NaNoWriMo Week Three: Explosions, Frozen Fingers, and Christmas Decorations

WE. ARE. ON. WEEK. FOUR. OF. NANOWRIMO.

WEEK FOUR.

AND ONLY 10 DAYS LEFT.

WE’RE LITERALLY NEARING THE END OF THE MONTH PEOPLE.

It’s a little shocking, to be honest. Didn’t this month just start???? HOW ARE WE PAST THE HALFWAY POINT?

I had an absolutely fantastic Week Three myself! Both on the writing front and with lifely things. *le gasp* Am I saying I actually did LIFE stuff this week? That happens during NaNoWriMo?? Bwahaha! Of course not. What an absurd thought. I just happened to glance over the top of my screen and accidentally take note of the real world for half a second. Scariest half second of my life. (Okay, okay, yes, I did step away from my novel a couple of times this week, but we’re getting to that.)

 

WEEK THREE HIGHLIGHTS 

WRITERLY-NESS

I passed the halfway mark of my novel. This is both something to jump up and down and scream excitedly over AND something that makes me want to curl under my bed and cry for a million years. Becaaause, I hit the halfway mark of my novel at 76k words. Which means…I have around 76k more words to write before this monstrosity is finished. *diiiies*

BUT. Currently I’m at 91k words, and so far I’ve managed to write around 30k every week. So I think I can finish this within the next few weeks. …If I survive that long. 30k a week is no joke. Z_Z I’m noticing my enthusiasm to go write has been fading, but once I do start writing I enjoy myself. I’m just kinda ready to, well, start living again and enjoy the Christmas holiday. But I’ve been working on this series every NaNo for SEVEN YEARS. I think I can give it a few more weeks. And then I’ll be DONE. FOREVERRRR. (Let’s just pretend rewrites don’t exist for now, okay???) I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…

Fortunately, like I said, I enjoy myself for the most part once I do start writing those words. This book is seriously the MOST. FUN. THING.

This week’s writing sessions included…

 

• Bryth single-handedly killing three bad guys. I haven’t written a fight scene with Bryth in a long time, and I was just sitting there cackling to myself as I remembered what a deadly force she is. (I’m perfectly normal, I promise.) (Actually that’s a total lie. I’m a writer. “Normal” doesn’t come with the title.)

 

• Airen and Eryth doing a rescue mission together. Airen and Eryth together. AIREN AND ERYTH!!!!! Only my favorite ship out of my all characters. *coughity cough cough* Okay, technically last week was when a ton of the Airen and Eryth things took place like…THEIR REUNION. Since they haven’t been together since the beginning of BOOK ONE. I’ve only been waiting for this reunion for 7 years. Let’s just ignore the fact that they’re not an official “couple” yet. Psssh, details.

 

• There may also be a slight love triangle that played a part during this week’s writing. Oops? It’s only slight. And I think this is my first love triangle to ever write…? *actually likes love triangles*

 

• Not just one humongous battle but TWO. Whyyy??? I AM NOT GOOD AT BATTLE SCENES. Do I look like I know how to fight? That I have any knowledge at all how to maneuver around entire armies??? NO. And yet I do it all. the. time. I should count one day how many fight scenes have occurred in this series. I honestly bet it’s nearing 100. Just…so many fights! And this week I had entire, ridiculously large battles going as full KINGDOMS were trying to be freed and just… *collapses* Battle scenes overwhelm me because I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M DOING. (Let’s not talk about how the whole climax will be one enormous battle scene with, like, the whole WORLD fighting. *dies*) Okay, actually, these battles weren’t too hard, and sometimes I do have fun with them. I put on fast paced, epic, ear-bleeding music and just type probably utter nonsense (because, again, I don’t know how to fight), BUT IT IS EPIC NONSENSE SO THERE.

 

• EXPLOSIONS. Well I did say there were battles, now didn’t I? What good is a battle without EXPLOSIONS??? Never mind this is a medieval fantasy novel. I will still find ways to explode things. *cackles*

 

• Reunions. So. Many Reunions. ALL THE REUNIONS. Okay, okay, not all of them. BUT A LOT. In fact, I’m rapidly nearing the section of the book where alllll meh babies FINALLY get together. I’ve got most of them in one place. IT ONLY TOOK 7 BOOKS. But I’ve done it! Just a few more and then they can have a big ol’ party before the world ends.

 

• Did I mention reunions? I feel like it deserved a second point. I LOVE REUNIONS OKAY. That’s the biggest reason this book is so FUN. I’ve never had all these characters working together so much, and it’s a chaotic, amazing mess. Literally, for a couple of scenes I had to make a list of who all was there because I couldn’t keep up with everyone. o.O IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND ABSURD AND I LOVE IT.

 

• Also three semi-major deaths happened. Huh? What? I said nothing!

 

• Character developmeeeent! Quite a few of my babies had some major breakthroughs this week and I AM SO PROUD. :’)

 

• I also had a certain one of my ships sail away happily into the sunset this week. (No, it wasn’t Airen and Eryth.)

So as you can see, it was a very productive week.

 

LIFELY THINGS

Like I said, I actually acknowledged the real world a teensy itty bit this week. But it was for a good cause! Because…

We decorated the house for CHRISTMAS!!! Only one of my favorite things to do ever. Is there anything happier than putting on the Christmas music and decking the house out in all the festive, wonderful thiiings. I THINK NOT.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS AND I AM NOT ASHAMED.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been really feeling the Christmas spirit because the weather hasn’t been cooperating. It’s a little hard to bellow out the Christmas tunes while you’re MELTING. Buuut apparently the weather finally remembered what season it was (perhaps it’s doing NaNo too and got distracted writing…?) and this weekend was COLD. Like, I got freeze warning alerts on my phone kind of cold. I COULDN’T BE HAPPIER. Cold weather is my faaaave! It finally feels like the proper holiday season. Excuse me while I go put on my boots and scarves and blast the Christmas music and eat all the cookies and hug a Christmas tree because THE HOLIDAY SEASON IS HEERE. Not that I’m excited or anything.

 

LESSONS FROM THE WEEK

The cold is perfect initiative to write fast. Oh yes, I’ve come up with a solid new way to get those words out quickly. Go outside and don’t allow yourself to return to the warm indoors until you’ve met a certain wordcount. Then type as fast as you can before you freeze and die. Genius! BONUS POINTS: Meet your word goal before your fingers go numb and chip off.

So maaaybe I’ve been writing out in the freezing cold this week. Do I regret it? Neverrrr! I am the ICE QUEEN. (The cold doesn’t effect your brain, does it? Naaah!)

Ooookay, so I did actually learn something useful this week.

Near the end of the week, my creative barrels were getting dry. My writing was bland and I had to painstakingly force out every. single. word. I had been writing so MUCH every day, and was getting really tired. But I told myself I had to keep going, I had to keep writing. This book is gonna be LONG. I have to write and write and write if I ever hope to get to the end. No matter what.

Then Friday came and I had to go to work, which forced me to stop writing for a little while. Work was slow that day, giving me some relaxing time, I even got to read a little (something I really haven’t done since NaNo started… o.o). After work, I got myself a vanilla latte at McDonald’s (#obsessed) and dove back into my novel.

Suddenly, the words flowed without any effort, and they came (I think) in much more quality than I had been producing. That evening, I easily finished up a chapter, and the next day I wrote a whole 6k words without any trouble. While any other day I write 6k, I have to really push myself to get in that many words, and am dead by the end of it.

