NaNoWriMo 2011--Here I Come!!!

Hola mis amigos,

Well, I did it. I wrote my novel, Just Once, during NaNo of 2010 and it was fantastic. I wrote it for pleasure, I wrote it for myself, and I wrote because it had to be written. I started writing at midnight on November 1, and had my 50,000 words within a week. Then I proceeded to write about 50,000 more words to complete my novel. Words cannot describe the euphoria I felt when I had finished, both the 50, 000 words and the completed novel by the end of the month. It was so inspirational.

I am now on track to write another novel in November of 2011 and this time I have started with Character Development and Character Sketches. I realized how much fun it is to write, imagine, develop, and get to know my characters and I am going to be sharing some of my characterization exercises that I do with all of you.

These are tried and true and I have used them with both high school and university students. They are a nice way to get to know your character without having to pin a character down at the beginning. The most fun is that they are not set in stone and you can always change them depending on where your character leads, and where you follow.

They are a perfect companion to Scriveners, if you use that for organization, or for any word processor. Just copy and paste and modify to fit your needs. And if you come up with something way cool, please share, I’d love to have it in my archives.

Con un pan y cafecito, seguimos adelante!!!

Zulmara

Pampering Your Muse

After completing NaNoWriMo 2010, I am ready to write another novel in 30 days this year. As I gear up for NaNo 2011, I will be sharing my journey and my tips for staying inspired and keeping my muse well fed, happy, and ready to go.

I have found that food, music, artist's dates, morning pages, small steps, and rewards keep my muse happy and going. Last year, chocolate and wine were AWESOME!!! Artists dates to Carmel was a must, time off of work for some spa pampering, and lots and lots of support from my WriMo group...Our Build-a-Muse day was the most fun, and our writing at the Disney Grand Californian...was as inspiring as it gets.

Stay tuned to this blog for writing tips, pampering tips, and quips and quotes and anything notes.

I will be giving away a 'tina Tote full of fun and inspiring writing tools to one lucky winner at the end of the month. Just post to this blog and you will be entered as many times as you are entered.

Like my friend page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/zulmaramaria#!/ for an extra entry and you can leave comments there for an entry as well.

Gracias for joining me on this journey...
Con un pan y cafecito, seguimos adelante!!!
Zulmara

Just Once by Zulmara Maria Teixeira de Lima

In November of 2010 I participated in my first NaNo and I was soo pleased to write over 90,000 words on my first novel, Just Once. I felt great, euphoric, and giddy as I started and partied like it was 1999 when I finished. I am still editing my novel, but I love my characters and my plot. Here is a bit of Just Once by Zulmara Maria Teixeira de Lima. I will be posting an excerpt on the NaNo site in a few days.

Con un pan y cafecito, seguimos Adelante
Zulmara

What happens when a recurring dream feels so real you think it is a part of your life?

Maritza has been having a troubling dream for almost 5 months. She is walking on the beach with an unknown person who gives her bad news and she starts crying. Sometimes, she wakes up in a cold sweat. Sometimes, she wakes up with tears streaming down her face. What is the message behind this dream? What is the universe trying to tell her? Is someone in her family in trouble? Is there a tragedy awaiting her?

Miguel, 40, has just been handed a lemon, the size of a brain tumor, which is killing him. For the most part, he is handling it pretty well, when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. Except for Maritza, who is now haunting his dreams. He has loved her and only her for his whole life. She has been the only person he has ever loved, although, heaven knows, he has tried to love others. And now he is dying and he wants to make love to her. The only problem is, she is happily married to his best friend and has not seen him for 15 years. Yet, he keeps having this dream of meeting with her at the beach and they are walking hand-in-hand and he tells her that he is dying. The dream always ends with her crying in his arms.

Just Once explores the lives of these two individuals and how they deal with and handle the choices, dilemmas, and predicaments they have been handed in the middle of their seemingly uneventful lives. Readers of multi-cultural romance, chica lit, and women’s contemporary fiction will truly enjoy and relate to this story of struggle, fidelity, reflection, and love.

The Nuts and Bolts of Getting Organized for NaNoWrMo

In order to be ready for NaNoWriMo, I realized I had to get very organized and get my act together, otherwise, with my job and with my schedule, I would always be wishing I was ready for November, but I would never be ready.

So I have started "Laying the Foundation" with the following baby steps:

Joined the NaNoWriMo web pages so that I could become familiar with how it works and the get used to posting on the forums and spend time creating my page.

I started a Facebook page in order to connect with my writerly friends there and to join the group "Walking in this World" and do the 12 week program among like minded friends.

I updated my MySpace page to reflect my writing journey and will be posting my blogs there as well.

I have updated my Goodreads page so that it reflects the Chica Lit genre that I am writing in gives me a place to organize the books that have inspired me to write

I have updated my Art By Latina Artists page to reflect my NaNoWriMo Journey. And, I am starting an ABLA group to encourage all of us to honor and love our creative muses.

I started a Blogspot page so I would have a chance to blog about my adventures and organize everything in one place. At my blogspot page, you can find links to all my other pages.

I have begun to learn how to use One Note to organize my ideas, thoughts, and materials.

It has truly been an exciting beginning of the month…and I am feeling very energized!!!
The Chai Lattes and vino con chocolate treats…really make a difference.
ADELANTE!!!

Zulmara

NaNoWriMo Laying the Foundation

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Are you one of those novel writers who has a good idea, know you will write your novel one day, but just don’t have the time or the wherewithal to get it all started? Or maybe you have been playing around with writing your memoirs, or your dad’s story that should be told, or the greatest love story ever—between your grandma and grandpa? Or maybe, you just have a great mystery idea that needs some fleshing out? Have you wandered onto the NaNoWriMo site and said…some day, I will do this. Or are you like me and decided that 2010 is the year for you to JUST DO IT!!!

Well, if 2010 is your NaNoWriMo year and you would like to make sure it happens, then join me on my journey to write a book in a month in November. Share your ups, downs, set backs, ideas, and inspirations as we journey together in the land of Wrimos—then we can party like it is 1999!!!

I know there are some Wrimos that just come to September with an idea, sign up and write away. But some of us need more time to plan, get inspired, do some research, and be on track. If you are a planner, if you need feedback, inspiration from other writers, or just plane like to connect with others over un cafecito, then think about joining us here or just lurking. I will be sharing my journey to inspire myself and maybe others in the process. I will be sharing my favorite writing books and the songs and quotes that inspire me throughout the month of March and I hope you will do the same.

So grab a cup of coffee and let the writing journey begin…

ADELANTE!!!

Zulmara