NaNoWriMo

November begins in just a couple of days and with it comes NaNoWriMo.

What in the heck is NaNoWriMo? you ask. Well, that would be one month of pure torture, too much coffee, computer key pounding, hair pulling, teeth grinding, and a lot of random doodles in the margin of my notebook.

Yup, National Novel Writing Month is here. And, as if I don't already have enough on my plate, I'm diving in head first with the hopes of having a 50,000 word novella completed come November 30th.

Pressures on.

At least there aren't any rules about whether the the manuscript has to be any good. I'm counting on pulling out nothing but crap, as, while being a published young adult fiction writer has been on my Top 5 Things Marisa Must Do Before She Turns 30 list (preceded by get married, have kids, travel Europe, and become a professional artist {professional defined loosely} - check check check and check), that certainly does not mean I have any idea how to actually write a publishable book.

Like I said, pressures on.

I always thought being a writer would be the first thing I ever did in life. In high school and college, nothing made me happier than Creative Writing assignments and even 20 page term papers. I graduated college with a degree in Creative Arts, my major emphasis being English Literature and minor emphasis being Art for Children with the plans of becoming a teacher.

Life kind of got in the way of my creativity for awhile. Since opening Elegant Snobbery last January, however, my creativity has been coming back. I always have itchy fingers to draw, but my itchy writing fingers are equally twitchy.

Will is a very tolerant husband. He doesn't seem to mind the piles upon piles of notebooks that are constantly spread around the house. And he is used to the look on my face when the dialogue between two unknown characters suddenly starts in my brain and I blank out while I listen to whats going on. Sometimes he even passes me a pen and notebook so I can scribble it all down before the voices stop.

No, it isn't schizophrenia or multiple personalities. At least I don't think so. Just a lot of characters having conversations, confrontations, and trying very hard to tell me their story.

So, that brings me to now, only a few days before the craziness begins. I've never been successful with NaNoWriMo before. I tried it two years ago, but only got 15,000 words done before Gracie, only 18 months old at the time, made things too rough for me. And, as I was hugely pregnant with Annelie, I was too tired to have my late night typing sessions.

Now I'm ready. I've got my notebook full of characters, plot, and setting. My mood music play list has been filled with Muse, Placebo, Marjorie Fair, Ghostland Observatory, and Linkin Park. My black Ultra Round Stic Grip Bic pen (which doubles as a microphone when I need to take a break from typing) has become permanently attached to my hand, ready to jot down any little note.

Fingers crossed. I still have art to print, package, and create. As well as a house to clean, kids to dress, cook for and play with. Maybe this month will be a success... or maybe I'll have to quit only 15,000 words into my novel.

Whatever happens, I'm just happy to take the plunge and hopeful that I might actually make a move on getting that last check on my list taken care of in the next few years before my 30th birthday.

Good luck to any of you other bloggers who are attempting NaNoWriMo this year! And if you are interested in learning more about it, but don't know where to look, be sure to visit http://nanowrimo.org

xoxo,

NaNoWriMo.2

We're about halfway through September, which means only one thing:

NaNoWriMo begins in a month and a half.

Karen, of KarenFaulknerArt, blogged today about taking the plunge and signing up for this year's novel writing fest (churning out a 50,000 word novella in only 30 days), so I thought it would be a good day to blog about it as well, in the hopes of motivating any of my blog-reading, novel-writer aspiring friends to join in the fun.

Some of you may remember last year's NaNoWriMo blog posts -- I totally rocked.

Okay, actually that's not quite true... while I did hit my 50,000 word requirement, I didn't get to print out the handy-dandy certificate, as I jumped the gun and had 8,000 words done 3 days before NaNo officially started.

This year, however, I want that certificate and by golly, I'm going to get it.

When my computer was broken for three weeks, I sat down with my brand spanking new notebook and assembled the story I want to write this year. I figured out my characters and sketched a rough plot. I have itchy fingers and would like to start NOW, but luckily I have the leftovers of last years NaNo story to keep me busy in the meantime.

In case you are wondering what happened to last years work... I am at 68,000 words right now, with about 40 pages of deleted scenes (aka complete and total crap) sitting in its own file. I'm nearly done. After a lot of soul searching and a major break from writing, I am loving my story again and eager to finish.

Plus, I need to hurry up and get it done before November, as there isn't room on the back of my door for a second book's worth of index cards.

Are you jumping on the NaNoWriMo band wagon this year? Lets be friends! You can find me here, under Elegant Snobbery.

xoxo,

MIA - A NaNoWriMo Update

Vintage Typewriter Back Space Key Pendant
www.luv4sams.etsy.com

Whoooo boy, I'm exhausted.

I haven't been blogging quite as often as usual in the past two weeks. Besides being sick for a week, I have been type, type, typing away as I try to reach my goal of 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).

