They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so let’s just wrap up the National Novel Writing Month discussion with a picture:

The story’s not done yet, but I hit the NaNoWriMo monthly goal of 50,000 words. Somehow I managed to get enough writing in even during that final week—which included Thanksgiving, a trip back to my home town for a class reunion, and time with my girls—to fall across the finish line around 8 p.m. on November 30.  I’ll pick the story back up in January, along with two other novels that need some serious revision. I’m thinking 2010 will be a year of revision and editing rather than more new writing (aside from finishing the 2009 NaNo). Time to get these puppies out there in the world!

In other news …

KINDLE UPDATE: ONE YEAR OUT

I’ve had my Amazon Kindle for about a year now. I’ve tried to make note of any book-buying patterns that have changed since getting the Kindle. And, as you might expect, there are some:

First, when I see a book I’d like to read/own, I see if a Kindle edition is available. Usually, there is. Assuming there is a Kindle edition, I then ask myself a series of questions about that particular book:

1. Do I need to have it immediately? Like, really immediately? 1 vote for the Kindle edition. (Available in about 30 seconds.)

2. Is it available only in Kindle and mass market paperback? 1 vote for the Kindle edition. (I hate mass market paperbacks—hard on the ol’ eyes.)

3. Do I want the physical copy taking up ever-dwindling shelf space in my house? 1 vote for the Kindle edition.

4. Will I want to lend the book to anyone else in the future? 1 vote for the dead-tree copy. (Still not possible to lend Kindle books, which doesn’t really bother me. I don’t lend out books all that often anyway.)

5. Will I want a first edition copy or a hard copy that the author might someday autograph? 1 vote for the dead-tree copy. (Still kinda hard to autograph the Kindle edition of a book, which goes without saying, although apparently I said it anyway.)

6. What is the price comparison between the two editions? If all other variables are not relevant, then 1 vote for the cheaper edition, if it is a LOT cheaper. (Sometimes Kindle editions are oddly high-priced, even near the price of print editions, and this puzzles me, since I so often hear about the high cost of paper, ink, and book production in general.) 

Let’s use a book I bought just this morning as an example: Robert Sawyer’s Flashforward.  Trade paperback edition: $8.51.  Kindle edition: $7.99. 

The prices of the two editions are unusually close for a book that’s not a current bestseller. Which one did I purchase? Going through my list of questions, I decided that I didn’t need the physical edition of the book taking up room on my shelves. I also didn’t see myself lending the book out, and I doubt I’ll run into Mr. Sawyer while carrying a copy of the book, to give me the opportunity to get it autographed. Plus, I was extremely curious to start reading it … soon. Like, right now.

The Kindle edition won, and I had the book on my Kindle before I could get across the room to pick it up.

In the past year, I’ve found the Kindle to be indispensible for traveling and for leisurely reading in my wing chair at night. Having just purchased Stephen King’s 1,000-page Under the Dome in first edition hardcover (the Kindle edition isn’t due out for a few more weeks), I was immediately reminded of two of the Kindle’s best features: It’s easy to prop up and read without the weight of a large book or the annoyance of the pages flipping backwards if you shift in the chair. And, the adjustable font size is a balm to my eyes (having recently been diagnosed with ocular rosacea as well as the omnipresent chronic dry eye). And, if I’m not done with King’s tome by the time the Kindle edition comes out, I might purchase that edition too just to continue to read in more comfort. And yes, I know that’s precisely what the publishers want me to do. For some authors, such as King and also Diana Gabaldon, I’ll keep buying first edition hardcovers no matter what. The Kindle editions are merely icing on the cake.

A year later, I’m still buying print books—probably too many for my own good—but the Kindle has given me options for many of my future purchases. All told, I’m buying more book content than I did pre-Kindle. And I know I’m reading a lot more than I did a year ago. Happily so. For hours on end when I  can manage it.

And that can only be a good thing.

YOU BE THE JUDGE:

I will say this:  The zombies have finally shown up.

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It’s that time of year again, boys and girls. Time to ingratiate myself with my usually stubborn muse, feed him chocolate (leftover Halloween candy, anyone?), and beg him to feed me 1,667 words every day for the entire month of November.

Otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month (http://www.nanowrimo.org/).

I’ve participated in this collective insanity—churning out 50,000 words of fiction in a single month—since 2004. Each year I’ve made the deadline with all 50,000 words. Then, I’ve gone on to finish that year’s novel (usually adding another 25,000 words or so) by the following October in order to enter it into the Christian Writers Guild’s current Operation First Novel/Book contest.

In fact, I just finished my 2006 NaNo novel late last month and entered it into this year’s Operation First Novel contest. The first round of semifinalists probably won’t be announced until December. I’m not holding my breath, but I’ve placed as a semifinalist or better twice before. In fact, my first NaNo novel from 2004 went on to be a Top 4 runner-up in last year’s contest.

While hyping myself up for that first NaNo challenge in October 2004, I trolled around the NaNo forums and read about AlphaSmarts. I was so intrigued, and so plagued by my internal editor (who had hog-tied and gagged my muse on numerous occasions), that I immediately hit eBay and scarfed up a used AlphaSmart 2000 for about $50. It was the best fifty bucks I ever spent. Between the AS2000 and NaNo’s insane deadline, I not only untied and ungagged my muse, but I bitch-slapped that internal editor upside his head and spit in his eye just for fun.

Otherwise known as an epiphany (although saying it the first way was more fun).

And now I am standing on the precipice for the fourth time. On the floor to my left is a huge white board filled with multicolored scribbly notes on this year’s novel (you can take notes but can’t write any prose until 12:01 a.m. on November 1). I took it off the wall and put it here next to my desk so I can copy it into OneNote and work with it. For the next three hours, before I can start the actual writing, I’ll be concocting characters and plot lines, perhaps even running that first sentence in my head a little bit.

And since no project gets anywhere without a working title (at least not in my world), I’ve come up with one I can live with for now: Mrs. Needlemeier’s Novel Idea.

Yes, it’s supposed to sound quirky.

Yes, it’s important that she’s a Mrs.

Yes, she’s writing a novel. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

And now, as the countdown clock strikes T-minus three hours, I’m off to do that plotting and planning I’ve been avoiding all month. This is one project on which I cannot procrastinate.

Which is why I hate . . . errr, love NaNoWriMo so much.

—————

Madame Bovary Update: I finished Madame Bovary over the weekend. I found absolutely no character to sympathize with, which made the novel vexing to read all the way through. I felt no remorse at Emma’s downfall, and once everyone else around her scattered to the four winds or died, well, I’d about had it with these people.

Now I’m reading Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight—a much better choice for Halloween, and certainly a lot more fun. I’m about 100 pages in, so I’ll report back on this one once I’m done and moving on to the second book in the series, New Moon.