Chris Baty's Blog, page 176

5 Tips for NaNoWriMo from Gwen Hicks, Writer's Block Mythbuster

Need tips for making the most of NaNoWriMo? Every week, we’ll bring you five tips to turn each week of writing into a 100% success. Today, Gwen Hicks, our NaNoWriMo editorial intern brings you her five tips for jumping over any Week Two hurdles:

Welcome to the second week of NaNo—you’ve already come so far, and you’re going to go so much farther. You are unstoppable! I’m cheering for you all the way from HQ. At the risk of destroying my reputation as a gentle sweater-wearing goof, I’m going to have to start off my list of five tips with something I know you won’t want to hear.

Are you ready? Are you sure? Okay. Here goes.

1. Remember: writer’s block isn’t real.

Yeah, you heard me. Writer’s block is just an excuse that writers—myself included—fall back on when they’re afraid that what they write won’t be up to their usual standards, or even any good. If you only write when you’re “inspired,” you’ll never get anything done.

Not everything you write is going to be perfect. Some of it may even be kind of bad. That’s okay. Every writer you idolize has off days. You will, too. The trick to writing regularly is being brave enough to accept that you might disappoint yourself—and sharp enough to remember that the time to nitpick is after it’s finished.

Your writing might not always be perfect, but it will always grow—and nothing breeds more words like words do.

2. Pull a Ray Bradbury.

Not literally, or anything. Let the poor man rest in his grave on Mars.

Bradbury had a sign over his typewriter for 25 years that said, “DON’T THINK!” Steal that idea. Make your handwriting extra scary. “You must never think at the typewriter,” he said. “You must feel.”

3. Start talking to yourself.

Receiving wary glances is a necessary hazard of the writerly profession. If I’m ever stuck on a scene, I utilize my best crazed pacing and start ad-libbing dialogue.

Do what the old-schoolers used to do—invest in a sound recorder and think out loud. Ramble. You’ll end up with something unexpected every time.

4. Do a “choose your own adventure.”

Trapped in an uncooperative scene? List all the different ways it could end, from the outlandish to the believable. Pick your favorite.

5. Find your own inspiration.

Director Hayao Miyazaki is responsible for a plethora of films that inspired me growing up, but none more so than Kiki’s Delivery Service, a magical coming-of-age story about a witch in training. It’s also a subtle allegory for the creative process and experience.

In the third act, Kiki “loses” her powers. She goes to visit her painter friend, who says that magic and art are functionally the same: you do it with what’s inside of you, and you have to find your own inspiration. Can’t fly (or in this case, write)? Then stop trying—start doing. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Write because you want to, not because you feel like you have to.

No matter what happens this month, I hope that you keep writing. I hope that you keep loving it and hating it and never wanting to do it again and wanting to do it so badly that even breathing feels wasteful.

Stop thinking. Breathe in. Have an adventure.

Let’s go forth and hit that 50k together! I know that we can.

Love you all lots,

Gwen

Top photo background from Flickr user AlicePopkorn.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2014: Day 9 with Designer Hannah Rubin

30 Covers, 30 Days is back! What is 30C30D? We match up 30 professional designers with 30 NaNoWriMo participants, and challenge the designers to create a book cover in 48 hours or less, based solely on that participants’ 2014 NaNo-novel synopsis.

The NaNo-novel: Turn and Turn Again

Hong Kong, 1991: Nuan owes her parents so much already—being an embarrassment twice over would be too much to handle.

Ming figures that her recently impoverished family has enough to worry about, since they have only one short year to save for living expenses before the planned eviction and destruction of Kowloon Walled City.

Unfortunately, the girls have nowhere to hide their controversial romance in their crowded, lawless home. As they struggle to scrape out a safe space between the alleys and pipes that twist through the most densely populated city on earth, they stumble upon a strange and seemingly non-euclidean corridor. Through it, the tangled city continues — but there are no people in sight.

The Genre: Historical Fiction & Paranormal

The Author: Lia Moonwhisper, Young Writers Program participant in the United States.

The Designer: Hannah Rubin is a writer and designer based in Oakland, C.A. She used to intern at National Novel Writing Month, and still misses all the candy.

