Cheating During NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is less than a month away. Can you believe that? Just last month I told myself, "Eh, I have awhile to plan." No, no I do not. In fact, planning should start in August.

Before I begin, what is NaNoWriMo?

NaNoWriMo, also known as NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth, starts November 1st and ends November 30th. You have the whole month to write 50,000 words. That breaks down to approximately 1,667 words per day.

Sound hard? For some, it is. Children, school, work, etc. For others, it's still hard, but they persist. Some are planners, some are pantsers, but we all have one common goal: the end.

Now, technically, you're supposed to write a novel. But, of course, you have those rebels who have other plans. Like me, last year. I tried to write about everything that happened that summer. But since it had just happened, it turned out to be crap. I only wrote about 10,000 words (if that) when I got to the end of my story. I decided to write the remaining words elsewhere. It was a bad year.

This year, I'm cheating again. First, I'll tell you why. Back in 2012, during NaNoWriMo, I started a novel called Times. I finished it at the beginning of this year. I started to edit it, but it's so poorly written, I can't even look at it. But I love it. It could potentially be great...it just isn't (yet).

My characters told me there's a second book. I love the ideas they're giving me. I want to start it, but I will not subject it to the craziness of November. I really don't want two poorly written stories (even though I probably wouldn't let it get that way).

I'm in the process of writing a murder mystery, but I'm stuck. If I can't figure stuff out now, I have no time to be doing research when I have 50k words to write!

Instead, I will be writing short stories. My stories usually run between 2,000 and 3,000 words, so this should be fun. And who knows? I might find a novel in there somewhere.

Mother Ann

Ann, a non-believer in all things supernatural, has decided to spend the night in a hotel that is supposedly haunted.  No one really addresser the rumors, but as Ann enters the hotel, she can see why people would think that it's spooky.  The lady at the front desk, the old woman, and the old gentleman all seem like they're hiding something, and all Ann wants to do is disprove the rumors.  Welcome to The Norman hotel.

I got the idea for this back in March?  April?  My mother was reading about a haunted house and how people with the same name as one of the ghosts had encountered said ghost.  My mom wondered how the ghost would react to me, since I too have the same name as the ghost.  So, with this in mind, I decided to write a short story based on this conversation.

Here is an excerpt:


The older woman looked up at me with a sweet, warm, grandmother smile.  As she walked up beside me, she and the old gentleman stopped.  She folded her hands in front of her.

"Good afternoon," the older woman greeted, "I hope you have found your room to be satisfactory?"

I nodded.  "I did".  I looked around at the walls.  "This is a very lovely building."

She beamed at my compliment.  "Yes, thank you.  It has been in the family for generations."

I looked at her and smiled.  "You're the owner?"

"Yes, I am" she answered.  "Would you like a tour?"

I smiled at the thought that I could possibly ask her about the stories I had heard.  "Yes, I would love one."

The older woman returned the smile as she ushered me down the stairs to the next level.  As we walked, the old gentleman followed close behind, listening to the stories the older woman told, as if he had never heard them before.

She pointed out various ancestors as we continued onward to the next level.  Here she dug deeper into the family, expanding on their role in the family tree.

"And this is Ann," the older woman said, pointing to a picture of a young woman sitting in a chair beside a fireplace.  It was like looking into a mirror.  Her hair was tied up, but her face was familiar.  I was mesmerized by how similar we looked.  

"Oh, my name is Ann," I replied, pleased to have the same name as such a lovely lady.

The older woman turned to me, as if she were surprised.  "Your name is Ann?”

"Yes," I replied, wondering why she had asked in a horrified tone.  Her stare was as chilling as her body language: stiff, defensive, and fearful.  I looked at the old gentleman, who looked half as fearful as the woman; concern filled the other half.

I didn't quite understand what the tension was about.  I looked from the old gentleman to the woman, and back again.

She turned to the man, then back at me.

