SeptNoWriMo - September Novel Writing Month

I've been telling myself that I'm going to revive my blog for what turned out to be something like seven months. I never seen to find time, though. Anyway, the thing that's finally pulled me back to my blog is this:

September Novel Writing Month

September Novel Writing Month, or SeptNoWriMo as it's known for short, is sort of my baby. It was to begin with, anyway. Since I opened this version of SeptNoWriMo in 2011, I've also ended up as a staff member on NaNoFiMo (December), FebNoWriMo (February), MarNoWriMo (March) and NaNoPlotMo (one of the most awesome year-round writing groups ever). However, SeptNoWriMo is the only one that's entirely under my megalomaniacal control.

*sad face*

Apparently 'megaomaniacal' isn't a word. Too bad - I'm using it anyway.

So, SeptNoWriMo. There are four types of goal - 'planning', 'writing', 'editing' and 'I have no time to write but I want to hang around my friends while I do other things'.

Daily and multi-day challenges abound, because Fearless Admin suddenly remembers that yes, she really can write 2,000 words in a day if the other alternative is to lose a challenge. There's at least one variant on the 3-Day Novel Challenge, something I haven't decided yet for Talk Like a Pirate Day and an awesome thing called 'Seven in Seven'.

SeptNoWriMo starts at 00:00:01 (one second after midnight) in your timezone. See you there!

*spams link again in case you didn't notice it enough the first time*

September Novel Writing Month

You can't tell I'm trying to drag as many writers into it as possible, can you?

By the seat of my pants...

[rant]

NaNo is kind of annoying me at the moment. Every time I go there, everyone seems to be saying "YOU MUST PLAN" and "PANTSERS ARE MORONS". Of course it's impossible to write 50k in a month without spending eleven months of the year planning it, right? What kind of crazy person would try to write 50k in a month without planning the whole thing down to the positioning of the toadstool MMC accidentally crushes at the end of chapter 17?

Yeah, you can imagine how die-hard pantser Siana Blackwood feels about that...

So of course I keep trying to present the other point of view, the idea that you can write 50k (or even a fair bit more) in a month without having a plan. Only then I get irritated and start second-guessing myself...

I mean, I write the first draft in a full-screen text editor. Then I paste it into a word processor for spell-checking, read it a few times and then start making a list of what really should have happened. The list is just on a piece of paper or sometimes in a text file. I don't see the point of all the fancy writing software because I just never use all those features. If I'm happy with this basic list of software (just a text editor and a word processor), does this mean I'm not a 'real writer'? Ye Gods, I've never even written a single word while sitting in a coffee shop...

But then, so far thais year I've written:

1. No Light in the Dark - 95k


2. Dispersion - 120k


3. Blade's Edge - 65k


4. Night Without Stars - 75k


5. Hope - 85k


6. Dark Star - 100k


7. Broken Mirror - 66k


8. Crystals and Moonlight - 60k

... and started How to Nuke Your Enemies (currently 24k)

Eight completed first drafts, none of them written with expensive software, in a cafe or with months of planning in advance. I stand by my pants and by my 'write it anyway' philosophy.

[/rant]

To tell the truth, that's not stuff I expected to be able to say during my 12th month of wrimo-ing. The same people and the same advice were on NaNo last year and I consciously decided to disregard it and believe Chris Baty (No plot? No problem!). I haven't made the expected progression from pantsing a bad story to becoming a planner, though. I guess it's because I really do like the stories I've written. I still can't imagine editing Dispersion or Night Without Stars, because every time I start reading them the characters take over my head and I'm just living through the events along with them. Some tiny part of me knows they're the wrong events, but I really do love them anyway :).

Okay, I feel better now. Maybe I'll go and write something.

By the seat of my pants.

Siana sucks at posting...

I officially promise that I'm going to do better...

Over the next few weeks (possibly a month or so) I'm going to completely redesign this blog and actually start using it. New topics that you can expect to read about include:

• My works in progress


• My current activities. Mostly, this means comments on whatever WriMo I'm participating in at the time.


• Writing techniques. This is YeoWDam't and if I can't learn a lot about writing throughout the year there really isn't a lot of point doing it.


• Writing resources. This includes lists of websites that give better advice than me, software reviews and all stuff like that.


• Humour. Being me, this is going to involve stuff like interviews with characters, joke writing advice and possibly the odd non-serious short story...

Watch this space for more information about the redesign and new content.

2011: SB's YeoWDam't

I was wondering how to explain something this insane and eventually settled for doing it in interview format. My alter ego often helps me out with character interviews and getting out of plot holes, so I thought she was the best one for the job.

Although I did think about turning it over to one of my characters... Anyway, read on.