Is No Plot Really No Problem?

It's turned into a very NaNoWriMo kind of week here in the Salon. Since I'm also participating in the event this year, I figured I'd jump in. Everyone who's given Nano a shot knows the basic premise - you have one month to write 50k words of a novel. No surrender, no excuses. I have a confession already: While I've completed the word goal in past years, I rarely stick with just one story. Guess I'm not good at following rules, but mostly it's just me going on instinct to make it through with as many words as possible.

Last year I picked up a copy of the event's guidebook (of sorts) No Plot? No Problem by the founder of NaNo, Chris Baty, but I never really had a chance to read through it ahead of time. I've decided to give it a look this go round, see what wisdom can be derived from the NaNo guru, and hopefully get an edge for next month's marathon.

It's a fairly small book and a quick read, which is good considering there's not much time for reading during NaNo. The author begins with the story of the first NaNoWriMo, then launches into several sections with tips on how to maximize your output for the month, including ways to get your loved ones to help keep you writing, staying motivated with plenty of chocolate and coffee, and the all-important deadline. There are time charts to assist daily schedules, as well as an overall word tracker to let you know where you should be every step of the way.

But the main message the book has to offer is to keep your expectations low and your yield high. It's incredibly amusing that this writing guide's essential strategy is telling people to write like crap; lots and lots of crap. Obviously, if you're shooting for a few thousand words a day, you have to do your best to leave the editor out of it, so it's oddly good advice. The other tactic which I'm not so keen on is the notion that less planning is better. Maybe it's because I'm a staunch plotter with no desire to wander aimlessly through a draft, but I know the pantsing method does work well for some people too.

The book does allow for limited plot and character development during the week leading up to November 1st. I understand that part of it is not giving participants the idea that planning is equivalent to writing. If plotting or research gives you an excuse not to sit your butt down and write, then you should do as little of it as possible. There's a short chapter in the middle which lists some novel-writing basics and key questions to ask before you begin. The second half of the book is divided into sections based on what to expect each week of the month. These contain pep talks, tips and tricks, personal stories from NaNo winners and a final chapter on what to do when your novel is completed.

My take: No big surprise, there's not much general info in here that you wouldn't find on any writing website or tutorial. In fact, the official NaNoWriMo site probably covers all the points in the book and then some. The author does encourage participants to write in groups and I couldn't agree more with that one. For me, the best part about NaNo is getting in touch with the writing community and sharing the experience either in person or online. Bottom line, if you're going it alone, the book could be a good source of encouragement. But don't go it alone if you can help it.

Favorite quote from the book:

"A novel rough draft is like bread dough; you need to beat the crap out of it for it to rise."

Has anyone used Chris Baty's book during NaNoWriMo before, and what was the experience like for you? Do you like writing with others, or are you more comfortable tackling the challenge on your own?

Whatever your strategy, good luck and happy writing!

NaNoWriMo...am I crazy?

Fourth time a charm?

Twenty-three days...552 hours until National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) opens. And once I again, I am questioning myself on whether or not I am crazy because yes, I have committed to doing it.

I've done it for the past three years and have pushed myself hard enough to win. I hate to lose at anything. And no matter what has gone on during that month, I couldn't allow myself to lose. My first year I was working full-time, taking two university courses and acting as a mom to two teenage hockey players that lived ours away from home. And I managed to win. 50,000 words on the page. That story is still in very rough form.

My second one, I survived living with my in-laws for the first three weeks of the month and then moving the last week, and I still managed to punch out 50,000 words. I worked full-time, was a hockey trainer and taking only one university course. Now in all truth, the words were not great, but they were words on paper and the story was all over the place. It is still waiting for a rewrite. Maybe when I win lottery and don't have to work, I will get back to that story.

Then last year, I managed to succeed again, eight-months pregnant with awful morning sickness and a precious little boy kicking and punching me. Again, I managed a win, but that story needed a complete rewrite and still in the revision stage.

So what did I learn after three years? First, that I do need a kick in the pants to get me going and the pressure of "winning" gets my creative juices going. I also learned that maybe that I am a slow at realizing that going in without a plan just means that I write aimlessly. I do win, but it's not something that can be submitted without hours and hours of rewriting the basic story. Words on paper doesn't necessarily get me closer to my goal of getting published. The three stories that I've wrote in the past are just words strung together that need MAJOR work. Maybe more work that writing a decent first draft and then revising. (I plan to track and find out after NaNo finishes).

