NaPiBoWriWee - day 7 (in the northern hemisphere)

I am certainly not making excuses, but yesterday there were TWO parties to attend. So because Paula Yoo is running this challenge from California, where the time is 10.51pm on the 7th May - I can claim to have finished NaPiBoWriWee 2011 on time! Yes, it's true - we're well into the afternoon now on the 8th May in Western Australia, but please, let's not squabble over minor details. It's still a great achievement to write 7 picture book drafts in 7 (and-a-half) days!!

Thanks again to Paula for putting in such a great effort. Thanks also to everyone in twitterland and blogland for your support. It's been another great kick in the pants for my writing career. I look forward to getting these drafts polished and perhaps taking one or two with me to the SCBWI LA summer conference in August! See you there, Paula (and anyone else who's going along)!

Congrats to everyone who took part. Until next time...

NaPiBoWriWee 2011 - day 6: It's okay. Really...it's okay.

Do you BELIEVE me? Do you really think that things are fine and DANDY over here on day 6 of NaPiBoWriWee? Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa! Aaaaaaaargh!!!

No, no. Really - things are okay. But it is very HARD to commit an already small number of 'free' minutes to making up stories. Someone tell ME the stories, please!! Boo hoo :P

Alas, tomorrow is the last day of Paula Yoo's annual challenge. She has done it again - updating her blog THREE times daily for her NaPiBoWriWee writers. I don't know HOW she does it when she has 149 cats to hand-feed and run errands for every day!? Oh, and she is also a writer for a show called Eureka on SyFy. PLUS she writes books. So how and why does she do this? I don't know! But I'm glad!

As for me: I have two children, a husband, one dog and one bottle of wine (minus one glass) in the pantry (*note - ONLY the bottle of wine is in the pantry - not the family and pet!!). I also have six rough picture book drafts to work on in the year ahead thanks to NaPiBoWriWee. Woo hoo!

So on that note, I am going to watch TV and deplete my bottle of red by one more glass. I hope everyone's on a roll and ready for a BIG finish on day 7! GOOD LUCK!

Caz

NaPiBoWriWee 2011 - day 5: Barely Alive

Even as I type this post, I am not thinking about NaPiBoWriWee. I am thinking about bed. I am so insanely tired. Didn't get the little man to sleep until very late. Fortunately I scribbled something about food in the scrapbook just before lunch today, so I've used that in a pretty silly story (if you can even call it that).

That's...okay...I'll live to tell...another...
story...
....
.........tomorrow......

*thud*
(head on keyboard)

NaPiBoWriWee 2011 - day 4: RECORD SMASHED!

This is so funny. Twenty-five minutes ago I was grizzling because it was 9pm and I hadn't done my story. Now I've produced a story draft ... and I don't even hate it! I might even have time to go and watch something mindless on TV. WOW :)

I must admit - my inspiration came earlier today when I was fooling around with a Sharpie, sticky notes and a new scrap book (we went on a stationery spree yesterday!) This was a new thing for me ... I am in the habit of buying nice stationery once in a blue moon, only to lock it away in a drawer because the nice paper is TOO PRECIOUS. Ha ha :) I think because it was a $1 scrapbook I allowed myself to go for it.

Looks like we're over the half-way mark! This is great news. Are you still plugging away at NaPiBoWriWee 2011? Aren't you so glad you started?

NaPiBoWriWee 2011 - day 3

I am learning to love this challenge more every day, and appreciate it for what it is. Those daily deadlines we impose on ourselves give us a 7 day holiday from procrastination and give our sub-conscious a chance to be heard. After all, I find there ain't much calculation going on between the hours of 8pm and 10pm at night (when I have a chance to write).

Story drafts 2 and 3 have pretty much been spur-of-the-moment surprises. They are by no means perfect (if they were that would just be FREAKY!) Rather than chastising myself for producing mediocre work, I am congratulating myself for putting 7 story ideas in the NaPiBoWriWee 2011 folder by Saturday 7th May.

So, I am happy to say that day 3 has been a success because another story has been born. After this challenge I can put it through it's paces - maybe get it to shed 10 kilos and give it a facelift (oh, my poor baby).

Has anyone out there in PiBo land written a perfect picture book this time (or come close)? Come on, be honest! Maybe there's someone out there? You can blow your own trumpet - I won't mind :)

See you over at Paula Yoo's place.

NaPiBoWriWee 2011 - day 2

How's everyone going? Now, Sunday may have been a walk in the park ... but MONDAY... well, it was another walk in the park! :D Yippee! Even with the 12-hour mummy shift thrown in! I am feeling very lucky.

I must admit that last night (Sunday night) I started writing what I thought was story number two. It wasn't going well. So I figured that tonight (Monday night) I'd be tearing my hair out.

Lucky for me, I remembered that NaPiBoWriWee is meant to be a FUN event! I imagined Paula Yoo frowning and waving her pointer finger at me for being a PiBo party pooper. This was enough for me to lighten up! Whaddya know... a brand new story was on a roll by 8pm, and was all wrapped up and tucked in by 8.40pm. Now it's 8.46pm and I'm writing the blog post. YAY!!

Did you have a Monday a success story, too?

NaPiBoWriWee 2011 - Story draft #1 is done!

Holy cow! I can't believe it's only 2pm on Sunday and I have written my first story of NaPiBoWriWee 2011. One (1) picture book draft is complete. If I do say so myself, this is a story with potential :) The bar is set high for stories 2-7. By Saturday, I'm sure the quality of stories will have deteriorated :P This is going to get tough. But with Paula Yoo cheering me on from the sidelines, I will do it!

After all, 12 months ago I wrote five stories while at a sleep clinic with my six month old bubba! Now that he's toddling around and sleeping easily, things are getting easier.

I am astounded that last weekend I spent almost five days getting one story up to standard, and today I wrote a pretty sound one in a couple of hours. I guess that's the way it goes!

How was your story today? Was it fairly cooperative, or was it a kicker and screamer? If you're yet to start, best of luck! Just type, type, type - you can do it!

Caz

NaPiBoWriWee 2011

It's here! Paula Yoo's annual challenge to write seven picture books in seven days - National Picture Book Writing Week, 2011 or NaPiBoWriWee. It seems like a ridiculous goal, but it CAN be done. Draft a story a day for seven days *emphasis on DRAFT* between May 1st and May 7th. Go to Paula's website for full details.

Last year I completed six first drafts in the seven days and was really spurred on by Paula's tips and advice. Those drafts were my very first attempts at writing picture books for children. I even MET Paula herself at the SCBWI LA Summer Conference last year and gave her a big thankyou hug! She works very hard for PiBos :)

It is hair-raising and motivating. Give it a whirl - you never know what magic you'll produce with those deadlines looming daily! I look forward to seeing what sorts of ideas spill out spontaneously - I haven't planned ahead like I did last year. It will be interesting...

If you're taking part, let me know.

Caz

NaPiBoWriWee Day 5!

Ah, draft number 5. Barely alive. So very sketchy. So very weak. Barely recognisable as a story at all. Plot ... there is not. Rhyme ... not this time. Meaning ... I could care less.
Good night everyone. I hope to generate some more creativity while I sleep!
Best of luck to all of you.
Carolyn

NaPiBoWriWee Day 4!

I am surprised and excited to announce the birth of NaPiBoWriWee story number four at 8.05pm this evening. I have named her "I Didn't Pick My Nose". I am a proud parent and she brings a big smile to my face. She was written over four separate writing breaks today. A very pleasant way to bring a story into the world, indeed.

Another gorgeous little thing is sleeping soundly in the adjacent room. He tossed and turned himself to sleep again tonight as I stood by, amazed :) I hope I have as much luck getting to sleep tonight as he's had! Last night was shocking for me, even though my little button-nosed boy slept almost right through the night. Hooray!

I can't believe I only have three more stories to write until I accomplish my goal! Wow, what will I do to celebrate?? Anyone got any ideas? I don't expect many NaPiBoWriWee'ers to be reading this because they are so BUSY right now ... but if there's anyone reading this - what will you do to commemorate the 7th story (or 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc... whatever you get up to!)?

I hope Paula Yoo rewards herself with a nice long massage or something equally relaxing. She's been so hard at work this past month mentoring we PiBo's! How do you do it, Paula? You are a legend!

Carolyn

NaPiBoWriWee - Day 1!

Success!!!!

Thanks to Paula Yoo's challenge NaPiBoWriWee 2010, I have just written my first children's picture book. What's more, I did it in 40 minutes! Is this a good sign or a bad sign?? I take it as a sign that someone was smiling down on me, because 40 minutes is about all I have to spare today. Trying to catch up on sleep, caring for kiddy winks, going to a birthday party and going out tonight - I was seriously worried that I would not meet my challenge on the first day. As it turns out, I have nailed it - before lunch time!! What a great feeling.

A couple of nights ago, I thought I would try my hand at oral story telling with my 3 year old son, Heath. I had never really done it before. I was surprised at how easily the first story unfolded, and he was enthralled. In fact, our fictional friend Fishy McGoo (hey, the name just sprang from my lips, ok?!) has been spoken about frequently ever since!

So after seeing how easily and how quickly a story can happen when you're put on the spot, I decided to use this strategy during NaPiBoWriWee! I'm going to craft all of my first drafts this way and then transcribe them. That's precisely what I just did for my first book, currently entitled "A Puppy That I Love".

The idea for this book came to me as I was drifting off to sleep the other night. As is the case with NaPiBoWriWee, the month of April is to be spent brain-storming, researching, outlining etc. I can tell you now, there was very little time to spare with a 7 month old who thinks sleep is for the weak and a 3 year old who feels exactly the same! Sigh...

Nevertheless, I have one success story! It went really well and I can't wait to write my next one tomorrow. I hope I'm lucky again.

* I just realized that my post says 30th April but honestly, I haven't cheated! It's after lunch time on the 1st May here in Perth, Australia!