The NaNoWriMo Experience!

The Joy of NaNoWriMo: Or Crystal Meth for Writers
By Cat Connor

For the last three years, I have taken part in National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo. The first year wasn’t a success for me, but it set me up. I had a taste. I knew what was possible and I liked it.

The second year, I discovered I was already signed up to do NaNoWriMo. No conscious choice needed. I knew I wasn’t prepared to have a string of failures under my belt. I had to do it. (And I was already using familiar terms to explain what I was doing. “I’m doing Nano, you?”)

The joy of pounding the keyboard got me over the dreadful frustrating slowness of the NaNoWriMo site. I ignored everyone and everything around me. I told my kids I was busy and wouldn’t be available for anything all month. And unless there was copious blood and or unconsciousness involved the little ones (and grown ones) were to leave me alone. I got so organized I surprised myself. I utilized the crock-pot to the fullest. I did everything required of me, quickly and efficiently, and it was on with the writing.

I did it. I wrote my first kiwi novel, a fun spy/thriller type novel that totally kicks ass. And one day when I get time, I will polish the hell out of it and send it out into the big wide world.

Last year – reeling from a string of rejections and disgruntled with the whole publishing industry I did Nano again. Same deal – I was already signed up (and I will not have a failure next to my name!) this time however I wanted to write the fourth book in a series. (Turns out it’s the fifth book, but never mind)

I did it and then some. I passed the 50,000-required words; I think the word count was around 80,000. The novel is tremendous (and sitting here waiting for polishing.) The difference in word count came from using established characters that I knew very well indeed. I still had no clue about plot. This didn’t matter, because frankly I never do when I start a story. It just happens. It was much easier writing with familiar characters.

It’s all looking rather straightforward. Hell, all you have to do is 50,000 words in 30 days. Easily achievable. (Yet I failed the first time but we don’t have to dwell on that.) It works out to fewer than 2,000 words a day. Then, I discovered that people actually planned for Nano! The whole thought of planning felt like cheating (and I struggled with being able to use established characters, because that felt like cheating too). Yet it’s apparently not. I didn’t plan for my first two attempts. I just sat down and wrote, no freaking clue about the characters that would show up, plot, none of it. I winged it from beginning to end. And it was fun but it wasn’t as easy as the third year.

This year, I thought I’d flag NaNoWriMo itself and do a 50k challenge at Backspace (a writer’s site I belong to) instead. That way I can write the 50k I want to write to finish a novel I’m working on. Then, I went over to the Nano site and found myself already signed up. (This is getting to be a habit.)

I have to do it. I just have to.

Time could be an issue. In all seriousness, this November may drive my family to the edge without adding Nanowrimo to the mix, and I suspect that all it will take is the whisper of Nano to make them throw themselves from the cliff.

Things have changed dramatically since November 2008 when I was an aspiring novelist collecting rejections. This year I have a publisher. My first novel is out and my second due for release on Nov 10th. (This means interviews, guest blogs, a release party, and all the other fun stuff that goes with a new release.) Then there is the little fact, that I’ll be away and be starting Nanowrimo two days late. Our youngest is now at afternoon kindergarten and that means 10 hours a week disappear into the great abyss. Plus, pre-Christmas craziness. Birthdays. School commitments.

Doing NaNoWriMo for the first time is probably not insane. Let’s face it – you don’t really know what it’s like until you’ve tried it. But there really is no excuse for the torturing of families beyond that once. That being said, I don’t know anyone who has only done it once. That’s the hook. You do it once just to see - but it’s insidious. It gets in, before you know it, thirty days are gone in a haze of word counts and challenges.

It’s like a drug.

It’s crystal meth for writers. (But even cheaper and easier to obtain.)

I’m sitting here dreading every second yet knowing I have to do it. The sad thing is I’ll love it while I’m doing it – while in the clutches of the frenzied writing watching that word count go steadily higher. Resenting every interruption, neglecting everyone except my characters. Living on adrenaline and coffee. Unable to sleep unless I’ve written at least 2,000 words a day, but not being happy until I achieve more.

