NaNoWriMo begins on November 1!

Explaining 'Notes from your ML'

KatherineWritingGlowing Halo
Explaining 'Notes from your ML'
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Posted on:
Oct 1, 2011 - 07 07

Now is a good time to reread a favorite book--looking for what you love about it.

I like these short tags that I (and Tim and Dave) can do at the top of the Naperville region page, but thought I would explain my thoughts a bit more. Feel free to ask questions or comment with your own thoughts.

There is a lot of advice about writing in general, and I like to filter it and think about the stuff that makes sense to me and ignore the stuff that doesn't. Some of my favorite advice is: write what you like to read.

So, as November approaches, I try to reread a favorite book, and am ruthless in quitting a new book if it doesn't grab me within the first chapter. I want novels that make me envious of the writer's skill with character development, where things happen at a speed that keeps me turning the page, and where I'm not quite sure how it will end, or if I'm rereading it, I can't wait to reread the ending because it leaves me with a feeling of awe.

One year I decided to have my NaNo-novel take place in 24 hours, so I read several books that did that to soak up how it was done. I often have multiple Point-of-View characters, so I will read books with lots of POV characters and while enjoying the book, I take special note of times when the author switches POV easily and try to figure out how it is done. But mainly I just read the books and enjoy them.

This year's NaNo-novel will have one POV character, I think, so I'm reading books that are told in third person limited, if I can find them. (I tend not to like first person.) I happened upon one where a character turns her home into a B&B, and I'd already set that as the occupation for my lead character. Hmm, I just finished the book and there wasn't any mention made of how the rooms got cleaned. Just an opportunity for there to be unconnected people living in the same place so they can interact. Interesting.

I also love the idea that when I sit back to read a chapter or two, I'm not goofing off, I'm preparing for NaNoWriMo.

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KatherineWritingGlowing Halo
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Joined: Oct 10, 2006
Location: Warrenville, IL
Posts: 133
Posted on:
Oct 5, 2011 - 14 10

Have you listened to a podcast or video on writing lately?
Or read a book? They can be great ways to hone your writing in preparation for November.

There are some great resources available on the web for writing.
I've been listening to Dan Wells on Story Structure at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcmiqQ9NpPE&feature=related
It's in five parts, so if you have ten minutes a day...

Or I like to listen to podcasts while exercising. A good one I found recently is:
Write the book at:
http://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail?pid=28372

Rather than trying to frantically fit all this advice into the novel I'm writing in (gulp) a few weeks, I let it roll around in my head, and when an idea springs forth, it usually has something that I've learned from thinking about the writing process as well as what I'm writing.

NewMexicoKidGlowing Halo
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Posted on:
Oct 2, 2011 - 16 27

Do you know the motivation of your hero or villain?

This is one that has stung me in the past. I typically write fantasy novels; and I admit I have had difficulty getting my villains to be sufficiently villainous *and* simultaneously given them the motivation and background so that they have some emotional depth and basis in reality (i.e., no cardboard villains). Without motivation, your villain is there just to give your hero a hard time; and he/she loses believability.

I don't have any tips here; this is still a problem I'm trying to solve.

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KatherineWritingGlowing Halo
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161,514 / 50,000
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Joined: Oct 10, 2006
Location: Warrenville, IL
Posts: 133
Posted on:
Oct 1, 2011 - 07 21

Have you found a character that you connect with?

I was listening to a podcast this morning--Write the Book
http://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail?pid=28372 --
and Kimberly K. Jones said that you don't have to like all of your characters, but you have to connect with them. She was having problems with one of her characters because she didn't like him and couldn't connect with him and so didn't want to spend time with him.

I thought that was interesting. For last year's novel, I had a character that I knew was going to be at odds with a character that I really liked, but I found ways to connect with him and planned his arc so that I would really like him by the end of the book (and hopefully the reader would too.) It made the earlier scenes easier to write where he was being a jerk if he didn't see himself that way. I reserved the truly annoying behavior for minor characters that I didn't expect the reader to like. Was surprised that some readers liked one of the minor characters I really didn't, but I had made her a dog-lover which causes some people to automatically connect.

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