Camp NaNoWriMo

Camp NaNo Update Day #11

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To coin a phrase, when it comes to POV, “The struggle is real!”

POV or Point of View is the angle of considering things, which shows us the opinion or feelings of the individuals involved in a situation. In literature, point of view is the mode of narration that an author employs to let the readers “hear” and “see” what takes place in a story.

Who’s telling the story? Whose point of view will bring the reader into the story?

The wrong—or too many—points of view can confuse, annoy, or bore a reader to tears… and lead them to walk away from a book.

There are four primary POV types in fiction:

  • First person point of view. First person is when “I” am telling the story. …
  • Second person point of view. The story is told to “you.” …
  • Third person point of view, limited. The story is about “he” or “she.” …
  • Third person point of view, omniscient.

Sounds pretty straightforward, right?

When it’s successful, readers won’t notice. The story flows. They’re seeing the plot unwind through the protagonist’s eyes or rotate between characters or the unseen narrator.

When it’s not successful?

“Houston, we have a problem.”

If the point of view isn’t clear, the story isn’t clear.

Who’s talking? When did they get here? What are they talking about?

Confused POV can lead to head-hopping.

What is head-hopping? Technically, it’s having more than one POV in a scene.

I emphasize technically because authors will argue vehemently in favor of or against it. Some say it depends on the genre, while others say it’s the trope, and still, others say don’t do it at all.

I like third person, omniscient because I can avoid most of the confusion… and because I’m nosy and want to know what everyone is seeing, thinking, and feeling. But even that can bring problems if the writer lapses and writes what they’re thinking instead of their character. The third person narrative becomes first person and readers are like, “Wait, what happened?”

Or maybe that’s just me.

I’m trying something different (for me) with Sins of the Mother.  It feels right so far. But then, no one has read the NaNo version except me.

Guess I’ll be sharing excerpts soon.

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Day 11 word count – 21,309

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©2018 Felicia Denise, All Rights Reserved

Camp NaNo Update Day #10

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I come across a good post about writing schedules almost daily. Many authors and bloggers have unique and precise methods of ensuring time is allotted daily for writing.

My writing schedule looks like a casual suggestion.

Don’t get me wrong, I write something every day… at some point. The schedule part? That’s tricky.

I’m not disciplined enough to say, “I must write,” then sit down and do it.

If it’s editing or revising—words already written—I’m all in.

New dialogues and scenes? It’s complicated.

My stories are character-driven and if characters aren’t talking, I’m not writing.

However, that is not the case during NaNoWriMo/Camp NaNoWriMo, or any writing challenge.

For thirty days I write at the same time everyday, almost always exceeding my word count goal, then move on to something else.

First day after the challenge ends, I’m back to pencil-tapping and scrolling through Twitter.

It’s obvious I need supervision.

Writing challenges have deadlines not imposed by me.

To succeed, I have to play by guidelines not imposed by me.

See a pattern forming here?

I need accountability… and not to myself. I’ll blow me off faster than anyone.

Guess it’s a good thing for folks like me NaNoWriMo recently announced they’re launching an updated website later this year which includes YEAR-ROUND writing support.

This is a good thing. Perhaps I’ll actually adapt to a writing schedule which lasts longer than thirty days.

Anything is possible.

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Day 10 word count – 17,281

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©2018 Felicia Denise, All Rights Reserved

Camp NaNo Update Day #9

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NaNoWriMo/Camp NaNoWriMo has very few rules.

The goal is to write, write, write and get that book, blog project, or screenplay out of your head and on to paper. It doesn’t have to be perfect because the first draft never is.

That being said, NaNo’s most famous rule is no editing.

Editing takes time and patience. Time can be lost while a writer searches for the perfect phasing or a different way to describe bad breath.

The focus on the writing is gone. Frustration levels are high. Goals are not met.

That’s why NaNo encourages writers to turn off their inner editor. Bound and gag them and toss them in the proverbial closet. Send them on a virtual vacation…. whatever it takes to not edit during the writing challenge.

It’s difficult in the beginning. When writers see those read squiggly or double blue lines, our brain tells us to fix it. But the minute we get involved in editing, we’ve abandoned the writing.

Example: The word that is misspelled as thst. You go back to correct it but then get confused. Should it be that or which? Which is it? By the time you find the definitions you’re looking for in your jumbled writing notes, you’re tired and annoyed and walk away from your WIP.

Writing time gone.

By my second challenge, I’d gotten quite skilled at not editing during the month. I remember my April 2017 Camp Nano WIP was a hot mess as far as errors go. There were so many red squiggly and double blue lines on the white background, my smart-ass son would peer over my shoulder and salute it. (He’s no longer allowed to visit during writing challenges)

So as much as I believe in the no editing rule during Camp NaNo I am actually editing while writing this time.

Calm down.

I am adding to an existing WIP, right? Meaning I am cutting some scenes and extending others.

How could I not edit as I go?

Because another Nano rule-of-thumb I follow is to put the WIP away at the end of the challenge for at least a month. If I didn’t edit and make changes NOW once I go back to the WIP it would take me another year to figure out what the heck was going on.

