There Is Good in This World and It's Worth Fighting For

My last post of 2016 was going to be about editing, but with how horrible 2016 has been that didn’t feel quite right. I had also considered writing an “In Memoriam” but that didn’t feel right either. What did feel right was listing the positive things that did happen this year (some are personal, some are positive things I read about on the internet.) I hope my list brings you some happiness and I hope you share your positive experiences of 2016 with me in the comments. (I will also be using the #RememberTheGood in my social media posts to share some positive vibes.)

• I graduated college with a degree in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing
• Thanks to the ice bucket challenge the gene responsible for ALS has been found, meaning we are closer to an effective treatment 
• The Orlando Shakespeare Festival showed up with angel wings to block funeral-goers for the Orlando Pulse victims view from anti-gay protesters
• Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar (finally!)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them came out on my birthday and it felt like returning home
• Chewbacca Mom
• For the first time ever a woman was nominated for President of United States and even though she didn’t win, her concession speech moved me to my core:

"I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday someone will, and hopefully sooner than we might think right now. And to all of the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.” - Hillary Clinton. 

• The manatee population is no longer endangered
• Green sea turtles were taken off the endangered list as well
• The number of tigers rose for the first time in 100 years
• It was announced that Harriet Tubman would replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill
• The Chicago Cubs won the World Series (one year after my Royals did!)
• The big hole in the ozone is starting to heal
• West Africa is now ebola-free
• Bernie Sanders started a fire that can’t be put out
• Standing Rock stood its ground and won
• Joe Biden memes and all of their glory brought me laughter when I needed it most

I truly hope that everyone has a fantastic New Year’s eve and that the New Year brings everyone love, happiness, and most of all hope.

See you next year!

Big Picture Revision: Part 2

My Deepening Draft

The second part of my big picture revision process is what I call the “The Deepening Draft.” In this draft you still don’t look at the spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, or punctuation issues, this is the draft where you replace that 35% to 45%  that you took out during the cutting process.

A deepening draft is exactly what is sounds like, its the draft that you add more to your story; and by more, I don’t mean that you add fluff. This is where you add depth, to both your characters and your story. You fill in the plot holes. You move around scenes. You answer any questions that were left unanswered. The deepening draft is where you fill in the small details to make your story come to life. Those details help to make your story more organic and realistic, and to add a cohesion that might not have been there during the original draft.

When I do the deepening draft I try to print my story and write out everything I want to add by hand, but I know that isn’t practical. So, what I would suggest is to add your changes in your word document like normal, but underscore them. Why? So, when you go back and re-read it, you will know where you made changes.

After adding your changes, save it, and walk away from it for a few days or weeks. Again, distance will give you some clarity and will make it easier to see any issues than if you were to read over it an hour later.

So, at this point, you have two options: 1. You can repeat the cutting and deepening process again (in fact, I recommend repeating the process a few times.) And 2. You can look beyond the big picture and move on to editing.

Next week I will give some tips on editing. I really hope that everyone has a happy holiday and great night!

Big Picture Revision: Part One

My Cutting Draft for my Capstone.

So, it’s a been a little over two weeks since National Novel Writing Month came to an end and I haven’t looked at my story again once.

Why?

Well, if I am to edit it and revise it, I need some time away from it. Trying to edit anything immediately after writing it won’t do any good. The story is too fresh, you will miss mistakes and errors because you will see them for what you want them to be and not for the mistakes and errors that they are. Also, time heals all wounds, and if you hated your story or parts of it, you might just delete too much and lose an amazing novel. Time will let you see your story clearly.

Personally, I won’t be starting my editing process until after the new year. I like to put some distance in between the writing and editing, if I can. But, if an idea for my novel comes into my head, I write it down in my “handy-dandy” notebook that I keep with me at all times. (I would advise anyone who writes to do this. I have notebooks upon notebook filled with names and ideas and places and random plot lines, I go back them for inspiration.)

Editing is time consuming and has a lot of steps, so this is just part one of my editing process.

This is the big picture revision.

Anyway, the first step I take when revising my story is to read it all. Rereading the story allows me to get reacquainted with it. I will also read it aloud, because that allows me to hear the mistakes and hear when dialog doesn’t sound natural. When I do come across those moments I underline them, so I can revisit them later on. (I would suggest printing the story off if you can, editing on a computer is difficult, but printing so many pages isn't always feasible.) 

