Tag Archives: NaNoWriMo

On your mark, get set, WRITE!

The countdown is over. The time has come. Are you ready?

On your mark, get set, WRITE!

on your mark

It’s day 1 of the 2018 edition of NaNoWriMo. Are you ready? Have you outlined your novel so all you have to do is write?

I’ve outlined, announced my ‘novel’ to the world on the NaNoWriMo site, but … Isn’t there always a but? A caveat? A hitch?

Despite doing all of that, I’ll do well to get my novel started during the month of November. You see, I’m trying to get the second edition of my debut novel back out into the public eye. The cover is finished and waiting patiently in the wings to be revealed. I’m working on the audio edit now – up to chapter 7 of 38. Some of the chapters are quite short so it doesn’t take long to do, then it’s format for print and e-book. So I’m behind the 8-ball as they say before I even get started. But I digress… back to NaNoWriMo.

So what’s my NaNoWriMo project? Well, let me tell you. It’s the second sweet romance book in the It Happened series. This one is set in the Gastown area of Vancouver, BC, Canada. I chose this area because of the steam clock, and upon further investigation thanks to google maps, found a creepy looking alley nearby. Even its name – Blood Alley – sounds sinister, although the moniker has nothing to do with slaughter houses, murders or anything like that.

Trainspotting meets Hot Pursuit in the sweet romance “It Happened in Gastown“. Even the premise sounds dark for a sweet romance, but I assure you the couple despite being at opposite ends of the spectrum will find each other, and feed off one another’s strengths to help them get through the obstacles I throw up against them.

So that’s my project. It might get off the ground this month. It might now. Periodically, throughout November, I’ll post progress reports.

What’s your NaNoWriMo project? Why don’t you share it in the comments?

 

 

 

 

 

National Novel Writing Month is Coming ~ Countdown to #NaNoWriMo

The countdown to the annual event known as national novel writing month is on. Better known as #NaNoWriMo, authors from around the world take part in this gruelling event.

Do you #NaNo? If so, do you start out like this? The Eureka moment that will sustain you for the entire month?

National

Then write feverishly for a while?

national

Things are looking good … and then, the dreaded writer’s block attacks.

national

The end of the month draws nearer and you’ve not written in days. When all is said and done, do you feel like this? Frustrated with yourself and your lack of staying power?

Life gets in the way. It happens to all of us. Maybe your idea wasn’t enough to sustain a novel.

The beauty is, you can outline and plan for National Novel Writing month ahead of time. If you’re prepared and not flying by the seat of your pants, the month will fly by with few hiccups.

1,667 words every day is not impossible and you’ll achieve your 50,000-word target for the month. The trick is, it’s not random words. It’s a novel. You need a beginning, middle and end.

National

Will you #NaNo?

#NaNoWriMo ~ the last day ~ #amwriting

The last day in #NaNoWriMo 2016 – only a few hours to go!

last day

Today is the last day for #NaNoWriMo. Well, strictly speaking, it won’t come until midnight tonight. How are you doing? I’m pleased with my progress.

I have 459 words left to get to my goal for the month which isn’t anywhere near the 50,000, but I #amwriting every day (which is the main thing) – working on it which is why I’ve not been around here on the blog much this month.

Some days, the word count is amazing. Other days, not so much.

This past Saturday, I scribbled over 1,100 words while I was at a sale. Typed them in to my document when I got home.

last day

Sometimes the words flow? Sometimes not so much? I’ve had a few of those days this month. Usually a quick read over the last day’s work and I’m off and running once again.

I can see a huge re-write coming for my WIP. Scenes that will need more detail. Perhaps some will be rearranged. This time, I did something completely different and I outlined the entire project in detail.

Is your #NaNoWriMo project still flowing smoothly? Have you run into difficulty?

Give yourself permission to write a terrible first draft and put your editing hat on in December.

 

 

#NaNoWriMo ~ We’ve reached the halfway point ~ are you on track? ~ #amwriting

Fifteen days to go in #NaNoWriMo 2016 – we’re halfway there!

#amwriting

Today is the halfway point for #NaNoWriMo. Well, strictly speaking, it won’t come until midnight tonight. How are you doing? I #amwriting and am pleased with my progress.

Now, I wrote and scheduled this post on November 14th. When I stopped working on my NaNo project for the day, I had 15,406 words.

#amwriting

At this rate, I won’t get to the 50,000 words by November 30th, but I #amwriting every day – working on it which is why I’ve not been around here on the blog much this month.

Some days, the word count is amazing. Other days, not so much.

This past Saturday, I scribbled over 1,000 words while I was at a sale. Typed them in to my document when I got home.

Sunday was an amazing day. I cranked out 1,638 words and that was with interruptions. Still not the 1,667 per day I need to hit 50,000 and get a #NaNo winner badge.

