Can I Count Blog Posts Towards my Word Count?

Hey!

So, it's still the first day of NaNo (at least where I live). I hit 2,000 during the first hour, so I'm good for today and figured I'd write a post (I'm such a procrastinator, I should really get working on tomorrow's word count.) It's going well so far... Just wanted to stop by, I really don't have anything else to say...

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Guest Post: NaNoWriMo: On Writing: Victoria from Victoria Alizabeth Levesque

Victoria Alizabeth (victoriaalizabeth.blogspot.com)

I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time last year. I only made it halfway through the word count, but for me, that was still a win. Part of what helped me was that I had a group of friends that also participated in NaNo. We met at least once a week to work on our novels, ask crazy questions, and generally have a good time. Since it was all of our first time, I don’t know if any of us knew exactly what to expect from it. Our kickoff party started at about eleven, with some brain storming, and little exercises. I went home around three, but a few of the others stayed well into daylight the next day.

Last year, I had a year’s worth of outline and world building with me. I’m doing things a little different this year. For the past few months I’ve been working on a novel, and don’t plan to finish the first draft until a week before NaNo begins. I’ve done some thinking about what I’ll write, but still have no idea. This will be well and truly the first time I write something with virtually no planning. I am definitely nervous about this.

On the other side, I’m not taking classes this semester, so I’ll hopefully have more time to write. I’ve also still got my group from last year, though it’s dwindled down to four people instead of eight or nine. Still, as it gets closer to time, I get more excited. Even though I write whenever I have something in my head, I’ve spent the whole year looking forward to November. It’s quickly becoming my favorite time of year.  

Guest Post: On Writing: NaNoWriMo: Voss from Demon Hunting and Tenth Dimensional Physics

 

I consider NaNoWriMo the one, key turning point in my writing career. I know I’m not alone on that front, but it doesn’t make it any more meaningful to me. The first time I used the process, it was in total seclusion, and I followed the rules of the even to the “T”. I think it was July, and I sat down three days before and planned the whole thing out, from characters to plot to combat systems—everything.
I also scrapped most of that later, but that’s another story to be told…eventually…
The real importance of it was the fact that I finished writing a full 50,000 word manuscript. It was ugly, rough, and ugly…and ugly. But I finished it, and that’s what counts.
Now, entering my fifth or so NaNoWriMo event, I’m much more confident, and much better off as a writer. Stories have been published, others are just about ready to be sent out, and I’m taking in pay—and I’m not even twenty at the time of writing this, though I might be by the time you all read it. Without NaNo, I would be all of nowhere, except maybe stocking shelves at Wal-Mart. The real thing to take away from the event is the feelings—every feeling. The Excitement of the planning, and of writing those first ten-thousand words…followed by a toenail pulling session when you reach the mid-point (our dreaded WEEK TWO of NaNo). And finally the finish. Mostly, this all adds up into confidence. Confidence that you can write, that you can produce product quickly, and that it’s okay to write crap in that zero draft.
I’d like to think of this NaNo as a year of change: the Office of Letters and Light are trying to change the negative name attached to the number thirteen, our new members are again changing their minds and joining the ranks of insanity, and we’ve had a change of Leadership with Chris Baty stepping down. So why shouldn’t we all change along with it?
***
Voss foster writes speculative fiction, and begrudgingly admits to writing romance. When not stuck to his laptop, he enjoys singing, cooking, and photography. He can be found and contacted at http://vossfoster.blogspot.com

Writing Prompt #2: Losing

Hey!!

Writing prompt: Write about losing someone, it doesn't have to be that the person died, maybe something just happened with a friend. It can be from a character's point of view, or from yours.

Looking forward to reading your writing!

I'm not sure what happened, exactly. One day we're sitting next to each other laughing our heads off, and the next she's on the other side of the room, and she took the rest of the group with her. I wish I knew what happened. I wish that I wasn't losing my best friends. I wish that highschool wasn't so hard.

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On Writing: NaNoWriMo: Organizing

Hey!

Gonna talk about organizing today!! So, I've tried a couple different organizing strategies in the past that haven't gone so well, but I think I've found the perfect system for me.

