Why hello again, my charming bloggians.
As you all know, November is creeping up ever faster that I thought possible. I am without a full-formed plot, without main characters, and without an outline. In addition to this, I will be teaching three days a week in November (and spending countless hours doing prepwork for the classes), attempting to keep sane, not fall behind on my BOW'11 project, and furthermore, the show that I'm in is opening the first weekend of November. It's all I can do to keep my head above water now, let alone attempt to write a book.
So now it's time for me to step back and look at my November in a realistic way. Will I be able to handle all this without going utterly bonkers? Can I take even three minutes to squeeze in another handful of words? No.
Is it madness to think that I could take on a project of this magnitude? Yes.
Will I be doing it anyway, despite my better judgement? You bet.
Am I taking on 50,000 words of a genre that I am not wildly familiar with? Indeed.
How excited am I? There are no words.
~Whimsy
P.S.
Thank you to all those who have commented. I love you all and send tons of hugs your way. I wish I had time to properly write back, but maybe in December? Thanks for sticking with me!
P.P.S. Are you NaNoing this year? What's your book about?
Showing posts with label NaNoWriMo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NaNoWriMo. Show all posts
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Horcruxes and "writing what you know".
I've talked before about how much I love stories, so it should come as no surprise that (since NaNoWriMo is coming up), I'm thinking about stories again.
"They" always say to write what you know. Now, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's just a little bit rubbish.
If we only wrote what we know, we'd be cut of from whole genres of stories. There simply wouldn't be any fantasy or sci-fi. It wouldn't exist. Harry Potter never would have been written* if Jo just wrote "what she knew".
Jumping off from that, what about all the people who write characters who's gender differs from the author? They aren't writing "what they know". How about authors who differ from their characters in political belief, personal history, location, personality, sexual orientation, age, culture, family history, or interests? Just a guess, but I'd have to say that most authors differ from their characters in one of those ways or more.
And you know what? I'm profoundly glad that people don't write "what they know". What a boring selection of literature we would have, if they did.
Drawing on your own personal experiences while writing, however, is wonderful tool. Jo may not have been a a wizard herself, but there are traits she shares with Harry, and that brings a realisim to him. I think you can put some of yourself into whoever you're writing without making the character a Mary Sue.
In a way, writing is like making a Horcrux. Every time you do it, you tuck a little piece of your soul into what you've created. But instead of it making you weaker and less human, it does the opposite.
If I had to write just what I knew, I could only write one story. The story of my life. I want to tell other stories, stories that I may not have lived, but are still important.
So go on. Get a pen, a pencil, a blank white sheet of paper, a keyboard, a word document and join me.
Let's write what we don't know, so we can understand ourselves and the world better.
After all, NaNoWriMo starts in just 74 days!
~Whimsy
* This does discount the theory that Jo is actually a member of the wizarding world, something that I would not be totally surprised about, to be honest.
"They" always say to write what you know. Now, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's just a little bit rubbish.
If we only wrote what we know, we'd be cut of from whole genres of stories. There simply wouldn't be any fantasy or sci-fi. It wouldn't exist. Harry Potter never would have been written* if Jo just wrote "what she knew".
Jumping off from that, what about all the people who write characters who's gender differs from the author? They aren't writing "what they know". How about authors who differ from their characters in political belief, personal history, location, personality, sexual orientation, age, culture, family history, or interests? Just a guess, but I'd have to say that most authors differ from their characters in one of those ways or more.
And you know what? I'm profoundly glad that people don't write "what they know". What a boring selection of literature we would have, if they did.
Drawing on your own personal experiences while writing, however, is wonderful tool. Jo may not have been a a wizard herself, but there are traits she shares with Harry, and that brings a realisim to him. I think you can put some of yourself into whoever you're writing without making the character a Mary Sue.
In a way, writing is like making a Horcrux. Every time you do it, you tuck a little piece of your soul into what you've created. But instead of it making you weaker and less human, it does the opposite.
If I had to write just what I knew, I could only write one story. The story of my life. I want to tell other stories, stories that I may not have lived, but are still important.
So go on. Get a pen, a pencil, a blank white sheet of paper, a keyboard, a word document and join me.
Let's write what we don't know, so we can understand ourselves and the world better.
After all, NaNoWriMo starts in just 74 days!
