MeNoWriMuInNo by Melissa Clark

This, of course, stands for my own writing practice: Me No Write Much in November. Congrats to all the true NaNoWriMo participants - I applaud your courage and tenacity and especially your ambition to pound out a draft in 30 days. 30 days! I wonder how many novels are born this way, and even more curious: do some people think they can really write a solid, polished novel in this time?

Everything I know about drafting comes from my television writing career where we started with a pitch, moved to the premise, then the beat sheet, outline and first draft. After the first draft came notes, then a second draft, and more notes and a third, and more notes and so on and so on... until there was a polish draft, which still left room for more notes. Often, it would be an entirely different episode from pitch to final draft, just as I find it is from fictional premise to published novel. What a journey this writing process is!

And since I have yet to participate in NaNoWriMo, what is it that you really hope to get out of it? Is it a kick in the tush? a first draft? a taste of what it means to write a novel? I'd love to read your answers in the comments section below. Hey, with 11 more days left, what are you doing reading this? Get back to work!

Melissa Clark is the author of Swimming Upstream, Slowly (1 year 3 months to write), Imperfect (4 years) and just completed her third novel, Bear Witness (3+ years).

In Defense of Vanilla Sex & Fiction That's Not So Edgy

By Marilyn Brant

The incredibly popular E.L. James novel
that sparked so much controversy and
interest around the world.

There's been A LOT of talk online and off when it comes to the novel Fifty Shades of Grey. Very strong opinions abound -- and frequently conflicting ones -- about the series/the plot/the characters, which was why I finally decided I had to read at least the first novel myself and draw my own conclusions.

Well, I just finished Book One this week and, I'll readily admit, I had some conflicting personal reactions. While it had its entertaining moments, I doubt the primary appeal of this story was the prose itself. Nevertheless, it's become a runaway international bestseller, and I think I can pinpoint at least a few good reasons why.

To me, the allure seems to stem from a combination of factors: The well-documented "Twilight" fan-fiction connection. The peek inside the world of BDSM (I couldn't tell you if it's accurately portrayed, though). The familiarity we have for character archetypes like Anastasia and Christian, where an innocent but beautiful/clever heroine meets a controlling/damaged but very wealthy hero and they inevitably, and somewhat inexplicably, fall in love. In this case, they also have lots of sex on lots of surfaces.

There's that fear of missing something, too. Most of us -- writers in particular -- don't want to be left out of the loop if millions of people are talking about a book. The curiosity alone can be quite a compelling inducement to read it. It was for me. ;)

Regardless, reading this got me thinking about the attraction we seem to have for stories that are labeled "edgy" and for characters who are described as "dark." Many of us are familiar with Tolstoy's famous first line from Anna Karenina: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." And, so, there's an ever-present expectation that novelists should write about the state of unhappiness in some form or other. I get that. But that doesn't mean grittiness and dysfunction are the only ways to touch upon it. Unhappiness doesn't require great extremes in behavior to feel genuine -- just well-expressed motivations.

So, I began to wonder to what degree the dark/edgy thing was all about shock value or voyeurism. Do we need our stories to keep pushing the envelope because we're increasingly desensitized to graphic images -- even those we create mentally? Are we collectively becoming a society of world-weary sophisticates, who are bored with vanilla sex, traditional types of conflicts and average, everyday people fighting to rise above their not-very-unusual challenges? Can a book be "fresh and original" without celebrity-ish characters, kinkiness, violence or a hefty dose of emotional instability? (By the way, these aren't rhetorical questions. I'm really asking you. What do you think?)

For my part, I'll say this: I'm fascinated by the portrayal of extraordinarily damaged characters. I'm curious about fictional lives and experiences that aren't my own. I'm interested in being introduced to new worlds and varying ways of processing information, and I consider myself to have a pretty rich imagination. I love to explore characters in my stories whose perspectives may be wildly different from mine.

Sometimes.


My latest digital release, Holiday Man,
is a contemporary romance that shares
two distinct similarities with Fifty
Shades -- the hero is a wealthy
businessman & there's this one steamy
scene with a blindfold...LOL.

But, sometimes, equally as much, I love seeing snippets of my real, often humdrum suburban life reflected in the fiction I read and write. Sometimes I want the traits that make these characters unique to be their emotional courage, their honesty, their strength of spirit. I want their passion, humor, hard-earned ethics, persistence and clarity of thought to be what elevates them and makes them memorable characters...not just their "dark enigmatic past" or their "edgy intensity."