"Oh, well dear..." she began.  She folded her hands in front of her.  I looked back and forth once before she finished.  She gave a slight smile.  "It's just, I'm always so surprised when we get an Ann here.  It's such a wonderful treat."  She looked to the man, then tittered.  "Well..." she began, then smiled nervously and motioned for us to continue, possibly to direct my attention back to the tour.  I thought nothing of her reaction after that---she herself did not seem to think anything of it, maybe there was a chill in the air---and we began to descend once more.  As we reached the final level, she had one last story to tell.

~~~

I also recorded a video, which includes a couple more excerpts, and random talking about things that may or may not relate to the book.

And, without further ado, here is the link to Amazon, where you can buy the short story!

Thanks so much for checking out my blog!  Stay tuned for my next post.

Good night, good morning, good everything!

Planning A Box

In 2011, I had a dream.  It was such a detailed dream, that I decided to write a story around it.  Before NaNoWriMo came around, I did lots of planning.  Who are the characters?  Why does this item mean so much?  What actually happens?  Why?  Where does the story take place?  What's the story behind the story?

On and on I went, until I had filled up about five full pages in my notebook.  I even wrote out two full pages of the synopsis.

While none of this is a bad thing, I found out that I didn't know how to plan.  I'm usually a pantser, but this year, I wanted to go full on planner.

It didn't work out very well.  Once I started the story, I realized that I had planned myself into a box.  Since I had a pretty distinct outline, synopsis, time line of events, I couldn't allow myself to write outside of my research.

"This has to happen after that, but I feel like it's too soon."
"I don't really like the way A happened, but B has to happen after it, so I can't change it."

I finished the whole story in about 35k words.  I was done, but I was still short 15k.  What was I supposed to do?  I didn't plan for this.

Now mind you, this was: A, my second NaNoWriMo, and B, the second story I had ever finished.  I was a "new" writer, and I didn't know what I was doing.  I say "new" because I was starting to write stories about things other than Zelda.

I learned two valuable things from this experience:

1. I am not a planner
2. If I do plan, I must learn to leave holes, or give myself permission to add, subtract, multiply, and divide.

Here are some tips for planners who aren't used to planning:

1. Do you know exactly how you want it to go?  Well, get rid of the idea that it's going to go that way.  Plain and simple.  You're dealing with art and creativity, which has about as much of an attention span as a kitten who just ate and woke up from a nap.  Shout out to all my cat people.

2. Have a set destination, but make a map.  There are many ways to get to one place.  Allow your plans to go into different directions than the route you chose.  There might be traffic or road work.  You never know.

3. "I'll cross the bridge when I get there."  That's a good motto for a writer, remember that.

4. Also, here's a tip: go talk to a planner.  I'm just trying to teach you how to not plan yourself into a box, they can teach you how to plan effectively, if that's what you want to learn.

Well, I hope you learned something.  If not, then I hope you enjoyed learning about my struggle.  By the way, I did finish the story with 50k.  I just added 15k of back story on one of the characters.  It's a good story, it just lacks...a point.

Writing is like math.  There is always a set answer (the end of a story).  It doesn't matter if you find it with a different method than someone else, it just matters that you get there.

Letter To The Character- Talitha

Dear Talitha,
                        What do you want?  Every character wants something, so what is it that you want?  It has to be deeper than "get over that guy."  I know it's deeper than that.  Forgiveness?  Is that what you're searching for?  Love?  Someone to listen to you?  You've got that, you've always had that.  But, if that's not it, what is it?  Please tell me soon, I'd like to continue on with the story.
                       From,
                                 Author

Every character has to want something.  We all want something, it's what we live for, whether we know what that is, or not.  In this case, I know what she wants, but that's just what she knows I know she wants.  But I also know she wants something else, I don't know what it is.  When I find out, I'll know what really drives her to be who she is.  That way, I can shape her character better.  It will make her a more well rounded person, and it will show her change in a more pronounced way.

#WritingStruggles

Inspiration: Zelda

In my last post, I talked about how I wrote and finished my first story based on the Zelda games.  In this post, I'll go a little deeper into how the Zelda series has inspired me to write.  I'll start off with Ocarina of Time, since it was my first Zelda game.

(By the way, SPOILERS await beyond this point if you have not played: Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword, or Twilight Princess).

I don't know what drew me to the game.  Could it have been the graphics?  The concept?  The characters?  The action?  The first "scene" I saw was Link fighting Ganondorf in his castle.  The only video games I had played before this one was Paperboy and Sonic.  There wasn't much there, compared to OOT, am I right?

