Creative Insanity - Nano 2008

Goal!!!

2007-12-01T09:27:00.000-04:00

Look at those word meters on the side.

We are the bomb!!!

Sprinting to the Finish Line

2007-11-29T08:32:00.001-04:00

Day 29 - two days to the finish line.

We have two winners so far; Kelly Boyce and Christine D'abo have crossed the finished line early and are still picking up words.

Cheers for them

What's In a Number

2007-11-27T07:59:00.000-04:00

Just to give everyone a heads up, the word count on your computer might not end up being the same one reflected when you drop your manuscript into the trusty NaNoWriMo word counter. My computer word count reads 49,254 words, but when I put the manuscript into the word counter over at NaNo the final world tally was 49,198. Not a huge difference, but if anyone is hovering just around the 50,000 word count, you might want to give that extra push to build in a bit of a cushion, just in case the difference puts you under the 50K instead of over.

Day 23 - Final Week

2007-11-23T08:28:00.000-04:00

We're driving into the home stretch of NaNo.

Some of our participants are snapping at the heels of 50,000 words.

Some of us are sweating through the middle - will we make it?

And some of us have written more and faster than we ever have before.

I'm headed out this morning to the coffee shop to put my head down and write until my hands hurt.

Day 17: The Mob Mentality

2007-11-17T18:31:00.000-04:00

I can't write in noisy places. I can't write with people around me. I don't do well in crowds.

These are the words I've always told myself. Usually when anyone else had the nerve to tell me I couldn't do something, my response was, 'Oh yeah? Watch this."

I seem to have told myself that too. Because after two write-ins at Starbucks under my belt I've discovered I can write in noisy places, I can write with other people around me and I couldn't care less about a crowd.

All I need is a few other writers (aka - the mob) and Nikki the Drillmaster with her 30 minute timer (setting up the write as fast as you can mentality) and an incredibly unhealthy amount of sugar and caffeine.

4,100 sugar and caffeinated words later and I've proven the mob mentality works even for those of us who were certain it wouldn't.

Day 15 - Week 3 Begins

2007-11-15T19:11:00.000-04:00

Happy Half Way Day!

Day 14 - Last Day of Week 2

2007-11-14T21:12:00.000-04:00

Two weeks into NaNo and have you learned anything about your writing?

Has your concept of what is possible for your writing changed? After this month is over will your expectations of what you can produce in a day? or a week? change.

I know I've slowly but steadily increased my word count over the past year. I'm hoping at the end of NaNo that the bar will be higher.

Day 12

2007-11-12T21:26:00.000-04:00

I'm loving this writing by the seat of the pants. It reminds me of when I was a teenager and just wrote for the fun of it.

What was the first story you ever wrote?

Mine was a western historical. It was back in the days that Rosemary Rogers wrote all those Sweet, Savage books and mine was a kind of clone of that. I was around fourteen.

It's hard to believe it took me thirty years to write another one.

Day 10 - Another Kind of Inspiration

2007-11-10T13:41:00.000-04:00

“Make us laugh or cry, and we'll get you a deal.
Make us do both, and we'll get you an auction.

Agent Andrea Brown

"No thinking! That comes after. You write your first draft with her heart. You rewrite with your head."
>From Finding Forester

All writers are crazy. So never mind what the editors and your
family and your critique group tells you. Submit your
manuscripts and keep submitting until you get an offer.
Then you can be crazy, with a paycheck."

- MaryJanice Davidson

Day 9 - Inspiration

2007-11-09T21:45:00.000-04:00

Day 8 - The Beginning of Week 2

2007-11-08T08:50:00.000-04:00

From No Plot? No Problem

"As you write your way through the next seven days, know that Week Two hurts so bad because you're making huge strides in your book, solving a year's worth of plot and character problems in one over caffeinated week."

The End of Week 1

2007-11-07T11:40:00.000-04:00

Well this is it, Day 7. By the end of today we will have completed our first full week of NaNoWriMo 2007! So let’s do a little check in:

Are you happy with the story you selected?

Has it shaped up as you expected or have you already taken some unexpected twists and turns?

Has NaNo taught you anything about your writing style you didn’t already know?

For myself, I’m thrilled to be writing a western again and I love these poor, pathetic, damaged souls who showed up and let me tell their story. I had done an outline beforehand but my characters have minds of their own and I find story elements already getting changed or dropped or newly created. That’s what I love about a first draft. And going at this rate of speed means there’s no time to second guess yourself. You just barrel ahead and hope for the best. As for what NaNo has taught me? It’s proven I really can buckle down and write a first draft fast, which means I can probably do a book in six months like I hoped. And that the internal editor isn’t nearly as loud or as pushy as I gave it credit for being. In fact...I’m starting to think it’s a bit of a sloth, more than happy to kick back and slack off on the couch watching re-runs of Oprah.

