How I Won NaNoWriMo 2013

Somehow, NaNoWriMo seemed easier this year. Part of me can't believe I just wrote that, because it's completely ridiculous. This past month was by no means easy nor is writing 50000 words EVER easy. However, compared to last year, this November wasn’t quite as fingers-creaky-from-typing, need-coffee-desperately, HOW-CAN-I-POSSIBLY-DO-THIS?!?! I wasn't nearly as frantic and I wasn't plagued by doubt.

2012 was my first foray into NaNoWriMo. I remember thinking every day that there was no way I could do it. (I even wrote a post about struggling to commit for fear of failure.) However, this year when I sat down to write, the words came easier. They were less of a struggle. And there are three things I can attribute this to:

I Had a Plan

For NaNoWriMo, planning is a big part of the process. I have to admit I’m a plotter by nature, but I went a little further for this NaNoWriMo. I made an outline of the plot and set a word count goal for each of the three parts of my story and a daily word count goal (for the days I had time to write, which was most). Last year, I only had the first one. I did allow for spontaneity but the important thing was that when I was stuck, I had my outline, plans and goals to fall back on. They spurred me on.

I Made Writing a Habit (before November)

Starting in late summer, I began working on my work-in-progress (WIP). I wrote an average of 2000 words a week and did a lot of plotting/planning/characterization/mapping/etc. It wasn’t a lot, but it was practice. So when the time came to ramp up my word count from 2000 words a week to 2000 words a day, it was doable. I was ready.

I Knew I Could Do It

Because I’d already done it once before. Last year, I wasn’t convinced I could write 50000 words in 30 days. I’d never even come close, so when I managed to do it, I was ecstatic. However, this year, I knew I could do it because it would not be the first time. So it seemed easier. Or at least I had more confidence and there was less pressure. I knew it was not impossible.

 

So, yes, I’m a NaNoWriMo 2013 winner. Yay!

However, I haven’t forgotten what I wrote last week on the blog. The middle of my WIP still sags, but it’s there. I wrote it anyway. I didn’t want to stop for muddiness, sagginess or anything. So, I’ll be the first to admit that my story isn’t ready. It’s not even close. From the first sentence to the end, it needs editing. The middle needs an overhaul. This is the next task on my list.

But for a few days, I’m going to relish that I wrote through the muddiness. I’m going to savor that I’m a repeat NaNoWriMo winner. I have words. 50100 of them to be exact, which is more than I had on November 1st. I think that's the point of NaNoWriMo, not to have 50000 words at the end of the month, but to have more words than you had at the beginning.

 

The Muddy Middle of NaNoWriMo

Whether you call it the muddy middle, the saggy middle, the sticking place, or just I SUCK, we all reach the point where writing seems hopeless.

I’m there now. I’m still getting words down, but nothing is getting any clearer. I’m confused, demoralized and starting to think I’ll never understand anything again. Doubt is creeping in, and I’m beginning to suspect that it won’t go away for a while.

However, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s small, dim and is not growing nearly fast enough, but it’s there within this advice.

Struggle is Unavoidable

“Don’t take the easy way out. Don’t let your characters do it either. Great stories are about struggle, and you must endure struggle of your own to create great stories.” –The Write Practice, "I Don’t Want to Write," 10/4/13

Apparently if I’m struggling, I’m doing something right. If I sidetrack, backtrack or skirt the problem I’m facing, I'd be taking the easy way out. So I’m going to barrel through and meet the struggles as they come.

You Have What You Need

“Every theme, and character weakness, and part of the world you've built is a tool that you can use to figure out where the story should go.” –Veronica Roth, "The Sticking Place" on YA Highway, 8/4/11

If Veronica Roth says I have what I need to wrap up my story, I believe it. The parts of my story, the themes I’ve introduced, the characters I’ve created, should/can/will equal an ending. I may have to search a little to find the right one, but it’s there. And I plan on finding it.
 

