NaNoWriMo 2011: Lessons Learned

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I’ve attempted NaNoWriMo twice.

The first time was in 2009 and I was in the midst of finals and papers and trying to work a part-time job all at the same time. I made it two days.

The second time was last month. I’m done with school and I knew now was the best time to do it. This year, I made it farther. The first day I wrote 2,000 words but on day two, I decided I wasn’t feeling the story so I switched it. This caused me to fall behind and I never fully caught up. I stopped after ten days.

Two attempts. Two failures, if you want to look at it that way. But I’m choosing to look at NaNoWriMo 2011 as a learning experience. I learned a lot about my writing style, the environment I need to be in to write, and what it will take for me to finish a novel.

Lessons Learned While Attempting NaNoWriMo 2011

1. I have to write fiction daily. Even if it’s just for 10 minutes, writing daily is key. And not just writing anything. I could check-mark my blog posts as my writing for the day but that’s cheating. As much as I love writing for my blog, I also need to hone my fiction writing. I need to set time aside – be it in the early morning or late at night – to give my 100% focus to my story. One thing about NaNoWriMo is that you have to write an average of 1,667 words a day to meet the goal. This means writing every single day or having to catch up on days you miss. It gets you in the habit of writing daily. I’ve fallen a little off the writing every day wagon, but I’ve been doing better the past few days and excited about writing again.

2. I love character-driven romances. I spent most of October shuffling through my memory bank of story ideas, switching through mysteries and YA lit and chick-lit. Through romances and historical novels. To be quite honest and blunt, I don’t much care about writing the next best-seller. Would it be lovely for my novels to have the kind of staying power as the Harry Potter series? Yes, definitely. But I’m not certain that’s my path to take. I find my place in character-driven romances, about people who lead small lives and where love is the centerpiece. I’m not talking about creating fluffy main characters who think they need a man to be happy. Not one bit. That’s not how I live my own life so there’s no way I could write about that. Instead, I want to write about women finding their own path in life, finding their own happiness, and who open their heart and minds to love and romance. That’s the kind of book I want to write.

3. I need a silent, organized workspace in order to write. This wasn’t a big revelation for me, as I preferred silence when studying when I was in college. For the most part, I prefer it more often than not. Sometimes, I like to have the TV on when I clean, but I generally prefer a quiet home when I’m trying to keep my focus. My attention strays too much to the television or the lyrics of the song if I have music on than on what I need to be doing at that moment. Along with silence, comes a clean space. I think most people work better without clutter and it really gives me a fresh, open mind when my environment is organized and neat.

4. Don’t worry so much about quality. Worry more about getting the words down. NaNoWriMo is about quantity, not quality. It’s about the process of writing and not worrying so much about how perfect it is. I want to bring that process into my writing now because I can get bogged down on making sure dialogue flows right or a scene sounds perfect that I miss out on the actual writing of my novel. I want to focus more on putting words down on paper and less on perfection. The editing process is there to smooth out any kinks and delete scenes that don’t work right but I think, for now, I just need to write for quantity.

5. I have a desire and passion for writing. I know the road to being a published author is long and arduous. And it may not ever lead to a place where I can fully sustain myself on my writing. But there’s this thing about having a passion: you will do whatever it takes to fulfill that passion. You will lose sleep, food, and money to chase after your dream. And those people who think you are crazy and insane? They don’t know the sweet fulfillment that comes from being in the midst of chasing - or realizing - their passions.

Did you participate in NaNoWriMo this year? If so, did you finish? What is your biggest passion in life?

Taking My Passion Off the Shelf

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The first time I tried to complete National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo – writing 50,000 words in 30 days) was two years ago. Halfheartedly, I tried it again last year. Both times, I got way behind within the first week and realized I had to let it go. November was notoriously busy with schoolwork, completing assignments and studying for tests before finals week came in December. It was too much to keep up with, between school and work and maintaining my sanity.

But I promised myself I would try again when I was done with school.

Well, I’m done with school. I’ve been done for almost six months now. And I have yet to even begin writing my novel. My biggest dream in life is to make a living as a published novelist, but I keep shelving that dream for other pursuits. Things that I need to do, but don’t fill me up with as much passion as writing does.

