Tara Maya's Blog, page 41

Update on NaNoWriMo #23 - From Outline to Draft

I thought I would share how I am doing with the multiple Outlining methods I mentioned during the earlier Tips. I've used all of them. Some I can't show today, such as the Sticky-Note Outline, because I haven't taken a photo of my Sticky-Note notebook yet. (I will try to do that over the next couple of days.) However, I'll show how I went from Beat Sheet to Detailed Outline to Draft.

Here's the Beat Sheet template I used (with 15 beats):

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Stalling on Start Line

I was planning to write a wry post today about everything that went wrong over Thanksgiving. I figured it'd be a shoo-in since, (a) it was Thanksgiving and (b) it was at my house. I hosted Thanksgiving at my house this year for the first time. Disappointingly, no disasters occurred to provide me writing fodder.  ;)

However, I have small children, and they can always be counted on to say something worth writing down.

Normally at bedtime, I tell the kids a story, but last night, excited...

Update on #NaNoWriMo 23: Running Late

I was planning to write a wry post today about everything that went wrong over Thanksgiving. I figured it'd be a shoo-in since, (a) it was Thanksgiving and (b) it was at my house. I hosted Thanksgiving at my house this year for the first time. Disappointingly, no disasters occurred to provide me writing fodder.  ;)

However, I have small children, and they can always be counted on to say something worth writing down.

Normally at bedtime, I tell the kids a story, but last night, excited...

NaNoWriMo Tip #23: Writing Order

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Seeking the Write Life: How Good Writers Make You "Feel"

Some great advice on how to evoke rather than merely describe emotions from  Seeking the Write Life: How Good Writers Make You "Feel":

It means, when the shocking reveal of critical information occurs, the writer gives most of their focus to the implications that cause the feelings, rather than the feelings themselves:

Rather than "John wasn't in New York when Samantha was killed? He could be the murderer? My entire body trembled. I sucked in a breath, unable to believe it could be true. J...

The Writer's Hiearchy of Needs

If you've ever taken a Psych 101 class, or read a book of pop psychology, you've probably heard of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs pyramid. As I mused about what constitutes Bad Writing, it occurred to me there is a similar hhierarchy of skills a writer needs to master.


Let's take a closer look. I'll explain why I've placed these things in the order I have.

1. Grammar Grammar is basic. You must communicate clearly before you can hope to write a novel. Good grammar goes beyond semi-colons and apostr...

NaNoWriMo Tip #22: When You Can’t Write…How To Deal With So-Called Real Life

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Thanksgiving Gratitude: Writer Edition (Via Pitch Slapped)

I thought February Grace's sentiment for Thanksgiving was lovely.

To those who are as yet unpublished, I wish for your every good dream to come true, and I wish for you the gratitude of appreciating where you are in your journey, right now, this moment.

Appreciate the innocence, the sense of pure and limitless possibility that lies before you...and keep after your dream, in one way or another.

Don't forget to be grateful for those who have helped you along the way; friends who read your stuff, t...

Is Thanksgiving Old-Fashioned?

Then.
Now. (I love the bacon wrap!)
It's ironic that although this year I'm more distracted than ever from the holidays because I'm writing a book for NaNoWriMo and writing a book about writing a book for NaNoWriMo (a meta-NaNo book, if you will), I'm also thinking deeply about holiday traditions because that's the setting of my novels.

The Halloween story is  the easiest for me, which is great, since that's what I've started with. The Christmas story, I think I can also handle. But if I wr...

NaNoWriMo Tip #21: Never Forget To Do This One Thing Before You Write

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