National Novel Writing Month

With the first of November just around the corner, writers everywhere have stockpiled paper and food and bid farewell to their family and friends as they prepare to hole up in their writing caves until December 1.  November is National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, an annual internet-based creative writing event that challenges participants to write a new 50,000-word novel in thirty days.

The project was founded by Chris Baty in 1999 with twenty-one participants, and the official NaNoWriMo website was launched the following year.  The number of registered participants has grown steadily every year, and the affiliate Young Writers Program and official podcast were developed in 2005.  A summer version of NaNoWriMo (Camp NaNoWriMo) was introduced in 2011.  In 2017, over 402,000 writers from six continents registered for the challenge, and over 58,000 ended the month as novelists.

The novel can be on any theme and in any genre.  However, it cannot be a project already in progress.  Writing of the new novel cannot have commenced prior to midnight on November 1, and the 50,000-word mark must be reached by 11:59 p.m. on November 30.

While I will not be working on a new novel during NaNoWriMo, I will be researching and crafting approximately twenty-five new pages or 7,500 words of my developing dissertation in November.

For a comprehensive list of FAQs and guidelines, visit the website at www.nanowrimo.org.

Have fun, and good luck!

 

Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month.

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National Novel Writing Month

With the first of November just around the corner, writers everywhere have stockpiled paper and food and bid farewell to their family and friends as they prepare to hole up in their writing caves until December 1.  November is National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, an annual internet-based creative writing event that challenges participants to write a new 50,000-word novel in thirty days.

The project was founded by Chris Baty in 1999 with twenty-one participants, and the official NaNoWriMo website was launched the following year.  The number of registered participants has grown steadily every year, and the affiliate Young Writers Program and official podcast were developed in 2005.  A summer version of NaNoWriMo (Camp NaNoWriMo) was introduced in 2011.  In 2016, over 384,000 writers from six continents registered for the challenge, and over 34,000 ended the month as novelists.

The novel can be on any theme and in any genre.  However, it cannot be a project already in progress.  Writing of the new novel cannot have commenced prior to midnight on November 1, and the 50,000-word mark must be reached by 11:59 p.m. on November 30.

While I’m not working on a new novel during NaNoWriMo, I am committed to writing twenty-two new pages or 6,050 words of my developing dissertation—not bad for a writer with a full-time day job.

For a comprehensive list of FAQs and guidelines, visit the website at www.nanowrimo.org.

Have fun, and good luck!

 

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Where Inspiration Soars

The 2016 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books begins Saturday, April 9, at 10:00 a.m. and continues through Sunday at 5:00 p.m. at the University of Southern California.

The Festival is a wonderful opportunity to mingle with hundreds of authors, attend panel discussions with bestselling novelists and industry experts on writing and the publishing business, and enjoy live music, visual art, and cultural entertainment by some of the world’s most creative and celebrated artists.

For a full list of authors and panels featured at this year’s event and to review the program schedule, visit the website at http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks.

See you there!

 

 

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National Novel Writing Month

With the first of November upon us, writers everywhere have stockpiled food and bid farewell to their family and friends as they hole up in their writing caves until December 1.  November is National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, an annual internet-based creative writing event that challenges participants to write a new 50,000-word novel in thirty days.

The project was founded by Chris Baty in 1999 with twenty-one participants, and the official NaNoWriMo website was launched the following year.  The number of registered participants has grown steadily every year, and the affiliate Young Writers Program and official podcast were developed in 2005.  In 2010, over 200,000 writers registered for the challenge, and nearly three billion new words were written.  A summer version of NaNoWriMo (Camp NaNoWriMo) was introduced in 2011.

The novel can be on any theme and in any genre.  However, it cannot be a project already in progress.  Writing of the new novel cannot have commenced prior to midnight on November 1, and the 50,000-word mark must be reached by 11:59 p.m. on November 30.

While I’m not working on a new novel during NaNoWriMo, I am committed to writing twenty-seven new pages of my developing novel or approximately 6,700 new words—not bad for a writer with a full-time day job.

For a comprehensive list of FAQs and guidelines, visit the website at www.nanowrimo.org.

Have fun, and good luck!

 

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National Poetry Writing Month

April is National Poetry Writing Month, also known as NaPoWriMo, an annual creative writing event that challenges participants to write a new poem each day from April 1 through April 30.  NaPoWriMo coincides with National Poetry Month, which is celebrated annually in America and Canada.

The project was founded by Maureen Thorson in 2003 and modeled after NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, which challenges participants to write 50,000 words of a new novel in the month of November.  Since its inception, the number of registered participants has grown steadily every year, and many writers’ organizations coordinate NaPoWriMo activities.

For a comprehensive list of FAQs, guidelines, and daily prompts, visit the website at http://www.napowrimo.net.

Have fun, and good luck!

 

 

 

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National Novel Writing Month

With the first of November just around the corner, writers everywhere are stockpiling food and saying farewell to their family and friends as they prepare to hole up in their writing caves until December 1. November is National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, an annual internet-based creative writing event that challenges participants to write a new 50,000-word novel in thirty days.

The project was founded by Chris Baty in 1999 with twenty-one participants, and the official NaNoWriMo website was launched the following year. The number of registered participants has grown steadily every year, and the affiliate Young Writers Program and official podcast were developed in 2005.  In 2010, over 200,000 writers registered for the challenge, and nearly three billion new words were written.  A summer version of NaNoWriMo (Camp NaNoWriMo) was introduced in 2011.

Many of us in Chapman University’s MFA program have impending thesis deadlines, and the NaNoWriMo challenge gives us the perfect opportunity and support to complete this critical component of our degree requirements, particularly if we have decided to start a new project for the thesis or complete a novel rather than a collection of short stories.

