Chris Baty's Blog, page 225

NaNoWriMo: A Season for Growing

Week one of NaNoWriMo is coming to a wrap. For those of you feeling the onset of those Week Two Blues, Andrea Hannah has some encouraging words for you as she walks us through how NaNoWriMo has changed her life.

Around this time two years ago, I was staring at a blinking cursor in Microsoft Word. Week one of NaNoWriMo. Zero words. There was a lot of sitting and staring those first several days. There was a lot of waiting instead of writing. 

At the time, I hadn’t realized what I’d been waiting for, or that I’d been waiting at all. But I had been. Ever since my mom had passed away from a lung disease the year before, and I had taken custody of my teenage brother, I’d been waiting for someone to tell me what I was supposed to do—about anything. About everything.

NaNoWriMo was an awkward step in any direction, a desperate lunge toward something that I could create from nothing. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was a first step in the right direction. 

2010 - My First NaNo:

After I got over the whole “What the hell did I sign up for?” thing, I started writing. I used a very loose outline and created as I went. It was a fury of dialogue and plot twists and action sequences. 

It… wasn’t very good. 

But it was okay; it didn’t need to be good. It just needed to be. 

And so, on December 1, I officially fell in love with writing. And revising.

Lots and lots of revising. 

I cut and rewrote and read books and blog posts about writing. I questioned my characters and metaphors. I questioned the point of all this. What, exactly, did I think I was doing? 

2011 - My Second NaNo: 

In 2011, I figured out what I was doing. I gained some writing self-esteem by entering my 2010 Nano project in contests and getting good feedback. I’d also figured out that I was definitely a plotter, and that I definitely needed an outline. 

So I outlined. A lot. 

I won Nano again in 2011, by the skin of my teeth, with hard-fought words. However, the real difference was in the quality of my story; I’d taken longer to write my 50K words, but this time they were just a tiny bit better. 

I still revised a lot in the months following, but this time it wasn’t a vehicle to pull me out of the grief of losing my mom and raising a teenager. It had bloomed into a love for writing so deep that I couldn’t not fix this novel. 

I reached out to the writing community. I let people I’d never met before mend punctuation blunders and broken character arcs. I let them help me write a query letter. Because for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was done waiting for something to happen to me. I was going to make something happen with this writing thing.

2012 - This Year’s NaNo:

I have a pretty good idea of what’s in store for my third NaNoWriMo. I have an outline so detailed that it teeters on the thin line between organized and downright psychotic. I have pages and pages of research, and a cupboard crammed full of various forms of caffeine. I also already have 22,000 words written. 

Because although the fervor and panic and sheer adrenaline rush of November is still the same, this one is particularly special for me. This is the first NaNo I’m doing as an agented writer.

I signed with my lovely agent back in May for my 2011 NaNo-novel—the novel that almost killed me. I’ve already been furiously writing another manuscript for her. And I’m using this year’s long November nights to finish so that she can send this piece of NaNo-driven love out into the world.

That’s when the waiting will begin all over again. I’ll still be waiting for someone to tell me what they think of my story, what to do about this thing I’ve created. But the difference is that this time the waiting is a good thing, a wonderful thing, even. It’s part of the process that I brought to life with those first few steps in the shaky, early days of NaNo 2010.

And this November, I’m not wasting any more time staring at my cursor. There are still 21 days to go, Wrimos new and veteran, and we’ve got novels to finish. 

Andrea Hannah is a Young Adult writer represented by Victoria Marini at Gelfman Schneider. She writes about criminals, crazy people and creatures that may or may not exist. You can find her on her blog (sometimes) and on Twitter (all the time).

How has NaNoWriMo affected your life?

30 Covers, 30 Days 2012: Day 9

Today’s cover was designed by Sarah Ciston!

The Learning Complex by YWP author, Homeschoolcool

The Learning Complex requires all youth between the ages of fourteen and seventeen to sit in groups of 20-30 for six hours every day and cover exactly the same curricula, no more and no less, at exactly the same rate. It is vitally important that they are able to fill out forms in precisely the way that those who present the information want.

After their time in the Complex is done for the day they are given extensive practice work for their brief time at home lest they forget everything they’ve been taught in their few waking hours outside the Complex.

