The NaNoWriMo Quest Begins

Yes, it is officially NaNoWriMo time starting November 1. This is the month when writers are challenged to write 50,000 words. There are so many encouraging people on the site and this is the perfect time for me to participate. There are writing tips on the site. There are local groups to meet with. They even have NaNoWriMo swag. It kind of beats the resources I have in my office......

I am very thankful to my friend Troy, who introduced me to this site. He writes great fantasy work and is also participating this year. I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with. I also found out that one of my favorite writers that I recently discovered, Kevin Hearne (2), is participating this year. It surprised me that someone who has written so many books would still do this, but I'm glad he is. I will reserve a spot for Kevin Hearne when I begin my series on favorite books in January.

I was wondering if any books that I had heard of (and enjoyed) were started during a NaNoWriMo month. In fact, I found out that Water for Elephants and The Night Circus were both products of NaNoWriMo (1). I was pleased to find this out because I was worried that anything I'd produce by participating in NaNoWriMo would take time away from my "real" novel.

Why go through all the NaNoWriMo nonsense when I can just write? Look, all writers know that step one to successfully complete a book is to have the discipline to stick with it. Since I have worked several jobs at the same time and completed a Masters degree, I really didn't think it would be a problem for me. I have found that the thing that you love and do for yourself can often be the thing that doesn't happen. 50,000 words, panic.

      So, I am moving forward and I will be posting progress here, so it's going to be a very active November on this site. This is very exciting and if I get a good sample to share, I will.
    












1) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/8-best-sellers-started-during-national-novel-writing-month/

2) http://kevinhearne.com/nanowrimo

3) http://nanowrimo.org/dashboard

Book Progress, or the Unclear Path

     I am well into my book writing. I have a few chapters completed. I have a cast of interesting characters, a place where everything happens, and some great plot ideas. I have taken the advice that I have heard from authors like Diana Gabaldon, Betty Webb, Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, and Neil Gaiman. I really love that in almost every book signing event, aspiring authors ask about the craft. I often become pen struck and forget all my great questions. Perhaps I should, gasp, write them down. They all write a lot differently, but the one thing they all said was to carve out that time and to write no matter how you are feeling. They all said not to wait for inspiration. Yeah me, I am doing that. Hey I am an analyst, I spend countless hours writing queries to extract data. Believe me, I am not waiting for inspiration to determine how many patients received a certain drug. If I can do that, then I certainly can write something that I actually am excited about. 
   
     I have always been competent with grammar and sentence construction. I am not having a problem with that. What I have realized is that I have absolutely no idea how to actually construct a book. What I mean is that from my understanding, books need to have certain elements and arcs and that is where I am entering the unclear path. I read A LOT of books, but lately it has been audio books and maybe the format is less obvious in an audio book. Fortunately, there are many books and workshops to help with book design. I am not letting that stop me from progressing, but I realize that I am going to need to invest some time to get this right. You wouldn't take a job without educating yourself on how to do it, so I guess this is the same thing.  

     The other thing that has come to my attention is that many people use writing groups to provide and receive feedback. I am realizing that the pretty non-social activity of writing is going to eventually become a social one. I see myself locked in my cave for hours creating my work and it kind of looks like this:

I leave the cave only when necessary. In fact, if I skip eating this whole book experience may be my new weight loss plan. It seems the reality is that I will eventually need to come out of the cave and share with others. Heck, while this is a public blog I haven't exactly made it known to all my friends. I am being advised that I need to share share share. Fun. 

Time Flies

     It has been a month since my last entry. While I have made some progress, I find that I must get into the habit of frequent writing. Making changes can be tough. I get plenty of reminders to exercise because every other ad on TV reminds me. Writing a novel does not come with external reminders, unless you are in a contract. It is easy to fall back into familiar comfortable patterns, even if they are not going to get me where I need to go. I think this is the dilemma that the large majority of aspiring writers get caught in and never finish what they have begun to create.

     I now have a book title and an idea of what the book is going to be about. I am giving myself a year to complete this. I feel that having a concrete time frame will assist me in developing the habit I will need in order to complete this project. I wait until everyone is asleep because so far, I tend to like silence when I write. I have seen many authors lately and one thing that I have never asked is if they listen to music when they write. That would be interesting to hear. 

     I have been looking at advice from many types of authors and again, the main idea here is to just keep writing. This is not happy fun time, although I am sure that it will be mostly enjoyable. This is work. This is a second job on top of my already demanding job. This job is very much like my husband's art side job. It is a labor of love with not much financial gain. It exists out of love.

     This will be a shorter entry because I need to work on that novel. Can I just say that as I type those words I kind of chuckle? Yes, it is absolutely true, but it really sounds pretentious to me. Oh yes, myyyy Noooovellll. Rolls eyes. This concept is going to take some getting used to.

                                        Neil Gaiman Gives Great Advice  

Seeing Authors is Not the Same as Writing, but it's still Pretty Damn Fun

    

     The Phoenix Comic Con begins today. We in Arizona are so fortunate to have the many authors at the con that we do. I think I heard someone say we have more than any other con with the exception of San Diego. 

