It's Time for Camp!

And, by camp, I mean Camp NaNoWriMo.

Most of us know about NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. In the month of November, writers sign up to take on the challenge of writing fifty-thousand words in thirty days. Fewer folks, however, know about Camp NaNoWriMo. Basically, same rules, different months.  This year, Camp will take place during June and August. So, if you've always put off NaNoWriMo because November is too chaotic, consider that excuse a toasted marshmallow.

Now, you're probably wondering why you should participate. I mean, you can write 50k any month of the year, right? Very true. Most serious writers do crank out a heavy word count without any NaNoWriMo badges as a reward. However, if you're like me, a deadline always helps to control the inner procrastinator. I'm the type of person who winces when I get an extension, because I know that my inner procrastinator has just been given permission to take a play-break.

So, the pressure of having thousands of other writers working their fingers to the bones during the same month? That stirs up my competitive side and makes me want to finish a project.

If you're like me, and you sometimes need the peer-pressure push, then visit campnanowrimo.org and sign up for one or both of the Summer challenges. (Also, as a side note, the forums at nanowrimo.org, the mother ship, as it were, are fun places for writers of all ages, in all stages of their careers. Check them out.)

-Ariyana
(busyprocrastinator.blogspot.com)

P.S. You can find me at either site under my author name, ADSpencer, if you want a friend or cabin buddy.

Challenge Twenty-One: Finish the Damned Fanfic

Forgive the language, but isn't it about time you finished that fan fiction story you've been working on for (dare I say) years?

If you haven't already guessed, this challenge is aimed towards writers of fanfiction. January is here, 2010 has arrived, and yet there are fanfiction stories strewn over the pages of the net, awaiting conclusion. I, for one, have many the unfinished gems (*cough*) awaiting their intended epilogues. So, let's say goodbye to at least one fanfiction chapter story this month.

Challenge: Complete one chapter story this month. It doesn't matter whether you started it last week or three years ago, any ff chapter story qualifies.

Deadline: Feb. 1st

Bonus Points: Bonus points go to anyone who finishes a fanfiction story that requires at least five more chapters.

Comment with a link to the story you finish (even if you haven't posted the finished chapters yet).

Good luck and viva la quill!

Challenge Twenty: Blueprint Your '10 Novel

So, 2010 is finally here. . . Feels quite a bit like 2009, doesn't it? Oh, well. Perhaps when we're all Timelords, we'll be able to see New Years in a different light. For those of you who aren't completely bogged down with over-ambitious New Years Resolutions, I'd like to present you with Writing Challenge #20, The Blueprint Challenge.

This challenge is intended for original fiction, specifically novels, novellas, and serials. Deep down, ever aspiring writer has several "novel" (punpun) ideas floating about. These ideas are sometimes confined to the mind and sometimes jotted down on a scrap of paper. But the point is, they're simply ideas. So, let's take one of those ideas and mold it into a full story.

This challenge will not have a specific deadline, though I'd like to see a response at the beginning of the year (some time in the month of Jan.). The challenge intended to get your creative little minds focused on the "busy work" of writing. Essentially, though, this is the fun part: coming up with several little plotlines, characters, motifs, etc. and forming a novel around them.

Challenge:
Create a blueprint of your novel. Focus on chapters, subplots, character development. Pretend you're building a house. Start with the base and work your way up. Create the frame. The writing part (the filler) will come later. Come up with your own process.

If you accept this challenge, post a comment below. You don't have to tell us about your novel idea, but I'd like to know if you'll be outlining/blueprinting a story to write in 2010. Also, after you've finished your blueprint, return to this post and comment on your process.

Bonus Points:

Bonus Points, those invisible little gold coins for the competitor inside, go to the participants who not only comment but also post a blog entry explaining how they formulated their blueprint. This entry should be intended to help those who are still struggling with outlining. You don't necessarily have to give away the plot of your story, just explain how you were able to mold your ideas into a workable blueprint for a novel.

GOOD LUCK!

Challenge Fifteen: The NaNoWriMo Backstory Challenge

Visit NaNoWriMo.org for more information on National Novel Writing Month.

NaNoWriMo. . .What a special time of year! Thousands of writers gathered with one common writing goal--finish a 50,000 word novel in one month's time.

This year, to help all you funky NaNos out there, I propose a challenge before THE Challenge.

As you're plotting, outlining, and forming characters for your NaNo Novel, you can take part in this October challenge. It might help you when you start to write on November 1st.

