NaNoWriMo '11

Happy November and Happy National Novel Writing Month. Yep, that's right. It's NaNoWriMo again: time to trade in hours of watching and nights out for the joy of writing a 50,000-word novel in one month.

For those of you who not in the know, National Novel Writing Month runs from November 1st-30th, and is a self-proclaimed "fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing" and "thirty days and thirty nights of literary abandon!"

NaNoWriMo encourages quantity, not quality, so don't stop, don't think, just write. Use the opportunity to be free, write what you feel like writing, and see where the journey takes you! And take comfort in knowing that we're all producing mediocrity together.

Despite the fact that we aren't expected to create a work of quality, sometimes luck will have its way and, with enough editing, a NaNoWriMo novel can turn out to be a real masterpiece! Some even become popular, published books. Don't believe it's possible? The following books all started out as NaNoWriMo projects:

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (a 2007 Alex Award winner)

Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen (among YALSA’s 2009 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers and 2009 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults)

Livvie Owen Lived Here by Sarah Dooley

Running for My Life by Ann Gonzalez

Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

So, will yours be next?

This is year is my sixth year embarking on the challenging and really kind of silly journey and I'd love for you all to join me! Knowing that you just wrote a whole novel, no matter how terrible, is an AWESOME feeling... and it's only 29 days away!

Want to sign up? Check out the Official National Novel Writing Website for more information.

And be sure to read Figment's NaNoWriMo Approacheth Survival Tips for some genuinely good advice on handling this frenzied month.

Happy writing, everybody!

Another NaNoWriMo over!

Happy November 30th! For all those wondering, I have completed my novel for National Novel Writing Month and with 50, 165 words and I'm feeling a newfound sense of freedom!

The writing flowed more naturally for me this year than in previous years, and I think this was also the most fun I had with my story. I am proud to announce that I am now a five time (pretty bad) novelist! Did anybody else participate? How did you do?

NaNoWriMo 2010

It's that time of year again! Time to temporarily abandon your social life, skip sleeping late on a weekend, and trade your usual hobbies for the adventure of composing a 50,000 word novel in one month.

For those of you who don't remember last year's NaNoWriMo blog post, National Novel Writing Month runs from November 1st-30th, and is a self-proclaimed "fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing" and "thirty days and thirty nights of literary abandon!" Unlike any other writing you (or anyone) has probably ever done, NaNoWriMo encourages quantity...just quantity, and that's it. It's not about producing a work of quality (and really, how could it be with just a month to complete so much?), so you can use the opportunity to just be free, write whatever you feel like writing, and know that we're all producing ridiculously bad works of literature together - that's part of the fun!

Sound like something you'd like to try? This will be my fifth year embarking on the challenging and really kind of silly journey and I'm getting myself ready by trying to plot out different kinds of turns for my story to take. To be honest, it's looking like it might be a pretty mundane story - but hey, it doesn't matter! Knowing that you just wrote a whole novel, no matter how terrible, is an AWESOME feeling!

So do you want to sign up? Check out the Official National Novel Writing Website for more information.

Good luck writers!

The Amanda Project/Invisible i

I'm not going to lie. I'm a little bit technologically challenged and totally stunted in the social networking sphere, but I have been a librarian for a while and a reader since, well, since I could read. So, believe me when I tell you that The Amanda Project may be one of the coolest things I have ever seen in both the literary world and cyberspace. But, wait. I'm so excited that I'm getting ahead of myself. (But trust me, you NEED to check this out.)

The Amanda Project is a web site dedicated to solving the mystery of Amanda Valentino's disappearance from her school and town in Orion, Maryland. The web site was started by her three "guides" Callie, Hal, and Nia with the help of Hal's younger sister, Cornelia. Now, before anyone loses their heads, Amanda Valentino is a fictional character (or is she?!). She is unique and elusive and completely enigmatic. The beginning of her story and the search to find her can be found in the first book of an eight-book series, Invisible i by Stella Lennon and Melissa Kantor. (Stella Lennon is an invented name to encompass all of the authors who will be writing the series). The web site is a maze of wonder as far as I'm concerned. Readers can sign up for a free account, create their own character/avatar and contribute to the story. Some contributors' posts will even end up published in the books. In addition, new clues can be uploaded to the site with pictures and each week additions to the story are posted by Callie, Hal, Nia and Cornelia. Participants can respond to these stories as well. There's even a Zine that's been started to which participants can submit Amanda/non-Amanda artwork and literature. You can view copies of playlists from the main characters and authors, and you can visit the store and purchase Amanda-related products. My suggestion would be to start by reading the book, Invisible i and to download the Welcome packet from the web site. From there, the web site will make a lot more sense and you can sign up and create your own avatar to participate. Read the Stories left by Callie, Hal and Nia and jump in! This is fan fiction brought to an amazing new level. You will love Amanda's world and be as desperate to find her as the rest of us. So, what are you waiting for? Need more incentive to get started? Check out this video:

NaNoWriMo Finished

Yes!!!!! It's November 30th and I finally finished my novel for National Novel Writing Month! I feel like the hugest weight has been lifted from my shoulders, and suddenly, it seems like I have so much free time!

