Preptober: Nanowrimo Rewards

Lacking motivation? We all need a carrot on a stick sometimes. Here are a few little rewards--big and small--that can keep you motivated no matter your budget. You can find more ideas for how to crush Nanowrimo in my Nanowrimo Workbook. Daily Rewards ($0-$5) Put a gold star on your calendar for each day you…

Nano Check In: Week 3

As I suspected, I finished writing the first draft of my book last week, but it didn't even break 35,000 words. I already had several points marked out on my outline that I could go back to expand, so I've been rewriting some of those scene and moving the words I would normally delete to…

A Nano-sized Plan for Nano

I confess, I'm still not feeling like my "normal" author self. Last year I worked on an edit of Shadow's End, which is the story currently being serialized on my Patreon (You can read the first chapter for free, and get access to future chapters as well as three other books for just $1/month). I…

Nanowrimo Checklist

It's that time of year, when we begin stockpiling paper, sharpening our pencils, greasing up the typewriters and investing in an extra harddrive or cloud space for our computers: that's right, it's Nanowrimo season. Technically, this is just "Prep-tober", but I say the season starts early. For me, it used to start in August, but…

A Nano Update on Nano

There hasn't been much going on this week. We're slowly putting the apartment together, one piece of furniture at a time. This week's new additions included a table and chairs, which means I finally have a work space to write and sew that isn't my bed (trust me, sewing in bed is a bad idea).…

Ok, I Lied.

I wasn't going to do it. I was actively talking myself out of it. But I had to log in anyway to change my home region, and...well, one thing led to another and now I'm signed up for Nanowrimo. I'm rebelling this year (is anyone surprised? I feel like I do that every year) and…

Not Nano

If you've been here a couple of years, you've probably noticed something missing from my blog the past couple of months (besides me): Nanowrimo prep. Usually I would have started my Nano Training Camp in September, working up to to the 1667 necessary in daily words to finish a novel in a month. However, the…

7 Tips for Beginner Writers

Write the stories you want to read. Don't worry about what others will--or might--think. Read everything Fiction, nonfiction, books outside your genre--read it all. Learn to read critically The best way to learn how to be a better writer is to examine how the authors you love write. How do they show emotion? How do…

Nano Check In: Week 2

How is everyone holding up? Don't know about you guys, but week two was rough for me. On top of everything else, I wound up scrapping the bulk of my outline and starting fresh. My new outline seems okay--so far--but we'll see how long it lasts. If I'm lucky, it'll make it to the end…

The Voice in My Head

I'm writing this on Sunday night, in between vigorous word sprints. 10 minutes here, 30 there. So far I've put in about 1800 words for the day. I'm trying--trying--to finish this draft by midnight. Why? Well, mainly because I have let far too many self-imposed deadlines fly by in the last two months. First, it…