Hey! Read this thing I did at another blog! #OwnVoices

Is it shameless self-promotion to write a post about how I blogged somewhere else?

No?

Good.

Here's an article I wrote about #OwnVoices for NaNoWriMo. 

Writer’s Kit: Why Writing From Your #OwnVoice is Crucial

Camp NaNo is "write" around the corner (see what I did there? eh?)

Monday Musings: NaNoWriMo 2015 is almost over

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

That's the only thing going through my head right now as I realize that NaNoWriMo 2015 is almost over. I mean, it's not the ONLY sound, but it's the main one. Because I am an emotional rollercoaster! 

Beware all normal humans who've never heard of NaNoWriMo, you are in for "Last-Week-Of-NaNo-Which-Is-Also-Thanksgiving-Kat." She is a terror. She will make you listen to her latest idea of a plot twist in the hopes that you will talk her out of it, but SHE WILL INCLUDE IT ANYWAY SO WHY ARE YOU EVEN TALKING RIGHT NOW?

She will also come to your house and eat all of the carbs on your Thanksgiving table leaving only the dry disgusting turkey that this whole holiday is inexplicably centered on. Why can't we just have more mashed potatoes? I'll mold them into a turkey shape if that's what you need!

Anyway, enough crazy talk people. It's almost over, we should be happy. But also, that means that revisions are around the corner.

Some Unsolicited Advice: As you come close to the end you'll want to do things like enter your WiP in contests and query all the agents that existed ever. BUT DON'T DO THAT. Your books is for suresies not ready. Why you ask. Because it was written in a freaking month. Do you really think you didn't have one typo or hanging participle or really stupid unnecessary character in there? Well, in all likelihood there is. I know for a fact that my whole book is unnecessary characters (but I love them so you can't take them from me!)

Anyway, what was this post about? Oh yea, it's about gifs that express my crazy mental state. And it's also about me cheering everyone on. Happy Last Week of NaNo. I wish you all happiness and rainbows and reaching your goals and mashed potato turkey! 

Now for the Gifs!

You are a NaNoWriMo champ! It doesn't matter if you have 40,000 or 40 words. You're a rockstar.

Your book might not be completely cohesive right now, but keep at it, because it's going to be totally awesome.

Take a moment to appreciate the little things. Like a sweet side character you created yesterday or a sweet panda bear pots filled with deliciousness

Just know there are probably a lot of people out there excited to read your story, even if you haven't met them yet.

Ummm. I don't know what this GIF is supposed to be. I think it means that you're vomiting rainbows into your computer?

You did it! You're almost done with NaNo!

When November is done I'm going to buy myself a million presents.

You all already deserve major props for making it this far.

But there's still a week left. So get back to writing!

This GIF is for Axie.

Beautiful Books 2: Writing Process

So Paper Fury and Further up and Further in. is hosting Beautiful Books for NaNo again this year. It was great to participate last year (my past posts are here and here). I completely dropped the ball this year and didn't write my first post until RIGHT NOW, so I couldn't put it in the linky, but you can find it here. 

Now for the part 2 questions:

Is the book turning out how you thought it would be, or is it defying your expectations?

It's a turning out mostly how I thought it would. I had an outline of how it should go already. So I'm mostly sticking to that.

To be honest this is me when I write in general:

What’s your first sentence (or paragraph)?

Miyoung knew well how cruel laughter could be; she sat with her head hanging low as it rang around her. 

Soy sauce and fish oil dripped out of her long black locks, soaking the blazer of her school uniform. The sticky drops against her name tag echoed in her ears, soaking each character of her name. Gu. Mi. Young.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? Have you ever tried both methods and how did it turn out?

I'm more of a pantser. But I have shifted to become a hybrid. a Plantser if you will.

I will always share this GIF when I talk about being a pantser #sorrynotsorry:

What do you reward yourself with after meeting a goal?

A new car! Hahah, I wish. I do get myself something nice, like a new book. To be honest, I read a lot when I'm on a writing roll. It's like a positive feedback loop for me.

What do you look for in a name? Do you have themes and where do you find your names?

They do have to kind of mean something. They speak to the character or the character's journey. So Miyoung means eternally beautiful, which speaks to a gumiho's beauty and her ability to live for a long time.

Yena means beautiful and talented. Which is fitting because Yena is gorgeous and manipulative.

I picked Jihoon because it is a popular boy's name. I wanted Jihoon to feel more normal than the paranormal characters. Also, Jihoon is easy to pronounce for non-Korean speakers.

What is your favourite to write: beginning, middle, or end — and why?

 Middle all day long! I hate beginnings and endings! There is so much pressure on both!