Last night, I was bent over my lap top until 3 am, only to be woken up this morning by the girls at 7 am -- about an hour or two earlier than they usually wake me. Thank goodness for coffee. I'm pretty stinkin' lucky to have girls that sleep in most days, not to mention a hubby who let me snooze until noon yesterday, as I recuperated from another typing-until-3 am jag. I love Sundays!

At the moment, I'm at 31,625 words. Only 18,375 more to go before I reach the goal, which is not too shabby, considering that I didn't type at all while I was sick last week.

Unfortunately, even if I reach my goal in the next two weeks, I don't get the coveted NaNoWriMo certificate. Why? you ask

Because in my excitement to get started, I began 3 days early and had 8,000 words under my belt by the 1st of November.

Ah, well, that's fine. I'm just proud of myself for actually getting this done. Not to mention LOVING IT!

Other NaNoWriMo-ers out there, good luck as you reach your goal! Half a month left, and it is definitely do-able!

xoxo,

NaNoWriMo.3

(the above image is an art card I bought from
OhMandie to keep me motivated to write
during NaNoWriMo '08.
It still sits on my desk and I look at it every day!)

It's that time again.

What time? you may be asking yourself.

Why it's NaNo-time, of course! Well, NaNo-prep-time, at least. Because in a little less than 2 months (beginning Nov. 1st), National Novel Writing Month will commence!

A whole slew of you readers have seen my posts in which I've said, "Hey! I'm writing a book!" and a lot of you have whispered in my comments, "I'm jealous. I've always wanted to write a book..."

Well, guess what? I CHALLENGE YOU!

Yeah, that's right, I challenge you. To pull out a sheet of paper and mash some ideas between pink margins and blue lines, no matter how fantastic or how dumb you think they might sound.

I challenge you to sign up for National Novel Writing Month, even if you only think you'll hit 5 thousand typed words instead of the required 50 thousand it takes to print up a winner certificate.

I challenge you to stop thinking about what you'd like to achieve "someday" and start thinking about what you'd like to achieve "now" because really, you're not getting any younger, and the days are slipping by one by one and in ten years from now, when you look back, would you rather say "I spent the last ten years writing novels and LOVING IT" or would you rather say, "I spent the last ten years thinking about how I'll write novels some day."

Because time will pass no matter what.

This will be my 4th year doing NaNoWriMo. The first year, in 2005, I didn't remember to sign up, but I did type a whole 15k out of 50k. In 2008, I tried again. Actually hit my 50k, but didn't sign up to get my certificate (the accomplishment mattered more to me than the certificate). Last year... I hit 16k out of 50k. But after NaNo ended, I kept writing and now my book is almost done.

This year - um... maybe I'll hit 50k? That is my goal at least. After being all gung-ho-NaNo, it might be nice to actually get that certificate...

So, WHO IS WITH ME? Go on - shout it loud and shout it proud!

And also, be my NaNoBFF! - you can find me HERE!

No excuses, those of you who have always wanted to be writers but haven't allowed yourself the chance. Not a single person other than yourself even has to see your writing. And if you think you probably suck too much to consider being a writer, me too!! We can suck together!

And if you think you don't have time, tell me this: is there twenty minutes you can find each day where you can scribble words on paper or type them out? Because after 30 days, those twenty minutes a day will magically turn into TEN HOURS of writing time.

You can accomplish a lot in ten hours. And if you give yourself forty minutes a day, that's TWENTY HOURS. You can handle it. Really. I'm not saying it's easy, especially if you work or have kids or work AND have kids... but it is possible.

So I ask again, WHO IS WITH ME!?

And if being a writer "someday" is your secret (or not-so-secret) dream, I really hope YOU ARE!

xoxo,

Moon or Bust!

"Moon or Bust"
11 x 14 original
(11 x 14 and 8 x 10 prints will be available)

"Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars..."

I finished my outer space illustration and I'm quite happy with it!

I think if a Lego and a gumball machine had a baby, it would be my new illustration. The candy-coated cuteness is just what I was going for, and hopefully you all like it!

Here are some close-ups:

And the gumball planets.... I think all planets should look like gumballs, don't you? Actually, I think all planets should BE gumballs. That would make space exploration so much more fun!

Happy Monday, folks! And for all of you beginning NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year ... what are you doing reading my blog?? GET WRITING!

And since I'm participating in NaNoWriMo... I better get writing as well!

xoxo,

NaNoWriMo... The Last Update (Get Out the Confetti, Baby!)

So, I'm going to toot my own horn here for a minute, because, after typing 141 pages (aka 50,000 words) for NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month - I feel completely entitled.

Yup, that's right. I DID IT!! Whooo boy, I'm exhausted. This has been the longest month of my life, as my days have all been from 8am until 3am. I think I will need a solid week of hibernation to recover.

I have to say with complete honesty, that if it wasn't for you lovely and encouraging readers and all the comments you left me throughout the month, there would have been no way I could have finished.