So this year, I'm going in with a plan.

I registered Entangled Publishing's NaNo Smackdown and we have a rough synopsis due on October 20th. This will help with the planning and outlining, so I know where my characters are going, what their goals, motivations and conflicts are. I think this will help. Also, there is an editor that will be helping Smackdown participants mold and shape their plan into hopefully something that can be submitted in the future. I am looking forward to this.

A fellow author friend also recommended an ebook by Larry Brooks. I've read some of his blog posts and have two of his books on my shelf that are still waiting to be read (I will get to them in the next decade). I read his blog on NaNo and suddenly I understood where I was falling short with the 30 days and 50,000 words. I needed a plan. He recommends every writer have a plan, even if it's just a loose outline for pantsers.

So twenty-three days, 550 hours left until NaNoWriMo. Are you getting ready? If so, what are your strategies to help you win? What is your definition of winning NaNoWriMo?

http://storyfix.com/another-nanowrimo-will-this-year-be-different

Thanks for reading! Happy writing! And for all you Canadian readers out there - Happy Thanksgiving!

R.J.

NaNo Fever

The start of NaNo season is upon us. The fever is starting and won't end until the last stroke of midnight on November 30th. In the last years participating in nano I realized the power behind the masses who join in event. Companionship is strong when the goal is the same for everyone. It doesn't matter how we get there but only that we do reach the 50k. 

The drive to join in happens when October starts. I start to plan and enter November with my best. The middle is rough and near the end I'm in the rush to end at 50k. This year I will aim for 100k again tor redeem myself for not making it last year. I tucked away my original novel idea to start something new and refreshing. 

A mix of urban fantasy, sci fi and horror. It's an idea I started thinking about years ago and wrote a few pages on back then. Since I worked on my high fantasy for so long I decided to change the pace to revive my creativity. Sometimes working on one project for so long is exhausting for the mind. I reached the point of tossing it out the window. I don't want to give up on the idea so a different project it is.

Anyone else participating in NaNo? Post your ideas and NaNo username to cheer one another!

Once Upon a Time—My questions about the new season

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the moment arrived last Sunday…magic came to Storybrooke.

I scrutinized for plot and character developments, but true to the nature of creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, I came away with more questions than anything else. I’m accustomed to this sweet torture from being an avid Lost fan, written by these same individuals.

As the days of this week passed, I’ve been turning over more and more questions in my mind. ~Spoiler Alert for those who haven’t yet watched the first episode of season two~

Here’s my list so far:

Will Emma accept her new parents, Prince Charming and Snow White? She seemed unable to even deal with the idea, but that was kind of understandable. I wanted to see a time where she allowed herself to reflect on the news, but I must be looking too far ahead.

Why didn’t Belle seem angry with the Evil Queen for keeping her imprisoned in a psychiatric cell for twenty-eight years? True to her pure nature, as per the fairytale, she didn’t want Rumplestiltskin to kill the Evil Queen, but shouldn’t Belle seem a tiny bit upset about being locked up for almost three decades?

Why did a corner of the original magic world remain, safe but sealed off in a suspended state, after the Evil Queen set the dark curse?

What kept the people alive who were in that suspension for 28 years? The castle where the princess lay seemed to have fallen to ruin through years of weathering, but she remained unaffected.

How did Rumplestiltskin acquire the branding pendant of the rafe monster? Very curious, since it appeared stored away as though he possessed it for a while.

How many of those pendants exist since there were two shown, one in each of the parallel worlds? This makes me wonder if there are more that might show up in evil hands. 

How is magic different now that it has been introduced to Storybrooke?

How did Rumplestiltskin seem to automatically know how to use the new, different magic? That made me wonder if he was responsible for or at least guided the changes.

How was Regina able to adapt to the new style of magic so quickly when operating the magic hat portal into the fantasy world?

Why couldn’t the blue fairy use her magic again? I was struck by the incongruities of how these three characters were affected, and I’m waiting to unravel the hierarchy of new magical control.

Any thoughts on my questions? Any other interesting questions about the start of the new season that are on your mind?

~ ~ ~ Marsha A. Moore is a writer of fantasy romance. The magic of art and nature spark life into her writing. Read her ENCHANTED BOOKSTORE LEGENDS for adventurous epic fantasy romance: Book One, SEEKING A SCRIBE, and Book Two, HERITAGE AVENGED. She has also authored the Ciel's Legacy series, with fast action mermaid/pirate storylines: TEARS ON A TRANQUIL LAKE and TORTUGA TREASURE.  For a FREE ebook download, read her historic fantasy, LE CIRQUE DE MAGIE, available at Amazon and Smashwords.

