Camp NaNoWriMo, June 2012!

I'm sure many people have heard of NaNoWriMo. (That's National Novel Writing Month, for anyone who doesn't know.) NaNo usually takes place during the month of November. The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I've done it twice now, in November, and I've "won" both times.

However, they are also doing summer camp NaNo, in June and August. I did a summer NaNo last year, and "won" that time, too. The nice thing about NaNo is that its more of a focus: it helps you concentrate on your work and not to let yourself get distracted by shiny things.

Also, you don't have to write a complete, fully edited, 50,000-word manuscript that's a piece of art and ready to submit now. You can use it for whatever you need it for. The last three times I've used it to fully draft novels that I was procrastinating on, and just needed to get written. This time, I have a novel I've completed, but the revisions are killing me. I'm trying to avoid them, and that's always a bad thing. So, I'm using NaNo to completely revise my manuscript.

How about you? Are you going to participate? If so, welcome to Camp NaNoWriMo!

And you can still enter for a chance to win HORSE CHARMER, a novel by author Angelia Almos, whose new book UNICORN KEEP was released April 30, 2012. You've got mere hours left, so hurry down!

God bless

Cat

Wednesday, Words and Worlds

I'm doing a summer NaNoWriMo right now, and the thing I love about NaNo is that it allows you to write without worrying about editing. In fact, as I write, I'm discovering nuances about my world that I hadn't really fleshed out yet, and I simply input it into the story for later, so as I'm going through and editing I've got this tidbit of a gem that screams "REVELATION!" at me.

I love world-building. It's something I absolutely adore to do. In bed at night I sometimes think up a character who has these specific powers, and it is SUCH fun coming up with a world that explains these powers and makes them acceptable. I love that whole element of writing.

My favourite world-building comes from places that I've seen, or lived in, and have experienced.

For instance, awhile ago at work, I thought of this dialogue between two characters, one who is older, and the other who is the flippant MC.
It went something like this:

"Life," said Oldie expansively, lifting his glass to the sun and watching the light dance within the crimson depths, "is like a glass of wine."
He paused, and I waited for him to go on, but he didn't. He just stood there with his glass, and seemed lost in a reverie.
I guess that was all the information he was going to impart at this moment. Joy. I got to wait until tomorrow to see why life was like a glass of wine.
Tomorrow, I doubted I'd care.

Somehow, I visualized this MC as a boy, somewhat flippant and street-smart, but I had no setting for him. I simply had a bit of dialogue, and a definite opinion of who he was: a thief, a (sometimes) brat, but a lovable, loving character at heart.

Then I went to Scotland, and WHAM! I had found my setting. Scotland is the home for this thieving MC, a stone city more ancient than the hills, and filled with a magic that has yet to be born.

I'm into the world-building part now, and that is such fun, because the land is going to resemble Scotland, but there are going to be very different rules for my world, especially concerning magic.

Yay! A new story!

In fact, that story is my NaNo novel. Isn't that something? And, you know what's more exciting?  I can see a trilogy being born. Which means, I don't have to let go of my MC sooner than I need to. DOUBLE huzzah!

God bless. :)
Cat

No longer sprummer!!

I love summer. It is by far my absolutely favourite season.

Sure, I love autumn when the trees seem to burn beneath their flaming-bright leaves, and I love spring when the green and growing earth begins to waken. Winter I like up until January 6th, and then I've looked forward to and celebrated all the best holidays that winter can offer, and I start looking forward to spring.

But summer is the best, to me.

There's swimming, for one thing. Who loves to swim? Raise your hand. Yep, me too. There's something about the cool green light within the lake and the utter tranquility that comes over you when you're swimming. I love lying beneath the waves, holding myself down on the golden sand, and listening to the heartbeat of the water. LOVE that.

There's also amateur soccer. Our little dog is a soccer fiend. We use him as the goalie, 'cause he's really good at blocking our goals. Wicked dog! LOL. I can be a tad aggressive when it comes to that sport, and my attitude, when one of the little girls falls down and makes a rumpus, is "Suck it up. Get up, walk it off, be tough! C'MON! No one CARES about your scuffed-up shins!"

There's badminton, too. Such fun! In fact, we spent quite a while outside today playing in teams of two, and there is an enormous feeling of satisfaction when you whack that little birdie into the sky. I have a particularly favourite technique that I employ when I'm feeling particularly competitive. My sisters call it the wasp, 'cause I whack the birdie in such a way that it comes whizzing down at a rough speed of 60-70 mph. Usually I'm quite good at sending it buzzing over my opponents shoulder, and I'll have to say the whistle it makes as it speeds past your ear is something else.

Oh, and there's also Camp NaNoWriMo. I know, right? I thought NaNoWriMo only ever occurred in November, but there's also a July NaNoWriMo being hosted. Since I'm not insane enough, I am participating in this crazy ordeal. Currently I'm on about 3600 words, and since there's an extra day in July (31 days instead of November's 30) there's a slightly lesser word count needed to be met each day. In November, average word count per day in order to reach the required 50,000 is about 1,667 words. In July, the average word count per day is about 1,613 words. Since this is the second day, and the amount I should be at is 3226, I'm quite pleased with my word count right now. Yay, camp!!

Well, that's all for now. Have a lovely Saturday! God bless.
Cat