I know the easy part will be the writing. The hard part will be the editing, the revising, the rejection. I know there’s a part of me that keeps pushing it aside, because rejection is scary and difficult to swallow. When I took a creative writing class my last semester of college, I had to step way out of my comfort zone and read my fiction aloud. There were writers in my class that already seemed to have a firm foundation in their writing. And they were amazing writers. Intimidating. Inspiring.

Another thing holding me back from writing my novel is the novel itself. What do I want to write about? Do I want to write young-adult literature? And, if so, do I want it to be faith-based or not? What about chick-lit? Can I even write in this style, funny and light, yet also cutting to the core of what women suffer with? (I’m currently reading my first Jennifer Weiner novel, Good in Bed. It is phenomenal and a great, great example of “chick lit”. Anyone who looks down on this genre has seriously never read a good chick lit book.) Do I want to write pure romance novels, Christian fiction, or mysteries?

I know I have a story to tell, I just don’t know which one it is. Each genre fills me with a different kind of passion. I know there are incredible stories of struggles and triumph to be told in each one. Which one do I focus on?

November first is coming up much more quickly than I imagined. And I know I have it in me to complete NaNoWriMo. I just need to put my nose to the grindstone, focus on an idea that fills me with the most passion and excitement, and get to planning.

Have you ever completed NaNoWriMo? Are you doing it this year?

Well, I Didn’t Die…

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I have never shown my fiction. Writing a fiction novel is something that I was obsessed with when I was younger, but has fallen to the wayside as I’ve become more involved with blogging, journalism, and life in general. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but never something I have sat down to seriously consider.

Thursday was the day I had to show my fiction to a group of classmates. I am a very shy and quiet student, tending to stay in the background and never feeling the need to raise my hand to volunteer my work, or offer an opinion. So having an entire classroom of writers, some being exceptionally good writers, having their full attention on me was incredibly nerve-wracking. I knew of my date from mid-January: March 24. I would have to showcase my fiction to a group of people I barely knew. As I read through my story again and again, I fall more deeply in love with my characters and feel like they are such a part of me. I wouldn’t say I was scared of the criticism, because I know it was done only to make the story stronger, but having all of the attention focused on me and my work wasn’t something I necessarily coveted.

I was pleased as punch when my classmates began to trickle in slowly. By 11am, at the class start time, we only had 9 people. Unfortunately, my professor stalled for time to wait to see if anyone else would show up. They did, and I eventually read my story to 16 classmates. I had decided to print out copies for people to read off of, instead of pulling it up on the computer to be flashed on the screen. It was less scary that way. And it also gave people a way to write down comments they had on the piece as it was right there to look at.

The first comment, made by a guy, was a little harsh. While we are supposed to start off with what we like, he started off with criticism, saying he didn’t know these characters at all and I made the man figure (Jay) too perfect. Luckily, I had a rebuttal in the form of a girl who agreed Jay was a little perfect, but she understand the character development. From then on, classmates began to offer suggestions and feedback.

The good: The story has a nice flow and reads well. The story concept is a great one and, even overwhelming, in the possibilities to grow it. Most people liked Ava’s character and thought she was well-developed. They loved the last scene with Jay and Ava and this is where he is developed best, being controlling. And they loved the ending.

The bad: I made Jay a little too perfect, which I agree with. I was trying not to make him out to be a bad guy, and I think I went too far into the realm of perfection. Dialogue is a little stilted at times and should always move the story along. One girl also made the point of saying that the line “God had different plans” leads the reader to think everything will work out, but it really doesn’t. I think that was such a striking point that I agreed with. I need to show more of Jay and Ava having disagreements, instead of the only one at the coffee shop.

Things to ponder: I received so much great feedback on how to improve this story! One such piece of advice was to make the dress a symbol. Make Ava see how imperfect it really is, even if it is breath-taking on the outside. Another one was to really play on the controlling man vs. insecure woman angle and show that a lot through dialogue and actions. A girl also brought up a great point of how it seems as if Ava, who used to be very insecure, has found a sense of self and independence through this attention she’s getting from Jay, which, in turn, causes her to apply for the study-abroad opportunity. I wanted to KISS THAT GIRL ON THE MOUTH when she said that because it’s never something I ever thought of but it makes perfect sense!

All in all, it was a great experience. I do have to do another reading on April 19, which gives me a few weeks to make it a whole lot better. (And if you’re interested in reading the edited version, let me know in the comments and I’ll make a list of who to send it to!) I’m glad I’ve stuck with this class and it’s caused me to learn so much about the writing process. I still want to be a writer, but I know it’s not as easy as it looks. But there’s something there, a smidge of talent that I need to refine and keep working towards.

