What a Month!

Sorry we've been so quiet the past week or so of the month, but Tracy and I have been hard at work on our NaNoWriMo projects. Now that December is here, we can all breath a sigh of relief. I know I am. I will be focusing on getting my crochet and knitting projects finished for Christmas, which in some ways is just as stressful as NaNo is!

As you can see here, I won! This is the first time it has taken me all 30 days to complete NaNoWriMo

This year I had a different approach to NaNoWriMo. I was working on a project that I dreamed up (literally, the idea came from a dream). I went into it knowing that it probably wouldn't be a project I would see to the end, but instead would just get me back into the groove of writing every day, or at least most days. It did just that. I had a great time writing it, without the pressures of wanting to take it through the editing stages and beyond. Instead, I wrote where the story and characters took me, not worrying how crazy or silly it was getting. It was great just to write freely and it even sparked a few ideas for other stories.

Another thing this NaNoWriMo project showed me, I'm probably better suited to write contemporary YA, opposed to fantasy/paranormal, etc. Contemporary YA speaks to me, and my writing style is best suited for it. My lovely crit partners have been saying that for awhile, but I think I needed to see it for myself to really understand what they were talking about.

NaNo was just about writing this year for me, not writing the best book, or the book that could maybe lead me to an agent after endless edits, it was about having fun with writing again.

What did you learn this year from NaNoWriMo about your projects and yourself?

NANO End Approacheth

And so the end of NANO draws near. I know I won't reach 50k, I'll be lucky to get 25k, however the experience has been worthwhile. I've moved faster with this WIP than with previous first drafts and I was inspired to work on a short story as well.

I'm hoping to keep this pace up for December/January and see if I can produce 25k each month - that's a decent first draft and in 3 months. Managable for me, I think.

Many of my NANO buddies, Tami included, are already nearing 50k or have won already. YOU GUYS ROCK! I'm amazed at your commitment. Whoopa! On December 1st I expect you all to have a decent shower, do your laundry and RELAX...you've earned some serious downtime.

Me? I'll still be plugging away. ;)

I did want to share one of my fav lines from my superhero NANO project. In this scene, Scarlet has just crashed into Jordan with her car. Jordan doesn't want to report the accident she never should have survived.


“So you’re saying you don’t want to involve the cops?” Scarlet rephrases. This is a seriously unexpected twist. Who gets hit by a car and doesn’t want to report it or get checked over?

“That’s right.” Jordan waits and in that waiting is life or death. Jordan’s life. Scarlet’s death. She waits for Scarlet to process her words. To react. And based on that reaction, Jordan will either reach for Elijah’s deathray gun resting in her coat pocket, or she won’t.

Do you have a fav few NANO project lines you want to share?? Let's have them!

And On We Go...

Hello happy NaNoWriMoers. At least, I hope you're happy. How's the word count going? If you're in the US, are you already dreading the Thanksgiving break, trying to write around time with the family?

This week was big for me. Not only did I totally catch up, I am now ahead. As of Thursday night, I have 32,031 words. I hope to stay ahead so that I don't have to pull out all the stops when I get back from the holiday the last two days. Is it just me, or is Thanksgiving super late this year?

My story is going good, the pacing could be better, but that's not what's important for NaNo. I'm still enjoying the concept and getting to really know my characters so it's fun each and every day. It's the words down on the page, telling the story in a messy first draft. That's what the following months are for, to make it a GOOD manuscript.

If you're a little behind, don't worry. There is still time to catch up. It's possible. Believe me, I've done it. If you're having trouble concentrating, try to get out of the house to write. Whether you have a laptop, an Alphasmart or just the simple pen and paper, you would be shocked how much you can get done away from distractions.

I hope all of the US YAedgers have a great Thanksgiving! Eat lots of turkey, read lots of books and oh yeah, don't forget to write a few words, too!

Week Two Almost to a Close

The weekend is almost here, and that means that week two of NaNoWrimo is almost over. It was a bumpy week for me, but only because of laziness. Last Friday, I was on track, doing so good. Maybe a little too good, because I only wrote a few hundred words on Friday. See, I had an excuse, I was busy making this for my niece as a Christmas gift. Why were you so panicked when you have over a month left before Christmas, you ask? Because, I'm stupid and decided to make everyone's gifts this year. And yes, I am panicked that I won't finish and will have to run to the mall on Christmas Eve with all the other stupid people who wait until the last minute.

