It’s almost that time of year again! National Novel Writing Month starts in six days, and this year I plan to go whole hog on it. I have a complete plot summary, characters (semi-complete with flaws, objectives, etc.), and quite a few chapter outlines. My goal is to win NaNo with the full 50,000 words and a complete first draft.
And at the end of it, I’ll set this one aside and go back to Recovery House ready to read the completed second draft with fresh eyes. I already know that there are some serious issues with this draft, but I’ve been reading and listening to lots of author advice that I’m eager to put to use.
That advice is largely from Matt Bird’s book and blog, The Secrets of Story, and the Secrets of Story podcast with James Kennedy. It also includes On Writing Romance by Leigh Michaels, and The Art of Writing Romance by Valerie Parv.
I’m also dipping my eyeballs into a wide range of books from the library and reading a bit here and there, occasionally picking up something. In general, though, if a nonfiction book grabs me enough that I want to read the whole thing, I buy it so I can mark it up. And also so it won’t matter that I’ll need to keep it handy for three months to get all the way through it. While my library no longer has late fines, I still don’t like keeping things longer than I’m supposed to, even when no one is waiting for it. Maybe that’s just my librarian past haunting me.
But it’s fine! It means I own a lot more books about writing, and that makes me happy. I’m sure it makes the authors of those books happy, too.
One book I dipped into says that if I’m not going to blog at least weekly, I may as well give up on blogging altogether and just do social media. However, I like blogging, and I’m too slow/too busy/too mental-health challenged to get one in every week. So I’m going to ignore that advice (and return the book to the library without purchasing a copy), and you can expect a blog from me in a couple of weeks or so! Meanwhile, make sure you follow me on social media where I’ll be giving updates on my NaNo progress. 🙂
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Beth Wilson | Author 