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Category Archives: National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
Saying Goodbye to NaNoWriMo 2011
It is officially December 1st, which means that National Novel Writing Month 2011 is over. It’s both quite sad and refreshing at the same time to know that we have an entire year to wait until next NaNo.
This year was my first year participating in it and I must tell you how much I truly enjoyed it.
At first, I felt like the goal would be impossible. I mean, come on, 50,000 words in a month, that’s insane! But once NaNo officially started, I dove right into writing and felt that it would be a lot easier than I thought.
That feeling of “easy” faded quickly too as some days I just did not feel like writing. I did go days without writing, mostly on the weekends, and sometimes I felt like I was terribly behind. And only once did I ever feel like giving up and scraping everything I had just written. But luckily, that misery passed and I shook that thought out of my head and continued on.
On November 28, with two days left to spare, I reached the 50K word goal. I don’t think I have ever felt so exhilarated in all of my life! The feeling of completing what I thought in the beginning was an impossible mission, left me with the thought that I could complete anything!
I think that the feeling you get when you realize how many words you actually wrote in a month (whether you reached the 50K or not), is the true meaning of NaNo; it’s all about that end sensation and realization that you actually completed something you worked so hard for.
However, I don’t think I could have ever gotten to the end with out my fabulous Facebook NaNo Support Group! I did not find much help through the NaNo forums on the NaNo website, nor through the “writing buddy” option. Instead, it was a small Facebook group of 159 NaNo-ers where I found the bulk of my motivation and inspiration. And it’s the fact that we’re now creating a Critique/Editing group which is still helping me to write and complete my novel.
So for the first year of my NaNo experience, I must say that it was quite rewarding and worth it. I will definitely be donating and I suggest that all of you who participated should donate as well. Even $10 can help!
According to the NaNo website there was a collective NaNo 2011 word count of:
Not bad, NaNo-ers, not bad at all.
So let’s welcome December, and say goodbye to Novemeber and National Novel Writing Month.
And let’s promise each other that we will continue to write even now that NaNo has come and went.
Happy December, All!
FIN
Ahem. I’m am pleased to announce that you are looking at another National Novel Writing Month winner!
*pops open a bottle of champagne*
I have officially completed the 50,000 word goal, and it only took me 28 days!
While I am excited beyond no end, especially since it was my first year competing and I won (YAY!), I am still not done with my novel. Correction: I am way, WAY NOT done with my novel.
Let’s see. I have exactly 50,000 words and have just started chapter 6. There are to be 12 chapters, so…I have…6 more chapters to go and probably another 50K words to write. There is still a long writing road ahead of me to finish this damn thing!
But that’s OK. That’s OK because I chose a story that is interesting to me and one that I want to keep on writing. I will not give up, and definitely not let myself lose motivation. Just because NaNo is over, does not mean my inspiration and writing schedule is over. No, no, no. I can do this, and I will finish it!
However, for the rest of the night (it’s 9pm here in Spain) I shall be celebrating!
CHYEAH BOI!
W… W… W… Wednesday: What, Where and Why
WWW Wednesdays by: Should Be Reading
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Usually the questions for W…W…W… Wednesdays are:
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?
Since I am not currently reading anything due to NaNo, I have not finished reading anything recently, and I have no clue what I’ll read next, I have decided, just for today, to change up the questions a bit.
So here are my W…W…W… Wednesday questions of today:
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Q:
What are you currently writing?
A:
Currently, I am writing my NaNoWriMo novel, which is untitled at the moment. I don’t want to give away too much what it is about, but the genre is Dystopia (no, I do not categorize that with science-fiction), and it follows the life of a 15 year old girl named Lola.
I have finally reached 40,000 words, and now I only have 10K more to go before I reach the NaNo goal of 50,000 words! I am very excited to “win” and finish with NaNo (though I will miss it), however, I still have a lot more work to do even after I reach the 50K. I have 40K and I am only beginning Chapter 5 (there will be 12 chapters), so my book will run way longer than 50,000 words.
____________
Q:
Where are you currently writing?
A:
I am writing where I am currently living, in Madrid, Spain. There are three floors (including a basement) in the house where I have been living for the past three years, and then there is a mini loft – I guess you could call it that – that sits above the bedrooms on the third floor. That is my current writing office.
My desk is positioned right in front of the window, which I open up while I’m writing to get a breeze and to hear the sounds of outside. No one usually goes up in the loft so I have it all to myself, though I can still call down to the boyfriend to bring me a cup of tea when I need it. And it has a good atmosphere up there; I need a good atmosphere to write. So, I am happy with my current writing location.
Here, I just took a picture of it for you all to see:
____________
Q:
Why are you currently writing?
A:
I’m currently writing because I’m participating in NaNo. I’m participating in NaNo because I have always wanted to write a novel (I grew up wanting to become a writer) but have never had the time or motivation to actually sit down and write. NaNo has given me that motivation and inspiration, and I have made time for it all.
