Celebrating being unpublished just for a SECOND

…Because if NaNoWriMo were an actual deadline I’d be fired.

Technically, I wrote over 50,000 words – just not for my NaNo novel. Instead I wrote 30,000 words of my NaNo Novel and 25,000 words of the novel idea that distracted me whilst I was trying to write my NaNo Novel.

Something tells me you can’t say to your agent/editor/publisher: So I know you were expecting Novel A, but here’s the first half of Novel A, and the beginning of Novel B.  Endings will be along shortly… (NOT that anyone would let their agent/editor/publisher read their first draft – the horror! – but you know what I mean).

I also tried to revise and NaNo at the same time. I realized last NaNo that I am very talented at the multi-first draft juggling act, but learned this year that throwing in a revision will make me late on EVERYTHING.

I’m late with revisions, but at least CP’s won’t fire you.  They may say “Buzz off it’s the holidays you should have sent me your novel before November 23!” – but come January, they will take you back!

So, yes, I’m very late, and I cheated on my NaNo Novel with New Idea Novel, and no, I didn’t WIN this month, but at least the ramifications are mostly in my head.  RIGHT?

Did you win this month? In NaNo, in Revisions, or simply because you were able to eat your weight in turkey?  

My NaNo Novel refuses to lie to me

I’m behind on my NaNo Novel. Very behind. So behind that I’m fairly certain my NaNo buddies (all 16 of them) are judging me severely. But it’s not my fault. It’s the novel’s fault.

There is only one simple reason I am ever able to finish a first draft – regardless of how long it takes me.  That reason can be summed up as The Lie of the First Draft*.

The Lie tells me my writing is so amazing that after this first draft is done all I will have to fix about it is the occasional spelling error.

It’s The Lie that tells me my first draft isn’t a giant pile of crap that will mostly all be thrown out during revisions.

But it’s this lie that keeps me going.

And my NaNo Novel refuses to lie to me. It won’t even humor me.  I am brutally aware of the awkwardness of the plotting, the lame dialogue, and the sketchy setting descriptions.

So now it’s time to lie to myself. You can finish this novel. 25,000 words in three days? Piece of cake. You. So. Have. This.

This lie may be just as ‘true’ as The Lie of the First Draft, but I’m hoping it will have the same effect.

What keeps you guys writing (other than the voices in your head)? ;)

What keeps you from editing your first draft instead of just finishing it?

And are you achieving NaNo success this year?

*I don’t know where I first heard this term (I certainly didn’t make it up). 

Deja vu: I've cried about this before...

Like Crazy

Blue Valentine

Did anyone else see both of these movies?  Anyone have deja vu? 

Friday Five: Love triangles

1.

2.

3.  

4.  

5.  (Of course...)

And this one we can put to rest:

Who else? 


Favskis? 

The quintessential Twilight post

I find that most writerly people have the following attitude: Twilight. It is what it is.

It got people taking, it got people reading, and that’s all most of them seem to care about.

Oh, and it afforded Robert Pattinson more movie roles, which is nice too.

That being said, the main reason I’m excited for Breaking Dawn Part I is to see if the if-children-is-what-she-wants-children-is-what-she-gets-even-if-it-means-she-goes-to-bed-with-another-man line will be left in. And if that line – true to the book – will include a reference to puppies.  

Will you be going to see it?

Quintessential thoughts?

That thing everyone is talking about on Twitter

The Hunger Games Movie Trailer


Thoughts? 

Friday Five: Accidental Lies

The accidental lies we all accidentally tell:    

1.  The book review before the book is finished.  

     Oh, it’s like reverse Lolita, but it’s not very graphic at all.

2.  The assumption.  

     That is not Justin Bieber’s baby.

3.  The plot guess. 

     Even after all of that, he’s going to die anyway.

4.  The lie that we wish was true.  

     I’m going to wake up at five in the morning and go for a three mile run.  

5.  The lie that keeps us going.  

     I can revise AND NaNo two novels all in the same month! 

     It’s going to be OK! 

    Now you go... What are the five accidental lies of your week?

Conversation with the Cousin: NaNoWriMo

Cousin: So what is Nano…nano-wy-rim-o?

Me: Nano-rye-mo. 

