Chris Baty's Blog, page 232

The ML's Guide to Writing in Atlanta: Writing on Their Minds...

We like a lot of things that come from the fine city of Atlanta: Diet Coke, CNN, the music of Outkast, and even NaNoWriMo PD Lindsey Grant. But our favorite thing—sorry, Lindsey—is probably the IKEA-invading, panda-loving region known as “NaNoLanta.” We asked local MLs Matt, Hype, and Tia to clue us in on their strange, inspiring brilliance.

The Atlanta region rundown:

Best Local Writer Fuel — The Atlanta Bread Company, where else?

Every year we have weekly write-ins at various Atlanta Bread Companies across town, but we’re particularly fond of the one in Norcross. Coffee! Tea! Loaves of soup! Cookies! Power outlets! Wi-fi! What more could you ever need?

Also, at closing time, they tend to give away the last of the cookies.

Best Way to Beat Writer’s Block — The Botanical Gardens and Oakland Cemetery are two fabulous places to walk through whne you’re looking to get inspired. Even in November, the weather doesn’t usually get cold enough to deter a little afternoon wandering.

For the indoor types, we’ve got this little fish tank down in the middle of the city, the Georgia Aquarium—that’s pretty nice, too.

Regional Genre of Choice — It it exists as an identifiable genre (and even if it doesn’t), chances are someone has written it in our region. While many of our writers fall quite squarely in the fantasy category, Matt is quite well known for “somber” literary fiction.

The Can’t Miss Atlanta NaNo Event

Toughie, because last year we had our first ever Evening of Writing Wildly fundraising event, which went really darn well.

But we’ve got to come down on the side of our annual IKEA write-in. Every year, we show up, have a write-in in the cafeteria (huddled around the only power outlet in the entire space), work for an hour or two, then go on a massive photo-op rampage throughout the store. And it’s where our mascot, the Panda, came from.

The Runners-Up — We’ve got some great runners-up. Our MARTA/subway write-in all over town, the Airport Write-In, our kickoffs with our fundraising partner the Atlanta Radio Theater Company, and TGIOs at the iconic Varsity.

The Municipal Liaisons

Matt (4th year ML, 9th year Wrimo): My old college roommate somehow found out about NaNo; I think while she was putting together a calendar. We decided to give it a try. I lasted a day. The year after, I discovered the website, and bam, winner every year since.

My first year ML-ing, we had a midnight write-in on the last day of November to help those last-minute folk. I’d started up this regional adopt-a-newbie program, and one of my newbies came to the write-in, desperate to finish on time. She hit her 50,000th word at 11:55 p.m. and was so happy she almost cried. That, right there, is why I ML. I want to help people do something they never thought they could do.

Tia (4th year ML, 9th year Wrimo): A writer friend of mine mentioned it to me, but it was midway through the month and I figured it was too late to start. I kind of wish I had though! But I started in 2004, and have won every year since.

Watching NaNo grow over the years has been amazing. It’s not just a writing program—it’s a program that changes people, makes them better. I can’t narrow it down to one specific instance because there have been so many times that we’ve witnessed people set goals and surpass them, and then set their next goals a little higher. I am constantly awestruck by the amazing things NaNoWriMo pulls out of people.

Hype (2nd year ML, 10th year Wrimo): I started participating in NaNo more or less on a dare from a friend, and made it through a few thousand words before completely forgetting about it.  I picked up my current winning streak in 2007, though, and kept onward. I owe a lot of that to the awesome community here in Atlanta.

A Guide to the Local Wrimos and Culture — We’ve developed some good, and some odd, regional traditions over the years. Every year, we work something peachy—the fruit, the color, etc.— into our novel. We also started an Adopt-a-Day program. On their adopted day, a Wrimo will post a pep talk for the day and make a $10 donation in the name of whoever wrote the most words that day. Halos for everyone!

The last three years, we’ve declared a word war and donation battle against other regions. Our results may be mixed, but we have a blast!

