[NiFiHeNoMo] Final Update

November 30, 2013 by Niko Bommer in My Novel, Writing

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. My little brother was in town and it was his first time in New York City. It was cold and rainy, but we were able to get to over 13 well known NYC sites in less than two days. Needless to say my body and brain were exhausted.

I am excited to announce that, despite my exhaustion, I did it. NiFiHeNoMo was a success! That's right, as of today the first draft of the novel is finished!

It's amazing to have the weight of not knowing if I could actually do it off of my shoulders. I never thought that writing the book would be easy, but I hadn't considered how difficult the days would be when the well was empty. It was definitely a test of perseverance and more times than not, discipline that I didn't know I had.

While I'm excited about finishing the first draft I have a lot of editing ahead of me which I'm really looking forward to. I am also looking forward to actually reading what I wrote. It turned out that I am more of an organic writer vs. being the type to outline, so the few times that I did go back to read pieces of what I wrote, it all seemed new to me.

I have to admit that my leanings toward organic writing was a surprise considering how organized I like to be in every other aspect of my life. It will be interesting to see what my editing style will be like. I guess I'll find out soon enough!

Are you a planner or do you prefer to fly by the seat of your pants? Do you have different preferences when it comes to long term vs. short term projects? Life vs. creative endeavors? Let me know in the comments below.

Scene Stealers #16

November 20, 2013 by Niko Bommer in Fiction Friday, Writing

I was a little hesitant. A little nervous. But I finally did it.

After watching others publicly participate in writing prompt exercises I have finally taken the leap myself! I was always amazed at how willingly the writers put themselves out there and admittedly a little jealous.

Not anymore!

Write to Done has their own version of writing prompt exercises called Scene Stealers. They provide the first two lines of the work and limit you to 350 words. The rest is up to you!

I wasn't having a very good day with my novel so I decided to take a break. I figured that I would just see how it goes. Well, within 10 minutes I had written and posted my entry onto the site.

And yes, I posted it quickly as to not lose my nerve.

Anyhow here are the starting lines that we were given:

“He pushed the door open and went in. It was the last thing he expected.”

Following is what I came up with:

He pushed the door open and went in. It was the last thing he expected. The room was filled with rolling racks laden with sparkly gowns and women’s lingerie. Stiletto heels lined the walls. To his left was a table full of accessories and makeup.

“Behind that door is my payback,” she had said.

He had smirked at her knowing that there was nothing she would be able to think of that he couldn’t handle. After all at this school he was king and she was nothing.

Sure, Principal Jones took her stupid side in this whole thing, but he knew deep down that she was only doing it to seem politically correct. She knew as much as he did, hell as much as everyone did that Darlene was a total lesbian. So what was the big deal about using a Sharpie on her locker to advertise it? Gay pride, right?

“Darlene gets to choose your punishment.” Principal Jones had said and he was relieved. So much so that he gave Darlene a wink as he exited the office.

He was annoyed that she waited so long to come up with her payback. Even more annoyed that she waited until the day of prom. He was anxious to get it over with so he could start getting ready. He was a lock for Prom King and having the head cheerleader on his arm only bolstered his excitement.

Slowly the realization started to hit him and all of the excitement began to melt away.

He had waited anxiously for a prom that he would never forget and it seemed that Darlene was going to make his dream come true.

All I knew going in was that I wanted a male character to walk into a room full of women's clothing. I honestly had no idea where the story was going to go, but I like where it ended up. Are there things that make me wish I would have spent more than 10 minutes on it? Of course, but it doesn't diminish the pride I have in taking a tangible first step in putting myself out there.

The variety in how others treated the lines is pretty amazing. You can check out the other entries or join in on the fun here. [Scroll down to the comments section].

Do you participate in writing prompt exercises? Am I the only one out there scared to put myself out there? Comment below!

NiFiHeNoMo Update!

November 10, 2013 by Niko Bommer in My Novel, Writing

So after a shaky start to Niko Finishes Her Novel Month [NiFiHeNoMo] I am proud to update that I am ahead of schedule on my 30,000 words in 30 days mission.

As proud as I am, I have to admit that I'm a little embarrassed to say that it has not been due to me diligently sitting at my laptop and banging out at least 1000 words a day. Nope. Since I made the decision to take on this endeavor my mind has been all over the place. Sitting at my laptop and actually focusing on my novel was proving to be agonizing. The words and scenes weren't coming to me. Anything I did write was so forced that it was borderline depressing. All I wanted to do was check my Instagram, read other blogs, or finish reading Allegiant.

Then I finally decided to try something that I had been avoiding: The Timer Method.

Any book or article you read about writing or being productive in general will, at some point, tout the benefits of setting a timer and concentrating solely on the task at hand until you hear the ding. It wasn't that I didn't believe these experts, it was just that I knew how my mind worked and I truly didn't believe it would work for me. Essentially my mind is a brat that doesn't like to be told what to do...obviously....

Full disclosure: I was scared. Scared that I wouldn't have the discipline that I needed to not search #TheWalkingDead on Twitter when I should be in the cocoon of the timer. I didn't want to fail because falling on such a small level could lend itself to me believing I could and would fail on the grander scale.