I am quite surprised that I have actually made it this far and am so close to my 50K word goal. It feels great. And that feeling I get when I write is why I am currently writing.
__________
If you are also doing NaNo, and have not read any books lately, then feel free to put your answers to my questions above in the comment section below!
Happy Writing and Reading All!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?: Another NaNo Excerpt
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? by Book Journey
I am still having trouble juggling NaNo and reading for pleasure, so lately I have done no reading. Which trust me, sucks!
So for today’s Monday reading, I will instead give you another excerpt from my NaNo novel.
Enjoy and remember that critique is always welcome!
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“Shhh…Lola,” her mother said patting her daughter’s head. “Nothing happened, everything is fine. You just had a bad dream.”
Lola’s eyes widened. What was her mother saying? Nothing was fine and it all was not a dream. The sound of the gun and her mother’s pleas still echoed in her mind, but her mother would not tell her what had happened.
Lola watched as her mom, her only parent and stable support, continued to rock back and forth, the blood from her nose dripping heavier and her sobs becoming short and quick as if her mother was hyperventilating.
“Mom?” Lola asked, the sight too much to bear. “Are you OK? What is going on?”
Lola’s mother just continued rocking, bleeding and sobbing while the night outside turned slowly into day. Lola sat in silence next to her parent, her brain and ears finally blocking everything out. She watched her mother’s sanity leave, Lola thinking that maybe Ted and the police had taken it with them.
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*Note: The words above are my own: © Kalie Lyn, 2011.*
NaNo Word Cloud
So because it’s Friday, and I procrastinate on Fridays, instead of writing I have been creating my own word cloud.
These are the words in the Prologue of my NaNo novel. Based on these words:
Can you guess what my story is about?
What one word grabs your attention the most?
Would you want to read the story just by seeing these words alone?
Tell me what you think!
To create your own word cloud visit Wordle.
Why Do You Do What You Do?
“Why do you write?” they ask.
Why do I write? That’s like asking a world traveler why they travel – because they were born to experience other cultures and see the world. That’s like asking a photographer why they take pictures – because they were born to capture that one moment in time and make it last forever. That’s like asking a veterinarian why they help animals – because they were born an animal lover and they grew up wanting to help them.
I write because I was born to write.
Every since I was younger I wrote. My first “book”, at the age of 7 or so, was my own story based off of the board game Clue. The final manuscript, and I still have it today, was ten pages stapled together of misspelled words and terrible drawings. I then went on to write more stories – ones with correct spelling and no drawings – and have not stopped writing since.
It truly is my only natural talent. I feel that I was literally born to write. I have quite a vivid imagination and stories to tell, and whether I am writing book reviews, essays for school, a travel article, or a NaNo novel, I just plain and simply love it.
“So why do you write?” they persist.
I write to ignite imagination.
“Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality” ~ Jules de Gaultier
I write so I can learn.
“The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it.” ~ Benjamin Disraeli.
I write to create new and unique worlds, times, people and places.
“Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own.” ~ Carol Burnett.
I write because I have a story to tell. Even if it’s only for myself.
I write because I was born to write.
“The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can’t help it.” ~ Leo Rosten.
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Whether it’s writing, painting, healing, helping, or anything else, why do you do what you do?
A Kitten or a Baby Crying: Your Choice
At the beginning of NaNo, I spent $10 on Write or Die, the software that punishes you with annoying sounds if you don’t write. People in my NaNo Facebook group were raving about Write or Die, and how it was thanks to that software for their incredibly, almost impossible, high word counts.
So, I bought it.
I have used it a few times, typing at a constant speed so a baby’s crying voice, an annoying car horn, or a screechy violin does not erupt from my speakers, making me cringe. While I do have to say that it does help me reach my word count goal – mostly due to the fact that if I don’t, I will get punished – I also have to say that I do not think Write or Die was worth the ten bucks I paid, especially because I just figured out, when I was finding the link for above, that there is a free online edition. CRAP!
*Sigh*
Well, anyway, the whole point of this post is to introduce a different, totally free software to all of you that was created by someone named Alex “Skud” Bayley and this Skud’s roommate, Emily. And instead of being bombarded by annoying noises when you don’t write, this new software rewards you for when you do write a certain number of words. And what is that reward? A kitten!
Well, at least it’s a picture of a kitten from Flickr.
And this little gem is called Written? Kitten!, and while I did pay $10 for my Write or Die software, I think I’m going to ditch the punishment for a day and try out this new rewarding writing tool. I’m interested to see the variety of kitten pictures after I reach every 100, 200, 500 or 1000 words (user’s choice in word preference). So it should be fun, and rewarding for a change!
Check out each writing tool, with the links above, to see for yourself which is more helpful. Oh, and so you don’t do like I did, and pay money on something that is offered for free online, here is the link for the free web app.
Happy Writing to All of You!