After that, I do what I call my “cutting draft.” I go through my story and strikeout everything I hate or deem unnecessary. My goal is to cut at least 30-45% of it. I know that sounds like a lot, but when you think of all of the fluff that you added to reach your 50k word count, you hopefully won’t be cutting the meat of your story and only the fat. Things I normally cut are adverbs, overly wordy dialog tags, and scenes that add nothing to the plot. I get rid of characters who add nothing to the story or only seem to show up as a plot device. I look for scenes that take too long and for distracting verbiage. 

I do not edit spelling mistakes or grammar errors during this process. This is just  about the story and not its readability. 

When you are done cutting your story to pieces you should save that draft with the unwanted material still there but struck out, and then open a new document. Copy and paste the whole thing into it and then delete the crossed out items. Why keep a copy with the things you want to get rid of? Well, you just may need those ideas for a different story or you might want to reuse those things in the story but somewhere else in it.

And that brings us to the next phase of my big picture revision, which I will blog about next week. I hope you come back to read about my “deepening draft.”

Have a great weekend!

Recommended Reading for the Holiday

With National Novel Writing Month over and the craziness of the holidays here I find that I long to get lost in a different world. This year, I am reading James Maxwell's Golden Age, it's the first novel in his The Shifting Tides series. Its a story with multiple arcs and it demands using your imagination. It takes place in a fictional region that feels based on the Mediterranean Sea area, Middle East, and Northern Egypt. James Maxwell is an exceptional writer who brings words to life. I cannot wait until I am finished with it and when I am, I will review it for you, but if you're curious now, I would go ahead and get it.

Here is the official description from Amazon:

The first book in an epic fantasy series by James Maxwell, author of the bestselling Evermen Saga.

The discovery of a strange and superior warship sends Dion, youngest son of the king of Xanthos, and Chloe, a Phalesian princess, on a journey across the sea, where they are confronted by a kingdom far more powerful than they could ever have imagined.

But they also find a place in turmoil, for the ruthless sun king, Solon, is dying. In order to gain entrance to heaven, Solon is building a tomb—a pyramid clad in gold—and has scoured his own empire for gold until there’s no more to be found.

Now Solon’s gaze turns to Chloe’s homeland, Phalesia, and its famous sacred ark, made of solid gold. The legends say it must never be opened, but Solon has no fear of foreigners’ legends or even their armies. And he isn’t afraid of the eldren, an ancient race of shape-shifters, long ago driven into the Wilds.

For when he gets the gold, Solon knows he will live forever.

You can purchase it here:

Golden Age - James Maxwell

Share what you are reading this holiday season in the comments!

Sorry this post is so short, but I have work to do, but next week I will tackle some tips and tricks for editing your NaNoWriMo novel.

And You Wrote, Now What?

Congratulations to all of the winners of this year's National Novel Writing Month! You did it! Please, pat yourself on the back, have a drink, and celebrate. Congratulations to the people who didn't meet their 50K but still wrote their hearts out, writing is hard, but even if you only wrote one sentence, at least you wrote!

So, the question everyone is asking is: I wrote this crazy rough draft, now what?

My answer: TAKE A BREAK!! And whatever you do, do not send your story to agents or publishers, at least not yet!

Your story is probably full of errors, spelling and grammatical ones, and that is perfectly fine. NaNoWriMo is all about writing with an insane recklessness that doesn't allow for that nonsense. So, before you try to sell your story, you are going to need to edit your story, and before you can edit your story, I suggest you take a break from it. Enjoy the holiday season, dive into whatever holiday festivities you participate in, spend some much needed time with friends and family, maybe even veg out and binge watch something on Netflix (I recommend Gilmore Girls.)

I will be taking a small break from my story. I definitely need some space from my characters otherwise they might not make it to the end of the story. BUT, I will be posting some ideas and inspiration throughout December and I will have tips for the revision process after the first of the year.

Good luck on all of your future writing endeavors and I hope you will check back here for more tips, ideas, and inspiration! 

Down to the Last Minute!

Hey guys!! I would just like to wish everyone who is participating in NaNoWriMo good luck! I hope every single one of you reach your 50k word goal and beyond!

Tomorrow I will be exploring my National Novel Writing Month journey. I will discuss my ups and downs and my future plans for the amazing story I got out of it!

