ENDING WELL : Inspiration Station # 4 (and Contest!)

Today I sat at the library and finished the draft of my current novel -- by hand!

Yes, I know my word count on the Nano site doesn’t show that I’ve been making progress, but I’ll update it as soon as I type a few more words into the computer. Hooray!

Finishing this novel was my goal for the month. So I was exhuberant today to put that final sentence down on paper.

For those who haven’t yet had that “finishing” experience, it is really hard to describe!
Suffice to say, I had a great desire to go dancing around the library stacks. But that sort of behavior is just not appropriate in a library, alas! So, I took myself out for a Cinnabon cinnamon roll with a friend. It was glorious!

The whole “wrapping up the novel”process that so many nano-ers have already completed, and many others will be completing over this last week of November, involves a lot of tying things together. Here are some questions that I tried to keep in mind when wrapping up my novel. Perhaps they will be helpful to you as well.

Novel Wrap-Up Questions:

1.) Are all of the major characters who I started with at the beginning (and who are still alive now) accounted for in the end of the book? And has each of their individual stories come to a close?

2.) Have the sub-plots and the main plot all melded together in the final pages, in a way that makes sense and creates a high-interest climax, then resolution?

3.) Have I answered all of the questions that readers will ask at the end of the book? Like: What happened to the bad guys? What does the hero feel in the ending of this book? Was the hero successful? What will come after the final page of this book, for these characters who we love and hate – ie. Is there a future life for the hero, the other main characters, the nemesis…and do they have plans for how they hope that life will go?

I tried to make sure I answered the first two questions for myself, and the final one for the readers, in the last chapter of my book. Did I do it well? The critiquers that I am sending it to will have to answer that one for me, I’m sure. :)

But how are things going with your ending? Is everything pulling together like it should?
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And whether you win Nano this year or not,

REMEMBER TO ENTER THE 40,000 WORD CONTEST HERE ON WRITERMORPHOSIS!

Submit your 40,000 word count or higher, along with your name, here on the site on December 1st, and you’ll be entered in the contest for Chris Baty’s new book, and another very helpful writerly surprise! You don’t have to win at Nano to win in this competition. Here, 40,000 words worth of sweat and sleeplessness IS enough. See you on the 1st!

Think Outside the Book: Inspiration Station # 3

Is your plot getting boring; your character unispired?

Sometimes a great way to spice up a story is by sticking in something unexpected or unplanned.

Here are some photos to get you thinking. What would happen if you threw one of these types of places into your story right now?

Or how about an item that can have unexpected great meaning to someone in your story? Here are a few to get you thinking:

1.) A ringing phone

2.) A necklace

3.) A dagger

4.) Mushrooms (whether it's the 60s or a fantasy novel in the woods!)

5.) A map

6.) A cake for a special occassion

7.) A bag full of...

Or situations

1.) An unexpected gift

2.) A fall

3.) An unplanned or unwanted meeting

4.) A death

5.) A gathering

6.) A landslide

7.) A hunt or chase

I love the adventure of an airport...

Sometimes it's the random stuff that gets us thinking.

Let your muse take you...

Write on!"

"Hurt the Bunnies"- Inspiration Station 2

So here we are, almost half-way through Nano! And some of us are half-way through our nano novels too! Hooray!

But one thing that happens around this half-way point in any novel is that the author hits that nebulous place called "the middle."

The middle is what happens between the beginning and the end of a book.

And the middle is where we authors often get stuck. Our characters begin to flounder. They may start having lots of unimportant conversations, or wandering around doing lots of activities that may seem important when we write them, but that aren't always moving our characters forward toward where we want them to be in the end. It can be very frustrating!

So, for inspiration this week, here are some suggestions shared by speaker Pam Zollman at the recent SCBWI Carolina's Conference.

Pam said:

1.) When you get stuck in the middle, it may be because you have used up all of the information you know about your character. It's important to know what makes them tick.

2.) Readers don't want to read about cute little bunnies that are doing just fine. We want to read about bunnies that have problems. "So, hurt the bunnies."

3.) Know what your character is afraid of, and throw it at him.

4.) Don't make the ending simple. Make it hard for your characters to get there. Make them struggle hard throughout the middle.

5.) Getting bored? Something not working? Try a change of scenery - time, location or character attributes.

And last but not least...

6. Just keep writing. The only reason you're stuck is because you stopped writing.

Thanks Pam!

Best of luck to all as we press on throughout the second half of Nano 2008!

See you next Monday for another "Inspiration Station" post.

Competition and Cameraderie: Inspiration Station # 1

Last night I sent an e-mail. It’s an email I’ve sent repeatedly to a certain group of people every month, and in November, every week, for the past 4 years. It says something to the effect of “Hey guys, are we all still planning to meet for our regular gathering tomorrow – same bat time, same bat cave?”

And the responses came in this morning. “I’ll be there…. I’ll be there… Yep, count me in…”

It's my nano crit group – now in it’s approximately 37th month -- assembling again.

You see, many of us out here in blogland have taken on the challenge of Nanowrimo this year. We’ve signed on to write 50,000 words in 30 days. We know that Nano will get our inspiration flowing, our novels written, those words in our heads onto paper… and we’re excited. But nano success (and success in writing in general) hinges greatly on perseverance and not quitting half-way through.

Writing a novel is a daunting task.

So where do we find the courage to keep going? We find it in each other.

The writing community provides the encouragement to make progress in our novels.
Other writers offer the two things that prevent us from giving up: Cameraderie AND Competition.

