5,000 Words!

Somehow, with all the procrastinating I've done - and mind you, it's been a lot - I've been able to hit my daily word count for three days in a row! This is a huge achievement for me, if you don't know me. I have a pretty bad habit of getting really excited about something, then falling off the wagon with it after a few days. Hopefully, with how hard I've been working on this darn book, I'll keep my steam and momentum going all the way through November so that December can really be NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editing Month) for me!

Also, another fun thing I was able to do today, is find some faceclaims for my characters. For those of you who don't know, faceclaims are basically who you picture in your mind as you're writing something. A lot of times, screenplay writers will do this kind of thing - but not call it faceclaims, mainly because they're fancy - and will write a script "to" a certain actor or actress. Basically, they have someone in mind for the role before they even audition. In novels, it's the same sort of idea. I mean, I'll be honest, I don't know if anyone else does this, but it'd be cool to find out. Anyway, I picked out some celebrities (some well known, some totally underground) to use as faceclaims for my characters.

But Alexa, we want to see who you chose so we can picture it, too!

Ah, my friend, that's the writer's secret. Isn't the magic of reading something and picturing it in your head worth not seeing who I had in mind? Since writing and picturing characters and story elements is such a big part of my plot *cough cough*, I don't want to ruin the magic for any of you.

Maybe, in the future, my book will become a movie and these actors will play the roles, who knows. But for now, that's for me to know and for you to... well... not really ever find out.

Anywhoo, I hit a huge word goal today, my first 5,000 words! That's huge! That's 10% of my 50,000 word novel! I'm really excited about that!

So, to reward myself, I'm going to stay up a bit later than normal - and I can do that because I don't have class until about 10:30am tomorrow - and watch some Daily Show, keeping myself educated on the world.

Until next time, my fellow novelists,
-Alexa

Back In The Game

So for those of you who actually read my blog posts, you'll know I haven't posted in just under six months. Well, surprise surprise, I'm back and better than ever! And just so I can give myself more things to procrastinate on and do instead of actual work and writing to apply to my word count, I'm going to try and blog about it!

This being said, they'll probably be relatively short and not all that often.

Yet, I feel like 2014 NaNoWriMo is something that needs to be documented, and whether it's read or not, I don't really care.

And so I present, my 2014 NaNoWriMo novel, The Dead Key

Lucy Kent has spent years trying to reach some sort of normalcy, but when she discovers a typewriter in her grandfather's attic, her life is never the same. Every single word she types eventually comes to life. With the help of her grandfather and an old written friend named Theo, Lucy will learn the secrets surrounding the typewriter and her grandmother's death so many years ago.

Sooooooooo........? Sound interesting at all? Yes? No? Maybe a little bit if you were on pain meds and it was 3am? That's good enough for me. This is the novel I'll be spending an entire month on and hopefully, will one day make a book out of. It's definitely different than anything else I've ever written before, and I kind of like that. This is all a new, fun adventure that I can go on and I've specifically made it my mission to keep myself separate from my manuscript and story. Sounds strange, but it really makes a difference.

Thankfully, my best friend Cameron will be doing it this year with me, too. Let's hope we get to the finish line, folks! Keep on writing!

-Alexa

Burning the midnight oils

Goodness gracious, it's been quite a night. I may or may not be posting this at 2:42am, but hey, these are my best working hours, so don't judge me.

I seem to have hit a little bit of a rough patch. Of course, as per usual, my excitement for a project began to lessen as the days went on and the word counts built up. Tomorrow will start Week 2 and as of right now (I stopped writing for the night, can't type when I can't keep my eyes open) I'm about 6 or 7 thousand words behind. I know, I know, bad novelist, bad camper. But hey, I discovered this fun thing we all have to deal with called everyday life, and it sucks for writers. We lose time, lose our muses, but, at least for this month, I'm forcing myself to actually finish a project.

So never fear! My biggest problem (also as per usual) has been distraction and procrastination. But to turn off all my social networks and fun procrastination favorites all day seems completely outrageous. So, I've decided to do it in small increments, like my own little Word Sprints. I just finished one and went for 30 minutes, nonstop, with Self Control functioning on my computer. Of course, without distractions (mainly tumblr), I was able to knock out 800 words with 4 seconds to spare. I'm hoping to use this strategy tomorrow to get the rest of my catchup work done and actually start building up my "word count bank" that Chris Baty talks about in No Plot, No Problem. It'll definitely be helpful when I go back to work and get into tech rehearsals for the show.

That being said, I'm going to update all my word counts (with the one on here, the one on Camp NaNoWriMo, and my personal goal calendar, I've got a few), and head to sleep. I think it's well-deserved tonight.

The first chunk

Day one complete. 1625 words down, 48375 to go.

With work and an accidental nap (the dangers of writing on a bed while my desk is being moved back into my room is real, my friends), just my first day of Camp was a struggle. But I'm breathing, alive and well! I don't know if I can say the same for my main characters, but that's a tale for another day :)

I hit a bit of a block writing directly from the beginning, focusing on the first chapter, so I decided to do what I always do when I struggle with writer's block. Writing to songs.

I brought up iTunes and turned on "Amnesia" by 5 Seconds of Summer, put it on replay, and began writing to the music. It worked like a charm and I was able to bang out around 900 words in under an hour, which gives me a ton of hope for the rest of this month. I was able to write most of one of the more emotional scenes in my novel, which is very exciting as the author.

Word by word, I'm slowly watching these characters come to life. Of course, it's a bit easier for me because some of it is inspired by real events I experienced, but I'm very much a believer that when a book begins and when it ends, the characters continue to live outside the pages. They have dreams, aspirations, and hardships that are very real.

I'm so excited to follow my story on its journey to completion. Wish me luck!

The Night Before

So tonight at midnight is when it starts. I'm taking part (for the first time, I'll mention) in Camp NaNoWriMo, which stands for National Novel Writing Month, starting tomorrow. NaNoWriMo normally takes place in November, but the challenge also exists in July with a few looser rules, so I thought it would be a great place to start.

I'll be completely honest, I'm a bit scared. Diving into a novel about a story that I hold very close to my heart and forcing myself to continue it, however hard or painful it may be. But that's one of the greatest skills you can have, right? Becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable. It's what I've been trained to do as an actress for over 10 years and now I'm finally realizing what it means for me.

This novel is my child. The story of Georgia Nichols is very much a personal journey for me and though I'm not sure how much I'm going to really end up sharing with the people around me, I'm excited to share this journey with everyone nonetheless. It's wonderful to find such an amazing online community participating in Camp NaNoWriMo and I'm so excited to take the plunge.

So, here I go. I've got my laptop open to Scrivener, my "No Plot, No Problem!" kit, and a full java chip frappuccino. Let the 50,000-word long journey begin.