One More Day

One day until NaNoWriMo officially begins.  I've got real life stuff to do, like homework, and currently I've got the Hunger Games playing on Netflix.

I haven't worked a bit on the storyline, and the only REAL thing I've changed about the story is the ethnicity of one of the major players in the story.  It was partly because I read a really awesome article recently that was written by an author about one of her own characters, but also because I realized that this change also made my character a whole lot sexier.

I still have to choose some things, like a few names and the powers of many of the characters, and on Friday (DAY ONE! *screams fangirl-style*) I'm going to be shooting off from the gate at midnight and writing until I've met the daily word quota before I head off to the Kick-Off Party/Write-In.

At the beginning of next month I'll be headed to the TGIO Party (Thank Goodness It's Over) and I'll be  wearing a NaNoWriMo Winner t-shirt or sweatshirt.

It's ONLY 1,667 words per day.  It's not all that much, but it won't feel like that at the end of the first week and start of the second.  If we keep repeating that mantra, however, we WILL be able to finish with at least 50k.

Superheroes, high fantasy, western, steampunk, or even general fiction (aka YA without the fantasy, usually).  It will work.

(Also, I missed Tracy Hickman giving a talk at the LDS Institute of Religion that's at my University today, dangit.  Had to be at another class that's clear across town, and couldn't skip it.  Did you know he was LDS?  Me neither.  Cooool)

NaNo Countdown!

So in celebration of the fact that we have... *looks at calendar* ...four more FULL days till NaNoWriMo begins, I'm going to post a mock-up of some popular songs rewritten with a NaNoWriMo theme.   The first one?

A mock-up of Taio Cruz' Dynamite! (click here for the song!)

I throw my pens up in the air sometimes,

Saying AYO! Gonna Wrimo!

I wanna write all day and make a book,

Saying AYO!  Watch me Wrimo!

I came to write, write, write, write

I hit the keys ‘cause that’s my word count, word count

I’m on a roll don’t wanna stop, stop, stop, stop

Before the ink runs out my pen, pen, pen, pen

Yeah yeah

Cause it goes on and on and on…

And we write on and on and on…

Yeah!

I throw my pens up in the air sometimes,

Saying AYO! Gonna Wrimo!

I wanna write all day and make a book,

Saying AYO!  Watch me Wrimo!

‘Cause we gon’ rock this café

We gon’ write all night

We gon’ scribble it up

Like it’s kryptonite!

‘Cause I emailed you once,

Now I texted you twice

We’re gon’ scribble it up,

Like it’s kryptonite!

It’s time to write, write, write, write

Get out the way of me and my note book, book, book

I’m at the café so I’m gonna look, look, look, look

At my wordcount and sit in my nook, nook, nook, nook

Yeah, yeah

Cause it goes on and on and on…

And we write on and on and on…

I throw my pens up in the air sometimes,

Saying AYO! Gonna Wrimo!

I wanna write all day and make a book,

Saying AYO!  Watch me Wrimo!

‘Cause we gon’ rock this café

We gon’ write all night

We gon’ scribble it up

Like it’s kryptonite!

‘Cause I emailed you once,

Now I texted you twice

We’re gon’ scribble it up,

Like it’s kryptonite!

I’m gonna write it all,

I’m gonna be the first one finishing

Higher over all,

My word count everyone envying

Cause I, I, I, can do it,

And I, I, I, I just wanna finish

I Just wanna finish…

I’m gonna throw my pens in the air!

Pens, pens in the air!

Toss my pens I in the air!

I throw my pens up in the air sometimes,

Saying AYO! Gonna Wrimo!

I wanna write all day and make a book,

Saying AYO!  Watch me Wrimo!

‘Cause we gon’ rock this café

We gon’ write all night

We gon’ scribble it up

Like it’s kryptonite!

‘Cause I emailed you once,

Now I texted you twice

We’re gon’ scribble it up,

Like it’s kryptonite!

Back. Up. Your. Stories.

So a couple of weeks ago my computer went funky and gave me the loading circle of death whenever I tried to click on something.  A couple of hard boots and a disc check later, and it was fine.  Then this last Thursday... it started up again.  I left my computer on all night, and in the morning it was still pulling the loading circle of death.  So I had my father--and yes, I do live at home still *nods*--call Dell, and they spent about a half an hour to an actual hour figuring out the problem.  Two more hours, and there's nothing on my computer but the original factory settings.

As of now, my computer's fine.  I need to re-update the graphics driver, but I haven't gotten the loading circle for a while. 

My point is, all I had time to salvage was my notes for my college courses, plus whatever I already had on my flash drives beforehand.  All of my fanfictions, short stories, and--oh my goodness, my title list... they're all gone.  So I would suggest every day to back up your story at least once, or more.  Tomorrow you might have an issue on your computer that might require you to do what I did. 

