#NaNoWriMo Day 1 #amwriting

Day 1 was a smashing success with over 2000 words. I am at a strange spot in the story where it is revolving around three characters at once. Sort of a Harry, Hermione, and Ron sort of thing. Except the Hermione of my story keeps getting lost in the shuffle. She has to be there, and her presence is important, but her minute to minute activities are getting lost in the story of the two guys.

It is appropriate for the scene, but not much like her character who is very boisterous. Do you think this is a problem? Have you noticed things like the before when there are multiple characters all traveling together in what you are reading or writing?

I only ask because they are about to take a journey together. Now I can write the story of the journey and throw in some mini adventure involving the magical horse they have with them, or I can skip the deals and get them to thier destination when the Hermione character is really going to take off.

What do you think?

#NaNoWriMo Update and HP Answers

I have failed today. I barely got in 150 words. My dogs got me up at 4:45 this morning and I am just not right to write. Hopefully I can pick up the slack tomorrow. Here are the HP answers that I promised:


Easy: Who is the Potions Master?-Snape
Easy: What was the last Christmas present Harry opened?- His father’s invisibility cloak
Easy: What did Hagrid name his Norwegian Ridgeback?-Norbert
M-When Harry asks the Dursley’s the question ‘How did I get my scar?’ what did they tell him?-Car Accident
Medium: Who is the Gryffindor house ghost?- Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington aka Nearly Headless Nic
Medium: Who is the Gryffindor Quidditch captain?-Oliver Wood
H-What year was Hagrid in when he was expelled from Hogwarts?-Third year
Hard: What is the first password for Gryffindor tower?- Caput Draconis
H-How many Knuts do you need to make a Sickle?-29
Ridiculously Hard: What kind of wood was Tom Riddle/Voldemort’s wand?-Yew
Ridiculously Hard: When does Harry study the night skies?- Wednesdays, at midnight
Ridiculously Hard: What does troll boogers look like?-Lumpy Gray Glue
Easy: What is Dobby?-House Elf
Easy: Which Quidditch team does Ron support?- The Chudley Cannons
Easy: How did Ron and Harry get to Hogwarts?- In Mr. Weasley flying Ford Angelina
Medium: What store did Harry end up in when trying to get to Diagon Ally?- Borgin and Burkes
Medium: How many times in a row has Gilderoy Lockhart won Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award?-5 Times
Medium: What item of clothing set Dobby free?-A Sock
Hard: What did Dobby have to do when he got home because he went to see Harry?- Shut his ears in the oven door
Hard: How many times did Filch make Ron buff the Quidditch cup? -14
Hard: Why does Ron not like spiders?- Fred turned Ron’s teddy bear into a spider when he was little
Ridiculously Hard: What book hit Mr. Malfoy’s eye when he and Mr. Weasley were brawling?- Encyclopedia of Toadstools
Ridiculously Hard: In what book does Gilderoy Lockhart say that his favorite color is lilac?-The Year with the Yeti
Ridiculously Hard: When did Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington (Nearly Headless Nick) die?-October 31, 1492
Easy: Who is the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher?-Rebeus Hagrid
Easy: What happened to Harry’s Nimbus Two Thousand?-It Flew into the Whomping Willow
Easy: What did Trelawney see in Harry’s cup?-The Grim
Medium: What did Hagrid give Harry for his birthday?- The Monster Book of Monsters
Medium: How many people did Sirius Black kill with one curse?-13
Medium: What creature is Buckbeak?-hippogriff
Hard: What school did Vernon say Harry went to?- St. Brutus’s Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys
Hard: What potion has Snape been making Lupin?-The Wolfsbane Potion
Hard: What were the third years learning in Divination the day Hermione left?-Crystal Gazing
Ridiculously Hard: How many mph does the Firebolt go and in how many seconds?- 150 mph in 10 seconds
Ridiculously Hard: What classes did Hermione have at nine o’clock on the first day of school?- Divination, Muggle Studies, and Arithmancy
Ridiculously Hard: Where was the Fat Lady hiding?- In a map of Argyllshire
