Regarding NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo Avatar

Every year, NaNoWriMo comes and goes, and for the past several years I haven’t been able to make it work. Part of this is due to the ever-fluctuating changes in my freelancing schedule, part of it is due to the fact that I wasn’t ready to dive into plotting a novel for submission on spec, and the last bit (of course) is any number of excuses.

This year, I’m doing it because I’m ready. I know it might sound anti-climatic or even lame, but I had a lot to work through, personally, to get to this point. Now, it’s finally time. I’m participating this year, with gusto, and have the main story and its twists plotted out. It’s been unpacking, very slowly, in my brain through dreams and other mind pops. I can hear the narrator whispering, and I can see the characters; both of these things usually precedes a deluge of words for me. I’m excited about all my novels, but this story in particular is important because it’s a new step in a longer journey.

I’m off to a slow start, due to work, but as a full-time writer I feel it’s definitely time to get novels done and out the door to my agent. Yesterday, I tracked my word count and I wrote 5K and revised 8K for non-NaNo projects, but I know I can do the 50K this year, because I’ve produced that much word count before in less time. Just not in November.

Special thanks to my research crew (Eryn H.) and new friends (Jacqueline B., Crystal W.) for last minute help. I hope to do them proud.

If you’re so inclined, please feel free to friend me on NaNoWriMo. Let’s do this together!

    Mood: LET’S DO THIS THANG
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Starbucks DoubleShot Energy
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: I… Wow. Yeah, nothing.
    In My Ears: Tron soundtrack
    Game Last Played: Kingdom Rush: Frontiers
    Book Last Read: Howl’s Moving Castle. Starting on the sequel!
    Movie/TV Show Last Viewed: Once Upon a Time. OH, DARK SWAN!
    Latest Artistic Project: STILL EDITING.
    Latest Fiction/Comic Release: Gods, Memes, and Monsters
    Latest Game Release: Dread Names, Red List for Vampire: the Masquerade and Ghosts in the Black for the Firefly RPG.
    Current State of Projects: Read my latest project update and My Departure from the Conan RPG.


November 2, 2015
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[Recommended] 23 Authors Share Tips for Writing a Book

An article written by Steve Silberman is making the rounds, and I thought I’d share this with you if you haven’t seen it. Dubbed “Practical Tips on Writing a Book from 23 Brilliant Authors,” the article shares a plethora of advice. I really liked Steve’s comment about dialing back Facebook and Twitter to focus on his work.

A few things became clear as soon as their replies came in. First of all, I’ll have to throttle back my use of Twitter and Facebook to get this writing done (and I may never rev up my idle Quora account after all.) Secondly, scheduling intervals of regular exercise and renewal amid the hours of writing will be essential. And thirdly, I’ll certainly be buying and downloading a software program called Scrivener, which is a powerful word processor specifically designed for writing books and keeping vast amounts of related data in good order. — SOURCE: Practical Tips on Writing a Book from 23 Brilliant Authors

Authors include both fiction and non-fiction writers, ranging from Carl Zimmer to Cory Doctorow. If you have a chance, check out the article. There’s some great tips in there!

June 16, 2011
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[Video] So You Want to Write a Novel?

My friend James Lowder shared this on Facebook and I thought that you’d get a kick out of it. I’ve heard this song-and-dance before. I think about writing like I do cooking. Most people can cook, but that doesn’t mean they all work in five star restaurants.

December 7, 2010
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The Trouble with Over-Editing

One of the things that has afflicted my fiction writing lately, is that I’ve been editing while I write. I have a series of urban fantasy novels I’m plotting out; the novel series is dubbed, “The Violet War.” The first book, entitled “Traitor’s Masque,” is about the events leading up to a full-scale war between the magic users and the supernatural and mortals. For in my setting, everything is real.

My main character’s name is Sophie Miller, and initially this was going to be a third person POV so think “past-tense” and “narrated.” The narrator was either going to be omniscient (aka “me”) or by one of the creatures guiding Sophie through her actions.

Well, that changed. Again. I felt that the only way to really make this story pop is to tell it in the first person, active voice. You feel what the main character feels which, in this case, is part of the plot.

What my over-editing has done is create a slow start to my writing process; moreso than if I would have just sat down and typed the thing out. It has affected some plot elements, though, so that part was pretty good.

Without having an “actual” editor for my work (since I am considered a novice writer based on the fact that I don’t have a book sitting on the shelves in Borders) I feel that I’m sometimes more concerned with the end product before I finish writing the whole thing. The good thing about recognizing this, for me, is that I am planning a power-writing session this weekend. Go grab some coffee somewhere, put on the headphones, and just…write.

February 7, 2008
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