Pre-NaNo Update

I am excited for NaNoWriMo. 

I'm sort of dreading it, I'm really overwhelmed by it, and it's definitely scaring me. But with all of that, I'm incredibly excited. 

October has been a veeeeeeeery slow writing month for me, which has been frustrating. Last month was extremely productive, and I suppose I just assumed that the productivity would carry over into this month. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I don't know that I've even written five chapters of my WIP this month. My goal of finishing before NaNo is utterly impossible at this point, but that's okay.

I've been learning lately that it's good to set goals. That it's important to work your butt off to achieve those goals. But perhaps it is necessary also to be okay when we do not reach those goals. It's okay to let our goals morph into other goals when they become unrealistic. And the most important of all is not to beat ourselves up over it, because that will get us nowhere. I'm finding that we can let the disappointment of not reaching a goal fuel the excitement of meeting the next goal. 

Additionally, I've been praying a lot that God would help me be productive. It's taken me seventeen and a half years to realize that I can't do it on my own. 

Seventeen and a half. I'll be seventeen and a half, officially, on October 24. How odd is that. On October 25, I'll be closer to my eighteenth birthday than to my seventeenth birthday. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Speaking of growing up things, many of you know that I applied to NET ministries. Last week, I got a phone call telling me that I'm invited to come to an interview weekend! It's a good thing I wasn't able to answer the phone and had to listen to the message, because my reaction may have got me uninvited....blubbering and screaming and the like. That will be in February, so please keep me in your prayers! 

Also, this is weird, but my brother Dominic and I have become obsessed with this local classical radio station. Right now, they're having a fundraiser thing, and we literally have it on all the time. The deejays have the most relaxing, almost hypnotic voices. They play the strangest array of music, not just classical...there is some electronic and...I honestly don't even know the other genres. A lot of it is really different and I've never even heard it before. I listen to classical music occasionally and greatly appreciate it, but don't typically chose to listen to it on my own, so I have no idea why I love it. I'm honestly so confused by why I'm so addicted to it.

That was probably the most irrelevant paragraph I've ever written (which is saying something), but I really felt that need to confess all that so y'all better just suck it up, buttercup. Irrelevancy is my thing. That is such a fun word. Say it. Irrelevancy. 

Back to NaNo. My outlines are ready, my pencils are sharp, and I've found a stellar pen. Not that the writing utensils matter so much, as I type out my books. But it's comforting to know, if I should need them, they're right near by. I rounded up a couple of writer friends to participate in a NaNo support group, and I'm really really really pumped about the ladies I'll be working with. I'll keep y'all posted on how the group goes.  

What have you guys been up to? How are my Wrimos feeling pre-November? 

October Appreciation Post: Socks, Writing, and Happy Birthday Month

Last night, I was at my church for an event and one lady who works there told me how cute I looked.

"Very fally," she said. "Really adorable."

Word art by moi

So what did I do? Proceed to rant about how much I love being able to wear socks again. I told her all about how I never wear socks in the summer and how I loved socks and it just felt so amazing to have my feet hugged again. As I neared the end of my rant, I started to realize how utterly weird I sounded and also that I was talking really loudly and people were listening. Oh, well. I'm a writer, I feel passionately about things. Things like...socks.

But seriously, last year for Christmas, I got a whole box full of the most amazing sweater socks and they are just so life changingly incredible. I'm joking. Not really.

Anyway.

October brings with it so many wonders (socks included). My mom always decorates our house so cute for fall, with little pumpkins and scarecrows and the works. The trees have finally started changing colors, slowly but surely. The sky is overcast and the temperature has dropped to the 50s. Homecoming drama is upon us. Thankfully, it hasn't touched me this year, which is refreshing.

October holds lots and lots of motivation for me. Motivation to wrap myself in my fleece sheets and sit in bed and drink hot cocoa all day long. Motivation to finally finish Lord of the Rings (I finally started reading it last month, totally in love). Motivation to be on Pinterest and read all of your blogs. Motivation to finish my novel.

Despite all the motivation this month is brimming with, I do not want to leave my house. At all. Unless it's to go for a walk or a hike...I cringe when I think of all my responsibilities. The world should just pause when it comes to October and stay paused for the rest of the year, with nobody allowed to leave their houses. All in favor?

October is also official unofficial NaNoWriMo prep month. I love seeing my Twitter feed be overrun by all y'all's prep posts. I'm SO PUMPED...but also low key dreading it.

I have yet to finish the novel I began last month, though I'm a little over halfway done. I really want to crank out as much writing before I graduate as I can, as I'm not exactly sure what next year will hold for me as far as writing opportunities are concerned. So I'm trying to squeeze in writing three novels. Kinda big for someone who took three years to complete her last book. (A book, I should mention, that needs to be completely rewritten.)

