Tag: National Novel Writing Month

Total 5 Posts

Weather to Write

Spring ushers in warmer weather, albeit mercurial at times, but generally a reprieve from harsher wintry days. I started Spring cleaning with my closets. Whether to save, donate, or toss a few things from the wardrobe perplexed me, but it gets done, and thrift stores appreciate my efforts. This is the time to scour the drawers, too, for items no longer useful.

While I am at it, this is a good time to take out those notepads, rough drafts, and look at how to spruce up my writing. I am also committing to a Spring writing challenge: NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in April. I have notebooks, outlines, and former drafts to work with. The challenge is flexible in that you can set your own word counts and what you want to do with the writing. I’ve had a few drafts and revisions to choose from. Although the warmer weather and sunshine beckon, I cocoon within my writer’ space awhile to type as much as I can in the allotted time I choose to give myself for the task. Easily distracted by the sweet birdsong in my yard, the demands of a growing puppy, binge watching a favorite series, or the temptation of doing something else, it remains a challenge, but one that is doable. It is not whether to write, but weather need not be right for writing.

Photo by Guilherme Rossi from Pexels

Writing Through It

Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” – Charles Dickens

Dickens might have been talking about present times with a pandemic, political and civil unrest, and violence in society. Are we in the worst of times? Have we passed through our season of darkness? Will the Spring be our season of hope?

I’m still figuring out the “best” part, but if you think of all those front line workers including family and friends who worked in hospitals, health care services, or grocery stores, it brought out the best in humanity. There are so many more who volunteer their time in the service of others. They represent the best too.

When you realize how important others are in your life, a great deal matters. Friendship, family, and even beloved pets stood out for me as important.

As a writer, I believe going through tough times can be both an obstacle or an opportunity. If you write through it, you can get through it.

I took the time, when I could, to write a memoir of 50,000 words as part of a summer writing challenge. I “escaped” to my writer’s den each day during the month of August and wrote until I met my goal. Next month, I write again for the National Novel Writing Month challenge. I set up a daily goal or time to write, and just do it.

So, for anyone who is anguishing these days, write through it.

Happy Writing!

To Plot or Not To Plot

To plot or not to plot? That is the question when I start a new story. Most times, I write a fast rough draft after I have a sketch of an outline.

When I wrote during National Novel Writing Month in November, or NaNoWriMo, I wrote as quickly and frequently as possible without revision because the goal is to write 50,000 words in the month. So, it’s more important to get the story down and save revision for later on.

I completed two novels, A Kiss Out of Time and A Dance Out of Time, both YA paranormal books by that method.They needed editing, and I went through them several times before they became publishable, but I enjoyed the free flow of ideas and quick writing it took to meet the NaNoWriMo deadlines.

However, my first romance novel, Wildflowers, a western historical set along the Oregon Trail, took several years and versions to complete before publication. I wrote the draft in a small notebook while commuting to my job as a copy writer in New York City. I did tons of research which I kept in a notebook, used index cards to write notes on characters, and created a timeline for events along the route the characters followed to get from Missouri to Oregon.  I typed the novel on my first personal computer, and it went through many revisions with critique partners before becoming published.

I’ve met writers who don’t start writing a draft until they’ve done extensive research and meticulous outlines.  I’ve also met writers who I identify with as “pantsers” and write the entire draft and then follow-up with research and revision.

I find myself doing a combination of the two with using  some kind of an outline or notebook  for ideas, a brief synopsis, and then writing as much as I can. I do research as needed.  I also keep a photo collection containing photos from magazines, postcards, and street maps to help visualize the story.  I enjoy using Pinterest and created a few boards to visualize settings, characters, food, and even music which might set the mood for a story.

To plot or not to plot? I think the answer is you need to plot, but you can approach it several ways from a few lines on a Post-It note to several detailed pages. Whatever works and gets you to write the story can determine the approach to plotting.