running. Why would you run, when God created so many other less-horrible ways of moving from one place to another?


So there you have it. More motivation to reach my goal.

I then proceeded to clean the house and brainstorm where to begin writing, sat down at my computer at 12:01am and my computer promptly crashed.

Of course.

I rebooted and finally was able to get started at 12:28am. Two-and-a-half hours later I had 2023 words under my belt and a positive beginning to a month-long task.

A NaNo or a WriMo?

I have 2 days and just over 8 hours left before NaNoWriMo 2011.

National Novel Writing Month was founded 1n 1999 by Chris Baty author of:


He and twenty-one friends took on the challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Some reached the goal. Others didn't. But the bug has spread worldwide.

This year, I'm joining the many ambitious writers who will take part in the frenzied, somewhat-social-but-not-so-much-that-it-holds-you-back, word-count focused event which is NaNoWriMo.

Now, because it is word-count focused and not really content focused, we are supposed to be at ease in the process, not needing to get every. word. right. Right now. But this also means we have to shut off the internal editor that wants to analyze each chapter, page, paragraph, sentence, word, punctuation, formatting, font choice. On and on.

I'm taking on the challenge of beginning the second book in my YA series. The first of which is in the final revision stages in the hopes that I would have sent out a query letter by the end of October. When fishing for an agent, the bait has to be set just right. This causes me to overthink things. I have to remember that in order to get a fish on my line, my hook does have to eventually get wet.

So, I'll be doing double duty for the first part of November-- finishing up my chapter summaries; crafting a tight, intriguing query; and making sure my sample chapters are in tip-top shape. As well as dive in to the highly-caffeinated NaNoWriMo world of words on paper. Okay, screens, too.

The participants of NaNoWriMo are sometimes called NaNo's, sometimes WriMo's. Since NaNo sounds like my trusty little mobile .mp3 player, and WriMo rings slightly of an over-large, thick-skinned herbivore I'm not sure which I relate to. By December 1st, I would love to say I "won" the challenge. But I'll settle for I "survived."


November's motto:
Write Now, Ask questions later.

Library Listening

I came across a document I created almost two years ago while doing research at the library. A group of three teenage girls came into the area where I was working and I typed up the overheard conversation, unbeknownst to them. Reading over it again, I realize I should do this more often. The tone of their chatter and their personalities and viewpoints were so clear, so natural. I loved it.

I've changed some personal information for the sake of anonymity, and instead of labeling the dialogue Girl#1, Girl#2, Girl#3 I've taken the liberty of giving them names.

---

Ashley- (looking at a fashion magazine) How long until Joe gets home?

Becca- Thirty minutes maybe.

Ashley- Okay.

Becca- So tonight it’s you and Joe and Charlie and me?

Ashley- I think.

Becca- What?!

Ashley- Well Isabel told me today that there is a girl in second period who likes Joe.

Becca- But he doesn’t like her back…

(Silence)

Becca- …Right?

(silence)

Becca- Let’s hope.

Ashley- …and he likes her back. So she was going to call him and ask him out.

(silence)

Tara- Oo, I like those shoes.

Becca- I like the way she dresses.

Ashley- Yeah.

Becca- I don’t even like Joe anymore. I went to karate the other day and he didn’t even notice anything was wrong with me. I mean, look at this. And I was limping by them, like this. Limping! And he asked what’s wrong with your shoe?

(silence)

Tara- Joe is difficult.

Ashley- Joe is difficult.

Becca- Joe is confusing and flirtatious.

(silence)

Becca- Charlie takes so long to text.

Ashley- So do you.

Becca- It’s not my fault you text fast

Ashley- It ain’t my fault if you text slow. And I don’t even have a full keypad.

Becca- I don’t have a full keypad either. Look.

(silence)

Tara- I’m re-doing my room.

Ashley- You are? Cool. I rearranged mine.

Tara- Look at that book.

Ashley- Go get it.

Becca- I read those in like elementary school

Ashley- I like the moral of the story.

Becca- Look at this text I just got. I don’t even know who sent it to me.

Ashley- What does it say?

(grabs phone)

Ashley- If you send this to 15 people you will get $100. If you send this to 25 people you will get $200.

Tara- Those things don’t work.

Ashley- Of course not, if it did the whole world would be happy.

Becca- Please promise me that if you can’t go out with Charlie you won’t go out with Joe.

Ashley- I won’t.

Becca- Then why do you want his phone number?

Ashley- Because I like to text people.

Tara- You are going to have to tell me about this whole Joe/Charlie thing.

Becca- Charlie is a new guy from Arizona who she likes and I do too. And I went out with Joe earlier in the year…

Ashley- But she broke up with him

Becca- … because he was a total flirt with everyone.

Ashley- And the weird thing is that he totally kept to himself when he was single but whenever he was with someone he flirts.

Becca- Yeah he’s all loud and saying “Hey, what’s up!”

Ashley- And smacking their butts!

---

... now, with drama like that, don't you wish I'd gotten more??

If you are going to attempt this, the key is to remain as invisible as possible. Avoid eye contact and do not, I repeat, do not react to anything they say to each other, or your cover will be blown. They will feel your intrusion on the conversation and it will lose its natural ring.

Happy dialogue stalking!

Gate Key Word Cloud

This is my word cloud for Book One in my first YA series.

(created at www.wordle.net)