My Expert NaNo Advice

It seems you can't go very far in the writing blogsphere this month without seeing someone adding their two cents with their "go-to" method for writing during National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo or NaNo). If I had a nickel for every post I saw just with tips or how-to's, I'd be rich. So, I figured I'd join in the foray and add in my expert advice on how to survive and succeed at NaNo. I'm sure you are just waiting with bated breath to see what kind of enlightenment I can add to the horse that has been beat to death already. So here goes.

My expert, all-knowing, sure-fire method for writing during NaNo:




WRITE

#SixSentenceSunday Week 16

Gearing up for Nano has been getting the creative juices flowing. Can't wait to start making some headway.

In the meantime, here's six more sentences of Guardians.

David laughed nervously and finished his glass of wine. He set the glass down, moved his silverware around his plate, then took a sip of his water. Alana watched the whole exchange with amused excitement. For as confident and self-assured as David was, it was cute to see him so nervous.

"Okay, we're friends, right?"

Alana nodded. "I certainly hope so."

So, where do you think David was going with this? Hmmm?

What do your your six sentences say?

#SixSentenceSunday Week 15

Progress has been good this week. I am making strides on my manuscript. Yay!  I am also participating in NaNo this year. Hopefully that will give me the extra push to get this story finished. Woo! Here is another snippet from my WIP, Guardians.

The man slowly approached her and gestured with his hand again. Slowly, Alana pulled her pendant out from under her shirt and held it out to him without removing it from her neck. He nodded and touched it reverently.

"Would you like to see it?" she asked as she started to pull the chain over her head.

He shook his head and pressed his hand against hers, keeping the pendant in place. When she dropped the chain, he released her hand with a nod.

Thank you for reading! What do your six sentences say?

#SixSentenceSunday Week 14

It's Sunday again, and here's a new set of sentences for #SixSunday from Chapter 4 of my WIP, Guardians. I'm slowly making progress in the manuscript. I hope to really make some waves with it in the next several months. Thanks for reading!

Her eyes flew open when a chilly gust of wind blew over her basket. As she sat up, she noticed a man was approaching her. Quickly, she packed up her basket and stood as the man caught up to her. He looked vaguely familiar and was walking with a cane of some kind.

"Can I help you?" Alana asked.

He frowned and pointed out across the horizon.

What will your sentences say?

#SixSentenceSunday Week 13

Ah, another Sunday and another six sentences. I'm getting a little farther in Guardians, which is hopeful for me. Sometimes I get mired in a scene and I don't want to continue on until it is perfect, but then I have to remind myself to just get it down ... period. Then I can go back and tweak once it's all laid out. That has helped, when I can remember.

Although I started this story last November with #Nano (and failed horribly), I hope to continue with this and maybe hopefully make some significant progress. I have another story I've been tossing around with the details but it really hasn't coalesced into something solid enough yet for me to try to work on. I'm waaay too OCD in my writing organization to just write by the seat of my pants.

Anyway, without any further ado, my six for #SixSunday. What will your six sentences say?

Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at it, blood began to ooze from the shard.

With a shout, she dropped the glass to the ground and furiously scrubbed at her hand, looking for any sign of a cut. The palm of her hand was flawless. Alana looked back down at the shard and the other pieces of her window lying around. They were all bleeding.

A baby's cry pierced the air.

Thank you for reading.

Hump Day Anyone?

So today finds me in my favorite hidey-hole to write, a local coffee house/creperie that has free wifi (score!). It is a nice break from work.

I didn't win #MenageMonday but I had fun with the prompt. #MotivationalMonday and #TuesdayTales didn't pan out but I did participate in #55WordChallenge today (and I miss #HumpDayChallenge too - that was a fun one).

The pictures were quite engaging today but I was instantly drawn to the first one. The Muse spoke. Enjoy!

Title: The Best for Last

The grass was the last thing I saw.

There was no warning when the plague hit. I thought I had beat it, having lived longer than my neighbors and others.

I stared as my vision dimmed, the vibrant grass mocking me as I died.

I was wrong. The plague came for us all.

Monday and Menage and Writing...

Oh my - vacation was great. I had such a good time with my husband. I didn't get a lot of writing done (hardly at all) but it was nice just to decompress from everything. Sure Vegas is pretty busy but I didn't have to worry about work calls or sending out docs, just relaxing and enjoying myself.

This week I'm also trying to get back into flash fiction again. My friend, the ever awesome @caramichaels reminded me that too often we give up on ourselves. If we can't commit to an hour of writing a day, do what we can, even if its 15 minutes or a half hour.

So here I sit, before I start my creative writing class, and I managed to put together an entry for her #MenageMonday contest. I need to get back into the swing of things, especially with Nano quickly approaching (Can you believe OCTOBER isn't that far away?!).

I am going to try to do #MotivationalMonday too but I'm not sure how much time I will have.

In the mean time, here's my entry for #MenageMonday for today, 9/17/12

Title: Coffee Break

The house stood as a silent sentinel as I put my bags in the car. It wasn't much of a house, but it was mine for the moment. The 'for sale' sign glared brightly, accusing me of breaking apart the family that once lived inside.

It wasn't my fault that Allen was an asshole who decided that Cindy, the barrista at his favorite coffee shop, was a tall drink of water that he just had to sip. No, it wasn't my fault that his dick seemed to prefer her coffee, but it was my fault that the house was for sale.

He never thought I would've gone to the same coffee shop. It was strictly by accident, in the big city we lived in, that I pulled in the same day that Allen was there, mid-taste and up against the back of the building with Cindy.

Allen was lucky I didn't dump my latte on him, but the coffee there was just too good to waste, even on him.

Guess I'll need to find a new coffee shop in Arizona. I'll suffer for awhile in the heat, but it was a new start for the new season of my life.

Thanks for reading.