Category: novel planning
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Friday’s Findings: July 2022 Camp NaNoWriMo Update #3
Since last November’s NaNoWriMo, I’ve been using what I call the scratchpad method for my writing process. Ever since, I’ve been honing and improving it for my way of writing. Each month, I start a new document and almost every day, I write whatever for that day. That could be a scene for two for…
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Friday’s Findings: July 2022 Camp NaNoWriMo Update #2
Word count: 17,000 I recently watched YouTuber Nick Sturgeon’s video Camp NaNoWriMo: Have Fun with Your Writing. One thing he said stuck out to me: “It’s okay. You had a bad day. Today things didn’t go according to plan. But that’s okay. This is just Camp Nanowrimo. It’s a practice. It’s a first attempt at…
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Friday’s Findings: July 2022 Camp NaNoWriMo Update #1
It’s Thursday evening and I’m going to wrap up my first week of Camp NaNoWriMo July 2022. Word count: 8482. This time, I’m working on three projects at once: 2 novels and a novella. I’m writing 333 words on all 3 each day. It’s simple. It’s fun. And I’m able to dabble a little bit…
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Not Getting Anything Done on Your Novel?
Photo by Brett Jordan
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Friday’s Findings: Doing a Scene Audit
I’ve been on vacation this week and while I haven’t gotten as much reading done as I would have liked, I have gotten a LOT done on my novella, Traption. I’ve spent this week going through each scene, one by one and asking myself the following questions: Does this scene have a goal?What are the…
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Avoid Infodumps: Dole Out Information
As I write my current draft for my WIP called Traption, I am trying to avoid infodumps. One way to avoid heaping a mound of story-stopping background details is to weave the information throughout the story. Use dialogue. Use a short flashback. Use inner monologue. Doling out the information a little here, a little there,…
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Friday’s Findings: Hands Off Read Through
This week I have been doing a “hands off read through” of my novella Traption. No reworking scenes, no editing paragraphs, no tweaking words; just reading through this draft I completed during Camp NaNoWriMo in April. Hands off the words. Some of the things I’m looking for: Does my story have a solid structure? Does…
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Camp NanoWriMo Update #4
I passed up 10,000 words. Only 5,000 to go. I’m fleshing out the last ten or so scenes of my WIP I did for my 2019 NaNoWriMo project by just writing dialogue. I’m using what I call “layering” in the narrative elements: Dialogue Action Reaction/Internal Thought Emotions/voice cues, facial expressions, body language, visceral reactions Senses/Description…
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Camp NaNoWriMo Update #3
I’m wearing my Duncan Idaho hoodie to keep me inspired while I write.:) Well I gave in and lowered my Camp NaNoWriMo goal from 25,000 words to 15,000 words. Why did I do that? I’ve decided to enjoy my weekend writing as well as doing other things—like watching the Batman on HBO Max instead of…
Andrew M. Friday 