NaNoWriMo Winner, 2008. Hooray! November 26, 2008

I wrote the last almost-4000 words today of The Girl Next Door as if a watershed had been released. It reminded me of Chris Baty’s inspirational email likening the word trek of NaNoWriMo to a bicycle ride up a humongous hill.

Yesterday, I reached the zenith; I could feel it, feel the ride downhill beginning, the coasting and then the rocket-speed as the momentum built. The story exploded like fireworks on the Fourth of July and the ending was handed to me with love from the Muse, like a beautifully wrapped package tied with a bow.

My official word count by NaNoWriMo is 52,917. I had planned, going into my first NaNoWriMo with a 4,613 word story, to finish up at 54,613 for an official win.

However, it seems fate has taken charge, writing the book in the amount of words it felt was proper. I will, instead, consider an official win to be writing a book in a month — with every scene and chapter complete, with a solid beginning, middle and ending, with all loose ends tied up, and with a first draft so nailed down that the only editing needed will be typos or grammar fixes.

We’ve opened the champagne here, which for me means Martini and Rossi Asti, toasted the novel and all the hopes and dreams I have for it, and then I listened to my husband with one eyebrow raised (at least, I would if I could do it!) while he told me he knew all along that I had it in me.  

After all of this, after sitting for a few minutes alone, reading the last sentence over one more time, feeling the magic and savoring it, and thanking the Muse for the hundredth time, I still sit here in disbelief that my second novel is finished.

I know I have so much more to say on this subject, with NaNoWriMo being like a lantern in the novel-writing darkness, with all the golden lessons it taught me, and with all it showed me about my writing self, however, I’ll save that for next time. 

Right now, I feel more like a writer than I ever have before. Off I go to sit in the rocking chair under the bright winter stars and let the full weight of what I’ve just accomplished sink in.

But, before I do, I’m sending out serious heaps of inspiration to all you Wrimos out there, and big hugs to all my blogging friends wrimo-ing, too. 

In the end, after all, it’s all about the book — long live writing, and long live writers! 

   

What To Wear To NaNoWriMo. November 14, 2008

Obviously, you don’t have to be a fashion plate. Case in point — this photo of me in my writing studio, writing a funny part of my NaNo novel. My husband snuck up and snapped me working in the one place I could find some quiet that day, away from my frolicking, happy (barking) terriers.

 

So, what to wear to NaNoWriMo?

1) Your lucky shirt. Mine happens to be my “writing shirt”, a shirt from the Hemingway House Museum in Key West, Florida, that has on it, strangely enough, a picture of a black cat.

I mean, it can’t hurt to channel the masters, right? Plus, this is about the most comfortable t-shirt EVER — and it’s a great fit, especially if you’re only 7 1/2 lattes tall, as I happen to be, and you’re as picky about your t-shirts as I am.

2) Wear the most comfortable pants you can find — I took two pairs of oversized sweat pants and cut them into shorts. It’s still in the eighties here in the desert, at least during the day. If you must wear pants, wear sweats or something made out of soft material, or, loose jeans, if you like to write in jeans.

Since the creative process demands that you sit for hours at a time, forgetting about time and space and body (what body?) as you ride the flow of imagination, comfortable pants are your springboard. Trust me on this.

I wish I could say the boots and hat were strictly for luck, but the horses’ evening feed was only five minutes away, and the boots go on to feed and mingle with equines, and come off again as soon as I step out of the corral. (If you’ve ever had your foot stepped on by a one ton animal like I have, then the boots go on and you know what I mean.) The hat, simply enough, blocks the sun.

No matter what you’re wearing, if you’re an official NaNoWriMo participant, you’re most likely receiving NaNo’s writerly pep talks in your email-box. How cool is it, to read a pep talk from published author Katharine Paterson, only to realize by the end of it that she wrote Bridge To Terabithia, a Newbery Medal Award winner? 

As I finished the day, yesterday, with 25,173 words completed of my 54,613 word novel, I’m right on schedule and excited to be close to the half-way point. I want to send out some serious inspiration and creative contagion to everyone writing along. 

It’s a big, imaginary world out there – someone has to write it! So carry on, writers of the world, because a world without books would be a bleak, uninspired world, indeed.

The perfect NaNoWriMo breakfast!

Author’s Note: I held back on posting this post because the accompanying photos are so big. I’m having some sort of technical difficulty where wordpress isn’t allowing me to choose any other picture size besides large. I’m trouble-shooting it now. Sorry for the billboards! 

NaNoWriMo Hearts Me. November 5, 2008

“If one advances confidently in the direction of ones dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

Henry David Thoreau

My first NaNoWriMo experience, so far, has been a study in hard work and discipline, with both being extremely fun, creative and exhilarating in the process!

I can do it! I’m doing it! I’m so excited! 

I have 13,584 words as of today, and minusing the 4613 words I wrote before going into NaNo, (as I’m expanding a story into a novel), it leaves me with 8,971 NaNo words. I’m more than happy with my steady progress so far, and look forward each morning to another NaNo day.

