NaNoWriMo, Round 2

November is officially upon us, boys and girls! I can hardly believe it. November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and this is the second year in a row that I will be participating. Although last year I procrastinated for much of the month and finished in a down-to-the-wire sprint, I'm hoping to be a bit more on top of things this time around.

I highly doubt that I will be posting regularly around here over the next 30 days, but I hope to give updates on my progress as I suffer through this crazy endeavor. I'm going for my first steampunk story, which I'm very excited about (even if I don't know exactly where the story is going yet). The plan is to try and front load my word count as much as possible so I don't wind up spending my entire Thanksgiving break holed up in my room glued to my laptop. My goal is 2,000 words a day. Fingers crossed!

Any other NaNo participants out there? Want to be my writing buddy? Or maybe chat with me on the NaNo forums? Then check out my NaNoWriMo profile page! I'll also be tweeting my misery (@loganturner) and getting in on those excellent @NaNoWordSprints motivational writing sprints.

Basically, don't worry if you don't hear much from me this month. It means I'm holed up being creative...or crying in a corner at my failures. Either way, it's bound to be interesting.

Writing Wednesday - Q1 check-in and Q2 goals

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Welcome to Writing Wednesday, my weekly feature where I discuss my works in progress, project ideas, editing struggles, or anything else related to the world of writing. Feel free to grab my button and post your own thoughts on writing! Leave a link to your post in the comments and I'll stop by.

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I realized today that I haven't checked in lately about my writing projects. It's time to face the music. Remember a few months back when I made some writing goals for the first three months of the year?

Yeah. Me neither.

Life got the better of me, and until this weekend, I hadn't devoted much time to fiction writing. I've been doing a lot of writing for school, and with my capstone project this quarter, there will certainly be a whole bunch more coming down the pipeline. I think it's safe to say that my books will need a little bit more of a hiatus before I can really commit the time to them that they deserve.

I did start a new project, however, and it's one that is really exciting me. I wanted to step away from the fantasy world I created and start somewhere fresh. I needed new inspiration, and this story has been pulling at me for some time. I still can't believe that this story hasn't already been done (it has to do with the Macbeth theater curse), but I decided to just go for it anyway and banged out around 3,500 words.

It's a contemporary YA novel with some supernatural elements. But it could go anywhere, which is the beauty of it. I was so excited just to be back in the theater world and writing about something I know inside and out. I haven't put in the time to really build the fantasy world in my other manuscript, and it's so much easier right now to just pour my heart into these contemporary characters.

I know, I know. Easier isn't better. Right now, though, with so much on my plate, I want to stick to what I know. So it's time for Q2 goals! I'm going to keep this conservative so I can make them realistic while still having time for my thesis.

April: Write 10,000 words for new project.
May: Write 5,000 words for new project.
June: Revise old project using input from critique group.

I'll try to keep you posted about my progress. I'll check back in early July with new goals for Q3. Wish me luck!

Writing Wednesday (4) - Q1 goals

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Welcome to Writing Wednesday, my weekly feature where I discuss my works in progress, project ideas, editing struggles, or anything else related to the world of writing. Feel free to grab my button and post your own thoughts on writing! Leave a link to your post in the comments and I'll stop by.

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After seeing nothing but reading challenges, I finally stumbled across a writing challenge! Hosted by ShadowKissed, it was designed for folks who can't fit NaNoWriMo in their busy schedules. Instead the goal is to write 10,000 words per month, every month in 2011, for a final manuscript of 120,000 words. Here's their official blurb:

Ever heard of NaNoWriMo? Did you sign up, get really enthusiastic about it, then fall flat on your face half way through realising there was no way you could cough up 50,000 words in a month? I know I have.

I still really love the idea behind that though, but know it is really hard for me to juggle with my real life commitments. So Mandy and I came up with the awesome year to spread it out over a year… and make it 120,000 words, rather than 50,000. The goal is to clock in at 10,000 words written per month.

Now, we are starting a little late on this, so if you want to join up, you’ve got until the 20th of Jan 2011 to let us know you’re going to join us on our quest to complete a 120,000 manuscript in 12 months. It can be any genre, any writing style – just let your imagination run wild. It’s more about getting a finished story, because that is the hardest part of writing.

To officially sign up, just email me (Katie) — admin@shadowkissed.net before the 20th of Jan to let us know you’re participating. We’re starting up a thread on the forum where you will be able to find support and suggestions and other cool stuff.

I look forward to you joining us on our 2011 writing adventure, and good luck!