Lark's End is Here!

Welcome to the end and the beginning.  Christina Leigh Pritchard surprises with a surreal journey into her YA fantasy series, The Fall of Gadaie.

Here's the blurb:
From the author of the C I N Series, comes an epic fantasy world filled with nothing but constant action and adventure. A new world, new life forms, and another twisted and complex story from author Christina Leigh Pritchard!

Mary wants to kill them. But, someone stands in her way...

Tahmi has nightmares of an old man in a sailor's suit, dropping her off, on her doorstep. When she tells her parents about him they look sick. Could her dream have some truth to it? Is that old man the reason they won't allow her in the woods behind their house?

What are they hiding from her? Who is she?

TAHMI, she's just an ordinary girl, right?

Lark’s End, is the first of eight books in the epic fantasy series The Fall of Gadaie. For extras, (characters, illustrations, book trailers, maps) please visit the blog dedicated to the series: www.gadaie.com

BONUS MATERIAL INCLUDED AFTER STORY (kindle version only)

As a well-read adult I have to admit that there are certain genres I have avoided. OK I did watch Un Chien Andalou, (warning: the link is to the actual film and is not for the squeamish) the classic surreal short film from the '20s. It was directed by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali and is definitely NOT a YA film. Lark's End, however, is tempting me to investigate the literary world of that film and the movement that inspired it.

The world of Lark's End is topsy-turvy. How else to you describe falling up from your roller-coaster seat down into a trap door that you climb up out of ? I admit that I was prepared to be confused and disappointed when I started reading this story. Shifts of location left me feeling lost and for a YA book the language seemed too simplistic. After the first couple of chapters I was comfortable feeling lost. And very grateful for the language. By the middle of the book I was breathless keeping up with the journey of the companions.

Far from being simplistic, Lark's End requires your full attention to follow the dream-like transformations and fast-paced movement--

Tahmi woke.

She sat against the wall, barricaded inside the cave. Her skin and clothes were clean. There wasn't a speck of oil left on her body! She felt her hair and giggled. "I had the most horrible nightmare," she said.
Her voice echoed in the dark.
"Jerry!"
It was black as pitch and the only noise she could decipher was tiny drips splattering onto the limestone.
Splat.
Splat, splat.
"Jerry, are you there?"
Drip
Drip, drip, drip.
Green eyes blinked inches away. Tahmi screamed, pressing herself against stone.
Splat, splat.
More eyes gathered, closing in.
"What do you want!?"
Fire lit the room, illuminating at least ten black roaches and the scorpion who towered over her with it's tail pointed.
Where was Jerry?

After reading Lark's End, I don't think there would be any trouble getting your YA to read Kafka or Borges. I know I would have liked the help!

OH, and check out the work of cover illustrator Mohammed Zakzouk. Lovely.

Happy reading,
m

About the Author:

Christina Leigh Pritchard was born and raised in South Florida. Her first stories were written at the age of nine in $0.15 wide ruled spiral notebooks (which were supposed to be used for class) ;o)~ and in the various diaries she kept. Stories she wrote from age nine to twelve fill about four storage boxes!

Since she's upgraded to a computer, she's completed over fifty books and still going strong. Her genres include dark fantasy, young adult, drama, suspense, historical romance, multicultural, comedy, poetry and many more.

Her main aspirations in life are: her dog, Teacup; the beach, writing and well, writing! The author says, "I breathe novels.”

www.Gadaie.com

www.Twitter.com/teeny120

www.Teeny120.wordpress.com
http://blogspot.us4.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=76c91d8a216e860d8c2acc2e7&id=6e8502751c&e=abee7c79ad

http://blogspot.us4.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=76c91d8a216e860d8c2acc2e7&id=a4415fe209&e=abee7c79ad

Urban Fantasy Q&A and Giveaway

We're pleased to welcome Emily Goodwin into the Salon for the last stop on her tour. She's answering some questions for us and giving away an e-copy of her new release, Contagious. Please leave a comment to enter (be sure to include an email address) and we'll pick a winner after midnight on Tuesday, October 2nd.

How did you start your writing career?