Now I just need to figure out where that darn flash drive disappeared off to.  >>

Writing Spaces

Writing spaces.  LOADS of people want to be the quintessential writer, sitting in coffee-shops amidst crowds and conversation, or sitting at home and sipping a cup of hot cocoa while the world makes its noises elsewhere. 

My dream?  I'd like to have an office.  A place with a large desk, shelves everywhere for books and knickknacks, and a decent computer (doesn't matter if it's a laptop or desktop).  Preferably on the top floor--if there's more than one--and with a door so that it doesn't feel as if just anyone can barge into my writing space.

One problem?  I don't know if that's the perfect writing space for me.  I like people and I like noise, so I would either have to have music playing in the background with a dog or cat sitting at my feet, or go somewhere with people, like the coffee-shop. 

Other people can't concentrate if there's even the slightest noise.  I've read an article where the author actually stated that when his son starts blasting music in the house he has to go and hide in the shed, because he writes to a certain internal rhythm, and any tunes just mess with that.  If you know who I'm talking about and have read the article, very much kudos to you. 

What I'm trying to say is that not everyone is the same.  Some people may write the best in a library with trees outside the window that are dancing in the wind.  Others may write best at home while they're sitting on the toilet.  Some write better really early in the morning, and others at night.   Don't try too hard to find a writing spot.  Often times the best places to write are the ones you pick unintentionally.  I'm not saying 'stay put'.  Go to different places--be sure to make sure they are SAFE places--and see how well you write.  Write in the morning before school, in the after noon, at night right before you go to bed.

For now, I'm going to hop on a bus and head home.  And maybe I'll go ahead and write in the mean time.

(picture above taken from the HGTV website)

Wiiiidgets!

Yep.  That is this year's Nanowrimo theme.  8-bit.  They have all sorts of neat little things like this for people to post on blogs and wherever, and they also have little word count widgets.

This one is mine, specifically.  And at the moment it says I've written no words because Nanowrimo hasn't officially started yet.

A few weeks ago, before they wiped the forums and such in preparation for this year, I was surfing several of the forums.  I was looking at the 'Plot Surgery' section in particular, the area of the site where people go to get help.  In one of the threads, somebody posted how they needed help on a particular part of their story where a person goes from our world and finds themselves in another one.
Most of the people hated the idea.  They said it was yet another one of those 'self-fulfillment' stories where all the author is doing is showing us how much they want to go and wish themselves away to a magical world where they can have an epic adventure.

After a few posts, the original poster agreed and abandoned their story.  Like that.

I seriously dislike those 'haters'.  When I read the premise, I was sitting on my chair and trying to think of a way to help the person.  The idea was fine.  I had no problem with that as I have a few stories of my own where the MC (main character) gets transported from our world to another.  The story that the person had could've been a bestselling novel if they--and I am laying a little bit of blame on them--had stuck to their idea and defended it.

And I can't even count on both hands how many authors have taken this idea themselves and ran with it.  Brandon Mull and Terry Brooks are only two of them.

So I guess there are two points to this blog.  For one thing, be thoughtful.  Don't bash, flame, or bury someone elses' idea six feet under the ground.  And if you critique someone elses' story, be considerate and watch your wording.  I'd rather have someone question why the bad guy chose a particular person to be his advisor/minion than have them tell me my villain is a complete idiot.

(a lot of people probably thought they were dumb characters too, at first, but now look at them)

Oooutline!

I've actually got quite a bit of the outline already (was totally working on it last month)  It's not much, but it covers the majority of the plot I've got going on in my head.  Here's a tiny example:

"Andrea fights the superheroes."

Yup.  That's it.  It's the beginning, which I wanted to start off with quite a bit of action.  What I'm not saying here is that it's supposed to be her first real day on the job, and that she's part of a team.  That's okay, though, because this outline gives me room to play with that sort of thing.  The key to making a good outline is one that gives you room to deviate.  Trust me.  If you have EVERYTHING detailed out, you're not going to have any fun at all whatsoever.

Once I started out writing an outline, excited and thrilled about putting together what I thought was an awesome story.  Then when I came to the end of the outline for the first book (in what was a trilogy) I hated it.  I just put too much detail in for what I needed at the time.

On another note, I'm not proud of this last part of the outline for my superhero story:

"SHE BLABS ALL TO HIM."

Yeah.  And this is after a really intense scene where she almost kills someone.  I am so going to change that.  Don't know what to yet, as she does need his help, but I'll think of something.  At least I know where the story is going and in general what's going to happen. 

How are y'all doing on your storylines?  Or are you flying by the seat of your pants?  You writing fanfiction?  Adventure?  Fantasy?