May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

Ladies and gentlemen, it has begun. There is dramatic, inspiring music in the background, and I am on top of the world.

Camp NaNoWriMo is a go.

Emma, Mariesa, and I had a lovely online (thank God for computers) kick-off party, and I managed to churn out about 1400 words of Fool Me Once edits in a little under two hours.

Here's a sneak peak.

Slowly, we picked out way down the stairs. Halfway to what I assumed was the bottom, if the soft glow coming from what I hoped was a replacement lantern was anything to go by, the desk slid back into place, dropping us into complete darkness—save the aforementioned light.
"That's unfortunate." Edmund muttered.
To keep from tripping, falling, and breaking my neck, I eased my way down, a hand constantly against the wall. A residue I didn't care to think about clung to my hand, seeping up between my fingers. I stepped off the final step into a puddle of something else I didn't' care to think about.

So far, I'm loving this. Since my first draft, I added a new main character (*cuddles Edmund bc reasons*), a new point of view character (*cuddles Harvey bc awesome POV*), and tons of new scenes to flesh out this rather short story.

From here on, I'm going to try and keep up posting updates for Camp NaNo, but I haven't picked a day yet; I might just go with Wednesdays. *shrug*

Well, anyways, I should probably get back to writing. I'm hoping to get a little ahead so that come finals week (*shudder*), I'm not trying to write 1k a day and study.

Anyone else having problems with conflicting schedules? Got any awesome kick-off stories? Let me know in the comments below.

Good luck! See you next week!

4 Things That Made Me a Better Writer

There have been many times in my life (in the past few weeks, actually) where I've found myself in front of my laptop, staring at a document full of words and phrases that I don't like.

Their not good. Like, at all.

It's bad. But I have absolutely no idea how to fix it. 

One of the most frustrating feelings, right?

I did what many of you might have. I went to a trusted source.

I went… to Google.

I started searching terms like 'how to write better descriptions,' or 'how to write better dialogue,' succeeding in one thing: making myself even more frustrated. Yeah, what they said made sense, but none of it was translating into my own writing.

If any of you are like me, this situation might sound familiar. I go through a lot of ups and downs with my writing. Sometimes, I think I might be able to do this writing thing. It's conceivable that I could get published and be the next J. K. Rowling. Then, next day I look at it, it's complete and total crap.

Does that also sound familiar?

Let me give you some assurance, dear writer, even if you can't see it, I'm sure there's improvement.

*cue self-example*

This is something I wrote about six or seven years ago with one of my friends. I am the Irish accent person (*headdesk*), and he wrote for Delta. The parenthesis are my added comments.

My face right now.

A few minutes later Delta finally answered me.
"I don't know," Delta said quietly, "But I know that I'm not going to clean this place for you. I swear the dust is at least an inch thick."He crossed his arms while I smirked and switched over to my Irish accent (what the even heck), while grabbing a broom 
"Fine! OUT WITH YE! OUT! OUT I SAY! OUT!" (I think this is causing me physical pain) I said while poking Delta with the end of my broom. After a few seconds I burst out laughing. Delta laughed slightly at my sudden 'outburst'.

For comparison, here's something I wrote yesterday (which also happens to be two of the opening paragraphs for Stardust).

The hallway around me was enveloped in the blurriness that often accompanies reading far too long into the night, and the plush carpet underneath me appeared to be no more than a gray blob. Dated oil pantings of my parents, faded by time, were almost indistinguishable against the plain white wallpaper and wainscoting, swirling in and out of focus in a haze of unimpressive hues. (Descriptions are fun. <3 )

I squinted at the silver-plated analogue clock mounted above the antique ebony accent table. The numbers danced around the face of the clock like a dozen gerridae bugs skating across a murky pond. (I spent probably five or six minutes on this one sentence and I think I'm in love.)

That's a big difference, and I'll bet that if you go dig up some of your old writing, and compare it to how you write now, there's bound to be improvement.

How did I get from Irish accent outbursts to decent writing? Here are four things I did that you can do too.

