NaNoWriMo, Sort of

 

I've put off this post because I wasn't sure for the longest time how to handle it.

A former writer friend, who has since passed away, introduced me to National Novel Writing Month nearly twenty years ago. Initially, the program helped steer writers in WRITING A COMPLETE WORK in 30 days. The work is not expected to be perfect, but the writer was expected to do their best. The idea was helping writers to get past their biggest hurdle, which was simply finishing a story.

Over the years, things were changed, like introducing alternate goals such as completing an ongoing wip. Programs for teachers to use for their creative writing students were added. Camp NaNo's were introduced in July and then April. Originally, there were useful prizes, like discounts to print books through Ingram Spark.

Now...

The so-called rules were were adjusted to the point as to become meaningless. Some accused NaNo of marginalizing people by having rules. However, rules are often needed to develop discipline. And that need for discipline was booted to the moon.

Encouraging kids to write was an awesome development. Until pedos used the program to target and groom the underage writers. And when the kids tried to report their experiences, they were blown off by their municipal liaison.

Like many other social sites, the online discourse has turn mean and in some cases, violent. This is not a political space. You're problems with real life shouldn't impinge on a people attempting to learn art techniques. Art itself is open to interpretation, but techniques are not. A writer needs to learn the rules in order to effectively break them.

Don't get me started on the NaNo board's stand and the subsequent backlash concerning artificial intelligence.

And the co-called prizes are now discounts for software that doesn't actually help new writers write the freakin' book from companies that are looking to use a new writer's dreams and desperation to rip them off.

So, what do I do this November?

Well, I've started the first draft of a new book. I'll use NaNo to keep track and hopefully hit the requisite 50K goal. But I won't promote it, like I have in previous years.

And next year...

I will wait a see if NaNo's parent organization improves. If not, then this will be my last encounter on NaNo.

Thirty Percent Through NaNoWriMo

I'm getting the words in, but not on the project I'd planned to at the beginning of 2022.

Death in Double Mocha is way behind thanks to the multiple deaths in the family this year, not mention the two additional stories that will be audiobooks. Invasion! is supposed to come out December 1st, and I can't afford to lose my pre-order privileges on Amazon. And I'd wanted to do A Hint of Thief for NaNo. I have written a few chapters on it in order to wrap up the events at the end of A Measure of Knowledge and Invasion!

As a friend mentioned, it's like I'm writing three NaNo projects at once.

Looking at timing, I need to take a step back and finish Invasion! first since Elaina is scheduled to do the paperback cover next week.

Then, I need to finish up everything for the Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse Kickstarter before the end of the year.

Finally, I can jump back into A Hint of Thief because of the excitement factor of Anthea and Luc being caught in plots, spies, and triple-crosses while trying to keep Quan alive long enough to be crowned.

Yep, my brain is high on stories!

WInter Is Coming

There's a certain tang in the air when Mother Nature sheds her colorful finery and the skeletal fingers of the trees rattle in the wind. The temps are falling, and this time, you know you won't feel real warmth again until the Spring Equinox rolls around.

Or you go to Cancun.

But I can't pull out the Christmas/Yule decorations just yet. Halloween lights and blankets will stay out until Thanksgiving. Or even December 1st.

Because I'm in the middle of NaNo, and dammit, I want to finish it this year!

So what do you all do in this little quiet space between Halloween and Thanksgiving?

It's NaNo Time!

National Novel Writing Month ("NaNo") officially started at midnight. How many words have I written so far? Zero.

Unless you count this blog.

Last night, I finished updating my inventory in my point-of-sale software. And the inventory sorely needed the updating. It hadn't been done since the last library Author Fair I attended in 2018.

(In 2019, we had to go out of town at the last minute,. Last year, we couldn't have an in-person event.)

Today, I didn't wake up until 3 P.M. because I'm still recovering from the party we had on Saturday. Even good stress drags me into the pit of pain caused by an overloaded body chemistry.

But my NaNo project is ready to go. Wish me luck!

I'm Buried Under My To-Do List

I've spent the first half of the week doing one last proof of the paperback interior of Hero Amicus Curiae and trying desperately to finish A Very Hero New Year, which seems to really want to be a grown-up novel like it's brothers and sisters instead of a little baby novella.

Interspersed between those, I tried to get rooms cleaned and boxes unpacked before our Halloween party on Saturday. I think any writing will have to be set aside for tomorrow and Friday in order to finish cleaning and making some pies for the party.

