It's Time to Write!

It's November and that means that NaNoWriMo is here again! Have you signed up? Or do you hate it? There are so many differing opinions when it comes to writing until your fingers bleed on the keyboard each day!

Personally, I love NaNoWriMo. It gets the story I've been thinking about for months out of my brain and onto the page. I love the community and the pep talks from amazing authors. Don't get me wrong, November is an insanely busy month for me, but I manage to write that first, horrible draft every time.

This year, the amazing Kristina Van Hoose has posted a fabulous gathering of all the information you'd ever need to prepare for NaNoWriMo, or really any writing endeavor. Check it out here.

And in case you need more tips and tricks to pour over, here are a few things I do to survive NaNoWriMo:

I'm a minimalist when it comes to plotting and planning. I like to have a solid beginning, flexible middle, and possible end. As long as I have a general idea of what's going to happen, I let my characters do whatever they want. It is NaNoWriMo after all.

Once my very changeable plot is in place, I plan day to day. At the end of the day when I've written all the words my brain can stand to write, I write a little more. By adding a quick sentence or two, I plot the next day's writing. It might just be a scene or an entire chapter. As long as I have an idea of what I'm supposed to write, the writing usually gets done without major pauses or head smacking desk incidents. ;)

I also plan when I'm going to write each day. I steal time anywhere I can! If I'm waiting in the kid's pick-up line at school, I write a paragraph or two. If I have a break during lunch, I write a page or two. Most of my writing happens in the evening after the kids go to bed.

I like to prepare my family for NaNoWriMo too. I usually begin the conversation before Halloween just so everyone knows mommy will be checking out after bed time. Getting family and friends on board with my writing schedule is important! And I get to give them updates on my word count so they can cheer me on!

So if you haven't joined the madness, come on! Get that novel done! Even if you don't hit the 50K mark, you'll still have more words than 0 at the end of November!

Have a great tip? Please share! We love hearing from you!

Words, Glorious Words

There are bunches of reasons why I decided to start writing, but I today I’m going to stick with just one: WORDS. I love ‘em. 

When I hear something funny, a beautiful description, or a phrase that skillfully encapsulates a feeling, I’m smitten by both the content and by the arrangement of words themselves.

There’s so many ways to say a thing! When you’re trying to perfectly capture a specific sight, sound, or emotion, the vast options of words, and the millions of ways you can arrange them, can be exciting. It can also be a bit paralyzing at times, though.

It’s like dumping out all the pieces of a hundred different puzzles onto a table, and then trying to fit together a single matching row.

When I’m stuck and can’t for the life of me land on the right word, one of the first things I do is look over my words list. Yup, that’s right. I collect words. J  The words come from all over—people speaking IRL, T.V. shows, books—and the words I keep can stand alone or be an entire sentence. 

Of course, I don’t use other people’s constructions in my work, but sometimes I need inspiration that only a fantastic sentence can provide.

I keep a list on my phone that’s simply titled Word List. (Super Original, I know.) Here’s a few things I’ve put aside for future consideration:

Blight

Hoist

A devil’s expression

Trying out the shape of his mouth on my lips

The list goes on and on, and my friends have grown used to me saying “Ooh, that was good. It’s definitely going on the list."

So tell me, do you have any word fetishes, like maybe you sleep with a thesaurus under your pillow? Or…um, something. ;D  

Author Interview: Michelle Smith

Visit author Michelle Smith's website.

We are so thrilled and honored to feature writer, critique group member, mental health advocate, and all-around awesome human,  Michelle Smith.  

Michelle’s debut novel YA novel, PLAY ON, is now available as an e-book and will be out in print on April 21^st. 

First, an intro to PLAY ON: 

PLAY ON

In the small town of Lewis Creek, baseball is everything. Especially for all-star pitcher Austin Braxton, who has a one-way ticket out of town with his scholarship to a top university. All that stands between him and a new start is one final season. But when Austin starts flunking Chemistry, his picture-perfect future is in jeopardy. A failing grade means zero playing time, and zero playing time means no scholarship.

Enter Marisa Marlowe, the new girl in town who gets a job at his momma’s flower shop. Not only is Marisa some home-schooled super-genius, she’s also a baseball fanatic and more than willing to help Austin study. As the two grow closer, there’s something about Marisa that makes Austin want more than just baseball and out of Lewis Creek–he wants a future with her. But Marisa has a past that still haunts her, one that she ran all the way to South Carolina to escape.

As Austin starts to peel back the layers of Marisa s pain, it forces him to look beyond the facade of himself and everyone he thought he knew in his town. What he sees instead is that in a small town like Lewis Creek, maybe baseball isn’t everything–maybe it is just the thing that ties them all together.

Purchase PLAY ON: Amazon  Barnes & Noble  Book Depository IndieBound 

RW: We have so many questions for you! But, we also know you are crazy busy with your release day (!!!) so we’ll try to keep it together. Let’s talk about your debut! You’ve mentioned PLAY ON is the book of your heart. Could you share what makes this story so dear to you?

