NaNoWriMo Madness and Mayhem

I know. It’s a little dramatic, but I wanted to get your attention!

I first heard about NaNoWriMo a few months back before joining the RWA. At the time I thought it was a great concept, but that was it. Great concept, nice idea, sounds promising, might be fun, not really for me…

Well, a few months down the track and my perspective has changed. It’s amazing how becoming a member of an organisation and developing a support network has me singing a different tune!

I’ve met (well not literally, but online) a number of wonderful people who have gently cajoled (pushed/shoved/forced) me into committing to this wonderful challenge. I’m not feeling the slightest bit of pressure (she says as the sweat drips all over her keyboard).

All kidding aside, I think it’s a wonderful way of trying to achieve a dream. It can be is as big as deal as you make it, or it can be just a hell of a lot of fun.

I’m taking it seriously this year. I want to give it a shot of reaching 50,000 words, but I’m realistic – having a holiday where writing is banned for the first week of November isn’t going to help me at all! I’m also at the beginning of my writing ‘career’, so I have limited expectations of myself. I’m not putting myself down. I’d just rather accept my limitations – if I crack the big five-o I can be proud, rather than disappointed if I don’t.

So… today isn’t the greatest prep day for NaNo for me, but I take notes whenever I can. Those of you who know me know I’m very secretive about what I write, so I’m not prepared to share my story ideas(boo hiss). But I PROMISE I’ll let you know when I’m ready… Who knows, I might tell you what I wrote for NaNo 2008 by the time NaNo 2009 comes around! Lol.

I’d like to hear how everyone is going with their preps. You don’t have to share your story ideas as such, but I hope you’re all brimming with ideas and are full of excitement, not terror! :-)

Spaces

Where do you write?
I don't just mean physically, but where does your writing flow from, too?

Do you need an empty, clean office with absolute silence? Do you need a bustling cafe with lots of characters, errh, patrons around you?
Do you have a ritual you need to go through before really getting in the zone?

As we're all gearing up for NaNo, cracking necks and sharpening pens, cleaning crumbs off the keyboard and taking notes or daydreaming (or both!), one thing is perfectly clear: all writers need a space.
A space to write. Space to dream and think. A space to jot down ideas safely from prying eyes and destructive hands, claws, feet.
But above all, a head space where story ideas are allowed to bloom and become actualised.

Me, I can't write at home. i get distracted with everything there is to do and with things that are fun or are clamoring for attention. I'm easily distracted. Which makes it ironic that I write best where there are the most distractions. Outside. in cafes. In food courts.
I work best when I feel like part of a crowd. Blending in. Drifting through. Absorbing the stories around me.

Where will you be spending most of your time in November?
Me, I'll be in the two big food courts in the Melbourne CBD, as well as Singapore and Saigon.

Preparation for Nanowrimo

In the last three Nanowrimos, I have not prepared at all.

Last year, I knew I was going to write more fractured fairy tales, following the fun I had with Cinderella in Beyond Happily Ever After. I started writing about Sleeping Beauty and her continuing problem with narcolepsy, and after a couple of days, I scrapped that and went back to Cinderella and turned the short story into a 65k novel. (It took a bit of time beyond November to get the whole 60ks out, but I wrote 50ks during November.)



In 2006, I wrote Diary of the Future during Nanowrimo. It was the story of a 16 year old girl who finds a diary that creates the future. Anything she writes comes true. I'd resurrected the idea from years ago when I'd tried the story of a woman in her twenties with a similar diary, but had ditched the idea. Changing the protagonist to a teenager gave it a different level of conflict and momentum as teenagers tend to speak before they think, and even write before they think with less concern for how their desires affect other people. The entire first draft of that one was completed during Nano but with no pre-planning. That year, Lulu.com offered a free copy of your novel to anyone who had completed the 50ks: see pic.

In 2005, I started Nano with a mere idea -- wanting to recapture an emotion -- a feeling of being 17 again after attending the Moving Pictures reunion gig at the local RSL and meeting the lead singer Alex Smith again. (First time was when I was 17.) Out of that concept came 'I'm with the Band' a story of a 35 year old who, after her husband walks out, finds herself on the road with her favourite band from her teenage years, singing on stage, jumping out of a plane and totally living outside her comfort zone. I reached 50ks easily in that story. I even started late that Nano because I was completing my first draft of Making the Cut over the first 5 days of Nano before I could start on I'm with the Band. And still made it to 50ks.

