The harder I work to get my life in order before National Novel Writing Month starts tomorrow, the more I wonder if I’m taking my preparations a little too far. I’m afraid I’m going to be exhausted before NaNo even begins. On the plus side, I haven’t done this much cleaning and cooking in a long time. At least the apartment looks better.

I’m planning on hitting the novel hard during the first few days to take advantage of my initial enthusiasm. To get us over that hump and make sure we survive the month of November, I have:

• shopped for groceries,
• stocked up on soup ingredients, including chopping and freezing extra veggies,
• baked muffins and seitan (my favorite recipe),
• finished laundry,
• cleaned the bedroom,
• taken our paper, cardboard, glass, etc. to the recycling center,
• cleaned litter boxes,
• backed up my hard drive, and
• finished my homework for one class for all of November.

Also, I’m having a friend over on Saturday for a writing session, and I’m having almost as much fun planning snacks and lunch as I am planning what I’ll write. That may not be a good sign for my novel. But as with other creative activities, I find that the more I cook, the more I want to cook.

No wonder I’m exhausted. I’m wondering if I’m going to have any energy left to write a novel. Luckily, I have time tonight to spend cozying up to my characters and plotting their lives in a little more detail. An additional distraction, however, is the flood of other fiction ideas I’ve had since I decided to do NaNo. It seems the more I write and think about writing, the more ideas I have.

My enthusiasm for NaNo waxes and wanes. Sometimes I look forward to the writing, remembering the feeling I have when I’m really deep into something. And I look forward to the end and the elation I’ll feel when I finally finish a first draft. And then, with dread, I imagine posting here that I’ve failed, given up. I imagine the questions from all the people I’ve told I’m writing a novel in a month. They ask, “How’s the novel going?” and all I can say is: “Well . . . ”

But for better or for worse, NaNoWriMo begins tomorrow. Wish me luck.

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Posted: October 31st, 2007 under NaNoWriMo.
Comments: 4

To distract myself from the impending frenzy of National Novel Writing Month, I’m participating in a how-to writing contest for Geeks Are Sexy.

When I was a kid, it was a bad thing to be a geek. It meant you weren’t cool, the rich kids wouldn’t talk to you, and you sat at the lunch table with the weirdos. I’ve always been a geek. But sometime in the years since then, being a geek has become chic. Being a geek means being creative, tech savvy, even cool in certain company. Posers now label themselves geeks.

Geeks come in all types, with all kinds of interests. Look around and you’ll see theater, gaming, food, computer, music, roleplaying, board game, scifi, Photoshop, martial arts, comic book, SCA, bike, programming, writing, web design, and photography geeks. Do you recognize yourself in any of these types? A geek is really just someone who is passionate about her creative interests. Geeks are intelligent, curious, and always learning. Who wouldn’t want to be a geek? So how do you become a geek?

Specialize
Pick your geek focus, the more complex the better. What do you already love to do that you feel you could never learn everything about? Look for inspiration in the things you’ve wanted to do but thought were too difficult and the things that others told you couldn’t be done. What have you always wanted to do? What would you do if you had all the time in the world?

Immerse yourself
Now, learn everything there is to know about your geek specialty. Read books and websites, subscribe to blogs and magazines, talk to others on forums and IM, find like-minded geeks in your community. The more diverse your sources of information, the more comprehensive your knowledge will be. Find a geek hero, someone who has already gone far in your specialty. Your hero can be someone you know personally or someone you’ve only read about. Find out how your hero started and emulate his path.

Learn continuously
Geeks strive to be experts in their field. No fact is too trivial, no process too complex, no endeavor too time-consuming. Identify gaps in your learning and always be open to opportunities to fill those gaps. If you really want to master your specialty, you’ll have to sink a lot of time into it. In order to learn continuously, you can’t just see your specialty as another “job.” It has to be something that you do for fun whenever you have a chance to relax.

Create
Geeks don’t just learn, they create. Geeks write software, design websites, roleplay, take photos, and write fiction. Put all your knowledge into practice, delve into the roots of your geek specialty, and create something new, exciting, and creative. Most importantly, jump in right away. Don’t wait until you’ve learned “everything” before beginning. Another way to expand your skills is by teaching. Offer your expertise when you see someone struggling with a problem you can help solve. It’s true that you can learn more by teaching than by keeping all your knowledge to yourself.

So why should you become a geek? Because geeks master their interests. Immerse yourself long enough, and you will be the expert that others come to for advice and assistance. Not always the best thing, you say? If you’re building a true specialty, you have the right to charge for it. Sell your computer, mechanical, writing, or design skills and watch all your hard work pay off. If you don’t want to start your own geek-related business, you still have the benefits of an enjoyable hobby that challenges, stimulates, and entertains.

Still not sure you’re a geek? Take the test and find out. (In case you’re wondering, I’m just a Geek at 19%.)

So what kind of geek are you? Let me know in the comments.

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Posted: October 30th, 2007 under Creativity.
Comments: 8

I just found out that I won second place for Simple Photo Editing Using GIMP at the Writer’s Manifesto Tutorial Group Writing Project. Thanks to Monika for hosting a fun contest!