Sometimes the words flow? Sometimes not so much? I’ve had a few of those days this month. Usually a quick read over the last day’s work and I’m off and running once again.

I can see a huge re-write coming for my WIP. Scenes that will need more detail. Perhaps rearrange some. This time, I did something completely different and I outlined the entire project in detail.

Is your #NaNoWriMo project still flowing smoothly? Have you run into difficulty?

Give yourself permission to write a terrible first draft and put your editing hat on in December.

 

 

#NaNoWriMo 2016 Edition…

Well, I’ve taken the plunge. I’m doing #NaNoWriMo again this year. So committed to it, in fact, I’ve added a widget to the sidebar of my blog with the NaNo shield.

Will I be a winner this year? Who knows? I’m going to do my best.

Last year, I wrote my novel The Secret of Hillcrest House. While the finished product was less than 50,000 words, I did write every day so I still consider myself a winner.

The working title for this project is Second Chances. And here’s the short synopsis (subject to change, of course)…

Torn away from her first love, Jared Martin, in a family move to another country when she was a teenager, Katherine Murphy is devastated. Soon after her return to Aberdeen to attend University, she discovers Jared seemingly in a relationship with someone else. However; destiny has someone else in mind for Katherine – Colin Whithorn. They fall in love, marry and open a new and used bookshop. Their marriage comes to an abrupt end during the London bombings on July 7, 2005 when Colin is in the city on a buying trip for their store.

Devastated, she builds a wall around her heart determined not to let anyone in again who can hurt her – that is, until five years later when Jared walks into her shop. Despite him being her first love, he must tear down the barrier she’s created to protect herself. Given a second chance of a life with him, Katherine couldn’t be happier until another cruel twist of fate strikes and the helicopter he’s on returning from his job on an oil rig ditches in the North Sea. Will he survive the ordeal? Will they have a third chance at happiness? Or will Katherine have her heart broken yet again?

What do you think?

#NaNoWriMo is over! Are you relieved?

#NaNoWriMo is over! It started like this… with an idea. If you were really organized, you had an outline done ahead of time.

#NaNoWriMo is over

and you worked like this… getting all those lovely words down ‘on paper’.

#NaNoWriMo is over

had moments like this… when your imaginary friends quit talking to you.

#NaNoWriMo is over

overcame them and wrote like this… when the voices got over their snit and started talking again.

 

#NaNoWriMo is over

and at the end of it all, you look like this… frazzled, feeling punchy and starving!

#NaNoWriMo is over

I didn’t set out at the beginning of November to complete 50,000 words in the month. What I wanted to do was write every day (something that I’ve not always made time for).

I might not have a ‘winner’ badge for having my numbers crunched by the #NaNo algorithm and having the minimum number of 50,000 but I consider myself a winner because I achieved everything I wanted to in the month.

At 3:39 yesterday afternoon, I had completed 21,813 words… I’ve got my beginning and my middle, but I still don’t know how my magnum opus is going to end. That is really unusual for me. Under normal circumstances I know the ending and write it first. Then I have the fun of getting there. I’m in uncharted waters here and I’m not sure I’m liking it.

I didn’t outline and as I wrote merrily away, I discovered major flaws in my logic. Oh well, scenes can be cut and pasted and new transitions between them written, not to mention returning the array of plot bunnies that will undoubtedly be released to run amok safely to their warren.

So, how did your #NaNoWriMo month go?

 

 

#NaNoWriMo ~ Ten Days to Go… are you still on track? #amwriting

Ten Days to Go in #NaNoWriMo 2015

With only ten days remaining in the month, are you still on track? Achieving your writing goals?

Ten DaysIf you’re striving for 50,000 words you should be sitting around 33,340 now.

Not quite that ambitious but wanted to write every day? So far I’ve managed to do that although with travel earlier this month it made a few days difficult. Still, I’ve managed to get a few words into my WIP each and every day.

Sometimes the words flow? Sometimes not so much? I’ve had a few of those days this month. Usually a quick read over the last day’s work and I’m off and running once again.

I can see a huge re-write coming for my WIP. Scenes that need to be rearranged. That’s the joy of pantsing. The logic doesn’t always work, but then this is something that can always be fixed after the end of the month.

Is your #NaNoWriMo project still flowing smoothly? Have you run into difficulty?

 

 

Opening Scene of my NaNoWriMo project

Here it is. The opening scene of my #NaNoWriMo project. It’s only a first draft (and mine are usually horrendous), subject to change, the cutting room floor, or the dust bin never to see the light of day…

 

~ 1 ~

Jessica leaned forward in the driver’s seat as she eased her Chevy Aveo around the corner on the crest of the hill. Not only was it a blind summit, but a blind summit on a curve. Once moving straight again, she glanced down to the passenger seat and the picture of the house – her house – she’d printed before leaving home. A cursory glance at the GPS showed she was within a block of her new-to-her home.

