How to Write a Book in a Month: Camp NaNoWriMo//April 2015

Hey Readers.

Many of you none writers think we writers whom attend NaNoWriMo are *crazy* Writing a book in a month. So I did NaNoWriMo in November, which I finished the first draft of my very first novel Clandestine. (I haven't touch that draft since then...But I will)

NaNoWriMo also does camps during the year. One in April, and the other in July. And I am doing the April Camp!!! Which I am writing How to be Invisible and Rule the World, my first ever contemporary idea.
The cool thing about these camp, is that you can choose your word counts. So it could just be a short story, and you might only have to write say 100-700 words a day. Or if you are like me who set the word count goal to 50,000 then you will have to write round 1700 words a day. This is so much more relaxed...

Here are some tips on how to write a novel in a month:

Have a Plan

If you're a planner, or you like to just start on the spot. I highly suggest you have a game plan of some sort in mind. Me as a writer, I like to have everything planned out. Though this year I'm winging it a bit more. Even if it's just the genre. Just give yourself something to work from. 

Set Your Self a Time and  a Timer

With it being April. Many of you will have school. That takes up your entire day. So take time in the afternoons, or night, to reach that days work count. It's also fun to do word sprints, setting a timer and seeing how much you can write in that time. Baby Steps

Make a Playlist 

This might just be something I do. But I make soundtracks for my stories. There might be a song that would go perfectly with a scene. Or just something calming, or inspiring when writing. 

See it like a Movie 

This is more writing advice. Write it like you're watching it. That goes into the whole 'show, don't tell.' But seriously, this is so true. Envision your scene, then write it. 

Sometimes, I will watch random movie clips on YouTube that inspire me. And I will get a clear mind on how to write that thing I was blocked on.

Be Inspired  

Whether that be, watching a movie, reading a book, or staring at your pinterest board for half and hour (I've done that...) Don't forget to be inspired.

Have a Community 

Connect with others doing the same thing. They are on the same journey as you. You will be able to give you advice, and sympathy you need. You can find there people in your every day life, or online (your chances are higher online) Cause we're all in this together! 

Tea, Coffee/and sweet stuff

No kidding. Drinking hot drinks is very calming. I enjoy and nice cuppa when it comes to sitting down to write. Also food in general is good. I like to snack, I suggest healthy food... But chocolate is good too.

Love your Story

I don't care how much you hate it! I think it's important that you go back to the parts that you love. Remember why you wanted to write it. Another thing that is good for a drive, is write it for someone. I read something on GoTeenWriters a while back about dedicating your story to someone. My newest project has a dedication. And that has helped me so much.

Spend some Quality time with your Characters (out side the story)

I think this helps you when you get to know your characters. Me and my friend like to do this for our characters, and that is fill out these Character Questionnaires. Do character interviews on your blog or on a private document... quality time...

Have Fun!

Over all, just enjoy yourself.  :)))

Hope this helped some of you. I know it's not all amazing advice.... just my advice. I'm very exited about this month coming. Make sure if you're doing camp this year, that you are all signed up and are in a cabin. 

-Rachy

Update (look into the next month)

Hey readers.

It's been a while. But that has been cause I have been procrastinating. All those procrastinators will be sympathizing with me right now. I have also been busy, and tired. The whole package. But I am going to start being productive starting this week. I have a lovely reading list, and a novel to write this coming month. 

I can't believe I can start writing in three days. That is to soon in my opinion. And I feel very bad, cause I have not outlined or fully plotted this story out. Over the past couple of days I have been trying to understand my characters... that has gone (not to good) slow. I need to hold on to hope with this one. 

I mentioned in a previous post that for the first week of April, I will not be home. Yes that is right. On April 2nd I will be heading off to Easter Camp, the best and biggest youth event of the year. That will be running the entire Easter weekend. And yes, I will be writing over the weekend. In fact, I will be writing long hand... Slow claps... Then straight after camp I will be whisked off to the Coromandel for the rest of the week. Then straight after getting home, the next day I will be back to course, cause I only get one week holiday.........

Lucky for me, the people we are visiting are gracious enough to give me there WiFi. So that is what my week of not living at home and writing a whole lot of my novel is going to look like. 

I am going to be so tired. Being an introvert, even a night out will set me to needing a good weekend to recharge. So this is going to be rather interesting. 

There is a Beautiful People post coming on my characters in the next couple of days. And I will also do a couple of posts on my story and the subjects I will be tackling in it; over the month. I'm looking forward to sharing more. :)

-Rachy 

   

Book Review: All the Bright Places

Hey Readers.

I just finished reading this book. And I don't really know what to say. All the Bright Places by the beautiful author Jenifer Niven; left me speechless. It was the kind of book I just placed on the table very slowly, and screamed internally...

So this is going to be my first ever book review. So bare with me. Jenifer Niven, if you are reading, *fan girl waves* I just want to say: Thank you for writing this book.  You are amazing! 


