February 2012
9 posts
3 tags
Archer’s Story Begins Here…
I’d like to introduce the newest member of the OLL family, Archer Grayson Stewart-Streit. This handsome little genius was born on December 21 (Winter Solstice!) at 6:07 AM, weighing in at seven pounds, six ounces. So far, his likes include eating, trees, Goodnight Moon, light fixtures, and balloons. His dislikes include being hungry, tummy aches, and much to his parents’ dismay, getting...
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Letters and Light Around the World: Tracy Dawson
It’s always fun to hear about kids and teens doing NaNoWriMo halfway around the world. Recently, we were sent an article about Tracy Dawson’s work in the small town of Parkes, Australia (population: 9,826), and we had to learn more. Here, she tells us how she got a program going in a tiny community with no previous writing support.
How did you hear about the NaNoWriMo Young Writers...
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Would a Silent Movie Count?
As most of the staff here at OLL and Script Frenzy now know, I have no experience in scriptwriting. Like, really. None. But rather than feel intimidated, I’m trying to leap at the opportunity that will soon be presented to me this April. I even already have an idea. So what’s the problem, you may ask? Rather than forming my initial thoughts about my script as such, I can’t...
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Who puts pep in your step?
It’s time for the great, grand pep talk poll! Has your favorite writer 1) written a novel, and 2) not yet contributed a pep talk? If so, they should totally write a pep talk for the 300,000 Wrimos who will be dashing out the rough draft of their novel this November!
I’ve asked the staff whose pep they’d love to receive (their top picks are below). Now it is your turn to tell...
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An Austen Intervention
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a reader in possession of… any-sized fortune really, must be in want of a book.
There’s much ado in my household with regard to debuting just now because my first novel, girlchild, goes on shelves this week. With girlchild being a debutante in her first season, I cannot get my mind off of Jane Austen, her work having taught me what little I...
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All You Need Is Love
Although some critique Valentine’s Day as a Hallmark card holiday (and, yes, I’ve said those words as a young lad, much to my romantic peril), it’s hard to argue with pausing in this crazy life to celebrate love—whether it’s loving your sweetheart, your granny, your pet toad, your novel, or the meter maid you yelled at last week for giving you a parking ticket.
The only thing the Office of...
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Aliza, I Am.
I guess I should start off by saying that today is my first day working here as an intern with Script Frenzy. My first task? To write a little bit about myself. Sounds easy enough, right?
I’ve never been the best at writing on spot—even Facebook status updates take about 15 minutes of thinking through, editing, and re-editing. However, I’m trying to grow away from that, so this...
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First Day at the Office of Letters and Light
It is the very first day of my internship with Script Frenzy and what do you know, they’re already making me write. I’m a little nervous but mostly excited to be here. As an English student at UC Berkeley, I’m used to doing a lot of writing, but this is actually my very first blog post ever—which I realize is pretty strange for someone in their 20s. Anyways, I hope...
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Hello, this is me.
On my first day of this internship, I’m having flashbacks to my 11th grade English class. The one where I had to write a personal essay. The kind about myself. Eek. However, looking at those flashbacks now with a good extra six years of life experience I feel vaguely more prepared. Or I’ll fake it til I make it…
I’m Shelby, a recent Mills College graduate, trying to...
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February is Pitchapalooza!
The Book Doctors are back with the second-annual Pitchapalooza for Wrimos. Read on to get the lowdown from them on what this means, and how you can participate!
You wrote your 50,000 words (or got pretty close!). You’re a winner. You’ve been congratulated. You felt the high. But here’s the 64-gigabyte question: What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious manuscript?
If...
January 2012
15 posts
3 tags
Writer Fuel: Salad
Today I’d like to ponder an oft-overlooked but rife-with-potential dish: the salad.
That’s right, I said it.
I’m not talking about your run-of-the-mill, floppy iceberg lettuce and mealy tomato accompaniment. I’m talking about a glorious, multi-textured, ingredient-bonanza.
I have long respected the versatility of salads, and devote one night a week to making an epically large...
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An interview with Grant Faulkner, OLL's new...
On January 9, the OLL-iverse changed in a very important way. Our new Executive Director, Grant Faulkner, arrived at 3354 Adeline for his first day on the job. I sat down with Grant at his excellently appointed desk and we chatted about him, his life and loves, and what he’s most looking forward to now that he is OLL’s fearless leader. Here’s what he had to say.
Tell us a bit...
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Marathon TV Watching
The other day, I added the entire six-season run of The Larry Sanders Show to my Netflix Instant queue. I’ve been meaning to watch it for a while, and I plan to take it down in one big gulp—a few solid days of rigorous sitcomming during the winter months.