All the past years I wrote novels (when my plots weren't outlined as well as they were this year) I knew my novel was over when I hit 50,000 words. This year, I had a specific outline that I followed and, unfortunately, my story ended at 47,000 words. But 47,000/50,000 words into NaNoWriMo is no time to quit! This is when it was time to implement "Operation Flashbacks and Dream Sequences."

This kind of felt like a copout at first, but as I was going through it, I realized that it was actually a nice sly way to develop characters! And, also, I realized that plenty of ACTUAL NOVELS are filled with flashbacks and dream sequences. They're a real thing! So, okay, it wasn't a cop out.

Not to toot my own horn too much or anything, but I think this was my best novel yet. However, it still (a) doesn't have a title and (b) seems too awful to actually show people. So I guess that's it. Another 50,000 words down. I'm just enjoying having free time!

One of the most addicting things you'll ever do...

Every so often we have to cancel a program due to low enrollment.  Unfortunately, tonight was one of those nights. (sniff... sniff...)  Our "Little-ature: Small Stories" program had to be canceled, but I figured I'd blog about it anyway since it was a cool concept for a program.  (If I do say so myself!)

The idea was based on an awesome book that I recommend everyone read called, "I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-word Memoirs" by Teens Famous and Obscure.  Here the description of the book:

"This is a book with over 600 authors (all aged thirteen to nineteen) and 600 characters (all real, as far as we know) and 600 stories (which can be read in any order). What every story has in common is that each was written about the author's own life, and that each is the exact same length: six words."

 It's such a neat exercise in writing... each "story" has to be 6 words- no more, no less- and convey a complete thought.   After reading just a few pages of this book, I was blown away with how much you can really say about yourself, your attitude, your mood, your past/present/future, etc. with just 6 words!  Some of the stories in this book are hysterical, and some will break your heart.  Some are pure fun, while others are deeper than you'd expect to ever get in such a short sentence.  Overall though, you will be in awe of the authors and I guarentee- you will be tempted to write your own!


Here are some highlights that I found interesting:

Eventually, I'll make my own breakfast. -Sam Z.

Call me "hippie." I. Dare. You. -Maggie R.

I will be that cat lady. -Rolynda T.

Finally learned "weird" is a compliment. -Teagan E.

Wish I could color outside lines. -Samantha S.

Defined by numbers: age, weight, SATs. -Jocelyn P.

7UP through the nose. I'm happy. -Ally H.

Because the chicken is a nonconformist. -Dillon W.

Smoke detectors taught me to cook. -Ivy W.

We are banned from Wal-Mart forever. -Kristen S.

I don't rock; Guitar Hero lies. -Lucy F.

And the best one to end with....

Now always thinking in six-word phrases. -Sarah R.

Dare you not to write one!- Catherine L.  (That was six words, by the way!)

So uh... how you comin' on that novel you're workin' on?

We're almost half-way through the month of November... half-way through the writing challenge of NaNoWriMo... so I thought I'd share this little gem from an old episode of Family Guy. 

Writing Tips from the Experts

Some inspiration for those writers out there who are participating in NaNoWriMo... from YA writers who have accepted this writing challenge themselves.  (Yeah, they're professional writers, but that doesn't mean they don't feel the same pain you feel when you go to sit down at the computer/ typewriter/ pad of paper and nothing is coming out.  They have their good days and bad days, just like the rest of us!)

Maureen Johnson (author of Suite Scarlet, 13 Little Blue Envelopes and others) offers advice on Points of View.  If you've ever wondered what the difference was between a 1st person narrative and a 3rd person omniscient, read this recent blog post from Maureen Johnson on the subject.


Justine Larbalestier (author of Liar, How to Ditch Your Fairy, and others) speaks about the ever-looming "word count" fear.  NaNoWriMo is all about quantity, but as she explains in her blog, you shouldn't let a slow-writing day freak you out.



And for some good advice on the overall writing process, check out this video from Meg Cabot (author of Airhead, The Princess Diaries,  and others.)  Meg shares with us how to start your story and more importantly, how you should always know how your story will end. 

More About NaNoWriMo

Hey guys! My name is Laura and I'm a new authoring librarian on this blog. I wanted to post about my experiences with National Novel Writing Month (I saw that Catherine brought it up yesterday) because this is my FOURTH year participating.

As you probably already read the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 175-page/50,000 word novel between November 1st and November 30th. Word count is the only goal. Unlike any other writing you've probably done, NaNoWriMo encourages quantity and that's it. So, as a participant you have to kind of train yourself to keep writing and stop worrying about what you write. In fact, Chris Baty, the director of the program, encourages that it's a stress-free thing, anything goes (content-wise).