Challenge:
Pick a character who is going to be present in your NaNoWriMo novel. Every character is full of history. After all, they should have lived a life before the events of your story. So pick an event, a moment in their life, or even a previous adventure they were involved in and write a short story.

• Character must be present in your future NaNo novel.

• Story cannot share the same plot as your NaNo novel.
  

• 900 wd Minimum, no max

• Due Oct 31st (In other words, before NaNoWriMo begins.)

• Post either a link or a short synopsis in the below comments. I realize that, if you're serious about your NaNo Novel, you might not want post your short story on a site like fictionpress.com (just in case you need to tweek it after the actual NaNo event has changed your character).

• YOU CANNOT USE THIS STORY AS WORD COUNT DURING NANOWRIMO.

Have fun! I can't wait to see your responses.

Insperation: Some Babbelings from Kimmi

While working on my Friday the 13th (the 2nd) challenge piece, I came across a weird news article. It seemed like a bit of a god-send that this little six lined article from the Associated Press would show up in my news feed on my Yahoo! account just when I was looking for something to inspire me to write. This little article turned into a 4 page story of misfortune for a poor man who owned a pet store.
Originally, the news story reported the ill fortune of a shop owner who (somehow) wound up with a corpse instead of the fish he had originally ordered. How's that for luck?
When I read the story I at first thought "huh, sucks to be that guy" and clicked off to play on Pet Society. But after a few minutes I went back to my homepage and stared at the article title.
I remembered hearing something clicking into place.
Who was this unfortunate shop owner?
Did he think it was some kind of prank?
Was there anyone there with him when he found the corpse?
What happened to the fish?
Stupid UPS, they screw up everything.
And thus, with those thoughts flying through my head, I copied the article into my beloved OneNote, and set to work.
Thus, "I Blame UPS" was born, and surprisingly, I like it.
It always amazes me how inspiration just kinds of hits you in the face sometimes. Sure, we all have our muses that guide our pens and our thinking. But sometimes, something pushes the muse out of the way and just screams WRITE ABOUT ME!
At least thats how it is for me.
A flickering light, or a shadow that I see out of the corner of my eye: a story about a tortured lover that wants revenge.
An episode of my favorite TV show: a story centered around a guy that is created into some kind of zombi and is forced to protect someone he hates.
I mean, its weird how the smallest thing seems to set off the imagination (especially if you have an over active imagination like I do).
The point of this blog, I think, is to keep your eyes (all three of them) open to inspiration. Take the time to look at something and ask yourself questions, even if they seem silly and pointless. I always find its the pointless questions (such as what happened to the fish?) that gets my creative juices flowing. Inspiration is all around us, we just have to be willing to let it hit us in the face sometimes.
Viva La Quill
Kimmi
The Ink Finger

Guild Weekly Newsletter 1

For sake of loading down your inboxes, here's our newsletter! Mainly, just some recaps.

First, about our challenges. Actually, our first challenge was Ariyana's Image Challenge. We're calling this Challenge Zero. Technically, it's still up for grabs. You can ask her for a deadline, if you'd like.

Next, our Challenge One was our Valentine's Day challege, which ended yesterday at Midnight. Congrats to myself, Ariyana, and Kimmi, who all put forth a response. Let's keep it up!

Following that, we had Challenge Two, which was our Friday the 13th Challenge. It ended at midnight Friday, obviously. Congrats to myself and Ariyana for completing it.

Currently, we have two challenges going. We have Challenge Three, which is our Hate Challenge. See the post for specific details. However, note that the deadline is Feb. 28 at midnight. Myself and Ariyana have already completed responsed, both of the fanfiction and original fiction variety. I look forward to seeing more from our memebers!

Our second current challenge is Challenge Four, dubbed the Answer Challenge. Once again, see post for details, but the deadline is March 8, by midnight. Currently, no one has responded.

Now, I'd like to officially open the floor to all our members to set challenges. I only ask that you keep them numbered so we know what challenge we're responding to.

Now, we currently have a facebook group, started by Kimmi. The link is here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=49890924581
We also have a fictionpress forum, whose link is here: http://www.fictionpress.com/forum/The_Guild_of_the_Fantastic_Quill/210/
Soon, we'll also have a fanfiction.net forum, started by yours truly, but I haven't been able to get around to it right at the moment.

Well, that's all for this week's newsletter. Welcome to a few new members we have on our facebook group, by the way! Happy Writing!

~Patricia, of the Guild Department of Backstory