~Whimsy
* This does discount the theory that Jo is actually a member of the wizarding world, something that I would not be totally surprised about, to be honest.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
NaNoWriMo Is Coming!
Hello bloggians!
You know what's exciting? Getting books in the mail. A few days ago, I got online and ordered myself some items off of amazon. As you would expect, they were very Whimsy-like items. Two books and a jar of brilliantly green hair dye.
The books are the first and third in Mercedes Lackey's "Last Herald-Mage of Valdemar" series. I bought the second book in that series at a brick-and-mortar store, but they didn't have the other two, for some incredibly weird reason. The hair dye is for re-dying my hair...obviously.
Even though my hair is slowing fading from electric celery to that weird highlighter yellow-green and you can see a halo of dark brown hair close to my scalp, I still haven't gone and re-dyed.
And now, to divert suddenly from what we were talking about, and to neatly segueway into the fact that NaNoWriMo is coming. Dear lord, is it coming.
This time last year, I had come up with a few plot options, settled on one, created two great MC's, a HUGE supporting cast, pages on pages of plot outline, a fully fleshed out backstory, maps, character outlines, hand-drawn pictures of my MC's at ages 10 and 17, ten pages of timeline, everything was shoved into my Big Leather Folder Of Noveling Stuff and everything was looking fantastic.
This year, I have a nearly empty BLFONT, save for a few sheets of lined paper, some chords for a handful of songs, three different pens with three different uses, a temporary tatoo and a scrap of paper with a couple drawings on it (a good luck token from a friend).
I have no clue what I'm going to write about. The problem isn't not having any ideas, the problem is that there are TOO MANY options. How can you pick between genres (Historical fiction? Sci-Fi? Literary Fiction?) let alone sub-genres? (Sword and sorcery? Urban Fantasy? Steampunk?) And once you've figured that out, what about plot? There's too many ideas, and I can't pick between them.
There's also the question of whether or not I want to write in the same genre that I've written in before (YA realistic in 2009 and Fantasy in 2010). There are advantages to both options, so that's another problem.
With NaNoWriMo, as is with life, there can just be too many options to choose from.
Well, I'm off to create things, eat lunch, and do something spectacular with my day. What that spectacular thing is, I don't know.
See you tomorrow!
~Whimsy
You know what's exciting? Getting books in the mail. A few days ago, I got online and ordered myself some items off of amazon. As you would expect, they were very Whimsy-like items. Two books and a jar of brilliantly green hair dye.
The books are the first and third in Mercedes Lackey's "Last Herald-Mage of Valdemar" series. I bought the second book in that series at a brick-and-mortar store, but they didn't have the other two, for some incredibly weird reason. The hair dye is for re-dying my hair...obviously.
Even though my hair is slowing fading from electric celery to that weird highlighter yellow-green and you can see a halo of dark brown hair close to my scalp, I still haven't gone and re-dyed.
And now, to divert suddenly from what we were talking about, and to neatly segueway into the fact that NaNoWriMo is coming. Dear lord, is it coming.
This time last year, I had come up with a few plot options, settled on one, created two great MC's, a HUGE supporting cast, pages on pages of plot outline, a fully fleshed out backstory, maps, character outlines, hand-drawn pictures of my MC's at ages 10 and 17, ten pages of timeline, everything was shoved into my Big Leather Folder Of Noveling Stuff and everything was looking fantastic.
This year, I have a nearly empty BLFONT, save for a few sheets of lined paper, some chords for a handful of songs, three different pens with three different uses, a temporary tatoo and a scrap of paper with a couple drawings on it (a good luck token from a friend).
I have no clue what I'm going to write about. The problem isn't not having any ideas, the problem is that there are TOO MANY options. How can you pick between genres (Historical fiction? Sci-Fi? Literary Fiction?) let alone sub-genres? (Sword and sorcery? Urban Fantasy? Steampunk?) And once you've figured that out, what about plot? There's too many ideas, and I can't pick between them.
There's also the question of whether or not I want to write in the same genre that I've written in before (YA realistic in 2009 and Fantasy in 2010). There are advantages to both options, so that's another problem.
With NaNoWriMo, as is with life, there can just be too many options to choose from.
Well, I'm off to create things, eat lunch, and do something spectacular with my day. What that spectacular thing is, I don't know.
See you tomorrow!
~Whimsy
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Wanna talk to me on Skype? Also, Banned Book Week.
It's banned book week.
