Picture Book Idea Month

You can say it. It's okay. I know.


I am crazy.


I am always starting new things when I have entirely too much to do in the first place. 


In the midst of starting a new job and planning Book Fair back in September/October, I signed up for two online classes.


Now, I signed on for Picture Book Idea Month. It's sort of like National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) where writers work for 30 days to write 50,000 words. (I did it in 2009 - follow the link if you want to know more). This time the goal is to come up with 30 picture book ideas in 30 days.


I love picture books. In fact, November is Picture Book Month, so the timing is perfect. I don't know if I'll come up 30, but I like the idea of giving it a try. And the resources and camaraderie online is fun.


If you want to join me, click the PiBoIdMo badge on the right hand side of my blog and check out the blog there - guest bloggers, prizes, and more.


So, do you have a favorite picture book?

Dedication

One of my favorite writing resources is Christina Katz, the Writer Mama. She has authored two books - The Writer Mama and Get Known Before the Book Deal. She is a blogger who recently merged several blogs and newsletters into one.

In her January issue of her newsletter, "The Prosperous Writer," Christina asked, "Who do you dedicate your writing to in 2010?" Fascinating question. I never really thought about this. I generally write for me. That is probably one of the reasons that I don't submit my writing to anyone other than my writing mentor.

The more I thought about this, the more I realized I wanted to dedicate my writing in 2010 to my son. When I signed up for NaNoWriMo last November and endeavored to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, my seven-year-old was skeptical. When I finished, he said, "I knew you might do it." Resounding support, huh? But I would like him to see me push forward and keep making progress on this writing dream of mine. I would like him to see me work at something and have it pay off over time. I would like him to see me model perseverance, which is something we talk to him about quite a bit.

So, I dedicate my writing, and my writing goals and aspirations in 2010 to my son. May he see me work and follow through and not give up and take risks this year.

More on NaNoWriMo

If writing a 50,000 word novel in the month of November wasn't enough, here are more writing opportunities throughout the year. This was originally published on the NaNoWriMo site here.

NaNoFiMo.org - National Novel Finishing Month (December). Goal: 30,000 words.

FAWM - February Album Writing Month (February). Goal: Write 14 original songs in a month.

NaNoEdMo - National Novel Editing Month (March). Goal: Commit to 50 hours of novel editing.

Script Frenzy - NaNoWriMo's sister challenge (April). Goal: Write a 100-page screenplay or stage play in April.

RePoWriMo - Refrigerator Poetry Writing Month (April). Goal: Write poetry using only refrigerator poetry magnets.

NEPMo - National Epic Poetry Month (May). Goal: Write 5,000 lines epic poem in May.

SoCNoC - Southern Cross Novel Challenge (June). Goal: Write 50,000 words of fiction.

WriDaNoJu - Write a D*** Novel in June (June). Goal: Write 50K in the 30 days of June. It's perfectly situated six months from November so you have optimum time to prepare for WriDaNoJu and NaNoWriMo.

SoFoBoMo - Solo Photo Book Month (Between May first and June 31). Goal: Create a solo photo book within 31 days.

JulNoWriMo - July Novel Writing Month (July). Goal: 50,000 words for a new or unfinished manuscript.

24 Hour Comics Day - (Changes annually, lasts 24 hours). Goal: Draw a 24-page comic in one 24-hour period.

48 Hour Film Project - (Varies; operates via tours around the USA, lasts 48 hours). Goal: Create a short film in 48 hours.

Book in a Week - (Begins on the Monday of the first full week of each month, lasts one week). Goal: Write a novel.

April Fool's - (April). Goal: Set a word-count goal for yourself and fulfill it by the end of the month.

AugNoWriMo - August Novel Writing Month (August). Goal: Write a novel in one month.

3-Day Novel Contest - (September). Goal: Write a novel in three days. They've been doing this since 1977. So cool!

SeptNoWriMo - September Novel Writing Month (September). Goal: Set a word-count goal and edit, write, or edit and write throughout the month of September!

NaPlWriMo - National Playwriting Month (November). Goal: Write a play in one month.

NaBloPoMo - National Blog Posting Month (Year-Round). Goal: Post every day for a month.

WriYe - (Year-Round). Goal: Set a word-count goal for the year and work towards it between January 1 and December 31.

