9 hours to go.

Don't wave anything leather, tailored, and/or antique at me during November.  I don't want any distractions!

The book cover 2.

I can't ever leave well enough alone.

I'm conflicted over the NaNo book title.  I originally chose Redeeming the Stars.  Then decided on The Redemption of Stars.  Now I'm back to preferring the former again.

I don't know what I'll end up with—there's a good chance I'll change the title altogether—but here's version two:

See here for version one.

I realize that the title font isn't entirely legible, but I really like the look so I'm going with it for now.  It's not as if a publisher would use that cover or that title anyway.

The book cover.

Less than three days before NaNoWriMo begins!  I still have quite a bit of plot and character to work out.  And yet, yesterday I found myself creating a book cover.

My defense?  Peer pressure.  Hey, I'll take any excuse I can get to procrastinate and/or use my mad artistic skillz.  ;-)

Last year I was surprised by the number of NaNo participants that had a cover.  Peruse this forum to see what I mean. Apparently, for many, they're visual motivators.

I'm a visual person so this year I'd planned to have somebody make one for me since there are many that offer.  But then I decided that my Photoshopping prowess had improved enough to give it a shot myself.

I think it came out great!  Especially for a first try.

Stock sources here, here, and here.

A larger version of the book cover is here.  Check out the details on the lightbulb.  Old astronomy illustrations.

Now I'm even more excited for NaNo to begin! <----- Rationalizing the hours spent working on the cover in lieu of the actual book.

Beginnings and endings.

More girl power!


Structure Part 4—Testing Your Idea—Is it Strong Enough to Make an Interesting Novel? by Kristen Lamb

Character Self-Description by Mary Kole

Writing scenes with Tom Huang by Buffy Andrews

NaNo Prep:  Planning Your Novel's Beginning by Janice Hardy

The End—Wrapping Up Your Stories by Amy Rose Davis

Back to Basics:  Writing a Novel Synopsis by Jane Friedman

5 Elements of a Resonant Closing Line by K. M. Weiland

Acquiring Editor's Checklist by Sue Grimshaw

Final NaNo countdown.

Less than a week before blast-off.

I thought I was doomed to another disappointing week of NaNo prep, until Sunday happened.  I convinced D to brainstorm with me—it helps to think out loud—and of course he cracked the thing wide open.  I'm telling you, that man is a brainstorming wizard.

Suddenly, the story has vitality.  It has the potential for resonance.  Resonance is often the difference between just a good book (or movie) and one that stays with you for days or weeks, sometimes years.  That's not to say that my story will have that sort of impact, just that it could.  If all the elements of a well-crafted story—voice, structure, character, conflict, artful prose, etc.—are in place.  If, not only being key, but the whole dang door too.

As I'm writing the first draft of this story in 30 days, the odds of every last if obediently lining up to stand at attention by December are miniscule.  The odds would be small with even 300 days.  Still, simply the possibility of achieving resonance is exciting.  It's like a dangling carrot to this writer.

Here's the next tease hint.

source

That should answer any lingering questions, no?

My NaNo goals for the week are:

1. Determine the second doorway (a la James Scott Bell), which is what pushes the protagonist towards the final battle.
2. Brainstorm for subplots.
3. Flesh out secondary characters.
4. Prepare a beat sheet (see Larry Brooks).
5. November 1st:  Go!

I suspect that this blog will be taking lots of naps this week and through November, but I'll try to pop on every now and then to shove energy bars at it.  Once November hits I'll add a NaNo word count widget on the sidebar here to help keep me honest.

Wish me luck!  I'll need it if last NaNo decides to rear its pathetic head.

Girl power.

I think that this is my biggest Round-Up yet!  And notice that all the authors are women.


Structure Part 3—Introducing the Opposition by Kristen Lamb

Boiling it Down by Mary Kole

4 Ways to Add Caffeine to Your Story by Jody Hedlund

Editor's Notes:  Show versus Tell by Heather Long

Nanowrimo:  Elements of Act One by Alexandra Sokoloff

Story Threads and Resonance by Susan Dennard

5 Tips For Not Screwing Up Your Character's Name by Suzanne Johnson

The Story Bible:  What Is it and Why You Need One by Rochelle Melander

8 Plotting Pointers by Lynnette Labelle

Perfecting Your YA Voice (Part 1) by Ingrid Sundberg

Do You Feel It?  Plotting With Emotional Layers by Janice Hardy

NaNoWriMo starts right here, right now by Roz Morris

Character Reaction—Make Your Characters Respond by Beth Hill

Preserving the past.

