tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-355844502012-01-18T20:03:26.483-08:00writer, reader, foodie, political junkieNora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.comBlogger3571100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-46587264913964065432012-01-02T13:53:00.000-08:002012-01-02T13:53:19.485-08:00

2011 was a year of a great deal of change - moving into a new house, starting a job, getting promoted, discovering new areas of interest, starting a routine of writing every day, and so on.  Generally, I had a great year - as the new year approached, I found myself thinking "Things are so good for me, what right do I have to be unhappy about anything?"  Obviously, things may happen that are bad,

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-20228464105153394802011-12-10T11:24:00.001-08:002011-12-10T11:49:59.742-08:00

I fear that when I get busy, blogging is always the first thing to go.  If you were following my NaNoWriMo progress on Twitter, you probably saw that I hit 50K and then lost all motivation.  I still love my premise, but I'm going to table it and start over once it's had some time to rest.Right now, though, I'm restarting work on my beloved weird magical realism family saga, which I set aside

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-66902066277017210052011-11-09T20:24:00.000-08:002011-11-09T20:25:20.763-08:00

The novel has been going very well, word count-wise, and decently in terms of plot.  I've backed off my 5k-a-day pace (well, my average is still there, but we'll see what happens with that) due to a combination of excessive dentistry and last-minute projects at work.  I note that the frantic typing speed of NaNoWriMo does tend to make me type more easily when composing just about anything -

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-63653385280639432352011-11-03T19:43:00.000-07:002011-11-09T20:25:20.752-08:00

Ugh.  A bit of a sloggish day, novel-wise.  Luckily, I have my going-away present from the Office of Letters and Light: a personalized NaNoWriMo Viking helmet.  With that on my head and some Blue Öyster Cult on my iPod, I will persevere: Good luck to anyone else who's struggling with uncooperative characters and/or plot!

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-49132684402824389642011-11-02T22:58:00.000-07:002011-11-09T20:25:20.728-08:00

Uh, I guess my brain has decided that my target pace should be 5k words per day?  I'm not sure how I figured that.  I don't remember exactly how last year went, just that I finished my novel in the first two weeks...but I don't want to do that this year because I'm going to the NOWD and would like to have something to work on there, at least.ANYWAY.  Obviously I'm not complaining about being

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-60214326195974860372011-11-01T21:44:00.000-07:002011-11-09T20:25:20.740-08:00

I'm pretty happy with the way my novel has started out.  I tend to write a bit of backstory and then move into the action, and that's just what I've done in this first section.  And by "backstory" I mean "accidental murder, fake suicide, and multiple major plot complications."  Since I've been heavily in revision mode for the last...uh, eight months, it was a bit of a jolt to switch into

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-84954617632531625982011-10-31T21:30:00.000-07:002011-11-09T20:25:09.128-08:00

Here we are on the brink of another NaNoWriMo.  You can find me on the site, if you like.  I've talked (well, written) about how valuable I think NaNoWriMo is - the idea of making writing accessible to everyone, even if you were told as a kid that writing is a waste of time or that there's no point doing it if you can't be a bestseller, the value of doing something without setting lofty

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-4912954750891622052011-10-24T20:30:00.000-07:002011-11-09T20:25:09.073-08:00

If you've read Chris Baty's No Plot? No Problem! (the guide to NaNoWriMo, written by the creator of said event), you probably remember his suggestion that would-be novelists draft a noveling "Magna Carta", a list of all the components they appreciate in a novel, as well as a second list of all the components they dislike in novels.  I know I've done this in the past, but a cursory look through

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-4472381730409931552011-10-19T21:59:00.000-07:002011-10-19T21:59:15.454-07:00

I've been putting off a conference write-up of Sirens, because it was so big and amazing that it's hard for me to condense it into a few hundreds words.  As best I can describe it, it was a lot like being at college, if every class were about discussing your favorite books and all of your classmates were really excited instead of being half-asleep and texting under the table.The presentations

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-74167696150842564962011-10-03T19:54:00.000-07:002011-10-03T19:54:49.098-07:00

I've long thought that October is the best month of the year.  I'm not a warm-weather person, and though I'm tired of the rain by mid-November, it's always fresh and new and exciting in October, and the sky still seems bright grey instead of awful and dull.  And it's nice to walk outside with rain sprinkling on your face (not pouring like it does elsewhere). Also, of course, there's my BIRTHDAY

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-21638558686166446132011-09-23T12:48:00.000-07:002011-09-23T12:48:34.055-07:00

A short one - I'm spending the weekend in southern Oregon (Douglas County) visiting family friends.  It's a beautiful place, and visits always involve splashing about in the Umpqua River (in summer anyway), driving around the ranch on four-wheelers, and sleeping on a very comfortable couch.  It's a three-hour drive both ways, and I'm armed with critique partner comments and an electronic version

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-9472095487321855022011-09-20T18:02:00.000-07:002011-09-20T18:02:51.212-07:00

Last weekend, I went to KidLitCon, not quite sure what to expect.  I already knew that the organizers, Colleen Mondor, and Jackie Parker, were awesome; they'd helped me find a carpool from Portland to Seattle and back (Emily Whitman and Amy Baskin, excellent travel partners).  But I hadn't heard of KidLitCon until Colleen tweeted about it, and I signed up mostly because it was nearby and

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-45269143939628932282011-09-05T17:38:00.000-07:002011-09-05T17:39:11.445-07:00

