NaNoWriMo 2013: One week on!

So I should begin by apologising for my absence from this blog for a little while: as you can likely guess from the logo above, I was otherwise occupied with NaNoWriMo! I have given myself a slap on the wrist for being so neglectful and am now detoxing from the whole experience (I ate way too many biscuits while it was going on - and also need to relax).

On the bright side, I managed to reach 50067 words by 30th November and so can say that I have won NaNoWriMo, so as well as the slap on the wrist I also did a lot of happy, excited dancing around the flat!

I wanted to take some time to consider NaNoWriMo from the other end, after I spent so long anticipating it and actually doing it. My experience with the entire thing this year was completely different to the way I saw it last year.

Let me start off by saying that my month was absolutely insane. Really, I don't actually know how I managed it. I have a full time job with increasing levels of responsibility, roleplaying games a few evenings a week, choir, Network... Yeah, I'm a busy person. I honestly found the word count very, very gruelling when I considered it in balance with everything else in my life right now. I know that I wouldn't have thought the same if I had dropped out of things a little more, but I also hate letting people down.

As such I also didn't bow out of Athesia - biannual roleplaying game that I am part of, and recently became a senior GM (gamemaster) for. As such I had some duties that I couldn't shy away from, so I did what any good NaNovelist would do and rebelled a little. I counted writing I did in preparation for the game as part of my overall word count for the month. I know, another slap on the wrist, but if I hadn't I never would have felt the motivation to write it or my novel. In the end, that decision was definitely worth it, however - taking the extra time over the plot for it meant that I felt more confident with what I had written and so I didn't spend my entire weekend worried about my word count (I ensured that my pre-Athesia word count was far enough ahead that I could take the weekend off writing quite happily).

I found that the first week I had a lot of trouble making the par daily word count: I was still full of uncertainties and confusion about the tone of my story, and I as writing "whenever I could", which resulted in me scribbling things in dribs and drabs. I know everyone says that writing a little here and a little there adds up, but I found that I wrote more (and more consistently) when I gave myself a certain time frame to write in, for example I would give myself two hours to write what I could and couldn't write outside of those two hours for the rest of the evening.

The most important thing I found, however, was having people around. As well as various friends of mine who were NaNo-ing along with me, I also joined my region's Facebook group, NaNoEssex. While I didn't manage to get to any of the events run by the latter, I found that just being able to talk to other people doing the same crazy challenge as myself was a huge help. When I took part in NaNoWriMo last year, I was unemployed and on Jobseekers Allowance. I was living in a weirdly difficult-to-get-to place and so, aside from my boyfriend and the occasional visit from a friend I was almost entirely alone. I can't even begin to describe how demotivated I was - I still find it strange that I managed to get out 25000 words that month.

But having human contact this year - both physical and digital - proved to be something that kept me going. From checking out my writing buddies' word counts (and getting excited for them when they were doing well) to chatting with people on the NaNoEssex group (and getting excited for them when they were doing well), I felt a lot more "in the loop" and positive than last year. Whether it is a subconscious competitive streak or just the simple knowledge that there were other people just as mad as I was, I loved the social aspect of NaNo this year and I think it really, truly helped me get to the hallowed 50k.

Since November ended this year, I'll admit I haven't done a huge amount of writing: this blog post is the first extended piece of writing I have done. Instead I have picked up a story I finished a little while ago and have started revising and editing it. It's relaxing to take time over something again after the craziness of last month. I have set myself a smaller word count to hit each month for now - between 5000 and 10000 - and hopefully will keep to that.

All in all, this year's experience was far more positive than last, and I'm already planning for April's Camp NaNoWriMo!

Book Review: "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Warning: Possible spoilers.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is a book I have been meaning to read for quite some time - and been very excited about reading. Having had it recommended to me by various people and sources, I have finally got around to reading it.

Book Review: "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger

Warning: Possible spoilers.

I bought The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger a couple of years ago at a jumble sale for about fifty pence. Having seen a lot of hype over the novel and the film adaptation, I wasn't sure what I expected from it, but I fully expected to find that it had been over-hyped upon finishing it. I'm pleased to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

Book review: "Temeraire: Throne of Jade" by Naomi Novik

Warning: Possible spoilers for both Throne of Jade and Temeraire, the first novel in the series.

