I’ve made it through week one and I’m right where I need to be as far on words. Week two is where I really start to doubt myself. At this very moment I am thinking that I might not have enough story to make it to 50k. I’m also thinking that my premise it too weak or my characters are lame… You name it, it’s probably rolling around in my brain. Week two is about determination, more than any other week I think. I have to get out of my brain as much as possible and just write. I might see if I can find some writing sprints to participate in. Those always help. Remember, NaNoWriMo is meant to help you get a rough draft, not a polished prize winning novel. 🙂
NaNoWriMo starts in less than two weeks!
To prepare, I’ve created an outline using Holly Lisle’s Professional Plot Outline course, available for $.99. Since I’ve never actually outlined, I figured I would consult an expert resource. Now I have my whole novel plotted out, down to the scene, from beginning to end. The course even pushed my ideas further than originally anticipated to new and fun plot devices. I am hoping that a complete outline will prevent writers block and keep me on track the whole month.
The next step, I will be adding all my scenes from the outline and sticking them into Scrivener. I bought Scrivener last year after my NaNoWriMo win with my winner’s discount and promptly forgot about it. A writer friend, Jonathan Fesmire, mentioned he enjoys the program so I watched the start up video and updated my program. Scrivener has this neat note card feature I can put all my plot points into. So where ever I pick up writing, I’ll know where I am and where I’m going. I could probably write the novel backwards, but I’m not that masochistic.
I will also be using the ‘research’ file system where Scrivener saves your files/images/sound bites IN SCRIVENER. So it’s all at my finger tips when ever I need it. I will be using this Character Chart for Fiction Writers to really flesh out my characters. It’s seven pages long and asks for things I don’t normally think about. It will stay right next to my writing and I can pull it up with a click or I can even use the two pane option and write while looking at it. This way, my characters wont have eyes that change color through out the book. My previous method of keeping a notebook isn’t ideal for me.
That’s the game plan so far. For being a pantser in the past, I feel that’s pretty good. If you are participating in the NaNoWriMo, what are you doing to prepare?
It’s October so the countdown to NaNoWriMo has officially begun! The NaNoWriMo website has been revamped, the new web badges are out, and people are flooding back to the WriMo forums.
This year, I will be writing a contemporary sci-fi romance novel called “Sweet Justice”. I’ve had the idea for a while now and I’ve been working on outlining it mentally for over a year. Now, I’m working on outlining in a more fixed form, I’ve got myself a bullet point list of events. Start to finish. I feel all organized…
Since I’ve been writing nothing but fantasy romance, I decided to mix things up a bit with modern day super heroes, arch villains, and a damsel capable of fending for herself. No distress here. Should be fun to see my heroine struggle between THREE love interests! Mwa ha ha!
And behold, I have written a blurb!
Between secretly spying on her employer, heavy office flirtations with the mail clerk, and an unhealthy obsession with super hero news, Justice thought that things were finally going her way. As the ChemPharm research facility exploded and demolished months of undercover work, Justice took some comfort in the arms of Ultraman as he whisked her away from the blast.
When a drunken midnight calling card meant for Ultraman attracted Blaze instead, Justice has the chance to tell off the lab saboteur. Only instead of searing jibes and insults, sparks start to fly between Blaze and Justice and his abrupt departure leaves her confused and angry.
Will Justice be able to pick up the pieces of her destroyed project? Will Justice have to choose between the super hero and his arch nemesis? And what about the mail clerk who fills out his dress shirts just right?
So, I had the day off unexpectedly and made use of my time by not doing anything productive. Sure, I slept in, did some laundry, dishes, did my workout, and took out the trash but none of that is writing. The best I can say I did along those lines is get Scrivener open, updated, and the 10 minute intro video watched. That’s all I got done.
I think I was distracted by how cluttered my office was so I did tidy that up. I moved 2 large totes of yarn down into my basement! I got some print outs in binders. Things were thrown out. Hmm. Maybe tomorrow I can get some writing done. I have this idea for a short story that I want to get written. It will be a great intro to the realm I’ve created and the characters from my first three novels. More on that later though.
TGIF!
![IMG_0794[1]](https://elleclouse.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/img_079411.jpg)
My husband and I enjoy Thai take out almost every Friday night. They always throw in fortune cookies along side the napkins and forks. I very rarely eat fortune cookies. The few that I even bothered to crack open normally have some silly phrase that we jokingly add ‘in bed’ to the end. Now I suppose that could be said about the fortunes I have pictured to the left but they mean a tad more to me.
The fortune on the top reads ‘You will obtain your goal if you maintain your course’ and I received this right about the time I decided to seriously consider publication for my novel. I was in full edit mode and getting frustrated and questioning everything I was doing. This came at just the right time to seal my conviction. I thought that it was very fitting so I kept it at my desk and I refer to it when I’m frustrated.
Just this past weekend, I cracked open another cookie and received the fortune on the bottom which reads ‘Your fondest dream will come true within the year’. That’s rather specific and again right on target with what I am trying to do. I am trying to get my novel published and I guess you could categorize it as my fondest dream. I used to think that I was a patient person but I’ve never had to wait to hear from publishers before. It’s almost torture. So this fortune came at just the right time to soothe my nerves and reassure me. It now keeps my first fortune company at my desk.
I hope that it’s true, although I know that they are random. They arrived right when I needed them, lets hope that they are correct. I look forward to seeing my novel in print.
Or winning big in the lottery. That’s my fondest dream too.
I received an encouraging email about my writing today and now I can’t focus on a darn thing. Normally the weekend is when I get most of my writing and editing done but that is not the case this weekend. All I seem to have the attention span for is housework and other short projects.
So I reorganized my blog. I got rid of all the pages and simplified things down to two pages. An “about me” page and a “work in progress” page. Once I have something published I will add a page for those works but for now everything is neat and tidy. I even updated my “about me” page to include some new content. I highly encourage you to check them out.
Now, back to cleaning my office.
Elle Clouse 