Hillary DePiano's Blog, page 44

One Step At a Time: a pep talk for NaNoWriMo rebels or anyone who’s fallen behind on their word count

I was one of the NaNoWriMopep talkers for the April 2014 Session of Camp and I never got to share that full pep talk here. While my focus in April was on rebels and everyone doing something other than a novel, the basics of this talk absolutely apply to everyone doing the main NaNoWriMo novel writing challenge so it seemed timely to share with the wider audience of November.

For any of you whose word counts are flagging and you’re thinking of quitting, this is for you.

Camp Pep: One Step at a T...

My NaNoWriMo novel is DONE, to the surprise of everyone (including me)!

Taking a moment to enjoy the view. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was in a NaNoWriMo write-in last night when, suddenly, my novel ended. We were doing a word sprint and I couldn’t think of what scene came next (because, while I didn’t outline, I did formulate a list of scenes I thought might appear somewhere just to give me something to refer back to when I got off stuck). I checked my list and, huh, this was the last scene. I double checked, scrambled around for scenes I may have forgotten and,...

On being an NaNoWriMo ML, a writing role model, and my own writing journey

I don’t know how to write this blog post without sounding like a jerk but here goes.

I’m ahead on NaNoWriMo. Like, really ahead. And this is going to sound like bragging but it’s really just a statement of fact: I’m ahead and I’m not even working all that hard.

Every single word of that was written at a write-in, specifically the twice weeklyonline write-ins and the Kick-Off Party write-on Nov 1st, and one daily15 minute sprint at lunch. That’s it. I’m not doing anything special besides attendi...

Sprint your way to NaNoWriMo success by writing in timed bursts

For years, I used to wait until I had a good stretch of time to write. I’d get myself comfy in my favorite chair, get my favorite drink ready, have my special writing music playing and work on my book for hours.

Sounds good, right? Except for the fact that long stretches of time to actually sit in perfect silence to write are few and far between so, in reality, I’d only sit down to write once every few weeks, if then.

If you’re writing a novel this month as part of NaNoWriMo, you’re learning th...

Founder Chris Baty talks about the origins of NaNoWriMo & tips for success with Blurb & Grant Faulkner

It’s a ton of fun to listen to Chris Baty talk about the early days of NaNoWriMo and how this crazy event got started. If you missed the live webinar that Blurb hosted on October 20th which also featured NaNoWriMo Executive Director Grant Faulkner, you can catch the replay below. Besides the origin stories, they give tips for getting through the challenge and answer participant questions so it’s worth a listen in the background even if you can’t commit to the whole hour plus video.

(Note: The...

Some words will be harder than others to write. #NaNoPrep (NaNoWriMo What to Expect series)

Some parts of a novel are much easier to write than others.

Those first few words? Terrifying! But once you get going, things will go pretty smoothly in the beginning. Words will just be spilling out, you’ll be excited about your story and then… boom. You’ll hit a wall, the story will get harder to tell, and you’ll want to quit. This doesn’t mean you’re a terrible writer or that your story idea is no good. It happens to everyone. The middle of the story, the part you’ll hit at just about the s...

Your story is longer, both literally and figuratively, than you think it is. #NaNoPrep (NaNoWriMo What to Expect series)

Your story won’t bethe length you think it is.

At some point over the course of the month, 50,000 words is going to feel like an impossible amount to write, every word like drawing blood. There are also going to be days when you’re sitting there saying, “I really only have to write 50,000 words? That’s it?” because your writing that day is going so well, you churn out 10,000 words in a single sitting. You’ll also invariably realize that, your story is not exactly 50,000 words long, few stories...

Everyone writes at their own pace. Comparisons & jealousy do no good. #NaNoPrep (NaNoWriMo What to Expect series)

They’ll be writers who write much faster or slower than you do .

Some writers will actually hit their entire 50,000 word count within the first day or so of the competition, their counts ballooning past 100 or even 200 thousand words. On the other side, you’ll see writers that stall out at a few hundred words while you sail past thousands of words easily. It’s easy to get discouraged when you’re own word stack is so much smaller or feel smug when you’re ahead and slack off which is why it’s so...

Your first draft won’t be as good as it sounded in your head. #NaNoPrep (NaNoWriMo What to Expect series)

Most of the time, you’ll hate what you write.

Your ideas are so awesome in your head but when you write them down on paper they seem like garbage. You’ll get discouraged and frustrated and start to doubt yourself so I want to make sure you know ahead of time that that’s completely normal. Nothing ever seems as good when you first write it down as it does in your head and that’s fine. Your mantra for this month should be: This is only a first draft. As Jane Smiley once said,“Every first draft i...

Writing is work. It will require sacrifices to finish your novel. #NaNoPrep (NaNoWriMo What to Expect series)

You’ll have to make sacrifices and prioritize your writing.

This comes as a shock to many people with dreams of writing anything at all so let’s just get this out there right now: Writing is work and it takes time. Maybe you have a job, kids and a variety of other hobbies and, hey, the rest of us do too so we feel your pain. But if you’re really going to do this thing, you’re going to have to make sacrifices and make working on your writinga priority. There’s going to be at least once where yo...