I use Kindle Direct Publishing exclusively to publish my books. There are some advantages, and some disadvantages. And while I could go into both of those topics, I’m kinda making today into a rant.
Editor’s Note: All of the information that follows, pertains to the KDP Kindle Unlimited program that you can opt into. It’s not mandatory, but if you do, you are making a promise not to sell your book through any other site… only on Amazon.
NaNoWriMo is now only a few days away, and millions of people are scrambling to prepare for the event. Although, if you’re a pantser like me, it may not be much of what others would term ‘preparation’.
So, in the vein of being like a Boy Scout, I’d like to give you 7 tips that should help you out with nano. These are in no particular order and are directed at pantsers and plotters alike (no bias here).
NaNoWriMo (the short version of National Novel Writing Month) is only 2 weeks away. Among the writing group, we just shorten it to nano and we understand that we’re not discussing very tiny robots or electronics.
During nano, people around the world are typing/writing furiously to pull 50,000 words (nothing says they have to be good words) from their brain. Some people find this easy. Some find it to be one of the most difficult things they’ve ever tried. But what is nano to me?
Since I’ve been having a few rough weeks, I figured I’d give y’all a sample of my writing. I can’t remember exactly when I wrote this… just that I was in quite the mood when I did. I was feeling the pressure of working 72 hour weeks and still barely being able to make it, when I wondered what it would be like to win the lottery (who hasn’t wondered?).
The idea that someone could win the lottery when their life was spiraling down the toilet hooked my brain, so I decided to write about it. What follows, is the rumination of someone down on their luck… and a whole bunch of wishful thinking.
*WARNING* There’s some language in here… but it very much enhances the mood of the story.
Time for another week’s blog post… *checks the calendar*… on the last day of the week. Perfect. I dug through my past blog posts and realized that I’ve already talked about deadlines, so that topic’s gone.
So I’m sitting here, watching the clock on the wall tick down the seconds and minutes until it’s too late to do anything and I can mark down ‘failed’ in my promise box I made a few short months ago.
Ever hear of interval training? It’s a method of exercising, where you intersperse bursts of work (running, cycling, weightlifting, etc…) with periods of rest. It’s supposed to make it so you can work out longer, with better results. It’s like a roller coaster… you get bursts of excitement with periods of rest on the downhill portions before it throws you around again.
What does this have to do with writing? Well, let me tell you. A couple of people in my writing group are trying to write this way. They set up a plan to write for a week. One day ‘on’, one day ‘off’. This ensures that not only do they get their writing time in, it also allows for fun.
The definition of writer’s block is: a usually temporary condition in which a writer finds it impossible to proceed with the writing of a novel, play, or other work. (dictionary.com) We all understand what it is, and some people have admitted to experiencing it, but is it real?
My question has an underlying focus. There are times where we, as writers, sometimes write ourselves into a corner, or have created a plot hole so big, it’s more like a black hole, sucking at everything in existence. I’ve had uncooperative characters, or ones that magically appeared out of nowhere and jumped into my story.
Not sure if you knew this or not, but I dabble in artwork as well as writing. I’ve been drawing and scribbling down crazy characters and animals for a lot longer than I’ve been a writer.
I found out about these things called ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) from a website called atcsforall. I signed up and participated in a few swaps (a theme is picked and you send your cards to someone in the mail… then they shuffle all the cards and everyone gets something from different people that participated in the swap). I found it extremely fun to get baseball card sized bits of artwork from all around the world. CLICK HERE to see a gallery of some of the cards I’ve done.
Today, I’m gonna be talking about (in a roundabout kinda way) goals… or just what is ‘good enough’ when it comes to my stories.
We all had to go to school (I hope). And chances are, we were all pressured to do the best we could when it came to ‘earning’ our grades. I remember a good friend that would always talk to me about how their mom would pressure him to get those A’s and not settle for anything less. Go for the best and leave everyone else in the dust.
I was crocheting today, and realized that it’s a lot like writing a book (in ways). I took up crochet as a hobby after my son was born. I was looking at being home for long stretches of time with nothing to do (I hadn’t taken up writing yet), so I originally jumped to knitting.
I watched several videos on YouTube, borrowed some yarn and needles from my mom, and learned how to knit. It was tough. For some reason, my brain couldn’t wrap itself around the idea of using those needles and yarn to create something. My first few projects looked like crap, and I was about ready to give up, when I thought, “How about crochet?”
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