November 2011

Nanowrimo: Week 1 Check-in

Nephele Tempest

Hey there, Nano participants! It’s been a week. How are you all doing? Racking up the word count? Or are you falling behind and starting to panic?

Writing to a deadline or to a goal can be challenging for a lot of people, even those who have done so before. The key is to tackle the project in small chunks and try not to get overwhelmed by the big picture. If you start looking at how many words you have left to write, or the number of days remaining in November, it’s all too easy to give it up as an impossible task. But it’s not impossible, as you can see from all the first-time novelists who finish Nanowrimo each year.

So, a few more ideas to keep you going:

~ Squeeze writing time in where you can over the course of the day. Don’t think you have to sit down and churn out all 1,667 words in one session. If your day is busy, try to get down 250 words here or 500 words there. Take a notebook with you on your lunch break or when you’re waiting for your car to go through the car wash. You can always type those scribbled paragraphs up later when you can get back to your computer.

~ You should be done with the introductory section of your novel and into the middle, so remember to throw challenges at your protagonist. Keep them hopping! That will not only help you add words, but it will keep your story moving and interesting. You want your readers to turn those pages, anxious to find out what happens next.

~ Remember to keep motivations in mind as you write. That goes for both your protagonist and your other characters as well. Everyone has their own agenda and it’s not always going to match up to your hero’s or heroine’s goals. In fact, better if there are some collisions along the way.

~ Don’t forget to engage the senses. If your word count is low, it’s possibly because you’re focusing so hard on what happens next that you’re not taking time to envision the scene in your mind and translate that to the paper. You don’t want to describe every single detail, but some visuals as well as sounds, smells and so on will go a long way toward putting your reader into the middle of the action with your characters — and toward bumping up that word count.

~ If you’re really stuck on something — a scene, plot point, character — skip that section and keep moving. Just remember to put a placeholder into the text so you remember to address the issue later. Something as simple as [To Come] or [TK] will be easy to search for when you figure out how to solve your problem.

If you’re way behind on your word count, don’t sweat it. Just keep plugging away, and know that you’re not alone. Many participants take a while to get into their story before they’re able to write large blocks of text each day. Try to set aside an afternoon over next weekend or an evening one day this week when you can really sit down and get some writing accomplished. Be sure to stock up on snacks and your favorite beverage beforehand, to eliminate some excuses to walk away from the keyboard. If you need encouragement, be sure to check out the Nanowrimo site for write-ins or other participants near you. A cheering section is always a good motivator.

Whether you’re working on a Nano novel or just your latest project, good luck and happy writing!

 

 

Winner!

Nephele Tempest

Thanks to everyone who commented to enter the ARC giveaway for Marilyn Brant’s A SUMMER IN EUROPE. Our lucky winner is Melinda! Please keep an eye on your e-mail for information on how to claim your ARC. Congratulations!

Happy weekend, everyone, and happy reading!

Weekend Linkage

Nephele Tempest

Friday yet again, so I bring you a collection of links to help make this last day before the weekend go a little more swiftly. For those of you working diligently on your Nano novels, take advantage of this first weekend of the month to get a good stockpile of words under your belt. More tips coming up next week.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend. Happy writing!

Is ‘The Marriage Plot’ by Jeffrey Eugenides Based in Reality? – An interesting look at a generation of young writers who set out to redefine the American novel, including Jonathan Franzen and David Foster Wallace.

Class Is in Session with Professor Edith Wharton – Writing tips from the classic author, many of which are as helpful and pertinent today as they were when she wrote them.

Georgette Heyer: Biography of a Bestseller – A review of the new biography by Jennifer Kloester, for all you Regency/Austen/romance fans.

The Bibliophile on Holiday – When do we leave? Let me just pack my…books.

Is ‘Urban Fiction’ Defined by its Subject – Or by the Skin Colour of its Author? – An interesting and somewhat disheartening look at how certain books are arranged on store shelves.