Hype: My favorite memory centers around the amazing partnership we had last year with the Atlanta Radio Theater Company. They put on two shows that helped raise money for NaNo, and we held Kick-Offs before each show. Before the second show, I met a Wrimo who came to the Kick-Off even though we’d be traveling home to England for the remainder of the month. He gave me a light-up pen that I still have on my desk, and I love seeing status updates on his novel. I really value NaNoAtlanta for unique connections like that one.

The Region In a Nutshell — Atlanta: the Overachieving Capitol of NaNoLand. Many of our Wrimos write double or triple 50K in November, and we averaged five regional events a day in 2011. We also overachieve in terms of fundraising—last year, we were the 20th largest region, but ranked third in fundraising. Last but not least, every one of our participants overachieves in pure awesomeness.

Check out the region in November!

The NaNoWriMo Atlanta forum
The website
@NaNoLanta

Lessons From the LARP Side, Part 3: Characters

Hey, adventurers! We are back again with the third entry in our series about what I have learned from writing Live Action Roleplays. Previously, we’ve talked about the basics of gamewriting, and how to make a coherent and exciting setting. Today, at the start of the first full week of Camp NaNoWriMo, we’ll tackle one of the biggest and scariest aspects of gamewriting, and possibly of your budding novel: characters!

There’s a lot to consider when making a character, whether it be for a novel or a game. Characters are never as simple as we think they are, and they tend to get away from us, but I’ve got three steps that will help you create characters who will run with your novel, and be plot-generating machines!

Writing a character for a game is tricky, because someone else is going to be playing that character. You can write their backstory, you can write their motivations, even try to describe their personality, but in the end the choices that character makes are up to the person playing them. 

Generally, when I write a character sheet, I try to keep it a page or less. Things like birthday, hair color, eye color, food preference: those aren’t as important to me. I’m more interested in concept, history, psychology, and most of all motivation.

I try to start with a defining quote, like, “You never meant to lead a country, and honestly, you’re still not sure where things went wrong.” I try to establish both the tone of the character and their core motivation or concept in that sentence. It’s not easy! Then I introduce some backstory, and write a little bit about what they’re up to right now. It’s important to figure out what I want the player to know. Once I hand the player their sheet, that’s it. It’s up to them to figure out the psychological life of this character based on the information on the page.

Writing a novel is no different. Your reader doesn’t have an inside view into your mind. They are going to react to your characters based only on what you put on that page. So if you want them to treat your characters a particular way, you’ll have to make your case on the page!

I wrote a game where this one group of characters was supposed to be the big scary villain, but I didn’t make that clear on the character sheets. I spelled out their motivations, and their backstories, but I didn’t do a very good job of setting the tone, or defining their goals. So when they showed up in game, instead of going around wreaking havoc like I’d hoped they would, they just kind of…went out for pancakes. No, really. Pancakes.

I learned my lesson, and a bunch of other tips for how to define characters while noveling, too: 

1. Goals for everyone!

Every character, no matter how minor, should have a goal or motivation. This is something I learned early on in my gamewriting. Sure, it’s one thing for the dashing hero and dark lord to have a motivation, but it’s also important that the butler has a goal, and the local doctor has something to strive for. Even the blacksmith needs that extra something in her life.

2. Attainable goals, please.

If your character’s goal is to tame a unicorn, but he lives firmly in Iowa, when everyone knows unicorns are native only to the moon, that can kill momentum. Goals need to be immediate, and at least plausibly achievable. It’s much more interesting if a character wants something specific that another character has, or wants to tell someone something, or has someone they need to protect. Of course, if the goal is too easy, that’s equally boring. They need obstacles, but the goal needs to be at least vaguely within reach.

3. Pair up!

This is a slightly odder one. I find that I have the best time with my characters when they work in pairs. I give every character a counterpart. Maybe it’s a best friend, maybe it’s a lover, sibling, or sidekick, but they have to have someone. That way they’ve always got someone to talk to, someone to argue with, someone to interact with. Even if they get separated, they’ve got someone who they can’t wait to meet up with again later. I try to pair up people who are pretty different at their cores, and have interesting dynamics, so that they’ve always got interesting conversation starters. Two clones are not going to have the most thrilling debates.

Character-writing is definitely one of the most relevant parts of any story, whether it’s a novel, script, game, or whatever else. They’re not always easy to write, but vibrant characters are what we really like to fall in love with in a good story. Have fun bringing yours to life!

