03 Thursday Apr 2014
Posted in Blog
The Red Trail
I trudge through the field of snow and come upon splashes of red. I begin to examine the area and see a trail that leads to the tree line. I slowly inch forward and follow the trail. I stop, suddenly, when I see a man hunched over leaning against a snow-covered tree.
Throwback Thursday!
The beginning of a story that I started in a Fiction Writing class last year from a writing prompt.
28 Friday Mar 2014
Posted in Blog
In about 39 days, I am publishing my first novel! WOW! That is pretty crazy and intense, so naturally I decided to sign up for the Camp NaNoWriMo event beginning April 1st, 2014. That means while I’m frantically getting ready to publish my novel, I will be frantically writing another book. Good thing I do well under pressure. This will give me a chance to work on Blood Red Sky, a story that I have written the first chapter to, and have wanted to continue for some time now. I am extremely excited! You can even add Blood Red Sky on Goodreads!
Blood Red Sky Synopsis:
Kaylie couldn’t wait to turn 18, so she could be an adult and do whatever she wanted. Now all she wants is to go back in time and be with her family and live by their rules.
The world around her is engulfed in blood and fire, an image she would never forget even if it ceased to exist. With another life to protect, she has to fight for them both to survive in a world that now has no rules.
Are you participating in Camp NaNoWriMo? Add me if you are! My username is: christiewriting. See you at Camp!
27 Thursday Mar 2014
Posted in Blog
Blind Affair
I carefully step into the house taking a deep breath. I catch a scent that stops me abruptly making me almost knock over the lamp to my right. The door creaks shut as my mind speeds up thinking in overdrive. I smell a perfume that is not mine. My sense of smell has sharpened greatly since I lost my sight.
One day I was driving home from work, and a car went speeding through a red light and hit me. The glass from the windows shattered and went into my eyes, and I have not been able to see since. I was lucky enough to live through it, and for that I am grateful. Luckily, or so I thought at the time, my fiancé, and now husband James was there to help me get through the change. It was not an easy change, and I became depressed for months, but he stood by me the whole time.
My husband was supposed to be working until five, and I was planning to spend the day with my friend Jess until eight, but I came home early due to not feeling well. My stomach had been doing flips, and I wasn’t being much company, so I decided to go home early and get some rest.
It was only a little after two, so no one was supposed to be home. I heard a hushed voice coming from my bedroom.
“What was that?” the feminine voice asked.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing,” James’ strong voice assured her. I cringed not believing what I heard.
Throw Back Thursday
I wrote this from some kind of writing prompt, I believe around 2008-2009. I need to be better about dating things…
13 Friday Dec 2013
Tags
author, Breaking Pointe, Christie Cote, creative writing, NaNo, NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo 2013, national novel writing month, new adult, novel, Realistic Fiction, writing
It is thirteen days after the NaNoWriMo deadline to write 50,000 words in thirty days. That is a mere 1,667 words a day. That is realistic right? A challenge, but not too crazy when it is broken down like that. That is, if you actually write every day, and force yourself to at least reach that threshold. I started out strong, but here is the thing. I decided it would be a good idea to embark on this challenge while planning a destination wedding that I would leave for the morning after NaNoWriMo finished. Needless to say, November was flipping insane. I also had other obstacles come up that I was not expecting, and there were days that I did not write a single word, and other days that I wrote, but the word count was low. I had been thinking about my NaNoWriMo project, Breaking Pointe, for months before I was able to start on November first. The odds were against me, and I was very behind, but I kept writing.
I honestly did not think I would be able to reach the goal, but I was determined to write as much as possible anyways. It was a challenge and I like challenges. I completed my first draft of my first novel a few months back, Rain, which was a major accomplishment for me, so I figured the next logical step and challenge was to write a novel in a month.
The last week I made a decent comeback, but I was still behind by a lot. I looked at my word count and though, I can’t be this close and not finish. So that is what I did. I finished. I reached 50,025 words around 11:00PM November 30, 2013. Obstacles and the world be damned, I persevered, and I did it. I can only imagine how many mistakes there are and I’m not sure how good it is since I was trying to write fast, but I kept going until I reached 50,000. Unfortunately, I didn’t technically finish the first draft of the entire novel. I had to stop when I reached the goal and pack to leave the next morning since I hadn’t done that yet. I will be going back to wrap up the novel soon, before going back to editing Rain.
To sum it up, NaNoWriMo was an insane challenge, but I’m glad I did it. I have most of another novel under my belt, which once given some TLC will hopefully turn into something decent. Luckily by the time I finished, my fiancé still loved me and married me. Everything worked out, making 2013 a kick ass year! I plan to make 2014 even better, starting with publishing Rain.
To other writers out there, keep writing and never give up. If you haven’t written a full piece yet, pick something and just keep adding words every day. It doesn’t matter how much, just keep at it. Set small doable goals, eventually those small word counts will turn into large word counts and if you persevere, eventually you will have a book. If I can do it, so can you.
Did any of you do NaNoWriMo? What was your experience?
Christie Cote 