That’s when I realized: TAKING BREAKS IS A GOOD THING. A necessary thing. You only have so much creative energy before it’s completely run out. If you keep pushing yourself, all you’re doing is scraping at the bottom of the barrel which is slow, tedious work. The best way to refuel those juices is to put a little distance from yourself and your novel (or whatever your creative pursuit may be). Read a book, watch your favorite show, take a walk, go shopping with friends—just step away for a while. When you come back, you’ll be shocked at how reenergized and inspired you feel. Now, I understand it is hard stepping away to do something else when you could be using that time to write. But, in the end, you may find you write faster once you’ve refilled yourself, meaning you didn’t waste any time at all.

And yes, I realize this is something we hear all the time, and something I know, but experiencing it this week reminded me of how true it is.

Unfortunately, I never learn my lesson and will probably once again pour myself out to the bottom of the barrel, and refuse to take breaks because I MUST. FINISH. THIS. NOVEL. But I’m not anything if I’m not a useful role model of what not to do. You’re welcome.

 

CONCLUSION…

I had a very good Week Three of NaNo! And I also write the most absurd, unorganized posts during NaNo. I really don’t know what this is, guys. I promise, once I’ve finished this monstrosity of a novel the blog will return to actual subjects and not just what it looks like in the inside of my brain (as in: a thousand different thoughts with sooo many caps and question marks).

Who am I kidding? My blog is always full of rambling chaos. (Just maybe a liiittle less during non-NaNo months? Yes? Anybody???)

I hope everybody has an amazing Thanksgiving week! And to my non-American friends, I hope you have an amazing week period! I hope you all do! JUST BE THE AMAZING PEOPLE YOU ARE.

How did your NaNo Week Three go???? What is something exciting that happened during your writing session this week? (Did you kill any of your characters?) Is anyone else already pulling out the Christmas decorations? (DO NOT BE ASHAMED.) And, just for fun, what’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish? (I’m allll about that dressing.)

Beautiful Books – Novel Update {NaNoWriMo 2016}

 

What is this glorious thing I see before me? I think it’s a…HALFWAY MARKER.

That’s right, Week Two of NaNoWriMo is nearing a close, and come tomorrow we’ll be halfway finished!!! HALFWAY, PEOPLE. Can you believe it? How are you surviving? Week two tends to be the hardest of NaNo as the excitement of week one fades into weariness, a dozen empty coffee cups, and the knowledge that the end is still far, far away. But once we get over that halfway hump, the rest of NaNo just zooms by. So if you’re feeling discouraged, DON’T GIVE UP. You guys are doing AWESOME. We’re going to survive this NaNo, I promise!

My week two went along quite well! Perhaps not the complete euphoria of the first week, because things started to pile up and I was gone some of the days, and probably didn’t sleep nearly as much as I should (but, like, who sleeps during NaNo????). BUT I did have some verrrrry exciting things to happen during this week’s writing sessions.

Such as on Wednesday…

Erm, so yes. I hit 50k words in 9 days. O_O (I did mention I don’t sleep during NaNo, yes? Yes.)

My ecstatic screams and flails of celebration were halted when it occurred to me I’m not even halfway through my story yet. And I want to finish it before Christmas, sooner if at all possible. Except I may die before then from being crushed under the enormous amount of words. Or my characters might just kill me because they’re sick of me destroying their lives. Being a writer is hazardous, okay??

But still. 50K WORDS!!!!! I AM HAPPY. And I’m still totally loving my novel so maaaybe I won’t die before it’s finished. Maybe.

But how is the actual writing going? WELL. Our illustrious Sky and Cait have compiled a new list of questions for this month’s Beautiful Books to help me answer that very thing. And aren’t you glad? (Because we all know I can’t construct an organized post in any form or fashion during NaNo judging by last week’s post or…any NaNo post of mine, ever.)

 

Visit Sky @ Further Up and Further In or Cait @ Paperfury
to snag the questions and linkup yourself!

 

1.) Overall, how is your mental state, and how is your novel going?

Mental state?

I’m fine. Juuust fiiiine!

Okay, okay. Honestly, I’m doing pretty good mentally thus far. The words have been coming fast and easy, I’m absolutely 100% loving my book, and life has allowed for writing time so the stress that usually comes has been (mostly) low. The biggest thing causing stress if just realizing how BIG this book will be. But then I tell myself it’s okay. I’ll just keep plugging away at it until it’s done. It’s not the end of the world. Besides, it’s FUN to write in.

So yes, I’d say I’m great! I mean…as far as stress-wise and things. But if we’re talking how sane am I still? Pft. I threw my smidgeon of sanity out the window the second November 1st hit.

And my novel is going AWESOMELY. But I shall answer that more specifically in the other questions…

 

2.) What’s your first sentence?

“Iavin fidgeted as he listened to the status report of the end of the world.

I…may be kind of totally in love with my first sentence. *cough*

 

3.) Who’s your current favorite character in your novel?

Well, this is a loaded question!

Remember how I had mentioned in the last Beautiful Books post how I have 15 main characters or so? And I loveth all meh babies. And…like…I HAVE SO MANY HALP.

Okay, okay. I do have specific favorites even though I do love each and every one of them in a special way (and technically you’re not supposed to have favorites amidst your children. I never claimed to be a nice author, now did I??).

I think we’re all quite aware of my favoritism toward my antihero/villain/who-even-knows-what-he-is character Cael. WHY? Because he’s a polite villain. And charismatic and hurts my poor brain which I love because GIMME ALL THE COMPLEX CHARACTERS. He’s also just absolutely hilarious and I honestly never know what will come out of his mouth next.

 

“Cael sighed. “I get it, I know. With war comes messes. I guess we'll just have to buy some dragon-sized brooms when this is over and done. So I believe we were discussing Ilvra Evien?”

Azrot blinked. Even after months, the man hadn't gotten used to to Cael's ways. Iavin rubbed a hand through his mussed hair. It did take some accustoming to.

BUT. As much as I love Cael, my favorite character to actually write the point-of-view in is, without a doubt, Iavin. Not just from this series but out of ALL the stories I’ve ever written. I don’t know what it is about being in this awkward child’s head that delights me, but I love every second of it! Whenever I switch POV’s my first thought is, “Oh yay, now I get to be in this character’s head for a while, I’ve missed them!” but then immediately after I’m thinking, “This is great buuuut…I miss Iavin.” IT’S A PROBLEM. His constant pessimistic, doom and gloom attitude amuses me endlessly.

 

“Sayleth’s face softened into a smile. “I've missed you, Iavin.”

This time his heart didn't miss a beat, but somersaulted into an erratic, dizzying flip. “I...” ...thought about you every day. ...wished I had gone with you. ...feared for your safety every single waking second. ...don't ever want to leave your side again. ...don't deserve you as my dragon rider partner. ...should probably just jump off this dragon right now before I say something really, really stupid. “...missed you, too.” There. That wasn't so hard. And yet... It didn't feel right. It wasn't enough. He spoke up before he could talk himself out of it. “A lot. I mean, I was scared something had happened to you. I didn't know... I'm just glad you're here. Safe, that is. Well, here and safe.” He groaned internally. He should have stopped while he had the chance.

And I actually think I like Cael best through Iavin’s POV. I know, it’s weird. But their friendship is my FAAAVE. And by their “friendship” I mean their attempt to be best friends while one is destroying the world and the other is trying to save it. But hey, all friendships have their ups and downs now and again!

