Multi-tasking

My husband asked me yesterday how my NaNo novel was coming along, and I told him it was frustrating because I wasn't supposed to 'multi-task.' He thought I had lost my mind, and asked me how I could multi-task when I am writing. So that made me think about that term and how it applies...or if it really did...to writing. My decision was that yes, it does apply.

Let's think about that for a moment. The term means to do more than one thing at a time, right? Well, isn't that what you are doing, however unconsciously it might be, when you are writing? You start with a plot. Or more correctly, perhaps, you start with an idea for a plot. You throw that idea around for awhile and then you start to write. Do you only write the plot for hours on end? Of course not!

What comes after the plot? Usually, characters, right? So now you have to work on developing characterization, and fitting those characters into your plot. Sometimes they all work right in, but more often you have to change someone or even delete someone, because that character simply isn't going to work...at least, not at the moment.

Then there is dialogue. Your characters talk, don't they? So you have to give them dialogue. But wait! That's not as easy as it sounds! You have to give them each a voice, too. You can't have MC Jane Doe sounding exactly the same as Joe Blow, the secondary MC. Now you are getting into really sticky wickets. The voice has to be individual, it has to fit the character, it has to blend into the dialogue precisely, and of course, all this has to be worked into the plot. WHEW! That was hard work!

But wait! You've only done all this for your MC! What about your secondary MC, and then all the other minor characters that have suddenly appeared to take part in the plot? Each of them speaks, right? So each of them has to have dialogue...AND...and an individual voice. The voice has to fit the character, and it has to fit...well, you know. Okay, so you've got all that down pretty well, and you're beginning to feel good about how this is going, right?

But wait! What about point of view? How is this novel going to be told? Is it going to be 1st person, told through the eyes of the MC? Or maybe 3rd person, told by a narrator. Hmm...well, let's try for 1st person, so the reader can be really involved with the MC. Uh oh, that's not enough, however. What about the tense? Past tense, present tense? Present tense is interesting, but...it's fairly hard to do. So, let's decide upon 1st person, past tense. Oh boy, this whole thing is getting more complicated, but I think I'm through the roughest part, right?

But wait! You're not through! There is still the descriptive narration and the pacing of the entire novel. Remember what you first learned as a writer? SHOW DON'T TELL! Uh huh, now you're catching on! Now is the time to set that in motion, to put action into place along with some descriptive narration. Oh, and don't forget the pacing. You don't want your story to drag, but you can't rush through it, either, because then it is going to leave your reader very dissatisfied...to say nothing of your editor. Okay, so now you've worked on all of this, and you think, 'Now I can take a deep breath.'

But wait! No, now is not the time to take a deep breath. Because now you have the structure of your novel to work on...you know, those pesky little things like spelling, grammar, and punctuation? Have you checked words like there and their and the similar ones to make sure you've spelled them correctly in the correct places ? Do you know when to use lay and lie so you don't get them confused?
Are all of your commas in the right place in your sentences? Have you gone through and removed the majority of your 'just's' and 'then's' or 'right then's' ? What about your sentence structures, are all of them complete sentences, without 'dangling participles' ?

NOW you can take a deep breath! Except...you've done all of the above...but...this was just the first chapter!

I think you can safely say, as writers we probably know considerably more about "multi-tasking" than the av - er - age bear, right ? !

(PS: I hope you all know about "Yogi Bear" who is smarter than the av-er-age bear! )

This and That

I've been so involved with my NaNo story I haven't even thought about blogging. I am at 19,000 + words, so I'm over the daily quota for Wednesday and almost to Thursday's quota. Guess that's a good thing, as I'm trying to get ahead and stay there so I can take the day before Thanksgiving off for baking, and Thanksgiving Day for eating!

The story is coming along, although I already know that I'm going to have a lot of revisions to do. I have gone back and read what I started out with, and have created a problem that has had no resolution or follow up. It's just hanging there, swaying in the breeze. Lily Leticia may like it, since she created it and has had no consequences resulting, but that is definitely not going to last...at least, not past December 1st!

The story has a lot of dialogue but not much action. I don't like that. But, revisions are not a part of the NaNo project, so fixing it is going to have to wait.