The Submissions Process: 9 Ways to Avoid Annoying an Agent

Nephele Tempest

We agents spend a fair amount of time discussing what we look for in submissions from prospective clients. The majority of this discussion focuses on the material itself — manuscript, synopsis, contents of the query letter. But there are certainly other factors that sway us, some of which vary from agent to agent, because the reality is that we are people, too, and people have personal preferences, no matter how fair and professional they are when approaching this sort of thing. Reading is always going to be personal. You like what you like and dislike what you dislike, and that is why even the most polished and talented aspiring writer may need to submit to a number of agents before finding the one who is the perfect fit for their style and project. It’s also why you should do your research into the agents you query before you start sending out your material. Shooting into the barrel is not the most practical approach unless you’re killing your dinner.

However, somewhere between the wonderfully written manuscript and the research that let’s you know, to some extent, the types of stories an agent enjoys, there is that no-man’s-land of niggling details. These are the things that writers often do wrong, despite the sense that we as agents have that they really should know better. Call them little oversights or lack of common sense or the result of nerves… take your pick. In the overall scheme of things they may seem unimportant, irrelevant to the true question of your project’s literary worth. However. If your project is sitting on our mental fence, any one of these little tiny nit-picking details can push you off with a splat, and not on the side where you’d like to land.

I offer you these words of wisdom:

  1. Spell the agent’s name correctly throughout your correspondence. Even if the name is hard or different, such as, oh, Nephele. Find the agent’s website and double check.
  2. Make sure you get the sex of the agent correct. Find a photo or an interview and verify your facts before you address some poor woman as Mr. or man as Ms.
  3. Actually address the agent by name at the top of your query letter (not “Dear Literary Agent”), even in an e-mail. This is a business letter, however it is being transmitted.
  4. Do not send a mass mailing with every agent’s name in the To or CC field. We can see those, you know. It doesn’t make us feel particularly special. It’s one thing to allow simultaneous submissions, and another to see the names of the fifty agents on the writer’s radar. We also know what you’re doing if you send the e-mail to yourself instead. See point 3 above.
  5. Do not inform the agent at the bottom of your e-mail that you’ve included an SASE for their response. I’ve yet to actually see an attachment of that sort.
  6. Do not simply e-mail the agent a link to your material online. We’re not going to go find it.
  7. Don’t claim your book is the next New York Times bestseller/Harry Potter/Da Vinci Code. You don’t know that. We don’t know that.
  8. Make sure you’ve accepted and saved any changes to your manuscript document before sending it to an agent who has requested it. We don’t want to see what you and/or your critique buddies have noted on the manuscript in various bright colors. Let that be your little secret.
  9. Have someone read the opening pages of your manuscript very carefully for typos and/or missing words. We’ll overlook a few errors over the course of your work — everyone’s human — but nothing looks quite as sloppy as finding three or more noticeable mistakes of that sort before page five.

I could go on, but this list covers the basics and you get the idea. Be sensible, business-like, and don’t be in such a hurry that you don’t give everything one final look to see that it’s the way you want it. First impressions may not be everything, but if you make them work for you they can help you go the distance.

 

Giveaway!

Nephele Tempest

As promised, I have an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) to giveaway here on the blog this week. The book is A SUMMER IN EUROPE by Marilyn Brant, a women’s fiction title due out at the end of November.

On her thirtieth birthday, Gwendolyn Reese receives an unexpected present from her widowed Aunt Bea: a grand tour of Europe in the company of Bea’s Sudoku and Mah-jongg Club. The prospect isn’t entirely appealing. But when the gift she is expecting – an engagement ring from her boyfriend – doesn’t materialize, Gwen decides to go. At first, Gwen approaches the trip as if it’s the math homework she assigns her students, diligently checking monuments off her must-see list. But amid the bougainvillea and stunning vistas of southern Italy, something changes. Gwen begins to live in the moment – skipping down stone staircases in Capri, running her fingers over a glacier in view of the Matterhorn, racing through the Louvre, and taste-testing pastries at a Marseilles cafe. Revelling in every new experience – especially her attraction to a charismatic British physics professor – Gwen discovers that the ancient wonders around her are nothing compared to the renaissance unfolding within…

For a chance to win, simply leave a comment here on this thread between now and Friday, November 4th, at 5pm Pacific Time. I’ll post the winner at some point after that time, both here and in a new post. Good luck!

