NaNoWriMo CD Share

I have a borderline addiction to music. It’s pretty sickening how much music I have on my computer, really. But it’s also the reason why I love one of the things I do about NaNoWriMo… the CD swap each year (I really should make a list of all the things I love about NaNoWriMo, but I’ll save that for another blog). Where else can you get music from a fellow writer who wants to help and encourage you to get through your 50,000+ word goal with some great tunes you might never have taken the time or gotten the courage to listen to otherwise?

Last year I came out on the other side with not only 50,183 words, but some great music to boot -- amongst other things. What I received from fellow NaNoers varied from classical to soundtracks to musicals… Not only was I able to do something I dearly love (explore music genres completely new to me), but the music brought new life and inspiration to my novel. I almost think I would dropped out otherwise.

Needless to say, I am definitely on board again. Fellow NaNoers, if you can afford to mail a few CDs, you should definitely get involved in this.

NaNoPrepMo

It's the month before the biggest month of the year for us aspiring novelists. October, the month where everyone who is going to plot and plan their NaNoWriMo novels to death either starts to or is in over their heads with their scheming. It is also the month where people switch ideas, ditch ideas, and possibly decide by the end of the month to just wing it through November. I call it NaNoPrepMo.

Prep is going well for this year's novel. Instead of creating character bios, I've divided the novel into "themed" chunks, and am outlining each as inspiration strikes. A plot line is emerging, and I am really getting excited for this. Never mind the full time job and preparations for The World Race (if you want to read about what's up with all that, click here), I'm doing it again! I'll be much better about updating my word counts this go round on this blog, and you'll see why in just a matter of days if we're buddies on facebook or otherwise know me.

While we wait for NaNoWriMo to officially kick off, here are a few songs off the 2009 NaNoWriMo playlist that is in progress along with outlines and such! I feel like these songs really have a lot to do with each theme they represent, and I leave it to you to guess what the theme might be for each.


NaNoWriMo 2009
1. "Beautiful" - Bethany Dillon
2. "Be Strong" - Matthew West
3. "Misery Business (Acoustic Version)" - Paramore
4. "Clear The Stage" - Ross King
5. "You Are" - Tenth Avenue North
6. "The Heart of Worship" - Sonicflood
7. "Dead Man (Carry Me)" - Jars of Clay
8. "Faith, Love, and Happiness" - Thousand Foot Krutch
9. "Blood on My Hands" - The Used
10. "Roots Rock Riot" - Skindred

Epic Failure

NaNoEdMo was a complete bust. I wrote the last blog here, and then completely abandoned the idea. I plead mental insanity induced by far too many hours at work for that blunder. The end result is that I am still sitting staring at a novel that is only mostly finished, and hardly edited.

This week and next week are a no-go on the editing process, but I am finding myself interested in picking up the pen and paper and heading into rewrite land. Maybe I can whip this thing into shape yet.

February Update

I mentioned last month that it would be a toss-up as to which novel I would edit during NaNoEdMo, which starts six days from now. That was while I was working a 40-hour week still, and felt like I would have time to devote to fifty hours of editing. Now, I am not so sure that this is the case.

Am I saying that I am giving up on the idea of NaNoEdMo completely? No, far from it. What I am setting for myself as a goal is thirty-one hours - an hour a day every day next month.

Now, to figure out which novel it's going to be!

January Update

No, I haven't finished my NaNo yet, so I guess NaNoFiMo was a real bust for me. December's a rough time to try to wrap something like that up, and I guess the fact that I'm trying to make excuses says my heart wasn't in FiMo in the first place. I do want to finish it, and I will finish it, but after a month of constant cohabitation, my characters need a break from me, and I... I need a break from them. You forget how exhausting it can be to spend so much time with the same people in such a short number of days until something like this comes up.

Truthfully, I think it would have been a huge bust for me regardless of which month of the year it was, though. Mostly because these characters are as sick of me as I am of them, and space does us good, but also because other novels I have sitting around just waiting to be polished. Those characters are tired of me paying so little attention to them, they want to make sure their story isn't forgotten. And they want to make sure I get it right this time. Seems like a win-win to me. I get a break from one set (and them from me), and another set gets my time and energy for awhile.

We'll see who gets top billing for NaNoEdMo - the fight should get interesting. I'll keep you posted.

Final Word Count/What's Been Happening Since?

Days 29-30 Combined Total: 3938

NaNoWriMo Total: 50,183

Purple status bar on my NaNo profile? Heck, yes! Success is sweet. It would be sweeter if the novel were finished, but they say that that's what NaNoFiMo is for (National Novel Finishing Month). No, NaNoFiMo is not anything official like NaNoWriMo, but it sounds appealing for the people unable to complete their novels... whether they got to 50K or not during November. And that would be me.

After going back and reading a little bit, I realized I am closer than I thought I was to completing the first draft of this novel. Just a few scenes, and I am done - as long as those scenes don't decide to multiple too much. Once it's done, I will put the novel away for a few weeks, until after the holidays. Then I will be studiously separating each section of the novel so when NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editting Month) comes in March, I can set goals for the number of sections I want to complete in a day.

No, NaNoEdMo is no more official than NaNoFiMo, but anything that propels me towards getting a novel ready for publishing is well worth pursuing. NaNoEdMo's goal? 50 hours spent on editing in 31 days. Should be considerably less nervewrecking than the 50k in 30 days.

Here's to hoping my next blog post will be a general jumping up and down in excitement type of post because I have finished the novel. And that my patience with the internet connection and Blogger will have been restored, so I don't get so upset because I have to spend twenty different times trying to get the blog post up.

Oh... and I am leaving you with the title of the novel. You've been so patient, waiting to be updated, and only getting word counts. Should have the summary and other things soonish, but for now, here you go: Something Beautiful

50K in 30 Days?!

Yeah, it's about 2:45, and as we speak, I am getting the word processor file ready for the NaNo site to validate it. 50,001 on my computer, but previous experience with this validator tool is telling me I should end up with a word count slightly higher than that.

Is the novel finished? Not hardly. I still have a plot to work out (remember that whole not showing up until late thing? It means I'm far, far away from being done). But I have hit the 50K mark, and it seems crazy after all the work I've put into this in the past month for me to not get the work validated and get the award and stuff. It would be easy for me to forget. Today is Sunday, and Sunday is usually full of things to do. If I don't validate what I have now, I won't remember in time, and I'll be a sad panda come tomorrow morning when I realize I didn't win because of it.

Celebration time, yes? I'll come around in the next week or two and post the final word counts for the month. In the mean time, let's bask in the knowledge that not only did I take on the challenge of writing 50K in 30 days, but I conquered it!