Tuesday, August 25, 2009

NaNoWriMo Class a Go!

I don't have all the details, but the NaNoWriMo class is a go! Once a week for seven weeks, I'll meet with students who want to write 50K words in 30 days for NaNo.

  • The first two weeks are going to be focused on getting ready for NaNo: finding a story, getting into the writing habit, making sure the friends and family know what people are up to so they aren't offended when they are put off by the writers.
  • The month of November will be devoted to writing in class and supporting each other including helping people write themselves out of tight spots, etc.
  • The last night will be a post-mortem of NaNo and Scott Carter is going to give a talk on what to do once you've written a book.

This class is NOT going to be a traditional writing workshop where we critique each other's work. The idea is to get a first draft of a book out there. And it's allowed to SUCK. In fact, if it doesn't suck, you probably weren't doing NaNo right.

The whole idea is to use the impetus to get a first draft out because you can't have a second draft if you don't have a first draft. To that end, writers are not allowed to go back and revise anything. If it sucks, you'll go fix it later. It's all about moving forward until you get to the end of the book.

So, once I get specific information, I'll post it here and broadcast it to the world. It ought to be a wild ride.

Oh, yeah. We decided the class is going to be called "Write Your First Novel in Thirty Days." Catchy, huh?

m

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Surprisingly productive

I have nearly revised the whole of Liz Stratton Closes the Store! I'm amazed that I am working on the last chapter now.

Of course, this final chapter needs some serious work because the parts of it were written months apart. Now I'm trying to stitch together the parts into some kind of cohesive whole. Plus, I have a Hollywood ending, which fits, but...it is a little cute-sy. So, I'm conflicted by the last pages. I have some holes to fill in, too.

However, the upshot is that I am making serious progress on the text, and it looks like I will finish this revision well before my self-imposed September 12 deadline.

I'm stunned.

I even have up to chapter 13 to my first readers, who ROCK. They have given me such insightful and helpful comments.

So, this frees up time between now and school starting for the Kris and Dean show and other projects, notably the "Library Quest" web movies I hope to film with a friend during Fall Quarter.

I did write a "script" for the 48 Hour Film Project this year, too. I'll post a link and write an entry about it once the film is online.

That's all for now. I wish it were summer all year so I could be this focused on writing all the time!

m

Sunday, August 2, 2009

chapters 9 and 10 revised!

I want to thank the deities that control the number of hours my baby sleeps during her afternoon nap: the 3 1/2 and 4 hour naps are FANTASTIC for my writing productivity!

I'm up to 224 pages of the second draft. Awesome. Feeling smug. That's about the time Murphy steps in and messes up my best laid plans.

m