While working on my novel in November I heard from an old friend I haven’t talked to since 3rd grade (that’s 1988 if anyone’s keeping score). The friend contacted me because he dug up an old story I wrote and gave to him before he moved away. Rather ironic, considering that I was in the midst of writing a novel. Check out page 1 and page 2.

The story is called “The Nervous Noodle” and it has about as many typos as my novel. But hey, I was in 3rd grade. It’s kind of a morbid little story really. I had quite the imagination in 3rd grade. That was the year I wrote the classic FX-77 Spacefighter as well as a massive, multi-part story involving all my friends and the best treehouse ever. Every page was a new part and most of the story involved me cataloging all the cool stuff we had in the treehouse.

When I started writing my novel I gave up shaving for the month (takes too much time) and decided not to cut my hair (maybe a Samson thing? I don’t know).

I just realized now that I’m finished I can shave and get a haircut. My mom will be so proud.

Well, it’s finally done. I finished my second novel, Turn Left at the Blacktop, this evening, crossing the 50,000-word mark and writing a mere 200 words more and calling it good. Whew.

I finished a day early, but it was a brutal end. I think I probably could have wrapped it up 5,000 words ago, so the end felt painfully stretched out. I guess that’s the downside of setting an arbitrary word count goal. I guess that’s also what editing is for.

Continue reading The Novel is Complete →

So it’s Saturday, around 5:30 p.m. Lexi is sleeping. Abby is sick and sleeping. Speak and Mazie are sleeping. The sun has gone down while I’ve been in front of the computer typing chapter 12 and my 1,667 words for today (which was actually closer to 2,100), which means the house is completely dark. Not a single light is on.

Looking outside it’s pitch black and all I can see is the light from the school across the street. It could be 9:00 p.m. or 11:00 p.m. or 1:00 a.m. Who knows. Weird feeling.

The novel, Turn Left at the Blacktop, is coming along. I’m a few days ahead of schedule on the word count, but I don’t have the commanding and reaffirming lead I’d like to have. Writing 1,667 words every day is a lot, and missing a single day can put you pretty far behind, thus the need to build up a lead.

The past couple days have been hard to write, though today finally broke through and got a little easier. My main problem is I don’t know where my story is going. I keep waiting for it to tell me, and maybe it is (today gave me a hint), but it’s not telling me fast enough. So far I’ve discovered that my story lives and breathes in the flashbacks. That’s when it usually clicks for me. That’s what I wrote today.

Continue reading NaNoWriMo Day 11 →

Well, I started the novel today. Let me just tell you: this morning sucked. Hammering out that first 700 words was painful. It didn’t come easily. My characters felt stiff. Too many unanswered questions kept coming to mind and I didn’t seem able to answer them on the fly.

When I read it over it read like crap. It should read like crap because it’s a first draft, but it felt especially bad.

I hit it again later in the day, adding a few forgotten details to the opening and correcting a few things, and then kept moving forward. I was able to brainstorm today and firm some things up. Tonight I managed to write 500 more words than I needed to and it feels better. It’s still difficult, but it feels a lot better than it did this morning.

It’s amazing how much stuff you have to make up. My usual fear of having to change what I create is slowing my down, but I’m starting to decide on things and stick with it.

And the support has been great. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to include the requested ninjas, but we’ll see. Thanks.

Two years ago I spent the month of November hammering away at my computer, eventually cranking out 50,000 words and my first novel, Downtown Dandelions. It was all a part of National Novel Writing Month.

This year I’m doing it again.

Starting tomorrow I’ll be trying to write 1,667 words per day of my new novel, Turn Left at the Blacktop (that’s my working title). You can follow along online if you like, though I don’t expect the read-as-I-go experience to be brilliant reading. But there will probably be more updates over there than over here, so that’s something.

Continue reading Novel in a Month, Round Two →

Marketing guru Seth Godin offers 19 tips for writers. My favorite bit of advice:

Writing a book is a tremendous experience. It pays off intellectually. It clarifies your thinking. It builds credibility. It is a living engine of marketing and idea spreading, working every day to deliver your message with authority. You should write one. (emphasis mine)