Materials:
-1inch 3-ring binder
-5 Dividers
-Loose-leaf paper
-Pencils
-Flash drive
-Composition books (I'm thinking I'll use at least 4)

-I Inch 3-Ring Binder:
     -I'm just going with a really simple one I got for a dollar, it's black and does what I need it to do.
-5 Dividers
    -I labelled these
       -Outline
       -Notes
       -Character Profiles
       -Solo Scenes
       -2nd Draft
-Loose-Leaf Paper
     -Make sure you have plenty of this, you'll need it. I'm starting with 2 150 packs, but I'll probably get tons        more by the time November is over.
-Flash Drive
     -At the end of each week I'll be transfering the 2nd draft into a third draft which will be kept on my flash         drive.
-Composition Books
     -This is where I'll be writing the first draft. They fit easily into my school bags and purses, so I can take them out and write anytime I feel inspired.

That's it for now!!

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Guest Post: On Writing: NaNoWriMo: Erica from Crapfiction

I want to thank Rachel (@AbelleKingsley) for inviting me over to guest post. I have only recently jumped on the bandwagon of engaging in social media, and it has allowed me to connect with people across the world in just a couple of months. I would like to apologize in advance for my post. I write #crapfiction, and it's usually littered in confusing statements and grammatical errors. I'll address more of that later.

I'm lost. I'm the proverbial needle in a haystack of writers; as a result, it smothered my potential for years. I had a love for reading at a young age, easily getting sucked into the fantastical worlds that authors had illustrated through writing. And those stories would spark my own ideas. Three comments were always on my elementary report cards: I was a social butterfly, a great reader, and I had wonderful creativity. The first trampled the other two in high school. I spent days “studying in the library” to gossip with friends and play hacky-sack. I took numerous classes on creative writing and English composition, but never adequately prepared myself for college. So I didn't go.

Don't get me wrong; I completed a few semesters of community college down the road. But then I traded that in for a family. But now that things have settled down? I'm back with my thoughts and unwritten stories. Being a writer can suck. Go to any website like Smashwords or Goodreads, and find the hundreds of people who are trying to push their way into the literary spotlight. And most of them DID go to college, HAVE been practicing their craft for years, and DO have publishing contracts. How can I break into one of the most supersaturated industries around? I have no connections and less education. And that realization gave birth to my blogging project (The actual name will be released in a couple of weeks; I still need to buy the URL).

I've started a new blogging project inspired by lots of ideas - “Brainstorm to bookshelf” - “For writers of all backgrounds by writers of all backgrounds” - “Blogging one error at a time” - to name a few.

As stated on my blog,

“... someday I want to get published. Someday I want to sit at a table in a bookstore, sign my awesome signature in my novel, and have people weep about how much they love me. Too much? Maybe. Impossible? I think not. I wanna prove to the world that writers don’t have to be “perfect” or “normal” to be successful. I am a misfit. Are you? ”

This was originally going to be a solo project; I've changed my mind. I thought about everyone I have connected with and realized I'm not the first person who feels like this. And I won't be the last. So why not scoop up all of our talents? Why not share our drunken slurs about our 50th rejection letter? Why not show an audience of people that anyone can be successful? You just have to believe. I know I've been rambling on, so if you are interested, head over to http://crapfiction.wordpress.com/ and find out more. We're in the baby stages, so now is the best time to get involved!

We will be starting with NaNoWriMo. If you've never heard of the concept, head over to their website. In summary, it's an annual event in which writers all over the world compose their own novel (of at least 50,000 words in length) during the month of November. This will be my first year, and I'm terrified. But that's okay. I'm not the only person poppin' the NaNo cherry this year. I already have a few writing buddies lined up, Jack Daniels included, and am ready to face this adventure head on. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll see said novel on the bookshelf in a Barnes & Noble. One can only hope.

Thanks for letting me stop by and throw some ideas at you. If you, too, are a budding writer? Check out and subscribe to my blog, find me on Twitter (@EricaWing), and let's take over the world. Later tweeps! This lady needs a drink!

