Let The Madness Begin

This is my literature blog! I'll probably ramble a lot about writing, and all of my NaNo adventures will be updated here. :) My Camp NaNoWriMo page is here! My NaNoWriMo page is here! April 2013 NaNo (4,893 / 50K) July 2013 NaNo (7,346 / 50K) November 2013 NaNo (6,473 / 50K)

[novelwhisperer]

Hali | 22 | They/Them I'm a part-time library page and full time struggling writer. Let's struggle...

I’m moving! Here’s the new writing blog :) <3

[penguinrandomhouse]

[A collection of best books of 2014 lists - we’ll be updating continuously as more lists come out!]

Adult Lists

Amazon’s Best Books of the Year: The Top 100 in Print

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Arts and Photography

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Audiobooks

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Biographies and Memoirs

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Business and Investing 

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Comics and Graphic Novels

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Cookbooks and Food Writing

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Crafts, Home, and Garden

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Digital Singles

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Fashion

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Gift Picks

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: History

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Humor and Entertainment

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Literature and Fiction

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense 

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Nonfiction

Amazon’s Best Books of 2013: Romance

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Science

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Science Fiction and Fantasy

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Short Stories

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Sports and Outdoors

Hudson Booksellers’s Best Books of 2014

Largehearted Boy’s List of Online Best of 2014 Book Lists

Library Journal’s Best Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top 10 Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top Comics of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top Fiction Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top Lifestyle Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top Mystery/Thriller Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top Nonfiction Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top Poetry Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top Religion Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top Romance Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top SF/Fantasy/Horror Books of 2014

Children and Young Adult Lists

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Children’s Books

Amazon’s Best Books of 2014: Teens and Young Adults

Kirkus Best Children’s Books of 2014

New York Times’s Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top Picture Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top Middle Grade Books of 2014

Publishers Weekly’s Top Young Adult Books of 2014

[yeahwrite]

Woah!

[realrandomsam]

Some new Happy Writer Bun for the writing lovelies out there. Keep writing! You can do it!

[storiesfromtheyoung-deactivated]

Writing is wretched, discouraging, physically unhealthy, infinitely frustrating work. And when it all comes together it’s utterly glorious.

Ralph Peters (x)

[mimswriter]

I’ve participated in (and won) NaNo the past two years in a row. Now just days away from my third attempt, I’ve been reflecting on the lessons I learned in 2012 and 2013. Some of these are serious, others not so much, but I hope you guys will find them as helpful as I have.

10 Things I’ve Learned from NaNoWriMo:

1. There’s a fine line between determination and masochism. If this is your first time doing NaNo, you’re about to learn that lesson the hard way. ;)

2. Tell anyone and everyone that you’ll be participating. Not just for practical reasons (like not wanting to worry them when you drop off the face of the earth), but to keep yourself accountable as well.

3. Contractions are evil. Not that I’m suggesting anyone pad their word count, but the occasional “you are” instead of “you’re” never hurt anyone, did it? Besides, you’ll fix all that in edits anyway.

4. No matter how much you try to explain what you’re doing or why it’s important to you, there are certain people who just won’t get it. They will try to distract you, take it personally when you don’t have time for them, even act out in dramatic ways to get your attention. Ignore them. This is your time.

5. Take care of yourself. NaNoWriMo might make your free time nonexistent, but trust me – you’ll get a lot more writing done if you eat regularly and get plenty of sleep. If you have to sacrifice anything, let it be the nonessentials. Stuff your queue and take a break from Tumblr. Postpone watching your favorite shows if you must. But please make your physical well-being a priority.

6. Writer’s block is probably going to happen. If it does, don’t panic. The worst thing you can do is put even more pressure on yourself. Ignore encroaching deadlines and step away for a few minutes. Get yourself a snack, take a short walk, have a nap if exhaustion is weighing you down. If you still feel stuck, make a playlist of songs you strongly associate with your story. Relax, close your eyes, and focus on the music while thinking about what’s really important. Not word counts or deadlines, but what this story means to you and why you wanted to write it in the first place.

Of course you want to win NaNo. We all do. But what matters most is the story you have to tell. Don’t lose sight of that in a mad race to the finish line.

7. Don’t sabotage yourself with negative thoughts. Feel like everything you’re writing is crap? Well, maybe it is, but you know what? It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you finish it. Everything else can be fixed in edits and rewrites, which you’ll be able to do at your leisure when November is over.

8. Have a support system. Find at least one friend or family member who gets what this NaNoWriMo thing is all about, and don’t be afraid to reach out to them when you need it. Writing might be a solitary activity, but few of us can stick with it without a little help.

If you don’t have anyone you can talk to (or just need extra support), please feel free to send me an ask. You’re also welcome to add me on Twitter or nanowrimo.org if you like.

9. In the end, there’s no secret formula, no shortcuts, no easy way to meet your goal. The only trick is to keep writing.

10. No matter what, the time you spend on NaNoWriMo is worthwhile. As much as I hope you win, hope you’ll experience the exhilaration and sense of accomplishment that comes along with that, the fact remains that all writing endeavors are trial and error. The key to success isn’t getting it right the first time, the second, or even the tenth. What makes you successful is refusing to give up.

If you don’t reach your goal, try to figure out why it didn’t work this time. Wrong story? Too many distractions? Lack of confidence? Whatever the reason, try not to see it as a failure. Use it to gain a better understanding of what you need to work on so you can give it another go next year.

I’ll tell you now though: all of you are already winners in my eyes. It takes a lot of guts to tackle such a huge challenge – that alone sets you apart from countless people who talk about wanting to write and never actually do so.

Give yourselves credit for that, because you are amazing.

[novelwhisperer]

arizona-bay said: I don’t know you but I’m very proud of you. :)

Oh wow! Thank you for that!! <3

[novelwhisperer]

I wrote over 2k today, and I'm not entirely sure how that happened

[ninja-librarian]

Three days till NaNoWriMo begins! Are you ready?

JK, trick question. No one is ever really really ready for NaNo.

[mistresserycinae]

A poem for NaNoWriMo

twinkle, twinkle little star

how the fuck should i write that

up above the world so high

i can’t make that fucking line

twinkle, twinkle little star

dammit, this is fucking hard

[novelwhisperer]

A wild character appeared!

Wild character used "Heart Stealer."

It was very effective.

[blackgrllaw]

[novelwhisperer]

Wake up. Cry.

WRITE.

I meant, write.

[lifeduringnano]

When the Official NaNoWriMo Twitter Account Tweets You

[inspowrimo]

[novelwhisperer]

I JUST BARELY MANAGED TO MAKE THE DAILY WORD COUNT WITH 20 MINUTES TO SPARE

[writingbox]

Here’s the million-dollar question: how are you going to write this book if you’re afraid to start writing? Give your friend Doubt a name, and then block his calls.

Kami Garcia, NaNoWriMo pep talk (via writingbox)

[writerswritecompany]