I’m really loving the new set-up of specific, daily writing time and a daily word count. I’ve never counted words or pages before — and I’m very surprised to find that this new approach does not squealch my creativity nor tether my muse’s wings.

My goal of 1700 words a day, although I go over into 1800 and 1900 words, fits right into my schedule — after the morning feeding, but before the afternoon mucking. There is where you’ll find me, typing away.

It’s true, though, that I’m more tired than I’d usually be, but it’s the good kind of tired that comes with doing something hard and sticking to your word.   

My novel has jumped from five to fifty pages, and the slow build pulls from me something different than the waiting for inspiration, writing all night, writing-in-chaotic-chunks-or-nothing-at all, disorderly way I’ve always written.

NaNoWriMo, over all, is teaching me craft; feeding me 1700 words a day that validate my ability to write, to reach for the stars, to set a goal and meet it and even, yes, control the muse for a few lucky hours.

NaNoWriMo also underlines the good old work ethic, how nothing just falls into our laps, and how even novels are built up a little at a time, and over time. All you need to bring to the table is the will to do the work and the promise (to yourself) to follow through.

The universe will do the rest, really, funneling ideas through that invisible writer’s antennae wobbling on top of your head. The hardest part is letting go, and letting the word magic take over. But once you do, even if you’re disbelieving the words will come all the way up until you sit in front of the computer or paper, they’ll come – because you’re letting them. 

If you believe they’re there somewhere, they’ll come.

It’s the stunning writing secret NaNoWriMo has known all along.   

National Novel Writing Month! (NaNoWriMo) November 1, 2008

Don’t you just love the way NaNoWriMo flows off the tongue? Just the word itself is exciting.

Click here: National Novel Writing Month

Taking the advice of veteran NaNoWriMo participants, I’ve filled the dogs’ bowls with enough kibbles to last a month (wink), moved a whole tower of hay into the corral for the horses, (I think they even smiled at me, drooling), sat my blogs down and explained why their posts may be shorter, (it’s only for a month, my dears), said goodbye to my uneasy husband and gave him a kiss and a squeeze.

Wiping down my computer keyboard in a kind of baptism for the event, I cleared a space at the kitchen counter, a perfect NaNoWriMo place because I can continue to nurse spayed rescue dogs and stay close to the coffee pot.

Let’s go!

I’m all ready to begin the exciting, crazy, too cool NaNoWriMo journey, further energized by the thought of thousands of other writers pounding and scribbling away in other states and far off places — who knows, maybe there’s even a closet NaNo writer down the street or next door!

Did you know there’s a whole list of PUBLISHED novels that were conceived through NaNoWriMo? Even a New York Times Bestseller!

Click here: FAQ | National Novel Writing Month

This is my first NaNoWriMo. How could I have not known about this? 50,000 words for a 175 page novel written in 30 days, in pre-holiday November, and in consolation for having outgrown Halloween.

Don’t be surprised if you catch me dancing around the fire in a homemade headdress like a Ya Ya Priestess, only yelling NANO! NANO! 

I plan to have:

1) Fun fun FUN!

2) To send the inner-critic on vacation somewhere tropical with pink drinks

3) Not to edit until my 50,000 word goal is reached

4) To dazzle myself by doing something I wouldn’t necessarily believe was possible.

When I read the NaNo FAQ last night, I just knew I had to get in on it; my philosophy for writing parallels NaNo’s perfectly — don’t worry too much about specifics, just plunk your writerly butt down in the chair and be prepared to be amazed at what happens when you let the writing (magic) take over.

I’ve always found writing to happen just that way; once you start putting the words down on paper or screen, they multiply like naughty rabbits hopping off your fingertips. Where did that come from? When did I think that up? The best part is that it doesn’t matter — what matters is that you CAN — as soon as you sit down, let go, and get out of your own way.

My writing strategy will be 30 days divided into 50,000 words, averaging out to approximately 1700 words a day.

Wait a minute — are you reading this? What are you doing here, reading this? You better get back to your NaNoWriMo masterpiece! But first, get out your favorite mug, because Starbuck’s columbian whole-bean is a waterfall in my kitchen!

Before I get back to my own words-in-progress, let me leave you with a NaNoWriMo blessing:

May the ideas flood you in a glorious stream, delighting and comforting you in their abundance.

May NaNoWriMo be another way that you’re just too cool of a writer.

May the words be perfect even in their imperfection, bringing forth a viable first draft.

May you dazzle, delight, and amaze yourself most of all.

 Happy NaNoWriMo! Happy writing! Let the words begin!

Don’t forget to tag your NaNoWriMo-oriented posts with:

nanowrimo08 

Click here: WordPress.com » NaNoWriMo

(Today’s word count? 1825 words. I’m on my way!)

Author’s Note: I’m going into NaNoWriMo with a 4,613 word short story that I planned to expand into a novel. Therefore, I’ll finish up NaNoWriMo with a word count of 54,613 to make it an official finish.

If you’re interested in reading the beginning of my NaNo novel, you can find it here:

Click here: The Girl Next Door, First Five Pages. 

 

To follow my word count over the next month, please check out the live NaNoWriMo badge at the bottom of my blog.