It’s a drug.

I’m an addict. Hello, my name is Cat Connor and Nano is my drug of choice.

I fully expect to find NaNoWriMo on the DEA drug information list in the next few years. The effects are far reaching and it’s most definitely open for abuse. It’s worldwide and they’re already pushing it to kids.

Roll on November; I can’t wait to start my fourth Nano experience! I may be away from the keyboard for the first few days…but I’ll be writing longhand so I don’t get behind in word count.

So anyone else doing Nano?

You know you want to.

Cat Connor is a crime thriller writer. Catch her blog at: http://catconnor.blogspot.com/ Click here Or find her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/catconnor Click here

National Novel Writing Month: Every Writer’s Cure
By Sera Rivers

Walking Sleep, throbbing eyes, anxious fingers – these are the symptoms of NaNoWriMo.

Don’t worry. There is a cure: November 30th.

Every autumn, exhilaration builds as I anticipate November 1st. I don’t know why, but the thought of writing 50k words in a mere 30 days is the greatest thrill I have ever encountered. I have successfully completed two NaNoWriMos, and cannot wait for this year’s to begin.

It is a love/hate relationship for me, but well worth the lack of sleep and pressure I force upon myself. The first year I joined just for fun. The book I wrote still sits on my hard drive. I was just testing my ability.

Last year, I wrote the first 54k of my memoir in November and completed the manuscript just three months later.

I have been revising my memoir all year. I often question the point of NaNoWriMo. Sure, I threw a plethora of words onto my computer screen; but I wonder: is the amount of work to perfect my haste worthwhile? Absolutely. There is certain honesty to throwing a story down on paper in a panicked surge. With a clock ticking away (how short of a month November is), there is no time for writer’s block, that perfect word, or layered characters.

The story must be written, skeletal, but written nonetheless.

The book I will write this year will detail my journey through the special education world to find a proper diagnosis for my son. I have written a rough draft of the back-story five years ago. I now want to incorporate what I’ve written with the knowledge I’ve gained over the years to create a finished manuscript. My work in child advocacy and my shared story on my website, Diagnosing Parents Rights.com, has put the book in demand. While, I will not be able to “count” the words already written, NaNoWriMo will force me to complete the manuscript.

With two years under my belt, I believe myself to be a NaNoWriMo expert. I know what to avoid and what to embrace. The past two years were tricky for me because I worked fulltime. With much discipline – waking up earlier and staying up later to write (I calculated a minimum of 1668 words a day to win), I was able to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge. This year, I have time in my favor.

Thanks to the wonderful world of “unemployment,” I can methodically plot my daily writing assignments. I have outlined the book so I will stay on track. My next step will be to gather research material to have on hand for reference.

Yikes!

I better hurry. Time is drawing near.

NaNoWriMo is the trickiest game to play. It loves to throw life at me, despite my plans to do nothing but snuggle by the fire and write. NaNoWriMo has discovered the art of maneuvering time. Where does it go? Who gets to play with it? I remind myself that I must dodge rush hour traffic, avoid lengthy appointments and climb out of domestic duties. In order to defeat NaNoWriMo, I must contort, contract and crawl through small windows of time.

Ahh, NaNoWriMo. I live for the ecstasy. I live for the agony. Just 30 days of the year dedicated to nothing but words. It is a writer’s spiritual retreat. Some people fast; some people meditate; others journey to the highest or deepest parts of the earth; my spiritual journey begins each year with NaNoWriMo. It forces a new project for the forthcoming year.

Writers, I urge you, spend 30 days of your lives feeling nothing but nausea, insomnia, and utter despair. Join me for NaNoWriMo. Write. Write. Write!

I hope to see you at the finish line.

