Work in Progress - Karen

Oy, have you missed me? I've missed me, have you seen my October and first half of November? Shoot. Me neither. Nor has my nanowrimo project seen me…I'm a few…thousand words behind, alas.

But have no fear, I'm here now, and I have WORDS to SHARE!

And what a week in which to share them! This week, humans have landed a SPACE SHIP on a COMET! Are we awesome or what? I love it when I'm writing science fiction and the scientists go off and make science fact. Best part of this job. The Philae is now sleeping, as it unfortunately bounce-landed into a spot that makes it difficult to charge its batteries, but I predict this isn't the last we'll hear of the little lander, nor its orbiter, Rosetta. Cool stuff.

I'm working on a sequel to my 2009 Nanowrimo project ('09 project is called A Star to Lead Me.) This year's project is called Guide Me Through the Deepspace Night. (Ridiculous side note: This is a trilogy, the three titles make a haiku. I'm a word nerd. I changed the title of this project this month and had to keep it 7 syllables. You'd be surprised at how many 6 and 8 syllable book titles you can come up with when trying to find a 7 syllable one.)

I'm slow this November because I've been overtaken by events (World Fantasy 14 in D.C. last weekend, the kids' school's book fair all last week. Lots of books to sell! Always interesting to be a bookseller for a week and see what people are interested in, what they buy.)

And now I'm trying to get back into the habit. Funny how difficult it can be to get into a writing habit when you're not in a daily routine. I have talked before about how I'm a burst writer versus a daily writer, something that's a little different than what you'll hear many writers spout as the One True Thing About Being A Writer (the whole "write every day" business) -- but yet there is some wisdom to that thing!

I'm really quite certain most of Guide Me is pretty terrible at the moment, but here's a bit from the story as-is. Quick plot recap/summary: Brynne is on a colony spaceship headed for the Gliese 876 system with 6000 of her close personal friends (not.) When her ship enters the solar system orbiting the Gliese star, all the adults and anyone thirteen and over on the spaceship falls into a mysterious sleep. Brynne and the other kids have to figure out how to operate the ship and keep chaos from descending, oh and while they're at it they should probably figure out what that unknown energy signature making a beeline for them is. Aliens? Brynne's going to have to figure it out and soon - her thirteenth birthday is in a couple of days!

In this scene, Brynne has been talking to Hunter and Sampriti, two friends who are spearheading the work on the ship's navigation systems:

“And a pilot?” Brynne asked. 

“Yeah, we’ve got … where is she?” Sampriti said, looking around the room, her eyes finally resting on the girl laying on her back on the table. “Oh, there she is. Halley. Named after a comet and now she’s going to have a chance to pilot us out of this mess. She’ll work the engine burn. We’ve run,” she sent a wry look in Hunter’s direction, “dozens of scenarios and her reflexes are fastest and she’s got most of the equations in her head already.”

Brynne looked back at the girl, still gazing at the ceiling. Upon reflection, Brynne realized that perhaps rather than staring at the shadows of her fingers, perhaps the girl was drawing ship trajectories in the air. But she looked so young. Before she could vocalize the thought, though, Brynne squashed it. The girl doubtless was young, as were all of them. Age ceased to matter when the stakes were life or death. Either burn the ship’s engines in the right manner and sequence to change the Selenium’s trajectory, or meet certain doom in the debris field or planet atmo of the gas giant they were current pointed at. 

Work in Progress- Sheena

SO...

 Melanie, Sabrina, and I are in major crunch mode for erm... the second book of the Prophecy Breakers Series.

We have to get the finalized version to our copy editor as soon as possible, and we have our final Beta reading our ending, and we decided to add a major explosion type event to the middle of the story and need to now somehow get everything back on track plotwise, while showing the effect of said event, and then our cover designer had to go and design a gorgeous cover that made us realize the title we had didn't work, so now we are scrambling for a title, and on top of all of that, it's November 10, and I'm all out of Halloween Candy, so that means, NaNoWriMo has happened.

So this is my current work in progress.

That .gif is going to give me a seizure. Thanks, Bri!