So, I guess, what I'm saying is this: In my opinion, familiar situations and commonplace problems in a story are valuable to readers, too. And, if you're writing one of those kinds of novels for NaNoWriMo or otherwise, please don't change your course just because of the popularity of any particular genre trend.

After I'd been married a few years and became a new mother, I read novels by authors who explored everyday experiences with a wisdom and truth that I didn't merely want at the time...I needed them. I had to know I wasn't alone in having (very normal, it turned out) fears and insecurities about being a wife and mom. I needed to read about characters who weren't larger than life, but who were a lot like me, and they let me in on their perceptions of the world, the mistakes they made, the struggles they had and, best of all, the way they eventually rose above them.

I'm still incredibly grateful to the authors who created these characters and plotlines -- among them, Sue Miller, Elizabeth Berg, Anne Tyler -- for bravely writing about domestic dramas, even though some might consider those tales mundane. (After all, there were no red rooms of pain or 27-year-old billionaires in them...) But, for me, those stories were lifesavers.

Maybe you've felt that way about some authors, too. Someone whose work strikes an authentic, recognizable chord in your own life. If so, please share. And to all of you in the midst of NaNo, keep at it!
~~~

Marilyn writes award-winning women's fiction and romantic comedy. Her latest trade paperback release was A Summer in Europe (Kensington, Dec. 2011), which was a Rhapsody Book Club Top 20 Bestseller in Fiction and Literature. Her newest contemporary romance is Holiday Man (ebook, Nov. 2012), a story that takes place over a year of holidays at a quaint Wisconsin inn. Hot scenes? Sure. But she admits there are no vampire-inspired characters in this book.

Keep on Keeping On!

By Jacqueline Luckett

For years I’d heard about a group of writers who each completed an entire novel in thirty days. The idea seemed magical. I wanted to know those writers. Was there a place they gathered? If I scoured local coffee shops, would I find them madly pecking away at their laptops, surrounded by stale pastries and triple lattes ? Were these writers geniuses, cult-members, or crazies?

Then, one day, a fellow writer mentioned NaNoWriMo, the nationwide challenge to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. She loved it! She’d won—twice!

Scary, was the first word that popped into my mind.

Then Sharisse, my competitive alter-ego, raised her lovely head. You can beat your friend, she goaded. You can write more than 50,000 words! You could win NaNoWriMo!  Her timing was perfect.

Last year, I had an idea for my third novel that just wouldn’t take form. I knew the characters, the story, and a few plot twists. Yet, I couldn’t commit the story to paper (or computer). NaNoWriMo!  30 days of writing—piece of cake. 1,666.67 words per day—easy. Little did I know.

October 31^st

I made a chart:

Column 1 DATES, November 1-30

Column 2 CUMULATIVE WORD COUNT goal (added 1,666.67 to each day)

Column 3 (like any good to-do list) COMPLETED a checkmark or a gold star to mark my progress.

November 1^st

I started.

November 2-29

The Distraction Devil dropped by. Like an unexpected, amusing in-law, he stayed for 29 days. I recalculated word counts, switched charts from Word to Excel and back again. I searched the NaNoWriMo site for interesting trivia, read updates from writers I didn't know. I surveyed the countries, states, cities where people were writing at the same time, with the same goal. I looked for  meet-up groups (there were a lot of them). I considered NaNoWriMo in Paris and researched flights.

November 30^th

I finished. That is to say, I had a document with a 50,000 word count.

I’d love to tell you that the chart motivated me, that my characters took over and wrote their story, that the words flowed like Beverly Hillbillies’ crude oil. I’d like to report that I ended the month with the framework of a ragged, but promising, first draft. Sadly, it didn't happen.

I found the pressure overwhelming, and I’m a writer who loves the thrill of rushing to meet a deadline. Yes, I finished. I got the poster, the decal, and the congratulatory email. It just didn't work. I hated nearly every chapter, paragraph, and sentence I wrote.

I don’t plan (notice I didn't say “will never”) to participate in NaNoWriMo again. Yet, I don't feel I wasted my time. I don't regret those thirty days because the process forced me to produce. I’m still not sure why the writing was so hard for me, but I learned a few lessons in the month-long write-fest. Hopefully, they’ll help you, on this day thirteen, as you move forward.

1.     Plan your work and work your plan. It doesn’t have to be formal—stay loose (that’s where the creativity happens). I’m not suggesting that you outline, especially if that’s not your process. Having a notes on where your story is going and what your characters want will keep you focused and writing.

2.     Don’t get behind. Stick as close to your daily goal as possible. It’s hard to make up those missed words, especially if the ideas and words aren’t flowing. If you get behind, enjoy the mad dash.