Sera Rivers is a writer, creative writing instructor, and child advocate. Writing credits include the Chicopee Special Needs Kids Examiner and Southwoods Literary Magazine. Sera is in the midst of editing her memoir, Don’t You Want Me?—a powerful story about her experiences growing up in a fanatically religious household, which led to her unhealthy patterns with men and a search for her true beliefs in God.

Learn more about Ms. Rivers via her websites:

http://www.serarivers.com/
Click here

http://www.diagnosingparentsrights.com/
Click here

http://www.examiner.com/x-15632-Chicopee-Special-Needs-Kids-Examiner
Click here

Or contact her at: writeloudly@me.com

NaNoWriMo Save My Life
By Emilie Staat

NaNoWriMo saved my life. Or at least, my writing.

Let me tell you a story.

Summer 1992. Two girls sit on the stairs of an apartment building, their heads and shoulders crowded close together over a notebook. They are ten and twelve, the only girls in the neighborhood, and they’re taking a break from roughhousing with the boys to work on a story. A., the elder, rolls her eyes as E., the younger, says, “We should re-read the whole story first. We can edit and we’ll remember where we left off.” A. takes the notebook and flips to a clean, fresh page, saying, “Let’s just get started.”

Summer 2007. A. is a nonfiction editor and a new mother. She doesn’t have time or energy to write. E. has just finished two writing degrees in seven years. She has a lot of ideas, but she doesn’t write. She is crippled by the critical voices in her head. They’re so loud that she can’t hear her characters speak to her. The characters whisper. The critical voices – they holler, “Show, don’t tell! This is garbage!”

Fifteen years changes a lot. It didn’t change my friendship with A. (for I am E., the younger), but we both had drifted so very far away from our youthful joy in our shared story. I’d just moved to a new city and started a new job as a paralegal. A. hadn’t written for years.

I don’t know where I first heard about National Novel Writing Month, but I know my first exposures to it were disdainful sneers about NaNoWriMo telling everybody that they can write, creating a hobby atmosphere around what some of us spend years and lots of money learning to do. In the fall of 2007, I felt very far away from the writing community I had spent years cultivating and really only knew one other writer in the city who I could talk to about what I was (writer) but wasn’t doing (writing).

So I researched NaNoWriMo – 50,000 words in one month! I bought the book, No Plot? No Problem! And I sent out the infamous e-mail. Confess to attempting something crazy so that whenever you’re tempted to quit, you’ll be too embarrassed not to keep going because you told all those people. And it works. I send the e-mail and asked my family and friends to support me by occasionally asking about my progress. A. received this e-mail and though we live 300 miles apart, distance has never distilled our friendship and she became my avid supporter.

I won NaNoWriMo 2007, which means I wrote 50,000 words in one month. It was one of the most freeing and educational experiences of my life. There was no time to worry about the quality of my writing. I could only write. Those crippling critical voices receded and my characters turned up their volume, sometimes screaming me awake in the middle of the night. The pace is so intense (over 2,000 words per day average) that you can only revel in your story and your characters, can only do your best to get their bones on the page. The flesh will come later, if it turns out your extended writing exercise is something you want to pursue.

A. and I did NaNoWriMo together last year, but neither of us finished. I cheated on the NaNo rules and tried to do 50,000 new words on an old book (my thesis). So while I didn’t finish, I actually did get a ton of new writing done. NaNoWriMo 2008 reminded A. that she’s a writer, not just an editor of other people’s work. Doing NaNoWriMo together – that reminded us both about the joy of playing with words that we knew so easily, instinctively, on that long-ago apartment staircase.

This year, A. and I have started early by sending each other writing exercises most days. For the first time, I’m reading the forums and talking to other participants in my area. When November 1st comes along, we’ll just get started. We’ll get our first NaNoWriMo Pep Talk and we’ll chuff each other along. And we’re gonna win this year. Because now that I’ve told you about our crazy attempt – we both just have to keep at it until we finish.