Then came Saturday. I felt so accomplished, finishing the bag and sitting pretty with my NaNo word count that I didn't write. Instead, we went to Long Beach for a fun short road trip, visiting a local yarn store and a tiki bar. There was always Sunday. We had no plans, the day would be a writing day, right? Wrong. Sunday came around, and though we didn't necessarily have plans, we still had to do stupid errands like go to the market that take way too long. By the time I got home, that last thing I wanted to do was write.

Flash forward to today (Thursday as I type this, at 6pm). I am caught up to where I should be, sitting at 18,431 words (actually a few words over the end goal for Thursday). Easy, right? Wrong. I've worked my butt of this week, sitting in the same chair each day for 6+ hours. I have felt accomplished as the days come to a close, but I felt as if I was fighting a losing battle. Every morning I would wake up only further behind.

There was no way I could climb back up, I thought on Monday, then Tuesday, and then on Wednesday, but I did. Each day I had to write 2,500+ words (Thursday I wrote 3,037 words) to get there. It wasn't easy, but I did it and you can too.

If you're behind and feel like there is no way you can do it, think of me. Sure, I had to work hard each day, but I got it done. If you focus and put your mind to it, it's possible. Right now, I will say, I learned my lesson. I will be writing 2,000+ Friday. I may not hit my writing goal on Saturday and Sunday, but I plan to get something down, even if it's a few words added to the final count. Every little bit helps, right?

Tami's word count at the end of day 11: 18,431

I hope everyone had a great Veteran's Day in the US and Remembrance Day in Canada yesterday. I wanted to thank all the soldiers for risking their lives to make ours better.

Week 1 of NaNoWrimo (or the first 4 days)

Can you believe that the first 4 (or 5 depending what time you're reading this) days have completed for NaNoWrimo 2010? I can't! The time is flying by, and I'm keeping up...barely.

This is the first year I've sat down in hopes of writing something good. Okay, maybe that's not true, but this year I'm not putting words down just for the word count and thinking I'll edit when I get to it. I'm choosing my words wisely and trying to get something down worthwhile. It will be still be a rough 1st draft, but I hope to have more substance than my last NaNoWrimo years. That's not to say that my last ones were all crap. I did turn my last two NaNoWrimo books into a completed manuscript that I'm proud of and queried with some success (though no agent). The one from last year is still in the works, going through edit after edit and have high hopes for it. I just wish it had been a little cleaner after November 30th.

That is my plan for this year. To have something that is readable without cringing (too much), but to still hit the goal of 50,000. I will say, this is also the year that I'd like to hit the goal, but won't kick myself if I don't. I participated in NaNo this year, not to have 50,000 words of a new book (well, that's partly it), but to get myself out of the editing funk.

The book I spoke of above, the one in edits, has got me down. I stopped working on it consistently and felt like I didn't know where to turn. Instead of fighting through it like I should have, I let other things distract me in my life. I shouldn't have, but I needed something like NaNo to get the juices flowing again. I think I needed to step back and start on something fresh, to get a new perspective on my writing and my creativity. I'm hoping NaNo does that for me, and so far it has. I forgot how fun it is to create a new world and spend time with new friends (err, characters).

Each day, it has taken most of the day (at least 5 hours) to hit my daily word count, and I'm okay with that. I don't need to bang out 1,666 words (or more) in an hour just to say that I can. I want to choose each word, each letter wisely. That being said, I hope I can speed up a little more once I know my word and characters better. I guess we'll find out once I wrap up week one and start on week two.

How are you doing with your word count?

Tami's word count at the end of day 4: 7,287

Happy Halloween and Beginning of NaNoWrimo

First off, I wanted to say happy Halloween to everyone who celebrates. It's one of my favorite holidays, though the past few years we haven't done much. This year, we hope to find a party or two and have a little fun. Please be safe if you plan to go out on the town! Some weird crap can happen on Halloween (I was actually in a car accident on Halloween several years ago).

Be sure not to get too crazy come October 31st. The next day is a special one...the first day of NaNoWrimo. What's the best way to get through the first week? Eat the left over Halloween candy, and if you don't have any left, be sure to stop by your local store to buy the crazy discounted candy they have to get rid of!

Speaking of NaNoWrimo, are you ready? Our critique group shared our ideas for plots and decided just last night which to work on. I had two ideas that are very different and wasn't sure which to pick. Both had potential, but with the girls' help, I was able to decide.

Right now, I have a basic idea of my story, and a very very very (did I mentioned very?) rough synopsis. I'm at the point where I wonder if I have enough to write 50,000 words in the 30 days ahead, but each year I go through self-doubt. Don't let it swallow you up, or you will never get past the first 5,000 words, let alone 50,000. I hope I can use my own advice.

