Favorite Writing Moments, and the end of JuNoWriMo

Happy first day of July, friends! With the beginning of July comes the end of June, and that means the end of JuNoWriMo. I'm going to admit to slacking just a bit for the last week-- a few days, I only got up to 1,000 words a day. But at least I was getting them in! I got in nearly 50,000 words in the past month, and I'm more than 3/4 of the way through my story. And it ain't over yet! I'm still going to aim for 2,000 words a day until I finish the book, hopefully in the next two weeks.

Today, to celebrate the awesomeness of everyone who sits their butt down at a computer/notebook and writes books (that's you, friends!), I'm sharing a few of my favorite moments in my writing. You're welcome to join in. I'm not talking about things like getting full requests or meeting awesome authors/agents, I'm talking about favorite moments while you were actually writing.

My absolute favorite memory, and one that will probably remain so for a long time, was finishing my first novel. It was pretty crappy, but of course I didn't know that at the time. I was a sophomore in college, and had dragged my laptop to the empty front room for a final push to the end. As I typed, my roommates came home. With them came friends, and an impromptu party began right in front of me. I barely noticed. For the next hour, I kept writing until it came. The end. I even typed the words. Full of the emotional ending of the book and the euphoria of having finished it, I threw my hands in the air and shouted, "Yes!" I don't think anyone even noticed, but in celebration, I put my computer away and joined the party.

So, my friends, it's your turn. What are your favorite moments from your writing?

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JuNoWriMo Lessons: The Joys of Mid-WIP Discovery

I've kind of eased up a bit on JuNoWriMo this week. I've still hit my goals every day but one, but I haven't been quite so nazi about it. It's funny how it gets done all the same-- and this way, I'm a little more relaxed about it so it doesn't wear me out so fast! I'm coming up on 50,000 words, which means I'm about three-quarters finished.

Something interesting happened as I wrote this week. First, you should understand that on the Pantser-Plotter Scale, I have gradually slid from complete Pantser to over-the-halfway-mark-to-Plotter. I plotted TUGL more extensively than anything I've ever done. BUT. I don't think I could ever plot out each individual scene, like some people can. I actually tried, but when I start writing, the story takes on a bit of a life of its own and veers away from some of that plotting.

And while I fully advocate as much planning as you can manage (and maybe even more than you think you can), that pantser part of me is a wonderful thing. As I wrote one scene, I was surprised to discover a new "thing" in the middle of my scene. It led to creating a whole new scene, one that enhanced the world, deepened my character, furthered the plot, and (crazily enough) gave me an idea of a sequel.

AND THEN. Several scenes later, I had a moment where something terrible had to happen. I hadn't known exactly what that something terrible would be, but as I wrote the scene, it just flew out my fingers. I WOULD DESTROY THIS NEW THING. It would be emotionally traumatic for just about everyone in my story. In fact, I was so horrified with myself, I actually had to stop writing and convince myself that yes, this thing must be destroyed. As horrible as it is, that scene was so poignant and painful that I actually got choked up writing about it.

It was a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself. And it all came because of being willing to discover new things in the midst of all my planning. I've got to say, being a pantser-plotter hybrid is the best thing I've ever done for my writing.

So, my friends, what have you discovered in the middle of your stories that you never saw coming? Are you a total pantser, total plotter, or somewhere on that sliding scale in the middle?

P.S. I've added some new pages off to the right. There is now an index of my most popular/helpful writing posts, as well as an index of all the books I've reviewed! Feel free to check them out.

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JuNoWriMo Lessons: Don't Let the Goal Get in the Way of the Writing

This week, I hit the halfway point. Yay! But I always have a lot fewer of my scenes actually mulling around in my head for the second half of the book, which makes it harder. Yesterday, I got to a scene that I had no idea what to do with. I forced out some words, intent on reaching my wordcount goals.

It was a disaster.

The scene came to a standstill. It just wasn't working, and I could feel that. I knew what it really needed-- time for me to think about it. But I didn't have time! I only get so much writing time a day, and I had to get those words out, darnit!

I got incredibly frustrated and knew I wouldn't be able to write anymore until I thought through the scene. And I remembered something important.

This isn't about the wordcount.

Yes, my goal is 2,000 words a day, but the goal is just a means to an end. My PURPOSE in making this goal is to challenge myself to write more so I can get a better, faster first draft turned out. And by forcing myself to pound out words that weren't working, I wasn't reaching the purpose of my goal. I was letting the goal dictate, and it got in the way of the story.

I'm glad I realized it in time, because after some thought, I came up with a better way to write this scene that actually requires some minor changes BEFORE this point. It will enhance the conflict, and make the story better. And that's the point.

So, my friends, how are your goals going? What frustrates you when you write? How do you solve those frustrations?