Readers may have noticed that I seem to be in a constant state of revision.  Sadly, this is an ongoing state of affairs; I try to alternate between drafting a new project and revising an older one, but I slacked off on the revisions/rewrites side of it and now I have one book that I'm almost done revising and another that needs some significant rewrites before I can even start tightening up the

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-81300136039417314292011-08-14T16:55:00.000-07:002011-08-14T16:56:43.124-07:00

I got back from SCBWI last weekend - though I wish it could have lasted longer - and am freshly inspired to further revise CoYA (the contemporary YA) before beginning to query.  Yes, I wanted to think it was ready when I went to Los Angeles, but...it really wasn't.  And with so many brilliant agents saying over and over "Please don't query until you're actually ready," well, looks like

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-41840748132886412402011-08-03T21:48:00.000-07:002011-08-03T21:48:11.097-07:00

My plane leaves tomorrow afternoon.  I have everything I need - I think.  I'm all ready for SCBWI-LA (or, as I described it to a friend, Disneyland for writers).  Wish me luck!

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-54887551608363503622011-07-28T21:48:00.000-07:002011-07-28T21:48:41.736-07:00

For the first time in my adult life, I have a) time and b) means to attend writing conferences.  I may have gone a little crazy, in fact - I'm planning to attend a writing-related event every month for the next four months.  What's on the docket? August: SCBWI-LA.  The mother of all children's writing conferences.  A weekend extravaganza of writers, illustrators, editors, agents, and literary

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-872120063397374862011-07-18T20:59:00.000-07:002011-07-18T20:59:12.961-07:00

As my writing buddies/critique partners/betas/people I complain to about projects know very well, I am not someone who writes outlines.  Ever.  I might write down a phrase or an event that should be included in the novel, but for the most part, I don't know for sure how a novel will end until I finish it (certain people, ahem Shayda and Salom, are rolling their eyes at this because sometimes

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-34804264879793533432011-07-14T18:15:00.001-07:002011-07-14T18:15:58.869-07:00

How can I put this delicately?  No, I'm not quitting Camp Nanowrimo - strictly speaking.  We're barely halfway through the month, and I have about 39K left to write to make the goal.  This is more of a reasoned assessment of my free time and current projects, and it works out to a tragic realization: what I need to do right now is revise the projects I've already written, not pour all my energy

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-74558921504443477912011-07-08T23:30:00.000-07:002011-07-08T23:30:08.452-07:00

In the past, I've always been meticulous about obeying the "rules" of NaNoWriMo - no starting before November 1, no finishing after November 30.  Having won a couple of years, I don't allow myself to use the easy word-padding tricks (eliminating contractions, giving characters two- or three-word names, writing stream-of-consciousness).  And last November, it worked bizarrely well; I managed

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-21568025858312317832011-06-30T20:30:00.000-07:002011-06-30T20:30:33.348-07:00

I know I've been appallingly absent for the past few...months.  Whoops.  It turns out that living life and squeezing writing into every spare minute doesn't leave much time for blogging.  However, this month I'll be doing Camp NaNoWriMo, so expect lots of short and frustrated blog updates about troubles with my novel.  I think a long weekend is the perfect time to start.Otherwise, life cycles

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-19427473314093287842011-04-29T06:00:00.000-07:002011-04-29T06:00:13.133-07:00

For some reason, perhaps my disappointingly secure and loving upbringing, I have a thing for stories about dysfunctional families.  If it comes down to a choice between a teenager with a mythical destiny and a teenager with a crushing sense of responsibility and loyalty to his or her family, well, I'll skip the destiny and go straight for the good stuff.  All the better if that teenager really

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-12238543540185786352011-04-24T14:24:00.000-07:002011-04-25T19:00:13.080-07:00

Guess what, guys?  I'm revising!  Again!  Yes, it makes for a dull blog, but right now I'm focused on a) revising CoYA (that contemporary YA novel I finished writing about a month ago) and b) writing a more-or-less adult novel.  I'll be moving to a once-a-week posting schedule, because let's be honest, it's silly for me to post three times a week saying "Revising.  Still revising.  Yup, STILL

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-17146291936474719682011-04-11T05:00:00.001-07:002011-04-11T05:00:08.212-07:00

Crossposted at GayYA.orgParents in YA literature tend to fall into one of two categories – absent or obstacle. If they’re absent, they may be dead or simply unaware; if they’re obstacles, they actively interfere with the protagonist’s attempts to achieve his or her goals. YA lit with gay characters takes this tradition to a new extreme. Parents are either fearsome zealots or bigots who reject

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-30690440006223647972011-03-30T05:00:00.000-07:002011-03-30T05:00:07.109-07:00

I never imagined myself as a morning writer.  I rarely sleep through an entire night, so I don't much want to get out of bed when that alarm goes off at 6:30 AM.  I've been known to complain that making a bowl of oatmeal (i.e. measure water, measure oats, and microwave) is "too complex" when I've just woken up.  In college, I used to hit my productivity peak around 11 PM and ride it until I

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-17802754371974330192011-03-28T05:00:00.000-07:002011-03-28T05:00:16.256-07:00

Every writer should ride the bus.  No, it's not the fastest form of transportation (except in morning rush hour, when those bus-only lanes let you skip congested lanes).  Yes, you may have to sit next to people you don't know with questionable hygiene.  In fact, you may not even score a seat.  But if you have even the slightest interest in other people, in the way that total strangers interact,

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-46480174225686370982011-03-20T10:15:00.000-07:002011-03-20T10:15:50.401-07:00

I so enjoyed my last blogfest that I'm participating in Brenda Lee Drake's "Show Me The Voice!" blogfest, posting the first 250 words of my novel for critique.  Here we go:Author: Nora CoonTitle: KinesthesiaGenre: YA Alternate History Meri remembered only two brief, shining moments in her life when she’d thought maybe she could be happy after all.  When she was eight, her grandfather took her

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-41322800727123448062011-03-16T05:00:00.000-07:002011-03-27T17:54:46.773-07:00

via CuteOverload Regular blog posts will resume Monday, March 28.  Until then, send good revising mojo!