Though I do have another favorite POV which I shamefully FORGOT was one of my faves until I was writing his first scene in this book! Darven. Somehow my complete and utter love of being inside this guy’s head slipped my mind. Then I wrote his first POV in this book and all the memories of my happy times with this dude came rushing back. What’s funny is Darven is as opposite from Iavin as a character can get. In fact, Iavin is totally intimidated Darven. He’s large, he’s quiet, and he’s not exactly one for smiling. So yeah, he can be intimidating. But he’s also the protector. He’ll take charge and risk his life to protect everyone around him, without a second thought. There’s something comforting about being in his head. And that probably sounds so weird, I don’t even know…

“Darven just shrugged. “I'm fine.”

Leiden rolled his eyes. “Says the man with bags as big as Barveris's scales under his eyes. Get some sleep, Darven. I insist. Besides,” his bright green eyes gleamed with mischief, “I'm an elf. I don't need nearly as much sleep as you silly humans.”

Rem pressed a hand against his chest. “I'm hurt.”

“And technically I'm part dwarf,” Darven pointed out.

Leiden shuddered. “Even worse.”

Rem and Leiden burst into laughter, and even the dragons rumbled in amusement. The corner of Darven's lip tilted up, but he just shook his head and settled against Barveris. “Fine. This silly human tainted with dwarven blood will get some sleep. See if I care when the enemy comes and gets you both.”

This only brought more laughter. He draped an arm over his eyes, acting as if he was entirely done with all of them. He would never admit how much he valued the companionship of each and every one of them.

Sometimes Darven is the stereotypical broody hero, but I still love my Sir Broods-a-lot. (Yes, I tease him endlessly and it drives him crazy. What do you mean he’s not real? I don’t know what you’re talking about.)

Annnd then there’s Airen…

“Unable to hold back his smile, Airen pulled her close. “So I said the right thing?”

Eryth’s cheek pressed against his chest vibrated all the way down to his heart as she giggled. “You always do.”

“Well, I do have a way with words.”

What can I say? Just…Airen.

(Gracious alive these things need to stop asking about my characters because I will babble to the end of time.)

4.) What do you love about your novel so far?

MY CHARACTERS.

You’re gasping in shock. I know, I know. I am the most unpredictable human alive, you have to admit it.

But seriously now, THESE PEOPLE. Not only is it a delight spending time with them again, but this go round I get to see them ALLLL interact! So. Many. Reunions. In the other books, they were all paired off into twos. But now everyone is running into everyone else and battling together and being awesome and just…ALL THE TEARS AND HUGS AND HAPPINESS. Technically there were supposed to be a lot of reunions in the last book, but that didn’t happen much. Like, can you guys stop going to COMPLETE OPPOSITE sides of the continent, hmmm?

After having most of my characters separated for 6 books it’s the most exciting thing in the world to see them get back together in this 7th one. One reunion actually brought tears to me eyes, and another involves my favorite ship I’ve ever created *cough*ErythandAiren*cough* and just SDLKJF:LKSDJF.

I also just love the fact this this is the FINALE and THIIIINGS are happening! Things I have imagined writing since I started the first book! (Because apparently you start dreaming of writing the finale of a series before you’ve even finished book one…?) These scenes that have only been daydreams in my head for yeeeears are actually being WRITTEN, and it just feels so surreal.

I’m basically loving everything about this story.

5.) Have you made any hilarious typos or other mistakes?

Probably half a billion! (Except I only have 62k words right now so you can figure that math out.) Okay, I do actually go back and fix typos while writing. I know, I know, it’s NaNo. I should just write and not worry about these things, but I can’t stand having those evil red squiggly lines plaguing my document. >.> BUT. I’m notorious for my typos (you’ve probably already spotted half a dozen in this post knowing me), so I am 100% sure there are a TON of them I haven’t caught in my novel.

I did glance up at one sentence while I was happily typing away and paused in confusion for a second as I read “your hear”. Because…I meant “you’re here”. *pats brain* You tried, you tried.

6.) What is your favorite to write: beginning, middle, or end — and why?

I could write a post about my thoughts on this! Oh wait, I did. But long story short, endings are DEFINITELY my favorite. I live for writing climaxes. It’s the biggest thing that keeps me writing, knowing that if I keep at it I will eventually make it to that exciting climax.

Beginnings are my least favorite. It’s a lot of work for me to get settled into the feel of a book and into the habit of writing in it. I usually don’t start having fun until I’m past the first few chapters. Though this book is the exception to that because, well, I’ve written 6 books before it in the same world and same characters, so I’m quiiite familiar with the feel of it. XD

And, I feel like I’m in the minority here, but I do actually enjoy middles! I mean, that’s where basically everything happens. It can be daunting though, I totally get that.

7.) What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best? Feel free to show us a picture of your writing space!

My writing habits during NaNo? Um…I just write every single free, waking second I have, and then continue during the seconds I shouldn’t be awake.

Okay, I usually don’t really get started until after lunch, but once I’m going, I pretty much just spend the whole day writing as long as I’m home. I make a rule where, once I start writing, I have to keep at it until I get that first 2k in. Then I’m allowed to update my wordcount on the NaNo site and take a little break (usually for food, I don’t really eat while writing). Then, from there, I update my wordcount every 1k words, and maaay take little breaks in between. I don’t actually allow myself to write any past midnight. Not because I’m a responsible person and go to bed. What a silly thought. It’s actually because I’m OCD about these things and it bothers me that if you update your wordcount after midnight, it’ll show it as words for the next day. Perfectly legit reason. Once I’ve finished writing, usually sometime right before midnight, I then proceed to check twitter and see how everyone is doing and update on there my own progress for the day. Of course, I’m checking twitter all throughout the day, too… *cough*

I definitely listen to music. During ALL of my writing. But I think you all already knew that being as how I was flailing for half of last week’s post over the Skyrim soundtrack and things. *grins*

I tend to write best at night, when it’s dark and everything is quiet. But I actually get the majority of my writing done during the afternoon.

During NaNo, since I’m writing so. very. much. I try to switch positions pretty often. I have multiple writing perches.

First, my main place, is my chair in my room:

 

I spend most of my computer time there, to be honest. I love opening my window on these nice November days, my bed is right there for a footstool, and I totally think having books above my head provides inspiration. *nods* AND it gives me a perfect view of my other two bookshelves on the opposite side of the room. Staring at pretty books all day is very motivational. (Or distracting.) Occasionally I’ll use my actual desk, but it’s my least likely place to write. #Logic At night, I like to lounge in my bed. So basically you might find me all around my room. I’ve even sat on the floor before.

I also like to go out on the deck a lot. Sometimes I’ll sit at the table, but more often than not I’ll just use the porch swing we have out there.

 

But then once the sun goes down (which it does way too fast now *glares at time change*) and the giant creepy flying things decide to whack into my computer screen or my face and give me a mini heart attack, I’ll move to the other swing inside the protected screen porch, should I still want to be outside.

Yes, we do have a fake tree with stringed lights on it, and it’s the best, happiest thing ever. This may be my favorite writing space this year. I’m loving bundling up and getting all comfy on the swing and just writing away. I think my best writing memories of this month thus far have happened on that swing during the late evenings.

8.) How private are you about your novel while you’re writing? Do you need a cheer squad or do you work alone (like, ahem, Batman)?

Well, being as how I just basically wrote a novel-length post about my novel here, how private do you think I am??

