Sorry for the hiatus. So much going on, and 2019 just seems to be slipping away. For everyone finding time a precious commodity in their lives, I will keep this post short and sweet.

Certainly as a NaNoWriMo advocate I'm a fan of big, fast accomplishments with lots of words. However, another good strategy for writing is just a little everyday. If you don't have a deadline staring you in the face and are finding it hard to get motivated, try writing a paragraph today instead of trying to write a whole chapter or a whole scene. Getting a few words on the page is better than being overwhelmed by the task and getting nothing down at all.

Cheers

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!
Writing is Magic.
The First Rule of Write Club is You Talk About Write Club.
If You Aren't Writing, You Aren't a Writer

SO, big news post NaNoWriMo is that the publication date for my three book deal may be moving up to spring 2019! This means that after the holiday craziness - still haven't put up our Christmas tree or finished Christmas cards or finished Christmas shopping - I get to finish fleshing out WHISPs II and get that off to the publisher by February 1st, then start on the first draft of book three. No rest for the weary, but deadlines can be great for productivity! May not get in a post on the 24th, so Happy Holidays! See you in 2019!

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!
Writing is Magic.
The First Rule of Write Club is You Talk About Write Club.
If You Aren't Writing, You Aren't a Writer

One of the hardest things to do about this time during NaNoWriMo is to just keep going. Thanksgiving is fast approaching and whether you're ahead in your word count (gravy) or behind (ketchup), often the grueling pace is starting to wear and enthusiasm wane. Here are some tips to get you the writer past this "muddy middle."

1. Raise the stakes. If you're getting bored with your novel, readers might too.
2. Reward yourself. You might have a big carrot waiting for you at the end of the journey, but everyday you hit your word goal should have some small reward. Mine? Leftover Halloween candy.
3. Write the ending first. There is no law which states a novel has to be written in chronological order. If the middle is getting to be a slog, skip to the exciting conclusion then work your way back.
4. Get ahead so you can slack off. If at all a possibility, I've found that getting ahead so you can relax over the holiday makes Thanksgiving a much less stressful endeavor and provides a nice break from writing.
5. Try shorter writing sprints. I find that when I'm getting stuck it helps to try to just write at least 200 words at a time, then take a break. Roughly 8 of these sprints a day will fulfill your daily requirement. Maybe writing 1,667 words all at once isn't your style.
6. Take advantage of Write-Ins! Whether virtual or in-person, write-ins are a great motivator. Just to see and hear other writers clicking or scratching away builds a sense of community and camaraderie.

Happy Writing.
Let's all try for 50,000 words before November 30th (poutine)!
#NaNoWriMo2018

What is NaNoWriMo?

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!
Writing is Magic.
The First Rule of Write Club is You Talk About Write Club.
If You Aren't Writing, You Aren't a Writer

Okay, now that I've gotten your attention, why are you reading this and not writing!?

What is NaNoWriMo? National Novel Writing Month is a personal challenge to all potential novelists to write 50,000 words during the month of November, but it is so much more than that too. It is a chance to make your writing goals public, social, and most importantly fun!

NaNoWriMo hosts virtual write-ins on YouTube and also live writing events all over the world. Their website has forums to help you with character creation, world building, writer's block, and any other writing issues you might be having.

If you've ever dreamed of writing a novel, I feel NaNoWriMo is your best opportunity to give it a try. Even if you don't make the goal of 50,000 words, how ever many word you write will be more than you had before.

This year will be my seventh NaNoWriMo for a total of 3 published novels, one self-published novel, one unpublished novel, one mostly written novel, and a ton of novel research.

Even if you haven't started yet, you've only missed 1 day, so start NOW!

Happy writing!

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!
Writing is Magic.
The First Rule of Write Club is You Talk About Write Club.
If You Aren't Writing, You Aren't a Writer

Life after NaNo for me has mostly been getting back to all of the things I put off during the month of November like holiday shopping, cleaning the house, dentist appointments, etc. Everybody needs a little break from writing sometimes, so this is fine. However, be forewarned it is a dangerous and slippery slope!

Making "getting back to writing" a New Year's resolution risks your writing becoming another failure of good intentions. Now, I'm not saying you need to be editing your NaNo novel during holiday dinner, but you should still be doing a little writing or at least planning and organizing of your writing a few minutes a day from now until the end of the year. This will keep your mind focused on writing being a thing you do everyday and not just a thing you do during the month of November or when you have more time for it (i.e. after the holidays).

I know you're busy, we all are, but writing is a pipeline and just like with an oil pipeline, breaks are bad. Breaks kill momentum, and worse, kill a reader's enthusiasm. While it may be okay for George R. R. Martin to go several years between writing books, it is probably not okay for you. We've all had a bit of a breather now and that's great. Time to slowly ease ourselves back into that oh so important writing habit.

Happy December writing. :)

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!