Recently, I came across some old photographs of my grandparents that I'd never seen before. Mostly from their travels in Central and South America during the 30s.  I love old pictures. The clothing and architecture.  The way that people carried themselves.  The fact that these photos are of family makes them even more cool.

I acquired digital copies and set to work cleaning them up.  There are hundreds of them. Many amazing shots, but all dusty, dirty, and/or scratched.  Some worse than others.  Most of them washed-out or faded.  It'll take months to clean them all, but so far I think they're turning out really well, considering I'm no expert.

Eventually, I'll probably pick out my absolute favorites to print and frame.

I haven't edited any of Grandpa's photos yet, but here are some of my favorites of Grandma that I've already worked on.

Wasn't she stylish?

To give an idea just how dirty, scratched, and washed-out or faded the photos were, here's one in its original state:

Check out those scratches and smudges.  

A close-up to see the dust and dirt:

Look closely.  There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of tiny specks that aren't visible unless you lean in.

It's a time-consuming task.  Completely worth the effort though, don't you think?

Let's try this again.

I was overly ambitious with my NaNo goal for the week.  Turns out that building plot points before character is impossible.  At least for me.  Exactly how does plot-driven writing work? It's a mystery.

Anyway, needless to say, I don't have 8 plot points yet.  Or 2 even.

New NaNo goals for the week:

First, flesh out the protagonist and main antagonist.  This includes backstory, motivations, ordinary world, etc.

Second, come up with a disturbance.  Also known as an inciting incident.  This is something that hints to the reader very early on in the story—often even the first page—that something is about to threaten the protagonist's ordinary world. 

Third, determine the first doorway (a la James Scott Bell).  This is where the protagonist is thrust into the second act and there is no going back.  For example, the moment in the original Star Wars when Luke returns home to find his aunt and uncle murdered.  Luke is pushed through that first doorway into the second act.  He can not go back to how things were before.  He is forced into action.

Although I do not have 8 plot points yet, all was not lost this past week.  The concept came more into focus.  It's not quite as nebulous.  Still, fingers crossed I accomplish the goals this time around.  They make more sense with how I roll as a writer.

For kicks, here is my photo tease hint of the week:

source

Even less helpful than the last one, right?  Trust me when I say it isn't as vague a hint as it seems.

This post is making me hungry.

Lots of goodies this week!


Structure Part 2 — Plot Problems — Falcor the Luck Dragon & the Purple Tornado by Kristen Lamb

Do Writers Need a GPS or Not? by Jody Hedlund

Rethinking Motivation for Character Arc by A. Victoria Mixon, editor

The Butter Speaks (How to Cook Up a Terrific Narrative) by Tim Kane

Symbolism in Writing:  Shell Cottage:  A Respite from the Storm by Susan Sipal

Character or Plot or Setting?  Building Your Character's Universe by Martina Boone

The Middle Grade Voice by Kristin Halbrook

Telling Stories:  There Is No Story Until There Are Two Stories by Edmund Schubert

Clothe Characters Well—Choose Words that Fit by Beth Hill

Before You Write "The End":  Climax and Denouement by Amy Rose Davis

So rude.

Here is one of my favorite things.

An old gathering basket.  I'm guessing fruit?

I bought it not knowing what I was going to do with it and then decided I could use it as a cat bed.  I'd been looking for one and hadn't found anything that I liked and this was the perfect solution.  So I threw a few blankets and toys in there to make it comfy.  

The problem was that she didn't use it.  Or at least it seemed like she didn't.  Toss any old ratty cardboard box on the ground and she's in there in less than thirty seconds.  You'd have to physically remove her to get her out of it.  But oh no, the basket just wasn't good enough.

Then late one night I walked across the living room in the dark and caught a glimpse of eyes shining back at me.  That rotten cat was in the basket!  Comfortable as can be, though clearly peeved at being caught.

