Monday, November 14, 2011

Super Short NaNo Update

I just spent most of the morning organizing the nearly 12,000 words I had so far written, because I was getting lost in them. I have a more traditional outline going now and discovered something both funny and overwhelming. The first pages I wrote on November 1st were literally the MIDDLE of my book. I've been pushing to catch up with them and just when I thought I was getting close, I realized that I have three whole chapters more to write just to catch up to them. Not to mention the string of unfinished and half written chapters before that. The good news: When I catch up, I bet I'm close to 25,000 words. The bad news: That surely won't be today. How are you guys doing?

Sunday, November 13, 2011

An Adventure in Parking, or My Day In Charleston, SC

A gorgeous, sunny day greeted me as I stepped out of my door juggling purse, shoulder bag, keys, phone, ipod, and extra large cinnamon flavored coffee. A perfect morning for a drive. 

It's about two hours to Charleston and I left early knowing that there were logistics that I couldn't work out in advance, as you will see. I listened to She & Him's Christmas album and glided smoothly in a cinnamon scented, jingle-bell filled haze to the Yall Fest Charleston Young Adult Book Festival.

The Fest was based out of the Blue Bicycle Book store on King St. (It's just outside the shadow of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church - one of the many spires of Charleston.)

Okay, so King Street is about one horse carriage wide and yet they made it two lanes with parking on either side. Needless to say - I'm glad I took the Yaris. Also, once I got into downtown and found the book store, (luckily they had set up a big white tent in the gravel parking lot next door) I saw that our little Fest was not the only doings downtown that day. LOTS of people = LOTS of cars and no where to park. About a mile down the road, I found a metered spot, parked, and dug through my wallet to find exactly five nickles. Long story slightly shorter, I walked back and forth about three times getting cash/quarters to plug the meter (thanks to the girl at the Pita Pit) and looking for a more permanent parking solution. Found out there was a parking garage right around the corner from the book store and they were comping the parking fees. Phew.

An hour later, I made it to my first of five panels - DEMONS, WITCHES, AND CASTERS, OH MY!

A quick note about downtown Charleston itself: It's beautiful. It reminded me of a little London. The smell of old brick with new paint mingled with the scent of warm cement. Add to that the dozens of restaurants advertising their wares by opening their doors. It's colorful and busy, old and modern. A mix of architecture and palmetto trees. Just lovely.

Now, I took geeky notes at all of the panels and learned oh, so much. (All of which I will post tomorrow.) But here are a few things that happened:

Sarah Rees Brennan stood on her chair and reenacted how she tested the strength of the Millennium Bridge in London (for research, of course). People and guards yelling at her,
"Don't do it?"
"Do what?"
"Don't jump, your life is worth it!"
"Oh, no you don't understand, I'm a writer!"
(Very funny.)

Kami Garcia admitted her hatred of cats because, as everyone knows, "they see spirits".

I sat next to Melissa Bigner during the REALITY BITES panel. She was so sweet and introduced herself with the confidence of someone who's seen their name in print. So, of course, I had to find her on Google.

I started crying when Kwame Alexander demonstrated how you can connect to an audience in just 10 lines of poetry during the UNDEAD POETS SOCIETY panel.

I discovered the richness of Southern culture and superstition in the PUTTING THE YALL IN YALLFEST panel.

My favorite moment must have been when the panel of DON'T DIS-TOPIAN ended the session by arguing who of them would make the best Princess Leia. In an effort to end on time, the moderator decided it would be Eliot Schrefer. (The only male on the panel.)

The day ended in an all-to-quickly-over YA Smackdown where 26 authors improvised books in 10 seconds and Eliot won the 'golden pie' award. (It was literally a golden pie on a chain - flava flav style.)

Starbucks lifted my spirits and I drove home to crash. What a day. Lessons to come. In the meantime here are some pictures from my Charleston adventure. 




King St. Shops


Do you see how narrow?


The Pita Pit - my ATM, quarters, and bathroom savior.


Have you ever seen a prettier Urban Outfitters?


Marion Square, Charleston


St Matthews


Me with Kami Garcia and Victoria Schwab


The PUTTING THE YALL IN YALLFEST Panel 
(minus Katie Crouch)


Saundra Mitchell, Carrie Ryan, Michelle Hodkin, and Beth Revis


Me and Beth Revis :)

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Taking a Deep Breath. NaNo Day 10.

I'm not done writing today. I promise.

With that said, you might note that I haven't added too many words to my word count-o-meter in the last couple of days. However, some really great things have come out of my 4500 marathon.

First, seeing the 10,000 mark was oddly overwhelming. A weird sense of responsibility to finish the story took over and I went to bed dreaming about my story. (Like I do when I'm in the middle of reading a really good book. So, I take that as a good omen.)

Second: The outline for my little book is extensive. My plot has thickened! I am so happy with the progress I've made and I'm already feeling proud of what I'm creating. That's a big deal!

Third. Since Sunday, I've needed to chill out a bit, but I was feeling a little guilty for falling behind just as I had caught up. Some really awesome people have written some really great stress-relieving blogs:

Jes, you're so right about the having fun part.