Emilie’s NaNoWriMo Must List:
Send the e-mail. My 2007 e-mail went like this, if you need a template:

“Dear Family and Friends,

I'm going to write a novel in November. As part of National Novel Writing Month (check out: nanowrimo.org), I will start writing a novel of 50,000 words November 1 and finish by midnight on the last day of November.

By reading this email, you've already done all I need you to do as my support team. NaNoWriMo recommends you tell everyone you know that you're writing a novel so that when you're tempted to quit, you can't possibly because people know you're doing it. So thanks!

If, in the course of November, you'd like to drop me a line of encouragement or ask me how the novel is coming, I'd love that. And of course, all of you should consider writing a novel in November as well!! NaNoWriMo favors output over literary quality. As they say -- December is for editing.

Those of you on this list are family members and writerly friends who I care about. In those dark days when I'll question what the hell I'm doing, knowing that *you know* I'm supposed to be writing a novel may just keep me going.

All my love and thanks,
Emilie

Read Chris Baty’s book No Plot? No Problem! Cheap copies are available online.
Use the Write or Die application online. [http://writeordie.drwicked.com/ Click here]

When you finish each day’s writing, have goals for what scenes you want to write the next day.
Eat and sleep – try to maintain a schedule so you’re geared up to write when it’s time to write.

Emilie Staat lives and writes in New Orleans. She’s thatagirldarling on NaNoWriMo.org and maintains her sanity at her personal blog: http://emiliestaat.wordpress.com/ Click here while finishing her first novel.

H.L. Mencken Speaks: Only Known Recording! Parts 5-8

Bill Minutaglio's Book on Molly Ivins Hits Bookstores!

Please make sure to go to your local bookstore and check out Bill Minutaglio's definitive biography about "one of the most provocative, courageous, and influential journalists in American history," "Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life."

It can also be ordered on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Molly-Ivins-Rebel-Bill-Minutaglio/dp/1586487175
Click here

As a matter of full disclosure, let me say that Bill is one of my best friends and has been for decades, a truly kind and generous man. He's also, without question, one of country's best journalists, as well as an utterly dazzling writer. I only wish I could put words together the way Bill does. He makes every sentence sing!

Bill sent me this about the book:

Molly Ivins was, for a while, the most powerful woman in journalism -- and she was one of the toughest, most tragic, women in America.

She had enormous power and influence: Presidents, senators and royalty called her. She appeared in over 300 newspapers, had huge national best selling books, was on 60 Minutes, Letterman and Leno. She had millions of followers. She punched men out in Texas - and once knocked George W. Bush's most important political partner to his knees in a bar in Austin. She rode motorcycles -- and could drink any man under the table. She eventually became a profoundly high-functioning alcoholic - in and out of rehab, causing a ruckus around major political figrues (like Nancy Pelosi), and managing through it all to write for every major magazine and news outlet imaginable. Her work was compared to Mark Twain, Rabelais and Mencken.

She broke open the doors for Maureen Dowd, Arianna Huffington, Gail Collins and almost any other woman who wanted to have an opinion column in America. She suffered death threats and bomb scares. She raised millions of dollars for civil liberties and other causes across America. She personally supported hundreds of people over the life of her career - she gave away, in the end, millions of her own dollars, to strangers, friends, the homeless. She was unfathomably generous.

And, her entire life was defined by her relationship with her father -- who was the autocratic, racist, head of Tenneco, one of the most powerful energy corporations in the world. She grew up in unbridled affluence, she grew up as friends with George W Bush, she attended the finest private schools in America and studied in France -- and she rejected all of it to beome of the most fiercely liberal voices in American history. She lived with one of the most radical activists in America, she was engaged to be married to a wealthy man who wanted to start a "master race" -- and Hollywood producers continually talked to her about making a movie of her life.

There really was never a figure like Molly Ivins. And there will probably never be. She was like Amelia Earhart meets Annie Oakley.

