NaNo Countdown: 3 hours

NaNoWriMo '10 is about to start and has already started for some of you. Exciting, right? More like terrifying. I just had my first case of Writer's Doubt and Panic and November hasn't even started yet. I'm not entirely sure where my story is going or if I even have an actual plot. Yes, I posted that bit about Caroline, but I don't think it's strong enough to carry the whole story. I've toyed with other ideas, both to improve this story and to pursue other options.

Panic is common, doubt even more so. Getting past that and getting words on the page is what makes you a writer.

NaNoWriMo in Years Past

I mentioned yesterday that this is my 4th year doing NaNoWriMo and since this blog is not old enough for me to have mentioned these before, I thought I'd make a list of the different stories I've attempted and the different issues I've faced in writing them (ie: why I didn't finish).

2006: The Elemental Spell: Fantasy/Humor
Main Idea: An alchemist in a parallel universe accidentally kidnaps two step-siblings from a Ferris wheel in our world when attempting a spell for beef Wellington. The three try to re-open the portal between the worlds to get the children home safely, but another alchemist wants to exploit it because Earth items are the biggest trend. Basically, all alchemists are Earth fanboys. Lots of satire, really stupid jokes, and a dictionary as a spellbook.
Why it Didn't Work: My computer died somewhere around 25k. It was tragic.
What Happened to It: I have since worked on this, but while I love it, I realize it's not entirely worth fixing. Someday I may rewrite it, but for now it would require too much effort to fix all the major faults.

2007: Reconnect: Realistic/YAL/Teen Drama
Main Idea: Two teens who live next door to each other and grew up as friends have grown apart by the time they enter high school and reconnect online. Delilah is sort of a preppy girl with good grades and a booming social life, but she's sometimes pressured into things by her friends that she doesn't want to do. Max(?) is a geeky shy guy who is one of the smartest kids in class, but sticks to the wayside.
Why it Didn't Work: It sucks. Sucks sucks sucks sucks. I gave up on it completely way before the ending and I can't believe I started it. Also, I'm not very good at realistic fiction, tends to bore me.
What Happened to It: About a year later I lost the document completely after a freak file naming accident. I have a few scraps on paper left over and a few pieces from my old writing blog, but for the most part it is gone. Which is good because it sucked, but I also sort of miss it, just because it was a piece of me.

2008: Nothing!


2009: Zenith: Science Fiction (YAL)
Main Idea: Rob's grandfather, Fagan, lives on one of the last true farms in existence, but he's being forced to move soon. Fagan doesn't want to leave his home, but more than that, he's hiding a plane illegally in the barn. Air travel no longer exists, outlawed for "safety reasons" by the government, but this turns out not to be true. After Rob discovers that his new friend Risty is part cyborg, she blackmails him and his grandfather into helping her discover the truth in what's really happening behind the clouds.
Why It Didn't Worked: For one, I got really attached and I loved it. The world was new to me, something I could create, but didn't have to be so far off from our own. But more than that, the characters felt real. They were distinct, but not unheard of, they had stories and faults and heart and I loved them to pieces, even when I disagreed with what they were doing. I had a good idea of who they characters were and what they wanted and where I wanted to go with the story and I went there. I reached a point when I didn't know what was going to happen next, but I kept on writing and well, that's when the good stuff happened.
What Happened to It: I have since finished writing Zenith and gone through a few rounds of edits. It is currently in the beta reading stage and once I have more time on my hands (Christmas break, most likely), I'm going to edit it again and once I feel I've done enough, I'm going to query it to agents.

NaNo Countdown: 8 Days!

Hey folks, it's just about that time again! That's right, it's the time when we give up sanity, sleep, and friends all for the sake of our writing!

This will be my fourth attempt at NaNoWriMo and if all goes well I will "win" for the second year in a row. I'll be honest with you folks, I want to win, but I'm not going to be as devoted as I was last year. My schedule is fairly crammed with school and work, more so than last Fall, but I am going to do my best. I'll budget my time and take advantage of my 3 hour schedule breaks between classes/work.

I wanted to try something new this year, so I'm attempting a story unlike any I've ever done. I'm writing a sports book. A sports book. I don't even play sports! I also don't write a lot of realistic fiction, so this might be a challenge for me.

Caroline Reyes is a competitive inline speed skater training for the Nationals. In an attempt to gain an edge and clock in some extra track time (and after a few dares & challenges), Caroline tries out for a roller derby team—and makes it. Despite skating almost her whole life, derby proves challenging to Caroline. She'll have to learn how to skate on four wheels, play as a team, and most importantly: take a hit. But what happens when she has to choose between her dream and her team?

Tonight I finally figured out all the girls on the main team (The Rockin' Rollers), both their real name and their derby names. I love how much a derby name says about a girl, whether they're fun, sexy, or smart, even what their interests are. These girls love poetry, music, science fiction shows, and cooking. Never has naming characters been more fun.

