The Librarian Writer

It hardly seems like it's been three months since I was cranking out 5,000 words a day to finish NaNoWriMo on time. But now I have a little more perspective about my novel and the pros and cons of writing a first draft during NaNoWriMo. First of all, I knew there was a lot of junk in the novel. The needless lists and random song lyrics are all part of the NaNoWriMo ethos. Get that word count up by all means necessary. And in revision mode, that's an easy fix. Just delete. Done. No damage to the actual story. And all the "something something to be filled in later"s were another easy fix. Now I've been able to go back and do the time-consuming research that I skipped over during that crazy month of November. Much of what I skipped over were little personalization touches, the kind that can consume me because I need to get it just right. I knew that in an important scene, one of characters was wearing a band t-shirt. But which band? That can says tons about the...

My absolute favorite character building exercise was creating a playlist for my main character. It's good way to get into her head and differentiate her voice from my voice (which can sneak in more than I like to admit). I have to remember that my MC is a contemporary 17 year old, which means she was born in 1993. Smells Like Teen Spirit is an oldie to her. So I've had to push myself and discover what kind of music she'd listen to. Here's some background about Keely (my MC): she considers herself to be emo-lite she lives in a small town in Arizona with her mom and grandmother she's a senior in high school and thinks a lot about the future Based on that, I decided on these perimeters of her musical taste: her favorite band is Green Day she likes Johnny Cash because her grandmother does she listens to a few '80s band because her mom listens to them (Police, Violet Femmes, The Cure, etc.) she likes songs that are a little rebellious but not too dar...

Yep, it's all over and I survived. Barely. Words written: 50,062 Last word written: exist NaNoWriMo pushed me harder than I thought possible. Of course, much of what I wrote was garbage: unnecessary he said s or she said s, frequently accompanied with an adverb; kind of s and sort of s aplenty; and I did succumb to the lure of adding song lyrics. Several times. But I did NOT use the pre-existing pages I had in the the word count, so I'd still like to pat myself on the back. If not for a job well done, then at least done. Sort of. I'm about 15 pages from finishing up a rough draft. And that's something that should get a happy dance. The novel is a rambling mess, but I have a clear idea now of the story arc and the characters' voices. Those 15 pages should be a cakewalk. I know I shouldn't lose the momentum, but I'm kind of, sort of sick of the whole thing, she said defensively. So I'm giving myself a little break from the novel. For how long? I don't ...

NaNoWriMo Lesson 1: Deadlines are good I've always found it easier to write when I have a hard and fast deadline looming over me. I'm not saying that I write any better, but I'm much less likely to procrastinate by playing Bejeweled or watching Amazing Wedding Cakes if I know I have to get pages done. NaNoWriMo has been an excellent kick in the pants for me. Although I'm about 10,000 words behind the pace, I've got about 135 really crappy pages so far. That's about 120 pages more than I had at the beginning of November. Will I make the magic 50,000 words by the end of November? Doesn't matter. I'm on a trajectory right now that will have me completing my first draft sooner rather than later. NaNoWriMo Lesson 2: Encouragement is better I've been posting my word count as my Facebook status each day. The encouragement from friends on good days and bad days (and there have a few zero word count days) has really kept me motivated. Having your own cheerin...

I first heard about NaNoWriMo a couple of years ago. Since I was in graduate school, it was simply out of the question for me to commit to writing a novel (even a crappy one) in a month. But now I'm footloose and fancy-free (aka unemployed), so I'll be giving NaNoWriMo a go. Just what is NaNoWriMo? Glad you asked. It's short for National Novel Writing Month , a wacky idea started by a group of writers to kick start their writing mojo. The goal is to write 50,000 words during the month of November. Since word count was a concern of mine (see last blog entry), NaNoWriMo will give me the impetus I need to get out the vomit draft of my YA novel. I'm a huge believer in the power of the vomit draft. Getting that novel out isn't pretty and it usually stinks, too. But it's done. And then its time to clean up. NaNoWriMo costs nothing to participate and there is really only one rule. You gotta start from scratch. No reworking old drafts, no finishing works-in-progress. Oo...

I've been writing screenplays for awhile and I've got page count down. Stay around 120 pages for drama features, 90 pages for thrillers, action/adventure, and comedies (romantic or otherwise), 55 for TV drama scripts, 30 for sitcoms. More or less. Preferably less. But I'm changing my focus to writing kiddy lit, so I was thrilled to see a recent Writer's Digest blog about word count for novels and children's literature . The areas I'm working on now are picture books and a YA novel. The advice given for picture books is under 500 words. There I'm okay. Most of the picture books I've written so far are usually under 200 words. I am writing for the toddler crowd, so there's little need for much plot. What's the conflict in Goodnight Moon ? Bunny delays bedtime by saying good night too much. What really counts is how to use those precious few words, building rhythm and a sense of satisfaction at the end. The YA novel is more complicated. Word c...

Librarians love lists. Summer reading lists, Notable this, Top Ten that ... nothing makes a librarian more blissful than putting together a list that convinces a reader, "Yeah, I want to read THAT!" So when I saw floating around Facebook a list that was reputedly put together by the BBC, with the dictum that people generally would have read no more than 6 titles, I had to have a look. Well, I had my doubts about the provenance of the list when both "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" and "Hamlet" appeared. Literary sleuth that I am, I found the real list at the BBC's The Big List . The goal of the BBC was to conduct a poll to find the nation's most beloved books. The large number of children's titles on the list goes to show what an impact children's literature has. The books we read in our youth are more likely to be remembered and loved than the more high-falutin' literature of our adulthood. All this got me thinking about my...