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Tag Archives: NaNoWriMo
Reworking Last Year’s NaNoWriMo
So it’s hard to believe that NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is almost here. I’ve been thinking lately of reworking last year’s project (Love UnSeen) as my current (unofficial) NaNo project for 2016.
I’ve been stuck on this story for months, and I thought about how easily In/Exhale comes to me (relatively; I still do plenty of rewrites and shuffling of scenes there) and thought maybe it was worth rewriting Love UnSeen and posting it on a regular basis (not sure if I could manage weekly, but that would be my goal), then taking your feedback to help me shape the story until I got a first draft finished.
The problem is that the blog where I post I/E won’t allow a single author to post on more than one day of the week, and I honestly am not sure if I could manage posting both I/E and Love UnSeen at the same time, especially with having to actually write and format each episode of each story weekly.
However, historically I haven’t gotten a lot of feedback here, and I don’t know how helpful the process will be without it.
So I’m kinda stuck. I’m also stuck because the current way I post stuff here (via a google docs plugin, that little window you see when you read an I/E chapter here) doesn’t play well with mobile, and I know that nowadays most people actually use their phone/tablet more than their computer.
So if I DID post here, I’d have to figure out some way to make it more mobile-friendly, too.
Sorta rambling to myself, I guess, but just wanted to give a kinda heads up that these are the things I’ve been working on lately, in addition of course, to continuing to work on I/E as always.
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NaNoWriMo Winner!
So I made it. Should have gotten to 50,000 a few days earlier than the 21, but I’m still on track to make close to 75K by month’s end, assuming I’m able to keep things up during the holiday this week.
There’s no way the draft will be complete then, though. This’ll be a 100K word draft that I’ll probably end up trimming down when I revise.
Harold chuckled. “I don’t think Jackson needs to come along. I doubt he’ll have very much imput on a photograph.”
Jackson clenched his teeth but said nothing.
“That’s not necessarily true,” Dan said. “I think Jackson has a lot to offer.”
“And we should put him on the float design committee?” Harold guffawed, and his compatriots joined in.
Despite his best efforts to stop it, Jackson felt his face heat.
“He’s blind, son.”
“That doesn’t mean he can’t see,” Dan said in a tone Jackson couldn’t discern.
Still, the characters are coming together and I’m really excited about this book. Thanks to everyone who read the excerpt and gave me your feedback! I appreciate it!
My goal is to have a 100% complete first draft by the end of the year at the very latest.
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NaNoWriMo 2015
NaNoWriMo
Hey, everyone! (Waves) Sorry I haven’t been active on here. Still not relief from the headache, though I’m holding out hope that the botox will still work or acupuncture will at at the very least… I’m trying my best to keep writing as much as I can, which is why I challenged myself to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) again this year.
For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s a bunch of people who all try to complete a 50,000 word novel in a month. Those of you who’ve read UnConventional or In/Exhale know that 50,000 words is barely half a story for me, so I set myself that even more challenging goal of getting a complete 75,000 word draft done by the end of November.
So far I’m definitely on task to make it to about 75K by Nov 30, but the way the story is moving I’m not sure that’ll be a complete draft. So far it’s feeling a little like UnConventional in that it’s falling into three parts, perhaps of about 30K each, which would leave the draft at about 90K. (UnConventional is about 100K.)
Anyway, the only way to write at this kind of pace, especially with my headache limiting my productivity, is to write fast and dirty without really looking back. But I wanted to share a little about this project with you all for those of you who are interested.
Share:NaNoWriMo 2014
Hard to believe that National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is almost here already! This year I will be participating again, though with my busy schedule, I’m not sure how far along I’ll get.
For this year’s project, I’m going to expand on a short story with the working title “Five Minutes to Midnight,” which was inspired by a song with the same name.
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Posted in Blog
Tagged ASL, Deaf, Deaf Culture, Deafness, Five Minutes To Midnight, NaNoWriMo
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NaNoWriMo – Beauty in the Remnants – Excerpt
So, I was going to start off this post by saying I don’t know if I’ll “win” NaNo this year, but then my friend asked me for my current word count and I realized I’m actually a little ahead of schedule. Huh. Wonders never cease.
