Review: DRIVE by Stephanie Fournet
I have loved everything I’ve read from Stephanie Fournet, and DRIVE did not disa[...]
Credit: NaNoWriMo.org
Peeps, I may have, quite possibly, lost my mind. I signed up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). For those unaware, NaNoWriMo is an online event in which hundreds of thousands of writers come together, each November, and attempt to “win” by writing a novel of at least 50,000 words in 30 days. That’s a lot of words. I’m trying not to freak out.
Personally, I’m using NaNoWriMo as an experiment. I haven’t written creatively since middle or high school which was… a long time ago. I hope to find out if I have it in me to be a writer – the ability, and if it’s something I really enjoy. I’m very goal oriented and work well with deadlines so I think it’s the perfect opportunity to see what I got! Also, from what I can tell, the supportive community of NaNoWriMo can’t be beat.
I’m declaring this to you all, in hope that it will motivate me to meet my daily word count and reach 50,000 words to WIN in November. I figure if I tell everyone I know I’m doing this, it will light a fire under my… petunia (yes, that is a Fever series reference) and keep me going. Once November 1st hits, I’ll have a handy dandy word counter widget in my sidebar so you can all see my progress. If I’m slacking, you can send encouraging words to me on Twitter (@bookandlatte)!
Since I can’t call myself a writer yet (I use the term “maybe writer”), I’ve been attempting to basically do a crash course in writing to prepare for NaNoWriMo. I’m not qualified to give anyone advice, but I thought it may be helpful to other new writers, or other NaNoWriMo first-timers, to share my resources. Below are some links to websites/blog posts and books I’ve found helpful.
Writing or NaNoWriMo Related Websites/Posts
25 Ways to Plot, Plan, and Prep Your Story
11 Ways to Prepare for NaNoWriMo
The Hailstorm Approach: Prep for Nanowrimo in Seven Days (or Less)
Writer’s Digest
The Writer’s Craft
Scrivener
Books in My Arsenal
There’s no way I’ll be able to read all of these before November, but thankfully No Plot? No Problem and @WRIMO are meant to be read during NaNoWriMo! I think the others will be good reference.
No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty
Writing Fiction For Dummies by Randy Ingermanson & Peter Economy
The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master by Martha Alderson
@WriMo: A 30-Day Survival Guide for Writers by Kevin S. Kaiser
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (Audiobook) by Stephen King
Novels Written During NaNoWriMo
This list is so inspiring, I had to share…
Crewel by Gennifer Albin
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lazear
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Spookygirl by Jill Baguchinsky
and others…
What NaNoWriMo means for ABaaL in November
In order to be able to focus on writing for NaNoWriMo, I’ve been busy planning a soon-to-be-announced feature for November, and scheduling posts in advance. Even though I’ll be in NaNoWriMo world, A Book and a Latte will be packed full of posts and awesomeness! There probably won’t be any book review posts (or very few), but there will be plenty of other book and writing goodness.
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Have you done it before? Do you have any advice for me? Tell me all about it in the comments!
Twitter: lioamanda
says:
I was just going to suggest to use Scrivener or something like it (there are other options, but I <3 Scrivener) and saw you have it on your list. 😉 It's a life saver! I've already started doing a little research and making notes on Scrivener.
I'm really excited and am also working on getting all of my posts ready..eek! 😉
Amanda @ Letters Inside Out recently posted..Mini-Review: Amarok by Angela J. Townsend
Twitter: lioamanda
says:
I just thought of a book suggestion! Flip Dictionary – I bought one of these in high school to assist me with my writing portfolio and ended up using it for NaNo every year since. When mine got old, I bought a new one. 🙂
Amanda @ Letters Inside Out recently posted..Review: Amarok by Angela J. Townsend
Twitter: bookandlatte
says:
Oooh, thanks! I will look it up! And yes, I’ve already downloaded Scrivener and I’m going through the tutorial and starting to use it for character sketches. I LOVE it. I wish had it for HS, College, and even work! It’d be great for technical papers too!
Jen recently posted..Guest Post: Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone
I wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo, but the rules state your writing must be a fresh start, meaning you can’t bring previous work to the table. Since I’m 35k words into my current project, I figured that would be cheating lol! So I’ve set my own writing goal: to finish my first draft by the end of the year. We can cheer each other on!!! Best of luck to you Jen, oxox.
You can always become a NaNoRebel! After all, NaNoWriMo is meant to be fun, and the rules are more like guidelines than real rules. There are lots of people who Rebel each year, writing either non-fiction or continuing a WIP. And OLL (the people being NaNoWriMo) know this, and even sort of encourage it, with a NaNoRebel part of the forum and everything.
Yay that’s do exciting that you’ll be participating! This is my second year doing NaNo and I have high hopes this year! It’s a lot of fun and I look forward to cheering you on as well!
I did NaNoWriMo last year and I’m actually in the process of revising and continuing the writing on the novel I started then. It was really good for me back then, I needed to just jump all in and write. I don’t think I’ll do it again (it really turned my brain to mush, so much writing…), but I do not regret it one bit. It made me more motivated and it kept me focused on a goal. I set smaller goals for my writing now, ones I can easily reach and won’t get me too stressed out. Since I’m not rushing the words, I feel like I’m getting better quality out of myself.
I will totally be cheering you on! It’s great to see more people participate in NaNoWriMo. And I love all those links you posted, must check some of them out!! And it’s always motivating to see the success that started with a NaNo draft. 🙂 Thanks for sharing and good luck!!!
Jessica S. recently posted..Last Day for The Book Love Giveaway Hop Sign Ups
Twitter: kelly_port
says:
You’re such a good planner/preparer! I signed up (eek), but have not done ANY prep work, apart from asking you about Scrivener. Thanks for the helpful links – it’s inspiring me to finally get to some prep work!
Twitter: BooksDevoured
says:
I tried NaNo last year and made it to about 5,000 words. Then I found out I was pregnant and was SO SICK! I quit because I felt so awful. Now I have a 3 month old and I am going to try again! I am jealous of your planning though. I need to try and do more of that in the next few weeks. Good luck and I hope you have fun!
Shannon@BooksDevoured recently posted..Review ~ Hanging By A Thread
Twitter: bookandlatte
says:
I’ve been doing a lot of theoretical planning. I don’t feel like I have much to show for it yet!
Twitter: bookandlatte
says:
My username is bookandlatte if you’d like to buddy up!
Twitter: fakesteph
says:
DUDE. I am SO excited for you. You are going to do awesome… I am almost tempted to join again… I should… but I need to finish revising my current novel… or…. I could actually work on it in October and then do Nano with you in November…. Dude…. I’m so tempted.
fakesteph recently posted..Getting Ready for the 24 Hour Readathon
Twitter: bookandlatte
says:
DUDE. Be tempted!! 🙂
You go girl! NaNoWriMo has been a dream of mine for years, but I never have the balls to do it. I’ll be watching your progress and cheering you on!
Andrea @ The Busy Bibliophile recently posted..Review: Skinny by Donna Cooner
Twitter: bookandlatte
says:
If I can do it, you can do it!!! Join is :).
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