Month: November 2014

NaNoWriMo Day 5: Tappity Tap

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http://nanotoons.net/2014/11/05/2014-november-5/

http://nanotoons.net/2014/11/05/2014-november-5/

Hello! Today is NaNoWriMo Day 5 and I’m still feeling pretty good! Coffee may or may not have a large part in this, but honestly I am just glad to be caught up. I still have today’s words to write, but I ended the day yesterday with 6,944 words.

I struggled a bit during the first couple of days of NaNoWriMo. I fully planned on writing November 1st, but we had company and I couldn’t lock myself in a room and be rude to them. So I didn’t write. And I spent the last couple of days playing catch-up and making up for it.

Today the goal is to hit that 8,333 word mark. While I can’t necessarily do it during the day (as much as I’d like to) because I’m at work, there are some things I’ve been doing to help myself.

I’m not a huge outliner, but I’ve been outlining each chapter as I go along.

After I finished Chapter 1, I had some ideas for chapter 2, and made an outline for it. It wasn’t a super detailed outline, was hand-written, but it helped me to organize my thoughts for those word wars I was doing with my friend Tracy last night. I find that this doesn’t take long— maybe 10 minutes or so, and it saves me so much grief.

Outlining this way, also keeps me from feeling constrained and like I have to stick with a multiple page, detailed outline.

If I end up deviating from my notes, big deal. It allows the story to flow naturally and keeps me concentrating on the next scene or chapter.

I hope that all is going well for all of you WriMos!

What are you doing to help you get through NaNoWriMo 2014?

 

Now on to write all the words!!! Good luck!

Found on: http://allisaurussrex.tumblr.com/

Found on: http://allisaurussrex.tumblr.com/

Why Your Novel is a TARDIS

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When coming up with analogies for what writing a NaNoWriMo novel is like the other day, an idea popped into my mind.

Your novel is a TARDIS.

doctor-who-tardisYou may (or may not) be wondering, WTF is a TARDIS Amanda?

If you’re a Doctor Who fan, you know that the TARDIS is a magical blue police box that travels through space and time and brings the Doctor and his companions on countless adventures all around the universes.

doctor-who-its-bigger-on-the-insideIt’s also bigger on the inside.

Impressively so. It has rooms upon rooms, a library, even a swimming pool. Like a TARDIS, your novel is bigger on the inside. It has rooms and chapters, characters and arcs, mysteries and adventures just waiting for you.

For an author, writing a novel is a bigger adventure than it is for the reader.

You the author has the control over the direction the book is going. You may have everything all planned out, or you may be pantsing, but your novel can take you on so many magical adventures. Each novel can take both the writer (and the reader) to so many different places or worlds.

Your novel lets you travel through time and space

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and lets you be in control of how and when all of that happens. It lets you be the Doctor and travel to far-off worlds, or save the world you live in from a terrible threat.

It’s still early in the month for NaNoWriMo 2014, but don’t let anything get you down.

Let your mind and your novel be your TARDIS.

Let it take you to places you never thought you would go, places only your writing can take you. And enjoy every minute of it 🙂