SO 

LOOK

DOWN

HERE

So, an update... The Novel Formally Known as Pyromancy will be published on a specific day that we know, but I've currently forgotten if its the 8th or the 9th,  of a very fast approaching month.  It's awesome, and it's on it's way to actually awesome and in your hands and I'm excited, and also nervous, because my heart is literally on the pages of this book, and there's a lot of kissing, and I'm afraid people in my church might read it.

SEROO...

Also, NaNoWriMo...is a thing. I've written a lot, but not enough, of a really bad first draft to Funny Tragic Shadowed Magic. I thought it'd be fun and awesome if I could get a semi finished first draft out of November, but I'm seriously doubting my brain can take much more of this.

I have no reason for this .gif, but I'm out of Halloween candy.

SSSSOOOOO.....

In conclusion, to sum up, if you have title ideas, or Halloween candy, please leave them in the comments.

Fight on, warriors!

~Sheena

Nanowrimo Survival Tips

Yes, I've used this one before. It's okay though.

1. Warn your friends and family and ask for support. The only way you will cross that finish line will be with dishes in the sink, unshowered, and wearing dirty clothes. It's not a glamorous way to write a novel, but you're not alone in this, not in success or in struggle. A little warning and letting them know what to expect can help make this be a growth experience for all of you.

2. Outline you month ahead of time. I don't write on weekends, or holidays, so if you block out the days you know you won't be writing, you know what your word count needs to be on the meat and potatoes day of November.

3. Eat lots of sugar. I read somewhere that the sugar you eat goes first to your brain, and I've found that copious amounts of Halloween candy can increase my word count...and another number but that's for me to worry about come January. It helped me, though, to say I can eat this piece of candy once I've written 500 words. Mini rewards can be helpful, and we each know what will motivate yourself. I always found entering my word count into the website to be super motivating, especially when you see your buddies are ahead of you.

4. When in doubt, add a car chase. In the middle of some difficult dialogue? Let bullets start flying, and watch your character react to that. You don't need to know who is shooting at the character, because finding out who is doing this and how does this danger play with your plot will give you a mystery, which means something to find out. Which means two scenes (at least) for the price of once!

5.Give all of your characters a different catch phrase and random activity. This can be edited out and replaced with actual characterization, but when you write too fast, sometimes the characters blur together, so don't be afraid to do random stuff to differentiate, like give one blue hair, and have another say, "It's all right, pretty baby." in every scene. That's five words you can add very easily. Make your characters as different and awesome as possible. Don't just have them drive a green Hyundai, let them drive a classic Corvette, or a minivan full of pizza boxes, or a bright pink smart car that only fits one person... which is bad when you are with five people who keep getting shot at or chased. Imagine fitting them all in that tiny pink car, and Character B's blue hair is blocking your POV's view, and Loveinterest Mcloveinterest is sitting on Rival's lap and POV's friend keeps saying, "It's all right, pretty baby." while people are chasing you and bullets are flying.

That's what Nanowrimo is all about. Remember this doesn't need to be good. The value of Nano isn't that you will get a bestseller out of it, although it's been done. The value of Nano is participating in a group act of creative community, accomplishing a goal, and finding the joy. We all write because we love it, but it's easy to get bogged down in being good, or in caring what other people will think, or in the correct placement of a freaking comma.

Nanowrimo is a chance to write something just for you, while being surrounded by people who are cheering you on. It's a chance to dwell too long on the romance, see the inside lining of your sub-conscience, and find things inside you you didn't know were hiding. And when you are done, you won't be one of the 90% of people who want to write a book. You'll be one of the 5% who've done it.

Write on, Warrior. I'm cheering for you!

~Sheena

My First Story - The Year Was 1984

I'm sure I wrote stories here and there throughout elementary and middle school, but the first story I wrote with intent was called, "A Few Changes". I wrote it my freshman year in high school, for a Creative Writing class.

That was a lot of years ago.

I believe I typed it on my Commodore Vic20 (that's a computer, kids) that I had bought with my own money when I was ten. There was some sort problem between the computer and the printer because double letters would print randomly on the page. The one and only copy I have of the story is testament to that. We never did figure out the problem, nor did the geniuses at The Federated Group. No Geek Squad back then.