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-46818755544308312032011-03-14T07:22:00.000-07:002011-03-16T12:43:30.585-07:00

I'm jamming trying to get these revisions finished by my self-imposed deadline, so here are a few things via other people for your Monday morning. Take a look at these before-and-after satellite images of Japan.  I think Doctors Without Borders is a great organization to give to for disaster relief; if you're looking for more, YA Highway has a whole post listing different organizations working

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-16532509463568645202011-03-11T05:00:00.000-08:002011-03-11T05:00:15.522-08:00

Last night, I printed out the slightly-revised draft of #CoYA, and now I'm beginning the process of hard-copy revisions.  Yes, I know, my computer has wonderful comment and track changes functions, but I'm a bit old-school when it comes to substantive revisions.  I like to be able to scribble snarky comments in the margins; I like to write excessive expressions of disbelief when characters say

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-82528376980905605142011-03-09T05:00:00.000-08:002011-03-09T05:00:21.904-08:00

Yesterday was International Women's Day - and what better day to kick off a blog series about favorite heroines in YA fiction?  (Of course, I don't blog on Tuesdays, so we're kicking it off today instead).  I'll be blogging about some of the heroines in my favorite young adult novels, girls and young women who've made a permanent impression on me - the people I wanted to be when I grew up, if I

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-32998494482096427202011-03-07T07:23:00.000-08:002011-03-07T07:23:38.516-08:00

I write to you today from Revisionland, where I am trapped until I have gotten the novel code-named CoYA into decent shape.  The first step was integrating my newly-rewritten beginning with the rest of the novel, which went fairly painlessly; then I began the long and horrible process of fixing my tenses, because somehow I've turned into one of those people who writes parts of a novel in present

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-33981023261616279172011-03-04T05:00:00.000-08:002011-03-04T05:00:20.316-08:00

In light of Wednesday's #yalitchat, which rapidly went from "What makes a novel not YA" to "sex in YA", I thought I'd share my own thoughts on sex - and other potentially objectionable content - in young adult literature.I grew up in a household where books were never censored, and that's informed my opinions on the subject ever since.  I know many kids don't have that luxury, which is perhaps

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-4312841802251853662011-03-02T07:24:00.000-08:002011-03-02T07:24:41.912-08:00

Last night, after a fierce word war, Shayda and I got to talking about some of the embarrassing stuff we'd written when we were younger - in my case, I still have the 90,000-word Redwall-esque talking animal epic that I wrote in fourth and fifth grade.  I find it very fun to go back through what I wrote in elementary, middle, and high school and track my evolution as a writer - from the

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-81206793493811015692011-02-28T07:24:00.000-08:002011-02-28T07:24:00.239-08:00

Good morning, world - actually, here in Portland it's raining and stormy as the beginning of A Wrinkle in Time, but if Mrs. Which is about, I may miss her as I run for the bus.It's been a busy weekend, not least because I'm still rather sniffly.  Saturday was all about revisions plus a trip to the library for five more books, including Jandy Nelson's sublime The Sky is Everywhere.  If you

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-75793561292045233222011-02-25T20:12:00.000-08:002011-02-25T20:12:40.046-08:00

I was absolutely floored by a cold that's been going around - thanks to my already-screwy immune system, these things hit me hard - but a day off work spent sleeping has left me feeling much better.  Now I can stay up writing until the late, late hour of 10:30 PM before I...sack out and sleep. Lots of fun things ahead for the weekend - more books at the library, new books from Powell's, heavy

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-19293657913494846282011-02-21T05:00:00.000-08:002011-02-21T05:00:07.315-08:00

This weekend, I took a trip to Powell's to browse the selection and choose what to buy from Powell's online (I have an e-gift card and some e-coupons).  That's one reason I think we'll never lose physical bookstores altogether; there's no feeling like wandering a building full of books, running your fingers along their spines, pulling out the ones that catch your eye, blocking the aisle as you

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-58337801156517418702011-02-18T05:00:00.000-08:002011-02-18T05:00:07.720-08:00

"Nora, none of these socks match," my brother says, horror suffusing every word."What d'you mean?  They're all argyle." "You've got to be kidding me."  He drops one orphan sock - on my bed.  "How do you live like this?Yes, dear readers, I'm afraid it's time to confess; I am the very model of a scatter-brained writer.  My socks don't match.  My shirts must be no-iron, or I wear them wrinkled. 