Sarah Ciston runs BootlegBooks.net, an editing and design studio that helps independent authors publish in style. She is managing editor of the literary zine We Still Like.

Veronica Belmont's Round 1 With NaNoWriMo

Veronica Belmont has carved out an entire corner of her own in the vast expanse of the internet, and she’s doing great things with her empire. A writer, video host, and social media guru, Veronica co-hosts two online book clubs, each with their own devoted following: the Sword and Laser, a fantasy and sci-fi video series with Tom Merritt, and an adult romance-novel book club with Felicia Day, Kiala Kazabee, and Bonnie Burton.

When Veronica tweeted last year that she would be making her first attempt at NaNoWriMo, I was thrilled. So when she mentioned she was going to participate again this year, I jumped at the opportunity to chat with her about books and NaNo-ing. The coffee was strong, and I was entirely too nervous but as I imagined she would be, Veronica was super nice, forthright, and a wonderful interview.

You won NaNo last year! What kind of roadblocks did you come across your first time around, and how did you navigate them? What did you encounter that you weren’t expecting to?

I think the only reason I succeeded was because of peer pressure, because I was making it public that I was doing it. I was obsessed with making my word count. I used Scrivener as my writing tool to track my progress and set daily goals.

Some of my roadblocks were just coming up with ideas. I would just sit there and stare sometimes at the blank screen and not know where to take the story. But other times it just flowed. I was able to write, and write, and not even think about it. I’m not a writer of fiction. I’ve been writing my whole life, but it’s all been blog posts, or articles, or magazines. So this was a big challenge for me to make the switch.

Unfortunately I never finished my last story. It reaches the climax of the story, where the two factions meet for the very first time and then—it ends.

It’s good to know that you have all that fodder if you ever want to keep going.

If I ever go back to it, I’m definitely at a good point to wrap things up. But it’s actually the hardest part, too. One of the things I’ve learned during this process is that it’s good to have a road map to work with. 

I’ve talked to a lot of different authors over the years and they all have very different ways of writing. Some of them stick to their road map, and others write and let the characters tell the story for them. I wish I was the latter kind of writer, but this year I have to make sure I don’t get stuck in that quagmire at the end again where I don’t know what’s gonna happen.

So would you say you’re more of a planner or a pantser?

I was a pantser the last time around, although I had notes on my story, and bits of inspiration on my board in Scrivener, so I could visualize everything really well. This year, the actual structure of the storyline will be harder so I’m planning.

Is there an author that you would love to read a pep talk from?

Patrick Rothfuss. I peer pressured him into starting NaNoWriMo last year, and he was very happy for me that I finished, but very upset that he didn’t  He was starting the third book of the King Killer Chronicles, and he got pretty far. What he writes in a day is so much more than what I do, but he didn’t quite get to the end in time. I would love to hear about how he plans on making it happen.

What are you reading right now?

Right now I’m reading The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams, one of my favorite fantasy authors. He’s actually one of the very first fantasy authors I’d ever read. This new book is more of an urban fantasy, and it’s a standalone, it’s not part of a series. We’re reading it for Sword and Laser right now.

How did Sword and Laser come into being?

Tom Merritt and I did a podcast called “Buzz Out Loud” together. I’m more of a fantasy person, he’s more of a sci-fi guy. We thought it would be fun to keep doing a show together. He actually came up with the name. He wanted it to have that vibe of sitting around at a pub with your friends, drinking a beer, and talking about these stories together.

Now we have author guides, which is kind of a run-down on an author, introducing them to an audience, including some of their must reads, and an interview with that author.

How did the adult romance-novel book club begin, and what kind of audience were you hoping to meet when starting it?

It addresses a very under-served audience. This was a Felicia Day creation. On her Goodreads page she had a separate bookshelf for fantasy books that had elements of romance and “sexy times,” as we call them on the show. We’ve seen a huge influx of this kind of book, and people who are reading it.

It’s just as viable a form of fiction as anything else out there. There’s good stuff, there’s bad stuff, and we read it all. It’s stuff that we’ve read for a long time that we’ve always been kind of embarrassed to admit to liking.

What did you take away from last year’s experience that made you want to do NaNo again?