High-Resolution Book Art:

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30 Covers, 30 Days 2014: Day 8 with Designer Andrew Herzog

30 Covers, 30 Days is back! What is 30C30D? We match up 30 professional designers with 30 NaNoWriMo participants, and challenge the designers to create a book cover in 48 hours or less, based solely on that participants’ 2014 NaNo-novel synopsis.

The NaNo-novel: The Map of the Worlds

Lara is a girl who has been placed in a girls’ private school. Her mother tells her it’s the best, but Lara hates everything about it. But one day, she takes a closer look at a world map hanging in one of her classrooms. She discovers that she can go anywhere in the world just by putting a tack into the place she wants to go. But Lara is confused by this. How does she do it, and why is it happening?

Lara is just beginning to uncover a mystery—the mystery of her school, her family’s secrets, and herself.

The Genre: Adventure & Fantasy

The Author: Star Map, Young Writers Program participant in Canada

The Designer: Andrew Herzog is a New York City based designer & thinker & human. His need for exploration results in conceptually driven projects of varying mediums.

High-Resolution Book Art:

Young Writer Chronicles: Conceiving the Inconceivable

Every November, our Young Writers Program works with 100,000 students and educators, and 2,000 classrooms around the world. Today, R. Reese Fuller shares why the craziness of NaNoWriMo is perfect for the classroom:

The teacher who suggested that I use NaNoWriMo to teach novels and writing to my students was certifiably insane. What teacher in her right mind would devote so much time and energy to just one concept? But as I dug into the Young Writers Program and researched the entire NaNoWriMo concept, I realized that those guiding principles were the same ones I wanted to impart to my students.

So two years ago, my eighth grade students and I jumped in feet first. There were bumps along the way, but students emerged from the experience fully understanding how novels worked. They were empowered. You could see it. No one was afraid to write. They had wrestled with their Internal Editors and had won.

Parents talk about “the novels” throughout the year and long after their students leave my classroom. On our campus, it’s an expectation that as an eighth-grade student you will write your own novel. Younger students anticipate it. Older students reminisce about it. The administration’s fully behind it. Parents couldn’t be happier. And most importantly, students come to realize that they have something to say that’s worth hearing, that they have the heart, the imagination, the soul, the skill, and the determination to write it all down.

I know that the novel is the most effective lesson all year long because students tell me so. It’s rare that years after leaving your classroom, a student approaches you and recounts what she remembers about your class. When she does though, it’s the novel she remembers. And what she usually says is that she never thought she could write a 1,000-story, much less a 15,000-word narrative. Students realize not only that they can write but that if given enough time and effort, they really can conceive the inconceivable.

A few weeks ago, about half a dozen high school students passed one on my classes as we marched across campus to a computer lab to sign up on the Young Writers Program website.

“Where are they headed?” a student asked me.

“Getting ready to write their novels,” I said.

The high school students whooped, hollered, cheered, and clapped for their home team.

So, yeah, it’s crazy all right. Just crazy enough to work.

R. Reese Fuller teaches at the Episcopal School of Acadiana in Cade, Louisiana. He runs the school’s Writing Studio and is the author of the creative nonfiction collection Angola to Zydeco: Louisiana Lives .

30 Covers, 30 Days 2014: Day 7 with Designer Val Lehnerd

30 Covers, 30 Days is back! What is 30C30D? We match up 30 professional designers with 30 NaNoWriMo participants, and challenge the designers to create a book cover in 48 hours or less, based solely on that participants’ 2014 NaNo-novel synopsis.

The NaNo-novel: Seedsong

As part of a coming-of-age ceremony, a young girl leaves her village to try to find the perfect place to nurse green back into the world, carrying some of the last remaining plant seeds in a small leather pouch around her neck. Her only supplies are her family’s crest, a cloak woven from water, and songs to coax life from even the most drought-ruined lands.

On her journey, she discovers the ghostly remains of the people who came before, a somehow sentient sandstorm, and the ruins of a massive city built in black marble that looks like the star-studded night sky.