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-52264398241084318482011-02-16T07:25:00.000-08:002011-02-16T07:25:21.449-08:00

I'm still mostly in research mode - I'll probably finish Pedaling Revolution on the bus today - but I have started work on the book's beginning.Beginnings are strange creatures.  I try not to stress about the beginning too much, because I know it can and almost certainly will change in revision.  Instead, I like to start at a point of conflict, when everything is about to change in some (usually

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-50186045585892179702011-02-14T05:00:00.000-08:002011-02-14T05:00:33.974-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.  If you're feeling like a V-Day Grinch, it's always nice to spread a little love to others, even if it's more caritas than cupiditas - you can volunteer, drop off a donation at a local shelter, or buy someone a hot meal.Yes, I'm in a disgustingly good mood, because I got an awful lot done this weekend - wrote well over 10,000 words and finished CoYA.  At last,

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-41857681142246642332011-02-13T15:24:00.000-08:002011-02-13T15:24:59.355-08:00

I just finished the first draft of CoYA.  Yes, really: It's definitely a very rough first draft - characters evolve, and one disappears for a significant period of time before I remember that he exists and bring him back in.  I'm going to put it away for a little while - a week or two, perhaps - and then I'll map out the plot, the major character arcs, etc., and figure out what needs to be done

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-25536548464322748332011-02-11T05:00:00.000-08:002011-02-11T05:00:26.253-08:00

Miscellany first: I know Fridays were supposed to be Friday reads, but...I'm pretty much just rating books that I like over on the 100-Book Year page, rather than writing reviews.  However, on a totally unrelated topic, I do have a guest post over at the National Novel Writing Month (OLL) blog, about reading and trying to analyze the quality of my 2010 NaNoWriMo novel, The Brothers and Sisters

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-87306658595626822652011-02-09T05:00:00.000-08:002011-02-09T05:00:16.479-08:00

A few pieces of business first; you can see all the final first line entries in their polished glory (the contest is now closed - winners will be announced Monday, February 14).  If you missed the news, beloved Redwall author Brian Jacques has passed away.  He was one of the first formative influences on my writing, as well as my favorite author from 4th grade until well into middle school, and

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-36150309524337872142011-02-07T05:00:00.001-08:002011-02-07T05:00:10.242-08:00

I'm participating in Brenda Drake's It Was a Dark and Stormy Blogfest Contest (check out the rules, prizes, and other entrants here), which means posting my first line for everyone to critique!  The source is Kinesthesia, a 70,000-word YA alternate history - what I refer to on my blog and Twitter as "The Novel".  So, here it is:Meri could remember two brief, shining moments in her life when

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-37813395013359135572011-02-04T05:00:00.001-08:002011-02-04T05:00:10.772-08:00

At long last, I’ve moved from my parents’ house to a fairly awesome house in SE Portland. I’ve been gradually transporting my stuff for the last few days, and now I just have to…unpack it all.  One of the piles of stuff still remaining I’m still writing steadily, though I confess that I’ve gotten a little distracted by having all my books out again – the poor things have been living in

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-69966617210321817602011-02-02T05:00:00.000-08:002011-02-02T05:00:19.998-08:00

There are plenty of names for writers who don't plan their stories out ahead of time.  Pantsers.  Commitment-phobes.  My personal preference is "discovery writers", a term I first heard on Brandon Sanderson's fantastic podcast Writing Excuses ("fifteen minutes, because you're in a hurry and we're not that smart").  I like it because it feels so true - I do discover the story as I write it.  Most

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-79366894084626904252011-01-31T05:00:00.000-08:002011-01-31T05:00:23.093-08:00

At the rate I'm going, I'll finish CoYA (Shayda's nickname for my contemporary YA novel) by March 1, if not before.  This begs the question: what next?  I already know that I have to write every day - see Saturday's post for my explanation - and I have a few options.First, I have to let CoYA rest.  It needs at least a month, if not two, to sit - just enough time for me to a) start another novel

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-42933387284176795792011-01-29T05:00:00.000-08:002011-01-29T08:48:46.826-08:00

I have a confession to make: though I loathe being boxed into a routine, I require myself to write every day. Right now, the required daily word count is 750, just because I like the badges on 750 Words; in the past, it's been 1000 words per day, and last November (for a little while) it was 3300 words per day.  Things I do not count in this total?  Blog posts.  Freewriting.  Anything that could

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-42890510302496733472011-01-28T05:00:00.000-08:002011-01-28T05:00:20.666-08:00

As a writer, I'm always on the lookout for intriguing settings or locations - places with a certain hook to them.  I thought it would be fun to talk about some of those places in an occasional blog series - what they are, how I encountered them, why they have such an enduring hold on my mind.The first such place is Oradour-sur-Glane, in France.  I saw this town at the age of 10, and I don't

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-45030896037155568872011-01-26T06:00:00.000-08:002011-01-26T21:53:37.852-08:00

Once upon a time, I believed a lot of things.  My parents could fix everything.  The Tooth Fairy responded personally to every letter I wrote her.  Most importantly, I believed that writers only wrote when they were inspired.*  If they wrote without inspiration, their writing was ordinary.  In retrospect, that's probably because I enjoyed a four-year period during which I felt almost perpetually

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-8504477730064967372011-01-25T04:00:00.000-08:002011-01-25T04:00:07.233-08:00

Agent extraordinaire Jennifer Laughran has posted some great advice for conference-goers, and I thought I'd chime in from a teenage conference attendee's perspective.  I sold my first books as the direct result of a conference, and I know how helpful they can be, but there are a few particular things that I think can help teenagers who go to writing conferences.1. Go to a smaller, local

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-52806986634129109342011-01-16T17:48:00.000-08:002011-01-16T17:48:49.492-08:00

