NaNoWriMo - To Panic or Not To Panic

I see you out there. Sneaking into the Halloween candy with furtive motions as you contemplate tomorrow. Tomorrow. November 1st. All Saint's Day. El Dia de los Muertos. National Bison Day.

Great big scary, ain't it?

Whether you're new at it or a veteran, Day one is one of the worst days. Whatever time you sit down to start the next Great Novel, you all have to face the same thing. 

That first blank page.

How do you start? You type Chapter One. Your word count is now a rocking two. Your mind starts to swirl and cramp. Where to start. How to craft that first sentence that hooks the reader. 


BUZZZZZZTTT!!!!!!


Now that you've wasted a couple hours of your life along with inhaling several pounds of leftover Halloween candy, take a step back. Take a deep breath. There, that's better.

The advice you'll hear about how to start will go along the lines of: Just write something. It doesn't matter what. That kind of advice tends to not to be much help to me. I need more help than that. If you're reading this then, like me you'll need a little more help too.

So, how to start. 

Tip #1: You've been thinking about this book for a while. Scenes have been swirling around your head all through the month of October. Stop worrying about where your novel starts. Write the scene that has been in your head. Start there. You can worry about where it goes in December.

Tip#2: The first words you write are: It was a dark and stormy night.
Now write why your character is thinking that. Is it a dark and stormy night or a bright and sunny day? Are they on a planet or out in space? Why would they think that line. As you write you'll find the ideas start to flow and you can transition to where you want your story to go.

Example:

      "It was a dark and stormy day. Hunter Reid glanced up at the cloudy sky and frowned. It would be darkfall soon and he was no where near where he had planned to camp for the night. Thanks to a landslide that had blocked part of the sixfor, Hunter would now have to find another route to Orange. And it didn’t look as if he would be making his usual overnight spot before the mists started. There was nothing more miserable than trying to sleep in the mists. It seeped into everything and made everything colder. "

Excerpt from Orpheus Rising

That was how I started NaNoWriMo 2005. It's my usual go to when stuck.

So what are your tricks for starting a new novel? Let me know in the comments below.

NaNoWriMo Tips & Tricks

So, it's halfway through November and you've been banging away at your story. Your words flow, the story unfolds, your word count is on target and then..... nothing.

Writer's Block. There are those who say Writer's Block doesn't really exist, but I disagree. The imaginary voices in your head stop talking. Your characters are sitting around staring at you, waiting for you to tell them what to do.

You're stuck. You need to keep writing. The advice from others is... write. It doesn't matter what you write. Write anything.

I have always found that little bit of advice useless. How many times can you write "All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy" without beating your head on the wall.

These little tricks I've used are for when you've stopped banging your head and you've stepped outside and taking a deep breath. These little tips are also wonderful for word count.

Last but not least, these are suggestions you are free to ignore once you finish reading this post. I won't be offended. Really. I promise.

1. The Coffee/Tea Ruse: Chose your primary or secondary character for this. Have them make coffee/tea the same way you do. Detail every single step of the process. Pour the water. Measure the grounds/tea leaves. How much water. How much coffee/tea. What do they think about while it brews? Coffee/tea done? They pour it into a cup. How do they take it? Black? Cream and sugar? How much of each? They take it to the kitchen table? Or do they go outside? Do they sit on a chair or on the top step of the porch?They sit down and take a sip.

The above was 100 words. Now image how many words you'd get if you filled in the blanks. When I do this, the character is thinking during the process of either what happened or what is going to happen. I often get sparked with an idea for another scene or other interaction and I'm off again.

2. The Song & Dance Routine: Chose a character at random. Then pick your favorite song. It can be a current pop song you've been humming the last couple days. Don't stress on which song. If you're stuck on that, turn on the radio and chose whatever song is playing.

Now, your character has to sing. It doesn't matter how badly or how well they sing. Not only do they sing it, but they have to act it out. If you chose more than one character, they they have to dance together for the duration of the song. When they are done, the bow to the applause of the Ninja Hamsters. Where did the Ninja Hamsters come from? Let your characters ask that question. You don't have to give them a valid answer.

I've used the second method myself. In one of my earlier science fiction NaNo attempts. I had the characters break into a rendition of "I'm Just A Sweet Transvestite" from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. In a world where women are rare, that wasn't completely out of place. I got almost 1,000 words out of that scene.

3. The Sex Scene: I include this because I know a lot of writers will use this when they are stuck. It doesn't matter if it's appropriate or not. Just detail it out.I don't use this method myself since sex scenes are as hard for me to write as action scenes.


These are just a few ideas to help you along with NaNoWriMo. It doesn't matter if you need these scenes or not. It's your word count that matters. It is Quantity, not Quality we want during November. Quality is for the editing process in December.

Now, gag your internal Editor and prepare to Write Your Novel!

Do you have any tricks you use to keep you writing? Share in the comments below.

Writing Preparation

So here we are in October. The month has a lot of meaning for me. It is my favorite time of the year.

It is the first full month of Autumn. The air is turning cool, the sky is a different shade of blue. And the trees. Oh, the trees. Changing out of their summer dresses and into their lavish fall gowns. Scarlet shades of red. Golden yellow, bright and waving. Warm orange, standing tall between the reds and yellows. Even the rustic browns stand out like accessories against the vivid shades of their peers.

In other words, I love Autumn. At the end of the month we have Halloween, All Hallow's Eve, Samhain. It is also the most stressful day of my year.

The reason for my stress is that October 31st is also the day before the start of NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo aka National Novel Writing Month is an annual event where writers around the world sit down with their laptops or tablets or notebooks & pens and attempt to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days.

I've been doing this event since 2004. I wrote about 2000 words of a paranormal romance and promptly crashed and burned. Unmotivated and no real idea what to do with it.

2005 on the other hand I slammed out a fully fledged apocalyptic science fiction novel. A fantasy in 2006. 2007 was another science fiction novel. 2008... and so on. I've succeeded seven times in the last 11 years which isn't too bad.

So now begins the planning stage. Though I'm more of a Pantser than a Planner. But I do like to have a basic idea of what I'm going to do and I've start doing research that I use while writing.

So are you going to sign up for NaNoWriMo this year? Let me know in the comments below.

Battling the Procrasti-Demon

Welcome to the Procrastination Relief Workshop.

Ummm....

Well, we haven't gotten around to setting up anything or send any invitations... But I'm sure we will... eventually.

Does this sound familiar?

I'm going to write a novel.

But I haven't gotten around to it. But, I will. Someday. When I'm ready. When the time is right. When I settle down. When I have more time. After the baby. When the kids go to school. After I've settled into this job. When my spouse gets a raise. After I pay off the house. When the kids start high school.

You say you're not that bad?

What about these:

Tomorrow. This weekend. After my TV show goes off. When the kids go to bed. After dinner. When the dishes are done. In the morning. After lunch. When I'm on break.

Or this...

I read this blog first.

I battle the Procrasti-Demon daily. Unfortunately it wins a lot. I was going to write this blog last night, but I was enticed away by the lure of watching Chess in Concert for three hours. By then it was bedtime. I'll do it in the morning, I said. After I've had my coffee.... Let me watch the morning news first.... After this movie... When I finish hanging up the laundry... After I eat...

And my day is gone and the Procrasti-Demon wins again.

The thing is, it doesn't always win. There are moments when I can ignore him. I just have to keep trying. Eventually my wins will outnumber my fails.

How do I know I'm getting anywhere? Well, I've written more blog posts in the last month than in the last couple years. That's a win.

I'm also trying the reward system. If I post a blog today, I get a Root Beer Float ice cream bar.

So if you're reading this, I'm eating ice cream.

Okay, you're read my  post. Go write something!

Release the Kraken... Editor!

You suffered through the first draft. You struggled and sweated. You bled as you beat your head against writers block. You wept acid tears as your characters did what they wanted and not what you wanted. In the end, after months (or years) of effort, you produced a bouncing baby book.

You were happy. You were relieved. Even a little sad. The hard part was over.

Or so you thought.

Editing is like dealing with a two-year-old. Or herding cats. Now you have to tackle your novel and wrestle it into a coherent form. The Grammar monster laughs at you. The Spelling Bee throws darts at you. Cargo ships are flying through your plot holes. The internal editor you had gagged during the draft process is free to tell you that you suck.

If you can afford a professional editor, then do it. But if you are like me (dirt poor) there are ways to get you through. A writing group is a huge help. I sent Shadow Watch to my writer's workshop and they combed through my baby and eviscerated it. Going through all their comments one by one was a big part of the editing process.

Sometimes you're going to have to let go of things. That scene you thought was perfect doesn't belong. You have to add scenes in order to make the rest make sense. You have to scale back on a scene to make it fit the plot.

In my case I have to go through each chapter four times. Three for the critiques and one for myself. A lot of work? Absolutely. But in the end I have a novel I can be proud of.

Your Book In Review

In books as in movies, book reviews are important. As I do my research I am discovering the importance of reviews.