I like participating in these contests because it gives me an excuse to stretch and grow, as well as a way to meet other bloggers. I would encourage anyone who wants the challenge of expanding their usual writing topics and style to participate in blog contests.

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Posted: October 30th, 2007 under Briefly.
Comments: none

I posted last week on why I decided to do National Novel Writing Month and what my strategies are for finishing a novel in a month. And now I’m just waiting.

Impatiently.

I have my outline to work on, of course, but I’m afraid to get too deep too quickly. I’m afraid that if I write a lot of notes without letting myself begin the actual narrative, I’ll get tired of the story before I’ve even started.

I still have homework to finish before Thursday, but I’m tired of preparing. I’m ready for the reward for all my hard work: one month to really dig deep into writing.

I don’t want to work on the novel I already have started, because I don’t want to have trouble shifting my attention to my NaNo novel on November 1. I don’t want to start reading any fiction that I might not finish before Thursday, because I know how susceptible I am to other writer’s voices.

I realize the waiting is almost over, but I want to start now before I lose my nerve. I don’t want this fever to die, this glorious feeling that of course I can write a 50,000 word novel in one month, even though I’ve never finished a novel before. I don’t want all the old uncertainties to creep in, dragging new doubts in their wake.

So while I’m waiting, I’m reading the NaNoWriMo forums, inahling the enthusiasm of thousands of other participants.

I suspect that once I’ve begun, I will be counting the days until December just as eagerly as I’m now counting the days until November.

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Posted: October 29th, 2007 under NaNoWriMo.
Comments: 2

No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty is a guide to writing a novel in a month, whether as part of the official National Novel Writing Month in November or as part of a personal challenge at some other time of the year.

In his introduction, Chris Baty acknowledges that writing a novel in a month is insane, and yet his humorous style makes it seem like a fantastic idea. Like many of the best writing books, the infectious enthusiasm of No Plot? No Problem! made me want to drop the book and get busy writing.

Baty begins by recounting his first mad attempt to write a novel in a month, when he learned that “the biggest thing separating people from their artistic ambitions is not a lack of talent. It’s the lack of a deadline.” This idea, together with the concept of “exuberant imperfection,” became the philosophy behind National Novel Writing Month. The key to NaNoWriMo is the realization that you shouldn’t be worrying about writing a brilliant story with hauntingly beautiful prose as a first draft. Rather, removing your expectations and giving yourself the permission to write something terrible lets all your uninhibited ideas shine through and makes for a better story in the end.

If you want to get something done, Baty says, ask a busy person to do it. That’s the reason for the breakneck speed and intense adrenaline rush needed to finish a novel in a month. The pace and desperation will narrow your focus like a laser beam, and you’ll scorch right through your inhibitions. The secret is that if your life is so busy that writing becomes a treat, you’re much more likely to do it than if writing is just the Task That Won’t Die on your to-do list.

In the first few chapters, Baty discusses preparations for the month-long novel, including finding a suitable place to write and carving time out of your schedule by giving up distractions like surfing the web. When preparing the story itself, Baty recommends not starting too early. It can be difficult to watch a long-prepared novel go up in flames as you desperately rush toward the finish line. Instead, start planning a week or so before you begin writing. A week is enough time to sketch out your characters, plot, and setting without getting too invested in them. Let the rest of it evolve as you write.

I took this advice to heart when I was choosing my story. I had considered a novel that had been nagging me to be written for years, but I have so much emotionally invested in it that I think I would be rather shocked at the results of my first NaNo draft. Instead, I did some quick brainstorming, came up with three or four ideas, picked the one that interested me the most, and have been developing it now for about a week.

Next, Baty offers tips on shutting up your inner editor so you can get on with your writing without feeling compelled to edit your spelling. Then he delves into a brief primer on novel concepts like plot and characters and setting. And he’s serious about the No Plot?, No Problem! title. If you spend enough time getting to know your characters, he says, the plot will naturally follow. When you get stuck, just make them do something, anything, and see where it leads you.

The next four chapters are week-by-week pep talks, advice, and exercises addressing the problems of each stage of the month-long novel. Issues for each week include:

Week 1 - how to harness your initial creative jolt in preparation for the long slog ahead
Week 2 - how to keep going when the euphoria wears off and you realize you still don’t have a plot
Week 3 - how to figure out where you are and how far you have yet to go
Week 4 - how to convince yourself to finish instead of taking a well-deserved break

The last chapter offers some advice on deciding whether to continue working on your novel and how to go about rewriting it if you choose. Baty’s ideas on rewriting are simple and encouraging for a NaNo novel, or any novel for that matter. I was happy to see this, since so many writing books get you all excited but leave you hanging part way through the first draft.

It may be the guidebook for a month of frantic writing, but the lessons learned will help writers with more leisurely writing as well. And if procrastination threatens to set in, you can always declare your own novel writing month and get back into shape. In the end, Baty makes it very clear that “literature is not merely a spectator sport.”

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Posted: October 26th, 2007 under NaNoWriMo, Reviews.
Comments: none