The story is about 500 words. Nowadays we would call that flash fiction. That term didn't exist when I wrote it. "A Few Changes" is a quirky little story about the end of the world - and there's a blatant Douglas Adams reference regarding Norway. For reasons I'll explain in the next paragraph, I hesitate to tell you any more.

The scary thing is, as I look over this manuscript – double letters and all – I'm thinking that with a little polish, there are a few pro markets I could send this to. That doesn't seem right, of course. But, why not? Wouldn't it be the funniest thing if 30-year-ago me actually knew how to get my third SFWA qualifying sale? So I am throwing down a challenge to myself. I am going to clean this story up and start submitting it. I'll keep you updated on its rejections and responses.

This is a funny parallel to something that happened a few days ago. In a quest for fodder for a new middle grade SF novel, I pulled out my 2009 NaNoWriMo book. This was the first, and only, time I did NaNoWriMo. The story was horrible, no two ways about it. The characters, however, are quite intriguing. I'm almost certain that I'm going to recycle them somewhere, sometime soon.

When we first start writing, before we have a clue what we're doing, I think we have an instinctual ability that emerges from enthusiasm and ignorance. This is why I never throw anything away, no matter how bad it is. I have stolen from myself countless times. Sometimes it's just a name, sometimes a concept, or even chunks of story line. Everything I know now built upon what came before it, so I see no reason not to re-use some of the bricks.

Go ahead. Take a look at your old work. Look for the gems in the pile of doody. You may be surprised at what you find. Past writer you might have been smarter than you think. At the very least, you'll be able to see how far you've come. And who couldn't use that little ego-boost now and again?

On the other hand, it might be good for a laugh, and that's never a bad thing.

Now, off to do a little editing on a certain old story…

The Ghost of Christmas Past

Last year, I wrote a letter to myself on Christmas Eve, giving myself some advice about how to minimize the side effects of this crazy time of year, since I knew I'd have blocked it all out of my mind by now. Whether you find yourself about to embark on an adventure of the novel writing sort, or whether you are hitting the holiday season with some trepidation, I hope you enjoy this letter from Christmas past.

(Yes, I'm cheating. This is a reposting of the letter I wrote last year. But the advice is good, so read it again)

December 24, 2011

Dear Melanie, 

When you open this, it will be October 31, 2012. Halloween. A little early to be thinking about Christmas, I suppose, but if I know you, and I know I do, you're starting to think about it--maybe even to dread it a little. You know what's coming--the exhaustion, the aches and pains, even the panic...it's all part of the Nanowrimo/Christmas deluxe package, right? 

I don't think so. This year can be different. You can give yourself something special for Christmas this year, but you need to start TODAY. Are you with me? Here's the plan. 

October 31, 2012: This is the make it or break it day, right here. Somehow you always manage to push it out of your mind, but you have a serious sugar addiction, and if you aren't tough today, you'll spend the rest of the year with your blood sugar soaring like a kite. So, as a gift to yourself for Christmas this year, make Halloween a sugar free day. DO NOT buy candy until moments before the Trick or Treaters arrive, and let someone else pass it out. Or give out pencils. 

November 1, 2012: Nanowrimo, Day 1!!!! I smile just to think about it. You've been training for this for months, and I know you've got a lot to say. Give yourself an early Christmas present: DO NOT buy candy when it's marked down 75% and tell yourself you'll save it for Christmas. You won't. Besides, if you're not in the store, you'll have more time to write.  

Throughout the month of November: 

Exercise. I'm serious. I know what you've got to give up in order to find time to write a novel in November. Trust me. I've been there, done that. But exercise. In the morning. It doesn't have to be a ton. In fact, I'd say that 10 minutes 6 days a week ought to cover it. 3 days of strength training, 3 days of running a mile or doing Zumba or jumping rope. Just break a sweat. You try for any more than this, and you'll probably decide to skip it altogether. 

When you're in a writer's haze, you won't even notice whether it's carrots you're chomping on or Laffy Taffy. For some reason you never remember this until the last week of November. Instead of stocking up on bargain priced candy, stock up on healthy foods. Whatever's easy to grab--that's what you'll eat.

