The start of this novel was easy to write...back when I didn't think much of it.  I think I may be putting too much pressure on myself now that I think it could be the key to my big break.

*deep breath*

*more keyboard mashing*

It's May 1st!

Well, everyone, it is officially May 1, 2013.  I am happy to report that I won Camp Nanowrimo 2013 as of two days ago, and that I kept and made a few deadlines that I wanted to make last month.  This will be win #3 in the record books.  I’m hoping that this trend will continue and that May will be just as productive as April. 50,000 words is a lot.  It’s 1/3 of a novel, four submissions, eight other short stories (or short story attempts), and I’m not even talking about the planning required for any of them. 50,000 words is also a lot of hot tea, Sugar Free Red Bull, and coffee.  I’m sorry to say that the NaNoWriMo 30 Day Challenge Questions had to fall by the wayside last month because my goals changed about 1/3 of the way through the month.

I’m also happy to report that my boyfriend, Jake, got his first win. I’m trying to convince him to write with me in June as well.  He’s working on a fantastic novel about deceit, betrayal, airships, and love.  This next month, he will be working on editing (and if we get far enough) he may be working on rewrites in June (perfect for a NaNo Rebel, amirite?).

For me, May will be the month of my big breakthrough novel.  Ambitious remark, isn’t it?  I will be working on an as-of-right-now-nameless novel idea about international spies with historical WWII figures.  It may be labeled as historical fiction but for right now I’m just going to label it action/adventure.  If all goes according to plan, I will be writing it this month and doing rewrites next month.  The month after will be my birthday month which means ...

PORT TOWNSEND WRITING CONFERENCE! 

As a bonus, I told myself that I would buy business cards for the conference if I won NaNo last month.  Victory be mine!  I’m looking at the wonderful products at Moo.com (as recommended by my writery friend, Lex Chase).  She is also the same person who reminds me that dreams can come true if I just work hard and keep at it.  Seeing her success is such a great motivator.  I love being one of the cheerleaders, hehe.

Anyway, back to the word mines...

Still going strong

So begins my second week of camp.  I'm still on par with my word count (sadly my word count buffer seems to have dissipated.  But I am happy to say that on this day (Day 9 of camp), I have:

1. Swept the dining room and hallway
2. Put two coats of wax on those floors
3. Swept and mopped the tile in the front room
4. Made 2000 words
5. Cooked breakfast for Jake's granddad (and brewed coffee for the house)
6. Washed the dishes 

All of which was before 11AM.  Seeing this momentum on "paper" has reinvigorated me, which is good.  Especially since I just woke up from a 20 minute nap that zapped every ounce of energy out of me.

As far as camp goes, I have felt guilty working on a novel (that I'm not 100% passionate about), and not working on stories that I plan to turn in to publishers and/or literary magazines.  Because of that, I am widening my April writing goals and adding "Finish 5 short stories a week until the end of the month".  I have finished two since Sunday (unfortunately, I'm not very fond of the second one).

Excellent advice, yes?

Good luck Wrimos and fellow word slingers!

Oh shnap, someone's getting serious about her work...

Yep, I made deadline charts and everything...

Talking to fellow writers always gets my motivation up.  Thanks to Devon (*hugs*) for really getting me going during our Skype chat last night.  Camp NaNo will run this July as well (my birthday month!) and I'm pondering the thought of possibly being a rebel that month (or even this month).  While my current story is still new and fresh (I'm only 10k in right now), I'm not used to this genre and, honestly, I'm not sure if I like it very much.  I almost prefer the snappy, fast action and wit of a thriller, suspense, and/or horror story.  I love to read and watch a good story with a happy ending (like The Princess Bride and Stardust), I just don't think that I'm good at writing happy ending stories...

I am glad that I came to this conclusion during the first week of camp.  While, I may not be able to finish this story currently, I am hoping to return to it one day.  I think it's a solid piece.  I just don't think that I'm ready for it yet.  So here's the question: if I switch gears but continue to write toward a 50k goal (like, perhaps a string of short stories for an April 30th deadline), will my previous 10k count toward that 50k goal?  I am still writing, in fact.

