Wrangler NFR Round 1 Dec 1, 2011

Wrangler NFR Round 2 Dec 2, 2011

Wrangler NFR Round 3 Dec 3, 2011

Wrangler NFR Round 4 Dec 4, 2011

Wrangler NFR Round 5 Dec 5, 2011

Wrangler NFR Round 6 Dec 6, 2011

Wrangler NFR Round 7 Dec 7, 2011

“You threatening me?”

About the Friday 56

• Grab the book nearest you. Right now
• Turn to page 56.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
• Post a link along with your post back to this blog. (And just for me, please post in comments a link to your Friday 56 post.)
• Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo or NaNo) will be upon us in just 4 short days. For those who don’t know what NaNo is, it is a 30 day challenge to write a 50,000 word (approximately 170 page) novel. Thousands of people worldwide take part with varying degrees of success. Some just get the satisfaction of having written their “great novel” and others actually get published (i.e. Water For Elephants was a NaNo novel).

I personally have not “won” NaNo the two years I have participated. My first year, I did no planning and jumped right in. It was my first attempt to even write a novel and I managed about 5,000 the entire month. Last year was my second year. I did a little more planning (still not enough to help through NaNO), told my husband I wanted to do it, posted about it on my personal blog and twitter accounts, kept a white board with my total word count on it, and ended the month with just over 30,000 words.

One would think that writing a minimum of 1,666 words a day for 30 days wouldn’t be a big deal, however it’s just like exercising. Some days, you don’t want to even look at your writing and other days, you can’t stop writing. Due to other commitments this year, I’m not going to participate in NaNo but here are some links to pages (and some of my personal writing tips) that you will find useful in your quest to write the next great novel.

First off, you need to go to the National Novel Writing Month homepage and sign up. They have great resources there and you will find the forums with people at all stages of writing. Don’t be afraid to ask questions on the forums. Those lovely people don’t bite (unless you ask them too).

Planning Tips:

StoryFix.com has a wonderful series on planning your NaNo book. They have been posting a tip a day the entire month of October.

Nathan Bransford (former Literary Agent, now Author) has a wonderful blog on writing. I went to his blog last year for how to tips and they have really being helpful! Bookmark his series on How To Write A Novel, because you will be referring back to it.

The Writer’s Knowledge Base is a wonderful site that is a search engine on everything to do with writing.

The Snowflake Method presented by Bubble Cow. I have not used the Snowflake method for planning but many people swear by it.

Just Keep Writing:

Sign up for Fictionista Workshops’s WitFit Prompts. Every day, Fictionista will email you a prompt. Use it to get your creative juices flowing. You never know, you might end up using the section in your story.

Every Tuesday at 12:30pm ET, Leah Petersen hosts 5 Minute Fiction. Right at 12:30pm, she posts a prompt (along with a pretty picture to help inspire you). You have 5 minutes to write. It is a fun fast paced writing challenge. I’ve used a few ideas from 5 Minute Fiction in my current WIPs (works in progress).

The one tool that I use all the time (which was introduced to me by the wonderful Shiloh Walker) is Dr Wicked’s Write or Die. This wonderful free web-based application (or you can download the desktop version for $10) allows you to choose your word count goal, the time in which you want to have it written in, and how strict you want the program to enforce your writing (ie you stop writing for a certain amount of time and the program changes color and starts playing ANNOYING sounds). After you set your goal, you are taken to a blank distraction free page with a word count counter and a countdown clock. Keep typing! If you stop for a long amount of time, you will be heralded with a badly played violin, honking cars, and other sounds. Even though I could easily write 800-900 words in 20 minutes, I set my goal at 600 words for 20 minutes. Most people tend to type a little slower when they have to actually think about what they are writing. If after I do a Write or Die session, I get up from my chair and go do something, come back about 10 minutes later and start again. However, there are times that I just keep writing after the clock has ended. The program will keep timing you even if the clock has expired. Then post your word count and time on Facebook and Twitter. You will be amazed at the number of people cheering for you.

Writing Platforms:

I use a white board to jot down my ideas, but do all of my writing in Open Office or MS Word. I have my entire WIP in one file. Some authors do a different file for each chapter or scene. Many others use programs like Scrivener ( Mac or Windows) and PageFour to do their writing. I have played a little with PageFour but not enough to know if I like it.

Literature and Latte has a great links page with writing software for both Mac and Windows computers.

I hope all that information helps. Just remember that it is okay for your first draft to suck. What you are writing for NaNo does not have to be perfect. Just turn off that inner editor. You can fix things (and do your serious research) in December.

Most importantly, write the book you want to write. Don’t try to write what you think might sell. Just write for the fun of writing, even if it is Fan Fiction. Have fun and let your imagination soar.

If you have any suggestions for your fellow authors, please share them in the comments!

“She looked at Wil, who was busy picking up the towels and taking them to the laundry. The way he swaggered made her wish she’d left her phone in the lobby.”

About the Friday 56

• Grab the book nearest you. Right now
• Turn to page 56.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
• Post a link along with your post back to this blog. (And just for me, please post in comments a link to your Friday 56 post.)
• Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Red’s Hot Cowboy is available from Amazon in Print and Kindle editions. Also from Barnes And Noble in Print and Nook editions.

My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.

“If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”

My mother taught me LOGIC.

“Because I said so, that’s why.”

My mother taught me MORE LOGIC .

“If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you’re not going to the store with me.”

My mother taught me FORESIGHT.

“Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”

My mother taught me IRONY.

“Keep crying, and I’ll give you something to cry about.”

My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE .

“If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside.. I just finished cleaning.”

My mother taught me RELIGION.

“You better pray that will come out of the carpet”

My dad did too….

“We better pray that your mother doesn’t find out.”

My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS .

“Shut your mouth and eat your supper.”

My mother taught me about CONTORTION-ISM.

“Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!”

My mother taught me HUMOR.

“When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.”

My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.

“Just wait until we get home.”

or

“Just wait until your father gets home.”

My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE. (This is one my Grandmother used to say)

“If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way.”

My mother taught me about RECEIVING .

“You are going to get it when you get home!”

My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT .

“If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.”

My mother taught me GENETICS. (My mom still uses this now!)

“You’re just like your father.”

My mother taught me about my ROOTS.

“Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?”

My mother taught me WISDOM.

“When you get to be my age, you’ll understand.”

My mother taught me about JUSTICE.

“One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!”

My mother taught me about CHOICE.

“Do you want me to stop this car?”

]]> http://myponytails.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/i-owe-my-mother/feed/ 0 myponytails http://myponytails.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/friday-56-savor-the-danger-by-lori-foster/ http://myponytails.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/friday-56-savor-the-danger-by-lori-foster/#comments Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:00:03 +0000 Jenn Baker AKA BronwynK http://myponytails.wordpress.com/?p=829 ]]>

“Having her would be the only cure.”

About the Friday 56

• Grab the book nearest you. Right now
• Turn to page 56.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
• Post a link along with your post back to this blog. (And just for me, please post in comments a link to your Friday 56 post.)
• Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Savor The Danger is available from Amazon in Print and Kindle editions. Also from Barnes And Noble in Print and Nook editions.