This is going to be a stretch for me. I've self-published two books in the past (both sold very well, thank-you!) and numerous magazine articles. But it's all been non-fiction. My 14 year old daughter and niece are writing novel-type stuff, as they love fiction writing. My daughter has quite an internet following for her Japanese manga fan fiction.
Anyway, I'm drawing on my 23 years as a homeschooler , 30+ years as an RN and 29 years as a parent to try and craft a novel. See, here's where I already know I'm in trouble - I edited that last sentence three times!!!
Looking forward to the challenge- as a little old lady once told me, better to burn out than to rust out!
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46,000 / 50,000
Oct 31, 2009 - 11 52
Welcome to Nanowrimo!
Is your daughter participating, too? There's nothing like a little intra-family competition.
I hope you have better luck than I do in sending your inner editor to lie on a beach in Tahiti for the month ;-)
----------Don't get it right, just get it written. -- James Thurber
0 / 50,000
Oct 31, 2009 - 12 10
Yes, my daughter is participating. There go my hopes of getting anyone to bed at a reasonable hour around here!!!
I actually have a (slight) advantage over her as I am a home-health care nurse, caring for a baby who is ventilator dependent. I work the overnight shift so her sweet parents can sleep, and truthfully, I don't have a whole heck of a lot to occupy my time. So I have lots and lots of time in the middle of the night when there's nothing on but infomercials to write.
50,416 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 04 29
welcome.
As a fellow 'fairly successful non-fiction writer' I will tell you that abandoning myself to the spirit of NaNoWriMo is the best thing I do for my non-fiction work all year.
GOod luck and NanoMail me if I can be helpful.
----------* - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * -
2009 -- The Princess and the Pee Test (???)
2008 -- Karma's Bitch -- WINNER
2007 -- Hell's Belles -- WINNER
2006 -- Whyte's Mountain -- WINNER
37,117 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 00 24
Mary,
You are in just the right place (write place), all non-fiction is a form of fiction, and all fiction is a form of non-fiction. When you try to report on what happened in a non-fiction sense, you are always going to leave things out, add things that you think happened, spin things in a way that makes sense to your mind but may not reflect "reality," whatever that is. When you write fiction, to some extent you are always writing about what you know, your own experiences, or imagined, or remembered experiences, and just putting a different spin on them than when they happened or didn't happen to you. Get it? It's all the same. So for this month, just turn off the editor and write, Write, WRITE!
It's all good...until the editor comes back on line next month, but let's not think about that.
Happy Writing!
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Nov 2, 2009 - 22 36
MaryCarney and WriteAction - I'm so glad to hear that you exist! I'm using this as my impetus to write my first non-fiction book! I'm delighted to hear that people have successfully sold their non-fiction works!
~Deborah
47,024 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 10 31
I'm lucky and went from fiction to academic non-fiction for about ten years and now am trying to get back to fiction. The old adage to write what you know helps me. My character is very much like I was at her age, similar problems, but with the addition of all the "wisdom" I've gained in living an additional 35-40 years.
----------65,940 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 22 25
I do legal writing by day and fiction writing by night. Trust me, you can do it! When I went to law school, one of my English professors (who was a personal friend - he used to date my older sister), said law school would wreck my creativity. Such has not been the case. As a matter of fact, learning to decipher and analyze legal issues - or any other technical or non-fiction writing - has actually increased and helped my creativity. As a non-fiction writer, you will get to the point. That's a good thing! Going back and forth from non-fiction to fiction is as easy as changing from pumps to running shoes. It's that inner editor that needs attention, though.
Good luck!
----------2004: Daniel In The Lion's Den (mystery/suspense)
2005: Two Women And A Girl: EGG, MAT, and MSG (mystery/suspense)
2007: Finding Emma Jane (fictionalized memoir)
2009: Foreplay (mystery/suspense)
28,651 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 11 32
You're definitely in the right place. Most of my writing had been non-fiction and some of it published. I found writing fiction to be more difficult for me. It's hard for me not to edit as I go but NaNo won't allow the time so I learned. It's a really good experience for that. Now I need a rewriting contest...
Good luck!
----------Cigarista
www.cigarista.com, www.gulfshorewriter.com
41,449 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 08 42
I think you'll enjoy writing fiction. I also started out with non-fiction and have one published non-fiction book. When I decided to dive into fiction I was a little hesitant, a little concerned that I couldn't do it. But I jumped in anyway and let my imagination carry me away. It is so much fun. Now I'm not sure I can ever go back to non-fiction.
----------Jamilah Kolocotronis
Author of the Echoes Series books:
Echoes,
Rebounding,
Turbulence,
Ripples,
Silence.
58,648 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 09 02
I have been writing fiction since I was in grade-school as well as non-fiction for newspapers and magazines over the years. I still prefer fiction.
One of the profs I had in college said take any newspaper story and the headlines. You have a great start for creating a fiction story. He was right.
I prefer science fiction/fantasy as it allows my mind to do a lot of 'what if' type of writing, and yet have those characters face some of the same types of situations that people face in real life. Of course they will have gadgets and some abilities beyond our everyday lives.
The main idea about writing is to have FUN!
Writing in NaNo since 2003 and winning. Four SciFi/Fantasy, one western, one mystery/detective. This year back to SciFi/Fantasy.