Denise DeSio's Blog, page 6

No Mo NaNoWriMo

YAY me!!! At 5:27 a.m. this morning, I completed an intense, month-long writing challenge in only 29 days. The goal: Write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. (To put my awesomeness in perspective, It took me over 10 years to write Rose's Will, a 68,000 word novel.)

Asleep at the keyboard

In order to reach my NaNoWriMo goal, I had to write 1667 words a day. Some days, I pushed myself for hours eking out one word at a time so slowly that I literally fell asleep with my fingers on the keyboard. Other days, my word count flew over 4,000!

Writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days didn't leave me any time to argue with my characters. They didn't care at all about my plans for them and surprised the hell out of me every day. It was worrisome to write into that void, not knowing where they would take me. To preserve my sanity, I adjusted to the "one scene at a time" method. In this novel-writing microcosm, it became clear that if all characters in a novel take the next logical step, anyone could write the book and probably no one would want to read it.

Now that I've reached the goal, I'm looking back on a grueling regimen that's thankfully over, but an experience that I invite every writer to undertake. I will not explain why, because it's impossible to convey. Let's just say that you will meet the writer you truly are at the end of it.

Hot Tip: Get out of town for the weekend when you're done! San Diego, here I come!

**NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, which begins on November 1st and ends on November 30th.

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The Awakening

THE REALITY:
What do you do?
I'm a writer.



Really? What have you published?
A few short stories, a couple of articles…



Oh. So what do you do for a living?



THE DREAM
What do you do?
I'm a writer.



Really? What have you published?
A novel called Rose's Will.



That's exciting! Where can I get a copy?
On Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and of course, directly from my publisher.

THE AWAKENING

(During intermission at the theatre, my partner addressed an acquaintance.)

Did you know that Denise wrote a novel? It's just been published?

  Congratulations! What do you do?

I'm a writer. My novel, Rose's Will, was just published.


Yes, I know, but what do you do?

I write. I'm working on my second novel.


 (She persists) But what is your job?

(I persist) My job is being a writer.




I knew what she was getting at and I refused to say I didn't have a job and validate the flawed assumption that writing was not a legitimate vocation. The lights dimmed. I sat back in my seat feeling triumphant–and letting go of all the previous conversations that made me feel inadequate.

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Reviews and Reactions

Yesterday I opened an email with WOW in the subject line, and in the body of the post, she wrote: "I've just finished Rose's Will. I have no idea what to say. You are a gifted writer."

It was not a review. It was a reaction, the kind of visceral reaction that makes it worth every moment I've spent writing, honing and polishing my novel. My reader honored me by sharing that brief moment of stillness that marks the transition between being firmly planted in the world of the author and the return to every day life. It reminded me of the silence that betakes an audience at the close of a performance before the applause breaks the connection between artist and viewer.

Of course I thanked her for her kind words, but because I've been marketing my book like a crazy woman, I had to ask, "Would you please write a review and put it up on Amazon and 48fourteen?" I felt like a heel for asking because it felt diminishing to ask for something less than her original response, and I'm blogging this because I want her to know that.

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Rose's Will: Now Available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

BUY ROSE'S WILL for KINDLE

BUY ROSE'S WILL for NOOK

BUY ROSE'S WILL for TO READ ON YOUR PC OR LAPTOP (use PDF file)

BUY ROSE'S WILL for ALL OTHER DEVICES (PDF, MOBI, EPUB)

Love the Book? Want to discuss it? Register at 48fourteen.com and join the forum to talk about it with the author and other readers! While you're there, check out other up and coming authors!

…and don't forget to add a review!

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Fictionalizing A Memoir

Even if you've survived cancer, changed your sexual preference, got hit by lightning, suffered a psychotic break, and won the lottery, it doesn't guarantee that you will be able to write a publishable memoir. I learned this the hard way.

My novel, Rose's Will, started out as a memoir, but memoirs are difficult because one is limited to telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, which can get extremely boring. If you embellish and exaggerate, it can get you into real trouble. Just ask James Frey and Greg Mortenson, sorry examples of what can happen to authors who take undue creative liberties in their memoirs. I can't imagine a moment more horrifying than sitting across from Oprah and admitting that the eighty-seven days that I spent in prison, turned out to be only three hours, my ex didn't really commit suicide but stubbed her toe really hard, and my kidnapping by the Taliban was, in reality, a hosted tour of a Pakistani village.

But in a memoir, you must tell the truth no matter how loudly the story cries out for a prison scene, a suicide, or a kidnapping. And that's why, three quarters through my memoir, I switched gears and turned it into a novel. I added two more characters, gave them each their own point of view, and let it fly. When I was no longer burdened with the agonizing conformity to my personal truth, my creative energy soared. Peripheral characters went from mundane to absurd, story elements collapsed in time to include only the highlights of several different scenes, words came out of the mouths of people who didn't say them, and deeds were manufactured to enhance the story line. Best of all, the memoir that had plodded along for ten years turned into a solid, publishable novel in ten months.

Read Rose's Will and see if you could tell fact from fiction!

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Rose's Will: NOW AVAILABLE!

Click on the book cover to purchase with Paypal!

Rose's Will is now available!!! Register at 48fourteen.com and you can friend me there, follow my blog, and participate in the forum discussions.

Purchase price is only $4.99!

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