Begin writing. At this point, you'll be able to begin updating your word count on the Author Info tab of the Edit Profile page. You can do this on the honor system by just typing in the number, or you can paste the whole book in and let our robots count it for you. If you paste your book, please scramble it first, using instructions in our FAQ. You can also post an excerpt of your book in the same area of the Edit Profile page.
The turn-out so far has been phenomenal. Between our main program and Young Writers Program, we'll have over 90,000 authors on board by the end of the week, making this officially the largest NaNoWriMo since the event was first adapted from an Andorran mule-wrestling ceremony back in 1999.
Hello fellow NaNoWriters and Good Luck!
Wednesday 31 October 2007
NaNoWriMo Starts Tomorrow
Email from NaNoWriMo: The secret of NaNoWriMo is this: There is a door in your brain. The door has been there your whole life. You may not have noticed it before because it blends in with everything else in your brain. So what does this door have to do with your novel? Your job this month is not so much writing a book (which is intimidating) as it is finding that door (which is easy). It's easy because you'll have guides in November who will take you right to it. These guides are also known as your characters. They're kind of an abstract notion now, but you'll meet them in all their glory in Week One of NaNoWriMo. They'll be a strange lot. Insecure warlocks. Stamp-collecting squirrels. Teenage detectives. Whoever shows up, go with them. And go quickly. You may have a general sense of where you're going together; you may not. It doesn’t matter. Just write your allotment of 1667 words (or more) on November 1. Don't edit any of it. Editing is for December. Then come back and write another 1667 words the next day. And the next. And the next.
By Week Two, you'll be at the door. A few words later, you'll be through it. You'll know you're there because the writing will feel different. Less like work, and more like watching a gloriously imperfect movie with cringe-worthy dialogue, heaps of confusing tangents, and moments of brilliance so delightful that you'll want to scream. Once you've stepped through that door into the vast reaches of your imagination, you'll be able to return there as often as you like. It's an enchanted, intoxicating place, and there are other great things besides novels in there.
By Week Two, you'll be at the door. A few words later, you'll be through it. You'll know you're there because the writing will feel different. Less like work, and more like watching a gloriously imperfect movie with cringe-worthy dialogue, heaps of confusing tangents, and moments of brilliance so delightful that you'll want to scream. Once you've stepped through that door into the vast reaches of your imagination, you'll be able to return there as often as you like. It's an enchanted, intoxicating place, and there are other great things besides novels in there.
Saturday 27 October 2007
Title, Theme and Plotting
There’s a little black spot on the sun today
It’s the same old thing as yesterday
So, blurb (just about) cracked and plot ideas coming to me thick and fast, decided I needed a title. Now, I have an idea to start the novel with some lyrics from The Police song King of Pain (album Synchronicity - 1983) so I thought about taking a line from the song as my title. Unfortunately they all seem either too long or complete nonsense when shortened. So, working title at the moment is Black Spot, but it fails dismally to set off any of the Why, What, How? questions a title should. I think I need to define my theme – what does my novel really say?
So how are we going to Plot this novel? I have read, heard and met many authors and none seem to write in the exact same way. Because of the nature of the challenge, I think the best way to write this novel (in a month) is to locate the Starting position, have a Rough Map in my pocket; have some idea of where I am going, and what the Ending should look like…
What a lot of the books and authors do agree on however, is that a Novel should start at a point approaching a crisis. I started to watch a new adaptation of Frankenstein on TV the other night; where the story on the screen started at the moment when the monster is loose and then cuts back to show how the monster got there! That got me gripped for a while, but then the story kind of fell apart.....but they had certainly read the formulae for a Gripping start i.e. Set seeds, introduce characters etc.
It’s the same old thing as yesterday
So, blurb (just about) cracked and plot ideas coming to me thick and fast, decided I needed a title. Now, I have an idea to start the novel with some lyrics from The Police song King of Pain (album Synchronicity - 1983) so I thought about taking a line from the song as my title. Unfortunately they all seem either too long or complete nonsense when shortened. So, working title at the moment is Black Spot, but it fails dismally to set off any of the Why, What, How? questions a title should. I think I need to define my theme – what does my novel really say?