As someone who hadn’t written fiction before, it was a huge undertaking  that seemed very daunting at first. But I was able to see that it’s totally possible to finish! I don’t give myself a lot of time to work on personally creative stuff like this in my day-to-day life. It’s forcing me to take the time to explore this other side of myself that I haven’t explored in the past, trying something completely new that’s out of my comfort zone.

Was there anything that you learned about your writing as you were doing it?

I write the way I speak. I’m never gonna be the kind of author that writes in a very specific style for each different story that they do. Going forward, I’ll probably just always write in Veronica-voice with any character.

— Ari

Keep up with Veronica:

On her website
On Twitter
On Facebook
Via her projects

Are you writing sci-fi or fantasy this year?

30 Covers, 30 Days 2012: Day 8

Today’s design was created by 30 Covers, 30 Days coordinator Debbie Millman!

Violet Pepper Takes a Groom by Melissa Scott

First comes love…

Violet Pepper just bagged the man of her dreams. Well, six months ago on a beach at dawn. Could anything be more perfect?

Second comes marriage…

If Violet can hold it together long enough to make it down the aisle. As a wedding planner, she is a pro at planning other people’s wedding, but her’s is proving to be a bit of a problem. It’s not going exactly as she’d hoped. A traditional soon-to-be mother-in-law (who doesn’t like her), a hunt for a house (why are there so many?), one ex-boyfriend (who makes her glad she didn’t stay with him), and two big surprises will all add to the stress. But, with the help of her fiance, best friend, and a lot of yoga—Violet Pepper will take a groom.

Debbie Millman is President of the design division at Sterling Brands, President Emeritus of the AIGA, the largest professional association for design, and host of the award winning podcast “Design Matters.” She is a contributing editor at Print Magazine, a design writer at FastCompany.com, and Chair of the Masters in Branding Program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Debbie is also the author of five books on design including Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits, Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design, and How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer.

Introducing: NaNoWriMo, The Musical!

Yes, you read that right, the day has finally come when a NaNoWriMo Musical walks the earth. The first two installments of this six-part series are already up, and we asked the writers and director to give us a peek behind the scenes:

Tell us about how NaNoWriMo the Musical came about! Why now? Why NaNo? Is there someting intrinsically musical about writing 50,000 words in 30 days? Is there a song counting down the time like Seasons of Love?

Errol: Back in 2008, a bunch of people got together and made a CD about writing a novel for NaNoWriMo. It was a lot of fun, and song was a great way of encapsulating the experience of doing NaNoWriMo. After that, I started writing silly parody songs about NaNoWriMo because I liked to procrastinate.

However, the month of NaNoWriMo itself is so fraught with stress, drama, conflict, and romance, that I figured it’d be a great backdrop for a musical! When June came around, I wanted a project; I thought three months should give me enough time to write a musical to release for NaNoWriMo! Boy, was I wrong. 

And I should have written a song at least about 43,200 minutes.

Manda: Errol and I started working together earlier this year and a couple of times he brought up the idea of writing a musical together. I’ve always wanted to do one but lack any actual musical skill, so I was happy to leave the music to him.

When Errol suggested writing one about NaNoWriMo, I was all for it. It was a subject we were both passionate about. NaNoWriMo has been a big part of my life the last few years and has changed the way I look at writing.

The funny thing is, we’ve both been doing NaNoWriMo for years but have had very different experiences. I’d never actually really met Errol until last year even though we’d both been participating. I didn’t really go to events because I was, well…writing. 

Errol: No! You were shy and introverted and scared of people. But that’s okay!

Manda: …Thanks, Errol. Yes, I was a bit shy as well. Anyway, we only had a camera and a couple of lights, but that was enough for us. I had actor friends who were talented and willing to help out. And somehow in three months, we had slapped together a musical. It’s been an insane time but also a lot of fun.

How was writing a musical different from your previous experiences  novel-writing? Did you learn anything you’ll be applying to your NaNo-novel this year?

Errol: Admittedly, it was great for me. Writing a script is easy because you don’t need to worry too much about what characters look like. Of course, things like motivation and backstory are still important, but considering we were well aware of the stress of NaNo, that part wasn’t too hard.

Manda: Ha, it wasn’t easy either!