— Ben

The OLL-iverse: Starlog 8

This week, we saw the launch of August’s session of Camp NaNoWriMo. In celebration, let us numerate a few of the many things we love about Camp.

1. The guaranteed soap opera brought about by the neighborhood Yeti, who is very sensitive for someone so tall and hairy.

2. Keeping an eye on those virtual Paper Plate Awards awarded at the end of Camp. I will be this session’s “Camper Most Likely to Write a Happenin’ Sock Hop Into Their Novel” if it’s the last thing I do.

3. You campers, who never fail to make Camp a wonderful experience, and come up with great ideas, like Oreo smorgasbords, time travel romances, and freeze-dried Yeti meat. Muahaha.

This week’s recap is brought to you by Tim, who is a little delirious from writing all night, and working all day, and by Sonja, who is out-illustrating Ben by a mile.

Camp NaNoWriMo:

We launched! In this first week’s pep talk, Lindsey gives out gold medals for Best Beginners to everyone who had the gumption to enter the noveling race this August.
Scrivener left a present in your bunk bed (a welcome one, not the kind the raccoons seem so found of leaving). 20% off if you use it by September 7, and winners will get 50% off!
Campers who’ve signed up for StayClassy are gathering up under the leadership of Professor Jones to do some fund-raiding to keep Camp going. Find out more details here!

Facebook & Twitter:

Over on Facebook, we asked you to share your August novel plots, or your plans for November.
@CampNaNoWriMo asked you to share your favorite line of your novel so far.
@NaNoWordSprints ran word sprints during the first two days of August to get you started. We’ll be back with more hopefully, soon! If you missed it, feel free to go back and use some of the prompts there. I, personally, would love to hear about the further adventures of Whale Man.

NaNoWriMo

The early bird special for the Night of Writing Dangerously may be over, but you can still join us for a night of derring-do and noveling on November 17.
Thanks to your help, we raised $33,855 during our Summer Fund Drive, which is inspiring fits of joy, which is manifesting super, super weirdly. Watch our Thank You video and you’ll see what I mean.

In the Office & Elsewhere:

We spent all day moving out of our warehouse, which means, sadly, the role of the shipper gentleman is going by the wayside. If you ordered something within the last week or so, too, your package may be delayed as we complete the move.
My dog, Charlie, came into the office a couple times this week and was a total nut. Here is a picture of one of his quieter moments.

Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Camp! We’ll see you around the campfire; please have page five of the Camp Songbook memorized, the song titled, “Whoomp, That’s What I Wrote.”

Sweating through Camp NaNoWriMo

Camp is sweaty work.

For one thing, I’m not particularly athletic, which is, in part, why I am composing this blog post indoors instead of being outside in the sun. I also can’t write any part of my novel without holding some kind of warm beverage in my hand, regardless of the weather; that’s thanks to November’s noveling routine rubbing off on me too much. Perhaps most of all, I’m sweating because I’m horrendously nervous to continue and finish my novel this month.

Wait, you might think, continue?

Yes, technically, I began my novel in June.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

…really, nothing.

This last June (during which I barely completed the first half of my novel, sliding under the deadline with 50,205 words of utter nonsense) was the most difficult month of my NaNo career. And why was that? After all, I had won NaNoWriMo four times before. I’d finished out my sophomore year of high school before June even began, and being a lazy bum, I didn’t have a summer job. I essentially had all 24 hours of those 30 days to myself, available for me to scrawl words all over.

Ah, I think I’ve found the problem.

Chris Baty mentions in No Plot? No Problem! that NaNoWriMo was originally held in July. Just a year later, however, it was moved to November. Finally, I completely understand why—time constraints are your friends.

Luckily for me, I’m very busy during the second half of August, what with school starting again, so I’ll have a few of those friendly time constraints. For those of you with jobs, kids, dogs, bills, parties, and crotchety relatives that require constant care, I couldn’t envy you more. It sounds odd, but really, you are a privileged few (or perhaps many).

