Of course, there are gaps and sections which don’t quite match later changes, and I have to strengthen my characters in the earlier scenes, and add some sections in different points of view, [...]]]> I made it – 50,900 words of first draft last night for NaNoWriMo. And I got to the end of the story.

Of course, there are gaps and sections which don’t quite match later changes, and I have to strengthen my characters in the earlier scenes, and add some sections in different points of view, etc, etc. There’s also very little description anywhere – it’s like having the actors move around on a green screen ready for the CGI backgrounds.

It is a ROUGH draft – very rough – but it’s got the skeleton of a good story in it. And it has the fight scene with possessed camels stalking people. I’ll have to punch it up later, but after doing some research on camels, I really wouldn’t want to mess with one. They’re fast. And if they get hungry enough, they’ll eat pretty much anything, not just vegetation.

Time to breath. And uh… I guess I should probably clean the house. It really needs it. It looks rather like a herd of crazed camels stampeded through.

I’m having the usual cyclical love-hate relationship with the book. It’s a first draft, and that’s what I try to keep reminding myself.

It’s ok if it’s [...]]]> I’ve got 35,001 words of the 50,000 I need for the month for NaNoWriMo. I’m exactly on track right now to finish where I need to be.

I’m having the usual cyclical love-hate relationship with the book. It’s a first draft, and that’s what I try to keep reminding myself.

It’s ok if it’s complete dreck at this point, and the characters are talking heads without much personality in a few of the early scenes.

It’s ok if I stuck a Sphinx in there just because – I’m sure to figure out a way to tie it in later. Right?

And ok, maybe I don’t exactly know what’s going to happen next and my dirty dishes are calling me and they’re actually sounding better than sitting down at the laptop and trying to figure this story out…

But it’s a first draft and it’s NaNoWriMo, and I’m darn well going to finish one way or another. Even if I have to add a herd of rampaging fluffy kittens.

Which now that I think about it, could be quite fun. Maybe I should go back and work on that midgrade scifi I started, and they could be alien flesh-eating fluffy kittens, or maybe they’re robotic scouts– Which is just another instance of my brain trying to run away with any new shiny idea it comes across so it doesn’t have to face the difficult bits of the one I’m working on.

And then there are days, where I write a line or two that I think are great, and then I know that I will finish this thing, and I love my main character, and it all can be edited, and the final version will be much better than it is now.

And it’s all worth it. And that’s why this is the fourth year in a row that I’ve done NaNo.

Although if you combined the two… Anyone know if there’s a vampire Barbie yet? I’m sure she’d have a [...]]]> I’m actually working on the third book in what isn’t quite a trilogy. Each one is a stand-alone story about one of three sisters. And they’re princesses – of course. (YA fantasy) But not vampires.

Although if you combined the two… Anyone know if there’s a vampire Barbie yet? I’m sure she’d have a very stylish pink cape.

Actually, at the beginning of the second book, the oldest princess is very like Barbie. But that gets beaten out of her by the end. And there are pigs, but I don’t think they’re pink ones.

But back to my story.

I wanted this one to be my quest book. My heroine is the youngest daughter Chrysanthemum – the one who’d rather be out catching dragons than gazing soulfully into pools. The one who challenges all the princes to fight instead of swooning over them. And the one her father is trying to marry off and make into a model heir to the throne – very much against her wishes.

There will be desert caravans, and giant mythical creatures, and other creatures that don’t have myths yet because I completely made them up, and sword fighting, and possibly an un-dead* army of mind-controlled camels.

And an evil magician and a prisoner and a fabled jewel and a bunch of other stuff I’m still working on.

I’ve decided I was holding back too much on a couple of the other ones. What’s the point of having realistic fantasy? I’m going to have some fun with this one.

*As in alive, not zombies with bits falling off all over. Unless they’re other people’s bits – because have you seen how big their teeth are? And they’re fast. I’d watch out for the zombie camel army if I was you. You’re not gonna take them out with a shovel.

The first night and a half of writing is just a mishmash as I was trying to get thoughts down – there’s backstory and repetitive interior monologue, and I really should have written the sword fight [...]]]>

Giant evil millipede with venomous fangs!!!