And a month of eating green salad with chicken and walnuts for lunch never hurt anyone. If you get sick of it, Italian Peasant Stew is always a pleasant alternative, though I recommend leaving out the Italian Peasants. They are awfully expensive this time of year, and you'll hardly miss them. 

Moderation has never been your strong suit. It may look like one candy bar to you, but it's really two months of swirling in a vortex of bad health choices until you are spit out onto the rocky shores of exhaustion. You're not a spring chicken anymore, you know, and those days of trekking back where you belong are getting tougher. 

 

November 26, 2012: Cyber Monday. No matter how far behind on your novel you think you are, stop what you're doing and order Christmas presents. You'll be glad you did. Remember how long the World Soccer Shop and Deseret Book take to fill your orders? 

December 1, 2012: Time for another early Christmas present. Finish that book. Even if the last half of the book is encapsulated in two pages, get to the words "The End" and leave it alone. You've got the rest of the winter to edit and tinker and add to your book. That's why you write a novel in November in the first place. But December is for family, and trying to add novel writing into the mix is a well-known recipe for transforming yourself into Scrooge! Everybody needs an occasional vacation from writing, and December is yours. Let the guilt go.  

Merry Christmas, my future self! If all went the way it was supposed to, your back didn't go out on you the day before Thanksgiving, your Christmas preparations didn't exhaust  you, you didn't gain lots of weight between Halloween and now, and you spent more time enjoying the things that really matter.

January 1, 2013: Go on, open up that novel and start editing. You know you want to. 

With love,  

Melanie

(All photos from http://www.sxc.hu/home) 

You Take the Wri Road, and I'll Take the Lo Road...

...and I'll get to Scotla--

Ahem.

It's near the end of October. The emails are pinging. My friends(Melanie's post) (Trisha's post) are volunteering for NaNoWriMo, and I've got a story idea bouncing around in my skull. I could do it, I tell myself, I could write another novel in a month.

No. Life shakes her head, and says, No, child, no. You can't keep your house ready for sale with three monsters kids, and write a novel in a month.

Sigh.

It's pretty sad stuff.

But then... I found this beautiful idea. 

NaNoLoMo! (National Novel Loving Month. Brilliant right?) Here's the official facebook page. 

Instead of writing a novel in a month,  NaNoLoMo's write 30 reviews of books they loved in places like Amazon,  goodreads, or Smashwords. One review a day. Not too bad, unless your reviews end up 1227 words, (I do wax verbose, but really, I'm not thinking that verbose).

I love this idea, because it's all about sharing the love of books. I'm planning on reviewing mostly self-published books, where every review adds up, and helps, and...more than likely...the author themselves will read my positive review.

Reviews have become crucial to the success of a book, especially a self-published book. We live in such a web-based world that you can't buy socks without reading a review. And with the anonymity of the internet, and all those trolls hiding around ready to destroy just because they can, it's nice to be a part of a movement for positiveness. I choose my eBooks based on reviews. Why not add my voice to that discussion?

Just to get your reviewing creative juices flowing, here are the 26 best amazon reviews of all time.

Because no one ever said that you couldn't be a nice troll.
~Sheena

The Real Nanowrimo Preparation Starts Now...And I'm Not Talking About Outlining

"Focus is a matter of deciding which things you're not going to do." 

--John Carmack

The first time I did Nanowrimo the only thing I remember giving up is sleep. At 2, 3, even 4 a.m. you could find me at my computer--writing, talking to people about writing, perusing the Nanowrimo forums...It took me well over a  year to recover from that piece of foolishness, but I suppose it was worth it, because by the time I was done, I was a novelist, and there's been no turning back. (I guess you could call it my residencyJ)

Since that first year, I've refused to let the lion's share of my sacrifice be sleep. However, nearly every year, exercise and healthy eating habits have fallen victim to my need to complete Nanowrimo while simultaneously keeping my kids alive. There will be more about that next week, but suffice it to say that I can't do that this year. This year, my health has got to supersede Nanowrimo on my scale of priorities.

Even if you're not doing Nanowrimo, you know that certain pieces of the writing process are labor intensive. What do you give up?