Keep Charging

“This is the magic/curse of writing: That in crafting your fiction, you leave yourself open to sudden moments of unguarded truth, and you have to be willing to tolerate that again and again. You have to keep raising your sword and charging, even knowing you could retreat scorched and missing a limb. You have to keep doing it even when you don’t want to. Especially when you don’t want to.” –Libba Bray, "The Ever-Popular I Suck Playlist," 4/28/11

In the pursuit of greatness, you might be burned. You might break a pencil. You might lose a favorite line or scene or character. But don’t stop charging. Keep writing. Don’t stop putting words on the page. That’s all there is to it, really.

Thanks, experienced writers, for reminding me that not only does this happen, it is common. And it can be overcome. It may take time, effort and struggle. It may mean tears and involve doubt, insecurity and a little emotional scarring. But hopefully, it will lead to a full draft a publishable novel.

While in one hand I have doubt that I will ever see the end, in the other I have hope that it is possible. (And multitudes of proof on my sagging bookshelves.) So I put my hands together, and keep typing.

 

The Europe of Inspiration

It’s been almost five years since my last excursion to Europe, but I still delve into the photos often for inspiration. One of my favorite things about going through old photos is finding one I don’t remember and experiencing it as if for the first time. Then letting the image take me down the path to inspiration. As I dance/cry/trudge through the madness of NaNoWriMo, here are some images that inspire me, from my previous trips to Europe.

Antwerp, Belgium

Birmingham, England



Northern France

Ireland

London

Mont St. Michel

Omaha Beach

Paris

 

Pointe du Hoc, Normandy

Tervuren, Belgium

 

As you were viewing the images, did you see the Belgian businessmen? (Though, one looks more like a zookeeper, which would make sense since the Antwerp Zoo is RIGHT outside the station.) Did you see the Irish lovers, embracing at the end of the lighthouse? The English gentlemen at the pub? The French boy studying in the gardens?

The images are beautiful, but it’s the people who make them worth more than a thousand words. Each one is a story in itself, at least 50000 words in length.
 

Happy NaNoing!

Fiercely YA: Fierce Reads Tour in Cincinnati

One week ago, the Fierce Reads tour descended on chilly Cincinnati. It was a glamorous event, full of laughter, swag and signing! This stop on the tour featured these lovely ladies:



Bathe in the awesomeness of these YA authors? Don’t mind if I do!

From left:

Gennifer Albin, author of the Crewel trilogy

Leigh Bardugo, author of the Grisha trilogy

Jessica Brody, author of the Unremembered trilogy

Ann Aguirre, author of the Razorland trilogy

 

During the Q&A, one of the attendees asked this awesome question:  

What makes your book(s) fierce?

 

Here are the answers:

Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy is fierce in SETTING

Ravka is a tough land to live in. It’s a country almost on the brink of collapse and it’s been in an economic stranglehold for years.

My interpretation: In the Grisha trilogy, the setting is a character in itself. The unrelenting attributes of Ravka, the Unsea, the Permafrost and Os Alta all play a part in the story. Living in Ravka requires one to be tough, adaptable and ultimately: fierce.

 

Jessica Brody’s Unremembered is fierce in PLOT

There is a really big, fierce plot twist at the end of Unremembered. Throughout the book, there are clues leading up to this twist.

My interpretation: In Unremembered, the plot leads to a climatic twist. Even though clues are mingled throughout the book that foreshadow this twist, it is ultimately meant to surprise the reader in a fierce, unputdownable way.

 

Ann Aguirre’s Razorland trilogy is fierce in CHARACTER

There’s a lot of killing with knives and guns in this trilogy, and also the characters are fierce in spirit and attitude.

My interpretation: In the Razorland trilogy, the characters are living on the brink of apocalypse and struggling against the once mindless but now cunning Freaks. To survive, the characters have to be fierce in attitude and intelligence.

 

Gennifer Albin’s Crewel trilogy is fierce in CONCEPT

The main character, Adelice, manipulates the fabric of reality.

My interpretation: In the Crewel trilogy, the concept that girls can weave time and matter on looms is an incredible yet complex one. Adelice can manipulate time and matter without a loom which makes her unique and coveted yet it also puts her in danger. How fierce is that? Very.

 Read fiercely. Write fiercely. Live fiercely!