If you are need of some last minute inspiration feel free to browse my blog or to check out these posts:
Inspiration from Writers
Songs that Inspire
Tell Me This Story
Author Advice
NaNoWriMo Success Pt1
NaNoWriMo Success Pt 2

I hope you find some inspiration here! Good luck and I will see you on the other side!

Whoa... We're Half Way There...

So, tomorrow marks the halfway point of National Novel Writing Month. As of now I am at just a smidgen over 25,000 words and completely exhausted. So, I thought I would share some tips to keep you going.

Do you need to up your word count? You could start by adding extra scenes. Some of those extra scenes might feel like fluff but you never know when an extra scene will pull your story out of a rut. Here are some examples of scenes you could add:

• A scene of dialog between the main protagonist and a small child. 
• A scene where two characters have a drunk late night chat. This adds to the word count sufficiently as drunk people tend to repeat themselves and also have conversations that go in circles.
• Have your character go into reflective mode. Did something major just happen to them? Have them think about it and its possible implications. 
• Have a character avoid making a decision and have them argue about it instead. A good argument always ups your word count.
• Add a sex scene or multiple. You can be extremely descriptive and come up with some creative blocking. 

Something else you have to do if you want to reach 50k words is to allow yourself to write some garbage. Tell your inner editor to take a break and just write.

I really hope that everyone is doing well on their NaNoWriMo mission!

Quick NaNoWriMo Reminders

Happy first day of National Novel Writing Month! Good luck on your novel. I just have a few last minute tips and reminders for you:

1. Save your work every 30 minutes. You never know when you will lose power or when some other disaster could strike, so saving you work constantly will keep you from losing your hard work.
2. Update you word count on NaNoWriMo daily. Why? Because your choice of word processor might have a different count than NaNo's website. Validating it daily will help keep you on track. (You can even update multiple times per day.)
3. Sleep. Get some sleep. Sleep will make you sharper and a better writer.
4. Have fun and enjoy yourself!

Good luck guys!! I hope each and every one of you reach your goals.

The Night Before NaNo

Well, tomorrow is the big day. I have to admit that I am pretty nervous. I have an idea and I have my characters, but man, I'm not sure how I will pull off this National Novel Writing Month. The important thing is that I am going to try my hardest.

Things I am going to do tonight: 

• Take my kiddo treat-or-treating
• Eat some candy
• Watch a scary movie
• Outline the scene I will be writing on November 1st
• Sleep

Tomorrow I am going to:

• Go to work
• Write at least 2,000 words (I prefer to start off over the 1,667 words a day just incase I fall behind.)
• Outline a scene for the next day
• Sleep

I would like to wish all my fellow NaNoWriMos good luck! I hope that you find the story you want to write. I hope that writer's block never rears its ugly. I hope that you get the crazy awesome rough first draft that you need!

Remember, the world needs your novel.

(P.S. I will try to post things to inspire you throughout the month, good luck again.)

NaNoWriMo Preparation

Well, we are three days away from the beginning of National Novel Writing Month and I can't wait to dive into writing recklessly for thirty days of November. 

Since NaNoWriMo is so close I thought I would share some prep tips.

1. Hold yourself accountable. Let people know that you are participating. Text your friends, tell you family, scream it to the world via social media. The more who know you are doing it, the more people who are going ask how it is going, the more likely you are to actually do it. No one wants to face the embarrassment of failure, but I feel its worse to face that you honestly just didn't try.
2. Find others to help keep you motivated. Raimey Gallant put together a site to list people participating in NaNoWriMo. Click here to be added to that list. Also visit NaNoWriMo's Forums to discuss your story and to receive advice and motivation to keep writing.
3. Visit NaNoWriMo's Pep Talk page for advice from fellow writers.
4. Write down any ideas you have for a story. Write down names and places that interest you. 
5. Buy a notebook dedicated to National Novel Writing Month. Fill it with plots and character descriptions. Use it to write in when you aren't near a computer.
6. I know that Halloween is the night before NaNoWriMo begins but adequate sleep is a must and not just the night before it begins but every night. You can't think straight on only 2 hours of sleep. You need sleep.
7. On the flip side you also need things to keep you from getting sleepy during the middle of the day. So do what you need to do: Load up on coffee, soda, or tea. Drink your water. Fill up on sugar. Run a mile. Whatever energizes you, do it!