If you want to friend me on the NaNo site, my username is typesetjez!

The Writer's Journey

So, after my post earlier this evening, I realized I never actually posted the narrative to which many of my posts refer. This is something I wrote for my English 321 course last Spring, something I hope fellow writers will relate to and enjoy (especially if you like hyperbole).

The Journey: An Autobiography of a Writer

Not many walk this road, and fewer still reach their destination, the majority turning back before the journey is through. Warning signs line the start of the trail and even the most experienced of travelers, though they remind you to follow your dreams, discourage the trip unless you are absolutely positive it's what you want to do. It takes a certain kind of person to take that chance, to try their hand at writing, and not everyone succeeds. Writing requires you to walk into the forest without a map and little direction, with only your heart, your imagination, and a stubborn will to guide you. It's an adventure, a journey, a quest.

Many people first begin to explore the area when they are young, making up stories to amuse themselves or others. Some quickly grow out of it, convinced that fiction and fairy tales are juvenile, but the rest of us stick with it, some for love of the craft, some for the challenge, and some of us just don't know anything else. When I started writing, none of these applied. Learning the basics caused me stress, less equipped than all the others, and carrying the weight of dyslexia like manacles around my ankles, making the first steps almost impossible to take. I expended extra efforts to keep up with my classmates, but writing remained a challenge for years to come. Still, I kept at it, and at age thirteen I realized that all those years dragging the chained ball behind me and strengthened my legs, strengthened my skills. I discovered that my limits could not hold me back, not when I possessed a gift and a desire for writing.

I ran into that forest, ignoring the caution signs and rushed head-first into a novel without stopping to learn the territory. Treacherous traps awaited at every turn, walls sprang up so suddenly I had no choice but to run into them, and writing proved to be dangerous indeed. I look back on those first drafts now, the footsteps behind me on this trail, and I find typos, grammar mistakes, confusion, plot twists that lead into black holes, and characters without purpose or depth, but somewhere beneath all of that, calling out to me like a siren, is a small nougat of talent, a kernel of hope. That first novel, fated to stay in the dark forest forever, provided me practice, helped me learn the way of the land. I could identify dangers sooner, learn to deal with common mishaps, and live in that world. I decided to make my home there, to become a writer like the heroes I so admired, but I knew it wouldn't be easy.

Once I promised myself this life, I knew I had to take more precautions and turn my unguided wanderings into a quest. I enrolled in classes on writing and gained a set of directions and a map, instructing me where to begin and who to speak to. I found my teachers in the forest and they handed me lists of tasks, telling me I'd receive my reward at the end. Much to my surprise, these were not payments, but talents I would develop and knowledge I would gain. I learned the many different types and styles of sentences and paragraphs, discovered ways to identify and tame them, and the creatures, elusive and unattainable before, became my tools to tackle the terrors of the forest. 

The first task following these on my quest was a narrative, something I thought I knew. The beasts I befriended previously were nothing compared to this dragon, a challenge for me to overcome. Like the Red Crosse Knight, a creation of this place from long ago, I fought this dragon three times before I prevailed, though I did not share in the knight's luck with the well, and sustained many scratches and scars from my battle. My first experience on the quest might have scared another off, but not me. I continued completing the tasks given to me and learned all that I could, so that on my next encounter with a narrative, I was prepared. The second time, I succeeded, learning to use my newly acquired tools and my old talent to my advantage.

Even though I survived these following missions, I still felt clumsy in the forest, taking so many precautions that I discovered very little about myself or my craft. I realized that in order to succeed in this realm, one has to remember the chance they first took when they walked past the warning signs and into the dense thicket. Writing requires risk, so risks I began to take. I explored the darker parts of myself that I once thought I could not or should not approach and put them down on the page. I exercised my ghosts, revealed my deepest fears, and through them grew into a stronger, braver writer. Once the words escaped me, pent up inside my body for so long, I felt relieved, light. The challenges of this mythical world existed not just around me, but within me, from the place in my heart from which words poured. I had learned how to tame the words, but they were nothing without depth and purpose, so I began to create new pieces, infusing a piece of my soul into each one, letting them take on a life of their own.

Those writings became narratives unlike the dragons I had fought, but creatures that reflected the trials I had endured, mirrors to remind me where I had been. More importantly, though they revealed my hidden pain to the world, these creations proved to me that I could survive in this land, that I could use magic like my masters, conjuring and summoning the words that could create, the words I would survive by. I did not start out at a young age as an apprentice; I was not bred for this role. I became the stories I wanted to write: the innocent, unassuming child, struggling in life, who overcame the obstacles and achieved her dream. With a long road still ahead of me, and a million predicaments and beasts waiting to try and stop me, I make my way through this forest on my journey, finally calling myself a writer.

The Monsters of Writing

We as writers risk our lives every day, trying to give the public what they want. We are like gladiators, facing terrible monsters and opponents all for the sake of entertaining others. Writers are no strangers to fear and frustration, believe you me.

