NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up

So, yesterday was the last day of NaNoWriMo. Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the 50K word mark (more like 5,871), but I'm okay with it - *sniff* - really, I am. I don't like losing, but whatever. I still have the same excitement over this book now as I did when I first started planning it. At least now, I don't have to stress of "OMG! Must make it to 50K" bombarding me. I can actually take my time. I think the stress of my dissertation hindered me. I know one thing: I will NOT have the dissertation problem next year (God-willing). I will be done! With the dissertation, I mean. Anyway, last week, I posted the synopsis and a small excerpt of Who's Got Tha Moves. Today, I'm posting my cast of characters (wanted to post my soundtrack, but it's not working right now).

Cast of Characters

In my novel notebook, I have pics of other characters (both major and minor). Of course, I'm only posting characters who are very important to the novel.

Jordin Sparks as Treasure Davis

Treasure is my main character. She's the oldest of 4 girls...a typical first born: focused, organized, etc. Up until recently, Treasure was satisfied with the way her life was going - all she did was go to school, go to work, go to church, and go home (no social life). She's shy and dislikes being in groups or crowds. Treasure has been dancing since she was 3. Trying out for Who's Got Tha Moves takes Treasure way out of her comfort zone.

Jennifer Freeman as Maya Nuñez

Maya is Treasure's bff. She's more outspoken than Treasure...not shy at all.

Bow Wow as Q

Treasure's crush; a year older than Treasure

Gus Carr: Gio Morales

Contestant on WGTM; Treasure's dance partner for competition; develops feelings for her.

Adriana Lima as Zoe Dobson

Treasure's main competition on WGTM

So, that's it. My cast of main characters. There are more people (the WGTM hosts, main judge, and contestants). These are the people I see when I'm writing the novel...the ones I visualize. Didn't get to do character bios this time. Who knows, after the novel is developed more (with a possibility of representation and/or publication), I can go more into details. :)

NaNoWriMo Weeks 2 & 3 Wrap-Up

Well, I've definitely fared better than the first week of NaNo. If I were keeping up with the time, I'd be at about 44,000 words (2,000 words/day). Yeah, that's a laugh. I haven't even broken the 10,000 mark. I'm at 2,891 and counting. I'm not as down as I was the first week. Hey, at least I'm writing, right? And I still have next week (Thanksgiving holidays) where I can maybe catch up...or at least make it to 20,000. I'll be happy with half a novel by the time this is over. So, maybe for my NaNoWriMo Week 4 Wrap-Up, I'll have more words.

Sometimes I feel like both the left and right sides of my brain are fighting for attention. I mean, I use more of my left brain for my dissertation and more of my right brain for my book (which is another reason why I'll be glad I'm done with the dissertation...it's hogging my brain, leaving barely enough time for creativity - although, I'd like to think I have to use some creativity with it). I'm sure other NaNos fared waaayyy better than me, which is awesome. I'm still happy with my accomplishment, considering the fact that I've been too tired after work to even think of writing.

Anyway, like I've said before, the novel's name is, Who's Got Tha Moves. I'm so excited about this novel. Here's a short synopsis (thanks Bev Rosenbaum for helping me sum it up so nicely): In her determination to become more exciting (and hook her crush, Nate), accomplished, but hideously shy dancer, Treasure Davis, auditions for a popular dance reality show. Next thing Treasure knows, she's an insta-star, with all the attention--positive and negative--that comes with mega-celebrity. It's everything she wants--isn't it?

I'm having so much fun with this one. I'm not into reality shows, but I love watching the dance ones (Dancing With The Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, America's Best Dance Crew), since I LOVE to dance. Wanna know a secret? When I was about 5 or 6, I wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer. Solid Gold was an old show that I used to watch. I remember sitting in front of the TV every time it came on. Dancing has been my love since then. So, yeah, I'm enjoying Who's Got Tha Moves. I'm channeling my teenage self with this one.

Anyway, next week, I'll post my cast of characters and the soundtrack, but, for now, I'm going to post the opening of Who's Got Tha Moves. Now, remember, during NaNo, it's all about quantity...not quality, so this is a VERY rough draft:

Tee Davis must die. Or at least disappear forever. Either way, I've got to get rid of her.

