Tag Archives: camp nanowrimo

Packing for Camp…

Misc, , ,

roasting-marshmallows

Or you know… grabbing a blanket, and some chips and moving the ten or so feet from my bed to my desk. XD

It’s just about time for the July session of Camp NaNoWrimo, and as it’s become abundantly clear that I can’t keep to any sort of writing schedule unless I have at least the semblance of accountability, I will be participating again this go around. If anyone wants to join me, or needs a bit of extra support/motivation to get through the month, feel free to add me over there and we can sweat it out together.

I’ll probably have some excerpts of the newest project up on Book Country within the next couple weeks for feedback. I’ll post more on that when the time comes.

Outside of camp preparations, I’ve been working on doing some final editing on In Plain Sight, so that I can get ready to send off some query letters. Exciting and nerve wracking… all at the same time!!

 

Writing Is Hard

The Writing Process, , , , ,

 

I’ll admit that I’m struggling just a bit. I didn’t go into this fully prepared, didn’t have any sort of outline, or even a fully fleshed out plot to work with. While I’ve managed to throw something together, still getting from point A to Z (and all stops in between) is proving to be a lot harder than it should be. I know more or less where I’m going, and what needs to happen to get there, but OMG… there just are no words. Nothing… Nada…

Part of it, I think still has to do with my issues over point of view, and the related issue of past tense vs present, which others in my Camp NaNo cabin brought up today as well, so at least it’s comforting to know I’m not the only one. The other part (as I mentioned to a friend the other night), is that my MC has been more or less out of it for the last 10 years – it’s not like she’s just going to jump out of that raring to go. It’s going to be somewhat slow going, which unfortunately, at least up to this point is boring as hell.

Currently the whole thing reads like an overly detailed diary, and I figure if it’s got me reaching for the snooze button, I can’t really expect anything better from anyone who might be unfortunate enough to read it. So at some point there will clearly be massive amounts of editing going on, otherwise this whole project will just end up a footnote in the history of epicly fail-tastic story telling. For now though, I’m going to keep muddling through, and fighting the good fight.

But srsly gaiz… writing is hard!! XD

Bonus points: what sort of things do you do when you feel like what you are writing is total shit, but you don’t necessarily want to abandon it completely?

 

Point of View

The Writing Process, Writing, , ,

I’m currently working on my newest project – potentially titled “Is This The Real Life”, as part of Camp Nano, and though I should be typing away at my 1000+ words a day goal, I sit here pondering point of view instead.

I was/am seriously considering writing this one from a first person point of view, really wanted to, since a lot of it, especially in the beginning is all just the main character sort of nattering on about her life, but I know too that once the other characters come into play, it’s going to be harder for me to stick to that. First person is not a comfortable writing style for me at all – guess that’s why I always had a hard time keeping a diary as a child. XD

Anyways…

  • What point of view styles work best for you all? Or does it vary depending on what you are writing?
  • What ways do you find it best (when writing in first person) to convey the thoughts of others, or to convey actions/events that may have happened outside the narrator’s presence, but that are somewhat central to moving the plot along?
  • Should I just abandon first person and go with third person, or just keep at this and see how it goes for a bit?

Inquiring  minds want to know!!

 

 

Camp NaNoWriMo

Books, Writing, , ,

April 1st starts Camp NaNoWriMo, which is a much more laid back version of NaNoWriMo which happens every November. Both are great motivators, for those who are need a bit of an extra boost to keep to a writing schedule, but the great thing about Camp is that you can set your own word count goals. So it’s not quite as grueling as the 50K words in 30 days, that NaNo generally is.

I’ve had a few things kicking around in my head for a while, so I think I’m going to give Camp a go. If anyone wants to join me, feel free to poke at me, and we can find a forum or something for motivational support, or Twitter/Tumblr, etc… Whatever works.  Not sure how this one will turn out though, since I don’t have it nearly as well planned out as I did with my last NaNo effort.

Either way… shall be interesting.