An Accidental NANOWRIMO

Some of you may be deep into the writing rollercoaster ride from hell that is NANOWRIMO. If so, I hope it is going well! For those of you who aren't writers, NANOWRIMO is short for National Novel Writing Month--November, in which authors are challenged to write a 50K word novel (or a portion of one) in one month. Not impossible, but damned difficult.

I actually did NANO with my novel, Pentacle and Pentimentos, which eventually got me my agent Elaine Spencer. In theory, you're supposed to just sit and write the first draft with no editing along the way, but I can't write that way. Luckily, I had done a detailed outline first, so I still managed to finish.

This year, there was no way I was going to take on NANO, because I was already deep into the end stages of writing THE CURRENT NOVEL (I swear, I'll tell you the name soon). But one of the things I do when I am deep into the process is to write my daily word totals on my white board as a kind of running tally. I find that it really keeps me motivated. This is what the board looked like for the last of this novel:

You can see (if you squint) that it includes the date, the page I'm on, the total word count so far, the number of words done that day, and the guestimate percentage of book done (I started out thinking the book was 90K long and it turned out to be 105K, so my guestimate was way off until near the end).

That first date is 10/14 and I was at about 50K words. The last date is 11/7 and that was when I typed "THE END" at about 105K words. When I stopped to figure it out, I'd written 54,485 words in 25 days.

Yoinks.

So I guess you could say I did NANO after all, kinda sorta by accident. *blinks* Mind you, the first half of the book took months, and went slower than usual, so there is that to balance out the gloating.

Now, of course, I still have to do edits based on the notes from my first readers, and the feedback from Elaine. But still, it was kind of cool to see what I'd done. What can I say? When the book decides it's coming out--it's coming out!

Who here is doing NANOWRIMO this year, and how is it going?

Class Poll Up & Happy NANOWRIMO

Happy November, all! (OY)

I hope those of you who write are busy writing--especially those of you taking part in NANOWRIMO this month--and recovering from the Halloween festivities. [For the non-writers among you, NANOWRIMO is short for National Novel Writing Month, and people try to write a 50,000 word novel in November. I did it one year and it was intense! But it can also be very motivating.] Let me know if you're taking part this year, and what you're working on, and I'll cheer you on!



I've actually been doing an unofficial writing blitz of my own, trying to get my current novel finished up. Hit the 80,000 word mark yesterday (aiming at about 90K), so I'm getting close...

I'm also finishing up my final online class for the year, and trying to decide which classes to teach next year, since I won't have time for them all. It would be REALLY helpful if you could pop over to my online witchy/writing blog and pick up to 4 classes from the poll I have posted there. I promise, it will only take a minute!

Workshop Loop

Thanks!

Booksigning tomorrow! And editing workshop Nov 1st!

Hi All!

Just a quick reminder that if you live in the Oneonta area, I'd love to have you join me at the Borders bookstore at the Southside Mall on Rt. 23, from 2-4 on Sunday the 31st. I'll be doing a booksigning, and starting the fun at 2 with a scavenger hunt (there will be two winners--one gets a signed book, and the other a basket of assorted goodies including a signed cover flat!). I hope to see you there...mostly so I'm not standing around talking to myself and looking silly :-)

Also a reminder that if you haven't signed up for my "Editing As You Go: How and why to edit as you write the first draft" mini-workshop at SavvyAuthors.com you only have until the end of the day tomorrow (the 31st) to do so, since the class runs from Nov 1st-6th. If you're doing NANOWRIMO this year, this is the perfect class for you! Also, if you're not...

http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/workshoplist.php

Be sure to spread the word, and tell all your friends. Seriously. There might be chocolate in it for you. Or my undying gratitude. Or both.

Happy Holidays and a Resolution

Okay--I confess it: I am a crappy blogger. I always intend to come here and tell y'all about the fascinating things going on in my life [not!], but mostly I don't get around to it.

For instance, I fully intended to blog all about NANOWRIMO throughout November. Instead, I just wrote :-) But the good news is that I finished--50,526 words in a month!

Of course, the bad news is that I am barely getting any writing done in December (about 16,000 words so far). Not that this is a big surprise--I run an artist's cooperative shop and make jewelry, so this is the crazy-busy time of year. I'll have to finish up the WIP in January. What's really amazing is that I've gotten any writing done at all.

Today I'm fighting a cold and hoping it will be gone by tomorrow, when I go in for the final push of the season at the shop. But I'm also thinking ahead to next year and making a resolution to be a more consistent blogger.

Here are some of the things that will be happening in 2010:

January--I plan to finish the current novel I'm working on, PENTACLES AND PENTIMENTOS, and start sending it out to agents.

February--It now looks like I will be going to Pantheacon (a huge pagan convention) in San Jose, and combining the trip out west with a visit to my family in San Diego. Let me know if you're going too.

April--At the end of the month, I turn 50 (oy!), and I'll be celebrating with a trip to the RT convention (Romance Times, for readers and writers) with my pal Shannon. There will be male cover models. 'Nuff said.

July--Book 4 comes out from Llewellyn. This is THE EVERYDAY WITCH A TO Z SPELLBOOK, which contains lots of practical and easy spells for everyday life. "Jerk Avoidance" spell, anyone?

September--Book 5 comes out from Llewellyn. (I know! Two books in a year!!!) WITCHCRAFT ON A SHOESTRING is full of suggestions for practicing the Craft on a budget, and includes a bunch of inexpensive recipes and craft projects.

Anyway, I hope to be better at keeping up with this blog, so y'all can see how all these exciting things turn out. And the rest of the time, I'll just talk about the boring stuff :-)

Wishing everyone a happy holiday, whether it be Hannukah, Yule, Christmas or anything else. And I hope you all have a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2010.

See you in the New Year!

Blessings,
Deborah

Writing Class Update

I am pleased to report that the online writing class I'm teaching all month is still going REALLY well. I have 40 students, when all is said and done, and they are a great bunch of folks. Everyone is cooperative and helpful (they give each other tips on research, and everything). And everyone is being very nice and complementary to me, even though I'm not giving out actual grades :-)

I wasn't sure what to expect from the experience, since this is the first online class I've given [I've taken a bunch of classes online, and taught in person--but that isn't the same thing]. I am pleasantly surprised, and having a great time. Also working my butt off, of course. It is amazing how much time it takes to keep up with posting the lessons, responding to the students' homework, and answering all the misc. questions that everyone has come up with.

But I like it.

Some of the students even suggested that I make the class up into a booklet and sell it on LULU. I'm thinking about it, although I can't imagine there is enough interest to make it worth the effort.

I'll be writing a guest blog at Texting Between the Sheets about teaching and taking online classes--it should be out this Saturday. I'll try to remember to post a link.

In other news--I'm making pretty good progress on the outline for the next novel, Pentacles and Pentimentos, an Urban Fantasy based on my short story that was published in The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction (Llewellyn, 2008). I'm up to 21 pages, and not even close to the end, as far as I can tell. And I signed up for NaNoWriMo for the first time. I blame Shannon and Elysia :-)

Back to answering emails from my students,
Many bright blessings,
Deborah