And I don’t need that kind of stress in my life. I’m married and I have a dog. Isn’t that enough?

😀

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Day 9 word count – 17341

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Want to see where this WIP came from?

The Devil You Know

©2018 Felicia Denise, All Rights Reserved

Camp NaNo Update #8

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Reading time – 1 min, 10 sec.

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Character development—or lack of—can make or break any story.

And just as the protagonist must be fleshed out so does the antagonist.

We may or may not like the antagonist.

They could be truly evil, intent on destroying the very fiber of goodness.

Or their actions could be a defense mechanism in place because of a tortured past or traumatic event.

It doesn’t matter. They’re standing in the way of the protagonist’s HEA or causing them harm, so someone must deal them with.

But shouldn’t we know at least some of what is driving them?

No one wants to destroy good just for the hell of it. I mean… it’s good! Doesn’t everyone like good? What happened to our character to make good bad for them? What was the trauma that built a wall around them? Were they betrayed by some they trusted? Loved?

I addressed some of these things with the villain in Sins of the Mother. I didn’t have the time or opportunity to go too deep with him, but I found out about his history. While I may not understand why he commits the crimes he does, I believe I understand how he got that way.

And I want to save him.

But much like Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Erik in The Phantom of the Opera, the fate of my antagonist is sealed from birth. While he doesn’t have a physical or facial deformity, his soul is deformed and his mind, fractured. By the time I meet him, he is unredeemable.

I have to let go and allow him to play his part in my protagonist’s journey.

But I don’t have to like it.

 

©2018 Felicia Denise, All Rights Reserved

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Day 8 word count – 16101

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Camp NaNo Update #7

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Camp NaNoWriMo’s week one is done and gone!

How did you do?

I’m happy with where I’ve landed, just still in shock I’m writing suspense. Wasn’t I supposed to be writing romance? Well, that never happened.

Check out the board! I’ve got Act 2:1 completed!

SOTM Outline Acts

Act 2:1 is the most difficult because that’s where all the mystery and unknown elements leave everyone scratching their heads. (Me, included!)

That’s not saying Act 2:2 will be a piece of cake but thank goodness for revisions!

Remember, this began as a piece of flash fiction back in March, And, YES, I know… 41K is not considered flash fiction anywhere in the cosmos. The story kept growing and growing, and when I said, “I don’t want to do this anymore,” the characters grabbed me and said, “Oh, you’re doing it!”

What? Your characters don’t talk to you?

Weird.

Okay! Last Sunday I posted the working cover for Sins of the Mother—this week, the synopsis!

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A serial rapist is terrorizing Marbury, his victims all elderly women over seventy.

With her husband off on a business trip, fifty-three-year-old Sally Bennett is home alone, making plans for their wedding anniversary bash.

That is until the former Army medic has to fill in for a coworker at Angels Assist Care Agency and spend the night with a seventy-year-old client, Graciela Ramirez.

Gary Sievers is seething with rage—fifty years’ worth.

At last free of the monster who kept him imprisoned since birth, Gary sets out into a world he’s seen only through the Internet, allowing his anger to spill free a little at a time.

He’s invisible to the world, his existence known about by only a handful and most of them are long since dead. But his crimes are growing… and making headlines.

Gary wants the life stolen from him, he wants to find the twin brother he never knew existed, and he wants revenge on the woman responsible for it all.

The captive has become the monster looking for his own twisted brand of justice.

©2018 Felicia Denise, All Rights Reserved.

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FYI—I wrote the synopsis about ten days before Camp Nano began and it has since changed but I’m not rewriting it… yet.

Next week, an excerpt!

Have a great week two! Happy writing!

Day 7 word count – 14461

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Camp NaNo Update #6

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I knew it was going to happen, just not this soon.

There’s always a character I didn’t plan on… or even knew, who shows up and plants themselves in the story.

This time, there were TWO and they couldn’t be more different.

A nineteen-year-old girl and an old man in his eighties.

Don’t quote me on this but the girl might be a ghost.

The old dude is just plain ornery… and a criminal.

What’s bizarre is how well they fit into the story. Which means someone else needs to leave. It’s getting crowded in Marbury, Pennsylvania.

Geeze, do I have to commit another murder?

Stay tuned.

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The first week of Camp NaNoWriMo is coming to an end. It’s been a good week. Looking forward to next week. I’m dying to know how some problems get resolved!

Day 6 word count – 12, 050.

Camp NaNo Update #5

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Plot twists are funny.

I was in a writing group with a guy who methodically planned out every nuance of his WIP… especially the plot twists.

Sometimes, they worked. Still looking forward to reading his space opera.

He knew plot twists and I were strangers who ran into each other at the coffee shop in the wee hours of the night so I was used to his teasing emails and messages of, “Got plot twist?”

Because my response was always, “Nope”, until it wasn’t.

So, when I stumbled out of bed, scribbling on a pad like a crazy woman, the mister was like, “Let me guess… you found your plot twist?”