Embrace your busywork. In the end, when you’re under a time crunch, you will be super speedy in your novel-ing (out of necessity.) Perhaps even better, the words you do write will be pure, beautiful, amazing prose from the most raw, primitive parts of your imagination.

Surprisingly, despite the occasional Neanderthal phrase in your antagonist’s rant, that core of your imagination can create stories that are as inspired as Shakespeare’s. My favorite part of this type of writing is that I’m so immersed in my novel I don’t even notice that I’m dripping in summer sweat.

Abbreviated: just go for it, regardless of how frantic you are.

I hope to be roasting marshmallows and toasting apple cider in your honor by the end.

(And don’t worry about the sweating. You’re not alone.)

Sticky regards,

— Sonja Sueker

Photo by Flickr user katerha

The NaNo Personality Quiz: YWP'er Blake

Blake is one of our intrepid YWP Wrimos: launched into NaNoLand by her teacher in the fifth grade, she’s continued noveling on her own, and has been tearing it up and writing it down for three years now. She’s even getting in on the August Camp NaNoWrimo action!

We asked her to take some time from her busy noveling schedule to take our NaNoWriMo Personality Quiz, and tell us about her journey from classroom to independent novelist.

The Personality Quiz, NaNo-style:

Pantser, or Planner? Sometimes I plan, but sometimes I just make stuff up as I go along, though I find that if I do the latter, I never actually finish. Since that’s the case, I try to stick to planning. 

First Encounter with the NaNoWriMosphere — From the beginning, when my teacher introduced us to NaNoWriMo in the fifth grade, I thought it was fun, especially since I’ve always loved writing. It was definitely a challenge, that time more than ever, but fun all the same.

Doing it in class was pretty beneficial in my first year because we had time to write in class every day, which helped me to actually finish (I’m not sure if I would have otherwise). My teacher was pretty amazing, and a lot of the time, she’d bring up the YWP page on the smartboard, and generate dares on the dare machine. 

NaNo Fuel of Choice — I do drink a lot of tea while writing. Then again, I always drink a lot of tea.

NaNoWriMo Motivation — I love writing, and that has only increased throughout the years. NaNo is definitely a challenge, and I enjoy that, so I decided to do it the following year. That was the year I started going on the forums frequently, and since I never got off of them during the year, doing NaNo that year was sort of an automatic thing. 

I’m planning on doing it this year as well, and I’m even doing Camp NaNo this August. The main things I usually tell people about NaNoWriMo are things I’ve already said: it’s fun, and it’s a challenge.

Spirit Animal — Hm, it’d probably be some sort of bird? Though I’m not sure which type. A large bird, probably.

Favorite Literary Character — This question is almost as hard as “What is your favourite book?” They’re both nearly impossible to answer because there are so many good books and so many good characters out there, but I have to say my favourite is probably Alaska Young from Looking for Alaska.

Live, rule, raze: Narnia, Hogwarts, Panem — Live in Hogwarts, rule Panem, raze Narnia.

 - 

The Character Profile:

Who’s your favorite character from your NaNo-novels?

My favourite character I’ve used in a NaNo novel would have to be Oliver. He lives in a country known as the British American Province (located in what’s now central and eastern USA) that’s currently at war with the New Empire of Australia. Despite living in the capitol and being one of the president’s sons, he refuses to help the war cause in any way. With his genius-level IQ, he definitely would be a great help, but his hatred of war and violence keeps him from doing so. Instead, he helps out by working as a journalist alongside Vince, a photographer who also happens to be his boyfriend.

He loves his family more than anything, and would do just about anything to protect them. Despite often having problems of his own, he always tries to help everyone else first, and often ends up simply ranting to Vince. He’s often described as flamboyant, and his dyed pink hair is something everyone has come to associate him with. That and the numerous piercings in his face and ears typically make people think twice before approaching him, but he really is a nice guy. 

Your character is now mortal enemies with your favorite literary character. Who would reign supreme?

It would likely be just an argument or a debate over something or other, though I can’t even imagine what. Nothing terribly interesting, and no actual battling. 

Your character decides to tackle NaNoWriMo. Do they succeed? What do they write about?