Errol: Furthermore, it’s great having a co-writer! The way Manda and I would brainstorm is that we’d set up the scenario and then Manda and I would improv for about 10 - 20 minutes. If we liked it, we would improv again, and keep doing it until we’d honed it to something usable.

She’d write it down for us and the actors to learn. And then finally, when it came to shooting the scene, I’d scrap the script and improv different things. 

Manda: It’s a good thing I’m not sensitive about the lines being changed. It’s always an adventure acting with Errol, that’s for sure. Thankfully, more often than not, he makes things funnier. He’ll never give himself enough credit.

For myself, I’ve written short plays before but had never actually written a full screenplay. Writing a novel is a different beast from writing a script. There are things that are challenging about both. The difference with a script is that you always have to consider that things will be said out loud. Sometimes dialogue that looks great on the page sounds incredibly awkward out loud.

That’s why it was so great to be able to improv it with Errol before actually committing it to a script. We were able to get a good flow going and shape it from there. Like a novel though, we had to make sure that everything remained true to the message and story we were trying to tell. I think that learning to do dialogue in script form will help me form my dialogue for my novel this year.

If The Book of Mormon is South Park meets the Church of Latter-Day Saints, what is your musical a melting pot of?

Errol: The Muppets Take NaNoWriMo?

Manda: Yeah, that sounds about right. There are actually a bunch of musical styles we end up parodying.

Kelsey: Hahaha, yes, Muppets—if Woody Allen and Jim Henson had ever collaborated but had no money whatsoever, this would have been the result. 

Errol: Oh Look! It’s Kelsey! She’s our director!

Your musical is released to great fanfare. It goes off-Broadway, then to Broadway, then to a movie musical. What travesty-like changes does Hollywood inflict upon your initial pure-of-heart musical?

Errol: It was meant to be insane, and crazy, and cheesy. If they could make it more cheesy, that would be awesome. If they made it bland and took it too seriously, I’d be sad.

If they cast Jackie Chan to be my character and added martial arts bits, that’d be totally awesome. 

Manda: Yeah, my fear is that they would make it too serious. I love comedy, and I love—

Errol: How it allows her to meet boys!

Manda: Errol! Back on track. Anyway, I’m of the school of thought that nothing should ever be too serious. The best comedies are those that are rooted in reality. It makes it stand out more and resonates more with an audience. Obviously, we loved writing the jokes, but we had an important message at the heart of it. If they took the comedy away from this musical, it wouldn’t be nearly as fun.

Kelsey: If they made the characters vampires, that would suck and be illogical. Mostly though if they got rid of the “nerd” or “weird”—what gives the piece heart is that it’s quirky. Also, if the movie was made with a Hollywood budget and there wasn’t a crane shot, I’d be pissed. I really wanted a crane shot. I didn’t even get an origami crane—my producers are jerks!

What was the stand-out memory of writing, performing, and shooting this musical?

Errol: There is an energy about doing something every day at an intense rate with the same bunch of people, which is what comes with NaNoWriMo, too. It would be hard to pinpoint one thing, but one part that I enjoyed was swapping parts for one silly take. I had been playing the comedic relief the whole time, and Luke, who played the main lead, wanted to get his chance at actually poking and prodding at me. It was hilarious.

Manda: It’s hard to pick a stand-out moment. There were quite a few. It was an incredibly intense and quick process, sometimes I’d have to take a moment to wonder what on earth I was doing.

I’m going to list a couple stand-out moments. One of the first was during the writing process. Errol was gone on vacation with no wireless connection and barely any cell phone reception. He managed to get a signal near the piano at the camp he was at, and one day he called me to play a couple of the songs he was writing. The reception was scratchy and Errol had to yell to be heard, but when I heard the songs I remember getting really excited about the fact that this was actually happening.

Another thing that sticks out, during filming, uh…

Errol: When you were nervous about everything? When you freaked out? When you were having fits of doubt? 

Manda: No! Go eat some wings or something.

No, there was one shoot where Errol secretly swapped places with our friend Lyf, one of our chorus members who happened to be wearing the same colored clothes as Errol. When we were about to film, I noticed Errol hiding behind the couch, but didn’t say anything, figuring that when he popped out from behind the couch singing the director would yell cut seeing as how Lyf was bald and not Asian, and Errol…was the opposite.

