NaNoWriMo

And, I've begun the great 30-day race to 50K words! I'm exactly seven days into the marathon and I'm on track at 10,136 words. I've decided to write weekly blog updates to save my creative writing energy for the actual novel.

NaNoWriMo isn't as intimidating as I had first thought. 50,000 words sounds monstorous and overwhelming. Yet, 1700 words per day is quite manageable, as long as I stay on track. On November 2nd, I only wrote 180 words and had to write double the next day to catch up. The hardest part is to buckle down for an hour or so, tune out the world, and just write. I've given up Facebook for the month - yes, I am one of those people.

Day #1 was a struggle - a battle, really, against my perfectionist side. Immediately after I wrote the first paragraph, I hated it. My fingers itched to go back, move commas and sentences around, change names and personalities, rework the dialogue. But I forced myself to move forward. I knew, if I had to write 1700 words a day, I absolutely could not go back to edit. My rule is that I can only go back to add more words.

I have written a total of four whole novels (including one I wrote over email with my cousin) in the past. I started out with a handful of interesting characters. I knew the beginning and I had a vague idea of the end. Then, armed with this small amount of information, I would write a story.

I like what Alex, from Alex & Emma, says, after Emma asks, "How can you write a book if you don't know the end?" He responds with, "Because I know the characters and they tell me where the story goes."

That's exactly how I've always written books. But my NaNo book is different. It had to be. Like Alex in Alex & Emma, I also have only 30 days to write an entire novel. I can't just allow my characters to decide their own paths, taking their own sweet time in doing it. I don't have time for that. I had to have a plan.

I took many notes leading up to November 1st, and it's amazing how much easier it is to write 1700 words a day, when you have a solid vision of where the story is going. Everything flows - character's motivations are clear and upcoming events can be foreshadowed. I think I can save tons of time in the editing process by plotting the story out before I write it.

But, enough talk...I have 1700 words waiting to be written.

Until next time...

Just Keep Writing

Last Friday, agent Rachelle Gardner wrote a thought-provoking post: What If There Were No Money In Writing? which discussed how the publishing world is rapidly changing and it's becoming much harder to make a decent living from writing alone. She concluded with, "Would you still write? Would you self-publish? Just enjoy writing as a hobby? Would you hang it up altogether? I understand you’re a writer because you want to be read… but how much of that is about getting paid? If there were no money in writing, what would you do?"

I know what I'd do.

In the words of Finding Nemo's Dory, I'd "just keep swimming, just keep swimming."

I love to write. I have to write. The thoughts trapped in my head beg to be released on paper, whether or not anyone reads them at all. Writing is my joy.

I've spent the last hour or so reading up on temporal lobes, cerebral cortexes, and brain shearing.  I've studied up on narcolepsy and hh bloody type for the past week for my NaNoWriMo novel. Not because I love science that much. Or brains. Or sleep. Or blood. (ACK!)

But, because I love to create other worlds that feel so real, you could practically fall into them through the pages. Like Alice through the rabbit hole.

I may not write for a living. But I MUST write to live.

Marathon Writing

50,000 words. 30 days.

Sounds like the tagline for some sort of writing horror film, does it not?

Actually, the real tagline for NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month) is "Thirty Days and Nights of Literary Abandon" which sounds slightly cheerier, wouldn't you agree?

My writerly comrades (Alex and Colin) and I are about to set off on a whirlwind race against the clock to pen 50,000 words of a novel. We start in only 14 days. Gulp. Where did I put my running shoes?

I wrote CYNDER in a year. My latest book will be penned in November. There will be no fussing over comma placement, or returning again and again to Chapter One to rewrite paragraph #14. There is no turning back. I will write straight through to 50,000 words, whether it be sloppy, slobby, or messy. Oh! Will my perfectionist self be able to endure it?

Yes. I must. I will prevail.

 Tune in on November 1st to hear the gunshot sound. And watch the race begin.

The Art of Wasting Time

I recently stumbled upon StumpleUpon! Yes, pun intended.

My goodness! As if social networking life was not complicated enough. I finally figured out Twitter. Now, my Facebook fan page "Awake In Dreamland Blog" is linked to my Twitter, @kaelinewman which is linked to my StumbleUpon account (I can now post Tweets through su.pr, and track how many 'clicks' I get on my Tweets) which is also, ehem, linked to my personal Facebook account.

Whew! How much would could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood???

A Few of My Favorite Reads

I want to be the kind of writer who makes kids and adults alike tired in the morning.

