NaNoWriMo - What I Know So Far

We are now more than halfway through NaNoWriMo. Am I up to where I'm supposed to be word countwise? Um, not even close. I may catch up, but I may not. But, I've already learned some things through this process that should help me if I ever choose to do it again.

1. I'm not good at not revising while I write.
It's the editor in me. I want to go back and polish write away. But, in this situation, I know I need to just keep writing (I won't discuss how many times I get "just keep writing, just keep writing, just keep writing" in my head. Thanks Finding Nemo.) I can go back later and polish. This month is just concentrating and getting a word count done.

2. Know your characters!
Usually, I write by the seat of my pants. I got used to it as a reporter because typically you don't have time to make a detailed plan before you write an article - you just write. With this, though, I did have some notes and ideas (although I still don't have an end). But, I didn't really think about my character's motives, thoughts, feelings before I started writing. This has made dialog tough, and it's made coming up with their names even tougher (as of today, most of the character's are just referred to by their relationship to the main character).

3. Don't force writing.
Part of the reason I don't have my word count is that I haven't made myself write every day. I only write when I'm inspired to because if I force myself, it doesn't come out right.

4. Find inspiration, ideas everywhere and anywhere.
Keep your eyes open when you're out and about. You may get some weird idea for a scene -- or even a character. For example, as ridiculous as she was, I owe a very, very drunk girl at the Iowa Wild game a big thanks. Her antics have given me more than 2,000 words for one scene that I didn't know would be in the book but made a great comedic relief scene.

5. Any words are good words.
I may not be happy with what they actually are, but at least I'm writing. I honestly have never written this many words or stuck with a project for this long. So, that makes me really proud and happy. This book may never see the light of day, no one else may read it, and I may never go back through and revise, but it's there. I'll have finished it and written a book. And that's a huge accomplishment in itself.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? - Two Weeks Worth of Books

I really meant to post last Monday since I was home sick, but when my migraine got so bad I couldn't even talk - I decided I shouldn't try to write a post. So, this week you get two weeks worth of books. 

School

Allegiant by Veronica Roth - Full disclosure: I really can't remember the finer details of the first two books in this series. I am going to have to go back and review them. However, in this one, you do find out more about how the factions started and why they started - as well as what's going on beyond the boundaries. I'm about halfway through, and I don't want to give much away. I'm wondering what the ending will be because I know Roth got death threats (not kidding) about it. And that kinda disgusts me. Things aren't always going to end like you want them to - but that gives you no right to threaten someone else's life. I probably won't book talk this one when I'm finished because I rarely do that with books that aren't the first in the series. But, it should be on the shelf by the end of the week.

Home

I focused on Me Before You at home last week (see blurb below). So, I still haven't touched The Bone Season in a few weeks. I'm not starting another one at home, though, so I will go back to it this week. And honestly, the only reason I started Me Before You was because I was too lazy to go downstairs to grab it and wanted a book to read before I went to sleep.

Finished

Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien: Like I said earlier, I wanted to reread this because the first time I read it, I didn't have the time to really pay attention to it like it deserves. I am glad I did reread it, but I still have some issues with Tolkien. He is an excellent writer and does an amazing job of creating worlds. But, I just don't like his writing style. It gets too bogged down with all that creating. But, this is still a great story. It will be a little bit before I tackle Two Towers though. There's a lot of walking in that one - although my retelling of it is hilarious.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray - This book cracked me up. Cameron has to go on a journey to save the world while he is dying from mad cow disease. It is a trippy book (a goth punk fairy who has pink hair and combat boots is all you need to know that it is trippy) but it is funny and entertaining. I'll do a book talk on this one next week.

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes - This was not a light read at all. Louisa Clark is 26 and still lives at home and has no real career for the future. She takes a job as a caretaker for a quadriplegic - Will - but soon realizes that her job means more to his parents than her just making sure he has someone to talk to. Will has made a very serious decision about his life, and they want Louisa to try to change his mind. This doesn't end like you expect it, and it made me tear up. But, this was probably one of the best books I read this year. 

Chupacabra by Roland Smith - This series is still good. There's one more left in it, so it will be interesting to see how he concludes it. I won't tell more about it from my last post because I don't want to give anything away. But, if you like Roland Smith, you'll still like this.

Tried - and dropped

King Dork - I read this for one 10-minute read in Strategic Reading. I couldn't get into it, and I kinda wanted to poke my eyes out while I was reading it. There's too many other books out there I want to read, so it went back on the shelf. I probably won't book talk this one because I wouldn't be able to say many nice things about it.

Up Next

At school - The Raft by SA Bodeen (she wrote The Compound)

At home - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt