Family endures yet another year of NaNoWriMo

My family during NaNoWriMo:

Me during NaNoWriMo:

Even though I only wrote about 23,000 words in November this year, falling far short of the 50,000 word goal of NaNoWriMo, I'm still pumped, and I'm still a NaNo junkie. It truly is my favorite time of year. It's a time when I can put off all other things without feeling guilty: the one time of year when my writing comes first, guilt-free.

This was my 7th year, so my family is used to the drill. I don't think they like NaNo very much (probably because of that glazed look in my eyes: either from being sleepy because I was up too late writing, or glazed because I'm far off in novel land, conversing with my characters), but they know how important it is to me and they try to grin and bear it.

As always, the pep talks were inspiring (you can read them all here). Here's a few tidbits:

From Lev Grossman, author of the Magicians.

Let’s say you’re not a writer hard at work on your first novel. Let’s say you’re a Tribute who’s just been selected for the Hunger Games. You’re freaking out because you’re facing almost certain death in the Arena. And instead of a published author, I’m going to be that drunk guy who’s supposed to be telling you how to survive.

His analogies between writing and the Hunger Games were amusing and also a little scarily apt!

From Malinda Lo, author of Adaptation:

Inspiration is like that hot girl or guy you met at a party one time—and when you talked to him or her, it seemed like you totally clicked. There was eye contact; there was flirting; maybe there was even a bit of casual brushing of your hand over theirs, right? I know. I’ve been there. At the end of the night they asked for your number and said, “I’ll definitely call you. We should hang out." But then they never did, and you were left waiting for a call that never came, feeling increasingly like a fool. That’s what inspiration is. It’s seductive and thrilling, but you can’t depend on it to call you.

Oh, and this one, also from Malinda Lo:

How often am I filled with inspiration before I start writing? Pretty much never. Instead, I usually stare at my work-in-progress with a vague sense of doom.

I can so relate to that!

From Marie Lu, author of the Legend trilogy, some excellent tips:

Pull your favorite, tattered, dog-eared book off the shelves. Find a chapter that leaves you breathless. Start typing it out in a new document, word for word. Don’t just type blindly; think about what you’re writing. For me, something about this exercise helps me see the genius in the other writer’s storytelling, and will stimulate my own writing and thoughts. Be careful, of course, that you don’t end up plagiarizing it right into your novel… but there’s something to be said for drawing inspiration from another.

Write a long list of all your characters. Then, start drawing random lines connecting random characters to each other. Don’t think—just connect. Afterward, look down at your page. Try to figure out a connection between each of the two random characters you just linked—something scandalous, maybe, or something sweet. Something three-dimensional and unexpected. Some explosive scene that throws the two together.

From Rainbow Rowell, author of Eleanor and Park.

One of my challenges as an author is staying inside the fictional world I’m creating. I have to write in blocks (at least four hours at a time, at least four days in a row) to make any progress. During NaNoWriMo, I never left the world of the book long enough to lose momentum....I stayed immersed in the story all month long.

That's what I love about NaNoWriMo, the immersion into the story, staying so closely connected to it, day in and day out. Of course at times that means times of discomfort and disillusionment, but if you push past that, the story sweeps you away to amazing places.

How does your family handle your creative escapes?

Also, I'm excited that it’s time for the 3rd Annual YA Superlative Blogfest hosted by Jessica Love, Tracey Neithercott, Alison Miller, and Katy Upperman. A great way to highlight our favorite YA novels, covers, characters, and story elements. Coming December 16-19

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Still recovering from NaNoWriMo

I meant to have a post ready today, but I'm still recovering from NaNoWriMo, and from a nine hour drive from Kansas back home to Wyoming.

But just a quick note here to say I'll have a post soon, and in the meantime, every wanna-be-published writer should be heading over to the Baker's Dozen auction at MSFV's blog today to see what agents are bidding on.

I'm also going to be looking for a twitter hashtag something like #bakersdozen2013 to follow the auction, or if that doesn't work, #msfv.

Top Ten Things I'm Thankful For

I keep a list of things I'm thankful for, based on the ideas from the book, One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp. I've been adding to this list for four years now, and I'm getting close to 800 items on my list. I can't wait to see how much more my list grows in the next four years... or twenty!

 Keeping this list has seriously changed my outlook on life.  It's taught me to be thankful for each day, and all the little beautiful things that used to escape my notice, and it's made my life immeasurably richer.

I have come to believe that contentment and happiness is closely linked to thankfulness.

I've been meaning to make a regular habit of sharing my thanks on my blog. Finally, the Top Ten meme from the wonderful bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish prompted me to get started.

Here's my top ten things I'm thankful for:

1. My four daughters - and their laughter. There's nothing better than a kid belly laughing or even just giggling.

2. Listening to KLOVE radio as I drive myself and my kids around to various things during the day. Amy, Craig and Kankelfritz are the funniest trio, they give me a guaranteed laugh or two every morning.

3. My husband. He can drive me nuts, but there's nothing better than a loving partner. He makes me laugh, too.

Hey, there's a theme here. Apparently, laughter is really important to me!

4. I'm really thankful for God (the God of the Bible, to be specific). I don't like religious trappings and for a long stretch of my life, I rejected everything religious. But God became really important to me when I walked through that dark valley: yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, thou art with me.

5. My parents. I have the best parents ever. Every year I realize that more and more. My dad has a dry sense of humor that makes me grin, and my mom has taught me to love life in so many beautiful ways.

6. My home. I love my beat-up old house, with its beautiful prairie and mountain views. I love my adopted home state, Wyoming, so big sky and wild.

7. My friends. I don't have a lot of friends, but I have some really loyal friends that have stuck with me for years. They are the best.

8. Reading. I love to read, can't even put into words how much I love reading. And related to that:

9. Learning. It only recently occurred to me how much I love learning about new things: in science, history, pop culture, anything! It's like discovering little treasures, or like following fairy lights through a dark woods. I'm so thankful I have a love of learning - it keeps my life full and interesting (along with everything else on this list)

10. Writing. As important as writing is to me, it's a pathetic that I can't easily put into words how much this means to me, and how thankful I am for the adventures my stories have taken me through.

Favorite blogs and ones I deeply miss

Hosted by Andrew Leon, Alex J. Cavanaugh, and Matthew MacNish

Do you have a couple blogger buddies who aren’t posting as often? Those who’ve pulled back and seem absent from the blogging world? Do you have blogger buddies you are grateful they are still around and would miss if they vanished? 

Three bloggers I miss the most are: 

Jackee at Winded Words. Here's one of my favorite old posts: When to give up writing (but it's not about giving up, at all) 

Victoria Dixon. Loves historical fantasy (my favorite genre!), especially based in Asia. 

Taherah Mafi. Author of Shatter Me. She's very active on Twitter, but I miss her blogging, where you could get longer doses of writerly humor and insight. 

Blogger buddies I'm grateful are still around posting regularly:

Julie Dao at Silver Linings. One of the first writer blogs I started following. I love all her posts, ALL OF THEM. Here's a good recent one, on Your own approval. 

Melissa Marsh, novelist and historian. Always honest and open and insightful, as in this post The Long Road to Acceptance.

Saumya Dave at Left and Write Brained. So many thoughtful posts, like On Purpose


I could list so many more. Tell me your favorite blogs, the ones you read every single post from!

I'll be back the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to share some things I'm thankful for. In the meantime, I'm taking a blogging break during my favorite time of year: NaNoWriMo!