NaNoWriMo, the Big Writing Challenge

A year and a half ago, I discovered an exciting sounding challenge called National Novel Writing Month, where writers from around the world set out to write a fifty thousand word novel in the month of November. It sounded very exciting. And so, with only a few days to go before the start of the month, and with not a single idea for a novel between us, my three sisters, my mum and I all signed up for the big challenge, the younger two girls setting their own goals through the Young Writer’s Program.

November first, and we sat down to write. What would my novel be about? Would I be able to make it to the end of the word count before the month was over? I hoped so, and worked hard to make sure that it happened. My novel was a mess. Everyone talked over their ideas and gave each other suggestions as to how to keep on with their novels.

And by the end of the month, every single one of us had crossed the finish line with time to spare, from my nine year old sister to my mum. On the last day, we celebrated our victories, laughed at the awful quality of our novels, and made plans to come back and do it all again the next year. After working on fixing these novels of course.

The next year rolled round, 2012, and five people turned up for NaNoWriMo once again. This time we had out novels a little more planned, had a better idea of what was required of us, and brought with us even more determination to win than before. And did we win? We sure did. Another five winners celebrated on the last day, just as before.

And this year? Are we planning on going for our third NaNoWriMo wins in a row? You bet we are. We’re a family of writers. Writing novels is what we do.

On NaNoWriMo and Second Drafts

It's three days after the end of this year's NaNoWriMo and I'm sitting here thinking about writing. This past month has been a good one writing wise. In one crazy, writing filled month, I've done more writing than I've done in any other month of the year. And I have plenty of good material now.

I'll be the first to admit, not everything I write in November is any good. Maybe even less than half. But inside the bad writing, the spelling mistakes and the clunky prose, there's a spark of a good idea, that something that got me writing in the first place.

There might not be a workable novel yet, but the ideas are there, and I certainly have a starting place for a good second draft. Now, at the beginning of a long summer break, might be the best time for me to get going  and to start working on the second draft of one of my novels.

So it's time for me to put away my NaNoWriMo writing and let it sit and stew for a while. And it's time for me to choose a novel from another NaNoWriMo session. It's time to break out the notebook and the coloured pens, and it's time to get planning, pulling out the hidden gems in the last draft, and creating a plan for the next one. And then it'll be time to get writing.

One of these days I'll have a draft that I'm proud to show everyone. It's just going to need a bit of work, that's all. And with a whole summer ahead of me, and a year of writing behind me, I think I might finally be able to have a go at doing this.

Why NaNoWriMo is Making Me More Productive

It's that crazy time of year again, where hundreds of thousands of writers sit down to write 50k words of a novel in a month. Some write more, some write less, but everyone's sitting down to write. Or not write as the case may be.

For me, NaNo goes a bit like this.

I sit down at my desk and pull open my lap top. Hang on, I can't write when my desk is such a mess. So I close the lid of the lap top again and tidy the desk. There, now I can write.

But what about the stuff on the floor? Now that my desk is all nice and tidy, shouldn't I make sure that the rest of the room looks just as nice? It'll only take a few minutes and think how much better I'll be able to write with a nice clean room. So I scurry round and clean up.

Mmm, what's that smell wafting out of the kitchen? I follow my nose out to find one of my sisters baking. "You can help if you like," she said. Soon we're concocting muffins and brewing coffee. There's plenty of time to write later.

Goodness, is that the time? I've spent so long eating muffins and drinking coffee that it's time to make dinner. Oh well, writing will have to wait until after dinner now. This really has been a busy afternoon!

Now, what shall I get done today? Maybe I'll redesign my blog. Or I might teach the cat how to play the piano. Maybe I'll actually get some writing done. Who knows...

Outlining to November

Now that it's October, NaNoWriMo is well and truly on the horizon. And that means that writers around the world are getting their novel outlines ready for the big day. That includes me. Normally I wouldn't be thinking about my novel yet, or preparing anything. I'd be sitting back, letting the planners plan, and waiting for November 1st to roll around so I could start pantsing my way through my novel. But not this time.

No, this time I've decided to have a go at being one of those planners myself. This time I want to see if taking the time to plan before November will leave me with a better, more coherent story at the other end of the month. And so, like every other NaNo planner, I'm working on an outline of my novel, hoping it'll be ready in time.