I hope you find these tips helpful and I'll share more tomorrow and Monday. Happy Saturday everyone!

Inspiration for NaNoWriMo

In order to prepare for NaNoWriMo I need to feel inspired. So, I thought I would share some quotes that inspire me to be a better writer.

"You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they shave have behaved better." - Anne Lamott, from Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.

That quote reminds me that my writing is mine, my life is mine, and I should write about my experiences no matter how other people feel about them.

You are a writer even if you haven't been published.

"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy of creativity is self-doubt." - Sylvia Plath, from The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath.

Again, write for you and from your own experience. I find that writing is a whole lot easier when I do it with only my expectations in mind.

"Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open." - Natalie Goldberg, from Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. 

Man, when it comes to this quote I feel like the writers of The Walking Dead live by it and you should too. Let yourself take a plot too far, take an idea too far, go dark, just do it. You may end up hating what you write but it will cathartic.

"I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I am afraid of." -Joss Whedon 

Why do you write? Find that out if you can and run with it.

Writing isn't rainbows and butterflies and it can break you, but it can also save you.

"If it's still in your mind, it is worth the risk." - Paulo Coelho 

If you can't shake an idea or character or image, you should write about it.

"If I waited for perfection I would never write a word." - Margaret Atwood

No story ever started off perfect and ready to publish. I mean, that is what makes National Novel Writing Month so great, it demands imperfection. You write like a crazy person without editing, without stopping to make sure what you wrote makes sense, it doesn't allow you to beat yourself up.

"Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good." - William Faulkner

Again, this is what is so great about NaNoWriMo, it allows you write recklessly and to write really bad things that could turn into a wonderful story. You have to get the bad ideas and stories out of you before you can find greatness.

Never be afraid to write something controversial. Never be afraid to write the truth. Never be afraid to write. 

"You can't blame a writer for what the characters say." - Truman Capote

Never ever let the fear of offending people stop you from writing a dynamic character. Characters that have the most depth tend to be the ones that say and do things most wouldn't. You are not your characters, if your villain is a racist asshole that doesn't mean you are one. If you protagonist is depressed and suicidal it doesn't mean you are. Think about the books you have read with horrible characters in them, did you ever think the author must be a horrible person too? Probably not because you know it's fiction.

"If you don't care for obscenity, you don't care for the truth." - Tim O'Brien

Don't be afraid to have your characters cuss or make obscene gestures. Obscenity isn't bad or wrong, don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

This quote is true in more ways than one. How many times have you laid in bed at night, starting up at the ceiling, replaying your day and how you would have done things differently? How you should have told someone how you felt? It happens all the time. Use your writing to say what had previously been left unsaid.

I hope these quotes inspire you and help you during National Novel Writing Month.

One Week to Go

Well, next week is the start of something amazing, National Novel Writing Month! So, to begin the count to it I thought I would share this year's writing playlist.

I am a firm believer that every book ever written has a soundtrack even if the author was conscious of it while writing it. That soundtrack could be rain hitting a window, the sound of their surroundings, or actual music. Music inspires me and really helps me set the tone of what I write. Try making a playlist for your story or let a playlist create itself by hitting shuffle on your choice of music player.

Well, here is my list (in no particular order), I hope it inspires you!

1. Arsonist's Lullaby by Hozier
2. Kansas City by The New Basement Tapes
3. Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't by Brand New
4. Wild Sun by The Strumbellas
5. This is Gospel by Panic! At the Disco
6. Talk Too Much by Coin
7. Critical Mistakes by 888
8. Bad, Bad, Bad by LANY
9. Battle of Who Could Care Less by Ben Folds Five
10. Do You Remember? by Jarryd James
11. Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran
12. Got You (Where I Want You) by the Flys
13. How Soon is Now? by the Smiths
14. I'll Catch You by the Get Up Kids
15. Life Itself by Glass Animals
16. Mess is Mine by Vance Joy
17. The Mother We Share by Chvrches
18. Settle Down by 1975
19. Vacancy by Socialburn
20. Ditmas by Mumford and Sons
21. Rainy Girl by Andrew MacMahon in the Wildness

Take a Break!

So,  you're staring at a blank screen, the prompts and visuals aren't working, no amount of advice is inspiring you, what should you do?

Take a break!

