Last November, Shelley Adina needed to kickstart a book that was coming due to her publisher. Find out how she used NaNoMo to make her deadline on her upcoming release, Be Strong and Curvaceous!
Chica Lit: Please tell us how you prepared for NaNoWriMo.
Shelley: I was contracted for book 3 in the All About Us series, Be Strong and Curvaceous, due that January, and I was behind on it because of work on previous books. So a November kickstart was perfect timing for me. To prepare for the experience, I outlined my book in advance. To do that, I got the characters nailed down and wrote out a clear series of events that would put external and internal pressure on my protagonist. These pressures caused her to change, so that in the black moment "crunch" at the end of the book, she had resources within herself to do what she could not have done at the beginning. With this narrative line in mind, and a clear theme (the power of courage), I was ready to write on November 1.
Chica Lit: On those days when the blank page glared back at you, how did you just keep writing?
Shelley: It's hard, no doubt about it. But what helps me is to go over my synopsis again, to remember the book's theme, and to read over the previous day's work and give it an edit pass. This seems to prime the pump, and the words start to trickle in. When they don't, I go for a walk. Or eat chocolate. That works, too.
Chica Lit: At the end of NaNoMo how many words had you written?
Shelley: I got about 30,000 words, I think. It wasn't the NaNo goal of 50,000, but it was half a book!
Chica Lit: And then what happened after NaNoMo?
Shelley: I then had six weeks to write the second half, which was completely doable. The first 100 pages are always the hardest for me. Once those were behind me in the NaNo process, I could keep on rolling until "The End."
Chica Lit: What will you be working on this month?
Shelley: I'm working on The Chic Shall Inherit the Earth, the sixth and final book in the series. I already had the synopsis completed and approved by my publisher (it has a few edgy elements that had to get the green light first). I know my protagonist's character arc, and the key events are all mapped out in my head. November is all about the writing ... and then I'll be celebrating the release of Be Strong and Curvaceous, in bookstores everywhere in January!
Chica Lit: Please tell us how you prepared for NaNoWriMo.
Shelley: I was contracted for book 3 in the All About Us series, Be Strong and Curvaceous, due that January, and I was behind on it because of work on previous books. So a November kickstart was perfect timing for me. To prepare for the experience, I outlined my book in advance. To do that, I got the characters nailed down and wrote out a clear series of events that would put external and internal pressure on my protagonist. These pressures caused her to change, so that in the black moment "crunch" at the end of the book, she had resources within herself to do what she could not have done at the beginning. With this narrative line in mind, and a clear theme (the power of courage), I was ready to write on November 1.Chica Lit: On those days when the blank page glared back at you, how did you just keep writing?
Shelley: It's hard, no doubt about it. But what helps me is to go over my synopsis again, to remember the book's theme, and to read over the previous day's work and give it an edit pass. This seems to prime the pump, and the words start to trickle in. When they don't, I go for a walk. Or eat chocolate. That works, too.
Chica Lit: At the end of NaNoMo how many words had you written?
Shelley: I got about 30,000 words, I think. It wasn't the NaNo goal of 50,000, but it was half a book!
Chica Lit: And then what happened after NaNoMo?
Shelley: I then had six weeks to write the second half, which was completely doable. The first 100 pages are always the hardest for me. Once those were behind me in the NaNo process, I could keep on rolling until "The End."
Chica Lit: What will you be working on this month?
Shelley: I'm working on The Chic Shall Inherit the Earth, the sixth and final book in the series. I already had the synopsis completed and approved by my publisher (it has a few edgy elements that had to get the green light first). I know my protagonist's character arc, and the key events are all mapped out in my head. November is all about the writing ... and then I'll be celebrating the release of Be Strong and Curvaceous, in bookstores everywhere in January! 
No comments:
Post a Comment