So how about the rest of you?

NaNo - Day 6: Questions to Ask

2007-11-06T06:38:00.000-04:00

I just read Chris Baty's post on the NaNo site and he said he sat his characters down and asked each of them, what do they want more than anything else in the world, an exercise he's never done before. Interesting. I think that question is pretty standard in romance, but I always seem to be halfway through draft two before I ask it to my characters. Think I might try doing that a bit earlier this time. Like maybe today. But later today, because right now I have to go put a dent in my word count.

Day Five - Ouch my arm!!

2007-11-05T09:18:00.000-04:00

This is the make or break time for most of us. The second week of NaNo sees so many casualties, we are usually able to get onto their site in a timely fashion. How is everyone doing? I know I've been kicking it for my word count so far, but I have to admit, getting up early this morning almost didn't happen. Somehow I managed and I'm happy I did. Chapter five started off with a bang and now I can't wait to get back to it.

How are you making out?

NaNo - Day 3

2007-11-03T14:59:00.000-03:00

As of yesterday, RWAC NaNoers have a total word count of 27,197!!

Hope everyone is still hanging in there and adding to the word count. Getting a little tougher to find the magic in the story today. Seems a little dull, but planning on the first dead body showing up at the end of this chapter- so that should liven things up.

In the wake of the storm forecast for Atlantic Canada, I'm hunkered down with the computer for the day. Praying that it isn't as bad as predicted but expecting the worst. Knowing I have more time to write, I'm writing slower. I do think there is something to the idea of having only a finite amount of time to get your words written - you just sit down and get the work done.

How's everyone else on the first weekend day of NaNo?

NaNo Day Two

2007-11-02T10:18:00.000-03:00

How is everyone making out?? I find day two harder in so many ways. 5am come far faster :D

Did anyone else get up nice and early like I did and get some writing done?? Kelly?? I manged to cross the 5k mark this morning and can't wait to try and sneak some writing in today at lunch. Things are flowing nicely...at least so far.

Wee Hours

2007-11-01T07:52:00.000-03:00

Well today is day one of NaNo!! I am very excited to say that I got up at 5 am and wrote for an hour and 45 minutes. No, I'm not crazy, I'm just sleeping in temporary accommodations and have a crappy bed. In that time I managed to write 2447 words. I've already reached my goal for the day, but I'll probably try and get some more writing in tonight. While the goal of NaNo is to get 50,000 words in a month done, I'd like to be mostly finished my book, which I'm targeting at being around 70,000. So I have a bit more to write each day if I want to hit that goal.

So did anyone else get up at a crazy hour like I did?? How are you doing??

Countdown to Nano - 1 day

2007-10-31T07:55:00.000-03:00

From No Plot? No Problem

"A first draft is an anything-goes space for you to roll up your sleeves and make a terrific mess. It is a place where the writer's plan is redrawn daily; a place where recklessness and risk-taking is rewarded, where half-assed planning and tangential writing can yield unexpectedly amazing results. It is , in short, a place for people like you and me.

And when it comes to the rough draft, the law of the land is best summed up in two words: Exuberant imperfection."

Chris Baty

Countdown to Nano - 2 days

2007-10-30T07:44:00.000-03:00

From No Plot? No Problem

"A good plot is less a matter of innovation and invention as it is one of creative reuse. The most acclaimed books of the modern era have used the same building blocks as the worst soap operas and clumsiest cartoons. The main thing separating the mind-blowing, life-changing stories of a great novel from the treacly dreck of daytime TV is the manner in which the tale is told. And this telling is the very thing that will emerge out of the clang and sweat of your weekly blacksmithing next month."

Chris Baty

Countdown to Nano - 3 days

2007-10-29T07:41:00.000-03:00

From No Plot?No Problem

"A rough draft is best written in the steam-cooker of an already busy life. If you have a million things to do, adding item number 1,000,001 is not such a big deal. When, on the other hand, you have nothing to do, getting out of bed and washing yourself before 2.00pm feels like too much work to even contemplate."

Chris Baty

NaNo for RWAC

2007-10-25T10:11:00.000-03:00

Welcome to the blog for Romance Writer's of Atlantic Canada Nano challenge for 2007.

Check back for updates, quotes, encouragement and shameless bragging.