On Monday I started my grand experiment that is National Novel Writing Month. It’s been a few days, particularly good days, and so I thought I’d take a few minutes to reflect on how it’s going so far (i.e., avoid other work).

Continue reading One-Fifth of the Way →

That’s a beautiful illustration from my first ever book, the hardcover Mike, The Cat, which I wrote in first grade.

It tells the thrilling story of how Mike the cat woke up the entire family so they wouldn’t be late for work or school. What a hero, that Mike.

The book earned what I can only assume is a prestigious “Scotchcott Award” from my school, Scotch Elementary.

Hey all you NaNo-ers out there (OK, that’s really only two of you)! Blogger has just layed down the NaNo gauntlet. They’re encouraging people to participate in National Novel Writing Month and use Blogger while they’re at it.

My thoughts on the idea:

• Maybe I’m too eager to jump on every bandwagon that comes through the neighborhood, but this sounds like a fun way to do the novel-in-a-month thing.
• I’m not sure if the instant feedback would petrify or encourage me.
• Perhaps I could rig the feedback to go to an e-mail account I don’t check continually.
• I’m not sure if I’d enjoy using Blogger again (instead of Movable Type) because it’s fast and easy, or if I’d feel dumb using a free product instead of the one I paid $200 for.
• Putting my first novel out in the public immediately seems so foolish, but I also have to believe it will be such crap as to not be worth anything. If a publishable novel did come out of it, the revision process would leave it virtually unrecognizable.
• Why on earth would I want the world to read such crap!
• Then again, if I have to suffer through this, maybe you should, too.
• Blogging will probably be light in November, so posting the book in process would sort of make up for it.
• If that’s the case, why don’t I just post it on this blog?
• Getting to read my daily attemps at a novel also seems like better blog fodder than my other idea: a daily word count update.
• What would foster more encouragement? A daily word count (ooh, go Kevin! You wrote 432 words today. Slacker!) or the actual product (ooh, go Kevin! You wrote the second worst piece of fiction I’ve ever read in my life!)?
• Is it November already?
• Blogging NaNoWriMo almost seems like a Reality TV Show. Maybe I could set up my iSight as a live web cam and charge you all to watch. Maybe Steve would write witty commentary.
• Or not.
• Does it seem incredibly conceited to think that people would actually want to read my unedited pile of crap? Or is it just me?
• Or is this yet another tool in the bag of tricks designed to help me reach 50,000 words in 30 days? Because if I made a freaking blog out of my pile of crap book I’d have to finish it.
• I’d still want to write in Microsoft Word, so are any benefits of blogging NaNoWriMo worth the time of copying and pasting my book into the appropriate entry? That’s what two, three minutes? I could crank out another 50 words in that time. Over the month that’s an entire day’s worth of writing.
• Or maybe I should just shut up and go to bed.

David Long, an acquisitions editor for Bethany House Publishers has an interesting blog going: Faith in Fiction, which is exploring the idea of Christian fiction that pushes the traditional boundaries of CBA fiction (Christian Booksellers Association). The blog has been going for almost a year now and is a bankrolled project of Bethany House, though you wouldn’t know it from reading the blog. David seems to have a tremendous amount of freedom in questioning the status quo.

It’s unclear what books have been acquired or even published as a result of the blog, but the fact that the blog is still around a year later implies that Bethany House is serious. Aspiring novelists who chafe at the CBA leash might want to check it out.

So where’s all the wannabe literary snobs? I throw down the 30-day novel writing gauntlet and get only one taker (you rock, Jaime!). I had more interest when I proposed writing a novel in 58 hours.

What’s the deal folks? Too busy? Too intimidated? Think it sounds crazy? C’mon. It doesn’t even have to be a novel (well, for the official NaNoWriMo it needs to be, but have your own little National Nonfiction Writing Month), tackle that nonfiction book you’ve been contemplating. The whole idea is to give yourself a realistic deadline you can work towards. That’s always been my problem. I always want to write a book, but with no deadline that forces me to sit down every day (or come on, once a week?) it just never happens. But you’ve still got time to join the party.

Just don’t leave me hangin’ guys.

In related enticement, NaNoWriMo has made some official t-shirts available for the event. Though I’m not too impressed with the designs. I’ll probably make my own (II’d love to see some designs from others).

And I picked up some gloves today, which will soon become miserly writing gloves. I know that sounds incredibly ridiculous, but it’s all mental. And at two pair for $1.50, they actually feel miserly.

As I hurl myself towards National Novel Writing Month in November there’s a lot of preparation. I began to tell people — real people, not just you cyber folks (no offense, but I don’t have to look very many of you in the eye if I give up) — about my plans to write a novel in a month. It’s all apart of my brilliant plan to brag as much as possible before hand so I can use the super-heated rocket fuel of pride and guilt to keep me going when things get tough.

So far reaction has been good. One friend has even heard of NaNoWriMo and knows somebody who successfully crafted a novel in 30 days. How cool is that? So far one person, admittedly a cyber folk (but she is in the same town and I’ve seen her face to face before), has taken up the challenge as well. Hey, misery loves company.

Today I finished reading No Plot? No Problem, the semi-official guide to surviving NaNoWriMo. It’s full of helpful tips, including the idea to bring along a powerstrip and extension cord to coffee shops, in case their electrical outlets are difficult to access. You might want to bring along duct tape in case all those cords become a tripping hazard. I just love the image of taping down your cords in some random coffee shop. It makes me want to become a coffee drinker.

With this book and a few other sources, I’m going to begin amassing some motivational material to help me through the month of November.

Continue reading Hurling Towards November →

Well, as you can probably guess, I did it. I signed up to write a novel in the month of November. Thanks to Steve for the link, though it was really more of a reminder. I heard about the National Novel Writing Month back when I was considering trying to write a novel in 58 hours, which is really a fine piece of insanity. 30 days is pretty crazy, too, but at least it’s plausible. It’s only 1,700 words per day. And they don’t have to be good words, just words.

When Steve e-mailed me the link I decided I’d give it a try. That day I visited the site and signed up. Of course signing up with a bunch of strangers doesn’t mean much.

So I told my wife. Of course I tell my wife a lot of things, so it’s pretty commonplace that they don’t all come through. (then she went and blogged about it)

So then I bought No Plot? No Problem, the how-to book written by the NaNoWriMo founder, Chris Baty. I’ve now invested $14 in this gig.

But there was still a chance I could chicken out. So now I’m blogging about it. I’m telling everyone out there that I plan to write a novel in 30 days. I hope you’ll help me stick to it. There’s no backing out now.

So of course I have lots of planning and thinking to do.

Continue reading November Rain →

November is National Novel Writing Month. 30 days to crank out one novel. There’s even a book to help you do it: Chris Baty’s No Plot? No Problem.

It just so happens Chris will be speaking at the Twin Cities Book Festival next Saturday, October 16.