Single Sashimi Blog Tour: Camy on NaNoWriMo

Single SashimiIt’s not often you find an author who blogs a lot, and it’s also not often you find an author who gives away tons of books and guests on ther blogs. Which is why I’m very, very honored to have one of my new favorite authors, Camy, over today to talk about one event that is coming up and we’re all very excited about. :D

Pounding Out a Manuscript, also known as NaNoWriMo

Hi there! Tina asked me to guest blog today about NaNoWriMo.

I LOVE NaNoWriMo. The original version of Only Uni, which at the time was titled “The Corinthian Rules,” was pounded out during a NaNoWriMo a few years ago.

Then, the published version of Only Uni (I kept only about 10% of the original “Corinthian Rules”) was pounded out at another NaNoWriMo a few years later.

Basically, NaNoWriMo rocks! Who knows how long it would have taken me to write those two manuscripts otherwise?

My biggest problem with my NaNo manuscript is plotting it before the month of November. I am NOT a pantser, I am an anal retentive plotter, and I need to know everything that happens before I start writing.

So the prep time for NaNo is pretty extensive for me. Which can be a drag, because often it takes longer than I think it will.

I usually rely on a few tools in my arsenal:

“The Snowflake Method” by Randy Ingermanson
This article gives a really great method for plotting a book by starting large scale and getting more detailed. I often use this to write a synopsis for a story I’m proposing to my editor, but I also use this to lay the groundwork for my story structure.

45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt
I use this book to help me figure out archetypes for my characters, then I turn the archetypes on their heads to make the characters interesting. I also use the Heroine’s Journey in this book when I’m writing a chick lit.

Psychology for Screenwriters by William Indick
I use this book primarily for the Hero’s Journey, but I also like his breakdown of psychology to help make characters resonate with readers. This is not an easy book to read, so I usually only list it in case someone is daring, but I found it fascinating and it really helped me to make believable, well-rounded characters.

Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain
Most people find this book hard to read because he’s a bit wordy, but his advice is just dead on when helping writers to craft the most vivid story they can. His focus is on popular fiction, which I love, because not many books out there actually focus on popular fiction—they often try to cover more literary fiction or the stuff you read in your college English courses, as well as popular fiction, and they’re just different animals. I reread this book to refresh my mind on what to remember as I structure my story.

I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing for NaNoWriMo this year. The third book in my Sushi series, Single Sashimi, just released, and I have been planning on offering the fourth story in the series as a free novella ebook download for members of my newsletter YahooGroup.

But if that’s the case, I need to get cracking on it! Plus, a novella is typically only 25,000 words, while NaNo is 50,000. So I might be cheating a little and completing only a novella this year, but it’s still fun, whether I make it or not!

Thanks for letting me guest blog, Tina!
Camy

Camy TangCamy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. She used to be a biologist, but now she is a staff worker for her church youth group and leads a worship team for Sunday service. She also runs the Story Sensei fiction critique service. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels every Monday and Thursday, and she ponders frivolous things like dumb dogs (namely, hers), coffee-geek husbands (no resemblance to her own…), the writing journey, Asiana, and anything else that comes to mind. Visit her website at http://www.camytang.com/ for a huge website contest going on right now, giving away ten boxes of books and 30 copies of her latest release, SINGLE SASHIMI.

9 thoughts on “Single Sashimi Blog Tour: Camy on NaNoWriMo”

  1. An good post. I’m in awe of authors who try to kill themselves for NaNoWriMo. I don’t think I’d ever find time nor dedication to write a novel in a month. I take forever.

    I loved the advice of the books. Useful stuff.

    All the best with NaNoWriMo.

    Anthony

  2. Thanks, Anthony!

    Thanks for letting me guestblog, Tina! I’ve figured out what I’m writing for NaNoWriMo–the contemporary romance I was just contracted on from Zondervan. It’s about a dog trainer–got to put the six rounds of dog training we had to go to to good use! LOL

    Camy

  3. Hey TINA,

    Wow, CAMY as a guest writer here! That’s awesome; that’s in the dream come true category for you huh? Good luck to you both on your projects next month.

    Once again I haven’t prepared to do it myself, but I am going to start feeding more energies and thoughts to a project I’m thinking about starting. I’ll keep you posted.

    Keep up the good work.

    TED

  4. Tina
    i’m a huge fan of nanowrimo. i wrote my first novel (a romance set in a fantasy world) for my kids in 2005, and did a contemp. romance last year. i think it’s one of the best ways to get started with writing because you have to shove your internal editor aside and just write. i’m one of those crazy people who hits 50K by the 17th of the month! i think other nano-ers hate me. oh well.

    michelle

  5. Hi Anthony!

    Thanks for visiting my blog (and commenting on one of my entries for Bitesized Fiction). NaNoWriMo is always been a fun time for me, as it’s really the only time I actually sit down and write. :D Can’t wait for it to start!

  6. Hi Ted!

    I know! :D Come on and join us with NaNo! It might be the thing you need to get you started with your project. :) But do keep me posted with what you’re planning, I’d love to hear what it’s about. :)

  7. Hi Michelle!

    Thanks for visiting my blog. I love NaNoWriMo too. Everything just seems so magical during November for some reason, and my brain is extra receptive to ideas that are just around me during the month, which makes me want to write even more. :)

    I think the earliest I’ve gotten to 50k is around…November 20, for 2006. It pays to have a talkative main character. :D

Comments are closed.