NaNo 2015: Aftermath

Fun, I said.
Nice experience, I said.
What in the hell was I thinking?

Guys, I'm not gonna lie here. This turned out to be the hardest, most stressful, teeth grinding and hair-pulling NaNo year ever. So many thing kept going wrong, so many distractions, so many doubts. I questioned my abilities as a writer because just a month before I'd finished a 42k novel without breaking a sweat! How could I go from that gloriousness to spending hours staring at the screen and barely writing a thing?

Good question.

Week 1: I was only able to meet and surpass the Reverse NaNo wordcount goal on the second day and fourth. By the end of this week, I felt something wasn't right. After taking a minute (or an hour) to rant about it to my writer friends, I sucked it up, adjusted my fabulous new glasses, and continued writing.

Week 2: Even worse! The depths of my frustration and disappointment at not being able to do this as smoothly as the year before ate away at me with each wordcount goal I couldn't meet. Again, I stopped to think. What was holding me back? It wasn't the story. I loved the characters and was pretty happy with the overall plot (though I could've done a bit more work on the outline). It wasn't a lack of desire to write the thing, because even with all the frustration of barely keeping up with, I did want to keep writing Milo's Café!

So what was it? The pressure? Well, I was putting too much pressure on myself, especially after failing the wordcount goals. So, the first thing I did was let go of Reverse Nano and print out a new calendar with regular NaNo wordcount goals. Not the total expected count for each day, just the word goal per day. That sweet 1,667. Notice that up to that point I'd met the goals on each day I wrote. Great! The calendar no longer stressed me out.

Total of 49, 830 even with Scrivener telling me I had 50,024...

Week 3: Things went smoother this week. I could look at the calendar and not choke back a sob. It still took me all day long to hit the goals, but the guilt and doubt were kept at bay. I kept thinking about what I'd done before with my other project—the glorious 42k one—and why things were so different this time around. At the end of that week, the light bulb went off in my head.

The reason why the 42k went smoother is because I took my time with each chapter. I would write the skeleton of a scene, then go back over it again and again, editing, fleshing it out, slowly but surely. And every new chapter was a sure step forward because I knew that what I'd written before was pretty solid.

This layering process, this mix of writing/editing, is a luxury NaNo does not allow time for. And that's fine. But not for me. It seems like the most ridiculous oversight, not remembering this is how I work best. This is my process.

Week 4 & 5: Even with two zeroes in there, I still did way better than in previous weeks. I allowed myself a little bit of revision, not on what I'd already written, but on each new scene. I found the words flowing easier and that wordcount bar filling faster.

I still had to write until the very last day, something that had never happened to me before, but this NaNo had already turned out to be the wackiest I'd ever done, so whatever! I finished, validated the novel, and it told me I only had 49,830 words. I groaned over the 170 missing words and wrote them anew, plus an extra 107 for a total of...

Fun? No so much.
Nice experience? Not particularly.
Worth it? Yes!

In taking the time to think about the process of writing, I was able to pinpoint exactly how I approach a story: how I  build a scene, what I do as I build it, how I set up chapters, how I get into character. Becoming aware of my process helped me understand why I had so much trouble getting used to the NaNo process. Even more fascinating, I didn't have trouble in NaNo 2014 because I hadn't settled on a personal writing process yet!

I might've graduated from SHU already with  my writing voice, but I spent all of 2015 trying to find my writing style. It's been a long year of experimenting, changing styles, and working different genres, and I'm very excited to see that my efforts have paid off.

One last thing.

When writing is going to hell? Don't panic.
Find the root of the problem.
Adjust.
Keep on writing!

NaNoWriMo - Reverse Mode

I finished NaNo in three weeks and this is how I did it:

In reverse.

I first heard about this method when a friend of mine shared the link over Facebook. The title was intriguing enough that I clicked Reverse NaNoWrimo and it was just one of those light bulb in the head moments.

The ‘rules’ of NaNo say that you write 1,667 words everyday for a month and at the end, lo and behold, you’ve got yourself a 50k novel. That 1.6k daily goal is very easy during the first week or two, when you’re all excited, words are pouring out, and you’re not only meeting the goal, you’re destroying it. But somewhere along the third week your words start to dry out as if the idea faucet has suddenly been turned off, and it becomes an uphill battle to even get 1k. NaNo troopers know this, and for years I've been reading how 'you just have to push through and keep writing.' It's too bad that  pushing doesn't always work.