     I have always been an avid reader, but I never really thought about the wizard behind the curtain until a few years ago. When you think about it, authors give us a piece of themselves every time they create something. Writing a book is not an easy process! On Jim Butcher's blog he says that that most (as in more than 99 percent) of aspiring authors give up. I touched on this in my last entry. A few days later I begin to say "I am writing a book" to see how it feels when I put it out there. I can confirm that it feels like I'm going to throw up. So..... baby step to the keyboard. Replace "sail" with "write", repeat as necessary.

     Successful authors whom you might find at a book signing have shared their thoughts with thousands, if not millions of people. Yet the experience of reading a really great book is quite intimate. The author's thoughts connect with yours and you go to another place. Their vision becomes yours. You may experience many emotions while reading a book. No two authors are exactly alike and you begin to appreciate the nuances that make each one special. You begin to get curious about the mind behind all the great stuff. 

     I decided to meet an author and see what that was like. My first author was Christopher Moore right after 'You Suck' came out. He was so funny and interesting (oh God it sounds like I am describing a date). And now, a small tangent....why author events are like a date....

     No, I certainly do not mean a date in a creepy "stalk the author" kind of way. It's more like a platonic speed date. Ok, a platonic speed date with someone you met online. In other words, you read the profile and may know stuff about this person. You have shared intimate, albeit one-way, conversation.  You get all nervous and think of what to say. "Oh my gosh, what should I ask the author?" Honestly, it would take a really creative mind to ask a question unlike all the other questions they get in every city.  You only have a few moments to tell that author how fantastic they are.  

     What should you say? What should you wear? Why does that matter? (Like the signs at the amusement park, I must be THIS cool to read your fiction....) How many books will they sign? If the poor author has signed so many books that he/she is in pain, do you really show up with a stack? There are so many uncertainties. A bit of guilt, "Hmm should I tell the author how far behind I am in the series?" Do you bring a gift? By the way, someone brought an action figure to Christopher Moore's signing as a gift. What's that about? Crap, con is today and I am all out of action figures! 

So, a little tip, don't be THIS guy. Except the goggles, the goggles are permitted. Obviously the kid likes Steampunk in addition to Santa, The Wizard of Oz, and the Tin Man. If you are THIS guy, the author's eyes will glaze over, and you will hear "NEXT." 

     If you do think of something to say......the author may take a few precious "extra" seconds to sign your book or actually speak to you, squeeee! In fact, at the last signing I attended, the author, although she looked pretty exhausted, was gracious enough to let us take a photo with her. Today, another very gracious author informed me that there are signings at con, when I thought it might just be panels. That was very helpful to know and I was surprised that she had responded. Just for that, her book goes to the top of my reading list.   

The Beginning

Writing a novel is a tiny candle in a dark, swirling world. It brings light and warmth and hope to the lucky few who, against insufferable odds and despite a juggernaut of irritations, find themselves in the right place to hold it. - Lemony Snicket


Some people know their entire lives what they must create and do. Perhaps experiences may obscure that desire, but it burns within a person whether or not that person chooses to acknowledge it. When I was a little girl I used to write stories for myself, for my friends, for my teddy bear, or anyone who might have been interested. Over time I developed many interests and writing became less and less prominent in my life, but only on the surface. I cannot count the number of times I have been told by the people closest to me that I should write. 

So of course that's when I started my novel, right? Wrong. My logical side usually talks me out of such nonsense. Obviously for thousands of writers it is not nonsense. For me, I begin seeing statistics about how difficult it is to be successful at it. I actually think, why waste my technical knowledge and experience to write a silly old book. Obviously other people don't do that....but guess what, they do. Writing is not a balanced equation in which you lose other talents if you happen to borrow some of your talent to write a book. I don't know why for years I have looked at it that way.

So what has changed? I have spent years feeling that part of me is missing. It's that creative production of something that is uniquely yours. The fear is that you could drag that hidden creative spark onto the page and create the most hideous novel that has ever been conceived. Fortunately, I have recently had the pleasure of reading THAT book. It was so bad, but you know, it was completed. It was published. Some poor sap (me) bought it. I know the writer has fans because I saw rave reviews on Goodreads for the book that I considered the worst I had ever read. To the point, a bad book is more than a non-existent book. Furthermore, people will never agree on something as subjective as a story, so why waste time worrying about a bad book? An established author may be concerned that fans may not like their new book. So what. The authors are creating these stories because THEY love the characters and the stories. If the fans come along for the ride, that's great, but the author is steering the ship.  

A friend introduced me to NaNoWriMo. This site had several helpful pep talks from authors. Every one of them had unique ideas about writing, but there seems to be a common theme and I'm not going out on a limb to say this, you actually have to, gasp, write, in order to complete a novel. A common theme from authors I have seen at events is that so many people with great ideas will never write. There is almost a call to arms.....ok, to keyboards. These authors are not saying, "oh don't write or you will be my competition", they are saying "if you want to write, then write!"

I think that visualization can help people achieve goals. So, if I write that full 300 page book (I'm not George R.R. Martin, so I'm gong to say 300 pages), will I visualize it getting published? Yes of course. If it never is published, if I don't get an agent, and if I don't keep writing, does that mean that I have failed? No, the forest experience is the that perfect outcome, but the trees are those moments of fulfillment along the way. I finally see the value in that.