The Genre: Adventure & Fantasy

The Author: E. M. Woodson in USA :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities

The Designer: Val Lehnerd is a Creative, Visual Communicator, Graphic Designer, Consultant, and Thinker in Las Vegas, Nevada where he is the Principle and Creative of Val Lehnerd Design. Lehnerd has worked with a multitude of clients who need everything from simple stationary systems to complex branding. Lehnerd currently serves as President of the Las Vegas chapter of the AIGA. He also teaches graphic design at the University of Nevada Las Vegas UNLV.

High-Resolution Book Art:

From the Come Write In Stacks: A Stone Soup Library Crawl

Our Come Write In program provides libraries, bookstores, and other neighborhood hubs the resources to build and support a local writing community. We dig through the stacks to bring you our favorite stories, from setting to inspirational challenge:

The Setting: The Carol Stream Public Library first started doing write-ins in 2010. I knew about NaNoWriMo from being a participant before I became a librarian. Our first write-in actually didn’t go well; I made the mistake of scheduling it during a Bears game, thinking writers weren’t likely to be sports fans. Now I know that is not the case in the Chicago area!

The next year, I connected with the Naperville regional Municipal Liaisons and had a much better turnout. I noticed the Wrimos were making plans to go to another local library after our write-in, and that’s how I got the idea for a Library Crawl. I thought it would be a great way for local libraries and Naperville NaNoWriMo to cross-promote our programs.

The Plot: The Naperville MLs and Wrimos have been amazing. I wouldn’t have been able to put this Library Crawl together without their help. It was their idea to do a “Stone Soup” theme, with each library assigned a vegetable.

It’s exciting how many libraries wanted to participate; we have write-ins planned at 16 locations. Some of the libraries have never hosted write-ins before, and the Library Crawl gave them the encouragement to give NaNoWriMo a try.

The Characters: It’s amazing to see a room full of people, from tweens to retirees, writing just for the sake of writing. The community connection it creates makes NaNoWriMo a natural fit for libraries. We usually have one or two patrons who have never heard of NaNoWriMo show up. They’re able to connect with Naperville NaNoWriMo, which has a year-round writing group. 

As a working mom, I understand how important it is to have a place to write, free of distraction. It’s a lot less tempting to surf the Internet when you know you might get caught by the person sitting next to you. Also, it’s fun to imagine that the next undiscovered best-selling author might be in the same room, typing away, and I could say I knew her back when she was just starting out.

The Dare: Write a scene based on this sentence: “The stone soup had unintended consequences.”

Sarah Kovac is an Adult Services Reference Librarian at the Carol Stream Public Library and has been hosting write-ins for the past five years. She is the organizer of the first Naperwrimo Library Crawl. She lives in the western suburbs of Chicago with her husband and son.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2014: Day 6 with Designer Jill Spaeth

30 Covers, 30 Days is back! What is 30C30D? We match up 30 professional designers with 30 NaNoWriMo participants, and challenge the designers to create a book cover in 48 hours or less, based solely on that participants’ 2014 NaNo-novel synopsis.

The NaNo-novel: Letters from the Klondike

1896. The Klondike Gold Rush is underway. An onslaught of stampeders flood the shores of Alaska, anxious to stake a claim. Among them is Angus Calhoon, a young journalist who totes his beloved typewriter to the subarctic and pines for the woman who spurned him. As winter descends, he has not a dime left to his name.

Constance Hall drives a hard bargain as the matron of the best hotel in Alaska, The North Star. While she isn’t panning for gold like the rest, the industrious hotelier finds her own way to make a buck. But when a ghost from her past makes a pit stop at The North Star, Constance finds her fortune and independence in jeopardy.

This is a tale of high adventure as told through their letters home.

The Genre: Historical Fiction

The Author: Suzie Eckl in USA :: District of Columbia

The Designer: Jill Spaeth is president and director of design at Citizen Creative, a firm she established in 2010 that specializes in experience design. Spaeth was recently elected by the membership of AIGA to sit on the national board of directors, serving a three-year term. In 2007, she was part of the team that founded the AIGA DC Design Continuum Scholarship Fund with the goal of increasing diversity in the design profession. 

