Category: NaNo


I Think My Muse is (Finally) Back from Vacation….

Filed under: revisions, procrastination, NaNo, faerie story, Chasing Shadows — 4 Comments
May 21, 2012

So, I haven’t done any writing to speak of in…oh…a year and a half. I know, right? The horror! Seriously, I’m not sure how I’ve managed to stay sane without it. (Okay. Sanity is relative. And people who know me would say I’m sort of dangling off that cliff anyway…). Ahem. Anyway. I’ve been taking classes for basically the last two years, but I’m taking this summer off, and writing is definitely on the agenda. Two separate novels, in fact. And I’m planning on revising another one (FINALLY). Also, my crit group is–hopefully–going to be active again after over two years of not-much-of-anything-going-on, so I’m hoping to put the faerie story (Chasing Shadows) through it as well.

I didn’t get to do NaNo last year, since I had too much else going on, so I’m going to give Camp NaNoWriMo a try in June. I’m sure if I can write 100k in November–twice–I can write at least 50k in June. Just to get back in the swing of things.

Hello, Muse. So good to see you again!

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Another Year’s Goals

Filed under: 2YN, Chasing Shadows, faerie story, goals, NaNo, querying, real life, revisions, werewolf story, Witches, writing, zombie story — Leave a comment
January 3, 2011

I don’t do “resolutions” per se, but I do set goals at the beginning of every year. I don’t always reach them, but I strive to do my best to get there. This year, I didn’t set a lot of goals. I know it’s going to be a busy year, what with finding a new job and continuing my back-to-school journey, so I didn’t want to over-reach myself and get distracted. That being said, here are my goals for the year:

1) Revise Chasing Shadows
2) Revise Witches
3) Complete the 2YN2 story (probably about 40k left to write)
4) Completely re-do and finish the sequel to Werewolves for Dummies
5) Do NaNo

As far as non-writing-related goals, I only have two:

6) Complete a half marathon (“complete” meaning some walking is okay)
7) Carry a 4.0 in school

Of course, “revise the zombie story” will hopefully be added in sometime this year. And I should mention that the NaNo story will probably be something new and completely different…NOT a sequel to anything else. I have some ideas percolating…I can feel them. I’m currently querying Werewolves for Dummies, and I’ll start querying Chasing Shadows when I’m done revising it, as well.

So, yeah, those are all my goals for the years. Anyone else setting any for the year?

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Filed under: NaNo, real life, werewolf story — Leave a comment
November 28, 2010

I am DONE! Yay! Okay, so the story isn’t actually done. Far from it, actually, but I am done with it for now. Now I need to focus on finals this week, getting everything transferred so I can start school back in Texas in January, the actual move, and, you know, finding a job! But I’m through with NaNo! Done and won five years in a row now. I actually only wrote 17 days out of 28, which averages out to around 3k a day. Not too bad. Now, I’m off to much more mundane writing: my Sociology final.

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Not Going So Well…

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November 15, 2010

Time to write has been at a premium lately, and I’m afraid I haven’t accomplished much. Writing, that is. I’ve accomplished a lot of other things (packing, homework, studying, working), but very little writing. However, I did get 4k in yesterday, bringing my total up to 15k for the month. In other words, only about 8k behind pace…I intend to be caught up this week, since everything is (mostly) packed, and almost all my homework is done for the week/semester (Just have to worry about finals in a couple of weeks.). The story is still flowing pretty well, and I just met my villain, so it should get very interesting very soon.

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NaNo Week One

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November 7, 2010

Week One of NaNo is over, and I’m sitting at 8,001 words. I’m happy with that, considering I only wrote four of those days, and 8,000 was my goal. I only have one more chapter outlined, so I need to work on that ASAP and figure out what comes next.

My best friend was in town this weekend, so we did a bunch of NOLA stuff. Had a lot of fun. We went to the French Quarter Friday night. Saw all sorts of things, which is always a given down there. Had the most amazing ice cream ever (Amaretto flavored Italian ice cream, yum!). Went to the French Market and shopped on Magazine Street. Went to St. Louis No. 1 cemetery and saw Marie Laveau’s grave (That thing always gives me the creeps!). Then, today, we went to the Louisiana Ren Faire and had a blast! We decided that next year we’re going back to Scarborough Faire in Texas, and we’re getting costumes. That should be entertaining.

And that’s about it, other than the time change beating me down! It always takes me a while to adjust, so I’m off to get some much-needed sleep.

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Ready for NaNo?

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October 31, 2010

I’m not. Not even remotely. I have only the most vague, fuzzy ideas for plot. I have a few ideas for general conflict. I have nothing more than a hint of a couple of new characters I need. So, basically, I guess I’ll be winging it this year. I’m not super thrilled about that, but I know it will all work itself out. And if not, well, there’s always revisions…

Good luck to everyone else out there doing NaNo!