Eating? Of course not! Those creative juices burn tons of calories. We need to eat to keep our strength up! But, with a little preparation, you can give up Cooking!

At least that's one of the things I'm hoping to give up this year. My sister Mindy is a bionic superwoman who is raising a family, working full time and taking a full course load of classes so she can finish her degree THIS semester. The whole thing has been tough, but she knew this semester was going to be heinous, so one afternoon, before the semester started, she and her husband froze 27 meals. (Um...numbers have never been my thing. If she reads this she'll have to let us know how close I came to telling the truth.) She said it was cheaper, easier, more nutritious and yummier than what they ate the semester before.

From Six Sister's Stuff: 8 Slowcooker Meals in One Hour

Here are a couple of the websites she used: kojo-designs and Six Sister's Stuff. (Check them out! We writers are not the only creative people out there. It's amazing.)

Her particular favorite so far has been the Lime Salsa Chicken from kojo-designs.

What other things can you get done before Zero Hour? Here are a few of my thoughts:

I'm a preschool teacher. Obviously I can't get my teaching done ahead of schedule, but there are plenty of planning things I can get out of the way while it's still October. Luckily, my employer is very flexible with paying me for stuff like that.

I doubt my own kids are going to play along with this idea, but it would be great if they would eat hot lunches at school for the month of November. That would save me at least 20 minutes a day, maybe more. If not, they might be forced to make their own. (Oh, the inhumanity!)

Guest bloggers! Not for every week, because I'd like to keep you posted on my progress, but I've got one guest blogger lined up, and I'd like at least one more. I hate to even tell you how many hours that will free up on those weeks. It's almost crazy how long it takes me to pull together a post.

Christmas shopping! October seems like a crazy early time to Christmas shop, but Christmas looks a lot closer from the far side of November.

Speaking of shopping, if your budget permits, you could do one gargantuan grocery shopping trip in October, even if you don't choose to make freezer meals. Then you could return for perishables in an Amazing Race style shopping trip once a week.

Get up to date on doctor's appointments, hair appointments, any other appointments you can squeeze in that you might otherwise be tempted to do in November. I plan to dye my hair on Halloween. (Just brown. I'm boring like that.)

It's a true fact that your hair will be healthier if you only wash it every other day. That'll save a few minutes here and there. A minute saved is a minute earned.

If you get your house sparkling clean on October 31, you can probably get by without cleaning it again for a couple weeks. Right?

Apologize in advance to everyone on facebook. While I'll still be posting about Nanowrimo, I'm not going to get caught up in the vortex that is social media. Really, I'm not. Not this year. No sirree. It would be AWESOME if you could shut off your internet during writing time. Of course, as soon as you do, you'll need to double check whether or not an English bordar could own his own oxen in the year 1086. J Then you'll have to turn the internet back on, which is time consuming. Just leave the internet on, and exercise that willpower, my friends.

I have this semi-funny vision playing through my head of trick-or-treaters ringing my bell on Halloween and my saying, "Come in and grab some candy! My hands are covered in raw chicken," as I hurry to make freezer meals, clean, do laundry...yeah. The last week of October isn't looking like a lot of fun at my house.

What other time savers can you think of?

It's Coming...Are YOU Ready?

It's that magical time of year, where the weather gets cold, the leaves turn crispy and brown, and writers across the country--nay, world--start preparing for the biggest writing event of the year.  I'm talking about NaNoWriMo, and I am FINALLY going to participate!

Every year one of my writer friends invariably asks the question: "Are you signing up this year?" and I've always had a ready excuse to rescue me from the dreaded event.  This year, I started to see the signs go up at the library, or I'd happen to come across a blog post, and I finally sat myself down and gave myself the third degree.  It's not like writing 50,000 words on a 1-month deadline is going to kill me...is it?

"I can do this!" I told myself, over and over.  "I can write a novel in a month!  What's the big deal?"

My weaker, cowardly side finally caved.  (She's a pushover.)

On Friday I signed myself up before I could change my mind.  I'm sure the cowardly part of me is going to be really annoyed somewhere around November 10th, when I'm behind on my word count and the "rational" portion of my brain has completely shut down.  But it's still the first week of October, so I have plenty of time to freak out.  I don't have to start just yet.

