“Write down everything that happens in the story, then in your second draft make it look like you knew what you were doing all along.” -Neil Gaiman Every Sunday of this glorious National Novel Writing Month 2022, I’ll be doing a mini-deep-dive into a particular element of story structure that might be giving you trouble… Continue reading Story Structure Sunday: How to write act one of a novel
Happy Halloween — and more importantly, happy Nanowrimo Eve! With the very best month of the year just hours away, the anxiety is setting in for many. What, you may wonder, in the name of all that is good, were you thinking signing up for this thing? Worse still, all anyone will tell you is… Continue reading Nanowrimo advice that will actually help you win
Playlists are the secret sauce of both productivity and time-wasting when it comes to most people’s writing process. The right background music can drop you effortlessly into the world of your novel, and before you know it, the words just come flying out. Creating a writing playlist, on the other hand, can be a happy… Continue reading How to curate the perfect writing playlist
Ah, the first draft. The first step on the long staircase to publication, held together with the writing equivalent of duct tape and prayers. If you squint, it looks like a novel, but it’s never quite what you thought it would be, is it? It’s almost Nanowrimo time, meaning that millions of people about to… Continue reading Everything you need to know about first drafts
I was perusing the Nanowrimo forums the other day and I stumbled across something absolutely magical. It’s a thread called “Find a Beta Reader, Become a Beta Reader” (it’s under the Novel Draft Aftercare and Critiques & Feedback categories if you’re looking for it). On it, users are posting calls for beta readers, as well… Continue reading Writer, you need an alpha reader
One of the most common things to hear from new writers seeking help with their work is, “My story doesn’t make sense.” Everybody has this problem at some point. Sometimes the concern rises from vague feedback. Other times, it’s a feeling you have – a strange, intuitive sense that something is just off. Sometimes the… Continue reading What to do when your story doesn’t make sense
Happy April, everyone! The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, allergy season is beginning to reassert its dominance over us all, and the first sesssion of Camp Nanowrimo 2022 is here. As a devoted participant in any Nanowrimo event I’ve been able to get my hands on since the year 2011, I’m proud to… Continue reading How to survive Camp Nanowrimo and have fun doing it