Camp WooNoOutMo 2019

March 5, 2019 by

Welcome back y’all.

It’s March and you know what that means! That’s right! Time to prepare for Camp WooNoWriMo! What’s that? Well it’s like WooNoWriMo, accept in the spring season instead of fall, and you get to set your own goals. Just want to finish something? Want to write a poem everyday? Want to write 50,000 words? Want to write 25,000 words? Want to just write everyday? Whatever goal you need, you can set it. My goal is to write everyday, like every WooNoWriMo.

So with Camp just a month away, March is a great time to prepare your story or your ideas and get yourself ready for a month of writing. For me that means testing out some ideas and getting my rules down. This will be my fourth Camp, so I have a pretty good idea of what my problem areas are, but maybe this is your first and you have no idea what you’re doing. So here’s a few tips:

  1. Write down everything. You’re not always going to have time to write when you have a great idea, so keep a notebook or a pen to hand ready just in case.
  2. Don’t edit. You’re always going to want to go back and edit, but don’t. Going back is the number one way to get stuck fixating on small details. Whatever the change is, just write it down. If you’re not sure if an idea is going to work or you have a big change that will have ripples throughout your story, write it out. Rewrite the scene, don’t skim for old details and try to rework it. Just rewrite the scene entirely. This will keep you writing instead of worrying.
  3. Try to keep a schedule. This goes for any time of year, but try to keep your writing regular and in a specific place. Don’t try to write around people who distract you or skip your writing entirely. Even if you don’t meet your goal for the day, you need to write everyday to keep yourself going. Not writing one day is like stopping while running a marathon. It’s going to get harder to get going again than it is to keep going slower.
  4. Stay on the same story. This is my kryptonite. Whenever I do NaNoWriMo I switch back and forth between projects, but you should try to stay on one project. Working on a different project can be equivalent to opening up the browser. You’re doing it because writing is hard and you’re afraid to face the page. But keep going. Work on different sections of the same piece, or rewrite something you didn’t like in a different way. Just keep going.
  5. Immerse yourself in writing 24/7. During NaNoWriMo I try to switch my media diet to writing channels and writing books. I usually have a playlist of writing YouTubers who I watch to get motivated right before writing. I find it helps ease myself into the headspace I need to be in.
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Genre Prompts 2019

February 8, 2019 by

Everyone gets the same prompt to work on this week, but with a twist. Everyone will get a different genre to work in.

Prompt: There’s an old man sitting in a rickety wooden chair, fishing through a hole in the ice on a frozen lake. A loud cracking sound reverberates across the lake’s surface, and he feels the ice shift beneath him. He scurries, but the hole expands too quickly, and he goes into the icy water. What happens next?

Regular-Ass Genres for Noobs:

  • Mystery – fiction dealing with the solution of a crime or the revealing of secrets
  • Science fiction – story based on the impact of actual, imagined, or potential science, often set in the future or on other planets
  • Fantasy – fiction in a unreal setting that often includes magic, magical creatures, or the supernatural
  • Realistic fiction – story that is true to life
  • Horror – fiction in which events evoke a feeling of dread and sometimes fear in both the characters and the reader

Extreme Genres for Cool People:

  • Classic– fiction that has become part of an accepted literary canon, widely taught in schools
  • Crime/detective– fiction about a crime, how the criminal gets caught, and the repercussions of the crime
  • Fable– legendary, supernatural tale demonstrating a useful truth
  • Fairy tale– story about fairies or other magical creatures
  • Folktale– the songs, stories, myths, and proverbs of a people or “folk” as handed down by word of mouth
  • Historical fiction– story with fictional characters and events in an historical setting
  • Humor– usually a fiction full of fun, fancy, and excitement, meant to entertain and sometimes cause intended laughter; but can be contained in all genres
  • Magical realism– story where magical or unreal elements play a natural part in an otherwise realistic environment
  • Meta fiction(also known as romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature) – uses self-reference to draw attention to itself as a work of art while exposing the “truth” of a story
  • Mythology– legend or traditional narrative, often based in part on historical events, that reveals human behavior and natural phenomena by its symbolism; often pertaining to the actions of the gods
  • Mythopoeia– fiction in which characters from religious mythology, traditional myths, folklore and/or history are recast into a re-imagined realm created by the author
  • Suspense/thriller– fiction about harm about to befall a person or group and the attempts made to evade the harm
  • Swashbuckler– story based on a time of pirates and ships and other related ideas, usually full of action
  • Tall tale– humorous story with blatant exaggerations, such as swaggering heroes who do the impossible with nonchalance
  • Western– fiction set in the American Old West frontier and typically in the late eighteenth to late nineteenth century