For now, I'm outlining.  And keeping extremely lengthy notes.  I sleep with paper and pencil under my pillow.  My story has a lot of musical concepts that I'm only vaguely familiar with, so I'm doing my homework and nailing down all the details ahead of time.  (No, I'm not writing yet.  I know the rules!)  I'm finishing any outstanding projects that might try to tempt me away from the work at hand.  And I'm getting--dare I say it?--a little excited.

(Those of you who have already participated in the past are probably smiling indulgently and shaking your heads.  That's okay.  I'll learn my lesson soon enough!)

Writing on a deadline is going to be good for me.  I have a friend (you know who you are) who keeps extolling the virtues of deadlines, and I'm finally willing to concede.  You're right.  Deadlines are effective, so long as you have something burning a fire under you to keep you going.  I'm willing to test this theory out, and NaNoWriMo is my kindling.

So what's on your agenda for November, Proser?  Are you going to come write with me and over 300,000 other people as we push ourselves to hit that magic 50k?  C'mon.  You know you want to.

To those NaNo veterans out there, us newbies would love some advice.  Give us your good, bad, and ugly--anything you think will help get us through this challenge unscathed.  (Or at the very least, alive!)

Good luck to everyone who is going for 50k this year.  To anyone who has to carry on a conversation with me during the month of November, I'm sorry.  Cognitive thought will probably be too difficult for me.  I'm working on a system of blink-messages.  One blink for yes, two for no, and if I stop blinking altogether then I was wrong about the 50k/1-month deadline killing me.  Bury me out behind the library with a copy of John Donne and a book light.  Just in case.

Getting Personal

Trisha made a great point about internet safety in her last post, so in response, I'm going to share the most personal experience I can think of.

Take that, common sense.

:)

When my husband and I were trying to conceive baby number three, I discovered failing at getting pregnant is the worst pain I've ever felt. It took us so much longer than I expected to get pregnant, and that expectation made failing at it every month much worse.

Trying to get pregnant took over my life. I counted the days religiously. I didn't take ibuprofen for months, just in case. I white-knuckle exercised, trying to lose weight before the baby came. Every month I had this hope that strangled me when I found out that yet another month had passed, and another hope had died.

The hope was crushing, and became too much to handle.

About that time, I received an email from Nanowrimo. Two years before I had tried Nano, and failed at 7,000 agonizingly slow words. I had a miserable time with it. The next year I tried again for 50,000 words, and barely wrote 3,000 words all month. 

I wasn't about to try and fail again. But I decided late that October,  I needed the escape that only comes from following around a spunky teenage girl and her love interest. I decided I would throw myself into the story, and take a much needed break from trying to get pregnant. 

I would write this story for me. I swore on the first page- breaking my own rules, I wrote make out scenes which still make me blush, and I put in illogical systems of magic. I didn't care. No one else would ever read it. This story was mine, and I wasn't sharing.

November first I wrote more than 11,000 words in six hours. There was something about Larissa's voice that felt familiar, and right. Some of my best writing yet, I've found, came out of Larissa's voice. I became obsessed with the love story. More than anything though, I found the escape I needed.

Cover made for fun through
myecovermaker.com 

I found out I was pregnant on page 230, but I couldn't let the story end. FTCM had become something bigger than a personal vacation. I believed in the story, in my writing, in my characters, and I felt I owed it to them to finish. Which I did on the third to last day of November. 

FTCM, to this day, was my favorite writing experience. I would leave my desk with my heartbeat racing, and my fingers twitching, ready to get back to the keyboard. It gave me so much joy, so much freedom, so much escape. 

But most of all, it gave me my little boy.

Second drafts, querying agents, maybe even self-publishing if all that doesn't work out, is the effort I'm trying to put in to give that story it's due. I'm trying to pay it back, and pay it forward, for anyone else who needs an escape.

And that's why I write.

~Sheena

What I'm reading now, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

What I'm writing now, Hatched (Second Revision) Chapter Ten.