So how are we going to Plot this novel? I have read, heard and met many authors and none seem to write in the exact same way. Because of the nature of the challenge, I think the best way to write this novel (in a month) is to locate the Starting position, have a Rough Map in my pocket; have some idea of where I am going, and what the Ending should look like…
What a lot of the books and authors do agree on however, is that a Novel should start at a point approaching a crisis. I started to watch a new adaptation of Frankenstein on TV the other night; where the story on the screen started at the moment when the monster is loose and then cuts back to show how the monster got there! That got me gripped for a while, but then the story kind of fell apart.....but they had certainly read the formulae for a Gripping start i.e. Set seeds, introduce characters etc.
Wednesday 24 October 2007
I Remember
The initial idea for this novel came from a workshop I did with Rod Duncan http://www.rodduncan.co.uk/ (there's a video on the site somewhere of our group).
One of his exercises involved us 'remembering'.
I wrote at the time: I remember the first time I saw him it wasn’t the tattoos I saw but his piercing blue eyes. I remember the smell as we walked into the house for the first time. I remember when Michael disappeared from the back seat of the car. I remember the large field and the trampled corn behind the house on the ridge. I remember the pool so blue and so still in the early morning before anyone else had woken up. I remember wearing a white blouse with a black pattern on for the funeral. I remember meeting his wife and knowing it wouldn’t last. I remember Caroline when she was three stone heavier and laughed more…..
Rod then passed round a number of items and told to sniff! We were then asked to write a piece based on our feelings / memories. I wrote: When I was nearly 15 I had a friend who told me that the juice of a lemon bleached your hair. She also told me that it would be all right if we stayed out all night down the riverbank with some boys. I had believed her then as well.
This exercise set off a thousand ideas and memories, and forms the basis of the novel I hope to write in the next month.
One of his exercises involved us 'remembering'.
I wrote at the time: I remember the first time I saw him it wasn’t the tattoos I saw but his piercing blue eyes. I remember the smell as we walked into the house for the first time. I remember when Michael disappeared from the back seat of the car. I remember the large field and the trampled corn behind the house on the ridge. I remember the pool so blue and so still in the early morning before anyone else had woken up. I remember wearing a white blouse with a black pattern on for the funeral. I remember meeting his wife and knowing it wouldn’t last. I remember Caroline when she was three stone heavier and laughed more…..
Rod then passed round a number of items and told to sniff! We were then asked to write a piece based on our feelings / memories. I wrote: When I was nearly 15 I had a friend who told me that the juice of a lemon bleached your hair. She also told me that it would be all right if we stayed out all night down the riverbank with some boys. I had believed her then as well.
This exercise set off a thousand ideas and memories, and forms the basis of the novel I hope to write in the next month.
Preparation is Key
Feeling pleased with myself as I think I have just about cracked the plot. I spent yesterday going through the cuttings I have saved regarding missing children / abductions, as well as other articles of interest I have collected over the years.
I attempted to write a blurb for the book. It's only in draft form at the moment, so I am keeping it to myself. But it's a start...
I attempted to write a blurb for the book. It's only in draft form at the moment, so I am keeping it to myself. But it's a start...
Monday 22 October 2007
Inspirational Quotes
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about. (Benjamin Franklin)
Even if you're on the right track, if you're just sitting there ... you'll still get run over. (Will Rogers)
Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone. (Pablo Picasso)
A house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived. (Rose Macaulay)
You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair. (Chinese Proverb)
You can spend your life trying to be popular but, at the end of the day, thesize of the crowd at your funeral will be largely dictated by the weather. (Frank Skinner)
Even if you're on the right track, if you're just sitting there ... you'll still get run over. (Will Rogers)
Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone. (Pablo Picasso)
A house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived. (Rose Macaulay)
You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair. (Chinese Proverb)
You can spend your life trying to be popular but, at the end of the day, thesize of the crowd at your funeral will be largely dictated by the weather. (Frank Skinner)
First Lines
The girl screamed once, only the once. (Ian Rankin / Knots and Crosses)
She had just over three hours to live, and I was sipping grapefruit juice and tonic in the hotel bar. (Jack Harvey / Bleeding Hearts)
When Edward Carney said goodbye to his wife, Percey, he never thought it would be the last time he’d see her. (Jeffery Deaver / The Coffin Dancer)
As soon as he opened the door, he could hear the screaming. It ripped through the damp air and shrieked in the yews. It echoed from the gravestones and died against the walls. It was like the sound of an animal, dying in pain. Yet this sound was human. (Stephen Booth / Blind to the Bones)
She had just over three hours to live, and I was sipping grapefruit juice and tonic in the hotel bar. (Jack Harvey / Bleeding Hearts)
When Edward Carney said goodbye to his wife, Percey, he never thought it would be the last time he’d see her. (Jeffery Deaver / The Coffin Dancer)
As soon as he opened the door, he could hear the screaming. It ripped through the damp air and shrieked in the yews. It echoed from the gravestones and died against the walls. It was like the sound of an animal, dying in pain. Yet this sound was human. (Stephen Booth / Blind to the Bones)
Don’t ask; What happens if I do?
