Giving Thanks

Before I go out last-minute food shopping and disappear beneath mounds and mounds of potatoes, I wanted to hit the pause button for a moment (PAUSE, Nanowrimo!) and take this fitting morning to say thanks.

Thank you, fanfiction readers (and I PROMISE that I will finished that 140k fic). Without you, I would have never realized that I could write a novel.

Thank you, Deviantart. Without you, I would have lost touch with my artsy peers and likewise lost my source of inspiration. 

Thank you, Suzanne Collins and Lauren Destefano. Without you, I would have never discovered the beauty of first person present POV. 

NaNoWriMo 2013: The Prelude

Before I begin doing the heavy-lifting myself, I'd like to share this blog post with all of you because I'm pretty sure I couldn't have better worded my views on Nanowrimo.

In the upcoming days and the coming month, I hope to document my own experiences with Nano and keep you updated throughout the month because it's so important to remember that you are not alone. Nano is that one time of the year that you know for sure that everyone is head-bashing on their laptops/typewriters/notebooks just like you are.

Let's begin with the ultimate question: will I be Nanoing this year?

First line drama

I love writing the first line of a novel because you have all this unused shine bottled up in you that is just bursting to make it onto the page. If I ever find myself NOT excited to begin a novel, I have to question if the idea is ready to be written.

I also hate writing the first line because it can so easily sound forced. I've read many a first line that almost seems to scream I'M A FIRST LINE, I NEED TO GRAB YOUR ATTENTION WITH HEART-POUNDING CONFLICT AND TENSION AND INTRICATE STYLE AND OH, WHILE WE'RE AT IT LET'S THROW IN SOME WORD-BUILDING.

And let's not forget the really short first lines, the one-worders, because they act toward the same effect: STOP. I'M AN IMPORTANT STANDALONE. I GRAB YOUR ATTENTION. LOOK AT ME.

Idea is not enough

The Idea is not enough to carry an entire novel, as I have always known and just recently found applied to my current WIP.

Right now, I'm struggling working through my WIP, THE SERENDIPITY LABS. And I love the idea. Agents and fellow writers seem to, too. But what originally made me put down the piece in favor of working on my NA manuscript is coming back to haunt me, and now I'm remembering all the reasons why I decided to drop it the first time around.

Writer's block happens. If I gave up every single time that I encountered writer's block, I wouldn't have the two relatively polished manuscripts that I do. But, for me at least, there's a distinct difference between writer's block and writer's fear. The fear is a deep, gut-feeling that makes me reluctant to write, alerting me to the fact that something is wrong with the manuscript, something that isn't as easy to fix as a flat scene or a chunk of awkward dialogue.

Short Story Time! (Part 4--finale)

Check out parts 1, 2, and 3 here, here, and here.

And here we have it, the last part! If you are reading this, thanks for sticking with it thus far :) Enjoy!

And So They Proceeded* 

Part 4