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Fortitude - A Daily Magazine for Being Human: They accept any pieces of original writing. I wonder if it's worth submitting a few of my short pieces there. If they make the front page, I'll get $10 for them.
Xomba - another site where you can use your Adsense. Check it out or ask me about it.
My Xomba posts
I also write for Freelance Tips.
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Writing Words - writing it is the only way of getting it written
So here it is, less than three hours away: November, National Novel Writing Month. I have prepared my story - only to decide that I'd rather write another story that I started to sketch out earlier this year. This story has so many blanks in between that it will either be total fun to write it or an absolute nightmare.
"50,000 words, 30 days, your imagination, and you. Go." - Chris Baty
My motto this year:
"When in doubt, have two guys come in through the door with guns." - source unkown
Today I have been blogging here for a month. It was an experiment at first and I wasn't sure I was going to stay long. I have met a lot of funny, intelligent, thought-provoking and inspiring people here, though, and that alone makes it a wonderful experience for me.
So I am here to stay, and I thank everybody who has made me feel at home here!
If NaNoWriMo is appealing to you in theory, but you think you cannot write a novel of at least 50,000 words in November, there may be an alternative for you: NaBloPoMo.
Based on NaNoWriMo, NaBloPoMo challenges its participants to write a blog post every day in November. No minimum word count, no need to write a coherent story. Then again, writing a post a day is not as easy as it sounds.
Not that this will keep me from signing up.
Ready to write a novel in November?
Do you know your characters? If not, write character sketches and find out what makes them tick. Writing one or two sketches every day will get you into the habit of writing every day, too
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Sunday Scribblings #82 - Hospital
She could not tell how she had gotten there - had she taken a taxi? She reckoned she had, that would have been the quickest way to get to the hospital. She remembered thinking that she had better lie and say he was her husband, but then that had not been necessary. His brother Matt had waited for her in the reception area. They had never seen each other before, but they had recognized each other. For her, it hadn't been difficult because the similarity between the brothers was obvious. On the way to his room Matt had told her that the entire family was there: his parents, the older sister with her daughter and his younger sister who had come home for the weekend. "I wanted to meet all you guys for a long time, but given the circumstances ..." Her voice had trailed off as Matt had indicated the room. There she stood now, her hand resting on the door handle. She was afraid of all the unfamiliar faces, their reaction to her - almost as afraid as she was of the one familiar face in the room and the fact that it would not react to her.
NaNoWriMo is almost upon us. I have no clue which of my story ideas I will use. The only time I was this unprepared for the November madness was in 2002 - I did not sign up until November 8.
Even if you go into the adventure completely unprepared, you might still make it through successfully. The forums may be a bit slow, but they are full of helpful advice, story ideas up for adoption and people looking for word war partners. My experience is that if you really want to write 50,000 words in November, you will succeed. The more thought you put into it in advance, the better your novel will be, though
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Kevin Alexander's Two Question Novel Quiz is a godsend with only a week and a day left until NaNoWriMo. It's a brief but effective way to check if your plot and your characters are good novel material. If you find out they aren't, there's still time to add more conflict to your story and more depth to your characters.
Not sure about your story yet? Use writing prompts to find out more about your characters and what will happen to them along the way in November.
Yep, you will hit rough patches in November when the words stop flowing. One moment you think you are on to writing a good story, and the next you have no idea how to go on. Then, more than ever, it is important to keep writing, even if you feel that every word you write equals watering down your masterpiece.
I usually hit the creative badlands right after a writing high. When the magic story-telling power has disappeared again to that mystic place it came from, I realise that I have to continue writing on my own, by which I'll probably destroy all the magic I’ve created, I am prone to thinking then
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I have another BBC link for you, this time on novel writing.
This brief how-to is perfect for NaNoWriMo - especially if you're writing your first novel. All the important bits are in there, you don't need to know more
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Dear Readers of Writing Words,
There's a new writer around, and I will do my best to revive this blog. I don't claim to be an authority on anything, all I want is share with you what I think helps me develop as a writer. Some of these things may work for you, others you may consider useless - whichever it is, let me know
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One thing that is essential for me during November (well, for all of my writing really) is RoughDraft. There are a number of reasons why I prefer it to other word processors, but the unbeatable plus is the "control w" shortcut - instant word count for the current document. And, even better: press "shift control w" to count the words in all open tabs if you open a new file every day. That's what I do because it makes it easier to see if I have made the daily word count yet, and I have another doc open which contains everything I have written before in case I need to look something up. With "control shift w" I instantly get my total word count without the need to paste everything into the same doc. I think that's pretty neat.
I was looking for lesson ideas today and came across this quote from the excellent BBC | British Coucil Teaching English site:
"Effective lesson planning is the basis of effective teaching. A plan is a guide for the teacher as to where to go and how to get there. However - don't let the plan dominate - be flexible in your planning so that when the opportunities arise you can go with the flow
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I'm working on a longer post on different planning methods with lots of links, but I probably won't finish that tonight. In the meantime I want to share something with you I just stumbled upon: How to free-write a book. If you are in need of some last minute recipe for NaNoWriMo, this method might be an option.
And remember: "Just get the story out. Make it pretty later." (source unknown)
So let's say you have a vague idea about your story, but nowhere near enough material to stretch it out over 50,000 words. What do you do?
Whenever I am in this situation when I have one or two characters and a handful of good scenes, I use writing prompts to generate more ideas. Daily writing prompt communities like Prompt A Day will also give you the chance to write something every day - an invaluable exercise if you want to do NaNoWriMo successfully
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So you would like to write a novel, you say. But ... (insert excuse as appropriate).
Let me tell you one thing: writing a novel is not the hardest part. Even if you have a life apart from writing fiction, it can be done in 30 days
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Writing it is the only way of getting it written. The Lit Chick.
That's from me, although it is based on a line from Robert McLiam Wilson's Eureka Street which is, "doing it was the only way of getting it done".
So I have hit the first rough spot of the year, and it isn't even remotely November yet. My laptop is acting up and I don't have the money to replace it. Not good.
I don't doubt my ability to write 50,000 words in 30 days. As long as I can type them...
In true NaNoWriMo kick-off fashion, the site is pretty much down at the moment. Some things never change.
Be honest: Have you ever thought that one day, you would finally sit down and write a novel? If your answer is no, then NaNoWriMo is not for you. My guess is, though, that the majority of people will answer, "But of course I've thought about writing a novel." In that case, there is no better time than now. Or one month from now, rather.
You have one month to prepare. One month to think about characters and plot, get into the habit of writing at least 1,667 words per day, and to find out which parts of your daily routine you can sacrifice for your goal. That sounds a bit much, you say? After all you have to go to school, work or look after your family, there's no time to squeeze in 50,000 words in 30 days. If this is how you think, then there will indeed be no time for it
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301 Posts dating from November 2006
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