NaNo 2010!

That's right! My first NaNoWriMo! Just in case you're totally confused like I was when I first read that, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It's an online challenge where you attempt to write a full length, 50,000 novel in 30 days. Oh yeah. From November 1st to midnight November 30th, it's a writing craze! You upload your word count, then once you've reached 50,000, you submit your(NON EDITED) final story for final verification, and you get posted on the winners page! NaNo focuses on quantity, not quality. But as they say on the site, leave those badly written passages, horrible grammar mistakes, and story mess-ups on the page and move on! December is the month for editing before trying to get it published(if you want).

So my novel this year is named....I don't know! I'm still working on that. Maybe it will come to me when I'm writing. I've already got quite a big outline of my story. Here's a short synopsis of my novel from my NaNo page

When the ever-writing Haven Jaxon's parents take her and her two brothers to her Uncle Silas's house in the Minnesota countryside, she writes more than ever out on the rolling hills and grassy endlessness. Then one day, after it rains, she goes for a walk in the forest to get inspiration on her latest story. There, she finds some unexpected characters-hers! How will Haven use this as an advantage to write the best story she's ever come up with? Come along with her as she meets people she'd never imagine, gets great inspiration, and learns a very important life lesson.

(c) Joy S.

Do you like? Here's a short excerpt. Something I sort of wrote up that will probably go into the book.

I glanced down at my jade bracelet. Had it really been five months since we had gotten home with Jacob from China? How had time gone so fast? Wasn't it yesterday we arrived at the Memphis airport at 3:00 AM to leave for Beijing? Gosh. I tightened my bracelet as my dad's GPS rang out, "Arriving at destination on left". Jacob abruptly stopped his singing of the Bob the Builder theme song and I looked up. Mom closed her magazine and put it back in her bag. We all flung our heads to the left. Well, except for Jacob. He looked the wrong way so I had to turn his head to the left.

A few hours later, it was very downcast and the clouds were darkening. I could see little droplets of rain hitting the cars. I ran upstairs and grabbed my notebook and pencil then climbed into the window seat that faced the forest behind Si's house. I began to write of a couple of characters I dreamed up years ago when I was little. Maybe a story about what happened to characters after they weren't wrote about anymore? No, to predictable. Maybe a story about a girl who gets a job at a coffee shop? No, too boring. As I provoked my thoughts, poked and prodded my mind, and scoured every nook and crannie of my imagination for a starting place, I could have sworn I saw a girl run out of the forest then run back in. But it was like lightning. It hits the sky then it's gone. You weren't really sure if you saw it or not, but, it sparks in your mind that something's about to happen. And this time, it was something big.

So do you like it so far? I am SO excited! :)

Hopefully later I can write up an update on crafting, Luke, and life around here! Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Joy :)