writing exercises -

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…

21Oct 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

Using setting to develop character

Learning the craft, Nanowrimo, Writing

Any writer who's been at this a while will tell you that in the best novels, setting, plot and character are intertwined. One cannot exist completely separate from the other, and they all influence each other to make a whole, interesting story. This means that building upon one aspect of your novel often informs work you're doing on other aspects. The history of your world, particularly the development of prejudice, impacts how your characters behave and are perceived. If one or more of your characters are in marginalized groups in the society you've created, they're going to interact differently with other characters and be treated differently too. Of course, how you can play with discrimination in fantasy settings and how that impacts characters' lives is an article in its own…

19Oct 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

Ultimate Character Resource List

Learning the craft, Nanowrimo, Writing

If you've followed more than a couple blogs about writing fiction for a while, you've probably noticed that most writers will claim one of two things is the most important aspect of any novel: character or plot. And before you ask, I suspect the only author you're likely to know of who thought worldbuilding truly was the most crucial aspect of story was Tolkien. (Feel free to mention others if you know about them. I don't.) You might be wondering what I have to say on the matter, and just to satisfy your curiosity I'll give you the short answer: I think it depends on the writer and the story. Which is really my short answer for everything to do with writing a novel, because it's hard to say anything…

14Oct 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

Developing your world by examining adulthood

Learning the craft, Writing

Every culture throughout history has had some sort of tradition that marks the transition from childhood to adulthood. These traditions vary widely, ranging from wild parties to vision quests to marriage--which often involved a massive party anyway. Now that pretty much everybody lives to adulthood and a great many people aren't religious, the vast majority of us don't celebrate adulthood with some ancient cultural tradition, but we do celebrate. Oh, and adulthood starts much later now than it did a couple hundred years ago, when fourteen year old girls were commonly married and fourteen year old boys were working. Today's challenge is to write a story about one of your main characters making the transition from childhood to adulthood. Pay particular attention to these things: What age does adulthood begin at in…

07Oct 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

Getting to know your characters through a character diary

Uncategorized

There are at least as many different ways to create believable, interesting characters your readers can care about as there are good writers. In fact, after all the time I've spent running around looking for resources on character creation in the last couple of weeks, I suspect there might actually be more character creation and development exercises than there are writers--quality or otherwise. One of my favourite ways to get intimately familiar with my characters is to create a character diary for them. Here's how it works: Every day for a specified period of time--whether it's a week, a month, or just until Nanowrimo starts--you write one page describing a normal day in your character's life. This should be at some point shortly before your story begins, so you know…

05Oct 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

The Ultimate List of 42 Worldbuilding Resources

Learning the craft, Nanowrimo, Writing

Do you need help figuring out how to plan your novel? Are you looking for writing exercises that will help you develop your setting? UPDATED WITH NEW LINKS OCTOBER 2017 Well, it just so happens that you're in the right place. This year as part of my Nanowrimo blogstravaganza I've decided to create three lists: the ultimate list of worldbuilding resources, the ultimate list of character building resources, and the ultimate list of plot development exercises. My goal is to present you with all the options and the knowledge necessary to find your own way to success this Nanowrimo, and in every novelling endeavour you decide to take on after that. Are you ready to start planning your Nanowrimo novel? Is that a "yes" I hear? Well then, let's get…

21Oct 2013 by Dianna L. Gunn

Keeping Factsheets

Nanowrimo, Workshops, Writing, Writing

Last year I wrote about creating a factsheet about your story, but this year I'd like you to take it to the next level. I'd like you to create factsheets—pages of point form notes—documenting everything you know about the following things: Your world— what time period is your world set in? What are the places your characters live in called? Is there magic or high technology? Perhaps there's no technology. How do they document time? What religions are common? Anything you know about your world should be put on one piece of paper you can easily refer to as you write your novel. Every character— every character that has a significant part to play in your story should have a fact sheet with every piece of information you know about…

18Oct 2013 by Dianna L. Gunn

Create a Legend

Nanowrimo, Workshops, Writing, Writing

No matter what kind of novel you're planning to write next month, and even if you haven't gotten that hammered out yet, creating a legend can still be a useful exercise. We've all heard urban legends before so don't let a modern setting sway you from this exercise. I've even had full fledged novels emerge from short two page legends, so take some time this weekend and make sure you create yours. What do I mean when I say a legend/myth? By this I mean a story that everyone in your main setting—whether that be a village, a town, a household or an entire country—knows and knows well, that may or may not be true. Usually these involve great heroes and have some sort of lesson in the way they're…

28Jan 2013 by diannagunn

On Overwriting

Editing, Editing: The Hard Part, Novels, Writing

I don't often discuss the technical side of writing in depth, but after reading the self-published works that inspired last Monday's post, I've decided to discuss the biggest problem I've seen in these novels: overwriting. What is overwriting? There are two ways authors overwrite: with excessive details, and with particularly wordy phrasing. Even a perfectly spelled piece with flawless grammar can be made frustrating if the author overwrites them. It makes a book frustrating to read and in today's fast paced society, most readers will walk away. I'm particularly forgiving of this if the story captivates me, but enough of it will make even me gash my teeth. So today I'd like to discuss some of the things that can--and should--be cut from your writing whenever possible to make it…

26Oct 2012 by diannagunn

Getting into the Writing Zone

Nanowrimo, Novels, Prompts, Workshops, Writing, Writing, Writing: The Process

Since you're planning to write a 50, 000 word novel next month--dividing into 1,667 words per day--it's a good idea to get warmed up by doing some writing exercises over the next few days. A good goal would be to write at least 400-500 words every day until Nanowrimo starts, so you're already in the writing groove on November first. This warms up your writing muscles without leading to burn out before Nanowrimo begins. Today I'd like to share three exercises designed to help you do just that. These exercises can be done with your Nanowrimo characters or completely different characters. I usually use them to flesh out the characters and world I've already started creating for my novel, because I find that you discover many things while writing that…