Well, either way, I've made myself a submission tracker.  I love duotrope.com but sometimes, physically picking up a pen and writing things down on paper...then looking at them all laid out in front of me...it helps me remember deadlines better.  How do you follow deadlines?

For my new wrimo followers on tumblr...

Hello!  I hope that the upcoming fourth day of camp has you being productive and having fun. 

If you would like to do a word sprint, please feel free to message me.  If I'm sitting in front of my computer, then I'm probably up for a word sprint or word war.  :)

30 Day NaNoWriMo Meme

 

Here's the Tumblr 30 Day Meme that everyone fills out for the month of November.  It may be camp (and I'm not sure if there's a summer version - not that the change in month should really make a difference) but it should still work.  Feel free to use it, answer them in the comments section as I fill them out every day of April, or message me your answer on Tumblr.  Feel free to follow me on Tumblr as well.  If you message me about writing, NaNo, or this blog, I will follow you as well.  Good luck next month!

Day 1 - Have you participated in NaNoWriMo before?  If so, which years and what end result?  If not (or even if so, for that matter), what’s your connection to writing?  Why do you want to participate this year?

Day 2 - What’s the title of your story?  Why did you choose the name you did?

Day 3 - Pick one of your female characters.  Introduce your readers to her, from her point of view and her words only.

Day 4 - What genre is your novel?  Why did you pick it?

Day 5 - Name two songs from your playlist that you feel are connected with your novel in some way, and explain how they are.

Day 6 - What is your one biggest stressor related to forcing yourself to write at least 50,000 words in a span of 30 days?

Day 7 - Where’s your favorite place to hunker down and write?

Day 8 -List your current, most up-to-date word count.  Are you satisfied with your progress thus far?

Day 9 - Have you told anyone else you’re doing NaNo this year?  Who?  What was their reaction?

Day 10 - How does your love of writing manifest in non-NaNo months?

Day 11 - Ever tried collaborative writing (such as play-by-post roleplaying)?  If so, what do you think of it?

Day 12 - Imagine you’re behind in your word count goals (even if you’re not) and are going to pull an all-nighter to catch up.  Screencap a playlist of inspirational music you would use to get you up to speed.

Day 13 - Name a male character from your novel.  Describe him through the point of view and words of the female character you introduced in question 3 (if they never interact, pick another female character).

Day 14 - Is the sexuality of your characters a large part of your novel’s story?  If so, are there characters who deviate from the heterosexual “norm”?  In what way?

Day 15 - Do any of your characters have a disability or mental illness?  If so, how does that affect their development throughout your story?

Day 16 - At around the half-way point, it bears mentioning that most of us wrimos have other obligations beside simply hitting that elusive word count.  What else do you have going on in your life (work, school, children, neurotic pets, etc.), and just how much are you shafting it to win NaNo?

Day 17 - In what time period is your novel set?  Is it in this world or another?

Day 18 - Who is the antagonist in your novel?  What drives their actions?

Day 19 - Which authors or books have inspired your own writing the most, and why?

Day 20 - If you could meet one fictional character from any book you’ve ever read, who would it be, and why?

Day 21 - With about 10 days left to this arguably traumatic experience, what are your plans and goals for your novel, should you successfully complete it?

Day 22 - If you’ve participated in or won NaNo before, what happened to your other novel efforts?  Still in the revision process/querying publishers/scrapped it immediately/etc.

Day 23 - Do animals play any part in your story?  If so, how do they add to it?

Day 24 - Is religion featured in your novel at all?  If so, which ones?  If it’s/they’re your own creations, describe it/them and how it/they play(s) a part in your characters’ lives.

Day 25 - What are the names of at least two of your main characters?  How did you choose their names?

Day 26 - Was any research involved (historical or otherwise) in your NaNo prep? 