Speaking of dialogue, do you like to write it? Some of my writer friends say they hate it. They can come up with all kinds of actions, problematic situations, and concise and realistic conclusions, but their characters' dialogues "stink." I like to write it. I have fun making sure that my character's actions and body language fit her or his dialogue. Did you know that body language is as important in a story as it is in real life? Did you know that body language can speak volumes in a story just as it does in real life?

For example, suppose you have a teen girlfriend/boyfriend situation.
The boy is explaining why he can't drive the girl home from school as he always does. The scene goes something like this:

Hunter: "I'm sorry, Lauren, but I have to go to the library and do some serious studying for my history test tomorrow. I gotta spend a couple hours there, so you'll have to walk home today."

Sounds okay, right? Except for the body language: Hunter has his hands in his pockets, and Lauren sees his fingers moving around like little mice caught in a trap. She looks at him, but he avoids her eyes, looking down at the ground or out towards the football field...anywhere but at her.

Does that sound like someone telling the truth? Hmmm...I don't think so. Let's go on:

Lauren: "Oh...well, that's okay. I'll walk home with Ashley. Study hard, I don't want you to fail your test."

Think she believes him? Let's look at her body language:
Lauren holds her arms crossed against her chest. Her lips stretch into a tight smile that doesn't reach her eyes, which have narrowed slightly.

Does that sound like she believes this boy who has driven her home every day for the last 4 months...even when she knew he had to study for tests or had a homework project to work on? You figure it out !

Be sure that your dialogue and your character's body language match! Your story will be much more believable and realistic for it.

NaNo, POV, etc.

It's the fourth of November, and I'm going crazy with my NaNo story! I've never written anything before without editing and revising as I go along, and not doing it now is driving me up a wall. But my story is bursting out all over...and I do mean, all over. I have no idea where it is going to end up. At least I have a semblance of a plot, and some really neat characters, but where they are going to take me, I'm not at all sure. I guess I'll just wait and be surprised on the 30th of the month!

Some of my writer friends tell me they usually have a problem with point of view, so let's talk about that a little.

Do you usually write in 1st person or 3rd person? Until I began my most recent novel, I had always written in 3rd person, which many seasoned writers recommend. But AJ's story begged to be told from her POV, so I wrote in 1st person, but past tense. The problem with 1st person is that your MC has to be in every scene. Everything that happens has to occur, and be interpreted, through the eyes of the MC. That can place a lot of restrictions on what you are writing. What is said behind the MC's back? What happens when she is not present? Sometimes these things are important to the storyline, and if so, then you really can't write in 1st person.

I believe that I did a fairly intelligent job with AJ...of course, that remains to be seen when the editor reads the manuscript. Because this particular novel was character driven, it wasn't hard to have AJ in every scene. But what about those of you who have stories that are plot driven? That's when you have to make the decision to write in 3rd person, so all of the important characters can make their individual contributions to keep the plot active and on track. One character can't do that.

Another thing about 3rd person is that it gives you, the writer, a lot more leeway and flexibility in your writing. You can be more descriptive as the author, but more important, you can move in and out of your characters' lives, thoughts and emotions, as well as showing their reactions to issues and events in a more reflective way.

Sometimes authors like to use an omniscient POV, where every character has his or her own POV, There are two problems with this, in my opinion. One is that for younger readers it can get very confusing as to who is saying and thinking what. When you have two or three characters telling or showing their interpretations to one incident or one event, it not only can be disconcerting but it can be repetitive. The other problem is that most kids, even teens, like to be able to focus in on one character, and to "feel" for that character, to bond, in effect, with that character. An omniscient POV doesn't allow the reader to do that.

When you begin your story or novel, think about your characters. Who is going to be your main character? Is your story going to be character driven, or plot driven? If character driven, is it basically going to be told from the MC's POV? Can you successfully use a 1st person POV with your MC, or will 3rd person be better, so that some of the plot can be revealed through eyes other than those of the MC?

Not only are these questions that need to be answered before you begin writing...if possible...but you also need to consider the tense. Personally, I don't like reading in the present tense, whether it is 1st or 3rd person, so I don't write in present tense. Past tense is much easier, regardless of 1st or 3rd person POV. Take time to decide this before you begin writing. Sometimes...although not often...you will find as you go along that you need to change either the tense or the POV, but making a decision first, I think, is the best way to start.