Especially not last week, when I was thousands of words away from being done and I hit a brick wall. My sweet, funny and tough-as-nails main character turned on me. Completely out of the blue, without giving me anytime for preparation, she morphed into a wimpy character I didn't like. I was crushed and it took me days to figure her out.

Between popping endless sheets of virtual bubble wrap {CLICK HERE} and watching goofy, random videos on YouTube { you've gotta CLICK HERE} - I'm the ultimate time-waster - I sat down and had a chat with her. I'd previously known everything about her, from her favorite band (Jack's Mannequin) to her favorite food (Fettuccine Alfredo). I thought I knew how she would handle any situation that came her way... but I didn't and she became a stranger to me. When you are trying to crank out hundreds of pages about a character, it helps if you know them, ya know? And I was ready to quit until I got more encouragement from all of you to keep on typing. So I did.

Luckily, after three days of character soul searching and pages and pages and pages of deletions (arrrgh!), she got over her funk and morphed back into the girl I knew and loved. Hurray. I was off and it didn't take long to knock out the last 15,000 words.

My story is far from being done. I still have about 50-75 thousand more words to go, and then I have a million years of hardcore editing when that is done. Remember I said before that I have never written a book and I have no idea what I'm doing? I meant that.

But I'm still feeling pretty awesome. Here are some Etsy items that sum up my feelings of awesomeness.

You're Awesome Scrabble Tile Pendant - Home Studio

Love it.

First Place Prize in Radness - A Minor Thread

Nuff said.

Hate Mail - Did You Expect a Parade?
- Junk Yard Greetings by Carol Lee Designs

And yes, I DO expect a parade! Bring on the marching band!

Thanks again for all of your encouragement!

xoxo,

A Post In Which I Feel Very, Very Sorry For Myself

On a scale of 1-10, with one being 'I'm beginning to go crazy because of my broken computer and zero internet access', and ten being 'I've become flat-out insane with the need to blog, update my facebook status, add new things to my shop, work on the book I hope to finish writing sometime in the next decade, and email my ten billion email buddies ten billion times a day.... I'm at a ten. A great big fat TEN.

Even Gracie is beginning to feel sorry for me. "Here, Mom. I made you a new computer," she said yesterday, as she lovingly passed me a paper napkin covered in dogs-wearing-birthday-hats stickers. Gotta love the four year old, looking out for her mama.

But seriously, I miss my computer. I miss my fun-to-play-with photoediting software. I miss my word documents (which, let me just say, I didn't back up before my computer died its quick and pathetic death - stupid) I miss my email. I miss facebook. I miss my Etsy street team (FAMs! Represent!), I miss my daily blog reading and writing. I miss, I miss.. well, what don't I miss?

Yes, I'm sulking.

BUT on a brighter note, I've been super productive. I've designed and sewed my girls a new wardrobe (sorry, don't have photos to show you... stupid broken computer). I came up with an outline and some character sketches for a new book that I hope to begin writing for NaNoWriMo this coming up November. I've pulled out all of the children's books, dummy boards, and plays and such that I wrote back in college with the hope of sending them off to publishing companies whenever I had a free moment -- which I now have since I don't use my free time with blog reading and facebook status updating. I've baked countless batches of brownies and cupcakes and cookies (ridiculously tasty. And fattening). And I had a lovely weekend at the lake with my family.

So okay, perhaps having a broken computer was just what I needed to take a break from the daily internet grind... Maybe (in some crazy, alternate universe) it might even be a good thing, taking a break from the glowing screen of my laptop.

Whatever, I'm still sulking.

A Little Peek of My WIP

So... I just added a new friend to my NaNoWriMo buddies list and she immediately said, "Can't wait to read your synopsis and excerpt!" to which I replied, "I'm a big fat wuss and didn't post any!" to which she replied, "Yeah, I was nervous too, but I'm not a big fat wuss like you so I posted mine anyway!"

Okay, I'm putting words in her mouth. She didn't call me a big fat wuss. But I felt like one. And here you, my lovely blog friends, have been reading my blatherings about my latest writing project for weeks, with music and everything, cheering me on and patting me on the head, and sticking gold stars to my good-girl chart... Yet I've been too big of a baby to even share my project with anyone.

Well, as my awesome friend/critique partner Jon once said, it's time for me to get over myself (yes, he really did say that. He's my b*tch-slapping crit partner). So, for anyone who's interested, here's the synopsis and an excerpt of my current project - A YA action adventure (with quite a lot of blood, guts, and monsters) that I call The Ever-living because I don't have a better title for it yet.