Her story was one that needed to be told -- it was so intensely narrative (which explains, I believe, why those producers, screenwriters and directors were wanting to make that movie based on her life). She fought sexism at every turn in her life. She lived large, fought hard and told the top editor of The New York Times to fuck off. And just when she seemed ready to beat back her raging, drunken nightmares, she was hit with cancer. She battled three wicked bouts of cancer.

And through it all, she laughed her ass off, spoke truth to power, gave away even more money -- and never stopped working. Her friends -- Maya Angelou, Dan Rather, Willie Nelson, Ann Richards, Bill Clinton -- marveled at her stamina. And when she died there were enormous memorial services around the country, including ones in New York City and Texas.

For a narrative story teller, Ivins's story was inevitable. There were so many breathtaking twists and turns in her life. I knew her a bit and knew some of her story. But not all of it. It simply became more rich, more intense, as I researched it.

With one of her former researchers, we worked on the book for 18 months. We did research aross America. We delved into her personal archives, her diaries (including scalding, intense ones where she talks about her fight with alcohol, her lovers, her fights wtih the most powerful people in American publishing and politics), her personal letters. She was the most profound self-chronicler imaginable, and we had access to hundreds of thousands of documents, papers, letters, touching on almost every aspect of her and her family's personal history.

I learned that, when you weigh Molly Ivins in historic context, her story is a grand, outsized American saga. She was often "the only woman in the room" -- and she fought like holy hell to be heard, to be respected, to change things for the good of America. She was a trallblazer and a firebrand. Again, to say she lived large is really an understatement.

10 Places to Help Find a Home for Your Writing

10 Places to Help Find a Home for Your Writing
By Linda G Smith
Accredited Online Degrees
http://accreditedonlinedegrees.org/
Click here

Getting published can end up metamorphosing into a nightmare even more stressful and frustrating than the act of writing itself. With so many questionable publishers and agents ready to exploit aspiring professional writers and prey upon their eagerness to see their names and visions in print. Even finding a legitimate home for a story, no matter its structure or content, requires Herculean feats of time-consuming research. Fortunately, a number of websites and magazines have dedicated their time, money, and server space to help writers work through the publication process, network with colleagues and publishers alike, and find a reliable, honest agent. Every one of them makes for an indispensable resource when searching for a place for the written word to call home.

1. NewPages Click here: One of the most comprehensive, intelligent, and engaging websites on publishing anywhere, NewPages’s main draw is its massive listing of literary magazines and alternative presses. Each entry comes accompanied by a sample cover, contact information, a discussion of target audiences and preferred content, submission requirements, contests, and information on recent issues. Poets, artists, short story writers, and essayists benefit especially from this well-researched, fervently updated site. Beyond the fantastic literary magazine directory, NewPages also posts contests and calls for submissions from the aforementioned periodicals as well as alternative and independent publishing houses. As if this did not make for enough valuable content, the site includes a podcast, fantastic resources for writers, links to independent book stores, a blog, book and magazine reviews, and even a page dedicated to independent record labels in addition to everything else.

2. Optimum Wound Click here: In a blog dated March 17, 2009, editor Jason Thibault from the tiny independent comic book publishing house Optimum Wound posted submission guidelines for every single comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher he could find. While the content is subject to change over time, his exhaustive labor of love makes for the most valuable resource for any aspiring or established comic book, manga, or graphic novel writer with a story to tell. He starts off his post with advice and tips on getting the most out of his research, then follows through with an excruciatingly useful bombardment of every publisher he could find, organized into major printers, independents, presses focusing exclusively on one or two genres, anthologies, manga, distributors, adult entertainment, books, and magazines. Alongside each entry comes a paragraph (or two, or three detailing the business’s content preferences and submission requirements along with a link useful when checking for any updates he may have missed.