1. { Reading }

It's more important than you might think.

One of the biggest reasons I know what I know about good writing is because I've read thousands and thousands of pages of it.

I may not know how to technically construct a complete sentence, but I know how a complete sentence should look because I've seen them over and over again.

I know what good dialogue sounds like, and I know what good prose looks like because I've been exposed to it for years.

2. { One Year Adventure Novel }

One Year Adventure Novel is a program created by Daniel Schwabauer that teaches high school students how to write a novel in a year.

This is the single, most quantifiable thing that made me a better writer. 

OYAN taught me how to write a novel from start to finish. It took me through the entire process, from character creation to the story skeleton. It taught me about how to make my writing stronger, and it taught me how to construct a good story, something that people would want to read.

3. { Workshops }

The next, semi-logical step for me was workshops. OYAN has a Summer Workshop they put on every year for OYAN students that I decided I should probably go to. It was a week long, wonder-filled learning experience that I won't ever forget.

There was probably a couple hundred of us there, all interested in bettering our craft, with amazing speakers like Jeff Gerke, Jill Williamson, Stephanie Morrill, Mark Wilson, and Mr. S himself. I was amazed by how much I learned in just the span of a week.

4. { Critique Groups }

I'm pretty sure this was the most difficult one for me. It was terrifying (like butterflies-in-the-stomach-about-to-throw-up terrifying) to even think about letting other people read my writing. It was embarrassing, and it hurt my pride, when they pointed out something I needed to fix. It was difficult for me not to get defensive and cross my arms and refuse to listen to a thing they said.

Critique groups are rough, especially for those of us who have issues with injured pride, but they will teach you a lot, especially if you let them. If you can make yourself realize that whatever they say isn't a personal attack against you, it will be that much easier. 

The majority of critique groups are there to help you, not to make you feel stupid for missing that adverb. Critique groups can help you see things that you wouldn't have ever noticed on your own.

I hope this has helped, and if not, that you at least got a laugh out of my before and after. What have you guys done to improve your writing?

NaNoWriMo So Far...

Day three of NaNoWriMo is almost over.

It's only been three days guys and I've already lost control of my life.

I've been sitting back in my room for like, the past four hours trying to do 2000 words.

I. Am. Dying.

But I love it.

I've never written this much so quickly.

NaNo and I have a love/hate relationship.

Anwayssssss. My stats for this week:

Completed words today: 2065
Total word count: 6214
Favorite snippet:  “Pryor Mason,” He whispered. “We are not alone.”
My stomach plummeted, and I cursed myself. Carlton and Ms. Bently should still be here. Why weren't the lights on?
“Carlton?” I whispered, as loud as I dared. Fear and adrenaline coursed through my veins—all I could hear was my pounding heart. If the power was out... Or, if there had been some sort of malfunction…
Exo-glass was reinforced with electricity.
Almost in answer, a ear piercing shriek ripped through the chilled air. Panic rippled through my muscles, freezing them in place. My eyes darted to the left.

I'm going to bed now. 

K. Bye.

NaNoWriMo Survival Kit

My mother is the most wonderful human-being in the whole world.

I told her a few weeks ago that I was in desperate need of a NaNoWriMo Survival Kit. I politely informed her that I would require copious amounts of chocolate, candy, and general edible pick-me-ups.

I remembered to remind her every time we went to Walmart, Publix, Winn Dixie, or where ever else it would be possible to purchase smooth, creamy, Nutella. She always put it off, and I didn't really understand why.

She kept saying she wanted to wait until after Halloween incase any of was put on sale and I didn't argue (did roll my eyes though (sorry Mom (I actually don't even know if she reads this?))).

So, anyways, multiple (agonizing) weeks went by, and I was still left candyless--which I suppose could be a good thing, since I might have eaten it all by now. But, that aside, I had pretty much forgotten about it.

Theeeeeeen… *insert dramatic drumroll*

She surprised me with this.

Is this not the most wonderful thing you've ever set your eyes on? *wipes tears*

Thank you, Mommy! <3