Errol: I’m not bald… and quite Asian.

Manda: But when Errol popped up and started singing the song along with everyone else no one yelled cut, and they finished the take. Then he swapped back and they went on to the next take. Nobody had noticed that he was in the take until about five minutes later, and even then only when we had blatantly brought it up. We spent valuable shoot time laughing about it, and it was one of my best memories of the shoot.

Kelsey: The fact that I did not notice just shows how color-blind I am! That’s one of my favorite moments, too. Also, I was shooting a scene in the hallway of Manda’s building and noticed that one of the light flickered and made it look like a horror film. Manda sings this song “Cannot Edit” that is totally the villainous “Be Prepared” number from The Lion King. When I saw that light, I ran home and completely redid my shot list for that number, the whole thing looks like The Shining now. I think that’s my favorite number just because I got to play stylistically so much, and it was such a happy accident because there was no way I could of forced the lights to do that. 

Finally, pitch your movie to us like we’re seasoned financiers, bored with the world, and all the money we’re sitting on.

Manda: This question scares me. Someone else can answer… no one? Okay!

A writer plagued with writer’s block, a girl new to the big city, an organizer who is constantly stressed and… Rick, who’s happy. Together, these four friends will tackle friendship, love and chips all while participating in one of the most famous writing challenges in history… set to music! With action, comedy, drama, and very bad dancing: you won’t want to miss it!

Kelsey: It’s Whip It meets Empire Records. A group of quirky misfits are brought together by their love for writing, but as the pressure mounts, budding romances, impending deadlines, and a little too much forced-together time almost sever the group for good.

The romance plot will give the story generic box-office appeal. The music bodes well for soundtrack sales. The setting of NaNoWriMo, and the quirky nature of the songs and characters will help move the film beyond teenage-date night revenue and provide a quirk that’s popular among the educated and hip 15-35 demographic. Also there is a reference to Gangnam Style…so we can probably get on Ellen. 

Errol: I like Kelsey’s better, Manda.

Kelsey Goldberg (Director) - Kelsey is a writer, actor, director and producer and co-founder of Veruca Productions.

Manda Whitney (Actor & Writer) - This is Manda’s fourth NaNoWriMo. She is a writer, actor and one half of the comedy duo WE Tangent.

Errol Elumir (Actor & Writer) - This is Errol’s seventh NaNoWriMo and he is the co-author of NaNoToons. He is one half of the comedy duo WE Tangent, and also one half of the geek music duo Debs & Errol. 

Keep up with NaNoWriMo: The Musical here:

Facebook
Twitter
On their website

30 Covers, 30 Days 2012: Day 7

Today’s cover was created by Alberto Rigau.

The Bokkenrijder Curse by Elaine Schmeck

Over two hundred years ago, members of a revived order of the Knights Templar captured, tortured, and executed ten men in a tiny rural village for being members of a Satanic band of criminals known as the Bokkenrijders. None of them were guilty of the crime, but proof of their innocence was discarded and ignored.

After inheriting her grandmother’s journal, Evelyn Chambliss learns that one of her ancestors was among those ten men. Armed with the journals and a last request, she travels to the Netherlands to learn the truth. Though many records have been destroyed, she pores over village documents, listens to folk tales and legends, and even visits the haunted ruins of the Templar Priory in an effort to clear her ancestor’s name.

While deep within the dusty halls of the once grand temple, she makes a startling discovery that will alter the way the villagers view the Priory and the men it persecuted. Though she is met with otherworldly resistance, she also finds aid in an unexpected individual whose connection to the riders, the Templars, and the executions are much closer than she could have ever dreamed.

Alberto Rigau was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Exposure to his father’s architectural practice motivated an early freelancing career which later transformed into Estudio Interlínea and the publishing imprint Editorial Revés. Alberto’s work has been recognized by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, exhibited in Puerto Rico, the United States, Portugal and Spain, and published in various magazines and books. He currently lectures on design thinking methodologies and creativity as a tool to ignite meaningful cultural experiences.

Grammar Girl says, “Forget about the grammar [for now].”