 

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Hope Writing Accountability Blog: Day 12

December 27, 2018 by

Hey-o,

So update: Christmas happened. Which means I’ve been out of town which means bad wifi, and I failed one of my rules which was to update this Sunday. It also means two days were too busy to write in, and I only got about 300 words done on those two days. Never fear though. It was Christmas and I’m going to say those didn’t count cause I was lucky enough to write at all. Luckily I’ve been able to catch up on writing recently.

Another big thing, like I said, I changed the beginning of the story, which means that I have a lot of rewrites to do, but I’ve been more confident this time around. The only problem is I’m letting the rewriting take over and it’s adding to the anxiety of moving on from the beginning, and eventually I have to do that. I have this problem every time I write. I like building things so when I have to stay in them I get nervous about how it’s paced and what needs to be covered, and it’s a draft it’ll never be perfect so I just gotta do it, ya know? Gah! I will say I’m more aware of when I’m whacking my head against a wall than I’ve been, so progress is progress.

I got finished writing a new scene addressing how the forest is scary and full of monsters today that I’m really proud of. God the creatures are so cool, I’m going to have to bring them into my DnD campaign sometime…and draw them. They’re dead now, but they were so cool. I kind of just came up with them on the spot. I’ve been really into creature design lately. Something about DMing, and rewatching Avatar with Gable house, and this story that I’m working on has really got me in love with creatures again. There was a time when I was a kid that I hated everything girly and I didn’t want to be seen as girly, so I double downed on bugs and creepy monsters. And now that I have a better handle on my gender, I’ve kinda neglected my creepy side and went hard into everything cute. It’s nice to go back to creatures, it feels like childhood for me.

Oh! I finished reading a book for fun today (for the first time since the semester started). It was kind of trash, but it’s one of those series that I’m committed to. I’m like the only adult who reads this series it feels like, even though it was hella violent. The MC is totally a self insert of the author, like it’s not even funny, and she’s in this love heptagon with her bad-ass crew of the most ridiculously over-powered elves teenagers. And she’s kind of related to this unicorn pegasus? And the horse just kind of gave birth, but almost not cause she was having twins and they had to incubate the horses in a beehive because these are the last of their species and if they go extinct it’ll be bad for the elves sociopolitical image. Oh her boyfriend almost murdered his brother. Like I said, it’s a rollercoaster (and 866 pages in this one book). And people make fun of me for knowing too much about Sharknado. Seriously the bad Syfy franchises aren’t the worst part of my media diet. So after this I’m moving onto well written books.

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Hope Writing Accountability Blog: Day 6

December 21, 2018 by

Hey-o.

Why is it that I always get my best ideas at 1 in the morning when I’m trying to sleep and not, I don’t know, when I’m outlining?

I’m making good work on my goal right? I’m almost exactly where I thought I’d be in a week, and that’s amazing cause I’ve never set goals like that before. And I’m coming across these problems with the introduction of the book. Like one of my MC’s, Tes, has enchantment magic, she can make anyone do what she wants by talking to them, but all the characters she interacts with at the start are immune to her magic, so it’s not shocking that Gurgle (she’s one of my other MC’s, my favorite to be quite honest) is also immune. So then how is Tes stuck on this grand adventure?

I remember when I was writing the introduction scenes the first time I had trouble figuring out how to both demonstrate her power and still trap her. And I’m not one for damsels. My world is a human empire ruled by a monarch of any gender, damsels are too old school. But I think it might be the only way. Tes has to be trapped because it has to be amazing when she’s finally allowed to use her powers.

And this gives me the opportunity to fix a couple other problems with my story: namely the separation between the humans and the goblins. In the original outline I have it so that the humans live on the coast where the magic is weaker and the monsters aren’t as present as they are in the forest, but that has the question “why did they even stay?” Like this isn’t where the humans came from, it’s a failed colony. A disgrace, truly, but it’s not all the have. And there’s a lot of things I like about this original concept. I have these pier towns that are built extending over the sea and It has this prince guy feeling like he’s hot shit cause he’s the last royal, but you know what they say about killing your lovelies.