I LOVE this week.
What other week can you read and feel like a badass all in one go?
(Yes, yes, yes...speaking up against censorship and all that jazz, too. Important stuff.)
Last year, for BBW, I wrote a song.
It's called "It's Raining, Annie", and it's a book-rock song about Annie On My Mind. It was the first song I've ever written, and my talent has grown a LOT since then.
I'm still very proud of it.
Here's a video of my very own self playing it!
In other news, NaNoWriMo is only about a month away. I am halfway thrilled, and halfway scared.
I'm starting up a Skype group. If you are doing NaNo, and you want a group of awesometastic people to chat with/help with plot/share written stuffness/tell you to get off the chat and go write more/do word wars with, then let me know.
I've been busybusy in my off-the-computer life, so that's why I haven't posted much.
I'll try to get another post on here in less than a week.
A friend of mine thinks I should do a meme that she posted on her blog, so that'll probably be the next post.
What's new in all of YOUR lives?
~Whimsy
I LOVE this week.
What other week can you read and feel like a badass all in one go?
(Yes, yes, yes...speaking up against censorship and all that jazz, too. Important stuff.)
Last year, for BBW, I wrote a song.
It's called "It's Raining, Annie", and it's a book-rock song about Annie On My Mind. It was the first song I've ever written, and my talent has grown a LOT since then.
I'm still very proud of it.
Here's a video of my very own self playing it!
In other news, NaNoWriMo is only about a month away. I am halfway thrilled, and halfway scared.
I'm starting up a Skype group. If you are doing NaNo, and you want a group of awesometastic people to chat with/help with plot/share written stuffness/tell you to get off the chat and go write more/do word wars with, then let me know.
I've been busybusy in my off-the-computer life, so that's why I haven't posted much.
I'll try to get another post on here in less than a week.
A friend of mine thinks I should do a meme that she posted on her blog, so that'll probably be the next post.
What's new in all of YOUR lives?
~Whimsy
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
I drew you a picture. Actually, two pictures.
I don't know if you know this about me, probably not, since I haven't spoken about it here, but I get obsessed with things.
You know, THINGS.
Dog breeds, ships/sailing/pirates, horses, guitar, theater/shakespere, Harry Potter, dragons, pottery, clothing-making, reading, ATC's...all past (or present) obsessions of mine.
Right now, however, it's my NaNoWriMo.
I will be continuing to yammer on about my novel-in-progress until I lose steam.
ONWARD!
So, I decided that I needed visuals of my characters, so I started drawing them.
Keep in mind that when I put pencil/pen to paper, most often than not, I end up writing, not drawing.
So.
I have representations of Talaith and Aniera at ages 10 and 18.
Here they are at age 10. Talaith is on the left in a tree, Aniera's on the right looking out a window.
And age 18, when I actually start writing about them. These images are right before the story starts, sort of both of them in their natural habitats, as it were.
Talaith is still on the left, but now she's lying on the ground. Aniera's looking out a window still, but it's a different window. She's moved in the eight years that's passed since drawing one. >.<
This is the first time that I have showed my artistic endeavors with the internet (unless you count the photos where I have painted my sister blue, but that's another story).
I'm planning on doing young adult pictures of Talaith and Aniera's parents as well, and those might just end up on here as well.
Or maybe a picture of both Talaith and Aniera in the same scene?
Or another character(s)?
Here's a bit about Aniera Llewellyn:
She's the only child of the king (Liam Newlin) and queen (Cairene Llewellyn). Her mother is the bastard child of the previous king, and she rose to the throne after killing the mages responsible for murdering her family and many other of her father's subjects.
Her father is a son of a blacksmith in a poor town, now king of the land.
Aniera is fiercely protected by her family, who is determined that she won't have to fight or suffer hardship like they did when they were her age.
She wants desperately to be out DOING something, but is met with opposition from her overprotective parents.
She's spunky, but subdued. Living in a castle hasn't been the best for her. She's always felt more trapped than regal.
She can be somewhat of a hopeless romantic, prone to long fits of staring out windows watching the clouds or daydreaming.
When Aniera gets set in her mind to do something, she's like a pitbull. She Will. Not. Let. Go.
She's emotional, and starts out not as self-confidant as she could be.
The views of her family are deeply ingrained in her, but she is now looking at the world in a more objective way.
