Nanowrimo 2013

So you see the topic post and if you're unfamiliar with it you must be thinking, Nanowhatta? 

Maybe your eyes would be popping out of your head. Maybe. 

Nanowrimo stands for- National Novel Writing Month 2013, Nano for short, and as the name implies, it all happens in November. The goal is to devote 30 days of your life and however many hours it takes to write a novel at least 50,000 words long. And I DID IT!!! 50,009 words to be exact, which ended up close to 80 written pages. 12 point font. Single space. In 30 days.

Crazy right?

Who would do such a thing? Only someone who really loves to write, because I'm telling you it doesn't matter how much time you have. It's not about having the time at all. It's all about making the time. You will always make time for the things you love to do, right? If you have a favorite TV show, I bet you watch each episode every week, regardless of what else is going on. Or if you're in love, you'll always take those moments to spend time with your loved ones, right? People always will make time for the things they love most. 

So for me, Nano 2013 started in late September. If you haven't read my previous posts, I've always dreamed of being an author and I'm currently enrolled at University of Houston working on getting into the Creative Writing program to fulfill my childhood dream. So late September, me and my husband are at a friends house on a Sunday evening, playing some board games. The thought comes to my mind, and I'm pretty sure it came from God, to do Nano in November. 

At first I was like, 'Uhh...I don't know if I'll have time." Because I was working 30 + hours a week and going to school, plus spending time with my beloved spouse as much as possible. And I had tried to do Nano before with my best friend years ago. I only lasted the second day. It was pretty sad. I had run out of inspiration and I just spent more time staring into the blank space of my computer. 

But the more I thought about doing Nano, the more excited I got, until I decided and set my mind to the fact that I was going to do it, and succeed at 50,000 words in 30 days. Now you have to understand that I'm one of those people who once they set their mind to something, it's going to happen. Period. 

So with the badge of victory, I'd like to dedicate this post to those aspiring writers out there and share the three most valuable lessons I learned through my experience.

1. Great Novels Are Planned. (I wish I could add a few more underlines to that word.) Ok honestly before this year, I never used outlines for my novels. Ever. I'd write down ideas as they came, but that was pretty much the end of my "planning". After I'd get the plot and the beginning and end of the story secured in my head, I'd sit down at a computer and let my imagination do the rest. Can you guess where that got me? Nowhere. (I have only finished one story idea that way, but compare that to the dozens of other ideas that have never been finished.) In October, which is the official Nano prep month, I tried doing a very simple outline of my novel idea. It was a simple three paragraph plot summary. One paragraph for the beginning, one for the middle and one for the end, which basically summarizes the idea living and bouncing around inside your head. Then you take that simple outline and build on it. Not like a little log cabin but build like a five story skyscraper. A great outline would include not just a chapter by chapter summary of your entire novel, but more importantly a scene by scene summary. What was hard for me during the 30 days was feeling like I was forcing myself to write because my imagination had run dry and I had run out of ideas for scenes. That's when writing sucks because you know what your writing sucks but you still have to make 50,000 words somehow. You can't always rely on your imagination to save you in those "pulling out your teeth" moments. You have to plan, and plan well. It will save you when you're running out of steam.
2. Don't Revise Until You've Hit 'The End'. I'm serious, save the editing and backspace key for when you've finished your idea. That doesn't mean you have to write every single scene, but make sure you definitely write the important plot scenes, and especially the ending. For me, Nanowrimo was all about taking my idea, chewing it in my mouth a bit and then spitting it all out on paper. And in the end I have a completed idea, not a perfect idea, but a completed, workable idea. I will definitely edit and maybe the entire plot will change, but I finished an idea and that's important. I no longer have a blank canvas with only a few splatters of paint. Before this year, I would write and then go back and change scenes and edit before I finished the book. I have not finished a single book that way, so take my advise and jail up your inner editor until the sentence is up.
3. Discipline, Discipline, Discipline! Writing takes allot of that, at least for me. And the month being November, things come up. I had to finish a paper for my English class for college. I had tests to study for. Sleep to do. Work, school, driving through traffic, spending time with my husband and driving down to Florida for Thanksgiving. I'd have to push myself some days to get my writing done. But I always made sure I got it done because I knew if I fell behind, it would only make it that much harder the next day. What helped me the most here, having a calendar as my laptop wallpaper of what my daily word count should be in order to make 50,000 by the end of November, which is about 1,667 words a day or around three pages. And yes I did write on Thanksgiving. Like I said earlier, things come up as they always will but you will always make time for the things you love. I found that I was able to do that. There were only a few days where I didn't write, but I always made sure I caught up. I learned to discipline myself in order to meet a goal and I succeeded, which is probably the greatest lesson I learned through this project. We can always do more than we think we can. 

