Debbie Brown and Nicholas Klacsanzky, UWB Writing Center Writing Consultants, have each committed to writing an entire novel in the month of November! Debbie and Nicholas will be blogging about their novel-writing experiences beginning November first. Watch this page for regular updates!
Debbie and Nicholas are teaming up with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a non-profit organization that sponsors a Young Writers Program in over 600 public schools, as well as library programs all over the world. NaNoWriMo began in 1999 with 21 entrants and this year over 110,000 people will attempt the improbable: to write at least 50,000 words from November 1st to midnight on November 30th. Check out NaNoWriMo, create an account, and do a search for author debbiebrown (all one word) to see Debbie's author profile.
Nicholas, Friday, November 20, 2009
Keeping my word count steady with the marks, especially during the half-way point, was extremely challenging. I faced a cold that nearly knocked me out of my senses. Typing a hundred words and being overcome by exhaustion, I would fall on the floor reeling in aches and lack of energy. Getting through 1600+ words that day was actually enlightening. If I could meet my word count then, I could definitely meet it other days.
I found a cool tactic to make a story exciting to yourself and the readers again. Change perspective. The whole story I have been basically going on about my main character, but then, when I thought my story was turning bland, I wrote a whole chapter from the perspective of my main character's best friend, and found relevant links with the main character. It turned about to be a worthy venture and two chapters from now I am going to do the same.
Changing perspective is a real art in novel writing. But take risks--especially if you are writing a novel with a fast-paced deadline.
Nicholas: Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Yesterday, I found a great method for working in NaNoWriMo conditions. I set a clock or timer for one hour, and didn't get up, unless I absolutely had to. I wrote as much as I could in one hour. Then, I took a 20 minute break, then get on the clock again. I found that I could write 1600+ words in two hours this way. It seems that I make a lot of inner excuses as a writer, and that setting a time eliminates some of those excuses.
Debbie: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 [WORD COUNT: 25,246]
“’There is no use trying,’ said Alice; ‘one can't believe impossible things.’ ‘I dare say you haven't had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’”
--Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
I BELIEVE!! Yes, it’s true--I have passed the halfway mark! 25,246 and counting. They say (“they” being the NaNoWriMo powers that be) that passing the 25,000 mark is a great feeling, but that the best is at the 35,000 mark. So 35,000 here I come. Thanks everyone for cheering me on!
Debbie: WEEKEND EDITION: Sunday, November 08, 2009 [WORD COUNT: 18,478]
"I am not afraid...I was born to do this."
--Joan of Arc
Today I wrote. I wrote and wrote and wrote. Then I wrote some more. I wrote so much that, were I walking on my fingers, I would have run a marathon or two. OK, that’s a really horrible analogy, but what you do you expect? I wrote until there was nothing more to write.
I’ve decided I need rules. Well, not rules. I generally don’t care for rules.Ask anybody. “Handy hints” might be a better term. So, henceforth, until November 30, these shall be my NaNoWriMo “handy hints” for speedy novel writing: (please note: You probably don’t want to use these hints for writing academic/scholarly works for your classes. In fact, I’d say you should pretty much do the opposite of these things if you are doing school work.)
1. Sleep? Not an option! Two short (less than one hour) naps per day are okay, but only if medically prescribed by a doctor, and you do not have time to go to the doctor, you are writing a whole novel in one month!
2. Meals? Not an option! I’m running on that new instant coffee, the zucchini bread my neighbor sent over last week, and leftover Halloween candy.
3. Vitamins! Lots of vitamins. Because they make up for Handy Hint #2—right?
4. Music! Loud music! No Jason Mraz or (if you are my age) James Taylor—that is sleep-inducing music, and you all remember Handy Hint #1, right? I am blasting Cold Play right now, interspersed with Jane’s Addiction. My advice is blast it so loud the bass goes right through your chest cavity, making thinking impossible. Just close your eyes (Yes, I said close your eyes!) and type. Type without looking. Type without thinking.
5. Carpel tunnel, you say? The hell I say! Wrap up your wrists tight and keep typing! Pain is for poets! We’re writing novels here, we have no time for pain! (Note to self: ask for carpel tunnel surgery for Christmas—that way you’ll be ready to go next November.)
6. A social life? Are you joking?? Your social life for the next twenty-two days shall consist of the hallucinations brought on by sleep deprivation and bowls of Halloween candy.
7. Write about those hallucinations! Give each of your characters lengthy, word-burning hallucinations. Remember, hallucinations don’t have to make sense and they can go on and on and on... and then later on your characters can repeat them to their therapists! Can you say “cut and paste?”
8. 1998 Newbery Honor winner for the delightful children’s book Ella Enchanted, and fellow NaNoWriMo-er, Gail Carson Levine says “The perfect is the enemy of the fast. The good is the enemy of the fast. The halfway decent is the enemy of the fast.”
9. Let’s bring “stream of consciousness” back! If it worked for Virginia Woolf, it can work for me. And my portfolio advisor, the avant-garde Professor Joe Milutis, tells me I’m completely wrong about James Joyce and Finnegan’s Wake. Hmmm….NaNoWriMo may be the perfect time to type random words in random order…. index speaker Kleenex sticky notes pen iPod calendar elephants totem didgeridoo television Josh Groban autumn leaves wicker pumpkin. Hey, I think I’m onto something here!
