Saturday, November 1, 2014

NaNoWriMo Time!

Hey everyone! This is your friendly neighborhood blogger just letting you know I'm still alive. I've been finishing up a few beta reads and art commissions this week, so my reviewing was a little slower than normal. I appreciate the patience though. I've got a number of new books in the dockets, and I'm eager to tell you my feedback (having fun with The Fourth Sage currently, and just bought W World Without Princes, so excited for that). There is one more thing that may make things a little slower...

NaNoWriMo!

In case you have never participated, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. Basically, the goal is to write 50,000 words in one month. 1557 words a day, a little over four weeks. You can read some more about it here: http://nanowrimo.org/dashboard. While most people start a new book, I sometimes use this as my "get your crap together and write" month, and finish up projects already in the works. The sequel to my first book Archipelago is my current target, along with a steampunk novel on the side. I'd love to hear what everyone else is going to be plucking away at, and if you've got some encouragement or need some on this grand adventure, let me know!

NaNoWriMo usually gives everyone some pep talk to get you started, but my only advice is this: there is no secret recipe. Just write. Some people outline, some people gather pictures and blueprint out the book. Some people write biographies (I've done this). While all of that helps, there is no cure better than just putting words on paper. Write something good. Write something terrible. The point of this month is to break through the cobwebs, and convince yourself to write even when you may not have the perfect idea already mapped out. Some people make perfectly polished novels, but the real freedom I've found with this month is to let go of all that.

NaNoWriMo is about breaking the rules and abandoning thought to let your words be as raw and pure as you can let them be. It won't all be beautiful, but that doesn't mean the experience isn't super fun.

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