July 3: Rebel

I'm breaking the rules. I mostly don't care. Pat says it's okay, after all.

Yesterday I read my first pep talk form the NaNoWriMo website. I selected Patrick Rothfuss, since I just read The Name of the Wind and loved it. The first part of his message was to avoid doing other things and JUST WRITE. Specifically, don't read stuff.

Ironic, given that his 1107 page sequel is near the top of my summer reading pile... As soon as I finish e. lockhart's We Were Liars and my July bookclub book, I'll probably get sucked in.

I also tackled several minor projects (buying supplies to paint my master bathroom, finally weeding my back garden, getting my glasses and lawn mower fixed) and two major projects (reshingling the garage and putting up a decent bird feeder). I expect the rest of July will be just as full of distracting, yet satisfying, accomplishments.

The boys on the roof.

It took me three days to screw the post base into the ground. 

Rothfuss' second message was to break the rules. Specifically, he advised three places NaNoWriMo rules could be bent:

1) "You don't have to start from scratch."
Actually, I am starting from scratch. So I'm following that rule.

2) "Revise sometimes."
Since I haven't started writing sentences, I don't know if it will be hard for me to avoid revision. I suspect it will be nearly impossible. I like revising. Still, I'll try to minimize my revising overall.

3) "Follow your enthusiasm."
That's the one. NaNoWriMo pushes writers to set down at least 1667 words per day in order to reach the 50,000 word goal. I am already at the point where it may impossible to catch up. But I'm so excited about the project and making significant progress daily.

Yesterday I brainstormed for about 40 minutes into my phone's recorder and later typed up those ideas (more prewriting). A few ideas were off track, as happens with good brainstorming. Most ideas were good. A few ideas may be brilliant.

I also set up my interviews with Newbie and the Vet. In fact, Newbie came over for nearly two hours and downloaded her thoughts and emotions during a friendly and informative conversation about her first impressions and challenges working at the ice cream shop. Priceless. So much of her experience will be in the novel. Together we thought of ideas that would work in the story, and I am ready to start writing sentences even before the second interview.


New prewriting: 1257 words
Words: 16 (I have an opening sentence!)

July 2: Research

I love this NaNoWriMo poster.

My favorite quotes:

"The first step in writing a good book: giving yourself permission to write a bad book."
"You are part ninja, part monkey, part starmaster cyborg."
"Write first! Ask questions later!"

I will write a bad book.
I am a ninja monkey starmaster cyborg. NMSC.
I am... asking so many many many questions!

Summer of Art's (working title) happens at an ice cream shop, but I don't know anything about working at an ice cream shop. I am at a loss. I can write the characters, but not the action. So I don't have scene. And it all starts with scene. So yesterday I wrote over 500 words worth of questions about ice cream shops.

And fetched my lunch at the real Art's. (Can I write that off?) The food was good, but I was there to see if I recognized any of the workers -- who knew the answers to my questions.

Thankfully, a recently graduated student of mine whom I know well through extra-curricular activities was window-jockey. I asked for her help.

"Of course I'll help. But it's only my first day," she demured.

Enter another window-working former student, curious.

"How about you? First day?"

"I have nine years experience."

"I need to interview both of you."

My total word count is still nil. But I'm on my way.


BTW: At first I imagined the novel in rotating third-person limited POV. Now I'm pretty sure it's Sarah's story. I'll start with her. I don't think the others will pipe up, but you never know. Wonder paved the way for odd POV shifts.

Also, I ran an SSA list of popular baby names for 1997 and scrolled down to the bottom to find a name for my third character. Close but rejected names:
      999 Stormy (there will be storms of all kinds in the story, too on point)
      993 Elsa (I bet that'll make the top ten for 2014)
      978 Katerina (love the name, but I had a Kat in SPOTD)
      976 Devan (the right feel, but I taught a Devan and am searching for a new name)
      963 Quinn (too Glee)

      966 Ryann

I've never taught one.
I've never met one.
Perhaps a little indulgent, given my name is Ann. She's not based on me, though. And when you say the name, it just sounds like Ryan.
It has a familiarity and uniqueness at once.
Ryann it is.

New prewriting: 545 words
Novel: 0 words

July 1: It's a Start

So... this did not go in the direction I thought it would go.

A few weeks ago I turned my phone's recorder app and listed all the interesting "types" of students I knew. Not the Hollywood-typical "dumb jock" or "Cinderella girl" types that are overused on Disney channel and rarely seen in the real world. Real world kids are so much more complicated than those stereotypes, and most kids fit several of those pre-determined tropes at once. I listed real kids, by name, and tried to describe them on a deeper level.

My first NaNoWriMo-inspired step was to type up that rant (654 words) and see which characters would call me over to say hello.

Three gals did.

Each of them* is complicated in the most wonderful ways. I can't wait to get to know them better. Two of them now have names: Sarah and Alexis. The third is in search of a name. My book club friends, who requested that my next project be either about a girl (if I go the YA route) or a mystery (if I go the adult fiction route) will be happy. So you know, I was not expecting to write about teenage girl drama. But Sarah, Alexis, and No-name are dancing around in my head. There will be drama.

