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Sunday, October 30, 2011

NaNoWriMo 2011


Are we crazy? No. Let’s just say we’re ambitious.




Okay, so, three of us gals here are doing NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month is an internet-based project that happens every November and challenges writers of all genres and ages to write a novel in a month (or 50,000 words.) Sounds nuts, huh? Yeah. We think so too, but we’re going to do it, along with approximately 200,000 people from countries all over the world.

Why am I doing this? I’m not quite sure, but feel compelled to do so. The YA novel I’ve been working on needs it. (That said, it’s sorta ‘cheating’ to participate with a project already in progress. However, I’m committing to do the 50k words. Cheating Schmeating. Don’t tattletale.) Committing to NaNoWriMo, I’m giving this story the huge, undivided attention it deserves.

I don’t expect to win a Pulitzer for what I write during NaNoWriMo, but I do expect to have enough words to finish the first draft of this book. That, in and of itself, will make the whole thing worth it. It’ll be worth the anxiety attacks and sleep deprivation. Luckily, I have the IV caffeine drip all set up.

See you on December 1st. xo










NaNoWriMo is this crazy thing. I know that. 50K words in 30 days? What the hell am I thinking?

But see, I work well under pressure, so I kind of think NaNoWriMo is engineered for weirdos such as myself.

My plans are to begin and hopefully finish the first draft of book one of Gaby’s story. It’s dystopian, though that will really hardly matter once we get going, and also faerie-centric. I have some absurd goals, which I’ll post about on my personal blog (example: 15K words by 11/5, for reasons I’ll get into later), but I am extraordinarily amped for this challenge.

No Twitter. No Facebook. No gchat. Just me, my laptop, and words.

See you in December, folks. MWAH!









Word Goal = 50,000
Days = 30
Characters = 6(ish)
Scrapped Outlines = 1
Plot = ½?
Unnaturally calm authors who should probably be having nervous breakdowns right about now = 0

I should be freaking out, right? Normally, this is exactly where I’d be freaking out. Come to think of it, WHY AREN’T I FREAKING OUT? I’ve got 87 different variations of a plot dancing around in my head, I haven’t written more than a couple hundred words at a time in almost six months and my schedule would make lesser women weep (okay, sometimes, it makes me weep). So freaking out would be totally acceptable here.

And yet, I’m not. I’ve been oddly calm (‘oddly’ because calm and I don’t exactly hang out) about the whole thing. Word on the Nano street is ‘no plot, no problem.’ Well, I’ve got this no plot thing wired.

You see, I can't fail. For me, Nano this year IS about getting the first draft of my novel written. And on some level, it is about hitting 50,000 words. But more than that, it’s about BEING a writer again. Making daily writing a habit. Trusting that I know what is best for my characters, that only I can tell their story. Learning to go with my gut. Understanding that there is a time for writing and a time for editing, and that now is a time for writing.

If I achieve these goals, 50,000 words or no, I win.

The plan to get there? Minimal internet. No Twitter. A strong support system. A person to spill my fears to (Jan, I will never stop thanking you.) Lots of coffee. Comfy pants. A quiet room. Google Docs. My characters. And me.

No big, right? We'll find out. See you in 31 <3



We'll check back in once the month is over. We'll let you know if we 'won', how it worked out, and if we went nuts in the process. Or, you know, more nuts than we are now ;)

Monday, October 24, 2011

On the Same Page - The Spark

On the Same Page - a monthly round table discussion on topics relevant to our writing experiences.


The six of us here at White Blank Page are all at very different stages of the writing process. Some of us are still planning, some just beginning to carve out some shape on their blank pages, some are halfway done or almost done--some completely done and starting round two. But regardless of where we happen to be now, we all remember what it's like at the beginning, how we went from being normal, (mostly) functioning humans to these completely distracted individuals who live the majority of lives playing with made up people inside our own minds.

It turns out that though we all ended up in roughly the same place, the ways in which we got there were all very different. And that's the story we're telling today.