Free Proof Copy of Winning NaNoWriMo Manuscript in Book Form

clipped from www.nanowrimo.org CreateSpace, an Amazon.com Inc. owned company, is generously offering every NaNoWriMo 2008 winner a “free proof copy” of their 2008 manuscript. What this means: A free proof copy of your manuscript in paperback book form—just by following the instructions below. They’ll even cover the costs of basic shipping to you. To redeem the offer, you’ll need a special NaNoWriMo winner’s promo code. To get your promo code, you must be an official NaNoWriMo 2008 winner, and be signed into the NaNoWriMo site. Once you are, your unique promo code will be displayed at the bottom of this paragraph. Note that this code will not be used in the “referral code” box when setting up a CreateSpace account, but will instead be used after you’ve uploaded your manuscript and are actually ordering your proof copy. After you receive your proof copy, you can then choose if you want to make it available to the public at large—everything from showing up for sale on Amazon.com to complete invisibility.

NaNoWriMo Day 30: 64,845 Words!

SOUNDTRACK: Too many songs and lots of silence.

I had to stop posting to this blog and updating word count before midnight each day. Those simple acts became an obsession and a worry. Obsession creates stress and NaNoWriMo ceased to be fun. I didn’t want to write: on days 13 – 16, I wrote not one word – and this after the exhilaration of Day 12! I had to force myself to turn on the laptop and get going. Character voices faltered. As with the majority of self-induced ailments, obsession is curable but only if the patient is willing. The cure, no posting or updating, led to 64,845 words and the right to claim a NaNoWriMo winner’s certificate and badges to display on this blog.

What do about this blog? Nothing I think, except keep it for next year. Perhaps there will be a few entires as I edit the first draft. There’s Script Frenzy in April and I’m going to make a donation to the Office of Letters and Light, the organization that orchestrates the madness that is NaNoWriMo.

2008 NaNoWriMo Winner. Sweets by Zizzy 64,845 words

NaNoWriMo Days 9-12: Good Writing

SOUNDTRACK: Pearl Jam Live at Lollapalooza 2007 and Viatology; Piece – Street Smartz; Ohio Players: Funk on Fire – The Mercury Anthology; Parliament – Gold Discs 1 & 2; Millie Jackson – Totally Unrestricted! The Millie Jackson Anthology (CD 2); Gorillaz Demon Days; Beastie Boys – Ill Communication The Mix-Up; and just Silence.

I’ve achieved 11,527 words total an increase of 7,481 in four days. This is a quick post because I feel exhilarated and want to get back to writing.

NaNoWriMo Burn

NaNoWriMo Day 8: In Quito, Ecuador

SOUNDTRACK: La Mas Completa Coleccion y 12 Grandes Exitos (Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitan) Beautiful Day (U2, Live From Slane Castle) and Kill Bill Volume II

Today’s word count: 1,204
Word Total: 4,046

I missed the 2,050 word goal by 846 words and according to the progress meter, I am doing exceptionally bad. Chris of NaNoWriMo posted this message on the 5th.

I spoke with the Great NaNoWriMo Calendar this morning, and she said we should be at about 8333 words by the end of the day today. She also told me that some of you ignored her suggestion to be at 6666 words yesterday, and that she may let you slide on that if you get to 8333 tonight.

I don’t know what may let you slide means. I’m not discouraged at all, in fact I’m pleased with how the plot has developed. I finished Chapter three. Yesterday I excerpted part of that chapter: the description of Trills chocolate pantry and Ruby dancing around the living room to Hole. The scene continues with Trill entering the room from the kitchen where he’s been preparing cioccolato caldo. They argue, settle down and begin to talk about Sweets Lady, who now has a name: Nesha. I searched on Nesah after I wrote it found out that it’s a real name, Russian in origin, and means pure. Nesha is Ruby’s mother. She mailed Ruby a postcard from Quito. She is there to learn more about Ecuadorian cacoa.

Chapter four is about Nesha in Ecuador. There are three new characters, two are cacoa experts. Nesha has already faced racism in Ecuador. This is appropriate for this story given that racism is a problem in Ecuador and many countries and something that people of color have to deal with.