During #NaNoPrep last month, I posted the above advice on Twitter, and a few people’s heads exploded because Grammar Girl was saying not to worry about grammar. I didn’t mean you shouldn’t use the proper grammar you know. I meant you shouldn’t stop to look up things you don’t know.

Go Fast

Here’s the thing: You have enough to worry about trying to pull together a gripping plot, a believable world, and a complex protagonist—among other things—at breakneck speed in November. NaNoWriMo is about writing quickly, and you aren’t going to get to 50,000 words in a month if you’re pulling out the Chicago Manual of Style every 15 minutes to look up some rule you don’t know.

Getting too focused on mechanics can also stymie your creativity. When I first started writing as Grammar Girl, I was so paranoid about making mistakes that the quality of my writing declined. It lacked richness and complexity because I was sticking to simple sentence structures. Don’t fall into that trap.

Fix It Later

Fortunately, grammar, punctuation, and usage are easy to go back and fix later. Nobody expects the first draft from NaNoWriMo to be a polished gem ready for publication. Let it sit for a few weeks or months, and then tackle the clean-up. 

Use the Chicago Manual of Style

When you’re looking things up, do reach for that Chicago Manual of Style. It’s the style guide favored by the publishing industry. When the answer isn’t in Chicago, they usually refer you to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (lovingly referred to as Webster’s Third or W3).

Learn These Common Rules

Since you’re here reading and not working on your novel right now (Bad author!), I’ll pass along the answer to a couple of questions fiction writers often ask. It’s likely you’d wonder about these while your writing, so now you don’t have to. 

Formatting Thoughts. If you want to convey a character’s thoughts, the most common way to do it is with italics. Here’s an example from The Da Vinci Code:

He could feel himself ascending to a higher station in life. I will never be a servant again. As Rémy gazed down the embankment at the duck pond below, Château Villette seemed miles away.

Punctuation with Quotation Marks. Semicolons, colons, dashes, and asterisks go outside quotation marks.

Eighty-year-old Mr. Higgins then proceeded to do the dance from “Gangnam Style”—I was impressed. 

In the United States, we put periods and commas inside quotation marks:

“Step away from the zombies,” she said.

She eyed him warily and said, “Put down the gun.”

The rules for periods and commas outside the US are more complicated. (I can’t help you there.) 
With question marks and exclamation points, you have to evaluate the sentence to know where to put them. (I wrote about it in detail here.)

Separate Editing Tasks

Once you are editing, it’s helpful to read through focusing just on the copy editing. If you notice that you have major plot problems or that halfway through the story your world changed from a lush fantasy forest to an urban wasteland, ignore it! On the copy editing read, just fix the copy—subject-verb agreement, spelling, punctuation, and so on. This is the time to look up things you aren’t sure about. Read it for continuity and developmental editing another time.

Good luck with NaNoWriMo, and I wish you a happy editing experience sometime in the future.

Mignon Fogarty is better known online as Grammar Girl. She produces a free writing podcast, has written hundreds of articles, and is the author of the New York Times bestseller Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. This year, she’ll be participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time. 

30 Covers, 30 Days 2012: Day 6

Today’s cover was designed by Trevor Rogers.

Hugo’s Murders by Biddy Tamberg

The newspaper headlines are having a party: Murder! Murder in one of the country’s most prestigious schools! Speculation flies and everyone is certain that they will solve the case by acting as the next Sherlock Holmes. Others in turn are frightened—why would anyone kill a student, a very popular and beloved student, after all?

In the middle of all this, Elisabet is trying to fix the trouble that she’s in herself. The possibility of mental disorders, gender/sexuality confusion and her first serious love are messing with her head—and being the main suspect doesn’t make it a damn bit easier. In her last attempt to prove her innocence, she decides to solve the crime herself. But the only person willing to help her is the one person she blames for ruining her life…

Time is running out, and Elisabet has to make her choice: to accept the help of a person she would gladly murder, or to avoid them and play alone. Can she overcome her problems and solve this puzzle before the killer strikes again? Or will she be proven guilty before she has a chance to act?

Tick tock, Eli. The game is on.

Trevor Rogers received his BFA in visual arts with an emphasis in graphic design at California State University, Fullerton, and currently works and lives in Orange County, California. His work has been featured on: Lovely Package, NOTCOT, Designer Daily, Under Construction, and Whiteboard Journal.