Oh, yeah!

And the plot thickens!

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Day 5 – 1771 additional words added to current WIP (Sins of the Mother).

Camp NaNo Update #4

Camp NaNo Update 4

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As I said in my #MondayBlog, Sins of the Mother started out as a flash piece for the #52weeks52stories writing challenge.

Since the posts are weekly and done from word prompts, there’s very little outlining done beyond a story sketch for continuity.

Protagonist Sally Bennett is the generic every-woman. Loving wife and mother. Dedicated employee. Compassionate and caring friend.

She’s so sweet she makes my teeth ring.

Yet, every week as this story unfolded, I couldn’t find a way to pour a little vinegar on her. After all, she was attacked and almost killed… by her husband.

Or was it him?

Since the attack, she’s passed out three times, thrown up three times, and been hospitalized.

As this mutated piece of flash makes the journey to novel-form, Sally’s suffering gets edgier as she tires of being the victim.

Lead detective, Gavin Marks, already has his hands full with the serial rapist case. He has no leads and no ideas which way to proceed.

Now an unidentified dead body has been added to his caseload, and it came with no clues.

This doesn’t sit well with the former military investigator and decorated officer. He shuns giving orders from his office in favor of being an active member of the investigation.

Gavin only wishes they knew what they are investigating.

The attack on Sally and the rapist terrorizing Marbury—are they connected? The lack of information will lead Gavin and his team in a direction no one could have predicted.

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I’m having fun with this WIP.

Except for the murderer.

I feel bad for him. Kind of.

But is he also the serial rapist?

When I find out I’ll let you know.

Camp NaNo Update #3

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WriMos have more in common than, well… just being WriMos.

Regardless of whether writing goals are met in the first ten days; metered out over the month, or never met, challenge participants have to do more than simply write.

We have lives to live.

Work or school, spouses, partners, and children, health issues and caregiver responsibilities, and yes, even pets require our time and attention. As much as we may want to bury our heads in our WIPs… it ain’t happening.

NaNo organizers send out the first emails early telling WriMos to get organized and find the best writing tools… and snacks.

We’re told to clear our calendars of all major distractions, send our inner editors on vacation… or lock them in the proverbial closet, and get ready to write, sprint, write!

Because it’s just that easy… only not.

July and November have the distinction of including two major U.S. holidays—Independence Day and Thanksgiving—and even in years when Easter Sunday occurs in March, everyone from pre-schoolers to PhD candidates will celebrate the one-week-to ten-day break from studies in the U.S. known as Spring Break at some point during the month of April.

But NaNoWriMo is a global event.

So while some WriMos may not be concerned with cookouts, roasted turkeys, or trying to get to the nearest beach or amusement park, they’re still living lives which come with a laundry list of things which can pull them away from writing.

Water heaters break. Cars won’t start. Children need their parents. Out-of-town guests show up unexpectedly. Friends extend dinner invites. Writers get sick.

Life will get its time, one way or another.

And don’t we want it to? Isn’t that what being a writer is all about? Doesn’t the total sum of our experiences make us who we are?

True distractions? Maybe. Necessary? Definitely.

What are we writing about if we’re not living? How can we create our best work if our minds are only focused on creating our best work?

There’s a quote which says all a writer needs to do is sit down and write. However, before you can write, you need to live.

Our two oldest are in town for the rest of the week. We’ve already decided no one is standing out in one-hundred-and-five-degree heat just to flip burgers, but their list of movies to watch is massive and full of action movies… my weakness. Thank God I’m already over word count because I’m going to be distracted by family movie time… and the jokes, stories, food and laughter that go along with it.

I hope you’re distracted this month too.

Let’s be clear here—four hours on Twitter or three hours playing Call of Duty is not a distraction, it’s procrastination and you should be writing! 😀

 

Camp NaNo Update #2

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Who knew anger was inspiring?

After a hectic morning or errands and busy work, it was after one in the afternoon before I sat down at my desk.

I figured I’d have to work well into the evening… and possibly night to make decent progress on my WIP so I decided to make the social network rounds while checking my email.

Everything was fine until I opened that email.

I saw red. I saw stars, and I’m sure my blood pressure spiked.

What someone saw as a simple request to me was nerve, gall…the audacity of the millennium! Excuse me, I wasn’t aware you are the center of the universe!

Before I could respond with an epic verbal smack-down, I said goodbye to a couple of friends I’d been chatting with, turned on my Internet blocker and pulled up my WIP.

I pulled out an existing 2-scene one-thousand word section with the intention of rewriting it as one scene.

That’s not what happened.

But the time I looked up five hours later, I had re-written the scenes…but I’d added four more scenes and nearly five-thousand words.

I was also almost at the midpoint of the story.

On day two.

Because I got mad.

Now I’m laughing at myself.

Anger is not healthy and I try to avoid it whenever possible. But, it happens to us all. At least now I know instead of fuming and ranting and raving, I can benefit from it by channeling it into something which results in a positive outcome.

Like writing.

 

©2018 Felicia Denise, All Rights Reserved