Day 3: NaNoWriMo 2012

I had a solid plan for Saturday -- I was going kill the word count.

But first, I had to clean my home office. It was a bit of a mess. I was having a hard time concentrating.

Before I knew it was lunch time and the boys were hungry. No problem. We can do that.

We ate, then I ran up to the office. Within 30 minutes there was a national emergency. The kids were arguing over who owned which Lego set. My wife laid down the law, the losers came to me, the united nations, to get compassion. Instead, I lost another writing opportunity.

Then my son had a tennis match. A great match and by the time we got home, we had to bathe, change and go to a friend's 40th birthday party.

We got back home just past midnight. The gin and tonic had worn off a while ago, but my eyes had given up for the night.

By the end of the day, I had put in a respectable 1,317 words (total word count of 4,711). Not bad. But not what I intended.

And I'm okay with that. Part of the challenge a writer faces is that time is never your friend. You will never master time or be able to wrangle the word count. We try to control it. But frankly, it controls us.

Don't make yourself wrong. Don't feel like you're less than, or not good enough. This is life doing what it's good at -- getting your attention and eating into your time.

The key is to write something --anything-- every day.

Fight the good fight!

Day 2: NaNoWriMo 2012

Apparently when I decided to do this NaNaBooBoo, I inadvertently decided to post updates as well.

Here goes. I had three hours to write while my son was at his tennis clinic. Always nice when those things happen. A few things came up today.

When I start a new story, I typically circle around the first chapter for a while. I'm trying to find the voice of my narrator. Also, I test the POV and tense. I thought this one would be a 1st person present, but 3rd person past is sounding better, more appropriate. 

I have a writing philosophy that I try to stick to: write forward. I try my best to not go back and edit the work I've just done. There are a lot of reasons for that:

• The story changes over time. Let it change. It's okay. This is a bit of the magic. When the story is changing, keep at it so that the hidden story emerges. You can go back later, when you're done and fix the little mistakes. Make a note on a post it and stick it to your forehead. Otherwise, just keep moving.
• Your characters do something completely unplanned. That's the magic of writing. Your characters are coming to life and they're deciding for themselves. Okay, so maybe you're actually the one deciding but what's really happening is that you hear their voice and their personality more clearly now. Let it happen. This is when the words begin to fly

Hint: The key about writing fast is to write fast. Yes, I am a bit of a guru :)

All joking aside. You can edit it later. Right now, you want to get words to pour out. And in my experience, if I can keep pace with how fast the story (the movie) is playing out in my head, then I have a chance at capturing some of the rawness that will make for a compelling read.

Having said all that, I did get stuck in the first chapter because I needed to get the tone, the voice, and tense right. 

The result of today's exploits is a nasty headache. I may continue writing after the double espresso kicks in. Or I may take a power nap (sleep for three hours then wake up) and continue working on this when the house is fast asleep. 

And for the moment you've all been waiting for... as you'll recall, yesterday I laid a goose egg -- zero word count. Thankfully, today I made up for yesterday's slow start.

Total word count: 3,394

Fight the good fight!

Day 1: NaNoWriMo 2012

I've done a lot of dumb things in my life--what's one more?

For those of you who don't know what this cryptic thing called NaNoWriMo means, thousands of writers from across the globe, both experienced and novice alike, are officially participating in the annual National Novel Writing Month. That's write right. 50,000 words in thirty days.

I must admit, I've never participated before and was not planning on participating this year either. I had been deep in rewrites of my latest manuscript and didn't see how I could possibly be done with that one and still jump into the abyss of NaNoWriMo.

As fate would have it, I finished the revisions late October 30th. I knew I would not look at my revisions for a good two to four weeks (I always give breathing time for my manuscripts before I read it again). 

So a stupid thought entered my damaged head. Should I NaNoWriMo?

Of course the answer is no. Rest should be top priority. But I hate making these types of decisions without deep and thorough deliberation. 

So I asked my wife, "Wife, should I play?" 

She said, "Husband, love of my life, why not?" 

So I asked, "What should I write about?" I have a lot of half cooked ideas, but I hadn't actually given any one of them a lot of thought. 

She didn't miss a beat. "A mystery novel."

I've never writeen a mystery novel. I love them. But not sure I can write them. I grew up on Agatha Christie and continue to read the modern masters. This was an interesting challenge.

If I was an established author, I would probably not stray far from my core genre. But since I'm still a nobody, there's nothing better than to jump into different genres, test different styles of writing, different perspectives, and frankly exercise a few muscles that I have not used to date.

NaNoWriMo it is.

Will I be able to write 50,000 words in thirty days? Sure, why not? I've done 60,000 in Ten days. Then again, I did get very ill after pulling off that stunt. You may think, that's stupid of me. But the real stupid thing is that I am doing this publicly so all my thousands and thousands (maybe millions!) of fans may see me crash and burn.