Aniera has always been closer with the servants (a pastime that her parents are fine with) than with any of the higher-born royals.
And now, Talaith Bronwy.
Talaith is the daughter of a homesteader (Tavis Bronwy) and his long-dead wife (Ziska Riedwyn).
Talaith has always been somewhat of a loner, prefering to spend her days in the woods without company.
She doesn't live in a town, instead, she lives alone with her father in the mountains.
Talaith doesn't trust anyone or anything, but has always been told about her mother in glowing tones, and her mother's 'goodness' is the one thing that she trusts.
She's always been one who needs to DO SOMETHING, not just sit there.
Not having grown up in a town with others, she's a bit shy.
She has a "fighting spirit", and even when the odds are insurmountable, she will hang on and not give up.
Talaith is impulsive, quick to anger and suspicious.
She's also resorceful, loyal, and emotionally strong.
She's jaded, headstrong, and has always been rather closed to the world.
She is just now starting to open up, letting others in.
Talaith is a young mage, just beginning to use her powers in a land where using magic is a crime punishable in some cases by death.
So, continuing on, I realized that you can shorten Talaith and Aniera to Tally and Ani. I'm not sure if I like it or not.
Any thoughts/questions any of you have on Talaith or Aniera or the rest of this glorious mess of a work in progress, feel free to put 'em in the comments!
Writer-tastic-ly yours,
~Whimsy
You know, THINGS.
Dog breeds, ships/sailing/pirates, horses, guitar, theater/shakespere, Harry Potter, dragons, pottery, clothing-making, reading, ATC's...all past (or present) obsessions of mine.
Right now, however, it's my NaNoWriMo.
I will be continuing to yammer on about my novel-in-progress until I lose steam.
ONWARD!
So, I decided that I needed visuals of my characters, so I started drawing them.
Keep in mind that when I put pencil/pen to paper, most often than not, I end up writing, not drawing.
So.
I have representations of Talaith and Aniera at ages 10 and 18.
Here they are at age 10. Talaith is on the left in a tree, Aniera's on the right looking out a window.
And age 18, when I actually start writing about them. These images are right before the story starts, sort of both of them in their natural habitats, as it were.
Talaith is still on the left, but now she's lying on the ground. Aniera's looking out a window still, but it's a different window. She's moved in the eight years that's passed since drawing one. >.<
This is the first time that I have showed my artistic endeavors with the internet (unless you count the photos where I have painted my sister blue, but that's another story).
I'm planning on doing young adult pictures of Talaith and Aniera's parents as well, and those might just end up on here as well.
Or maybe a picture of both Talaith and Aniera in the same scene?
Or another character(s)?
Here's a bit about Aniera Llewellyn:
She's the only child of the king (Liam Newlin) and queen (Cairene Llewellyn). Her mother is the bastard child of the previous king, and she rose to the throne after killing the mages responsible for murdering her family and many other of her father's subjects.
Her father is a son of a blacksmith in a poor town, now king of the land.
Aniera is fiercely protected by her family, who is determined that she won't have to fight or suffer hardship like they did when they were her age.
She wants desperately to be out DOING something, but is met with opposition from her overprotective parents.
She's spunky, but subdued. Living in a castle hasn't been the best for her. She's always felt more trapped than regal.
She can be somewhat of a hopeless romantic, prone to long fits of staring out windows watching the clouds or daydreaming.
When Aniera gets set in her mind to do something, she's like a pitbull. She Will. Not. Let. Go.
She's emotional, and starts out not as self-confidant as she could be.
The views of her family are deeply ingrained in her, but she is now looking at the world in a more objective way.
Aniera has always been closer with the servants (a pastime that her parents are fine with) than with any of the higher-born royals.
And now, Talaith Bronwy.
Talaith is the daughter of a homesteader (Tavis Bronwy) and his long-dead wife (Ziska Riedwyn).
Talaith has always been somewhat of a loner, prefering to spend her days in the woods without company.
She doesn't live in a town, instead, she lives alone with her father in the mountains.
Talaith doesn't trust anyone or anything, but has always been told about her mother in glowing tones, and her mother's 'goodness' is the one thing that she trusts.
She's always been one who needs to DO SOMETHING, not just sit there.
Not having grown up in a town with others, she's a bit shy.
She has a "fighting spirit", and even when the odds are insurmountable, she will hang on and not give up.
Talaith is impulsive, quick to anger and suspicious.
