Whew! I'm wore out.
Surprised to see me? It's Monday you say? Well, I neglected to mention that I will be trying to post here every so often during November to let you know how I'm doing and to see how you're doing! Surprise! And now I'm about to pass out.
Yesterday was Halloween of course so I went trick or treating with some relatives and some little ones. I got home at a pretty good time actually. I had enough time to get comfy with my notebook and a little coffee as I waited for the minutes to pass to midnight with a pencil in my hand. As soon as it hit I started writing. I think I got a few hundred as a head start but now I'm proud to say that I'm ahead! 1774 words on day one. Complete awesomeness for me anyway. I'd say I'm off to a good start.
Anyways, how are you doing?! My NaNo friends, are you on schedule, ahead, behind? How'd you spend your last free day? Non-NaNo friends, how is what you're working on?
Off to sleep while I can now. Keep those words coming!
The scrambled notes of a writer.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
NANOWRIMO!!
That’s right, it’s that time again. November 1st is coming. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about let me introduce you to National Novel Writing Month. (www.nanonwrimo.org)
About twelve years ago Chris Baty and a few friends thought it would be fun to see if they could write a novel in a month. That is the day NaNoWriMo was born. National Novel Writing Month is a challenge where you try to write 50,000 words in the month of November. It is NOT a competition. You’re not going against anyone and no one’s going to judge your writing when you’re done. It’s just you and that empty page… or Word document... or typewriter paper.
50,000 words in 30 days. That’s 1667 words a day. That may sound like a lot but let me tell you that it’s not impossible. Last year was my first time participating and I never wrote anything that long. I never thought I could. But I won. It was down to the last hours but I did it. I edited and printed that book out later and I have never been happier to be holding that much paper in my life. I had so much fun doing this.
My friends thought I was crazy, family was cheering me on, and everyone on facebook was confused by all the numbers when I would post my word count. I also discovered an entire group on the site from my city that gets together regularly throughout the month to write. I never knew many people that wrote, people who I could talk to and they know exactly what’s going on because they’re going through it too. I was so happy to find a group of like minded people. I just went to a Kick Off information meeting today and it was great seeing old friends and new faces.
I got so much from doing this last year! Inspiration, motivation, and a manuscript that I never thought I’d have. This month I’ll be all about quantity and not quality. Worrying about making a perfect first draft is what stops people from writing sometimes and NaNoWriMo takes that worry away. If you have ever thought about writing a book, check out their website, sign up for NaNoWriMo and give it a try.
Any NaNoers here already? Are you ready? Are you excited?! I know I am. Well, I’m excited anyways. :)
About twelve years ago Chris Baty and a few friends thought it would be fun to see if they could write a novel in a month. That is the day NaNoWriMo was born. National Novel Writing Month is a challenge where you try to write 50,000 words in the month of November. It is NOT a competition. You’re not going against anyone and no one’s going to judge your writing when you’re done. It’s just you and that empty page… or Word document... or typewriter paper.
50,000 words in 30 days. That’s 1667 words a day. That may sound like a lot but let me tell you that it’s not impossible. Last year was my first time participating and I never wrote anything that long. I never thought I could. But I won. It was down to the last hours but I did it. I edited and printed that book out later and I have never been happier to be holding that much paper in my life. I had so much fun doing this.
My friends thought I was crazy, family was cheering me on, and everyone on facebook was confused by all the numbers when I would post my word count. I also discovered an entire group on the site from my city that gets together regularly throughout the month to write. I never knew many people that wrote, people who I could talk to and they know exactly what’s going on because they’re going through it too. I was so happy to find a group of like minded people. I just went to a Kick Off information meeting today and it was great seeing old friends and new faces.
I got so much from doing this last year! Inspiration, motivation, and a manuscript that I never thought I’d have. This month I’ll be all about quantity and not quality. Worrying about making a perfect first draft is what stops people from writing sometimes and NaNoWriMo takes that worry away. If you have ever thought about writing a book, check out their website, sign up for NaNoWriMo and give it a try.
Any NaNoers here already? Are you ready? Are you excited?! I know I am. Well, I’m excited anyways. :)
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Come on down! You’re our next contestant on the Price is Write!