So far I’m keeping up on my word count for NaNo. I had just under 4K words last night.

The first night and a half of writing is just a mishmash as I was trying to get thoughts down – there’s backstory and repetitive interior monologue, and I really should have written the sword fight out instead of summarizing it… It’s a mess. But it’s a beautiful mess and things are starting to flow now

And I can always come back and fix it after NaNo. Just like any art or craft, sometimes you have to make that first junky version before the creativity starts flowing and the inspiration starts sparking. And even if that first draft gets completely rewritten that practice, and that learning process is important. (And there are at least three sentences in there that I really, really love so it won’t be COMPLETELY rewritten.)

It’s amazing the way things just come to you when you’re working. I actually sat down and outlined my idea for this story ahead of time, but there were some vague areas (like bad guy does something but I’m not quite sure why or how yet) and some pieces that hadn’t quite clicked yet. It didn’t matter how much I shook it around in my head, it wasn’t there.

But after two days of writing, as I was driving home yesterday, I figured out how the major problem in the book works. AND it lets me add a cool creature that I hadn’t figured out how to get in there before.

And just before we turned out the lights last night, I noticed something that looked like a gravity defying worm on the ceiling. It was actually a millipede, but in my book, it’s gonna be a lot bigger, a lot nastier, and the first evidence of the evil dark lord. And with acid spewing fangs. *Insert evil laughter here*

Can you tell I’m having fun?

The idea is to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.

50,000 words is really more of a novella (a basic novel is usually in the 70-100K word range) – but since so far I’ve been drawn to [...]]]> November is National Novel Writing Month and I’m getting psyched up for it.

The idea is to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.

50,000 words is really more of a novella (a basic novel is usually in the 70-100K word range) – but since so far I’ve been drawn to writing YA, it’s a workable length, especially since I tend to add on when I edit anyway. For some reason, I have very little description in my first drafts. Probably because I skim over big paragraphs of description when I read to get to the meat of the story.

NaNoWriMo teaches you to stop worrying about how it’s going to come out, that if you sit down and just write, you’ll get there. It may be a lousy story – most first drafts are – but that’s what revisions and editing are for later.

It teaches you to shut up your inner critic, and gives you a deadline and support so you can actually get it done. Probably similar to the Bird a Week or Painting a Day challenges I’ve seen.

This will be my 4th year doing it. I made it the last 3 years, barely in one case, and I plan to do it this time too.

Anyone joining me?

Yeah, well, the night before it started I came down with the cold from the Evil Slime Dimension. I spent the next two days in bed, and another two weeks getting over it. I swear a colony [...]]]> I figured NaNo wouldn’t be too much of a problem this month. I’ve done it twice before, right?

Yeah, well, the night before it started I came down with the cold from the Evil Slime Dimension. I spent the next two days in bed, and another two weeks getting over it. I swear a colony of brain eating slugs took up residence in my head. It’s pretty hard to explain how I felt otherwise. (Can you tell I’m writing about aliens? I’ve got plenty of tentacles but this just made me realize I probably need to add more slime to my story)

Anyway, I’m only starting to feel better now and I still have a cough. Needless to say, it’s affected my word count a bit. But I’m happy to say, that I’ve caught up with where I should be again. I’m at 30000 words, 3/5ths there.

I’m just not exactly sure what happens next in my story. I hit these spots every few days and that tends to slow me down too. I’m going to try to make it though. My heroine still has to rescue planet Earth after all.

Current NaNoWriMo Stats

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

This will be my third time doing it. I made it [...]]]> It’s NaNoWriMo time again, and I can’t wait to start writing.

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

This will be my third time doing it. I made it to 50,000+ words each time, but I haven’t revised the first one I wrote, and I still haven’t finished the first draft of the second book. Next year, I really need to concentrate on editing and finishing something. I’ve completed a couple first drafts (short YA length novels) but I still don’t have a book that I would consider done.

Anyway… this month, I’m going to have some fun. It’s going to be a kid’s book – midgrade or YA, depending on how the story develops. I’m not worrying about whether its going to be good at this point. It’s going to be pure fun, with no stress. Well, except for finding the time to write the 1667 words per day. I know I can do it, but things do seem to come up.