She'll only go in there if we're not around, probably to show D and I who's boss.  Which is obviously her.  Usually at night, but I did manage to catch her once during the day to take these quick camera photos.  She'd never have allowed me time to grab the good camera.

Does that look like the face of an appreciative kitty ???

NaNoveling.

I've got my premise!  I wasn't sure I'd make the deadline (today) since good premises don't come easily for me.  Plus, I'm doing high concept this year which is not anywhere near my wheelhouse.

I wanted 10 premises and I ended up with 14.  Ok, maybe D was the brains behind a few of them.  Possibly even some of the better ones.  Honestly?  He's an idea factory.  It makes me sick.  To be fair though, high concept is totally in his wheelhouse.

I'm not going to share my premise quite yet, but I'll leave you with a tease clue.

source

What do you mean that doesn't help? 

My assignment for next Wednesday is to come up with 8 plot points.  Since I'm stepping out of my comfort zone by doing high concept I might as well step a little further.  Character always comes before plot for me so it'll be strange working out plot first.   

19 days to go! 

More craftiness.

A wreath made from old book pages.  This one a dictionary and thesaurus.  I used up the entire dictionary and all of the thesaurus minus about 30 pages.  That should give you an idea just how many rosettes this wreath took.  And how many hours.  If you guessed less than 30, guess again.

Yeah, I don't think I'd make another one.  At least not anytime soon.  I like how it turned out though.

Nope, not even the wreath could escape a clay tag.  I'm slightly obsessed with them at the moment.

Homemade laundry soap and more clay tags.

One thing I haven't talked about on this blog yet is my love for homemade cleaning products.  This year I started mixing up my own laundry detergent.  It's much cheaper and easy to make.

Here's the recipe I use:

1 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1 cup of 20 Mule Team Borax
1 bar of Fels Naptha

All three ingredients are found in the laundry detergent aisle at my local Walmart.  If you want your soap to be completely white I hear that Ivory works just as well as Fels Naptha, although I've only tried the latter.

Grate the Fels Naptha, mix three ingredients together, store in an airtight container, and you're set.  1 spoonful for small or medium loads and 2 spoonfuls for large loads.  The double batch pictured should last at least the rest of the year.

Feel free to adjust the ingredient amounts to your liking.  I started out using 1 1/3 cups of washing soda and borax and found that 1 cup each worked just as well.

Obviously I needed a shiny new jar to keep the soap in and a vintage soup spoon for a scoop.  Also, no container can escape my clay tags these days.  I wrote the measuring instructions on the back of the large one.

How to prepare for NaNoWriMo.

If you plan on doing a little NaNoing this year, bookmark Larry's blog.

Structure Part 1 — Anatomy of a Best-Selling Novel — Structure Matters by Kristen Lamb

Advice for Beginning Storytellers by Ira Glass via Rachelle Gardner

Nail Your NaNoWriMo by Larry Brooks  (This is #7 of a 31 one day series aimed at preparing writers for NaNo.  As an aside, Larry was the keynote speaker at the writer conference I attended in May.)

NaNo stream of consciousness.

I've got NaNoWriMo on the brain.  With less than a month to go, I'm finally beginning to feel the pressure.  Last year, planning ahead was not an option.  I had no choice but to write off the cuff.  Why?  See here.

Having some time to plan this year almost makes the pressure heavier because I expect any preparation to show in the outcome.  I can't blame poor writing on pantsing (writing by the seat of your pants).  But then, with 50,000 words in 30 days as a goal, ad-libbing is just gonna happen.  I doubt even a set of plans reminiscent of Rowling could escape that.

What I would like to escape is the burn out that occurred last NaNo.  I ended the project with the start of a good story, but a weak structure.  The characters were there.  The plot, not so much.  

Without over-planning (and risk losing the excitement of last NaNo) I'd like a clear premise, a solid structure, and fully realized main characters by November 1st.  After that, I expect to toss out plot points, rearrange others, and conjure new characters on the spot, but even so, I'm hoping that plotting ahead of time with allow me a greater chance at success.

I've decided on high concept, in contrast to last year's coming-of-age tale.  I haven't landed on a premise yet, but that's my goal for next Wednesday (October 12th).

You may hold me to it.

Wish me luck!  I'm not good at brainstorming on demand.