NaNoWriMo Spotlight: Nicole Lewis aka Wonder Writer

Introducing Nicole Lewis (otherwise known as Lucy of Narnia and Wonder Writer). I'm very pleased to welcome her back for her second interview! She was another word war buddy of mine on the NarniaWeb chat and we wrote many a word while racing each other and the clock. See here for her interview last year.

Who are you?

I'm a 19-year-old girl who is interested in a variety of creative expressions, including writing of course.

Why did you pick NaNoWriMo to consume your November? 

This was my fourth year attempting NaNo- 2008 and 2010 were fails, but I won 2011.

What's new since I interviewed you last year? [last year's interview]

I started dance, which inspired my original novel idea.

What was your novel about this year? And why did you pick that? 

My novel started out as a Mulan remake, set in a different time and place. Mulan has been my absolute favorite Disney movie since I was five, so I thought it would be fun. Problem is, I stink at writing war scenes (much more of a drama-oriented person) and so my novel went through a few (huge) remakes this year. It ended up being a mash-up of three stories, tied together by time travel (thank you Doctor Who).

What is your typical writing process like? 

I usually just get some idea that catches my fancy and I take it, maybe plan a very basic skeleton of a story, and then...pants, pants, pants.

How did your month go? 

I got discouraged due to having to 'restart'/being behind in wordcount so I didn't finish, but at least I got a lot of words down, and I know there's bound to be some good in all the mess.

What did you learn from NaNoWriMo this year? 

Start with something you know, so you don't regret it and have to rethink your ideas once the month's already begun.

Interview #13: Lucy of Narnia

Lucy of Narnia: Mermaid Tails: Legends and Lore

Your Nweb and NaNoWriMo usernames, were they inspired by anything?

Lucy of Narnia wasn't really inspired by anything; I found it very generic and of course Narnia-ish for Narniaweb. Nothing very interesting there. Wonder Writer seemed appropriate for National Novel WRITING month. So I guess I kinda bragged on myself, huh?

NaNoWriMo or YWP?

I'm 18, and had attempted NaNo instead of YWP even at 15 and 17, so I did NaNo again.

Who are you?

I am an 18-year-old North Carolina girl who loves writing, acting, drawing and singing (if I'm alone!). I love accents, British especially, and trying to impersonate them. I'm not quite sure where my aspirations will take me yet but, hey, they sure are fun!

How were you sucked into NaNoWriMo? Did someone person brainwash you into joining?

My dad found NaNo for me back in 2008. I have actually tried to convince my parents that NaNo wasn't a waste of time, and that you are (supposed to) get back to it to edit sometime after November. *guilty* I guess I should try that someday.

Was this your first, second, tenth time participating?

This was my third time participating; I started late in 2008 and 2010, but this year I finally started on time, and, since I'd won Screnzy and attempted a mad rush at Camp NaNo in the last week of August (which I failed, but taught me how much I could write in a day), I was confident that I could win this year.

What was your novel synopsis (or original idea) at the beginning of nano? Genre?

Originally, my genre was fantasy and I was going to write about mermaids in a very historical sounding way, like they were actually real, or at least there was that possibility.

Was your synopsis the same or different at the end? Or did you end up writing something completely different?

I ended up keeping the fantasy, but just writing it as fantasy, in a story style, instead of a sort of fake history.

Did you finish? What superpowers enabled you to write 50k in one month?

I did finish! As I said before, I was confident going into it. And then, it was just so easy to write another mushy mermaid/man love scene if I needed some words! Fun!

What method of writing proved to be the most effective?

Mostly just forcing myself to write, and doing what I enjoyed (love scenes!), which pretty much made up my entire book.

Did this method involve glue, ropes, caffeine or some other forceful inducement?

No forceful inducement, but some annoyance. Sometimes, as I'm sure we all do, I just didn't want to write any more about mermaids. Or whatever.

What lesson(s) did NaNoWriMo teach you this past November?

NaNoWriMo taught me that I could finish it, that it wasn't soooo hard like I'd made it out to be. Boring at times? Yes. Think you MUST have got the daily word count to find you were only half-way through? Yes. But it was accomplishable.

Website, blog, twitter, etc you want readers to know about?

My blog is called Writing Obsessed (pjswritingobsessed.blogspot.com).