So the goal is for me to finish this book by the middle of this month, in time to speed-plan the next one. But we'll see how that goes...whatever happens, I know God's got it. Despite having large goals, I'm doing my best to just enjoy the ride. I'm really enjoying the novel that I'm working on now, and I'm trying to immerse myself in the moment rather than continually looking to whatever I have to do next.

October is also Respect Life Month. I like to look at it as one big birthday party month-- we're celebrating everyone's lives! Go thank your parents for giving you life! Also, I know lots of areas are doing things to stand up for people who don't have that right to life, whether it be babies in the womb or the elderly. If you can't participate in the events going on, be sure to not only be grateful for your own life, but also help make other people grateful for their lives by building up and affirming them.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone! And an absolutely wonderful October. Go drink some hot cocoa for me, and let me know what you're up to this month. OH! And add me as a buddy on NaNo...I'm schluetera656 on the YWP website and A.M. Schlueter on the regular site.

(ALSO...if you're a teen doing NaNo and would be interested in joining an email-based NaNo support group, please email me: 11anniem@gmail.com! Don't know about NaNo? Visit ywp.nanowrimo.org or nanowrimo.org.)

Busy, busy, BUSY!

It's been a while since I have written about writing! Perhaps my subconscious is still recovering from my writing themed A-Z Challenge. Let me let you in on what I have been up to.

My main project has been drafting TBN (which, obviously, still has yet to be named). I started September with the goal of finishing by the end of the month...not quite sure if that is going to happen. The month has been so hectic. I worked twenty-six hours last week, plus add school, other volunteering obligations, and family stuff...it's been insane. There have been a few mornings where I have woken up an hour or two early because the day was so full. 

But! The good news is, I'm just over half way done, so I have made quite a bit of progress. I have been enjoying this draft more than any other I've ever written. I've been told a million times to be okay with your first draft being crap, but I've never been able to actually believe it. For some reason, it's finally stuck this time around. 

I have been able to completely accept my draft as it is and plow forward, just putting words on paper. I'm not judging my writing, which is huge for me. I know that I can write better but also that my draft is how it needs to be for now. It's okay, and it will get better.

Life is super beautiful when we learn to let go, let God, and accept ourselves, completely and totally, flaws and all.

By the way, thank you so much to all of you who commented kindly on the poem I posted a few weeks ago! I was blown away by your sweetness.

I have been cranking out more poetry, slowly but surely. I really wish that I could put music to it and write songs, but alas, I'm not that talented. I'm pretty excited about this poem I've been working on, based on Song of Songs and the Gospels. Perhaps I'll post it when it's ready?

I just wrote two essays last night for my NET application (just one to go!), which launched me into a very reflective mood that I have yet to break out of. The topics were my faith story and how my relationship with God has changed me. They were actually surprisingly hard to write! But the Holy Spirit took care of me and they're thankfully done. The last one I have to write is on two ways I can improve in the way I relate to people which will be very short because I'm perfect. Joking. I should probably start writing now because I might not be done by the time I graduate...

I've been pondering doing NaNo this year. Because, you know, I will have just finished a draft in need of major edits and am working an average of 15 hours a week...oh, and plus, I have to put together a youth rally/retreat for my dad's ministry. Oh! And school, essays and reading! Plus college visits! So why not do NaNo?!?!?! My crazy is showing. 

There was only one year I was able to complete NaNo and it was absolutely awesome...and a long time ago. It's been five years since then, and I think it would be a great addition to my senior year. Also, I'm not sure when I'll be able to do it again. And I do have a story that I'm just itching to write...

Who else is doing NaNo? I was thinking about starting a teen NaNo support group via email. If you're interested, please leave your email in the comments below! Or shoot me an email: 11anniem@gmail.com.

What have you all been up to? Have a fabulous remainder of the week!

Lauren Oliver, You've Done it Again

I was 13 when I did NaNoWriMo for the first time. That was before I had ever read any Young Adult books, before I had ever finished a draft of any of my novels, before I began telling myself, "I want to be a published writer."

For those of you unfamiliar with Nano, they have a list of special pep-talks sent to the Wrimos (participants) by successful authors. Lauren Oliver was one of the pep-talkers the first year I ventured to do Nano. I really liked her pep-talk, so I decided to check out her books.

I was instantly hooked by Delirium. I remember lying on my bed, my eyes rapidly moving across page after page, devouring the words as quickly as possible to find out what would happen. Oh, geez, I wish I could go back to that first time I read the book. To be sure, I've re-read it multiple times, but there's something about the first time you read a book that you can never get back no matter how many times you re-read it.

Pandemonium was awesome, too. I didn't think it was as good as Delirium, but I honestly wasn't expecting it to be. That being said, I was not at all disappointed in it. It was still way better than most books. And that dang cliff hanger ending. . . even worst than the first=)

One thing I really like about Lauren Oliver is that her books aren't "video game books." That's what my dad calls books with action scene after scene. Even though her books are crazy exciting, Lauren knows how to write those mellow, everyday moments that everyone has. Though the Delirium trilogy takes place in the future, it is still so normal. People are still people, as they are today, and as they were a thousand years ago. People who are still making their way through life. People succeeding and failing, loving and hating, laughing and crying.