Who’s your current favourite character in your novel?

Currently I like Miyoung. I made her much more flawed than I thought I would, so she's turning out quite quirky.

What kind of things have you researched for this project, and how do you go about researching? (What’s the weirdest thing you’ve researched?!)

I researched Korean mythology, shamanism, and just random street names. I stuck to the neighborhoods I know and have been to myself in Seoul.

Like the Tiny City I found behind this Tiny Door!

Do you write better alone or with others? Do you share your work or prefer to keep it to yourself?

I probably write better alone, but I enjoy writing more with others. And I share my work AS SOON as I've written it. I have some CPs who are all down for that and some I have to hold back from contacting as soon as I write the scene because I know they're busy.

What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best? Feel free to show us a picture of your writing space! 

Must listen to something. Sometimes I even have the TV on, which many people find weird. I write really well in mid-afternoon and night time. I am not a morning person at all.

You can join the Beautiful Books Part 2 fun HERE

Beautiful Books 1: Introduce your Novel

So Paper Fury and Further up and Further in. is hosting Beautiful Books for NaNo again this year. It was great to participate last year (my past posts are here and here). I completely dropped the ball this year and didn't write my first post until RIGHT NOW. So I apologize for being late. But I will double post to catch up with the second prompt which is already out.

How did you come up with the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea? 

It's an old Korean myth/folktale about a Gumiho, nine-tailed fox that can shift into a beautiful woman. So I've had this idea swimming in my head for a couple of years. But I didn't have the confidence to commit to it until now.

Why are you excited to write this novel? 

Ummm, because it's about a nine-tailed shape-shifting fox.

Also, because it's a love story. And it's got a lot of K-Drama elements and I'm a K-Drama nut.
AND I get to look at beautiful inspiration like these GIFs:

What is your novel about, and what is the title? 

I think I jumped the gun in answering this question. But to go into more detail it is about a girl who is a gumiho, but doesn't really want to be. She's never had a regular life or real connections. And she meets a boy who is also lonely in his life. They fall in love, but of course things get kind of complicated along the way.

The working title is "Gumiho."

Sum up your characters in one word each. (Feel free to add pictures!) 

Hahn Jihoon - Detached

Gu Miyoung - Lonely

 Gu Yena - Cold

Which character(s) do you think will be your favourite to write? Tell us about them! 

I really do enjoy writing Jihoon and Miyoung. But there is a side character that comes in later in the book named Junu. He's a bit of a ladies' man and he has a mysterious past as well.

What is your protagonist’s goal, and what stands in the way? 

Miyoung deciding between her love for her mother (her gumiho side) and her love for Jihoon (her human side), and eventually having to deal with the consequences of her own disastrous choices.

Where is your novel set? (Show us pictures if you have them!) 

Modern day Seoul, South Korea

What is the most important relationship your character has? 

The relationship between the two mains is the most explored. But there is a huge theme of their relationships with their parents.

How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel? 

Miyoung learns that she cannot always lean on others in her search to define herself.

Jihoon learns how he hides himself behind these fake personas he creates for himself and that trusting other people might be worth it even if he does get hurt in the process.

What themes are in your book? How do you want your readers to feel when the story is over?
Three themes are: Love, Family, Search for self.

I want my readers to feel satisfied. Like everything happened the way it should have.

BONUS! Tell us your 3 best pieces of advice for others trying to write a book in a month.

Advice for people trying to do NaNoWriMo: Don't edit. You'll want to. But you can't, because the editing bug is strong and you will start to tweak things and get caught up in that. Edit in December. For November, write your heart out!

Join along in the fun here!

Monday Musings: Ways to procrastinate from NaNoWriMo and still feel productive (kind of)

Hey guys, are y'all writers, are y'all taking part in NaNoWriMo? Well, if you are then you may or may not have already given in to your need to procrastinate. Something I definitely have not done at all, for sure 100% not.

However, if I were procrastinating instead of writing, I'd do it in a writer fashion. And that's looking up things about books, writing, and publishing.

So if you want some cool things to look at while you're procrastinating from NaNoWriMo while still feeling like you've been productive then here are some procrastination suggestions for your procrastinating pleasure (whew, run on sentence. Which happens to me more and more as NaNo goes on):

1. Things about Writing:

I like to hone my craft as I'm writing, so I just look at these blogs all day every day:

Literary Rambles

Brenda Drake's Making Connections

Dorothy Dreye's We Do Write

Chuck Wendig's Terribleminds Blog

Cupid's Literary Connection

Krista Van Dolzer's Mother.Write.Repeat

2: Things about Querying and Publishing:

I've been watching and listening to podcasts/vlogs. 