Cocoa seeds in the fruit or pocha. Public Domain Image. Source: WikiCommons used with perimission from PD-USGOV-USDA-ARS

NaNoWriMo Day 7: Character Development and Time Shift

SOUNDTRACK (IN PROGRESSION): Highway to Hell, (AC/DC), The Offspring Greatest Hits (except Why Don’t You Get a Job – don’t like it), Burning Inside (Ministry, The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste), Jesus Built My Hot Rod (Ministry, Psalm 69), Hollywood Babylon, Vampira, London Dungeon (Misfits, Collection), Pretty On The Inside and Live Through This (Hole), Questions (INXS, Welcome To Wherever You Are), Psycho Killer (Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense Special Edition), Serenade (Steve Miller Band, Fly Like An Eagle 30th Anniversary Special Limited Edition), Living in the U.S.A. (Sailor, Steve Miller Band), Middle of the Road and Thumbelina (The Pretenders, Learning to Crawl: Remastered Bonus Track Version), a U2 Set – Desire, Bullet the Blue Sky (Rattle and Hum), and Elevation (2005 Live from Milan), Violent Femmes (Violent Femmes).

We begin with a message from NaNoWriMo central:

I hope you’re all getting on towards 11,666 words! Tonight at midnight marks the end of Week One.

Happy writing to all, and to all a good weekend.

Lindsey

I’m not even close: 2,842 -11,666 = – 8842

Well, let’s update our total and see what the progress chart says (tick, tock, tick, tock …)

Considering my current pace, 2050 words per day are needed to make the 50,000 word goal. Today’s word total is 1,504 an increase of 479 words over yesterday. If I can manage to write 546 more words a day, that’s only 67 more words than today, I’ll achieve the 2050 word goal.

I began this good day of writing at 14:40 (2:40 p.m). Ruby’s personality is developing: she is intelligent, quick-tempered, and an off and on friend of Trills since childhood. He’s angry with her: don’t know why yet.

Time and personality are today’s themes. The story left-off yesterday with Ruby walking across the street to investigate the strange sight of a person sticking their head out of the window in the rain with no intention of moving from that position. At that moment both Ruby and Trill were teenagers. Phillip Pullam said that for him page 70 is where all the contradictions in his novels are revealed. For this novel, page 9 is where the time shift begins. When Ruby arrived at Trill’s house, stood under the window and yelled up at him, “Hey. What are you doing that for,” both she and Trill morphed into their twenties. The parents, downstairs with Bounder, vanished and Trill now lived alone in his childhood home; perhaps his parents died or retired and moved to a sunny climate. Oh the fun and adventure of free writing. I’m happy with this development because Trill and Ruby are much more interesting. The Sweets Lady didn’t make an appearance. Bounder is a red Greyhound.

NaNoWriMo Days 4,5 & 6: Victory and Progress

SOUNDTRACK: President Barack Hussein Obama’s Victory Speech at Grant Park and BestRadio (iTunes), Live from France!

6 November day total: 1025

On 4 November all of my thoughts and hopes were on the Election in the United States. The big date, important to many people across the world. I cried with joy and relief: President Barack Hussein Obama – a dream realized. Champagne – I drank glass after glass and the next morning, no hangover. I hardly thought about NaNoWriMo. I spent the day in contemplation as well as reading and listening to news and opinions from around the world. I emailed friends. I thank and send love to everyone who voted for Barack Obama. But there is no time to rest – we still have a lot of work to do.

Back to NaNoWriMo: Day 6 and I am so pleased – I wrote 1,025 words today. There is a new character and her name is Ruby. She lives in a cave (or cabin, haven’t decided yet) in the hills above the village. Today the story began with the Sweets Lady, her thoughts came through as soon I placed my fingers on the keyboard. She has a store now and Trill works her old cart. He has an ambition – to become a Master Confectioner & Chocolatier. His inspiration is Jacques Torres. Perhaps Trill’s ambition will expand to cakes and pastries.

I don’t know who Ruby is yet – but I think she will be an interesting girl, whether friend or foe.

