Monday, October 13, 2014

Magical Insight for NaNoWriMo Preparation

I signed up for NaNoWriMo this weekend.  It's my first attempt at the contest and I hope to make it to the end of November with 50,000 words.  It's funny, though, I find myself searching Twitter and the Internet for magical insight from those who have blazed the trail before me.  Maybe my intense searching is because I started late that I feel like I need to find that divine inspirational needle in a haystack that's going to tell (and show) me how to complete my first novel.  Then again, it's probably just plain old procrastination.

I haven't found any magic that is going to finish the writing for me, but I have found some amazing information from authors.  Here's the list of my favorite guidance I've stumbled across.  Let me know if you've found other valuable information out there.

Dannie Morin's #Plan4WriMo - daily exercises that will take you through the month of October and prepare you for November

Marissa Myer's Writing Process - from initial idea to completed work

Jacqueleen Hale's 20 Days of Desperate Planning - a fun take on getting ready to write with some good ideas to shake up your thoughts and get your creative juices flowing

Ellen Brock's Novel Bootcamp - a thorough workshop from July 2014

Janice Hardy's Fiction University - a step-by-step process that is full of suggestions

Matthew Wright's Three Step Process - from blank page to novel in a few easy steps

Rae Chang's Backstory, Showing, Rhetoricals, and Thoughts - homework from her 2013 Pitch Wars team that goes through some important lessons