NaNoWriMo - A Tale of 50,000 words in 30 days

Nov 1st NaNoWriMo – A Tale of Fifty Thousand Words in Thirty Days Plus TRR Year End Splash!

NaNoWriMo UPDATE: November 30, 2015

I MADE IT! 50,355 words in thirty days. Whew! A darn good start on another novel – A Wedding For The Holidays.

On December 4th, stop by and read the tale of Christmas Decorating gone way wrong.

Fourth Week of National Novel Writing Month and I’m doing better. Approximately 41,000 words written with 9,ooo more to go before midnight on November 30th. I just might make it. Keep your fingers crossed for me!! LOL

Third week of National Novel Writing Month and I’m going to have to play catch up! Had some other tasked on my radar this weekend. Received and signed new contract from The Wild Rose Press for A Witch’s Journey, a paranormal romance you’re going to Love. I needed to complete the cover info sheets and manuscript sheets. So lost a couple of days writing. But now, nose to the grindstone and making up that word count. See you next week!

The second week of National Novel Writing Month finds me just a wee bit behind. Had a medical situation middle of the week that caused me to get behind. I’m back, fingers flying over the keyboard and headed toward 12000 word mark!

November is an exciting month, and not just for Thanksgiving. First of all, I am a participating author in The Romance Reviews Year End Splash! Great books from over 300 authors/publishers. More than 300 prizes, including an Amazon Kindle Fire HD7, lots of games, FREE books and great reads beginning November 1st continuing the entire month. In week two of the celebration, I’m giving away an electronic copy of A Demon’s Witch to one lucky participant with the right answer (See My Books). You need to be registered & logged in at TRR before playing the games in order to keep track of your points for the game. Registration is free and easy. Check it out. Second…

Along with millions of writers around the world, (ok maybe not millions, but close) I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month.A challenge to write fifty-Thousand words in thirty days. For weeks, our minds have worked out the logistics of the story, our fingers are twitching to tap that keyboard and kick off the race to our latest novel. The National Novel Writing Month challenge is a great confidence builder and something we writers look forward to November 1st every year.

NaNoWriMo as it’s fondly referred to has become somewhat of a tradition for me starting in 2010. I’ve made my goal of at least 50,000 words every year since with the exception of 2013. That year I failed miserably at only 17000 words. My day job was a monster, the hours were long and by the time I arrived home, I was the monster. Anyone know what I mean? But I digress, at 17,000 I still had a working story, plot and characters. Yea! Finished it up in the months that followed, submitted it and publication is pending.

Along with the Pikes Peak Writers group, who gave me the tools, NaNo gave me the confidence needed to stick my toe in the murky waters of the publishing industry. The 50,000 words, approximately 1,667 per day, usually is three-quarters of a pretty darn good novel. Eventually, I submitted one of the manuscripts, received a contract and it released September 25th as the first of a series entitled A Demon’s Witch. Each year I build on what I’ve learned throughout the year and use it to complete the NaNo challenge.

This year, I’ve completed a short story, A Witch’s Protocol, of 7,000 words, which will be on my webpage in segments beginning January of 2016. A novella, Charm Me, 20,000 words, to be released in January or February in time for Valentine’s Day 2016, and a full length novel of 88,000 words, all in less than six months from draft to submission. NaNoWriMo taught me the discipline and determination to get it done. AND it’s not even Novel Writing Month yet! Yes, I am signed up and raring to go for NaNoWriMo 2015. Who’s going to join me?

What does it take to prepare? A story idea, maybe a list of characters, I always complete a character worksheet on each character in the story I plan to write. Some writers do a story outline. I’m a panster, meaning I write by the seat of my pants, no outline, so the character worksheet is it. Let people know, who will keep your feet to the fire, that you are participating in NaNo and have a 50,000 word goal. Some people join groups that are also participating in NaNo for encouragement and camaraderie. READY, SET, WRITE! No whining, no goofing off, no excuses. You got this!

Check back often to see if I’m meeting my goals!