Two days to go...

In two days I will begin my third full-hearted attempt at National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). This year I want to exceed the 50,000 word goal by at least 100 words. 100 words is nothing but the past two times that I did NaNoWriMo I only went 50-something words over the goal in 2009 and only 4 words over the goal in 2010. So this year, I don't just want to make it to 50k but I want to exceed the past two years of my NaNoWriMo word counts.

I have done a little more planning this week on Neighborhood Watch and received some input from my sisters on the plot and characters. I also learned lots of writing info from the seminar I went to last weekend. I'm pretty excited about NaNo this year!

Here's a cover for Neighborhood Watch (No, I do not own the picture) (No, I did not cut her torso off. Blogger took the liberty of adding a boarder to the picture):

NaNoWriMo 2011 Prep

I finally began prepping for NaNoWriMo 2011 today!

The reason I waited until now is because I was trying to decide between four novel ideas. I finally picked one I currently have titled as Neighborhood Watch. I went with this one for two reasons: 1) I have little planning on any of the four ideas so this one had the simplest plot to outline in one week and 2) This novels target age group is 10-14 which means that the plot is not going to be heavy. Last year with Shiloh's Children (a novel with plenty of sadness) I had trouble getting the words out as quickly as NaNoWriMo requires. I think (I hope!) it will be easier this year.

While babysitting this morning my 10-year-old neighbor helped me with a few plot devices. Honestly, his ideas were wonderful and I can't wait to incorporate them into my novel. He seemed pretty excited about the book as well which means he will probably bug me about reading it until I show it to him. That means that I will have to not only write Neighborhood Watch but I also might have to *gasp* edit it.

I am going to a writing seminar tomorrow and Saturday which I'm excited about! Maybe I will get a few tips about first drafts before I start on Neighborhood Watch on July 1.

Lyrics Contest

I entered my fourth writing contest this year! Someone introduced me to a website called figment.com and the site has many writing contests each month. One contest,The Lyrics Contest, closes in a few days. I wrote a song and posted it today. There are about 85 entrants right now and I am sure there will be many more before the contest closes on June 18. The winners receive a few goodies from the site. The first place winner is also published in their blog and newsletter.

The song I posted is about God and that may decrease my chances of winning. Also, I am not sure if my song is mysterious enough for them... I'll just wait and see. Hopefully my lyrics will speak to someone who reads it even if it does not win.

Since my last post...

I read at the Awaken the Sleeping Poet Festival. This was a lot of fun! I am so happy that I ended up entering that contest. It was not only a great experience but it has also got me connected with the San Antonio Poet's Association. They have regular meetings and read-ins which I hope to be attending more often.

I sent in two poems for publication. I sent in two poems that I wrote  into Starsongs Magazine (the magazine that published my tritina). I know I said in my 2011 goals that I wanted to enter 10 writing contests this year but I think I will also count regular submissions. In a way, it is a contest. I am competing with every other writer who submitted work to that same magazine. This submission brings my total up to 3 submissions this year. And it's June. Yes, I am happy I turned this in, but I need to get a move on if I am going to accomplish this goal. It has been four weeks since my submission. I should hear the verdict of this submission in the next two to four weeks.


I really got started editing Shiloh's Children. That's right! I have been thinking about what I would edit in Shiloh's Children for a while now but I actually read through it, made an outline, made notes, etc. My next step actually involves using the computer -- yay! Another 2011 goal at work.

I have decided when I am doing NaNoWriMo 2011. I am doing NaNoWriMo in less than a month! On July 1, I will begin my third full-hearted attempt at National Novel Writing Month. I have four different plot lines that I might write next month (I can't decide) and none of them have a whole lot of planning thus far so I have a lot of work to do before then but I am excited about it. Is anyone else doing NaNo this summer?

I'll post a lot more as I continue to submit work, edit Shiloh's Children, and do NaNoWriMo next month.

District Winner!

I won the club level of the Optimist Club International Essay contest! Yay! If I win the next level, the district level, I get a scholarship. At this point, I am also entered into the International level where the winner of that level receives an even bigger scholarship.

I'm also participating in the Optimist Club Oratorical Contest. I should probably go work on writing that speech, actually. That's later this month. 

Shiloh was a child too, right?

