NaNoRevMo 2012

My goals:

Revise five days a week.

Finish this entire revision in the month of November.

No excuses.

What? I thought you were doing NaNoWriMo

I am?

I mean, 

I am!

I mean,

I'll try.

Yes, I might just be the weirdest craziest person in existence.

But you already knew that.

What are you doing this November?

(Tell me it has something to do with turkey sandwiches! Mmmmm!)

NoMo Tuesdays: TENSION!

Tension can sell a book to a reader.

Tension in the cover art.

Tension in the blurb or back cover copy.

Tension on the first page.

Tension in the first chapter.

Tension keeps a reader fipping pages and jumping to the next chapter.

Tension that carries you all the way to the end of the story.

This tension can be in many forms

Like this

Or these

Or this

Or this

Or this

Or this

Correct me if I'm wrong but most fiction contains mounting tension.

So try a couple of these techniques:

1. The ticking time bomb- We think of the obvious time bombs when we think of this topic (like bombs, work deadlines, the wedding 'I Do's, etc), but there are many time bombs to consider. 

Or the reverse time bomb. If they can make it through this hard part there is an end.... In war stories you know that if they can make it through this battle alive, then we get a breather. If they can make it through the war alive, we cry for joy. Can they survive to the end? Survivor the TV show is an example.

2. Relationship tension- romantic tension is the first thing most people think of when they hear this topic, but there are many types of relationships. Thelma and Louise. Potter and Snape. The Baudalaire Orphans and Olaf. 

One of the tips when writing relationship tension is to create characters with traits that are opposite of each other. And while you are at it, throw in opposite goals or have them fight for the same goal. Create some real problems between the people and make it hard for them to reconcile.

3. Dialogue tension- this is a way to SHOW tension where the others were forms of tension.

You can show rapid fire (discordant) dialogue. Naturally when we see people talking like this we think that something is wrong. It is a sneaky way to create an emotional response in the reader.

You can give the reader information that one person in the conversation is ignorant of. We then worry about that person while we read their discourse.

This is list is NOT in any way exhaustive,

but hopefully a jumping off place to look at

the tension in your writing.

Will we make it to the end of NaNoWriMo?

Duh-duh-dum!

TWO MORE DAYS!!

Go! Go! Go!

NoMo Tuesdays: I'm So Excited!

I can't hear "I'm So Excited" without thinking of the 80's song by that title

I can't think of the 80's song without thinking of Jesse Spano.

If you know what I'm talking about, you know what I'm talking about.

If you don't...I wouldn't worry about it.

On to my NoMo Tuesday Tip

So you are pumping out the next great American novel.

You are so excited!

You are so awesome!

You are a wordsmith extraordinaire!

You are stuck.

You are frustrated.

You have writers block...in the middle of your story.

You are muddling.

You went from

to

Wanna tip to avoid this spiral into inactivity?

Keep writing.

Lame tip?

Perhaps.

But let me elaborate on what I mean.

If you're like me, you get to a new character and you ponder, and think, and research, and dwell upon, what you should call this new character. By the time you come up with a name that you feel luke warm about, you have lost momentum to keep writing that day.

Then there is that chapter that explains how the characters got from LemonLand to OrangeOrchard. You don't want to write it. You have nothing to say and you don't know how to make that chapter exciting. You stare at the chapter heading. You write the first sentence four times, each sentence becoming duller than the last. You quit for the day. Maybe the muse will strike later.

You've painted your characters into a corner! Perfect! Noone will be able to figure out how you are going to get them out of this one!!! Even you... :(  You know that a couple of things have to happen in there but how the whole thing will play out is a mystery. You have seriously stared at a blank screen, googled awesome fight scenes, watched bits of your favorite movie on YouTube, and gone back to the kitchen for a cookie three times. But there is still nothing on your page. Might as well dwell on this tomorrow.

What can be done?

Skipping.

Hate it? Skip it.

Can't figure something out? Skip it.

This part is dull? Skip it.

Not forever. Just for now.

Move with the momentum of excitement.

What is it that you REALLY want to write?

Write that.

Put the other stuff in (parenthesis) or highlight or CAP LOCK.

You can't ignore it forever, but you can ignore it now.

You can't lose days in NaNoWriMo coming up with the perfect character name.

You just have to write.

You just have to get your story on paper.

Along the way you might even feel inspired to fix those parts that you left behind.

Before you know it you'll be writing like this!

And loving it!

Keep on NaNo-ing everyone!!!

(numbers? anyone?)

NoMo Tuesdays: Butt Glue

Randy and Lilly J were asking the other day where they could pick up some Butt Glue.

So I googled it.

The answer, Amazon.com

This is the butt glue of choice 
to keep clothing in place on

Gymnast

Dancers

Body builders

and Miss America

Oh-My-Gumdrops, did I just do a whole post about butts?

Did not see that coming!

I don't know if this is the kind of Butt Glue that you were looking for guys but it's the one that they sell. ;)

Writers refer to 
the ability to connect your backside with the chair and just stay in front of the computer long enough to actually write SOMETHING, 
as Butt Glue. 


It's not actually something you can buy from Amazon. 


But if anyone would like to purchase the above Butt Glue and attach it to their chair and share the results I would love to have you write a post about it on this blog. 
The offer is out there.

I hope that you are hitting your numbers and that your Butt Glue is working!

KEEP GOING!!!

(and feel free to share your numbers in the comments. I'd love to hear how things are going and cheer you on!)

Post Script: The November Giveaway Hop winner was Carrie at Sweet Southern Home :)

NaNoWriMo and NoMo Tuesdays!

What is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month. In the month of November a whole heck of a lot of crazy people try to write a novel at least 50,000 words long in 30 days. 

Need more details? Visit http://www.nanowrimo.org/

How in the world do you expect to be able to do that?

You are allowed to outline before the month of November. This should help. But there are always people who don't outline before November and still complete the challenge, so it's up to you.

So if I want to outline, where do I start? 

I wrote a guest post on plotting that you can find HERE. It shows some of my process and gives some good resources.

Are you crazy?

Perhaps. This is a hotly debated topic in some circles. But all it takes is dedication, butt glue, and writing everyday. 

If you don't plan on telling anyone that you are doing NaNoWriMo you might be making a mistake. Tell people. Tell someone. Tell someone who will ask, "So how's that book coming? Are you getting close now?" They will keep you from quitting in the middle when you think this story is awful! (this thought is inevitable- expect it)

Wait? Why are you putting yourself through that?

I'm a deadline kinda gal. This is just pumping out a rough draft, not creating something beautifully polished. I know I can do this. 

Plus, I am motivated by prizes (like sticker charts!) In the past NaNoWriMo has offered the winners a proof copy at CreateSpace and 50% off Scrivener writing software, something I've had my eye on for a while. Some people might not be interested in these prizes at all but it works for me. 

HERE are the 2010 awards.

Plus you should come up with your own prize. Something you can treat yourself to for accomplishing your goal!

Any other tips?

I will be offering NaNoWriMo tips every Tuesday through the month of November, in a series I will call NoMo Tuesdays (I wanted to call it NoMo Mondays because "There's a double meaning in that!" but Tuesdays work better.) 

That should just about take up your November!
Nope, I have a HUGE change for Writing with Shelly on November 5th. I'm not telling what it is but I will give you a hint. Some hot guys avoid doublets and just write.

Join me and the hundreds of thousands of others in