Of course, I've never actually planned anything before. Always before I've jumped in feet first and made everything up as I went along, which is exciting, and very fun, but not really that good for having a solid plot by the end of things. So I don't actually know a lot about planning at all.

Which is where my new favourite writing book comes into it. I've been reading K.M Weiland's "Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success". I've never much liked the idea of outlining before, but this book has definitely helped me find a style of preparation that I actually like.

With the help of this book, I'm working out my plot by writing out every idea I have in a notebook, and allowing myself to come up with every sort of ridiculous idea, and finding the good ideas among those. I'm even starting to get an idea of my characters by just writing down everything I think about them. With this style of planning, I think I'll definitely have a good idea of my plot before November.

I can't say I'll come out of this knowing every scene, every character, every event, or even every chapter. The pantsing side of me doesn't like the idea of that. But I will hopefully get to November and have a good idea of where my plot is supposed to go before I start. And maybe, just maybe that'll help me have a not quite so completely rubbish first draft.

Are you preparing for NaNoWriMo? Have you read this book? What writing books would you recommend?

Guest Posts and NaNoWriMo

Since first participating in NaNoWriMo last November, I have fallen in love with the NaNoWriMo events. From Script Frenzy in April (no longer running unfortunately), to Camp NaNoWriMo in June and August, I've been in everything. And I've certainly written plenty of posts about my adventures with these events.

So when I was asked if I'd be a guest poster for Jeff Hargett's August is Awesome theme month, I knew at once what I would write about; my favourite challenge.

Today my post is live on his blog, Strands of Pattern. In this post I'm telling the story of my first ever NaNo event. I'll meet you there.

The Challenge Completed

The NaNoWriMo official word count goal is 50'000 words. When I started NaNo, I thought this sounded like a great deal of words. More than I could handle almost. But as the days of NaNo passed, and I ripped through the word count, it suddenly didn't seem like much of a challenge.

My first novel, The Portal ended at about 51'800, written in ten days. I'd finished first of anyone in my house. What was I going to do now? I couldn't go back to normality yet. Not while everyone else was still novelling away. And so it was that my next challenge was born.

50'000 words wasn't enough of a challenge. I set my sights higher. Twice as high to be exact. My new goal was 100'000 words. Stupid? Yes.

I started The DARE Squad as my second half of the word count. The days slipped passed, and the word count rose, not as fast as for The Portal but fast enough for me. I was well on track for a huge win, even with a day off for my birthday.

Today, after a huge push over this weekend, I have finally finished my huge, crazy goal. 100'127 words now sit on my computer. Two novels await editing. And me? I want a rest for a day or so. I want time to rest my eyes, and my wrists. Then I'm ready to jump into the editing process. My next goal? Edit 100'000 words. It might take more than a month though.

Carrie Helps the DARE Squad

My cousin Carrie and I both like writing and drawing. And we both enjoy discussing our latest projects over the email. We share chapters of our stories, pictures of our characters, and writing complaints.

When I told Carrie about my newest NaNoWriMo story The DARE Squad, she was delighted with it. I told her all about it, and even sent her a picture I'd drawn of the four main characters. Imagine my surprise and delight when she sent me back a picture she'd drawn of them.

The DARE Squad as drawn by Carrie

Then I asked her the same question I asked you readers in my post 'The DARE Squad'. I challenged her to come up with a meaning for the acronym DARE. She responded at once with some interesting, and occasionally funny answers.

They are:The Dangerous Accident Response Establishment
The Defense Against Radical Exploits
The Department of Accidentally Removed Elements
The Death Administration for Rapid Eradication
The Detective Academy for Rookie Education

The Department of Abnormally Rotund Elephants

Jo and Emma, two of the DARE Squad members

So far, none of these quite fit the bill, though they have got me thinking. Especially the elephant one!

I'd like to set you the same challenge. Can you find an acronym for the word 'DARE' that will suit a teen spy group? I'd love to see your ideas.

NaNo Art

Being in a drawing mood today, I opened my sketch book, grabbed a pencil and prepared to draw. What could I draw today? What is big in my life at the moment? The answer was obvious. NaNoWriMo. Yes, I'd draw a piece of NaNo art. But what?