Well, I took a new full-time job (I don't like uncertainty) and as a result, I'm now hoarding every second of free time as I adjust and move to a new house.  Writing comes before fun stuff on the internet, so I will be taking a blog hiatus until Monday, January 31.  I'll continue posting on Twitter and reading for the 100-Book Year, but I have vowed to start submitting The Novel by the end of

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-48591601691884000782011-01-10T10:42:00.000-08:002011-01-10T10:43:14.235-08:00

As my beloved former co-workers at The Office of Letters and Light can tell you, I am a huge fan of to-do lists. Not only did I build a massive web of Post-It tasks in the office, but I also made daily task lists.  Now that I am self-employed, my to-do lists are even more important.  They're how I gauge the amount of progress I make each day, and how I allot my time.  Often, a single item on my

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-84779932167633930762011-01-07T11:05:00.000-08:002011-01-23T19:03:06.409-08:00

I've been reading like crazy, so there are quite a few books to review this week.  I'm also re-reading some old favorites (Tamora Pierce and Diane Duane), but I don't include those in the 100-Book Year.  If I've forgotten to review anything, I'll do it next Friday! Fiction 1. Break, by Hannah Moskowitz This book absolutely blew me away.  I heard about it a long time ago, meant to get it, and

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-47231007555645917522011-01-06T08:57:00.000-08:002011-01-06T08:57:27.610-08:00

Okay, not sure there will be all that much danger involved.  But, as it's turned out, I'm going to spend the next six to twelve months as a full-time writer (and hopefully part-time MFA student).  I started yesterday, and so far it's glorious - massive productivity, lots of writing, waking up at 8 AM, actually cooking meals.  I'm living on savings (hence the wide range in possible length of time)

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-23319771429622141462011-01-01T09:06:00.000-08:002011-01-01T09:07:12.123-08:00

Like everyone else, I've made and broken New Year's resolutions a hundred times over.  Well, no, I'm 22, so probably sixteen times over.  Anyway.  I've learned that you shouldn't make resolutions that are out of your control (i.e. "I resolve that the cute boy in my class will ask me out" or "I resolve that someone will buy my novel").  Instead, here are some goals for the new year. 1. Meet new

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-12193564336921525362010-12-31T18:34:00.000-08:002010-12-31T18:34:53.532-08:00

I started work this week, so I only finished four books.  There are so many more out there that I want to read! Fiction 1. Graceling, by Kristin Cashore I'll write a blog post later this week expanding on just what makes Kristin Cashore's female characters so strong.  For now, I'll just say that in Graceling she has taken a character who sounds like the epitome of a Mary Sue and made her

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-11139025033514184332010-12-25T12:55:00.000-08:002010-12-25T12:55:09.174-08:00

As folks have probably gathered from my endless tweets about line-editing, I'm almost done tweaking The Novel - I finished marking up the hard copy version, and now I'm making those changes to the document (currently on page 84/222).  It's tedious and somewhat mindless work, but very necessary.  Once that's done, it'll go out to readers again, and hopefully I'll be ready to submit soon after that

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-66726670681091182502010-12-24T06:00:00.000-08:002011-01-23T19:45:02.383-08:00

As part of my 100-Book Year, every Friday I'll post short reviews of books I've read over the past week.  This was a heavy reading week, with ten books finished; I suspect the number will drop in future weeks.  Without further ado, the Friday Reader! Fiction 1. Feed, by M.T. Anderson What a creepy novel - this has to be the ultimate dystopian YA.  Anderson throws you right into the world with

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-59351203187982617882010-12-21T22:14:00.000-08:002010-12-21T22:14:51.967-08:00

Home has distracted me so thoroughly that I've neglected this blog.  Endless line-edits have me questioning my technical writing ability as I discover each appalling phrase or brazen adverb abuse.  Also, I have to say, I can only spend so much time line-editing before I find myself skimming, skipping over a sentence or trying to claim that passive voice really enhances the mood there (hint: this

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-7522273642964024662010-12-17T22:01:00.000-08:002010-12-17T22:01:40.398-08:00

It's official - I will be starting a full-time job on Monday, December 27.  I'm also going to train myself to be a morning person, because 8 AM start time + 30-40 min travel time = wakeup of 6 AM.  Until then, I'm running around trying to finish everything possible while I have lots of free time - acquiring things like dishes for my future apartment, gathering evidence for my critical essay (part

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-7589652155754232102010-12-16T17:46:00.000-08:002010-12-16T17:46:21.647-08:00

Just a quick post today, since I've been on an airplane and am annoyingly travel-weary.  However, I have Dungeness crab to enjoy for dinner, and an excellent haul from the Cedar Mill Library to start the 100-Book Year: The left-most pile is nonfiction; the other two piles are fiction.  Let the wild reading begin!

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-31743903459849585362010-12-15T09:54:00.000-08:002010-12-15T18:49:48.322-08:00

Today is my last day at the Office of Letters and Light.  It's been an absolute dream of an internship, and I'm sorry to leave...but I'm excited about all the new adventures awaiting me when I move to Portland.  I've spent a lot of time feeling like I was living somewhere temporarily (college, a bit of time in Portland, a bit of time in Berkeley), and I'm ready to start settling in, making

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-29180721936712687492010-12-14T00:16:00.000-08:002010-12-13T22:21:58.321-08:00

For the longest time, I was dead-set against getting an MFA.  I don't ever plan to teach (I don't have the right temperament for it), so I didn't see the use of a degree, and I don't write literary fiction, so I assumed the workshop wouldn't be all that helpful.  Plus, I wasn't crazy about the idea of spending a year somewhere doing nothing but writing - I've always been the sort of writer who is

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-85149418938705673902010-12-12T14:28:00.001-08:002010-12-12T14:29:08.045-08:00

I finally made the leap and bought www.noracoon.com at the urging of a certain person (a.k.a. Chris Baty).  This blog is now located there, so change your bookmarks!  For now it'll be my blog, but in time more content will appear. I'm going to start a new blog feature as part of my 100-Book Year called the Friday Reader.  Every Friday I'll report on the books I've read over the previous week,

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-76136561638104413572010-12-11T12:39:00.000-08:002010-12-11T12:39:21.313-08:00

This is my last weekend in Berkeley - I move back to Portland on Thursday - and I'm busy packing and trying to fit in everything left to do.  The packing, at least, will be moderately pleasant (once I've gotten rid of all the spiders currently living in my suitcases) because I'm planning to re-watch the third season of Doctor Who at the same time.  Yes, packing will take a bit longer, but I'm all

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-20711728198957243882010-12-08T18:01:00.000-08:002010-12-08T18:01:48.093-08:00

If you're on Twitter, you may have noticed #whyIread trending today.  Folks are tweeting all kinds of awesome answers, and though I posted my own, I thought I'd expand on it a bit in a blog post. I'm not sure how old I was when I learned to read - my mother says I was 4, but of course I can't remember it.  Reading and writing have always been inextricably linked in my mind, and the first story I

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-60328863937798918272010-12-07T15:57:00.000-08:002010-12-07T15:57:54.270-08:00

I used to think I was the kind of writer who could easily juggle multiple fiction projects at once.  I believed that having ideas spilling out my ears meant that I could and should be writing all of them at the same time.  What this really meant, though, was that I never pushed myself through the difficult part of whatever I was writing - whenever I hit the slightest snag, I jumped to another

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-67861554901213464492010-12-06T19:08:00.000-08:002010-12-06T19:08:40.326-08:00

Revisions to The Novel have been going startlingly well.  Of course, since I expected them to be only slightly more pleasant than the removal of my wisdom teeth, that's not saying much.  What is a big deal: I have enjoyed making many of these changes.  For one thing, I've been dying to work on The Novel all of November, and it's nice to go back to a story that I know in and out.  For another,

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-30888854067798761692010-12-04T18:06:00.000-08:002010-12-04T18:06:58.924-08:00

First off, you may notice the blog has a slightly different look - I thought it was time for a little sprucing. Second, and much more exciting, I've just registered to attend Sirens in October.  I have my ticket and my flight - I'm waiting to see if I can lure a few other people along before I book my lodging.  I'm thrilled to be going, and now I can start brainstorming proposal ideas.  The

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-48731708248036350802010-12-03T19:35:00.000-08:002010-12-03T19:35:13.004-08:00

I've finally tried out a very neat writing tool that someone told me about a while ago: 750 Words.  Basically, you write at least 750 words every day into the site.  You get points for every day you write; as far as I can tell, these points don't have any real value, but they're nice.  The key, though, is that it's a place to write anything - you can later download your writing (if you want) from

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-73279111602478678942010-12-01T22:02:00.000-08:002010-12-01T22:02:43.286-08:00

NaNoWriMo is officially over, and it's time to return to revisions.  I suppose I could take a break, but I finished my NaNo novel on November 15 - I've had enough of a break.  I have comments from three different readers to guide me through my cleanup of this new draft (it's the seventh or eighth iteration of the story, but only the second truly completed draft).  I've made a list of all the key

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-17135377751655066452010-11-25T14:47:00.000-08:002010-11-25T14:47:58.246-08:00

I've validated my novel and am officially a winner.  I've made the decision not to shoot for 150K by November 30; instead, I will enjoy my time at home and do nutty things like relax and eat a lot of food.  We're having turkey, two kinds of stuffing, green beans with almonds and brown butter, creamed onions with bacon and chives, cranberry bread, cranberry ice, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie. We'll

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-68551309440253422912010-11-22T19:20:00.001-08:002010-11-22T19:21:00.880-08:00

Last night was my first time at the Night of Writing Dangerously, and oh boy, did it ever live up to expectations.  I started working on setup around noon, and I have a huge amount of respect for the people who put on events like this regularly - that is hard work, and requires the patience of a saint to organize all the tasks that must be finished before the event can start.  Got lunch with

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-91014754146427892812010-11-18T23:50:00.001-08:002010-11-18T23:51:49.955-08:00

I used to think of myself as a "pantser" (a.k.a. one who goes into NaNoWriMo without any kind of outline), but as I take a truly fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants approach to this second novel, I'm beginning to recognizing the value of plotting ahead of time, even if it's only in your head. I spent a lot of time just thinking about The Brothers and Sisters of Interesting People before I was ever able

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-80530295222416009512010-11-15T23:53:00.000-08:002010-11-15T23:53:48.172-08:00

I have finished The Brothers and Sisters of Interesting People, currently checking in at 102,055 words.  The ending is absolutely appalling, and compresses a week's worth of events and emotions into about a thousand words, but I'm okay with that - I'm going to rewrite massive chunks of this anyway, and I did manage to stuff some emotional resolution into the ending along with that week.  I didn't

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-66297564626676559802010-11-14T22:18:00.000-08:002010-11-14T22:18:47.419-08:00

