Hey there. Have you heard what’s happening in November?

It’s that time again.

No, not American Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

Every year it’s time to grab a pencil and a notebook, a computer, a tablet. Whatever you like to use for writing. It’s time to put some major words on the pages. The goal of the month is 50,000 words.

A pantser by nature, this past month I decided to try a little preparing. I took four workshops. Oh, I forgot I like to take workshops. All types of neat things are offered to help with writing. Whether it’s improving writing skills or some special techniques for murder. Yes, murder. Murder because I write suspense with romance tangled inside it.

Back to the workshops. This month, October, there were two offered on NaNo Prep. Surprise. I did learn some tricks to help me create a story. In the past, I always researched, maybe, a few facts, some names and started writing. This year I had the idea for the story. The research for the basis of the story, the main characters and a general idea for what might happen.

Thanks to the workshops, I now have a villain profile. Along with character details for the hero and heroine, and even what happens to the villain. The one exercise that stumped me was how many chapters and what would happen in each one. I can’t see that until I sit down and begin to write. Because the only complete book I have is still in rough draft. Make that half of a rough draft. A critique partner helped me with the first parts. The ending is all in one huge chapter and the entire story runs over 103,000 words. I started the book for NaNo 2012, and ended the month with over 75,000 words and an incomplete story. That didn’t stop me. I kept going at it pushing for an ending. Then last year in June (2014), I talked to someone about the basic idea of the story. She told me with her accurate knowledge it wouldn’t happen that way. Stumped, I sat staring at the computer. Then I asked some more questions. She answered them.

That sent me to rewriting the story. The same basic idea but a different villain and plan for what was happening to the hero and his friends.  It took me about a year to rewrite this and it’s still not ready for pitching or submission somewhere yet.

This year I hope to have 100,000 words in rough draft with an ending. Yes, it will still be rough. However, I think it will be a better rough draft with less rambling and wandering off into different directions. There’s no guarantee though.

What I am saying here is come join in the fun. When you sign up, you post a summary of your idea for your novel and make some new friends online. You cheer each other on; you can contribute to a charitable cause—The Office of Letters and Light, if you so desire. You can buy cool things like t-shirts that celebrate your win. None of these is required.

Here’s the link to check it out: http://nanowrimo.org/

How much fun is it as a writer to join people all around the world to write for thirty days?

You could have a bright shiny new novel to play with.

Give it a whirl and see who you know that’s trying it. You can create buddy lists. Some groups create chat rooms for writing sprints.

I’m on there as Kathy Crouch. Look for me if you decide to join in for thirty days of wild fun and madness.

kcr2696439@aol.com
Kathy w/a C. K. Crouch
ckcrouch.com