The Perfect Storm

I've questioned the sanity of combining NaNoWriMo with one of the biggest Holiday months of the year. For most of us, last week was a bust. We were eating pie, cooking turkey and visiting with friends and family. I was either too busy or too sleepy to even think about working out my next plot point or adding descriptive setting to my latest scene.

So, I asked Angie, "Why can't we do this in January? Or March? Why November; when Thanksgiving cuts into our precious thirty days and Christmas is knocking at our doors?"

Well, I have a theory. I believe November provides the Perfect Storm. Not only are we attempting to put our novels down on paper, but we embark on a great balancing act. We must write, and be a mother, perhaps a hostess, or a guest, a cook, an in-law, or a savvy shopper, a dishwasher, a wife, a father--the list goes on and on and on. We are put to the test during this month. The demands on our time and attention mount. The stresses and pressures of the season threaten to shake our resolve and our focus. But like Elizabeth Bennett, I believe our 'courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate..." us! I believe that we can accomplish more than we think, and this NaNo challenge is the perfect proving ground.

Whether we walk away from this with the full 50,000 words or not, we've done it! And if you're like me, you've stretched, grown and progressed during these last thirty days. I'm going to fall short of my goal, but I have no regrets. In fact, I'm full of gratitude for this experience. I've learned so much and made a humongous stride towards completing my next novel.

Congratulations to all of you NaNo-ites! We've nearly made it! Good luck on the next forty-eight hours! And good luck to everyone who is plugging away at your own goals that reach far above and beyond NaNoWriMo.

-- Sara Bulla

What do you need?

Two weeks ago I hit a snag in my NaNo WIP. I didn’t have enough conflict—and when I mean conflict I don’t mean fighting. I mean the kind of conflict that makes your stomach churn as you read.

The problem was that my MC had two needs that ran parallel throughout the story, and it was getting boring. So I got to thinking…what can I do to crank up the conflict?

Then…epiphany!

Take my MC's two needs and make them in direct conflict to each other.  Make him choose between two things he wants—but he can’t have both. The physical and emotional toll these kinds of conflict have on our MC’s can be visceral.

My one warning with this type of conflict is that you MUST follow through. If you force your MC to make a choice only to suspend the consequences of that choice than you become a liar, and readers will start to see your conflict as false. I think everyone has read a book or seen a movie and you don’t believe for one second that the MC will really have to make a choice.

So if your MS is a little flat, try giving your MC competing needs. It can really spice up a dull story.

-Angie


Pop on over to Afterglow Book Reviews and check out my review of The Next Door Boys by Jolene Perry :)

Cloudy with a Chance of Karen Carpenter

This morning I loaded my kids into our mini-van and began our Thanksgiving vacation. Our Destination: Grandma's house. It was snowing in Cache Valley when we left and the clouds followed us until we pulled into my parent's driveway.

I am normally a stormy weather girl, but today, it pushed my limits. I needed sunshine and was met with gloom. It just so happened that the only music available to me during this short road trip was Karen Carpenter. Normally, I have a limit to the ooo's and aahhhh's and la la la's that I can take. But not so today. Her voice was like balm to my soul. I hit repeat on "On top of the world" at least seven times. I'm not kidding.

Why this sudden change? I mean, I like Karen Carpenter, I do, but I usually avoid the songs like, "Sing, sing a song" and the other campfire, folksy-type songs and move right to her deep, darker melodies. Today, however, I drank them in and by the time our three hour drive concluded, I figured out why.

It's my WIP. This book that I'm writing for NaNo, is depressing. It's heavy. It's number two in a series of three. I start out with drama and crisis and I end with drama and only slightly less crisis. It's dark (which I like, but I'm in serious danger of overdosing)and it's loaded with stress, heart ache and hopeless situations.

