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What I learnt from NaNoWriMo 2011

December 15th 2011 12:30
Here's the biggest insight I gained during this year's NaNoWriMo: My writing process has changed.

I used to be happy with writing a story with nothing planned but the bare bones. The fleshing out was part of the actual writing.

Not anymore. This year, I found that the winging it approach doesn't quite work the way it used to work for me any longer. What I wrote this year wasn't so much the first draft of a novel as a 50,000-word long brainstorming session. In order to make it a story, I have to start again - editing and revising aren't going to turn this baby into a novel.

On the plus side: Now I know what the story is.
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The NaNoWriMo Newbie Guide

October 19th 2011 20:20
I wrote a series of blog posts in the run-up to November last year, titled the Newbie Guide to NaNoWriMo.

Since it's only 13 days until NaNo, the most important things to think about now are characters and plot.

Come November, don't worry about the amount of planning you did or didn't put in. Just give yourself permission to write badly and have fun.
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NaBloPoMo October Theme: Between

October 1st 2011 19:43
Between the lines
In between days
Between a rock and a hard place
In between jobs

Those are just a few things that come to mind when I think of this month's NaBloPoMo theme. It's a good theme (but aren't they always good?) and I'm tempted to join in the blogging madness again.

But since it's only a month until NaNoWriMo and classes start again on Monday, I think I'll pass this month.
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In an ideal world, what kind of story would you write?

Be as specific as possible, include genre, length, the type of reactions the story will provoke in your readers as well as as many details of the story itself you can think of. Don't hold back, this is a fantasy and you can have anything you want.
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Finished your novel and got your purple winner bar? Excellent, well done.
Are you getting close? Hang in there, the finishing line is in sight.

But if not, don't feel bad. Look at your wordcount. How high is it? Have you ever written a coherent story of that length before? If the answer is no: Congratulations, now you know you can do it. And even if you wrote longer fiction before, now you have another work in progress you can turn into a well-crafted story.

That's the beauty of NaNoWriMo: As long as you rose to the challenge and gave it your best, it doesn't really matter if you made it across the 50k mark or not. You wrote therefore you win.
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By the time the imagination is finished with a fact, believe me, it bears no resemblance to a fact.
Philip Roth

[ Click here to read more ]
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Picture prompt:
Boris bikes, London
Boris bikes


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NaNoWriMo Daily Inspiration: Finish It

November 27th 2010 11:31
"Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it."
Neil Gaiman (from the Guardian, Ten Rules for Writing Fiction)

[ Click here to read more ]
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One of your main characters finds herself/himself in a position where she/he has to defend something she/he doesn’t believe in.
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If writing seems hard, it’s because it is hard. It’s one of the hardest things people do.
William Zinsser

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There is no security, no assurance that because we wrote something good two months ago, we will do it again. Actually, every time we begin, we wonder how we ever did it before.
Natalie Goldberg

[ Click here to read more ]
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Are you behind a little? Are you behind a lot? If you are, don't worry. So am I. It doesn't matter because we still have an entire week left to write.

Here's the thing: Your wordcount today doesn't matter. What matters is the amount of words you'll have in a week today. You want to be a winner? Then believe in yourself and write every time you have a spare moment over the next seven days


[ Click here to read more ]
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NaNoWriMo Daily Inspiration: Funny Hats

November 22nd 2010 23:04
Picture prompt:
Changing the Guard
Eccentric Headgear
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NaNoWriMo Daily Inspiration: Fever

November 21st 2010 22:38
My reason for not writing and for being late with today's NaNo inspiration: Fever. It didn't really inspire me, fingers crossed it'll work better for you.
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Fiction writers, present company included, don't understand very much about what they do - not why it works when it's good, not why it doesn't when it's bad.
Stephen King (On Writing)

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NaNoWriMo Daily Inspiration: Reflected

November 19th 2010 13:53
Picture prompt:
Sunrise at Canary Wharf
Rising sun lighting up Canary Wharf
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NaNoWriMo Daily Inspiration: Broken

November 18th 2010 20:40
There was supposed to be a picture prompt today, but the picture upload is broken for me.

So instead of being inspired by the photograph, write about something that's broken.
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Secrets are great for injecting more conflict into your story. There’s the internal conflict of the character who has the secret, and there’s also a possibility for external conflict when another character knows there is a secret to be uncovered. What will the first character do to keep her/his secret, to which lengths will the second character go to find out what she/he is trying to hide?

If you can’t think of a good secret that would spice up your NaNo novel, browse Postsecret.com for inspiration (not longer than 15 minutes, though!).
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"Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip."
The last of Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules

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You know these chain emails that promise you luck/money/the love of your life if you send them on to so and so many of your friends? I just go one of those. The dialog won't win awards, but it's a tolerable example of someone fishing for information:

Girl: What's wrong


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