Lessons Learned from National Novel Writing Month

Many of you may be familiar with National Novel Writing Month (#NaNoWriMo). I’ve rambled on about it time and again. 

But if you haven’t heard, each November writers try and write 50,000 words toward a novel. 

As #NaNoWri has evolved, there are many different versions so goals can be attainable for kids as well. I’ve participated for many years. The first few years I didn’t even come close, but once I won, I wanted to have that feeling of accomplishment every year. 

Because NaNoWri is about more than just writing 50,000 words, it’s about discovering just what you’re capable of if you apply yourself to a goal. Some of the lessons I’ve learned from NaNoWriMo can be applied to each day or month of the year.

 

Find Support & Accountability

We all have lofty goals that seem almost unattainable. Sometimes we may call them dreams and feel as if they are things we can only wish for. Although there are some things that are within our control if we apply ourselves and find the support to keep us accountable. Even if we are only accountable to ourselves. 

• Goals are met through babysteps. I don’t sit down on November 1^st thinking that I'll write 50,000 words. If I did, I’d probably be completely overwhelmed and quit before I got started. Instead, I plan to write at least 1,667 words each day. That’s an attainable goal for me. Even if I break it into 2 writing periods during the day to get there with smaller steps. Those little steps add up. 

• Announce your goal to others, or find someone who will be your cheerleader to keep you accountable. Even if it’s making your own chart and watching the numbers grow. Your goals and dreams are most important to you, so nurture them.

These tips can be applied to new habits, or working toward any dream. One day at a time. To reference one of my favorite quotes, 

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” – John Quincy Adams

Practice Productivity 

There are many distractions in life, and especially on the internet, that can make a task take much longer than necessary. Find your focus and set a time to work on a task, and a goal of when to finish. You might discover that you can complete it much quicker than you realized. 

Some people practice specific techniques to increase productivity, but only you can determine what works for you. I've used these productivity techniques throughout the year.

• Pomodoro Technique – Setting a time for a specific time frame (usually 25 minutes) and working with five minute breaks between sets.

• Sprints- are particularly popular for NaNoWriMo and effective for me. Choose a time frame and race against the clock to get as much done as possible. Whether it’s writing words, completing chores, or other tasks. 

• Find your Magic – for me I know that I have to organize my desk and clear out most of my emails to be able to focus and be more productive. Otherwise, I’m distracted. Determine what helps you focus. It may be a certain space in your home, a certain time of day, or creating a relaxing atmosphere.

My NaNoWri Novel

I won NaNoWri again this year. That doesn’t mean I have a complete book ready to go. It means it’s in an ugly draft form, and it needs many more words, and a whole lot of editing to be complete. But I have 50,000 words to a brand new story that I didn’t have a month ago. 

Plus, I know that several of these ugly drafts have later been released to the world as my book babies. I still have 3 NaNoWri winners in draft, but here are a few of my former NaNoWri winners now available in print.

Chance Taken -2014 Winner renamed as Not a Chance

For The Love of Grandma -2013 Winner renamed Grandma Must Die 

See No Evil- 2012 Winner renamed Evil Speaks Softly 

Do You Have Any Productivity Tips to Share?

A Few Chances to Win a Gift for Yourself This Holiday

It seems that when I start holiday shopping, that’s when I find things I want for myself, but I feel guilty because I should be buying for others. Here are a few contests that you can enter to try to win a guilt-free prize for yourself.

 

Hurry- this contest wraps up Today- December 5^th

 Your chance to win a Kindle Fire 7 Tablet- $25 worth of ebooks from Amazon (winner’s choice, up to 5 total books) - $20 Amazon gift card- $15 worth of ebooks from Amazon (winner’s choice, up to 3 total books)- $10 Amazon gift card Check it out Right Here

Make Your Month More Merry 

Enter for your Chance to win a kindle fire or echo dot Right Here

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook& Twitter

Be the first to know about Maureen’s book sales and new releases by following her on BookBub, Amazonand/or signing up for her newsletter

Inspired by witches, gravity, and Poison

This past week has brought a tremendous amount of ‘firsts’ into my life - my first flight into the States (turns out the Minneapolis airport has an abundance of giant, fake moose); first time in New York (lights! Loads of people! Death-defying cabbies!); first coffee trade show (hundreds of people who love coffee in one place = awesome); and a host of other smaller firsts that blurred into one sensuous experience crammed into a short four days...

But the first that stands out the most to me was seeing my first Broadway musical. And, oh, it was a doozy - the marvelous ‘Wicked’.

We almost didn’t see it - my co-worker and I tried for tickets on Saturday, but only premium (*cough*expensive*cough*) tickets remained. Truth be told, we weren’t sure it was worth it, so we passed on them. But Sunday rolled around, and we admitted that we both badly wanted to see the show, especially since it was our last night in the city. So I called Ticketmaster - and they were sold out. My heart sank. My co-worker saw my face and her expression dropped. I asked the extremely sweet agent to check one more time. She did - and two tickets popped up on her screen. She was stunned, seeing as she was sure there had been nothing a moment before. I took it as a sign, and told her to snag those tickets for us immediately.