3.     Gag your internal editor. Don’t worry if the grammar is incorrect, or the sentence isn't as magical as you want it to be, or that your story has taken an unexpected. Tell that I.E., "MYOB," and let the words roll.

4.     Keep on keeping on. Something good will come from these thirty days. It might be a fabulous sentence or two, a fascinating character, or a great title. You may learn something new about your writing, your story, how you operate under pressure or what it takes to finish.

Now . . .  go back to writing! Only 28,333.33 words left.

Good luck!

Jacqueline

I’m the author of PASSING LOVE and SEARCHING FOR TINA TURNER. I did not toss out the pages I worked on during NaNoWriMo. As a matter of fact, I found a few good chapters that have turned into the beginnings of my third novel. Go NaNoWriMo!

Just do it! by Brenda Janowitz

So, it's that time of year again.  The wind gets a bit sharper, the sun sets a little earlier, and thousands of people pound their keyboards for a month straight, in hopes of completing a 50,000 word manuscript by November 30.

That's right, it's National Novel Writing Month!  And in honor of NaNoWriMo, we're talking writing tips here on the Girlfriends Book Club.  Every writer has a few tips, and I'm no different.  So, here goes:

Keep writing! It’s so easy to get discouraged or feel like you don’t have the time to write. But like anything else that is important in life, you have to work at it and make the time for it.


This is the advice I give to every writer I meet.  But it's even more important to those who are participating in NaNoWriMo-- after all, you've only got this one month to complete the challenge.  What are you waiting for?!

But this advice pertains to anyone who wants to be a writer.  There will always be excuses to avoid writing-- I have no free time, I have little kids, I have big kids, I don't have kids yet, my job is too demanding, I need to find a job...  you fill in your own.  If writing is really your dream, make the time.  Start with a writing class, and then find a writer's group.  Once you commit to taking the time to write, you'll be able to find the time to put pen to paper.  (Or fingers to keyboard, as the case may be.)

Edit! Editing your work is almost as important as the writing itself. Sure, you’re telling your story, but it’s also important to consider the way that you tell it. You want your writing to be tight, elegant and polished. It can only get to be that way through careful and thorough editing.


For those of you doing NaNoWriMo, the time to edit isn't now.  The fun of NaNoWriMo is pounding out your story quickly, without looking back-- letting it all flow.  Once November 30th hits, though, then it's time to edit.  Take a little time off from your work and then come back to it, ready to turn it into the grand masterpiece that you know it is.

Develop a very thick skin. You’re putting yourself out there when you write and not everyone is going to love what you do. But that’s okay! You’re not writing to please everyone out there. You’re writing because you have a story that you want to tell. So start getting used to criticism and then see tip #1—keep writing!


Readers, are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year?  What's the fastest you've ever written a novel?  I wrote one this past summer in two months.  It has not been published.  I'm not sure if these two things are related or not....


I’m the author of SCOT ON THE ROCKS and JACK WITH A TWIST. My third novel, RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE, will be published by St. Martin's in 2013. My work’s also appeared in the New York Post and Publisher’s Weekly. You can find me at brendajanowitz.com or on Twitter at @BrendaJanowitz.

NaNoWriMo: Seven Tips to Keep You Motivated by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga

It’s November 1 and that means one thing to writers: the first day of National Novel Writing Month(NaNoWriMo). For those of you who’ve been living in an underground bunker for the past few years, this is where thousands of writers get down to business to try and write a novel in a month (or at least 50,000 words of one!). In 2011, 256,618 writers participated and 36,843 crossed the 50K finish line.

I’ve never participated—I suppose every month is NaNoWriMo for me—but I think it’s an excellent idea. Don’t so many wannabe writers complain that their dream is to write a novel but they just don’t have the time? With NaNoWriMo you know that thousands of people are hunkering down, cranking out their daily 2000 word count and that’s a great motivator to finally get that novel started.

But what about staying motivated during NaNoWriMo? Or what about staying motivated whenever you’re writing a novel? Sometimes it’s just not easy to keep up the pace, no matter how much writing experience you have and no matter what the deadline. Writing is hard work and it can be daunting—there’s no doubt about that. So here are a few tips that might help you keep going:

1. Set at timer for 10 minutes, 25, 45 or whatever, turn off all distractions and just write. You’ll be surprised at what you can come up with under self-imposed deadlines.

2. Try writing at a different time of the day or even a different location. Changes like this can sometimes kick-start new creative impulses.

