Camp NaNoWriMo

It's happening again, guys!

I will be participating in another NaNoWriMo! Last year I successfully completed November's NaNoWriMo, and in an attempt to seriously kick my motivation in the butt, I have signed up for this July's Camp NaNoWriMo.

I will be slightly cheating, meaning I will not be writing an entirely new novel. This July I will be writing a second draft to a novel I wrote last year, but I will be typing up each word all over again (and eliminating some/adding some), and I've upped my word count goal (I hope to do the entire second draft in the month, so that's 80k words for me, minus the first chapter, which I've already re-written).

Here's hoping it will not be too crazy, considering I'll hardly be home on July 1st, and I'll be out in the sun (I love the sun, but being out all day in it really does my head in!).

Wish me luck! And if you're doing Camp NaNo this year, I wish you the best of luck also! I'll be updating on here each time I reach a word count goal or just with updates on my progress. Feel free to share the pain/joy of writing in the comments.

AND if you are looking for a writing partner (I like to do one hour writing 'sprints'), look out for my on the #1k1hr tag on Twitter (or simply just post a comment on here or tweet me @courtvents to see if I'm free to write like a demon for an hour). Sometimes (most of the time), a little extra motivation really helps!

My Writing Buddy and Inspiration (But mostly inspiration)

Writing Buddy

*salutes all*

So today I want to talk a little about what inspires me (writing-wise, of course), but first I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. He's black and grey and stuffed and adorable. And nameless.
Actually, I think he has a name, but I have definitely forgotten it. I'm a terrible friend-of-a-mini-stuffed-raccoon.

(I'm sure I gave him a cool name, but my forgetfulness has made me, well, forget. It will come back to me, I'm sure. But just in case, if you have any name suggestions, feel free to post them in the comments. Something literary/book-y is preferable, as I'm sure that's what the name I gave him was like... I think.)

I saw him at work, decided I needed a writing buddy - that was not a cat that liked to interrupt my writing with incessant meowing for attention or walking across the keyboard. Scary things happen when a cat walks across a keyboard!


Inspiration

What inspires you?

For me, it's a few different things. The surest way to make me want to write, is if I read. Or if I'm at work or doing anything else that makes it impossible for me to sit down and write, but that's a whole other story.

Nine times out of ten, if I'm reading a book, I will want to write.
Ten times out of ten, if I'm reading a book of the same genre as my current WIP, I will want to write.

I tend to get a lot of ideas when I'm reading a book of the same genre as my WIP, and the oddest thing is that the ideas rarely have anything to do with the text in front of my face. Reading fantasy novels right now, for example, seem to make me want to dive back into the world I created. This does not mean I am not enjoying the book in my hands; it just gives me the itch to want to write. Usually at the same time as I'm reading. Sadly, that's not possible, or else I'd get a LOT of reading and writing done!

Other than reading, a few other things that get me inspired to write are:

• When it is not morning
• Usually anytime between 5pm and 4am, which never seems to work with my work and sleep schedule - but who needs sleep, right? Ha. Haha. If only!
• Rain
• Especially thunderstorms
• Especially in the late evenings between 5pm and 4am!
• Loud music (generally a playlist with a mix of rock/pop rock/country rock) - But not while I'm writing! Because then all I end up doing is singing along and bouncing around in my desk chair.

So that's that.
What inspires you to write?

PS: Haha - maybe I should call the raccoon 'Inspiration' =P

And the Writing of Draft 2 Begins! (After some necessary/not-necessary-at-all procrastination)

I'm going to have to keep this short, because I should be writing. Not a blog post, mind you. Draft 2.

With the first draft written a year ago, I'd say it's a good time for draft 2 to begin. I took a few months off after completing the first draft to clear my mind of draft 1 so that when I began my revisions, I would be looking at my novel with a fresh eye. Eyes. I have two of those.

Right.

Write.

(The carpenter ant that decided it was going to live on my desk and make an appearance only as I began to organise the clutter - clear space = clear mind, right? Not when there's a gigantic wood-eating ant climbing your white board! Special bonus: Lydia Kang, author of upcoming debut Control, magnet!)

I will get to that. Now that my procrastinating for the day has completed (I hope). I downloaded a twitter desktop app so I would stay off the internet (guess that didn't work, since I'm here typing this, huh?), organized my desk (and had a run-in with a gigantic carpenter ant - see above pic), and clipped a small hair clip to my nose (spoiler: it hurt, but the fun factor was still there).

(In case you did not believe me... We never need speak of this picture again, however.)

And then this. I suppose this also counts as procrastination, but this blog is very quite sadly empty. And I felt bad.

This is not a quality blog post, I know. But it does have an ant and a hair clip! Neither of which are in my novel, which I am going to write draft 2 of. Right.... now.