Okay, actually I’m funny about this. When it comes to blogging and emailing and things, I can babble about my stories until the end of time. But if you ask me about it face to face, I totally clamp up and get all nervous and self-conscious. My family has to drag information about my writing out of me, and I’m just like, “Go read my blog posts!” whilst wanting to hide under the covers.

Hey, I’m a writer. I’m comfortable using the written word, but when it comes to verbal usage…I’m an awkward potato. Which I hate. Because I want to talk about my writing, I just get…nervous and fear no one cares and that I sound dumb. I don’t even know. It’s silly.

But cheer squads are amazing! I thrive off cheer squads. My love language is actually words of affirmation, so, like, even one sentence of encouragement can make me flail happily for daaaays. And I have the BEST writing buddies whose encouragement and support keep me going. Seriously, FIND WRITING FRIENDS. I couldn’t do this thing without them!

9.) What keeps you writing even when it’s hard?

Oh look, I already answered that question. But I shall say it again: MY WRITING FRIENDS. Without them keeping me accountable and constantly building me up, writing this insanely long series would probably have killed me years ago.

Also, GOALS. NaNoWriMo is perfect because I thrive off goals. I’d never write a single word if I didn’t make goals for myself, or have something like NaNo to do it for me.

Lastly, the motivation to be DONE does wonders. I love writing, but I love even more finishing. But, of course, I will never finish a book if I don’t keep writing in it. Thus I write.

10.) What are your top 3 pieces of writing advice?

Write to the end. I used to never finish my stories, and that got me nowhere. Actually, I think I only ever finished one book before my first NaNo, and I had been writing for 9 years before then! But then I did NaNo, and it taught me I can write and finish a book in a decent amount of time, and that’s when my writing hobby blossomed into a full-on pursuit of a writing career. So keep writing and finish that book! I promise it is absolutely worth the time. And with that said…

Write now, edit later. I know how tempting it is to slow down, to rewrite that first page for, oh, the 5th or 6th time because it’s still not…quite…right… But STAHP. Actually don’t stop. Keep writing! As Shannon Hale said: “I'm writing a first draft and reminding myself that I'm simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” You can’t make a castle until you have the sand. You can’t perfect anything until it’s written. Because you won’t know what needs editing, what bits need foreshadowing, who needs broader character arcs, etc., etc. until you have the whole story in place. First drafts are meant for exploration. Explore, blow something up, throw in a rampaging Chihuahua named Herbert. It doesn’t matter. Just WRITE.

Write what you LOVE and do it BRAVELY. I actually wrote a whole post on this one, but the main point is, you should have FUN with your story, and not let doubt hold you back. If you have a crazy idea, don’t “play it safe”. Go for it! Write that crazy idea! And write the things you love. Make a list of your favorite types of story elements and incorporate them in your novel. Let loose. Try new things. This is your story. Have fun with it!

WHEW. We made it to the end. You may all breathe in relief now! (Seriously, if I added my blog posts to my NaNo wordcount it’d practically double…)

We’re nearly halfway done with this crazy NaNo thing, guys! Can you believe it??? Did you survive the Week Two slumps? How is YOUR mental state? *passes around motivational cookies* Tell me all about your November thus far!

Epic Music, Lots of Words, and Giraffes a.k.a My First Week of NaNo

BOOM!

And just like that, we have survived the first week of NaNo! (Or am I the only one who has already exploded things in their novel? *cough*)

But, GUYS. The first week of NaNo has happened. Are you still alive? Am I still alive? WHO EVEN KNOWS??? I’m pretty sure NaNo’ers are just mad typing zombies for all the month of November. Like, who even needs sleep and a healthy schedule? Pssh. That’s what coffee is for.

SO.

How is my NaNo going so far?? AWESOMELY. To say I’m having fun is the understatement of the year. I’m bubbling with excitement and basically wanting to high-five and hug my novel every five minutes. This NaNo is going SO. WELL.

As I have done every NaNo thus far, I stayed up on October 31st, counting down for the clock to strike 12 so I could begin writing that very moment November 1st hit. To me, it’s one of the most exciting times of NaNo. You have all the buildup, all the excitement, and now, finally, when that clock hits midnight, you can begin your story. And then it comes, and so many, all around the world, are staying up at ridiculously late hours bringing to life an empty document, bringing those characters and stories that had only existed in our heads to something tangible, to something REAL.

Magic.

Unfortunately, I was kiiiinda totally exhausted Monday night and those magical first words turned into my squinting at the screen trying to figure out how to construct a coherent sentence. But I did manage to push forward and write the first 2k words. (And I only stayed up until nearly 3 in the morning doing it. *cough, cough, cough*)

I was a little discouraged. Those first words were like pulling teeth, painfully forcing each one out. As I finally collapsed in bed, the fears came, the doubts. Was it going to be like this all month? Would I ever finish this novel? Was this going to be torture?

The next morning, I got out of bed, miraculously feeling not nearly as exhausted as I worried I would, and stomped down all those worries I had the night before. After all, I had been tired, and I always do have a hard time at the beginning stages of a novel getting back into the writing groove. I’ve actually been in editing mode all YEAR, since I spent this year editing Burning Thorns. I haven’t written a first draft of anything since last NaNo. Naturally, it was going to take me a little bit to settle back into the first drafting stage.

So, feeling more hopeful, I sat down that morning to start my first full NaNo day. And the words came. Without thought, they just flowed out of my fingers. During my first writing session, I had a few hundred words within a few minutes. All the doubts and fears blew away into pure, writing bliss. I suddenly realized how much I had missed pure writing.

That afternoon, as I was typing away, Mom came home from a trip to town with a pink gift bag. Now, remember in my last post where I joked about November being National Eat a Burrito Month or National Ride a Giraffe Month? I mentioned it in the first paragraph HERE. Well, I took the bag from her, confused, and when I pulled out the tissue paper, even more confusion ensued. Then I remembered my blog post and burst into laughter. Inside the bag was a burrito from Taco Bell and a little giraffe ornament.

 

What? You thought I was kidding?

Obviously, I was delighted. I mean, what better Happy Beginning of NaNo present is there besides a burrito and giraffe? Really now. And points to Mom for actually FINDING a giraffe. She’s the best. Period.

I immediately dubbed the giraffe my official NaNoWriMo mascot, and he is sitting next to my desk, and shall be brought out every single NaNo as my mini cheerleader. I call him Ivan. He’s such a precious NaNo mascot. I feel motivated to write every time I look at his adorable face. He’s also fuzzy and sometimes I like to pet him for inspiration.

 

I love my little Ivan. <3

Between that and having a complete blast returning to my Colors of a Dragon Scale world and characters, I ended the first day with 9,032 words (2k of those being written the night before, of course), and collapsed into bed happy and looking forward to the next day.

The rest of the week continued much like the first, the words zooming by, me grinning at my screen over my characters’ antics, consuming as much caffeine as I could get away with, all the normal things.

By the 4th day I maaaay have hit the halfway point to 50k…

Writing 25k words in 4 days is normal right? Eheh. Heh. Heheheheh. *cough*

During one of those first days, I was trying to think of some music to help inspire me. Something new because I’ve kind of listened to the songs I own to death… But I have to write to good inspirational instrumental music that fits my story. Then it hit me, and I smacked my head wondering why I only just now thought of this.

There are these video games called the Elder Scrolls games that I sometimes obsess over, where you’re a person in this fantasy world—exploring, doing random missions for people, basically just LIVING. They’re really cool and make you feel like you’re actually in a fantasy world. (Though they can be super violent, creepy, and have language, so just throwing that out there.) Anyways. I kind of totally forgot my series was heavily inspired by those games. Just the whole feel of the world in those games inspired my CoaDS books. And it occurred to me: These games have amazing music. So I rushed over to YouTube some of the songs and was instantly reminded how much those games inspired this series and how the music was basically like a perfect soundtrack for my series and and and WHY HAD I NOT THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE???