Yes, I know. I can be pretty dramatic.

Fortunately I sucked it up and told myself to grow a pair.

The first day using the timer method I did 3 one hour stints. By the end of that third hour I had written 4025 words. For someone who's been hitting 1000-2000 words a day lately I was beyond thrilled. The screen grab above was taken on November 10th, not only pushing me ahead of my total word count goals, but also surpassing my daily word count record.

I can't say exactly what it is about using a timer that pushed me beyond my limits to numbers that I never knew I could reach in a day. I can say that it almost became like a game. I started to enjoy challenging myself when I would look up and see how much time I had left. I would also try to have a larger word count with each hourly stint.

It also didn't hurt that I was hit with some serious inspiration and was excited by what I was writing. I suppose I have to attribute some of the inspiration from the extra push that the timer gave me, right?

You know what else I believe helped? Finding the most obnoxious timer online. It felt like it was me against the timer. I mean, what could be more annoying than a bomb with a lit fuse that actually explodes at the end of the countdown? No seriously, ifyou know of something please tell me.

Well, that's my update and if rambling on has helped you in any way, please let me know!

Niko Finishes Her Novel Month [NiFiHeNoMo]

November 02, 2013 by Niko Bommer in My Novel, Writing

So in typical Niko fashion I woke up November 1st and made my decision about National Novel Writing Month [NaNoWriMo]. I have decided that I will not be participating this year. Instead I have created, for myself, Niko Finishes Her Novel Month [NiFiHeNoMo]! Granted it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but it is my hope that the sense of pride and accomplishment that I imagine happens after completing NaNoWriMo will still wash over me.

So, I have set a target of 30,000 words in 30 days in order to reach my 80,000 word count goal. By November 30th, I will, like successful NaNoWriMo participants, have in my hands a completed first draft. Yay!

As far as my idea for NaNoWriMo all is not lost. Not when Camp NaNoWriMo exists! It is basically the same idea [50,000 words in 30 days], but you can participate during the month of April or July. Depending on where I am on my edit I may participate then or there is always next November.

In the mean time there's nothing like a couple of pretty little notebooks to keep my ideas in until then!

Alright, I have to go now...I have a goal to reach!

To NaNoWriMo or not to NaNoWriMo

October 30, 2013 by Niko Bommer in My Novel, Writing

November is National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo. It's a pretty brilliant idea where they bring a community of writers together encouraging them to write 50,000 words in just 30 days.

Even though the reality of writing an actual, worth reading novel in thirty days is impossible, I love the idea of walking away with a first draft. I've been excited about NaNoWriMo since learning about it earlier this year. I wracked my brain trying to think of story ideas that would not only fit into 50,000 words, but also keep me motivated.

I ended up putting NaNoWriMo on the back burner because, well for one thing I didn't have an idea and two, I didn't want to put the book I've invested so much time on to the side. After all I am currently over 50,000 words into my 80,000 word goal and I am truly excited by the progress thus far. I can't deny that I am pretty proud of myself, so why would I stop now?

Then a month ago I woke up and had, what I believe would be a great idea to fit into 50,000 words. Ugh...of course I did!

So now it is October 30th and I have a big decision to make. Stay in the world that I've been working on since April or put it on hold for a month to create a whole new one?

Decisions, decisions...

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo?

Photo via NaNoWriMo.org

...and her dreams into plans

October 14, 2013 by Niko Bommer in My Novel, Writing

When I first started writing my novel I came across the quote above. I quickly made it the wallpaper background of my laptop to use it as my inspiration to keep going on days when I was feeling like an uncreative hack.

Trust me when I tell you that I had a lot of those days.

Writing is a lonely endeavor. It’s just you, your imagination and the page.

Even when you have people that support you it is ultimately up to your desire to get it done. Your need to jettison the people populating the world that you created out of your mind and into the real world.

Now, when you keep your work as close to the vest as I do it only helps to build the walls that isolate you. I have only shown two of the 26 chapters that I’ve written to my husband. If I need his opinion on something the question is so vague that often times it isn’t even worth asking.

In my defense I am writing my manuscript to completion before attempting any form of editing. That being said there is no way that I would let anyone read it before the first edit because…I mean…yikes! I know that this method is what works best for me, but it is also what keeps me on an island.

I am extremely fortunate to be surrounded by people that love and support me. They are quick to tell me how proud they are or how great I’m doing. As much as I appreciate the encouragement and praise, the truth of the matter is that I am the only one that knows what I’ve written. There are days when I feel like what I’ve put on the page isn’t worth the kindness.

This is where the quote comes in.

There are many times when I am plagued with doubt. Fear, even. What if I’ve wasted all of these months writing something that is truly horrible? What if I really don’t know what I’m doing? What if I fail?

Doubt is the biggest killer of dreams and this quote reminds me of that every day.

Each day that I inch closer to the finish line I see that the doubt hasn’t beaten me. Now that I am over halfway through my manuscript I know that the plan that started out as a dream was always stronger than the doubt. It just took dumping some of the can’ts to finally realize it.

How do you deal with self doubt? How do you keep it at bay? Comment below and let me know.