Easy: Who was the gardener for the Riddle House?-Frank Bryce
Easy: How does Bill style his hair?-He puts it in a ponytail
Easy: Who did the Weasleys Harry and Hermione meet at the portkey?-The Diggorys
Medium: Why did Dudley have to go on a diet?- The school outfitters didn’t stock knickerbockers big enough for him
Medium: What were the Bulgarian mascots?-Veela
Medium: How many hands does the Weasley’s clock have?-9
Hard: What are people who work for the Department of Mysteries called?-Unspeakables
Hard: What book had Professor Moody lent Neville?- Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean
Hard: Who are all the judges for the Triwizard Tournament?- Professors Dumbledore and Karkaroff, Madam Maxime, Ludo Bagman, and Mr. Crouch
Ridiculously Hard: What hill was the portkey on?-Stoatshead Hill
Ridiculously Hard: How many years had it been since Britain hosted the Quidditch World Cup?-30 years
Ridiculously Hard: How many people does the Quidditch World Cup stadium hold?-100,000
Easy: Who founded the Order of the Pheonix?-Dumbledore
Easy: What did Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister look like?-She looked like a toad
Easy: What did Harry and Dudley meet in the ally?-Dementors
Medium: What is a Metamorphmagus?- A person who can change their appearance at will
Medium: What is Sirius’s brother’s name?-Regulus
Medium: Who told the prophesy about Harry and Voldemort?- Sybil Trelawney
Hard: Where was the headquarters for the Order of Phoenix?- Number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London
Hard: What is Kreacher’s life ambition?- To have his head cut off and stuck up on a plaque like his mother
Hard: What is Dumbledore’s full name?- Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Ridiculously Hard: What did Mrs. Weasley find under the couch in the drawing room?- A nest of dead puffskeins
Ridiculously Hard: What are heliopaths and who do they work for according to Luna Lovegood?- They’re spirits of fire that work for Fudge
Ridiculously Hard: What kind of charm did Hermione put on the fake Galleons? - A Protean Charm
Easy: What kind of vow did Snape and Narcissa make? –An Unbreakable Vow
Easy: Who is Bill getting married to?-Fleur Delacour
Easy: Who previously owned Harry’s potion book?-The Half Blood Prince
Medium: Where did Harry tell Kreature to go?-Hogwarts
Medium: What did Horace Slughorn disguise himself as?-an oversized armchair
Medium: What language (besides English) can the Gaunt’s speak? –Parseltounge
Hard: What store’s merchandise is banned from Hogwarts?-Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes
Hard: What did Hermione send flying toward Ron?-Charmed Birds
Hard: Why did Ron fail his Apparation test?-He left half an eyebrow behind
Ridiculously Hard: What was the name of the vampire Harry met at Slughorn’s party?-Sanguini
Ridiculously Hard: What was Herbert Chorley doing when he was under the Imperius Curse?-Quacking
Ridiculously Hard: What was the matron’s name at the orphanage Tom Riddle was raised?
Easy: How is everyone turning into Harry going to turn into Harry?-Polyjuice Potion
Easy: Which twin lost his ear?-George
Easy: What is Tonk’s and Lupin’s baby’s name?-Teddy
Medium: What subject did Charity Burbage teach at Hogwarts?-Muggle Studies
Medium: Who is writing a book about Albus Dumbledore?-Rita Skeeter
Medium: What did Dumbledore leave Hermione in his will?-His copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard
Hard: What is Lucius Malfoy’s Patronus?-a Peacock
Hard: Where did Hermione get books that had information on Horcruxes?- She summoned them from Dumbledore’s office before leaving Hogwarts
Hard: Who was with Ted Tonks, Dirk, and the two Goblins on the run? –Dean Thomas
Ridiculously Hard: What did Hermione put on Ron’s wounds?- ‘Essence of Dittany’
Ridiculously Hard: What did Rita Skeeter give Bathilda to tell her stories about the Dumbledores?- Veritaserum
H.-What are the Deathly Hallows?-The elder wand, the resurrection stone, and the invisibility cloak
Tiebreaker
Ridiculously Hard: What do you have to dial in the red telephone booth to reach the Ministry of Magic-62442
Hard: Who is in the cell in the Malfoy Manor?- Mr. Ollivander, Luna, Dean, Ron, Harry, and Griphook
Hard: What did Dobby’s grave say?- ‘Here lies Dobby, a free elf.’