Needless to say, I went to buy one of the soundtracks. I bought it after hitting 25k, so it was kind of like a happy reward to myself. I’m thinking buying epic, inspiring music at the beginning of NaNo may need to be a new tradition. Few things make me want to write more than epic music.

I bought the Elders Scrolls V: Skyrim soundtrack and ooooh man. I want to write just to have an excuse to listen to the songs. They. Are. Perfect. They have this eerie and yet…calming fantasy feel. (Contradictory, I know, but it’s true.) The type of thing you’d hear while your characters are chatting around a campfire in the forest or exploring dark tunnels or having council in a majestic castle a.k.a EVERYTHING MY BOOK HAS. I mean, it can be rather mellow music, so I still have my go-to fast paced battle songs and whatnot, but still. I just wonder why I only now thought of this now that I’m at the finale of my series. I should have been listening to this stuff since the FIRST BOOK. *facepalm*

Seriously, listen to THIS. Or this one. Orrrr this. Okay, I’ll stop. But literally all of the songs are amazing! It even has one track that is 42 minutes long (not even kidding) that is just a variety of softer music with atmospheric sounds like birds and rain and crackling flames and such. Perfect traveling music for your characters. (I actually kind of want to just go to sleep to that track. It’s so peaceful.) If you’re writing fantasy, you need this soundtrack. Except word of warning, the physical CDs are $180 on Amazon. O_O Um, excuse me? Yeah, I don’t even know. But you can download the full track for $15.99 on iTunes which is what I did because WHO WOULD PAY $180 FOR A SOUNDTRACK??? Aaaanyways, just sharing helpful hints here. (I’m always looking for good writing music, FYI. #Obsessed So I thought others might be as well.)

With this new music, writing became even more enjoyable. Then, Saturday, I pulled out my official NaNoWriMo drink: A french vanilla cappuccino.

Back in the olden days when I didn’t like coffee (*GASP* it’s truuue!), I tried to find a substitute before my first adventure into NaNoland. I needed a hot, caffeinated drink of some kind, after all. I discovered this powdered cappuccino stuff that you put in hot milk or water and fell. in. love.

I drank it all during my first NaNo and all the NaNos thereafter. And since I only ever bought it during NaNo, it became the NaNo Drink. It smells like NaNo. If I want to get in the NaNo spirit, I just take a whiff of that warm, vanilla-y stuff and am slammed with a dozen happy NaNo memories. Funny how smells do that. So yep, for me, NaNo smells like a vanilla cappuccino.

Except, since I discovered coffee, I don’t think I had this stuff for the last NaNo or two. SHAMEFUL. I knew I could not write my CoaDS finale without it. That would be totally wrong. And, as I suspected, as I made that first cup Saturday afternoon and it overtook my senses, I was utterly overwhelmed by CoaDS memories. Add that to the new music I had bought the night before and ahhh, pure writing bliss.

I’ve also been super active on twitter, the only time of year I ever am. Usually, I’m practically nonexistent on twitter. Then NaNo rolls around and BOOM I’m a total twitter addict. (…Oops?) One of my favorite things about NaNo is the community, knowing you’re doing this crazy venture with thousands of others. And twitter is a great way to actually be a part of that community without taking up too much writing time. (And it’s also fun for flailing about crazy things that happen in your novel. *cough*notthatIwoulddothat*cough*) So if you’re nosy dragons and want to keep up with my process, just stalk my Twitter feed.

But seriously now. This novel has been going epically. Like, the-words-are-flowing-the-characters-are-behaving-the-plot-is-a-blast-is-this-really-real-life-or-am-I-dreaming type of epically. I’m preeetty sure I’ve made it clear that I LOVE NaNo with all my being and basically revolve my life around it. Buuuut it can be a little…tiring. I think we can all agree. After staring at the screen for 7 hours straight, typing and typing and typing, by the end of the day a horde of wild dragons can’t force one. more. word. out of you. (I mean, my novel is about dragons, but they’re all rather polite. But I digress.) But you know what? I’m having no trouble getting the words down. Usually I end my NaNo days bleary eyed and exhausting and wondering what I’m doing with my life. Then drag myself out of bed the next day and do it all over again. But this week? None of that. The words have just been coming. Quickly! And I’ve even had time to keep up with everyone’s blog posts (mostly) and emails (some of the time) and have even spoken to my family once or twice (though probably not totally coherently). Usually none of this happens during NaNo. But I kinda suspect this won’t last. I’ve had some unexpected free time this week. Soon Life and my novel will fight in an epic battle of doom and despair for my attention. So I’m just soaking up this fantastic first week, grateful for the head start!

Speaking of which, I may already have 35k words.

 

My NaNo Stats

Have I mentioned I want to get this novel written as fast as possible, and I’m pretty positive it’s going to be well over 100k? x_x I kiiinda think I’ll still be trying to finish it up on through December, buuut let’s not focus on that right now. I’m just gonna write as much as humanly possible in November and hope I can at least get the majority of it done.

But ANYWAYS. I had a good first week of NaNo. If it isn’t obvious.

One reason I think the words are coming so well is because this novel is basically second nature. I’ve spent 7 years in this world. Have written entire books about each of these characters. They’re HOME. It’s the most natural thing in the world to slip into this story, into these character’s heads. They’re such a deep, intimate part of me. Sometimes with writing, I have to take a moment to break away from the real world and transition into the story world, but with these books, they are my real world. During NaNo I actually have a hard time breaking away from the story back into the real world. My mind is utterly consumed in Story. And that’s one of the reasons I love NaNo so very much. You are literally living and breathing your novel, making it your world. It’s magical. (Even if you seem a little spacey to non-NaNo’ers. But we’re writers, we adapt to strange looks.)

And I meant to gush some about my characters (because my BABIES <333) and the actual story and maybe even share a snippet or two but I apparently got distracted by music and giraffes and twitter… But hey, it’s NaNo, these things happen. Maybe next week?

Also, if you expected to come over here and read a well constructed, coherent post, I apologize. Those don’t happen during NaNo. ALL THE CAFFEINE WORDS AND NO SLEEP. *frolics away*

The big question here is: HOW WAS YOUR FIRST WEEK OF NANO??? Or if you’re actually a sane person and not participating in NaNo (I admire you, teach me your sane ways), are you enjoying November so far? Do you have a favorite writing soundtrack? (Give meeee!) Also, what’s YOUR favorite warm, wintery drink? Let us discuss all the wonderful November things!

Beautiful Books - More Gold than Sunlight {NaNoWriMo 2016}

Hmmm… Isn’t there something important starting tomorrow? Now what could it be? National Eat a Burrito Month? No, no. National Ride a Giraffe Month? Nooo. Oooh yeah. It’s only National Novel Writing Month. Psh. No big deal.

…………………

NANOWRIMO STARTS TOMORROW HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE????

So…yes. Apparently NaNo begins TOMORROW. And guess who hasn’t really talked about her novel yet? This giiirl! In my defense, I’ve been super busy plotting it ALL. MONTH. Turns out plotting a finale to a 7-book series takes some time. Who knew, right? I only just finished all my plotting this week, so now I feel prepared to actually intelligently talk about what’s going on with this book (or pretend to).