We made it to the theatre just in time (the cabby had no idea where it was, so we had to er, hop out and find our own way). Now, I will admit I was still a little hesitant at this point - I’m not a huge fan of musicals on screen, and well, I’d never been to a professional play, so I didn’t quite know what to expect...

The lights dimmed, the curtain rose and the swell of music and voices celebrating the death of the Wicked Witch metaphorically grabbed us by the shirts and dragged us willingly into the world of Oz. Willemijn Verkaik gave a breathtaking performance as the green witch, Elphaba, while Alli Mauzey was the perfect counterpoint as Glinda the Good. By the end of the show I was quietly sobbing in my seat, simply tingling from the experience.

I had many ‘aha’ moments while watching Wicked - creativity of any sort tends to kick-start, reinforce and revitalize any other creative energy it touches - but the most critical realization came in response to a long held fear of mine. At the start of the play I had wondered somberly if the actors ever became sick of repeating their parts, night after night - if what they loved ever became a ‘job’, something they felt they had to do in order to survive. But Willemijn and Alli were so full of passion, their performances so earnest and commanding, there was no doubt they were enjoying themselves. Even more powerful is the fact that Willemijn has performed the roll of Elphaba over 1000 times, in three different languages.

When we’re told to ‘do what you love’, it can be easy to scoff or fall into polite silence punctuated with a knowing, ‘yeah right’ look. After all, it sometimes feels like our dreams are out of reach - right behind those bills we need to pay, and the ‘reality’ of everyday life. To actually see someone doing what they love for a living, though, is an exceptional, life-shifting experience. One I wish for everyone reading this post.

~*~ Today’s post was inspired by Bridget Zinn. Bridget’s debut novel, Poison, was released this week by Hyperion. Unfortunately, Bridget died from cancer in May 2011, at the age of 33. Being published was her dream.  Please visit her site to see how you can get the word out about Poison, and help show others they can keep moving towards their dream, no matter their circumstances. ~*~

From her website:

About the novel

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she's the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom's future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.

But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart…misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king's army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she's not alone. She's armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can't stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her? 

Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she's certainly no damsel-in-distress—she's the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

 

About Bridget Zinn

Bridget grew up in Wisconsin. She went to the county fair where she met the love of her life, Barrett Dowell. They got married right before she went in for exploratory surgery which revealed she had colon cancer. They christened that summer the "summer of love" and the two celebrated with several more weddings. Bridget continued to read and write until the day she died.

Her last tweet was
"Sunshine and a brand new book. Perfect."

Bridget wanted to make people laugh and hoped readers would enjoy spending time with the characters she created. As a librarian/writer she loved books with strong young women with aspirations. She also felt teens needed more humorous reads. She really wanted to write a book with pockets of warmth and happiness and hoped that her readers' copies would show the watermarks of many bath time reads.

Dreams

I recently saw a post on Facebook about the importance of having dreams. I couldn’t agree more. For me becoming a writer was as dream, publishing my books a part of that dream. Publishing could have just stayed a dream unless I took steps to make that dream come true.

To make a dream come true, you need to set goals--take steps forward. Sometimes they’re baby steps and other times they’re giant leaps of faith, but it’s constantly moving, actively working toward that dream. Pursuing a dream requires you to evaluate your priorities in life. It sharpens your focus and, ultimately, I believe, allows you to live life to the fullest.

Publishing Journey of Awakening is a dream come true for me. This is the first novel I ever completed. These are the characters who own my heart.  As hard as I worked on this manuscript, I’m still awed that Carina wanted to publish it. I still have to pinch myself when I see it on websites and know it’s available to readers instead of tucked away on my hard drive.

I hope that my children can see me living and pursuing my dream and learn to do the same, whatever their dreams are because having a dream, working toward it and watching it come true. That is magic.

Sara, the heroine in Journey of Awakening, also has a dream. Raised by her grandfather on a small island, she prepared her entire life for one purpose. For her it was simple, her dream is to complete the task set for her and her pursuit of it is single-minded. But when the dream becomes a reality, it is almost more than she can handle.

Here’s an excerpt from Journey of Awakening.

She followed Jith’s gaze. The golden sand rose away from the water’s touch, forming a hill that protected their little house and its gardens from the worst of the ocean’s fury. A shadow of melancholy tempered her excitement. She would miss the island. It was the only home she could remember. But she knew every tree, had followed or made every path through the dense interior forests. Each waterway, every animal’s den had long since been mapped. She was a warrior of Shi’ia, trained by one of the greatest commanders of all time, Willam of Ardal, and now she was full-grown. An adult by anyone’s standards. An island hideaway was not the place for her. She was ready. Ready for change, ready to use the skills her grandfather had taught her, ready to begin her life. She placed a hand on her chest and traced the hard contours of her pendant. Ready to discover the world outside their little island.

Winner of a 2011 RT Reader’s Choice award for her debut book, Altered Destiny, Shawna Thomas has been making up stories ever since finishing GONE WITH THE WIND. Once she put her own ending in writing, there was no looking back.

A wife and a mother of seven, Shawna lives in California where she gardens, writes, and drinks a lot of coffee. Visit her on her blog, twitter or Facebook. 

Journey of Awakening is available at Carina, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.