L.Y. Levand's Blog

NaNoWriMo Prep, Part Eight: Strategies and Tips

Tip #1
Be excited about your story. If you're not excited about what you're writing, then you're going to procrastinate. I don't like writing educational blog posts. I kind of hate it, actually. This would be why, almost every week, even though I had a full seven days to write one, it doesn't usually get finished until the day before I need to post it. Don't be like me. Find a way to be excited about what you're writing.

Tip #2
Know what it takes for you to do your best writing. If you know what kind of environment you need to do your best, then you can arrange things to replicate that environment. I write best at night, after I've completed housework and the writing stuff I like less, like editing and revision. I also tend to get more into what I'm writing if I listen a specific radio station on Pandora (epic soundtracks, if you want to know).

Tip #3
Don't be afraid to unplug. That might mean turning off your phone, setting up an app to lock Facebook on your computer, or moving all electronic devices to another room. Don't be afraid to do this. If those things are distracting you (and they probably are, even if you don't want to admit it) then you should be able to cut them off for half an hour to write.

Tip #4
Make sure you have snacks and water where you're going to be writing. This will keep you from procrastinating by getting up to go to the kitchen.

Tip #5
Think about what you're going to be writing before you sit down to write it. Build the anticipation. Imagine it while you're doing the dishes, vacuuming the floor, cooking dinner. Get yourself excited to sit down and type it out. If you're like my husband and can't work with an outline, then this can help you keep from wasting time once you actually sit down to write.

Tip #6
If you have writer's block, try one of the writing prompts the Nano site sends participants. You can also find some intriguing ones on WritersWrite. You can apply these to your story, or you can write a short piece just to warm up.

Tip #7
If you get stuck, make it harder for your character. Add some difficulty, like bringing the wrong food to a potluck, breaking a family heirloom, losing a valuable piece of jewelry. Bonus points if it ties into your plot.

Tip #8
If you just can't seem to write anything, take a break and do something relaxing. Take a walk, read a book, play a game, watch a movie. Sometimes all you need to "turn it on" is to stop trying for a while.

Tip #9
If you need a new idea, take two things that are completely unrelated to each other, and combine them. Example: A pencil and a water bottle. How can these be combined? A water bottle holds water, so a container, plus a writing utensil. Perhaps an item that "draws" in water. A glass jar, maybe, with a magical quill that allows the user to scribe 3-dimensional images on liquids.

NaNoWriMo Prep, Part Nine: Remember to Enjoy It!

I haven't done much writing recently. It's hard to admit to that, because I actually have the time and tools to do so much more of it now than I used to. But it's the truth.

But I didn't realize why until not that long ago.

I found a site on Twitter. This site is called Scriggler, and it's basically a place to publish your writing for free. I'd been considering posting some of my work for free for a while before I found it, and decided to take the opportunity Scriggler presented. I had a partial manuscript saved, one that my husband made me promise I'd finish. So I started posting it in chunks.

I got a surprising number of views on my first piece. And my second. In fact, I got all the way to part fourteen before I figured out that I was probably going to get a similar number for each piece. This, of course, encouraged me to continue publishing what I'd already written.

And then I ran out.

And that's when I started writing every evening.

I'd been trying for weeks to get myself to write every morning before I checked Twitter, Facebook, and all of the other sites I use for various aspects of my writing career. I had failed miserably. But then one day, I needed a new piece for The Wish Cycle. But I'd had a headache all day, and hadn't done any writing that morning or afternoon. That evening, I had finally started to feel better, so I turned on my epic soundtracks Pandora station, and I wrote.

The next day, I did the same thing.

It worked for me. But it was only after almost a week of it that I realized what had really been keeping me from writing.

I hated editing. I hated it with a passion. And I thought, for some probably absurd reason, that if I sat down to write and had projects that needed editing, then I needed to edit those instead of working on something else. That sucked all the joy out of writing for me. I had stopped enjoying it, because I would feel guilty for not editing something I'd already written, and because I knew I'd have to edit what I was currently working on.