 

Disclaimer: This post is an unofficial account of the Fierce Reads event with the aforementioned authors on November 3, 2013 at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati, OH. The views that I present in this post are my interpretations of the event and are not direct quotations of the author's comments. These paraphrases do not necessarily represent the opinions of these authors or their publishers.

NaNoWriMo 2013: An Almost Novel in a Month

It's that time of year again! Nope, I'm not talking about winter, or even the holidays. I'm talking about NaNoWriMo! Happy Month of Writing to you! May the word count be ever in your favor!

 

This is my second NaNoWriMo experience. Last year, I successfully completed the challenge by writing 50000 words in 30 days. And then I threw out the whole draft when I realized I didn’t like the plot line. *shrugs* Isn’t that the life of a writer?

So, this year, I’m trying it again. Same characters, similar story, whole new plot. Except this year I’m fudging the rules, just a bit. It’s my story, so I figure I’m allowed.

This past spring, I revamped the plot of my story, starting it at a completely different point, changing all the scenes and drastically overhauling the climax. To make my WIP more manageable, I divided it into three parts. My plan was to write each part as a mini-novel, because facing one whole novel was just too overwhelming.

When I was ready to write, November was a couple months away. I didn’t want to wait to write, and I couldn’t set the story aside to write something else for NaNo. And I definitely wanted to give NaNoWriMo another go. So I crafted a plan. Muh ha ha. (That’s an evil laugh, just so you know.)

If I wrote Part One in the months leading up to November, I could write Parts Two and Three for NaNoWriMo. I made it my goal for each part to be 25000 words, meaning my almost-novel for NaNoWriMo would be 50000 words. Perfect, no?

And, in total, my WIP would ideally be 75000 words at the end of November, which is the suggested length for a solid YA novel. Am I an evil genius? I think so!

I know, technically, I will not be writing a novel in a month, in the terms of inciting incident to resolution. However, I will be writing the majority of a novel in a month (from a little way into the rising action to the resolution). And I will be writing 50000 words. (I started my word count on November 1^st. I did NOT include the words I had already written in Part One in the count. Now that would be cheating.)

But I wanted to be honest with the world. I may not be following the rules in the strictest sense, instead bending them a bit to fit my needs. Thanks, NaNoWriMo, for understanding.

*takes deep breath* Now, let’s go a-writing!

The Myth of Happily Ever After

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t read Allegiant and/or don’t want to know what happens, do NOT read this post! You've been warned.

Real life isn’t a fairy tale, and I believe that literature is allowed to reflect that. In most fairy tales there is a happily ever after, at some point after the main characters get past all their scruples and are together/engaged/married, and ta-da! Happy.

 

But in the real world, that’s not how it works. Marriage is not the finish line, but a starting point at a life together. And for many people, marriage is not the end goal, but maybe a career or friendship or travel or something else entirely. There will not be a point in life when everything comes together and from that point on, life is good. There will always be bad mixed with good, which is what makes life interesting.

 

A happily ever after is hard to come by in real life. So why do we require it in our fiction?

 

I understand that some people want an escape. That’s why we read books that take us to fantasy worlds or far away galaxies or the distant future when no one’s heard of the United States. We read about wizarding wars, Hunger Games and the quest to destroy the one ring in an attempt to escape from our everyday routine of work, eat, sleep.

 

The worlds to which we escape are not perfect. We wouldn’t want them to be! So, why do we want the endings to be perfect? Why do we require a happily ever after?

"As a reader, I don’t feel a story has an obligation to make me happy. I want stories to show me a bigger world than the one I know… Basically I would argue that books are not primarily in the wish fulfillment business. " –John Green

 

I was about 100 pages from the end of Allegiant when the dread starting creeping in. Suddenly, the end was upon me, I knew I was reading toward it, and I was afraid for what it would hold for Tris and Tobias. Apparently, I was right to be worried.

What Tris did for Tobias, Caleb and all those she left behind, was noble. It was brave, self-sacrificing and a little crazy. It was Tris. I truly believe she was the only one who could have fought her way into the Weapons Lab and I know she was the only one who could fight the effects of the death serum. In the end, it was a difficult irony that she survived the serum that would have killed everyone else just to be killed by one enemy with a gun.