#NaNoWriMo Day 14 and the HP trivia questions

Today I wrote 1691 words for a total of 23550 for the month.

Here are the Harry Potter Trivia questions that we used. I will post the answers tomorrow. Good Luck!


Book 1
Who is the Potions Master?
What was the last Christmas present Harry opened?
What did Hagrid name his Norwegian Ridgeback?
When Harry asks the Dursley’s the question ‘How did I get my scar?’ what did they tell him?
Who is the Gryffindor house ghost
Who is the Gryffindor Quidditch captain?
What year was Hagrid in when he was expelled from Hogwarts?
What is the first password for Gryffindor tower?
How many Knuts do you need to make a Sickle?
What kind of wood was Tom Riddle/Voldemort’s wand?
When does Harry study the night skies?
What does troll boogers look like?

Book 2
What is Dobby?
Which Quidditch team does Ron support?
How did Ron and Harry get to Hogwarts?
What store did Harry end up in when trying to get to Diagon Ally?
How many times in a row has Gilderoy Lockhart won Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award?
What item of clothing set Dobby free?
What did Dobby have to do when he got home because he went to see Harry?
How many times did Filch make Ron buff the Quidditch cup?
Why does Ron not like spiders?
What book hit Mr. Malfoy’s eye when he and Mr. Weasley were brawling
In which of his books does Gilderoy Lockhart say that his favorite color is lilac?
When did Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington die?

Book 3
Who is the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher?
What happened to Harry’s Nimbus Two Thousand?
What did Trelawney see in Harry’s cup?
What did Hagrid give Harry for his birthday?
How many people did Sirius Black kill with one curse?
What creature is Buckbeak?
What school did Vernon say Harry went to?
What potion has Snape been making Lupin?
What were the third years learning in Divination the day Hermione left?
How many mph does the Firebolt go and in how many seconds?
What classes did Hermione have at nine o’clock on the first day of school?
Where was the Fat Lady hiding?

Book 4
Who was the gardener for the Riddle House?
How does Bill style his hair?
Who did the Weasleys Harry and Hermione meet at the portkey?
Why did Dudley have to go on a diet?
What were the Bulgarian mascots?
How many hands does the Weasley’s clock have?
What are people who work for the Department of Mysteries called?
What book had Professor Moody lent Neville?
Who are all the judges for the Triwizard Tournament?
What hill was the portkey on?
How many years had it been since Britain hosted the Quidditch World Cup?
How many people does the Quidditch World Cup stadium hold?

Book 5
Who founded the Order of the Pheonix?
What did Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister look like?
What did Harry and Dudley meet in the ally?
What is a Metamorphmagus?
What is Sirius’s brother’s name?
Who told the prophesy about Harry and Voldemort?
Where was the headquarters for the Order of Phoenix?
What is Kreacher’s life ambition?
What is Dumbledore’s full name?
What did Mrs. Weasley find under the couch in the drawing room?
What are heliopaths and who do they work for according to Luna Lovegood?
What kind of charm did Hermione put on the fake Galleons?

Book 6
What kind of vow did Snape and Narcissa make?
Who is Bill getting married to?
Who previously owned Harry’s potion book?
Where did Harry tell Kreature to go?
What did Horace Slughorn disguise himself as?
What language (besides English) can the Gaunt’s speak?
What store’s merchandise is banned from Hogwarts?
What did Hermione send flying toward Ron?
Why did Ron fail his Apparation test?
What was the name of the vampire Harry met at Slughorn’s party?
What was Herbert Chorley doing when he was under the Imperius Curse?
What was the matron’s name at the orphanage Tom Riddle was raised?

Book 7
How is everyone turning into Harry going to turn into Harry?
Which twin lost his ear?
What is Tonk’s and Lupin’s baby’s name?
What subject did Charity Burbage teach at Hogwarts?
Who is writing a book about Albus Dumbledore?
What did Dumbledore leave Hermione in his will?
What is Lucius Malfoy’s Patronus?
Where did Hermione get books that had information on Horcruxes?
Who was with Ted Tonks, Dirk, and the two Goblins on the run?
What did Hermione put on Ron’s wounds?
What did Rita Skeeter give Bathilda to tell her stories about the Dumbledores?
What are the Deathly Hallows?