Writing in the evening worked out well for me because that time was different. It wasn't editing time, it was rough draft time. Time specifically for rough drafts, nothing else.

And I found that I looked forward to that time. Rather than putting it off and cruising Facebook (for dessert recipes or fun baking tools) to avoid it, I would decide "I'm not writing tonight" and the night would end with me turning on my music and writing for a while anyway.

So here's my final advice for NaNoWriMo: Remember to enjoy your writing. Yes, it's work. Yes, you have a word count goal, and you'll probably have to write every day (or cram a bunch in at a time when you really don't feel like it). You'll even have to edit all of that at some point. But don't let that take away the enjoyment you get from writing. Remember why you're writing in the first place, and remember what you enjoy about it. One of the benefits of NaNoWriMo is the goal is just to get the words down, no matter how badly you may do it. So sit down, crack your knuckles, forget about the next step of the process for a month, and write your story.

...also, epic soundtracks. If you can handle listening to music while you write, I highly recommend it.

NaNoWriMo, Part Seven: Outline

Sorry it's late, guys! I'm actually on vacation right now, so I haven't had steady access to things. But here it is now, and I hope to be able to get the next one out on time. :)

Now that we've gotten most of the concept stuff out of the way, it's time to write your outline. An outline is important to have if you're going to be writing quickly. For those of you with jobs and families, you'll likely have to cram your writing into whatever spare time you can find, which might not be very much. This means that any time you spend trying to figure out what's supposed to happen next is probably going to be taking away from the time you could spend actually writing it.

This is one of the reasons why an outline is an important tool. An outline tells you what happens next so you don't have to think about it as much. It keeps your plot points in order and organized, and takes some of the guesswork out of your writing. This will help you to write faster and keep up with your word count goals each day.

                                                                     Step One
Be prepared. Get your plot graph, you're going to need it. You'll probably want character bios and profiles, too. A good portion of your hard work should have been completed when you worked on your plot graph earlier in the series, but you still have some work that needs to be done. You're also going to need paper and pen or pencil (or computer, if you're doing it digitally).

                                                                     Step Two
Decide what form your outline is going to take. For me, I use a list of the things that need to happen and the order they need to happen in. I don't typically organize this by chapter, but that can be done. You can organize it like a graph, you can use a timeline, whatever is going to work best for you. Just make sure you have the tools you'll need, and your outline will give you all the information you need to write the story.

                                                                   Step Three
Write out the basics. For this part, it might be easier if you do it on a computer, because that will let you move things around easier than if you used a notebook. Take your major plot points (points from your main plot) and write them out in whatever format you've decided to use. For example, if I need one character to leave her home, I would write that down. It doesn't need to have any detail yet, you're just taking down the skeleton of the story here.

                                                                     Step Four
Add in subplots. You've got the basic part of your plot down, the main parts that you need for it to make sense. Now you can add in the subplots you have. Go through your outline and put in the different pieces you need for each subplot (tip: do it one subplot at a time). Again, just a line or two so you know what happens when; don't worry about detail for this step.

                                                                     Step Five
Once you have your story skeleton, you can add detail. If, for example, you want to connect something in the first chapter/act/scene to something later, like a knife your character recognizes, this would be the time to note where he/she sees the knife the first time. All of this is still stuff that's necessary for plot, or for story. So you wouldn't add something that's not going to do anything for the story, even if you really, really want to.

                                                                    Step Five
Revise. This is the time where you go through and make sure everything works properly together. So far, your main plot and subplots have been kept mostly separate. This step will allow you to tie them together better. If, for example, your character goes through something emotional (the death of a loved one, a break-up, etc.) that's going to affect how they act later. They might, for instance, be depressed through one of your main plot points. This is the step where you make sure that they'll still do what they need to do for the plot, or to tweak the plot so it's consistent with how they're feeling.