For all novelers, and especially for those writing a novel draft in 30 days, it’s important to have other writers egging you on and providing encouragement. This is why critique groups are so essential to every author. And why I am now encouraging YOU to set up your own little group to provide Cameraderie and Competition this nano season.

This is now my 4th year participating in NANO, and I have a group of friends who I met the first year at Nano, who formed a little group. During November we meet every Monday online (for ½-1 hour), and send e-mails thoughout the week providing:

Cameraderie: “You know, my children have forgotten that they have a mother because I’ve been noveling so much.” “Aw, they still know you love them… but I personally love that clip from chapter 6 that you posted. I really want to hear what happens next!”

Competition: “Woo Hoo! I’m 2000 words ahead of you! You’ll NEVER catch me! I dare you to try…”

My little group also meets monthly throughout the year, discussing our progress on revisions, submissions to editors and agents, conferences we’ve attended (because we live all over the country), and even critiquing each other’s writing via e-mail and mail. And so I suggest a similar strategy to you.

Find people who will provide both Cameraderie and Competition for you this Nano season and all year round. And let that competition and cameraderie work its magic!

How to do it?
1.) Groups can meet online at Meepo.com or Skype.com -- for those who don’t live near each other. Or, you can reply to each other here on writermorphosis.
2.) Crit groups that already exist and live near each other (like my Goalies’ crit group, where at least 5 of us are nanoing,) can communicate more locally.
3.) You can also attend the local nano write-ins, or find 5 or 6 “friends” on the nano site itself, link to them as your “buddies” on the site, and try to beat each other’s word counts. That’s really the best place to start.

Cameraderie and Competition are essential for all novelers, I think.

So for my crit group buddies out there, and for all others reading this blog. Let’s get a move on; let’s win this nano! I DARE YOU!

THREE...TWO...ONE...NANO!

Happy November 1st to all!
Good luck to all on our NANO Novels!

New "Inspiration Station" posts will go up every Monday night here during NANOWRIMO
to keep us all motivated and writing large quantities of great fiction.
See you Monday. Until then...happy typing!

It's Writing Time: Nano Tip # 3

So, last night I had planned to write a blog post on ways to set aside writing time for your novel during NANO. I had the time allotted in my schedule (9-10pm) – Then I got unexpectedly called in to work.

(Yep – the day job triumphs again!)

It’s an excellent example of how “real life” can affect our writing plans on any given day.

So, how do we write our way through a novel – especially one being written in the span of 30 days?

1.) Consistency
2.) Creativity
3.) Caffeine : )

Consistency
In order to complete 50,000 words in 30 days some people just divide up 50,000 by 30 days. They write 1670 words daily, no matter what happens in their lives that day, and they get to 50,000 words – tired, but happy. (For those interested in how full-time writers do this, Steven King shares in his “non-autobiography” that he gets up in the morning and writes 10 pages every day. He stays at his desk until those 10 pages are done, whether that’s 11am or 2pm on that particular day.)

Creativity
For others of us, some days allow for lots of writing and other days of our week just don’t. For me, last year, I did 3000 words/day on my 2 “days off” per week, and tried to sneak just 500 in on my work days. This is where the creativity comes in. Can you jot notes, planning out your next chapter’s plot in a notebook, when you’re ten minutes early to work, or on your lunch break, or at your son’s after school soccer game? Of course you can! Nano-novelers need to use any scrap of time available if we want to get to 50,000 by November 30th!

Caffeine
It’s important to know what is your best writing time too, and to try to use that to your advantage. I do best late at night (10pm-1am) or early in the morning when I first get up. Afternoons make me want to take a nap. SO, it’s important to write when your energy and creativity are at their peak if possible. And if your peak hours are after the kids are tucked in and the last of the dishes are done, then a tall latte can really come in handy to keep you typing!

Whatever your system is, stick to it. Setting aside time for writing is important to every writer. The more consistency AND creativity you can use, the more likely you are to get through your novel writing endeavor successfully.

So, what time is your best time for writing? And do you have a system worked out that you believe will get you through 50,000 words in one month? If so, you’re way ahead of the game already!

Raleigh Book Signing This Saturday!

This week's NANO-Noveling Post will go up on Monday evening (as it will every week in November) here on Writermorphosis.

But first I wanted to take a moment today to give a quick shout-out to a very creative Middle Grade & Picture Book Author/Illustrator coming to Raleigh this Saturday, NOV 1st, 2008, for a book signing at Quail Ridge Books.

ADAM REX is coming to Raleigh! We celebrated Adam’s GREAT 2007 Cybils Award Winning middle grade novel The True Meaning of Smekday here on Writermorphosis earlier this year. Adam very sweetly stopped by this blog to say hello. Now he’ll be at Quail Ridge, at 3pm, Saturday, November 1st, to sign his newest picture book: Frankenstein Takes the Cake.

If his book signings are as fun as his cool and wacky books (ack – no pressure, Adam!) than this will be an event you’re sure to want to bring your children to! Barring interference from the "day job" I hope to be there myself. Come on out to support and meet this great children’s author.

Also, check out the Quail Ridge Website for two other children’s book signings: November 2nd, 2008 (Tomie De Paola) and November 3rd (Jan Brett). Like the Quail Ridge Website says, this weekend may just be a great time for those who love children’s books to camp out at Quail Ridge!

Back to Adam Rex again: if you are trying to figure out how to create an interactive website for the fans of the children’s books that YOU write – or if you just want to see a great sample of how cool such websites can be -- check out Adam's website. It's an example we can all drool over!

And hey, while you’re at it, check out the interactive children’s website orchestrated by my friend and fellow SCBWI NC writer Ian Sands - Also VERY cool.