Now What?

Well, that's not actually a serious question. Now that NaNoWriMo, and NaBloPoMo, are over, it's not like I have a dearth of things to do. I have to turn my mind to Christmas, finish preparations for the book launch this week...and I would like to try and keep blogging. I really enjoy it when I'm doing it, but it's an easy habit for me to fall out of.

Tonight I'm going to start a Christmas knitting project--nothing too difficult, it's quite a while since I've done sweaters or anything else really time-consuming. I have a couple of small projects planned, and if they go well we'll see what else I might tackle.

NaNoWriMo was a bit of a struggle this year, but I'm glad I participated, as usual. The story is structurally not good, but I know there are places where, for first draft writing, it's really improved. I saw a big change in my daughter's committment this year as well--she was really engrossed in her story and didn't need nagging or reminding to get those daily words in. It was fun working with her, and with some new NaNoWriMo buds, like my pal Chivalrybean from Second Life who kept me virtual company many writing nights, and others in the SL F&SF Writers Workshop, where we had weekly meetings to keep each other encouraged. As well, my usual supporters, like McDoogle, the AFWD group, and my friends and family had my back for the month. So, thanks, everyone!

I already have plans for a few writing projects to tackle in the new year. I'll keep you posted as they come up.

And done

Done, with a day to spare. Fifty thousand words in 29 days. It's not anything like a complete first draft, but yes, it has potential. I don't hate it, anyway.

Considering everything else I had going on in October and November this year, I'm feeling pretty good about it, all in all. I'm hoping to do quite a lot of rewrite work in 2009; I may not get to this particular project, but it will be on the list. I think it's mainly lacking the foundational work that I didn't have time for beforehand--if I worked up a better structure, the rewrite would be fairly straightforward.

I'm off to validate, download my certificate, and give my brain a break!

Home Stretch

Three days left in NaNoWriMo.

Three thousand words.

I think I can do it. :)

"Latest" Meme

I am running out of steam on many things right now--NaNoWriMo, book launch preparations, blogging...so today it's a meme again. This one requires some memory work so it could be rough...

Latest Road Trip: 2007 summer vacation to Toronto
Latest Bad Advice: Received or given? Never mind, I can't remember either
Latest Movie I Saw in a Theater: Twilight
Latest TV Show Watched: Kim Possible (?)
Latest TV Show I Enjoyed Watching: Heroes
Latest Book I Tried to Read: can't recall
Latest Thing I Left Home Without: Money to buy my niece a present to take to a birthday party
Latest Take Out Meal: KFC
Latest Celebration: My brother's birthday
Latest Item Loaned Out and Haven’t Gotten Back: Probably a book
Latest New Words Added to Vocabulary: "locus of the points"
Latest New Word of a Foreign Language Learned: attrire (French for attract)
Latest T-Shirt Acquired: Peace & Love graphic from cafepress.com
Latest Package Received: A new bellydance coin belt!
Latest Web Site Visited: http://ocremix.org
Latest Injury: an unexplained bruise
Latest Run In with the Law: n/a
Latest Place I’d Want to Live: I don't know, I pretty much like it here
Latest Physical Fight: I punched a guy once when I was in high school...
Latest Magazine Read: Wired
Latest Thing I Broke: a glass
Latest Thing I Fixed: a wooden rabbit
Latest Thing That Made Me Laugh: A new exclamation coined by my son; "mother catnip!"
Latest Thing That Made Me Go Huh?: my daughter's math homework
Latest Thought: how many more words to get to 50k?

The Daft Draft

I told my sister tonight that this is the worst first draft I've ever written--in fact, I said, I should be calling it a "daft," not even a "draft."

However, I'm not letting that little fact get me down. Here's one thing that I've learned in seven years of NaNoWriMo--every novel is different. Not just in content; every novel experience is different. Some flow like water. Some flow like cold molasses uphill, as they say in my part of the world. Some turn out to be not nearly as messy as you first imagined. Some turn out to be, as my old boss used to say, a dog's breakfast.

But, what's the alternative? NOT writing? Is that really better?

I don't think so. So I'll be happy with my daft draft, whatever I have to do with it to make it to the 50k finish line.

Until I get to the rewrite...but there's lots of time to worry about that.

NaNoWriMo Update

Of course if you're keeping up with my little widget in the left sidebar you can see my NaNoWriMo progress in terms of just word count, but it doesn't speak to my mental state.