The first thing that occurred to me was that I could write 'NaNoWriMo' down. Maybe that would be a good starting point. And so, with many millions of guidelines, I began. The picture grew and grew, turning into less of a picture, and more poster style.

Bold colours jumped out of the pencil box. Blue and brown, the colours of NaNo, filled the background. Bright yellows and oranges coloured the words. Under my fingertips, the page came to life.

So, this is my first attempt at NaNo art. What do you think of it? Could you see it as a poster advertising NaNo? Because I can.

The DARE Squad

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

After finishing my NaNoWriMo novel so early, I found myself wondering what to do next? No one else in my family had finished theirs yet. I was one on my own. Well, it wouldn't be any fun to go back to normal while everyone else was enjoying themselves. And so, I planned and began my new novel 'The DARE Squad'.

I first began to think about it when I idly looked at the dare machine on the young writer's program site. After writing many of the dares down, I suddenly had a brain wave. What if I wrote a book about a group of teen secret agents? What if they had to stop an evil villain from taking over time itself? And thus my story started.

To take a break from writing, giving my poor sore wrists a rest, I drew my four main characters: Marco, Chaz, Jo, and Emma. I thought I'd share them with you today.

Chaz is the eldest in the DARE Squad. He's an athlete, with a mischievous sense on humour and a love of wacky hair dyes.

Marco is their travelling brains. He's almost never separated from his beloved macbook. He's never seen without a hoodie either. Though quiet looking, he can be as naughty as Chaz at times.

Johanna, or Jo, is the beauty. She's a natural actress. She also loves to paint her nails. Woe betide the man or mission who smudges one of them. She and Chaz don't always get on.

Emma is the shy one. Normally she huddles away with her hair over her face. But when a mission calls, she shows her lion heart and turns in a new, more confident person.

So, that's what I'm working on now. What do you think of my story and characters? Do you have any suggestions? And also, the 'DARE' in DARE squad is hopefully going to be an acronym. Any suggestions as to what it can mean?

To Write a Novel

I've always struggled with writing. Not the actual putting words on paper, but having the dedication to finish something, accepting bad work, that kind of thing. Even when I set myself a deadline, I've usually ignored it. That's why I've only ever finished one first draft.

When I joined NaNoWriMo I wondered whether I was crazy. I couldn't write 50' 000 words in a month. Everyone said it's a ridiculous goal. Even with a whole day to write in, I doubted I could do it.

Then NaNoWriMo started. With no plan, hardly any characters, I put fingers to keys and started to write. And I never looked back.

Because we count writing as school work, NaNoWriMo is virtually all we do in a day. With five people in the house doing NaNoWriMo we eat, sleep, and talk writing. It's so easy to write when you know everyone else is doing the same thing.

After every writing session we've shared word counts, plot problems and helped each other out of sticky holes. We;ve been encouraging each other. It's almost like having a personal support team.

With all this help, it's no wonder I shot ahead with my writing goal. I planned to have my story finish about 50' 000 words. And today I'm proud to say I've done it. After 10 days, I have a finished first draft of almost 52' 000 words.

Now, if you're doing NaNoWriMo and are still struggling along, I hope I'm not making you feel bad. Certainly I'm not trying to. I'm cheering everyone on. I've only finished this fast because I've had all day to write, and awesome people to talk my story over with.

I wish you all a finished draft, or 50' 000 words, or the completion of whatever goal you've set yourself by the end of November. I'm cheering for you all!

Now, off to think about another novel...Plus school work!

NaNoWriMo (Didn't) Eat My Hobbies

The Dawnbringer Dragon. My way of relaxing after a NaNo stint.

When I first thought about NaNoWriMo, I wondered how I'd ever get anything else done in November. Writing 50' 000 words takes a lot of time. Would I still have time to read, and do craft? Would I be able to continue blogging? Most of what I heard told me I couldn't.

Then I started NaNo. After pounding away at my computer keyboard for hours. I suddenly realised I didn't want to write any more that day. I wanted to do something else. And so I left my writing, which was well over the required word count, and amused myself by reading. And blogging.

