Greetings from the NaNo Trenches

I really shouldn't be blogging today, but I've made a few discoveries during my first few days of NaNoWriMo that I wanted to share with you.

1. First drafts are not good.

You probably all realize this, but it's been a while since I've written more than a few chapters of a first draft (and those few chapters I've edited to death so they aren't as stinky as a real first draft).

2. This first draft (though terrible) is better than my previous first drafts.

I've actually learned some things in the last year. YAY! I'm using more active verbs and fewer dialogue tags, the dialogue is better, and even the voice feels stronger and fresher.

3. It hasn't been that hard to meet my writing goals everyday.

Granted we're only on the third day (and I'm only writing on weekdays--2500 words a day--so it's technically only day 2 for me) but I'm starting to think that my "I don't have enough time to write" complaint doesn't hold much water. I may not have enough time to blog, read blogs, AND write everyday, but I definitely have time to write ten pages and read a few blogs (and mow the lawn, do laundry, feed and clothe my children, run to the library, wash dishes, clean the kitchen, and read 80 pages of Scott Westerfeld's LEVIATHAN--which is so good by the way). I don't know where all this time was before, but I'm glad it showed up for November.

It's been an interesting couple of days. I just hope I can keep this pace up throughout the month.

Have you discovered anything interesting about your writing lately?

NaNo Progress: 5112 words

TTFN and Happy Halloween!

I just wanted to let you know that I will be taking a blogging break during the month of November so I can focus on writing during National Novel Writing Month! I think I'll still post once a week (maybe Fridays?), and I'll try to catch up on a few of your blogs once a week too, but mostly I'll be absent from the blogging world. (I imagine many of you will be too.) I will miss you, but I'm really excited to be immersed in writing again!

So, until next week. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

"This is so humiliating," thinks the dog.

Oh and I'd love it if any of you doing NaNo would leave your usernames in the comments so I can add you as friends. My username is NBB. GOOD LUCK!

Things I Learned From My Kids: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Did you know it was Benjamin Franklin who coined that phrase? He was a smart man.

Thank you Google.

So let me ask, what do you get when you mix an unsupervised 2-year-old with a tub of blueberry yogurt?

The answer:

It happened this morning and the picture shows only a small portion of the carnage. There were probably 20 dollops about that size covering our living room floor. And do you know what makes it so much worse? We JUST had the carpets cleaned (less than two weeks ago)!

Two hours of scrubbing and a half gallon of carpet cleaner later the floor is still covered in purple spots. I hate yogurt.

Yeah. This is the reason that I don't blog or write while my two-year-old is awake. He must be watched at all times or something like this happens. While he was painting carpet with yogurt I was reading blogs, so this was TOTALLY my fault-- bad mommy!

This last week I've been gearing up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). You all know about it now--right? Right. I've had all this prep time so I've done a few things I've never tried before-- outlining and character sketching.

I'm liking it.

It's quite a bit more preparation than I usually do, (because usually I don't prepare at all, I just jump into writing) but I'm hoping it will save me some time in the revision process, because usually I go into a project with no idea how the story will end, and end up rewriting a hundred times until I get something I'm happy with.

I haven't written anything on this manuscript yet (November 1st here I come!), so my outline may not be all that useful when it comes right down to it, but I am cautiously optimistic.

Have any of you ever tried to use an outline? (I know some of you use one on every project!) Do you think it makes the writing process easier? Do you stick with it or just use it as a general guide?

Things I Learned From My Kids: How to Build

We had some interesting responses yesterday. I asked that question

(What are you doing to make your story salable?) and then realized I have no idea how I would answer it! There are a few practical answers like I don't write 300,000 word manuscripts, and I don't use adverbs with reckless abandon. But mostly I think I, like you, just try to write a story I love and hope that other people will like it too.

Anyway, thanks for your responses--you are smart people.

Now for today...

Every so often my whole family plays blocks on Sunday afternoons.

When we first got our blocks and started building stuff together I often wanted to make something functional (like a house for my girls' dolls or a stable for their horses), but functionality was not my girls' main concern. They wanted to make tall, beautiful towers and didn't care if their creation was useful.

When I write I often fight a tendency to just tell the story and be done (This is probably why my manuscripts tend to be short). Sometimes I don't pause to flesh out the characters or let my main characters have fun together. My beta reader Marie was wonderful about pointing out places where she wanted to see more interaction between my main characters.

I am learning that building a story is more than just getting it told. It's the little moments that make books worth reading. And, like building with blocks, sometimes I need to enjoy the towers and not focus so much on making something practical.

Does that make sense? I just made Halloween cookies with ten 8-year-old girls and my brain is a little fried.

Do you struggle to include the little stuff that makes stories great? Or do you have to cut because you have too much little stuff?

Things I Learned From My Kids: Life Isn't Fair

This one is really more what I teach my kids, but it kind of goes with the theme. So here goes...

