Category: discovery draft
-
Shame. Shame.
Game of Throne fans will understand the title of this post. But even if you don’t know the reference, you may understand the feeling of “shame” when you don’t finish National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) with fifty thousand words. And I say, “It’s okay. Forget about it.” Some years I “win” NaNoWriMo, some years I…
-
One Solution for Your Mid-NaNoWriMo Blues
Is your NaNoWriMo story going nowhere? Here’s one possible solution: Throw in a new character. Don’t have time to create a new character? Here are some quick ways to create a new character for your work-in-progress: Index Card Shuffle: Take 10-15 index cards. On each card, write one character trait (ex. loves cars; wears homemade…
-
Sorry, Not Sorry: Doing NaNoWriMo Again
In about a week and a half, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) begins. I’ve been participating in it since 2008, and I have no doubt it has helped me with my writing craft over the years. It has built my confidence in writing longer projects. Most of all, it’s just plain fun. Last NaNoWriMo, I…
-
How I got to my rough draft
Now I’m getting to the fun part! Sorry I haven’t published in a while. I have a good excuse: I finished the draft of the novel I started for 2018’s National Novel Writing Month. I’m calling it The Sentient and it falls under the genre of science fiction, more specifically, space opera. One thing I’ve…
-
The Non-Rules of NaNoWriMo
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) whips aspiring writers up to writing a 50,000 word draft of a novel in the month of November. I’ve been doing it off and on for ten years and I have about a fifty-percent success rate. By success, I mean I finish 50,000 words by November’s end. I can tell…
-
Tools I’m Using for NaNoWriMo
I haven’t done National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in four years. I got busy with other projects, but this year I’m in a position to take a break and enjoy the spontaneity of starting a fiction novel from scratch. It’s an opportunity to rediscover the joy of creating something with abandon. If you haven’t done…
-
NaNoWriMo on the Horizon …
A warning: I’m going to vent a little in the first half of this blog posting, but I’m offering up some NaNoWriMo advice in the second half. First, I want to mention something I’ve noticed about haters of NaNoWriMo. They just don’t get it. NaNoWriMo haters assume it’s about getting published. “Most NaNoWriMo participants never…
-
Why NaNoWriMo?
I have decided to take a month-long break from my work-in-progress (WIP) and rediscover the excitement of creating an all-new story. Yes, I am going to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). In case you don’t know, November is NaNoWriMo. Click here if you are unfamiliar with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Ten years…
-
A Sneak Peek into How I Set Up My Scrivener for Writing Fiction
If you are a writer–either a veteran or an aspiring or somewhere in-between–you’ve probably heard other writers gush over the writing software named Scrivener. When I finally purchased it, I said to myself, “I should have started using Scrivener sooner.” Most fans of Scrivener agree. The best part of Scrivener is its versatility. You can…
Andrew M. Friday 