5 Steps to Complete NANOWRIMO

 

The challenge; Complete 50,000 words in the month of November.  Don't worry it can be done without panic. 

First: Check out all the good stuff on the official NANOWRIMO website; https://nanowrimo.org/ They've got lots of inspiration and things to get you writing. 

Second: Plot your NANO attack. I don't mean plot your novel but you can if you're a plotter (not a pantser?) I mean plot your work time. Think of your life and where you can get uninterrupted time to write.  I once got up a half hour early to win NANO. That book is now up on Amazon: Soul Mates A Different Kind of Love Story At that time in my life I was in work by 8:30 am so I got up at 6:30 am and wrote for a half hour to an hour depending on how the story was moving. But it was getting up at that hour that gave me time to dedicate to my goals. 

So plot out your writing time. Make it a time when you can have some uninterrupted writing time. I chose morning before the family woke up but if you're more of a night owl go for it. What's your perfect time?

Third: Assemble your space. There's nothing worse than having to get up and clear dishes or toys off your table before getting to work. Truthfully, that has tanked my writing sessions more often than not. Got a desk? A table you can squeeze into a corner or any place you get on your laptop, tablet or however you write and be set to go when you sit down. Make it yours, make it comfortable and make it a place you want to go. 

Fourth: Get down the bones. Write your story. Get up & go to your special place and write. Decide if you're a plotter or a pantser. This is probably something you already know if you're been writing a while but the one thing to know is you don't have to be exactly one or the other. You can combine it. 

I get an idea and first write the blurb of the idea. You know that first inkling of a story that comes to you? Not the whole story but maybe a bit of the direction you're going. The blurb is kind of like that thing on the back of the book or in the book description that gives you a bit of the bones of the story. It doesn't have to be a lot just enough for you. If you like to plot then write down that outline. You don't have to follow it but if it gets you going, then great. If not, then change it as you go. The writing rules at this point are your rules. 

Fifth: Tell people. Join a NANOWRIMO group in your area. Find other writers either in person or online for encouragement and to help keep the NANO alive in your vision. Life gets busy and sometimes our goals fall to the sidelines when that happens. Connecting with others with the same goal can keep you on track. 

GO NANO! You've got this! 

Going Vella on Amazon

 Writers are loading up content on Amazon's new Kindle Vella - a way to read individual episodes. You can upload as many episodes as you want and people buy tokens to read them.  It doesn't seem to generate a great amount of money but if you get enough readers it can grow. 

So, here's my new story up on Vella. First 3 chapters are free. 

Eyes of My Killer

Knowing a person's secrets by looking into their eyes was Misty's gift. At least she thought so until she came eye to eye with a nightmare. 

Max Jennings was a by-the-book detective on the trail of a dangerous serial killer. When Misty walked into the squad room trying to sell her psycho babble, he labeled her a whacko. Then the killer leaves a body on Misty's front porch and Max must decide to trust a woman with a gift he doesn't understand or maybe, watch her die.

Double Timing NaNoWriMo Word Count

 I have two laptops. My old laptop is on my desk at home.  Most of  my writing takes place on that one. It's got a lot of stories and idea blurbs on it. 

Old Ideas - Scare Me

I write... a lot.
I don't finish a lot, just get that idea down on paper, file it away and maybe come back on a day when I have nothing else to do.
Weird or writerly?
I think most writers do this. I ideas are fluid things that come and go so quickly if we don't get them down on paper (or puter) they get lost into the darkest recesses of our mind never to be seen again.

So today in one boring moment I pulled up a file from some time ago. It's title was simply; Emails.
I have no idea what the thought behind this story was to be, but it sure did give me the creeps. Now I have to think where to take it next. Suggestions?

Emails
by the Aimlesswriter

March 9^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim,

I know we haven’t spoken in a long time but I just wanted to reach out to you one more time. How have you been? How’s the kids?

Your brother,

Mason

March 10^th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

Who is this? It’s not funny.

Jim

March 14^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim

They say time heals. We’ve had time and now I think we should talk. Please don’t be upset. You know it’s what mom would have wanted.

Mason

March 15^th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

You are not Mason and this has to stop. Don’t email me again.

Jim

March 27^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim

I saw you getting in your car at the grocery store last Wednesday. Your wife was with you. She’s still as pretty as ever. Please tell her I said hi.

Can we get together?

Mason

March 28^th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

Who the fuck are you?