MS: I think because it comes from such a personal place. It probably sounds cheesy, but so much of my heart and soul went into those pages. There are thoughts that I never thought I should share—thoughts that I didn’t know I could share. The idea for this book was in the works for a long time, until I finally worked up the nerve to start writing it. And I’m really glad I did! 

RW: I think many writers feel a sense of vulnerability putting their words out into the world. Not only have you jumped that hurdle, you’ve gone a leap further and opened up about yourself, authoring posts for outstanding sites like To Write Love on Her Arms and, don’t bleed. breathe. Can you tell us about the decision to share your personal experiences? 

MS: The primary reason is so others will realize that they’re not alone. 

When I was going through the thick of depression, I was convinced that no one could possibly understand what my head was doing. That I was broken, that I was scarred, that I was beyond reaching. That there was no possibility for this to go anywhere but down. Depression is a very convincing liar, and it’s easy to believe those lies. So I want others to know that, while depression is so very dark and painful, there is hope, and the darkness doesn’t last forever. 

RW: As critique partner, we’re all constantly amazed by your voice.  Your characters always ring true, so vivid and memorable. Can you share a little about your character development process? Character sketches? Channeling spirits? How do you do it?! 

MS: Good gracious, I adore you guys.

I just…write people? Haha! My stories are always characters first, and I love to dive into their heads, to feel what they’re feeling, to say what they’re thinking. I will say that some characters are a little more difficult to connect with at first. In my most recent WIP, I was called out for boxing myself and my characters in, which was completely justified (I kind of realized I was doing it while writing). So my editor sent me a character development worksheet that was 8 pages long (I am not even kidding), and I just went to work. I was able to dig into them a little deeper, and it helped immensely. 

RW: We’ve got a great thing going here at RW: a blogging platform with a built-in critique group (often times support group!). But joining a critique group can be a daunting endeavor. Can you share what made you decide to reach out to the writing community?

MS: My first experience ever working with a beta reader was back in my fan fiction days. She nitpicked my grammar, let me know when my characters were being waaaaay too unrealistic, and told me when I could do so much more with a story when I tried to play it safe.

I loved her for it. And five years later, she’s still one of my closest friends. She’s also the one who talked me into writing my first book.

Critique makes you a better writer—it’s really that simple. Yes, critique can be difficult to handle in the beginning, especially if you have paper-thin skin, but it’s a necessity. Sometimes we nail a scene. Sometimes our chapters need work. And sometimes our entire book need a re-write. As writers, we often get too close to a story, and we’re unable to see the things that just aren’t working. Outside eyes help. 

All that said, it is important to find a critique group that matches your style—some readers are brutally honest, and some are more gentle guiders. The one necessity is that you find a group that’s honest. We absolutely need cheerleaders; we also need people who’ll give it to us straight, and won’t let us get away with anything less than our best.

Needless to say, I’m so happy I found you guys. 

RW: Can you share any deets about upcoming projects?

MS: Very, very little deets at this time. But I will say that we haven’t seen the last of Lewis Creek and its baseball boys. ;)

RW: More from Lewis Creek? YES! Okay, final question—and this is incredibly important—what is it that makes Dean Winchester so damn compelling?  *pause for moment of reflective sighing*

MS: *cracks knuckles* Now you’re speaking my language.

We have pie.

We have the Impala.

We have his love for Sam…

And Castiel.

We have the heartbreaking moments.

And we have general badassery. 

All that to say:

RW: You’re the best Michelle!!! 

MS: YOU are. 

About Michelle:

Michelle Smith was born and raised in North Carolina, where she developed a healthy appreciation for college football, sweet tea, front porches, and a well-placed “y’all.” She’s a lover of all things happy, laughs way too much, and fully believes that a little bit of kindness goes a long way.
Michelle lives near the Carolina coast with her family.

Connect with Michelle:   Website | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr

Group Hug

If you've been following my posts, you already know that I quit querying my last project so I could focus on my WIP. A few weeks ago, something prompted me to send out a few more queries. I was pleasantly surprised when I received a full request. It's been a great few weeks of 'What Ifs' and 'Maybes', but alas, this morning I received a polite pass.

I had a blog I began a few days ago that I was supposed to post today. But after receiving the 'we didn't feel strongly enough about your project to take it on at this time' message, I kind of cracked. I don't know, I could blame hormones or 'Tis the Season. Regardless, I immediately posted my Woe is Me Message to my fellow RWers. Even during this crazy busy time of the year, they immediately responded with words of encouragement and support. I seriously wished I could reach through the screen and give each of them a giant hug.

So, instead of blogging about writing today, I instead decided to thank my AMAZING critique groups the Revision Warriors and the OWLS (Osceola County SCBWI). I LOVE you guys so much. Thank you for believing in me and for inspiring me each and every day.