I read the first book in the Temeraire series (Temeraire  or His Majesty's Dragon) by Naomi Novik a few years ago, and thought it absolutely fantastic, and I was keen to read more of the series. It was not until relatively recently I was able to do so, but when I picked up Throne of Jade to read I was excited to revisit some of my favourite characters and the world they inhabited.

Book review: "In Great Waters" by Kit Whitfield

Warning: Possible spoilers.

A few years ago (or possibly longer), I read Kit Whitfield's first book, Bareback (released in the US as Benighted) and I found her prose to be wonderfully constructed and the topic - a world where werewolves not only exist but are the norm in society and those who do not shapeshift at the full moon are seen as the abnormalities - engaging and interesting. So when I found In Great Waters by chance a couple of years ago, I decided to buy it. It then spent some time on my bookshelf as I finished my degree, and now I have finally got around to reading it.

Book review: "The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls" by Emilie Autumn

Warning: Possible spoilers (though I have tried very hard not to give any).

The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls is the debut novel of singer and musician Emilie Autumn. As well as being a novel of sorts, it is also an autobiographical account of Autumn's experiences with mental illness and psychiatric treatment. The story begins when Emilie tries to kill herself with sleeping pills, and her subsequent incarceration in a mental health ward in present-day California with other "crazies". While there, Emilie finds letters from another young woman who has been committed in London in the Victorian era, Emily ("with a 'y'"), and thereafter the stories are told in tandem, with exceprts from Emilie's real diaries interspersed with letters from Emily.

Ready, Set, Novel! Plan and Plot your Upcoming Masterpiece (first impressions)

Since the weather has gone from cold and miserable to warm and actually-springlike today I ventured down to my nearest Waterstones while on my lunch break to see what I could get with some of my birthday money. Almost as soon as I stepped in a huge display of notebooks, pads, stationery, cards and books caught my eye. I do have some magpie-like tendencies when it comes to books and stationery (plus it was the first display in the shop), and so I wandered over to have a look and my eyes immediately alighted on this...

Ready, Set, Novel! by Chris Baty, Lindsey Grant and Tavia Stewart-Streit

(Apologies for the terrible photo quality in this post, my camera is not the best.)

Ready, Set, Novel! is a book about writing. It is a book to help people write that novel they've had in their head for years but don't know how to make it work, or people who would like to write a novel but who have yet to hit upon the perfect idea for one.

I have had ideas for various novels floating around my head for years, but have had trouble thinking exactly how to get started and write them, and so I was intrigued by this book, even more so when I noticed that it was written by some of the organisers of NaNoWriMo. I picked it up, flicked through it briefly and did not put it back down. I browsed some more to see if there was anything I would prefer to get instead but, finding nothing, I bought the book and returned to the office, excited.

Having now flicked through the book in more depth on my bus journey home, it appears that the authors have done a good job of covering all the main bases regarding to writing a novel: character, dialogue, setting, mood, theme and so on. The parts are covered by various activities which involve the reader (or rather, the author-to-be!) working out things about their novel simply by scribbling things down. The tone of the book seems light-hearted and friendly, the same kind of tone used on the NaNoWriMo site really.

From the blurb:

"These handy tips, battle-tested activities, and bits of creative mayhem have helped thousands of NaNoWriMo participants put pen to paper and are sure to get you geared up to start writing."

I'm hoping to use this to plot one particular novel that I have in my head (I may even post some of my progress here) and probably will post a review of Ready, Set, Novel! when I have a better understanding of it. For now, I will say that I feel that I may find that this book has been written for someone of a slightly younger age group than myself, but I may only feel that way because I have a degree in Creative Writing specifically, while this book is written for everyone, experienced in writing or not. We shall see!

I'm really looking forward to using this and seeing how it compares to other similar books. The 'interactive writing exercises' element reminds me of Keri Smith's Finish This Book, though the latter has more of an established plot to follow, while Ready, Set, Novel! is literally just for your own story, with minimal prompts, designed for you to freehand within some (relatively minor) constraints. I enjoy having some structure to how I go about writing, so I hope that with the gentle guidance of this book I may finally be able to start writing my own novels.