Jim

April 10^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim,

Remember when we tried to seal watermelons from that farm on Cove Road? That rock salt sure did sting. Farmer Ben was a good shot. Remember how mom yelled at you. Older brother’s always get the blame.

I’m still waiting for you.

Mason

April 11^th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

If I find out who you are I will kill you.

Jim

April 14^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim

We’d love to have you visit soon. Bring the whole family. I think little Suzy must be getting big by now. How old is she? We’ve been apart too long. I don’t even remember the last time I saw that little tyke. How about sending me a photo?

See you soon,

Mason

April 15^th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

Don’t talk about my kid or my wife. I’m having this IP address traced and when I find out who you are I will put you in the ground.

Jim

April 30^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim,

It’s getting warm down here. Can’t wait to see you. It won’t be long now. Bring that pretty wife of yours too. I know she’ll love this place. It really is her kind of haunt. 

Mason

May 1^st

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

Listen you sick freak Mason has been dead for 8 years now. For you to pull this crap is really sick. I don’t know what your game is but it’s not going to end well for you.

Jim

May18th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim

Remember when Mom wanted to call you Jamie and you said it was too girly? Can I call you Jamie now? Does your wife know you wet the bed until you were 7? Eight years is too long a time not to talk. Let’s get together.

Mason

May18th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

How do you know this stuff? Who are you? Contact me one more time and I’m calling the police.

Jim

May 26^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim

Did you know it was all a mistake?

Mason

May 27^th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

Obituary;

Obituary; Mason Tyler Scandish July 8, 1962 to September 7, 2011 Beloved son of Abgail and Martin Scandish, husband of Regina Benson Scandish and Father to Miles and Abby was taken too soon by a freak accident. He was active in his church and with the 4 H club. Mason always said he never met a man he didn’t like. Services are Thursday and Friday at the Day Funeral home.

Stop emailing me!

Why aren't I more Prolific?

Prolific: causing abundant growth, generation, or reproduction

I have great plans. Write in the morning, write after work, go into my home office, aim for a page count, and on and on...

I heard a quote in a meeting; It's still a goal until you quit.
Good words.  My goal is to become a prolific writer.

Sometimes we have to reset the goal. Life changes, work changes, we change. Enough that maybe the old ideas of how we hope to get things done, don't really fit anymore.  In the past three years I've held four different positions at work. Each one another rung on the ladder so that's a good thing, but each change brought on more studying, more challenges to conquer. A learning journey. It's been fun and educational. I knew when I took the first job, it was below my skill level, but I liked the place and the people and knew I could figure the rest out as I learned about the business.

Then there's my writing. The stories that need editing and stories to tell. Sometimes I'd pull that word doc up and put a few paragraphs in, but then spend time rereading what I wrote last since it's been a while since I wrote it.  Going nowhere fast...

I have Stephen King's book, On Writing, on my nightstand. I sometimes reread parts of it for inspiration. One of the things that stands out about his whole writing journey is that he always wrote. Even when working in other places, he found a way and wrote. He set goals.

So, how to set goals when working a full time job, coming home with your brain fried, and head spinning? What do you?  Sadly, I turn to Facebook or Pinterest. Evil little time suckers.

After a while my mind screams; ENOUGH! LET'S GET IT DONE!

It's time to set new goals. Here's the plan;

Weekends; 20 pages. That's only 10 pages a day. How hard can that be? When I'm into a story, 10 pages are easy.  Aside from the occasional family thing or adoption days for my foster dog, weekends are pretty much open.

Weekdays; 10 pages for the whole week. (This goal is frightening) That would be 2 pages a day or about there.  Depending on what's going on at work, sometimes I wake up thinking about what I have to get done that day. My mind starts scheduling things, lining up the day as I sip coffee. After work? Facebook calls. When there's nothing exciting there, it's on to Pinterest!  Bad habits that need to go. Writing during the week is hardest.

Question? How do you clear your mind to write?

Foster Dog, Lexie. On the day she saved from a North Carolina kill shelter. 

Editing, Editing, #*&(*@$%*(! Editing...

Editing & stress...so happy together.
Re-editing with the help of my daughter who a ruthless, unforgiving editor. I call her the grammar Nazi, but she also pounds me on those little technicalities in the plot. A degree in psychology with a minor in literature, she should have gone into publishing. And she killing my story!

Well, not really.

She's catching things that make me go, "How did I not see that?" or "How stupid of me." Don't get me wrong, I do argue with her. Explaining my point or the character's pov. What I wanted to say was....blah, blah, blah. But then she reminds me my readers wouldn't know that, wouldn't get it.