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Hope Writing Accountability Blog: Day 2

December 17, 2018 by

Hey-o. I’m not procrastinating. Who said anything about procrastinating? I did my 1,000 words earlier today. Did a whole straight hour something of writing, timed it and everything. Technically in order to enforce a habit I need to do it at the same time everyday, and I will I just have that fog of anxiety. You know the one? Where you had such a good writing session and you can’t open your document afterword? It’s not that I don’t want to write (what else am I going to do?), I just can’t get my brain to wake up and go back to writing. It’s like when I used to swim. I love swimming, I could do it for hours and hours just doing laps, but it’s that moment you realize you have to get in the pool. So I dip my toe in the water to test it and it’s cold and I’m not used to it. And I don’t want to get in cause it’s cold! When load up my document I just stare at the last line I wrote and I feel so lost. Like I knew what I was doing before but now I’ve lost it and I won’t be able to get it back.

It’s why I don’t do a lot of daily goals, I never feel like I can sustain them.

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Hope’s Writing Accountability Blog: Day 1

December 16, 2018 by

Hey-o, it’s Hope! Your fearful leader! All hail!

So it’s winter break and I want so desperately to finish my manuscript before the end of spring semester. I’d say before the end of winter break, but I know myself. Seeing as I’m so far far away from my fellow club members who inspire me to write, I wanted to create this blog to keep myself on track (and off of Tumblr). So what’s the plan? I’m attempting to write at least 1,000 words a day everyday or finish a whole scene. In order to keep myself on track I will be posting here every Sunday (at least) to give a progress report.

Rules:
  • I can never commit to a project for a long period of time, so my word count must be from my current manuscript project (labeled in Scrivener as “Gurgle”).
  • In order to keep me from loading up to take days off (there are no days off), the amount missed from 1,000 words per day is to be added to a weekly pool to be finished by the end of the week, or else that amount is to be doubled and rolled onto the next week.
  • In order to keep strict work hours, my internet access is to be restricted to absolute necessities during my writing time. Only to be lifted at ten.
  • I get desert (including chocolate) only after I finish my daily goal. All other snacks are to be fruit and tea.
  • Each week on Sunday I am to give a broad scale hope of what scenes I want to accomplish by the end of the new week, which will be recounted next Sunday.
  • I’m not allowed to go back and edit until I finish the week’s goal.

With all that in mind, I want to schedule in a two week reevaluation of the rules and goals to adjust what is not working for me. Now for my Goal:

  • I’m fairly close to the section I introduce Gurgle in which I will have some stuff I can copy and paste, therefore I want to get to the end of Gurgle’s introduction and her and Tes’ meeting.
  • My stretch goal is the end of Tes’ time in Everbrook
  • My Mega stretch goal is Mabel’s reintroduction.

 

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WooNoWriMo 2018 Wrap-Up!

December 6, 2018 by

Hey Wooster Writers,

I promised myself I’d updates once a week throughout November, but exams and final papers kicked my a$$ the last few weeks and it slipped my mind. So, What The Fuck happened?

*Redacted* finished her NaNoWriMo challenge early, I don’t think it was the twentieth yet by the time I got the message. So congrats to her.

I was doing okay until the last three days when I had to get down to business on my Junior I.S. so I did Pretty good on my 100 words a day challenge and dropped the ball at the very last moment. *HEAVY SIGH* I haven’t touched my document since. I made a promise to myself to turn winter break into my novel completion month, which is debatable whether I can manage it, but I’m determined. I plan to work at regular hours and not go to bed until I finish so… we’ll see.

We had an unproductive last two meetings: Promptsgiving, which I made a pie and whipped cream for, and our last meeting movie night where I think everyone enjoyed our impromptu screening of She-Ra? I enjoyed it.

As for the future of writing club: Annabelle is leaving for France next semester (we’ll miss you), we’re talking about starting elections when I get back, and we’re building the Writing Club Calendar.

If you have any prompts, writing structures, other suggestions you want to see over next semester please email me at my wooster email!

