Wistful Wednesday

NaNo and Other News:

Or, What I'm Up To This November!

Well, in my never-ending quest to challenge myself by producing more writing and get my writing in front of industry insiders, I have taken on two challenges this month. The first is NaNoWriMo. For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a month-long event in which a bunch of crazy people (i.e., writers) commit themselves to the task of writing 50, 000 words in the month of November, hence the name - National Novel Writing Month. 

That might not seem like much at first - after all, 50,000 words roughly translates to about 200 pages, which is relatively short by today's standards, unless you are writing category romances. Sure, you might think, I can hammer out a couple thousand words a day; that will bring me right to, if not beyond, the projected 50,000 word count, no problem. This is great, in theory. The problem arises when you actually sit down to write and face the blank page. So the best thing to do is make sure you have a good basis for the book before you even start and don't stop to correct/criticize/edit until you finish.

Why do I do this every year, then, you might ask. To challenge myself, of course. To kick myself into gear. To get something down on paper. To reaffirm my commitment to my writing/my goals for my writing. And there is nothing quite like the pep talk emails you receive along the way from established writers to encourage you to get it done. So I do it. Some years, I'm more successful than others, but I still do it.

In other news, I have entered a writing contest over at The Season blog that I am really excited about because it promises the potential of getting my writing in front of some impressive industry insiders. That, for me, is always a good thing. Even if there's not a major payday in the contest (this one does offer a $100 gift card), when there's the opportunity to have editors from Berkley and well known agents critique your work, this is a better pay-off, in my opinion. That brings you one step closer to achieving your dream and that is what's most important. 

The premise of this contest was to write the beginning of a novel (up to 1600 words) based on the prompts provided. There were four categories to choose from: Historical, Contemporary, Paranormal and Romantic Suspense. Now anyone who keeps up with me and my writing thus far would probably assume that I chose the Paranormal category. And they would be wrong. For some reason, I went out of my comfort zone and entered the Romantic Suspense category (remember what I said about challenging myself?). If nothing else comes of it, at least I can say that it was an interesting experience and each new thing we try helps us become better writers in the long run.

If you want to stop by and read my entry (and I'd be grateful for some feedback and a vote, too), it is called Private Girls. It can be found here: http://theseasonforromance.com/contest/suspense_blurbs.html

Thank you so much for joining me here today. Now, I'm off to NaNo!