This is where Reverse Mode comes in. It takes into account this shift in ‘writing mood’ by making use of those first two weeks when we’re all pumped up and ready to type/write until our fingers fall off to get most of the words out. By doing this, it leaves the remaining two weeks with word goals lower than 1.6k, effectively helping out the dry spell that comes on when we reach that stage in NaNo.

It totally worked for me.

Week 1
The word goals were between 3.3k-2.6k. The story was still shinny and fresh in mind, so I reached the goals easily, sometimes even going over by a couple of hundred words.

Week 2
The word goals were from 2.5k-1.8k. Again, I had no trouble achieving this since the muse was still going strong. I sometimes started more than one scene in one day, leaving half of one to work on the next day.

Week 3
The word goals were between 1.7k-1k. Even with fewer words, it's when I started to struggle. Mostly because I decided to play pantser this time around and had no outline whatsoever of my story. I’m a manic plotter by nature, so I fumbled in the end to come up with scenes. But I simply started writing random scenes that came to mind, even if I didn't know where they fit yet. Even when I skipped two days of writing, I recovered quickly and kept on writing.

Week 4
Goals were less than 1k, but I didn’t need them.

I finished NaNo in three weeks!

The NaNo word counter said 50,550 for final count.

After this year, I'm recommending the Reverse Method to any NaNo trooper/writer I come across. I'll definitely be using this to set my own deadline for future projects.

Love in YA Fiction

One of the biggest elements in YA fiction is romance. I would guess that 98% of all YA fiction has a strong romantic element either as the main story or woven into the subplot. This is what the target audience (aka teenagers, mostly girls) craves. These are the years where teens first experience romance/love. It becomes a daily theme in their lives as they fall into their first crush, learn to deal with mood swings and tingly feelings as their hormones lay siege to their bodies, and battle the many questions in their heads as they come to terms with their sexuality. It makes sense that the market is flooded with YA romances.

However, a big portion of the YA audience has become tired of the romance plots and clichés that have cropped up over the past few years since the Twilight fever. Most of us understand that we are reading about fake romances and that love is not as simple as the right person appearing and living happily ever after. The problem is the romances being written now are even more fictitious than fiction, too unbelievable.

Now, I read and write YA, and there is nothing that I love more than a good romance story. So, I’m not saying the romance in YA needs to be toned down and all the fun sucked out of it. But I do think authors need to think closely of what they are doing, how they are crafting those fictional relationships, and aim to give readers a more realistic and complex view of what romance/love is.

Enough with the insta-love.

Enough with the falling in love because he or she is just so beautiful and kind.

Enough with love triangles in which the girl always picks the first guy anyways.

Let’s aim for diversity in romance, for couples that have to fight against prejudice, for couples that will fight until their last breath to make the other happy but know when it’s  time to let go. Let’s aim for opening minds to new ideas, for couples that screw up yet have the sense to work through their problems, for couples that don’t fall in love at first sight. Some might say, these concepts are too much to present to teens, but when if not now will they learn about their options in love?

Below are some of my favorite couples of YA fiction.

Adrian Ivashkov and Sydney Sage

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

As an alchemist, Sydney has been taught to fear and hate vampires, but as she befriends a group of them, she starts to put prejudices aside even if it means defying her family. She opens up herself to new possibilities, but this change doesn’t happen over the course of one book. It begins in the series Vampire Academy and then continues onto Bloodlines. It’s not until book three that Sydney allows herself to love Adrian.

Adrian’s change is even more impressive. He starts off as a smoker, drinker, womanizer vampire with no desire to do anything in life. Everyone who meets him lets his lifestyle slide because ‘he is Adrian.’ It’s not until he meets Sydney that he begins to care about his life, because she actually cares about what he does and doesn’t take any crap excuses from him. And she cares about him not because she’s in love, but because she’s a genuinely nice girl who would like to see him succeed.

Their relationship actually starts off horribly, with Sydney not trusting him and Adrian doing anything he wanted without care of the consequences. Yet, as outside problems push them into constant interactions, they learn to work together and count on each other. It takes about three books for all of this to happen and even then, their problems are just starting.

