Category Archives: NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo: Halfway Point!

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We’re half way through NaNoWriMo! How are you all doing so far?

I’m doing something a little different for NaNo this year. I’m not working on a new novel, I’m using this month to finally finish rewriting Brave Young Boys.

So far it’s not working so well.

I sort of went through a period (basically the whole month of October) in which I hardly did any writing. I wanted to write, but at the same time I just didn’t feel like it. Do you ever have those times?

Then I recently started a new job which has given me less time to write (hence why I’ve been so absent lately), but I’m definitely feeling more like I want to write so it’s sort of balancing itself out.

I’m getting caught up on reviews, fanfiction, blog posts, and am working on NaNoWriMo!

I’m determined to finish this novel by the end of this year, preferably, by the end of this month.

Let me know how you’re doing with NaNoWriMo so far!

Are you struggling? Pulling ahead?

Do you have periods where you feel like writing, but also don’t feel like writing?

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Camp NaNoWriMo Week One!

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Camp NaNoWriMoIt’s the end of Camp NaNoWriMo week one and I have done so much of nothing! Literally nothing… Well, that’s not entirely true. I opened the document. Does that count as working? Can I give myself a sticker?

Honestly, if this were regular NaNo in November I’d probably be freaking out by now. However, for Camp NaNo I’m not writing a brand new 50,000 word novel. What I’m doing is trying to finish my rewrite of BYB. So, I’m not freaking out about not having anything done, I’m more frustrated at the fact that I haven’t got anything done.

Now that’s not to say I haven’t been writing. I’ve been working a lot (and I mean, a lot) on blog posts and fanfiction and stuff for Buzzfeed and other things that need doing. However, on top of those things, I will be spending the next three weeks working on finally getting my rewrite done.

How are all of you doing on Camp NaNo so far?

 

Also, in non-Camp NaNo news, I changed my second blog! It was jcarsonrants and it is now jcarsonreviews because I discovered I much prefer reviewing episodes of things I watch as opposed to what the blog was originally going to be for
Also, I’m on Buzzfeed now. I think I might have mentioned this before or I linked to a post on Buzzfeed or something, I don’t know. But yes, various forms of social media have officially taken over my life and I apologize if I have mentioned this before, but I’m really excited. Some of the stuff I’m posting there will be on this blog as well, but a lot of it will only be posted there. So if you want to check that out I’ve put the link below.

Good luck to everyone on their second week of Camp NaNo and on anything else you’re doing this month!

Happy Easter!

Or, if you don’t celebrate Easter, happy Sunday!

 

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Camp NaNoWriMo Day One & April Updates

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Camp NaNoWriMoIt is day one of Camp NaNoWriMo! How many of you are doing Camp NaNo this month?

Camp NaNo is basically the same thing as NaNoWriMo in November, except that the goal isn’t to write a brand new, 50,000 word novel. The goal is to set your own word goal and work on whatever project you want.

I will be taking this month to work on finally finishing my redraft of Brave Young Boys which has been getting pushed to the back burner a lot lately. So this month Brave Young Boys is my main focus and it won’t be getting pushed anywhere except hopefully into a willing publishers hands.

And this brings me to my April Updates. I won’t be posting a book review today or on the fifteenth.

I spent majority of March working to get everything done that I needed to before April first arrived and for the most part I got everything done. The two days I would normally be posting book reviews on are my two busiest days of the month so I won’t be doing those, but everything else will be going ahead as planned and book reviews will return in May!

Good luck to my fellow Camp NaNoWriMo participants! What projects are you working on?

Happy April!

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NaNoWriMo 2014 is Over! Now What?

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This is it. The last day of NaNoWriMo. OH MY GOD! WHAT DO WE DO? HOW CAN IT BE OVER ALREADY? AHHHHHHHHH! Okay, now we’ve got that out of our systems, relax. Maybe you reached your word goal, maybe you didn’t. Like I said yesterday, I won’t be hitting 50,000 words, but I’m only a couple hundred away from beating my final count last year.

Maybe you wrote 100,000 words or maybe only 100 words. But that’s okay! That’s better than okay because that’s 100 more words that you may not have written if you hadn’t signed up for NaNo. But now what? You’ve got what you’ve written in front of you, whether it be a full novel, half a novel, or half a chapter. But what do you do with it?

Well, if you haven’t finished writing yet, I’m going to encourage you to continue doing that. Even if you didn’t finish it in 30 days, there’s a novel in you somewhere just waiting to be written.