On Dreams, & How I’m Not Sitting On One of Them Anymore

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As I was preparing to sign up for classes last semester, I knew I would need to sign up for a filler class in order to keep my scholarship. Technically, I only need 3 classes to graduate but I need 12 hours for my scholarship. So I signed up for Creative Writing (actually called: Form and Technique of Fiction). And when I learned that we would need to write a short story and read it out loud, a small part of me wanted to drop the class. But a bigger part of me wanted to see this thing through and to stop putting my creative writing career on hold. My biggest dream in life is to become a published author, but I’m not doing anything towards that goal. This short story would be the kick-start I needed to take this dream and make it a reality.

At first, I had no idea of what I wanted to write about. What genre? What age range? What character?

Luckily, my professor had us do a lot of writing exercises and one such exercise gave me the perfect beginning. I am so in love with this beginning. I am never one to toot my own horn, but I happen to think it’s pretty fantastic: it draws the reader in and makes them want to read on. At least that’s what I think!

The first time around, my story had a lot of holes in it. I didn’t particularly like the main character and she was very two-dimensional. The story didn’t flow in the right way and I was almost ready to toss the entire thing and try a completely different story.

Then I decided to test out a new character. And it all came together. The character was more likeable, the plot more believable. The story flowed so much better and I get this little flutter in my stomach as I read it through. Is it the best story to ever be written? Absolutely not. Will it win me a dozen awards? Nope. But it’s a piece of me, it took a lot of work to get it in the shape it is now and I know I still have more edits to do on it. Thanks to some harsh, but completely true, critiques from Kendra (whom I will be hiring as my editor when I become rich and famous, just so you know), I took a story that was laying on shaky foundation and turned it around into a story that can stand on its own two feet.

Writing this story was a lot of work. There were many edits, many changes, many freak-outs. But it was also incredibly fun. I can see myself doing this again and again. This short story gave me the spark I needed to get serious about writing my novel, to stop putting my dreams on hold until the perfect time comes. (Because, really, when will it be the perfect time?) I’m more determined than ever to get my foot in the writing world, no matter how hard it is.

Come Thursday, I will be ready to read my story out loud. There will be butterflies, but I’m pretty positive there will be more excited butterflies than nervous butterflies. I think I can handle any critiques that are thrown my way, because it’s all in the name of improvement. I’ve been worried that being critiqued on my creative writing will defeat me since I am very sensitive, but I imagine it will only serve to help me to another look at my story in a different way. And make it so much better.

If you want to read my story, let me know in the comments and I’ll send the file to you.

What are some dreams you’ve been sitting on for a while?

My Writing Niche

I'm 19 days into my Creativity Challenge and after a stellar first week where major writing was happening and I felt my writing mojo come back, everything has seemed to come to a screeching halt. I don't have any desire to open my writing, my thoughts are jumbled, and I feel like I'm slipping farther and farther away from the writer I want to be.

I think the problem ultimately stems from the fact that I really don't know what kind of writing I want to do. I flip-flop between Christianity and mainstream. From chick lit to romantic suspense to tween fiction. I feel like I have all these amazing ideas and all these amazing characters who want their stories heard, yet I can't find it in myself to pick just one story, stick with it, and write.

If I were to just sit down and write all the story ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for the past few years, I'm sure the number would be in the 30's. Some of those stories are lame and I need to just trash them. Some of those stories would require hours and hours of research and interviews to make it authentic. Some of those stories seem so good, they make my head spin. And they all fall under some different type of genre.

For all intents and purposes, I want to write for a Christian publisher. I know the types of books I want to write will be centered around faith and the struggles that entails. I don't want to write cheap Christian fiction, where the protagonist never seems to struggle much with real faith issues, such as purity and this tug-of-war played with worldly ideals. I want to write a different type of Christian fiction, something I haven't seen too much in Christian novels.

Since that's settled, I now have to figure out what story I want to write.