Thankfully, the world has been blessed with Sky @ Further Up & Further In and Cait @ Paperfury who gives us Beautiful Books, which is much like their Beautiful People linkup, but instead focused on our books instead of characters. They roll it around every NaNoWriMo season to get us talking about our noveling endeavors, but it’s there for ANYONE, not just NaNo participants! So do get yourself over to Sky's post or Cait's to snag the questions and join in yourself. (Even though this is the last day of the month and I’m pretty sure I’m the last one to do it, but… *cough*)

As I babbled and reminisced over in THIS POST, I shall be writing my 7th and FINAL book in my Colors of a Dragon Scale series. You know, that series I’ve been working on since my FIRST NaNo. I’m still in total shock 7 years have already passed and I’m about to write the finale, but here we are.

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce…

 

MORE GOLD THAN SUNLIGHT

 

1.) What inspired the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea?

Long before I discovered the joys of Pinterest, I used to peruse DeiviantArt.com (and by peruse I mean stalk like a fiend). It was there I found a gorgeous drawing of a white-haired elf (this one, in fact), and my imagination just ran with it. That elf very quickly became Bryth, my poor tortured elf, and seconds later Eryth, Bryth’s sweet half-elf best friend, came into existence. (And yes, I do realize their names are only one letter apart. My naming skills back then were ridiculous and pathetic.) About one minute after Bryth and Eryth appeared in my brain, they became dragon riders, and that turned into a whole slew of dragon riders, and then an entire fantasy world with the beginnings of a plot.

I’m pretty sure this whole series came into being within five minutes of thinking about it. It just…was. Sure, I had to discover the full plot, but the general idea and pretty much all the characters were instantly there.

It was sometime in 2010 I found this elf picture and these ideas came. I suspect maybe during the summer, because I know it was a few months before NaNo. I had decided that year I wanted to participate in NaNo for the first time. I had graduated from highschool that May, and suddenly had much more free time, so what better way to use it than try NaNo out? When this story idea sprung into existence, I knew it was what I wanted to do for NaNo. I quickly had the idea of writing each book of the series for the next few NaNos. Annnd, here I am!

I honestly think all this happened in one night. I distinctly remember laying in bed, trying to sleep, when Bryth and Eryth and then the whole story idea came into being. And I think it was right after it appeared that I had the NaNo idea. There was never any deciding. It all just happened instantly. Kinda crazy to think about now that I’m here, 7 years later, still writing this series…

2.) Describe what your novel is about!

Well…if I told you specifics that’d pretty much spoil all the OTHER books. This is a finale after all. But I do have a handy-dandy, (mostly) spoiler-free blurb all written out!

“Velnoroth's forces have succeeded in taking over Aerigethel's most powerful regions, and with the Father Dragon on their side, they are nearly unstoppable. Kingdoms are enslaved, allies have fallen, and the enemy only grows stronger. Yet, even as the last gleam of hope diminishes, the dragon riders of Sivral and their friends, old and new, will stop at nothing to liberate their loved ones, and fight to return Aerigethel to the free land they once knew. But they cannot do it alone.

Only if the regions come together, can Velnoroth be defeated. But with so much already lost, so many bonds broken, and the enemy almost in full reign, can the riders ever succeed in unifying the people?

In the finale to the Colors of a Dragon Scale series, Aerigethel is racing toward a new age. Vithen seeks to bring about the age of the dark elves. But a few young dragon riders from the humble region of Sivral fight for something better. Together, with the strength of their Creator, they fight for an age of bravery, an age of unity, an age of hope.

Will Aerigethel fall forever into its darkest days? Or can it finally stand as one, and from the ashes raise a better world—a golden age?

Ya know, dragon riders, cliché high fantasy things, death, pain, war, destruction. All the fun stuff!

3.) What is your book’s aesthetic? Use words or photos or whatever you like!

Metal swords, sleek dragon scales, leather saddles, broken cities, bursts of fire, stone towers, weary warriors, clinking chains, barrages of arrows, a dusty canyon, earthy tunnels, starry nights.

You can peruse my Pinterest Board for more pics.

4.) Introduce us to each of your characters!

O_____O
Erm.
So.

I maaay have gotten carried away in the character making process when I first created this series, and even more have cropped up here and there while writing the books. I sorta kind have some 15 main characters and a gaggle of side ones. Yeeeah. It will tear me apart, but I think once I rewrite these monsters I’m gonna have to cut characters. It’s just gotten to be too much…

But ANYWAYS. Let me see if I can do this. I’m gonna try to be organized here and section it off for each main character of each book. Because the first 5 books were about separate people, and then these last 2 bring them all together. So yeah, lots of peeps. o.o Feel free to skip over this ginormous part.

More Blue than Sky (Book #1)
NaNoWriMo 2010

Eryth: My kindhearted half-elf. She struggles a lot with bravery and self-worth, but she’s also the most devout follower of the Creator (my world’s God-figure). She’s very soft spoken, tenderhearted, and a total sweetie. She has a blue female dragon named Neriin.

Bryth: Bryth is basically the total opposite of Eryth. Very standoffish, gruff, and hardly trusts anybody. She can also probably kill you in 2 seconds flat so let’s stay on her good side, shall we? Her dragon is also female and named Reshin.

Ritholv: I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned Ritholv before, probably because he’s a big spoiler. But sheesh, he’s been around for 7 years now, I think he’s worth mentioning! He’s a very carefree sort, but also can be extremely deadly. He’s a bit of a wanderer, not the type you can pin down, and sometimes he may seem a little aloof, but deep down he has a big heart.

Iraila: The princess of Sivral—the kingdom all my dragon riders are from. She’s the best friend to Eryth and Bryth (they’re a close threesome, and she and Eryth are the only two people in the world Bryth entirely trusts). Spunky is the best way to describe Iraila. She’s full of life and laughter with a fiery spirit.

Airen: The crown prince of Sivral, Iraila’s older brother, hopelessly in love with Eryth, and just an all around fun guy. At first Airen may seem way too full of himself, but in reality he’s the total jester and loves it. Making people laugh is his permanent mission in life, and he’s quite good at it. Carefree and fun-loving, you can pretty much always find a friend in Airen. (And he’s one of my favorite creations.)

(Airen and Iraila also played pretty major roles in the next book.)

More Pink than Sunsets (Book #2)
NaNoWriMo 2011

Nyria: Sometimes I like to describe Nyria as a 4-year-old running on 5 cups of coffee. Her energy…never ends. She and her twin brother, Naidren, are the cousins to Airen and Iraila. Nyria has much of Iraila’s spunk and fiery spirit. But where Iraila can control herself, Nyria has no boundaries and is always the life of the party and embarrassing her brother to no end. Her dragon is a female named Afayleth. (And yes, it’s a pink dragon.)

Naidren: Poor Naidren… Unlike his twin sister, he’s very quiet and would much rather stay inside all day reading than going on adventures. He’s the long sufferer of the Savriella clan (Airen, Iraila, Nyria, and him), being as how the others are energetic and outgoing and drag him into all sorts of trouble he wants no part of. His dragon is a female named Ferrleth who is also pink (bright pink) and Naidren hates me for it. *grins*

Erra: Erra popped up in the midst of writing More Pink than Sunsets and came to stay. She’s quiet and a bit standoffish, but with good reason being as how basically everyone she loves died. She’s a broken soul, and it takes a lot to crack open the wall she keeps around herself. She eventually gains a green dragon named Edria due to complicated circumstances. (She and Naidren may or may not be a thing.)

