Amanda Meuwissen's Blog - Posts Tagged "write-everyday"
NaNoWriMo with Amanda Meuwissen
Considering I have 4 published books, and more fanfiction written than I think I could ever catalog or properly document for insane word count, it may come as a surprise that I have never participated in NaNoWriMo before (National Novel Writing Month).
On November 1 every year, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. I already have around 40k words for my current work in progress, but I know I have close to 50k more to go before it’ll be complete, so I decided that participating in NaNo was the perfect vehicle to ensure I finish the rough draft of my next novel before the end of the year.
50k words is not as daunting as it may appear at first glance. This equals about 1200 words a day—not too difficult, and helps instill that age old ‘write everyday’ habit I’ve gone on about before. My goal is to at least do 1200 each day, so that if I do encounter a day where it just doesn’t happen, or I fall short, I’ll have enough words in the bank that it won’t derail my overall progress.
Today is day 3 (and I haven’t written anything yet, aside from this blog post) but so far I already have 3679 words written for my novel Life as a Teenage Vampire.
Here’s a small snippet of my work, which I’m also posting little paragraphs of each day on my tumblr page to help keep me motivated. Participating in NaNo this year? Tell me about it! Any advice to share? Any questions for me as a rookie taking on this awesome annual activity? Let me know! And by December 1st, here’s hoping I have the beginnings of my next serialized work for BigWorldNetwork.com, and my next novel on its way!
Life as a Teenage Vampire by Amanda Meuwissen
It was a trick. Emery had made it all up, knowing that the details would lead Connor to vampires. These were just Halloween fangs. Connor wasn’t really hypnotized into submission; he was just stunned, believing his own crazy imagination. He’d longed for years to have Emery this close, after all, crowding him into a corner, lips descending. He’d just imagined them descending a little closer to his mouth, though his neck wouldn’t be so bad…
…if not for the sharp sting, the breaking of the skin and rush of blood sucked out of him so fast he felt dizzy, and then—wow.
It didn’t hurt at all. It felt like Emery was tucked into his shoulder intimately, fully aware of the pleasant buzzing he caused in Connor’s gut every time they touched. Connor had dreamed of this, imagined it just like this, and felt lulled by Emery’s body being so close, and the way he shivered feeling those lips on his skin. He almost thought he heard Emery’s soothing voice whispering affirmations he’d always wanted to hear.
“Em…” Connor breathed out, barely audible.
The room was dimming, but he felt cozy where he was. His arms were limp and heavy as he lifted them to pull Emery closer, feeling the soft fabric of the sweater against his somewhat numb right palm. He pulled tighter, twisting flesh and plastic fingers alike in the fabric, pulling…with the faint sense that he should be pushing instead.
“Em…” he choked out like a whimper, like he was crying. Why was he crying? This was everything he’d ever wanted…
Reality snapped back into painful, terrible focus when Emery released him, his fangs pulling from the tender skin of Connor’s neck, the brief feeling of a tongue licking over the wound, and then Emery jerked away from Connor with a harsh intake of breath.
Emery’s hands had moved at some point from the wall to Connor’s shoulders, and the second he removed them, Connor dropped straight to the carpet.
“Connor!”
On November 1 every year, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. I already have around 40k words for my current work in progress, but I know I have close to 50k more to go before it’ll be complete, so I decided that participating in NaNo was the perfect vehicle to ensure I finish the rough draft of my next novel before the end of the year.
50k words is not as daunting as it may appear at first glance. This equals about 1200 words a day—not too difficult, and helps instill that age old ‘write everyday’ habit I’ve gone on about before. My goal is to at least do 1200 each day, so that if I do encounter a day where it just doesn’t happen, or I fall short, I’ll have enough words in the bank that it won’t derail my overall progress.
Today is day 3 (and I haven’t written anything yet, aside from this blog post) but so far I already have 3679 words written for my novel Life as a Teenage Vampire.
Here’s a small snippet of my work, which I’m also posting little paragraphs of each day on my tumblr page to help keep me motivated. Participating in NaNo this year? Tell me about it! Any advice to share? Any questions for me as a rookie taking on this awesome annual activity? Let me know! And by December 1st, here’s hoping I have the beginnings of my next serialized work for BigWorldNetwork.com, and my next novel on its way!
Life as a Teenage Vampire by Amanda Meuwissen
It was a trick. Emery had made it all up, knowing that the details would lead Connor to vampires. These were just Halloween fangs. Connor wasn’t really hypnotized into submission; he was just stunned, believing his own crazy imagination. He’d longed for years to have Emery this close, after all, crowding him into a corner, lips descending. He’d just imagined them descending a little closer to his mouth, though his neck wouldn’t be so bad…
…if not for the sharp sting, the breaking of the skin and rush of blood sucked out of him so fast he felt dizzy, and then—wow.
It didn’t hurt at all. It felt like Emery was tucked into his shoulder intimately, fully aware of the pleasant buzzing he caused in Connor’s gut every time they touched. Connor had dreamed of this, imagined it just like this, and felt lulled by Emery’s body being so close, and the way he shivered feeling those lips on his skin. He almost thought he heard Emery’s soothing voice whispering affirmations he’d always wanted to hear.
“Em…” Connor breathed out, barely audible.
The room was dimming, but he felt cozy where he was. His arms were limp and heavy as he lifted them to pull Emery closer, feeling the soft fabric of the sweater against his somewhat numb right palm. He pulled tighter, twisting flesh and plastic fingers alike in the fabric, pulling…with the faint sense that he should be pushing instead.
“Em…” he choked out like a whimper, like he was crying. Why was he crying? This was everything he’d ever wanted…
Reality snapped back into painful, terrible focus when Emery released him, his fangs pulling from the tender skin of Connor’s neck, the brief feeling of a tongue licking over the wound, and then Emery jerked away from Connor with a harsh intake of breath.
Emery’s hands had moved at some point from the wall to Connor’s shoulders, and the second he removed them, Connor dropped straight to the carpet.
“Connor!”