This is the hardest NaNo I've ever done.

Well, maybe that's not true. The first attempt last year was going so badly that I switched horses in mid-stream and had to make up a week's worth of writing, but after the change it flowed like water.

I think the problem this year is that I didn't have enough time to think about it beforehand. I'm not much of an outliner, but I do like to have an idea of the story arc. This year I only had an idea about the beginning and not much more. So it's going very slowly.

In addition, planning the Undercurrents book launch and doing all the promotional work for it is taking far, far more time than I ever expected. That was due to my own naivete, but it's been a learning experience all the way through, so why should this part be any different?

Anyway, I hit 40k last night and want to put on a drive now to the finish. The house is clean, groceries are laid in, and I'm making a map of the week that includes lots of writing time. Hopefully it will work out.

Random 10 Monday Meme

This sounded like fun:

List 10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did)

Ten songs that actually summed up my weekend would be rather dark so I think I'll just list ten that I listened to and enjoyed over the weekend.

1. Old School ~ Hedley
2. Dark Moon, High Tide ~ Afro Celt Sound System
3. All the Strange, Strange Creatures ~ Dr. Who: Series 3 Soundtrack
4. Feel the Rush ~ Shaggy
5. Raks Asherof (bellydance music)
6. Sleepless Nights ~ Faber Drive
7. Whirl-Y-Reel 2 ~ Afro Celt Sound System
8. The Futurekind ~ Dr. Who: Series 3 Soundtrack
9. Never Again ~ Kelly Clarkson
10. Fall for You ~ Second Hand Serenade

Lots of instrumental music there--not hard to tell it's NaNoWriMo. ;) As for a picture...I might think of an appropriate one to add later.

Borrowed, Stolen, or Merely Recycled?

With the unexpected addition of a new character who just showed up in my NaNoWriMo novel tonight, I've come to the realization that the book I'm writing is almost the same as the book I'm reading. Change the setting and the genre, add a few characters, change a few circumstances, and really, it's the same story.

This is bugging me somewhat. Although I should hasten to add that I don't mean I'm plagiarizing the book, or deliberately lifting ideas, characters, incidents or anything else from that book and putting it into my own. What I mean is more subtle. I can't really even put my finger on it; perhaps it's merely a mood or an overtone, a resemblance in character interactions, an examination of similar relationships.

And really, is this all bad?

Depending on who you ask, there are a limited number of "plots" available for the writer to address in any given story--that number ranges from one to about sixty-nine. Perhaps we shouldn't worry too much about absolute originality. At my daughter's school the other day I noticed a poster that read something along the lines of, "Those who are afraid to imitate never create anything."

I guess I'll just get on with the creation and not worry about the imitation. It's the sincerest form of flattery anyway, so they say.

An apt quote

Came across this quote today in the signature of another writer. It is particularly apt for writers, considering the long waiting times we endure while hoping against hope that this time it will not be another rejection letter.

"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide whether it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they're deciding, make even more art." ~ Andy Warhol

It strikes me that during NaNoWriMo, we can't even wait for ourselves to decide whether we love it or hate it. We just have to keep going.

And come to think of it, it applies equally well to a lot of things in life.

The Worst

I'm thinking that this is probably my worst NaNoWriMo story ever, at least so far. What I'm writing seems pretty much irredeemable at this point, and sadly, there isn't even enough of it to be able to say I'm on track with my word count.

And I really hate that bar in my NaNo Report Card spreadsheet that keeps telling me, "At this rate, you won't finish on time." Shut up, already.

I'm thinking it's time to take a day, sit down with some index cards and colored pens, and brainstorm a plot for the next 30,978 words. That might help. Probably couldn't hurt.

NaNoWriMo gripe

Why does it seem that for every NaNoWriMo project, I have one word that I can't seem to type without getting it wrong? And it's invariably a word that comes up over, and over, and over...

One year it was "wormhole"--in fact, that was the bugaboo for two years, counting the sequel. Another year it was my main character's name, "Rosinda," which kept coming out as "Rosidna." I forget last year's, but there definitely was one. This year it's another character; not my main character, but one very close to her. Caleb. I keep typing his name as "Cable" or "Calbe." And dammit, his name is Caleb. I can't change it.

When I think of how many more words I could have written now, if it weren't for all that backspacing and re-typing...