My next step was to decide which computer to use for the actual writing. I love my desktop mac but prefer to sprawl out in more comfortable chairs (and my bed) to write. I charged my Lenovo Yoga laptop and gave it a chance to replace my smaller, more lap-sized PowerBook G4. It won me over. It's not as bulky/awkward to hold as I thought it would be and the touch screen functions are working better than I remember. I just have to get used to the locations of the backspace, shift, and control function keys and remember to hit the "end" and "beginning" buttons instead of mac commands with arrows to maneuver quickly. Give me a few days.

The Lonovo Yoga, along with an accidental glimpse of my summer reading pile

I did (329 words) more prewriting (can't help myself) and fleshed out Sarah, Alexis, and No-name a bit. I added a setting -- one summer at a smalltown ice-cream shop like Art's Dairy Freeze -- and listed a few minor characters and plot complications. Then I paused to consider point of view before jumping in with actual sentences. SPOTD uses first person well enough, but I've known for a while now that my next novel would be in third person limited. I decided to rotate from character to character at chapter breaks.

Then my phone rang. That was the end of my writing for the day.

In my head, I have a fantastic conceit for a high school version of Slumdog Millionaire involving a fostered boy. It's not happening.

Prewriting word count: 988
Novel word count: 0



* the characters, who were inspired by kids I've known but not meant to BE those kids

July Challenge

Last November found me, as usual, in the throes of orchestrating final rehearsals, mounting our high school's fall play, and suffering the subsequent mental, physical, and emotional elation and exhaustion that follows intense art-making. Thanks to that, plus a good dose of Thanksgiving food stupor, I did not join the 563,484 amazing writers who participated in NaNoWriMo. 

But I wanted to. 

I really wanted to.

Crest of National Novel Writing Month (November)

July is my chance to give it a try.

My first novel, which turned into the SPOTD series, took six years to finish. How on earth can I do a 50,000 word novel in a month? I guess we'll find out.

Two Weeks to the Party -- Above Ground

I remember fondly the wide open basement space of the old Willmar library. Each summer, once a week, my mom shuffled the three of us kids to the top of the stairs, we descended, and she promptly took off for a half hour of "me" time. Waiting for us downstairs was story time.

I hate basements, but I loved that basement.

In two weeks, the Montevideo-Chippewa County Public Library will host an open house book signing for Super Power of the Day: The Final Face-Off. Our "space" won't be in a basement, but it will be one I love. Seriously, what could be more fun than hanging out in a LIBRARY? Surrounded by stories...that's my heaven.

An April Book Signing!

Every time I stop in to the local library my buddies behind the counter ask when we'll have an Open House book signing for the final book in the SPOTD series.

This week we decided:

This is wonderful timing. The launches of volumes 1 and 2 were heralded by much local press and interest, but attention for volume 3 was thwarted by busy-ness on my part. A local event would be cause for press releases and coverage... A great opportunity.

Just think. By then the snow will be gone, the sun will be shining, the trees will have leaves, the tulips will be popping, and finches will be building their nests.

Of course, we all thought the snow would be gone by now. And it's not. So maybe I shouldn't make any predictions on the weather front. I take it back.

There will be snacks.  THAT I am sure of.

Where did March go?

It was wonderful to meet so many great little readers and their families at the Montevideo PTSA Letters & Art Night way back in February. It feels like that happened last week. What's wrong with my internal calendar? In any case, here's a shot of my good friend Monica and me set up to share SPOTD with our guests.

We gave out piles of stickers, chatted with everyone who wandered by, and even sold a few books.

After the first hour (pizza and art stroll), I was invited to read a few pages of SPOTD: Origins of a Sixth Grade Superhero during the "Celebrity Reading Time." I strolled down the Sanford Elementary hallway looking for  my assigned room of upper elementary... WAIT! THOSE ARE TINY KIDS! SOME OF THEM CAN'T EVEN TALK (much) YET! WHO ORDERED 3 TO 5-YEAR-OLDS FOR MY READING ABOUT A SIXTH GRADER? I TEACH 18-YEAR-OLDS AND HAVE NO CHILDREN OF MY OWN.

WHAT DO I DO?

I learned a lot.

First, I learned that a teacher is a teacher, whether the learners are itty bitty or a few months from university. Engaging them with questions, focusing on them so they know you are listening to their answers, and presenting info in little chunks works with any age. Once I started, my instincts kicked in.

Second, the first few pages of the novel are BRILLIANT for kids to act out. Whenever I read an auditory image, we paused and made the onomatopoetic sound together. Whenever I read a visual image that the kids could mime, we paused and used our bodies. There were claws and growls and squeaks and whooshes and baseball throws and knocks. Such fun!

Finally, and I always knew this, I remembered how much I love to read aloud. It's my favorite. Students in my high school classes know they won't often get called on to read aloud because I hog all the action.

Thanks to the Montevideo PTSA for organizing this wonderful event. You are spreading the love of books and learning to a new generation. I was proud to help out.