Creative Non-Fiction

Today is a better day than the last time I posted. Bruin, our Blue& Gold Macaw, is out of the hospital, taking his meds well, and is once again playing. Oh yes, and he and Shadow ( our African Gray parrot) are arguing like they usually do.

So let's talk a little about creative non-fiction. What is creative non-fiction, you ask? Well, let's see. First, it's a story. Second, it's factual. Third, it imparts information to your readers ( kids) without them realizing that they are actually learning something!

When I had my first creative non-fiction assignment, I wrote about the rainforest in the Amazon. I wrote from the POV of a young American boy on vacation with his parents. He was taking a tour of the rainforest, led by a young Indian boy who lived there. My MC learned all sorts of interesting things about the 4 layers of canopy in a rainforest and the different flowers and vines that grew in them. He also learned about one specific animal or bird that lived in each layer of the canopy. He learned the name of the animal or bird, what it looked like, what it ate, where it lived and why it lived in that specific part of the rainforest.

This was creative non-fiction ( CNF) because, first, it told a fictional story about the two boys, and second, because all the facts in the story were true.

When we write pure non-fiction, all we are doing is putting together specific facts about something in some kind of logical and/or cohesive form. It's usually dry, dull and boring reading, and why we all...but kids especially...hate reading it.

But when we write CNF, we create a fictional story around some type of facts. CNF should have a story arc, characters, setting, details and sometimes, even conflict and resolution. Suppose, for example, you were asked to write a non-fiction piece about the origin and development of carrousels. Now, you could get all the facts available from library books, journal articles and websites, sit down, put them in chronological order, and write your article. Factual, true, correct bibliography, and...what? Dull? Boring? Hmm...probably!

Suppose, instead, you got all your facts, times, dates, places, people involved, and then you wrote a story? Let's say a fantasy story about a young girl and boy who decide they are being picked on by their parents, so they run away. They hide in a forest, fall asleep, and are awakened by a horse neighing. But...the horse is WOODEN! So they start asking questions, and the wooden horse tells them about carrousels, and how he got tired of going around in circles so he ran away. The children tell him he should go home, so he leads them to the town where the carrousel is. He goes to the home of the man who carved him, and this man tells the children all about carrousels.

You work your facts and dates and times, etc. into the story the man ( who turns out to be one of the first horse carvers) is telling the children. The wooden horse might add a few things about his experiences with other horses carved by other people. Now...what do you have? A delightful fantasy about two children, one wooden horse, and a factual history about the origin of the carrousel. Doesn't that sound much more interesting that just a straight non-fiction article? ( Since I just wrote this article, I'm hoping the editor thinks its interesting !)

You can do this with just about anything that is true and factual...animals, people, places, "things," even something as dry and boring in real life as...gulp...math! All it takes, besides true and up-to-date information, is a little ingenuity and creativity on your part.

A book that really takes CNF to its highest point is An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly. The book is written from the POV of a caterpillar who became a female Monarch butterfly who has to migrate to Mexico, find a mate and reproduce. The book ends with the end of the Monarch's life. All the facts about what caterpillars eat, how they become butterflies, butterflies migrating in the autumn, mating and reproducing are there and true, but because the story is about a single butterfly, readers can identify with her and care about her.

The next time you want or need to write something that is non-fiction, give serious consideration to the creative aspect. Remember that your prime concern in writing NF for kids is to arouse their curiosity and interest in the subject you're writing about...to make them ask questions: Why? What? How? When? You want them to get excited about the subject; to enjoy what they are reading as well as to learn from it. If they enjoy it they are going to retain the facts they learn longer, and will probably want to know even more about the subject.

Remember that when you are writing fiction, you are using your imagination and creativity; all you need to make writing NonFiction interesting and entertaining to you as well as your reader is this same imagination and creativity.

Are you up to it ?

Bummer

There's not too much to write about today...I hope. My blue and gold Macaw, Bruin, is in the hospital. Last night he started coughing and could barely breathe. Our local vet hospital is open 24/7, but they don't have avian vets, and the only two in this whole county don't do weekend/emergency work. So we took Bruin in, and they gave him a shot of antibiotic and put him in an incubator where they could run oxygen in all night. We called this morning, and he made it through the night, but they still don't know what's wrong. We have to find an avian vet today, somewhere.

On top of that, I have a dental appointment today, and need to get my first query letters out to editors for my novel. I've been procrasting on that, and don't really know why. Fear of rejection, maybe?