Ready, Set, Novel! is available from Waterstones for £11.99, or on Amazon for £8.27 (excluding postage).

So, why write about writing?

So, what is the point of writing about writing? Surely it's a terribly pretentious, silly thing to do, only for academics and people with too many opinions?

Well, maybe it is. I've certainly come across my share of pretentious writers-who-wrote-about-writing, and I detested some of the things they came out with. Dorothea Brande, for example, whose ideas about what a writer should be made me extremely angry in second year when we studied her in one my my classes. I felt that she had invalidated my prerogative to try and get my writing published, and I cast her aside with bitterness and resent.

But, having said that, I have read some beautiful writing-about-writing, words which made me feel amazing about being a writer. Ted Hughes, for example, in his poem The Thought Fox, takes the image of a fox walking in a snowy night and turns it into an allegory for the process of composing a piece of writing. When I studied it in sixth form I was applying to study Creative Writing at university and I fell in love with the poem. It has stuck with me for at least five or six years now as both a wonderful way to describe the creative process and as a beautiful piece of writing in and of itself.

But the influence of others is only a small consideration to me. As useful and interesting as influences can be, if I were to only consider those in my own thoughts I would find myself parroting their ideas back to others, whereas I would like to build on their ideas and try to form my own. I am not seeking to deliberately disagree with or agree with any one writer and their ideas, but I will attempt to use theirs to inform my own, as there is much to be learned almost anywhere if we just look for it.

But this is more a question of how - I was trying to tell you why I'm writing about writing.

Well, I suppose one of the simplest and most straightforward answers is that I was bored. Having graduated from university in the summer, and then spent six months looking for a job, and then finally got one, I found that I haven't made as much time for writing as before, nor do I have essays and assignments to do to keep me going. Okay, so I did attempt my own version of NaNoWriMo in November (I managed 25k words in the month allocated), and yes, I have been continuing to write a story I started for a friend's birthday a few years ago (sorry Beanie!), and sure, I run my roleplaying game each week and have to write plot for that. Aside from these, however, I haven't been devoting any real time to writing, and I really hate that feeling. So, this blog is partly to help combat that and give me something real to do and stuff to write about.

Another reason is that I would like to have my writing published in the future, and to this end, this blog will hopefully help on two fronts: firstly as a way to promote myself and my writing and secondly because I think there is always room for improvement, and practise makes perfect, as the old saying goes. If I can use this blog to practise, revise and improve my writing, I think my "proper" writing will be much better.

Lastly, I would like to get back into the habit of reading, as it's another one of those things I have been neglecting. Part of the purpose of this blog is as a place to review books, and hey, I can't review books if I don't read them, right?!

I guess overall, this blog is really just about disciplining myself and getting myself back into the literary groove, so to speak. I'm excited for the future of this blog and the opportunities it might present, and I hope you enjoy reading!

The Awkward Introductory Post

Well hello there. If you have stumbled across this blog I can only assume you're interested in writing or reading, or reading someone's writing about reading and writing, or any or all of the above (and if that didn't confuse you, you're more alert than I am...)! 

My name is Alice. I don't often go by nicknames, though my sister calls me Liss on occasion, and if you ask various people they do have nicknames for me. Still, I've always mostly just gone by my plain, normal name. I live with my boyfriend Charlie, both of us having graduated from uni in the summer. Having been searching for a job since, I recently started working full-time in an office, and figured while I'm there I may as well try to maintain a blog at the same time (because that's obviously totally easy and doable - hooray for optimism).

I'm a huge advocate and lover of reading and writing, such that my Bachelors was in Creative Writing, and wanted to have a place where I could devote some time (as much as possible) to writing about writing, writing about reading, and maybe sometimes writing about writing-about-writing-or-reading. How very meta!

I also invite comments as much as people should want to comment - I enjoy discussion and debate about a lot of topics, especially concerning books and writing.

With all that being said, I welcome you to my blog, and hope you find it enjoyable to read.