NaNoWriMo Prep, Part Six: Setting

Now that you have your characters fleshed out some, you need to know more about your various settings. Like with character design, you need to know enough about your setting to describe it properly. This can be difficult, especially if you've never been there.

                                                                     Step One
Where is it? In a broad sense, where does most of your story center? If your story is a fantasy, then you'll need some information on how the world works, as well as an idea of what sorts of landmasses and countries are there. If it's set in the real world, then what country are you going to use? This can dictate what language is spoken and the surrounding culture, so choose carefully.

                                                                    Step Two
What sort of town/village/city are your characters in? You need to know how big this place is, especially if they do any sort of thing that involves traveling through it.
If, for example, your character meets a friend at a coffee shop, you might need to know how much traffic they'll have to drive through, how far away the shop is, things like that.

                                                                  Step Three
What exact locations are you planning on using? For example, you'll probably have your main character's house on your list of settings. You might have a school, a castle, a wizard's house, a friend's house, a workplace. You'll need to know what locations you're planning to use. These may or may not all be in the same general location - you might even have them in separate countries or worlds.

                                                                   Step Four
Using your list from step three, you'll need to know what each place is like. Start with the outside. What kind of weather is there? Is it a building? You'll need to know things like how it smells, how hot or cold it is, what kind of people frequent it and why, and why your character goes there. If this place is (or has) a building, what is it like inside? How is it decorated? Is it a home? A business? Who lives/works there? What is the temperature like inside? How does it smell? If your setting is an existing place that you've never visited, then you'll want to look up pictures, descriptions, and the culture. Someone who's been there and reads your book isn't likely to fully enjoy the story if they see inconsistencies or details that are wrong.

NaNoWriMo Prep, Part Five: Character Bios and Design

If you've been following along with us so far, you probably have some idea about what your characters need to be like for your plot to work. This step is to flesh those characters out and give you a reference to look back at while you're writing if you have a question. (If you want something more in-depth you can check out my book here.)

                                                          Step One
Character bios. You'll need to know a little about your character's history before you get started, especially if you're going to be doing any kind of references to it. You'll also want them if your character has behaviors that are explained by past experiences. This would include any relevant events from your character's past, like the death of a loved one, a break-up, a significant move, anything that's played a major role in the shaping of your character.

This isn't something you'll necessarily have to include in your book. Maybe your character dislikes sweets because of something that happened when they were a child, but unless that event is central to the plot, you may only need to show that they don't like sweets as a character quirk.

                                                         Step Two
Character personalities. It's great to know the biography of your characters, but that can only tell you so much. Your character might have tragedy in their past, but you also need to know how they handled that. Did they grieve quietly and heal, did they suffer? Were they in denial for a long time? Maybe they grew violent, or angry. You'll need to know how they react in different situations.

If, for example, your character has a quick temper, they're not likely to show a great deal of patience when dealing with something or someone that is being frustrating. Someone who has a flighty or thoughtless personality isn't likely to think through consequences well, and as a result will make more mistakes. Someone who thinks things through very well may be on the opposite end of that spectrum, where they miss out and fail to be spontaneous. These things will color how your character behaves through your story.

                                                         Step Three
Design. You need to know what your characters look like, how they dress. You need to know something of this in order to describe your characters properly. Their choices in some of these things (clothing, for example) may be affected by their personality or history.

It also may be helpful for you to know what type of clothing they are most comfortable in, and why. A character that prefers jeans and a t-shirt because they don't like anything constricting is unlikely to wear anything form-fitting, for example. But if they like jeans and a t-shirt because they want to blend in and not draw attention to themselves, they'll likely be more willing to wear fancier clothing if it means they don't stand out at a party or a similar situation.

NaNoWriMo Prep, Part Four: Adding Conflict

One of the perks of being an author is you can be mean to people without actually being mean to people. You get to pick on your characters as much as you want, and if they're modeled after someone you don't like in real life it's a bonus.

