NaNoWriMo Tips

Hello NaNo-Nerds! It’s that time again. Beginning today, our veins will be over run with caffeine and all types of sugar in order to keep us tapping away at the silicone keyboards. Since finishing a book during this time-frame is extremely difficult, this post is going to be really short.

1.    Outline the basics.

Come up with one or two sentences that will express the idea of the book. Then create a small outline consisting of just basic information. Outline should have, at minimum, the opening, middle, and climax of the story. Use these to keep the story on target, but also allowing creativity to flow easily.

2.    Create multiple character sheets.

Write down some basic attributes for the main characters. Things like the color of their eyes and hair, height, weight, personality, and some sample favorites of the character. I have mine on a dry erase board that hangs over my writing desk. Feel free do come up with another way that’ll work best for you.

3.    Set up deadlines.

Create goals with everything. Make them small ones like write 2 to 3 scenes or 1k of words a day. Then stick to it. 

4.    Reward your self.

When you complete a task, give yourself something special. The more difficult the goal, the better the reward. They can be anything. Maybe an hour of your favorite TV show, or indulge in some sinfully wonderful dark chocolate. 

5.    Get help!

I can’t stress it enough. The stress is going to be bad. Find help and lean on them when you need it the most. Lots of time, a good Nano supporter will know when we’re stressing too much and nip it in the bud.

6.    Write and have fun.

This is perhaps the most important tip I can give anyone. Sit your ass down, get writing, and have fun doing it.

If anyone else has tips, we’d love to hear them. Till next time, have a happy NaNo!

Auzy

A litte bit of sense

 

 

NaNoWriMo is in full effect. That means lots of caffeine fueled minds pumping out creativity at the speed of heavenly delight. It’ll drip from our dreams, slithering through our blood until our fingers can touch those comforting plastic keys. Then every soft clip-clop gives us a wonderful jolt and each word written is an addictive high that makes even cloud number nine jealous.

As I sit here trying to describe how it feels when I’m creating art in the form of a story, I reminded of when I first started out. My writing wasn’t really all that good. Yeah I had decent stories, and I could paint a decent picture for the reader, but something was missing—well other than all the typos and my issue with switching tenses.

It took a little while but I figured it out. My descriptions tended to stay on the visual side of the storytelling spectrum. Nothing wrong with that, but hey, we’re human and we have more than just one way to identify with things.

We have a total of five senses (six if your story is within that realm of fantasy). They are: touch, taste, sight, sound, and smell. They all have their places and a good writer will know which one will have the most impact. For instance, psychologist state that smell is one of the quickest way we identify with something. A quick sniff can easily remind a person of a favorite summer or even relive a horribly traumatic experience.

So I’ve prepared a few examples of how we can use these types of descriptions.

1.    Touch: The parchment felt old and leathery. It had bumps on it much like a fraying fabric and made me think of brail as my fingers examined it.

2.    Taste: Marks mouth filled with a putrid copper and he knew at that moment, his life with the angels was over in an instant.

3.    Sight: It was the same sun as always, but instead of a ball of golden yellow and red that seemed to swim like lava, it appeared with alien greens and static white tones.

4.    Sound: Luke heard the familiar click-click before he even felt the gun barrel on the back of his neck. It was a cold mocking laugh of mechanical death.

5.    Smell: He stank like a man who’d rolled dog pooh and bathed in cat urine. It made my nose wrinkle.

 

As you can tell, I love me some good descriptions. There are plenty of other styles as well. Anyone have any favorites?

      Auzy