Month: November 2020

How Was Your NaNoWriMo?

Whew! It’s the last day of November. How was your NaNoWriMo? I hadn’t planned on doing it the traditional way, but I had planned on finishing my WIP novel. A Shadow on the Snow. Then my youngest got strep, and when we thought he was on the mend, he broke out in a terrible rash of hives that took almost a week to improve. Despite that, I was able to attend the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. I skipped some sessions so I could write uninterrupted. I now have a goal to finish my novel by Dec. 7, in time for a FB book party where I’ll discuss writing “A Rose from the Ashes”. I want to announce that I’ve finished the sequel.

If you participated in NaNoWriMo, tell me how it went. Or if you didn’t, what’s the state of your writing today? If you’re a reader, tell me what you read through November. I’d love to know!

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Prompts for NaNoWriMo

We’re over half way through November. How is your NaNoWriMo going? Having any trouble with settings? As I write my YA mystery, I seem to have a lot of scenes of people discussing the case while eating. I need to change some of those scenes to give my writing more variety.

If you notice that you are using the same kind of setting over and over, see if these photos can act as prompts for your NaNoWriMo challenge.

I know I said my characters are eating too much, but in case your characters aren’t eating enough, here’s a kitchen to inspire you and allow your characters to get some nourishment.
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Go Teen Writers: Edit Your Novel

When you’re done with NaNoWriMo, you’re faced with the hardest but I think most rewarding part of writing–editing. This phase can make you want to tear your hair out or tear your manuscript up, but it will add magic to your prose if you stick to it. Go Teen Writers: Edit Your Novel by Stephanie Morrill and Jill Williamson provides all kinds of help through this crucial process.

Edit Your Novel is an inaccurate title because the books covers so much more than that. A little over half of the book concerns editing, both macro and micro. Don’t know what those words mean? Get the book because it will explain that macro- editing is revising the big issues, such as character development and theme. Micro-editing is all the tiny things that need taken care of, like knowing when to insert or remove commas.

One of the most helpful sections under micro-editing is the chapter on punctuation. Author Jill Williamson sets out the rules from how to punctuate dialogue to how to correctly type and use en-dashes and em-dashes. I would have loved to have had this handy guide earlier in my career

The other half of the book provides all kinds of advice on how to get published with chapters on how traditional publishing works, how to write a synopsis and a query, find a literary agent, and deal with rejection.

The extra chapters at the end are the kind of bonus material I love. There’s self-editing checklist, brainstorming ideas, and the authors’s list of weasel words and phrases, which are words and phrases each author falls into the habit of using over and over again in their first draft. “Just” is a particular weasel word of mine. When I edit, I have to find them and retain only the ones that actually serve a purpose.

For those of us who’ve found so much help in Go Teen Writers: Edit Your Novel or on the Go Teen Writer’s website, there’s good news. Go Teen Writers: Write Your Novel is coming out December 3! Be sure to pre-order a copy.

What books on editing do you recommend?

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Prompts for NaNoWriMo

These prompts for NaNoWriMo will spark your inspiration if you are stuck developing plot points.

Let the setting suggest plots twists.

My stories are set in rural Ohio where cell reception can run from good to nonexistent. That fact can lead to all sorts of trouble for my characters.

Let characters’ personalities suggest plot twists.

Do you have a character who doesn’t bother to filter her comments? Let that habit kick off a plot twist. An introverted character who keeps a secret could serve a similar purpose.

Fight stereotypes

If you have a cheerleader, make her a nice one. How would that change your plot? Turn your main character’s best friend–the quirky one with all the best lines– into an antagonist. Give your teen MC one parent who actually understands him. Fighting stereotypes can freshen your writing and produce great potential plot points.

Have the main character lose something critical or gain something unexpectedly.

I saw the potential for this in my WIP novel, A Shadow on the Snow. My MC collects all the nasty notes an anonymous stalker sends her. When she’s ready to turn them over to the police, the letters are stolen. That theft added so much to the plot.

What other prompts could help twist the plot?

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