You're welcome to laugh at me, but you can't let me know about it. Just sayin'

Synopsis - Seventeen year old Hallie is ready for summer vacation and has her days all figured out: parties, trips to the beach and an occasional baby-sitting job to earn money in between. But only moments after chanting the traditional no more homework, no more books and tossing her backpack into the closet for three glorious sun-filled months, Hallie finds herself following the metaphorical (and, incidentally, literal) white rabbit into a world she never knew existed. One right smack dab in the middle of her own, where the Ever-living deities answer the prayers, wishes, and profanities of mortals, and the only cost is that of a human sacrifice every now and again – preferably a virgin. A virgin just like Hallie.

And my excerpt (from the start of Ch. 3)-

By the time we hit Ocean Street, Josie’s hyperventilating so hard she has to pull over. “Jesus, Hallie! What the hell happened back there?” She grips and releases the wheel like she’s milking a cow and I reach out to touch her shoulder to soothe her the same way Harmony soothed Vix. But Josie jumps when my fingers touch her skin, and her hand smashes the wheel so hard it lets out a blaring honk and she screams.

“Calm down!” I have to shout. “We’re fine! I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” I finally take a breath, sucking in deep and letting it out slowly. “They wanted to screw with my mind. Like, lock my brain, or something. But we’re gone, we’re safe.” As my heart starts to slow, a grin of relief takes over my face. Ha! Take that, freaky gods. No mind locking today.

“What the heck are you talking about? I think I’m having a heart attack.” Josie's still breathing hard, her hand on her chest rising up and down. “I need garlic fries.”

“How would that help your situation?”

She rolls her eyes as if it should be obvious. “If I’m going to die of a heart attack, my last meal better be garlic fries.”

I glance at the clock on the dashboard. “Lunchtime. Let’s grab some at the Boardwalk. My treat.”

“And a funnel cake,” Josie adds, but of course I don’t mind, because it’s my parent’s who are paying for our unhealthy decisions. Then Josie gives me an expectant look. “And then we go right? Just like you promised?”

Just like that, my stomach is a hard lump again.

--------------------

Okey-dokey, that's all from me.

Happy weekend, folks!

xoxo,

NaNoWriMoFAIL

Today is officially the last day of November 2009, which means one thing... Word count verification day.

Will I be verifying my word count, you may be wondering? Will I be getting my congratulations for writing 50K in one month?

Uh. No. I hit 16,000 words and then stopped. Well, not completely true. I didn't just stop. Yesterday I wrote about 6 words... but then I deleted about 3 of those. None of my NaNo buddies hit their words either - I think I may have fallen in with the wrong crowd.

Haha, just kidding. But seriously, last year's NaNoWIN went a little better for me than this year's fail, but if you're wondering if I feel like a failure, the answer is NOPE! I really love my story (pssssst! If you are wondering what I'm writing, its a modern YA urban fantasy retelling of Sleeping Beauty) and can't wait to work on it in the evenings when the girls are in bed. But one thing to note, my book does not want to be rushed. Meaning, sitting down and churning out 50K worth of crap (the point of NaNo) is not my book's idea of a good time.

With that said, I still think NaNoWriMo is an awesome thing to participate in. Believe me, I'll try again next year, because what it does, is gets me sitting in my seat, typing when I would ordinarily be watching a Gossip Girl marathon on TV and binge-eating on pumpkin pie. And not only that, but it keeps me writing, even when I think my writing sucks (like just about most of the time) because hitting the word count is more important during the month of November, than writing quality material.

To all the NaNoWINers out there, a heartfelt congratulations! Hitting that word count is hard, and you deserve a HURRAH! And to all the NaNoFAILures out there... meh, join the club. And hopefully I'll see you again next year!

xoxo,

NaNo '11: 18 Days and Counting!

Let me get this straight - we are thirteen days into the month of October and I haven't yet posted about NaNoWriMo '11?

STOP THE INSANITY!

You see, I'm a mighty big lover of the month of November, which is the only month that brings 30 days of rabid writing craziness AND pumpkin pie at the same time.

But this year... I'm not quite ready for November to come. My BRING IT attitude when it comes to NaNo is more like, Um, could you just give me a few extra weeks? Which is no attitude to have when you intend to write 50k words in 30 days.

But YOU GUYS.

You know the Book That Just Won't End, Dang-it! that I have been slaving over for the past two years? Well, this baby is getting very close to query-ready and by golly, if I can break my fingers and push my brain to get it finished in the next 18 days, I will be so pumped... but until then, my NaNo plans are on hold.

And as I do not like to put my plans on hold, I am seriously pushing to finish this thing in 18 days so I can participate.

Now, the rational part of me says, "Oh heck no, this isn't possible! You still have two-thirds of this revision to sort through!"

But here's something to know about me. The irrational part of me is WAY MORE FUN and she's like, "I triple dog dare you!" and there is just no way I can back away from a triple dog dare.

Besides, if there is one thing that's really driving me to finish my WIP by Nov. 1st, it's the fact that I'm so sick of my current main character's indie Baroque and folk alternative music choices, and the music for my GLITTER-BLINGING NEW IDEA (which is way better than a Shiny New Idea, I'm telling ya) is so much more fun.