Sometimes your brain needs some time off. Go for a walk, play some Pokemon Go, listen to some music, watch your favorite show, read a book, or take a long nap. 

Whatever you do, make sure you take a notebook with you because you never know when an idea will hit and you will want to be able to write it down.

Also, don't feel bad for hitting a wall, it happens to all of us. Think about it, one day you might write 5,000 words or even 7,000, so taking a break, skipping a day, it will not ruin your chances of winning National Novel Writing Month. But, do try to start writing again as soon as possible, the longer you wait the easier it is to just quit.

Next week I will begin the count down to NaNoWriMo, good night and good luck!

Advice from Legendary Authors

These tips are exactly NaNoWriMo related but they are great tips for becoming a writer in general. I hope you find them helpful.

"It's doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction." — Jonathan Franzen

"Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." – Anton Chekhov

"Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money." — Jonathan Franzen

"Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong." — Neil Gaiman

“The first draft of everything is shit.” -Ernest Hemingway

“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.” — George Orwell

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time — or the tools — to write. Simple as that.” – Stephen King

“If writing seems hard, it’s because it is hard. It’s one of the hardest things people do.” – William Zinsser

“Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.” – Kurt Vonnegut

“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” – Mark Twain

“Don’t take anyone’s writing advice too seriously.” – Lev Grossman

“Start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there’ll always be better writers than you and there’ll always be smarter writers than you. There will always be people who are much better at doing this or doing that – but you are the only you.” ― Neil Gaiman

“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.” ― Maya Angelou

NaNoWriMo Winners who Became Successful Pt. 2

Advice from Stephanie Perkins:

• Start your project without a lot of preconceived ideas and notions.
• Start your project without a lot of preconceived ideas and notions.
•  Remember: Your novel is supposed to suck right now. The only way you can mess this up? That’s if you stop writing. So keep going! Keep sucking! You’re doing great. I’m proud of you.

Advice from Lydia Netzer:

•  Silence your inner editor. Don’t worry; just write. Go, go, go.
• A lot of people frown on NaNoWriMo, believing it produces reams of garbage, and that writing quickly can only lead to writing poorly. We’ve all run into this attitude. Maybe we’ve had someone say “Why would you waste your time writing something you know will be bad?” I respectfully disagree with these people, as I have found that during this mad dash, I find different layers of my projects that I would not have been pushed to uncover at a steady, reasonable pace.

Advice from Rainbow Powell:

• That’s not writing, I thought, that’s just piling up words. But then I thought about how wonderful it would be to have a pile of 50,000 words…
• I set three goals:

1. To write every day.
2. To write at least 2,000 words every day.
3. And—this was crucial for me—to keep moving forward.

For more advice from National Novel Writing Month winners, check out NaNoWriMo's Pep Talk Page.

NaNoWriMo Winners who Became Successful Pt. 1

Advice from Sara Gruen:

• I think the hardest part is getting a draft finished. It’s important to stop thinking about writing and just write. It’s something I grapple with every day—stop thinking, start writing.

• However far behind you are, take comfort in knowing that there is somebody else out there in the same boat, and look for that next fun scene. And then the next. And if that doesn’t work, set someone on fire. In your book, of course.

Advice from Marissa Meyer:

• Never fear. Anyone who has ever written “The End” on a manuscript knows that, sometimes, inspiration eludes us. No one looks forward to those lulls in the writing process, but they are natural, and they can be overcome. These are the times when we must proceed on willpower and caffeine and the unflappable confidence that each word we write is one word closer to a finished novel. I can promise that, tough as those times may be, they often lead to some of our most proud and beautiful writing moments.
• Maybe you’re being called toward eye patch-sporting pirates and buried treasure. Maybe you’re dying to write about a hitchhiker with aspirations of being the world’s greatest baseball player. Maybe your dystopic, plague-ridden society is bringing you down and you’d love to send your characters on a romp through a whimsical wonderland.Make your list, choose what’s calling to you most, and drop it into the next chapter just as if you’d been planning it all along. Watch as your plot and characters scramble to make it work, and the words once more begin to pile up.
• For more advice from her check out her pep talk on NaNoWriMo's Site.

Advice from Erin Morgenstern:

• Never delete anything. If you can’t stand to look at it, change the font to white and keep going.

• If possible, get a running start. It gives you flexibility for later in the month when you desperately need to do something, anything that doesn’t involve writing once in a while.