Obviously, I’m not alone in this style of marathon TV watching. DVD and video-on-demand have made the practice a common part of the cultural...
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The Sacrificial Mitten
Sometimes, there are things in life that are just meant to happen, and much though you might try to change the course of destiny, you can’t.
I lost my mitten again. I’m pretty sure it’s gone for good this time. You see, I left it in a cab in New York City on my way from LaGuardia Airport to my hotel. And I’m okay with it being gone, for two reasons. First of all, that mitten obviously ...
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The Play’s the Thing
Until last week, it had been about a year since I went to “see a show”: a stage production of Beauty and the Beast.
I was reminded then, as I always am when I go to the theater, how much I love plays and how I really ought to see more of them. And more regularly.
And then another year passed before I found myself happily—luckily—invited to see Cirque du Soleil’s Immortal...
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Jane Sevier: A Perspective on Revision
Jane Sevier completed the first draft of Fortune’s Fool during NaNoWriMo 2008. After revision and publication, the novel was a finalist in the Romance Writers Association’s Golden Heart Awards. In this article (originally published on the Moody Muses blog), Jane discusses her post-NaNo process and how she built the book from the bones up. What lessons have you learned from your own...
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It's the simple things in life.
Last February, I posted a story about my nerd-out over the arrival of my new seed catalog. I love to garden and I was deciding on what to plant for the season. Right before Script Frenzy kicked off in April, I managed to plant an assortment of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. I wasn’t sure what was going to take, but I hoped for the best.
By July, my garden was bursting with three types of squash,...
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Down the Rabbit Hole
NaNoWriMo’s been over for a bit now, but I’m only just beginning to feel the slump. After a month of spending hours with my characters, researching the perils of deep-cave exploration and the mechanics of spelunking, and not-so-patiently explaining why I wouldn’t be making that baseball game with friends after all, the relative quiet of January is, well, a little...
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The Office of Mittens and Brrr
Here in the Bay Area, we’re having a quite beautiful, quite temperate winter.
But in the OLL office, we cannot get out of an ongoing cold wave. Try as we might, even with the heater pumping, we’re just not feeling the warmth. I blame our high ceilings and big windows—nice the rest of the year, but they provide insufficient structure for maximum toastiness. At least one of us...
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Writer Fuel: Mexican Hot Chocolate
Need help tackling that rewrite? This tasty drink will give you the boost you need to help you get started. The following recipe makes about two over-sized mugs of hot chocolatey delight.
Ingredients:
One tablet of Mexican chocolate (Abuelita, Morelia or Carlos V) broken into smaller pieces.
3 cups of milk (skim, 1%, 2%, or whole milk all work)
¼ teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)
A pinch of...
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Calling all YA and Middle Grade Novelists!
We just caught wind of a tremendous opportunity for Wrimos who have written a young adult or middle grade novel. And it supports a wonderful humanitarian cause that also champions our shared passion for literacy and libraries!
Thanks to a contest hosted by literacy charity Book Wish Foundation, you could get feedback on your writing from literary agents and renowned authors like Ann M....
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Thanks for Your Readership
Some time during our office’s holiday nap, this blog quietly reached 10,000 Tumblr followers. A pretty sweet milestone.
Today I reread the staff “Blog Manifesto” that started it all, and this phrase jumped out:
We want to show people who we are and what we care about.
I think we’re accomplishing that—through posts both silly and serious, on topics from the...
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Mark Your Calendars! ABNA is Coming!
On our 2011 edition of the “I Wrote a Novel, Now What?” page, we list a number of free contests and writing challenges that you can enter this year. One of them is the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, which is accepting submissions through February 5!
Wrimos are no strangers to the ABNA; scores have entered, many have reached the semi-finals and finals, and last year a Wrimo won!
That’s...
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Thank You, Chris Baty!
As he’s told you, our own Chris Baty—founder of NaNoWriMo, Executive Director of the Office of Letters and Light, and Supreme Kicker of Pants—will soon be leaving our organization to write (and tend llamas) full-time.
But we can’t just let him walk out the door without another round of appreciation.
We’re compiling a collection of video thank-you’s to Chris...
December 2011
18 posts
1 tag
Our December Nap
Well, Wrimos, the time has come for all of us OLL critters to hunker down in our caves and nests for the traditional holiday nap.
The office will reopen on Tuesday, January 3. Until then, have an excellent end-of-2011 and a happy new year!
