Archive for the ‘NaNoWriMo’ Category
Confused
Posted on: November 26, 2009
How do you handle these two situations?
- When writing in Morgan’s POV, and say, her sister Alice receives a telephone call, the reader/Morgan will not know what the caller is saying, but only read/hear Alice’s side of the conversation, correct? But, if Morgan is alone, then the reader will read/hear the caller’s conversation as well. Correct?
- When Morgan is having a flashback, and she recalls something someone said, then I should use ‘single quotations’ around the quote, correct? See example:
The plans she and Blake had had when selecting their home flooded her thoughts. His words rang clearly as she remembered how he had explained, ‘Don’t worry how small it is now. There is plenty of room to grow.’ He had stood at the kitchen door with a hand on the knob, sporting his wide irresistible smile. The smile grew wider as he opened the door, motioning for her to follow out into the backyard. Holding his arms out wide, he had stepped off a large square, saying, ‘There is ample yard. We can add a family room here when we start having babies.’ She vividly recalled the kiss to her cheek he’d given her as he patted her stomach. Now where his kiss had been, she wiped away a tear and allowed one last time to grieve for the dreams that never came true.
Final Friday
Posted on: October 30, 2009
- In: NaNoWriMo | Writing
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It’s the Friday night before NaNo begins…
The trip into town today provided an opportunity for quiet time. While on the twenty mile stretch of curving country road, I listened carefully to the characters dialogue. They spoke of their interests, their sacrifices, their loves. Morgan and Blake both dropped large chunks of “stuff” in my lap and I didn’t have a tape recorder! I hope I have retained everything they shared.
Once in the store, I recalled over and over what they told me, then I was bombarded again. As I pushed the grocery cart, I turned and walked along a specific aisle and saw much more than the Wal-Mart products flanking both sides… an overwhelming sense of what Morgan is really like flooded my mind.
She’s in my heart totally now. And, now it’s up to me to get her on paper, to capture the heart of everyone who reads her story.
Morgan’s story begins 12:01 a.m., Sunday, November 1st.
The Next Time Around
- In: NaNoWriMo | Writing
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NaNoWriMo preparation….
To-do’s other than forming character descriptions & plotting:
- Explain, again, then again, to friends and family why you will have limited borrowed time to visit while meeting the challenge!
- Print out a November calendar. Annotate things such as:
- doctor appointments
- other commitments
- birthdays (schedule e-mail Happy Birthday’s by 10/31), and
- a *menu for each day
- Plan *menus
- Grocery shop
- Cook & freeze dinners
- Finish reading any and all non-fiction/fiction books you can muster!
- Select/ready “mood” music
- Select/ready candle fragrances
- Select/ready scented hand soap (we all are washing hands often, correct?)
- Select/ready special coffee/tea cup, maybe designated specifically for NaNo!
- Find the perfect glass for drinking that water!
- Locate isotonic fingerless theraputic gloves… don’t want hands to cramp at the wrong time!
- Find a timer to use: one hour max typing, then 15 minute break, then back to creating the story!
- Repeat over and over: I will do NO editing. I will do NO editing. I will do NO editing.
What do you do to prep for NaNoWriMo?
NaNoWriMo Prep
Posted on: October 10, 2009
- In: NaNoWriMo | Writing
- 4 Comments
Things to do before 12:01 a.m. November 1st!
Create one MS Excel that contains:
- Worksheet for each main character (pictures, vitals)
- Worksheet for major scene locations (pictures)
- Worksheet listing major secondary characters (pictures, too!)
- Back up Excel!
Complete character profiles:
- Morgan
- Alice (and her twin girls)
- Blake
- Gordon
- Flush out secondary characters and develop mini bio on each.
- Back up profiles!
Finish briefly plotting storyline
- Back up plot!
Explain, again, then again, to friends and family why I will be on limited borrowed time to visit while meeting the challenge!
Print out a November calendar and annotate:
- Doctor appointments
- Other commitments
- Birthdays (schedule e-mail Happy Birthday’s by 10/31)
- *Menu for each day
*Plan menus
Grocery shop
Cook & freeze dinners
Finish reading:
- Marc McCutcheon’s The Writer’s Digest Sourcebook for Building Believable Characters
- Linda Edelstein’s Writer’s Guide to Character Traits, in addition to all the wonderful blog articles others are posting!
Select/ready “mood” music: at least 3 different CD’s: celtic harp, classic (some Bach, Beethoven, Massenet, Gluck, and Mozart), Mason William’s classical guitar, and Yanni (as a standby). IMHO, nothing with lyrics as it will distract from what characters are talking about!
Select/ready candle fragrances: maybe rosemary, white linen, and the soy lavender sounds good.
Ready different scented soaps and hand lotions, to fit the different moods during the writing process!
Locate isotonic fingerless theraputic gloves… don’t want hands to cramp at the wrong time!
Find a timer to use: one hour max typing, then 15 minute break, then back to creating the story!
What else do I need to do?
Always, repeat over and over: I will do NO editing. I will do NO editing. I will do NO editing.
What do you do in prepping for NaNoWriMo?
It’s a rainy day
Posted on: October 4, 2009
- In: NaNoWriMo | Writing
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What happens here when it rains?
Many times I lose Internet connection because of the satellite dish, as is the case this morning. It comes and goes. It usually goes about three minutes before the next downpour! I’m offline anywhere from five minutes to hours at a time.
The low-water crossing becomes impassable, as is, I’m almost certain, the case today. The creek will eventually recede, it always does. Sometimes it takes 2-3 hours, other times 14-16 hours. It’s not fun being caught on the other side of the raging high waters and can’t get home!
I’m not complaining. We are blessed to get this rain. Drought conditions have been with us all summer. The runoff is filling the stock tank nicely and we need this for the cattle!
It’s a good day to work on my NaNoWriMo novel–
I write this and hopefully will get to post during a break in the storms. In the meantime, I’m plotting (something I’ve never done before) the new project for the National Novel Writing Month competition. The competition begins 12:01 a.m. November 1st. Thirty days & nights, to write 50,000 words!
Barring any emergencies, my personal deadline is Tuesday, November 24th. I want to get it done before heading north to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. Doing the math, that’s 2083.33333 words a day!
While setting up my main & supporting characters (Morgan, Blake, Kyle, and Alice), dates fell into place… goosebumps went up my arms!
For example, I first picked the number 17 for 17 months when something will happen (while talking this out with DH, I told him I had no clue why I picked 17) then I put a pen/paper to it to add/subtract different things… magic happened! It worked out perfectly! How/why did this happen? My characters were already talking to me and I didn’t consciously hear them!!!
I will not share any more now, or as I go, anything about the story. Suffice it to say, it’s a contemporary romance and has a working title The Next Time Around. Beginning November 1st, you can follow my progress here.
If you are a member of NaNoWriMo, I would love to be a writing buddy!
Lanetta J. Sprott 