I just finished Requiem. As I closed the book, I was left with a strange array of emotions. The first one, I can't tell you, because it's a spoiler=) But after that feeling, I was like "Oh. My. Goodness. I just finished Delirium." The fact that I had finished the series made me want to cry more than the book actually did! And yes, my eyes did tear up multiple times while reading it. I was/am filled with a total awe of Lauren Oliver. She is such a talented writer who deserves all the attention and success that she is receiving and more.

Requiem was utterly beautiful. If there's one word that would describe the Delirium series, it's beautiful. So real, so honest, so soulful, so beautiful. Lauren Oliver, you've done it again. I hope someday I will be able to write as beautifully as you can.

(I would give the Delirium series a PG14 rating as a whole– probably PG13 for the first book, but PG14 for the last two. The books deal with some mature subject content, some language, and there is some sexual content.)

Beach Night

Sunday night, my dad took my siblings and I to the beach around sunset. It was so beautiful-- God truly gave us a beautiful earth. . . and me, a beautiful family.
AND. . . NaNoWriMo update! It is going really well, I think! I'm really liking my story (excerpts soon!). I am behind though, so please say a prayer for me!
Good luck and blessings to my wonderful fellow writers as we reach our mid-mark for the month!

NaNoWriMo

November 1st, 2012. (As of yesterday, when this was written=))

Wow. It's seriously November. 366 days (leap year!) have passed since the last November. Where has the time gone?!

With November comes All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day, End of 1st Quarter, Veterns' Day, Thanksgiving (along with my annual trip to Columbus, Ohio), as well as. . .*drum roll please*. . .NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH!!!!

Wow. WOW. It's already November. It's already time to write 50,000 words. It's already November 1st and I'm already freaking out . . . yay . . . it's going to be a looooong month. . .

But, honestly, I'm extremely excited=) I have ideas for my novel flooding my brain and I just can't write fast enough! I wasn't sure that I'd have time this year to do Nano, with school and all, but how could I not?! The opportunity to finish another draft of my novel isn't something I can easily pass up.

For those of you who are doing Nano, my young writers username is schluetera656 and my regular website username is sisofsix.

Good luck to my fellow writers during this crazy month! I'll try to post updates once a week, but we'll see how that goes=)

Ugh. Characters.

        My characters are hopelessly frustrating.

        I started my YA novel in November of 2011, which is probably the thousandth novel I’vestarted, but the only one I’ve finished a draft for. A pretty sweet victory in itself, but I didn’t havetime to celebrate. I was too busy trying to figure out my characters.

        If you think high school is dramatic, try writing a novel.

        My characters would simply not follow their outline. My main character, Kayleigh, wouldwander off and make new friends I had never even planned she meet. How dare she?! Andthen, she would just randomly go fall in love with some guy who definitely wasn’t anything likeher planned love interest.

         For example: In chapter three-ish, Kayleigh is supposed to have an uneventful flight toHawaii, where she will begin another spy mission. Supposed to. Yeah, that’s totally not whathappened. Kayleigh decided to switch seats right before the plane left and sat next to anincredibly good looking guy around her age. She found out his name was Ray, and he was alsotraveling to Honolulu. Oh, well, then guess what she did? She got his phone number.

         AN UNDERCOVER WOMAN IS NOT SUPPOSED TO FALL IN LOVE!!!

         Kayleigh did come crying to me a few weeks ago, begging me to take Ray out of thenovel. It turns out he was a total jerk and she found her relationship with him as pointless. (Iwish I could do that. “Hey, God, my relationship with him was totally pointless, can you make itlike I never met him?” Of course, a relationship could never be totally pointless, but its a coolidea.) I contemplated letting her live with her decision, but then said, “Good, finally. Now youcan realize what an amazing guy your real love interest is.”

         And then I realized her “real love interest” was also “unplanned.” He’s a guy who ismisunderstood and misunderstands, working for “the enemy.” When I began writing the story,they weren’t even supposed to end up together. And I had absolutely no idea how I was goingto get them together. But, hey, love seems to flourish when it’s most unwanted (that’s the wholeplot theme in Lauren Oliver’s Delirium-- check it out!). I mean, really-- Romeo and Juliet, Katnissand Peeta, etc. True examples of unlikely happily-ever-afters that happened.

       But yet, when a new love interest pops up on my page that is totally unplanned, I freakout. Even though it is the theme of my novel-- falling for danger. Wanting something dangerous,adventurous, not normal. After almost a year of writing, you’d think I would get the theme.

       I can be really thick sometimes.

       But I think I finally get the picture. Once you start writing, your characters will take you tonew circumstances that you could have never imagined on your own.