(Before I start, I want to say that I’m so sorry for being late on posting this! I went out of town and had the best weekend taking pictures of and with a couple awesome bands that I totally ran out of time.)
I became a fan of reality shows recently. There’s a few of them that I try to remember to watch online when they post them (because my dad doesn’t really like them so I can’t watch them on tv). What I noticed during my video surfing is that there is a game show for everyone. Almost. I’ve seen shows for artists, gamers, chefs, designers, and singers, but where is the one for authors?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think there is one. So that got me thinking, ‘Hey! What’s up with that?!’ Then I thought about it some more and realized that, as insulting as it might sound, writing isn’t that fun to watch. Seriously, I’ve written in public and no one stopped to look at me. I’ve written with at least ten other people around me doing the same and still no one stayed to take pictures. Well, there was one person with a typewriter that I found really cool but that’s beside the point. So I picked my brain a little more and thought about what could make writing interesting to watch and here are some challenges I came up with so far.
Poetry Jam – Contestants must write a poem and perform it in an ‘open mic night’ type of setting.
Children’s Book – Contestants will write a kid’s book and work with an artist to do the illustrations. Kids from different schools will vote on what book they like best and would like to keep in their classroom.
Internet presence – Build the biggest fan base that you can on facebook, twitter, or whatever.
Book trailer – Create a super exciting trailer for any previous or future project.
Book release party – I think this would be the official end of the show event where the winner is named every season. I don’t know about everyone else, but one of the things I think of when I’m daydreaming about the day that my first novel has a date to come to stores is the big ole party I’ll have just before midnight.
These are just a few ideas. Of course we’ll have to switch it up every season so we’ll need more ideas to work with but I’d say this is a good start. If anyone knows someone in the television business (or has a bit more ambition than I do) please feel free to take this idea and run with it. All I ask is that you notify that it’s in the works and invite me to the season finales as a VIP. But we’re still missing a name. How about The Release Date? Authors Unleashed? I don’t know. That’s all I’ve got. How about you? Have any name or competition ideas? Well, while you guys are thinking about that I’ll be working on my acceptance speech for the ‘Greatest Game Show Idea’ award. Don’t worry, you’re all definitely included.
I became a fan of reality shows recently. There’s a few of them that I try to remember to watch online when they post them (because my dad doesn’t really like them so I can’t watch them on tv). What I noticed during my video surfing is that there is a game show for everyone. Almost. I’ve seen shows for artists, gamers, chefs, designers, and singers, but where is the one for authors?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think there is one. So that got me thinking, ‘Hey! What’s up with that?!’ Then I thought about it some more and realized that, as insulting as it might sound, writing isn’t that fun to watch. Seriously, I’ve written in public and no one stopped to look at me. I’ve written with at least ten other people around me doing the same and still no one stayed to take pictures. Well, there was one person with a typewriter that I found really cool but that’s beside the point. So I picked my brain a little more and thought about what could make writing interesting to watch and here are some challenges I came up with so far.
Poetry Jam – Contestants must write a poem and perform it in an ‘open mic night’ type of setting.
Children’s Book – Contestants will write a kid’s book and work with an artist to do the illustrations. Kids from different schools will vote on what book they like best and would like to keep in their classroom.
Internet presence – Build the biggest fan base that you can on facebook, twitter, or whatever.
Book trailer – Create a super exciting trailer for any previous or future project.
Book release party – I think this would be the official end of the show event where the winner is named every season. I don’t know about everyone else, but one of the things I think of when I’m daydreaming about the day that my first novel has a date to come to stores is the big ole party I’ll have just before midnight.
These are just a few ideas. Of course we’ll have to switch it up every season so we’ll need more ideas to work with but I’d say this is a good start. If anyone knows someone in the television business (or has a bit more ambition than I do) please feel free to take this idea and run with it. All I ask is that you notify that it’s in the works and invite me to the season finales as a VIP. But we’re still missing a name. How about The Release Date? Authors Unleashed? I don’t know. That’s all I’ve got. How about you? Have any name or competition ideas? Well, while you guys are thinking about that I’ll be working on my acceptance speech for the ‘Greatest Game Show Idea’ award. Don’t worry, you’re all definitely included.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Eat, Pray, Love: One woman’s search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia – Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth Gilbert went through a tough time when she and her husband got divorced. She felt as though she needed something more in her life and she set out to look for it. This true story follows Gilbert’s travels from the best places to eat to a medicine man’s home while meeting a handful of the most interesting people.