3. The Freelance Writing Jobs Network Click here: A collective of seven blogs and a thriving community, the Freelance Writing Jobs Network covers every possible angle of the titular business. It offers practical and intelligent advice to amateurs and professionals alike and allows for readers to ask questions and gain valuable insight on both writing and publishing. Every day, the site posts up leads for writing jobs as well as blogs, magazines, and other periodicals in need of articles or essays. Ghost writing gigs pop up on occasion, too. Pay very close attention to some of the listings, however. Though many positions allow for a telecommute option, some publishers have geographical limitations and requirements for applicants.

4. Writer’s Digest Click here: The quintessential analog resource for writers now publishes many of its celebrated magazine’s content for free (with additional features available through a paid membership online. Writer’s Digest offers pretty much everything any writer needs to launch a rewarding and successful career – it is such an indispensable and unquestioned necessity for anyone hoping to sell their writing that statement only narrowly avoids steering off into hyperbole. Along with the articles, blogs, directories, contests, and shops common to many expert sites, the magazine also hosts several conferences, workshops, and events throughout the year. They also grant annual awards to the best literature and publishing websites on the internet. No writers’ mailbox or bookmark list is complete without this priceless font of information and opportunity.

5. Books and Tales Click here: An admittedly incomplete database, Books and Tales nevertheless features a valuable and detailed service. Many print on demand, or POD, publishers – occasionally referred to by the epithet “vanity presses” – operate as fronts for a variety of scams. This site offers side-by-side comparisons of PODs for those interested in exploring the self-publishing route. They delve into the prices, author benefits, contracts, royalties, and highly specific positives and negatives of each publisher. In spite of not covering every POD business available, the information they do provide still stands as a revealing and extremely helpful resource to help prevent would-be writers from falling victim to an exploitative ruse. Books and Tales also hosts several articles in addition to a community devoted entirely to self-publishing and POD businesses.

6. Preditors & Editors Click here: Like Books and Tales, Preditors and Editors dedicates its time, money, and server space to protecting the rights of writers everywhere. They host a massive collection of links to publishers with sterling or, at minimum, neutral reputations, with those deemed suspicious both explicitly labeled in the directory as well as sequestered in a separate portion of the site. This service concerns itself especially with the copyright and ownership issues common to the publishing industry. However, it also offers more specialized lists targeting screenwriters, game scripters, journalists, editors, and musicians as well. Links to contests, conventions, festivals, chat rooms, and forums are available for writers seeking networking opportunities.

7. Agent Query Click here: When the personal search for a reliable publisher starts yielding fruitless results, a literary agent may be able to help. The publishing process is a grueling, exhausting test of mental and emotional strength, but having an agent opens up many opportunities that self-representation cannot provide. Enthusiastically approved by Writer’s Digest, Agent Query screens thousands of agents and allows the legitimate ones to create profiles in a searchable database. With an incredibly easy and specific interface, writers can connect with agents specializing in their chosen genres or living in their own city for easier access. It provides one more breezy and painless method of easing the stresses associated with publishing.

8. Query Tracker Click here: Agents and publishers alike register here to meet with potential clients, and Writer’s Digest has labeled Query Tracker an absolute necessity for all hopeful writers. In addition to their search services, this site allows users to organize and keep track of which agents and publishers they have contacted and corresponded with and which pitches and queries still need to be sent out. Listings for agents and presses both provide statistics on concerns such as response times, submissions, and preferred genres, and users can post comments regarding their experiences in dealing with them. Like Agent Query, all of the information on Query Tracker remains entirely free of charge as a much-needed relief for writers.

9. WritersNet Click here: In many ways, writing is really no different than many traditionally structured jobs with 8-hour days whittled away inside a soulless cubicle. Networking remains an integral aspect of the business, and without forging meaningful connections with contemporaries, publishers, editors, and agents a writer cannot expect to succeed or function. It pays to send the ego off with a one-one ticket to Splitsville and a suitcase full of spite, and once that is accomplished WritersNet grants users a bevy of opportunities to learn about what agents and publishers alike are looking for. Some of the connections forged on this site may mean the difference between a manuscript rotting sadly in a dusty, forgotten box and a national bestseller.

