Camp NaNoWriMo - July 2013

Wait, what, you were expecting me to keep to my word on exactly what I intended to blog about today? Maybe I would have if I haven't been dealing with getting my luggage back from the airlines for two days straight. My trip home was hellish. It will be vented in a brand new Grinka and Syndago story.

And...that is the first thing on my list for Camp NaNoWriMo. I'll be getting started a few days later than originally intended, but the goal I've set is 25,000 words. Totally doable. Especially since the morning sickness is pretty much gone and my 5-year-old will be spending a week with my in-laws! After I finish the super rough draft of the new Grinka story, I'll work on the super rough draft of Into the Ash, the first novel in my Elements of Anian series.

Yes, I have revisions to do on Dead As Dreams, but since I haven't touched anything for a few months, I don't want to worry about perfection for a month, and then my gears should be well oiled.

I promise, next post will be about In Your Write Mind. I just need a few days to organize things and figure out what specifics I'll post about. A lot of great workshops (and a lot of fun socializing). =)

Don't forget about Writing Quest - July! Of course my goal this month is simply Camp NaNo.

So, anybody else diving into Camp NaNoWriMo this month? It allows you to key in your own word count goal - no need to aim for the usual 50,000 words!

NEXT UP: July 10 - In Your Write Mind 2013 (I mean it this time)

June? Where Have You Gone?

So, this post was originally supposed to be a Magic Is Reality, Reality Is Magic post, but my house is such a mess, I don't think I'd easily be able to find all the books I'd like to refer to for the post on Summer Solstice. That post will have to wait for next year! But I hope everyone has a happy Solstice today!

My evil morning sickness has pretty much passed, but I am still not feeling the best in other regards. My plans for revisions kind of went down the drain, but at least growing another human being is a good excuse, in my opinion. To ease back into writing, I'm actually hoping to do Camp NaNoWriMo in July, and since the In Your Write Mind retreat is next week, that should feed the writing itch in mass quantities! It's much easier for me to pump out rough draft material than it is to revise (although I'm going to aim for 25k and not 50k so as not to kill myself - lol), and then the pump should be primed for August, which is when I'll dive back into revisions of Dead As Dreams.

Not to mention I have a house to get in order. I am NOT going to be hard on myself over the lack of writing, as that will just put up more roadblocks. Sometimes you just have to accept that life gets in the way.

I'm still running Writing Quest on a monthly basis, and you can always find those events over on my Facebook page. Also, I'm hoping to build up more consistency with the blog posts. I won't be posting next week, since I will be traveling, but the following week should bring a post about this year's In Your Write Mind retreat!

So, what does everyone think are valid reasons/excuses to interrupt writing? Do some of you think nothing should? I'd love to see others' opinions!

NEXT UP: July 3 - In Your Write Mind 2013 Actually, Camp NaNoWriMo

Camp NaNoWriMo and a Chain Story Continued

Many of us know about NaNoWriMo - that novel writing event that comes around every November. Writers dive in and attempt to accomplish 50,000 words of a rough draft, ignoring other less important things for the month, such as cleaning and sleeping.

Of course, November can be a less than ideal month for some to attempt this challenge. Thanksgiving dinner for those in the U.S. can interrupt the flow (especially if the writer is the one preparing that dinner, and for a lot of people). School is in full swing as well, students and teachers working on things not only during school hours, but at other times as well (teachers have homework too!). Oh, and usually the weather is turning into something plain undesirable, making it harder for those people with weather mood swings.

So, why November? Why not have this novel writing month in summer? Well, those of you who have desired such a change don't need to wait any longer because now there is Camp NaNoWriMo! Camp NaNoWriMo is run both in July and August, so the writer can choose the month that works best for him or her. Or maybe try both!

I know, you're about to say I'm a little late on the bandwagon with talking about Camp NaNoWriMo. July is almost over. I actually didn't know about it until June 29, and I had the blog slots all scheduled and planned. So, I'm talking about it now. And what better time to do so than when we're so close to August? There's always time to set up your tent, throw some logs on the campfire, and join in with the other campers...er, writers.

Will you join in on Camp NaNoWriMo? What do you plan to work on?

I hope to get down 25,000 words in August (I sadly know well enough that I don't have time to do 50,000 in a month right now), which is a scary goal to begin with, and I'll be continuing Dead As Dreams - I'm so close to the end, I can taste it!

Also, don't forget to watch my Facebook page for August's Writing Quest!

I'd be interested to hear what others are working on - feel free to post a little something in the comments, and if you're bold, post an excerpt as well. ;)

Speaking of the comments section, I'd also love it if we'd all continue the last chain story that was started. I have copied what we already have below for ease of reading (and added some paragraph breaks - heh).

The Rules: Add only 1 sentence at a time - you can take as many turns as you'd like, but you can't post right after you just posted! To get the ball rolling, I will tag someone on Facebook, so if you'd like to keep the story going, make sure to tag someone or e-mail someone to ask them to take the next turn.

The Story So Far:

A dandelion seed danced on the wind, weaving back and forth, finally alighting on the cap of an emerald mushroom. It quivered in the breeze, almost lifting off, but the skin of the mushroom cap rippled and engulfed the seed, casting off the fluff.

Tetrarch Q'rin hovered over the scene, dutifully noting the occurrence in her journal. Soon it would be time to face her new husband. She did not know how the arranged marriage would work, she being a scientist, and he being a royal bureaucrat, although she had an empirically based estimation...and a bad feeling.

She sighed, turning to go, but saw the mushroom twitch.


NEXT UP: A guest blog post from Liz Coley.