Best wishes,
Lindsey, Chris A., Sarah, Tim, Chris B., Dan, and Jez
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This Is Why I Teach
Elementary teacher Nancye Blair sent along this video and blog post. We love hearing about how the Young Writers Program inspires students and educators—as Nancye discusses how her kids spurred on her own word count. Find out why all of Nancye’s students can say, “I am an author.”
Last month, I took on a challenge that I did not believe that I could accomplish and that...
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A Book-Loggy Year
Back in January, I wrote about my New Year’s Resolutions here on the blog. Public accountability, after all, is a great motivator, and I was hoping that by declaring my intentions to all of you, I’d be a little more likely to stick to the resolutions.
My big resolution was to keep track of all the books I read in 2011, and thanks to the suggestions in the comments, I ended up with a...
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Things You May Not Know About OLL
I’m bad with goodbyes. I mean, absolutely awful. It’s all never-ending tears and my blotchy red face. Far from attractive. The truth of the matter is, I’m a big ol’ softie at heart, and an incorrigible romantic to boot. And I have fallen so desperately in love with this office. This also means I’ll probably have to rewrite this post four times before it gets down to a palatable level of...
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A Creative Path for 2012
Lately, I’ve been lurking in the Big, Fun, Scary Things forum. I like it there. So many of you are so positive, and have such exciting goals for the new year. As I read these lists, something else impresses me: they’re so definitive.
Definitiveness, or the lack thereof, has been my creative bête noir for the better part of 2011. I have a drive to make stuff, but so much of the time, I’m not...
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A Nod to the Nog
The office is especially full of winter cheer today. We’re counting down the hours to our annual staff holiday party, where we’ll don our coziest sweaters and our finest nog-drinking mittens. Oh, and this year, we’ll also be playing bocce.
The high point of the night is always the white elephant gift exchange. Man, it gets intense. Last year, the in-demand items included a Star Wars USB drive,...
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30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Curtain Call and Thank...
The office is only just starting to come down off the high that was NaNoWriMo. Every November, we’re lucky enough to experience creativity that’s tidal-wave in force, writing alongside hundreds of thousands of writers like you all around the world. That creative energy has some amazing effects, including the inspiration of our designers for the 30 Covers, 30 Days project, led by John...
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Happily Holidayed
I love the winter holidays. In spite of the persistent (and often very bad) music, the frenzied crowds, and the abundance of naughty foods that make me a little cuddlier by January 1, I still give the Thanksgiving-to-New Years stretch of serial holiday-time a thumbs up.
For me, it comes down to tradition, many of which have little to do with the actual holiday we’re celebrating and more to do...
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Writing is Hard!
When it comes to writing, memoir has always been my greatest challenge. I don’t know how to write it. I’m always torn between trying to report accurately and trying to convey such accuracy into something cathartic and meaningful. Flannery O’Connor once said that anyone who survived their childhood had enough fodder for good memoir, but I always look back on my own...
3 tags
I wrote a novel. Now what?
My friends, I have got a wicked case of the Decembers.
It happens every year. NaNoWriMo ends, and once the TGIs are all O, I’m left trying to remember how I filled my time when I wasn’t writing a novel. (Or, let’s be realistic, updating my word count on the site, tweeting about my novel, talking to other people about writing a novel, and doing very important things in order to avoid...
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NaNoWriMo: A Writer's Vacation from Nonfiction
Eleven months out of the year, I write nonfiction. I tend to write shorter-form essays that don’t necessarily have a ton of dialogue or require the carefully crafted plot arc that a traditional novel requires.
So November presents itself as a delightful opportunity to take a break from my usual writing projects and subject matter, and exercise other writing muscles: dialogue, character...
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The Magic Assignment
The Young Writers Program exploded with activity this past November, with the highest win rate for participants in the history of our program. The success of YWP has everything to do with your participation and donations, and with the fantastic educators we get to work with. Laura Bradley, a middle school teacher in Petaluma, CA, graciously shared her experience with us.
The bell rings, my...
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NaNoWriMo's Gasp-Inducing 2011 Stats!
The end-of-event stats blog post has become one of my favorite NaNoWriMo traditions (and I derive great pleasure from looking at these stats posts from years past, too…). I hope you enjoy devouring this year’s numbers as much as I enjoyed compiling them!
General Stats Round Up!
For NaNoWriMo main:
256,618 participants, up roughly 28% from 2010’s total of 200,530 writers.
We wrote a...
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Short Story, Long Story
Every November, our incredible MLs from all around the world, in addition to their own novels, sit down and compose some incredible pep talks for the Wrimos in their regions. One of our favorite things to do is to read these works of creative inspiration. Emily Bristow made sure we all read this one from our ML in Southern Mexico, Andrés Cruz y Corro, and we wanted to share it with you as we...
