Daily Writing Dare:
Do some people watching. Take notes on the most interesting looking person you see. Create a character out of them, and insert them in your novel
*Dare was found in the Nanowrimo forums. If you decide to use one of the dares, I post on my blog, in your novel I'd love to know and if you'd like to share how you used it, I would love to hear about that too.
Update:
"The first sentence is the hardest. You sit there staring at the blank screen and wonder what you should write. Will it be any good? Will your characters take you anywhere? But you start typing and there it is, your first sentence. National Novel Writing Month is my journey into the land of imagination. The words that appear on my screen are not just words but a chance at adventure, a chance to express myself and have fun. This November I will reach 50,000 and so this is the beginning of my story.
Click. Click. Click. Tap. Tap. The keys click and tap under my fingers as word after word appears on my screen.
Thank you for joining me on my journey through NanoLand!
I continue typing and all of a sudden I am no longer in my room sitting in front of the computer, I am transported into the middle of a large forest."
After that, after I just got myself writing, I was able to begin my story and I did reach 50K that year.
So I stayed up until midnight last night to bring in the Nanowrimo season. I didn't write much, just my prologue which isn't very long. I've started writing more now but still have a lot more to go for the day. I just wanted to get my blogpost up.
Character Interview:
Each day I will be doing a character interview question with my main character, Millie.Question:
Introduce yourself. What is your name? Your birthdate? What do you look like? Your interests? Where do you live?Answer:
Hi everyone. My name is Camilla Ann Jacobs but everyone calls me Millie. I’ve been called Millie ever since I was a baby. I was born on November 13, 1927 and I am sixteen years old. What do I look like? Well I have dark brown hair that curls at the bottom and I have dark brown eyes. I’m 5’ 4” and I’m wearing a white sweatshirt, a grey knee length skirt, white bobby socks, and black and white saddle shoes. My interests are playing the guitar and singing. I recently got the opportunity to be in a popular, local band so I spend a lot of time at practice or playing for people. I also love to spend a lot of time at the beach. I like to spend time with my best friend, Ruth and my beau, Charlie. I like to sew and I make my own clothes. I live in Brightman, Virginia in a one story brick home that my daddy built not too long after he and my momma were married. We live on a small farm and have a few vegetable gardens. We also have some chickens, pigs, and one cow. Oh and I am an only child.Daily Topic:
The topic:
Share the opening lines or paragraph of a couple books you like and say why you thought they were good, then share your opening line or paragraph from your novel and explain why you chose to open it like that and why you opened it where you did.*Topic by OneMoreSouthernBelle on Youtube
My answer:
Opening line of "Angel of Mercy" by Lurlene McDaniel: "I can't believe you're giving up your entire summer and fall instead of going to college, Heather. I mean, it's like forever! And just look where you'll be living. How can you stand it? There's no room to move, no privacy either!"
I thought that this was a good beginning because it starts you off in the middle of things. You wonder who's speaking and why Heather isn't going to college. Where is she? What is she doing? Why doesn't she have room to move or no privacy? It leaves you with questions and so it makes you want to keep reading so that you can have those questions answered.
Opening line of "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton: "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight, from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home."
I've always liked this opening. It makes me want to learn more about the character. Why are those two things on his mind?
The opening line of my novel: "There are two things making me smile tonight. One, I’m about to play my guitar on stage with a popular local band and two, it’s the beginning of summer."
I chose to open my story like this because I want to show how happy Millie is about this night and to also show that it is summer. I also wanted to start the novel here, back stage as she's preparing to play in the band, to introduce the fact that she is in a band.
Thanks for reading! I'll be back tomorrow with another interview question for Millie and to talk about the writing program I'm using and writing totems.
Happy writing,
<3 Andrea
I chose to open my story like this because I want to show how happy Millie is about this night and to also show that it is summer. I also wanted to start the novel here, back stage as she's preparing to play in the band, to introduce the fact that she is in a band.
Thanks for reading! I'll be back tomorrow with another interview question for Millie and to talk about the writing program I'm using and writing totems.
Happy writing,
<3 Andrea