Guest Post: On Writing: NaNoWriMo: Jaclyn from Rambles from Insanity

*Steps on stage*

So, being as this is my first time guest blogging, I might end up rambling. Feel free to drag me out with a giant cane ha-ha.  Any who, my name is Jaclyn and I blog about NaNo out in the Heart of Dixie. I started my blog last year, and my first year to NaNo was in 2008. I believe I wrote 7,000 words that year. Sadly, my computer got an incurable case of the Blue Screen of Death and has yet to be revived. Although I do happen to remember putting poodles in that novel on account of a dare….

*Runs from the giant cane*

Ahem, back to what I was saying…

That novel was horse puddle anyway. My 2009 attempt was a lot better. I remember discussing details of what would happen with my friend while we both sat on giant slides and procrastinated. We’re very bad at that. I didn’t finish that year either…but I do believe I hit the 10k word mark.

I was never really good with longer projects.

*dodges a flying rotten something*

This, as you could probably guess, is why I didn’t finish last year’s novel either. BUT, I handwrote 15,000 words. And I also attended my first write-in. Last year was the closest taste I’d ever had of that finish line and now I have it in me to finish this year.

This is why I have several sheets on copy paper with multitudes of words printed on them to help me plan.

But that is also why I only planned five chapters and then gave up. I knew I wasn’t going to follow it anyway. So, I downloaded yWriter5 and typed up some rooms, [actually, I mainly got them from the adoption thread on the forums <3] and put together what room goes in which chapter. So, when I DO run out of plottedness, all I need to do is pull up yWriter and I have the chapter, the room, a brief description of the room, and I can get to work.

I specifically planned out this NaNo to have the ability to jump around. I’m going to attempt to write out of order, jump write in the middle of a chapter and write where I feel like it. Because each chapter is a new room. And with this, I hope will lead to the success of winning my first NaNo.

I might not have won yet, but you can’t say I’ve given up. :D

*curtsies to the cheers that shake the building, er, blog*

Well, I guess I have rambled enough, if you want to hear more, feel free to hop over to my blog where my madness continues.

Thanks for reading!

Jaclyn

http://stealmedead.blogspot.com

On Writing: Well, that's a first...

Yesterday after the thing that happened that I can't talk about (see last post), I had to fill out an "Incident Report. Today I got called in his VP's office to talk about it, and as we were going over it, she told me I'm a good writer.

...

It was really random, and I was kinda just like "uh, thanks". Is it sad that, that Incident Report was better written than any fiction I've ever written?

Sigh, I'll just have to keep trying and try not to end up writing another Incident Report.

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On Writing: National Novel Writing Month

Hey!!

So, does anyone here do NaNoWriMo?

Oh, you don't know what it is?

Well, basically, you have 30 days (November) to write a 50,000 word Novel. Website

Have you done it? Are you planning on doing it? What are your experiences with NaNo? What are you expecting this year?

If you'd like to do a guest post talking about NaNo and your experiences with it/what you're expecting, please email me at fred_the_leaf@yahoo.com. I'd like the majority of the posts in by Oct. 3, but if you'll need more time just let me know.

NaNo Questionaire!!

AT THE START: DO YOU:
Have an outline? I've tried doing NaNo with an outline before, and it just felt too restricting, so I won't be using one this year
Scene-by-scene? I'll be writing whatever pops into my head, it'll probably be a lot of random out of order garbage.
Know how it starts? Yes, probably the only part that's going to be planned.
Know how it ends?  No, idea.
Have your climax in order?  Nope.
Know your main characters yet?  One of my mains first name is Jenna, I haven't chosen others
Have a particular tone in mind?  It'll change as the story progresses, starts happy, sad, content
Plan to draw on your own experiences? Nope, but if someone else would be willing to that'd be awesome

IS YOUR WORK GOING TO BE:
Funny?  No
Serious?  A little
Sad?  It'll have moments
Semi-Autobiographical?  My original idea was actually to write a 3 part autobiography, but I've changed my mind, I'll probably still do it someday

Based on another story? It was sort of inspired by the "In the Garden" Trilogy by Nora Roberts, but the differences are huge.