So, I'm thinking about and half-way (make that quarter-way) editing my novel Shiloh's Children. I originally split the novel into three parts:

1. Michigan -- this describes Shiloh's childhood, her getting married, her having kids, and the tragedy that strikes the family (currently 16,000 words)
2. U.S. -- describes where the kids are now that they are grown (currently 12,000 words)
3. World -- the kids go on a trip (currently 22,000 words)

I am having trouble with section one. I could make section one into this huge, gigantic, epic section that goes on and on like old classic books. Or, I could make it super duper short. Or somewhere in the middle. I mean, Shiloh had a childhood too, right? That should be included. But her childhood is not the major action of the book. Yet, it is an important part as to why the major action takes place. I'm leaning toward 20,000 words for this section. It will probably end up being more, though. That is, if I ever stop blogging and start editing! We'll see...

More Optimistic

I entered my second writing contest of the year... the Optimist International Essay Contest. That's one more essay done from my 2011 goals. Two down, eight to go. Oh, and I have three other goals too, don't I? I guess I should get to those some time...

I was pretty bummed when I posted about being late and incomplete on January 31. However, I'm feeling a bit more optimistic now (pun intended). Not necessarily because I think I'll win this Optimist International Essay Contest (although if I did, that would be awesome!). I just think two busy, eventful weeks have passed since those two failures and I'm now ready to move forward and try again. 

Late and Incomplete

This never happens to me. Ever. I am never late and I always finish what I start. But both have happened this week.



Late:
I turned in an almost-3,000 word essay to FEE for the Bastiat Essay Contest on January 15, 2011. The original due date for the contest was December 15, 2010 and they extended the deadline to January 10, 2011. Somehow, I got confused and thought the due date was January 15, 2011 (the day I turned it in). I never ever turn things in late... but five days late? That's pretty bad. And pretty disappointing. So, after spending a good 50+ hours on that essay over my Christmas/New Year's break, I turned the essay in five days late and it will not be considered for the competition this year.

and

Incomplete:

I have not finished My Holiday Novel on time. I am not quite half-way through Ten Plagues (I am on chapter four of ten). So, even if I wrote all day, it wouldn't be complete. But, I kind of saw this happening at the beginning of January (as you might could tell from my 2011 goals). I will finish the first draft of this book sometime in 2011, though. I like the story and the characters and I'll keep working on it. Not completing a project is rare for me, but this time, it just happened. I wrote about 6,300 words these past three months which is probably about 6,000 more than I would have done otherwise. So, this was somewhat successful but it is still incomplete.

Honorable Mention

You know that post about playing and winning and all that stuff? And ya know how I said I didn't win a place in the Laurel Crown Awaken the Sleeping Poet Contest? But that I was still glad I played? You remember, right? Well, I received a letter today alerting me that I have won Honorable Mention in the contest! Basically, I get to do everything the winners do: read my poem at the contest and have it published in the anthology. I even get a certificate. What I don't get is a trophy, prize money, or a title. But who cares? This will be my second publication and I get to read my poem for a crowd -- how cool is that?

Technically, I mailed in this poem sometime in December of last year so it doesn't count toward my 2011 goals. But, I am entering another contest, an essay contest, in February. Once that essay is in, that will be two contest entered for this year.

Ya Can't Win if Ya Don't Play

Sometime in December I mailed in a poem to the Laurel Crown Foundation for their Awaken the Sleeping Poet Contest. They posted the winners four days ago and my poem was not picked. I would be lying if I said I wasn't just a little disapointed. But, the contest was free entry for kids so I didn't lose anything of monetary value. And, I like to keep the attitude, "Ya can't win if ya don't play". If I had not turned in a poem to the contest, I never would have won. At least I gave it a try.

I am still waiting to hear about the Bastiat contest *fingers crossed*

My Writing History

I would have to say fourth grade really got me going with my love for writing. I wrote as much fiction as I could that year even if the assignment was calling for a non-fiction piece. For example, we were supposed to write a story about our hero so I started creating this elaborate story about how my dog saved my life... My teacher made me re-do the assignment and write about a real person so that didn't work out to well. But there were many other times that we could write fiction that year so I got my fair share of creative writing in. The next year my English teacher barely had us write at all so my love for writing died down until about seventh grade. I took a writing class that year where about half of all of our writing was fictional. 

