novel writing -

05Jan 2016 by dlgunn

Writerly Goals 2016

Goal setting, Increasing productivity, Writing

Last week I shared my accomplishments of 2015 and--in the interest of both accountability and education--today I'm going to share my goals for the year of 2016. This year I've actually also divided the goals into quarters and even figured out how far to progress on each goal during the first four months of the year. Of course, this is always subject to change, but I'm pretty proud of the way I've broken things down: 1. Submit Good Bye to 30 publishers(or until I get a contract) -- Good Bye is actually a novella so this is a somewhat ambitious number, but it's totally doable. January: Finish editing Good Bye and edit the synopsis/query(queries will be customized but the blurb will be the same for each one) 3-5 times. Submit the initial batch…

16Dec 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

19 Resources to help you edit that novel

Learning the craft, Writing

I originally started blogging because I wanted to share my journey towards writing success, but now I also blog because I'm dedicated to helping others build their own writing careers. I want to help you not only explore different writing methods, but to master as many aspects of the craft as you can. One thing crucial to your success as a writer is the ability to edit. This is true for writers of all kinds, and especially true for novelists. Now that it's been a couple weeks since you finished your novel, it's time to start thinking about editing. Starting before the holidays are over is probably a bad idea, but brushing up on your editing skills is always a good idea—and if you've been at this a while, you…

27Nov 2014 by Bethlyn Bechtel

Nanowrimo Veteran Pep Talk

Nanowrimo, Writing

Today I have a special treat for you as we close in on the end of the month, a pep talk sure to get you back on the writing treadmill from a Nanowrimo veteran who happens to be a good friend of mine. Please give Bethlyn Bechtel a warm welcome. Hi Nanoers!!!! Oh gosh. Nano is ALMOST over!! You're almost to the end of this INSANE war against words....and you see that you aren't done yet. You've had to deal with school or work or kids or wisdom teeth being yanked after a horrible toothache. Or some other such horrible distraction. AHHHH!!!!!!! That's me. I'm not done yet, either. If this was last year, I would have been done. I've done this! I can do it! BUT: no words want…

25Nov 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

5 Reasons Not to Give Up

Inspirational, Nanowrimo, Writing

The month is almost over and hopefully you're close to hitting your goals for the month, whether that means 50K, 100K or a finished novel. Of course, life has many different ways of preventing you from reaching your goals, so there's a pretty good chance that you're nowhere near your goals and wondering what made you think it was a good idea to pursue them in the first place. If you're far behind where you wanted to be at this time of the month, you're not alone. There are thousands of other Wrimos struggling through the same things right now, and you can find a great many of them on the forums. More importantly, having fallen behind doesn't mean you should give up. No matter what your word count is,…

18Nov 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

Tuesday Tips & Tricks

Nanowrimo, Writing

Week three of Nanowrimo is already here and if you're anything like me, you're filled with a combination of excitement and fear. Can you actually reach the lofty goal you've set for yourself? Is your novel garbage? Will you ever actually want to look at it again? Are you going to cross the finish line? It's completely normal to doubt yourself at this point, and it's completely normal to think you'll have to throw away your novel. In fact, I'd go so far as to say throwing away your novel is fairly standard among Nanowrimo participants. I'm certainly not trying to salvage every single novel I've written during Nanowrimo. Whatever your feelings are about your novel, you can overcome them and you can write a novel in a month. All you need…

26Oct 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

The Ultimate Plot Creation Resource List

Nanowrimo

Once you've figured out the basics of your world and gotten to know your characters pretty well, it's time to start thinking seriously about the plot. If your novel planning process is moving along at the proper pace, you should already have an idea what your plot looks like. Now it's time to figure out all the details. Well, not all the details. At least a few details should be figured out as you go along, because the best stories grow organically. But you do need to know the basic structure of your plot before you start writing the first draft of your novel, at least if you want to write a first draft you might actually be able to salvage someday. So I've compiled a pretty large collection of…

23Sep 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

10 Reasons why I love Nanowrimo

Uncategorized

Chances are you already know what Nanowrimo is--if you don't, it's explained quite well here--and you're here because you're considering participating. Or because you've already decided you're going to do it. I've been participating in Nanowrimo for nine years--this will be my tenth--and blogging about the experience for four. Most years around this time I write up a post about why you should try Nanowrimo. This year I've decided to take a different approach. I'm not going to tell you what you should and shouldn't do. I'm just going to tell you why Nanowrimo is awesome. Maybe it will convince you to take on the challenge this year, maybe it won't. Either way, your decision doesn't bother me. But if you do sign up, you should know what you're in for. So…

24Mar 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

Before you finish that draft

Novels, Uncategorized, Writing: The Process

After an excruciating process taking anywhere between a few weeks and several years, your first--or second, or third--draft is almost finished. Your adrenaline's pumping and you're ready to power through to the finish line. As antsy as you might be to finish it, I suggest instead you pause and take a deep breath. It's time to create a plan for after you've crossed the finish line. Start by scheduling a couple says off. You can write, of course, but jumping straight from one book to the next isn't a great idea. Give your brain some time to relax and refill the creative well by enjoying somebody else's book or doing something fun. You might want to focus on stories very different from your current WIP so you can get out…

29Nov 2013 by Dianna L. Gunn

Writing a marathon

Inspirational, Nanowrimo, Writing

Nanowrimo pep talks have often compared the challenge to a marathon, and it makes a lot of sense. Writing a book in a month is about both writing quickly and having the energy to write every day or as close to every day as possible for an entire month. That's a long time when you've just begun your writer's path, and even for someone who's been writing for years it can be hard to stay productive all month long. But now the last 48 hours have hit, and it's time for a different kind of marathon, the one where instead of writing every day for a month you write as much as possible in one day. If you've got the day off and an unfinished novel, can you finish your…

22Nov 2013 by Dianna L. Gunn

How to make the most of this weekend

Goal setting, Inspirational, Nanowrimo, Writing

Tonight marks the beginning of the last full weekend of Nanowrimo, and no matter where you are in your word count--unless you're one of those lucky people who has already finished their novel--it's important to make the most of your time. By creating specific goals and a detailed plan, you can balance your weekend between social commitments, housework and writing, and get a lot done. Most people recommend working in short bursts and then taking short breaks. Gabriela Pereira of DIY MFA suggested the Pomodoro Technique during her writing marathon last weekend, which involves working on something for a 25 minute period and then taking a five minute break. I personally find that how long I like to work on tasks depends on the task--often a blog post will take…