NaNoWriMo is finished

As I said on Saturday, I did it. I wrote 50,000+ words on one story in less than 30 days. It was crazy and fun and frustrating and exhilarating all at the same time. In the span of 8 days I went from completely stuck and contemplating quitting to finished.

Is it a great story? No. It has a lot of dead spots that weren't all that exciting to write and I am afraid they will be even more dreadful to read. But there are moments that I really got lost in the story. I am hoping when I revisit those spots, I will still feel that way.

What's next?
1) Nothing, at least as far as this story goes. I have had a couple ideas of how to make it into a real novel - a way to cut out the dead spots and to beef it up to a word count that would work for an actual novel. I want to get those ideas down on paper and then walk away. I have some other writing projects I would like to work on between now and the end of the year, along with enjoying the holiday/birthday season around here.

2) Read it - in January. I will read through it once and see what I think.

3) Type and revise/edit. I tried not to do too much editing. I might have fixed something that was glaringly off base for something I wrote later, but I only did something with it if I could fix it with a different word or two. I did insert some dialogue or draw some arrows to move thoughts around. But it will need a lot more help. As I said before, some of my conflicts aren't big enough. In life I prefer to avoid conflict when I can, but I have realized that even though it makes me uncomfortable, it is a necessary part of an interesting story. Also, if I go ahead with the changes I have been thinking about, it will mean a complete overhaul of this story and a lot more writing. We'll have to wait and see.

So, that's it. A quick summary of my journey to write 50,000 words in a month. We'll have to see what the next year holds to see if I am going to do it again in 2010. I'm not opposed to it, but I am not ready to commit again to the craziness just yet.

NaNoWriMo Update

Well, it is almost the end of November. I technically have today, tomorrow and Monday to finish this thing. I should be pretty close to the 50,000 word mark. Am I?

Drum roll, please....

50,154. I am finished. It is after midnight when I am typing this, even though it won't post until 10am. I have a lot of feelings about this, but the words aren't very coherent right now. I said to my husband when I was done that this is probably one of the most ridiculous things I have ever done. But at the same time it is also one of the coolest.

I will compose my thoughts a little more and give a final report on Tuesday. Until then, off to bed and then back to life.

NaNoWriMo Update

To stay on track with my goal of writing a 50,000 word novel by the end of November, I should be at approximately 37,500 words today.

Drum roll, please....

29,525. I am seriously short. I had two days of subbing this week and one day of household chores (the laundry had really, really piled up!). At least two of those days, I still met my daily goal. That left me two days "to write." On one of those, I knocked out almost 5000 words. On the other, maybe 200. (I had a migraine that drove me from my writing straight back to bed.)

Scheduling excuses aside, my novel has some problems which is making it hard to write.
1) My conflicts aren't big enough. I am trying to write a huge, turning point kind of conflict, but I haven't given myself enough to work with. It is hard to go back and fix that, so I feel stuck.

2) I have wanted to do something unusual - something outrageous to just get the story moving, but I can't come up with anything.

It is tempting to pack up my 29,525 words and go home. I miss my regular life. I don't read, but I have a bag of library books calling to me. I have another bag full of writing club projects from my students at school that I need - and want - to read and assess by the end of the holiday weekend. Last night, I watched a movie with my husband - actually watched it rather than half-watching while I wrote. It was nice.

At the same time, I am not a quitter. I have 10 days to go - that's about 2000 words a day. Completely doable in scope, if I could just come up with some idea of how to move forward. It would be one thing to be 10,000 words behind on the last day. I would call it good and move forward, but I am not willing to just stop here.

If you have any ideas of crazy things I can do in my story, send them to me! I am open to suggestions.

Writing by Hand

I mentioned on Saturday that I am writing my story for NaNoWriMo by hand. I have a one-subject, wide-ruled spiral notebook that I am using, and this last weekend I picked up two more to keep the story going as the first is almost full.

The first Sunday of NaNo, I met with other writers at the local library. One was making notes and outlines in a small notebook. The other three had computers. I planned to start in my notebook just because it was Sunday and my husband had the computer for his Fantasy Football tracking. It is a Sunday tradition. Besides, I prefer to draft by hand. So, I pulled my neon-green notebook out of my purse and one of the other writers said something like, "Oh... you're going to write by hand?"

