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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
Writing prompts will help you to get the ideas flowing for your freewriting exercises. In the beginning, it might make things easier if you have a prompt or a theme; start by typing out the prompt and repeat it should you become stuck.
During NaNoWriMo, you can use writing prompts, too. I look at the writing prompt websites I bookmarked when I'm stuck. Usually that's all I need to get the ideas flowing again. You can check out some of my recommendations for writing prompt sites or enter "writing prompts" in the search engine of your choice. You'll find lots of sites; select three or four you like and check them before you start writing.
You might also want to use your NaNo ideas from your ideas notebook as writing prompts. There's an added benefit to freewriting based on a story idea: You'll be able to gauge how much material that idea may yield. You can't write any part of the actual story, but freewriting is a good method to expand an idea. Write down anything you associate with your idea, not matter how absurd it may seem. Those bits often turn out to be the ones you enjoy writing most.
If you had never ran more than three miles, you wouldn't run a marathon without training, would you? Writing a novel isn't as physically taxing as running a marathon, but you can train for NaNoWriMo, too.
Writing 1,700 words per day may seem daunting. Say you've never written anything longer than 3,000 words, that means you are supposed to write more than half that on a daily basis during NaNoWriMo. The good news is: There are still 64 days until November 1 and you can train your writing muscles. You don't necessarily have to write every day, but sit down regularly and ideally more than once a week.
Freewriting is ideal for training purposes:
- Open a new document (or start on a new page of your writing pad).
- Set a stop watch to ten or fifteen minutes; increase the time as you get used to writing.
- Let the words flow on the page and don't stop writing until the time is up.
- If you get stuck, just write that down: "I'm out of ideas and don't know what to write next." Repeat these words until you can think of something else to write. Usually it doesn't take long for your mind to get bored of repeating the same thing over and over and it will throw you an idea.
- Don't read what you wrote immediately, let it rest for a while. The main point of the exercise is for you to become used to writing without stopping. Read a whole bunch of your freewriting exercises in chronological order; you will probably discover that your output improved in length and quality after the first few weeks. The training effect has set in and you're turning into a better writer. Isn't it awesome?
It's important that you don't censor your words, just write down anything that comes to mind. You can write longhand but since you want to train for NaNoWriMo, it's probably best to do your freewriting exercises on screen (typing straight into a text document makes counting your words easier, too).
Every story starts with an idea. You will probably have many ideas for stories, yet you have to make sure that the idea you choose offers enough scope to span 50,000 words.
You'll need the following elements:
- a main character who wants something that the character can't easily get (if you don't have an antagonist, you could have two main characters)
- an obstacle that stands between the character and the thing she/he wants: an antagonist, an external or internal reason
- a series of events that take the main character to the thing she/he wants, but not in a direct way: at first, you have to take your character further away from it
- a few minor characters - keep the number small, though, focus most of your story around the main character and the antagonist (or the two main characters)
Ask lots of questions about your story idea. The most important ones are "what if?" and "why?", for instance: "What if character A does this?" and "How does character B react to it and why?" Answer these questions in as much detail as you can to learn about the motivations of your characters and what will happen to them because of their motivations and actions. If your answers keep leading to more questions, then you're on to a story idea that may well turn into a 50k novel.
It's never too early to think about story ideas for your novel. Write down anything that might turn into a longer story; carry a notebook around with you. Good ideas tend to be elusive and if you don't write them down as they happen, you might lose them. Spend some time reviewing your assorted ideas once a week and put them to the question test. Don't discard ideas that won't offer enough material for a novel-length story - they might serve as material for chapters and scenes. Come November, it's always an asset to have a few ideas up your sleeve in case your story dries up. In the same vein, collect a few promising story ideas in the next weeks - that will give you a choice when it comes to deciding which story to use for NaNoWriMo.
If you are totally lost for ideas, check out last year's Adopt a Plot thread from the NaNo forums.
In my second NaNoWriMo Newbie Guide post I asked if you are willing to sacrifice something to write your novel. Today we'll look into fitting writing a novel into your life. You'll have to make some changes to your daily routine but chances are there are a lot of times during the day when you can make time for writing.
The first step is to look at how you spend your time. Examine your daily schedule and identify the things you do you can control. Which activities can you cut out occasionally or completely in November? Where can you save time by streamlining your processes? Free up as much time as possible and set it aside for writing the novel.
How do you get to and from work? Public transport? Can you write on the way? What about writing during your lunch break?
You'll not get around sacrificing some things for writing come November. Decide what is important to you, for example going to the gym, but make sure there is a good reason why some things are non-negotiable. Be ruthless about everything else. Don't watch TV unless it's a show you really enjoy watching. Consider recording it as a treat when you made your daily wordcount. What about cutting down on sleep? Get up an hour early or go to sleep later than usual to get some writing done.