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The WooNoWriMo Diaries 2018 Day 9

November 9, 2018 by

Hey y’all,

Wooster Novel Writing Month continues. That’s (w)rite my dudes, we’re still going strong. *Name Redacted* has a strong lead of 9,000 words (What the flip!).

Hope: Wait… It’s 5,000 words?

*Name Redacted*: No, it’s 9,000 words.

HS: *mental math* what the flip?

NR: That’s because I got a really big lead and I’ve been maintaining it.

HS: Yeah… but you’ve been maintaining it.

NR: I guess… Wait, I was being interviewed. You should point out that I was paying absolutely no attention to you because I was playing Minesweeper, which is your fault.

I’m still doing a itty bitty goal of at least 100 words a day, and I’ve resorted to using my dnd campaign as part of my word count. So, I’m still writing a lot I guess.

*Name Redacted* is Blue

Hope is Orange

Goals:

*Name Redacted*: 1,667 words per day.

Hope: 100+ words per day.

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The WooNoWriMo Diaries 2018 Day 2!

November 2, 2018 by

Hey y’all,

Welcome to Wooster Novel Writing Month (*external screaming*). *Name Redacted* and I are starting the month off write (PUN) with one day under our belts.*Name Redacted* is doing full blown NaNoWriMo (respect), and is already at a whopping 6,465 words! I sat down with her to see how:

Hope: *Name Redacted* how the f*ck*???

*Name Redacted*: Is this an interview?

HS: Yes.

NR: I wrote down words. ‘Sometimes that be how it do’ ((1)). No thanks to the Common Grounds atmosphere.

HS: *laughter*

NR: I learned that ‘sometimes that be how it do’ is a Carson quote, so you should probably cite Carson.

Insightful. I am doing the Wooster Junior I.S. adjusted version of NoWriMo, which has no word count goal, but I’m promising to write at least 100 words a day. I’m off to a late start because I promised I would get at least the first part of my third pass outline (there’s four passes total) done before I started writing. So I’m at glorious 190 words and hoping to get more done.

Our plan is to meet once a day, we started a group chat for WooNoWriMo participants to let you know when/where we’re writing and get motivation. We’re also getting ready for today’s meeting “Pitchin’ NaNo Hardcore with *Name Redacted*,” and doing word sprints. So hopefully that helps us strengthen our writing quads before a month long writing marathon.

Goals:

*Name Redacted*: 1,667 words per day.

Hope: 100+ words per day.

((1)) Quote from Carson
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Indescribable Emotions

September 22, 2018 by

Our prompt from the meeting on September 21, 2018: Integrate these indescribable emotions into your story.

Prompt by: Amelia Burke

 

sonder: the realization that each passerby has a life as vivid and complex as your own.

opia: the ambiguous intensity of looking someone in the eye, which can feel simultaneously invasive and vulnerable.

monachopsis: the subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place.

énouement: the bittersweetness of having arrived in the future, seeing how things turn out, but not being able to tell your past self.

vellichor: the strange wistfulness of used bookshops.

rubatosis: the unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat.

kenopsia: the eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that is usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet.

mauerbauertraurigkeit: the inexplicable urge to push people away, even close friends who you really like.

jouska: a hypothetical conversation that you compulsively play out in your head.

chrysalism: the amniotic tranquility of being indoors during a thunderstorm.

vemödalen: the frustration of photographic something amazing when thousands of identical photos already exist.

anecdoche: a conversation in which everyone is talking, but nobody is listening

ellipsism: a sadness that you’ll never be able to know how history will turn out.

kuebiko: a state of exhaustion inspired by acts of senseless violence.

lachesism: the desire to be struck by disaster – to survive a plane crash, or to lose everything in a fire.

exulansis: the tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it.

adronitis: frustration with how long it takes to get to know someone.

rückkehrunruhe: the feeling of returning home after an immersive trip only to find it fading rapidly from your awareness.

nodus tollens: the realization that the plot of your life doesn’t make sense to you anymore.

onism: the frustration of being stuck in just one body, that inhabits only one place at a time.

liberosis: the desire to care less about things.

altschmerz: weariness with the same old issues that you’ve always had – the same boring flaws and anxieties that you’ve been gnawing on for years.

occhiolism: the awareness of the smallness of your perspective.

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Are Your Hands Wet?