I've been in a writing funk lately, so I hope that writing the first draft of a new book snaps me out of it so I can get back to editing my current WIP, Parlor. I'm stuck on the editing part, prodding along but just don't know where to take some of the chapters. By cranking out a lot of crappy words in the month of November, maybe I'll have them out of my system and only the good ones will be left to finish editing my book!

Here's to hoping! Next week, I'll give an update on how my first 5 days of NaNo has gone. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I have around 9,000-10,000 words. I'd love to write most of my week's wordcount during the week so that I have the weekend free to not stress over it and plot/research for the next week.

What do you hope to accomplish the first week of NaNo? Do you have a schedule planned out?

Fighting Distraction

There are so many distractions in life--books, tv, and other hobbies. Mix in family and friends and sometimes it's hard to get anything done and by anything, I mean writing. Times are about to get worse, with the holiday season approaching upon us faster than I can type this. Before we know it, it will be Halloween, Thanksgiving (for our US readers) and then the December holidays (whatever you may celebrate). Not only is it hard to get everything done, it's even harder to make sure you sit down and concentrate on your story. I know for me, when I'm in the zone on one of my books, my mind tends to constantly think about it, working out issues that I'm having or just living in the world I created. During the holidays it's different, I'm thinking about turkeys, vacation, presents and hot chocolate (okay, maybe a buttered rum or two as well. I'm not going to lie). Add in NaNoWrimo, and you've got a mess on your hands.

As I've mentioned here before, I got into crochet about a year ago. It helps me relax, concentrate on something theraputic and fun. I love it because I can take it anywhere, I've met amazing people and it gives me something to do when my husband wants to watch really terrible movies. I even started a crochet blog, Tami's Amis and Other Crochet. It started as a hobby, but now it has crept into my thinking of writing time and even my actual writing time. I hope that NaNo helps me set my priorities back to where they should be. I'm not saying that it has taken over my time writing, but it has slowly moved into that space. It will be a huge test for me come November. I will be working on a new book for NaNoWrimo (I have two stories brewing and I'm not sure which I'd like to write yet), the holidays and on top of all that, I've decided to make many of my gifts this year. I'm excited about that, but to be honest, it's a lot easier to go out to the mall and purchase something. I hope to accomplish so much during November, more than just writing a first draft of a new YA novel.

What do you hope to accomplish with NaNoWrimo, other than 50,000 words?

Preparing for NaNoWrimo Part1- The Idea

As I mentioned in last week's post, NaNoWrimo is right around the corner. Despite saying that I wasn't going to participate, I changed my mind. Why did I change it so quickly? Sunday I was laying in bed being lazy, reading my Twitter feed, when someone tweeted something totally innocent. It had nothing to do with books, writing, stories or anything you would think it would, but just a random life observation. Those 140 characters (actually, it was less), gave me a whole book idea. It just wasn't any old book idea, it was something that I instantly needed to write...like right now. What perfect timing right?

I quickly sat up, grabbed my Moleskine (that is always by my bedside) and began to write the idea down before it slipped away into the abyss of great ideas (and trust me, I have a LOT of those floating around, lost). After i wrote down the basic idea, my mind still raced, trying to put it all together. My husband was in the next room, so I ran (yes I literally ran) to him and told him all about it. I wanted to make sure I wasn't nuts, that this could really work. The great part? He agreed!

Now comes the hard part, building a world, characters and plot around this basic idea, all before November 1st. That's what I'll be working on in the days to come, trying to get enough of a platform, so to speak, to know where I'm taking the story. The first few years I wrote for NaNo, as I mentioned before, I just ran with it. I didn't know what I was writing until I sat down for the first time in November. The last few I had a plan. It worked out so much better and my first draft was much improved because of it.

Be sure to get as much down about your story, even if it's something as simple as your main character being allergic to strawberries. You won't regret it!

If you want to be my writing buddy for NaNoWrimo this year, my user name is Seeker4.

NaNoWrimo is on its Way!

I know that we're only a week into October, but don't forget, NaNoWrimo is right around the corner. Despite not taking part in it this year, YAedge is always a huge supporter. I've done five out of the last six, and each year that I don't, it makes me a little sad.

To me, NaNoWrimo is more than 1,667 words a day or 50,000 in a month. It's a lesson that every word doesn't need to be right, the first draft doesn't need to be perfect. It's a community of writers, online and in my hometown that I may not have met otherwise. It's motivation to prove to myself that I can work every day, and still have time for other things in my life that I love to do.