Day 27 - What’s your word count now?  Are you satisfied with your progress or panicked that you won’t have enough time to finish by November 30?

Day 28 - Name one thing you shafted all month in favor of participating in NaNo.

Day 29 - Name one thing in which you indulged as a treat to keep yourself motivated and writing that you wouldn’t otherwise have done.

Day 30 - Share a link to either your NaNo profile or a location on the internet where your story can be found.  If someone offered to beta read for you, would you be willing to do the same for them during the subsequent editing process?

A double dose of inspiration for Monday...

“Writing is like hunting. There are brutally cold afternoons with nothing in sight, only the wind and your breaking heart. Then the moment when you bag something big. The entire process is beyond intoxicating.”

~ Kate Braverman

Procrastination

I just wrote this long response to a forum post and I'd like to share it with you guys.  With camp coming upon us (it starts in a week!), procrastination is going to be a really big problem for a lot of us.  I choose to combat it in a "positive reinforcement" sort of way:

I'm horrible at procrastinating. Everyone knows when I've got a big project or deadline coming up because my room is spotless and the fridge is cleaned out. I'm hoping that camp next month will really whip me back into shape. My daily word count has been a roller-coaster of totals. I'll go days without writing, even when I have a dedicated two hour block in the middle of my day. Most of the time, that time is spend doing things like...not writing. Tumblr is a big distraction. So is Facebook. Next month, I think I'll go on a reward system like I did last summer. For every 1k words, I get something small and at the end of the day, if I hit a certain amount, I get a certain reward. Like:

For every:
1k - 5 minutes on Tumblr (Yes, I actually use a timer...otherwise, I will cheat)

If I reach:
2k - A cookie
3k - A movie...
4k - ...with popcorn
5k - ...and a box of candy from the general store across the street
6k - An extra Sugar Free Red Bull tomorrow
10k - (yeah, right...) An hour on Tumblr! Uninterrupted! Unlimited Scrolling! Oh my!

Or something like that. On different days, I have different rewards. And I have one for the end of the week as well and it's usually something meaningful like going on a date night with my boyfriend. Oh, and If I make the word count goal for the day, I put 5 dollars in a jar. Then, at the end of the month, I get to spend it on something geeky and writery...just for myself. Writing (especially since I haven't gotten any novels published yet) can seem so unrewarding at times. The satisfaction of completing a story is great and I love that feeling. It's the best feeling in the world - like a hot shower after a camping trip or being able to breath after you get over a bad cold/allergies - but sometimes it doesn't feel like it's enough. Sometimes it's just the little things that keep me going. Especially on those days where the plot doesn't seem to be going anywhere, or when it feels like a really boring scene (throw in some ninjas!).

I'd like to wish everyone a productive and prolific session of camp in April!  You don't have to be alone.  Wrimos are always helpful and are willing to do word wars.  :)  Including myself.

April Showers bring...campers inside to write more NaNo novels

First of all, let me say that when I first viewed my blog this morning, seeing the face of Fabio staring back at me was a bit unsettling. But, anyway...

“There's an old folk saying that goes: whenever you delete a sentence from your NaNoWriMo novel, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings and plummets, screaming, to the ground. Where it will likely require medical attention.”

~ Chris Baty

Camp NaNo run in April and July this year.  In addition to that, they're running it a bit different.  During camp we can choose our word count (what????!), and we can choose other formats (screenplay, anyone?).  As hectic as my schedule is, I'm still going to try to participate next month.  Not only that, I'm going to keep the word count goal at 50k.  I don't participate in NaNo just so I can win bragging rights.  I participate because it helps push me.

I'm looking for some equally motivated people to be in a cabin with.  Anyone interested?  :)

Introducing...Hunni Silk

Oh, bloggers and writers, it's been too long!  There has been chaos in the house of DeVore for the past week and it's kept me off of the internet. (Whaaa?  I know).  I even got the opportunity to take a "day off."  Jake's aunt booked a hotel on Pensacola Beach for us.  It was so nice to just get away and it was something that we desperately needed. Since we are on-the-job 24-7, we don't have a lot of time to do things as a couple.  Especially something romantic to help maintain our relationship.