It made me a little self-conscious, especially since the question was raised by a teen-ager who had a small pile of his first novel sitting next to him. But as the afternoon went on, I scribbled away, happily, in my notebook. And when I did a word count at home, it turned out that I had written more in my notebook while I was there than the computing folks had in the same amount of time.

I have discovered that writing by hand is actually the most convenient method for me. My notebook fits comfortably in my cavernous purse, so I can have it with me wherever I go - a coffee shop to write, school when I have a break while subbing, or in the pick up line while waiting for my son.

Not only is it wonderfully portable, but I love the feel of the pen on paper as I try to record the things I see or hear in my head when I write. I love being able to draw arrows and scribble something out and then decide I want to keep it - and I can! Drafting and editing/revision by hand has always worked well for me.

Anyway, I read recently that writing by hand can be better for the writing process. I found a few sites that talk about it. This one is a short article. This one includes an interview with a writer who has written about creative writing. My favorite part is where the writer talks about student writing samples and the difference between those who draft on paper and those who draft on the computer. Finally, I found this one that talks about one particular student who was struggling with writing. Check it out and find out the difference for this student in the pieces she wrote by hand and the ones she did on the computer.

NaNoWriMo Update

To stay on track with my goal of writing a 50,000 word novel by the end of November, I should be at approximately 25,000 words by the end of today. Wow, that is a lot of words! Let's see how I am doing. Drum roll, please....

As of this morning, I am at 18,914 words.

That is 6,000 words short - a lot of words to write in one day to get to 25,000. Probably not going to make it by the end of today. But here are my thoughts so far about this endeavor.

1) I don't think I have ever written this many words in one creative project before. One unit of curriculum has four or five lessons in it. A four-lesson unit I wrote for 2007 came to almost 11,000 words. Maybe a policy manual that I wrote in my last full time job might have come close, but I don't think so. And 18,000 words of fiction? I am feeling pretty empowered by the effort and my progress so far.

2) I saw an email about a short story contest this week, and for the first time ever, I didn't delete it outright. Why? Because I am actually writing a story. It is no where near ready for submission, but I am 18,000+ words closer than I was 2 weeks ago.

3) The idea of NaNoWriMo is to just write. To save editing and revising and research for December. Even if I have to write three pages describing the room the character is in - or make things up about something I need to research later, just to keep the pen (yes, pen - but that is a topic for another blog entry) moving while my brain catches up is okay, even though I know those pages will never survive a round of editing. I write things and think, "That's lame" or "This is so dull, no publisher would ever want to publish this." But those things aren't the point. The point is the word count. The point is setting a goal and finishing it. The point is to just write and write and write.

And that's what I am doing.

NaNoWriMo Update

To stay on track with my goal of writing a 50,000 word novel by the end of November, I should be at approximately 12,500 words by the end of today.

Drum roll, please....

As of this morning, I am at 10,384 words.

I can't believe it. I don't think of myself as a fiction writer. Non-fiction comes more naturally to me. But I am enjoying this process. I struggle at times with the idea of not fixing the things I don't like. I keep telling myself "December is for revising and editing. December is for revising and editing." I don't like some of my character names and I realize I am leaving out some details that would round out scenes. I try to just make notes and move forward. I know I am going to hit a wall some time soon and I want to have as many words as possible written before that happens. I may or may not make it to 50,000 by November 30th, but one week in I feel like the effort has been a great learning and growing experience so far!

For today, though, we are visiting with family and I have 2200 words to finish to hit my goal by bed time tonight. I don't think I can top Friday's word count of 4,325 (thanks to the three hours my husband gave me to write at Panera while he did the parenting), but I at least want to get to that 12,500 mark. Here's hoping for a productive writing day for all the NaNos out there!

NaNoWriMo

I am taking the plunge this year. I thought about doing it last year and then determined I was too busy. But this is the year I try National Novel Writing Month. Crazy, huh? The idea is to compose a 50,000 word novel - from start to finish - in the month of November. Over 100,000 people are signed up to give it a try this year, and I am one of them. I started writing on Sunday and plan to put an update here every Saturday to track how it is going. If I am staying on track, I should be at around 12,500 words by Saturday. We shall see....