I need challenges like this to keep me motivated. If I don't have a deadline looming, I will never complete anything. So I think it's time I set some concrete goals for this year.

The official NaNoEdMo starts in March, so I think I will do a warm-up and set a goal to log 20 hours of editing in February. NaNoEdMo requires 50 hours in March, which seems like more hours than I will have time for, but I will give it the old college try. I need to quit ignoring my manuscript and do something with it.

To recap:

January 2011 - Write 10,000 words.
February 2011 - Write 10,000 words. Edit manuscript for at least 20 hours.
March 2011 - Write 10,000 words. Complete NaNoEdMo.

I'll evaluate my progress and set some new goals for the second quarter of 2011 later on. Until then, I'd best get writing!

It's about to get crazy

December is supposed to be a fun month.  It's when (in my family) we get Hannukah and Christmas.  I have the entire month free from grad school (thank you, quarter system!).  Throw in extra days off work for the holidays and a general slow down of life in general as the year wraps up, and you have a recipe for relaxation.

Except in my case.  Instead, I'm antsy for the new year.  I'm ready for newness and fresh experiences and the promise of excitement.  I want to get this show on the road and have it be January already.

I'm really excited about getting this blog rolling and getting some reviews up.  I'm currently reading Incarceron by Catherine Fisher and loving it.  I also just purchased Matched by Ally Condie and read the first few chapters.  I can't wait to devour the rest of it.

The NaNoWriMo high has convinced me to really push myself next year.  I am capable of the loftiest of goals, if I set my mind to it.  One of the best ways to improve as a writer is to keep reading, and I really want to increase the number of YA books I read.  Now that I have found some good resources to scope out the new books, I have no more excuses.

I am going to set a personal goal to read 100 books next year.  As part of that goal, I am going to participate in a couple of book blogging challenges.  The first is The Story Siren's 2011 Debut Author Challenge, where I will be reading at least 12 YA books by debut authors in YA literature.  The second is YA Bliss's YA Historical Fiction Challenge, where I will be reading 15 YA historical fiction novels.  I love historical fiction, so why not go all out and do Level 3?  As December unfolds I will start posting lists of the books I am anxious to get my little greedy paws on, and as I finish I will be posting reviews.

In the meantime, I am going to be working on the 3rd Annual International Plot Writing Month aka PostNaNoPlotPerfection run by the fabulous Plot Whisperer.  I love that her formula involves me not reading my novel, but instead focusing on where it needs to be.  This way the crushing depression and humiliation inherent in reading through the manuscript can be saved for January, when my mood will be balanced by the thrill of all these new challenges.

NaNoWriMo withdrawal

I love a good challenge.  There is nothing that gets my blood pumping faster than trying to accomplish a seemingly insurmountable task.  Or just a plain difficult task.  Or even a fairly simple task.  In fact, if I'm being completely honest, I just love that feeling of self-satisfaction of setting my mind to do something, and then doing it.

This year was the first year I had ever participated in NaNoWriMo, and it did not start off so well.  By Thanksgiving, I had barely dented my word count, and I was starting to get quite down on myself for not being able to finish.  It seemed hopeless.  I wanted to quit.  I decided that before I could throw in the towel, however, I had better give it my all.  I spent nearly the entirety of Thanksgiving weekend locked in my bedroom, chained to my computer, forcing myself to continue typing.  And eventually, miraculously, I got to 50,000 words.

I won!  I could barely believe it.  My wrists hurt, my back creaked, and my eyes felt like sandpaper, but I did it.  I was so excited I wanted to announce it to the world, as if I had just birthed a child.  Nothing could match the sensation of achieving what had seemed so impossible just a few days before.

Now that the long, hard-fought battle is over, I find myself feeling a little morose and empty.  The excitement has worn down, most people have already heard the news, and now I'm stuck with this beast of a novel that may or may not pan out to anything.  The manuscript and I are locked in an awkward silence at the moment, each of us unwilling to reach across the divide and try to move forward.  We liked things back when they were exciting and rushed and new.  Now, we're shuffling our feet and clearing our throats and wondering if we were just caught up in the moment or if we truly have something special.

I'm feeling that loss of the challenge, as well.  Do I take up NaNoFiMo?  I could write an alternate ending.  Or perhaps Plot Whisperer's International Plot Writing Month? Or how about Story Siren's 2011 Debut Author Challenge?  I keep searching for new things to keep me busy.  Maybe I should just keep challenging myself until I am all challenged out.

There are lots of good things coming up just in time for the new year.  I will update here with the new challenges I accept!  Until then, I'll continue my standoff with the novel.