Speaking of romantic, Jake's cousin told me that I should try my hand at writing romance novels.  Just the thought of it used to make my cheeks flush into a palate of rouge but these days, it is not my naivety that keeps me from that genre.  Well, actually, to be honest, it probably is.  I don't write "romance" because whenever I tried it came out too...cheesy.  But I like a good challenge.  So my goal this week, is to come up with a plot for a romance novel, that I will enjoy writing...

These days, I find the prospect of romance novels to be more fun and less trashy.  Or maybe it seems like it would be fun because of the "trashy" aspect of it all.  Don't get me wrong, there are fantastic authors out there who write romance novels.  I've never read any of their work (I've never actually read a romance novel before...though I started a few...they were bad). 

She also suggested that I change my pen name from Hunni Daniels to Hunni Silk.  What do you think?

One of my favorites...

“You must write every single day of your life... You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads... may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”

~ Ray Bradbury

 One of my favorite quotes about writing.  Ray Bradbury was one of the most talented writers of all time.  I wish I could have met him to pick his brain for a little bit.  I would love to interview him or just have coffee and chat about the craft.

Today, I am going to Pomodoro my writing time in hopes of getting my word count up.  In addition, (and in the spirit of Ray Bradbury and his collaboration with Charles Addams), I am hoping to continue my discussion with my bestie about collaborating our hobbies.  He is an excellent photographer and I'm hoping that we get to join our efforts -- if not in book form, just for personal use.  Perhaps, if we get this project going, I can post some of our work here.

Happy word slinging, fellow writers!

Today's quote is...

“You know, it's hard work to write a book. I can't tell you how many times I really get going on an idea, then my quill breaks. Or I spill ink all over my writing tunic.” 

~ Ellen DeGeneres


I'm going old school today and writing via pen and paper.  In high school, my best friend got me a dip pen set (it was gorgeous).  Unfortunately, since I am temporarily relocated, I didn't pack it; in fear that the FAA would put me on their no fly list for carrying a weapon, stabbing myself while unpacking, or other polylemma.  I packed one suitcase to bring here.  I would have just rather brought another pair of underpants than a possible weapon.  ANYWAY, I did manage to acquire a few notebooks (within the last couple months) and a Sharpie pen set in an array of colors.  

I am privy to the sarcasm in the quote that I picked today, but I am curious about getting a lucky writing [insert piece of garment here].  I do have my writing buddy, Bartholomoo the stuffed cow.  But somehow, I don't find that he's the same as a lucky pair of boxer shorts.

Join me in writing via pen or pencil (or quill or dip pen) today.  I'm hoping that this change of pace will help inspire me.

Good luck!

“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I'm afraid of. ”
 

~ Joss Whedon


I'm afraid of dying too, Joss.  It's okay.  *pat pats*

“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it.
Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”

~ William Faulkner

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”

~ Ray Bradbury

Breaking News...

Jake's grandfather is back home from the rehabilitation center, which means a lot of things.  First, that means that he's done a lot of recovery since he went into the hospital.  He can walk again (though he is still very weak) and he can help feed himself.  They are both very slow processes but we are all very patient with him.  As for me, I feel like he accomplishes little victories everytime he does something for himself and when he walks with us or stands up by himself.

It also means that (since he needs a lot of assistance), homelife just got a  tad more complicated.  It's day two since he's been back and we're already developing a schedule (which is so awesome).  We are working on a routine for him so that he can get the most out of his day.  I am developing a routine for myself (it resembles the summer routine that I had when I was here last summer - get up, clean the kitchen, sweep, mop, dust, coffee, write, make breakfast, help with meds, etc.).  The health care specialists and therapists from Caring Hearts are supposed to stop by today to see what he needs from home and see about getting a therapy routine for him as well.  Although it may not seem exciting, the family is very excited.  I have to admit, I am thrilled and excited as well.  