In the spring semester of my eighth grade year, I started writing my first novel via long hand in a purple notebook. Once into the story a bit, I began typing it up and would continue to add to it long hand in the car. After about 15,000 words, though, I gave up. It is still an unfinished work that I don't know if I will ever get back to. The reason I gave up on it is simply because of my inconsistent writing schedule (or lack thereof). I would work on my novel several days in a row and then go a month or two without working on it at all.

Later, I thought about doing NaNoWriMo in 2008 with a different story than the one I had started in January of that year but I didn't write more than 1,000 words and gave up on that story too. I didn't actually finish a book until August Novel Writing Month (AugNoWriMo) in 2009 (over a year and a half after I first started trying to write novels) and even that book was only 13,000 words long. It felt good at the time, though, because it was my first completed novel. A few months later, in November of 2009, I competed in and won NaNoWriMo and then had a 50,000 word novel under my belt. I did that again in June of 2010 and was up to three novels.

Writing my two 50,000 words novels made me so happy and made me feel like I was a writer. Now if I sent them to a publisher in current form, the publisher would role on the floor with laughter. But it was fun, exciting, and educational. And now I have three completed novels because of three month-long challenges. Now I'm working on my fourth novel. But one of my 2011 goals is to edit one of my NaNoWriMo novels, Shiloh's Children. I haven't actually started editing yet but it is on my mind often and I will get to work on it soon.

Bastiat Essay

Back from my vacay -- had a blast! Now I just need to get back to writing. Half a month left in My Holiday Novel challenge -- we'll see what I can do with it. I wrote a few hundred words on the trip. Not a whole lot but at least I did something. I am finishing up an essay that is due today for a competition that is about Frederic Bastiat's book "The Law". After today, I'll get back to Ten Plagues.

Frederic Bastiat

Aim High

I am almost done with Chapter 3. I could cut it off where it is but I'm going to try and add a bit to make it a little longer. Right now it's about 1,400 words. The whole book is past 5k now :) Chapter 3 is about gnats - so gross! And Chapter 4 is flies...not a whole lot better. Actually, not better at all. But all ten plagues are awful so, you can't really compare them. I asked my mom which one she would hate the most...she couldn't decide. She finally decided the tenth plague (which involves a lot of death) but all are sad and miserable.

Ahh, vacation coming up! The holidays aren't over yet! And I'm taking my computer to work on Ten Plagues and to work on an essay for a competition. The essay is due by January 15th. After I turn that in I'll have one of ten writing competitions on my goals list complete! I heard on the radio the other day that in order to ensure that you achieve your New Year's Resolutions, you should "aim low". You know what I say to that?

"Lame." 

I would like to achieve all four goals I listed on this blog  but even if I only achieve half of them, at least I did that much. Aim for the moon and if you miss at least you land in the stars, right? Aim high! Dream big! But keep everything in perspective.

Again, happy new year! I'm glad it's January.

2011 Goals

Here are my writing goals for the coming year:

1. Edit Shiloh's Children well enough to show my family and friends
2. Enter at least 10 writing contests
3. Win NaNoWriMo 2011 with at least 100 words over the 50,000 words required
4. Finish the first draft of Ten Plagues

I chose number 1 as a goal because my family and friends have supported me for over a year and I have yet to show them any of my novels. I want them to see what I've been working on and what they have been supporting.

I chose number 2 as a goal because I want to have plenty of  writing experience to put on query letters I will be writing in the future. A query letter is a letter that prospective authors send to publishers. It gives the publisher info about the book and the author's writing experience. Contest wins and past publications are part of the letter.

I chose number 3 as a goal because I have won NaNoWriMo for the past two years and it is loads of fun so I definitely want to do it again. But, I have always just barely crossed the finish line. In '09, I was 54 words over. In '10, I was only 4 words over. I want to win by a little more than that this coming year, even if it's just 3 digits over instead of 1 or 2.

I chose number 4 as a goal because I would hate to leave this novel unfinished due to my lack of dedication to it these past two months. I love the story and my main character. Even though the going is slow on this book, I want to finish it. 

Happy New Year!