One of the reasons I've been procrastinating is because I keep rewriting my query. My ICL instructor told me the first version was great, so why do I keep editing it? I don't know...every time I read something about queries, or a sample, I think...hmm, I don't have that, maybe I should include it. But then, I have to leave something else out, because the letter is only supposed to be one page. I absolutely have to be satisfied with some version this week, because I've got to send it out before NaNo begins.

Speaking of which... so far, I have the names of my characters, who they are, what part they play in Lily Leticia's life, and that's it. I did issue a challenge to my fellow Writer's Retreat members, though. I asked them how many were willing to begin their novels at 12:01 am on November 1st. That's when I'm going to start, but then, I'm a night owl. What about you? Are you up to beginning at 12:01 am on November 1st?

A Schedule for Making Nano Much Easier

For all you NaNo writers, here is a schedule for the amount of words that you should be writing on a day by day basis:

Day 1: 1, 667 words Day 15:25,005 words
Day 2: 2, 334 words Day 16: 26,672 words
Day 3: 5,001 words Day 17: 28, 338 words
Day 4: 6, 668 words Day 18: 30,006 words
Day 5: 8, 335 words Day 19: 31,673 words
Day 6: 10,002 words Day 20: 33,370 words
Day 7: 11,669 words Day 21: 35,007 words
End of Week One! End of Week Three !!!

Day 8: 13,336 words Day 22: 36,674 words
Day 9: 15,003 words Day 23: 38, 341 words
Day 10: 16,670 words Day 24: 40,008 words
Day 11: 18,337 words Day 25: 41,675 words
Day 12: 20,004 words Day 26: 43,342 words
Day 13: 21,671 words Day 27: 45,009 words
Day 14: 23,338 words Day 28: 46,676 words
End of Week Two!! Day 29: 48,343 words
Day 30: 50,000 words
End of Week Four !!!!

WE DID IT!!! 50,000 WORDS IN ONE MONTH! WOO HOO!!!!!!

All right, gang, see how easy it is? Well, okay, so I'm kidding. No one ever said it would be easy. But how about some more tips for making it as easy as possible?

1. Have plenty of caffeine on hand. French Vanilla is wonderful, it tastes great, has a touch of sweetness, and doesn't need cream or sugar to dilute its ability to keep you awake.
a. Don't drink coffee? Okay, no problem, high caffeinated tea will do just fine. Try Madagascar Cherry/Cinnamon... great flavor and your eyes will be wide open...a little dry, but wide open.

2. At least as important as caffeine is CHOCOLATE! Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate with caramel, mint chocolate, chocolate with almonds...it really doesn't matter what kind of chocolate it is, it only matters that you have enough on hand to last for 30 days. But it's fattening, you say? Forget about that. Diets and healthy food must go out the window for the month of November. Only high caloric, high energy foods will suffice. You have all the rest of the year to think about healthy eating.

3. Peanut butter and Jelly/jam/preserves...or almond butter, or cashew butter...any will be okay, as long as it's paired with high sugar jam of some kind. Of course, for those of you who are absolutely NOT going to go off your diet the way you're supposed to, you are allowed to use Seven Grain or Whole Grain bread.

4. Pizza: the 'kitchen sink' kind with everything on it except for anchovies. After all, you're going to need sustenance other than the above mentioned snacks, and the wonderful thing about pizza is that it is as good cold and a day old as it is hot and fresh. So as long as you can keep the cat, the dog, the spouse and those pesky kids out of it, one extra large pizza should last for a couple of days.

So the above tips should be taken seriously, and will make a good start come November 1st. If I can think of some more in the next few days, I'll post them, too.

Speaking of meals...lightly tho' we were: Remember that your fairy godmother did not put you on this earth to write a novel in 30 days AND cook...or clean...or do laundry. For this month, frozen meals are in, as are McDonald's, Taco Bell and Wendy's. If worse comes to worst, tell hubby to buy a roasted chicken at the supermarket, get a couple of salads at the deli, and he and the kids can have a feast.

As for 'clean anything,' the dust bunnies have always wanted a place to play, now's the time for them to get out and romp, and if the kids want clean clothes, they know where the washer is.

Well, that was easy! Now are we all set for NaNoWriMo??

