NaNoWriMo—Day 22

Well, we're over halfway through NaNoWriMo and I'm...really behind.  I don't know how it happened.  I took a writing retreat with a friend (which I feel was more an eating and drinking retreat than an actual writing retreat.  I got work done...just not as much as I hoped.  I blame the man in our Inn that kept me up all night with his snoring and completely ruined me for an entire day), I downloaded this awesome writing software Scrivener (which is half off if you win NaNoWriMo), but somehow I missed one day, then another and suddenly it was the 22nd and I only had 22,000 words.  Granted, that's nothing to sneeze at, but it's definitely a far cry from where I should be.  And I've heard some people have already finished! (Jerks)

I'm just looking forward to this four day weekend so I can get my butt into gear and get some writing done.  Right now it's 50,000 words or bust.

What about you guys?  How are you doing?  Anyone (gasp) finished?

If you're in need of some inspiration, GalleyCat has been having some great NaNo daily tips for those of us struggling through this month of writing.

Every year this is what I think my NaNoWriMo experience will be like

This is the reality (only, you know, I'm female...and the wine glass is bigger)

In other news, I recently read Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian, which I really enjoyed.  (Plus, the guy on the cover looks like Nicholas Hoult to me and I couldn't resist) It was a great look at the complexity of female sexuality, particularly in teens, and was just generally an engrossing read.  I think I finished it within two hours.  The main character, Natalie, reminded me more than a little of myself.

Here are some actual reviews since I'm in NaNo panic mode and have a little voice screaming at me that I should be writing, not blogging!

The Story Siren

Persnickity Snark

Stacked

NaNoWriMo—Day 1

No time to review today.  It's the first day of NaNoWriMo! 

That first day sets the bar for the entire month.  With a monthly word count of 50,000 words, you're striving for your goal of 1,667 words a day, but it's tricky.  You don't want to start out too strong, overshooting the goal by an insane number, thus burning yourself out early.  On the other hand, you don't want to fall short, ensuring you'll be playing catch up for all 30 days, only to be a blithering mess on November 30th and completely useless for the holiday season, or that you'll fall so far behind you'll just give up and just say "eh, I'll finish next year."  (Not that I've done that...four years in a row...)

I've found myself in a precarious situation of working on an idea I've been playing around with for a long time.  I've recently re-tooled it and think I know what I'm doing and where I'm going with the story, but as I sat down this weekend to outline I realized I'm already behind because I can't really "see" the entire big picture and I don't know what the hell I'm doing anymore.  The characters I thought I knew so well now seem like strangers and every word I write leaves me more and more unsure I really know anything at all. 

And this is day one!

This process always makes me fairly in awe of anyone that can actually finish a book, let alone get it published.  That's the thing they don't tell you: writing is HARD.  (Actually they say that a lot, but I always think they're lying somehow and there's some kind of video game cheat for writing a book...the same can be said for my views on my career, love life, and losing weight.  I'm still waiting on those cheats as well)

But my motto this year is "you can always revise later."  Now just remind me of that on day 15.

How about you guys?  Anyone else having day one jitters? 

NaNoWriMo and Morning Glory

Apologies for having been remiss in announcing the giveaway result!  It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. Joli @ Actin' Up with books is the winner of a copy of Diana Peterfreund’s Morning Glory (I’ve seen posters up around the city for the movie and am getting way excited.)  So congratulations, Joli! 

In other news, Casting Call Friday is going on hiatus for the month due to NaNoWriMo (that’s National Novel Writing Month), which I am again attempting (for the fourth year in a row) and this year hope to actually produce a full novel.  Most years end in the past have ended in tears around the third week so fingers crossed this year isn't more of the same.

I believe Janelle is going to take a stab at the writing marathon as well, so while we might not be mentally capable of writing reviews every week of November, we’ll be keeping you updated and talking about books from the view of the writer, not just reader and posting more fun stuff like Janelle's post about her favorite place to read.

Is anyone else participating in NaNoWriMo this year?  Have you participated in the past?  Does the idea of writing an entire novel in a month scare the hell out of you? (Because it scares me!)

Oh and add me as a writing buddy over at NaNo!  I love to see what people are working on and commiserate/wallow in the sheer absurdity of this folly together!  My screen name is filmphi.