I was told that this book was going to tackle rather dark subjects, such as suicide, depression... you know, dark stuff. I was slightly scared to pick it up. Not cause I can't handle things like that. But cause I handle such things on a daily bases. (Don't freak out at that comment!)

The GoodReads description of this book compares it to The Fault in Our Stars. But I disagree. I think this book was more like Paper Towns by John Green.

The story starts on the top of a school bell tower, where both the main characters are contemplating suicide. (Best way to start off a book if you ask me... And not even in a bad way. Cause there is no way the reader is going to put it down at that point) 
The book is narrated by Theodore Finch; The weird kid at school. And Violet Markey; the pretty popular girl. The story is about their wanderings. And how they learn to tackle life together. Violet learns to live, from a boy who wants to die. (start's crying)

I found this picture on Pinterest, and made me think of them.

So one of the things that grabbed me in this story was: That the way it was written, reminded me so much of my own writing style. And it was narrated by two characters (How to be Invisible and Rule the World, is going to be narrated by two MC's. So it helped.)  Most of all, it made me think of my story a heck of a lot.
My favorite character, would have to be Finch. I loved Violet. But there was something about Finch that held a special place in my heart. I don't even know what it was.

What I thought about the story: I thought it was very even. I liked the characters. The story and the message were very powerful, and goes much deeper. I feel like I could read this book again, (and I will) I feel like Jennifer gave the depression a voice through Finch.

I did have a little problem with the romance though (I hate saying negative things about peoples work) I mean, I saw the romance coming. This might just be a me thing, cause I get very uncomfortable when it comes to romances. #foreveralone...  though I feel like the whole fling could have not been there. Or could have been less intense. The story would have worked either way.  I still shipped it though.

Over all this was an amazing book. Even better that it was written from some of Jennifer's own experiences. And a friend of hers. It was just so beautiful... and sad... and like I said before. This book left me rather speechless.

Thank you guys for reading. Sorry it wasn't a professional kind of review. More just my opinion on this book. If you have read it, let me know what you though about this book. Did it touch your heart like it did mine? :)   

My Story-Planning-Routine

Hey Readers. 

So over the last couple of weeks I've been in the process of planning my NaNo Novel, How to be Invisible and Rule the World. As I has expressed in older posts on writing, I am most definitely a planner. So I have to have my entire novel outlined, and pinpointed with important events. 

I see the planning and outlining one of the biggest parts of writing. And for me especially I like to have things planned out far ahead of time. I say to mum "I just like to be mentally prepared." And that is so true. Or else, I will not be able to enjoy myself, or I will just get very frustrated if I don't know the gist of what's going on. 

So a couple of days ago, I reminded myself that April is only about two weeks away. And I have done hardly anything in relation to my story. 

Here is a look into my planning process: 

• Pinterest story board

I create massive Pinterest boards for my stories. And will just fill them up will pictures of my characters, and scene ideas. (Book Ideas: How to be Invisible and Rule the World) Making boards will help me with writing scenes, envisioning characters and such. 

• Tea and Coffee 

I feel like I shouldn't have to put a caption on this one. 

• Comfortable clothing (this is for writing as well as planning)

I cannot even express the clothing I wear when writing. It will be a mixture of so many clothing items. I was wearing gloves before, but had to ditch them, cause turns out you can't use a laptop and type while wearing them. 

• Music  

Thank you Spotify! I have to listen to music or some form of rhythm when it comes to writing. It gets me into the mood. Plus I will sing along to the songs while writing. 

I also get good ideas when listening to music. 

• Character Forms

These really help me get to know my characters a little more. Or at least helps me brainstorm more on them. Here's the link to the on I use Character Questioner

• Story Journalism 

This is one of the biggest parts of my planning. That's why I saved it for last.  I have a couple of journals for this story in fact. 

So I will sit down with my laptop. And just journal about what's going on around me, and about my story. And how I feel about it, and what I think will happen. (it's just talking to myself) but it helps me so much. 

That is all I can work up for now. I've been sick for the past couple of days. And have already missed two days of course this week (the break has been amazing) But being sick isn't all that nice. 

Picture Source

Cause Insurgent is in theaters tomorrow! 

One Lovely Blog Hop

Hey Guys.

So I've been tagged by the wonderful Adriana Gabriel to do the One Lovely Blog Hop. Thank you for tagging me. :)

The rules for the hop are:

• Share 7 Lovely Facts about myself.
• Share links to blogs I enjoy reading.

I feel as if I have done so many of these "facts about me" posts. But there is always room for more. So here are some more facts about me. 

• I like almost anything Vintage 

Vintage things just give me a thrill. Anything old, or rustic, I want it! This goes the the extent of vintage clothes, old stamps, to music. I also have records pinned to my wall. It's pretty cool. 

