Category: NaNoWriMo

>Revising a Nano Novel, Pt. 2: Evaluating

>Last week, we explored getting perspective on a Nano novel and why you should revise it. Today, we’re going to look into evaluating your book first so the revision process is not so overwhelming. Evaluate FirstBefore you start hacking away at your book, take some advice from a writer who’s made big mistakes in that department: evaluate before you edit. Why? Because in your zeal to make your novel the best ever, you may throw out passages or even whole scenes that don’t deserve it. When revising Dead Locked, I went on a rampage and cut all kinds of material. […]

>Revising a Nano Novel, Pt. 1: Perspective

>Revising a novel can be daunting no matter what. Never mind when it’s a bit…messy. And writing a novel-in-a-month often means a messy first draft. But don’t despair. Just because your book may look like a wreck doesn’t mean it’s unsalvageable. Reading with PerspectiveI wrote The Jester’s Apprentice in January 2009 (originally it was titled Philippa’s Neverending Series of Pointless Conversations). I got wrapped up writing Dead Locked that same year and forgot all about Jester’s for a while. Months later, I read the draft for the first time and felt sorry for the two people who had read it. […]

>Go NaNoWriMo Writers! The High of Week 1

>This is just a shout of encouragement to all of you participating in NaNoWriMo this year! The first week is always thrilling as you pen those first few thousand words and start to see your ideas – vague or clearly defined – come to life. If this is your first time around, I suggest you make this week count as much as possible. Circumstances differ, but I learned my first time around that aiming to get a little ahead the first week didn’t hurt. Just stick to your plan and get as close to your daily and weekly goals as […]

>Get Ready for NaNoWriMo 2010!

>It’s hard to believe it’s already that time again! I’m sure a lot of you are prepping – at least mentally – for NaNoWriMo this year. I’m not participating this time around, but I’ve tried two different approaches to getting ready to write a novel-in-a-month in the past. The first time, I got a concept the night before I started and winged the entire book. The second time, I did a little planning about two weeks ahead of time. How did each approach go? Winging it landed me in some trouble. By the end of the month, I had plenty […]

>Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this November? In less than two weeks the word frenzy is on! This is my first year as an official participant. I wrote a novel in a month on my own back in January and loved it so much that I couldn’t wait to go again in November. Though still a newbie myself, I made a list of dos and don’ts after January’s experience. I’m much better prepared this time around and so I thought I’d pass along what I learned.Keep it simple. My plot got a little out of control last January. In the […]

>Leaping Out of My Comfort Zone: Writing a Novel in a Month

>Most of you have probably heard of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I’ve never participated and this past November (when the contest takes place), I had too much going on personally to take part. Instead, I decided to do it by myself in January 2009. So I buckled up over the last week of December 2008 and told myself there would be no wriggling out of it. I was writing a novel in 31 days. I’ve never written a novel in a year or more nevermind one month. The NaNoWriMo challenge is writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, […]