(Zhen Hu / Unsplash)
I am a character-first kind of gal. If I'm reading a book with the most intricate, clever plot, but I don't feel like I know the characters, I probably won't get to the end of the story. I don't necessarily have to like the characters. I just have to know them.
Consequently, in my own writing, I can't start on a project until I have a good sense of who my main characters are. Once my MCs have been developed to feel like whole people, they influence all other aspects of the storytelling. A few years ago, I took a class with Michael A. Stackpole where he outlined five different approaches to creating those whole-feeling characters, and since then, they've framed my characterization choices ever since. Having these methods in your back pocket will help you get in the right mindset when you start planning your next novel.
0 Comments
(Kimberly Farmer / Unsplash)
Last August, I posted that I was in the middle of a seemingly interminable reading rut. At that point, the rut had been going on for the better part of my 2018, and unfortunately it really sucked the joy out of reading for me. But almost immediately after posting, I did something that snapped me out of it: I went on vacation.
Two, actually. The first was a car trip to the beach for a weekend, and the second was a two week sojourn to Japan, which meant countless hours on a trans-Pacific flight. Any time I take a vacation, I make a ritual trip to the library (although on these occasions it was actually a virtual trip to my library’s Overdrive page) and pick out books that aren’t from my usual genres but pique my interest anyway. Mixing up my reading list helped me engage more, so I didn’t feel like I was retreading the same genre tropes over and over. Without further ado, here are a few of the books that helped me reconnect with my reading. 
(Alexander Kagan / Unsplash)
There is a subset of people who say, “Why make resolutions on January 1? It’s just an arbitrary date! You can make changes in your life any time of the year.” While I do make goals all year round, I think there’s something nice about using this season to look back on what I’ve accomplished in the past year and what I’d like to do in the upcoming year.
Generally, I have the same “resolution” every year, which is to write more consistently. Since convincing myself to sit down to write is often my biggest roadblock, I’ve spent the last few years refining resolutions that trick me into actually starting to work. 
Right now, I’m approximately 24 hours outside of my 2018 NaNoWriMo win. I brought it down to the wire, with my latest finish ever, but I did it! Now that I’ve validated and claimed my goodies, I’ve decided to dissect the month — The joy! The tears! The confusion! — and make a plan for future writing endeavors.
So, How Did It Go? Well, I wrote 50,000 words — 50,356 to be exact — so in that sense it was very technically a “win”, though there were definitely some things that didn’t quite go my way. But I’ll start with the good. 
As I type this, there are 8 days left until the start of NaNoWriMo.
I’m not ready. A few weeks ago, I settled on a project to work on, and since then, I’ve pieced together a vague plot and come up with a protagonist (who I spent way too much time choosing the perfect name for). And that’s about it 
(Jason Wong / Unsplash)
I have a confession that is, frankly, a little embarrassing: I'm in a book rut. When I go through my Goodreads, I see that I'm shamefully behind on my reading goal for the year, and the books I have finished, I either haven't particularly enjoyed, or are rereads of old favorites.
Like most writers, I am usually also a voracious reader. In the past, it hasn’t been uncommon for me to read 60, 70, 80 books a year. I’ve absolutely been that cliche bluestocking, reading on the subway or while walking to work, cramming in minutes of an audiobook here and there while I work on laundry or preparing a meal. 
When I first started thinking about writing historical fiction, I knew that the storytelling and worldbuilding would be completely different than the projects I had undertaken in the past. Since my story was to take place in 1913, I went to the library, checked out a book called Daily Life in the Progressive Era, and plopped down to read. However, I quickly realized that reading an overview was not a great way to immerse myself in the time period. Over the years, I’ve amassed a battery of resources to help get in the right headspace for historicals.
(Brett Jordan / Unsplash)
There comes a point in my first draft process, usually around 30,000 or 40,000 words in, where I just hit a wall. I spend thirty minutes staring at a blank page, or I can’t stop my hand from clicking over to an open Twitter tab. When I’m feeling listless in my writing, I am a procrastinator to the extreme, so I’ve started using some interventions to keep me focused.
SelfControl I have no self control. If I have the impulse to go to Wikipedia, I will spend hours reading about the history of the Boston subway system or the lives of medieval kings. Which is great for building a repository of fun facts for parties (well, my definition of fun, at least), but is not great for getting a novel finished.  (Jay Zhang / Unsplash) You’ve done all the necessary prep work for your novel and are ready to start writing. Ten years ago, most writers would probably pull up a fresh Microsoft Word document and type “Chapter One” at the top of the page, but nowadays, there are a lot more word processing options to consider. It’s a wide world out there, but these are the softwares I use to go from first draft to finished product.
Scrivener If you’ve participated in NaNoWriMo, you’ve almost definitely heard of Scrivener, which has sponsored the event for years. I purchased my copy of the software with a discount code I got for winning NaNo in 2010, but I have to admit that it sat on my computer unused for a couple years.  Before we get too deep, I want to say that all you really need to write a novel is a pen and paper and your imagination. Even so, there are a bunch of digital tools that can help you become a more efficient writer.
I thought this was going to be a quick and dirty tips-style post, but as I started making notes, I realized just how much I’ve integrated technology into my everyday writing. Instead of bombarding you with everything all at once, I decided to spread it out into a few posts. This week, I’ll talk about the resources I use before I start on my first draft. Walk the (Out)line As a plotter, I can’t start writing if I’m not confident in the story I’m about to dive into. To gain that confidence, I adopted lots of techniques from around the internet. |
Welcome!On the blog, you'll finds musings on writing craft, book reviews, and general updates on my work. If there are any topics you'd like me to cover, leave a comment! Archives
December 2021
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed