No NaNoWriMo This Year

I want to start off by saying that I love National Novel Writing Month. There is nothing like letting your mind’s floodgates open for 30 days and writing like there is no tomorrow. You safely stash your internal editor away on an imaginary tropical island for 30 days (and hope he comes back rested and relaxed) and have the freedom to put down any idea that crosses your consciousness. It can be crazy, wacky, and out of this world, but that doesn’t matter because it is part of the fun. The only thing that matters is your word count, and 50,000 words is the Holy Grail.

I debated long and hard about whether or not to participate this year. I’ve done it twice. My first sprint to the finish line took me 22 days. In my second chaotic attempt, I managed to eek out my 50,000 words just under the wire on Day 30. I felt truly alive and present during those months, and had the “nothing can stop me now!” attitude that drove the deals home. But both of those attempts came at a time when I wasn’t truly focused on my writing life. Both experiences were the proverbial kick in the pants I needed to remember that I wanted to be seen as a writer too.

This year is quite different for me.

Since early August I have been revising my manuscript that was birthed during NaNoWrimo journey #2. I finished it, sent it out to beta readers, got some great feedback, and ultimately decided that I needed to change the story arc a bit and make it a whole lot darker. Then in October, I spun the Tiny Tales of Terror in honor of Halloween for my beta readers and their friends, because I found that by sharing my manuscript I have started to build a readership that was actively looking for new material (MY new material!) to read. I also have big plans to kick off a new podcast series that I’ve been working on since late September that was inspired by my attendance at the Writer’s Digest Conference.

My plate feels a bit…full. This year, I am writing more than ever before and doing more things with the business side of my writing as well. I still have the good ole day job and my family obligations. So for me, regretfully but respectfully, I gave myself a pass on NaNoWriMo this year.

I am cheering all of this year’s participants on, and living vicariously through their tweets, blogs, and posts. Good luck to all of you and may your 50,000 words come easily and in less than 30 days!

Inspiration

I've been spending a lot of time looking for new inspiration over the last few weeks for my Tiny Tales of Terror. My goal was to put up a story a day until Halloween (which I haven't quite done). I chose this as a stretch goal for myself because I knew it would be more of a challenge to find new subject matter everyday. But I was excited at the same time because I knew that at the end I'd have a ton of new material to chose from and expand into longer stories.

Inspiration hasn't been as difficult as I thought. I've purposely been watching scary movies (even the bad ones), freaky TV shows, reading mystery/thriller books, looking for unsettling images on the web just to spark my imagination. I've also been able to weave in some real details from my own life which has been fun. Often the stories are coming from just one phrase or image that I explore further in the story.

I've been getting some questions from friends wanting to know more of the back story, but the purpose of these stories are meant to be just scary snippets. I haven't been able to spend enough time with the characters to really know more than some initial impressions that I can share.

I think it is very cool how images can just strike a chord. Something like this:

I've been meaning to write a story about this lighthouse for years. I just haven't found the right story yet, but I know it is going to be scary and it probably will take place in the early part of the 19th century. But most of my stories come to me easily, and I love exploring where the journey takes me.

What inspires you in your writing?

Writing: The Business

I've spent several pleasant hours this afternoon reading all about indie publishing. I am a huge fan of April Hamilton's. I followed her on Twitter prior to seeing her in person at the Writer's Digest Conference, and her Publetariat site is a MUST for anyone thinking of going at publishing on your own.

Now I have two completed manuscripts- one is still in its rough first draft form, and the second is the one that I have been working on revising since early August. I am "close" to being at the point where I need to make a rather critical decision. Do I start down the path of traditional publishing, or do I look at indie publishing options?

One thing that never occurred to me, that I just read about tonight, was the idea of starting my own indie publishing house. Intriguing... I am a big DIY person, and all of this information really resonated with me. I like the idea of controlling my own destiny. I like the idea of being able to connect with readers sooner rather than later. I like the idea of setting up a structure that would not only allow me to publish my own work, but publish other deserving work as well.

Lots of options to consider. Lots of things to think about. And in the meantime, my writing continues with my Tiny Tales of Terror. This is truly a great time to be a writer!

Walk Before You Run

I've learned a few valuable lessons over the last week: time is not my friend, and I have to set reasonable expectations for myself.

I have a working manuscript that I like, however it isn't truly the genre that I always envisioned I'd write. I somehow ended up with a paranormal romance when I want to write horror. (This is the part where I mention for the tenth time that I have always wanted to be Stephen King.) Chris Baty talks about this in his book No Plot? No Problem! that is the basis for National Novel Writing Month. He recommends making lists of what you do and don't like in stories, because you may find yourself writing what you don't like if you aren't careful.

Now it's not that I don't like paranormal romance. I don't think writing romance is a strength of mine. I decided that I needed to go back and rework my manuscript and darken it up ALOT. I could keep the romance, but as a subplot. I needed to focus on the main character, and rewrite it so that it kept me up at night. If the writing isn't scaring me, then it won't work.

Deborah Riley-Magnus (@rileymagnus on Twitter) wrote a great blog post on deconstructing a novel right at the same time, which I took as an omen that I was on the right path.

Horror being my genre focus, I also saw an opportunity to leverage some inspiration with my favorite holiday right around the corner: Halloween. Wouldn't it be cool to launch to a podcast series based on another story that I'm working on in honor of Halloween? So I did some more research on podcasting and with my husband's studio set-up I thought "well this can't be THAT hard". I put together an insane writing schedule for the remainder of September and October with an end goal of 10 podcasts and 1 reworked manuscript by the end of October.