Anyway, as promised, here’s an excerpt from the first chapter of the book, tentatively titled Beauty in the Remnants.
Remember, this is a rough draft and may not represent the final product, but hopefully it’ll give you a good peek into what these two men are like.
I’m experimenting with dual first-person POVs, btw. We’ll see if it works out or not!
Enjoy, and feel free to comment!
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Posted in Excerpts
Tagged Beauty in the Remnants, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Remnants
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NaNoWriMo 2013
Wow, hard to believe it’s November already! I am doing National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, or just “NaNo” for short) again this year. I’ll be working on getting a (hopefully complete!) draft of Beauty in the Remnants (or possibly just Remnants, it’s a working title), this year.
For those of you who don’t know, NaNo is a yearly event that challenges people to complete a 50,000 word novel in thirty days during the month of November. It’s not an easy feat, but this year will be my third time doing it, and it’s always a good excuse to be productive, as you need to write at least 1667 words every day in order to reach the goal in time.
Remnants is my first novel-length M/M project. I’ve written gay characters before, and even gay sexy scenes, but never have taken on an entire novel with two male romantic leads. I’m also experimenting with dual first-person point of views, which is something I’ve also never tried before. I may end up changing that when all is said and done, but for now, it seems to be working.
The story initially came about because Mike (one of the leads) has a cameo in UnConventional, and the more I worked on finalizing that book, the more I realized I wanted to tell his story. I also knew he was gay, and as big a fan as I am of M/M novels, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to attempt one of my own. His love interest, Marshall, really began to take shape, and I knew I needed to tackle the project as soon as I had the chance.
It’s Marshall that really drove the first-person POV. He has such a distinct personality and voice that originally, I had planned to write another novel, like UnConventional, strictly from his POV, in first-person. However, the more I worked out Mike’s story, the more I realized he needed a voice as well. Hence the “dueling banjos” POVs.
I’m going to do my best to keep my site updated with my progress as I go, and post little excerpts, too. I will likely post the first chapter soon for you to read, along with quotes from what I’ve written that day, if I have time. 🙂
I also have a bunch of reviews I need to do, since I’ve seen several interesting movies and TV shows lately, so I’m hoping I’ll get a chance to review those, including Blind Justice, Caïn, Imagine, and Sunlight, Jr.
Don’t forget to follow me on twitter if you don’t already. 🙂
Share:NaNoWriMo – New Project: Az Monster – Excerpt!
So I hadn’t planned on doing National Novel Writing Month this year (aka NaNo or NaNoWriMo), since I am still putting the final touches on UnConventional before I send it out for publication, not to mention a handful of other projects. However, writing for me is kind of like being possessed by my characters – sometimes they just need to come out.
That’s how I ended up starting what I’m calling Az Monster. I “needed” to write a story that focused on a widower raising his daughter alone. I’ve also been wanting to write something set in a small town in Southeast New Mexico for a long time now. Additionally, asthma is one of those diseases that is incredibly common and yet rarely written about, so, in my typical fashion of preferring to handle diseases and disabilities you see rarely (even less than disease/disability in general beyond cancer), I decided to make the male protagonist an asthmatic. Again, in typical fashion for me, his disease is integrally woven into the story itself.
And this is how I ended up starting Az Monster. Initially, it was simply on a whim, for myself. But after discussing it with some of my writing buddies, they encouraged me to pursue it. I’m glad they did, because I’m halfway through my NaNoWriMo goal and already feel this is shaping up into an incredible, rich story that I think many readers will enjoy once I’ve completed it.
Az Monster is a story about love, about guilt, and about finding the strength to move beyond the shackles of your past.
For now, enjoy this excerpt from the beginning of the novel.
Continued –>
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Posted in Excerpts
Tagged 2012, Asthma, Az Monster, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month
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