However, if you have finished writing, I’m going to encourage you to put that novel aside. Wait, what? Put it aside? But there’s so much editing to be done if it’s ever going to be published! Yes, there is a ton of editing to be done before it can be published and I know how hard it can be to put it aside right away. Last year, the only edits my NaNo manuscript received was me going through it and fixing anything Microsoft had underlined in red. After that, it was put in a drawer for several months.

That was hard, it took a lot self-control to not pull it out and start editing every day. But it had to be done. Why? Because by putting the manuscript away and waiting to edit for several months, it allowed me to have a fresh perspective when I returned to it later. It was like I was reading it for the first time, which, in a way, I was. And let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty. The mistakes and the plot holes! I’m crying now at the thought of it. But if I had started editing right after I finished writing, I wouldn’t have noticed those things the same way I did after waiting a while. So put it aside. Put that manuscript in a drawer and wait for as long as you can stand to and then edit.

Sure, look into agents and publishers because it’s fun and it’s good to know who is looking for what. Tell your friends you wrote a book because you did that and it’s pretty amazing! But take you time getting it off the ground. Especially if this is your first novel. You may not have any deadlines other than ones you set for yourself, so relish in that. Relax a bit while you can. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you wrote a novel! Congratulations! You did it!

*Throws confetti at you in celebration*

How did you do during NaNoWriMo? Doing any last minute writing today? What do you plan to do next?

 

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NaNoWriMo 2014 Week Four

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NaNoWriMo 4Tomorrow is the last day of NaNoWriMo and many people have already reached 50,000 words. Like I said last week, I won’t be one of these people, but I’m okay with that. I’m only a little ways away from my personal writing goal to reach more words than I did last year and I intend to complete that this weekend.

This last week has been pretty crazy. I have had some new opportunities arising and they have taken up most of my time, preventing me from being able to do much writing at all. I didn’t post a book review or poem this week and even missed updating my fanfiction. So, while I absolutely love participating in NaNoWriMo, I think it’s probably good for my sanity that it’s almost over. I have so much I have to do and I think this’ll definitely be a bit of a weight (however fun it may be) off my shoulders.

I intend to do what I did last year and complete my novel in the upcoming month, hopefully before Christmas. I found it really refreshing last year to be going into the New Year with a completed first draft and am hoping to do the same this year.

How has your final week gone? Did you reach your word goal?

Current Word Count: 34,266 words

Excerpt:

Herro wasn’t sure how long they had been driving, but he was having a serious case of deja vu right about now. He hoped they weren’t bringing him back to that prison. At least if they went somewhere different there was a chance no one would know who he was. If they went back to the prison they would know him and they would want to know more about Katya. They may even do what Katya had said and go looking in that area for more people. Damn her for being right.

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NaNoWriMo 2014 Week Three

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NaNoWriMo week three is ending and there is only one week left. Where did the time go?!

It was another slow week and I’m actually a little behind, but I have almost reached my writing goal. I said at the start of week one that, while I would love to reach 50,000 words, what I really wanted was to write more than I did last year. My final word count for last year was 35,870 words. This year, I am already at 33,361 words and firmly believe I will beat my number from last year.

My story has taken some interesting turns and my characters have definitely taken over. It started out as a dystopian fantasy novel and has somehow developed into a dystopian fantasy that deliberately uses clichés and references films and books to essentially make fun of itself. I have no idea how I reached this point with it, but I’m enjoying it.

How is your novel coming so far? Have you reached your word goal?

Current Word Count: 33,361

Excerpt:

Herro glanced over when he heard Will’s footsteps. “It’s not working! Come do you magic trick and fix it.”
“It’s not a magic trick and that’s the wrong radio,” Will said flatly. He walked across the room and grabbed the radio that was tucked away in the corner. He turned it on and turned the volume up. “It should already be on the right channel so don’t touch anything.”
“Alright, awesome,” Herro said, staring at the device intently as if willing it to come to life and tell him where he had to go.

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NaNoWriMo 2014 Week Two

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NaNoWriMoWeek two is coming to a close and hopefully by this point you are close to the halfway point.

 

I had a pretty slow writing week this week. I spent three days writing the same infuriating chapter and was so happy when it was done. It literally got to the point where I was just writing it to get done and reminding myself with every line that once November was over I could edit and rewrite to my heart’s content. Once I was done I was already past my word count goal so I gave myself a couple days to just breathe and then got back down to it yesterday. I’m hoping to get some serious writing done today.

 

How has your week two been? Have you met your writing goals for the week?

 

 

Current Word Count: 28,941 words

 

Excerpt:
Maverick stopped suddenly, looking over at the door. Seraphina looked too and knew immediately why he had stopped. She could hear voices getting closer and closer.
“Back to bed!” Maverick hissed and the children ran back to their bunks. Maverick clenched his hands the room was thrown back into darkness. Seraphina had just slipped under the blankets when the door opened and two men paused in the doorway.