If you are not a part of a critique group, I strongly recommend you join one. If you write children's books and are a part of SCBWI, contact your local branch for information on a critique group within your area. You won't regret it.

photo credit: JeremyHall via photopin cc

Winning NaNo (even when you fail)

For the first time in many years, I participated in NaNoWriMo, and in doing so I learned a little something. 

Let me start by saying that I had stayed away from NaNo in years past because every time I tried to reach my 50K word goal, I failed. And even though I knew that 50K in a month was a giant task, (and one year my town lost power for eleven days after a major Halloween snowstorm) it stung to not meet the goals I had set for myself, especially when so many others seemed to cruise right through to the end. 

I didn’t just fail. I felt like a failure.

 

Even though I didn’t really think about it in these terms, feeling like a failure is what kept me from trying NaNo again. And thus, I broke up with NaNo in a very it’s not you, it’s me fashion.

Fast forward a few years to NaNo 2014. I’m about 20K into a new WIP that I’m pretty excited about, and I decide that I want to give NaNo another try. Maybe it would be just the thing I needed to finish that all important first draft so I could start fresh with revisions in 2015. 

Of course, the first thing I do is tell my CPs. Apparently, the stars were aligned just right that day as I found out that all of us intended to participate this year. Yippee!! We all vowed to support and cheer for each other. We talked about our goals and how we planned on accomplishing them. This had me super excited and shot my motivation bar up to 11. 

Next, I made a plan.  I knew myself much better than I did during NaNo’s past, and so I came up with a plan that would give me the best possible chance to win. Monday through Friday, I was going to go to bed at 7:00 pm and wake up at 4:00 am every morning. That would give me two hours to write before I had to get ready for The Day Job. 

It was going to be AWESOME.

And awesome it was. For a time. However, November is a notoriously busy month for my family. As November flew by, I fell behind.  And behind. Aaaaand behind. That old familiar feeling crept it’s way into my consciousness. Despite my best efforts, I’m failing. Then, I’m a failure.

However, this year, a bigger part of my brain squashed that train of thinking immediately. Maybe I won’t write 50K new words, but I HAD written new words. Quite a few of them actually, and I was damn proud of those words. I also realized that not meeting a goal in a certain time frame was NOT synonymous with failure. It’s not even close. NaNo (as well as most other things) is not about winning or losing, or judging your achievement by another person’s progress. 

When I used a different perspective to consider what I had accomplished -- I  wrote way more in November than I had any other month in 2014 – then in reality, I kicked NaNo’s a$$. I was a word producing machine! My NaNo 2014 was a major success. 50K or not, I could feel good about what I'd done and look forward to doing it again next year. 

Thinking this way is motivating instead of discouraging and demoralizing. If you don’t try, you can never succeed, so never beat yourself up for trying. 

So, I guess the point to my story is this – be proud of what you’ve done, not what you haven’t yet accomplished. Give yourself credit for trying. Learn from your experiences and, in the end, do the best you can and allow yourself to feel good about it. 

 

 

Perfect Pastimes: Books and Baseball

No game in the world is as tidy and dramatically neat as baseball, with cause and effect, crime and punishment, motive and result, so cleanly defined.  ~Paul Gallico, sportswriter and novelist (The Poseidon Adventure)  

 

As summer officially begins and ballplayers of all ages run onto the field, I wanted to tip my cap to two of my favorite pastimes: books and baseball.  Believe me, I'm hardly the only baseball nut here at Revision Warriors. And that’s no surprise, because really, books and baseball have a lot in common. Stick with me...

Escape

You walk in the stadium, find your seats, and POOF. That’s it. The outside world disappears as the home team runs onto the field.  

 

My baseball watching buddies.

That’s how it feels for me. Like cracking open a new book. Every game presents a new cast of characters, favorite heroes and villains. Pitching duals, rivalries, batting orders are subplots. Every inning is a new chapter.  

"The game's isn't over until it's over." Yogi Berra    

Plot Twists & Colorful Characters

  

Strategy makes for plot twists; a well-timed change-up, a bunt, a sacrifice fly— every action a potential game changer.  The story could climax with a three-run homer, or sending in that closing pitcher that hitters fear more than the boogie man.  Like when the Yankees would call in this guy, who they called The Sandman...

‘The Closer’ by Mariano Rivera and Wayne Coffey (Little, Brown)

Or say the game is a snoozer. Seven innings of watching your zombified home team getting blasted by a team with a killer lineup. But this is baseball...   

"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the god***n plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all." Earl Weaver

Language

And vocabulary? I’d wager baseball has the finest collection of JARGON on Earth.  

Baltimore chop Fungo Chin music Balk Screwball Dugout Beanball 

These words are just fun. Period. 

Reading books or watching baseball can make me feel like a kid again. Both are experiences that are fun to share. I relived the joy of “The Monster at the End of this Book” with my daughter, and I’ll probably re-read “Charlotte’s Web” when she’s a little older. These stories are a constant— just like watching a ball game. 

It’s always there.  

Any other similarities I'm missing? Chime in below! :)