The two that I've liked lately are: 

Shipping & Handling with Bridget Smith of Dunham Literary Inc. & Jennifer Udden of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

AND

PubTalkTv with Summer Heacock (@Fizzygrrl), Kelsey Macke (@KelsNotChels), Monica Odom (modomodom), Jessica Sinsheimer (@jsinsheim), Roseanne Wells (@RivetingRosie)

AND

For YA Writers (because this is a YA/MG blog) I like Adventures in YA Publishing.

AND

Minorities in Publishing is a blog and podcast about Minorities in Publishing (@minoritiesinpub) with Jen (@jbakernyc) Bev (@lolbev)

3. Thing about Books and Reading:

Come on, you knew I'd link We Need Diverse Books. It's necessary to mention.

And Book Smugglers is a good review site if you're struggling to choose a book to read next and so is Book Riot

And a shout-out to my former home blog Books Are Bread

NaNoWriMo: Coming Soon to a computer near you!

Hey guys, it's that time of the year! Fall!

My favorite season because of apple cider, Thanksgiving, pretty trees AND NaNoWriMo! 

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as the cool kids say, is a challenge to write a WHOLE BOOK(50,000 words) in the month of November. 

And fighting the slow pull of insanity while trying to meet word count. Just kidding, kind of.

It also brings the writer community together and can jump-start a new novel idea.

According to Nanowrimo.org:

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 p.m. on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel.

NaNoWriMo kind of reminds me of college because you have an excuse to be grouchy and crazy at 3 AM and there are likely other people doing that exact same thing! So you know what that means, 3AM coffee/wine and whine time with friends! 

I also always like to point out that some awesome novels were started and/or written during Nanowrimo (http://nanowrimo.org/published-wrimos).

Okay, so here are some of the fun things you get by signing up (FOR FREE) at Nanowrimo.org

Cool stats and graphs telling you how awesome (or, in my case, how lazy) you are:

Awesome Forums where you can connect with other authors. There are so many options to base the forums on (genre, hobbies, progress in your WIP, where you live, who you read):

And there are some Regional specific events:

I participated in NaNoWriMo for the past two years (and won *cough cough*). I loved it, I loved meeting new people and working on a new WiP. Fun fact, none of my WiPs from NaNoWriMo became full novels. However, I don't think that's a bad thing. I got super inspired (often times halfway through NaNo) to write MSs that DID become full books. And I queried the snot out of at least one (that means I thought it wasn't complete garbage and other people were allowed to read it). So, there you go.

Anyway, I love the idea of NaNoWriMo. I like anything that gets people to write and to get excited about writing. I am knee deep in a WiP, but it's actually split into 2 parts, so I'm writing part 2 of my YA contemporary fantasy during NaNo this year.

If you want, you can find me on the site and we can be nanowrimo pals! (I'm katjc589)

Monday Musings: NaNoWriMo Victory is Mine!

Finally!

Birds are singing! Bells are ringing! NaNoWriMo victory is MINE!

You guys, I cannot tell you what it feels like when you have accomplished something that seemed so ridiculously difficult. It's like when people run a marathon, except no running and no physical exertion, just a lot of mental instability coupled with the thought that I am the worst writer who has ever been born on this planet and how-can-I-ever-finish-this-book-NaNoWriMo-was-invented-just-to-make-me-feel-bad-about-myself!

Aaaanyway, I did it. I finished writing 50,000 words. Full disclaimer. They're not all for the same book. Another disclaimer, they're all crap. HOWEVER, I still finished. And it feels awesome. You guys, I would recommend doing this for any writer (and yes, we are all writers. If you've written something that you love then you are a writer). Even if the book you work on is not something you want to publish. It's great, the community is great, the inspiration is great, the feeling at the end of the rainbow is great. I would tell people to make their own personal NaNo and just make a goal for yourself. And track yourself. And post about it on your blog if you have one. I promise that if you link it in the comments of this post, you will have at least one reader following along with you (that's me if that message wasn't clear).

That is all. You can now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

(Also, Happy December! Time for Holiday decorations!)

Monday Musing: NaNoWriMo is sucking out my soul!

You guys, I'm trying so hard to power through this month. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is both super exciting and the hardest thing I ever do. However, I will say that the best part is the inspiration from the great writing community. Who knew that so many people get just as crazy weird as me on a regular basis?

Anyway, this is the main reason I am not posting that much this month, but I promise that my random thoughts and ramblings are still running through my head on a daily basis. I'm just failing on posting them. 

In the meantime, I'll just put up these hilarious videos for you to watch:

Guardians of the Galaxy dance off:

Last Week Tonight - Salmon Cannon