So today I am at 35,720 words. Doing the math, I am now only one day behind schedule after being behind six days earlier in November. So much for finishing early this year, however, the moral of the story? Don't give up! You have more than a week left and you can make up any deficit a few words at a time. Even if you are only at 1,000 words, don't just stop and say it's impossible to make 50,000, sprint through to the end! Even if you end up with 5,000 words, those are 5,000 words you didn't have before.

Don't worry if your plot has taken a weird turn or doesn't seem to make sense anymore. Don't worry if that fiery romance hasn't really gotten off the ground yet. These are editing worries for 2018. All you need right now are the words. Worry about whether or not they're the right words later. :)

Helpful: NaNoWriMo Virtual Write-In, there will be another on 11/28/2017
Not Helpful: Feeling ookie. :(

Good luck! Finish strong!

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!

Eeek! NaNo is here! Which may explain a missing post last week. Oops. Anyway, here's the update. I'd love to say that I'm ahead or even just on schedule, but that would be a lie. Yes, I'm at 15,000 words and double yes am I happy about that. However, it being day 10, let's do the math (10 x 1,667 = 16,670 - 15,000 = 1,670). Yep, one full day behind. But the good news is, we aren't even halfway through, so I'm hopeful that I can make up this deficit a few hundred words at a time, and then get ahead of the game so that I'm not up past midnight November 27th through the 30th...again.

Helpful: Alpha Wave Study Music ; NaNoWriMo write in at writers group

Not Helpful: Sun blasting through my office window and searing into my brain now that the leaves have all dropped.

Good luck fellow NaNo's! We still have time!

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!

Hey everyone, it's that time of the year again! NaNoWriMo time! Well, at least it will be in just a few short weeks. What is NaNoWriMo? National Novel Writing Month: A challenge to write an entire novel (or at least 50,000 words) in the month of November. Please see NaNoWriMo.org for more information, or my previous post, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah NaNo!.

Today's post is about what you should be doing to prepare for your 2017 NaNo quest.

1. Choose your personal NaNo goal. Are you going for the full 50,000 words or 3 short stories or 200 words a day? What is an achievable goal for you?

2. Decide what you are going to write. Many of us have tons of story ideas rattling around in our brains at all times, but for something like NaNo, you're going to want to at least narrow down your choices ahead of time. That way you can bust out writing right out of the gate instead of getting caught up in deciding on a story post Nov. 1st.

3. Make an outline. Unless you are a pantser, right? Wrong. Make a rough outline even if you are a pantser or at least jot down a few scene and character ideas. When every minute and every word counts, you don't want to be left staring at a blank page. Having just a few notes ahead of time will give you an edge and save a lot of time.

4. Prepare your friends and family. What do I mean by that? I mean, let them know that November is a sacred time of writing: no you cannot go see that movie, no you cannot go to the apple orchard, no you cannot watch their dog. This seems a bit harsh, but NaNo goals don't just happen. You have to be serious about them and make them happen. Now, don't tell your family you're not coming to Thanksgiving this year, but I encourage you to set most other social events aside in order to achieve your NaNo goals. And hey, if you really, really want to do something extracurricular in November, plan on working twice as hard before the event to make sure that you're still on target with your word count even if you take a day off.

5. Prepare yourself. Know what your goal is and mentally commit to it. Go to NaNoWriMo.org and commit online. When you tell your friends and family you're going to be MIA for most of November, tell them why. Let others hold you accountable to your goal and most importantly, hold yourself accountable.

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!

I've decided that summer is the worst time of year for a writer. Give me a bleak winter's day where I can hide beneath a blanket in fuzzy socks, a hot cup of tea close at hand, and my laptop giving off a warm glow. Summer is often too hot to take the laptop outside, and when you're inside, all you want to do is go out and enjoy the sun. So in short, what I'm trying to say is that Camp NaNo didn't really happen this year. My goals were to write a new short story and revise an old short story. I am about halfway through a new short story, but this summer has been BUSY! Not a good enough excuse, so I'm still going to try to reach at least one of my goals in the next few days (thank goodness July is a long month), but it's not looking good. Kudos to all those writers out there actually getting work done in this wily season.

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.

No, don't worry, you won't have to sleep in a tent or get eaten alive by mosquitoes. I'm talking about Camp NaNoWriMo! For those who think that November is too short and smack in the middle of the holidays, the founders of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) have the perfect solution: July. A nice long month with only a BBQ on the 4th to distract you, it is a fine time to dedicate yourself to a month-long writing project or maybe even an entire summer novel.

That being said, my pledge is to write, polish, and submit at least one new short story and to rewrite at least one of my short stories that I've been meaning to revisit. Not a huge goal, but one that has eluded me for many moons now.

Good luck to all who will join me at camp this summer!

What the heck am I talking about?
Previous NaNoWriMo Posts:
Post NaNo Reboot
I am Thankful for My Words
*Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah NaNo!
10...9...8...
The End is Nigh
It's That Time Again!
*Best explanation of NaNoWriMo.

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.