More Purple than Amethysts (Book #3)
NaNoWriMo 2012

Eldoren: At the start of his story, Eldoren is a pompous jerk. Coming from a rich family, his life has been nothing but high society and pleasures (aside from some daddy troubles…). But like the good author I am, I destroyed his life and broke him until he came around. He’s a much sweeter person here at the finale. He has a male purple dragon (seeing a pattern here?) named Irevik.

Riana: Riana has a Mysterious Past We Do Not Speak Of that has left her…reserved, to put it lightly. She does not speak to anyone, keeps to herself, and is not exactly thrilled when she’s paired off with the rich jerk known as Eldoren for her dragon rider partner. All around, she’s not a very nice person (at first). Ah yes, those two have fun together. Her dragon is a female called Razel.

More Green than Envy (Book #4)
NaNoWriMo 2013

Leiden: Leiden, my precious elf. Leiden can talk a mile a minute and basically never stops talking, and he pretty much has a permanent smile on his face. He’s friendly and fun and all around a really nice fellow. His dragon is a female named Gaelasil.

Darven: Darven is quiet and…hard. Life has hardened his heart, and though he’s not a bad fellow by any means, he just likes to keep to himself and not meddle in other people’s business. But he’s strong and brave and does care about the wellbeing of others when it comes down to it. Also, overly perky people can grate on his nerves. So…him and Leiden are obviously one of the most fun pairs I’ve ever written. Their friendship amuses me endlessly. Darven’s dragon is a male named Barveris.

More White than Stars (Book #5)
NaNoWriMo 2014

Iavin: To this day Iavin is my favorite point-of-view character to ever write. I don’t know why but I love being in this awkward baby’s head. Iavin is a half-elf, but he did not inherit the tall, gracefulness of his elven mother or brute strength of his human father. He’s tiny and shy and the most awkward little bean I’ve ever written. Saving the world was not on his list of things to do with his life. But hey, we all gotta get out of our comfort zones sometimes. He has a female dragon named Nemayn (who is playful and perky and loves embarrassing her poor rider).

Sayleth: Unlike her dragon rider partner, Sayleth is the picture of grace. But she’s also a mute (erm…sometimes, it’s complicated) which doesn’t help poor Iavin have non-awkward conversations with her one bit. Sayleth has a very calm personality. Her sweet, quiet nature is very pleasant to be around, despite a mysterious aura surrounding her. Daeomin is her male dragon.

Cael: Ah Cael. I’m pretty sure you all know by now he’s my top favorite character ever. (Yes, even a smidge more than Airen. Shhh, don’t tell.) How to even describe Cael… He’s a villain but at the same time not. Because he actually has a huge heart and can be very polite and tenderhearted. He does have a sassy side though, and a bit  of a warped sense of morality. But he’s also just fun. He can totally be the fun-loving, life of the party. Somehow he is Iavin and Sayleth’s best friend while also being their arch-enemy. Only Cael can manage this…

Whew! Okay. Now we’ve come to More Black than Night (#6, NaNo 2015) and THIS book, More Gold than Sunlight (#7 and the end, NaNo 2016), where all those first five stories and characters come together and a big party of trying to save the world is had!  Honorable mentions go to Vithen, my main villain, Visance and Terreth (a couple of other villains who showed up in book #3), King Aidred and Queen Rayalien (Airen and Iraila’s mom and dad and Naidren and Nyria’s aunt and uncle), Rem (a friend of Naidren and Nyria’s), annnd probably a dozens others I’m not thinking of. Not to mention all the dragons. The dragons in this world don’t talk exactly, but they do all have very distinct personalities. But we will not get into that…

I told you I had a lot of characters! It’s gotten a little out of hand. *cough* And I should have made this character introduction section a blog post of its own! Wasn’t I doing a Beautiful Books post? MOVING ON.

5.) How do you prepare to write? (Outline, research, stocking up on chocolate, howling, etc.?)

Sooo, before my NaNo days, I used to be a hardcore pantser, and I still am sometimes. But NOT for NaNo. Since the first CoaDS book, I’ve made a very detailed outline for each book before NaNo. That way I can write like a fiend and never once have to worry about figuring out what happens next. And with the first book, before my very first NaNo, I made a big map, a races and species chart, some info about all the different kingdoms, detailed character bios, EVERYTHING. All of which I still refer to often. But now I just outline for each book.

This year I spent alllll of October making an 18k word, 46 chapter, scene-by-scene outline. Erm, yeah. I always make detailed outlines for each book, but this one won in length. It’s gonna be a long book! But hey, it is the finale, and I do have a billion characters with a thousand different plot threads I’ve got to fully wrap-up. A little length is inevitable.

6.) What are you most looking forward to about this novel?

EVERYTHING. And I mean it. I’ve been working on this series for 7 YEARS and I’m finally at the end. It’s like the whole book will be one big climax, and I CANNOT WAIT.

More specific things would be certain ships finally shipping (FINALLY!!!), allll the emotions (this is gonna be such an emotional book and I’m a weirdo and LOOOVE writing emotional scenes), a dozen awesome character reunions, and just ACTUALLY FINISHING THIS SERIES. So, yes, everything!

7.) List 3 things about your novel’s setting.

A broken city (as in buildings torn apart and scattered everywhere, cracked roads, just totally ruinous, its fun!), the countryside blurring by below from atop a dragon’s back, and a big ol’ stone dragon keep (which is like a barn just bigger and nicer because, hello? it houses dragons).

8.) What’s your character’s goal and who (or what) stands in the way?

TO SAVE THE WORLD.

But…literally. Vithen, king of the dark elves, and his enormous army is trying to take over the entire continent of Aerigethel. (Can we just laugh over how cliché this story is? I have managed to spice up the plot over the years though.) So…that kinda gets in my characters’ way as they fight to free their land once more.

9.) How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?

Oh gracious! Another character question. TOO MANY CHARACTERS.

Honestly though, most of my characters have already grown and changed drastically in the other books. There’s still plenty of growth in this one though. Some learn to be braver, others to trust more, one or two turn their lives around completely. There’s a lot going on!

10.) What are your book’s themes? How do you want readers to feel when the story is over?

I suppose good vs. evil is a pretty big theme for this series. In this particular one, there’s one message of how hardships can be turned into something good, how God will love and accept you if you’re repentant no matter how many mistakes you’ve made in the past, how family is much more than just blood relatives. Again, a lot going on…

How do I want my readers to feel by the end? Wow. I want them to feel…everything! I want them to feel like reading through an entire monstrous 7-book series was worth it. I want them to have a hard time saying goodbye to the characters. But, most importantly, I want them to feel satisfied. As they close the book, I want them to feel as though they read an amazing, epic tale that will stick with them for a long time. (Even though if I ever even hope to accomplish this I’ll have to utterly rewrite the series, but let’s dream for a minute here!)

WHEW. We made it to the end. Congratulations!!! I feel like I just wrote a mini NaNo-novel in this post. o.o Sorry for this monstrous thing! This series is…large, and very close to my heart, if it isn’t obvious. Thank you for putting up with my many, many rambles!

Also…

HAPPY NANO-EVE!!! It’s almost here guys! I hope you have the very bestest NaNo yet. Next time you hear from me, we’ll be a week into NaNo-land. It’s gonna be awesome! *raises laptop and charges*

If you’re still here, I applaud you. What do you think of my massive series? Do you like cliché fantasies? And, important question here, if you could have a dragon, what color would you want it to be??? (I’d be all over a pink one myself.) Happy NaNo’ing!!! Or, if you’re not joining in NaNo, I hope you have an amazing November!