For those who are curious about my NaNo '11 music, here are my main drafting songs, which helped me set the tone, create the world and characters and sort out the plot of my book -







So, folks, I'm ready to throw off the emo-sounding tunes and bring on the awesome.

Who's with me? Any other NaNo-obsessed fools out there, ready for a month of sheer crazy? Let's harass each other with our daily updated word counts! You can find me {HERE}

And if I don't finish my current WIP in time, you are welcome to throw tomatoes at me and flaunt your word count. I promise to cheer you on!

xoxo,

Elegant Snobbery is Back!

The last of the boxes are still piled all around, but things are definitely settling for us, in our new house. I'm still up to my ears in things-to-do... but I just really hate not having my shop open so the doors are now open!

Next week starts an insanely busy month for me, as I attempt NaNoWriMo again this year. I'm optimistic about hitting my writing goal, but now I have a beta-reader (a person who is reading my work and giving me editing feedback and challenging my thought-process as I write), so I may not be able to get all of my words done (with NaNo, you pretty much have to type type type without editing or else it is hard to finish).

In any event, I've suckered 3 of my lovely blog friends into signing up and attempting the 50,000-word-novella-in-one-month goal. I'm more than happy to sucker more, so if you haven't signed up, DO IT! and also, be my NaNoBFF! You can find me under Elegant Snobbery!

xoxo,

Outta the Mouths of Babes.10

Mid-November already?

How 'bout a little round up of the things my kids say that crack me up?

----------------------------------------------

WILL: Mommy made you a sandwich and she made it with extra sprinkles of love

ANNELIE: No, actually, that's just lettuce.

----------------------------------------------

Gracie, on handling bullies.

If someone called me stupid, I'd say, "Come over to my house." But before they came, I'd glue their picture in my dictionary next to the word stupid, and then when they came over, I'd say, "Come look at my dictionary." And when they looked, I'd say, "TA-DA!"

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At dinner

ME: Let's talk about what we're thankful for, and pick something that can't be bought at a store.

ANNELIE: I'm thankful for the people who work at the stores and make sure that the stuff I want is at the stores.

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ANNELIE: I'm going to invite Jason, a boy in my class, to my birthday party. Wanna know why? Because he always smiles at me when I walk past him. And when  he comes, I'm going to explain all the rules to him.

ME: Rules like No dating until you're sixteen?

ANNELIE: Yeah, that one. And also no snatching things away from people, and always share.

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ME [unscrews Gracie's light switch plate, removes, puts on new light switch plate]: ...

GRACIE: Oh WOW, Mom! You should be a builder or something!

ME: ... are you kidding?

GRACIE: No, I'm not. I think you're AMAZING!

(Yes, it is THAT easy to be amazing, folks.)

----------------------------------------------

GRACIE: Mom, my school picture turned out GREAT!

ME: Did you get to see it?

GRACIE: No.

ME: Then how do you know?

GRACIE [looks at me like I'm crazy]: Because I smiled my biggest smile and I looked adorable. 

----------------------------------------------

ANNELIE [sniffs surrounding air, delighted]: Oooooh, I made it smell like sausages in here!!

ME [breathes surrounding air]: *dies*

----------------------------------------------

Earlier -
Will put on a vanityfair.com interview with Christopher Hitchens, in which CH argues that women aren't funny.

Later -
at dinner

GRACIE [puts tiny dab of hot sauce in the center of her taco]: There.

WILL: That's really all you want?

GRACIE [shoots him a serious look]: That's all I can handle in this situation.

WILL laughs.

GRACIE [arches brow and smiles]: There. You laughed. Proof that women can be funny.


THAT'S MY GIRL.   


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That's all I've got for today!

Possibly even for the week.

Maybe even for the month - I've been taking a bit of an unplanned blog hiatus. Lately, I've been up to my ears with my NaNoWriMo project (which is already a good dozen or so thousand words behind my goal), my new job (which involves playing trucks and cars with a 3-year-old, and spoon-feeding fruit smoothies to his baby sister - and I'm so happy to be playing with the littlest-aged kiddos, again), and rearranging all the rooms and/or furniture in my house.

CHANGE IS GOOD. Exhausting, but good.

Hope you're all having a great November so far, folks!   

xoxo,

Tumbling Down the Mountain of Revision

ALPencil Print
by Sara Olmos of Teconlene

I haven't blogged about my writing lately - not since NaNoWriMo, which was already a month and a half ago. I've been working on a re-write of the book I finished drafting in September - a modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I'd like to say that it has been going swimmingly but truthfully, I'm not really sure what I'm doing, which frequently puts me in a funky mood.

Sometimes I find the words flow and I love them. Most of the time, however, I feel like I'm forcing the words out and they are a disaster. And then there's the struggle with what to shave off here, and what to develop there - from my already too-long book.