A quick post, because my brain kind of hurts-- I hit 100,000 words of The Brothers and Sisters of Interesting People today.  It's not done.  It's...I mean, I guess I'm halfway through the plotlines I had thought of.  I'm going to try to finish it in the next few days (meaning the ending will be rushed), and then revisions will be when I break it down into its component pieces and build it back

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-48295112539330730002010-11-12T23:08:00.000-08:002010-11-12T23:08:50.506-08:00

I'm at 70,762 words right now.  It's November 12.  I also decided to commit to my own version of the Sunday Catch-Up Vow; my version involves writing 23,000 words this weekend.  That math means I will be frighteningly close to my stated goal of 100,000 words by Monday. I'm not really sure what to do.  Will I have finished the novel by then?  I don't really know.  There is a major plot

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-38377404697606152010-11-10T22:22:00.000-08:002010-11-10T22:22:42.874-08:00

It's Week Two of NaNoWriMo, and while my novel is just as fun to write as ever, I have run into a small problem: my characters are misbehaving.  This shouldn't be possible, because I don't believe that characters have free will.  I created them, and I control them.  Somehow, though, they aren't acting the way they should. The biggest problem? Unexpected hints of romance cropping up early.  Look,

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-6362061093776227952010-11-07T23:04:00.001-08:002010-11-07T23:07:17.397-08:00

I can't really believe that today happened.  I woke up at 30K and decided - ambitiously, I thought - to shoot for 40K.  Then I was challenged by Twitter to aim for 42K.   I hit that around 5:30 PM and decided to keep writing.  The thought popped into my head: I could probably get to 50K.  Once I'd thought it, I had to do it (I'm impulsive like that).  So I kept writing.  I don't know where all

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-25230635696301902802010-11-06T21:27:00.000-07:002010-11-06T21:27:59.405-07:00

I don't know how it's happening, but I'm doing very well.  I'm at 30,470 right now, which means that my progress chart has a curve that kind of resembles f(x^2).  Um, or some other slightly less extreme function.  Seriously:I've been doing 10-minute sprints against myself, as I mentioned.  I downloaded an app that shows a timer on my desktop, which is very helpful for motivation (I type much

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-59176673772709941642010-11-05T23:05:00.000-07:002010-11-05T23:05:40.049-07:00

I've listened to some truly embarrassing music to reach this point, but I am well ahead of my goal.  Both goals, in fact; I'm at 22000 words, which is well above the "1667 words per day to reach 50000" metric and also ahead of my "3000 words every weekday, 5000 words every weekend day to reach 100,000" plan.  Why is this?  To be honest, I think it's the terrifying goal of 100,000 words - it seems

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-61843904065238999952010-11-03T16:48:00.000-07:002010-11-03T16:48:22.463-07:00

I have been stricken with some sort of terrible cold, and am currently recuperating.  I didn't make much progress last night - I was glued to election results all night, which meant a lot of opening my document, writing a sentence, and then switching to check the election results again.  Because this isn't a political blog, I will refrain from commenting too much. Anyway, my novel.  I'll work on

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-13113228566798685152010-11-01T01:41:00.002-07:002010-11-01T01:41:45.985-07:00

3037 words.  That's good enough for now - I'll write more tonight.  At the moment, I need SLEEP.

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-62997286103762841362010-10-31T16:39:00.000-07:002010-10-31T16:39:05.159-07:00

This must be what the night before Christmas feels like (I'm Jewish).  All that tense anticipation, counting down the minutes - and I've still got a bit under 8 hours until midnight!  Yes, I am listening to Europe's "The Final Countdown" and Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger". I think I'm prepared.  I have five different kinds of tea (and one can of Red Bull, labeled with a sticky note that reads "

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-66680883290093973812010-10-30T14:56:00.000-07:002010-10-30T14:56:40.312-07:00

We've arrived at last - the two fingernail-gnawing days preceding the start of NaNoWriMo.  I've still got a ton of NaNoWriMo-related work to do, but almost none of it has to do with my novel.  It's all behind-the-scenes stuff to make NaNoWriMo go smoothly for everyone participating in the NaNo University programs and for our numerous international participants.  I'll also be running word sprints

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-32867540670158532482010-10-28T09:54:00.000-07:002010-10-28T09:54:00.631-07:00

That's a pretty lame title, even for me, purveyor of horrifying puns.  But I couldn't do another post called "NaNoWriMo Music" - I swear I've done one of those every single year. I am one of those people who would listen to music constantly if she could.  Washing dishes?  Music.  Driving? Music.  Talking to someone?  Background music.  Writing?  Homework?  Anything besides poetry or coding?  

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-29174822543631326542010-10-26T21:11:00.000-07:002010-10-26T21:11:46.511-07:00

Yes, I had a bit of a birthday extravaganza - funny, since 22 isn't usually considered a particularly important birthday.  But it was my first birthday out of college, and it turned out to be pretty awesome. On Wednesday (my actual birthday), the office got me a delicious chocolate birthday cake from Sweet Adeline, the bakery next door, and sang me Happy Birthday.  My aunt and uncle called and

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-27551234742216172302010-10-20T20:10:00.000-07:002010-10-20T20:10:30.681-07:00

Yup, that's right - 22 years old.  I was angsting over the past few days about how I had always planned to accomplish more by the time I was 22 (stuff along the lines of "I sold three books from ages 12-17, why not another three from 17-22?), but then I remembered.  The way you collect great materials for novels is by going out there and living your life.  Meeting new people, taking risks,

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-346721219130202002010-10-19T17:13:00.000-07:002010-10-19T17:13:16.260-07:00