I thought that this was a fantastic book. It’s an emotional roller coaster just reading it and I can’t imagine actually living the events. What made it even better for me is that I love to travel and traveling alone is something I’ve heard that everyone should do. I was a little leery about that idea, I still am to be honest, but if I were to ever work up the nerve to go that far alone I can only hope that I meet as many funny, witty, and insightful people along the way.
I do have to say that, although it grabbed my attention at the beginning, near the middle it started to slack for me but then it picked back up near the end. But overall it was a great read.
Eat, Pray, Love was also recently made into a movie titled the same as the book. I haven’t gotten the chance to see it yet but I just might have to check it out.
I thought that this was a fantastic book. It’s an emotional roller coaster just reading it and I can’t imagine actually living the events. What made it even better for me is that I love to travel and traveling alone is something I’ve heard that everyone should do. I was a little leery about that idea, I still am to be honest, but if I were to ever work up the nerve to go that far alone I can only hope that I meet as many funny, witty, and insightful people along the way.
I do have to say that, although it grabbed my attention at the beginning, near the middle it started to slack for me but then it picked back up near the end. But overall it was a great read.
Eat, Pray, Love was also recently made into a movie titled the same as the book. I haven’t gotten the chance to see it yet but I just might have to check it out.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Where were you today?
Nine years ago today two planes hit the Twin Towers in New York. I thought because my usual posting day fell in line with this I would share my account of this event. It might be a little off topic perhaps but it is a story. I’ve seen this done before and I just thought I’d like to have some written account of that day from my view.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was still in junior high or middle school back then. Mom was getting ready to drop me off and we were late, as usual. I remember being in my room, just getting dressed, and Mom called to me from the living room. It was something like this:
“Sarah!”
“What?!”
“Come here! Get in here! Quick!”
She probably knew that this would be a historic event of sorts, something that I’d want to remember. So naturally I come running into the living to see the television showing a camera feed of two tall buildings, one with black smoke billowing from it. I don’t remember exactly what I was thinking or what was being said but I do remember watching as another plane came and crashed into the other building.
I went to school and I seem to have a faded memory of radios being on in the classrooms so we could listen to the news. There might have been a television too. What stayed with me the most was a bit of conversation I heard from some classmates.
“What if this is the rapture!?”
“If this were the rapture then we’d all be gone by now.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My sympathies go out to those who lost someone that day and overseas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was still in junior high or middle school back then. Mom was getting ready to drop me off and we were late, as usual. I remember being in my room, just getting dressed, and Mom called to me from the living room. It was something like this:
“Sarah!”
“What?!”
“Come here! Get in here! Quick!”
She probably knew that this would be a historic event of sorts, something that I’d want to remember. So naturally I come running into the living to see the television showing a camera feed of two tall buildings, one with black smoke billowing from it. I don’t remember exactly what I was thinking or what was being said but I do remember watching as another plane came and crashed into the other building.
I went to school and I seem to have a faded memory of radios being on in the classrooms so we could listen to the news. There might have been a television too. What stayed with me the most was a bit of conversation I heard from some classmates.
“What if this is the rapture!?”
“If this were the rapture then we’d all be gone by now.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My sympathies go out to those who lost someone that day and overseas.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Life of a Student Writer
Here we are once again, another school year has begun. Students all over the world are gearing up, excited to see their friends, and then immediately counting the number of days till next summer. Parents, on the other hand, are kindly waiting till their children are out the door to do the happy dance.
What does this do for a writer though? I just finished my first week at a new university. Exciting? Yeah. Tiring? YES. It’s all I can do to be writing this post instead of going limp on the couch. Plus it’s the first time I have to travel any distance to get to school. Add the travel time to the other obligations the day requires plus homework, studying, extra credit that you know you need, random life occurrences, and what’s that thing that most people do every day? Uh, oh that’s right, eating and sleeping. I forgot about those.