• Do I want to write a chick-lit novel, which means writing with a lot more sass and humor than I usually do. My personality is perfect chick lit, but honestly, I can never seem to get my sassy personality to show in my blog. I feel like I'm much more subdued and serious on my blog. (Am I? Or am I sassy?!) I have tons of good ideas for this one but I really feel that it takes a special writer to write good chick lit. And I consider good chick lit to fall under Judy Baer and Kristen Billerbeck stock. (And if you haven't read a book by them, you are missing out.)
• Maybe I want to write for a teen audience. Deep inside of me, tucked in a place that nobody gets access to, is this passion for teenagers. It's a small flame and something I don't talk about a lot. There's just something about teens, especially ones who struggle with faith, that gets to me. If I wrote a book for this audience, it would definitely be a little risky since I want to talk about real issues that real teens face. I don't want to sugarcoat anything, just because it's Christian fiction.
• There's a part of me who wouldn't mind writing a more romantic type of story, a la Denise Hunter and Rachel Hauck. A story with a more serious side to it, but devoid of all the cheesiness many romance novels have. Just a powerful story about redemption and love.

I'm still not sure what my niche is. And I'm not sure how I can keep writing if I don't know this very vital part of my writing. But I do have a more concrete idea of what three genre's interest me the most.

Now it's up to me to just write. I have stories. I have an abundance of stories. Now I need to dig through these stories and find the one that suits me the best and I feel I can write the most honestly about.

Creativity Challenge

On Monday, Ashley posted a challenge where she invited bloggers to join with her as she spends the month of July challenging herself creatively. She didn't give any strict parameters or put any restrictions for the month. The challenge is broad and vague but holds one key theme: creativity. You can challenge yourself through any means: photography, scrapbooking, writing, videos, blogging, design...whatever you want!

I'm taking on this challenge with her and other bloggers. I've been struggling for the longest time to get started on my novel, to stop wasting time and just write it. I've been so busy bouncing around other potential story ideas that would takes months and months of research to even begin to get started that I've let this story lay stagnant for over a year. Maybe because the story is not as exciting as my other ideas, maybe because it means digging deep into Christianity and myself, maybe because it's the only idea I've had that holds real weight and means this could become The Story one day. The Story that gets me published. The Story that turns me into an author.

For superstitious purposes, I don't want to go into detail on what my story is about. For now, let me be vague: it centers around a girl, age 18, as she heads off to college, leaving the comforts of home for the very first time. The End. (Yep. That's all I'm going to tell you about! Chew on that.)

My challenge is to begin the outlining process. While I read many writing blogs that give the pros and cons of outlining, I do believe I'm the type of writer who needs a strict outline. Whether or not my characters stick to the outline remains to be seen, but I do want to create an outline so I know what themes I want my story to be about, what struggles the character will face, and a basic overview of the plot.

Right now, all that's sitting in my "College Girl" file on my desktop is a two-paragraph synopsis, a list of background information I need to write about, and some questions about the main character's parents. (Are they high school sweethearts? Did they meet on a missions trip? Should I make her mother a different nationality than her father?) I really want to finish up writing up all the background information and start outlining my novel. I don't want to be too strict on myself and tell myself I have to have the entire process done, but I do want to at least have it started.

So there you have it. My Creativity Challenge for the month of July. Check out Ashley's blog for more about the challenge and to join in. I'll probably give weekly updates on my status and how the process is going. I hope you'll join me!

My Dream Job

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Growing up, I had two hobbies: reading and writing. I would devour The Baby-Sitter’s Club, Sweet Valley Twins, The Magic Attic Club, The Boxcar Children, The Gymnasts, etc. (Quality reading, I know.) The maximum number of children’s book you could check out at one time was 10. Every Saturday, I would check out 10 books, go home and read the first chapter of all of them, then put them in alphabetical order and read those ten books by the time the next Saturday rolled around.

I had notebook after notebook filled with potential stories. I’m always way more interested in creating characters and setting up their backgrounds than actually writing the stories. I wish there was a job market for that! I would get the 5-subject notebooks so I could create 5 different stories. Every once in a while I would actually begin to write the stories and I finished a few (pretty lame) ones.

I’ve never been able to stop reading and writing. Although, with this semester, I haven’t opened up a story in months which is very rare for me and I’m just itching to return to it. I read about 2 novels a week and I’m still a big fan of the library. (Why pay for books when I can get them for free?) I love perusing bookstores as well, but there’s just something special about libraries for me. They hold a unique place in my heart.

