Who Crossed the Finish Line?

Well, those of us who partook in NaNoWriMo this year must know: did you cross the finish line?

I didn’t. I am bringing up the rear, however (if only I could do that literally), with an added 11,000 words on my novel in progress, plus a couple thousand other words on shorter projects that I took deliberate liberties — deliberties? — to write when I felt like I’d never catch up anyway.

Second Gear

I spent yesterday with a dear friend who is also an excellent writer. We did timed writings on random topics, to get our writing muscles fired up and, afterwards, a series of twenty-minute sprints on our respective writing projects. We took one snippet of plot and wrote on that, then switched to the next snippet for the next twenty and wrote on that. Even though I felt sluggish from having a pain injection procedure and sedation the day before, I managed to hammer out another 2,000 words for NaNoWriMo.

Beat the Clock on Writer’s Block

Stuck behind writer’s block? Wanna get unstuck in a hurry? I finally hit on the quick and easy way to combat writer’s block while making big gains in NaNoWriMo. This may not work for everybody, but I’ll bet most of you will find it beneficial, even if you’re not partaking in NaNoWriMo. It’s working great for me.

Why NaNoWriMo?

My buddy Ken over at Fifthwind, a Writer’s Journey, doesn’t get NaNoWriMo. That’s okay, cuz he’s not required to get it. But I think the conversation over there (or in Ken’s words, bashing) about National Novel Writing Month is pretty interesting. NaNoWriMo is kind of like patchouli oil; you either love it or think it stinks.

Nano Progress, Day 2

Man! I am so glad I signed up for NaNoWriMo. You would not believe the amount of housework I’ve gotten done.

Let this be a lesson to you. If you really need to get some things done around the house, yard, or garage, commit yourself to a writing contest, because the first avoidance tactic is to do anything — and I mean anything — other than what you’re supposed to be doing, including something you pay someone else to do so you don’t have to.

Don’t Get Stuck!

Another Austin WriterGrrl friend suggested that when doing NaNoWriMo and you get stuck, maybe it’s time to insert a flashback or some sort of character memory. I think it’s a great idea that works on a number of levels.

Tackling NaNoWriMo

Six days left before the the kickoff of National Novel Writing Month. I’ve finally decided how I’m going to tackle this gargantuan challenge. Since I have already plotted a couple novels, I’m using one of them as the foundation for my 50,000 words in November.

Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo

What are you doing to get ready for NaNoWriMo? I’ve been scouting around the NaNoWriMo website, and people are doing lots of things to prepare for the November 1 kickoff. I’m open for suggestions.

Link Love

Over at Juiced on Writing, they’re spreading the looooove. The Link Love. I’ve been the recipient of a bit of this lovin’ and I gotta say, feels kinda nice. If you have a writing blog, you can spread the love too. Just copy the links below into a post of your own and add your best writing buddy links to it. You open yourself up to a whole lotta new visitors feelin’ that link love too.

Crapwriters Unite!

Hands up! Who’s doing NaNoWriMo this year?

Oh! Oh! Oh! Me! Me! Meeeeeee! Yes, I’m herewith committing to starting and, more importantly, completing this year’s National Novel Writing Month, aka, NaNoWriMo. For those of you unfamiliar with this annual challenge, the object is to write a novel in 30 days, or 50,000 words total. Easy peasy, right?

Get the Boot!

Are you a plotter or a pantser? If you’re a pantser (those who write as they go — by the seat of their pants), that’s the way you like things, and you find success in that method of writing a novel, read no further. Don’t change it if it ain’t broke. But if you’re a pantser who wishes to be a plotter or a plotter who is all over the map, read on!

Quality Writing vs. Quantity

In the last two crazy, turned-upside-down years of my life, I have written not nearly as much as I wanted to. As a result, I have vacillated between mercilessly berating myself and doling out enough free rein to hang by my neck from a redwood. But in all honesty, when life’s biggest stressors hit you one after the other — ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom — you really do have to pause and breathe, assimilate the changes and make new plans, and allow yourself the room to get back on track without the constant, harping guilt — courtesy of yours truly.

Shouts Out and Thanks!

I wanted to send a big coupla shouts out to readers and kindred spirit writers who visit my blog pretty regularly, and whom I visit regularly because they have such great insight and, well, a grand way with words. You want writerly wisdom and entertainment value, here you go. In no particular order:

Fifthwind: A Writer’s Journey. Ken Kiser has written his first big book and now chronicles the query process — the good, bad, and the fugly — while entertaining us with his wealth of knowledge on the craft of writing. Check him out for some friendly words of wisdom.
 

Self-Taught Writer

When I was five years old, I spelled my first word. Back then, it was rare that kids went to Kindergarten (no heckles, please, from the lugnut gallery), so I learned about letters and sounds on my own. I was pretty proud of myself when I took my carefully crayoned word in to my father, who was doing his business on the toilet.

Smell Your History

While I was lazing in bed yesterday morning, I gazed out my window at the queen palms, crepe myrtles, and redbuds fluttering every which way in our windy backyard. The temperature of my room felt cool and dry, and something else in the air struck such a familiar chord it sent my mind back to days long-since forgotten. Instantly, I was my eight-year-old self, leaving the house for school, and I saw the world not through the eyes of an adult, but through my eight-year-old eyes.

Release the Brain Clutter

That same brain clutter had directly affected my imagination and, consequently, my NIP suffered from severe plot deprivation. I couldn’t see my way around it and didn’t have the energy to screw with it. I was constantly spinning my wheels, yearning for direction, gazing into darkened deadends — all my “what-ifs” looking more like “so-whats.”

Pitching a Fast Book

How fast can you write a book? Seriously, how fast?

This week, about as fast as a turtle can scuttle from Austin to Anchorage. But once upon a time, I wrote a novel — a really fun romantic comedy — in less than eight months. Sure, novels have been written faster, but for me it was akin to tornadic activity.

Six Magic Words

Says a lot about me, but really doesn’t get me all the way there. So then I put my writer’s muse to work, and she came up with:

Shhh, not now. Mama’s writing smut.

Canning the Muse

When my kids were little, I used to sneak into the bathroom with my writing pad and lock the door. I’d put down the toilet seat (somebody had to do it), and get comfortable; then a switch would flip in my brain and I’d pour my inky prose onto page after page of a budding novel. Behind a locked bathroom door was the only place I could find relief from the constant demands of my life; the only place that allowed me real uninterrupted writing time.

Writer’s Block Haiku

Writer’s block is vexing me,
Flexing, hexing, perplexing me.
F*cker.