10. The Write Jobs Click here: In addition to the Freelance Writing Jobs Network, The Write Jobs is a necessary stop when making the rounds to discover what blogs, magazines, websites, and other publications currently offer gigs for writers. However, the latter tends to feature more permanent and full-time positions than the former. Each job listing is filed under one of six different categories – freelance, journalism, medical, publishing industry, technical, and telecommute – and features an interface similar to Craigslist. While the focus lay predominantly with job postings, The Write Jobs does offer some degree of advice for those seeking employment, exposure, or portfolio padding.

The decision to publish, either through a POD or a more traditional press, can be wrought with a frustrating number of setbacks and seemingly dead-end research. Luckily, the internet plays host to a multitude of websites catering to any question or concern that aspiring writers may have. From providing information on agents and publishers to screening potentially fraudulent offers to simply dispensing sound advice on what to expect when venturing forth into the industry, every one of these sites makes for a resource of value to both amateur to experienced writers alike. Taking advantage of what they generously have to offer significantly eases the anxieties inherent in the quest to find a home for an essay, article, novel, short story, or graphic novel. Without networking, without researching, without learning every nuance and subtlety and corner of the publishing industry, the chances of missing out on a potentially fortuitous opportunity swells considerably.

Interview with Elmore Leonard

H.L. Mencken Speaks: Only Known Recording! Parts 1-4

The NaNoWriMo Experience/Reactions

Jennifer said...

You want to know what I am going through? I am going through a frog attack. There are frogs. In my novel. Out for blood. In my very totally absolutely serious novel about the downfall and loss of humanity and identity. Frogs. Why? (There is a totally calm voice inside me now. She is remembering everything she learned during university and studying literature. She calmly informs me that is makes perfect sense that nature fights back and will win. That the humans have lost their connection to nature and now nature, symbolised by the frogs, is starting to fight back. Great. I could not have found a blunter way to state that right? ).
Otherwise I am fine. Now that I have given up being sane I am having that much more fun. I wait for the zombies. And pirates. I'm sure where there are frogs, there are pirates. Both live in the water...right?

Now excuse me, I have to go. The frogs are adamant, they want their bloodbath.

Want more? Read here: http://jennifer-renner.blogspot.com/
Click here

Cheers,

Jenny

November 7, 2009 9:21 AM

Niz said...

Last year, I started 3 days late, had glandular fever for about a month (a week of which I spent sleeping and barely drinking let alone eating) and yet I still managed to make up with the last 30,000 words being written on the last two days...

THIS year, I'm having trouble. I'm just behind on the word count, by about a 1,000 words (though I was doing extremely well up till two days ago) and I have a ton of work to do - university assignments as well as general house-cleaning etc.

I did have a cool plot, planned out, with in-depth characters for this year...but ended up scrapping it on the first day of November, in favour of a novel based on a single good scene I wrote last year. Although that scene was good, and I have since written a delightfully humorous scene, my novel is going nowhere fast!

Sleep will probably get more sporadic as November gets on, due to time contraints because of various presentations and essays I have due. Joyous.

However, I'm still loving the NaNoWriMo experience and tweeting heartily about it at @TheVeganOne (twitter.com/TheVeganOne Click here). Tat is, when my crazy housemate decides to *unblock* Twitter access since he thinks that unless I reach my daily wordcount total, I shouldn't be allowed to tweet.

One lats thing: I have every intention of eventually making it to a write-in. Ahem. So far, nothing has materialised but I've made up for this, imo, by using words such as copious, imbibed and cleavage (heh) in my novel.

Niz

November 7, 2009 12:21 PM

Mary Elizabeth said...

I'm new to NaNoWriMo this year, spurred on by encouragement from my daughter (@feedmenow Click here), and am still getting acclimated as I work on volume one of a mixed-genre quintology for YA and up.