Because they secretly stayed up all night, under the covers with a flashlight, reading one of my books. Because their nose was glued to the pages. Because they were lost in another world, unable to find the portal back to reality. Because they simply could NOT set the book down.

I've read books like that.

Ella Enchanted is one of my favorite books, by far. And Gail Carson Levine is my hero. I want to be like her when I grow up. I burned through these pages, caught up in the magic of the "true" story of Cinderella and her despicable curse of obedience.

Louis Sachar is a master. His prose isn't complicated or fancy. But his plot is. Every plot element weaves seamlessly throughout the story, and he ties every loose end together neatly at the end. Peaches. Onions. Zeroni. Yelnats. Past. Present. All fits neatly together, like one fantastic puzzle.

I wish I could travel back in time and meet Lucy Maud Montgomery. Each and every one of her characters fairly leap from the page. Especially Anne. I forget Anne isn't a real person and that she never actually walked the face of this Earth. I think, "Anne and I would have been kindred spirits, had we met." L.M. Montgomery has captured human nature perfectly.

When I read Francine Rivers, I forget I'm reading. The words melt away, and I'm standing on the bustling, dirty cobblestone streets of ancient Rome. She doesn't use excessive descriptions but simple choice words to paint a perfect and exact picture.

Suzanne Collins made me a very tired hairstylist for many weeks. She has the art of suspense down to a science. At the end of every chapter, I was forced to continue. Who would live? Who would die? I burned through the pages, thinking,  "Just one more chapter, and then I'll go to bed."

Eight chapters later...

Wide-Eyes and Paper Crowns

We are wondering where the wild wind blows

We are happy here 'cause the wild wind knows

What we are

Orphans, kingdoms

    -Brooke Fraser

I take inspiration from so many things - enchanting photographs, fantasy novels, folk music, silly things my preschool kids say. Simple, everyday magic.

Queries, Rejections, and the Like

Query letter, synopsis, and the first three chapters of Cynder have been polished until each and every little black word gleams from the page. I've been sending my "baby" novel into the great wide unknown. Hence, my silence on "Dreamland". And I wait. And wait. To be rejected. Or to be accepted.

And I feel like some sort of over-worried parent, sending my eighteen-year-old off to some massive college across the country. What if she gets homesick? Will she make friends? Will people like her?

I know, at least, my mom likes "her". I left my submission package on the counter, before I went to work. My mom warmed my heart with this text, "Planned to get the dishes done, but this story sitting on the counter completely sucked me in and I lost track of time."

And, for anyone that knows my mom, dishes are a high priority.

I'm looking forward to the day when an email from some incredible agent comes into my inbox, with the words: "I love this. Send me more!"

But, as all writers know, not every response will be that glorious. Not at first. Meg Cabot says, "Save your rejections so that later, when you are famous, you can show them to people and laugh." And James Lee Burke had an entrepreneurial approach to his rejections, "I used to save all my rejection slips because I told myself one day I'm going to autograph these and auction them. And then I lost the box."

 

 

But I have a different use for form rejection letters. I plan to use mine as a template for refusing a date: "Thank you for [asking] me. Unfortunately I don't feel I'm quite the right [person] for you. I'm regretfully going to pass. Best of luck. Due to the volume of [people asking me out] I receive, I'm unable to provide a further explanation of my decision."

Rekindled

The flame has been rekindled.

It's funny how you can simply go through the motions of daily life, like it's some sort of dreary routine. Head bent low, you wake, work, eat, sleep, without so much as a flash or a glimmer of inspiration. Your only dull thought is to finish the task before you. Laundry to pickling eggs to knitting lace doilies and so on are tasks that, moment by moment, simply get you through the day. Your head is enshrouded in some sort of foggy gray cloud that resembles just the opposite of inspiration.

But then, when you least expect it, it strikes like lightning.

Inspiration.

This time, it struck from an entirely different kind of energy source. In one week, five different people asked, "So, whatever happened to that book you were writing...?" One woman declared that SHE actually started writing again. Because I had inspired her.

A lightbulb came on. The foggy gray cloud dissolves - but only metaphorically, as Washington's skies are rarely blue - and suddenly I can see. It's like having amnesia one moment, and then the next, remembering everything.

I'd forgotten about my book. I admit it.

Dust covers its poor pages... Or, rather, dust covers my poor laptop. With one simple question, my passion was rekindled. How many hours am I spending on Facebook? How many could I spend on my book instead? How many people could I be inspiring to go after their own dreams? I don't want to be a social network expert. I want to be a writer.

And you can only BE a writer if...you actually write.