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Final Countdown…

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October 24, 2010

…to NaNo, that is. Yes, I finally made up my mind: I’m going for it again this year! This will be my fifth year, and I’ve won every year. The last two years, I’ve set myself the personal goal of 100k, and I hit it both years. This year…I’ll be thrilled with 50k. I work full-time, I’m going to school full-time, and just for fun, I’m prepping for an out-of-state move the first week in December (Me? Trying to do too much? Nah…I’d never do that.).

I just decided two days ago what I’m going to write. While I have the beginnings of an awesome YA paranormal fantasy involving ancient Greek mythology, I don’t have time to develop that world as fully as it deserves. So…I’m going to be writing the sequel to my werewolf story. Most of the basic character development is already done, so I just have to come up with a few new characters and a plot. “Just”…Ha. (Cue manic laughter now…)

Good luck to anyone else out there about to embark on the insanity that is NaNo!

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Update Stuff

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October 3, 2010

Well, midterms are behind me now, thank goodness! I’ve been so busy with school stuff I haven’t had time to do much of anything else. No blogging. No writing. Not as much gym time as there should have been, and definitely not enough sleeping! I don’t know if that will get better or worse before the end of the semester…

For various reasons that I can’t currently get into, I don’t expect to be very prolific on this blog for at least the next couple of months. Possibly in December, if everything goes well.

I’ve been thinking about doing NaNo. Toying with the idea. I really WANT to…I’ve done it four straight years, and it’s something I enjoy, I’m just not sure if I’ll have time this year, what with the four classes and all. Plus, my best friend is coming in for a visit the first weekend of the month, so there goes three writing days (Because I’d MUCH rather hang out with her than stare blankly at a computer screen!) But…I think I’ll probably end up doing it again this year, although probably only with the 50k goal, unlike the 100k I’ve shot for (and hit) the last two years. We’ll see. (Now if I only knew which story I was going to write…)

I’m subbing the Werewolf story right now. Have had some partial requests, but nothing else so far. I love this story a lot, so I hope it finds a home.

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It’s All Coming Back to Me Now…

Filed under: NaNo, real life, revisions, writing — Leave a comment
August 31, 2010

How much work school is, that is. Seriously. I’d forgotten just how busy it kept me, and that was when I was taking regular classes. And not working a full-time job. Online classes are just as much work (if not more), and I haven’t had time to do any writing in the past…week and a half or so. Nor any revising. At all. And I’ve decided not to worry about it. I’ve got the bulk of my homework done this week already, and I only have two quizzes to study for (as opposed to the three quizzes and a test I had last week), so if I get time, I’ll do some writing. Or maybe some revising. And if I don’t get time, well, I’ve given myself permission not to stress about it.

I’m still trying to decide whether or not I’ll be doing NaNo this year. The thought of NOT doing it bothers me a lot, I’ve done it the last four years, and I enjoy it. Yet, logically, time will probably be an issue, even though we don’t have classes the week of Thanksgiving, and I could probably get a lot done. Guess I’ll have to see. I have finals the first week of December, and I’ll be moving back to Texas shortly thereafter (Yay for going home!), with all that entails, so I’ll just have to wait and see. For now, I’m just trying to take it one day at a time.

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Done!

Filed under: faerie story, NaNo, revisions, writing — 2 Comments
December 1, 2009

I finally finished the story today. Finally. I got seriously behind last week, and it took some major hours at the computer to get where I wanted to be (10k on Saturday, 10k again on Sunday, 4k today), but I finished. I accomplished two things this month: 1) I hit 100,000 words, and 2) I wrote every single day. Granted, a few days it was only a couple of hundred words, and one day, I know it was only 15 words, but still. I wrote every day. And I’m happy that I did, thrilled that I got the entire first draft down.

Is the story finished? Absolutely not. It’s going to sit for at least two months, probably longer, and then I’m going to revise it. It needs it. Parts of it need a lot of revising. Parts of it, hopefully only a little. The characters surprised me a lot. Mina’s boss, Richard, was way nicer than I imagined him. And Phoenix…well, Phoenix turned out not be quite the hard **s I thought he was going to be. And I think that’s a good thing. I still like him a lot, though, and right now, I’m actually looking forward to doing the revision on this.

And speaking of revision, I’m in the first class of Holly Lisle’s How To Revise Your Novel, which I’m really excited about, because hey, I don’t like revisions. I know the story needs fixed, I just…usually don’t know how to go about it. So I’m hoping this will give me the tools I need to figure that out and make the story (stories) stronger.

Congratulations to everyone who did NaNo, winners or not. Yay! /cheerleading

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