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At the begininng of Nano, I wrote a post about getting “it”–what Nano is about. It’s about writing.  Just writing for the love of it and with the abandon we deserve, the abandon to write badly, but to have written. And I still believe that.  I still believe getting into that habit of writing daily, of thinking about your story as often as you can–even when you aren’t writing, storing up those ideas like a squirrel in winter–is crucial to becoming a good writer.  And I believe in not editing yourself, constantly.  It’s sort of a relief to just write.  So, good did come ofRead More →

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A quick link to an article I found from twitter this morning (via VMGDesigns) on the Seven Bad Writing Habits You Learned in School. No one but you is an authority on your writing. Not me. Not your English teachers. Not Strunk and White and their highfalutin Elements of Style. The longer you write, the more you’ll realize that other writers can’t tell you what to do. You should listen to more experienced writers, sure, but never more than you listen to yourself. Good stuff. Later (after work): A look at my two opposing views of NaNo writing from the beginning and the end.Read More →

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Today is the last day to get in those 50k words.  As you can see by my word count meter (on the left) I’m not going to make it.  It’s not that I haven’t worked every day; it’s that 1700 words a day doesn’t work in my process.  I have to take notes, then write.  Sometimes I need to brainstorm.  Sometimes it’s a trickle, sometimes it’s a torrential downpour. This blog post by Maggie Stiefvater is a Dear John letter to NaNo.  This is exactly how I feel: You are not a bad concept. You’re a bad concept for me, NaNo. This is why: youRead More →

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Want the awesomest “writing” program I have ever encountered?  Then you need Write or Die – Desktop Edition.  It’s rocks so hard, rock stars are jealous.  First, let me tell you, you can use or try it online, for free.  (I love free).  It took me one session, in which I wrote over a thousand words in half an hour to know I wanted to own this genius piece of software. It motivates in three ways: gentle mode-a box comes up reminding you to get back to writing, normal-annoying sounds start playing (it’s incredibly maddening), and kamikaze-your words start untyping themselves.  In all three, theRead More →

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Yes.  You read that correctly.  After much nail-biting and teeth-gnashing online, I wrote a synopsis.  I’m tempted to use lame web animated fireworks.  That’s how proud/excited I am. Want to know how I did it?  Fine.  I’ll tell you.  But, I suspect, it’s one of those things that you can read a dozen articles about, but eventually you just have to hunker down and write the damn thing.  Much like writing a book. I went through my book and summarized the turning points and points  of conflict.  This was 12 pages long.  A crazy length for a synopsis.  Some editors or agents will take ten. Read More →

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It amazes me how supportive nanoers are to one another.  When I tried this a few years ago, I felt so alone and couldn’t see my way through it.  But interacting on twitter, though it can be distracting, has shown me how supportive other writers and NaNo participants are.  I’ve received more than one reply to my tweets of frustration or success.  If you’re NaNoing, definitely follow the #nanowrimo hash tag there.Read More →

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This is the first year I’ve participated in NaNo.  I’ve thought about it a couple of times.  Once I started but dropped out early, citing the reasoning that it just didn’t work with my “process.”  But, I think I get it now. It’s sort of like when I actually became a writer instead of a person who wants to write.  At first, I wrote because it would be cool / financially gainful / fun (ha!) to write a book.  But then, it wasn’t all that fun–at least some of the time–and odds are not in anyone’s favor to actually sell a book or for itRead More →

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Turns out, this whole “just write” strategy is actually very difficult for me.  I can’t seem to stop looking up the page and thinking, “Dude, this is crap,” which I always do and sometimes it’s not. But, for me, that’s the whole point.  To learn to let go and let what I know, both learned and intuitively, about craft and my muse do what they do. So, yesterday–a slow start.  Today?  It’s anybody’s ballgame, baby. Also: Very awesome article about the costs of rewriting those sentences.Read More →

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WordPress doesn’t like my “live” badge, so I’ll stick this one in here.  Yeah, I’m going for it.  My goal: 2k words daily.  I’ve never written a word without planning the hell out of it, so I’m kind of excited to try this.  Check the twitter updates on the left to see how I’m doing.Read More →

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On the first day of NaNoWriMo (second day?) I want to talk about distractions.  You know.  Those things that help you release stress or avoid writing–whatever.  Books, of course.  Most of us read emails and tweet and facebook.  But more personally, what’s your avoidance crack?  Mine–The Sims 3.  It can occupy me for hours and make me forget all about my goals for the day, week, or even the month. What gets you back on track?  Music and housecleaning do it for me.  The music usually gets my creative juices going and the housecleaning is just tedious enough to make me prefer sitting down andRead More →