Category: my novel’s progress

  • Still Deciding What To Do for Camp NaNoWriMo

    Still Deciding What To Do for Camp NaNoWriMo

    Camp NaNoWriMo starts April 1st and I’m not sure what to do. It’s not a lack of ideas; it’s too many WIPs to choose from. I have a draft for my novella Traption and I was going to edit it. Then I decided to work on a rough draft for my novella Normous. But now…

  • YouTube AuthorTubes I Watch

    YouTube AuthorTubes I Watch

    I get a lot of inspiration from watching videos by fiction writers on YouTube. I learn a lot, too. Here are a few who are currently active: Abbie Emmons Cam Wolfe is Writing Ellen Brock Fictionary Hello Future Me Jenna Moreci Kieren Westwood Rachel Stephen Reedsy Shaelin Writes Writer Sanctuary Photo by Anni Roenkae

  • Friday’s Findings: Scene Revision

    Friday’s Findings: Scene Revision

    Writing scenes is one of my favorite parts of fiction writing. I watched a great video on scene revision and learned a lot: Revise Your NaNoWriMo Novel with Writing Mastery Academy & Fictionary In this video, author Jessica Brody talks about three checkpoints to review a scene with to improve it. She has even more…

  • I think I’ll do Camp NaNoWriMo

    I think I’ll do Camp NaNoWriMo

    Camp NaNoWriMo starts April 1st and I think I’ll work on the next draft of my novella called Traption. I’ve set my goal to be 25,000 words. That’s what is different about Camp NaNoWriMo: the participant can set their own word count. So, even though I’ve already started revising Traption, I have so much rewrite…

  • Is the level-down revision method helpful?

    Is the level-down revision method helpful?

    A couple years ago, I took an online course called Write a Bestselling Novel in 15 Steps by Jessica Brody. It was free through my local public library’s website and in it, Brody talks about her book Save the Cat Writes a Novel. She uses examples and exercises to ensure a vivid understanding for each…

  • Friday’s Findings: Fictionary

    Friday’s Findings: Fictionary

    I bit the bullet and purchased a subscription to Fictionary. Being a word-processing program and outliner for authors, it falls into the same category as Scrivener, but they have some differences. Here’s how I feel about Fictionary: Character tracking: Fictionary has a great feature for keeping track of characters in each scene. Character tracking is…

  • What I Read in 2021

    What I Read in 2021

    I’m proud of how many books I read this year: 42. Not many by some people’s standards and way more than a lot of people. I read a lot of novellas this year, so that helped me reach my goal of reading at least 40 books. What shouldI have read more of this year? Poetry,…

  • What a Mess!

    What a Mess!

    After thirty days of writing over fifty thousand words, what do I have to show? An incoherent mess of scraps of conversations, descriptions and exposition. It’s a mess. And that’s what makes my 2021 NaNoWriMo a success. The story is there, told all the way through. I just have to rework it and rework it.…

  • Friday’s Findings: The Story on Two Levels

    Friday’s Findings: The Story on Two Levels

    I believe I’ve quoted this fiction writing axiom before, but Terry Pratchett said, “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” With this year’s NaNoWriMo, I’m finding out how true this is. I’m feeling exactly what he was talking about. I spent September and October prepping my story. I made up characters. I…