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???? TEFF HAS Twelve years on WDC! FORUM keeps ADC records. |
NOV NEWSLETTER Note from TEFFY --- just4him really outdoes newsletter format this month. Below this NOV NL applies to many who approach the craft. What a gem and just in the nick of time!!! Thanks, Valerie Jean. Subject: [Group #1323687] November Newsletter How to Write a Novel in 30 Days Now that I’ve caught the attention of all you NaNoWriMo’s, how do you go about accomplishing this mammoth task of writing a 50K novel in 30 days? Planning. You cannot undertake something of this magnitude without a plan. For this first step in the process, you're going to spend a lot of time away from your computer. I say that because you have to decide what you are going to write about and what genre you are going to write in. Once you decide this crucial first step, the next step is research. You can do this either with legwork, or on your trusty computer. Your local library is an excellent resource for your project. By this time in October, you should be way past these first two steps. If you’re like me, that was done six months ago. I might procrastinate in a lot of areas of my life, but writing is not one of them. Finding an agent and walking my book out the door is in the procrastination area of my life, but since none of you are like that you have nothing to worry about as you undertake this gigantic work of art. Okay, I’m going to assume you have the first two steps completed, and you’re ready for step three - your characters. Who are your characters - get some 3X5 cards or if you’re a computer fanatic and you do everything in notebook, bring up a blank page. I like One Note Notebook by Microsoft Office. It keeps everything in one location and you can add sub pages for the work in progress, which you’re going to need. You’re going to have more than one character in your book, so I recommend a separate page for each. Once you have your characters you are ready to build your book. Step four - the outline. I have my outline done in two parts. I have the main outline headed by Scene Points and a plot page for that Scene. It helps to get the plot of each chapter included with the outline. That way you know if your scene points work. Once you complete this four-step process, you should be able to write your book, right? Maybe. Do you know your character’s background? Do you know anything about what makes him or her tick? What is unique about their personalities? What will draw the reader to the character? Are we supposed to like him or her, or hate him or her? Is he or she the protagonist or the antagonist? Take out your 3X5 cards or your notebook on the computer, and start working on your characters. Put everything you can about each character on those cards or notebook so that when you start writing your book you will know exactly what he or she is like and can transmit that with ease to your reader. Here are some of the details for character description - eye color, hair color, weight, height, likes, dislikes, education, culture, ethnicity, where he or she lives. Go over the top with your character description. It will help tell your story when you start writing. You will also want to add detail about where he or she lives. What country, what city, rural community or large city. Every detail you can muster about the character will help your book. You won’t put all that information in your book, but you knowing your character will pass that information to your reader. Step five. Part one. You have 50K words to write in 30 days. How are you going to accomplish that? Decide right now, how many words a day you need to write in order to make your goal, or you can cheat and go to NaNoWriMo.org and see the breakdown per day to make your goal in 30 days, or I can simply tell you that 1,667 will get you to 50K in 30 days. Part two in your writing 50K in 30 days is finding the time to write. If you’re like me you have an outside job and finding writing time is a challenge. So what do you do? 1) Take a 30-day vacation - recommended for all fanatic NaNo writers. Not an option? - 2) Hide in your office from the time you get home until you go to bed, or get ready to go to work. That simply means you will go a full month without sleep. Be sure you lock the door. You cannot have any interference from spouse or children for 30 days. Not an option? - 3) Can you write your book at work? If your job is on the computer and you have the ability to do two things at once that might be an option for you. Write your book and then copy and paste to your hard drive when you get home. That’s my option, and it is what I’m doing at this precise time. Not an option? - 4) Be a weekend writer. Closet yourself for the weekend in your office and write just 11,669 words and you will make 50K. It’s that easy. Another thing you can do is join a NaNo forum. I’m part of October NaNoWriMo Prep Challenge. It gives daily activities to help you prepare your manuscript so you are ready to write when November 1 arrives. One last thing - Have Fun! Happy Writing Valerie - Doing NaNo Nothing is impossible when God is in it. I can face tomorrow because God is in my life today. Matthew 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. (KJV) It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. -- President Teddy Roosevelt http://just4him.webs.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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