But we don't usually like to do mean things to our main characters. They're usually some of our favorites, and we like them, so we want life to be easy for them. The problem with that is if we're too nice to them, there's no conflict, and if there's no conflict, there's no story.Imagine if you read a book where everything went right for the main character. Pretty boring, right? If your characters always make the best decisions and everything goes the way they want it to, it's unrealistic, and people are not likely to enjoy it much.

So, add conflict.

                                                          Step One
Evaluate your plot graph. If you found one that had points on it that were labeled "obstacles" then you have some guidance already. Those are places you can put difficulties for your character. Go through the whole plot graph (or whatever kind of outline you have), and find all the places where you can add difficulties or conflict.

Pick places to add conflict where your story may be boring or slow, or where you're approaching a climax of some kind. If you're building toward the climax of your story, then the conflict should be more extreme than if it's right at the beginning. The stakes should be increasing.

                                                          Step Two
Decide what conflicts work best with the plot you have. Keep in mind that these can't be easy for your character. It's okay to embarrass them or hurt their feelings. It can be hard to do that if you empathize with them, but remember - you need conflict for a good story.

If you're writing a romance, then you might decide to put in a love triangle (I despise these, but they must be liked by some people or there wouldn't be so crazy many of them) or a complication in the main romantic relationship. Perhaps a misunderstanding, or a secret that's discovered. If one of your plots is man vs. nature, then perhaps the weather prevents something your character needs to do.

                                                         Step Three
Make it worse. If you think it's bad enough for your character, then you probably need to make it even harder for them. If you need to, add more conflict, or up the ante on the conflict you already have. If you have a secret that's been discovered, then perhaps it would make it more dramatic if more than one person found out at the same time.

                                                          Step Four
Resolve the conflict. How is this conflict going to be resolved? Happily? Unhappily? You're going to want to resolve most of the conflict in your story at some point so that it's a satisfying read. This might be a little different if you're working on a series, but some of the conflict should still be resolved or you might end up with irritated readers. This resolution should be part of your plot graph, too. It comes after the climax, and before the end (there are exceptions, like resolving a minor conflict before the climax).

NaNoWriMo Prep, Part Three: Plots and Subplots

Before we jump into our vastly interesting post on plots, I have a story I'd like to share with you. During the week, while I was supposed to be writing about plot, but was instead working on my master's degree in procrastination, I found a lovely little site on Twitter. (Yes, I procrastinate on Twitter. I like to follow people and like their stuff.) It's called Scriggler. It's a cool little site where writers can post their work, retain all rights to it, and let readers see it for free.

I'd been considering putting a story up for free for some time. My original plan was to post it on my blog, but after finding Scriggler, I changed my mind. I also happened to have the very beginnings of a story that I thought would make an interesting serial. So you can now find four parts of The Wish Cycle on Scriggler. It's a little different than my normal offerings; I almost never write in first-person, but this story, unlike most of my others, just seemed to work with a first-person POV. Also, reading it back didn't suck like it usually does when I attempt it.

Anyway, getting down to business!

Dictionary.com defines plot in this way: Also called storyline. The plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story. 

                                                    Step one
Before you start writing your book, you'll need to know your plot. Depending on who you ask, or where you look, there can be anything from seven to thirty-six basic plots. For the sake of simplicity, we're going to go with seven. The seven basic plots are: Overcoming the monsterRags to richesThe questVoyage and returnComedyTragedyRebirth
For more on these you can look here. Some genres are known for specific plot lines; as an example, if you look at romance movies, they're also often comedies. The quest plot line is well-known in fantasy books, and overcoming the monster might be used in horror. You'll need to decide what kind of plot you want for the main story. If none of these sound quite right to you, remember that this is just the main story. The main plot. There will be others, don't worry about them now. If it still doesn't sound quite right, you can look at this for some ideas.

                                                Step Two
If you've never seen a plot graph, you don't know what you're missing. That's just me talking, of course, and I love the planning of a novel, but really, if only for educational purposes, take a look at one. You can see a simple one here. If you can find one tailored to your chosen plot, all the better.

If you look at the sample image above, you'll see that there are five black dots on the upward angle. If you have a plot-specific graph, there may be things that should be happening at certain places. As an example, when I was doing research for the plot of my romantic fantasy, I found a romance plot graph, containing things like the characters meeting, the characters' goals, the conflict, the dramatic turning point, and the black moment.

If you can find a plot graph for the plot or genre you're going to be working with, it can be a valuable tool. Even a plain graph with the different important events labeled can help you out. So go out and find something you can use as a guide.

                                               Step Three
Fill in the blanks. If you have a plot graph, it should give you various points you need in a story, like the inciting incident. Your job now is to fill in the blanks with things specific to your story. In the novel I'm planning for Nano this year, the inciting incident is the main character being chosen for a role that she doesn't want. On the plot graph I used, I then had four obstacles I needed to present my character with. Your graph may be different, but you'll need to fill in the points.

Conflict is necessary to a story. I remember as a child watching movies with my family. Everyone would complain about the stupid things characters did, and I would tell them "If they did the right thing all the time there wouldn't be a story." So remember, things do need to be difficult for your character (no matter how much you love them) sometimes.

                                                 Step Four
Now that you have your main plot outlined, you can add those subplots. When planning my novel for this year, I used a romance plot as my main plot. But I also used a graph for the plot of the hero's journey. Since my novel is a fantasy, I wanted to use a typical fantasy plot. I looked up the plot graph for the hero's journey, and then drew my own graph. On the angle I added the points necessary for both plots; the romance, and the hero's journey. Then I filled in the blanks.

I also have a third and fourth plot woven into the first two. I chose the plots of man versus man and man versus nature. My main character has serious conflicts with another character that have to be resolved, and there's also the threat of incoming winter. Depending on your story's scope, you may need more or less. But the graphs can help you plan at what point in your story you need each conflict and resolution to appear.

Once you have all your subplots chosen, plan them out on a plot graph. Each point of development for each plot or subplot has it's place, and you'll need to make sure each piece works well with the whole. If, for example, you need your MC to refuse to do something as part of the main plot, then you'll need to make sure that decision doesn't make a subplot invalid. (If your MC decides not to learn magic, but one of your subplots is them making enemies with a magic user they won't meet otherwise, they'll need to meet some other way, or they'll have to make a different decision.)

NaNoWriMo Prep, Part Two: Choosing A Genre

The first step in preparing you to tackle your 50k this November is to have an idea of what genre you're going to be writing in. Genre is important for a number of reasons. It can give you information that will help you structure your book, information that can help you in plotting it, and things that can be useful in marketing and keywords later. While you don't have to know the genre before writing, you'll need it if you want to take advantage of tools that are fairly genre-specific (plot graphs, for example) and if you're planning on using the NaNoWriMo site to track your writing, you'll need something to put in the genre section.

                                                 Step One
If you don't have a story idea, decide what genre you're most interested in. If you do have a story idea, then examine the various genres and pick which one fits it best.

Examples of genres are romance, fantasy, horror. There are plenty more than that, and a lot of sub-genres as well. As an example, my book Isolde could be classed as dark fantasy, a sub-genre within fantasy. My husband's book The Shadow and the Wolf would be classed as epic fantasy, another sub-genre for fantasy.

According to The Richest, the most popular genres (and therefore the ones that make the most money) are horror, sci-fi/fantasy, religious/inspirational, crime/mystery, and romance/erotica, with romance and erotica topping the list. If you're a professional writer looking to make decent money, you might be better off choosing one of these five. If, however, you're doing it for fun, then by all means ignore it and do what interests you.