Last night my daughter threw a MAJOR tantrum. She's 5--way too old for tantrums. She was mad because my husband picked a book for bedtime reading that she didn't like, so she slammed the door and told him she wouldn't read it. Then he told her if she was going to throw a tantrum she wouldn't get ANY books. This (of course) caused her to scream, "IT'S NOT FAIR. IT'S NOT FAIR" for ten minutes.

When I finished putting the baby to bed and my husband finished reading stories to our happy 4-year-old we went in to address the tantrum.

"Mom, it's not fair that Daddy wouldn't read me a book," she said.

"Things aren't always fair," I told her. "You made the choice to get upset and slam the door, and Daddy decided you shouldn't get a story since you threw a tantrum."

She screwed up her little face and pouted, but she didn't argue anymore. We completed the rest of her bedtime routine and she went to bed.

I don't know what point in life kids decide that things should be fair. It's certainly not something we teach our children. Life is NOT fair. It is wonderful and horrible, happy and sad, glorious and miserable, but it isn't fair.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but publishing isn't fair either. Is there a brilliant author out there who writes prose that could make angels weep, who can't manage to get an agent, much less a publisher? Yeah, if fact, there are probably hundreds. Are there people who can barely string sentences together who get book deals? Definitely (ahem, think of all the celebrity tell-alls).

Blogger/Author Jody Hedlund asked the question yesterday "Does Today's Writer Need to be Perfect to Get Published?" and the answer, of course, is NO! Would it be more fair if only the "best" writers--the ones with flawless, beautiful prose and complete command of the English language were the ones to get published? Yeah, I think that would be fair, but that's not how publishing works. The books that get published are the books that publishers believe people will buy.

Publishing isn't fair. If we want to be published writers we need fantastic, salable stories (and even then there are no guarantees).

So I'll ask you these questions: What are you doing to make your story salable (not necessarily perfect)?

Things I Learned From My Kids: How To Wait

Last week was so fun for me. I enjoyed getting to know you all a little better. I think I've made more friends with this blog in the last month an a half than I've made in person in the last 10 years. So thanks everyone. It's nice to know you.

Now let me tell you a little story. On Saturday I decided to take my two youngest children to a swine flu vaccination clinic in my city (the clinic was only for children 6 months to 4 years so my 5- year-old didn't qualify). So, because I am a very conscientious parent, I decided we would go an hour early just so we could get a good place in line and definitely get the vaccine. I also talked my two sister-in-laws into bringing their children and coming with me.

We arrived at the very large empty shopping complex where the health department was administering the vaccines and stood in line with several thousand other early people at 9:00 AM. My children got vaccinated at 1:30 PM. All the time in between we spent freezing our little patoots off waiting in the parking lot (and trying to keep our 5 children under 4 from being hit by cars). It was an excruciating wait. 4+ hours is an eternity for kids that little--they were hungry, thirsty, cold, they needed to use the potty, they wanted to play in the street, they fought with each other--it was MISERABLE.

My writing group girls and I have recently been discussing how difficult it is to WAIT during every portion of our journey to publication.

Write Book--Wait. Revise. Send to beta readers--Wait. Revise. Send to agents--WAIT. Get an agent-- CELEBRATE! Revise. Agent sends to editors--WAIT. Get offer--CELEBRATE! Wait for editor revisions. Revise. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. Book comes out! Do it all over again.

Publishing is not a business for impatient people. There is no instant gratification. Everything takes a long time--kind of like the line for swine flu vaccines.

When we got home from the clinic I said to my 4-year-old. "It's been a really hard morning, huh?" She looked at me funny so I tried again. "Wasn't it terrible standing in line all morning?"

She replied, "No mom. I got to play with my cousins."

I learned two things on Saturday. 1. No wait could ever be as bad as four-and-a-half hours in a freezing cold parking lot with 5 tiny children. And 2. If we keep ourselves busy with other fun things the painfully slow publishing business won't seem quite so painfully slow.

So I'll ask you: Are you doing something while you wait? Are you writing that next book? Are you staying busy with other things in life?

Getting to Know You: Who is your biggest fan?

I'm excited about this one. I am a firm believer that every artist needs a fan. I am very blessed to have many people who support and encourage me in my writing endeavors. I come from a huge family (I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters) and all of them read multiple drafts of my novel and offered tons of praise and very little criticism (this is why I needed my critique group.) But my #1 fan is definitely my husband.

This is him and me--both looking very crazy--we might have overdosed on chocolate.

My hubby is always there for me. If I need extra time to write he takes the kids outside to play. If the house is a disaster when he comes home from work (which it is at least half the time) he never says a word, and often helps with dishes and laundry in the evenings even though he's spent all day at the office. He's read my manuscript almost as many times as I have, offering a few suggestions every now and then, but mostly just telling me how brilliant I am (I try to remind myself that he's biased). He was more excited than I was when I called to tell him that Sara had offered representation. He believes in me, and his encouragement buoys me up as I pursue this dream.

Hopefully we all have people who believe in us. Who is your biggest fan?