Telling other people you’re doing NaNoWriMo is like signing a contract. It’s making a promise to yourself, in front of witnesses, that you’re planning on embarking on this crazy journey during November. So yes, I’m doing NaNo again, after successful runs the past two years. In terms of what project I’ll be working on, I [...]
I’ve received a few requests to share the story of how I got my agent. As most of these types of tales go, it’s a bit meandering but has a happy ending. So sit back, relax, and enjoy… Part I: The Journey A few years ago, I’d just finished grad. school and was convinced that [...]
I’m writing this from a cave deep in Revision Land. It’s a frightening place where WIPs circle around you and taunt you with their unwieldiness. But fear not. I’m going to conquer those beastly WIPs, even if it takes all winter. Right now there are three of them lingering nearby. One is my NaNo project [...]
Now that NaNo is over, I’ve noticed there’s been a lot of revision advice floating around the internets. Everyone goes about revising a bit differently, but I think it’s interesting to read about other people’s methods and see what works for you. Here are some revision tips I found especially helpful: -The great Laurie Halse [...]
Well, it’s official: I’ve managed to finish NaNo for the second year in a row! It was an uphill battle this year mostly because of one scene I was stuck on, but on Saturday I forced my husband to brainstorm with me until I had it figured out. Once that scene was completed, I filled [...]
I’m happy to report that after being consistently behind in my NaNo word count all month long, yesterday I finally got (slightly) ahead! For days I’d been stuck on the pivotal scene in the book where the main characters defeat the antagonist, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it work. Finally I simply [...]
Since I did NaNo last year, you’d think this year would be easier. In fact, because of the nature of the project, it’s been even harder. On Sunday night I was 6,000 words behind in the word count and starting to feel a little stressed out. So on Monday I dedicated the day to catching [...]
I don’t know about the rest of you, but for the past few months I’ve been having a hard time focusing. I think it might have something to do with this newfangled thing called the internet and all its fun features such as email, IM, and Twitter. So yesterday I tried out a new time-management [...]
As I’ve been crawling my way through my NaNo book (only at 11,000 words at the moment), I’ve been wondering how many projects is too many. In addition to the fairy tale retelling I’m doing for NaNo, I have another WIP, and two manuscripts I plan to revise. Is four too large of a number? [...]
I hope everyone doing NaNoWriMo is having a word-filled and productive week. I’m staying pretty well on schedule and finding out a lot about my story. Hopefully the momentum will keep me going all the way to the end! Speaking of momentum, here’s a video I saw yesterday that helped perk me up. It’s by [...]