My writing cohort, Alex, decided it is time to stop wasting time and settle in to get these books published. And I fully and completely agree.

The time is now. Let's go.

Tell It Again

I spent a week, sitting on the beaches of Puerto Vallarta, reading this incredible book. Jacob Reckless journeys through the Mirrorworld, discovering sleeping beauties, gingerbread cottages, and the disturbing Tailor, in his quest to save his brother.

Ella Enchanted. Fairest. The Brothers Grimm. Ever After. The 10th Kingdom. Reckless. I'll admit it, even Hilary Duff's Cinderella Story, gives me a little shiver of delight. Genius works, all. I am hopelessly, undeniably, irrevocably, head over heels, swept off my feet, in love with fairy tale retellings.

Including, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.

...Which isn't exactly a fairy tale... But have you read this?

I think, one reason I love fairy tale retellings is they make me feel intelligent. I smile when I hear, "The shoes are too big" in Ever After, knowing the lines suggests Cinderella's small feet.

Also, in Brothers Grimm, I enjoy watching how each and every fairy tale ties neatly together. "Aha," I think, "so that's how it REALLY happened."

Sometimes, I wish (with a little pixie dust, of course) that real life was more like a fairy tale, with fairies, elves, knights in shining armor, seven dwarves, glass slippers, and happily ever afters. Ah, yes! 

It Is Written

I can't say it's pretty. It's far from perfect. But my synopsis is written. And it's not quite as bad as my first drone-on-forever-about-unnecessary-details draft. I am encouraged by that.

When I am an old and wise published author, I shall compose many blog posts (or whatever futuristic web diary they've invented by that time) on how to write the synopsis. I will write a specific breakdown on every sentence, paragraph, formatting requirement, word count, and page length. Such "how to's" are impossible to locate these days, even with the most expensive GPS.

And so, uneducated, I have put forth my best effort, in hope that the product resembles a synopsis in some way, shape or form.

AGENT UPDATE: Synopsis complete. Query letter complete. Top Ten Agents located. Once I perfect my synopsis and touch up my novel's first fifty pages, we'll be set for launch.

Creative Writing

Alone in my office, I stare at my computer screen. It stares blankly back. My netbook slumbers at my right elbow and numerous sheets of severely abused paper cringe on the desk.

I don't understand how penning a two-hundred page novel can be easier than writing a three-page synopsis ABOUT the aforementioned two-hundred page novel. I scoured the Internet for some small nugget of advice that could inspire me to write an award-winning synopsis. I only came up with these generic tips: 1) Cover only main plot points and characters, 2) Include the end of the book, and 3) Don't be a bore. Gee, thanks!

But, then, it struck me. And it hurt.

Writing is my passion and my joy, I reminded myself. I've turned writing my synopsis into dreary, unsavory (how I hate to say the word!) work. I've been slogging instead of soaring.

And I need to change my mind about it.

It isn't another dull homework assignment. It's creative writing. I can put my own signature twist on it. In high school, my drama teacher gave me creative writing assignments - one of which was to write a piece of advice. Instead of slopping out a paragraph of "do's" and "don'ts", I turned it into Advice Annie's advice column, featuring Failure Fred. And I thoroughly enjoyed writing it.

Writing is about thinking outside the box and bending the rules as far as they'll go. To use Adam Young's words, "I don't use a pen. I write with a goose quill dipped in venom." I can infuse this currently bland synopsis with life and energy and originality. I want to make it mind-blowing.

Ready, set, go!

Synopses

I do not like them, Sam I Am.

I would not like them here or there.

I would not like them anywhere.

Synopses, I mean. Not green eggs and ham. (On a side note, I'm actually a big fan of green eggs and ham).

Query letters are a stroll through the park in comparison to the synopsis (which is a long dive off a cliff). I don't know if that's a well-crafted analogy, but I'm sure you see my point. Stop staring!

My current synopsis is hideous. I went through my novel, chapter by chapter and wrote down, in one or two sentences, a synopsis of each chapter. Basically, all the important parts. Then, I typed it up into a mish-mash five-page paper... Boring.

My trouble is trimming it down. I feel like every sentence is important and necessary. It's hard to step back, take an objective view on it, and figure out what's really important. And what really isn't. I suppose I could leave out the (not so important) invisibility cape, as long as I leave in the evil villain's magic powers...

But then, one part of me says, "But I like the invisibility cape. I want people to know about it."

While the other part of me argues back, "They'll know about it when they actually read the book, silly."

Yes, I call myself names. No, I'm not schizophrenic.

Where Were You On The Night Of...

...February 28th, 2011?