NaNoWriMo 2012: The CreateSpace & KDP Chronicles

This year, CreateSpace has returned as a sponsor for National Novel Writing Month, and will be offering each NaNo Winner five free paperback copies of their November novels. You can’t sponsor NaNoWriMo without being pulled into the community, though, and members of the CreateSpace and Kindle team are going to be embracing the challenge. Read about the start of their journey below!

Around the world, hundreds of thousands of authors are beginning National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It’s a month of furious writing to reach a 50,000-word goal in 30 days, and our authors at CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing are getting in on the action. CreateSpace and KDP employees Andrea, Katy, Zach, Phoebe, Jonny, and Margaret are taking the challenge and will be using their free time to write those novels alongside you.

We’ll document their experiences on our blog as they start the contest, race towards the finish, and work to hit that goal. You might even see similarities between your experience and theirs; if so, let us know in the comments!

Without further ado, meet our CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing authors!

Andrea, CreateSpace

I was born and raised in South Boston, MA and am a Northern transplant to Charleston, S.C. I am a proud community actor and will audition for anything comedic. I write mostly as a form of therapy; it’s a wonderful outlet. I write what I know, which is mostly about my crazy family…crazy in a funny way (mostly)!

What inspired you to participate in NaNoWriMo this year?

Our authors. I have procrastinated for years to finish my project. Every day, I work with authors who are not only plugging away at day jobs and other day-to-day responsibilities, but are still finding time to write. I want to be that motivated and finally finish my own project that has been 10 years in the making.

What is your plan for reaching 50,000 words in 30 days?

This is a hard one for me; I want to divide 50,000 by 30 and make sure I hit that mark each day, but I know life will happen. I also have the worst habit of not wanting to write until I want to write. I’m hoping to find daily inspiration and stay motivated.

Anything else you want to add?

I’m scared I won’t finish! But I’m also scared that I will. Will this be my Harper Lee? She wrote one killer book that still rings true today, but never wrote again. Really, though, I would be happy if just a handful of people read this book I’m composing and it makes them laugh.

Katy, Kindle Direct Publishing

I’ve worked at Amazon for a year and a half. I’m a huge word nerd who likes dark humor, dry wit, and rewatching Hot Fuzz monthly. I read voraciously, watch too much genre television, game, and love to travel - though in a party of adventurers I’m typically the person left standing at the mouth of the cave going, “Guys? Guuuuuys? I’m not sure if we should be doing this….” I’ve made my peace with it. Adventures always need a fuddy-duddy. 

What inspired you to participate in NaNoWriMo this year?

I function best within constraints, particularly when it comes to writing, so NaNoWriMo’s perfect for me. I always have oodles of ideas bashing around my head, but I never take the time to commit any of them to paper. The competitive and social aspects of NaNo (even if I’m competing against myself!) give me that extra oomph to tackle one or more of those ideas a year.

Is this your first time, or are you a seasoned veteran?

I’m a seasoned veteran, but I’ve never won the war.

What is your plan for reaching 50,000 words in 30 days?

My plan is the gratuitous application of Write or Die while commuting. Write or Die is a program that harasses you if you stop typing - with punishments as innocuous as flashing red lights across your computer screen or as terrible as the mode that will start eating your words with no chance of recovery if you stop typing for long enough. It’s terrifying, but also a fabulous motivator.

Anything else you want to add?

The most effective thing I’ve done during NaNo is plot out what I wanted to write each day before I sit down to write it. That way, when I have those horrible moments of “ACK CRAP WHAT NEXT?!” I have a general idea. I’m sure this is old hat to tons of people, but it took me waaay too many years to grasp that it was vital to the process for me.

Zach, CreateSpace

I began writing in elementary school and took many classes about writing both fiction and nonfiction through middle school, high school, and college. While initially I wrote poetry, I found I liked reading and writing fiction more. My hope is to eventually publish the work I’ll be doing this month.

What inspired you to participate in NaNoWriMo this year?

I was inspired to participate this year because I have been neglecting my writing for a while due to work, school, and sometimes a lack of motivation. After working with so many authors who participated in NaNoWriMo last year, I decided this was the perfect time to start writing again.