• I love sitting cross legged

If I can sit cross legged, then I will stay in that position for a long time. (I'm sitting cross legged right now) The only down side to this is I get a dead leg. And that leads on to pins-and-needles. Once I got up and I had a dead leg.  And I tried walking down the hallway, and I just about broke my foot, cause I couldn't feel it, so my leg collapsed on itself. 

• I play the Piano 

I'm not the best. But I taught myself to play a bit of it. And i love the fact that I can make music. 

• My House has many Mirrors 

My Dad really likes vintage mirrors. So we have a collection of them on a lot of the walls. We had a really big one at some point. I'm not sure what happened to it, either we sold it, or someone stole it. (I think someone stole it)

• I like creating stories from songs and music videos

I get a lot of my writing inspiration from music and music videos. At the moment, I would like to write a story based on Taylor swifts video Blank Space. I think that would make an interesting story.  

•  I love the sound of a Rain

The other day I down loaded a white sound app. So now I can now listen to rain sounds. I find it very calming. The last couple of days it's been raining on and off. But not enough to get the nice rain sounds. But to me, a good rain storm, with thunder and lighting are one of the best things. (make sure you have a nice cup of something hot, and a blanket)

• I'm crazy about Maps 

I think I put this on my 30 things you might not know about me. But I love maps! 

Now to NOMINATE some awesome people. 

Morgan LeAnne @ Back to the Drawing Board | Wild Horse @ Opal Swirls | Brett Michael Orr @ BrettMichaelOrr | T.A Christensen @T.A Christensen Writes 

And Anyone else, feel free to do this tag. 

 

Time Taken From the Heart

Hello Readers

Picture Source

It comes to that time of the year for me, where I start to get very exited for one of the biggest events on the baptist youth culture. And that is Easter Camp. Easter Camp is run by the Baptist Youth Ministry. 

This will be my third year going. The Weekend consists of worship, studies, games, sports, TopTeam (were all the youthgroups compete) and many other activities. 

In short: we spend five days on a camp ground, sleeping (or trying to) in tents, and trying to eat the camp food. (fun times...)

I could spend a long time talking about how it all works. So it is only 24 days away! As I said, this is my third year. And I have no idea how it is going to turn out. 

So many people say it's going to be amazing. But I think, the amazing side of anything comes down to where you put your heart and attitude.

---

I will openly admit right now that I was too miserable my last two years. And I am very upset with myself for that. So I made a list of things to do better this year.

Me and my Fictional Friends

Hey Guys.

I was at church today leading the intermediate age girls.  And one of my year sevens said she would like to be a writer. My heart, it stopped. Out of all the girls there that wanted to be teachers, she wanted to be a writer. I was very proud (naturally)

And that got me one to thinking. When I was her age, I wanted to be a writer, but I didn't understand how any of the writing worked. That was until I joined GoTeenWriters that I learned to unlock the inner writer deep down in the depth of my heart.

There is one thing I have learned from being a writer, and that is that your characters are your best friends.
People might tell you that they are not real. But they are wrong! Your fictional characters are just as real as you and me. And as a writer, I feel it my job to give them life.

I was thinking about my novel I'm going to write for camp NaNo next month. And I'm just so exited to getting to know my MC's. And I know at the end of the month I will come out with some amazing fictional friends.



How to be Invisible and Rule the World: Update 

I have never written a contemporary before. I was going to write a story called "dance with me" but never ended up going any where with it.

So How to be Invisible and Rule the World is going to be based loosely off me and my friends experiences, and characteristics. So Gabriel is a larger part of a friend of mine, but mixture of other people. Same with Inga, she is mostly a big part of me, but a mixture of other people. And it the end they will become who they want to be.

Hope you guys like the picture collage thing I made for it. I will give you all some more (proper) updates later. I'm still trying to put all the pieces of the story together.

HELP: This story is going to be narrated by both Inga and Gabriel. But I have never written in a males perspective. Don't know what I'm doing. Can you guys give me some tips in the comments? That would be great.

-Rachel

Favorite Character Blog Hop

Hey Guys.

So I was tagged by Rae over at What Happened to the Wallflower? to do this awesome tag. I waited a couple of days before doing this, A) cause I have been very busy, and feel like sleeping, and listening to tons of music and watching music videos. B) cause I had to have some time to think of who my favorite characters were.

Instructions: For this quick, fun blog hop, you just name your 10 favorite characters from movies or TV, then tag 10 friends to do the same!

• Agent Skye (Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D) 

• Kat Stratford (10 Things I hate about you)

• Kyle Reese (The Terminator) 

• John Young (the Tomorrow People) 

• Zoe Graystone (Caprica) 

• Barry Allen (The Flash)

• Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean) 

• Jace Herondale (City of Bones)

• Sylvia Weis (In Time)

• Hannah (October Baby)

There is my list for you guys. 

I don't really know who to tag. So anyone can do this tag. 

Wild Horse

T.A. Christensen 

-Rachel