This next month, I won't be focusing on a new story, but continuing my work on Parlor, my NaNoWrimo book from last year. As I did the last 1k-a-day, I will be focusing on editing. This time, I'm not going to give myself a daily word or edit count, but a challenge to myself to work hard each day. It's easy to get distracted, even when I have the whole day to write, by other things.

For those of you participating in NaNoWrimo this year, be sure to start thinking about your story, plotting it out and developing your characters. I usually fly by the seat of my pants to some extent during NaNo, but you will thank yourself for any pre-NaNo work you can get done. On the days where you don't have much time, or are having a tough writing day, having a plan and really knowing your characters will take you far.

I'd love to hear how many of you plan to participate this November, and what you've done so far to prepare.

On an off topic note, for those of you keeping track, I've started reading Frankenstein for my One Classic a Month Challenge. So far, it's not what I was expecting, but I'm enjoying it. I plan to continue to read modern YA while enjoying the classics, so it will be a little slower than my normal pace. As long as I finish in October, I'll be set!

Did anyone decide to join us in reading a classic a month?

I Won...I Need a Vacation!

If you feel like I do, you are happy you finished NaNoWrimo but are a little tired. After writing 50,000+ words in the month of November, the last thing you want to do is write some more. Here's the catch. If you want to be a published author one day, or already are, you know that you can't just stop. Sure, breaks are healthy and much needed but when the book is fresh in your mind, now is the time to finish it!

Think of NaNoWrimo as draft zero. Draft zero you ask? Why not draft one? Well, if you go back and read what you wrote during those 30 days, you will understand. At least, for me this is the case. NaNoWrimo is such a marathon, it's hard to get 50,000 words that are useful out of it. The way I look at it, I now have a great block to build on. My draft zero will make my first draft all that much easier!

Through the last month, I have realized what will work and what won't from my original idea and synposis. I've learned what my characters are all about, the good and the bad. The picture is clearer, my characters can now stand alone with pride, personality and a voice.

Despite throwing away a lot of words from November, in the end, it will make my novel better. I hope you all feel the same.

For those who didn't hit 50,000, don't worry. It isn't so much about the amount of words, it's that NaNoWrimo got you to put your butt in the seat and write SOMETHING. Even if you wrote a few thousand words, perhaps that is a few thousand more than you would have. If it helped you with your story, than it was worth it!

So, congrats to everyone! Take a few days off and rest, but back to the grindstone before you lose your momentum! Oh, and for the record, I wrote 50,109 words (or 50,112 in Word) and a few chapters away from finishing draft zero! :)

NaNoWrimo Week 4- The Home Stretch

Wow, NaNoWrimo went fast this year! I can't believe it is the last weekend of November. I hope all of our US readers had a safe and fabulous Thanksgiving yesterday. I know I did. :)

Week 4 is a breeze, regardless of where you are in your word count. You know where you stand and you know what is ahead of you. Your word count is staring you in the face, challenging you to find a way to get to the end with 50,000 words. It's all about buckling down, opening up Write or Die and cranking the rest out. I know that's what I have to do this weekend.

Speaking of my story, I've come to realize I have just that, a story. It may not be written great and there might be slow moving points that need to see the chopping block before they make it into another draft, but it's nice to have something. So far, I have 42,180 words and probably only a few thousand are worth anything. That's okay, it's not like I thought I would have a beautifully crafted novel after 30 days of writing like a madwoman. Instead, I have learned so much about my plot and characters. It was nice to have a synopsis to fall back on, but I let my characters lead the way, regardless if it was in my original plot breakdown. It's freeing, yet nice to have that crutch.

I must now buckle down with the rest of you and write my heart out. I have a little less than 8,000 words to write in the remaining 4 days. Easy, right?

Good luck to everyone out there! I know you can all do it. For those of you who won't be hitting 50,000 no matter how hard you try, don't worry. If NaNoWrimo got you to put you butt in the seat and write even a few words, it was worth it!

Next week, I'll wrap up November with NaNoWrimo. Can't wait to hear all of your journeys this month.

Don't forget, we give a YA book to a random follower once we hit 30 followers to the blog. Just click the follow button in the side bar for your chance to win!

NaNoWrimo- Week 3...already?

See below on how to win a free YA book, but first we discuss NaNoWrimo!

I can't believe it's week three of NaNoWrimo already. Does that scare anyone else? I'm practically shaking in my boots...or Converse actually.

