NaNoWriMo Day 1

So I'm about to start writing! Pretty lucky that November 1st fell on a public holiday in Melbourne. I don't have to work today and want to get in with at least 5,000 words. Then after today I want to write around 2,000 a day. Wish me luck! 


I'm so anxious!! 
Usually I write short stories, and edit as I go. This will be a huge learning experience. 


Anyway, I don't have a title for my story yet. 
It's about:
  A Girl called Holly whose training in competitive Martial Arts
     A Boy called Jae who turns up in her classes
         And his secrets of a previous life.
Who is this new kid? Why does he have to be so handsome? And why can't he even tell Holly his full name?




Anyone else doing NaNo? 
          

the.best.book.ever

I am about to make a very radical statement.

I discovered my favourite book of all time. (ok, well, it's in the top three)

The book that makes me want to quit writing because I know I can’t write like that.

The book I couldn’t put down, but never wanted to read because I wanted it to last forever.

The book that wouldn’t let me read another book for a week after because it was still resonating.

The book where I started marking my favourite lines, but realised there were way too many of them to ever keep track of.

The book I wanted to reread IMMEDIATELY after finishing it.

The book I WISH I wrote myself.

The book I love so much, that I don’t want anyone else to read because I want it to just be mine. But at the same time, I want everyone to read it because it’s. just. so. fabulous.

Honestly, I have no critique of this book. It hit all the right spots. 

Has anyone read a book like this??

Goodreads says about The Sky is Everywhere:

"Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life - and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they're the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can't collide without the whole wide world exploding."

I have returned

Blog! How I’ve missed you!

The truth is that life has taken my sleep and my words and has left me almost robotic, studying and working. (oh, and I moved houses!)

The fact now is that uni has finished for the year (half way to being a qualified publisher/editor), I’m settled into my new home – photos to come – and I’m returning to blogging.

NaNoWriMo is coming up in just over a week and I’m frantically planning my novel so that I’m ready to write my little heart out. My characters have started having conversations in my head at the most awkward times. I’ve been in the shower, driving my car or watching a movie, and have had to stop, pull over or jump out and write their conversation out. It’s taking on a world of it’s own.

I’ve been doing a lot of research lately, too, however I’m a bit worried that the company I need to research won’t help me with information, which could throw me off slightly, but hopefully isn’t too detrimental.

Here is what I’ve read in August and September. Not as much as I’d hope but I was overseas, had exams and was moving houses…  I have 8 books in the mail from Book Depository though, which is exciting.

Simone Elkeles - Perfect Chemistry

Simone Elkeles - How to Ruin a Summer Vacation

Courtney Summers - Cracked up to be

Sarah Dessen - Dreamland

Sarah Ochler - Twenty Boy Summer

David Nicholls - One Day

Jenny Han - It's Not Summer Without You

Veronica Roth - Divergent

Jenny Han - We'll Always have Summer

Here is a quote I found recently, from one of my favourite writers of all time, Etgar Keret. 

(interviewer) DH: Last night at the reading you said something very interesting. You said you were interested in “creating something out of something” as opposed to “creating something out of nothing.” You said, “Anyone can create something out of nothing.” First of all, am I interpreting this correctly, is this directed against the Judeo-Christian creation myth? Did you even have that in mind? 

(Etgar Keret) EK: I was talking about the artistic mechanism. Creating something out of nothing means making something up. But when you make something out of something, you take things that are already there, like an emotion, and you turn it into a narrative. The nature of literature is not to invent things, but to articulate what is already there. When you read a good book you don’t think that the author is making up lies, but you say, “Oh, yes, I know what he is talking about.” The fact that you know this means that it isn’t made up.