Crank it up

The last two nights I haven't gotten to any NaNoWriMo writing until 10 at night--not a good habit to get into. I'm predicting, though, that it might continue this way for a few more days yet. Here's to cranking words when the opportunity arises and not falling behind.

Here's the excerpt from this year's novel that I have posted on my NaNoWriMo page:

Luke sat on the end of her bed, his dark hair sticking out everywhere in a truly impressive bedhead. She’d have to wet it down for sure to tame it this morning. “It must have been a pretty bad dream to make you scream like that. Was it about Dad?”

“I don’t remember, okay?” Maddie regretted her flash of annoyance almost immediately, but Luke didn’t seem bothered by it.

“Okay, whatever. I’m going downstairs. I might as well eat since I’m up.”

Fear clutched at Maddie’s chest for a moment, and she almost told Luke to stay upstairs. She didn’t know where that thought had come from, though, and it was gone as quickly as it had come. “Sure,” she said. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

After Luke had padded out, Maddie thought about the dream. Oddly, Luke’s mention of going downstairs had brought it back—or parts of it, at least. She and her father had been at the bottom of the stairs, right here in their house, and he’d been trying to tell her something. Something she didn’t want to hear, although they hadn’t been arguing, exactly. He kept repeating something about the staircase, but although in the dream she could see his lips moving, that was the only word she could make out. He’d held out something to her—a flat box, she thought, but her hands passed right through it when she tried to take it.

That was startling enough, but then she’d realized that her hand had also passed right through her father’s fingers. Panicked, she reached out to touch his arm, but her hand met nothing. Then she was wildly grasping, trying to take hold of his hand, his shirt, anything. Every time her hand passed through.

A noise surrounded them suddenly, seeming to come from all directions at once. It started low, a murmuring like water over stones in a brook, then grew to a roar—and shattered into the sound of something tumbling, clattering down the stairs toward them. The Maddie in the dream knew suddenly that they had to get out of the way, and she made one last grab at her father’s arm. He was no more substantial than he’d been before, but this time her hand somehow knocked the box from his grasp. It fell and broke open on the wood floor, and a swarm of black beetles erupted from it, their legs whirring as they poured out and scuttled in every direction. Her father didn’t seem to notice them, but his already-ghostly form began to fade.

Just then whatever had been falling down the stairs tumbled into Maddie’s legs and knocked her down, into the mass of beetles. Their legs skittered horribly over her skin, and that’s when she’d started screaming and woke up. She shuddered at the memory.

Abruptly, Maddie swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. It had just been a stupid dream, and she didn’t want to think about it any more. She’d go and wake Ren, and they’d all be ready for school early for a change.

As she pulled clothes out of her dresser, wishing she’d thought to throw her good jeans in the washer last night, she thought she saw movement on the floor under her window, just out of the corner of her eye. Her heart leapt again as images of the beetles from the dream flashed in her mind, but when she turned, there was nothing there.

“Hey,” said a voice from the doorway, and she jumped and almost screamed again. It was only Luke, a slice of toast smothered with peanut butter in one hand, ever-present math book in the other. “I forgot. Happy birthday.”

“Thanks.” Maddie took a deep breath and forced a smile.

“Guess what? I’ve got the first fifteen digits of pi memorized now. Three point one four one five nine two six five three five eight--”

“Great, Luke!” Maddie interrupted. Luke and his math obsession. Why couldn’t he be obsessed with something useful, like making dinner or keeping his room clean? “Go wake Ren, would you? Then you can tell her, too.”

He went off down the hall and Maddie sighed and turned her attention to her clothes again. Some birthday this was starting out to be.

A NaNoWriMo Tip

I suppose this tip really applies to writing anytime of the year.

Clean up your desk.

If you're anything like me, November swoops down seemingly without warning, while you're barely recovering from (or not quite finished) all the other projects you've been trying to clear away before NaNoWriMo. Most likely, your desk or writing area looks like a bomb hit it.

Take a few minutes, an hour, an evening or a weekend (!) to clean up. When you approach your desk for your daily writing session, you'll feel lighter, less guilty about all the other things you "should" be doing, and the words will flow easier.

