Nanowrimo Wrap Up 2020

Technically, there's still another day left. If you are still writing, keep going! You can do it. Last night around 9:30, I finally cracked 50k. I may write a little extra today, just so I can get that shiny badge for updating my word count every day, but as I was putting my word count…

Nano Check In: Week 2

Good news: my highly detailed outline and plotting is paying off. I'm about 2 days ahead of schedule, and crossed 30,000 words in my writing session this evening. Bad news: I have about 5,000 words left. Good news: Which means I stand a good chance of "finishing" this story before the end of the month.…

Books and TV for Nanowrimo

As I mentioned on Monday, my muse came in and wrecked all of my plans at the last minute, so I've been trying to reassemble my background material for Nanowrimo. I'm the type of writer who has to fully immerse themselves in the world of their book, which means all the media I consume while…

As the Muse Demands

My muse is a fickle, fickle beast. She spends most of her time jetting around to warm, sunny locals I can't afford to visit (she spent most of the summer in Oahu, I think, and spent the winter in Melbourne), only showing up to cause trouble. For example, I was planning to take things easy…

Near the End

I'm not sure how we ended up at the tail end of November, but here we are. How was your Nanowrimo? Did you participate? As I mentioned, I'm working on an editing project this time around rather than drafting a new book. I hit 50,000 edited words last weekend, but still have about 50% of…

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…

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…

Rules for Nanowrimo

Don't delete. Know where the story is going, even if you don't know how it's going to get there (yet) When in doubt, take a nap. It doesn't count as procrastinating if you're working through plot snags while you do it. Cookies are brain food. Have a cookie. Nothing gets words written faster than BIC…

Nano check in

Well, we're officially a week (plus) into Nanowrimo. How are you doing? I got off to a strong start, breaking 12k before the first weekend was over. Around that time I realized there was a structural problem with my plot that I had no idea how to fix. I added a new character, thinking that…