Sunday was super fun, but also super draining. I needed the time to really pound out a huge chunk of story. And in that way, NaNo is such a motivator for me. I am a person who needs some external motivation. But I don't want to come out of November sick of writing, either. It's all about creating lasting habits.

Beth Revis wrote about herself and other authors in the Young Adult realm of literature. It's short, but very encouraging for those of us who would love to someday be the new kid on the block.

Maureen Johnson (who is writing NaNoWriMo advise daily, fyi) in her 11/10 post writes simply that "try as you might, you can't force the voice".

Who hasn't hit a point where the words just don't want to come? It's true that sometimes I'm all 'talked' out, or maybe my characters are. It's okay if they're not speaking to me today. I have faith that they won't be silent very long.

It was good timing to read these lovely notes. After so much good progress, I took a long deep breath and now I'm ready to forge on ahead again. The big run was exciting, but slow and steady wins the race.

There's been much debate over NaNo and the quality of work that comes out of it. Personally, I'm using the word count goals to get my bum in the chair typing. I'm new at this and here's an opportunity to create good habits and network with tons of other people who are in the same boat.

I know I'll have a LOT of work to do after NaNo in order to have something worth reading. But as a new writer, I couldn't ask for a better (or more intense) network of support.

Okay, back to work.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

YallFest Charleston Young Adult Book Festival

I just learned that this weekend, Charleston is holding the 1st annual YallFest. It's bringing 20 top YA authors (including my new fav, Beth Revis) for two days of seminars, master classes, and smackdown.

I'm so excited!!! I'm so going. All events are free and open to the public except the Author Smackdown. (But I'm guessing $5 will be well worth it to watch all 20 authors on stage at once.) Check it out!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

NaNo Day 6 Live-Blog

8:27a: *rolls over and looks at the clock* I'm not sure if it's really 8:27 or 7:27. Thanks Daylight Savings...

7:50a: Yep, it was 7:27. I need coffee.

8:18a: Coffee is brewing and I'm blogging. Two more minutes to check facebook/emails, then time to write.

8:45a: Two minutes turned into twelve. However, dishwasher is now emptied and coffee is in hand. Hubby is making breakfast (hooray) so I need to get a few hundred words written before that's ready...

8:54a: Name! A Name! I need to name this beautiful boy!!

Word Count: 30

9:11a: Still no name. I'm about to just write 'boy'.

Word Count: 217

10:35a: Fed, showered, and moved to a less distracting writing area.

Word Count: Same. But wait till you see the next update....

11:18a: Plodding through a difficult section. I'm starting to get worried.

Word Count: 425, but I have a good 10 hours or more. That's just 408 words an hour. I can do this, I can do this...

11:40a: A Name! I found a name!!!

11:52a: Hubby will be leaving for work soon. I'll be in need of a cheering section, if you're up for it:

Word Count: 582

11:58a: SOMEBODY MAKE TIME SLOW DOWN!!!!!

12:06p: If I make it to 1000, I can get a snack. Yeah, I'm bargaining now.

Word Count: 708

12:30p: So, maybe the threat of food works...or maybe I've gotten past the trickier part. Either way, it's time for lunch

Word Count: 1011!!!

12:59p: Quick snack. Furious typing and a phone call.

Word Count: 1111. Hehehe. That's fun.

1:13p: Hitting a stride, but 4500 seems so far away...

Word Count:1322.

1:43p: Just found an invisible staircase. Huh, didn't know that was there...

Word Count:1611

2:11p: Car alarm made me jump out of my skin. Hahaha! Well, maybe you had to be here.

Word Count: 1865

2:29p: My cat is whining pathetically outside the door. Time for a break.

Word Count: 2012!!!!! (that reminds me, isn't the world supposed to end soon?)

3:47p: Snacked a little - there's nothing really in the house to snack on, so I settled for a couple of pickles. Must put grocery shopping on the list of things to do tomorrow. Rested a little and watched one episode of Ugly Betty. :) Now we're back to it.

Word Count: 2208

3:48p: I'm at a crossroads. Not sure what to write next. Finished one thought and I know what happens next on one side, but not on the other...Need coffee.

3:50p: *watches coffee pot slowly drip*

3:51p: *wonders why she's loosing followers on twitter* (couldn't have anything to do with the nonsense going on here, right? This is riveting stuff!)

3:55p: Finally! Coffee!!

Word Count: Same. But I'm on my way to being caffeinated and am wearing jingle bell rings to keep we alert. Now if the phone would just stop ringing...

5:03p: The good news. I'm half way to my overall goal today. I've worked some more on the outline and I'm starting to think I'll have no problem getting to 50,000 eventually. (It's a surprisingly complicated plot.) The bad news. It's after 5 and I'm only half done! It's been 8 hours already! Mini Goal: 3000 words before dinner.

Word Count: 2268 (yes, that's right. only 60 words written in the last 2 1/2 hours. Yikes.

5:09p: I mentioned dinner. Now all I can think about is dinner. Mmmm yummy dinner.