Most recently Spaeth added the title of chief creative officer to her CV by joining science and technology startup Zansors. Spaeth received an executive education in business at Yale University’s School of Management and has a B.F.A in graphic design from Rochester Institute of Technology.

High-Resolution Book Art:

NaNo Coach: Fishing for Ideas

This season, we’ve brought on published authors to serve as NaNo Coaches to help guide you to reaching 50,000 words. Our first NaNo Coach, author and former NaNo staffer Lindsey Grant, shares her words of wisdom:

Serving as your Week One NaNo Coach for the past few days has taken me right back to the first time I participated in NaNoWriMo. I remember well the singular anxiety and adrenaline dredged up by this weird, wonderful, and infinitely worthwhile thing y’all are doing.

Understandably, a lot of your questions run along the lines of:

“Is it wrong to…” 
“What if I…” 
“I don’t know how to…” 
“I accidentally [insert alleged accident] and now I [perceived tragedy]…” 

I hug you, and I come bearing really good news that will hopefully help to answer these types of questions and relieve some of that don’t-know-how-to stress.

The deal is this: ideas are slippery fish, and we are our own worst critics. Catching these fish while ignoring the rude recriminations of that Inner Editor can seem like an impossible feat, but that’s where NaNoWriMo comes in. Oy!—I hear all of your IE’s piping up:

“Catching fish is hard/gross/wet/slimy!”

“I have a cast on both hands and over my brain!”

"I’m allergic to fish and don’t own gloves!”

“What’s fish?”

Silence!

November and NaNoWriMo can seem really scary and complicated and hard, when actually it is brilliantly simple because it comes with zero rules, save one. You may not give up. Do not let your Inner Editor convince you away from that fish-filled water. Under no circumstances do you leave your fish-ideas behind to slither away, unremembered.

You have permission to land those ideas any which way. There is no “right”. Use every tool in your arsenal to net, dynamite, dam, trick, trap, catch, or charm the story points, snatches of dialogue, character components, other worlds, past worlds, plot twists, beginnings, middles, endings, and in-betweens that have been banging around, disordered and fleeting, in your brain, and get them onto the page. That is your sole mission.

Nobody but nobody is expecting you to not only wrangle this passel of fish, but also gut, scale, debone, and portion them out perfectly, turning your catch into a fish filet, steak, mousse, pie, stew, or fricassee by November 30. We’re all in this together, brain-fishing for raw, whole, still-wriggling, unedited ideas.

Remember, nobody in the world has gone on to cook a fish that’s still swimming around, uncaught. If you know that guy, send him my way, because I’ll be the one with questions. Come December 1, we’ll start talking cleaning, butchering, and cookery, but until that day, your Inner Editor lives in the tackle box, and we’re all gone fishing.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2014: Day 5 with Designer Jonas Robinett

30 Covers, 30 Days is back! What is 30C30D? We match up 30 professional designers with 30 NaNoWriMo participants, and challenge the designers to create a book cover in 48 hours or less, based solely on that participants’ 2014 NaNo-novel synopsis.

The NaNo-novel: Winter’s Son

When Poe’s mother hangs herself, Poe returns to her childhood home. Only, she barely recognizes her former best friend, Blake. She doesn’t recall playing with Blake in the woods behind their neighborhood, or the piano abandoned there. She has no idea that this piano is a gateway to another world…

Nightmares aren’t inventions of Poe’s imagination like her mother told her. Nightmares are real, and they want her. Suddenly, nothing about her life can be trusted—not her upbringing, not her memories, not her mother’s death. She wants to run, but then the Nightmares take Blake… and Poe won’t let them destroy more lives in their hunt.

The Genre: Horror & Supernatural

The Author: Amanda Gignac in USA :: Massachusetts :: Boston

The Designer: Jonas Robinett is a 27-year-old, born and raised Texan. Jonas sparked an interest in art at the age of 13, but it wasn’t until he was 18 that he found his style in comic books. His idols in the comic book community include: Jim Lee, Olivier Coipel, and Kris Anka.

High-Resolution Book Art: