Archive for October, 2009

Tomorrow the crazy month that is NaNoWriMo will officially begin. I’ll be writing from my RV while camped in Las Vegas, NV for the month. I’ve read the first part of Chris Baty’s No Plot? No Problem! stopping at the section that is supposed to be read during week 1. I’ve got my writing area ready to go (although having a laptop, I can write anywhere that works for me ). I’ve got the cafe mochas, my writing talisman, my notes and I’m just counting down. See you here tomorrow with my first video diary entry.

Comic courtesy of Inkygirl.com.

NaNoWriMo is about to begin and I’ve decided to keep a Video Diary of my 30 days of writing for the contest. Care to come along for the ride? I’ll be making daily video blog entries about how things are going (or not). It should be an interesting journey. Hopefully my posts will be of interest to other NaNo Writers out there, and if not I’ll at least have a video record of my insanity. I’m sure I’ll start off very bland and dry, full of embarassing newbie exuberance. Certainly it won’t take long before things will become more gritty and real. I’m hoping as I draw near to the end of the experience the writing will be going well, but you never know. You may see a very harried and babbling writer desperately searching for the light at the end of the tunnel and hoping it’s rays of sunshine and not a train!

See you in a couple of days!

August 18, 2008
by  Chris Baty

NaNoWriMo’s Chris Baty shares five tips for writing your book in a month.

1. Don’t edit. You’re shooting for something more ambitious than pretty sentences: an entire first draft of a book, in all its imperfect glory. You have to embrace November as an experiment in pure output. Delete nothing and use daily word-count goals as your sole measure of success or failure. You can edit in December.

2. Invite friends and family. Writing with a group—even a long-distance group—raises everyone’s accountability, makes writing a shared adventure and gives you a shoulder to cry on.

3. Write a beginning, middle and end. The cut-off point for winning NaNoWriMo is 50,000 words. This is a very short novel. If you’re not careful, you’ll hit 50,000 and only be halfway through your story. Force yourself to knock out a beginning, middle and end in November, even if it means omitting scenes.

4. Give November to your novel. For one month, agree to orient life around your book. Try takeout food. Let the dishes pile up. Pony up for a babysitter so you can spend a few extra evenings a week writing. Think of November as a month-long writer’s retreat in the midst of your daily life.

5. Expect ups and downs. In week one, you’ll feel ecstatic and invulnerable. In week two, you’ll feel like beating yourself with your laptop. But stick to your word-count goals and I guarantee week four will be one of the creative highlights of your life.

Chris Baty is the founder and director of National Novel Writing Month and the author of No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days.

—————

Article Excerpted from Writer’s Digest 2009 Writing Basics

NaNoWriMo is an acronymn for National Novel Writing Month: “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.” You can find out more by visiting the NaNoWriMo website.

I’ve decided to participate this year because I want the challenge of finishing a novel-length story in 30 days. I’ve written a few stories but haven’t finished any of serious length, always dropping them and moving on when the going got rough. I currently have enough unfinished manuscripts  on my computer, thank you. Now I want a complete work under my belt to give me confidence and momentum for a serious writing career.

So, in a couple of days I’ll be starting a novel. Right now I’m excited and nervous at the same time, but determined to see this through.