Enough talk, today is day 1 and the journey starts. 

So what did I accomplish on day 1? 

Thankfully I had a little concept that I had considered a couple of years ago. It was a basic idea with some elements that were interesting to me.

I have written the log line for the story (one sentence summary of the story). I have also written out the story beats as defined by one of my favorite guides -- "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder. I HIGHLY recommend this masterpiece for structuring your stories. Yes, it's meant for movie scripts, but if you're writing anything commercial in nature (genre fiction is ideal -- not so much for literary fiction) then with a bit of massaging, the framework is brilliant.

I also used the tools recently laid out by the great James Scott Bell on his blog.

So, Ara, what did you accomplish today? Drum roll please... Day 1, the word count is... are you ready? Zero words.

Okay, so that's not a good start, but I have the framework for the story and that has to count for something. I am not a heavy plotter. However, I do prefer to put in more than a couple of hours, so this is fairly close to being a pantser (write from the seat of the pants and see where one lands). I must admit, I like the way this idea has come together. If you're also participating, look me up. My user name is "araTHEwriter" -- very original, I know.

Send me some muse love... and coffee... and Nutella.

Fight the good fight!

Ara

The Burn

You're almost done...

By Jersey Tourism
[CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

You set out your workout goal -- twenty miles on the bike. You've never done twenty. But las time you got to seventeen. What's three more?

You pass your previous mark of seventeen and something happens. Your legs gain forty pounds in a matter of seconds. You begin to slow. Each breath you take hurts a bit more. You begin to doubt and the wind suddenly picks up--slamming you in the face.

You look at your distance watch... 17.2 Miles. It's impossible. You'll never make it. And then, the fire starts. The burn. That sensation that is universally understood but also misunderstood.

The breakthrough is on the other side of that burn. That burn is your body telling you to stop. That you've done enough. You're fine. Just stop.

But if you continue, if you press on, if you push through the tears, your body transforms. And so do you.

Anyone can exercise, just like anyone can write. But only those who stick through the hard times, the doubts, the BURN, will they come out better.

Only the author knows if they took a shortcut. If they stopped before the magic happened. Next time your inner voice tells you to stop, that the sentence is good enough, that the motivation is good, that the scene is memorable enough, stop for a moment. Do you feel that burn? Do you see the fear that stops you?

If something feels wrong, or weak, or incomplete, I can guarantee that you are right. Push through that burn. What comes out on the other side will be worth the pain. Feel the burn. It means something magical is about to happen.

Have you ever fought through and discovered something new about your story? About yourself?

Fight the good fight!

Santa Barbara Writers Conference - June 2012

I attended the Santa Barbara Writers Conference last week.

This conference doesn't mess around. It is six days of intensive work. There's something brilliant in the way it's been architected. It's been designed so that the more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it.

While there, I learned from the guest speakers. Dorothy Allison's speech infused me with fire. Gar Anthony Haywood's honest and raw words put reality back into the equation. The road to success is long and often elusive. And Fannie Flag reminded me why I love to read.

On Monday, I met with agents. The plan was to get their take on my novel, and its marketability. What I didn't count on was the interest I received. Now I have my work cut out for me. But that's why I play this game I love. When it's a labor of love, there is no such thing as too much work.

But the thrust of the conference was dedicated to the craft of writing. Each workshop dedicated to read-and-critique. If you haven't done this before, the basic approach is this: you read 2-5 pages of your work, and others in the workshop make fun of you give you valuable feedback. Truth be told, the workshop leaders and the attendees were brilliant. Spot on and helpful. I was suspicious at first, unsure what to expect. Instead I walked away with dozens of pages of notes.

But when I listened to other people, and dedicated myself to helping another, that's when magic happened. Have you ever tried to help another by teaching them something, or coaching them? Then you know the power that is generated in those conversations. You get better in the process.

You'd think that would just about cover it. It was in the agenda, after all. We'd get to work on our material, we'd listen to brilliant writers, and we'd get to meet with agents. Could there be more?

Yes. There is more.

The most important thing I got was the expansion of my tribe of writers. Each time I spoke to another writer, my world expanded. Each conversation brought us closer. And each toast we drank, solidified our bond.

At the Santa Barbara Writers Conference my tribe grew. I met some phenomenal people -- too many to mention, but some that I hope will be part of my writing journey for decades to come. Believe me that their success will be mine. We writers, we're all the same. We live with doubt and hope. Both ever present and powerful. But when we are with our kind, our tribe, we know that we can accomplish anything. All we need is a pen and paper (or iPad for that matter). We are writers.

Fight the good fight!

P.S.