But when I’m around you, I want to be better because…well, because it feels right. Because I  want to. You make me want to become something greater than myself. I want to excel. You inspire me in every act, every word, every glance. I look at you and you’re like…like light made into flesh.   ~Adrian (The Golden Lily)

You and I just have to overcome hundreds of years’ worth of deeply ingrained prejudice and taboo between our two races. Easy.   ~Adrian (The Indigo Spell)

Tessa Gray, Will Herondale, and Jem Carstairs

Clockwork Angel | Clockwork Prince | Clockwork Princess
by Cassandra Clare

I see these three as one of the most controversial couples in YA. The dynamic between them is something I want to go back again and again to study, because it is complex and feels very much real. This is probably one of only love triangles I have no problems with: Tessa and Will, Tessa and Jem, Will and Jem.

One of the things that makes the triangle so unique is that even when Tessa makes her choice and picks Will, she never stops loving Jem. And Will is quite alright with that. It’s a self-less love they share, where regardless of the choices they make, they still want each other to be happy no matter what. There is no petty fighting over each other, no two boys competing…well, there is, but it’s all in good nature. I’m totally failing here at explaining how these three work, but it’s definitely worth a closer look.

Whatever you are physically...male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy--all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things, they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside. (Clockwork Angel)

“Our souls are knit. We are one person, James.” ~Jem to Will (Clockwork Prince)

All of these couples are teens and they behave as teens; they have urges, desires, and a hard time controlling them, but they’re smart about the choices they make. Or not. And if they aren’t smart, then they find a way to fixing said problems. My point is romances in YA don’t need to be super fairy-tale-like unbelievable happily ever afters. They can be gritty, troublesome, sad, heart wrenching, and unfair, because that is reality. Love is messy, don’t sugar coat it, not even in YA.

Other YA romance favorites:
The Archers of Avalon by Chelsea Fine
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Perfect Chemistry by Simon Ekeles
Lola and The Boy Next Door by Stephenie Perkins

My NaNo Prep Work

The month of insanity for all writers has just begun and I wanted to share how I get ready for writing a story/novel in general. Now, my absolute favorite part of the writing process is the beginning, when I get to build an entire world out of nothing...well, not exactly out of nothing. To build a story I need the key ingredient—inspiration.

Everyday life is the first place to search for inspiration, but a hermit like me has a very uninteresting life! What do I do? I turn to other sources. Sometimes times just by listening to a song, watching a movie, or reading a book, the light bulb will go off. But I’m a visual person and it’s websites like DeviantArt, Pinterest, and Tumblr that feed my inspiration and creativity, and eventually give me ideas. I can spend hours and hours browsing, but eventually I need to make a choice. So, after a quick search, these three paintings have inspired me.

Forest Dragon by *AlexKonstad on deviantART

The Scorpion Salesmen by *AlexKonstad on deviantART

Dog- Mass Age by *AndrewRyanArt on deviantART

After I find inspiration and get a hold of an idea, I then start molding said idea. I think of the possibilities. I think of the impossibilities. I think of names, places, weather, problems, animals, plants. I play with the ideas, and since nothing is set in stone, I’m free to change my mind at anytime! At this point, I like to start taking notes.

I ground myself into my stories, by meeting some characters. So, the next thing I do is search possible names based on the setting I’ve chosen. From the inspiration pics I found, I have a desert setting, a robotic dog, and an earth dragon. Right away, I’m thinking futuristic western with Asiatic influence. With this in mind, I begin my search. There are a couple of sites that always help me with names.

Behind The Name – It lets you search by meaning—for example, if you want a name that means strong or bright—and lists names by nationality. It also has other cool features like Names for Twins, Name Themes, Anagram Names, etc. There’s also a sister site that’s called Behind The Name: Surnames

The Baby Name Wizard – It has a lot of the recent ‘invented’ names, after you click a name it suggest names for brothers, and lists possible nicknames.

Think Baby Names – A ton of interesting names come up when you use the random baby names generator.

Random Name Generator – It's my go to place when I need a disposable full name. The site also has link to other name generators like (Medieval Names, Japanese Names, Fantasy Names, Last Names, etc.)

When choosing names I often go for meaning and feel. I make a list of names that feel like the character I have in mind and if I like the meaning, then all the better. I also note down any other names that catch my eye, because I use those later for secondary characters. After fifteen to twenty minutes of searching—yes, I do take my time with names!—meet my characters:

• Ayman (the “salesman”) – I liked the name because he’s a poor traveling sales man with only a robot dog and a lizard to keep him company, and it seems ironic for his name to mean blessed or lucky. It’s something that I’ll keep in mind as I write. I could choose to make him really lucky, so that he owns up to his name, or make him really unlucky.

• Bia (the biobot/robot dog) – I made her female and really overprotective of Enki. The name is a diminutive of Beatrix, but this time I didn’t pay attention to the meaning. I just like the feel of the name Bia.