Is this your first time, or are you a seasoned veteran?

I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo twice before, to varying degrees of success.

What is your plan for reaching 50,000 words in 30 days?

When I was first introduced to NaNoWriMo, the best advice I received was that the goal isn’t a coherent, final story; it’s just the idea of consistent work. One problem I run into is that I get part of a story done, but then begin to edit and revise parts, rather than pressing forward. My goal here is to keep the flow going and sort out the details in December.

Phoebe, Kindle Direct Publishing

I’ve been with Amazon just over 7 years, working in a variety of positions mainly connected with Amazon’s digital endeavors. When I’m not working (or writing) you can usually find me going to pub trivia in the evenings or playing video games.

What inspired you to participate in NaNoWriMo this year?

I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year for the same reason I’ve done it every year since 2006 - whether I sail happily across the finish line or flame out on day 2, it’s incredible fun and a much-needed reminder that yes, this whole “writing” thing can really happen, but only if I make it happen.

Is this your first time, or are you a seasoned veteran?

This will be my seventh year of NaNo and I’m hoping to get my win ratio over 50% for the first time since my first year.

What is your plan for reaching 50,000 words in 30 days?

The key for me is minimizing distractions, maximizing writing opportunities, and getting my engine running in the first week. A couple of my best assets in years past have been GetYarny.com and a trusty netbook with monster battery life.

Jonny, CreateSpace

I live in beautiful Charleston, S.C. with my partner and my daughter. I am exploring pescetarianism as an alternative to being a vegetarian, because how can you not eat seafood in Charleston? I enjoy writing, yoga, paddleboard surfing, graphic design, and creating music. My favorite authors are Emerson, Thoreau, and Chopra.

What inspired you to participate in NaNoWriMo this year?

November is going to be a whirlwind month for me, as I have committed to completing a month-long yoga challenge, growing a moustache for Movember, building a small online storefront, and pushing myself creatively through writing.

Is this your first time, or are you a seasoned veteran?

This is my first time participating in NaNoWriMo, and I am excited to see where it takes me.

What is your plan for reaching 50,000 words in 30 days?

At this point, I have taken to heart that this be a pure spark of creativity from day one. I have only come up with two thoughts and a potential title, and I have restricted all other planning or thought on the subject. Ideally, I will produce about 2,000 words a day and everything else will fall into place.

Margaret, CreateSpace

I’m a native South Floridian and work on CreateSpace’s editorial team. When I’m not reading and writing for work, I am reading and writing for pleasure…or chasing the impossible dream of finding the perfect sandwich. But that’s not what my book is about.

What inspired you to participate in NaNoWriMo this year?

I’ve been mulling over some book ideas for a year or so. I love working in editing and helping authors’ manuscripts come together, but a full day of work can make it tough to do the heavy lifting on my own projects when I get home. I knew I really needed some motivation to get these ideas in process and hold myself to a deadline to come out with a workable draft.

Is this your first time, or are you a seasoned veteran?

First time. Go easy on me, NaNoWriMo.

What is your plan for reaching 50,000 words in 30 days?

In the immortal words of Tim Gunn, “Make it work.”

Track the CreateSpace/Kindle Publishing Team’s progress over on their blog!

30 Covers, 30 Days 2012: Day 5

Today’s cover was created by Santiago Carrasquilla.

Paradise by Caroline Billard

When a highly-mutated form of Necrotizing Fasciitis, a flesh-eating virus, becomes communicable, humanity’s spiral downward is rapid and apparent; most of the world’s population is affected. “Living zombies” are everywhere, fighting each other for a cure that does not exist. Just like any other apocalyptic scenario, madness triumphs over logic, and all hope for recovery is lost.

However, a sliver of the world’s population, is lucky enough to remain unaffected carriers of the disease, and no one knows why. Once everyone caught on to this, most of the carriers were taken in for testing, as a means to find possible cures for the disease. Ana is one of these carriers, and she refuses to give her cherished life away to science and life in a lab.

She lives each day just as she pleases: alone. But living how one wants does not always mean they are in paradise, and Ana progressively realizes this as she observes the crumbling remains of society, and struggles to survive each day.

Santiago Carrasquilla is a graphic designer and film maker currently working at & in NYC.