• Do something, anything that doesn’t involve writing once in a while. Take a walk, go to a museum, do yoga, paint your toenails, spin around in circles. Shake your brain up so the ideas can move around.

• Backup. Frequently. Flash drives are your friends. Also, I hear you can store things on clouds now but I’m not sure how that works. It sounds very whimsical, though, and I am a fan of whimsy.

• Take risks. (Microsoft Word wanted to autocorrect that to “Take care.” Clearly, Word does not understand NaNoWriMo. Also, this is why I normally write in Scrivener. Scrivener would never suggest such a thing.)

• When in doubt, just add ninjas. (Ninjas do not need to be actual ninjas.) (But they can be.)

• Let yourself be surprised.

I hope these winners and their advice help you write your novel! Tomorrow I will post more advice from successful National Novel Writing Month winners.

50,000 Words and Counting...

I am going to preface this post by saying that these tips are strictly for NaNoWriMo. Why? Because these tips don't lead to amazing writing, or at least they normally don't. These tips are literally just advice on how to boost your word count and if used, they should be edited out of your novel later. 

50,000 words is a lot to write in 30 days and fluffing up you novel with unnecessary words isn't cheating when it comes to National Novel Writing month. I would only use these tips if you are a little shy of your goal and not throughout the whole process. (Remember, this draft is going to be super rough and you can always edit once November is over.)

Tip 1: Do not use contractions. Won't becomes will not, shouldn't becomes should not, and we'll becomes we will. This is guaranteed to add to your word count.

Tip 2: Use chapter titles (this is one that works even after NaNoWriMo is over because you may grow to like them.) Using chapter titles can add quite a bit to your word count.

Tip 3: Add a dream or flashback (this is also one you might end up keeping during the editing process.) Dreams and flashbacks can add a lot of words and also add a lot to your story.

Tip 4: Become a maximalist! Describe everything down to its last detail. Think Johnathan Franzen. 

Tip 5: Use wordy phrases instead of the shorter alternative. 

• The reason why is that instead of because.
• He is a man who instead of he. 
• A great number of times instead of often.
• At some future date instead of later.
• Despite the fact that instead of although. 
• At the end of the line instead of last.

Tip 6: This one isn't about adding random words or scenes to your novel, this tip can help you throughout the whole writing process. Keep a small notebook with you everywhere you go. You never know when an idea will strike and having something to write it down in will help you immensely. You will not only remember your idea, but it will help add to your word count in the long run.

I hope these tips help you on your NaNoWriMo journey. Tomorrow's post will be a surprise. Have a great day!

Where Do I Begin?

Sometimes being told you can write about what ever you want makes it difficult to write about anything. So, here are some writing prompts to help you on your NaNoWriMo journey:

1. After accidentally killing the hero, you (or main protagonist) must embark on an adventure to complete his/her quest.
2. Write a story about a hitman for the supernatural. Why do the supernatural need a hitman? Well, sometimes ghosts need revenge before they can rest in peace.
3. Write about someone finding out that Earth is actually just an insane asylum for the Milky Way.
4. Every 100 years the seven deadly sins meet up for a tournament, the tournament determines which sin will plague the human race until the next tournament comes around.
5. Use the first line of your favorite nursery rhyme as the beginning a very dark narrative.
6. Write a story, that as it ends, the main protagonist realizes that they were the villain all along.
7. Write a story about a world where dreamcatchers have to be emptied of the nightmares they catch once a year. Who empties them and what does that person see?
8. Write a story that takes lace immediately after a tragedy, but never once mention the tragedy. Let your readers discover it themselves.
9. Write about a world in which heartbreak causes physical breaks and fissures to the earth's landscape, creating cracks in pavement and valleys. Write about the heartbreak that caused the Grand Canyon.
10. Every full moon an extra hour is added at midnight and only a few people get to experience it, write about the witching hour, what happens and who gets to live it.
11. Write a story the involves a countdown. Start with 10 and countdown to 1 or use time (10 hours until... 30 minutes until...)
12. One day you (the main protagonist) notices a new key on your keychain, you have no idea what it unlocks, but you are determined to find out.

I hope that these prompts help inspire you to write your story. Remember, the world needs your novel.

Tomorrow I will give you some visual prompts to further inspire you and help you with your NationalNovel Writing Month journey.