Ten (perfectly logical) Reasons To Do NaNoWriMo

You may have noticed by the explosion of tweets and blog posts and writers screaming from the rooftops (from fear or excitement, not even we know) that NANOWRIMO IS COMING.

I can hear you groaning, “Not more about NaNo. Are these people ever going to stop?” Now, now, before you run away in fear of catching the insanity, I have 10 perfectly logical reasons why YOU should join in on the craziness as well. Yes, you!

 

1.) COFFEE TIME ALL THE TIME

Feeling guilty about that 5th cup of coffee you’re chugging down? Well, during NaNo, THERE IS NO GUILT. Only coffee. Or, if you’re not a coffee person, hot chocolate or soda or ice cream or anything that has mammoth sized amounts of caffeine and/or sugar (both is obviously preferable). Gotta keep that energy up for novel writing after all. You have a perfectly valid excuse to consume sweet drinks and foods alllllll month.

NaNoWriMo is basically a 30 day long coffee break.

If someone judges you for your excess amount of coffee intake, just ask them if they are tearing down kingdoms or going on perilous quests or saving the the entire world or maybe entire UNIVERSES in just 30 days. DRINK THAT CAFFEINE. WRITE THEM WORDS. SAVE THE WORLD.

And if you’re having a sugar crash? Obvious fix. MORE COFFEE. Nothing can go wrong here!

 

2.) NO SLEEP

You know that inconvenient thing that comes every night? The one that takes up to 8 hours of your valuable time? That silly thing known as SLEEP? I mean, sheesh, what a drag sleep is. Just laying there, resting, dead to the world, getting refueled and good health? HA. No more of that uselessness. Sleep does not exist during NaNo. There is no sleep. Only words and mad plots and cackling to yourself at 3 in the morning over the most hilarious line you have ever written. And don’t worry over the fact that you’re spending all 30 days of November in the same pair of pajamas. PJs are not just there for sleeping, they’re versatile like that.

Who needs sleep when there are words to write? We’re WRITERS. Sleep has no power over us. Words are our fuel (and coffee). We’re fine. Peeeerfectly fiiiine!

3.) AWKWARD SOCIALING AVOIDANCE

Do you have an awkward social event you’re dreading? Or experience a mini-panic attack that moment the phone rings and you know you’re about to get asked to go do something you really, reeeally don’t want to do? But…you have no excuse. No reason to say no. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET OUT OF THIS???

NaNoWriMo to the rescue! What better excuse than claiming your great feat of writing an entire novel in only 30 days? Not only will you sound impressive, but you’ll have a valid excuse to not go do all the things you don’t want to! You basically get to avoid peopling all month long.

Just imagine:

*phone rings* “Hey! You want to go—”
“Can’t, noveling! Sorryyyy.”

4.) MEET MUTUALLY INSANE PEEPS

But hey, maybe you enjoy people and don’t like the idea of going into hermit-mode. NaNo’s got you covered there, too! The NaNoWriMo site and forums are packed with thousands or people just as mad as you are! Us crazies gotta stick together!

Seriously, the NaNo community is AMAZING. If you want to find fellow writers then stalk the forums, buddy people (like meeee!), or just announce on social media that you’re doing NaNo and suddenly you will be tackled happily by a hoard of NaNo’ers. (We are like overly enthusiastic puppies discovering more overly enthusiastic puppies.) There are also local groups in most cities if you want in-person buddies.

You can even find friends who will threaten you with frying pans if you don’t meet your wordcounts. Because writers know the value of true friendship.

There is always someone in the NaNo community who is as mutually weird as you.

5.) CREATE MORE INSANE PEOPLE

But you may be saying, “What about all my current friends???” BRING THEM ALONG. If you don’t want to abandon your friends and family, just forcefully drag them down the rabbit hole with you! What’s more fun than having everyone you know dive into the insanity together? Ask your best friend, all your siblings, your neighbor, your neighbor’s pet chinchilla, the mailman, random people you pass in the grocery store. SPREAD ALL THE NANO LOVE. Convert the whole world into crazy NaNo’ers! Sure, they may threaten you with pitchforks during the middle of NaNo, asking why oh why did you convince them to do this ridiculous thing??? But they will thank you in the end! Oooh yes.

 

Join ussss.

6.) NO RESPONSIBILITIES

Not only are you freed of the hassle of sleep and can have all the caffeine you want, you no longer have to worry about responsibilities! Laundry? Pssh. That can wait until December. Besides, you’re wearing your PJs for 30 days. You don’t need to do laundry! Dishes? BAH. Just have 30 or so coffee cups clean before the beginning of NaNo and you’ll be good for the month. And we’ve already covered that you’re excused from all social gatherings.

Chores cannot be bothered with when there are worlds to save. Your only responsibility is to write. And write. And write some more. Just basically throw away your life for your book! Everything will be fiiiine.

 

7.) FINGER WORKOUT TO THE MAX

You know how you’ll be writing like a mad fiend for 30 days? Well, just think of the finger strength you’ll gain! NaNo is like the international Olympics for fingers. Your fingers are going to be so buff by the end, and all ready to do important work. Like lift more books and hold a 6 pound pizza up to your mouth.

Work them fingers as if you only have 30 days to write a novel! (Oh yeah, you do…)

 

8.) REAL WORLD? WHAT REAL WORLD???

We all have to admit, the world is pretty tense right now, and life is always busy and stressful. Sometimes you just want to find a dragon and ride away into the sunset to another universe. Guess what? YOU CAN. NaNo is like a FREE month-long vacation from the universe.

Forget the real world. You have a book to write! With fictional characters who need their lives to be lived. Our characters’ lives are obviously more important than our own. Reality doesn’t even exist during NaNo. Only book. Book is all we need. Book is life.

 

9.) YOUR FAMILY WILL MISS YOU (AND REALIZE HOW AWESOME YOU ARE)

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say. After 30 days, your family will start missing you, and then realize what a deep, dark hole your absence leaves in their hearts. They’ll think on how awesome you are. How much you fulfill their lives. I mean, really, how have they survived a whole month without you???

By the end of the 30 days, you’ll be like the epic hero who comes home after saving the world. Praised and adored and awed by all.

 

10.) YOU HAVE A BOOK

YOU WROTE A BOOK PEOPLE. Not many people in the world can say that. And definitely not many can say they wrote a book in 30 days. You will forever have that book and the knowledge of how epicly you wrote it. Your awesomeness has no end. Sure, the dishes in the sink have reached the ceiling and your family thinks you’re dead and you may be dying from over-exhaustion. But who cares?? You have a book!

Now doesn’t NaNoWriMo sound funnnn????

But in all seriousness here, writing a book is a huge accomplishment, and the most awarding feeling. NaNoWriMo is the perfect way to get that book you’ve always wanted to write but never thought you had the time for WRITTEN. The community really is amazing, and the experience like no other. I’ve never experienced anything like NaNo. This will be my 7th NaNo and it still feels magical and surreal.

Life is busy and there’s a lot of tension going around. NaNo is a wonderful way to step back for a while and explore other places, other lives, do something for yourself. To have FUN. Sure, it’s stressful sometimes and time-consuming and ridiculously insane, but it’s also one of the most amazing adventures you will ever have. I promise.

So have I convinced you to try NaNo yet??? Do you have any other reasons to add to my list?? Share them in the comments!