There's a twist right at the beginning of the game: Link isn't like the other Kokiri.  He is told to get a sword and shield, and the Great Deku Tree summons him to battle.  Holy plot twist!  Link can leave, and he won't die?  Madness!  This game is filled with them: Link holds a piece of the triforce, Sheik is Zelda (or is Zelda Sheik?), and she's even a sage.  I mean, come on, really?  What a story!

Fast forward to Skyward Sword, and we get to the bottom of this mess.  OH, reincarnation!  It all makes sense!

Ok, alright, enough of the spoilers.  Let's get into the point of all of this.

The Zelda series has taught me about twists, and the timing of introducing them.  Right off the bat, or 25 years later...well, maybe not that long.  But it also has to do with the scene.  You can't just throw it in there in any ol' place.  Be strategic, build up to it.  Go along for a while, and when the action calms down, hit the reader again!  But don't throw it in there for no reason, just to keep the story going, because you can't think of anything else to do.  Be strategic.

It taught me about suspense.  Redeads, anyone?  Wallmasters?  Poes?  That shadow on the floor below you as you try to run out from under it, the low goan of the dead echoing off the walls in the underground crypts, those ghosts that show up and hit you with their lantern.  Eff you!  Eff you all!  How about in Twilight Princess, at the end, in the Twilight Realm where you have to get the orbs and that hand follows you.  Your heart races as you race it to the exit, trying not to drop it as you ward off the other enemies that want you to fail.  Or the Guardians in Skyward Sword?  Fuuuu.

It's all about the heart racing, time beating, unexpected surprises.  At first, it's dark and quiet and you can see the goal.  It's in your grasp.  So close, yet so far.  And then?  Nope!  It's fantastic.

It taught me about character development.  This series is all about a boy who wakes up, seemingly normal, wondering what this new day has in store.  My favorite example of character development is Twilight Princess.  I have a hard time decided which Zelda game, between this one and OOT, is my favorite, because of this point.  I feel like Twilight Princess is a story, or, has the best story (in my opinion, of course).

Link is a farmer, he plays with the villagers' children, he herds goats, rides a horse, lives in a treehouse, saves a baby from a river, brings a cat back to its ma- uh, owner.  He's a normal kid.  One day, he is asked to take something to Hyrule Castle.  Ok, sure, no problem, it's not like he's a Kokiri and fears that he may die.  But, as with any great Zelda game, a twist comes, and he has just started his journey.

What I love about this game is the sub-plot(s).  First, you have Link's main journey (helping Midna with whatever she wants), and then you have the subplot (the children).  He has to save that one kid from the stick, then the girl (Ilia) and the fish (names escape me, plus I'm avoiding spoilers, like it's new to anyone, right?).

I know they may not sound like subplots, but they don't really do anything to help Link on his quest (not at first, at least.  But there's that darn twist I was talking about, "linking" everything together).

Back to character development.  Link is a kid who gets turned in an animal.  He has to help someone whom he has never met (Midna), and she seems kind of suspicious (sketchy even).  But then she takes him to the person he was supposed to meet in the beginning.  They tell Link they need his help (who is he to say no to royalty?  Besides, if he helps them, he may get back to being human).

On his journey, he has to do things he never thought he would have to do.  And the more he does them, the easier it is for him to have the courage to do them (doing them doesn't necessarily get easer though).  As Link grows, so does Midna.  She sees that he is trustworthy and brave, and she starts to ease up on him and trust him more.  The more time they spend together, the more they see what the other goes through, and feels.  When Link has to save Ilia, Midna (by this point) understands why.  Though she may still seem snarky and uses Link's personal quests for her own plan, you can tell she feels for him.

The children grow as well.  At the beginning of the game, they pick on Colin, and talk about swords and slingshots and how cool it would be to play with them.  They act like children.  But when one of their own gets kidnapped, they go on their own journey.  They start to see the world.  Sure, there's more evil in it now than there should be, but they're seeing it.  They're also watching Link as he does everything he can to help keep them safe.  By the end of the game, they've grown.

I could talk about Zelda for hours (and it seems like I already have...) but I think it's time I wrap it up.

How is all of this evident in my writing?  It's not.

O_o.

It's not yet.  They've inspired me to notice these elements in everything (movies, other video games, books, t.v. shows, even stories that other people tell).  They've inspired me to love every part of a story, because it all works together.  If a twist is not thrown at someone, how would they change, facing the same mission every day?  If there were no suspense, how could you have someone face their fears, if their fears did not face them?  Characters would not develop, they'd be "static."  Like...Ganandorf?  I could argue him either way.

And that, my friend, is how Zelda has inspired me.