(for more information, visit www.nanowrimo.org)

Planning a New Path

Ironic, isn't it? It's been several months, I haven't even looked at the date on my last post, since I've last posted on this blog, a blog I created for the sole purpose of helping me to overcome my self doubt and fulfill my childhood dream. To be truthful, I've forgotten about this dusty thing, though I can completely and with 100% honesty say that I haven't stopped writing or in other words, I haven't given up on myself yet. Go me!

So.....what have I been doing? And what is this new path?

I want a college education. My parents have always pushed me to get a college education. I haven't always wanted one, but working in the restaurant industry and seeing your fellow co-workers and managers, some of which have been with the company for 20+ years, you know you're going to be saying to yourself, "There's no way on this green planet that I'm going to end up stuck here like you." Yet you continue on for the paychecks and the sometimes agreeable fun times at work, though they may be more farther in between than you'd think. And when the harder times come along, it's as if your inner self starts crying out to you, in a feeling louder than words because you've stopped having fun long enough to pay attention! Then the deeper, more heart felt truth follows,

"This is not what I want to do for the rest of my life."

I experienced that a few weeks ago. And I mean, really felt those words come up from the depth of my soul. I had just gotten certified as a first level manager, still paid by the hour, though I'm very happy with my $12 per hour. I was bussing tables like I do on a very typical day.  I had my tray organized with stacks of plates, soup bowls, pasta plates, dessert plates, silverware and a nice tower of cups that threatened to topple over and spill their contents all over me. Yes, a very typical day. (Thankfully I've grown more muscle in my upper arms so that I'm strong enough to carry all this weight and rarely spill anything on myself. When I say rare I mean than I can have less than one spill on me, and that's me doing a really great job!)

So there I was, carrying back a loaded tray to the dish room to be sorted and washed, and it hit me, like a little voice crying up from deep inside myself.

"This is not what I want to do for the rest of my life."

And as you can probably guess, the question that followed was...."What do I do now?"

Fortunately, a few months I ago I had already applied and gotten accepted into the University of Houston. My major? Creative Writing. Like I said, I wanted a college education. I had been in college before. I originally went for Graphic Design which changed to Art Education to Math Education and then to possibly Pre-Med. That's quite swing, don't you think? So deep down I knew an Art degree wasn't for me, though I enjoyed it allot. I didn't have a passion great enough for it, meaning I don't think I would've been successful. Math was really possible, I was good enough at it, but also in the back of my mind I would always ask myself "But what about my childhood dream of being a writer???"

Later, under the pressure of my parents and developing a strict realistic view of myself, I decided that it wasn't probable that I'd have a successful career as a writer because it's, and you can quote me on this, "too hard". So, in order to be successful, I decided to try and be a doctor because I like helping people, fully knowing that I'd probably be in school for the next 8 years taking enough science courses to choke a horse...also knowing/remembering that I have never liked science...ever.

Feel free to laugh as you're reading this.

So last fall I went to a community college signed up to take a beginning Chemistry class and Biology 1.
Bam!
Did I mention I don't like science?
Remember the little inner voice I talked about earlier?

