Sanctuary Saturday

Ufda!

Yesterday was a long writing sprint for me. For some reason the 7,000 words I wrote on Nov. 2 didn't seem quite as long as the 5,000 words I wrote yesterday. I think that's because I'm getting into the part of the plot that I really care about. You know how writer's often give advice to other writers about taking the first 2 or 3 chapters they right and deleting them completely? I think I might have to do that when I start making my revisions after November. Because the story really starts to pick up in chapter five.

These past four days I've written in several different places. More than I ever have before. But not once have I sat down at my actual desk to write. I find that kind of odd. It's not that I don't like my desk. In fact, my husband went out and bought me the exact desk I had labeled as my dream desk without me even telling him about it. I've also spent months getting it set up just the way I want to.

So why haven't I written there? Probably because it's messy, but also because it's tucked away in a different room where no one else visits and I would feel very isolated there. Don't get me wrong, I love the isolation for writing. But I'm hesitant to go there because it takes commitment.

If I sequester myself in that room at my desk, it means there are no other distractions, no one else to talk to. It's just me and my book. I have to be pretty committed to only writing my novel while I'm there, and as much as I love writing, that doesn't seem appealing to me right now. I'd almost rather be in a place where I can get distracted because then I can take mini breaks.
But I know the time will come when I need complete isolation, and then I'll go to my desk.

What is your writing sanctuary? How does it work for you? Why did you choose that particular spot?

It could be a regular seat at a coffee shop, a closet you've turned into an office, or the living room couch or kitchen table. I know of one person who writes in the bathtub!

Whatever it is, enjoy it and plan to use it well as we head into week two of NaNoWriMo. Good luck everyone!

Word Count: 17,854

Fast Fridays

I don't work on Fridays. So I was hoping that today I'd spend the entire time writing.

After waking up late, going to work for an hour for some last minute stuff, and getting sidetracked by an estate sale on the way to my writing spot, I'm finally here at Caribou ready to write.

I also have yet to go grocery shopping, which means I only have a few hours to pound out some words. I am going to have to write really fast.

So here goes! Every Friday I'm going to attempt to write double my daily word count. My goal is to reach 100,000 words by the end of November, which means my daily goal is 3,333. By the end of today, I need to have written 6,666 words to make double.

If anyone's joining me on this, good luck!

Thicken Thursdays

Sometimes during NaNoWriMo, you end up with a plot that seems to go nowhere. Or you just don't know what's going to happen next.

Or sometimes your plot goes along just fine and it's not a challenge at all and you find yourself wondering what's so interesting about your story anyway.

Throwing a proverbial wrench into the mix can do a lot of things for a story.

I've been outlining my novel for eight months and have everything almost completely decided upon. But, in honor of Thicken Thursdays, I'm going to throw something completely new into my plot to thicken it up: an ottendorf cypher.

I was thinking of National Treasure today, and realized I really liked the code they used on the back of the declaration of independence.

What will you choose to thicken your plot? Or do you have ideas for other people that don't quite fit with your story, but you want to share anyways?

Happy writing!

Word Count: 9,413

Word-War Wednesdays

I challenge you!

Today, let's see how many words we can each write in, say, an hour. Post your results in the comments below.

I find that word wars are great for the first couple days of NaNoWriMo. I'm usually hesitant when I first start because I haven't gotten into the flow of my novel yet. Forcing myself to pump out words and forget about worrying if they're the right ones or not helps get me in the mood to write the good ones later on.

Feel free to use Write or Die or any other method of timing your words. Good luck! (I'll post my results in the comments as well.)

It's a Word War!

Word Count: 7468

Trip Tuesday

This morning, and I mean really early this morning, I did my location writing at IHOP near Mall of America.

I joined in with several other NaNoWriMo people and we counted down to midnight, then wrote madly for a twenty minute word war. It was interesting to write in a restaurant surrounded by other people, all typing as fast as possible. It was quite the motivation sound track.

Being in a place I've never been before seemed appropriate for starting a new novel, because I had to put myself inside the main character's shoes, and every scene was new to me. I think it helped me focus on developing the opening scene.

Did you attend a write-in? Where did you start writing at midnight?

I challenge you to find at least one location this week outside of your normal writing routine, just to see what it does for your writing.

Day 1 Word Count: 4,457

Writing ditty

Write a book through and through
Write a proposal and query too.
Send them out in droves and hordes
To as many agents your pocket affords.

Keep on tweaking, writing, breathing,
Despite the rejection letters' seething.
Don't forget you can always be better.
Keep sending out those query letters!

If no one offers representation,
Consider other modes of publication.
But first, take a good, hard look
At the quality of your much-rejected book.

Audiobooks, Kindles, PDFs,
Do whichever you think is best.
Plan your publicity well and clear.
Work, work, work! Your book is here!

www.nanowrimo.org

NaNo Toolbox

NaNoWriMo doesn't have to be planned out. You can write by the seat of your pants (called being a pantster) and sometimes, that's fun.

But I've come to the realization that NaNoWriMo can be more than just fun. It can help writers become more experienced in their craft.

The hardest part about writing a book in a month is that every single word is a decision. That's 50,000 decisions you have to make, 1,667 decisions every day. I find my mind gets tired of making decisions really quick, especially if I also have to decide which way the plot is going in the process. Deciding on a few things before you begin writing will help take away some of the burden during November.

The following tools are things I'm finding help me a lot when I start a new project. You don't have to spend hours on them, but even just thinking about it without making a firm decision will help you discover what you want to write when the time comes.

1. A genre. (Pick one or make up your own.)

2. A main character. (Even better if you know what motivates your main character.)

3. A single sentence describing the most important part of your plot.

4. A villain or antagonist.

5. A setting. (Time & place)

6. Minor characters

7. A detailed outline of your plot.

8. Any research you might need about your setting or characters.

9. What the denouement (climax) of the story will look like.

10. Passion about what you're writing. (And yes, this is a decision/choice.)

With these ten things prepared beforehand, I can almost guarantee you'll have lots of fun writing an entire book in 30 days.

This year I decide to go for the uber outline. I've been preparing this story for eight months and have gotten it to the point where I could almost hand over my notes to a seven year old and they'd be able to write it. I certainly should be able to!

Good luck in getting ready for a writing marathon! See you November 1st! I can hardly wait...