All in all, week three has been a success so far. I have yet to write today (today being Thursday afternoon) and I'm at 30,291. I was able to fill gaps and grow my characters while writing like a madwoman. I hope to come close to 35,000 today since I won't be able to write Friday-Sunday. At this point, I'm happy with my progress, despite realizing that I will have to rewrite the whole thing over again. That's what NaNo is for, right? Developing your ideas and characters before making the next draft pretty. Make sure to share how you're doing in the comments section.

Our frequent visitors may have noticed that we've placed a YAedge Follower widget in the sidebar. If you aren't following us already, please do so! Once we hit 30 followers, I will be giving away one YA book* to one lucky random follower. For every 30 followers, a new book will be available to win (one free book at 30, then 60 and so on)!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and hits their NaNoWrimo goals!

*I have yet to decide what book that will be, but will keep you updated.

Crawling Through Week 2

Happy Friday the 13th!

Week two ofNanowrimo is almost over and it hasn't been as kind to me as week 1 was. I've struggled due to work taking over, whether good or bad. Although not an excuse, I've been drained once home and have barely been able to open my laptop to start. The situation at work seems to be looking up, so here's to week 3!

This year for NaNoWrimo is interesting for me as far as my story is concerned. I'm writing a story I had previously started (but threw everything away from the first start, so I started from scratch) and had a complete synopsis for. I generally knew my characters, but not enough to really feel them, if that makes sense. Their words don't flow through my head, their action not obvious. I struggle each time they open their mouths.

Yesterday, instead of writing actual words, I decided to look through what I had written so far and use my plotting excel chart to see where the holes need to be filled. This helped a ton (despite the file now being corrupt) and I hope that it will speed up the writing process a bit. I won't be sending precious minutes trying to figure out what to write next.

Despite all of this, I'm not too far behind. I'm writing this at 3:30pm on Thursday, having yet written a single word for NaNoWrimo today. I hope to finish this post and get right to it, if work doesn't interrupt. My total as of right now is: 16,849

I will admit, every year I've done NaNo, I've had the hardest time in the middle of week 2 and the beginning of week 3. Hopefully that will happen this year and I will pull into the winner circle just in time.

That being said, I want to hear how all of you are doing! Please post your totals in the comments. I hope to have a contest soon, maybe next week. I just need to decide what YA books I have to use as contest giveaways, so stay tuned!

Nanowrimo- Week 1

How many of you are doing NaNoWrimo? Raise your hands! How many of you have started actually writing your NaNo novel? Raise your hands! If you have your hand raised, great job! Even putting down a few words each day is a huge accomplishment. There are too many distractions in our world today for most people to spend the small amount of free time they have, working on something fun, inspiring and creative. Just starting NaNoWrimo means you deserve a pat on the back.

Now comes the hard part. How many of you are on pace to finish on time? Raise your hands! I'm sure a few of you have had to put your hands down at this point, but don't fret! There is still plenty of time to catch up. The weekend is almost upon us, that is the great news. It's a great time to sit down with no other worries, throw dinner in a crock pot, tell your family it's time to write and just do it (now I sound like a Nike ad from the 90's).

So, congrats to all the NaNoWrimo participants out there. Feel good about yourself for taking this mighty task upon yourself. And for those who have yet to get started, there is still time. You can still sign up at NaNoWrimo.org and catch up to everyone. It seems like there are two different NaNo'ers. The ones who start strong, giving themselves a head start, but slow down in the end or those who have a slow start and have a marathon ending. Both work (trust me, I've done both-this is my 4th year participating), so don't worry if you're behind.

For those of you who are looking for a writing buddy, feel free to link up with me here. I'm always happy to have more word counts to stare at as mine stays in place.

So, for what you've all been waiting for, my word count! As I type this (on Thursday evening), I'm at 10,040. I've had some marathon of word wars to help my count! Thanks to everyone's participation in that!

Good luck on week 2 everyone! I'd love to see how all of you are doing in the comments section!

The Winner of the Halloween YA Book bundle is...

Llehn!

Congrats Llehn, you're the winner of the Halloween YA Book bundle. Please be sure to email us at YAedge AT yahoo DOT com. If you email us your address by Friday, I'll try and make a trip to the post office this weekend.

The winner was picked using a random number generator based on the numbering of the comments from the original post.

For all of the loyal blog commenters who didn't win, stay tuned for more giveaways in November!

Also, each Friday in the month of November, I'll be posting about my progress with NaNoWrimo. You can watch my daily progress and become my writing buddy here!

Have a great day everyone!