I’m going to be writing in first person point of view this time:

I did this… I did that… I hate lima beans, and that nasty, starchy taste that sticks to the roof of your mouth when your parents force you to eat them, and you can’t slip them under the table to the dog… I ducked as the ninja lobster flew towards me…. And so on.

I’ve had a character name kicking around for awhile (Spaghetti Q. Tweaking – courtesy of a spammer’s email) that I’m finally going to use, and I’m going to go a little crazy with just throwing things into the story. At minimum, I plan to include: an orange tentacled alien in a Glinda the Good Witch dress, a blue teleporting frog-type alien with eight legs, and ninja lobsters. And I’ll toss in some flying monkeys if I can figure out a semi-reasonable rationalization.

I haven’t quite decided on my working title yet. I’m sure it will change again before I’m done but here’s a few ideas:

Spaghetti Q. Tweaking and the Interstellar Spam of Doom
Spaghetti Q. Tweaking Sells the Planet
Spaghetti Q. Tweaking and the Alien Menace
Spaghetti Q. Tweaking Takes Over the World

Reading her story makes me admire her guts, but the fact that she disguised her gender because she made twice as much freelance writing [...]]]> Sexism isn’t normally something I’d post about, but this post really caught me. It seems that James of the popular writing blog Men with Pens, is actually a woman.

Reading her story makes me admire her guts, but the fact that she disguised her gender because she made twice as much freelance writing with a male pen name, well– that really makes you think.

I’ve never suffered any obvious discrimination because I’m a woman. If anything it worked in my favor. I was usually the only girl in my college Computer Engineering classes. I did feel a little awkward in a room full of guys when it came time to pick lab partners, but that wasn’t because of anything anybody else did. I feel awkward in a group of strangers anyway…

I’m not a rabid feminist. I’ll stick up for myself and being treated equally, but I don’t think men are evil. If a man wants to hold a door open for me, I’ll say thanks, and do the same for him the next time I reach the door first. I’ve never seen any reason why chivalry can’t work both ways.

I thought we were getting past this sort of thing. Seeing proof that this sort of subtle, unmeasurable, possibly even unconscious, discrimination still exists–based solely on the difference of a name on the internet… it hurts a little.

But I also can’t help thinking that a slightly fictionalized version of this story would make a great movie

I’ve always heard that art sells better with a story behind [...]]]> I thought this was interesting… Novelist Holly Lisle is writing the first draft of a story, and emailing it out to her fans. She’s also collaborating with her daughter, Rebecca Galardo, who is creating jewelry and artifacts to go along with the story.

I’ve always heard that art sells better with a story behind it, but this is the first time I’ve seen it taken so literally.

You can see the first limited edition up on Etsy. The cool thing (to me) is that the original was made in polymer clay.

Btw, I’d recommend signing up for the story if you like fantasy with a bit of an edge and tiger shape shifters. It’s caught me so far and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

I use something called Page Four. I could just use Word, or any text editor but I really like the way I can break my project into chapters and scenes with Page Four. It allows you to [...]]]> Supposedly Scrivener is the writing software to use if you’re on a Mac. But I’m not.

I use something called Page Four. I could just use Word, or any text editor but I really like the way I can break my project into chapters and scenes with Page Four. It allows you to add as many folders and pages/files as you want.

I’ve set my novel up so I’ve got one folder for outlines, world building notes, etc, and then a folder for each chapter. If I want to move a scene from one chapter to another, it’s a simple drag and drop – then I just have to do a little editing on the transitions. It’s come in very handy when I want to restructure a story without getting lost.

It’s a fairly simple editor, without too many bells and whistles, but how many times do you use all the crazy stuff Word can do anyway? It saves files in RTF format and they can be exported as one file into Word if you want, when you get to your final draft. It will also archive versions and you can take snapshots if you want.

You can try it out for free (limited by number of pages), and it’s relatively inexpensive. (Note – I have no affiliation. I just bought a copy awhile ago and really like it.)

Page Four - my NaNo novel