Tiebreakers
What do you have to dial in the red telephone booth to reach the Ministry of Magic?
Who are prisoners in the cell in the Malfoy Manor?
What did Dobby’s grave say?

#NaNoWriMo and Harry Potter

Today I wrote 1718 words for a total of 21759 for the month.

Earlier today I got to be a judge at a Happy Potter trivia contest. There were 84 questions asked and the winning team got 68.5 out of 84. The questions were pretty hard, and I will try to post them to see if you would be able to beat the winning team. But I have to say it was a blast and there was a huge turnout. It is nice to see that the books are still popular, because I flat out love them.

#NaNoWriMo and sleeping

Hello everyone!

Sorry that I did not get a post up yesterday. I had to work late and then when I sat down to write everything seemed forced and not very good. I was telling and not showing what was going on so I decided that since I was a day ahead on NaNo I would take the day off from writing and come back fresh today.

Yes I came back strong today. I wrote 1684 words today and finished with a total of 20041 so far for the month.

I have found that I have been falling asleep while I have been writing lately. Does this happen to anyone else? I know that I have not been getting enough sleep, but I never thought I would be able to write while dozing.

#NaNoWriMo results and YA Characters as a Metaphor for Teens

I am very pleased with my writing today. Not only did I write about the pain of loss but I wrote 2043 words which puts me at a total of 18357 so far this month.

I am still thinking about a perfect name for my main character. Part of my problem with giving my main character in my NaNoWriMo project a name is I want him to be able to be a metaphorical stand in for any teen reading this story if they so choose.

My goal of perhaps having a nameless main character is to give the reader an easy path to turning the character into themselves. I want the to consider what they would do if they were presented with these challenges. However I want this project to also be fun and engaging for the reader without the reader having to put him or her self into the book if they do not want to. I find is to be a stimulating line to walk.

Does this idea even make sense, or do I just need to get out of my head and just enjoy telling the story?

Which leads me to another thought.
Do you think that it is wrong to use YA books and characters to push morality?

I am not writing this story with an agenda per say but I can see where someone could take the ultimate "lesson" of my story to be that, 1. there are consequences for your actions and you have to take responsibility for them, 2. that sometimes restrictions are in place for a reason, and 3. that just because you are born a certain way or just because other have placed certain expectations on you does not mean that you have to be prisoner to circumstance. You are free to make your own choices and be who you want to be.

So what do you think?

Do you think that YA characters are stand in for teens to allow them to process difficulties of everyday life? Do you push any specific morality in your writing?

#NaNoWriMo Day 9 results

1753 words today, which means I am at 16314 for the month. I am nearly a full day ahead and while I will write at least 1667 words tomorrow, I only need 353 to meet tomorrow's goal. But right now my wife wants me to get to bed so goodnight everyone.

#NaNoWriMo Updated and Why Titles are the Bane of My Existance

Today I wrote 1836 words for a total of 14561 so far this month. I keep wishing my adult project was this easy to write. But that is a post for another day. Here is my writing issue that I was thinking about today.

I hate creating titles for my projects.

There are several reasons for this. First, I know that most of the time the title is going to get changed before the book gets published. So I feel like I should not put too much work into a title.

Second, the title is going to stick with you forever. I have never gotten a tattoo because I cannot think of anything that I would want to have on my body forever. I am so ADD that ten minutes after I got the ink I would be trying to scrape it off so that I could get something else.

Third, I can never think of a good title because I am too close to the project. I do not want the title to give too much away but I also want it to be a good representation of what the book is and I want it to be memorable.

Fourth, I know I need a title, and while I can put it off for a while, I will eventually give these monsters a name.

Of all of my projects I only have two titles and both of them are for my children's projects. Both titles are kind of no brainers so I cannot really take pride in them.

So how do you determine your titles? Do you think that I am overreacting? If you have been published what has been your experience with titles and title changes? I would love any comments that could help. You guys are the best!

Another Day Another #NaNoWriMo word count.

I have to make this short. I was falling asleep in my chair as I was doing my writing tonight. I am not sure of the quality of my words but I made it to the requisite number...just barely. My word count today was exactly 1667 and that brings my total up to 12725 for the month. *Yawn* I am tired...see you tomorrow!