If you live in the U.S., you'll also have to take Thanksgiving into account. If you're tied up with the family that weekend, will you be able to sneak away for an hour or two to write? If not, try to get ahead on the wordcount before Thanksgiving and be prepared to make up for the lost time afterwards.
It's not impossible to find time to write if you want to find it. You'll have to make sacrifices and you should expect sleep deprivation. Which doesn't sound fun but once you hold your completed first draft in your hands, you'll (probably) find it was worth it.
I wrote about daily wordcount goals yesterday. Today I'll tell you how I manage to write 2,000 words and more in a day.
One of the reasons why NaNoWriMo works for so many writers is the deadline: 50k words, 30 days. Deadlines seem to have a beneficial effect on creativity. So the trick is to give yourself mini-deadlines.
Set yourself a time: 15 minutes, 30 minutes or an hour. During that time, don't do anything but write. If you want to increase the pressure, set a minimum wordcount that you want to reach in that time, say 250 words in 15 minutes. Don't stop writing until the time is up and if you haven't reached your wordcount goal yet, keep on typing until you get there.
During this writing time, anything that isn't writing is taboo. Forget about emails, Facebook or researching that thing that you have to look up (in case that happens, make a note in the manuscript to remind you you have to look it up and continue writing). If you lack the discipline to keep the words flowing, try Dr Wicked's Write or Die. I discovered Write or Die last year and used it when I felt particularly reluctant to get on with my story - it's simple but effective.
When you made your mini-deadline, treat yourself to a cookie, check your emails or tweet your current wordcount. Limit your non-writing time to 10 or 15 minutes before you sit down to reach your next mini-goal.
Writing a novel of 50,000 words in 30 days means you should write 1,667 words per day. Better still, aim for 1,700 or 2,000 words a day. If you can, try to write twice as many words on Saturdays and Sundays (or any other days you're not busy working, at school, taking care of the kids etc.).
If you've never written longer fiction, 3,400 words may seem a lot. Why would you write more than necessary voluntarily
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As I mentioned in yesterday's post, there's a competition called NaNoEdMo - NAtional NOvel EDiting MOnth. It takes place in March and you can edit any piece of fiction, it doesn't have to be your NaNoWriMo novel but many people use EdMo to polish their November novels.
What's the point of my mentioning NaNoEdMo at this stage? I want you, but above all your inner editor, to know that you'll have plenty of time for editing and revision when November is over. I want you to give yourself permission to write terrible prose. The sooner you learn to ignore the nagging voice that tells you that you're no good at this writing thing and that you might as well not bother, the better. Knowing that there'll be another month set aside for editing your novel draft might help.
What's your motivation for participating in NaNoWriMo? May look like a bit of an inane question, but there's actually a good reason for asking it. Giving yourself an honest answer is the best way to avoid disappointment.
Be honest: Is the answer a finished book in 30 days? Sorry, that's not going to happen. You'll have a first draft come December, but your book is going to be far from finished. Don't go into competition thinking that 30 days it's all it takes. To hold a finished book in your hands, you'll need to edit the first draft (there's another competition for that called NaNoEdMo which takes place in March). If a publishable manuscript is what you want, be aware that there's more work waiting for you after you wrote the first draft
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The National part of the name may not be applicable to the challenge anymore (since it's long attracted writers from all over the world), but Novel, Writing and Month still are.
These are the big no-nos
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Every writer is different, every writer has a different approach to writing. It's hard to tell in advance whether you'll enjoy NaNoWriMo. Yet even if you're not sure if it is the right writing approach for you, sign up now and explore the site. It's not going to give you a definitive answer, either. You will, however, catch a glimpse of what life writing a novel in November might be like and give you an idea of what you've signed up for.
On the NaNo website, you'll find blog posts by the team behind NaNo, you can discover previous pep talks by published authors (such as Neil Gaiman, Maureen Johnson, Philip Pullman, Jasper Fforde, Meg Cabot and Sue Grafton - worth reading even if you decide you don't want to participate) and you can start making friends on your local forum board and the forums in general (read Cybele's Guide to the Forums if you're not sure what to do
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You've heard about this insane bunch of writers from all over the world who get together in November and write a novel in 30 days and you think, "That's awesome, I want to do that." Which is great, I'd say you should. If you've always wanted to write a novel, NaNoWriMo may well be the kick in the backside you need to get you writing.
Before you jump in without knowing what you're getting into, consider these questions
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Including this one, there are 15 weekends left before NaNoWriMo - November 1 is a Monday this year.
I think I'm not overstating the case when I say I'm a seasoned NaNo veteran. I've participated eight times, won eight times. Despite all sorts of obstacles that might have caused me to throw in the towel on more than one occasion, I've always been successful
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