Hopefully, you'll be reading "Awake in Dreamland" because several happy things are scheduled for that day... I finished my query letter last night! Hallelujah! However, I have a horrid case of perfectionitis (symptoms include anxiety, trembling hands while typing, and the inability to leave a project alone). Nothing is ever completely finished in my world. According to me.

For now though, I'm quite proud of this sixth draft of my query letter.

February the 28th is my new deadline to finish a synopsis, polish my query, and input my cousin's suggested improvements. In other words, I will be ready to query my "top ten" agents by March 1st. Sound like a plan?

I've spent the last few hours working on my "top ten" list. Currently, I have a "top nine". I'm still deciding on the last one. I studied their blogs, websites, and submission guidelines, all the while taking copious notes! But, still, I don't feel quite prepared to send anything yet.

That's probably because... I'm not. I still have that beautiful piece of literature, known as the synopsis, waiting (not so) patiently to be written... At this very moment, my brain is frantically searching for the best possible way to procrastinate. Facebook? Netflix? Sleep?

Or...I still haven't finished Mockingjay yet...

Twitter and Query Letters: Confusing

I'm trying to be more social-networking saavy. After all, I am 20 years old. I have Facebook. I have a blog. And it's long overdue... But, I'm now officially part of the Twitter world.

And I'm thoroughly confused.

What the #eck is a hashtag, first of all? How do I find people TO follow, anyway? And why is he following me? *creeper* Is that a status update or a coded message or a curse (there's far too much #,@,%,&, to be proper English, right)?

I sound like someone's grandmother who doesn't own a cellphone and rants about "the good old days" when humans talked face to face. And I feel like an 18th-century Amish girl who time-traveled to modern day. What's a computer anyway?

Someday I'll figure it out...   Twitter, I mean. I know what a computer is...

Meanwhile, I've been steadily working on compiling a "top ten" list of agents, and working on my query letter. I plan to finish it within the next two weeks, and then tackle a synopsis. Cyberspace, I'm wrinkling my nose right now in disgust at the very thought.

I made myself laugh aloud last night. First, I chuckled at my first draft query letter, which the world will never ever ever see. Then, I giggled as I placed my cousin's review of my book between the sentences "Dear Agent" and "Thank you for your time and consideration".

It sounded perfect. 

But that makes complete sense. A query letter should read like a review, or the back cover of a book - short, snappy, and glue-your-shoes-to-the-floor fascinating.

With this new mindset, I happily return to query writing...

ELFBLOOD by Alex Newman - A Review

Scars cover Dinara Moonface’s visage. Only the snakes of Morg’s Bane find her charming.

Unwanted and unloved, Dinara grew up, an orphan, in the Bledthorn monastery, separated from her beautiful younger sister. Preferring seclusion, Dinara spends her days taming the desert snakes. But, on a return visit to Bledthorn, Dinara’s quiet world is turned upside down, when she’s kidnapped and sent to prison. Without any further explanation.

After an artful escape from prison with the charming Blackbird, she finds herself mixed up in a plot to destroy the tyrannical and false King Jakroiben. Complications arise when Dinara discovers her darling long lost sister is the wicked King’s wife!

Dinara must decide if she can and will tame the most venomous snake of all. Her brother-in-law, the King.


The talented Alex Newman paints a vibrant realistic world, peopling it with a band of diverse colorful characters, from Atta (the Ildruan witch) to Trague (the handsome bird-man). She entices you into the pages. Then, gently taking your hand, she pulls you breathlessly from scene to scene, through thrilling suspense and powerful non-stop action.

Her descriptions send her readers flying over hot rolling desert with the bird-men, swimming in refreshing pools with Dinara, partying in the Minstrel City, and watching, in terror, as a massive army of soldiers marches closer and closer, sharpened weapons at the ready.

Fantastic writing.

ELFBLOOD by Alex Newman is a must-read for those who love to escape from reality into a world of epic fantasy. Which, I do believe, IS most everyone...

I HIGHLY recommend it.

Don't Touch That Dial!

Honestly, I'm far too young to know what the above title even means.

Don't move a muscle. Stay. Keep reading. Even though 2010 is behind us and I have finished my book, I do not intend to abandon "Awake in Dreamland". Not in the slightest. I have fantastic ideas in mind for the blog's 2011 edition.

Stay tuned for the query letter countdown, agent search updates, my new superhero book outlines, publishing contract success (fingers crossed!), and (this week) a review of my cousin's incredible book, Elfblood.

But, as for today, I will reveal my book's title. As promised.

*cue epic music, please*

CYNDER