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Posts tagged ‘Nanowrimo’

Oct 23

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Get set for NaNoWriMo with these tips

November is almost here and that means National Novel Writing Month kicks off. If you haven’t heard of it, NaNoWriMo is a month-long writing project in which writers write a 50,000-word draft of a novel in 30 days.

Novels can be any genre or language. Planning and extensive notes are allowed but pre-written material can’t go into the body of the novel for it to count. To complete the project in 30 days, you’ll need to write an average of 1,667 words a day.

A deadline is one of the best incentives to get writing and NaNoWriMo can help writers get into that non-analytical state of mind and write a draft from start to finish, a key step to ultimately finishing a novel.

While most novels are longer than 50,000 words, meeting the goal and “winning,” can mean writing a 50,000-word novel or the first 50,000 words of a novel to be finished later. According to Wikipedia, notable novels of roughly 50,000 words include The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Brave New World, and The Great Gatsby.

Here are a few tips for writing massive numbers of words in 30 days. Read more

Jul 1

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Use Camp NaNoWriMo to reach your writing goal this month

Want to write a novel in the month of July? Well, now you can thanks to Camp NaNoWriMo. Based on November’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), Camp NaNoWriMo provides the online support, tracking tools, and hard deadline to help you write the rough draft of your novel in a month… other than November.

Not ready to write a novel in a month? No problem. You can use the support and deadlines of Camp NaNoWriMo to set other big writing goals–edit a manuscript, finish a first draft or finish a second draft. I even know a man who’s going to use this month to write one new poem a day.

Whatever your writing goals this month, check out the website and see how you can use it to reach your targets.

While you’re at it, check out these past links about how to write a novel in a month:

NaNoWriMo or not, boost your word count

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

Dec 21

Three posts to help you revise your writing

Having recently finished NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), I’m beginning to revise some of my 50,000 words. Below are three of my favorites posts about revision techniques and strategies. As I continue to work on my story, I find it helpful to keep these tips in mind. I hope you find them useful as well:

Two Steps to Stronger Verbs shows how to make your verbs stronger, which will make your stories and poetry stronger.

Four Ways to Revise Scenes helps examine scenes for these four key elements.

Edit Out Literary Throat Clearing to Make Your Work Stronger is a post about eliminating empty words or phrases in your writing.

Dec 7

More writing nuggets from James Scott Bell: First steps to revise your manuscript

If you’ve just finished NaNoWriMo, you’ve taken a deep breath and are now ready to dive into revisions. In a webinar Tuesday sponsored by Writer’s Digest, bestselling author James Scott Bell revealed his strategy for revising manuscripts. Here are some highlights from his presentation.

First, let your manuscript cool off. He lets his draft sit for several weeks, then he prints a hard copy. While you can read it on your computer, Bell says he likes to recreate the feeling the average reader will have when they pick up the book. It’s also easy to make notes on the pages as he goes. Read more

Dec 3

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Translating Nanowrimo success into your daily writing life

Congratulations to everyone who completed NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month– where writers around the world commit to writing a 50,000-word novel during the month of November)!  This was the first year I completed NaNoWriMo. I started it last year, but gave up after falling behind in my first week.

The best part of the entire process was learning more about who I am as a writer.

Before NaNoWriMo, I suffered constant interruptions (both business and personal) that left me with many days, often leading into weeks, where no writing got done.  With NaNoWriMo on my calendar for the month of November, I cleared the decks and made announcements among my family and friends of my intentions. I pictured clear skies and smooth sailing for my journey. Nobody would interrupt me and nothing would get in my way. Read more

Nov 29

Research made easy: the five-click Google

Writers are fantastic procrastinators. We push papers, arrange paperclips, make those gigantic rubber band balls, and get sucked into the internet faster than the Roadrunner can outrun Mr. Coyote. We use any excuse to delay actually doing what we’re supposed to be doing: writing.

Research is another example. Yes, sometimes we need to do research for our stories or novels but too many of us can get sucked into that bottomless pit never to emerge again. I can’t count the number of times I’ve logged online to “do a little research” and find myself, hours later, knee deep in the different dialects that skinwalkers use. Read more

Nov 22

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Any dog can be thankful: Today we say thank you to our readers

As a child, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother. One of the sayings she is known for in our family is: “Any dog can be thankful.”

With that in mind on this day of Thanksgiving in the USA, I want to thank all of our faithful and supportive followers at onewildword.

Today, I’m highlighting three followers who inspire me with their words and content. And thanks to all our readers for being part of our community.

Cast Light is a great source of inspiration. I particularly enjoy this call to action. And especially for those who are in the midst of NaNoWriMo, find a burst of energy in this post about finish lines.

If you’ve been reading this blog for long, you know how much we advocate reading. Jane Fritz’s post about a balanced reading diet is excellent food for thought.

You have to love Scripts & Scribes (@scriptsscribes), a free writer’s resource website. Find some writerly insight by listening to their interviews from top  professionals in publishing, film & TV, theatre, and comic books.

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