She's also resorceful, loyal, and emotionally strong.
She's jaded, headstrong, and has always been rather closed to the world.
She is just now starting to open up, letting others in.
Talaith is a young mage, just beginning to use her powers in a land where using magic is a crime punishable in some cases by death.
So, continuing on, I realized that you can shorten Talaith and Aniera to Tally and Ani. I'm not sure if I like it or not.
Any thoughts/questions any of you have on Talaith or Aniera or the rest of this glorious mess of a work in progress, feel free to put 'em in the comments!
Writer-tastic-ly yours,
~Whimsy
Friday, August 20, 2010
BEDA, Day 20: Names, backstories and plotlines, oh my!
So, my friends. I have bits about my novel to share with you.
I've been thinking about my NaNovel, and I have come up with (what I think are) some good ideas.
I have two stories that I'm working off of this year, a plotline and a (stupidly extensive) backstory. The backstory follows the lives of the FIRST five people on my list, and the main plotline follows the daughters of the first five.
The idea behind the story is that the BACKSTORY is your everyday fantasy plot with good triumphing over evil, etc, etc. However, the perceptions of "good" and "evil" have been skewed by the people who are telling the history/public perception/combined with the fact that scared people will believe just about anything, even though both parties are equally in the wrong.
Anywho...
I'm VERY picky about names, so picking what I'm going to call my characters is a BIG deal.
I'm including a bit of a bio about each of them, and be warned...NEARLY EVERYONE DIES. But it needed to happen. I am sad about killing them, honest. :(
So far, I have these:
Cairene Llewellyn - Princess who was born by the King and another woman, shunned since birth, only member of royal line left; becomes Queen by end of the Backstory.
Liam Newlin - Commoner boy, family dies in combo flood/famine, teams up with Cairene, eventually marries her, becomes King by end of Backstory
Tavis Bronwy - Loner-type young adult, marries Ziske for appearance's sake, has child with her by end of Backstory.
Ziska (Ziske) Arwydd - Young woman from the mountains, powerful mage, married to Tavis, but her heartmate is Shivaun/Carys/Malia. Dead by end of Backstory by Liam and Cairene; has infant.
Shivaun/Carys/Malia Riedwyn - Young woman, mage from small village in upper country, loves and is together with Ziske. Tavis and she get along fine, no battle for Ziske's heart. Dead by end of Backstory.
---
Talaith Bronwy (Arwydd) - Daughter of Tavis, Ziske and Shivaun.
Aneira/Ariene/Elain Llewellyn - Daughter of Cairene and Liam.
--------
So, waddya think?
Also, I will be away until Monday. Expect regular posts, but comments shall be replied to when I get back.
Have a wonderous weekend, all!
~Whimsy
P.S. I shall miss keeping up on my other BEDA friends's blogs. :( However, I am off to do AWESOME THINGS, so it's all great. ^_^
I've been thinking about my NaNovel, and I have come up with (what I think are) some good ideas.
I have two stories that I'm working off of this year, a plotline and a (stupidly extensive) backstory. The backstory follows the lives of the FIRST five people on my list, and the main plotline follows the daughters of the first five.
The idea behind the story is that the BACKSTORY is your everyday fantasy plot with good triumphing over evil, etc, etc. However, the perceptions of "good" and "evil" have been skewed by the people who are telling the history/public perception/combined with the fact that scared people will believe just about anything, even though both parties are equally in the wrong.
Anywho...
I'm VERY picky about names, so picking what I'm going to call my characters is a BIG deal.
I'm including a bit of a bio about each of them, and be warned...NEARLY EVERYONE DIES. But it needed to happen. I am sad about killing them, honest. :(
So far, I have these:
Cairene Llewellyn - Princess who was born by the King and another woman, shunned since birth, only member of royal line left; becomes Queen by end of the Backstory.
Liam Newlin - Commoner boy, family dies in combo flood/famine, teams up with Cairene, eventually marries her, becomes King by end of Backstory
Tavis Bronwy - Loner-type young adult, marries Ziske for appearance's sake, has child with her by end of Backstory.
Ziska (Ziske) Arwydd - Young woman from the mountains, powerful mage, married to Tavis, but her heartmate is Shivaun/Carys/Malia. Dead by end of Backstory by Liam and Cairene; has infant.
