Hi writers, how do you know if you’re getting better? It can be hard to judge. Writing (any kind of art) is so subjective, and we’re often the worst judges of our work anyway. (The same story can seem terrible and pretty good to me,…
Tag: nanowrimo
You got this, friend. You’ve been getting ready for thirty days. You have inspiration, you have a core idea, you have characters, you have the beginning part outlined. You’re ready. Today, you rest. Anticipate the excitement of next month. You’re going to be all right.…
Today is about finding your comps! Comps (short for “competitive titles” or “comparison titles”) are often used in query letter or pitches to tell an agent or publisher where your book would go on the shelf. Is it next to Nora Roberts or Stephen King?…
Good morning! Today we’re going to talk about finding a support squad, or at least one cheerleader. We talked earlier about finding a community. This is related, but it’s a little more personal. Think of someone, or a couple of people, in your life who…
We’re very close to the start of Nano now, and it’s exciting! Today I’m going to examine my distractions. Most of us have habits that can get in the way of writing focus and creative time. For me, it’s Twitter, Discord, Slack, and video games. …
Good morning, writers! Today we’re going back into brainstorming mode to think about what other characters might populate your story. I like to do this exercise on paper, with a pencil or pen, because it’s going to be a map. The idea is to think…
It’s the last week before Nano. Tomorrow we’ll get to some writing craft and brainstorming again, but today I want to talk about getting your writers’ fuel ready. For me, meal planning takes up a lot of time, not just making it, but thinking about…
Hello writers, today we’re going to do an exercise that’s about highlighting the stuff in your story that you think is important! I think most writers (at least ones I talk to) write chronologically, and especially when pantsing, which is what I typically do for…
It’s Friday again and you know what that means! It’s time to rest. If you feel up to it, I invite you to experiment today, in whatever way you choose to interpret that. Experiment with a sense of play. For me, today, that means playing…
It’s been long enough since we created your first outline that I think it’s worth revisiting it now. That first burst of outlining creativity might have produced something a little messy. (Or maybe you’re perfectly happy with with it and that’s all right too! In…