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Posts from the ‘Craft’ Category

Nov 8

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NaNoWriMo or not, boost your word count

In our month-long celebration of NaNoWriMo, we’re offering tips, tools, and inspiration to help you write your heart out. NaNoWriMo or not, these resources and ideas will make you more prolific and creative well beyond November.

I was intrigued to find this post by author Rachel Aaron about how she went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000. Yes, you read that right. Here are brief explanations of her tips, with a link to the details in her blog post. She’s also written a book available for only 99 cents, which you can buy on Amazon, that details the process.

Side 1: Knowledge or Know What You’re Writing Before You Write It
After realizing a scene she’d written was a mess, Aaron discovered that if she scribbled out a short-hand version of what she planned to write on a pad of paper, she could quickly spot any writing pitfalls and more efficiently and quickly finish the scene, upping her word count.

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Nov 7

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How keeping a writing practice list can increase your NaNoWriMo word count

Today is the seventh day of NaNoWriMo and, amazingly, I’m on track with my word count! But I need to plan ahead for the rest of this week because, starting tomorrow, I’ll be attending the Story Masters writing intensive with Literary Agent Don Maass, author and writing mentor James Scott Bell, and Chris Vogler, a Hollywood development guru and author of The Writer’s Journey.

I’m super excited and blessed to be able to attend this event but that also means I’ll have to find snatches of time for writing to make sure I stay on top of my Nano goals. We’ll have writing opportunities in class and an evening gathering of fellow NaNoWriMos so that will help. My plan is to break it up in 500 to 700 word segments until I reach my goal for each day.

I’m also making a Writing Practice list (ala Natalie Goldberg). These are ideas that pop up as I’m writing that I add to an ongoing list and that become writing topics for later. I call it my WP list. Read more

Nov 6

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Get out of your reader’s way with these tips

Are you getting in your reader’s way? Getting in the way can take many forms. At the Vegas Valley Book Festival Saturday, young adult author Matt de la Peña presented a workshop about this very topic.

Here’s what he had to say:

Don’t bog down your story’s beginning. Be wary of loading it down with too many details, characters and too much backstory. Let the story unfold in a timely way. Read more

Nov 5

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Five tips for increasing your NaNoWriMo word count

If you’re participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), here’s a good short YouTube video with tips for increasing your word count and that will also help you discover more of your story:

Nov 2

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How I Write: More articles about the daily routines of well-known authors

If you’ve entered the NaNoWriMo zone, you may find it useful to draw inspiration from published authors.

These novelists reveal the details of their daily writing routines.

Tim Lott, Emma Donoghue, Esther Freud, Ian Rankin, Lionel Shriver, and Maggie O’Farrell.

The interviews were published as part of a feature The Guardian published called How to Write a Book in 30 Days.

Feel free to share how you write in the comments below.

Oct 31

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A six-stage plan for writing your Nano novel in 30 days

Just in time for the NaNoWriMo kickoff Nov. 1, I found a series of articles on The Guardian online outlining a six-stage plan for writing a book in 30 days. The series is part of a 32-page supplement delivered free to Guardian readers in its Oct. 20 edition.

The 30-day plan includes handy worksheets and details about:

  • Creating setting, plot, outline, and preliminary characters
  • Researching your idea Read more

Oct 26

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Submit your best work

“How you do one thing is how you do everything.” I can’t remember who originally said this but I’ve heard it many times.

Learning to write or do any art is like peeling an onion. A concept or craft technique I learned two years ago will continue to unfold and grow to a deeper level in my understanding.

One of many of these moments came to me last weekend at the Surrey Writers Conference. I heard over and over that, as writers, we should only send out our best work.

I know this, of course, but it resonated at a deeper level of understanding for me this weekend. Read more

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