Knowing Oliver, he’d probably reach his goal and finish his novel within a week, and then spend the rest of the month editing it. His novel would likely be a fantasy of some sort, with a completely new and complex world. 

Meet the Interns: Sonja Takes Her Bow

Mere hours ago, I was a simple fifteen-year-old novelist and NaNoWriMo enthusiast. Then, I set foot into the OLL headquarters. Along one wall sits the crack team of NaNo specialists, and when the front door creaked open, they simultaneously looked up at me, surely expecting me to explain myself. Unlike my novels, I managed to hold in the squeals of delight and simply introduced myself.

Hi, I’m Sonja, and I’ll be their intern for the week.

And what did they do in return? They set their extremely friendly chocolate Labrador upon me, allowed me a glimpse at the secret garden behind the office (which leads directly to a pastry shop next door!), and bought me a delicious cookie. I tried not to faint.

When I’m not participating in NaNoWriMo-related events (I know, at times it’s difficult to believe there is a life outside of it!), you can find me painting, fixing clocks, performing in musical theatre, spelling “theatre” the British way, drinking root beer, and as it turns out, having a very difficult time coming up with interesting things about myself.

Anyway, while I’m here, I’m going to be helping the group send out the awesome NaNo trading cards, move some stuff out of the warehouse, wax their cars, brush their hair, and anything else they want me to do. I won’t be here for long (only a week; I usually live in Colorado), so I promise, I won’t wreak too much havoc!

Sounding the Camp NaNoWriMo Conch Shell

Arooooo! (Is that the sound a conch shell makes? Let’s say yes.)

At Camp NaNoWriMo, the bulletin board is overflowing with updates, announcements, and more than a few lost items that need finding. (Has anyone seen a retainer? Or a pink Care Bears poncho?)

The August session of Camp begins at 12:00:01 AM on August 1 and we can’t wait for this next session of noveling madness with Campers from around the world.

We have debuted a new and improved Cabin Message Board interface that we think is going to go over big, and help inspire even more people to write their 50,000-word draft in a month.

If you participated in the June event, you can tell us all about your Camp experience in our online survey. We are so grateful for your input! It helps us so much as we plan future Camp sessions.

Check out the latest missive from HQ with the staggeringly great numbers from Camp. And come join the Twitter conversation!

Let’s make August just as epic, shall we?

See you there!

— Lindsey

Photo by Flickr user mahinui

Ready-Made Writer Fuel

Like many faithful readers of this blog, I have spent a fair amount of time salivating over the foods featured in our Writer Fuel category. From Nancy’s perfect granola recipe to Ben’s cheesy, creamy strozapretti, it’s hard to resist rushing immediately to the grocery store to buy ingredients.

But realistically, when I’m writing during NaNoWriMo (or Camp’s August session—hint hint), I don’t make time for homemade foods. I’m cooking on my novel, not cooking in my oven. And I know I’m not alone in this.

What are your favorite quick noveling foods? Does your writing café also have killer sandwiches or baked goods? If you work at home, what do you keep in the cupboard? (Or if we’re talking Camp, in the the bear-proof food box?)

While you’re commenting, I’ll be gnawing on this (non-at-all-homemade) bagel.

– Chris

Photo by Flickr user UltimateLibrarian

The OLL-iverse: Starlog 7

The office is full of donuts. Where did they come from? No one knows. Are they delicious? Of course. Are they inspiring? Absolutely. Do they make the office smell kind of greasy and weird? You but.

This week’s recap is brought to you by the intern tag-team of Shelby and Ben. With their powers combined, anything is possible. Even epic karaoke duets. Even this recap.

NaNoWriMo:

ML Applications! If you ever thought to yourself, “Hey, I would be really great at organizing writing-ins, motivating fellow Wrimos, and generally keeping an eye on my writing region, all while baking them delicious sweet treats,” then do we have an opportunity for you! Applications for this year’s Municipal Liaisons are open, and we need devoted writers and Wrimos like you.
July is - rather suddenly - almost over; that means only a couple more weeks to snatch up those early bird discounts for this November’s Night of Writing Dangerously. Once the month is up the price jumps by $50, so start fundraising!

