Congratulations to Phyllis, winner of the proof copy of Lady Dearing’s Masquerade!
Please send your snail mail address to elena @ elenagreene.com (no spaces) and I’ll send you the proof.
Thanks to everyone for helping me brainstorm that title!
Elena
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For anyone who’s not familiar, NaNoWriMo, often abbreviated to NaNo, stands for National Novel Writing Month. According to the organization’s website, “National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000-word (approximately 175-page) novel by 11:59:59 PM on November 30.”
The last time I participated was in 2007 but I didn’t make it to 50,000. The last time I “won” was in 2006. Each time I’ve participated, I’ve had a blast and gotten a lot done. There’s something about watching the progress graph climb that helps to motivate me.
I’ve heard people criticize NaNo for a number of reasons. It is true that a lot of people don’t get anywhere close to the 50,000 word mark. Personally, I think it’s great that people who talk about wanting to write a book someday actually give it a try. If they learn that writing isn’t really their thing, that’s fine. They can go on to other endeavors. If they learn to respect the hard work that authors put into writing, that’s a good thing too.
The other complaint I’ve heard is that NaNo produces a lot of dreck. True, but I still say no problem. For writers like me, it’s a good way to start a rough draft, to get to know my characters and get a clearer idea of their journey. I wouldn’t think of inflicting my rough drafts on my critique partners, let alone the reading public. A lot of rewriting and editing happen before I put anything out there.
Will some participants go ahead and self-publish their not-ready or even may-never-be-ready drafts? Probably. No big deal. It seems to me that the search algorithms at online bookstores won’t put those titles near the top of the list and bury more carefully written and edited books.
Anyway, I wish everyone a successful and fun NaNo. I’m not participating this year because I’m on the 4th draft of the balloonist story and need to focus on that. However, I’m setting myself the personal challenge of having this draft ready for critique by the end of the month. If others can write 50,000 words of rough draft in this time, maybe I can manage 15-20,000 of somewhat more polished work. Here’s my Storytoolz progress bar. Wish me luck!
What challenges have you set yourself recently?
Elena
www.elenagreene.com
www.facebook.com/ElenaGreene
www.twitter.com/ElenaGreene7
I’m sorry I don’t have a Regency-relevant post for today. I’ve been fighting a nasty cold and just remembered it’s my day! So let me tell you about yesterday.
“After some e-mail hunting, I received a response from the literary agent who handles Ms. Heyer’s work in the U.K. According to his letter, his agency has been trying to interest production companies in dramatizations of Heyer’s mysteries for a long time, with no success. He said production companies “mumble about the cost of period drama, and whether there is an audience for old-fashioned crime”! Thankfully, he assured me that they plan to persevere until someone sees the light….”
If you get a group of Heyer fans together then talk with inevitably turn to television and film adaptations or, more precisely, the lack of them. There is a film version of The Reluctant Widow, which came out in Heyer’s lifetime but apparently it appalled her so much that she refused to allow any more.
However, it now transpires that she badly wanted her books made into films and there’s even recently been a Cranford style version planned with three of her books given an intertwined storyline – I’m guessing it would be Regency Buck, Devil’s Cub and An Infamous Army maybe as they are already linked by common characters.
Welcome to the new home of the Risky Regencies.
Please be patient as we deal with housekeeping issues that may arise.
If you have questions or problems, please feel free to email Elena, who will do her best to sort things out.