Wednesday, November 13, 2013

NaNoWriMo 2013

Happy November, everyone!

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is in full swing! I'm happy to report that as of 11:15 last night, I hit 30,000 words. So, I'm 3/5 of the way to my goal. Yea!


I look forward to NaNoWriMo each year. In addition to motivating me to roll up my sleeves and type up some of the ideas that have been percolating in my imagination, I enjoy hanging out on the NaNo webpage. Each year, thousands of writers around the world take part in NaNoWriMo. The webpage offers forums and a message center where we can chat and e-mail with each other. We can also organize local get-togethers or "write-in's" where groups of writers can get together to write and motivate each other.

The webpage also offers pep talks and other useful features to help motivate, inspire, and encourage writers as they battle self-doubt and writer's block.

One of my favorite features of the webpage is the "stats" section. It allows you to keep track of your word count as you write. There's a chart that helps you stay on track in order to reach the 50K word goal. There are also running tallies of how many words you've written per day, your daily average, and a prediction of when you'll finish (at your current rate).

Now, to be clear, I'm not expecting to have a masterpiece by the end of the month. Instead, my goal is simply to have a rough draft of my current project. I love the feeling of accomplishment that I get when I complete a rough draft. I know that once I get the story to that point, I'll still have months (maybe even years) of editing, revisions, and polishing ahead of me before the book is ready for publication. However, I see completing a rough draft as a major milestone. Prior to that point, all I have is some mental images stored in my imagination and pages of scribbled notes in one in a notebook. But, a rough draft is a starting point. It gives me something concrete to work with.


 
2013 is my third year participating in NaNoWriMo. I'm tentatively calling this November's book "The Surge," and it's a science fiction story. The following is the text I created for the back cover. Just like the manuscript, the following is a rough draft. I'll edit and revise it later.

Tentative back cover text for "The Surge":

When the capital cities around the world are simultaneously attacked, disillusioned veteran, Lisa, assumes that a terrorist group is responsible. Instead of volunteering to help fight back, she packs her camper with supplies and heads into the woods. Using a portable radio, she monitors the progress of the war.

Lisa doesn't want to get involved, but things are far worse than she initially thought. As the unknown enemy continues to destroy major cities, millions of people are killed. It soon becomes clear that the enemy is not from this planet and Earth's weaponry is completely ineffective against the superior technology.

With the humans facing extinction, Lisa discovers an ancient secret. One that is capable of saving her planet. She realizes that she alone is capable of stopping the alien attackers; but, in doing so, she'll alienate herself even further from the people around her. The only people she's ever known.
 
 
Please feel free to leave me feedback. "The Surge" is definitely a "work in progress" at this point!
 
Happy reading (and writing)!


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