So the first day. The FIRST day, I'm sitting in my Bio class where my wonderful professor is wasting 30 mins of class, where he could be giving us a positive kick start lecture, and is instead smiling and cracking jokes about how more then half the students in the room will be gone by the final exam, which was sadly true. So I'm sitting there in my cold plastic seat, wishing for the professionalism I'd taken for granted at the university level when I feel inner voice say;

"This is not what I want to do."

I'm caught a little off guard. I had been studying my options, praying about how I could do the right thing and I had made a decision. Now I was sent back to the chalk board with the question, "What do I do now? What on earth am I supposed to do now?" I had the feeling that I should drop those two classes and start over. Actually I had a strong feeling that I wasn't supposed to be at that community college at all.

And what did I do? I ignored that inner voice and those feelings. I kept going to class because I didn't know what else to do. And I wasn't happy. Bio 1 didn't get better. My teacher had a thick accent and difficulty understanding his students. I worked hard though and I got A's in both classes. I did enjoy Chem enough that I considered a career in that field.  So life continued and I wondered where I would go next. I knew I wasn't going back to that community college. I had decided on another, to do what I wasn't sure. I just wanted to make a decision. I prayed for confirmation, or some good feeling that what I was doing was a good idea.

Didn't get it.

Instead, another University came to my mind and wouldn't leave. I got on my laptop. Glanced through the degree listings, while asking at the same time what could this university have for me. And almost as if God had pasted it on my laptop, I click on the English degree and I see in big words, Creative Writing for Undergraduates. It was like a sign from heaven. I was so happy, immediately I just felt so happy! And actually excited about the idea of going back to college! Again! And all these hopes spun up in myself. Marissa Meyer had gotten her degree in Creative Writing and she's had success with her Lunar Chronicles. This is it! I found my path! I am going to be successful!

A great third start for my dream, don't you think?
Me too.

Classes start on Aug 26th.

Revision

About a month ago I received an email from Highlights For Children titled "Revision is where the story lives". In the email they provided excellent quotes from authors with experience in revision. I found them all quite helpful and thought that I'd include them in a post. I loved Harold Underdown's quote the most because I've written 97 pages in my book so far and already I see the need for a huge plot revision. And I'm ok with it, because I know it's what the story and the characters need.

"I'm a rewriter. That's the part I like best . . . once I have a pile of paper to work with, it's like having the pieces of a puzzle. I just have to put the pieces together to make a picture." —Judy Blume

"If a teacher told me to revise, I thought that meant my writing was a broken-down car that needed to go to the repair shop. I felt insulted. I didn't realize the teacher was saying, 'Make it shine. It's worth it.' Now I see revision as a beautiful word of hope. It's a new vision of something. It means you don't have to be perfect the first time. What a relief!" —Naomi Shihab Nye

"Writing is not like painting where you add. It is not what you put on the canvas that the reader sees. Writing is more like a sculpture where you remove, you eliminate in order to make the work visible. Even those pages you remove somehow remain." —Elie Wiesel

"Throw up into your typewriter every morning. Clean up every noon."—Raymond Chandler

"Get your first draft done any way you can. Then the real work starts: revision." —Harold Underdown

Sometimes we might look at our pieces and the hard work and effort we exerted into creating them, and we abhor the thought of ripping it all into shreds and starting over. (Ok, perhaps we wouldn't rip all the pages into shreds!!!) But why do we squirm at the thought of starting over? Because we're afraid of losing whatever ground we've covered and conquered? Because we're afraid of exhausting ourselves? Or, and let's be honest, we just don't have the desire to spend the time or the energy required? Take the second to ask yourself one, life determining question:

How much do you love writing?

That's it. That's the deal. It all comes down to that one question. What does it mean to you? How far are you willing to go, how many pages are you willing to throw away to become successful? Is it really all worth the effort? If the golden brick road that leads to publishing is endless, will you still walk? That's how much you have to love something, and it can be anything or anyone, in order to achieve success. Knowing that all of your hard work might never pay off and those pages might never be published but you go ahead and do it anyways. Because, and I don't know about you, but success hasn't come knocking on my door recently and I doubt it ever will unless I throw the towel on my shoulder and get to work.

