Wow, how is it mid-December already?
Posted: December 13, 2016 Filed under: NaNoWriMo, Odds and Ends | Tags: Nanowrimo, odds and ends, rewrites, writing Leave a commentBetween NaNoWriMo and holidays time has slipped away from me.
I’m working on getting ready for a family trip, as well as (okay, I admit it, slowly) working on fixing the mess I made out of my NaNo project. Somehow I managed to make a 30k word project take up more than 50k. How? By changing things in the middle and rewriting scenes with out going back and removing the wrong stuff. Now I’ve got to do that. It’s not what I want to do… I want to binge watch Bones… but it must get done so here I go.
It is here…
Posted: November 3, 2016 Filed under: NaNoWriMo | Tags: ML, Nanowrimo, writing Leave a commentNaNoWriMo has begun. Are you participating?
This is my eighth year, and yes, I’m participating, as well as working as a Municipal Liaison.
So far, things are going well, and I hope you will join us, it’s not too late, just jump in and get going.
NaNoWriMo Prep
Posted: October 20, 2016 Filed under: NaNoWriMo | Tags: Nanowrimo, National Novel Writing Month, novella, preperation Leave a commentIs going a little differently for me this year. I have 3 novellas I would like to get the first drafts finished on before the first of the year, so I’m working on those. I’ve already started the first one, but not to worry, I’ll have plenty left to write on the other two for November.
Some of the advantages I think I’ll find to this method are.. I already know the characters better than I have in previous years (these will be each novella focusing on different couples, but with an interwoven story between them all, so I’ve met at least half of the couple for book 2 in writing book 1.) Also in the work of interweaving the overlying story I have more of an outline. It’s not hard and fast and it’s not a detailed out line but it’s a start, and something I rarely start with.
Are you getting ready for NaNo? What are your plans?
Gearing up For NaNoWriMo
Posted: August 30, 2016 Filed under: NaNoWriMo | Tags: classes, Free, library, nano, Nanowrimo, workshops Leave a commentYes, I know that NaNoWriMo is still two months away from starting, However, since I’m a co-municipal liaison, we start thinking about it, and working on it, way early. Why? So we can do things like will start in just two days in my region (Yuma, AZ) NaNo Prep Workshops. What are they? A series of workshops, open to the public and sponsored by our local library system (so, FREE) to help people get ready for, plan, plot, create characters and worlds, so they can be ready to start with their NaNo novel in November.
Why are the workshops so early? Yes there will be a whole entire month between the end of the workshops and when NaNo starts. The answer is simple. We wanted to give our participants time in October to put what they learn to use. It takes time to create worlds, get to know characters, decide where you want to go with your story, etc. I could say it takes time to plot and outline but I don’t do that. I start my stories with characters, a situation and a goal, and let my characters tell me what happens from there.
Are you getting excited about NaNoWriMo?
Time is racing by for me.
Posted: April 25, 2016 Filed under: NaNoWriMo, Odds and Ends | Tags: Camp NaNoWriMo, kids, Nanowrimo, prom Leave a commentIt seems like April has just flown past. So far, I’ve done pretty well with Camp NaNo. II;’ve not yet written anything today so I’m that far behind, but that’s all! I’ve also been getting things ready for my daughter’s prom this week and the rest of my families crazy schedule. I’m beyond tired but it’s back to the grind for me, and I’ve got to get some more writing in.
What’s going on with you this week?
Camp, work, kids and a last minute graduation.
Posted: April 11, 2016 Filed under: NaNoWriMo, Odds and Ends | Tags: camp, Camp NaNoWriMo, graduation, kids, Nanowrimo, work Leave a commentWe got the results today for one of the two tests that kid 1 has to pass in order to graduate. She passed. This was the one we were worried about. She had been in the course since August, but finished the last 30% over spring break. The other test is a course she did last year and has been studying since August, just waiting for the test to be available, she and I are both confident she’ll pass that one. So we continue with the prep for the last minute graduation.
In other news, my new job seems to be going well, there has been a learning curve but it’s starting to take less time and I love that I’m able to work it around what’s going on my life.
Camp NaNo? Well, I’m not behind. I’m not where I want to be but I am on target.
Camp NaNo and other news.
Posted: March 31, 2016 Filed under: NaNoWriMo, Odds and Ends | Tags: camp, Camp NaNoWriMo, graduation, Melissa Stevens, nano, Nanowrimo 1 CommentTomorrow is the start of Camp NaNo, and yes, I plan on participating. I’ve not yet set my goal, but I’m going to add to the book I worked on in November. I love the flexibility of camp. The ability to work on an already started project, to edit and rewrite instead of write, to go for short stories, and the ability to set your own goal really work for me.
In other news, I’m working on getting ready for Romance Novel Convention and my trip to Vegas in June. I’m also teaching a class on how to publish eBooks at one of our local libraries next month. Have I mentioned that last week Kid 1, who is 16, decided she was going to graduate high school in May? (We knew she would be eligible to graduate but the plan had been to stay in HS and use the dual enrollment to get a discount at the community college. Other things have come up that changed that.) I’m working on getting all the normal stuff you do all of senior year to get ready for graduation, in two months. Oh, have I also started a new part time job this week, and it’s spring break.
Busy? That’s an understatement.
How did it get to be almost Christmas already?
Posted: December 16, 2015 Filed under: Odds and Ends | Tags: Christmas, Melissa Stevens, Nanowrimo, time flies Leave a commentThe last thing I know, NaNo was just starting. It seems like I blink and not only is NaNo over (and won) but Christmas is less than two weeks away (do I have to put up a tree?) I swear, every time I blink another week has gone by.
NaNoWriMo ‘15 Week 1
Posted: November 6, 2015 Filed under: NaNoWriMo | Tags: Melissa Stevens, nano, Nanowrimo, week 1, writing Leave a commentNearly a week into NaNoWriMo ‘15 I’m not doing great. My back has been giving me fits for three weeks now, and I’ve been going to the chiropractor since early this week. I am finally getting better but I’m still pretty sore and not sleeping all that well. Earlier this week I was doing my best to function on only 3 hours sleep. Now I’m doing better but it’s a slow climb. My story is good, I’m just having a hard tuning into my characters. I’m sure it’s more than a little bit due to the lack of sleep and the crazy busy schedule we’ve had over the last week. I’m hoping that some good rest and a calmer schedule will help me get some extra work done over the weekend and into next week.
How is your NaNo going?
It’s almost here!
Posted: October 28, 2015 Filed under: NaNoWriMo | Tags: Nanowrimo, ready, writing Leave a commentThe start of NaNoWriMo ‘15 that is. Are you ready? I am. I’ve spent much of October working on characters and settings, figuring out just what the plot twists are (at least some of them) and where I think this story is going. You know me, it’s a romance, but it’s never just a straightforward boy meets girl, there’s always some difficulty they have to deal with and get around to make things work. I won’t say I’m not busy, I am. but then that’s a way of life for me these days. At least this year we’re not making 60 plus pies for the old man to sell at work (for work profit, I got nothing out of it.)
I’ve got my scrivener all set up and I’m ready to get busy. But first we have a kick off party on Saturday (oh, yeah, did I mention I’m co-MLing for my area this year? The prep classes went amazingly well, now we just have to get through November.)
Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? Are you ready?