I got started late (i.e., yesterday, November 7), partly because I couldn't complete my sign-up due to the enormous email overload at NaNoWriMo in the first couple of days of November.

But I think three factors will help me "catch up":

• Having been a published writer for 29 years, I know that I produce my best, most coherent work by engaging in a long period of planning and a short, sustained, concentrated period of writing.

• It is not unusual for me to write 3000–7000 words a day for work, so the "daily word count" doesn't faze me.

• I am secure enough in my approach to easily bypass the avalanche of annoyingly dogmatic (and—in many cases—specious ;^) advice about how one should write that is engulfing the web.

Yesterday, I finished the first three chapters (5777 words), the first of which has been in various incarnations since May. For me, whether writing non-fiction or fiction, the "drive on and don't look back" advice doesn't work: I need to lay a firm foundation in order to build a unified product.

For more of my thoughts on NaNoWriMo and other topics, you can follow me on Twitter as @AWriterReads (http://twitter.com/awriterreads Click here) and visit my (new and still unfolding) website at http://voiceofthephoenix.com Click here

Mary Elizabeth

I Want Media Interview with Tina Brown/Excerpts

Source: http://www.iwantmedia.com/people/people82.html
Click here

The following are some fascinating excerpts of an I Want Media interview with famous editrix Tina Brown, the former editor-in-chief of The New Yorker, Talk, and Vanity Fair who now heads up the popular online news aggregator, The Daily Beast.

Q: What have you learned in The Daily Beast's first year online?

Tina Brown: I've loved adjusting to and working at the Web's incessant pace. It's easy to iterate online - to test out new ideas, listen to feedback from the audience, keep what works and reject what doesn't. It is a very nimble process. I've also learned that there was, and still is, a real hunger for smart content aggregation or "curation" as I have come to think of it.

Q: The Huffington Post appears to keep growing, launching local editions. Do you see it potentially replacing newspapers?

Brown: No. I still believe strongly that there is a market for print, but we will continue to see interesting hyper-local models evolve. At any level, I believe there needs to continue to be investment in print journalism -- notably investigative units.

Q: Do you still read newspapers in print?

Brown: I love print. I'm married to a newspaper editor, and we still consume a lot of magazines and newspapers. Every morning after I have noodled around with The Daily Beast's headlines and lineup I go out to breakfast at the diner on the corner with Harry and we go through the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, the Daily News, the Financial Times, the Washington Post; all of them. I'm still a junkie.

Q: Do you miss working in magazines?

Brown: I'm very happy right now. I love the fast pace, the ability to keep innovating, the sense that there is a vibrant, growing, responsive audience out there. It is a sorry time in magazines, none of the talented people I know who work for them feel it’s a great time right now.

Q: Is the Internet-led transformation of the media world a good thing?

Brown: It is largely a good thing, but not without its growing pains. I see this very much as a transitional phase we are in. It's painful if you are caught on the wrong side of it, but there is no doubt in my mind that when this volcanic realignment in media has finally shaken out in the next three years we will see a golden age of journalism and video.

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How to Write a Great Novel: Junot Diaz

Source: Wall Street Journal

Junot Diaz

"I think 90% of my ideas evaporate because I have a terrible memory and because I seem to be committed to not scribble anything down," he says. "As soon as I write it down, my mind rejects it."

Juggling everything in his head has drawbacks, one of which is writing very slowly, he says. He threw out two earlier versions of his novel, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"—the equivalent of about 600 pages—before the final version began to take shape. He also researches obsessively. When writing "Oscar Wao," he read J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy half a dozen times to get inside the head of his protagonist, an overweight Dominican teenager who's obsessed with fantasy and science fiction.

He often listens to orchestral movie soundtracks as he writes, because he's easily distracted by lyrics. When he needs to seal himself off from the world, he retreats into the bathroom and sits on the edge of the tub. "It drove my ex crazy," he says. "She would always know I was going to write because I would grab a notebook and run into the bathroom."

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