The most recent news is that Jake's aunt is going back home, which means that Jake and I will be here with his grandparents by ourselves (alone for only a week though).  While last summer, that wasn't a problem at all (I would go with Jake's grandmother while he stayed at home with his granddad), it's a bit more complicated now that it takes two people to help his granddad move around, changed, and other daily ritual things.  We'll make it work though.  Just as long as we keep our priorities straight, it should work out fine.  Anyway, the dormatory will be in full effect soon.  We're anticipating a visit from Jake's cousins, aunt, and Jake's dad as well.  I'm excited to see everyone and for everyone to see just how far Jake's granddad has come since his stint at the hospital a couple months ago.  It was looking pretty bleak when he came out of there but now it's a whole new story.

In addition to all that, I'm also going to be "home" a lot more which means that I'll be at my computer doing frequent writing sprints.  I will no longer be able to write for sprints longer than two hours but if I plan it right, I should be able to get some good word slinging in.  My goal for now is to get at least one short story done every week and to continue to work on my novel idea (working title: Holland Manor).  I really want to title it with a pun on the word manor.  "Manor of Speaking" or "Family Manors" or something...

Wish me luck!

Today's prompt:

Base a short story on the phrase "There's more than one way to skin a cat"

Hibiscus Flowers in the Rain

It's been raining here in "sunny" Florida.  The past couple days have reminded me of home sweet home in the Pacific Northwest.  It's been very inspiring.  I feel like flinging words like there's no tomorrow.  There's something about grey skies that really gets my creativity going.  Grey skies and the pitter patter of rain drops on the tin roof over the patio.  

In other news, Jake's granddad has a new roommate.  Broken wrist.  He seems pleasant enough, even though he's apparently hard of hearing.  The TV is on so loud that I can't hear myself think.  Lucky for me, I think The Producers is on.  It could be worse.  It could be Elmo's World...  Not to mention, the new roommate is pretty witty and clever.  That's pretty inspiring as well.  

I have two long term projects that I have been working on: a satirical piece of historical fiction (with a dash of James Bond and a splash of Sherlock Homes) and a humorous (at least that's my intention) adventure story with a lovable group of outcasts and a look at how we treat the elderly in modern day American society.  My self-diagnosed ADD keeps me from locking down only one project at a time.  I figure that focusing on two, very different projects should come in handy because no matter what mood I'm in, I will be able to work on one story or the other.  Now my only problem is staying focused on these long term projects when the distraction of short stories (my first love) is constantly pulling at my attention strings.  Oo, look!  Shiny!

Oh my god...how is it that I've never watched The Producers before?

The worst

I'm having a fantastic day.  I'm feeling inspired.  I have an ice cold can of sugar free Red Bull at my side.  It's beautiful outside...  The worst part about today is my uncomfortable wrist pain in my right arm.  I have on a brace while I'm typing away but I don't like to keep it on for long.  What's worse than a writer developing an allergic reaction to caffeine?  Whateverthefu...is happening to my wrist.  That's what's worse.

Today's writing prompt:

Watch a half an hour of TV and examine the commercials closely.  Use one of them as inspiration for a new story.

Ready, set, go.

Cache Cow

Jake and I went geocaching on Sunday and had a blast despite the fact that we didn't actually uncover any caches*.  Upon further inspection, two (of the three that we went searching for) were stolen and the last one was micro and ...to my knowledge... got eaten by Cthulhu or someone's mother in law.  I'm not sure which.

Speaking of mother-in-laws.  Today's writing prompt comes from Awesome Writing Prompts:

Writing Prompt #567: Do As I Say!

Write about someone who is completely and utterly awful in every way imaginable.  Maybe throw in a unicorn or a narwhal.

All righty, Word Slingers of the Free World!  Good luck!

*Note: I must find myself a few small stuffed cows -- that I shall name "Cache Cows" -- to trade with the small items when Jake and I go geocaching...