At present, when I publish I’m putting my novel out into the world. I can tweet it. I can put it on my Facebook page, but reviews will give it extra gloss and credibility. Reviewers will tell everyone what they think of your book (good, bad or indifferent). Their network of readers can spread news of your book wider than you can by yourself.

So how do you find someone to review your book? That is easier than you think. Or rather, finding them is easy. Getting them to review your book? That may be a little trickier. But first, how to find them.

My first Google search was for Book Review Sites. That yielded 700 + million links. Had to narrow that down. I needed to find reviewers for my particular book. As Shadow Point falls under Paranormal Romance, I did a second search for Paranormal Romance Book Review Sites . That dropped my search results down to about a million which is reasonable in the world of searches.

Now for the work. You need to go to each of these sites. Find out exactly what type of PR books they review. For example if they only review vampire/shape-shifter types of stories, then my Supernatural Crime story isn't going to interest them too much.

Most of these sites have a ‘Request a Review’ contact page. They tell you exactly what kind of information they need before they consider your book. It may seem strict, but it is necessary for many of them. There are only so many hours in a day. There are thousands of authors looking for reviews and you've just joined the queue.

Patience is going to be a major requirement. It will take time for these reviewers to get around to reading your book even if they've accepted it. You are looking at a wait time of up to 4 months in some cases. If they don’t like it, they may not review it at all and they are under no obligation to tell you that.  

As Authors, the idea of getting your book reviewed by the New York Times is like winning the Pulitzer for journalists. It means you've arrived in the world of books and publishing. It’s a wonderful dream. But may be a bit unrealistic. Do I want to be on the NYT Best Seller list? Of course I do. But it’s not my only dream. To have my book read around the world and moderately successful would make me just as happy.

On a side note, I've run into the question of paying someone to review my book. I considered the option. But my decision is not to go that route. The primary reason behind my decision is that it doesn't seem honest. A good review for a bad book is not the type of reputation I want. That is what I want. An honest review. A honest good review would be great.

So, since Shadow Point is still in the editing phase, I am making a list of the reviewer sites I think would be interested in reading and reviewing my book. As of today, I've bookmarked about 23 sites and plan to continue searching for more Review sites. Does it seem like a lot of sites? Maybe it is, but the more exposure, the better. That along with the hope that the good reviews will outweigh the bad.

The Path to Publishing

Compared to the critique process, I'm finding another part of the writing/publishing world a maze. The world of self-publishing is a broad and busy minefield of options and choices.

The Path

Years ago, I like many tried the traditional publishing route. I sent manuscripts out to publishers I thought would like my stories. A few rejections and my belief in my writing took a beating. Oddly enough I kept writing.

Then the world of literary agents opened up. People who would take my novel and go head to head with publishers and all their minions to get my book out there. They were a busy bunch, but there were a lot of them. I figured my chances were better at avoiding the slush pile. A few hundred query letters later with my latest works and I got more rejections.

Yet, I kept writing. I turned my skills to writing Fanfiction for a while. I must have learned something from all those rejections as I started to develop a small fanbase for those stories. My trampled ego began to recover.

Vanity Press

Yeah this was well named and I considered doing this at one point. However, I was in a constant state of broke. I couldn't afford the number of copies I would need along with the fact I had a full time job that wouldn't allow me to go haunt the local bookstores. In addition, my chances of success were low.

Self-Publishing

This is the world I'm currently exploring. The internet has exploded with options and opportunities. At first glance it seems pretty encouraging. The pitfalls on the other hand are equally daunting as the advantages.

There are so many options that trying to find the best one for me is hard. If you don't believe me, just do a quick search on 'self-publishing' and look at the total of results.

So you, fair reader get to follow me on my path of publishing research. Even though I'm still in the 2^nd revision of Shadow Point, waiting until I'm done to start this process would be a bad idea.

Then End is Near (The 2nd One)

My first novel. Not the first one I've written, but the first one I'm going to put out into the world. NaNoWriMo 2008 was when I wrote this. I had such a sense of relief when I reached The End. It was stressful and crazy-making. But I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything.

I found a writers group that does critiques and I joined. Then last year I got brave and handed them the first chapter. I refer that that experience as having my baby eviscerated a piece at a time.

The evisceration is almost over. I handed them the last chapter and I expect the final notes this weekend. The End again.

.That means the start of Phase 3: Editing. Taking what they have given me and cleaning it up to make it publish worthy.

I am relieved to learn over the past months that the skeleton and some of the vital organ are worth keeping. I was lucky enough to find a group honest enough to tell me when I've written something that is crap or is good.

It's been a roller coaster, but it was worth it.