Deception. It’s so fun to sneak it into a story, isn’t it? See it Coming can be one of those treats that triggers a surprise–or not. Give your readers a taste of what’s going to happen, then pull the rug out from under them. Or give us a hint that the Very Worst Thing might [...]
Day 13, and I’m only a full day behind in the word count. My goal is to be back on track by the 15th. 25000 words. This morning I wake up thinking not just of my story, but also of a class I want to teach this winter. A novel group for intergenerational writers of [...]
It’s Day 11 of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, and my word count is below where I’m supposed to be. I started out flying ahead of the daily goal because I knew I had a few days where I wouldn’t be able to write much. Today’s another one of those, but for this next hour, [...]
Yup, I know. You’ve been dashing your character’s dreams right and left. Are they the BIG dream? The one your character longs for more than anything? I thought not. Go ahead. Dash that one, too. It’ll feel like all your readers will slam the book in disgust, but do it anyway. Dash it BIG. For [...]
Tonight I’m packing for “Weekend on the Water,” the Seattle area SCBWI fall retreat at Alderbrook Resort. It just occurred to me that while I’ll be lucky to get in a few minutes of writing, I may not want or be able to get out a daily NaNoNuj. To take it’s place, you’ll get three [...]
We all got them. You might even call some of these traits obsessive or neurotic. Do your characters have any strange (okay, unique) habits, thought patterns, movements, or activities of any kind? If you want to find ones that really stand out, don’t assign your characters traits that are obvious choices for their particular temperament. [...]
If you haven’t been following along this week, some of us are up to our armpits in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I know I’m going to be missing some days with upcoming events, so I’m trying to stay ahead of the word count. It’s Day 3, and I’m up to 6948. The end-of-the-month goal [...]
Gosh. I selected this card after applying the idea today. Love it when it works that way. My character alienated more than a few folks. She doesn’t even want to go back to school tomorrow. Hmmm… maybe she won’t. Alienate an Ally. NaNoNuj 3. Allies. Not those who are going to turn into enemies before [...]
NaNoNuj 2: I shuffled my NaNo cards, and the one I pulled for our second day is Reveal a Secret! I have a few thoughts about this. First of all, don’t dump the Big Secret. You want to keep the suspense. But, is there something your character might slip out to just the wrong person? [...]
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
 |
|
||