ETA: And the winner is Melinda! Congratulations! Keep an eye on your e-mail for information on how to claim your ARC. Thanks so much to everyone for playing along. More giveaways to come in the near future, so stay tuned!

Start Your Engines: The First Lap of Nanowrimo

Nephele Tempest

Happy November 1st! For some of you, this is just another day on the calendar. One day closer to the holiday season, a day devoted to leftover Halloween candy, All Saint’s Day… take your pick. For others, however, it is a day long anticipated, the first day of National Novel Writing Month, affectionately known as NaNoWriMo.

Briefly, Nano is an annual event where people around the world attempt to write 50,000-word novels over the 30 days of November. There is no prize for winning beyond the sense of satisfaction, and no fee to enter — though the organizers appreciate all donations to keep the site and program up and running. It fosters a sense of community, with local write-ins taking place in coffee shops and bookstores in various towns, and on posting boards that allow Nano-ers to compare word counts, horror stories, plot ideas, and tips for overcoming writers’ block.

On this first day of the month, most all Nano participants are raring to go. They often count down to midnight on October 31st so that they can start accumulating words toward their total as soon as the new day begins. And all across the internet, you will find articles and tips on how to achieve your Nano goals.

If you planned ahead, if you have some sort of outline or notes or napkins with character descriptions scribbled onto them, good for you. But if you haven’t plotted out your Nano novel before now, never fear. It’s still possible to get your required word count done over the course of the month.

A few things to ask yourself:

Who is your hero/heroine? What do they want/need? And how many things can you throw at them to keep them from achieving their goal?

That last one is the key. The key to stretching word count, but also to ratcheting up the suspense, keeping the pace moving, and making sure your eventual reader has their eyes glued to the page. Whenever you’re stuck, whenever things seem slow or boring, whenever you feel like you should just write “the end” and never mind that it’s only page 74, find something else to complicate your protagonist’s life. You might not know exactly what path they need to take to get to the end, but if you drop a big boulder into the middle of it, well, then they’ll have to find a new route anyway.

Week one is about writing the introduction to your story, the first quarter of your book that sets up who your hero or heroine is, what they want, and what they must face to achieve that goal. But you’re only going to barely touch on that final one this week, because part of the surprise of the story will be unearthing those obstacles as you go. Sure, you probably have a few in mind, but the more things your character must overcome, the harder their journey, the more we will cheer for them along the way.

So get out there and write, pedal to the metal, and tell us who your character is and some of what they’re about to face. Keep typing, no matter how doubtful you are about word choice or sentence structure — all of that can be revisited and revised (should be!) once the month is over. Concentrate on getting a down-and-dirty draft accomplished. Focus not just on character and plot, but setting as well. Remember to engage all of the readers’ senses to put them fully into the story — and increase your word count. Again, you can pare down and hone these descriptions later on. For now, just write.

My last piece of advice for week one is aim high. Get those word counts up if you can, now while you’re working on the early parts of your novel and you’re still fresh. Nano suggests 1,667 words each day to meet your end-of-month goal, but if you can whip out 2,000 or more, you’ll get a little bit ahead of the game. Believe me, you’ll appreciate it the first day you have to stay late at work and can’t find time to write, or when Thanksgiving rolls around and you’re too stuffed with turkey and pie to even think about sitting at your desk. So write now, write fast, and let your enthusiasm be your guide. Good luck!

Happy Book Day!

Nephele Tempest

A very happy release day to Shannon K. Butcher, whose second book in the Edge series, RAZOR’S EDGE, hits shelves today. This exciting work of romantic suspense follows security expert Roxanne “Razor” Haught as she goes from working corporate espionage cases to becoming a target herself. With the firm newcomer, Tanner O’Connell, watching her back, much to Razor’s annoyance, the pair set out to learn the identity of the assassin on her tail and to stop him from completing his mission.

Also out today, the mass market paperback edition of Nalini Singh‘s KISS OF SNOW. This copy has special extras not found in the hardcover edition. For those of you who already have a copy, never fear, as Nalini will be putting the extras up on her website in a few days when she returns from her trip to India. This book tells the long-awaited story Hawke, the alpha of the SnowDancer wolf pack, and Sienna Lauren, the young psy woman who defected from the PsyNet with her family.