Try it and see if it makes a difference for you. Obsessive neat-freaks can ignore this advice. :)

At the Sign of the Starcase

Here's a brief description of my 2008 NaNoWriMo novel (YA fantasy):

In the five years since Maddie’s father disappeared, she and her family have struggled to go on with some semblance of a normal life. That life is shattered by the arrival of Neb, a vaguely rabbit-like creature who turns up in Maddie’s room one night, pleading for her help in finding a powerful book called the Cyclopedia and telling her that her father is still alive—but trapped in an alternate world. There’s no question that Maddie will try to help Neb and hope that by doing so she’ll be able to rescue her father. But keeping the rest of her family safe grows increasingly difficult once she finds out that there are others from that world who want the Cyclopedia too...and they don’t care what they have to do to get it.

Maybe tomorrow I'll post a little excerpt. Tackling the word count early today since I might go Christmas shopping tonight.

Noveling, Blogging and Bellydancing

Our household is off to a good NaNoWriMo start: we are all on track so far. My daughter and I both woke up early this morning (without alarm clocks) with the idea of writing before the day got too busy. I have about a third of the days' words done.

We also went to our bellydancing class. This is the second class I've taken, and the first for my daughter. We are having so much fun with it! It's just a beginner level class but we are already talking about moving up to the next level once this one is done. Today we learned new choreography, so we'll need to find practice time soon to get it stuck into our heads.

On the blogging front, I think the most difficult part of keeping up with it will be remembering to actually do it. I had a brief panic this morning thinking I'd missed a day already. :)

Now off to a NaNoWriMo meetup. It's snowing just a bit for the first time this season, but I don't expect it to amount to much. Made for a chilly drive to bellydancing class, though.

November 1st

Well, it's been a busy day. I had family things to do in the morning, a workshop session this afternoon, and now I've been working on a few administrative things for NaNoWriMo. It's 8 p.m. and I've yet to write a word of my own story...but it will come in a bit. I'm not worried yet. My daughter and I are going to start together once I have these odds and ends out of the way.

My eight-year-old son started his NaNoWriMo project last night after midnight, following trick-or-treating and a Halloween party! He was very keen to get started, and he's set himself what I think is a very reasonable goal. It should be an interesting month with three of us writing in the household.

Wish us luck!

November looms

Okay, it's...let's see...three days until National Novel Writing Month and National Blog Posting Month. I'll definitely be doing the former; not certain about the latter this year as I have the anthology project still ongoing. Although I suppose that would give me something to blog about.

Not as sure of my footing for this year's novel as I sometimes am, but I'm not going to stress about it. My daughter, son and I are planning an outlining session for our respective projects some night this week, and I hope to come out of that with at least a few details pinned down. And other than a rough idea of the shape of the story, I don't like too detailed an outline, anyway.

I looked last night and now that some of my Second Life writing compatriots are doing NaNoWriMo, my buddies list has thirty names on it! If I can't get enough support to write a measly fifty thousand words, there's something wrong.

Here's to a month of furious creativity!

Velociraptor Gun

Really, even if you're not the least bit interested in writing a novel during NaNoWriMo this November, you should check out this wonderful discussion on the forums:

Guns, Shooting Velociraptors Out Of

If you don't find this interesting, I despair of you.

Ten Signs A Book Was Written By Me

This writerly meme is making its way around and although I haven't been specifically tagged I have been generally tagged in the "if you read this consider yourself tagged" sense. ;-) So here goes:

1. It is either science fiction, fantasy, or some weird genre mix like SF/F/Mystery.

2. The protagonist is almost certainly female.

3. The protagonist almost certainly has a quirky sense of humor. If not her, then someone in her immediate circle, or several someones.

4. The first draft was 99.9% likely to have been written during National Novel Writing Month.

5. It has a happy ending for at least some of the characters, if not most (excluding villains).

6. It's very unlikely (though not impossible) that any of the main characters will die.

7. It will contain either aliens or sentient/talking animals. Possibly both.

8. It is not heavy on description.

9. It is not longer than 100,000 words, and more likely to come in around 80k.

10. No-one ever sits around talking for more than a few pages at a time.

And...whew!

Well, it was a NaNoWriMo of ups and downs, first time I've ever had to switch projects, first time without my little doggie companion keeping me company, first time I wrote large portions of the novel (most of it, really) on a laptop (and as a corollary to that, probably the most typo-correcting ever). But I swept past the 50k mark tonight as my kids cheered me on. That was pretty cool, as writing is generally such a solitary pursuit.

My daughter still has a few words to go tomorrow, so I'll return the favor then.

I'm not quite ready to type "The End" yet, so I plan to keep going for a few more days.