So ask yourself the question and once you do, get to work. Don't ever let anything hold you back, not even you, not fear, not anyone else's opinion, nothing! You are the one and only master of your destiny.

I see movies in my head

Every author has a different way of writing and putting their ideas and characters on paper. I thought I'd share mine today and give you a little idea of how I view my world and characters.


In ancient times, the Egyptians flourished because of the Nile river, which kept their land fertile and abundant. Just think how difficult and hard life would've been without the Nile. As a writer, your need is very similar. In order to become a good writer (in my very own humble opinion), you need your own personal Nile river. You need to be able to keep a never ending 'river' of ideas. You could also call it inspiration, and that inspiration can come from anywhere and be anything. Alot of authors use music to help them create a steady, healthy flow of inspiration.


Most of the time, ideas come while I'm in the car listening to music and thinking about nothing in general. Inspiration often strikes me at work too, if I'm not already thinking about something. I think keeping a clear mind helps. Life often likes to take up alot of space in our minds, leaving little room for anything else. Music helps me "empty out the trash" in my head so that ideas have room to occupy my thoughts. 


However, I write while listening to music occasionally. The music has to match perfectly with the scene I'm writing, otherwise I get distracted and the writing process becomes slow and tedious. Writing itself is hard and requires alot of effort but I believe it should be fun and rewarding. There's nothing I love more than going back to a scene I wrote and completely falling in love with it. :)


But, what happens when I do get ideas? Like the title says, I basically see my ideas and characters as if they were in an actual movie. For example the book I'm currently writing, in order for me to write a scene, I have to be able to see that scene in my head first.  I literally have to see the characters acting out an imaginary "script", composing of ideas from my inspiration river, so that I can see where the story is going. This is a key element of writing for me, because without it, it becomes very difficult and near impossible for me to write. But once I have those moving pictures going, writing becomes easy and fun. I say easy, because I'm not stumbling around for ideas or wondering "what's going to happen next??" because I'm seeing it happen as I write it.


So hopefully you've enjoyed this peek into the window of my world. :)

I grew up wanting to be the heroine

Once upon a time...


Every great fairy tale starts with those four magical words so why not mine?  And I'm not talking about my book, but the life and tale of me.  Like most young girls, I grew up loving fairy tales.  I loved the stories and the tales of romance, adventure, bravery, more romance, far away lands, handsome princes and princesses who lived happily ever after.  My sisters and I would spend countless hours in front of the TV watching our favorite Disney movies, and then we'd act out the stories with boxes full of Barbie and Ken dolls.


Me and my sister loved creating our own stories whenever we played together.  My younger sister always played the part of the princess, or the lovely damsel in distress, while I was always the hero, or the prince, or in other words, the person who did all the work.  Sometimes I'd complain to my younger sister saying, "I never get to be the princess!  Why don't you be the prince?"  and my sister would reply, "Because you're good at it!"  And I would always relent because I loved her and I wanted her to be happy.  


As time moved on, there were instances that occurred in my life where I realized that I did want to be the hero.  I always imagined that I had the power to protect the ones I loved, even if it was only in my imagination.  This continued as I took karate lessons up until high school.  Then the feeling of being capable of being a protector felt more concrete to me, not something just imaginary.  I think that is a part of human nature each of us has in common.  We all wish to be more than what we are and to have a purpose to our lives.  


But what does this have to do with writing a book?


In my mind I'd created this nearly perfect female heroine, the person I'd always wished to be.  She was tall, thin and gorgeous.  She was my super hero because she could do anything and be anything.  I took her character and started creating a story for her where she could be the strong and courageous heroine.  I wanted to write a book, using her character, that could fulfill that desire in me, a story that could let me feel like I was the hero.  I wanted a story that would also leave every reader inspired and hopeful about their own lives.  This blog is about the process if this book but it may delve a little deeper than that.  I seemed to have shared more about myself than I'd planned! 


However, if you decide to embark on this journey with me, I hope it will become a blessing to you as I'm sure it will be for me.