                                                Step Two
Once you have your genre chosen, you should narrow it down and decide if you need a sub-genre. An urban fantasy, for example, is a fantasy and has fantasy elements such as magic or monsters. But it's also not the kind of fantasy most people think of when they hear the word, because the story is in an urban setting. I personally would class the Percy Jackson books as urban fantasy.

                                               Step Three
Look up typical plot points for your genre. It's fairly easy to class genre works, since there are various parts that make each type work or not work based on the typical audience and what readers expect from the genre as a whole. The plot for a romance novel, for example, has what's referred to as the black moment, the moment where the main character and the love interest seem like they're never going to be together. It also, obviously, includes a romance as the main plot.

                                                Step Four
The genre you choose may also dictate roughly how long your novel sis expected to be, so finding an average word-length is also part of our section on genre. Fantasy is expected to be longer than romance, since fantasy requires world-building, something not often required in romance. Children's books are usually much shorter, since children typically can't read very well and often have short attention spans.

For some basic ideas on how to decide word length, you can look here, for an excellent article on the subject. If you're expecting to send it in to publishers, then there may be a specific word count they expect to see. If you go over, there's a chance they might reject it just because of that. Even if you're an independent publisher, it would be useful to have an idea of how long readers are going to expect your book to be.

What genre are you writing in this year?

NaNoWriMo Prep, Part One: Groundwork

We are slightly less than two months away from November first - and you know what that means.

NaNoWriMo kicks off on November 1st, and for those of you who don't know or aren't sure what that means, it's the month of insanity for writers everywhere, where we all buckle down and try to write fifty thousand words in thirty days. The goal isn't to write a great rough draft, though. It's to get you writing, and not worrying about the quality so much. In other words:

"Stop worrying about how not-perfect you think it is, and get that sucker done. You can always edit later."

— Laurel (@LaurelLevand) September 3, 2016

I'm doing it this year, like I've done for the last three years, and I'm hoping you'll join me!

It's a great opportunity for writers to get up and get it done. If you have a novel you've been struggling to finish, a story that you want to tell but haven't started yet, or just need a little nudge in the right direction, I would highly recommend taking the challenge.

The first year I took the challenge I wrote the rough draft of Isomorph, and it was a huge deal for me. It was the longest manuscript I'd ever finished, and I was so proud of myself for not only finishing the rough draft, but finishing the editing, too. And none of that would have happened if I hadn't decided to participate.

But, all that said, if you've never done it before, or haven't ever managed to complete your 50k before, it can be a discouraging, or daunting, task. I'd like to take what I learned over the last three years I've participated (and won) the challenge and pass it on to you so that you can hit that 50k (or more!) too.

Over the next eight weeks I'll be passing on the tips and tricks that I've learned and that have worked for me in the past, so you can get that draft done.

To get you started, you'll need to do a couple of things to set the groundwork for the next eight weeks:

1) Decide what story you're going to work on. If, like me, you have roughly five million ideas bouncing around in your head, it's time to narrow it down. You can't work on all five million at once. Well, I guess you could, but I wouldn't recommend it. (If anyone does this, tell me! I want to know how it goes!)

2) Make a list of the things that regularly keep you from writing. We'll probably go over this particular tip again toward the end of the series as a reminder, but it's important that you have this in mind from the beginning. This is a list of obstacles that you'll encounter on your way to 50k. You need to know how you're going to overcome those so you can get your writing done in spite of them.

3) Take that list and develop a strategy for overcoming each one. Not enough time? Cut out something you normally do to make time (Facebook time, maybe?). Too much noise? Buy earplugs or wear headphones. People disturbing you? Locked rooms are your friends, as are on/off buttons on cellphones. If you're married and have children, arrange a time block where they handle the kids and you're free to write. If you work, lunch breaks. Arrange something to help you overcome every obstacle on your list, and then put it in a prominent place where you can see it. Remember any sacrifices you make, like cutting short Facebook time, is only for thirty days. You don't have to do it for longer than that unless you want to.