This is where I want to give parent/writers a big, virtual, gold star. Now, I’m not a parent but this is what I imagine a day might be like. Get kids up, get kids dressed, feed kids, make lunches, get kids to school, grocery shopping, changing diapers, coming home, clean house, get kids from school, take kids somewhere, bring them back, make sure homework is done, bathe them, stop fights, argue, hug, change, and put them to bed. Did I get everything? Probably not. Moms and Dads have a lot on their plates.
That being said, where do we put our writing time? It’s a little tough when something in our real life is constantly calling our attention and if we don’t time it right then something gets the short end of the stick. Too much attention to writing can cause school work to slip our minds. A late night means getting to class late and not being able to pay attention. I know I do that.
This is what I told myself about my schedule: Do things early. Simpler said than done, I know, but hear me out. If I can do my homework during my break between classes instead of waiting till I got home I’ll have the time when I get home to write. Study a little everyday instead of hardcore studying the week before the test. Cook meals ahead of time so all you have to do is pull things out of the fridge or the freezer and heat it up. Give it a try.
Have you tried this before? Did it give you more time? What do you give up for your writing time?
What does this do for a writer though? I just finished my first week at a new university. Exciting? Yeah. Tiring? YES. It’s all I can do to be writing this post instead of going limp on the couch. Plus it’s the first time I have to travel any distance to get to school. Add the travel time to the other obligations the day requires plus homework, studying, extra credit that you know you need, random life occurrences, and what’s that thing that most people do every day? Uh, oh that’s right, eating and sleeping. I forgot about those.
This is where I want to give parent/writers a big, virtual, gold star. Now, I’m not a parent but this is what I imagine a day might be like. Get kids up, get kids dressed, feed kids, make lunches, get kids to school, grocery shopping, changing diapers, coming home, clean house, get kids from school, take kids somewhere, bring them back, make sure homework is done, bathe them, stop fights, argue, hug, change, and put them to bed. Did I get everything? Probably not. Moms and Dads have a lot on their plates.
That being said, where do we put our writing time? It’s a little tough when something in our real life is constantly calling our attention and if we don’t time it right then something gets the short end of the stick. Too much attention to writing can cause school work to slip our minds. A late night means getting to class late and not being able to pay attention. I know I do that.
This is what I told myself about my schedule: Do things early. Simpler said than done, I know, but hear me out. If I can do my homework during my break between classes instead of waiting till I got home I’ll have the time when I get home to write. Study a little everyday instead of hardcore studying the week before the test. Cook meals ahead of time so all you have to do is pull things out of the fridge or the freezer and heat it up. Give it a try.
Have you tried this before? Did it give you more time? What do you give up for your writing time?
Saturday, August 14, 2010
What's your Chapter 'Comfort Zone'?
I recently finished the first edit of my novel (also known as its new working title Trouble in the Gene Pool. Woot!), and included in these edits was finding out where I wanted to break the pages into chapters. This may sound backwards to a lot of you. Maybe you outline the story with chapters before you start so you know where you want to end with each one or even if you don’t outline at all you may still have a feeling for what your chapters are once you get started. But before NaNoWriMo I never wrote a story long enough to need chapters, so this is new territory for me. I just wrote how I knew.
I don’t know if this is normal or not, (because most of the things I do aren’t), but I happened to have had a book from the library at the time so I counted the words on one page then counted the pages. By multiplying the number of words by the number of pages it gave me a general idea of how many words were in the chapter, which turned out to be around 2000-2500 I believe. (That’s how you know I like writing. It makes me do math and I don’t mind.) This book was a new Young Adult that I heard about in one of the library’s newsletters. Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines I think was the one, which was a good book. But I digress. I kept that in mind while I separated my words into sections, looking for that perfect spot to stop or leave a little suspense. I ended up around the 2500-3000 range a lot.
I realize that chapters are going to be different for every book. Books for younger kids may only have a couple pages per chapter and thicker young adult books could be 10-15 pages long. What’s average for you? Is there a certain amount of words or number of pages you go for as you’re writing? As a reader, do you ever think a chapter is too short or too long? What’s your chapter ‘bull’s eye’?
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