Time for desert. When you have time, watch this video. Fair warning: she's a badass!

http://www.facebook.com/sbwriters

STRUCK by Jennifer Bosworth -- The Book Trailer

I warned you this day would come.

You read my book review (you didn't? Read it now!)

You already pre-ordered the book (oh, come on... you're killin' me here)

You've visited her new website (just go...)

And now, the event you've been waiting for -- the epic book trailer for STRUCK.

Tell me that isn't brilliant. I am blown away by the book trailer. They should have just filmed the rest of the book and they would have had the movie released at the same time! Her husband Ryan Bosworth is the director. Yes, he's a badass.

As you may recall, I was one of the extras. I know what you're thinking. "Dude, where are you?"

Two guesses.

Hmm, no. I am not the prophet, the creepy dude with cataract eyes.

One more...

Okay, I'll help you. I'm the dude at the far left of the screen at the 00:33 second mark.

What do you mean you can't see me? Look again. Silhouette of my glasses... proud nose.

Still can't see it? Here it is.

Okay fine. So you can barely see me... but I really was there. And I really was epic.

I tell you what, go to Jennifer Bosworth's Facebook and "friend" her. You will find dozens of pictures from the shoot.

Here's one. Yes, that's me on the far right.

You will also find that she's one of the nicest people you'll come across. Which explains why she writes about the end of the world, or writes screenplays about murderous psychopaths. Word to the wise: be nice to her. You may end up in one of her books!

Okay, this concludes Ara's one second of fame. The good news is that I still have a whole 14 minutes and 59 seconds left. My services can be hired for a nominal fee.

Fight the good fight!

STRUCK by Jennifer Bosworth

"A girl struck by lightning hundreds of times holds the fate of the world in her hands."

That's on the cover of the advanced reader copy of Jennifer Bosworth's debut YA novel STRUCK.


With that hook, I didn't need much more to jump right into the novel. But there's more to the story...


Full disclosure: Jennifer Bosworth is a friend. No, not just a Facebook "friend"... I've actually met her. I even provided my extraordinary acting skills (stop laughing!) to the production of her book trailer (okay, so I was an extra... I was still epic!). Needless to say, even without the killer hook, I was more than ready to read this novel.


As I cracked the book open, an unfortunate memory came to mind... I had just finished another YA novel that had left me disappointed (I'm being kind).


That "other" book felt formulaic, contrived. Somethings I could forgive, like forcing a love triangle. Other things were not excusable, like not finishing the story just so there can be another book twelve months or so later. Then I realized, I was seeing a lot of that lately...


Are you in my state of mind yet? I had been looking forward to STRUCK for months, now another book had left me a bit jaded. 


But I had faith in Jennifer. After all, she's a Stephen King fan. She wouldn't let me down! (no pressure)


So, you ask, was the book good? 


Well, yes. It was great! 


And it was great without formulas... instead, she relied on something very old-school... story telling. 


Many can write a book, very few can write an engaging story.


The first thing that you'll notice is that  STRUCK is written in first person past tense--and I loved that. It was very appropriate for this story. It reminded me of campfires with friends spinning a good story.


Then you meet Mia. She is the lightning addict, the answer, the problem, and the voice of the story. A memorable character whose imperfection and inner struggles make her vivid and memorable.


This is a sensory-rich book. Because Jennifer Bosworth is a screenwriter, she was able to harness her magic to create a visual world. To her credit, she does this without inundating the reader with mind-numbing detail. She gets us there with just the right amount of context and detail. 


Also, the scenes are crisp and the chapters tight. Long chapters mean long scenes. Long scenes usually translate to slow pacing. Slow pace feels like a marathon (marathons are overrated). This book starts fast, then transforms into a sprint!

And when the book ends, the reader is left complete. No need to wait 12+ months just to see what happens next, and next, and next. You get the story all in one book. How quaint!

Finally, for me, the hallmark of a good story is when at the end I am left stranded in the story world--not quite ready to leave. And that's what STRUCK accomplished. A great book, written by a talented story teller. 


I highly recommend STRUCK by Jennifer Bosworth. It will be released on May 8th, 2012. You can go on Amazon or any other booksellers and pre-order it today. 


I thought this blurb captured the essence of the novel nicely:


“Cinematic! Struck builds into a massive, darkening, electric storm of a novel.” —Jay Asher, author of Thirteen Reasons Why and The Future of Us


I would have said those same words, but Jay Asher beat me to it. Well played, Asher. Well played.


When the book trailer is released, I'll warn tell you all about it. I really do think I was awesome... even though after all that is said and done, my 1.7 seconds of fame will probably ended up on the editing room floor... That's show business folks! :)

"It's about the story, and it's always about the story." ~ Stephen King -- On Writing

Fight the good fight!