3. Read the opening chapter of a novel in a different genre from what you’re writing. Or read the first chapter of a “competing” novel. It’s so easy now to find excerpts of books online and you might discover a new writer you can learn from or realize that your story is better than what’s out there!

4. Take a day off from writing. Lots of people say to write every day, but a break can do wonders for your creativity. Just don’t take off a whole month!

5. Go to a favorite café and do some people watching. Listen to conversations, observe behavior. Bring your laptop and/or notebook, look lost in thought and no one will realize you’re eavesdropping.

6. Watch a movie and notice its structure and character development. Does it hook you immediately in to the story? Are the characters three-dimensional or caricatures? If you think it’s a bore, why? Watch actively instead of passively and take notes. Apply what you learn to your own novel. You just might make some important discoveries.

7. Read your favorite magazine or blogs about writing. Get inspired by a fellow writer, or even a little envious, and you might find yourself back at your desk in no time, ready to type your brains out!

Girlfriends, what keeps you motivated?

Wendy Nelson Tokunaga is the author of the novels, "Midori by Moonlight" and "Love in Translation" (both published by St. Martin's Press), and the e-book novels, "FallingUphill" and "His Wife and Daughters," and e-book short story, “The Girl in the Tapestry.” She's also the author of the nonfiction e-book, "Marriage in Translation: Foreign Wife, Japanese Husband." Her short story "Love Right on the Yesterday" appears in the anthology "Tomo," published by Stone Bridge Press, and her essay "Burning Up" is included in "Madonna and Me: Women Writers on the Queen ofPop." Wendy holds an MFA in Creative Writing from University of San Francisco and teaches for Stanford University's Online Writer's Studio. She also does private manuscript consulting for novels and memoirs. Follow her on Twitter at @Wendy_Tokunaga and visit her website at: www.WendyTokunaga.com

NaNoWriMo Fail

Every year for the last several years, I've signed up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and failed.

In case you don't know, NaNoWriMo occurs during the month of November and participants all have the single goal of writing 50,000 words. That's about 1,600 words a day.

My friend Rachel Herron (Check out her website at YarnAGoGo.com) sold her NaNoWriMo novel, by the way. She's a wonderful writer.  So am I, I swear! but I remain a NaNoWriMoFa.
 
I even failed the two years I was invigorated, inspired, and pumped up by attending talks by NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty. He spoke at my Uni when I was in grad school, and a few years later, at my RWA chapter. He's an inspiring speaker, so if you ever get the chance to hear him, GO!

I have copious excuses, of course. Some of them are lame and some of them are really good.  When I was in grad school, my son was quite young, I was working full time, and I was under contract for more books. I was quite busy and I had my schedule worked out to the point where every moment was spoken for. There was no wiggle room for adding stuff. 

A couple of years I was writing a book anyway, but when November hit, both times I was in the Deleting Crap Phase and I ended up with negative word count. And a way better book by the end of December when I was in the Writing Way Better Stuff phase.

One time I was prepared for a rocking November only then one of my editors sent revisions on time and I ended up setting aside the book while I did my revisions. After two weeks off from writing the next project there really wasn't any way to make up the lost NaNo Time.

Then there was the year when I tried, but, well. Ahem. hey! Look over there! I made my word count but not the NaNoWriMo word count. My excuse is that I was... um... doing stuff! Important stuff.

Last year I was going be a winner for sure, and then I ran out of steam because my book was due some dumb date like December 30 and I was desperately panicked that this was the time I was going to fail not at NaNoWriMo but at actually writing a good story. My goal then was the best possible story I could get out of my hot mess, not word count. Until, imagine my horror, I discovered I had written not one but two, TWO! wedding scenes. Yes. My hero and heroine got married twice.

I felt like crying, only there wasn't time. I had to turn in my book on time and that meant I had to ::waving hands and magical incantations:: fix the damn book which I did. I turned it in on time. It wasn't until I had my revision letter and was looking at the book for the first time in several weeks that I thought, Huh. This is pretty good! I have no recollection of writing much of it. I was in a fog. It was a book that required remarkably little revision.

Am I depressed by all my NaNoWriMo failures?

No. Absolutely not.  I LOVE getting the emails and hearing from and about fellow Nano-ers. November always feels to me like the Month of Fun Writing.  NaNoWriMo reminds me about the fun of writing, about the value of getting words on the page and that there is a point in a project when it's not just getting down the words, it's about deleting the ones that don't belong and replacing them with ones that do.

I'm going to sign up for NaNo again this year and whatever the outcome, I will be a winner.

Be my NaNoWriMo buddy! I'm cjewel. We'll be winners together.