5:35p: Got my groove back:

Word Count: 2598! Let's do this. Can I get a Hell Yeah?! *raises hand to ear*

(cricket, cricket)

6:12p: Word Count: 3020! Time to eat!

7:39p: Took more time than I probably should have. But I watched the Packers win! Now I'm looking for a third wind. Could so use a pep talk, but I've already read NaNo's twice.

7:56p: Plodding along. Words, words, words...The stories moving, but I'm not so worried about the sentence quality right now.

Word Count: 3245

8:13p: So tired, so very tired. Want to stop, really want to stop.

8:17p: Beth has joined the game! Hooray! We CAN do this! You're right, Beth! Go, Go, Go!!!!! (Note the use of exclamation points!!!)

Word Count: 3447

8:35p: Overall word count just crossed 9,000!!!!! Holy cow, I just might actually do this. Less than a thousand to go...ha!

Word Count: 3560

8:57p: I wasted a few minutes writing an email. Beth, you're totally going to beat me! :)

9:20p: Word Count 4021! I'm so going to do this! I'm so sick of sitting!!! So many things to exclaim! (so little time.)

Word Count: 3704. Under 800 to go...

9:35p: Word Count: 4159. Motivation slowing....Congrats Beth! So happy for you!!!

10:04p: In general, my whole body is getting shaky. I have a new found understanding of Stephanie's/Beth's Blog Bet.

Word Count: 4436. Break out the drum roll.... :)

10:14p: Bed Time (I'm singing it) Bed Time!!! So happy to sleep!!!

Word Count: 4575.

And I'm out. Wooo!!!! Thanks for taking the journey with me. I appreciate the support!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

NaNo Sprint

I've been terrible the last couple of days with word counts. I wrote 201 words today. Eek. Tomorrow I rectify my bad behavior and to that end I'm setting a crazy, catch-up kind of goal.

4500 words tomorrow. That's my goal. I'll do my own little live-blog and keep you updated as to where I am and what I'm procrastinating with. (with what I'm procrastinating?)

That is not to say that I haven't made progress in the last two days. There has been much outlining and brainstorming...also much Starbucksing and window shopping...

I'm off to sleep now, because as you can see, my writing is going down hill.

We'll talk more in the morning.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Discouragement

You know the scene in Anne of Green gables where Gilbert is telling Anne to stop writing her sensational stories and to just write about what she knows and loves. Ahh, Gilbert...*dreams for a moment*

Anyway, I'm starting to worry that my little adventure is going to fall on the melodramatic side and no one will like it. I know, I know, it's day 4 of a long journey: 30 days of spitting out plot, dialogue, landscape will hopefully result in a pile of papers that I can then spend the next few months making readable.

It's too soon to be despairing, but it's never to early to be discouraged.

And then I got a text from a new friend:
"So are you going to be famous soon?"

To which I laughingly replied:
"Only if you know something I don't"

And he said:
"Well, I have faith in you."

Oh, good timing! Oh, wonderful encouragement!

Let's get back to work!

Word count so far today:
I spent most of this morning outlining. I needed to brainstorm a little. Do those words count?

P.S. Check out Maureen Johnson's blog for some good advise.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

NaNo Ideas

So, I got a little distracted today. It's still early, so we'll see what I can pull out of my literary hat yet. Basically, I had to run an errand at the mall and suddenly found myself with peppermint mocha in hand, fingering pretty sequined dresses and fair isle sweaters. It just felt good to be walking and interacting with other human beings - I hadn't left the house in...what day is it?...yikes, 6 days. Okay, so maybe getting distracted was necessary today. Still, I have only 450 words so far and I've discovered that I need to write a song. One with old, meaningful lyrics that are somehow important to the story. Well, while I work on that, here are a few sites that are going around on twitter that might help us:

Emotion chart: if you realize you're using the same one over and over, check this out.

If you need a pep talk this is fun.

Tips from Anthony Francis, Jr: 6 time NaNo winner. Chris Baty tweeted this himself.


Words of Inspiration:

From the fabulous Pat Blogahan (Lead Vocalist of Train):
Autumn is probably my favorite time of year. The colors mean everything to me. I’ve always felt like autumn inside. Leaves, which are green and unnoticed for much of their life spans, become vibrant and filled with personality and reason to pay attention.
Its a reminder that you can’t ever expect anyone to know your potential. Only you know your potential. Only you know what your capable of and what your boundaries and limitations are.



Happy Writing!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Day 2: My brain's getting fuzzy.

Word count-wise I'm feeling pretty good about NaNo progress. However, I feel that today's quality of work has gone down a little. Oh well, words are words. I'll deal with quality after November - I just don't want to feel like I have delete it all and start over. It's probably because I did a lot of description today and not much plot. I'll have to remedy that. Tomorrow will be better, I can feel it. :) How are you doing?

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

1st NaNo Update

Today I met a shape-shifter who has forgotten how to shift shapes.

Who have you met today? What did you learn about them?

I feel that this is a promising start! I've complete day one's goal of 1700 words. I'm going to try and go back to it after updating everything and get to 2000.

P.S. Check out Beth Revis' new contest here. Blog about your favorite book and you could win 19 Young Adult books - most signed by the authors!