Facebook & Twitter:

@CampNaNoWriMo is already gearing up for the August round of Camp. The question on everyone’s mind: who is planning, who is “pantsing”?
This morning on twitter you shared your favorite karaoke tunes with us, and gave us some excellent advice for our upcoming world tour.

In the Office & Elsewhere:

Man, office karaoke night was awesome. Seriously. We gotta do that more often. You haven’t heard true music until you’ve heard Chris Angotti and Sarah Mackey sing Spice Girls.
I have nearly escaped from July, and my face has not encountered ice cream on any parts other than my mouth! Victory is at hand!

That’s all for now! Enjoy the last weekend of July!

The Come Write In Briefings: The Hamilton-Wenham Public Library

The Office of Letters and Light may serve as the heart of NaNoWriMo HQ, but we can’t work alone. Thankfully, through Come Write In, we’ve partnered with libraries and bookstores around the world to act as part-time NaNoLand embassies. Who more suited to the task of creating a haven for writers than librarians and booksellers who are already ambassadors and agents for reading?

For your eyes only, the first ever CWI Briefing, from a most effective noveling agent, currently based out of the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library in Massachussetts.

Name: Lauderdale, Sarah Lauderdale.

Length of term with NaNoWriMo: I first heard of National Novel Writing Month back in 2004 from a friend who was complaining that she had to drop out. It was just a few days into November, and I visited the site to learn more about it.  ”What a great idea!” I thought, and made a stab at writing for a few days.  I didn’t produce much, but I was excited for next year.  I knew that I’d be coming back.

Title and duties: I became Head of Reference at the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library in 2009. That’s the first year I actually reached 50K, which I also did in 2011 and ‘12. When you are promoting NaNoWriMo publicly you feel an extra incentive to finish.

During NaNoWriMo, typical questions I am asked revolve around how to use the NaNoWriMo web site, where the bathroom is, and how to get a library card. Oddly, no one has asked me any reference questions about what they were writing, but I have done some reader’s advisory in the natural course of discussing our novels.

Active Operations:

In September, I start putting out promotional bookmarks, and begin updating the web page I maintain about NaNoWriMo at our library. 

In October, I set up a big display that runs through November: books on writing in general, on writing novels in particular, and writing resources for teens. There is a NaNo Rebels section for the nonfiction writers, and a selection of published NaNo-novels that Hamilton-Wenham actually owns, which was twelve titles as of last November. Flyers go up at this time as well. 

November is for writing, and for write-ins! People can write in the library any time it is open, but our official write-ins are held each Saturday in November, in a room reserved for that purpose. The room is reserved all day, but writers come and go at their own convenience. The library provides coffee: otherwise, it is “bring your own snack,” which results in a tasty smorgasbord.

Utilized Resources: Come Write In resources that I use include the poster, and the window clings. I also use the flyers from the web site, especially the “One Day Novelist” flier with pull-tabs, and I post like crazy at my regional forum, the USA :: Massachusetts :: North Shore, the coolest region there is.  

If you are a librarian trying to make your library NaNo-friendly, I recommend finding and using your regional forum, available through the NaNoWriMo web site. It’s free, and it is a great way to talk up your library and find out who is participating locally.

The Noveling Recruits: We’ve had students and professionals and homemakers; published novelists and first-time writers; couples competing with each other and parents competing with their kids participating in our write-ins.

In some ways, it is easier for me to think about the different books I’ve seen people working on. We had a diverse lot last year, although there was a trend toward historical fiction titles, with locales and eras spanning Ancient Rome, Victorian England and the American Civil War. Other genres included business fiction, fictionalized family memoir, and one eco-sci-fi novel for children.  

Some writers reached up to 3,000 words in a single session as they wrote alongside their fellow novelists. Also, the children’s room hosts the “Kids Are Writers Too!” story writing contest, and they produce all kinds of fun stories.

Your Mission, and Why You Chose to Accept It: 

What doesn’t appeal about NaNoWriMo, especially if you are a writer? Who could ask for a better kick in the pants? I will say that, starting out, it was all about The Novel. In more recent years I have come to think of NaNoWriMo as a great way to generate a lot of writing, period. It doesn’t matter what you’re writing.  It matters that you write it.