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NaNoWriMo 2014 Week One

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Week One is over! How are we all doing so far? Have you reached your word count goal for the week? By the end of today you should be at about 13,333. If not, DON’T PANIC! It’s okay. You still have three weeks to catch up.

The first week of NaNo is usually either really exciting or really stressful (or both!). Now, as we’re going into week two, hold onto that excitement and let go of the stress. Whatever you’ve written so far is fantastic, just make sure you keep writing! Don’t give up yet! There’s still three weeks to go!

Good luck to everyone on week two!

Do you have any goals for the week ahead?

Current Word Count: 26,106 words

Excerpt:

“Destiny?” Herro scoffed.

“Yeah,” Will nodded, “You know, you saw my video and you were looking for me and then we just happen to be in the woods at the same time. You save me from the bad guys and then find out you actually need my help. Plus, you’re name’s Herro, come on dude, that’s gotta tell you something.”

“Yeah, it tells me my parents had high expectations when I was a kid,” Herro mumbled, not really paying attention.

“No, it tells me that this was destiny. Most people don’t remember the kids that go missing, but you do. And you’re name is Herro…”

Herro turned to face him. “So what?”

“So you’re clearly the hero of this story,” Will said and Herro rolled his eyes.

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NaNoWriMo: What is it and why do it?

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Happy NaNoWriMo to all my fellow participants! How are you doing so far on Day Two? And to all non-participants or anyone who has no idea what NaNoWriMo is, Happy November Second! How are you on this fine day?

For those who don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, it is National Novel Writing Month. During the month of November, thousands of people participate in this writing challenge to reach 50,000 words in 30 days. For more about NaNoWriMo, you can check out their website here.

I participated in NaNo last year which is when I wrote the first draft of Brave Young Boys. I didn’t reach the goal of 50,000 words, but I did make it to 35,870 which I was really proud of. This year my only real goal is to get high than that. Even if I don’t reach 50,000 words I would like to at least reach 35,871.

In order to reach whatever word goal you have a lot of people set a daily goal. Typically, if you’re trying to reach 50,000 words in 30 days, you need to write at least 1,666 words. However, a lot of people like to set their own word goals, whether it be 2000 per day or 1000 on day one, 2000 on day two, and so on. For me it’s usually just writing as much as I can.

Well, now you know what NaNoWriMo is and a little about the word goal, but why do it? Why subject yourself to the pressure of writing 50,000 words in 30 days? Well first off, it’s fun. It really is. I know it sounds like a lot of work (which it also is), but at the end of the day it’s just fun to sit down and create something. The second reason is that feeling you get at the end. It doesn’t matter how many words you reached whether it be 50,000 or 15,000 or 5,000. You wrote those words. You sat down and wrote them and that feeling of accomplishment is something you will always have. Finally, the third reason is that you may make something out of it. Who knows, you could write the next great novel, the one kids will learn about in school however many years from now. Whatever your reason is for doing NaNoWriMo, just make sure to remember that you like what you’re writing. You may not like certain aspects of it, but make sure you like the story itself because if you don’t then your readers might not either.

I’m going to be posting updates on my currently untitled young adult novel ever Saturday and I’d love to hear from you guys too!

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Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? What type of novel are you working on? Do you have any word count goals?

 

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NaNoWriMo 2014 Day One

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NaNoWriMo is upon us!

Day One is not quite over yet, but I didn’t want to wait until 11:59 to post this so here it is!

How are you all doing so for? How is your day one going? Did you reach your word goal yet?

I don’t really set daily word goals for myself, it’s mostly just write until I can’t feel my fingers, take a break, then write some more. The only goal I really have is writing more than 1,666 words on Day One. As the average number of words required per day is approximately 1,666 I always try to get more than that one the first day. Which I did.

As of this moment that I’m posting this I have 6,819 words.

I started at midnight last night and wrote until about 1:30am and then got up this morning and kept going. It’s crazy because I did NaNo last year and didn’t write this many words on the first day.

My novel this year is a Young Adult/Dystopian/Fantasy which, aside from the YA aspect, is totally new territory for me. I’ve never written a dystopian or a fantasy so this is pretty crazy and I have no clue what I’m doing, but that makes it a lot of fun.

If you’d like to hear more about my NaNo experiences as the month goes on you can click on the links below for my Twitter and Facebook where I’ll be posting my daily word count each night and random things that happened that day.

I’ll also be uploading a post every Saturday about that week of NaNo with updates on word count, weekly happenings, and maybe even a quote or two.

 

I want to hear from you! What is your book about? Are you having a good NaNo 2014 so far?

 

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