Not to mention my descriptions. Oh, those descriptions. The words on my page go from being too sparse and flat, to purple prose, choking through a cloud of holographic glitter and cheap drugstore perfume.

(See what I mean?)

I knew that the revision process wouldn't be easy. I already imagined it would be like rappelling down the mountain I spent a year struggling to climb, and hitting every rock and bush and Rocky Mountain Big Horn sheep along the way.

Yeah, it's pretty much like that, only instead of rappelling, I'm more like tumbling.

As I've said before, I love writing to music, and currently this is the tone I'm trying to create for the part of the book I'm working on.



Trying being the key word. It's a funky, beautiful song, with a funky, beautiful music video to go with it, and though my story doesn't have shamans or swimming pools, I do hope to capture the funkiness and beauty of it all! Eventually. I do believe it will take much hair-pulling, teeth-grinding and pots of coffee to get me there.

Someday I hope to look back at this post and laugh at my struggles. This will be after all my issues click themselves into place and I'm dancing in the light at the end of the tunnel.

I am so not there yet. But I'm hopeful.

Happy Tuesday to you all!

xoxo,

NaNoWriMo Update - Hello Week Three! and some Nina Simone

Two weeks down and two weeks to go. Halfway point of National Novel Writing Month officially hit! Huzzah!

At the moment, I'm exhausted. Trying to hit 2k words that I can actually send to my critique partners rather than delete and start again, all while keeping my house tidy, playing with my kids, and hanging out with my husband is proving to be quite a challenge. But a do-able challenge. And most importantly, I'm having fun.

Okay, fun is an understatement. I'm having the best time EVER. And at some point today, I'll be passing the 30k mark, which means HURRAH! only 20 thousand more words to go!

I've said before that I write with music blasting and honestly, I think that's my favorite part of writing - taking a song that has the vibe of the scene I'm writing, and trying to shove it into my story as best I can. It isn't easy for me. If there's one thing I suck royally at, it's description.

Today's song (and one that makes it into nearly every scene of my whirlwind adventure story) - Sinnerman by Nina Simone. I like the Felix da Housecat remix, too, but man... just can't beat this original version! Makes my breath catch and my heart thump hard every time I listen to it (so loudly my ear drums are probably ready to blow up).



To all you NaNoers out there, good luck with week three!

And to everyone else - Happy Monday!

xoxo,

NaNo Prep! With Music!

Summer Wonderland
Fine Art Photography by Melanie Alexandra
of RetrospectPhoto

October is here! And what does that mean?

LET THE NANOWRIMO PREPARATIONS BEGIN!

And where do I start? With music. Always with music. Every time I begin a story, I have to have a theme song that gets me into my story even when my day has been filled with house cleaning, errands, and endless trips to time-out (my kids, not me).

It's a song (or songs if I can find a few that I like) that captures the tone of the story, so that when my day is a mess but I can steal a few hours to write, I'm able to pull myself away from the real world and into my character's world in less than a minute. This theme song is pretty much listened to on repeat for ... months.

And months. And months. And because I'm pretty slow at writing - add a few more months to that.

This year's NaNo book is a YA (young adult) urban fantasy action adventure which mainly takes place at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. And my theme song?

Suzy by Caravan Palace! Quirky and dizzying and a whole lot of fun... If I can capture the tone of this song in my story, I'll be pretty darned stoked.

In addition to quirky, dizzying action-adventure, my story is also a love story because I'm a romantic at heart ... so I needed a romantic-y theme song...



And Madness has JUST the right feel for this book with It Must Be Love

Another part of prep for me is picking the theme song for the main characters. At the moment, I only have the theme for one, a side character who goes by the name of Vixen but is better known as Aphrodite. Her song - Night of the Dancing Flame by Roisin Murphy.



Now if I can only find the songs that belong to my main characters... Good thing I have a whole month to prepare!

If you are participating in National Novel Writing Month this year, how are you getting ready?

xoxo,

Marisa the Writer (or a post in which I pour out my insecurities and talk about what I REALLY do all day)

I rarely blog about the fact that I'm writing a book. I know it has been mentioned the last two Novembers as I worked my way through NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I've even slipped it into a post or two when I've written about my future goals and added "become a published author" at the top of the list.

But when it comes to blogging about being a writer, I always end up feeling self-conscious, embarrassed, inadequate and just plain icky.

I've written countless posts about my life as a writer during the last few years. I've never once pressed that little orange "publish post" button. And it makes me sad that I'm so insecure about it, because writing is a HUGE part of my life.

