NaNoWriMo

In a few days, NaNoWriMo begins. If you aren’t familiar, NaNoWriMo, basically it’s a month-long effort by writers in the US and worldwide to produce a novel that’s at least 50,000 words. Basically, writers are crazy and we needed a whole month to prove that. 50,000 words in 30 days averages to be about 1,667 words per day. That’s kind of a lot to force yourself to do every single day. I can’t wait!

I’ve participated in NaNo to varying degrees of success since 2005, minus 2007 when I was taking care of mi madre, and 2008 when I just couldn’t do it. Last year was the first year that I actually won, and I credit that rather fully to Scrivener. Prior to Scrivener, I was cobbling research together via an odd combination of web links, saved images and Microsoft Word documents. Scrivener, on the other hand, allows for easy research compilation and a more comprehensive, writer-intensive format. It’s great. And no, I’m not being paid to say this. (Although if someone wants to slip some cash my way…)

People approach NaNo in different ways. Some make meticulous plans, usually throughout October, although some far too zealous souls start planning next year’s NaNo project immediately upon completing the current year’s. These are the planners. For the normal people like myself, there’s pantsing. Pantsers don’t have a concrete plan. It’s winging it. It’s risky, but it’s fun. I did minimal planning last year to the extent that I had a basic plot and characters in mind, and this year I’ve done the same. I feel like planning too much boxes me in, and then I start to resent my plans, the story, and everything in existence. Not a good way to write.

This year’s NaNo will be a little different for me, as I’m working more hours and therefore will have less time to screw around and just write. I’m hoping that I can do it, and I’m hoping people prod me into not giving up (hint, hint!). The lack of writing projects I’ve had lately has been both annoying and discouraging. Hopefully, participating in NaNo will get my wheels turning again and I can get back to writing more frequently. Maybe I’ll even get published! If Stephenie Meyer can do it, so can I.

why ya, eh?

In case it hasn’t been overwhelmingly obvious, my “genre” of choice is Young Adult. I hate referring to YA as a genre, though, since it’s not really. YA just describes the intended audience; the genres involved therein are as varied as with adult fiction. As an adult-ish type person, people often find it strange that I both read and write YA. Allow me to explain why! (See what I did with the post title there?)

Numerically, I’m outside of the target age range for young adult fiction. Do I let this bother me? Not in the slightest. Mentally, I’m fairly sure I’m much, much younger. I can still relate to these stories as an adult as well as I could in middle and high school. They’re fast reads (usually), and on top of that, they’re interesting.

If you haven’t strolled through the young adult section of the bookstore or library yet, please do so! Pick up a book, read the synopsis, give it a shot. You may be surprised that it’s not all “Woe is my life, I failed a chemistry test!” Teenagers are much, much smarter than many people give them credit for, and the books written for them as of late are smartening up to match.

As for writing YA, I often feel as though I have to defend myself for writing for younger audiences. I know it isn’t the case, but sometimes it feels as though people look down on YA writers and the idea of writing for teenagers, as though being a YA writer means you aren’t “good enough” to write for adults. To which I say–bite me. Choosing to write for a younger audience has nothing to do with ability or lack thereof and more to do with knowing your subject matter and figuring out who you want to speak to.

I like to think that, after seventeen years of writing, I’m fairly familiar with my style. I write young characters because that’s who I relate to. That isn’t to say I’ve never written older characters, or I never have a desire to write adult fiction. It’s just that my preference is YA. I’ve never dumbed down my writing or skipped over subject matter just because of my target audience, and I never feel like I’ll have to. Again–teens are smart. There’s no reason to shelter them from certain subjects just because it makes adults feel weird about it.

So there ya go. I’m a fan of YA, and I’m going to continue being a fan. I’m a YA writer, and I’m going to continue being a YA writer. And if you don’t like it, fine. Just don’t act like there’s anything wrong with it, ‘kay?

it begins

My history with the written word goes back a long way. My mother, an avid reader and poet herself, had me reading by the time I was two. I decided that I wanted to write my own words rather than reading someone else’s when I was 10. In middle school, I joined the Creative Writing program and was influenced by one of the strangest, greatest teachers I’ve ever had, Mrs. Allen. She made us listen to classical while writing and claimed it would help; she was probably right. She’d regale us with tales of her childhood to spark something within us.

(As an aside, the only story I can remember was her retelling of a Catholic school moment in which she climbed up onto the door of a bathroom stall and would yell out, “God!” on the forward swing and, “Damn!” on the swing back. Needless to say, her antics got her into a lot of trouble.)