Are you laughing at me yet? Let's just say that I was a bit overly ambitious.

It didn't take me long to find out that one 25-minute podcast for me is running about 5000 words. 5000 words!! So 10 podcasts would be about 50,000 words. That's a NaNoWriMo novel, not including some serious editing. Hmmm- maybe I needed to think about that some more.

I should also mention that I do have a day job. You wouldn't think so with the schedule I put together.

After one week, I wasn't close my goal and I was okay with that. I did have some great accomplishments:

1) My podcast concept came from a 750 word story that I put together for the Your Story Writer's Digest contest. In 2 days I turned that 750 words into over 12,000 words. I've created an episode framework and writing prompts for each of the podcast episodes. I do need to finish the story before I can record it, so the earliest that would probably happen would be November- December.

2) I wrote a completely different opening scene to my manuscript. It turns the old one on its ear. I honestly don't know how much of the old manuscript I could use if I go that direction, and that would mean I'm really starting from scratch. (A new NanoWriMo novel from an old one perhaps?) I need to think about that some more.

3) To get my Halloween fix, I decided to go smaller, but still have fun and offer up something to my readers. So I am introducing my Tiny Tales of Terror blog series on my new author blog.

All in all, I've had a great week, learned a lot, and even gave myself permission to put my Halloween decorations up.

I've Got Plans

Do you know that feeling when you are eating a terrific meal, but realize that you are starting to feel full? Your eyes were bigger than your stomach, and if you only had a bit more time maybe you'd be able to finish everything? That's the way I felt after the last session of the Writer's Digest Conference this past weekend.

Don't get me wrong. It was a fantastic event and I'd pay the money in a heartbeat to attend again. But the sheer volume of information threw my brain into overdrive after the FIRST session. I found out about some amazing possibilities for moving forward in my writing career, and it is really just up to me to figure out how to make things happen. Jane Friedman posted a great recap of key takeaways here.

I've spent the last few days just processing the info and deciding what's next. I made a top 10 to-do list on the plane, but I already know that as I move through them the list will shift and change. I've also decided to go back to the drawing board with my manuscript and make some important changes that I feel will speak better to the intended audience for my work.

The conference was just the shot in the arm I needed! Oh yes I have plans, and I can't wait to see what happens!

I Heart My Beta Readers

I went out a select group of friends and colleagues two weeks ago and asked a very big favor. Would you read my manuscript for me? Oh, and can you possibly do that in the next two weeks and send me feedback before I go to my conference? Pretty please?

I was pleasantly surprised that I had 13 1/2 brave volunteers offer to help me out. (The 1/2 is my husband. The book that I wrote is completely outside his usual genre of interest. Being the supportive spouse that he is though, he did offer to read it and has read the first 5 chapters so far.)

I sent out the manuscript on September 1st with my specific request for feedback on:

* Gaping "plot"holes
* Places where there should more detail
* Places where the story moves too fast/too slow
* Under-developed characters
* Stiff/uninspired/boring dialogue
* Anything else they thought may be helpful to tighten up or expand the story to make it more interesting

I also told them to chuck being nice by the wayside and give it to me straight. The only way I was going to improve the story was by getting honest feedback. (And I'm a big girl and can take it.)

As of today, I have had 7 wonderful people finish the book, and 2 others who are well into the story offering feedback as they go along. Each one said that the plot had some good twists and that is was easy to read.

The great thing is that no one spotted anything major that I didn't already know needed to be fixed. (There were two subplots that got lost in the mad dash to the end of the story.) Questions about characters and story lines have been insightful and telling. It has been a great experience so far.

This has given me the extra boost of positivity and energy that I needed to finalize the manuscript and get it ready for prime time! Thank you beta readers!!

Conference Prep 101

I am in prep mode getting ready to attend the Writer's Digest Conference The Business of Getting Published in NYC next week. I decided earlier this summer that I was going to spring some hard earned dough (and frequent flyer miles) on ONE writing conference this year. Considering I'm looking to get published, and figure out how to successfully use all of these wonderful social media tools to promote my material, this conference seemed like the perfect fit.

Now I have the jitters. It's not like I have never been to conference before. I've attended many over the course of my professional life (both as a vendor and a participant). I know the importance of taking good notes, making sure you have lots of business cards, and networking with anyone and everyone you can strike up a conversation with (at appropriate times of course). I learned long ago that conferences and alcohol do not mix.

There are lots of different articles and blogs out there to help prep for a writer's conference. It shouldn't surprise anyone that after reading several, I started to see a contradiction or two. (One blogger says DO make sure you bring your manuscript, another says that is a big DON'T.)

One DON'T that surprised me was a blogger who said not to put "writer" or "author" on your business cards because that is viewed as pretentious. What?? These days it is all about your "author's platform" when you are talking about marketing yourself. If it is pretentious to even call yourself what you are then we have a problem. I've written two books, and while they remain unpublished (for the moment) I defend my right to claim my "Author" status!

One of the most interesting bits of info I found was a LinkedIn discussion thread. I liked the Q&A format there, and thought there was some good advice beyond the normal tips/tricks.

I plan on blogging and tweeting from the conference. I thought that would be a great way to keep up with what I'm learning and share relevant nuggets. I can't wait!