I had always written stories in my head but never actually wrote them down on paper. I’m not really sure why. I think a big part of it was fear of failure. Over the years, I started writing short fan-fic stories but never—ever—let anyone read them. Then, one day I got of my psychology of personality class early and had time to kill before my next class. I went to the computer lab and just started writing Unbound. Once I started, I couldn’t stop.

Who is your favorite character from your books?

That’s hard to answer. Each character brings something different to the table and are fun writing about in their own ways. I usually feel attached to the characters in the current novel I’m writing. So, since I just finished Reaper, I feel like Anora is my favorite. But once I start writing The Truth is Contagious, Orissa will be my favorite again.

What is your current release?

Reaper, book two in The Guardian Legacies series, will be out on Halloween. It follows Anora’s life as a witch and shows that having magical powers doesn’t mean things come easily for her. It was a lot of fun to write; I enjoyed having an established relationship between Anora and her boyfriend, Ethan. This book is a lot darker and scarier than Unbound; I got creeped out more than once while writing it.

What is your next release?

I just started working on The Truth is Contagious, the final book in The Contagium Trilogy. I have two chapters done already. As long as my school load doesn’t pile up (I’m a full-time nursing student), I should hopefully get it done by the end of the year.

Do you do you research for your books?

Yes, I do a ton! Along with nursing, I have a degree in psychology, so I have a strong background in wanting things to have solid research and evidence. I write a lot of strange, random emails to people asking the ‘why and how’s of certain things that appear in the book, I probably bugged the crap out of my friend who lives in California while writing Beyond the Sea. I had her take a million pictures to send to me so I could visualize the setting of where Melia and Peter lived. I even spent time at a wound clinic, learning about different flesh eating viruses so my zombies would be as close to ‘medically possible’ as they could be.

What book are you reading now? 

I’ve been trying to find the time to finish Ever Shade by Alexia Purdy for a while now. It’s a really good book (and I recommend it!) but it’s hard to find time to read between school and writing.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be a guest on your blog! :)

Contagious
Book #1 in The Contagium Trilogy

Emily Goodwin

Genre: Occult horror/zombie

Number of pages: Approx 340

Word Count: Approx 120,000

Cover Artist: SweetDreams http://dream-sweetdreams.deviantart.com/

Amazon  B&N  Smashwords

Book Description: 

“I wasn’t afraid of death. If I died, it would be over. My worst fear wasn’t of dying, it was of living. Living, while everyone around me had their flesh savagely torn from their bodies to be shoved into the festering and ever-hungry mouths of zombies. It terrified me, right down to my very core, to be alive while the rest of the world was dead."

In the midst of the Second Great Depression, twenty-five year old Orissa Penwell doesn't think things can get any worse. She couldn't be more wrong. A virus breaks out across the country, leaving the infected crazed, aggressive and very hungry.

Orissa will do anything-no matter if it's right or wrong- to save the ones she loves. But when she discovers that most of the world is infected or dead, she must decide if those lives are worth saving at all.

Author Bio:

Emily Goodwin resides in Indiana, where she lives with her husband and many four legged children, including their much loved German Shepherd named Vader. Accused of being a day dreamer, Emily began writing at an early age, making use of her active imagination. She has a degree in psychology and is currently working on her second degree in nursing. Emily likes anything paranormal, 80's rock, going on crazy adventures with her friends, making (and wearing) costumes, Renaissance Fairs, and is an animal rights activist.

 www.emily-goodwin.blogspot.com 

www.facebook.com/thecontagiumtrilogy

www.facebook.com/theguardianlegacies

www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomEmilyKG

0emilygoodwin – Twitter

Some Thoughts on Speculative Fiction ~ guest post by Kathy DiSanto

We're pleased to welcome speculative fiction author Kathy Disanto to the Salon today, giving her take on Speculative Fiction. Be sure to check out her latest release, Amanda's Eyes.

Some Thoughts on Speculative Fiction

Kathy DiSanto

I’ve been thinking a lot about speculative fiction lately. 

According to Wikipedia, the world’s would-be authority on just about everything, “Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, weird fiction, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history ….”  Etc.

My first thought was, “Who knew weird fiction was a genre?”  But I was afraid that would make me look ignorant, so I decided to run with my second and third thoughts here.   Nobody wants to come off dumb when they’re guest blogging, right?