In fact, other than being a mom, a wife, and an avid bookworm, writing IS my life. I do it every day. For hours. I open my word doc and begin tapping away at the computer as soon as I wake up in the morning. When I'm doing the laundry or cooking dinner, I'm also listening as my characters jabber together in my head. After the girls are in bed, that word doc opens again and I spend two, three, four+ hours hacking away at my book again - through the night, often into the early hours of the morning. My awesome friend Alyssa has even been known to call me just to say, "HEY! Step away from the word doc and join the living world for a moment!"

My girls know me as Mommy the Writer.

My husband hears me blather on about my book for hours nightly.

Writing is what I do.

I have an awesome support group of writer friends all hacking away at books of their own and sharing their process publicly on their blogs. I admire them like crazy and leave all sorts of gushy comments in their comment boxes... but as for me? Its just not something I've ever been confident enough to blog about. Sketching out a picture, scribbling it in with colored pencils and then blogging about it is a piece of cake for me. Sitting at my computer, typing away at my book and then blogging about it... impossible. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because my writing process is a disastrous mess. Or maybe because I don't tend to blog about my insecurities and when it comes to writing, I am nothing but insecure.

But I am currently on the very last leg of the first draft of the book I have been working on solidly since last summer and man does it feel good. And while I'm not sure I'll be blogging about it often, I can't not blog about it anymore, because hitting those final keys as my story wraps up is just too exciting to keep to myself. Its been a rough road, getting this book out of my head. And I'm darned proud of myself, despite my insecurities.

This is what my writing process for this book has been like:

July - Story spark! WOW, I love it. Like, as far as I'm concerned, its the best. idea. EVER.

August - Outline and character write-ups. I think it sounds great. Love my story line, love my characters, love the random bits of dialogue that keep popping into my head which I scramble to get on paper so I don't forget them. Super excited about jumping into the writing of this book (which I wasn't ready to begin b/c I was working on another book at the time)

September - Begin writing book. Um. It sort of sucks. Huh. Wasn't expecting that.

October - Have completed a few chapters. Have deleted ten times more than I've written. Feel completely incompetent.

November - Write. Delete. Write. Delete. Only on Chapter Four. Hate every word of it.

December - Eat lots of dessert. Filled with book-hate and writer self-loathing.

January - Write more. Delete even more than that. Find that I hate my characters with a passion and think my MC (main character) is annoying and sort of want to kill her off so I don't have to keep writing about her.

February - Toss entire manuscript into the garbage. Stare at what I used to think of as my perfect outline and cry. Start over.

March - Wow, this is finally starting to work. I'm really getting into the groove of things. My story is working exactly the way I wanted it to back in the summer and my characters are everything I hoped they would be. YAY!

April - Oh wait. Just kidding. Back to book-hate and writer self-loathing. Discover that, despite writing 60,000+ words, I'm still deleting double that. Deleted scenes folder is now at 140,000 words. Angst, angst, angst some more... then keep plodding away at the computer.

May - What? Am I really at the end of writing my first draft? And... can it be? My first draft matches my original outline and story spark 99%? And... is it true? I actually like what I've written? YES! It's a MIRACLE!

Yup, that's right. I like my book. Yes, its only the first draft, but at this point, I'm happy with it. I've put in the hours and I'm about to step away with a book I am proud to call mine and look forward to finishing so I can share it with the world someday. Tomorrow, I might be back to feeling insecure. But today, I like it. Very, very much. I might even go as far as to say the L word. Love. Oh man, yes. I love my book.

I still have a long road ahead of me. Even after I type and they all lived happily ever after (which isn't actually my last line, though my story is a fairy-tale retelling), I'll have countless hours of critique partner feedback to sort through and revising, revising and more revising...

But when all that is done, I will pop open the champagne and celebrate.

And you better believe I'll be blogging about it!

xoxo,

MUST HAVE MOOOOORE! Another NaNoWriMo Update

{click if you dare}

The month of November is coming to an end a little quicker than I am ready for. Last week, I was all pumped with my book and how far I was coming along...

This week, I find that I spend more time procrastinating with endless sheets of virtual bubble wrap (oh my, this stuff is so addicting!!!) and just when I think I'm ready to work on more of my story, I press the 'Fresh Sheet' button, hear the breathy and fanatical voice say "Must have mooooore," and I'm off, furiously popping another sheet.

Yes, I am sleep deprived, hyped up on coffee, and pulling all of my hair out, just as I predicted {in this post} last month. I do still have a shot at getting my 50,000 word goal met... if I write close to 2,500 words a day for the next 6 days.

ARGH!

Okay, back to bubble wrap popping. Must have MOOOOORE!

NaNoEDMo: This Girl Has Got A New Goal

As if the pressure of NaNoWriMo wasn't enough... I've learned that March is NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editing Month) and with it comes the encouragement to pick up that red pen and let a nice little community of writers tear your manuscript to pieces.

Am I going to participate? You betcha. Am I terrified?

Uh, yeah. Very.

