Andrew M. Friday

Category: my novel’s progress

  • The next step: The Snowflake Method

    For National Novel Writing Month, I wrote a rough draft of a novel called The Deity Run. Instead of “rough draft,” a more accurate term would be “discovery draft” for in this first writing, I usually discover the characters, plot, theme and more about my story. Now that I have my “discovery draft” for The…

  • Writing habits: try this, not that

    Writing habits: try this, not that

    In my last post, I strongly suggested that practicing writing every day was the big Secret to becoming a better writer. Now, I don’t want to imply that is the only habit to incorporate into a writing discipline. It may be the most important one, but other habits exist that a writer should address. I’ve…

  • Now that I don’t have a deadline . . .

    On Friday morning, November 30th, twelve and a half hours before midnight November 30th, I passed 50,000 for NaNoWriMo. My story is not finished. What is to keep me motivated? Well, besides being an interesting story to me, I need to set a deadline for myself. My goal is to finish the novel before midnight…

  • Help. I’m addicted to grammar

    Ten years ago, when I started teaching as an adjunct English teacher at a local college, I brushed up on my grammar. I fell in love with the basics of writing all over again: the parts of speech; verbals;  clauses–both dependent and independent; appositives; and so on . . . I had forgotten so much…

  • I’m four-fifths done so I might as well finish it

    Yesterday afternoon I passed 40,000 words on my manuscript for NaNoWriMo. Only 10,000 words to go and I have until midnight next Friday. So I’m feeling pretty good.  One thing though: my story won’t be finished. Yeah, I’ll have 50,0000 words but I haven’t even gotten to the part that I thought I would be…

  • Some things I’m learning from this year’s NaNoWriMo

    When I finished working on NaNoWriMo last night, I had finally completed a word count ahead of schedule for the first time this NaNo year. By the end of the day November 11, I should have had 18, 337 words and last night around 9:30pm, I had 18,597. I’m also learning some new things along…

  • My first NaNoWriMo write-in

    Even though this is my fifth NaNoWriMo, Monday night I went to my first write-in. I attended the write-in at Bearnos by the Bridge, a pizza joint in an old building that used to be a hotel. It sits next to a bridge that goes across the Ohio River. It also happens to be a…

  • He gripped her hand in an even tighter grip. Whaaaaat?

    That was the second line in my NaNoWriMo manuscript. I don’t remember using a form of “grip” twice in one sentence, but, hey, isn’t that what National Novel Writing Month is all about? Writing a story that humiliates you upon review? Writing prose that makes you dash to the bathroom and vomit in the toilet?…

  • My first NaNoWriMo region meeting

    When I walked into Mulligan’s Pub and Grill and went upstairs to meet other NaNoWriMo participants in my region, I thought,”Oh, crap, I’m the oldest one here.” I sat down at one of the few seats available at the long tables that had been pushed together. Looking to my left, I saw six teenage girls…