Tag: NaNoWriMo

Life, Writing

#NaNoWriMo 2020 – Halfway Point

Mark Wayne

This year I am participating in #NaNoWriMo which stands for National Novel Writing Month for the third year in a row and fourth time overall. 👊

You can view my profile here and hit me up if you are participating and want to be buddies. 😉

NaNoWriMo is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that believes in the transformational power of creativity. We provide the structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page.

The goal is to write 50k, or more, words in 30 days.

I am well on my way so far. This year has in some aspects been harder. The past two years I wrote books two and three of a series, The Chronicles of Faith . This year I am writing a completely different standalone story. It is a lot of fun but very different!

It is challenging and motivating to get a ‘shitty’ first draft down on paper. And something I never believed I would or could do until I did it.

So what challenge are you willing to undertake?

#LiveYourDreams

Go live your dreams! #Motivation #Encouragement #YouGotThis #YouMatter

Writing

The End > “The Beauty of the Stars”

Mark Wayne

image(5)This is the ending of my recently written story, “The Beauty of the Stars”. 

I wrote the story last November 2014 in a flurry of free-writing mostly, during National Novel Writing Month, #NaNoWriMo, and the edits have continued until now. Hopefully, one more read through this weekend, a few more edits and then…?  Well, who knows.

Are you at all intrigued, wondering what this story is about?

Writing

Is NaNoWriMo Ever Really Finished?

Mark Wayne

It is November 30, 2014 the last day of November and the last day of this years NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and the endeavor of writers worldwide to write 50,000 words during the month. This is my second time participating, the first in 2012 (I took last year off as the family went to Southern California for Thanksgiving and Disneyland!) and I am happy to say both years I reached the vaunted 50,000 word plateau! I actually hit the 50k mark on November 20th, averaging writing just over 2500 words per day.

I then proceeded to take the next 5 days off from writing on the draft.  I did write a some poems but that was the extent of it.  I now sit at over 53,000 words, with one day left to add to the total and still a long ways to go.  Is the draft novel any good?  Probably not, as most was written in a flurry of free-writing sprints but hey, at least I have a story down on paper.  Now the real fun begins, really?  The editing, re-writing and the critiques from others, oh joy!

If you are ever interested in writing a story then why not plan on joining next year?  You will find lots of support both locally from the regions and worldwide via writing buddies.  In case you are interested here is the synopsis (still a work in progress, also) of my story tentatively titled ‘The Seekers’, take care and happy writing! ~M

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

In the not so distant future as society is rebuilding from the devastating chaos resulting from the destruction of the world economic infrastructure.  An evil has risen from the ruins intent on exerting control over the world.  The Group, a multimillion dollar corporation that manufactures unmanned drones, hides behind a veil of rebuilding the world to a future utopian society with no pain or need.  This is to be accomplished by eliminating those deemed of no value to society.   It is into this world that Johnny Mick and Faith find themselves.

Johnny Mick has been given an extraordinary spiritual gift that allows him to see the pain that is carried within people’s hearts and souls.  Protecting those who are hurting sends him face to face with his own broken heart and his reluctance to fulfill his destiny.  Faith is an independent and strong woman who has embarked on a mission to slay evil where she encounters it.  Feeling abandoned as a child she long ago gave up the hope of being connected to another human being.  She lives her life only from a sense of duty and obligation that if fulfilled will reward her in the next life

They unwittingly find themselves on paths of unacknowledged self-discovery and when their lives intersect they are forced to face the truth of who they are.  They must fight the demons inside themselves and those that have sinister plans to control the world.  This adventure set against the backdrop of the selective elimination of human beings, will lead them both to the ultimate showdown, where out of necessity they must confront their deepest pain and fears.

Writing

NaNoWriMo – Words Don’t Fail Me Now!

Mark Wayne

image

Just over half way through the month of November and I sit at a little over 40,000 words for NaNoWriMo.   Not bad and well on my way to reaching the 50,000 word goal.

My story is a little,  no alot,  scattered at this point and most scenes will need some tie in to each other. But that will come later.

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo?
If so, how is it going?
Are you happy with your effort thus far?

My only advice as I struggle along the same path as many, for what it is worth is to just write! Now go write something, anything! ~M

Art, Writing

NaNoWriMo – It Begins!

Mark Wayne

It is Day 2 of National Novel Writing Month (50,000 words in 30 days) and I am off to a good start, at least I am believing that!  Having just finished writing and posting a poem a day during the month of October for #OctPoWriMo, wasn’t sure how many words I might have left in me for November.

I will endeavor to share some excerpts from the novel I am writing, sentences that jumped out at me. Bear in mind these are unedited, the result of free writing as the ideas flow and are put down on paper in my effort to reach the goal of 50,000 words by the end of the month.

“The soul is a magical and mysterious place and the scars this life leave on it are unseen by most human eyes.  This gift was something I had never asked for but my mother had said, I had simply been chosen.”

“The gift of seeing the pain of someone’s soul and the blood that continually dripped from the wounds that others and this life had inflicted, was both a blessing and a curse.  I carried within me the torture and ache that each person endured.”

“Approximately twenty-five yards behind her, I knelt down in the shadows of a doorway and raised my rifle. I felt the firmness of the stock against my shoulder as I pointed the barrel in her direction.”

The above lines are from the prologue, much more to come! If interested visit the NaNoWriMo site, it is not too late to join! ~M

Participant-2014-Web-Banner

Art, God, Poetry

Behold, A White Horse

Mark Wayne

In the quiet before the coming storm,
in the dark before the first light of morn.
Out of the black night they come,
souls for the taking they have won.
From beyond the blood-red moon,
destruction and disease screams a terrifying tune.

Behold, a light-colored steed.
Ridden by death, its only purpose to make souls bleed.
Behold, a dusky charger.
Ridden by judgement, its only purpose to make life harder.
Behold, a scarlet mount.
Ridden by chaos, its only purpose to make nothing count.
Behold, a sallow pony.
Ridden by defeat, its only purpose to make conquest only.

The huntsmen were led by the dragon snake,
who turned the sun to black; its thirst to slake.
Those who were left fled in terror and fear,
a voice speaking of a fortress refuge; so we hear.
He will cover us with His feathers as a shield about us,
His angels will defend the throne; in this we trust.
He sets us on high, because we know His name,
set free by His mercy and kindness; we are never the same.

We call on Him and He will respond in swift deliverance.
He tramples the serpent in a moment of eternal significance.

Behold, a white horse!
Ridden by faith and truth, its only purpose to make all things new.

~Mark Schutter ©2014

(The poem above was inspired by verses from Psalm 91 and Revelation 6 and 19:11 from the bible. On this Halloween night where the veil between worlds may be thin I wished to convey that although there is evil, there is something stronger that wins in the end. This is also poem 31 of 31 for the month of October Poetry Writing Month. It is finished, now onto National Novel Writing Month and 50,000 words. God bless! ~M)

Poetry, Writing

OctPoWriMo to NaNoWriMo 2014

Mark Wayne

Photo edited using PicMonkey
Photo edited using PicMonkey


It was a dark and stormy night.
A time when writer’s will write deep into the fading light.
Fumbling over the words on paper that somehow dance and sing.
A Masterpiece or not may be created out of seemingly nothing.
The winds may howl and blowing rain splatters the window pane.
As the dark night begins to wane.

~Mark Schutter ©2014

As we approach Halloween and the end of October Poetry Writing Month and head first into National Novel Writing Month, I was hoping to leave a little poetry and inspiration for writing your own novel!

As Halloween approaches how would you finish the sentence

– It was a dark and stormy night…?

  • Scary/Suspenseful? – It was a dark and stormy night and the shallow light of the moon cast haunting shadows across the floor.  He knew this was the moment as he stood before the door his hand on the doorknob.  Holding his breath he slowly began to turn the knob and as he did he heard the screams …
  • Humorous/Funny? – It was a dark and stormy night and the chocolate stains at the corner of his lips was the only evidence left behind  from the chocolate pie and whipped cream midnight refrigerator raid.
  • Peaceful/Contented?– It was a dark and stormy night, the warmth of the crackling fire cast a peaceful glow across the room. She silently stared at the pictures in the photo album, remembering the past with a smile on her lips.

Please share your thoughts, how would you finish the sentence?  It just might be the next great novel!