Here's my experiences with it:

Year #1 (2006): I had just graduated from college and I was a pretty good writer from all of the creative writing courses I had taken (and got A's in, just saying) so I felt pretty confident and excited going in to this. I was awesome at developing characters (I had a mother character who was a police officer and was OBSESSED with her job and all things in life being aligned with the law) but terrible at keeping any kind of plot going for 50,000 words. The end product was okay, I wasn't about to go showing it off, but it was DONE. I had just written my first novel!

Year #2 (2007): This was my first semester of graduate school and I guess maybe my heart wasn't it because my characters were okay (not as good as the year before) and my plot literally didn't exist. My characters just kept doing things like going to work, having lunch, and hanging out with their friends. I would never let anybody even come close to reading this novel, but again, I finished. I wrote two novels!

Year #3 (2008): I didn't fully outline a plot but I knew I had to plan out some kind of direction for my story because I did not want a repeat of 2007. So far, this was probably the best of my 3 completed novels, but I hit a lot of road blocks along the way. I had good characters (based on people I knew in real life, which was probably the best thing I could have done) and a lot of funny scenes, but I had only planned out a basic, overall idea for the plot and I had trouble stretching it all the way to 50,000 words. Because of this, I wound up with a lot of silly and sort of random scenes for length. But again, I finished and was now a THREE-BOOK AUTHOR!!!

Year #4 (2009): Happy Day 2! This year I did so much prep work. I typed up a 10-page outline with every scene I planned to include and I also to decided change genres! I moved from realistic fiction alllllllllllll the way to children's fantasy (maybe because I just read The Golden Compass). This is the first year that I'm a bit behind where I should be on word count (I'm at 2,400 and I should be at 3,340), but I feel okay about it because I have so much direction. The only thing I'm noticing is that my characters and my writing just isn't as strong as they once were- maybe because I'm not in school anymore.

Anyway, I don't want to bore you guys with my whole plot summary on my very first post, but maybe I'll tell you a little about it next time I update you on my progress. Is anyone else writing this year? I'd LOVE to hear about your challenges and progress along the way. It's a crazy month!!!!

National Novel Writing Month Challenge

It's November 1st and it's not too late to join the thousands of teens (and adults) around the world who will be participating in the 2009 NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month.)  For the next 30 days, participants will be writing in the hopes of producing a novel.  Adults are supposed to reach a 50,000 word count, but teens are allowed to set their own goals; a number that would be reasonable, yet challenging.

The main objective set forth by the creators of this writing challenge is to encourage quantity over quality.  That may sound odd and somehow backwards, but the reality of it is- most writers are their own worst critics and often high standards and pressure from within to write a masterpiece on the first try inhibit even the best of writers.  NaNoWriMo offers participants the chance to write on their own, with the knowledge that there's a community of writers out in the world doing the same thing too.  

That's the basic idea of this month-long celebration... just write.  By reaching your writing goal, whether the story is good or bad, you've accomplished something.  Writer's block doesn't have time to take hold, and you, the writer, have a piece of fiction that you can now revise into something better, if you so choose.  

If you're a writer, or just want to give this challenge a whirl, go to the official NaNoWriMo webpage for more details on how it works.

And don't forget about the writing program we're having here at the library:

LITTLE-ATURE: SMALL STORIES
Tuesday, November 24 at 6:00pm
For those of us who acknowledge the efforts of the people taking part in NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month celebration, but don't have time to write a novel, we have Little-ature. Play around with words on a smaller scale by creating six-word memoirs, 100-word stories and other feats of brevity.

Attention Teen Writers

A Summer Camp Program Designed For Teen Writers Interested in Fantasy Fiction Genres.

Shared Worlds is a two-week residential camp based on a "shared world" theme. A shared world is a growing trend in fiction that centers around a complete, fictional world designed by a group. During Wofford's Shared World program, students will design fantasy worlds with other young, creative writers and share those worlds through fiction, art, and game design. 

In order to build a shared world, students will attend overview classes with Wofford College professors in many disciplines, including history, religion, and physics. Furthermore, students will take classes in creative writing. All classes emphasize problem solving, collaborative learning, and experiential learning.

Shared Worlds is proud to announce that instructors for 2010 will include Spiderwick Chronicles creator Holly Black, critically acclaimed YA and adult authors Kathe Koja and Marly Youmans, Nebula Award winner Michael Bishop, writer and gaming expert Will Hindmarch, and World Fantasy Award winner Jeff VanderMeer, plus Wofford College's own Dr. Christine Dinkins, philosophy professor, and Jeremy Jones, lecturer and camp director. Artist Scott Eagle will also conduct a workshop during the camp.

This sounds really cool for anyone interested in Science Fiction/ Fantasy writing.  The 2010 summer camp will be held from July 18 through July 31 at Wofford campus in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The tuition is a lot of money, but the site says scholarships will be available, although I couldn't find any information on that anywhere on the site so it may not be available just yet.   I just thought this was an interesting site to pass along to anyone who may wish to find out more for themselves.