Cousin: What is it?

Me: It’s National Novel Writing Month – basically you try to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. 

Cousin:  Oh.  That graphic on your blog last week made it look like something more tropical.  Like, at first I thought it was a writers conference some place sunny. 

Me: Oh.  Yeah, no. 

Cousin:  It’s getting really cold lately, right?  Have you had to turn on your heat yet?

Me:  Yes, heat came on last week. 

...

So there you have it.  In case you forgot.

NaNoWriMo: not a writers conference in Barbados. 

Happy writing. :)

Ellen Hopkins Seattle Event

Once again, hats off to Twitter for alerting me about Ellen Hopkin’s appearance at Third Place Books in Seattle last week. 

If you happen to live somewhere Ellen Hopkins is going to be talking – go.  She’s insightful, blunt, hilarious, and positive!

If you haven’t read one of her books then do so ASAP.  Yes, her books tackle the tough stuff, but as witnessed by the number of teens present at this event, her books tackle the stuff teens want to read about.  Sidebar: Burned seemed to be the one everyone wanted the most.

She read a few chapters of Triangles, her first adult novel.  I love her YA books, and I am loving her adult novel, but what I love the most is that she’s breaking into the adult lit world.  This makes me especially happy since so many adult lit authors dip into the YA world.  Also, I love that there will be a YA companion to Triangles: Tilt, out in 2012.  (That’s a lot of love.)

Oh, and during the Q & A, Ellen Hopkins admitted to always, always, always having trouble with her beginnings.  Thank goodness.  

Friday Five: I dare you not to smile

1.  Daylight Savings.  Yes, it’s going to be dark by 4:00.  But it will be light by 7:00 which is good news for my internal morning-clock.  Early bird gets the worm, right?

2.  This article in NY Magazine declaring that we are currently living in the “Golden Age for Male Objectification.”

3.  Ru over at And then she was like blah, blah, blah explains why Breaking Dawn is campy.  Funny because it’s true.

4.  Dark YA Blogfest is happening now.  Here’s a list of the participants.  

5.  It’s time again to vote for the GoodReads Choice Awards!

Why my kitchen is a like a great novel

…because when things are bad they keep getting worse.

Broken refrigerator.  Everything is frozen.  I turn down the dial just a little bit, so as not to over react. 

Nothing changes.  I turn down the dial all the way.  Everything is still frozen.  I have discovered iced apple juice is actually delicious - very much like a healthy slurpee.  Iced eggs are useless though.  As is iced lettuce. 

The florescent light starts to flicker.  It’s about to go out.  Cousin tells me the true story of children in Japan who suffered from seizures during a Pokemon episode with a lot of changing light frequencies.  I decide it’s okay to put a lamp in the kitchen. 

A day or two passes, still no word from landlord.

I wash dishes under lamplight and notice my bare feet are getting wet.  Garbage disposal is leaking. 

I leave landlord a message repeatedly saying the words landlord's fear the most: My garbage disposal is leaking water. Plus the refrigerator is still a freezer, and water is leaking from the garbage disposal.  I need a replacement light so I can see where all the water is leaking.

Eating on paper plates in the dark. 

I’m ready for the hero to enter.  

Writing uncomfortable endings

So I’ve got this YA contemporary WIP I’ve been revising / fighting with.  The problem used to be the back story, in that there was too much of it, but now the problem is bigger.  The problem is the ending. 

The ending is bittersweet, starting out insanely bitter and folding nicely into sweet. 

The problem is that the bitter part might be too bitter.  It’s not even much of an existential ending.  There is just something that happens that is very discomforting for the main character that might be equally as troubling for the reader.  As in the kind of troubling that makes the reader too upset with the book to enjoy the sweet part of the ending. 

So.  How do I fix this? Option one involves rewriting the middle, adding facets to this character’s life that make what happens in the bitter part of the ending, not so hard to stomach.  Option two involves changing the ending all together so the stakes aren’t as high and the consequences aren’t as hard to swallow. 

Have any of you been in a position like this?  I wrote this novel knowing how it would end, but now I fear the ending is going to spoil a perfectly good novel.  How do you guys fix endings you think the audience  might not appreciate?  

  

NaNoWriMo 2011

Anyone else?