Shivaun/Carys/Malia Riedwyn - Young woman, mage from small village in upper country, loves and is together with Ziske. Tavis and she get along fine, no battle for Ziske's heart. Dead by end of Backstory.
---
Talaith Bronwy (Arwydd) - Daughter of Tavis, Ziske and Shivaun.
Aneira/Ariene/Elain Llewellyn - Daughter of Cairene and Liam.
--------
So, waddya think?
Also, I will be away until Monday. Expect regular posts, but comments shall be replied to when I get back.
Have a wonderous weekend, all!
~Whimsy
P.S. I shall miss keeping up on my other BEDA friends's blogs. :( However, I am off to do AWESOME THINGS, so it's all great. ^_^
Friday, August 13, 2010
BEDA, Day 13: Plotting.
As you (I have no doubt) know, I am currently at work plotting for my NaNoWriMo novel this November.
I have been plotting my buns off (not that that can ACTUALLY happen), and I came up with something that I like.
So, I was thinking that I would write a story, in a fantasy setting, about gray morals. You know when you're reading a fantasy story and there are two distinct sides? The Good Side and The Bad Side?
Well, I'm trying to create a story where there IS no good and bad sides, and both of the sides have made mistakes, and each of them think that they are The Good Side.
So that's the premise.
The Actual Story takes place AFTER the "good" guys, vanquish the "bad" guys, the place where most fantasy stories end
One daughter from each side of the old conflict meet and start working together.
My plan was for them to take down the corrupt government and free the people, blah blah blah.
The problem is, well...
I have hit a brick wall of the evil WRITER'S BLOCK. Dun dun dunnnnnnn.
I wrote a nicely angst-ridden backstory for the parents of said children, but alas the daughters are giving me issues.
Now, I am wondering if I should just scrap the tales of the daughters and go with the parents instead.
I really like the backstory, but I don't know if I can handle immersing myself in that story for a month.
The reason why is this: To get to the point that I needed for the daughters, I had to create a lot of angst. They needed to really hate the other side with a passion, so most of the characters needed to die.
Also, I would have a very hard time not sympathizing with the "bad" side, because I find them far more interesting and I think I really kinda love them. So sad that I had to kill them.
I haven't been able to move beyond the place where I'm stuck for days. Ahhhhrgh.
So that's my story.
My QE is thus:
What are you writing?
and
How do you un-block your writer's block?
I have been plotting my buns off (not that that can ACTUALLY happen), and I came up with something that I like.
So, I was thinking that I would write a story, in a fantasy setting, about gray morals. You know when you're reading a fantasy story and there are two distinct sides? The Good Side and The Bad Side?
Well, I'm trying to create a story where there IS no good and bad sides, and both of the sides have made mistakes, and each of them think that they are The Good Side.
So that's the premise.
The Actual Story takes place AFTER the "good" guys, vanquish the "bad" guys, the place where most fantasy stories end
One daughter from each side of the old conflict meet and start working together.
My plan was for them to take down the corrupt government and free the people, blah blah blah.
The problem is, well...
I have hit a brick wall of the evil WRITER'S BLOCK. Dun dun dunnnnnnn.
I wrote a nicely angst-ridden backstory for the parents of said children, but alas the daughters are giving me issues.
Now, I am wondering if I should just scrap the tales of the daughters and go with the parents instead.
I really like the backstory, but I don't know if I can handle immersing myself in that story for a month.
The reason why is this: To get to the point that I needed for the daughters, I had to create a lot of angst. They needed to really hate the other side with a passion, so most of the characters needed to die.
Also, I would have a very hard time not sympathizing with the "bad" side, because I find them far more interesting and I think I really kinda love them. So sad that I had to kill them.
I haven't been able to move beyond the place where I'm stuck for days. Ahhhhrgh.
So that's my story.
My QE is thus:
What are you writing?
and
How do you un-block your writer's block?
Friday, August 6, 2010
BEDA, Day 5: Join me in NaNoWriMo this year?
Since this is a blog that is about writing (and other things as well) it seems only fair to talk about last year's NaNoWriMo.
Last year late in October, somewhere about the 20th of the month, my sister decided that it would be a good idea for the pair of us to write our own novels in November.
I think that you should join me this year for NaNoWriMo. It'll be a crazy ride, but someone has to take it!
Having written a detailed-to-the-max 50 page outline for a story a year or two (or three) ago, and rembering what madness that was, and the fact that I had about 10 days to prepare, I said no, as a sane person would.
