From My Nano Mailbox

Thought I would share this with you (from my nano mailbox): 

First, congratulations on making it through week one! I hope you had a good time, and that your story cooperated. Even if it didn't. the fact that you're even trying means that you're doing something amazing.

Now, for the bad news... it's time for Week Two. Week Two is like a depressed sulky teenager. Your characters may stop cooperating with you, and just sit there staring at you dumbly. Your villain may refuse to do anything villainous. You may despair of ever finishing this novel, and wonder why you thought you could. Well, don't panic! This happens to many writers during NaNo, and lots of people get through it.

To help you get through it, here's some tips:

* Make sure you write something every day. Even if it's not as much as you need, write. Every word helps.

* Try using word sprints. Set a timer for 15 minutes, and write as fast as you can. You'll be surprised.

* Do something crazy. Add ninjas. Blow up a building. Make your characters join the circus.

If you need advice, feel free to post on the forums, or hop into the chatroom. It's been busy this year, and there is almost always someone ready to answer your questions. You can find the link on the forums. While on the forums, make sure to check out the regional calendar. We have lots of events scheduled, and hopefully there's one near you. If there's not, and you feel like organizing one, please do. And then let me know, and I'll post it in the calendar!

One last note: Today is the first 'Back Up Your Novel Day'. Nothing sucks more than creating an amazing (or at least not horrible) novel, and then losing it. So, back it up! Email it to yourself. 

Copy it to a flash drive. Set up a Dropbox account. Print out a copy and store it in a safe. Whatever makes you feel confident it won't get lost. Just make sure you have copies in more than one place.

Thank you all for being such a great group. I really appreciate how easy you all make my job.

Matthew Walker
Happy Cat Herder

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Okay, so anything that encourages bringing in the ninjas and blowing up buildings . . . I'm all in. But wait! Do the ninjas blow up the building? Or does that require turning the characters of the story into ninjas first? I think either would be interesting. While we're at it, let's blow up a boat. Throw some fruits and vegetables at the corn. Learn how to fly while on a motorcycle. 

Now what ideas can you think of to break the Nanowrimo writer's block?  

The Tale Finally Comes to Life

I really wasn't planning on staying up until three in the morning, but after an abundance of Halloween candy and a night full of movies, I found myself up and writing at the computer. Starting the beginning of a 50,000 word story is particularly hard because I seem to want to come up with the best sentence that I can come up with, followed by much erasing . . . writing . . . and then erasing again.


I'm kind of surprised that I was even up that late, since the night before I had been sick and up to midnight and on twitter because I couldn't sleep. And this morning, our door rang at the lovely time of 7:30 AM, and couldn't go back to sleep--so what better way than to write and add onto the epilogue excerpt to my story.This is my third year participating in Nanowrimo, and every year it tends to get a little better and more planned. So I came up with a short photo shoot to introduce my main character just briefly, as well as an excerpt from my story, "Broken".





Meet Dr. Marian Jacobsen
Yes, the red head that I've been using for the headers to introduce details of my story. I have no idea how I came up with her. I'm pretty sure that it was just a random moment where I got really interested to create a story.

Nanowrimo: Down to the Details

Last year, I don't think I put this much work into my Nanowrimo story. This year I started writing everything down on the computer; then on paper as nanowrimo grows closer. Convenient since when preparing the details, you'll usually find me playing the Sims 2. 

There's something about playing a roleplaying game, that gets the creative juices flowing. Just like if you're watching a movie or a TV show and something one of the characters says or acts, sparks something in you to write something new in your own way. 

Basically, I've been trying to come up with as many characters as I can, that are just as unique as the next; and it's been a lot of fun--as well as a basic outline to what I would like to see happen in the story. But usually it's not until you start writing the story that the magic really begins.

Good luck to those who are participating this year! Can't wait to share more details and thoughts as November comes along.

 See you November 1st! 

Doing It In Style: Details of Nanowrimo

• Main characters

I have my main characters ready to go, which basically outlines the story. I don't really have a whole story in mind yet--and I'm pretty sure that I won't, until we can start writing in November.

• Sub characters

Going to keep adding to the sub characters as much as possible. Might not use all of them, but at least there will be plenty of choices to choose from--as well as when you have character details.

• Character details
• Setting details

And that's all I have right now. 

Splitting the Focus

I admit that I haven't been the best at it-- but I'm currently splitting on my focus now writing poetry, fanfiction, and now working on coming up with an outline for Nanowrimo as well, come November. It's not the easiest thing though, not just focusing on one thing.

I'll take a long period of time on one thing and when I feel like moving on, or if there's some kind of emotional toll weighing down, I'll go back to poetry to give that emotional release and so on and so on. There are also times when I don't feel like writing at all, or have the blasted writer's block.

What about you? Do you split your focus when writing?

Sim*ple Inspiration

Back in school, I went over to my friend's house and she introduced me to a game called, "The Sims". Went on to get all the expansion packs and was excited to upgrade to the Sims 2 about ten years or so later. It's a roleplaying and a highly addictive game. But little did I know that it would start to be the inspiration to my writing.

My other friends and I were talking about Nanowrimo that will be happening in November. We write a novel of 50,000 words; technically, it doesn't have to make sense. I would tell my friends, no I'm not doing it, but I've already told them that whenever I say the word "no", someone always tends to talk to me out of it--which isn't that hard to do anyway.

Heck, I almost forgot about doing Nanowrimo this year. But then when my friends mentioned it, I knew that I had to think of something. Thankfully, I was also playing the Sims 2 at the time and got the idea to use my sims as inspiration. I was paying close enough attention that I've started an outline in time for November. Now if only I can keep it up until December--that will be the real challenge.