NaNoWriMo

Panic is setting in! What have I done? I have signed up for NaNoWriMo for the very first time. Now why would I do that? I have queries to write, chapters and synopses to get printed, all of these to get out to publishers, my second novel which is historical fiction already begun and 5 chapters written, and I've signed up to write 50,000 words on a brand new novel in one month's time??? And that month includes Thanksgiving, which means at least 2-3 days of no writing at all. I seriously think I've lost my mind.

If I've lost my mind, perhaps some of you have, also. I can't be the only crazy writer around here, can I?? So let's talk about some ways we might be able to lessen the panic, and still get some productive work done.

For those of you who outline...I'm not one of you...doing your outline during the rest of October is a great idea. For those of you who are like me and don't outline, here are some other suggestions.

1. Get Organized!
I put this in red because I am NOT organized when it comes to writing...or anything else, my DH would say. Do you have a specific place to write? A study, a den, your bedroom, the kitchen table? Try to get ONE place for your computer and make it off limits for the entire month of November for anyone else in the family! And if that means eating in the formal dining room, or on TV trays in the living room, , or making hubby and kids watch TV or do homework someplace else, so be it. After all, it's only for a month, anyone can live with that, right?

1a. Outline? sticky notes?:
So okay, it's all going to be in red. Have you outlined your novel? I won't talk about outlines because I hate them, and those of you who do decent outlines already know more about them than I do. And you can outline your novel this month, too.

But I love sticky notes! I have them on my computer, the window, my bookcase, three different places on my desk, one on my printer, two on the lamp shade, and I even tried to put one on Dylan last night, but he ate it.

The sticky notes are ideas that come to mind in the middle of watching TV or doing dishes or cleaning the parrot cages. I run in here, grab a sticky note pad, jot the idea down and stick it...well, any place. I'm hoping this works for the Nano novel as well as it has for my other novel.

2. The Little Devil Who Sits on Our Shoulder and Whispers in Our Ear...You Know, The One Known as Our Inner Critic?
Okay, we've got to get rid of her immediately if not sooner. We are not supposed to critique, edit, or revise during this month. This novel is going to be a rough...very rough...draft. So tell your inner critic to BUG OFF! I don't know...put her in a shoebox and stick her under the bed; stuff a nasty rag in her mouth; put ear plugs in; borrow Pongo's trident and pin her butt to the wall ( and if you aren't acquainted with Pongo, you're missing someone extraordinary!). Do whatever you have to do to shut that critic's mouth for 30 days! Ignore her nasty comments about wrong spelling here, convoluted punctuation there...it just doesn't matter! For now, anyway.

3. Put Some Soft Lovely Music On:
No matter what your musical tastes are, this is the time for soft, lyrical, quiet music. It helps you think without becoming involved in what the music is all about. Try something by Ferante and Teichner, or John Tesh, or some of the "mood" music you find in stores like Target or K-Mart. No rock n' roll ( too loud), no opera ( too dramatic), no country( too sorrowful), just something quiet and peaceful even if it's not what you normally listen to.

4. Planning Our Time to Write:
None of any of these suggestions, or those on any other sites, are going to make any difference if we don't plan time to write. I'm retired, so it is easier for me to plan out time than for most writers, who also juggle outside jobs and family ( kids) responsibilities. So how are we going to do this? We've got to set aside a specific amount of time each day ( or night) to do nothing but write. If that means getting up an hour or two earlier than usual, set your alarm. If it means writing after the kids go to bed, tell your husband it's only for a month, so quit pouting about "no me" time. If it means not watching TV after dinner, either record the programs or just do without...you already know how the majority of them are going to turn out, anyway !

The point of all this is, that for this particular event, we all have to be a heck of a lot more serious, concentrated, focused and determined than usual if we are going to meet that 50,000 word required in 30 days time. And for most of us, because of Thanksgiving, relatives coming, cooking and baking, it's not even a full 30 days. I've never done this before, but people who have tell me that when you finish that 50,000 words you have a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Even though the novel is a rough, rough draft, and even though you will have to go back and edit and revise until you are blue in the face, the fact is...you have written a full novel ( or more than half of one that you can add to) in a very short period of time.

Yes...I can definitely understand that feeling of accomplishment when November 30 rolls around, and we can add our names to the list of those who strived and succeeded.

Are you with me?