#NaNoWriMo Does the Streak Continue?

It does! Today I wrote 1783 words for a grand total of 11058. I really did not think I was going to make it today because my wife and I had friends (seriously what is with friends and the whole wanting to spend time with you think? Again another Scrubs quote) over tonight so I had to spent a lot of the day cleaning house. Then I fell asleep and by the time I woke up I had no time to write. Fortunately, I am at a part in the story that is really fun to write.

I just introduced my main character to one of the pantheon of gods that rule my fantasy world. Needless to say that interaction was fun to write. The only thing that really got me thinking is teenagers have the know all mentality, so do you think that if the teen was meeting one of minor gods that he would show a lot of respect or would he be standoffish?

I wrote the scene so that he is respectful, but I think as he rationalized the experience he is going to go from annoyed to angry that he only met one of the minor gods when he was hoping to meet one the major ones.

What do you think, does this seem realistic or am I pushing teen rebelliousness too far?

Another Day of #NaNoWriMo

I have done it again, for the 5th day straight. I wrote 1815 words today which brings my grand total up to 9275. I would like to write more and respond to some of your posts but that will have to wait for tomorrow. It has been a long day and I am ready for bed. Good night (and good luck, I love that movie, and that quote from the TV show Scrubs which I also love.) I will reply to all tomorrow.

#NaNoWriMo Four for Four and the Invisible "I"

Got in another 2076 words today which brings my total to 7459 for the month. I am very pleased with my results so far and with the weekend coming up I think I am in for a really positive first week.

There is one thing I am worried about though with this new story. I am 7459 words into my new story, and my main character, the narrator from who's perspective the story it told from does not have a name. That's right, no name.

Now there really has not been call for a name so far. He is an apprentice and everyone who around him knows either him or his parents and so there is a certain familiarity that he has with everyone or that everyone has with him.

So my question to you is: Is this a problem? Could you enjoy a book that is told from first person but you never actually learn the name of the person giving you this perspective. I almost see it as a challenge at this point to see if I can make it through the whole story with my main character nameless.

He has a name by the way, I just don't know what it is...I am so picky when it comes to names. I like to use names that look normal but have a strong meaning. In my adult project I picked the names of the characters first because if you deconstruct the names down to their meanings you can actually learn a lot of their storyline and their actual fate by the end of the books.

So what do you think, should I get a name in for the character ASAP or should I wait and see if I even need to give him a name?

Day 3 #NaNoWriMo Update

I am happy to announce that I wrote 1797 words today making me 3 for 3 so far with NaNoWriMo. As you can see on the left side of your screen that brings me up to 5383 words. I am a bit mystified by my success thus far, granted being home sick with the flu has helped a little. Not actually with writing because I have written very little during the time that I would have been at work, but with getting the dogs to get thier energy out during the day so that I can write at night.

I think I am so motivated to do this for several reasons:

I want to see if I could,
I needed some time away from my adult fantasy project,
I knew I wanted to do a YA project as well and I already had a story in mind,
My wife and I have a bet going to see if I can really do it,
My critique partner is bored and needs more writing from me so that she will have something to keep herself busy,
I find that I am having an easier time writing in first person (NaNoWriMo YA Fantasy) and I am in third person omniscient (Adult YA Fantasy),
I am enjoying telling a more simple story (my adult fantasy is very complex with four main storylines that weave around each other, two of which are not in chronological order)
My YA Fantasy is set in the same world that I created for my adult fantasy project and actually fits into the adult project's storyline.

So if you are doing NaNoWriMo how are you doing with it? Is it easier or harder? Where do you draw your motivation to keep up the relatively torrid pace?

Day 2 = #NaNoWriMo Victory

1807 words today! WOO HOO! That brings my total up to 3583 words. I will keep you posted as I keep working

Success!

Day one of NaNoWriMo has been a smashing success. I was able to crank out 1776 words in around three and half hours tonight. That is fantastic for me because normally I only get around 250 words an hour when I write.

I read the first part to my wife and she said that it sounded teen like but she was surprised by how simple it was compared to my other writing.

Thank you everyone for your support! One day down 29 to go.