I'm not some insane chick, plotting the demise of another human. I'm a perfectly sane, 17-year old, plotting the demise of myself...or my old self, rather.

It's time for her to say goodbye.

Stay Tuned...

I'm knee deep in dissertation work, so NaNo Weeks 2 & 3 Wrap Up will be posted at end of the week.

NaNoWriMo Week 1 Wrap-Up

The end of NaNo week 1 has come. You want to know how many words I've written? 70! No, not 70,000. Just...70. Sad, isn't it? I came into NaNo with high hopes. I wanted to write a chapter a day. Little did I know, I'd have a busy week. By the end of the day, I was too tired to do anything this week. Needless to say, this week was a bust.

BUT, I'm not giving up. It just means that starting today, in order to catch up, I'd have to write 2 chapters a day, til next Saturday.

Something good did good did come out of this week (besides our new president-elect): a new story idea - or at least a new character. The teen daughter of the first African American president. I know one of President Obama's daughters is 7 and the other will be 9 next year. What if the children were teens? Being the child of a pres is stress enough, but the child of the first black pres...yeah, that's a book. I know I won't be the only one with this kind of character, but, I'll be adding my voice to the story...putting my own twist to the story.

Happy writing!

NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) will begin in exactly one week. From November 1st to November 30th, writers from all over will attempt to write a 50,000 word novel. The point isn't really quality (how well you write), but quantity (how much you write). You're declared a winner when you've reached the 50,000 word mark (they have ways to verify).

The 1st year I participated, 2006, I only got half a novel out, which I ended up trashing. My 2nd year, 2007, I didn't really participate. Having 2 doctorate classes and a full-time job kind of squashed my creativity. I started out as a participant, but never really got the ball rolling. This well be my 3rd year with NaNoWriMo. I'm hoping to succeed, despite having a full-time job, and a dissertation to work on.

Now, the hard thing about doing NaNo is actually getting my internal editor to shut up. This year, I'll have to tie up the perfectionist part of me and hide her in my mental closet til NaNo is over. That way, I won't have to hear her say things like: That doesn't make sense at all; More description; Less dialogue; or Are you really leaving that there? She's so loud, it's hard to ignore her. *SIGH* Yeah, she's going deep, deep in my closet. Maybe I can mentally tape her mouth.

You know the novel I worked on for my 1st NaNo? Well, it's back - stronger than ever. It's got a name, Who's Got Tha Moves, and I've got a plan. That's right. This past month, I, in all my anal-ness, managed to plan WGTM. Some people can just write without nothing planned. Though I wish I could do that, I can't. I tried that with my first novel and it took forever. When I wrote an outline (for my 1st novel) and planned, the novel came out easily. So, what did I do to plan?

Novel Notebook - which I actually did this spring, but didn't think about the story until this month. In the notebook, I have sections for subjects like summary/plot, major characters, minor characters, background, etc. I have pics of anything that reminds me of WGTM and of celebs who resemble my characters. I had fun putting this together because I was able to visualize things in the novel. Here's a pic:
The Three Acts: Major Turning Points: I got this idea from http://www.sff.net/people/alicia/artthreeacts.htm. The article shows how to put your novel in three acts and describes what happens in each act. Now, I have an idea what's going to happen in the novel.

Plot Board: I looked all around the 'net to see examples of plot boards. I didn't find much, but I did find some (Diana Peterfreund's website is one place). I just added my 'flavor' to it. Each sticky color represents something (goal/motivation; main plot; 3 subplots). This way, I have an idea what'll happen in each chapter. I'm not quite finished with the plot board but it will be done by NaNoWriMo. I have it hanging on my wall. Here's a pic:

So, I'll be ready for NaNo this year. I'm excited about this novel and know I'm going to have fun writing it. During NaNoWriMo, I'll be blogging about my experience and keeping a record of words written. I also plan to post fun stuff like my cast of characters (if my novel became a movie, who would I cast), the soundtrack, and other things from my novel. So, stay tuned!