Can I just throw this question out to those of you in our friendly blog-0-sphere: How do you keep a dark, heavy book doable? Likable? Readable? I have a good light-hearted character in there, as well as a bit of humor where I can squeeze it in, but I'm being honest when I say that I could have driven around the block four more times just to here Karen sing, "Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eye and I, won't be surprised if it's a dream. (all together now) I'm on the, top of the world, looking down on creation and the only explanation I have found; is the love that I've found ever since you've been around, your love's put me at the top of the World!" I was aching for sunshine and love and happiness and birds singing in the air. My WIP is bringing me down, folks, and I'm afraid it just might sink the ship. :(

For a brief moment, I was on top of the world; I just don't know if I can transfer the Karen Carpenter warm fuzzies to my characters. What do you do to lighten it-up, propel the story forward, and bring a welcome ray of sunshine without spoiling the good, creepy, heart-wrenching darkness? Am I making any sense?

--Sara Bulla

Happy Thanksgiving!

Make them weep...

I found this quote and it hit me hard. I needed to share it with you.

If your characters cry, your readers won’t have to;

if your characters have good reason to cry and don’t,

your readers will do the weeping.

—Orson Scott Card

I think this is brilliant. Happy NaNoWriMo!

-Angie

A NaNo Poem

NaNoWriMo ate me whole,

And spit me out onto the floor.

My brain is mush,

My thoughts are slush,

My dirty house—it makes me blush.

My sub-plots all have run amuck,

To finish I will need some luck.

I do not sleep until I’m beat,

My children do not need to eat,

But—50,000 words are sweet!

Have a great weekend :)

-Angie

Mid-Point Reversal

It’s mid-point through NaNoWriMo. How is the writing going? Great I hope!

I thought the middle was the perfect place to talk about the mid-point reversal. It is what keeps your middle from sagging.

The mid-point reversal should be just that a reversal. A reversal of your characters luck. A reversal of your reader’s expectations. A reversal that shocks us.  A reversal that changes the direction of your story. A reversal that reveals a secret.

Don’t know where to start? Ask yourself a few questions?

• What is the worst thing that could happen?
• Is there a secret that could throw us?
• What could happen to make your antag give up?
• How could the antag get the upper hand?
• What is something your protag needs to know to win in the end?
• Is there a twist to send the story in a new direction? 

In my first MS the mid-point reversal is actually positive. My characters get help in an unexpected place. And that surprise is what changes the course of the story. So it doesn’t need to be negative—just twisty. 

Famous mid-point reversals (well semi famous):

• Pride and Prejudice—Darcy proposing to Elizabeth.
• The Hunger Games—Katniss finding out she and Peeta can team up in the hunger games.
• Twilight—Edward confesses his feeling for Bella.
• The Sorcerer’s Stone—Harry finds out Voldemort is looking for the Sorcerer’s Stone.  

Notice how in each of these examples the reversal changes the trajectory of the story.

 

Good luck with your middle, and happy NaNoWriMo!

 

-Angie

Thoughtful Spot

On the ebb of NaNoWriMo I decided to follow the example of that sage old bear, Winne the Pooh, and find my thoughtful spot. November has come up quickly and ready or not ... here it is. So before sheer panic sets in, I've made the conscious choice to step back a bit, try to breathe in and out and just "be" for a moment.

My Thoughtful Spot isn't necessarily a place. Today, for instance, my thoughtful spot was watching my girls play in a pile of leaves with their favorite Aunt Sarah. Two days ago, it was looking at the moon (nothing makes me feel so small, and yet so empowered as watching our little corner of the cosmos). What is your thoughtful spot? Or moment? What helps you clear your mind and regulate your breathing a bit? Is it a song? A place? A food? A memory?

Good luck to all you NaNo's out there. I'm jumping in as well and hope, along with Angie, to come out 50,000 words further than I am today! :)

--Sara Bulla

On your mark…get set…go!

NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow :) Are you excited? I am!

I will try my best to get around to everyone’s blog, and I will continue to blog during November. I’ve even written posts ahead of time.

I’m not a fast writer so 50,000 words in a month will be a stretch for me.

Also, It’s Halloween today—Happy Halloween J

I’m going to be a writer for Halloween. My costume:  Pajamas, two day old hair, and the far off look of someone trying to remember dialogue.

-Angie