So far, besides my Creative Writing class in college, and my high school English teachers, NO ONE has read my stuff. -- Actually, that's a lie, as Will read a paragraph over my shoulder the other day and nearly lost a limb as a result. I'm hideously insecure.

So that's why I'm going to push myself to participate in EdMo come March. That gives me 3 months to get this story finished and suck it up for some major revisions. I've bitten all my nails off just thinking about it!

I'll keep you all posted. I'm scared, but excited to reach my new goal! And if you want to find out more about NaNoEdMo - or if you have a finished, but unedited manuscript laying around and want to join in, be sure to visit their website {BY CLICKING HERE}.

xoxo,

In Which I Say, "YAY for ME!" and then Leave for Vacation

You Deserve a Rip Roaring Fiesta 5 x 7 doodle print

by Aimee of Artsyville

The time has come for me to throw a handful of biodegradable confetti up in the air and shout "YAY! I HIT THE 2/3rds MARK ON MY 2nd DRAFT!"

Why would Marisa be doing that? some of you may be asking yourselves.

Well, I'll tell ya - BECAUSE I HIT THE 2/3rds MARK ON MY 2nd DRAFT!

*throws confetti*

Okay, when it comes to successes worth celebrating, the 2/3rds mark on the second draft (and I'm pretty sure I have a minimum of 3 more drafts when this is done before my never-ending beast of a book is query-ready) might not seem like a celebration-worthy milestone. But you guys, I'm a really slow writer. And as it turns out, a really, really, disgustingly slooooow editor. It certainly doesn't help that I've been stuck editing the same two chapters for the last 2.5 months. But those pages that were the bane of my existence on paper (but so good in my head!) are done! And better than when they were in my head. SO I'M CELEBRATING, BABY!

*throws more confetti*

This book is seriously taking it's toll on my sanity - just this morning I found myself standing in the kitchen, looking at the microwave, thinking, "Wait - did I really just shut a wet dish towel in the microwave for no reason and start to walk away?"

Yes, yes I did.

But I'm going out of town this weekend with my BFF - who I have been friends with since we looked like THIS:

(Sorry Jenni, I totally had to post that again. Bwah-hah-hahahaaaa)

and I am SO ready to put this editing hoopla out of my head for a couple days and relax with our families. And when I get back, my mom is taking the girls for an ENTIRE WEEK. Life is truly wonderful!

Which brings me to the questions that are on everyone's mind (well, on MY mind, at least):

Will Marisa Hopkins rise to the challenge and finish her entire 2nd draft while her kids are at their grandmother's house for a week? Will she be temporarily DONE with the beast that is her free-time's #1 life-suck? Will she finally be able to work on her other WIP, which has been whispering sweet nothings into Marisa's ear since the last NaNoWriMo?

dun-dun-dunnnnn.....

Tune in, in a week and a half, for the pleasant - or unpleasant - reveal!

Enjoy the rest of your week, folks!

xoxo,

The Perfect Planner

Remember my New Year's resolution to keep myself organized?

Umm... apparently I didn't, as I'm still as much of a disorganized mess as I was a few months ago. But New Year's resolutions are made to be broken and so naturally, I broke mine.

Still, the disorganization is driving me nuts, so I'm trying again.

I loved that planning binder I put together {blogged about here} but it wasn't really working out for me. The binder was too bulky and my planning pages were a little too involved and I struggled to keep up with it. Not to mention that I wasn't sticking with my Weight Watchers diet so the daily food journal section was left empty every day.

I had the suggestion from Jackie, from JLYarnworks to take my pages to an office supply store and have them spiral bound, so about a week ago, I printed up some new pages - ones that are a lot more realistic as far as achieving my daily goals - and had them bound at Office Max. I made a cover page and back page with scrapbook paper and some pictures that I printed from my computer, and had them laminated so that my little planner would have a nice cover and be more durable.

I only made enough for two months, because I might need to adjust my pages again, in order to match with my life, but the next one I make will be bigger and have more pages. The cost to have it done was only $5, including the laminated pages and the spiral binding. It also only took about an hour to put the pages together and print them up.

Here is a sample of my pages:

I made sure to add time for the kids. Running a business from home is wonderful, but I always need to make sure that I'm giving my girls the attention they deserve each day.

Most of the days are the same, but I changed the date at the top of the page, and moved a few things around so I'm not doing the same old thing every single day. I just made up one page in a Word document, and then copied and pasted it 6 times, added a different day of the week to the top and then moved things around to suit my daily needs. Then, as I printed each week, I just changed the dates.

And look! I added a section for me to include my book writing progress. Remember in November, when I spent the month participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)? Well, after completing 50,000 words in one month, I sort of let my book fall by the wayside. I'm determined to get it finished and now I have a daily reminder.

And the best part is that I'm actually filling the pages and getting my daily goals reached. Hurray. I love the more organized version of me. She is less stressed and doesn't yell as much.

Enjoy!

xoxo,