Ask; What happens if I don’t.
The trouble with wanting to be a full time writer - other than the lack of wage slips coming in - is that it is a huge gamble. I could spend the next year writing everyday to be told at the end of it that I have written a pile of rubbish!! But how will I know unless I try? It's a question of belief! We all need to follow what feels good and right and ignore the doubts.
Having been through a rough time over the last few months, I realise now how important it is to increase your positive experiences and the things that bring you pleasure. We all need to identify what is really important in our lives. We all need to follow our dreams and desires. Live fearlessly and passionately and don't settle for second best!!
The trouble with wanting to be a full time writer - other than the lack of wage slips coming in - is that it is a huge gamble. I could spend the next year writing everyday to be told at the end of it that I have written a pile of rubbish!! But how will I know unless I try? It's a question of belief! We all need to follow what feels good and right and ignore the doubts.
Having been through a rough time over the last few months, I realise now how important it is to increase your positive experiences and the things that bring you pleasure. We all need to identify what is really important in our lives. We all need to follow our dreams and desires. Live fearlessly and passionately and don't settle for second best!!
The Only Consequence is what we Do!!
Today is the 22nd October. It is nine days since I handed in my notice at work and became a full time writer - or as some might say 'unemployed'.
What have I done in those nine days? Well, I call it preparation....
I have decided that in order to give myself a running start at this full time writing lark I will attempt to complete the Write a Novel in a Month Challenge (NaNoWriMo for short). Details at: http://www.nanowrimo.org/ The challenge runs every year from the 1st to the 30th November and the idea is to write 50,000 words of your novel - from scratch - during the month. That works out at 1667 words a day!! I figure if I can spend a month doing that many words a day with a deadline pushing me on, once the novel is written and the challenge over it will be easy to keep on writing...
I have actually not been working for about 3 months now, but until the 12th October I was signed off sick. The story of that episode is on my other Blog, but I can honestly say that I didn't feel very much like doing anything much until the beginning of October. Prior to that I had been doing a lot of reading so I suppose my time was not entirely wasted in terms of writing.
At the beginning of October I decided I was serious about this writing lark and gave myself 10 things to complete within a week. The list included sorting / cleaning a number of areas of my life, finishing a book review of Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn for the local paper (since published), organising notes taken on various topics, updating 'To Do' lists and finish reading a number of collected articles, books etc. These items were all ticked off except for 'Research the New Novel'. And then I found out about NaNoWriMo..... If anyone decides to join me, my profile is: JoBoz
What have I done in those nine days? Well, I call it preparation....
I have decided that in order to give myself a running start at this full time writing lark I will attempt to complete the Write a Novel in a Month Challenge (NaNoWriMo for short). Details at: http://www.nanowrimo.org/ The challenge runs every year from the 1st to the 30th November and the idea is to write 50,000 words of your novel - from scratch - during the month. That works out at 1667 words a day!! I figure if I can spend a month doing that many words a day with a deadline pushing me on, once the novel is written and the challenge over it will be easy to keep on writing...
I have actually not been working for about 3 months now, but until the 12th October I was signed off sick. The story of that episode is on my other Blog, but I can honestly say that I didn't feel very much like doing anything much until the beginning of October. Prior to that I had been doing a lot of reading so I suppose my time was not entirely wasted in terms of writing.
At the beginning of October I decided I was serious about this writing lark and gave myself 10 things to complete within a week. The list included sorting / cleaning a number of areas of my life, finishing a book review of Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn for the local paper (since published), organising notes taken on various topics, updating 'To Do' lists and finish reading a number of collected articles, books etc. These items were all ticked off except for 'Research the New Novel'. And then I found out about NaNoWriMo..... If anyone decides to join me, my profile is: JoBoz
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