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JuNoWriMo Lessons: You CAN Keep Writing When You Think You Can't

So the first week of JuNoWriMo is a success! I got just over 2,000 words every single day, and TUGL is now sitting pretty at 16,000 words. Honestly, I'd forgotten how much I love first drafting and the joy of discovering new directions and details. It's so much FUN!

And, well, so much work, too. I plotted the novel ahead of time, but I didn't plan each and every scene (that's just not how I work!). So sometimes, I knew I hae to get from point A to point B, but wasn't sure how to get there in an exciting, character-revealing way. I'd be ready to throw in the towel for the night-- but then I'd check and realize I still had 800 words to write for that day's goal. I learned something quite important this week: Even when you think you can't write another word, you'd be surprised to find you can still squeeze out another 800. It was incredibly helpful to force myself a little bit in those tough sections. It actually pushed my creativity a little farther than it's used to going, and I discovered I can do more than I thought.

2,000 words a day takes me between 2 and 3 hours. It's sometimes tough to find the time-- in fact, on the first day of June, I got an enormous work project due the next day (I work from home), and had to spend 4 precious hours doing that. But with the help of the ever-supportive Hubby, I still got my writing in. It's been a challenge, but so far, it's a challenge I'm loving! And it's teaching me that I CAN keep going, even when I think I'm ready to stop (or don't even have the time to start).

So, my friends, what writing goals did you reach this week? What lessons did you learn? What are your goals for next week?

P.S. Check out my new pic on the sidebar-- I chopped my hair off! 10 inches gone and donated, and I love the new cut. :)

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How to Write Fascinating Characters by Making them Contradictory (AND it's JuNoWriMo!)

It's here, my friends-- JuNoWriMo! Pick a writing goal, any writing goal, and join the party! I may not be as active in the blogging world this month as I try to bang out my personal goal of 2,000 words a day, but I'll still be around.

Let's talk about something to get the JuNo writing gears flowing. Characterization is a big focus for writers, as it should be. We often talk about how to make them likeable, and relatable, and complex, but today I want to talk about making them fascinating.

You see, my favorite characters were the ones that were larger than life. They have huge imaginations like Anne Shirley, or brilliant, tortured minds like Ender Wiggin. Those characters stick with me because they stand out in a crowd. One way I learned to do this is quite simple: give your characters contradictory traits.

In Brandon Sanderson's writing class of pure awesome, we did an exercise with characters. We started by picking a gender and age of a character who might be walking down the street in our story. Then he had us yell out a profession they might have-- and picked the most contradictory one. For example, we had an 80-year-old woman who was an assassin. Then we picked another character trait that was opposite the profession. Our 80-year-old assassin was a champion knitter.

See how fascinating that character is? We don't even have a story for her to be in yet, but we already want her to be in a story because we want to know what she'll do. She stands out in the crowd.

If you're doing YA, you can still do this with characters who don't have a profession. Pick a hobby instead, and then pick traits that contradict your expectations. Here are a few examples from my JuNoWriMo project, The Unhappening of Genesis Lee:

Estelle, the French ballet teacher who is Muslim. (And yes, that actually CAN work with her religion.)

Kai, the bouncy-ball-collecting nerd who is sometimes frightening in his intense desires to save the world.

Kai's father, the minister who became a bar tender to reach more people.

Gena, the pacifist ballet-dancing protagonist, who wants to be an astronomer and ends up fighting the system to save the world.

See how fun it is to create contradictory characters? They're a lot of fun to write, too.

So, my friends, do you like to write contradictory characters? Who are some of your favorite contradictory characters in books or movies? What other strategies do you use to make your characters larger than life?

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Reach your personal writing goals-- Join me for JuNoWriMo!

We all have writing goals. Sometimes we meet them, sometimes we don't. I was talking to my critique group last night about my goal-- I want to do a NoWriMo (novel writing month) in June-- writing at least 2,000 words a day. And they want to do it with me!

So...how about you?

For JuNoWriMo (June Novel Writing Month, of course!), you don't have to pump out a 50,000 word novel in a month. Pick a writing goal-- any writing goal-- it can be that you want to write 1,000 words a day all month. Or that you want to spend 1 hour a day pounding out your revisions. Or that you dedicate at least a two hours a week to your writing. Whatever the goal is, we'll support each other in it!

So here's the deal. If you want to join on your blog, sign up on the MisterLinky below and then post about your goal and link back here. Every Saturday (and anytime in between that you want), post an update on your goal progress so we can all follow along.

And for those of you on Twitter, we can have conversations about it whenever we want. Use the hashtag #JuNoWriMo, and you'll find support and help from your fellow JuNoers.

So far, you've got a friend in me, Rachel Giddings, Joel Smith, and Kevin Smith! Let's reach for our writing goals together!

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