Yes, it's the continuation of yesterday's mammoth blog post exploring my history with NaNoWriMo.  Here we go! 2009 This was, bizarrely, the easiest NaNoWriMo for me ever.  Why?  It's tough to say.  I knew way ahead of time that I would have to write a history seminar paper at the same time (25+ pages, researching with primary sources) as well as a massive English seminar paper (I must've read

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-6200694083892984602010-10-18T21:08:00.000-07:002010-10-18T21:08:37.692-07:00

Finishing the massive rewrite/revision of my 2006 NaNoWriDay novel has led me to consider other NaNoWriMo projects to see if they're worth revising.  The answer?  Uhhh... 2005 I discovered - and signed up for - National Novel Writing Month on October 31, 2005.  I was a senior in high school, and I was in the middle of writing The Diabetes Game.  In other words, I was dying to write a little

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-30012210424943190762010-10-17T20:01:00.001-07:002010-10-17T20:01:52.821-07:00

I spent today doing two things: 1) drinking excessive amounts of tea and 2) developing characters for NaNoWriMo 2010. Since this is a writing blog, you, dear reader, probably care more about the latter.  I've had my characters in my head since I returned Amsterdam in June: a soccer player's twin, the brother of a drug dealer, a girl from an American political family, etc.  The novel will be

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-90459441902694767402010-10-16T21:37:00.000-07:002010-10-16T21:37:58.672-07:00

Tonight, I finished rewriting my novel.  I can't believe I just wrote that sentence.  I can't believe it's true.  This novel was first written in a 24-hour span (August 5, 2006) with the aid of a lot of caffeine.  When I wrote it, I was about to go off to college.  I was seventeen years old.  I'd tried NaNoWriMo once, but I hadn't won.  The novel was 40,000 words long, and many of those words did

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-82403154643159366502010-10-14T22:44:00.000-07:002010-10-14T22:44:15.957-07:00

I vowed to go to bed early tonight - I've been sleeping terribly - but I made such good progress that it's painful to stop.  I'm now at 60,619 words.  I've left the target word count as 65,000 but I think it'll probably increase to 70,000.  I have to finish the book at a reasonable pace, and then there are a few random scenes I've written that need to be integrated in somewhere (they're pretty

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-21706032001588414642010-10-11T19:55:00.000-07:002010-10-11T19:55:19.718-07:00

I've been panicking a bit - and talking to any of my friends who are still willing to listen - about my difficulties finding an end for this novel.  You see, originally, I wrote it in 24 hours back in 2006, and the ending...well, let's just say I'd consumed a lot of caffeinated beverages at that point.  Somehow, in four years of revisions and re-workings, I never made it all the way to the end -

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-42679208521395026782010-10-10T11:22:00.000-07:002010-10-10T11:22:35.609-07:00

Yesterday, I wrote another 5000 words, sounded the alarm about a NaNoWriMo site outage, and celebrated Grinnell's (in)famous 10/10 party here in Berkeley.  By myself.  A roundup of the night's random thoughts: - Of COURSE five minutes after I reported the site outage, my internet stopped working. Leaving me to panic that a) I wouldn't be able to respond to questions from other staff members

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-67475505613846462222010-10-09T16:48:00.000-07:002010-10-09T16:48:28.701-07:00

I love the book I'm working on. I really do. The characters are so dear to me that I once spent an entire month  writing daily letters to them to work out my plot problems (I actually recommend this highly, it's very useful).  At 47,000+ words, I'm at a point where the end is in sight - it's a bit like April of high school.  You can count how many days are left, but all the hard stuff is ahead.

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-51879053862848077202010-10-08T15:08:00.002-07:002010-10-08T15:09:32.939-07:00

I was very impressed with myself last night.  I got home around 10:30 PM and, despite the fact that I'd had several beers and I really wanted to watch the new episode of The Vampire Diaries that had just aired (don't judge), I sat down and wrote over 1000 words of my novel.  I didn't even fall asleep while writing, despite the fact that I had to work in bed (the dining room table is right outside

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-51262515259088808812010-10-04T22:25:00.000-07:002010-10-04T22:25:36.339-07:00

Now I remember.  I'm excited to have reached a point in the book that I've never rewritten - it's a lovely feeling - but there's one teeny problem: I don't know what happens next.  Everything else, I had discussed it to death with critique buddies, friends who'd never read the manuscript, etc.  Even the very painful character death I had written once before.  But this is totally new territory.  

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-57025727521614070702010-10-04T08:31:00.000-07:002010-10-04T08:31:35.086-07:00

I don't know what happened this weekend, exactly, but it was magic.  I started the weekend with 28,700 words of my novel rewrite, feeling pretty bummed about how it was going.  Two days later, it's now 40,000 words long and I'm excited about it again.  Plus, I'm actually pleased with what I wrote! How did this happen?  I wish I knew!  I mean, basically I woke up each morning, futzed around on

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35584450.post-18812644834406763452010-10-03T11:40:00.000-07:002010-10-03T11:40:42.564-07:00

My mother informs me I've been remiss in my posting duties.  Sorry, Mom, I was working! Yes, things at work have been crazy as we got everything ready for the site launch on October 1 - but things seem to be running pretty smoothly on the site, thankfully.  I'm moderating three forums, which requires an awful lot of reading, but it's a good excuse to hang out on the NaNoWriMo forums.  

Nora Coonhttps://profiles.google.com/103315377390795551621noreply@blogger.com1