The novel can be on any theme and in any genre. However, it cannot be a project already in progress.  Writing of the new novel cannot have commenced prior to midnight on November 1, and the 50,000-word mark must be reached by 11:59 p.m. on November 30.

For a comprehensive list of FAQs and guidelines, visit the website at www.nanowrimo.org.

Have fun, and good luck!

 

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2014 Writers Studio at UCLA

Presented annually by the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, the Writers Studio brings together a community of writing students to workshop with some of Southern California’s most esteemed professional writers and teachers.

Participants select one of ten intensive four-day workshops in creative writing and screenwriting planned for the 2014 Writers Studio, including Courage and Craft: A Writing Workshop to Jumpstart Your Creativity, Writing the First Novel, Writing the Young Adult Novel, Novel Revision Techniques, and Writing Memoir and Personal Essay.  Enrollment is on a first come, first served basis, and each class is limited to fifteen students.  Early registration is strongly advised.

The Writers Studio fee of $895 ($815 through January 6, 2014) includes enrollment in one four-day workshop February 6-9, a continental breakfast on Thursday, a special Saturday guest speaker event, and a Sunday reception.

For more information and to register, visit the website at http://blogs.uclaextension.edu/writers/programs-services/writers-studio.

 

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National Novel Writing Month

With the 1st of November just a few days away, writers everywhere are stockpiling food and saying farewell to their family and friends as they prepare to hole up in their writing caves until December 1.  November is National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, an annual internet-based creative writing event that challenges participants to write a new 50,000-word novel in thirty days.

The project was founded by Chris Baty in 1999 with 21 participants, and the official NaNoWriMo website was launched the following year.  The number of registered participants has grown steadily every year, and the affiliate Young Writers Program and official podcast were developed in 2005.  In 2010, over 200,000 writers registered for the challenge, and nearly three billion new words were written.  A summer version of NaNoWriMo (Camp NaNoWriMo) was launched in 2011 and was held in April and July this year.

Many of us in Chapman University’s MFA program have impending thesis deadlines, and the NaNoWriMo challenge gives us the perfect opportunity and support to complete this critical component of our degree requirements, particularly if we have decided to start a new project for the thesis or complete a novel rather than a collection of short stories.

The novel can be on any theme and in any genre.  However, it cannot be a project already in progress.  Writing of the new novel cannot have commenced prior to midnight on November 1, and the 50,000-word mark must be reached by 11:59 p.m. on November 30.

For a comprehensive list of FAQs and guidelines, visit the website at www.nanowrimo.org.

Have fun, and good luck!

 

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Это правда?

In perusing the application requirements of local Ph.D. programs in English and Comparative Literature ever so nonchalantly two years ago, it came to my attention that one (note the indefinite pronoun) must be proficient in at least one foreign language (typically French, German, or Latin) and have an adequate competence in another to even be considered for candidacy.  Is this true? I wondered, feeling instantly defeated.  As it turns out, it is true for nearly all literature programs and is certainly required early in the English program at most universities.

It would seem, therefore, that, in addition to completing the course work for the Master of Arts in English program (check), passing the university’s comprehensive English exam (check), writing the book-length MFA thesis (um…working on this still), scoring well on both the General GRE and the GRE Literature in English Subject Test (yes, some programs require scores for both exams), obtaining three letters of recommendation, and submitting a truly superior writing sample, a master’s student would have to pick up French or Latin and, say, Russian (how else would “one” get to wallow in Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Nabokov for months on end?) at some point between graduation and selecting a target Ph.D. program.  Какая сумасшедшая идея!  Or, in English, it is madness!

While reading the dual-language edition of Crime and Punishment provides its own measure of reward, it’s not going to suffice if fluency in Russian is the objective.  And there is the required Latin or French to be learned, as well.  My writer friend Ian Prichard has recommended the Michel Thomas Method for learning to speak a foreign language; however, it doesn’t provide training in reading and writing.  One Chapman professor has suggested Duolingo, which offers extensive writing lessons and dictation, and I’ve read favorable reviews about the widely known Rosetta Stone Version 4 TOTALe for serious language students.  I plan to research them all and report back with my own experience.

Most would argue, of course, that the best and possibly only way to truly learn a language is to immerse oneself in the culture and dialects of a country by exploring its regions in person.  Alas, I may therefore have to schedule trips to St. Petersburg and Paris for crash courses in their language and literature.  Well, if “one” must…

 

Anichkov Palace Library in St. Petersburg, 1869

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An Evening with Literary Agent Betsy Amster

The Pen on Fire Writers Salon is pleased to present an evening with literary agent Betsy Amster for a discussion on “How to Catch an Agent’s Attention with a Great Query Letter” on Tuesday, April 23, at 7:00 p.m.  This monthly salon is hosted by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and features authors, literary agents, and others involved in the field of writing.  The events take place in the atmospheric Scape Gallery in Corona del Mar and entail readings, literary discussions, and book signings.

Amster is president of Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises, a full-service literary agency located in Los Angeles and Portland.  Before opening her agency in 1992, she spent ten years as an editor at Pantheon and Vintage, two divisions of Random House, and two years as editorial director of The Globe Pequot Press.  Her clients include bestselling novelists María Amparo Escandón and Joy Nicholson and authors Will Allen, Kim Boyce, Linda Venis, and many others.

Amster specializes in literary fiction, voice-driven mysteries and thrillers, narrative nonfiction, memoirs, and a wide array of practical nonfiction.  Her agency works with both first-time and established writers with expert attention to every aspect of the publishing process.

Advance tickets are required to guarantee a seat at this event, which typically sells out fast.  To read more about the speakers or the Pen on Fire Writers Salon and to purchase tickets, visit www.barbarademarcobarrett.com.

 

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