Nanowrimo and Christmas

Yesterday, I was stomping through the store, searching for something--anything--that would bring a sparkle of delight to my youngest son's eyes on Christmas morning. Everything I'd already bought seemed awful, everyone was going to hate it all, and I just knew I was going to forget how I wanted my novel to end before I got a chance to finish it. I wanted to go home and knock the stupid Christmas tree on the floor.

Christmas can be stressful, but add in packing for a move to a new city and a Nanowrimo novel that just won't end, and you can imagine my stress level. Even without the move though, Nanowrimo and Christmas butt up against each other in stressful ways every year. I would never give up either one, but I know I should do some things differently. Perhaps it's an odd thing to post about on Christmas Eve, but while it's fresh in my mind, here's a letter for me to open again in 10 months.

I hope you find something useful in it, even if you aren't a Nanowrimo fan. Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2011

Dear Melanie, 

When you open this, it will be October 31, 2012. Halloween. A little early to be thinking about Christmas, I suppose, but if I know you, and I know I do, you're starting to think about it--maybe even to dread it a little. You know what's coming--the exhaustion, the aches and pains, even the panic...it's all part of the Nanowrimo/Christmas deluxe package, right? 

I don't think so. This year can be different. You can give yourself something special for Christmas this year, but you need to start TODAY. Are you with me? Here's the plan. 

October 31, 2012: This is the make it or break it day, right here. Somehow you always manage to push it out of your mind, but you have a serious sugar addiction, and if you aren't tough today, you'll spend the rest of the year with your blood sugar soaring like a kite. So, as a gift to yourself for Christmas this year, make Halloween a sugar free day. DO NOT buy candy until moments before the Trick or Treaters arrive, and let someone else pass it out. Or give out pencils. 

November 1, 2012: Nanowrimo, Day 1!!!! I smile just to think about it. You've been training for this for months, and I know you've got a lot to say. Give yourself an early Christmas present: DO NOT buy candy when it's marked down 75% and tell yourself you'll save it for Christmas. You won't. Besides, if you're not in the store, you'll have more time to write.  

Throughout the month of November: 

Exercise. I'm serious. I know what you've got to give up in order to find time to write a novel in November. Trust me. I've been there, done that. But exercise. In the morning. It doesn't have to be a ton. In fact, I'd say that 10 minutes 6 days a week ought to cover it. 3 days of strength training, 3 days of running a mile or doing Zumba or jumping rope. Just break a sweat. You try for any more than this, and you'll probably decide to skip it altogether. 

When you're in a writer's haze, you won't even notice whether it's carrots you're chomping on or Laffy Taffy. For some reason you never remember this until the last week of November. Instead of stocking up on bargain priced candy, stock up on healthy foods. Whatever's easy to grab--that's what you'll eat. 

And a month of eating green salad with chicken and walnuts for lunch never hurt anyone. If you get sick of it, Italian Peasant Stew is always a pleasant alternative, though I recommend leaving out the Italian Peasants. They are awfully expensive this time of year, and you'll hardly miss them. 

Moderation has never been your strong suit. It may look like one candy bar to you, but it's really two months of swirling in a vortex of bad health choices until you are spit out onto the rocky shores of exhaustion. You're not a spring chicken anymore, you know, and those days of trekking back where you belong are getting tougher. 

November 26, 2012: Cyber Monday. No matter how far behind on your novel you think you are, stop what you're doing and order Christmas presents. You'll be glad you did. Remember how long the World Soccer Shop and Deseret Book take to fill your orders? 

December 1, 2012: Time for another early Christmas present. Finish that book. Even if the last half of the book is encapsulated in two pages, get to the words "The End" and leave it alone. You've got the rest of the winter to edit and tinker and add to your book. That's why you write a novel in November in the first place. But December is for family, and trying to add novel writing into the mix is a well-known recipe for transforming yourself into Scrooge! Everybody needs an occasional vacation from writing, and December is yours. Let the guilt go.  

Merry Christmas, my future self! If all went the way it was supposed to, your back didn't go out on you the day before Thanksgiving, your Christmas preparations didn't exhaust  you, you didn't gain lots of weight between Halloween and now, and you spent more time enjoying the things that really matter.  

January 1, 2013: Go on, open up that novel and start editing. You know you want to. 

With love,  

Melanie