So TL;DR - don't expect too much brilliance from me until Monday when National Novel Writing Month starts.

Have an awesome Halloween!

Coronavirus Pandemic Day 237 - F*** the virus! It's NaNoWriMo Time!

 The U.S. is at 9.3 million known infections and 234,567 deaths (believe me, I wish I WAS making up that number). And tomorrow is election day in a heated race for the soul of America.

You know what? There's only so much I can do about those things, and I am doing them. So, it's time to focus on National Novel Writing Month.

Now, a lot of professional writers hate this concept because they feel it demeans their profession.

Which frankly, I find ridiculous. NaNo is whatever you make of it. Plus, a lot of our detractors find out how hard it really is to write that first novel. Once you get over the initial hump, it gets a lot easier (for most writers, not all).

For me though, NaNo is the time of year where I give myself permission to experiment. To have fun. To enjoy the process. Then I can carry those feelings over to the rest of my projects through the year.

It helps that NaNo started on the Celtic New Year's Day. So have some fun!

And Happy New Year!

NaNoWriMo Has Started!

National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo or NaNo if you need to go even shorter, started yesterday.

I stocked up on chocolate and caffeine. I had my fun project ready to go. And I hit the ground...

...kind of crawling. I overslept thanks to the dark, rainy day. I had to do some transferring of funds because GK found his dream car at the dealership down the road. There was paperwork to do, and we still need to contact our insurance agent this morning.

However, I did get words down in the midst of the chaos. And I'm going to keep ploughing through. I have to admit this is the first book I've started since all the testing and treatment for cancer, and I'm not sure how it will change my voice.

But for now, I'm going to have some fun!

NaNoWriMo - The Half-way Point

I'm still plugging along with Ravaged. Before I start this morning, I'm at 17,065 words. Yep, I know. At the 18th, I should be around the 28K mark.

Honestly, I got distracted over the weekend by the events in Paris. I'm usually pretty good about keeping distractions at bay, but this time, I was more worried about the ramifications here in the U.S. This isn't a political blog, and I won't get into it any more than that.

The other problem, which is more of a real problem, was tying events in Ravaged back into the events of Blood Sacrifice. It's been two years since I even read my own damn book, I'd forgotten a lot of details. I spent a good chunk of writing time yesterday re-reading the scenes regarding the Sunshine Believers. For a group that were intended as throw-away bad guys in Zombie Love, they've become quite integral to the overall plot.

Can I catch up and "win" this year's NaNo? That's a good question. I don't know, and I'm not going to worry about it. What I'm going to do is plunge ahead because the shit's in the story is about to hit the fan.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!

It's NaNoWriMo Time!

Yesterday started National Novel Writing Month, a crazy, fun-filled thirty days where writers, from newbies to multi-decade vets, plan to write a 50,000-word novel. Some succeed; some don't. In the end, it's really a question of learning to push your limits.

In my case, it's a question of learning how to pants. In other words, trusting my subconscious instead of planning every minute detail. (In case, you haven't figured it out, I'm an A++ personality. LOL)

On top of practicing my pantsing, I'm working on juggling  the various elements of being a publisher. To that end, I need to get my daily word count in for Ravaged, which is Book 7 of the Bloodlines series and my NaNo project for 2015.

On top of that, I'm still proofing the print copies of Blood Magick and Zombie Love, waiting for my beta reader to get back to me about A Question of Balance, approving the e-book cover of A Question of Balance, send out prizes for a blog contest for Alter Ego, work on Zombie Goddess (which is worked on AFTER the daily word count of Ravaged) because it needs to released first, and squeeze in a few words on Sacrificed while waiting in line to pick up Genius Kid from school.

And that last one brings me to another observation. Some writers think they can only write in the perfect room at the perfect temperature, wearing the perfect clothes, sipping the perfect drink and nibbling the perfect chocolate.

Um, no. That's actually a good way to fuck yourself up as a writer.

I'm currently writing Sacrificed on the note function of my ancient iPhone 4 during the five to ten minutes I'm sitting in the car pick-line of the local high school. I can't focus for two hours with my tea like I prefer. Yet, I've written around 5K in those few minutes four-five days a week since school started around August 15th.

So even if the idea of writing 50K in thirty days freaks you out, remember there are other ways of working toward your goal.