From the time she first saw the real estate listing for Hillcrest House on the Internet, she knew she had to have it. The entire transaction took place online via websites, emails, scans and e-transfers.

She knew the house would be on her right so she slowed to a crawl and watched out the passenger window.

“You have reached your destination,” the female voice with a British accent said.

Engrossed in looking for her new home, the noise startled her causing her to jump.

When Jessica set up the GPS unit, she chose a woman’s voice over a man’s. She’d never taken orders from a man before and wasn’t about to start now. Besides, this voice was the least abrasive of the available selections.

Flipping on her right signal light, she pulled her car over to the curb and shut off the engine. Climbing out from behind the wheel, Jessica stretched. It had taken her about five hours to get here and her body knew it. She raked her fingers through her short, auburn hair then turned and leaned on folded arms on the roof of the car.

The granite, Victorian mansion stood to one side of the lot. A wrought iron fence mounted on a stone wall surrounded the property. Patches of bare metal showed through the aqua green roof. Weathered plywood replaced glass in some of the upper windows. Others had gaping holes in the panes.

Paint peeled from the pillars and balusters of the sweeping verandah. Sections of the railing were missing. This once elegant home had fallen into a serious state of disrepair.

The blip of a siren startled her. She whipped around in time to see a police cruiser come to a stop behind her car. The officer emerged donning his Stetson as he approached. He was well over six feet tall and fit. Why did she have to notice his physique? She swore off men when her marriage fell apart. Now she was ogling a cop? She needed to get a grip.

“You can’t park here. Didn’t you see the no parking signs?” He pointed to one near her car.

“No. sorry, I didn’t.”

“Pull around the corner and park on the far side of the street.”

Jessica climbed back in her car. She didn’t intend on taking orders from a man but this one wore a uniform and carried a gun. She drove around the corner and pulled into the driveway. A chain stretched between two stone pillars prevented her from going any further.

Parked on the property, there would be no reason for the cop to hang around. But when she exited her vehicle, the cruiser was across the foot of her driveway.

“What’s your interest in this place?” he asked, standing with his hands on his hips.

“I own it,” she announced with pride. If he was trying to intimidate her, it wouldn’t work. She’d been through far worse. This guy, arrogant as he was, didn’t frighten her at all.

“Really. Got any proof?” he asked, folding his muscular arms across his chest.

“As a matter of fact, I do,” she shot back and leaned in the window. Jessica grabbed the strap on her enormous, suede handbag and pulled it towards her and out the window. Placing it on the hood of her car, she rummaged through it until she found the envelope from the lawyer. “Here,” she bragged thrusting the envelope in his face.

He removed the papers and looked them over. “Everything seems to be in order,” the officer said handing the paperwork back.

The wind picked up making it difficult for Jessica to return the contents to the pouch. As she turned to place them in her purse, a face and hands appeared in the window over the side porch. “There’s someone in there,” she gasped pointing to the location.

 

So there you have it. Potential? Maybe. Time will tell. For now it’s keep NaNoWriMo-ing. Plenty of time for improvement in the coming months.

 

Week 2 of NaNoWriMo is over… is your enthusiasm waning?

Still feeling the enthusiasm? Or is writing your magnum opus becoming more of a chore?

enthusiasm

Are you vomiting words onto the page on a daily basis? That’s a good way to put it since to succeed at getting 50K words at the end of November, you have to write 1667 words per day.

If your project was outlined in advance, this second week may have flowed as easily as the first one. Or maybe not.

My NaNo project wasn’t outlined and for the most part the words have flowed well throughout these past fourteen days.

At the end of week 1, I had 7207 words (less the 1301 I started the month with).

Yesterday after finishing week 2, my count was up to 15,010. So I’ve added another 7803 words!

Okay, I’m not going to set any great records with my writing speed but the project I’m working on is a novella and according to word length charts, they’re between 17,500 and 40,000 words.

Yesterday, I found myself editing some of my previous work. I hear you gasp since editing isn’t supposed to happen until December 1st at the earliest. Most of said editing was cutting and pasting so the only thing that was affected was the length of time I could actually spend writing.

How are you managing at the end of a full two weeks of NaNoWriMo? Are you still ‘feeling the love’? What are your tricks for staying motivated?

 

 

 

 

Five Mistakes to Avoid in Your NaNoWriMo Novel from Grammarly

Avoid these Mistakes…

The folks at https://www.grammarly.com/grammar-check have put together this handy infographic to help you avoid these five mistakes in your NaNoWriMo novel.

Five Mistakes To Avoid in Your NaNoWriMo Novel Infographic

But don’t stop and look for them now. Wait until December or even January to proofread your epic tome. Get the words “on paper” first then proofread and edit in the coming months.

Happy NaNoWriMo-ing!