4) Make sure you discuss this with significant others and/or family members so they don't wonder if you've died or freak out because you're suddenly not talking to them as much. If you disappear and stop going to social functions, or lock yourself in a room for hours at a time when you didn't before, people are going to notice. And while I like the idea of cultivating a certain mystique as an author, the people closest to you probably will not. So let them know. They might be able to help you with your plans for number three. ;)

5) If you work better with a partner, go find one! Having someone to hold you accountable can help keep you on track. This year, Seth told me that he might be able to participate with me (he's been too busy working the last few years) and I'm excited about that. Last year my writing buddy was my best friend, and we compared wordcounts, challenges with characters and story development, and encouraged each other. You can look for one on the NaNoWriMo forums, or if you're lucky enough to know another writer in person, you can recruit them.

There are a few things to get you started. Next week we'll be kicking off with choosing your genre. There's a lot more to it than at first appears, so stay tuned!

If you'd like to get a jump-start on some of the planning while you wait, you can check out my books on character development, and world building.

Update!

I haven't updated the blog in a while, but I had good reasons, I promise. I've been super busy with a number of things, and, fortunately for those of you who are doing NaNoWriMo this year, one of them is a blog series to help you prep for that. But more on that in a minute.
This little cutie is Rosie, a kitten we got a few weeks ago (in this picture she's hiding behind our bathroom toilet, because we're apparently intimidating people).

She didn't come from a pet store, but she's not a rescue; the gentleman that had her adopted her mother, who was a stray, and wasn't prepared for kittens. He wanted good homes for them, and didn't have the resources to care for them as well as he would have liked. She had fleas when we got her, and is currently being treated for roundworms. So we've been busy taking care of her, training and such.
Our other cat, Frodo, isn't too pleased with having a little sister, either, so that's been taking up quite a bit of our time. Fortunately, she's adjusting pretty well. Her fleas are gone, she has two rounds of roundworm left, and no longer hides behind the toilet when she hears us coming. Or cries when we turn the lights off.

I've had a number of writing projects taking up my time as well:

In the last few weeks I've finally completed the rough draft for Metamorphose, and begun the editing process. It's taken me months longer than I'd planned to get this far (I'm going for mastery in the art of procrastination, in case anyone's wondering), but it's still going. My plan to rewrite the entire thing has done what I'd hoped; the editing is going to be much easier, since the raw material is higher quality this time. So it should be done relatively soon!


I've also been working on the editing for the next chapter of Tales of the Darkening. I would say I'm about 35% done with the first round of edits, so that should be done pretty quick too. For those who are interested, the title is Lorica, and yes - it's about Lady Lorica Garnelthicke from Festival. So if you wanted a little more info on her, you'll have your chance shortly.

I've even completed the cover for it, which you can see here.
I've spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time updating all the covers for the Tales of the Darkening books. (You can see them here if you're interested.) I did the cover for my intermediate world-building book, and realized that it looked so much more professional than the covers for my other books, so I spent hours upgrading everything. I'm super happy with how they look now, and I plan for all future chapters to have a similar theme.

I've been busy outlining a new stand-alone novel that I plan to bust out in the month of November for NaNoWriMo. For those following my character design posts, two of the three characters will appear in this story. The working title is The Dragon King. It's a fantasy, which is pretty obvious, but I'm trying a few new things with this one that I've never done before, and I'm really excited to get it started. It'll be full-length, unlike the Tales, and I'm aiming for about 80k, so it's not likely to be all done in November.

Sixth and last, I've been outlining a blog series for NaNoWriMo prep. I've taken the challenge (50k in 30 days) for the last three years, and I've won each time, so this series is going to guide you through my process for getting it done. It will be nine posts, one each Saturday between the first of September and the first of November. My goal is to have you all prepared and ready to go on November first, so we all have a good chance of finishing this year. The first post in this series will go live next week, so keep an eye out!