The Biggest Monsters You Will Be Asked to Face as a Writer

• Research - after coming up with an idea and forming a rough plot, you might be asked to face Research, one of the biggest monsters of the Writing World and one that will pop up again and again. You cannot ever truly defeat this beast, it is immortal. When you face this creature, keep that in mind; you are not fighting to kill, you are fighting to survive. Still, facing Research is essential in your quest as a writer and each time you face it, you will grow stronger, gain knowledge, and be able to face your novel with more courage and confidence than ever before.
• Doubt - This is another creature that will spring up time and time again, generally when you least want it to. It's always hard to beat and afterwards your confidence is shaken and you constantly question your ability to complete your Journey. Doubt generally coincides with other challenges, such as The Wall and The Unmarked Path. Sometimes the best defense against this monster is to simply ignore it. Embrace that 5-year-old mentality that if you don't acknowledge its existence, it can't truly exist.
• Revision - This beast often attacks at the same time as Doubt on the second leg of your Journey to Publication. You've acquired your basic skills and materials and you've finished the first draft of your Novel, but now it's time to revise. Don't be afraid to really fight this monster, cutting out words, sentences, chapters, and limbs. Don't hold back, because if you do, you'll only have to face it again later. Each time you face this dreadful foe, it's harder and harder to put up a fight, as it wears you down. You thought you were done and Revision rears its ugly head to remind you that you aren't. It's like starting over, but it is survivable.
• Querying - This is the true test of your strength and skills. Your Novel has to be the Best in Show, able to blow away any obstacles and impress the judges like no one ever has before. This is not quite the final battle in your Journey, but it is the turning point. Every foe you've faced up until now has been in preparation for this terrifying beast. Luckily, there are many guides that can help you train for such a match scattered about on the internet. I urge you to study them before you charge into battle.

That said, know that I am facing the first Monster on this list with my next project, as I've defeated the somewhat lesser foe of Lack of Inspiration, a close cousin to Doubt.

If you have any other Monsters you feel should be included in this Survival Guide, or any additional notes on how to defeat the ones above, please leave them in the comments.

Querying The Damsel

Well, I did it: I just sent off query letters to four different agents, so cross your fingers for me! I'll keep you updated as I hear news, of course. Since many of you are in the same boat as I, looking for an agent or hoping to someday be published, I thought I might leave you a few tips on querying.

General Rules for Querying

1. Research First. Find out about the agent, what they represent, where their tastes lie, and if they are currently accepting queries. You can find an agent via a search engine like AgentQuery, or by querying the agents of works similar (but not too similar!) to yours.
2. Follow the Guidelines. Now, there's no hard and fast rule here and this goes hand in hand with the above rule, but please make sure you have read the guidelines specific to the agent you are querying. Some want specific fonts, some want only the query, some want sample pages; it all depends on the agent.
3. Keep it Professional. Publishing is a business, so treat it as such. Use formal block formatting in your query email or letter and treat the agent with respect. These agents are not your high school buddies, so please don't write to them as if they were.
4. Personalize Your Query. An agent can tell if you've written one query and sent it out to fifty people at once. Personalize your query to fit the agent, appeal to their tastes and add any information you feel is important that you've learned about them through your research.
5. Proofread Your Query. This may seem like a no-brainer, but do you really want to take that chance? Edit your query just as you would edit your novel to make sure it flows well, makes sense, and is free of those pesky typos. Additionally, have a friend/teacher/writing buddy read over your query as well.

On Querying and the Loss of Inspiration

Hello all, thanks for being patient with my lack of posts as of late. It feels like my desire to write and be inspired has been on pause for a few weeks, no doubt due to a mass of real-life drama, but I'm doing my best to get back to the thing I love most. Unable to truly get back into it full force, I opted for editing one of my short stories, The Damsel, which I speak about here.

When I write and edit my works, I usually know which ones I'm going to query and which ones are mostly just for practice. I get a feeling that Hey, this is really something special, I could maybe do something with this. Or, it's good enough that I'll let my friends read it, so I should try it out with agents, too! And then sometimes I get a feeling that okay, yeah, this is not going anywhere--but I do try to finish those pieces anyway.

With Zenith, the feeling was most definitely I Could Query This, and I will, once I go through one more round of edits (and hopefully hear back from more than one of my beta-readers). With The Damsel, the feeling was more I Need to Share This. I've gotten quite a bit of good feedback on that one, so I hope that no one is lying to me, as this is what I generally assume of people reading my works.

So, yeah, I'm querying The Damsel today. I did some research (mostly utilizing AgentQuery) and will be sending off the queries themselves either tonight or tomorrow. I'm waiting to hear back from two agents that I would love nothing more than to be represented by on whether or not they represent short stories. If not, I'll go directly to my #3 choice whom I am especially excited about also. I'll keep you all updated on the process!