Speculative.  As in, speculation.  Bottom line, isn’t that what all fiction is?  You see a woman running in the rain, desperately trying to catch a bus already pulling away from the curb.  If you’re a writer, you might start to speculate.  Where was the bus supposed to take her?  What happens now that she’s missed it?  Does the tall, dark, handsome stranger sitting near the back hook up with someone else?  Does she arrive late for that job interview, lose out, and wind up living in a Pontiac?  Or does she miss the hijacking and live to run in the rain another day?  If you speculate long and hard enough, you might end up with the next New York Times bestseller.

So if all fiction is speculation, what makes us so special?  Why do we get to be speculative?  Fantastical?  (Gosh, that sounds neat.  I could really get into being fantastical.)

Here’s my take on that.   For what it’s worth.

Human nature is complex, fascinating and, at the root, unchanging.  We’ve been story-tellers, artists, lovers, scrappers, thieves, and liars since Adam.  We’re continually curious, forever intent on finding a better, easier way to do whatever.  We get proud of ourselves and down on ourselves.  We’re noble and depraved and kind and self-serving.  Just like we’ve always been.

That’s my theory, anyway, and I’m sticking to it.

IMHO (not bad for a junior senior citizen, eh?) speculative fiction looks at human nature and says, “What if?” in a big way.What if he could fly?  Or read minds?  What if she came face to face with the dead-slash-undead?  What if our enemy had weapons so powerful, we had nothing that could withstand them?  What if he woke up as a six-foot cockroach?  How would human nature express itself then?  Would we triumph, or would we all fall down?

As speculative fiction writers, we take our readers on journeys of exploration by unleashingfantasticalpossibilities.  We teleport folks to places they’ve never gone and drop them into situations most of them couldn’t have imagined without us.

Listen, people.  Do we know how to push the envelope, or what?

Now here’s the best part.  The morefantasticalthe story, the more our readers are liable toget in touch with who and what they are.  With who weare collectively.  Whether they know it or not, they’ll be faced with questions about what it means to be human and to live among other humans, then and now.They’ll visit worlds where they cancontemplate the boundaries of our shared humanity andour place in the universe.  Maybe beyond.

“But wait,” you say.  “All I ever wanted to do was spin a whopping good yarn.  Scare the pants off them or weird them out or transport them to a galaxy far, far away.”

That’s all right.  Just because you don’t mean to dig deeper, doesn’t mean you’re not.You are, after all, fantastical.

Amanda’s Eyes

Waking up is the pits when you come to in a hospital with a broken arm, a colorful assortment of abrasions and contusions, and a face swathed in bandages.  It’s even worse if you can’t remember what hit you.

The bad and the ugly are crime reporter Amanda “A.J.” Gregson’s business.  But learning she had a ringside seat for an explosion that killed two agents of the Continental Intelligence and Investigative Service (CIIS), incinerated an entire block of warehouses, and did so much damage to her eyes they had to be surgically removed?  Well, that gives the darker side of life a whole new meaning.
Haunted by elusive nightmares, A.J. waits for her transplant and struggles to remember the events leading up to the fateful night of September 4, 2075.  Weeks crawl by without a glimmer, before memory finally floods back the night before surgery, every detail brutally clear.
The explosion had been the work of the Ferrymen.

“The Ferrymen.  My not-so-magnificent obsession for more than a year.  Only a cataclysm could have made me forget.  I guess you could call them hitmen.  You could also call Einstein a math whiz.  Think ruthless.  Think unstoppable.  Think killers so proficient ‘caught the ferry’ was fast replacing ‘bought the farm’ in common usage, and you have the Ferrymen in a nutshell.”

The transplant surgery goes off without a hitch—welcome news, because A.J. is raring for a rematch with Hell’s Boatmen.  But contrary to popular belief, what you see isn’t always what you get.  Take her new eyes, for example.  Those baby blues may look perfectly normal, but they possess a power that turns her world upside down—the power to see into the hidden dimensions of the human heart.
When the Sight unmasks the mastermind behind the Ferrymen, the unveiling is as stunning as it is unbelievable. The revelation sets her on course for a second head-collision with evil.  Will she survive the final encounter?

Kathy DiSanto writes speculative fiction, specifically, science fiction with a paranormal twist.  Her near-future thriller, Amanda’s Eyes, is currently available for download through Amazon.  She will self-publish a straight sci-fi novel, Why Live?, this December.  Mind Games, the second book in the A.J. Gregson series, is already in the works.  Find out more about Kathy by visiting her website.