• Enki (the earth lizard) – I couldn’t stop laughing with this one. He’s a little lizard and his name means lord of the earth. Plus, the name sounds cute.

Now that I have my characters, I start working on setting. I might even go back to the first websites and search for landscape pictures/drawings for more inspiration. I also start asking questions. LOTS of questions. Where do these people live? Nowhere. They’re nomads. What hardships do they have? They survive on whatever they sell during the day. What is the dynamic between the three? Bia is protects Enki and the mint plants he grows on his back (Why mint? I don’t know yet. Maybe Ayman got him because he likes to make mojitos). Ayman depends on Bia for security. She has xray vision and can spot a weapon before anyone even thinks of using it. Why would anyone want to attack him? To rob his wares. Why are they so valuable? Don’t know yet. And on and on the questions keep popping into my head.

The point of brainstorming is to try and find the story behind these characters, behind the world they live in. Notice, all the questions lead to possible problems and that’s exactly what I want to find. Problems, things that keep the tension up and move the story forward. I’ll also need solutions to the problems, but those might come later as write the story.

If after some brainstorming I haven’t found a story to follow, I do one of two things. I can go back to step one—find new inspiration, other characters, change setting—or I can hang on to what I have and write a scene. This is what I usually do. I mean. I’ve just met them. I need to give Ayman, Bia, and Enki a chance to impress me, right?

So, I write a scene. Any scene. A cute scene? Ayman meets a lovely girl who wants to buy his wares (I still haven’t decided what he sells), but doesn’t have enough credits to buy them. He gives one his wares to her for free and she brings him food the next day. An action scene? A group of men comes for Ayman. He leaves the girl in charge of his market stand with Bia watching, and slips into an alley where a fight ensues. Ayman shows to be very proficient at killing. (This leads to more questions. Why is he proficient? Where did he learn? Why do the men want him?)

By the end of all this prep work, I should have a set idea of what the story is going to be and where I want to take it. Writing more scenes will help me see things clearer, but I don’t make any final decisions on a first draft. And this is why NaNoWriMo works, because it forces us to keep moving forward without worrying about final decisions. It’s all about momentum, about writing 1,667 words or more every day without looking back.

Find me in NaNoWriMo: Sylirama

My Way or The Highway

This term I had to deal with the thing that writers all over the world cringe at a single mention of it...

REVISIONS

It is a messy, messy affair, and something that I didn't know how to go about because I'd never finished a story before (Yikes!). So, I read books, and read posts, and asked fellow classmates and authors to prepare myself for this horrible task. The books turned out to be overwhelming, the posts had a million different opinions, and other writers didn't give straight answers. I wanted a formula, a checklist, something to make this as painless as possible. In other words...I was delusional.

There's no such thing as painless revisions.

It is messy AND painful. Ripping apart chapters, deleting characters, seeing that word count—the one you sweated blood for and tore your hair out to get to that 80k (or more) mark—go down. It's not pretty. But I'm getting ahead of myself. As I said, before I started to massacre my novel, there was one step everyone agreed I should do. And that was to read the whole manuscript without changing a thing to get a general sense of your novel.

I couldn't do it.

The thing is I’m a very OCD person and sometimes the simplest things like not fixing what is wrong immediately initiates the most dreaded writer's block. But I tried. I really really tried reading without changing things, but I couldn’t. My hand had a life of its own. Those fingers would snatch the pen from my desk and before I knew it, the page would be bleeding red or purple. I kept thinking, ‘This is wrong. I shouldn’t be doing this. This is SO wrong.”

And thus the mental blockage ensued.

Luckily, I found Chuck Wendig's posts about editing, and after reading his collection of posts called Edit Your Shit: Part 1 and the subsequent Parts 2 and 3, I realized something...

Not every writing method out there has to be MY method.

It was one of those Eureka! moments that leave you completely embarrassed at your mental capacity for not having figured it out before. A big fat DUH. The thing is...Just because 95% of the writers out there read the whole manuscript before diving into revisions, does not mean I have to do the same. I wasn’t comfortable with it, yet I pushed myself because this was ‘how it was done.’ Well no! I am different. I am that awkward 5% that doesn't follow every rule, yet can write and revise as well as any other. And that it OK.

Lesson one: There can be a 'how it’s done' in writing, but ultimately it is done the way it works for me.

Lesson two: Have a writer issue? Read a Wendig post and the world will be brighter again.