We’d get gold seals of approval on works that particularly pleased her, and it always earned us bragging rights until the next kid got Mrs. Allen’s Seal of Approval. In 8th grade, I applied for the high school Creative Writing program at the local arts school, Overton. I had to audition and showcase my best work. I wasn’t nervous; I knew I was good enough to get in. I was, however, rather distressed to be leaving Mrs. Allen. Mrs. Gengenbach, the high school teacher, seemed more reserved and structured. Once I got to high school, though, I fell in love with her as a teacher, too. Unfortunately, she left school to raise a family, and we were saddled with Ms. Eneks.

For all the grumbling and disdain aimed at Ms. Eneks, I think most of us warmed to her by junior year. She took us on camping trips to get us out of the city and let nature inspire us. We had pizza parties from time to time. We got invited to her wedding. We even formed our own writing club. Ms. Eneks was, begrudgingly, a rather great teacher.

From these three ladies, I learned an astonishing amount about writing. I learned my strengths and weaknesses with regards to writing, and in some cases with regards to myself in general. I was challenged, and challenged back, and I’m all the better for it. Of course, once I got to college, I decided to buck the system and go for filmmaking rather than writing, for some crazy reason. I took one semester of writing and received fairly good reviews, but I was never interested in studying writing. I just wanted to write.

And so, that’s what I do. I just write. No “formal” training, no real goals other than getting published at least once. I know I can do it; it’s just a matter of pushing myself. And, lacking any eccentric Creative Writing teacher in my life, I’m going to have to be the one to push myself to do it. We’ll see if I succeed.

art

I used to be an artist. I wasn’t particularly amazing, and I certainly wasn’t the next Picasso, but I enjoyed drawing and painting more than most other subjects in school. Drawing from memory was hard (I suspect because I don’t actually look directly at most people) but given a photograph or looking in person, I could recreate a scene with alarming precision. Several of my family members have artistic leanings as well, though none of them really pursued it for various reasons. My great grandmother encouraged me to make art my career, and for a long while, I thought that’s what I would do.

Then I tried my hand at writing.

Almost the second I started to write, I stopped drawing. From fifth grade on, it was all about words and stories and characters and settings. My art supplies gathered dust. Every few years I’d get the notion in my head that I’d get back into art and become an author/illustrator, so I would buy new supplies and try for about an hour before getting frustrated and moving on. I’ve forgotten essentially everything I ever learned about drawing, and that makes me very sad. Yet again, I’ve gotten it in my head that I can get back to art. I bought a big black sketchbook like I used to have in elementary school. I’ve got colored pencils and markers and my favorite kind of wooden pencils.

I haven’t drawn a single thing in nearly a year.

But this time, it’ll be different! I’m going to try to draw more, and I’m going to try to write more while I’m at it. It’s unacceptable to me that now I’m doing neither. So why not try to do both?

script frenzy, day 1

Script Frenzy is upon us! (So is Autism Awareness Month!) I’m working my way through a shaky beginning currently. I’ve never been good at beginning scripts; I’m not in the habit of it just yet, which means I need to work on that. Still, it’s day one, and I’m nearly 8 pages in! My goal before I (finally) get to bed is 10 pages. That way, I can safely skip a day or two and still not be behind. I don’t want to skip days so early on, but you know me, I am a fantastic failure sometimes.

I think I mentioned this before, but music really helps me write. As such, I make playlists for everything I write. This time, I’m kind of stumped as to what else to possibly add. I’ll list the songs to show the kind of mood I’m going for.

The Waxen Pith::Aphex Twin
The Becoming::Nine Inch Nails
Haunted::Poe
Over::Portishead
Suck::Queen Adreena
Tourniquet::Rasputina
Angel with the Scabbed Wings::Marilyn Manson
Bright Lights::Audrey Horne
Handlebars::Flobots
Passenger::Deftones
Breathe Today::Flyleaf
Blinding::Florence + the Machine
So Excited::Janet Jackson
Flashing Lights::Kanye West
Coinlockers Baby::Miyavi
Rockstar::N.E.R.D.
Gender::Orgy
Life is a Bullet::Papa Roach
Thieves in the Temple::Prince
Voodoo::Robots in Disguise
Ladies and Gentlemen::Saliva
Superstition::Stevie Wonder
Heads Will Roll::Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Run For Your Life::The Beatles

The problem is, I’m trying to stay away from my own personal spooky go-to songs, as well as typical horror rock songs. So yeah. Any song recommendations would be awesomesauce. And if you’re participating in Script Frenzy, feel free to add me. Whoo!