NaNoWriMo 2014: Winners

Just reached the 50,000 word count for NaNoWriMo:

As always, the novel itself is nowhere near finished - at this rate, it needs another 50,000 words just to get to a good closing spot - and will need serious revision and rewrite during the editing phase.

But I'm feeling good about this one.  I will keep writing.  I will get this published.

This is just a placeholder cover.  If I can scrounge up $300 or so, I might hire a professional illustrator to make something better... :)

NaNoWriMo 2014: Welcome to the Speedbump that is TURKEY PAGAN SACRIFICE DAY

Seriously.

I think the reason why the NaNoWriMo site managers went with November as the Month of Writing is because Thanksgiving hovers here at the end of the month like a massive speedbump.  A huge distraction from writing writing and even MORE WRITING.  I mean, here you are with two to four days of NO WORK NO SCHOOL and you're well close to 50,000 words by now if you've kept at it, and you're thinking OH MY GOD I CAN FINISH UP NO PROBLEM.

And then you realize there's COOKING and EATING and WATCHING FOOTBALL and STUCK WITH CRAZY NON-WRITER RELATIVES who can't even comprehend the awesomeness that is getting a novel typed up.

And that's just Thursday.  Then there's Friday, which is pretty much a day off anyway for most of us, and BOOM THERE'S MAD SHOPPING FOR BLACK FRIDAY SPECIALS or heading out to Busch Gardens/Disney/Universal Theme Parks with energy-sapping relatives who drag you everywhere instead of letting you get 2,000 more words in before that damn roller coaster ride that always knocks you unconscious from the g-forces.

You'll be lucky if you can get back into the writer mindset by Saturday.  As long as your relatives aren't college football alums and their schools are playing the BIG RIVALRY GAMES WOOHOO OH NO CMON WAR EAGLE BEAT TIDE.

This is like that part of the marathon where you've gotten your 20 kilometers in and you can feel the finish line and then there's this 80 foot hill with a 50 degree incline and potholes everywhere as your legs give out.

Thanks a lot, NaNo people.  You really know how to mess with our heads.

KEEP WRITING, NANO'ERS!

And enjoy the turkey sacrifice.

The Trick With NaNoWriMo: Stay Interested

More than staying focused, the thing is if you lose interest in your work the second NaNo ends - either hitting 50,000 or hitting December 1st - the whole endeavor goes for naught.

It's not that you have to force yourself to follow through.  You have to like the work enough to see the value of continuing with it.  Even just one nugget of a plot idea, one line, one moment by your characters, is enough to justify finishing the rough draft.

Writing is both work AND fun.  Find the fun part, and you'll get through the work in no time.

NaNoWriMo 2014: Keeping Up

Week Three now lined up, getting past the 32,000 word count and aiming for 40,000 by the end of the week (I think).  I'm starting to lose track of which day limit I gotta surpass.

I'm getting some traffic of NaNoWriMo interest.  I gotta ask, any of you currently writing the novel this year?  Post a comment, lemme know how you're doing.

NaNoWriMo 2014: Midway Point Update

Hola and opa.

I'm currently past 25,000 words en route to hopefully a 5,000 word day to get to 30,000.  It'd be nice to have some clearance room to make the finish line.

One of the things I'm seeing on Facebook and Twitter is frustration: this is the point where writers are starting to think "I'm never going to get to the good parts" or that "my characters are going in directions I didn't want them to go."  Frustration is what drives writers to quit sometimes, even when the work is actually going places and getting things done.

I've found that not worrying about getting to the good parts isn't a problem.  Even if what you're writing right now doesn't look like it should be in the finished product, that's NOT your concern at the moment.  Editing comes later.  This is the rough draft.  Get all the words on file/paper NOW.  You can edit and fix story order, character traits, and other tidbits later.

Relax.  Your novel is SUPPOSED to be messy.  Keep at it.

NaNoWriMo Update: Write-Ins For Florida>Elsewhere

Just a reminder, we've got a NaNo Write-In scheduled for Winter Haven Public Library this Thursday Nov. 6th from 5 pm to 7 pm.

There's a Write-In for people in Indian River County at the Indian River State College (Ft. Pierce) on Friday the 7th from 1 pm to 4 pm.  And then down I-95 and the Turnpike there's a Write-In at the Cummings Library in Palm City in Martin County from 5 pm to 7:30 pm.

And there's a Write-In on Saturday the 8th for east Polk County and surrounding communities at the Lake Wales Public Library from 1 pm to 3 pm.

Currently at 7300 words, give or take a misspell.  I should be well above 10,000 words before Friday, and the weekend should give me a word count boost.  I need to make sure I'm getting to the key points of my novel though...

NaNoWriMo 2014: Day One

HERE IS MY OPENING SENTENCE:

Call me Rascafelopasikusyzaquld.

...whadda ya mean, it's been done?

Still, gotta admit any opener I type won't compare to this winner.