Since my sister is SO not sane, she kept poking at me until I caved and made my NaNo account. I spent about three days working out a plot on lined paper, and came up with something that was drastically different than my usual attempted fare of fantasy-epic-adventures; a novel about teens putting on a production of Romeo and Juliet.
I love the idea, since in April of that year I had played Mercutio in my theater's show of the same, and therefore was bound and determined to give my main character, Alan, the same role.
I am so sick of not having lgbt characters show up in YA fiction, that I made Alan, Stephan, Melanie, Emily, Tanya and Oliver (all characters from that year's NaNo) either gay, lesbian or bi.
There were plenty of straight characters as well, but I found the need to include the lgbt ones irrisistable.
Mt book went off in a direction that I had no plan for it to go, and I am so glad for that. The creative flow of NaNoWriMo is unstoppable.
I noveled whilst getting ready for opening night for a show, and at the cast party, where I should have been socializing with my castmates.
I gave myself permission to make a glorious muddle of things, to add the man who says "dorf", the traveling shovel of death, and Katherine Bloodsaw.
I wrote late at night in a film noir setting, clacking away at my typewriter as the hours grew longer and I included dreams involving God, a gay man, and a missing pair of glittery jeans.
I word warred with random strangers, flipped out every time I wrote another thousand words, and I had a mentor who kept me on track to the 50k finish.
The long and short of it is this: Everyone should do NaNoWriMo.
Everyone should have a chance to douse their inner critic and do what makes them feel good.
Hell, douse the outer critics as well! They aren't you, and you need to nurture your own creative spirit. Nobody else can, will, or even should do that for you.
I guess that this stands as my open invitation to you all, then.
Come, join me, make mistakes, make art. Throw yourself into the joy of creating something that wasn't there before you started to make it. Live your life to the fullest everyday, and don't let the nay-sayers ruin your dreams. Dream big, dream on, and never, ever, ever stop.
Who's with me?
~Whimsy
Last year late in October, somewhere about the 20th of the month, my sister decided that it would be a good idea for the pair of us to write our own novels in November.
I think that you should join me this year for NaNoWriMo. It'll be a crazy ride, but someone has to take it!
Having written a detailed-to-the-max 50 page outline for a story a year or two (or three) ago, and rembering what madness that was, and the fact that I had about 10 days to prepare, I said no, as a sane person would.
Since my sister is SO not sane, she kept poking at me until I caved and made my NaNo account. I spent about three days working out a plot on lined paper, and came up with something that was drastically different than my usual attempted fare of fantasy-epic-adventures; a novel about teens putting on a production of Romeo and Juliet.
I love the idea, since in April of that year I had played Mercutio in my theater's show of the same, and therefore was bound and determined to give my main character, Alan, the same role.
I am so sick of not having lgbt characters show up in YA fiction, that I made Alan, Stephan, Melanie, Emily, Tanya and Oliver (all characters from that year's NaNo) either gay, lesbian or bi.
There were plenty of straight characters as well, but I found the need to include the lgbt ones irrisistable.
Mt book went off in a direction that I had no plan for it to go, and I am so glad for that. The creative flow of NaNoWriMo is unstoppable.
I noveled whilst getting ready for opening night for a show, and at the cast party, where I should have been socializing with my castmates.
I gave myself permission to make a glorious muddle of things, to add the man who says "dorf", the traveling shovel of death, and Katherine Bloodsaw.
I wrote late at night in a film noir setting, clacking away at my typewriter as the hours grew longer and I included dreams involving God, a gay man, and a missing pair of glittery jeans.
I word warred with random strangers, flipped out every time I wrote another thousand words, and I had a mentor who kept me on track to the 50k finish.
The long and short of it is this: Everyone should do NaNoWriMo.
Everyone should have a chance to douse their inner critic and do what makes them feel good.
Hell, douse the outer critics as well! They aren't you, and you need to nurture your own creative spirit. Nobody else can, will, or even should do that for you.
I guess that this stands as my open invitation to you all, then.
Come, join me, make mistakes, make art. Throw yourself into the joy of creating something that wasn't there before you started to make it. Live your life to the fullest everyday, and don't let the nay-sayers ruin your dreams. Dream big, dream on, and never, ever, ever stop.
Who's with me?
~Whimsy
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