The Final Countdown

It’s the final countdown, and I’m not talking about Europe or their hit single.

Don’t tell me you don’t have that song stuck in your head now.

Yes I know it's a catchy tune. You’re welcome.

No, I mean there’s only a week left until the beginning of National Novel Writing Month and I must admit I’m beginning to get a little uneasy.

NaNoWriMo must be daunting task for someone who knows what they’re doing, let alone for someone who is having a hard time wrapping their brain around their chosen NaNo project.

With only seven days remaining to prepare, I’ve got a lot yet to do. But if I work everything out right, seven days should be just right.

So I've put together a list of seven things I need to do yet before the beginning of National Novel Writing Month.

The Next Big Thing

If you haven’t already heard the news, I’m excited to announce here that I’ve finished my novel!

The first draft of Silent Destruction weighs in at just over 57,000 words, but trust me when I say it’s going to take a rewrite (or two or three) before this one is really finished. 

But I’m going to live in this moment for a little while at least! …Until tomorrow when I have to start thinking about my NaNo novel in earnest.

On that note, I was tagged recently by Felicia Tatum over at Lost in a Sea of Words for The Next Big Thing blog hop – and she couldn’t have had better timing.

Thanks for this girl!

My NaNoWriMo To-Do List

Today is 10-11-12. What’s that mean? I don’t know, but I think it’s cool to note anyways. I’ve always thought it fun to look at the numerical patterns found on our calendar.

Today also marks twenty days to the start of National Novel Writing Month. If I thought my life was crazy for June Novel Writing Month then it’s going to be absolutely insane for NaNoWriMo!

Twenty days. Just twenty days. Only twenty days left. Yikes!

Am I feeling the pressure? Yeah, a little bit. Mostly because I’m a behind on planning; I had hoped to be better prepared for the November challenge than I am at this point.

On my NaNoWriMo to-do list yet is:

It’s NaNePaWe!

Blogger was supposed to publish this post on Monday - sorry for not catching it sooner!

Hey gang! A quick update this week just to point out that October 7-13, 2012 is National Newspaper Week. That’s right, seven days worth of celebrating my profession.

Did anyone remember the cake?

While there’s no doubt that newspapers are the cornerstone of a community, I also know they can provide an unending supply inspiration for novelists.

Just grab your local newspaper and glance through its pages real quick.

Read the feature stories for plot and character ideas. Look closely at the quotes from real-life people to get a better understanding of how real dialogue sounds. Study the advertisements to understand how consumers (people, characters) think. Need to know a bit more about how government works for that conspiracy novel you’re working on? Look to the public notices.

And the ways you can harvest newspapers for your fiction writing goes on and on.

Happy National Newspaper Week!

Just a reminder: I am opening my blog to guest posting in October and November - drop me a line!

Writer’s Momentum

It’s almost here. NaNoWriMo.

A year ago I had no idea what that even was, but now I’m counting down the days until November with an eager anticipation.

One would think that since I’ve known I was going to participate in this fifty thousand-word mad-dash a year ago that I’d be well-prepared. But then, it would be obvious that the one doing the thinking along those lines wouldn’t know me very well.

Actually, knowing myself the way I do, I’m kind of surprised how calmly I’m approaching the guillotine-err… I mean starting line.

At least, I’m not panic-stricken – yet.