Over the past three or four days, I've come to realise that NaNo hasn't eaten all my other activities. I'm still reading and drawing, doing craft and blogging. I want to do these things because I need a break from writing. NaNo, while time consuming and busy, is teaching me to enjoy my hobbies and free time more, because I need it more.

NaNo hasn't eaten my life. Thanks to a flexible homeschooling schedule, I can write during school time. Thanks to that, I have a million, billion words written. And I still have time to do the things I love. Far from doing less in November, I feel I'm doing more.

Has NaNoWriMo eaten your life? Or do you, like me, find yourself doing more, just to rest from all that frenzied writing?

And So NaNoWriMo Begins

Yes, today is the very first day of NaNoWriMo, at least for us in Australia. Excitement fills our house as five people sit down to create masterpieces. Five people? Yes, today two more Elvises joined the ranks of NaNoers. Sophie and Gemma-Rose have made a sudden decision to join the Young Writers Program and do their own NaNoWriMo.

We're lucky that, as so many of us are doing NaNo, we're allowed to do it for school work. So in a morning's work, I've completed so much more writing than I ever would have done without it being classed as school work. I even have time to write a blog post!

Everyone's heads are filled with story plots. Round the lunch table we discussed Mum's story plot. Gemma-Rose is planning her mermaid story. Sophie chats enthusiastically about her girl's day at school. (Why is it that homeschool children like to write about school?). Charlotte pours out her ideas for her explosive fairy. And me? I've got no idea where my story is going yet. But, despite not knowing that, I have a story anyway.

There's something magical about sitting down to a new writing project, with only the barest idea as to what it's about. I was so scared that I would waste time working out how to start the story, that I mentally wrote my first line several days ago. But I shouldn't have worried. the story I don't know about is coming out my fingertips. All I have to do is put them onto the keys.

Yesterday, I was so impatient for NaNoWriMo to start, that I resorted to making a NaNoWriMo notebook to write all my crazy story notes in. I can see it filling up with things to remember. Names, occupations, hobbies, things I have to work in.

Now that NaNo is here, I'm so happy and full of ideas. and best of all, I've found that writing is good for headaches. So, to all those doing NaNoWriMo this year, I wish you easy writing and a massive word count. Now, back to my story!

For those people like me who are crazy enough to try NaNoWriMo, how are you going? Are your word counts sky-rocketing like mine? Or are you pulling out your hair as you try to make the words come?

For those not doing NaNoWriMo, what are you doing while we're all attempting this ridiculous goal? What do you think of those who are trying NaNo?

Impossible or Possible?

Wandering around the blogosphere a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon several posts about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Many writers whose blogs I read, have signed up and are eagerly awaiting the start of November to begin this month long challenge.

I thought it sounded impossible. Write a 50' 000 word novel in a month or less? How on earth was anyone supposed to do that? I dismissed the idea as silly, and promptly forgot about it.

But November was creeping closer, and more and more people were preparing for NaNoWriMo. Everyone seemed to be doing it. Everyone seemed very excited about doing it. Intrigued, I paid a quick visit to the official site and had a look round.

Wow! Suddenly I was interested in NaNoWriMo. What a goal! Spend a month writing, and have a book at the end of it. It might be worth giving it a go.

The clincher for me, was when Mum bought No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty, one of the founders of NaNoWriMo. I devoured the book in an afternoon. Now I knew I wanted to take part in this years NaNoWriMo. But I still didn't sign up. Would I have time to write that much? What if I didn't? What if I failed? What if I wrote complete rubbish?

When Charlotte came out and said she wanted to do NaNoWriMo, I knew I'd just have to do it now. I'd risk all those fears and go for the goal. No way was she going to beat me!

We signed up together, with the full approval of Mum. Much to our surprise, she was also considering doing NaNoWriMo. We're rather hoping she does. Just think, three writers in the same family, all striving for the same goal.

With the start of NaNoWriMo in ten days, I'm suddenly very enthusiastic about this challenge. I'm going to make that goal, and I'm going to write a book. And most of all, I'm going to enjoy this impossible sounding challenge.

Are you taking part in NaNoWriMo this year? Have you taken part in other years? Do you have any tips for me? Do you think I'm crazy to even consider attempting this?