So, I'm back to a editing a story I'm kind of sick of seeing. Now I'll be sitting out in my car on my lunch hour with my red pen. Reading something I've read a thousand times. I park in the back of the lot so I can read out loud without people thinking I'm crazy.

Anyone got any editing tips they'd like to share?

Happy Endings, Closure, & Cliff Hangers...

I like happy endings in a book. I want the hero to come out on top and the bad guy to find justice. (or Karma...that's sometimes as good as justice) I also want closure in a book. Tie up the loose ends and finish all parts of the story. I try to do this in my stories and I hope my readers think so.

I also like to leave them looking for the next book. Just a little whisper in the last page that lets them know part of the story lives on. Not in the way a serial would do it, but more like one or two of the characters coming together to form the a totally separate story.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm torturing the reader by doing this, but maybe its just the writer wondering...what if?

In Betrayed by an Angel, one of the angels is reminded by the higher ups that his work isn't quite finished and the last page is that scene. The the book ends. I've started that next story but haven't finished it. Will my readers get mad if I'm slow to the gate with that next book? I'm not sure. I haven't really given enough information to explain the next book, but just a little tease.

Do you make sure all story lines within your story are closed? Do you always have a happy ending? Or do you end with a teaser?

Writing Essays, Stories and More

Essay writing is a skill that can be honed like every other writing muscle. Whether you need an essay for school, a writing group or to use as a speech to honor someone. Essays written from the heart can inspire and move to action. They are found in magazines, newspapers and all over the Internet. Now that I'm taking classes in Journalism and Creative Writing I find myself writing lots of essays. Not my favorite but not something i struggle with at all. I think I've been writing essays all my life without knowing it. Here's what I learned along the way...


Is there a magic formula on how to write an essay? Yes and no. (Don't you love those kind of answers?)

Well, the answer depends for whom you're writing. College essays will be held to a higher level than an essay written for a newspaper. (I've heard newspapers are written on a 6th grade level. Is that true?) Essays to submit for publications in women's magazines will need to be directed at things held important by it's readership. Read and reread the magazine you're targeting so you get the rhythm of the writing.  Can't find the right venue for your essay, you might want to self publish a collection of essays on Amazon.

Segments of an Essay would include introduction, main point of the subject, and conclusion. 

Remember your audience. Are you writing a something for kids or will only adults be reading it? Are you targeting  certain age group? Does your audience have a work or hobby relationship that you're including in the article? I mention this because its easy to lose sight of your target audience and wander off your intended path. Including a personal story can help reach your audience as long as it doesn't distract from you main point.

One thing you must remember when writing your essay is to relax. Let the essay flow with a natural pace and write it all the way through. Once done go back and edit, edit, edit. Same as writing a book, short story or letter to mom, don't stress over the first draft. You'll have a chance to read through and correct later. Get all your information down on paper (or on the computer screen--save your work!) and then start rearranging your ideas. Editing can come later and will often make or break your essay.

And have fun! Essays are a creative way to express your views on subjects and you never know when you'll need a clip!
:)~
Do you know of any other venues for publishing essays? Do you write them on a regular basis? Advice?

You gotta check this out....

I have to talk about a blog called "Come In Character". You definitely have to check out this place. It's inspiring.
Right now I'm between stories. I finished one and I'm just sorting through my old stuff to see if I want to resurrect anything. I have one thriller I really love but had to shelve for awhile because it needed more than I could give at that time.
And I'm looking for a home for my angel story.
So what do you do between stories? Do you read all those books you kinda passed on because you were too busy writing?
Do you search for that next story?
Do you just crash?

Wandering Massachusetts

I've been traveling. Right now I'm in Massachusetts. Rolling hills, deep green valleys and some really nice people. Old houses and buildings reminding me of a Mayberry. I keep looking for Andy and Opie. (who names a kid Opie, anyway?)

I love the farms here and wish I could live in a place like that. Lots of land to let the dogs run free, neighbors that are not right on top of me and fresh air.

Amazingly, I'm getting a lot of work done here. I've carved out time and hid in my room and pumped out quite a few pages. Its getting easier as I relax and I think that's a problem sometimes. Not the relaxing part but the things that prevent us from relaxing. My brain constantly multi-tasks. Pushing out the day to day stuff is sometimes hard, sometimes impossible. Up here I'm not staring at the house, the critters and the things that need to be done. It's easier to turn outside things off, so I can get the stories out.

So how do you get past the everyday to find your stories?