This year, I have approached Nanowrimo differently. I'm not going in blind and hoping that the muse comes along to play. I've spent the last 6 weeks or so editing Making the Cut,and in the process I've fallen in love with the characters again, particularly the fiery antagonist Kirsty, and a side character -- a washed-up soapie star clinging desperately to her youth, Genevieve d'Vine.

So I've decided to write a sequel. Kirsty is so excited to get her own story that she wants me to get started now, and when she tells me stuff, I can't ignore her or I won't remember it when I get to November. She's telling me a lot of what-if's, there's a lot of contradictory stuff, but so far I have 12 pages of notes.

Looks like she's going to play Louise in the Bilby Creek production of Gypsy, and Genevieve will be playing Rose. (Kirsty says its about time Genevieve played someone her own age!)


Plus there's a sexy new hero, a reality TV director, named Dylan. (haven't found a picture of him yet)

I've never been so prepared for Nano.

Roll on November.

But writing notes is not the only preparation I do for Nanowrimo. I have made a new design for my cafepress store The Writers Zone, inspired by all my recent editing because Nanowrimo is the perfect place to market to writers.



So, that's my Nano preparation to date. What are you up to?

Welcome Our New Contributors

We have four new members to our blogging team for this challenge. Thought it was time to bring in some new blood. It is always good to get new views and as these women are all new to the National Novel Writing Month, it will be interesting to get their point of view over the month.


Our new contributors are Anita Mack, Kiki Opdenberg, Monique Wood and Natalie Hatch. I hope you all will welcome these delightful ladies to the crew. See what happens when RC goes on holidays, Diane and I run wild, who knows what we will come up with next. LOL.


Chat to you all soon.

Sandie.

The countdown is on...

It's only 4 weeks to the Nanowrimo kick-off on November 1st and I am excited at the thought of writing fast and furious again.



I've started a Nano roll call on the group so we can find out who is participating and update this blog with a shiny new Nano word counter for each participant.

So if you're in, please visit the RWA Nano group and leave your details.

2008 RWA Conference Spellbound on Southbank

Diane

I have just returned from the 2008 Romance Writers of Australia Conference in Melbourne and had an absolute blast.

One of the things that made the conference so special for me (aside from my bat wings) was being able to meet in person the fellow writers who had taken on the 50ks challenge in June. It was so good to be able to put faces to names, to have shared the challenge together and to find out where we were all going next in our writing. I was proud to be wearing my 50ks badge and I hope that everyone (and more) return to the challenge next year. (Don't forget Nanowrimo is only 2 months away).

Nikki

Lisa and Michelle

Of course it was sad not to meet Rhian, Sandie, and Nat but I did drop into the Clayton's Conference a couple of times over the weekend and caught up with the mischief that was happening there. Who needs a real conference to have a ball, hey gals?



And I'm looking forward to catching up with Elaine's Mechanics of Sex Writing Workshop when I have some time to spare.

Nicki & Shona

Meryl

So fellow 50ks, I hope you all had a fantastic conference. I know I've come away with my head buzzing with information and also know that many of us came away with requests for partials or fulls. Please leave a comment and tell us about your conference experience.

From Start To Finish Challenge

NEW CHALLENGE! Who is game to play? The rules are simple just write, edit and submit your novel in twelve months. That’s right, you have one year to reach your goal. This is open to everyone, whether you’re a published author, who would like that extra push to meet your dead line or get that new novel going. If you are unpublished and want that extra something to keep you on track, this maybe just what you are looking for.

Challenge starts 1st November 2008 and runs through to 31st October 2009. The word count is up to you, how many novels you write is up to you. The main thing is to have your butt in front of your computer ready to write on November 1st, to help you achieve that goal at least, we are going to have two months of plot, plan and research. Through September and October we’ll do whatever is needed to have you ready to start your challenge in November. You can sign up for the ‘National Novel Writing Month’, which runs during November, 50ks in the month.

We’ll be on the RWA NaNo loop, to encourage, cheer and hug you no matter what you decide to do. If you’re interested in taking part just head over to the loop page http://groups.google.com.au/group/rwanano/web/from-start-to-published?hl=en for the challenge and tell us, your name, word count goal, genre, and title of your novel/s (if you have one). Hope to see your name on the list.

Hugs
Sandie