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Of Alcatraz and Theft
I fulfilled a longtime (and touristy) dream of mine last weekend: I went to Alcatraz. The prison, which housed such notable criminals as Al Capone and Robert Stroud “the Birdman,” is a formidable structure, standing alone in the wind on its rocky little island in the San Francisco Bay. The trip was informative and interesting, but my personal fascination goes beyond its historical significance,...
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"I'm Making My Script Frenzy Script!" A Q&A with...
As Script Frenzy grows, more and more established filmmakers are getting in on the fun. Writer/director Stephen Norrington, best known for directing Blade and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, began shooting his Script Frenzy screenplay in Los Angeles this year. We checked in with Stephen via the interwebs to see how the project was going.
Your current film project has its origins in...
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Six Crucial Questions for Keith Blount of...
Each year, we interrogate one or two NaNoWriMo corporate sponsors on the OLL blog. It’s our way of saying thanks for the vital funding that our sponsors contribute to NaNoWriMo and the Young Writers Program. Today, I asked the generous, mysterious Keith Blount of Scrivener some hard-hitting questions about halogen light bulbs, children as coders, and the pernicious rumor that his software...
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I didn't win. And I'm okay with that.
So this year, I clearly didn’t win NaNoWriMo. It’s the first time since 2006 that I haven’t won, and it’s my first year not winning as a staff member.
This just wasn’t the year for me. I couldn’t get into my story idea (in spite of the incredible ideas offered to me by the NaNoWriMo community in response to my staff video). I didn’t have a lot of free...
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The Email That Launched NaNoWriMo
Fast Company magazine has been running an intriguing series called Starred, where they showcase innocuous emails that went on to do surprisingly big things. It inspired me to dig through my old Yahoo! account and see if I could find the email I sent out to my friends in 1999 inviting them to take part in a ridiculous book-writing endeavor I’d hatched the night before. Here’s that...
November 2011
52 posts
2 tags
30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Day 30
Man alive! It is the very last day of 30 Covers, 30 Days, if you can believe it. It’s been an incredible month, full of gripping synopses, evocative covers, and some spirited discussion, both here and in our forums. Thank you so much to all of our Wrimos, our designers, and, of course, the magnanimous, magnificent John Gall. Today’s final cover was created in 24 hours by the impressive...
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Research Fractals
All this noveling reminds me of what has always been my favorite and most time-consuming aspect of writing: research.
Ever click on a Wikipedia page and find yourself clicking and clicking on the related links until each new page spirals in its own direction? That’s what research is for me. The same goes with library books, newspapers, and database articles. There are problems with...
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30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Day 29
It’s the second-to-last day of November! Good luck to all of you who are sprinting towards the finish line, and a huge congratulations to everyone who’s already won. Today’s cover was created in 24 hours by the first-class Charlotte Strick:
By Example by Puella Hilare
Gayle Cord never thought that super powers were real— until she survived an insane accident and found...
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Unexpected Inspiration
Thanksgiving can be a tough speed bump in the November noveling process.
I’ve found that any momentum I may have worked up over the first three weeks gets slowed—or completely halted—by the festival of turkey and family time. I’d like to blame the tryptophan, but I think I am just an easily distracted person. Especially when I am being distracted by food and loved ones.
...
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30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Day 28
It’s YWP Monday! We promised you another cover from the deeply talented Roberto de Vicq, and we are here to deliver. The second of the covers done in 24 hours by Roberto is below:
SS Incubo Films by Susie Miller
The movie studio Incubo Films has a groundbreaking documentary in the works: put a bunch of teenagers on a boat for a year, and watch what happens.
The story follows Felicia...
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30 Covers, 30 Days: Day 27
Today’s cover was created in 24 hours by the dynamic duo known as Zut Alors!:
On the Breath of Rita by figsandthistles
29-year-old Rita has long admired Matthew, the bike messenger who picks up her envelopes at the office to courier them to downtown courthouses. But one day Matthew arrives solemn and concerned. She asks him a question that will carry her into the heart of his strange...
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30 Covers, 30 Days: Day 26
Today’s cover was created in 24 hours by the very talented Mark Lazenby:
When Pink Hippo Fell by awesome speller
Lizzie returns to the small beachside town of Eastbourne, trying to put aside memories of her family’s abrupt departure from there ten years earlier when she was a girl. But no sooner does she start working in her granny’s rock candy shop than she comes across the...