The worldwide phenomenon known as National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, is set to begin Wednesday, November 1st. The question is, are you ready? For many, the answer is not quite. So what can we do to prepare? Thankfully, the members of The Writing Journey writers group and the leaders of the Naperville NaNoWriMo region, supported by area libraries, are here to help you prepare for the frantic fun just around the corner. During the month of October, there are four preparatory sessions planned for writers to meet and prepare their plots, characters, or writing brains for the upcoming month.
The first preparatory session will be October 6th at 1pm at the Nichols Library in Naperville, run by Allie Pleiter, an award-winning bestselling author with over thirty titles to her name. Allie will go over her Chunky Method, a step-by-step guide to identify your unique writing chunk and wield it to create a solid plan.No matter what your writing style, The Chunky Method will help you chart an individualized path to your creative writing goals.
The second preparatory session is October 13th, 1pm, at the Nichols Library in Naperville, run by Jennifer Smith. Find out how and why to create an outline for your novel. Learn tips, tricks and see a demo of a useful software application to help with the process. There will be several exercises and examples to illustrate the topics presented. Bring an open creative mind, paper, pencils, and/or a laptop
Our third session is October 14th, 1pm at the Glen Ellyn Library run by Daniel McCullough. Take a deep dive into the use of dialog, when to use it, what to use it for, and how it can propel your story forward. Learn tips on how to craft great conversations without readers getting your characters mixed up.
The fourth session in our series is October 20th, 1pm, at the Nichols Library in Naperville. Come learn from J. Leigh Bailey, author of eight YA and NA romance novels, as she talks about showing vs telling. Breakdowns the hows and whys of this important guideline and discuss situations in which it is better to tell. Be prepared for quick and dirty tips to ensure readers experience the story through action, thoughts, sense, and feelings rather than exposition, summarization, and description.
Also, be sure to join the Naperville Region for the potluck kickoff party on Saturday, October 27th at thelunch room of the Naperville Municipal Center from 11:45 -2:45. There will be food, games, and fun for all.
Thanks for posting! Who all is going to the prep workshops? I can't make the first one b/c of plans with my critique group (a mini writing and planning retreat!) but I've been lucky to see Allie Pleiter's Chunky Method workshop more than once. She also has a book - I've found it very helpful in determining how to use my writing time. I'm hoping to make the outlining one and showing vs. telling.
Young Adult and Romance author. Find me on twitter: @stephscottya
Thanks for posting! I really want to go to the workshop on the 13th, but I have something that starts at 4:00/4:30 that do so I won't be able to make it, but I am planning on making it to the 4th one.
No one can say what we get to be And why don't we rewrite the stars? Changing the world to be ours
The worldwide phenomenon known as National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, is set to begin Wednesday, November 1st. The question is, are you ready? For many, the answer is not quite. So what can we do to prepare? Thankfully, the members of The Writing Journey writers group and the leaders of the Naperville NaNoWriMo region, supported by area libraries, are here to help you prepare for the frantic fun just around the corner. During the month of October, there are four preparatory sessions planned for writers to meet and prepare their plots, characters, or writing brains for the upcoming month.
The first preparatory session will be October 6th at 1pm at the Nichols Library in Naperville, run by Allie Pleiter, an award-winning bestselling author with over thirty titles to her name. Allie will go over her Chunky Method, a step-by-step guide to identify your unique writing chunk and wield it to create a solid plan.No matter what your writing style, The Chunky Method will help you chart an individualized path to your creative writing goals.
The second preparatory session is October 13th, 1pm, at the Nichols Library in Naperville, run by Jennifer Smith. Find out how and why to create an outline for your novel. Learn tips, tricks and see a demo of a useful software application to help with the process. There will be several exercises and examples to illustrate the topics presented. Bring an open creative mind, paper, pencils, and/or a laptop
Our third session is October 14th, 1pm at the Glen Ellyn Library run by Daniel McCullough. Take a deep dive into the use of dialog, when to use it, what to use it for, and how it can propel your story forward. Learn tips on how to craft great conversations without readers getting your characters mixed up.
The fourth session in our series is October 20th, 1pm, at the Nichols Library in Naperville. Come learn from J. Leigh Bailey, author of eight YA and NA romance novels, as she talks about showing vs telling. Breakdowns the hows and whys of this important guideline and discuss situations in which it is better to tell. Be prepared for quick and dirty tips to ensure readers experience the story through action, thoughts, sense, and feelings rather than exposition, summarization, and description.
Also, be sure to join the Naperville Region for the potluck kickoff party on Saturday, October 27th at the lunch room of the Naperville Municipal Center from 11:45 -2:45. There will be food, games, and fun for all.
The Naperville region of NaNoWriMo, representing the cities and suburbs west of Chicago, is also partnering with many area libraries to offer write-in events in November for people to use to work on their novel while others around them also work on theirs. These libraries include: Batavia, Carol Stream, Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Fountaindale, Geneva, Glen Ellyn, Helen Plum Library (Lombard), Joliet Junior College, La Grange Park, Nichols Library (Naperville), North Riverside, Plainfield, Warrenville, Wheaton, and Woodridge.
For more information, see naperwrimo.org.
Thanks for posting! Who all is going to the prep workshops? I can't make the first one b/c of plans with my critique group (a mini writing and planning retreat!) but I've been lucky to see Allie Pleiter's Chunky Method workshop more than once. She also has a book - I've found it very helpful in determining how to use my writing time. I'm hoping to make the outlining one and showing vs. telling.
Young Adult and Romance author. Find me on twitter: @stephscottya
Thanks for posting! I really want to go to the workshop on the 13th, but I have something that starts at 4:00/4:30 that do so I won't be able to make it, but I am planning on making it to the 4th one.
No one can say what we get to be
And why don't we rewrite the stars?
Changing the world to be ours