NaNo, NaNo, NaNo

It’s that time of year again. November is nearly upon us, and you know what that means, right?

*wiggles fingers and shakes out wrists*

No, I’m not talking about Halloween and dressing up and candy. Nor am I talking about the big turkey day complete with stuffing and pie. Or even all the excitement that is December. (Although, all those things are definitely worth anticipating.)

*rolls head from side-to-side*

Thousands of authors around the world are gearing up for this epic event. Are you ready? Yes?

*Does some full body stretching and ties on running shoes*

November is National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, in which we all take a shiny new idea and sprint-write a book of at least 50,000 words in thirty days. Yes, you read that right. Thirty days. 3-0. I will be participating. Yes, I have an idea and characters and a non-outline, but a general direction.

And I am hereby announcing my intention to complete this challenge by midnight, November 30th. Wanna join? Check out the website, read the rules, and sign up. It’s free. It’s fun. It’s a great way to get that fiction novel written—or at the very least stretch your creative side longer, wider, and harder.

And when you do sign up, look for me! I’ll come be your NaNo friend. On your mark, get set, GO!

**Also, since November is all about giving thanks, I will be hosting some awesome follower appreciation giveaways—so be sure to keep your eyes open for those announcements.

With a Little Help from My Friends

This summer my friend Windy and I made a pact. We have this goal to finish the rough draft of our works in progress (one each) together, almost as a writing marathon—or more accurately, a sprint.

Truth: I don’t know if I’ll actually get my draft finished by the end of August.

But. I’ve made LOTS of progress, and am happy. I expect to have a livable draft by the official calendar end of summer (Sept 20th). And even though Windy feels doubtful about her progress, I suspect she’ll finish by then as well.

Here’s how it goes: every night, we meet via Twitter and support each other in our #amwriting attempt. As soon as we get started, others inevitably join us and we have a nice party of support. And because I know that someone else is there, waiting for me, I have extra motivation to show up and get to work.

Whether or not I finish the full draft, I’ve made progress. I’m so much farther along than I was when we started this challenge.

It helps tremendously to have someone working along with me, to have someone expecting something from me. Have you found this to be true as well? Who expects progress from you? (If you answer no one, come play with us on Twitter! We’ll get you going.)

In Case You're Wondering...

My tree is up and decorated to not clash with the scarecrows and turkeys on the piano.

My house is mostly clean--except the bathrooms which I will tackle head-on first thing Wednesday.

My fridge (both in the kitchen and in the garage) is full of good food ready to be prepared.

Dinner is planned, people invited, time set, and the turkey is out to thaw before brining. 

The launch party plans are coming along nicely, and the promotional items ordered.

I have officially passed the 50,000 word mark on my National Novel Writing Month project, though I'm still hard at work aiming for the two magic words, the end.

During the month of November, I've had very little sleep, my house has been a wreck (until this week) and I didn't actually go to the grocery store until we had absolutely no food for the kids to eat. But I started a new book, which is now close to finished, I edited my other book and sent it to press. The launch is scheduled, along with some signings, and Thanksgiving, the day of eating, being thankful, and strategy planning, is in one day.  Friday?  We shop. Heaven help us! And yes, I'll be bringing my notebook to pass the time waiting in line.

In case you see me, notebook balanced on a cart overloaded with stuff, trying to write sideways with a pen that keeps running out of ink, don't try to talk to me--I'll be writing!

Up To The Challenge!

By Nichole (Duh!)



I suppose, being that it's already July 3rd, that perhaps I should map out my goals for Tristi Pinkston's July writing challenge. Considering how I'm participating this month, and all.



In April, I had some big, lofty plans for what I hoped to accomplish. But as it turned out, April was just not my month for writing, or editing, or even cleaning my house. And...I didn't get much of anything done. So, basically I blew the whole challenge. I was not up to it.



However, July is an entirely different story. For one thing, even though my kids are out of school for summer break, I will not have to carve out four or five days for a "spring break" family trip. (Our summer trip is weeks in the past, so that's a good thing.) Also, the Storymaker's conference isn't this month. I know I'm not involved in the planning for that conference, per-se, but because my writer's group is sponsored by the Storymakers, there was lots of plotting and planning going on--especially for social things among ourselves. We sure are quite the chatty bunch when we get together. Plus, we just don't see each other nearly often enough. Then, take away Easter (which requires shopping and preparation that the July holidays don't) and my daughter's birthday, and...yeah. July is looking more productive. I hope.
So--short story long--my official goal is going to be realistic enough to reach. Because, even given all the things I just listed, it's still summer, the kids are still out of school, and I still end up staying up late into the night if I want to write.


This month I'm planning to add 30,000 words to my work in progress--hopefully bringing it to a conclusion or coming close enough that I can go back and do some serious rewrites that will help shape the plot. That way, when I take my chapters to critique, I will know they're relevant.



Ta da! That's it.



Wish me luck!




PS. There's still time to enter my summer rocks contest. See the post below for details!