When I was younger, there was never a doubt in my mind that one day I would be a published author. I didn’t know if I would write children’s books or adult fiction, but I did know I would write. I would marry and become a stay-at-home mom, writing in my spare time. I never had illusions of being famous but knew I had millions of stories floating around in my head that needed to be told. I would tell them and all of my dreams would come true.

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I now know it’s not that easy. Breaking into the publishing world is hard. Writing an entire novel that grips people from start to finish, develops characters successful, and instills the right visual imagery? Even harder. I don’t have grand illusions anymore that writing novels can become a full-time job for me. I know that even published writers work other jobs, or their husbands work overtime or second jobs to keep food on the table.

But the drive is still in me. I know I have what it takes to become a writer, even though I’m not freelancing as much as I should, going to writing conferences, or even writing for my school newspaper. These are all things that aid writers in furthering their career and gain them positive experience in the writing field. I need to be doing these things.

I still have ideas that are itching to get out. I have so many stories that need to be told. God has just totally laid it on my heart that He wants me to glorify Him in this way. (Or maybe it’s just MY will.) Once I started my journalism path, I felt that I was living in God’s will for the first time in a long time. I wasn’t stumbling as much as I used to and when I got kicked down, it was easier to get up.

I’m on the right path. Now it’s just up to me to start turning down the right roads that will lead me to the published path.

NaNoWriMo: One Week Later

Remember this post? When I talked about how crazy I was for doing NaNoWriMo but that I liked the idea of a challenge?

Yeah...

It's been a week. And I've produced a total of zero words.

ZERO!

I started the process on Sunday, fully ready for the craziness that is writing 50,000 words in a month. I knew it was going to be hard and I probably wouldn't make so many words. But I wanted to just get a start on my manuscript. I just wanted to write down words on paper (or a Microsoft Word document, if you will).

And so, I started writing. I had an idea of what I wanted to write about. I knew about the setting and a vague outline in my head. I knew about the character and her family. I knew about some other, secondary characters. (And, more importantly, I knew who The Guy was going to be!)

And so I wrote. And wrote. And wrote. Less than 1,000 words later I realized something: I didn't like my character. The girl I was writing about was mean and snarky. She was rude and obnoxious. She was nothing like I imagined her in my mind.

In a sense, she wasn't someone I would want to be friends with. And since my character is supposed to be a somewhat sheltered preacher's kid...she wasn't exactly being consistent to her past. So I tossed it.

And I still sit at zero words. I know I need to go back to the drawing board and work on the details of my manuscript. I need to work on some character development, plot outlines, and scene setting. But my life is pretty busy, especially during the week.

I have work, then class, then homework, then more class, then more homework. And then I have to map out time for blog reading and writing. In short, I'm still not devoting enough time to this. And I need to.

So this is my goal for this week: I want to have character development and the plot outline completed. I want to sit down for at least an hour a day and work on the background of my story.

And I know I'm not going to make the cut this month. But if I shoot for 10,000 words this month and then another 10,000 for next month...and so on, then I will have accomplished something. Something more than having a great idea and keeping it in my head.

As If I'm Not Busy Enough...

I did something last weekend that I think I may end up regretting in a few weeks. Or maybe in a few days.

I signed up for NaNoWriMo, which runs for the whole month of November. NaNoWriMo challenges real and wannabe novelists alike to write 50,000 words in one month.

Five.

Thousand.

Words.

What have I gotten myself into? Do I not have enough on my plate with work and school and blogging and projects and reality television and sleep? I guess not.

For the past year or so, I've had a specific novel idea in my head. I haven't worked too hard on it because I don't have a lot of focus when it comes to novel writing. First of all, I've never done it. I've written outlines and I love writing about my characters. But I've never taken the final step to begin writing. It's such a big step. And I think I'm terrified of failing.

But I think NaNoWriMo will be the kick in the pants I need. I need to stop stalling and making excuses. I need to just sit down and WRITE! While I am a journalism major currently and I like the idea of working at a magazine, my number one dream is to become a novelist. And I want to be successful at it. But life has gotten so busy for me that I've put all writing by the wayside. I'm not even developing outlines for stories I'll never write right now! And that, my dear blog readers, is crazy talk.

So while I'm nervous and scared about NaNoWriMo, I'm also very, very excited. It boils down to writing 1,700 words a day. It's not about writing anything publishable. It's going to be very raw and very rough. It's just about writing. And I need to just start writing.

Anyone else trying out NaNoWriMo? Has anyone tried it before? Thoughts?