10. Do not look back. Do not re-read. Do not consult the thesaurus, the dictionary, Strunk & White, or your eleventh grade English teacher. Never wonder if there’s a better word. There is; you just don’t have time to think of it. NEVER EDIT. Type on, my friend, type on!
Nicholas: Friday, November 6, 2009
Yesterday was the first day I did not complete my word count. I had the time, but I did not get into a groove as I usually do. I sat in front of the computer listening to my standard music, but I wrote slowly and had to take many breaks. Maybe it was my mind telling me I needed to stop pushing it so hard.
This morning, I wrote on the bus on the way to work and it was much easier. One of my friends who is also doing NaNoWriMo told me a few days ago, "Find ways to make your story interesting to write." The more I reflected on that statement, the more I wrote. I found that the quirky, wacky aspects of characters are what drive me--not necessarily the plot. It is of great benefit to laugh and cheer your story along--to useunique-ification, as my short story writing teacher sometimes says. It seems that the more unique a story is, the greater enjoyment you will have in writing it.
Debbie: Friday, November 06, 2009 [WORD COUNT: 5,445]
"Use what talents you possess. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best."
--William Blake
William Blake’s quote really helped me calm down. I doubt very much this novel I am cranking out in 30 days will be a classic piece of literature. And that’s okay. Even if I were writing a novel without the thirty-day time constraint, I can’t think in terms of writing like some of my literary heroes such as Harper Lee, Ernest Hemingway, or John Steinbeck.
All I can do is be me, and all I can write is my very best. I am writing the best I can, given the parameters of having to write 50,000 words in thirty days. I need to stop looking back; I need to stop second-guessing myself and going through angst over every word I write.
I think that applies to my schoolwork as well. I had a reflection paper due yesterday. I completely obsessed about it, and spent almost all night re-writing it, and I still wasn’t happy when I posted it to Catalyst. I need to take a deep breath and realize I did the best I could. Maybe Steinbeck could have written a better reflection on his experiences in BCULST 500, but Steinbeck isn’t the one in the class—I am. So, in the spirit of Blake, I will write the best I can without worrying whether I “sing the best.” Thanks, William Blake!
Debbie: Thursday, November 5, 2009 [WORD COUNT: 4,558]
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them."
--Mark Twain
Yesterday was a good writing day in terms of volume—I am now only about 800 words behind, and I can easily make that up by the end of the weekend. I am starting to synthesize several very discrete ideas into one cohesive story woven together with strands and cords of different fabrics.
While I was writing, I was thinking about reading. I love Twain’s quote because, as a first year grad student, my classmates and I do a lot of griping about the volume of reading we are assigned. But Twain was right. Why are we attending this top-tier university if not to open our minds and gain a greater understanding of who we are? Yes, I have a lot to read. But what better thing to occupy my waking moments? I am both a better private person, a better writer, and a better citizen of the world, because I read.
Nicholas: Tuesday, November 3, 2009
After reaching a total of 5022 words, I knew today was one of those get-through-it days. My writing didn't have the usual zeal and flash to it, but I made myself write to the projected limit for day three. I think the thing that kept me going, besides the threat of being behind, was my characters. All my characters are loosely based on real life, mostly my family. To me, writing totally outside of what I know would mean a much larger task in terms of completing a novel in a month.
Though we ultimately write from experience regardless of what we write, to base our writing largely on what we know really well can be an effective way to keep the words rolling.
Nicholas: Monday, November 2, 2009
I finished off at 3740 words total, writing 1706 words today. I completed my second chapter and I have a loose idea where I am going with the story. Despite not planning the story out meticulously like I usually do, I find the style of quick, jump-of-the-gun writing of NaNoWriMo does not hinder my organization. Though I may go on tangents, like only fun novels should, I stay on point. My characters are getting more defined and are becoming more exciting to write about. The first day was eventually a bore--half way through 2017 words, I found my story dull and uninspired. But the second day was like picking up the pieces of the puzzle I had written the day before, and firing my intellectual and imaginative guns. Though exhausting, it was a thrill to see where my story took me.
Debbie: Monday, November 02, 2009 [WORD COUNT: 903]
"Just dash something down if you see a blank canvas staring at you with a certain imbecility. You do not know how paralyzing it is, that staring of a blank canvas which says to the painter: you don't know anything."
--Vincent van Gogh
Okay, so I didn’t make my word count yesterday. As van Gogh said, I sat an stared at a blank computer screen, paralyzed with fear. Oh my God! I’m writing a whole novel in one month in front of the entire UWB! Why, oh why, did I volunteer for this crazy mission!?! I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing! Okay, Vincent. I’m going to throw some paint on the canvas, so to speak. Just write. Don’t think. Here I go!
Debbie: Sunday, November 1, 2009 [WORD COUNT: 0]
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."
--Walt Disney
This is it! I’ve been talking about NaNoWriMo for months, and now it’s time for the pencil to hit the paper! I have a topic (sort of) and a plot (kind of) an characters (in a way), and so… here I go! 1,670 words per day… how hard can this be?