What I’ve learned so far: that I can’t talk myself into relaxing in order to write. I really don’t know what helps me to or prevents me from writing. Some say – write no matter what. I’ve never been able to do that. If I can’t connect, if I don’t feel the characters in me and hear their voices; if I can’t close my eyes and imagine the scene, it’s no good. I feel these characters and place now, formed in my imagination.

The Week One inspirational email came from Phillip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials. He wrote that page 70 is the hardest, that for him the task of finishing a novel becomes overwhelming at that point. But if one can write 70 pages, then 71 can’t be that hard. And you keep on going, doing as many pages as you can a day (for him 3), et voila, 100 pages without realizing.

if you do love reading, if you cannot imagine going on a journey without a book in your pocket or your bag, if you fret and fidget and become uncomfortable if you’re kept away from your reading for too long, if your worst nightmare is to be marooned on a desert island without a book—then take heart: there are plenty of us like you. And if you tell a story that really engages you, we are all potential readers [of your novel].

Good luck!

Philip Pullman

I’m looking forward to next week’s inspirational email. At Phillip’s website there is a link to a fantastic email interview he did with Peter T. Chattaway, the Christian film critic at FilmChat blog about The Gold Compass movie (upcoming at the time) and the His Dark Materials Trilogy: Materialism, Christianity, Atheism, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkein.

NaNoWriMo Day 3

SOUNDTRACK: NONE

Twenty-four words written in the last half hour: a grand total of 489. I hate this story because I’m lost in it. Trill and Sweets Lady are having a conversation, rather they are trying to. I’m stuck.

The point of doing this is to figure out how to get over these hurdles. Perhaps this is the wrong story, I’m stuck because I can’t connect to characters that are out of a children’s book. Trill? Sweets Lady? Hmm …

Perhaps what I need is research: confections, carts, greyhounds, obesity, (Why is Trill fat? Why am writing about obesity? I can see the end now: fat kid makes a friend or not, commits suicided or not, looses weight or not). Christ, what a dilemma.

NaNoWriMo Day 2

WRITING SOUNDTRACK: THE ESSENCE OF CHARLIE PARKER

Added 151 words, for a total of 465, which means that tomorrow I have to write 2867 words. I’ll post my novel, working title Sweets when the story is further along: there is no sense in posting bits and pieces. The Progress Chart isn’t working – have to figure that out.

NaNoWriMo Day 1: A Slow Start

WRITING SOUNDTRACK: A LOVE SUPREME – JOHN COLTRANE

I don’t feel too bad: 134 is far from the goal of 1666-7 words. But that’s fine, because this is supposed to be fun. What I have learned is that analysis paralysis and the harridan editor, those forces combine in my world to create writer’s block to kill my fun quicker than a bug zapper.

On my hard drive (MacBook Pro!), there are unfinished stories: two what could be novels, and an assortment of short stories that began as creative writing exercises. I thought that I’d choose one of the short stories, all which have existing dialogue which is verboten in the NaNoWriMo rules. I know that all of these stories have great potential, but as I re-read them I knew that I couldn’t work with them without using the existing dialogue. Now, I know that a writer should never fall in love with their own words, but I just couldn’t imagine a new ways to describe setting or the emotional states of my Carlene, Joseph/Josephina, Rachel and Dillon. So I re-read the F.A.Q. and accepted this advice:

Give yourself the gift of a clean slate, and you’ll tap into realms of imagination and intuition

At 23:35 (11:35 p.m.) I opened Pages and stared at the screen. Relax. In time my fingers moved from key to key and three new characters were born: the Sweets Lady, Trill and Bounder. All I know about them so far is that the Sweets Lady is troubled, Trill is lonely and Bounder is a happy greyhound. The rule that I must follow for the rest of November is to not think too much, just let the writing flow.

Technical note: It wasn’t until after midnight that I entered the word count. Accessing the NaNoWriMo site has been difficult all day: slow and server resets. What this means is that the Progress Chart is incorrect. But that really doesn’t matter because I only wrote 134 words which will be part of the 02 November. A small matter.