HOW HAVE MUCH YOU PLANNED? HAVE YOU USED:
A paper journal?  The little I've planned is in a composition notebook
Pens?  Yes
Multicoloured pens? I've tried writing each scene in a different color, but switching pens just takes up too much time
A computer?  I'll probably do most of it in a notebook and then transfer to a word document at the end of each day
Index cards? Yes.
Bulleted lists?  I have.
Plot charts?  No.
Character charts?  Not really my style
Character formulas?  Not sure what this is...
Favourite writing resource?  The forums.

ODDS AND ENDS:
A line you would like to use:  "I think fate needs to but the fuck out"
A scene you would like to include: A scene that shows significant character growth
A concept you would like to explore: personal Growth through pain
A cliché you would like to avoid:  I'm not sure...
A character you would like to use:  I don't really have any characters I'd like to use, most from other stories are from completely different parts of the world most of my stories take place in

FORWARD THINKING:
Do you expect to be able to complete it? I think I'll get to 50,000 words, but the story probably wont be done by the end of November, but yes
Do you intend to complete it? Yes. But will I? Who knows what course life will take?
Would you ever try to publish it? After I spend 2 years editing it.

What do you expect to get out of this month of frantic writing? A giant pile of literary (it took me like ten minutes to think of that word) crap.

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On Writing: As a Writer and an Actress: The Money Side of Things

Hey!!

For those of you who don't know, most writers don't make much money, and ditto for actors. So, if I'm choosing to do both of those things, how the F am I going to pay bills/eat? You're going to have to get ANOTHER job, now, you must think I'm crazy, how am I going to juggle being an actress, a writer, and having a "real" job? Graphic Media. In college I plan on majoring in Graphic Media Design, minoring in Performing Arts, and taking a few English composition and writing classes. Which is probably going to kill me.

Some of my other friends who plan on being Performing Artists are going to Major in accounting (blegh) or business (I thought about this one), and minoring in the Performing arts.

You need to do what's right for you, but I recommend that you pick something you enjoy as your fallback.

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On Writing: As a Writer and an Actress: Character Objective and Actions

Hey!!

Today I want to talk about Character Objective, which is what your character wants, whether it's a character you're playing in a play or a character in your story/book, all characters have an objective. In both writing and acting, you want to know your characters objective, it'll help make things more believable for both.

I also want to talk about Actions, which is what your character does to obtain their objectives. You as and actor/writer have to decide which actions to take to get to your objective.


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On Writing: As a Writer and an Actress: It's a Hard Life

Hey!!!

So, I got a request to do more "As a Writer and an Actress" posts, and since I already had a few ideas floating around in my head, I thought "Why not post today?"

Being both a writer and an actress is a crazy life. I mean being one or the other is pretty crazy already, but both, sometimes it makes me wanna give up and become a hobo.

With being an actress, you have to balance rehearsals, school, the time it takes to memorize lines, family, friends, and a whole mess of other things.

Now add being a writer on top of that, research, actually writing, editing, finding an agent, printing a million copies to send out.

Basically, you have to give up sleeping, breathing, and eating, but I wouldn't give it up for the world. I'm doing two things I love most in the world, with some of the most amazing people ever helping and supporting me.

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On Writing: As a Writer and an Actress: Acting Classes

Today I read a blog post about whether or not an aspiring writer should take a writing course (You can find that post Here), and I decided I wanted to do my own post about a sort-of-but-not-really similar topic.

Acting Classes.

I've wanted to be a writer since about 7th grade and I've wanted to be an actress since my sophomore year, but I didn't take my first acting class until my junior year. As soon as we starting going over all the things you need to do as and actor, I knew that the class would help my writing. The different techniques really help you understand characters and avoid plot holes. When preparing a scene/monologue, you have to make choices, why is my character doing this, how can I portray this. You also have to figure out your characters goal and the conflict that stops the character from getting to that goal. Sigh, I feel like I'm explaining this all wrong and just confusing you guys...Just take my word for it, if you want to be writer, a good acting class can definately help you improve.

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Writing Prompt #1: How Did That Get There?

Hey!!

I'm slowly trying to incorporate writing into my blog, so whenever I come up with one or someone sends one that I like, I'll be posting it here.