 

Yes, life is unfair. Sometimes literature is too. But I know that Tris is the only one who could have completed it all, so that Chicago could be reborn as the fourth city. Don’t get me wrong, I was heartbroken the moment her mother came for her. But I kept reading and when I finished I took a step back and realized something important. In sacrificing herself, Tris saved numerous lives, she rescued a city from the brink of destruction and she pushed back on inequality.

 

The end of Allegiant was a different kind of ending. It was not a happily ever after, but a thought-provoking closure that was hard to swallow. It was elegant, powerful and (obviously) controversial. However, the lack of a happily ever after will not make me love Tris and Tobias, the Divergent series nor Veronica Roth any less. Because the ending was a reflection of real life. Every now and again, we need some real life in our literature. Occasionally, we need some reality in our escape.

 

Teen Books-to-Movies 2014

With the release of Catching Fire next month, I thought I’d dive back into the teen book-to-movie realm. Here are four more YA books that will be movies in 2014! And don’t forget to check out my previous posts on teen books-to-movies (last October & April), as some I’ve highlighted previously (such as the much anticipated Divergent) are not out yet!

 

Seventh Son (published as Last Apprentice)

 

Release Date: January 17, 2014          Status: Post-Production

An 18th century adventure story centered on young Thomas, who is apprenticed to the local Spook to learn to fight evil spirits. His first great challenge comes when the powerful Mother Malkin escapes her confinement while the Spook is away.

Why I’m Excited:

Because this movie adaption flew under my radar, and I’m surprised to learn its release is almost upon us! Even though I haven’t read this series, I’m sure it’s something I would like and the cast line-up is definitely something I like. Ben Barnes was particularly intriguing (read = HOT) as Prince Caspian, and I’m excited to see him as the hero of this tale. Also starring in this fantasy flick are Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges. Even though the trailer is a little over-the-top for my taste, the effects look great and the story interests me enough to get me to the theater.

 

The Fault in Our Stars

Release Date: June 6, 2014          Status: Filming

Hazel and Gus are two teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional, and a love that sweeps them on a journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous given that Hazel's other constant companion is an oxygen tank, Gus jokes about his prosthetic leg, and they met and fell in love at a cancer support group.

Why I’m Excited:

Because I’ve been following John Green’s videos (via Vlogbrothers) and his tweets from TFIOS set! This is by far the movie I’m most looking forward to in 2014, and not just because of the fantastic cast (Is Shailene Woodley the teen book-to-movie sweetheart or what?) but also because of the involvement of the author and the care of the crew. Even though I’m unsure the movie will live up to the awesomeness of the book, it certainly has the potential! I’ll be heading to the theater soon after its release!

 

The Giver

Release Date: August 15, 2014          Status: Filming

In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the "real" world.

Why I’m Excited:

Because this book was monumental for me growing up, and I’m hoping the movie adaption will be mystical yet simple. The Giver was my first dystopian book, before I even know what dystopia was. I have to admit I’m skeptical about Taylor Swift, but the rest of the cast (Meryl Streep, Katie Holmes, Jeff Bridges, Alexander Skarsgard) is full of star power. I have high expectations for this one, and I hope they are not dashed when I make the trip to the theater!

 

If I Stay

Release Date: 2014          Status: Pre-production

A chronicle of a fatal car accident involving 17-year-old musician Mia and her boyfriend.*

Why I’m Excited:

Because this book is unconventional in its plot, so I’m intrigued to see how it will translate on screen. It could be wonderful, or it could go the way of other teen book-to-movie flops. Of course I’m hoping it’s the former, because I love this novel (and everything else Gayle Forman’s written). Chloe Grace Moretz is signed on to star as Mia, which will put some force behind it as filming begins. I’m curious to see who is cast as Adam, as that is currently not listed on IMDB. It’s too early to tell, but assuming this hype is there and the trailer is decent, I will head out to the theater for this one!

 

 

 Please Note: The movie descriptions are courtesy of IMDB.

* This description is not an accurate representation of the book’s plot, and therefore I’m guessing it will not be accurate for the movie. However I’m sure when more information is available regarding this adaptation, IMDB will be updated.