We've all seen it, the pair of shoes tied together with their shoelaces hanging from power lines, the T-Shirt on the side of the road, a forgotten teddybear in a bush, an we've all wondered, "how did that get there?". Well, it your chance to decide, write a storie/snippet/sentence about how that shoe/shirt/teddybear got where it is. I'd love it if you would share what you come up with me, you can post it here or email it to me (fred_the_leaf@yahoo.com), maybe I can even feature a couple of your guys's work.

(I know it's popularly believed that shoes on a power line is a gang thing, I don't know if it's true or not, but if you choose to do shoes too, you can just pretend it's not like I did)

 *******************************************************************

Mine:

The car is filled with the sounds of my four and six year old boys arguing. My oldest, Michael is poking his younger brother, James, doing the "I'm not touching you thing.". I look in the rear view mirror and see James, eager to show off his shoe tying ability (and make his brother mad), lean down and tie his brother's shoes together with the shoelaces. Michael pulls and tugs, but can't get the shoelaces untied, with a frustrated groan he rips tha shoes off and throws them out the open window.

"Michael!!" He jumps and looks at me guiltily.

"Ma!! I couldn't get them off."

"I don't care, now I have to turn around and get them." But even as the words are coming out of my mouth I can see two teenagers pick up the shoes and throw them so they get caught on a power line. "Damn it, Michael, those were expensive shoes."

"Sorry, Ma."

Fin.
*******************************************************************

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On Writing: Description in Writing

Hey!!

Description is something I really struggle with in my writing, I'm just bad at it. Dialogue? Great. Spotting plot holes? Fantastic. But Description? Most of the time I just forget to put it in, or when I do remember it comes out forced and awkward. I know, I know, that's what rewrites are for, but I hate rewrites (which is why nothing ever gets finished, if I finished something I'd have to eventually start rewriting it). I've spent a lot of time annoying the other writers in the Gaia writing forum about my lack of description problem, and though they have lots of helpful advice, I have trouble putting it into practice. So, I do descriptive essays (well not really essays) to practice description. I pick something, a room, and object, anything, although I prefer not to do people, and describe it in as much detail as I can, and I re-do it until I get it exactly the way I want it.

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On Writing: Strong Female Characters in Todays Literature...They Don't Exist...

Hey!!



Todays post is the first post about writing, I've casually mentioned my writing before, but I haven't gone into details. Mostly because I have friends who read this and they don't really know that I write, it never comes up. (If you liked to read my writing you can find it Here, I've been really lazy about posting but, I'm determined to be more active.) Now, on to the post.

Strong female characters in todays Literature. I haven't read a book that was published after 1998 that has a strong female main character in a long time. It seems like everybody's writing about women who depend on men to be all big and bad and save them (I'll go on a feminist rant later). I'm not saying that the guy can't be the hero and save the day in the end, but I'm a bit tired of reading about girls who whine and talk about how dreamy the guys eyes are, I'd much rather read about a girl who actually does something.

The sad part about this new trend, is that these books are usually written by strong women. I just understand why they aren't writing about strong female characters, I know they're capable of it because they're decent writers. It has to be lack of characterisation, a lot of people don't realize that creating characters is a lot harder than naming them and deciding what they look like, you have to flesh them out and mold them into real people, otherwise you end up with flat two-dimensional characters that people don't want to read about, essentially, weak characters. But there's still no excuse for the agents, editors, and publishers that let stuff like that slip by.

One of my favorite books, In the Forest of the Night (Review found Here), doesn't have the best writing (she was 13 when she wrote it), but the main character is strong, still a bit two dimensional, but strong, and if a 13 year old can create a string female character, than these older women can. I know it's hard, I struggle with it, and I have to admit, my baby, the book I've been working on since I was 12, has a weak main female character, but I work everyday on making her stronger and more believable, just like I do with myself.

I guess another reason people create weak female characters is because of inexperience. A lot of these books are written by people who woke up one day and decided to write a book about the latest "trend" subject, and a month later they have the first draft done and it somehow gets published. And though I'm a little jealous that they can do that and get away with it, I'd much rather get published because my books are well written and have strong characters, than get published because my book follows a trend.

Anyway, I need some suggestions for books, what are some of your favorites?

Would you guys like to see more posts about writing?

Would you want to see a book collection post/ video? (It would be really long if I went through all my post in a single post, so I might do a couple videos on it and post them.)

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